According to Dai Yuan, Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass could not be suppressed by any of the five elements, and now Yang Kai was experiencing this firsthand. The light emanating from Dai Yuan’s body directly penetrated his Knowledge Sea defenses and was even able to somewhat suppress his Conflagrated Spiritual Energy.
Fortunately, Dai Yuan had not deliberately been targeting Yang Kai and Yang Kai himself was not an ordinary cultivator. So, although he was a little shocked initially, he was immediately able to resist the influence of this Coloured Glass Divine Light and subsequently release his Conflagrated Divine Sense to envelop Dai Yuan.
Currently, Dai Yuan was experiencing severe pain, causing her already disfigured face to warp into an even more unsightly appearance. However, what Yang Kai found surprising was that her entire body was covered in pockmarks and pustules, completely opposite to an ordinary beautiful woman’s smooth and delicate skin.
Even after disrobing, Dai Yuan’s black undergarments had concealed much of her bare skin from Yang Kai’s sight, but after she entered the Yin Pond, these thing coverings became soaked and clung tightly to her figure. At the same time, Yang Kai was covering her with his powerful Divine Sense, so he immediately discovered this issue.
It seemed that besides her two exposed hands, which seemed to be carved from the finest jade, the rest of Dai Yuan’s body was just like her face, nothing short of unsightly.
The side-effects of this Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art were simply too great! Yang Kai immediately understood that it was Dai Yuan’s special Secret Art that had caused her to become like this.
“Junior Brother Yang…” Just as Yang Kai was slightly distracted, Dai Yuan grit her teeth and shouted tremblingly.
Yang Kai came back to his senses when he heard her voice and nodded, “Let’s begin!”
In the next instant, Dai Yuan completely opened an acupuncture point on her chest and madly began drawing the Yin Pond’s water into her body. When the frigid cold water poured inside her chest, Dai Yuan shuddered uncontrollably, but she still clenched her teeth tightly as her lips went purple and gazed fixedly towards Yang Kai with her beautiful eyes.
Yang Kai did not say a word, poured his Conflagrated Divine Sense into Dai Yuan’s open acupuncture point, and immediately began forming several sets of Alchemy Spirit Arrays inside her body.
“Conflagrated Divine Sense!” Dai Yuan’s eyes bulged in surprise. She had not expected Yang Kai to possess a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea. According to her original plan, Yang Kai would need to press his hands onto her chest to carefully infuse his Saint Qi into her body, treating it like an Alchemy furnace and using the various medicinal efficacies contained in the Yin Pond’s water to refine then expel the Coloured Glass Toxin.
When discussing the details of this method before, Yang Kai had not disclosed that he possessed a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, but at this moment, Dai Yuan wasn’t the slightest bit dissatisfied, because since this was the case, Yang Kai wouldn’t need to have any intimate contact with her body.
This shocked her and also put her at bit more at ease; after all, she was an unmarried, innocent young woman. Being touched all over by a young man she wasn’t in love with was naturally not something she wished for.
Just as such thoughts were flashing across Dai Yuan’s mind, centred on her chest’s open acupuncture point, a six-centimetre-wide circle of her skin was flooded with a swirl of the Yin Pond’s water. Under the control of Yang Kai Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, the medicinal efficacies contained in this water were incorporated into Dai Yuan’s flesh, causing an uncomfortable ache to spread from her chest. Dai Yuan’s breathing instantly became laboured as it felt like something had suddenly blocked the flow of her strength in that spot.
Under the effects of the Spirit Arrays Yang Kai had portrayed, however, the various conflicting medicinal efficacies in the Yin Pond’s water blended, then forced a thread of strange glowing material out of Dai Yuan’s chest.
This glowing thread-like object did not dissipate in the Yin Pond though and instead began swirling about without the slightest hindrance.
Soon, another similar thread was forced out, and as time passed, more and more filaments were driven from Dai Yuan’s body, causing the entire Yin Pond to take on a strange luminescence.
After half an hour, Dai Yuan felt the feeling of suffocation in her chest suddenly disappear and her blocked Saint Qi began circulating again. The frigid chill which had originally been difficult for her to resist also no longer caused her any discomfort.
Dai Yuan was overjoyed and could not care about anything else, quickly releasing her Divine Sense to examine her chest.
There was no more Coloured Glass Toxin in the parts of her physique, which was centred on the previously open acupuncture point and her skin had finally been restored to its normal state, taking on a rosy, jade white complexion with none of the previous ugly, pitted areas remaining.
Because she was still soaking in the Yin Pond though, there was a bluish tint to her flesh from the cold, but that could not cover the stark contrast this portion of her body had with the rest of her figure.
Dai Yuan’s eyes nearly teared up and under the trembling of her emotions she almost allowed the Yin Pond’s water to pour into her body unchecked.
“Stabilize your mind and don’t get distracted, you can inspect yourself all you want after everything is finished!” Yang Kai’s firm shout entered Dai Yuan’s ears in the next instant, waking her from her surprise. Glancing over and seeing Yang Kai sitting cross-legged nearby, still pushing his Conflagrated Spiritual Energy into her body to blend the medicinal efficacies for the procedure, his expression calm and steady, not showing the slightest trace of embarrassment, Dai Yuan calmed down, nodded, and opened another of her acupuncture points to draw in the Yin Pond’s water.
Yang Kai immediately coordinated with her, not daring to hesitate!
Under the intense scrutiny of his Divine Sense, although Yang Kai was able to see every part of Dai Yuan’s body, equivalent to her standing in front of him completely naked, at this moment he had not the slightest stray thought, instead focusing all of his attention on meticulously urging the efficacies of the Yin Pond.
Dai Yuan had mixed a large number of herbs into this Yin Pond over the years so it was not difficult to resolve the Coloured Glass Toxin in her body, the tricky part was fusing these medicinal efficacies into Dai Yuan’s physique at a rate she was able to bear.
Fusing the medicinal efficacies into Dai Yuan’s body was not too troublesome as she was an Alchemist as well. So, when Yang Kai used his Conflagrated Divine Sense, she only needed to cooperate with him.
However, Yang Kai could do nothing about the speed at which they proceeded as that was completely dependent on Dai Yuan’s own willpower.
The Coloured Glass Toxin had penetrated deep into her body, so every time a part of it was is expelled, not only were the toxins removed, but part of her vital energy was as well. Doing this once or twice was not an issue, but as it was done more and more, Dai Yuan’s life would increasingly be at risk.
The reality of the situation was unfortunately as brutal as they had expected. Every time the toxin was forced out of a section of Dai Yuan’s body, it would take at least a stick of incense worth of time, so after half a day, less than one-fifth of her body had been purified, but Dai Yuan’s aura had already begun to fluctuate and her complexion had grown as pale as paper.
Fortunately, Dai Yuan had fully prepared for this. Taking out some pills from her Space Ring, she tossed them into her mouth and was able to restore some colour to her face.
Seeing this, Yang Kai also slightly slowed down the movement of his hands, giving her enough time to refine these pills.
However, Yang Kai and Dai Yuan did not dare to waste too much time; after all, Dai Yuan experienced enormous consumption for every moment she remained immersed in the Yin Pond. As such, after just a short break, the two began the detoxifying process again.
As time passed by, more and more of the Coloured Glass Toxin in Dai Yuan’s body was expelled, but Yang Kai’s expression only became graver.
He could not see whether Dai Yuan could overcome this challenge, because even now, she was beginning to overdraw her vitality and was barely maintaining her bodily functions and cooperating with Yang Kai on the detoxification. This was not a sustainable situation, and once she could no longer endure, Dai Yuan would definitely die.
Even if she managed to insist, Dai Yuan would end up a convalescent for a long time afterwards.
However, there was no turning back now; whether it was Yang Kai or Dai Yuan, they had no choice but to finish the detoxification one way or the other.
Seemingly feeling the concern in Yang Kai’s gaze, Dai Yuan, who was even now struggling to support herself, suddenly opened her eyes and forced out a smile that was uglier than a grimace and said, “I can handle it, so Junior Brother Yang does not need to have any scruples, please act fully!”
Yang Kai look became solemn, and after feeling her determination, he nodded silently and pushed his Conflagrated Divine Sense even more forcefully, forming a new set of Spirit Arrays inside Dai Yuan’s unguarded body, drawing in the Yin Pond’s water, and cleansing her physique with the medicinal efficacies.
Dai Yuan released pitiful screams again and again, her voice extremely bleak, as if she was suffering inhuman torture.
Another day passed by, and most of Dai Yuan’s body had been restored to its original state. Under the investigation of his Divine Sense, Yang Kai confirmed that she had the capital ordinary women could only dream of. Her skin was jade white and had a mesmerising tenderness to it, while her figure was nothing short of astonishing with rich curves in all the right places, even her pockmarked face had transformed into an alluring vision. Besides her complexion being slightly blue, there was no trace of her former, unbearable appearance and all that remained was a stunning beauty that could ignite a fire in any man’s heart.
Combined with her severely weakened and fragile state, Dai Yuan currently appeared incredibly charming.
Yang Kai had long expected this though, so he was not surprised and continued to focus on the task at hand.
At a certain moment, Yang Kai took back his Conflagrated Divine Sense and shouted vigorously, “Quickly swallow the Blood Invigorating Mushroom!”
Dai Yuan was barely conscious now, her pair of beautiful eyes dull and glazed over. Currently, she only knew how to unconsciously cooperate with Yang Kai’s movements and was relying solely on the obsession in her heart to persist.
Nevertheless, after hearing Yang Kai’s shout, a touch of clarity returned to Dai Yuan’s eyes and she swiftly took out the wooden box containing the Blood Invigorating Mushroom from her Space Ring, opened it, and swallowed the contents. Immediately after, she took out the jade bottle Yang Kai had handed her and drank down the medical liquid it contained.
When these precious medicines entered her abdomen, Dai Yuan’s conditional finally began to improve, the paleness on her face was quickly replaced with a strong crimson blush as the blood in her veins began to rapidly circulate. The massive amount of vitality contained in the Blood Invigorating Mushroom began coursing through her body, rapidly restoring the vital energy she had lost.
Yang Kai did not wait for her to completely refine the Blood Invigorating Mushroom’s medicinal efficacies before wrapping her in his Conflagrated Divine Sense again.
Success or failure would depend on these final moments. If Dai Yuan’s will was strong enough, she should have a thirty percent chance of making it; if not, she would exhaust her vitality completely and fall.
Dai Yuan understood this better than anyone else and immediately began fully cooperating with Yang Kai.
In an instant, the entire Yin Pond became turbulent as its water madly flooded into Dai Yuan’s body, causing her figure to be enveloped in layers of thick white mist while strange glowing filaments were constantly forced out of her physique.
Thousands of metres below Thousand Illusion Peak’s summit, beside a ten-metre-wide Yin Pond, Yang Kai sat cross-legged, his brow slightly furrowed as he stared at an unremarkable looking grey bead he was playing with in his hand.
Dai Yuan’s detoxification had been completed, and by the Heaven’s grace, she was able to survive and purge all the Coloured Glass Toxin from her body. Currently, she was in a comatose state, but before she fell completely unconscious, she had suddenly opened her mouth and spat out this small bead and told Yang Kai it was a Coloured Glass Bead, then passed out.
Yang Kai brought her out of the Yin Pond, used his Saint Qi to dry the frigid water from her body, then draped his robes over her before settling down nearby.
If possible, Yang Kai wanted to carry her back to her room to rest, but with Dai Yuan currently only wearing tight fitting undergarments, picking her up and holding her close was a bit inconvenient.
There didn’t seem to be anything special about the bead in his hand, and could have been written off as worthless by those who only casually saw it, but as Yang Kai carefully observed this bead, he discovered to his amazement that its interior contained thousands of rays of multi-coloured light that perfectly matched the Coloured Glass Divine Light he had seen before. These rays of light were even capable of suppressing his Divine Sense and penetrating his Knowledge Sea defenses to shake his Soul.
Yang Kai immediately understood that this seemingly ordinary bead was an extraordinary treasure.
Although Yang Kai had not personally seen Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass before, he could tell that the formation of this bead must have something to do with the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass that Dai Yuan had been ingesting to cultivate her Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art. However, after thoroughly inspecting it, Yang Kai discovered something quite strange. While this bead was somewhat like an Alchemy pill, it also had properties resembling an Artifact Refining material. It seemed to be an existence that was situated somewhere between these two, making it difficult to classify.
As he was holding this Coloured Glass Bead appreciatively, Yang Kai expression suddenly changed, and he quickly glanced over towards Dai Yuan who was still lying nearby.
Dai Yuan’s long eyelashes had just fluttered slightly, and her delicate jade fingers seemed to have flexed. Obvious signs that she was about to wake up.
Looking at her completely unrecognizable face, Yang Kai could not help letting out a sigh of admiration. Before purging the Coloured Glass Toxin, Dai Yuan’s appearance had been quite unsightly, but now she had become an extraordinary beauty, even slightly superior to Yin Su Die.
Yang Kai was not confident that if she had such an appearance before she entered the Yin Pond, he would have been able to maintain a completely calm state. Thinking about it carefully, he felt that his heart would have been at least a bit unsteady; after all, what man would be able to remain completely indifferent when facing such an alluring woman when she was nearly naked.
A short time later, Dai Yuan opened her eyes and began to stir, quickly discovering that she was currently very weak.
“Since you’re awake, quickly adjust your breathing, your current state is quite frail,” Yang Kai lightly encouraged.
Hearing this, Dai Yuan moved her gaze and quickly found Yang Kai sitting close to her, looking at her with a smile. Seeing him, she tried to say something, but did not have the strength to form the words.
After discovering that the robes Yang Kai had previously been wearing were missing and that there was something covering her, Dai Yuan’s beautiful eyes flashed a trace of gratitude and security, immediately closing her eyes again and silently circulating a healing art.
Two hours later, Dai Yuan slowly sat up, and after properly dressing herself, she took out many restorative pills she had prepared in advance from her Space Ring and began swallowing them while continuing to meditate.
Another day later, Dai Yuan exhaled deeply and opened her eyes again. This time, her beautiful eyes were full of vitality, and it even seemed that her cultivation had grown. Although her face was still pale, it was no longer moribund; if she continued to meditate, it would only be a matter of time before she completely recovered.
Getting up lithely, Dai Yuan walked over to Yang Kai and bowed deeply, “Dai Yuan thanks Junior Brother Yang. If I had not had Junior Brother Yang’s help this time, I am afraid I would have already fallen. Dai Yuan will never forget Junior Brother Yang’s life saving grace.”
Yang Kai also stood up and shook his head with a smile and said lightly, “It was thanks to your own efforts that you managed to pass through this ordeal, I did not do anything.”
Dai Yuan shook her head slowly, “Junior Brother Yang thinks too highly of me, I know that if I had not sought out Junior Brother Yang but instead asked Grandmaster Xiao or one of the Elders from Medicine Pill Sect, I would definitely not be standing here now. If nothing else, the bottle of medicinal liquid Junior Brother Yang gave me must have been refined from many precious herbs, yes? Without that bottle of medicinal liquid, I would not have been able to endure the last few hours of the detoxification.”
Dai Yuan had clearly felt that after taking the Blood Invigorating Mushroom and the bottle of medicinal liquid, her lost vital energy had been greatly restored, and as time passed, it continued to be supplemented.
It was precisely because of this that she was able to persist until the end. Otherwise, she would have fallen halfway through.
Taking the Blood Invigorating Mushroom directly would not have produced such an effect. If it had been the Blood Mushroom Pill Dai Yuan had taken, such a result would not be unexpected, but simply consuming the Blood Invigorating Mushroom without refining it at all could not achieve this. As such, it was obvious that this long-lasting effect was due to the unknown bottle of medicinal liquid!
Although Dai Yuan did not know what the medicinal liquid Yang Kai gave her had cost him, she was clear that it wasn’t something ordinary. Yang Kai did not even mention this though, showing the depths of his generosity, but how could Dai Yuan not be concerned about it?
Hearing her say this, Yang Kai did not try to deny or confirm anything.
What Dai Yuan did not know was that although the bottle of medicinal liquid had indeed cost Yang Kai a lot of precious spirit herbs, the most important ingredient was actually a drop of his Golden Blood. Yang Kai’s Golden Blood contained an enormous amount of vital energy, which was naturally the best supplement for Dai Yuan’s damaged vitality.
“Regardless of the process, Sister Dai Yuan ultimately succeeded, something worth celebrating! En, congratulations!” Yang Kai let out a laugh as he changed the subject.
A charming smile blossomed on Dai Yuan’s face as she turned around and gazed at her peerless appearance reflected in the calm Yin Pond water, her beautiful eyes flashing a clear and vibrant light.
Yang Kai stood to the side without disturbing her, allowing Dai Yuan to savour the joy of regaining her original beauty.
After a while, Dai Yuan suddenly reached out and waved her sleeve, causing her mesmerizing reflection in the Yin Pond to ripple and disappear.
Immediately, Dai Yuan circulated her Saint Qi and under Yang Kai’s stunned gaze, the beautiful appearance she had just regained reverted back to the ugly pockmarked one she had just rid herself of!
Seeing this, Yang Kai could not help frowning slightly.
All women wished to be beautiful, and Dai Yuan was no exception. If that were not the case, she wouldn’t have lost her calm when the Heaven Battling Union disciple had taunted her so back in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, nor would she have revealed such a strong look of nostalgia just now.
However, since she had done this, she must have her own reasons. Yang Kai did not ask anything, but feeling a bit curious, he used his Divine Sense to sweep her face and was amazed to discover that he couldn’t see any flaws in this disguise. It was as if Dai Yuan’s face had really reverted to its former ugly appearance.
This surprised Yang Kai quite a bit; after all, he had seen Dai Yuan’s true face just now with his own eyes.
Although Yang Kai had not asked anything, Dai Yuan took the initiative to explain, “Junior Brother Yang may laugh if he likes. I simply think that now is not a good time to reveal this matter, so I can only conceal it for the time being. It won’t be too late to inform my Honoured Master about this after I break through to the Origin Returning Realm.”
“Sister Dai Yuan has clearly considered this matter carefully,” Yang Kai nodded in agreement before immediately asking, “May I ask Sister Dai Yuan what the use of this bead is?”
Saying so, he took out the Coloured Glass Bead and held it up.
Dai Yuan looked at the Coloured Glass Bead and smiled lightly, “Right, I was only able to take out this bead and didn’t inform Junior Brother Yang about its uses. En, in a sense, to me, this bead is somewhat similar to a Monster Core from a Monster Beast!”
“A Monster Core?” Yang Kai was stunned.
“En, because the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art was created based on how Monster Beast’s cultivate. Junior Brother Yang should know that some Monster Beasts have an innate ability to devour various minerals, extract mineral essence, and then store them in their Monster Core, right? Cultivating the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art imitates this process by taking Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass into my body and producing this bead.”
Yang Kai was truly surprised by this revelation, but quickly realizing a certain point, he hastily asked, “If that is the case, now that you’ve lost this bead, won’t it have a negative effect on you?”
“There is indeed some negative impact, but it’s nothing serious. While it is analogous to a Monster Core, it is not as vital to me as a core would be to a Monster Beast. As long as I have enough time and enough Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass, I can continuously produce such beads.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai felt relieved while secretly thinking to himself that the master who created this Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art was really a Heaven defying genius. A Secret Art that actually allowed a cultivator to produce a bead similar to a Monster Beast’s Core in their own body. It was no wonder when he was investigating it, Yang Kai had felt it was like an Alchemy pill while also resembling an Artifact Refining material.
Dai Yuan looked at Yang Kai with a smile and exhaled an orchid scent as she continued, “Although this Coloured Glass Bead is important to me, having it or not will not affect me greatly. On the other hand, it will be extremely useful for Junior Brother Yang.”
“Oh? I hope Sister Dai Yuan can explain clearly!” Yang Kai looked at her curiously. He had been investigating this Coloured Glass Bead for quite some time but had yet to figure out what exactly he was supposed to do with it. He had planned on asking Yang Yan, but now that he heard Dai Yuan say this, it would obviously be easier to get an explanation from her.
“If Junior Brother Yang can refine this Coloured Glass Bead, perhaps you will be able to comprehend some of its mysteries; after all, it is formed from concentrated Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass essence. If Junior Brother Yang can comprehend the mysterious of the Coloured Glass Divine Light, it will allow you to obtain a powerful technique to use in battle. With Junior Brother Yang’s aptitude, and the assistance of this Coloured Glass Bead, I would estimate you have an eighty percent chance of success.”
“Coloured Glass Divine Light!” Yang Kai expression brightened. Before, when he was helping Dai Yuan with her detoxification, he had suffered a small loss from this Coloured Glass Divine Light, clearly illustrating the power of this strange multi-coloured light. Ordinarily, without cultivating the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art, no other cultivator had any chance of comprehending how to use Coloured Glass Divine Light, but with the help of this Coloured Glass Bead, such a feat might be possible. Yang Kai was naturally overjoyed to learn this.
Gill: 13 chapters this week!!!
(forgot to add this as I was feeling a tad sick soz)
If this was really the case, this gift from Dai Yuan could not be underestimated!
“Junior Brother Yang need not worry, this Coloured Glass Bead is different from the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass I took, it has no toxic side effects. If Junior Brother Yang carefully refines it, there should be no problems. This is the compensation I promised Junior Brother Yang before. Dai Yuan has no other things of real value as all my resources have been spent on preparing for this detoxification. I hope Junior Brother Yang will not refuse.” What Dai Yuan did not tell Yang Kai was that this one Coloured Glass Bead was the result of her diligently cultivating the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art for more than twenty years. Although she had now reached the minor accomplishment stage in this Secret Art and could condense another Coloured Glass Bead, doing so would take several years of effort.
Yang Kai grinned, “I am very satisfied with this reward, Sister Dai Yuan is too considerate.”
Saying so, he put away the Coloured Glass Bead before turning to look at the nearly drained Yin Pond and said, “Since this matter has been settled, we should head back up.”
“En, after so many days of delay, Sister Yang Yan must have grown anxious,” Dai Yuan smiled lightly and led Yang Kai back up to the main cave. It seemed that because she had restored her original appearance, every movement Dai Yuan made now contained a kind of innate charm, completely different from her indifferent aura from before, a fact that secretly surprised Yang Kai.
Not long after, the two returned to the upper cave where they separated and returned to their respective rooms.
After taking out the Coloured Glass Bead and playing with it for a while, Yang Kai’s eyes flashed as he had just thought up something, a grin slowly appearing on his face. At that moment though, the door to his stone room was pushed open and Yang Yan, wrapped in her trademark black robe, walked inside.
“Is everything done?” Yang Yan asked.
“En.”
“Good, then we should leave,” Yang Yan seemed a little anxious but did not ask about what Dai Yuan had wanted Yang Kai to help her with.
“What happened?” Yang Kai frowned.
“Nothing happened, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to remain here for too long. Xiao Xiao has been gone for seven or eight days now so it’s about time for him to come back. Being too greedy may cause unnecessary troubles.
Yang Kai thought about it for a moment and felt what Yang Yan said made sense, nodding in agreement, “Alright. Then, we’ll leave in the morning.”
Although they were still inside Thousand Illusion Peak, Yang Kai could investigate the situation outside with his Divine Sense. It was the middle of the night right now so leaving would be inconvenient so he could only wait for dawn before setting out.
After reaching an agreement, Yang Yan also returned to her room to rest.
After a peaceful night, Yang Kai immediately informed Dai Yuan about his intention to leave. Although Dai Yuan enthusiastically invited Yang Kai to stay a few more days, hoping to discuss their shared interest in Alchemy, with Yang Kai having a guilty conscience at the moment, how could he continue to linger? Seeing that there was no way to persuade him, Dai Yuan reluctantly agreed and personally saw Yang Kai and Yang Yan out of Grand Crystal Mountain Range.
On the way, Dai Yuan told Yang Kai that after taking a few months to fully recover, she would enter retreat to break through to the Origin Returning Realm. Once she succeeded, she would visit Dragon Cave Mountain again to thank him in person!
Yang Kai naturally agreed.
While the two were talking, a thunderous sound suddenly spread across the entire Grand Crystal Mountain Range and immediately after, a beam of multicoloured light shot up into the sky. Even though they were thousands of kilometres away, the group of three were still able to see this beam of light clearly.
“Coloured Glass Mountain!” Dai Yuan’s expression changed dramatically as she stared towards the beam of multi-coloured light and exclaimed. The spot where this beam originated from was obviously where Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain was situated. Seeing this situation, it seemed that the grand Spirit Array arranged around Coloured Glass Mountain had become unstable, allowing Coloured Glass Mountain’s Coloured Glass Divine Light to break through.
Yang Kai’s face also changed slightly as he and Yang Yan exchanged a knowing glance, the two of them having a myriad of thoughts flash across their minds. But soon, Yang Kai restored a calm expression and asked, “Did something happen with your noble Sect’s Coloured Glass Mountain?”
“En, I don’t know exactly what’s happened, but it seems that the barrier surrounding it was somewhat triggered. Junior Brother Yang, I originally wanted to send you all the way, but it appears I will not be able to accompany you any further. Since I cultivate the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art, I must immediately head out. I will have to say goodbye to you and Sister Yang Yan here!”
“Since such a big event has occurred in your noble Sect, Sister Dai Yuan truly should respond promptly. We’ve already arrived at the edge of Grand Crystal Mountain Range, so as long as Yang Yan and I follow the path, we shouldn’t have any problems leaving,” Yang Kai gently nodded.
“Thank you. One day, I will surely patronize your Dragon Cave Mountain. At that time, I hope we can have a long discussion,” Dai Yuan smiled apologetically before her tender body flickered and transformed into a stream of light, returning along the path they had just flown at a very fast speed.
After her figure disappeared, Yang Kai pulled Yang Yan’s hand and shouted, “Let’s go!”
The two also summoned their Star Shuttles and quickly took off. Although they did not know what had happened, Yang Kai was certain it was related to the Stone Puppet, so how could they foolishly remain any longer?
After all, there was an accident when he had retrieved the Stone Puppet last night.
Fortunately, they had decided to leave today, otherwise with such a development happening right now, Yang Kai and Yang Yan would have had a hard time trying to leave Coloured Glass Sect. With Dai Yuan acting as a guarantor, he wasn’t worried that any harm would come to them inside Coloured Glass Sect; however, if any kind of clue had been left behind that could trace back to them, the Coloured Glass Sect would definitely not let them go, no matter how Dai Yuan advocated for them.
At the same time, beside Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain that Yang Kai had seen from afar before, dozens of Origin Returning Realm masters were on high alert. Among them, there were at least ten Third-Order Origin Realm masters, all of them releasing an incredible momentum.
Half of these masters were shuttling back and forth around Coloured Glass Mountain, constantly pouring streams of pure Saint Qi into a translucent energy barrier. Receiving so much Saint Qi, this great barrier fluctuated visibly and released a series of big and small ripples that gave off a strong suppressive power. These ripples were gradually suppressing the Coloured Glass Divine Light that was shooting up into the sky back into the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain. As for the remaining Origin Realm masters, they all had their Saint Qi condensed as they stared solemnly at the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain, preparing to act at a moment’s notice.
“What happened!” A booming voice suddenly resounded as an old man with a thin figure, silver hair, and a long beard appeared beside Coloured Glass Mountain.
Many Origin Returning Realm masters saw this old man and immediately cupped their fists, “Greetings, Sect Master!”
This old man was the Sect Master of Coloured Glass Sect, Gong Xing He.
Gong Xing He just waved his hand, motioning for everyone to dispense with the formalities as he turned his gaze towards a pair of Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters who were rapidly flying over.
The man appeared middle-aged and had an imposing stature. Although it was impossible to tell his exact age, the vicissitudes which permeated his eyes clearly indicated he was not young. As for the woman, she had the appearance of a beautiful middle-aged woman with a slender figure that while a bit older was still quite charming.
The pair arrived in front of Gong Xing He and respectfully greeted him.
“Elder Ma, Elder Du, the two of you have been defending this place for years, what happened just now?” Gong Xing He looked at them and asked with a solemn expression.
The middle-aged man surnamed Ma and the beautiful woman surnamed Du exchanged a quick glance before the man cupped his fists and replied, “Reporting to Sect Master, the situation is like this. Last night, for some unknown reason, Elder Du suddenly felt that the grand barrier below Coloured Glass Mountain seemed to show some signs of loosening. I immediately sent the Mountain Quarrying Beast to investigate, but soon after I unexpectedly lost contact with it. Even now, it has still not responded to my attempts to communicate with it or returned on its own. Then, just now, the Coloured Glass Divine Light suddenly erupted. The two of us believe that a section of the barrier underground has been damaged, otherwise this kind of matter could not have occurred.”
“The barrier has been damaged?” Gong Xing He frowned, quickly asking, “This has not happened in hundreds of years. Every few years we stabilize the Spirit Array and barrier, so how could it suddenly have become damaged?”
“This…” The man surnamed Ma hesitated for a while, unable to offer an explanation.
Seeing him behave like this, Gong Xing He naturally knew that inquiring further would be pointless and instead turned to the beautiful woman and asked, “Elder Du, do we only have one Mountain Quarrying Beast available?”
The beautiful middle-aged woman smiled bitterly, “We indeed have more than one Mountain Quarrying Beast, but only one is capable of withstanding the intensity of the Coloured Glass Divine Light close to the Coloured Glass Mountain’s barrier, the others aren’t mature enough yet. These beasts were purchased specially from Myriad Beast Sect for the purpose of guarding Coloured Glass Mountain but Myriad Beast Sect has not given us the complete method to cultivate and control them.”
“So, we have no way of finding out what happened to the barrier below Coloured Glass Mountain in its current condition?” Gong Xing He immediately looked displeased.
The man surnamed Ma and the beautiful woman surnamed Du hung their heads down without saying a word.
“Do we have any idea what could have caused this?” Gong Xing He asked again.
The two Elders’ expressions became even more awkward.
Seeing this situation, another Elder nearby said, “Although we don’t know if the barrier was damaged as a result of some natural phenomenon or if it was damaged artificially, the most important thing right now is to suppress the outbreak of the Coloured Glass Divine Light. If we allow things to continue like this, the entire Spirit Array might collapse, and we might lose this treasure mountain. While we suppress the outbreak here though, we must thoroughly investigate all the outsiders who entered Coloured Glass Sect recently. If this was not some kind of accident, it may be related to one of these outsiders.”
“Yes!” A number of others immediately agreed.
Gong Xing He pondered for a moment before turning to look at the Elder who had spoken just now and nodded, “I leave it to you to investigate the outsiders in the Sect right now, don’t allow any of them to leave Coloured Glass Sect but also don’t embarrass them. If it really was one of them, they must have been after the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass. Good! I want to see just who has the guts to try something so audacious!”
“Yes!” The Elder received this order and immediately went to work.
Not far away, when Yin Su Die overheard all this, she suddenly smiled and quickly chased after this Elder, seemingly wanting to report something.
At the same time, another graceful young woman wearing a gorgeous dress walked up to Gong Xing He and said, “Sect Master, please restrain your anger. In fact, there is another method besides the Mountain Quarrying Beast to investigate what has happened with the barrier down below.”
Seeing this young woman speak, Gong Xing He squinted slightly before nodding, “Fu’er, explain. What other solution do you have?”
The young woman smiled and said, “Did father forget? Among my disciples, there is one who has cultivated the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art.”
The young woman and Gong Xing He shared a father-daughter relationship, but both were Third Order Origin Returning Realm masters. This situation was not uncommon on Shadowed Star though, because the Third Order Origin Returning Realm was the limit a cultivator could achieve here. As such, within many great Sects, multiple generations of the same family, as well as many Masters and Disciples could have the same cultivation.
From the way Gong Xing He addressed this young woman and from the words she spoke, it was apparent that she was the one Dai Yuan mentioned to Yang Kai, Gong Ao Fu of Myriad Crystal Peak.
“Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art…” Gong Xing He heard these words and could not help a trace of fear from flashing across his eyes. The other Elders present were also the same, all of them seemingly remembering something with complex expressions.
“You mean the Junior who currently lives on Thousand Illusion Peak?” Gong Xing He’s eyes quickly returned to normal and he asked lightly.
“Yes.” Gong Ao Fu nodded.
“Where is she?” Gong Xing He asked.
“It seems that she’s already on her way here, probably because she noticed the situation,” Gong Ao Fu turned her head towards a certain direction where an azure streak of light was quickly approaching.
After waiting for a moment, the azure light arrived in front of everyone and a graceful figure revealed itself.
However, when everyone saw the face of this figure, many strange expressions appeared.
The one who had arrived was naturally Dai Yuan, but obviously having anticipated that many of the Sect’s Elders would already be here, she didn’t show any signs of panic and greeted Gong Xing He with a calm expression, “Thousand Illusion Peak disciple Dai Yuan greets Sect Master!”
Gong Xing He gently nodded but did not say anything.
Dai Yuan next saluted Gong Ao Fu and the other Elders who had gathered.
Gong Ao Fu Dai frowned slightly as she used her Divine Sense to sweep Dai Yuan, suspiciously asking, “Yuan’er, what have you been up to these past few days? Why does it look like your vitality is slightly damaged?”
Dai Yuan bowed her head and replied, “Disciple had a slight accident while cultivating, but it has not caused any lasting harm. Many thanks for Honoured Master’s concern.”
Although her words were polite, Dai Yuan’s expression was completely indifferent, as if she was only making the appropriate replies without any emotion behind them.
Seeing this, Gong Xing He knit his brow slightly, but not caring about her attitude, he quickly asked, “Your Honoured Master said that you have a way to investigate the situation below Coloured Glass Mountain, is this the case?”
“Investigate below Coloured Glass Mountain?”
“Yes, we suspect that the underground barrier has been damaged, but we are unable to tell if it was some kind of natural occurrence or if it was done intentionally, so we need to check it. Is there any problem?”
“The Sect raised and nurtured me, so now that I can be of use to it, Dai Yuan will naturally cooperate!” Dai Yuan replied faintly.
Hearing this, Gong Ao Fu opened her mouth and seemed to want to say something, but thinking twice, she simply said, “Since that is the case, investigate the situation and report back to us.”
“Disciple understands!” Dai Yuan did not hesitate, immediately closing her eyes and circulating her Secret Art. Soon, Coloured Glass Divine Light identical to the one bursting from Coloured Glass Mountain burst from Dai Yuan’s body, the only difference was the light from her was less than a millionth in intensity. This halo of Coloured Glass Light surrounded Dai Yuan for a moment before suddenly condensing into a ray that shot into the ground below Coloured Glass Mountain.
Seeing this situation, many Elders who had never witnessed the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art in action showed looks of interest. Because Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain could not be suppressed by the five elements and also had the effect of restraining Spiritual Energy, even if their cultivation realms were much higher than Dai Yuan’s, they were unable to use their Divine Senses to investigate the situation below Coloured Glass Mountain.
But now, Dai Yuan, who was just a Third Order Saint King, was easily able to accomplish this feat, stimulating their curiosity.
Naturally, they understood the dangers of cultivating the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art, so while they were curious about its effects, none of them had any intent to practice it, most of them soon just waiting for Dai Yuan to finish her investigation.
Sometime later, a ray of light shot up from below Coloured Glass Mountain and rushed into Dai Yuan’s tender body.
Seeing this situation, the gathered Elders of Coloured Glass Sect looked to Dai Yuan and waited for her answer.
However, Dai Yuan kept her eyes closed tightly, as if she was perceiving something. It was only after quite a while passed that she opened her eyes and bowed, “Reporting to Sect Master, Honoured Master, the barrier beneath Coloured Glass Mountain has indeed been damaged, and nearby where the damage is there seems to be the corpse of a Monster Beast. It looks as if this Monster Beast touched the barrier and was killed by it, damaging it in the process.”
“A Monster Beast?” The beautiful woman surnamed Du was shocked and could not help asking, “Could it be the Mountain Quarrying Beast?”
“It can’t be,” The man surnamed Ma also looked puzzled, “The Mountain Quarrying Beast shouldn’t have damaged the barrier. It has already performed many investigations around the mountain and never once had any trouble, why would it suddenly make such a grave mistake?”
The beautiful woman surnamed Du looked at Dai Yuan and asked with a faint smile, “Martial Niece, could you have been mistaken? The Mountain Quarrying Beast was specially purchased from Myriad Beast Sect to be used here and should not have broken the barrier.”
“I can’t be certain what happened, I only reported what I was able to see. If Elder Du does not believe me, you should find some other ways to investigate the situation.” After Dai Yuan said a few words, her face became quite pale. Using the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art just now had exhausted her greatly.
The beautiful woman surnamed Du smiled with embarrassment and did not say anything more. If they had a way to check the situation carefully, how could they have needed to use Dai Yuan’s ability? It was more so that since she and Elder Ma had been guarding Coloured Glass Mountain when this problem had occurred, they would inevitably have to bear some responsibility.
“Since it was the fault of the Mountain Quarrying Beast, this issue isn’t complicated. What we need to do now is patch the Spirit Array. Since the barrier underground has been damaged, we need to find some way to repair it remotely or compensate for the breakage,” Gong Xing He flashed a thoughtful look on his face but did not ask Dai Yuan any further questions.
“Father… Since this problem was caused by the Mountain Quarrying Beast, should we still investigate the outsiders currently inside the Sect?” Gong Ao Fu glanced over at Dai Yuan when she asked this question, apparently having heard from Yin Su Die a few days ago that Dai Yuan had brought guests back with her.
“I’ll leave responsibility for this matter to you!” Gong Xing He waved his hand before turning around and flying off, his figure quickly disappearing.
After the Sect Master left, many Elders could not help secretly breathing a sigh of relief. Elder Ma and Elder Du soon exchanged a glance, the former saying, “Although according to the investigation by Martial Niece Dai Yuan, the barrier was not damaged by an outsider, something about this situation feels slightly off. Elder Du has been cultivating that Mountain Quarrying Beast for more than thirty years and has never made any mistakes, yet this time there was an accident. Perhaps there is something more to this incident we are not aware of yet.”
Everyone who heard this naturally understood that these two were trying to deflect responsibility. If this incident was the result of an outsider’s meddling, the responsibility borne by Elder Ma and Elder Du would naturally be lighter. As such, Elder Du immediately took the initiative to launch a thorough investigation.
Elder Ma could not feign lack of involvement and naturally cooperated fully with Elder Du to check all the outsiders who had recently arrived in the Sect.
On the other side, Dai Yuan came over to Gong Ao Fu with a pale face and bowed politely, “Honoured Master, disciple will take her leave now.”
“En, good, you’ve worked hard. The damage to your vitality this time has not been light; Before you reach the minor accomplishment stage in the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art, you must avoid using the Coloured Glass Divine Light as much as possible. Return to Thousand Illusion Peak and take a good rest for the next few months. Take this bottle of Hundred Gauze Pills, it should be able to help you restore some of your lost strength.” Saying so, Gong Ao Fu threw a bottle of pills to Dai Yuan.
Dai Yuan took it, expressed her gratitude, then departed respectfully. Gong Ao Fu asking her to take a few months to recuperate was exactly what Dai Yuan wished for. She originally intended to spend several months recovering her strength before attempting to break through to the Origin Returning Realm.
While the Coloured Glass Sect Elders busied themselves repairing the grand Spirit Array around Coloured Glass Mountain, Dai Yuan returned to Thousand Illusion Peak. Once there, she headed straight to the room where Yang Kai had been living.
Standing inside this room and looking around, Dai Yuan’s beautiful eyes flashed a touch of uncertainty.
After a brief hesitation, Dai Yuan pushed her Saint Qi and released the Coloured Glass Divine Light from her body again, condensing it into a ball she then sent underground. Closing her eyes, Dai Yuan carefully investigated the situation down below before suddenly shivering slightly as a look of shock appeared on her face, murmuring under her breath in the next month, “It really was you!”
She had noticed earlier when she was exploring the situation with Coloured Glass Mountain that a small tunnel had been dug beneath it. On top of that, the interior of Coloured Glass Mountain seemed to have been hollowed out somewhat and a great deal of Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass was missing.
However, while following this small underground tunnel, Dai Yuan was shocked to discover that it actually led off towards Thousand Illusion Peak!
Although the entire tunnel had been deliberately covered up, there were still some slight traces left behind. Under the Coloured Glass Divine Light’s investigation, these traces became quite noticeable.
Shocked at the time, Dai Yuan did not dare to report everything she had seen because she vaguely felt that this matter might have something to do with Yang Kai. At that time, it was just a hunch, but to make sure there were no accidents she pushed the blame for the incident onto the Mountain Quarrying Beast. However, Dai Yuan could tell that the Mountain Quarrying Beast had not been killed by the barrier at all. Instead, it looked as if it had been patted to death by some kind of blunt object.
Now that she had returned to Thousand Illusion Peak and investigated, Dai Yuan was immediately able to verify her suspicions.
Beneath the room where Yang Kai had been staying, there were identical traces of a small tunnel leading towards Coloured Glass Mountain.
In recent years, Dai Yuan had only received two guests on Thousand Illusion Peak, Yang Kai and Yang Yan, so it only made sense that this was their doing.
Dai Yuan did not know what kind of magical method Yang Kai had used to dig a tunnel from here to Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain then extract a large amount of Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass completely undetected, however, she knew if this matter ever came to light, Yang Kai would be hunted down Coloured Glass Sect. His method of collecting Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass without using the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art was something the Elders of the Sect would not be willing to let go of.
Fortunately, only Dai Yuan cultivated the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art, so even the Sect Master wouldn’t be able to discover anything was amiss unless the entire Coloured Glass Mountain was moved. Having pushed the blame onto the Mountain Quarrying Beast, Dai Yuan was confident that Yang Kai wouldn’t be subject to any doubt.
At this point, Dai Yuan felt strangely calm in her heart as she decided to bury this matter permanently and not tell another soul about it. She even took some time to completely erase all traces of the small tunnel deep underground leading to the room where Yang Kai had lived.
Yang Kai hadn’t thought that Dai Yuan would actually have a method to uncover his little scheme. He thought everything had gone smoothly with no one being the wiser.
Before he and Yang Yan left, Yang Kai made the Stone Puppet destroy the underground tunnel, but both of them had apparently underestimated the power of the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art and the Coloured Glass Divine Light.
At this moment, Yang Kai and Yang Yan were already a hundred thousand kilometres away from Grand Crystal Mountain Range and were flying towards a certain destination.
But Yang Kai still felt a slight sense of discomfort so with a solemn look he released his Divine Sense to investigate the situation nearby.
“Why do you seem on edge?” Yang Yan asked with a frown.
“En, when the Stone Puppet returned, it mentioned it encountered a strange Monster Beast. Although it was only a Sixth-Order Monster Beast and the Stone Puppet instantly patted it to death, the change in Coloured Glass Mountain must be related to this. I don’t know if that Monster Beast was able to pass any information back to its master. If it did, we need to pick up our pace.”
“Xiao Xiao killed a Monster Beast?” Yang Yan exclaimed; she had only just learned about this matter.
“It should be a Monster Beast specially raised by Coloured Glass Sect. I don’t know what species it was, only that it was able to ignore the barriers under Coloured Glass Mountain. It was probably released by the Elders of Coloured Glass Sect to investigate the underground situation. Fortunately, the Stone Puppet acted swiftly and killed it before it had time to react; otherwise, I’m afraid things would have become troublesome…”Just as he said these words, Yang Kai raised his head and stared up ahead, narrowing his eyes slightly.
“What happened?”
“Someone is coming this way,” Yang Kai squinted as he continued to stare forward, a thoughtful look appearing on his face.
Yang Yan also looked in the direction Yang Kai was staring, but she was unable to discover anything. However, knowing that Yang Kai was different from ordinary people, she wasn’t surprised that he sensed something she couldn’t and simply asked lightly, “Are they after us?”
If someone was pursing them from Coloured Glass Sect, they should have appeared behind them, so why were they coming from the front?
“It’s Yin Su Die! It seems they really are targeting us,” Yang Kai smiled bitterly.
Yang Yan thought about it for a moment before suddenly saying, “Coloured Glass Sect must have a Space Array that is connected to the nearby city, otherwise this situation would be impossible. What should we do?”
“What else can we do? If we try to avoid them it would be like admitting we’re guilty,” Yang Kai shook his head; he decided to pretend he hadn’t discovered that some people were approaching and prepared to openly meet them.
Because he found that Yin Su Die, while not alone, wasn’t accompanied by an Origin Returning Realm master, Yang Kai wasn’t afraid to meet her.
At a position a few hundred kilometres ahead, Yin Su Die and two other Third-Order Saint King cultivators were flying towards Yang Kai with a faint trace of satisfaction apparent on her face. Before, when she heard the Sect Master order a thorough investigation of all the visitors to the Sect, Yin Su Die rejoiced; after all, she had suffered a small loss when she used her Beguiling Technique on Yang Kai a few days ago, allowing him to take advantage of her and stirring up a great deal of resentment in her heart.
Without even mentioning this though, Yang Kai being a guest of Dai Yuan alone was enough to stimulate Yin Su Die. She had been worried that she would be able to find an opportunity to make trouble for Yang Kai, but such an opportunity had actually presented itself much faster than she anticipated.
She was quite interested in what kind of relationship Dai Yuan and Yang Kai shared and what purpose she had for inviting Yang Kai back to Thousand Illusion Peak this time.
However, how could Yin Su Die have imagined that this so-called thorough investigation of all outsiders was just loud thunder with light rain? When she had reported to the Elder in charge of this investigation that Yang Kai was just a Second-Order Saint King, they had immediately lost any interest and didn’t have any intention of sending out a pursuit team. However, the Elder also seemed to understand Yin Su Die had her own motives for this so they didn’t prevent her from taking some people to chase after Yang Kai.
As such, Yin Su Die recruited two relatively strong helpers then used Coloured Glass Sect’s Space Array to travel to a city roughly one hundred thousand kilometres away.
Of the two cultivators Yin Su Die brought with her, one of them had a burly figure and bulging muscles which he exposed with his sleeveless robes named Hou Jian. This man looked like a great bear that possessed immense physical strength and constantly had a malevolent look upon his face, giving him a cruel impression.
But when this menacing man looked at Yin Su Die, his face filled with tenderness, and when he spoke to her, he also deliberately lowered his voice, seemingly afraid he would frighten this beautiful woman.
The other man Yin Su Die recruited, named Luo Min, wore refined robes and had a dignified face, giving him an intelligent and handsome appearance. At this moment, a light seemed to flash across the depths of his eyes as he continuously scanned his surroundings searching for something. With his pair of eyes, nothing within a radius of a hundred kilometres could escape his vision.
“Junior Brother Luo, have you found them yet?” The burly man suddenly glanced over at the other person and asked, “You’ve been looking for so long yet haven’t discovered any clues yet, are you even trying?”
“What are you implying?” Luo Min heard his burly companion’s question and immediately wore a displeased look upon his face, “They left Grand Crystal Mountain Range some time ago, and although we managed to get in front of them, who knows which direction they went? If Senior Brother Hou doesn’t feel relieved, you can try searching for them yourself. I heard that Senior Brother has recently put a lot of effort into cultivating his Divine Sense, this is a good opportunity to see the results of your training! It seems Master even rewarded Senior Brother with a bottle of Clear Spirit Pills, so presumably Senior Brother’s Divine Sense is much stronger than before, yes?”
Listening to the ridicule in this Junior Brother Luo’s voice, Hou Jian’s face immediately became gloomy. His Secret Art didn’t pay much attention to the growth of his Soul and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that it was his biggest shortcoming. As his strength had grown, this shortcoming had become more and more obvious and some time ago, he had been forced to start single-mindedly cultivating his Spiritual Energy.
Now that this sore spot had been pointed out by his Junior Brother, and in front of the beauty he was pursing no less, Hou Jian couldn’t help feeling annoyed. The two of them, as fellow brothers, usually didn’t have any kind of friction between them, but now, in front of Yin Su Die, a kind of rivalry inevitably arose.
Seeing the face of the burly Hou Jian became dark, as if his anger was about to erupt, Yin Su Die quickly said, “Two Senior Brothers, please don’t quarrel. This time, I asked both of you to come out because I needed to borrow both of your strengths. Senior Brother Lou cultivates the Farsight Spirit Eye Technique which is necessary to find the people we’re looking for, but after finding them, Senior Brother Hou’s strength is necessary to capture them. Two Senior Brothers both know about the incident with the Sect’s most precious treasure, the Coloured Glass Mountain, and understand that the Elders suspect that it may have been caused by an outsider, yes? That man surnamed Yang leaving right at this moment is clearly suspicious, so we absolutely cannot let him escape.”
Yin Su Die didn’t show any annoyance at being competed over by these two men, even seemingly enjoying them clamouring for her attention, but right now, tracking down Yang Kai was her top priority, so she spoke to persuade them.
Hearing this, Hou Jian expression became somewhat more serious, seemingly taking Yin Su Die at her word and asking, “Then, was that incident really some kind of plot that brat set up?”
“I don’t know,” Yin Su Die smiled and shook her head. “But this matter is of great importance. Anyone who is even slightly suspicious can’t be let off. We must capture him and bring him back to the Sect Elders. Afterwards, it will be up the Elders to decide if he is guilty or innocent!”
By saying it was all the Elders’ orders, how could these two men refuse? However, Yin Su Die’s rhetoric was only able to confuse the muscle headed Hou Jian while the Luo Min thought otherwise. He clearly knew there was more going on here but he didn’t dare expose this truth.
For him, looking for someone was just a trifling matter; the important thing was that doing so allowed him to please Yin Su Die.
“Good good good, Junior Brother Luo, look again carefully, once you find that little brat, Senior Brother will make sure to capture him. Hmph, daring to have ideas about our Coloured Glass Mountain, I must see if this brat has the guts!” Declaring so, Hou Jian flashed a terrifying grin.
Just as Luo Min was about to make another snide comment, he suddenly glanced in a certain direction and shouted, “I found them!”
“Where?” Yin Su Die wore a look of happiness and hurriedly asked.
“That way, they’re coming towards us!” Luo Min pointed his finger and said with confidence, “It’s exactly as Junior Sister described, a young man and a woman with the woman wearing all black robes. It’s definitely them.”
“So it seems.” Yin Su Die smirked.
“Interesting, they’re actually coming right to us!” Hou Jian struck his chest and shouted, “Senior Brother will go on ahead, Junior Brother Luo, you protect Junior Sister. This won’t take long!”
When Luo Min heard this, he knew that his Senior Brother was trying to grab some credit; after all, he had been the one to discover them, so if he went forward to capture them now, Hou Jian would have come along for nothing. Nevertheless, Luo Min felt it was a good opportunity to enjoy some time alone with Yin Su Die so he didn’t bother objecting, smiling and saying, “Senior Brother Hou is still so impatient. Good, Junior Sister, let’s take our time. Presumably, by the time we arrive, Senior Brother Hou will have finished up everything; after all, how could a trivial Second-Order Saint King raise any fuss?”
Yin Su Die eyes flashed slightly, seemingly thinking of something, but quickly nodded as if nothing happened and said, “That’s true. Fortunately, I asked Senior Brother Luo to come along this time, otherwise, it would have been quite troublesome to find these two.”
“Junior Sister is far too polite, if you ever have a need for Senior Brother’s help in the future, all you need to do is ask and Senior Brother will surely not refuse. Junior Sister’s Myriad Crystal Peak is also not far from our Swift Bird Peak, so if another day Junior Sister has time, it would be Senior Brother’s honour to receive her. Senior Brother promises to provide the finest of entertainment should Junior Sister decide to visit.” Luo Min took this chance to send out an invitation, expressing as much admiration and affection as he dared to.
Hearing this, Yin Su Die let out a giggle and gave him a perfunctory answer. Although Luo Min understood this, just seeing Yin Su Die smile at him and being able to listen to her silver-bell-like laughter was enough for him to become somewhat absentminded. In the next instant, he shook his head slightly and focused his blurry vision as he felt a chill in his heart, understanding that this Junior Sister of his had once again made progress in her Beguiling Technique. He had also heard that as long as Grandmaster Xiao finished refining an Origin Condensing Pill for her, Yin Su Die would be able to break through to the Origin Returning Realm. Now, it seemed those rumours were true.
Yang Kai wore a strange look as he stared at the burly man with an indifferent expression who had flown over and intercepted them.
This burly figured was naturally Hou Jian who had been recruited by Yin Su Die, but what Yang Kai didn’t understand was why this man had rushed over all alone while Yin Su Die and another cultivator seemed to be taking their time catching up.
Hou Jian looked Yang Kai up and down, and after confirming that the aura fluctuations coming from him were indeed those of a Second-Order Saint King, the corners of his mouth curled upwards, revealing a look of disdain. However, when his eyes glanced over at Yang Yan, he could not help showing some surprise.
Hou Jian had not expected this woman wrapped in black robes to actually have such an extraordinary appearance. What was stranger though was that after being stopped by him, this man and woman did not show any signs of panic, both of them actually remaining perfectly calm.
What was most confusing for Hou Jain though was that he could not see Yang Yan’s true cultivation. When he tried to use his Divine Sense, it seemed to pass right through her body, as if she did not even exist.
This made Hou Jian’s expression become somewhat serious as he subconsciously regarded Yang Yan as a more powerful cultivator than Yang Kai.
Hou Jian had mainly come here targeting Yang Kai and naturally had no interest in Yang Yan, so after a brief investigation, he withdrew his gaze and focused his attention on Yang Kai.
“Greetings, friend!” Yang Kai took a step forward and cupped his fists, “Is there some reason you have blocked my Senior Sister’s and my path?”
“Some reason? Heh…” The burly man let out a chuckle, “Are you surnamed Yang?”
“I am.”
“Did you just leave Grand Crystal Mountain Range?”
“Yes!”
“Very good, this Hou is looking for you, little brat!” Hou Jian’s face went cold, and he shouted firmly, “Daring to have ideas about my Sect’s Coloured Glass Mountain, even damaging the barrier protecting it, I’d like to see how you try to escape!”
Hearing what Hou Jian said, Yang Kai was completely shocked, subconsciously thinking that his good deeds had been exposed, but after thinking about it for a moment, he felt that something was wrong. If he had really been exposed, there would not have just been three Saint Kings chasing after him. Coloured Glass Sect would have at least sent out a few Origin Realm Masters to ensure he was captured.
But if he hadn’t been exposed, why did this guy sound so sure he was guilty?
How could Yang Kai have known that this burly man surnamed Hou had just listened to Yin Su Die and assumed she had told him the truth?
Not showing any anxiety on his face, Yang Kai let out a laugh, “This friend must be joking. I came to Grand Crystal Mountain Range at the invitation of your noble Sect’s Dai Yuan and was her guest for only a few days. How could I have had any ideas about Coloured Glass Mountain?”
“Dai Yuan?” Hou Jian immediately gawked and he asked in surprise, “Do you know Dai Yuan? And she actually invited you to be a guest?”
He wore a dumbstruck expression on his face as he asked this question, as if he had just heard something completely unbelievable.
“Of course! I have no reason to lie about this. You can go back to Thousand Illusion Peak and ask Sister Dai Yuan, she will surly confirm what I’ve said.”
“Ask Dai Yuan…” Hou Jian’s face flashed a fearful expression for a moment, but he quickly waved his hand in the next moment and declare unreasonably, “Don’t spout nonsense brat! No matter what you say now, you will not be able to escape. This Hou has been entrusted to capture you so that is what I will do. As for what you’ve done or whether you’re guilty, that has nothing to do with me, I’m only responsible for bringing you back to face judgement!”
Hearing this, Yang Kai grinned widely, “So what this friend is saying is that you’ve no intention of allowing me to pass?”
“Hmph!” Hou Jian coldly snorted, “That’s how it is!”
As soon as he spoke these words, Hou Jian condensed a dazzling light on his fist as a fierce aura burst from his body. Leaping up into the sky in the next moment, Hou Jian soared like an eagle before abruptly turning around and swooping down, his right hand taking on a cold, metallic appearance as he palmed towards Yang Kai’s head.
Suddenly, with Yang Kai as the centre, everything within a hundred metres seemed to freeze, and as this palm approached, it was like the entire sky was collapsing downward. The atmosphere became heavy, making it difficult to breathe or even stand. Yang Yan, who was standing behind Yang Kai, even let out a gasp as her tender body slightly trembled.
However, a light burst from Yang Yan’s body in the next instant and freed her of this suppression. At the same time, her figure quickly retreated a thousand metres, escaping the range of Hou Jian’s attack.
Seeing this, Hou Jian was quite surprised, obviously not having expected Yang Yan to break free of his technique so easily. Although he did not know what that flash of light just now was, it was no doubt created by some kind of powerful artifact.
Although the power of this artifact was clearly quite good, Hou Jian still didn’t put it in his eyes, so after only a slight hesitation, he put more strength into his palm and continued to press it down towards Yang Kai while roaring fiercely, “Kneel down!”
He wanted to suppress Yang Kai with a single blow so that Yin Su Die, who was watching, could witness his strength.
This was a rare performance opportunity, so how could Hou Jian miss it?
When this palm was just ten metres away from Yang Kai though, a sneer appeared on the latter’s face as he stared straight back at this unreasonable man indifferently.
As soon as Hou Jian acted, Yang Kai was able to see that he wanted to use his great physical strength and vigorous Saint Qi to end this battle decisively. If it had been any other Second-Order Saint King Realm cultivator facing such an attack, they would certainly be panicking right now, but how could Yang Kai even place this fool in his eyes?
The pressure from Hou Jian’s technique alone would be able to crush any ordinary cultivator, but against Yang Kai it had no effect at all. Waving his hand casually, Yang Kai easily disrupted the heavy pressure, causing it to rapidly distort and then shatter like fragile glass.
In an instant, the mountain like pressure disappeared.
At the same time, Yang Kai figure, which had been shrouded in the shadow of his opponent’s palm, suddenly blurred, and vanished from sight.
Hou Jian’s face changed dramatically when he saw this, never having expected that a mere Second-Order Saint King would be able to escape the control of his pressure field. What’s more, after breaking free of the pressure field, his opponent had actually disappeared, with Hou Jian unable to even detect a trace of his aura.
Hou Jian became frightened as he immediately understood he had kicked an iron plate. While searching for some trace of Yang Kai, he suddenly felt an oppressive and dangerous aura coming from above him.
“Not good!” Hou Jian shouted to himself as he whipped around sharply to discover that Yang Kai had reappeared above his position and was now looking down upon him coldly, like a dragon flying over Nine Heavens overlooking an ant, causing Hou Jian to shudder unconsciously. Yang Kai immediately sent out what looked like a casual palm strike, but in Hou Jian’s eyes this palm appeared to cover the entire sky, making him feel like it was impossible to avoid.
Hou Jian did not dare hold back, hurriedly condensing as much of his strength as he could in that moment and lifting both his hands up high, as if he was trying to hold up the Heavens themselves. At the same time, a bright light shone from his body as he summoned out a metallic Artifact Armour.
Simultaneously, from the centre of his forehead, Hou Jian released a spinning cone of black light that shot out to intercept the world covering palm Yang Kai had released.
Hou Jian was an elite disciple of Coloured Glass Sect so even caught off guard, he was still able to make this many moves, fully demonstrating his great strength.
But even after all this, the unease in Hou Jian’s heart did not decrease, nor did he feel the slightest sense of security.
Under Hou Jian’s astonished gaze, the black cone-like weapon he had shot out struck the giant palm print and immediately grew dim, revealing its original shape.
It turned out to be a powerful spindle-like offensive artifact, but as soon as it was struck by Yang Kai’s Heaven Covering Hand, it was blown away and appeared to have suffered catastrophic damage.
Immediately after, the Heaven Covering Hand fell onto Hou Jian without further hindrance, causing his arms to buckle and his metallic Artifact Armour to crack. A single breath of time later, this Artifact Armour completely shattered.
Hou Jian grit his teeth hard and released a ferocious shout, pouring all the Saint Qi he could into his arms and punching out countless fist shadows to intercept the still approaching palm print.
Yang Kai saw this and simply snorted coldly, pushing his Saint Qi harder as he increased the power of his Heaven Covering Hand by another thirty percent.
The innumerable fist shadows rushed into the Heaven Covering Hand and disappeared like clay oxen wading into the sea, not even causing any waves before they were devoured without a trace.
Hou Jian complexion paled. Although they had only fought for a mere three breaths, he already understood that he was completely not worthy to be the opponent of this man his Junior Sister Yin was looking for!
While he understood this in his heart, Hou Jian only showed a look of unwillingness on his face.
Before Hou Jian could take any further action though, the giant palm broke through is resistance and impacted him directly.
With a thunderous bang, Hou Jian’s body plummeted through the air and slammed into the ground, opening a giant pit upon impact. The Heaven Covering Hand did not just disappear though and instead continued to ruthlessly press down towards Hou Jian.
The earth shook once more and a giant palm print spanning a nearly thousand-metre area was carved into the ground. At the very centre of this palm print, Hou Jian knelt on one knee, his hands still lifted upwards as his entire body convulsed.
Hou Jian’s thick arms were covered in blood, giving them a horrifying appearance, and his clothes had been almost completely shredded, revealing most of his burly body. With both his arms bent into unnatural shapes, it was clear the injuries he had received were not light.
Even in such a state though, Hou Jian continued to stare stubbornly at the slowly descending Yang Kai, a mixture of panic and hatred flashing across his eyes.
On the other hand, there was a trace of surprise on Yang Kai’s face. He had not thought that this man could withstand his Heaven Covering Hand. It seemed this man’s burly body was not just for show, his physique was clearly quite intrepid.
Seeing Hou Jian’s hate-filled eyes, Yang Kai’s brow lifted slightly. Landing in front of his opponent, Yang Kai lifted his foot and pressed it onto the opposite party’s shoulder while flashing a dangerous grin.
Hou Jian’s face went pale. Although he knew what Yang Kai was going to do, he was too gravely injured right now to even move much less resist, so all he could do was wait for the inevitable.
Under the uneasy gaze of the Hou Jian, a powerful force suddenly impacted his shoulder. This force instantly overcame any resistance he could muster and pressed Hou Jian into the ground. His face being shoved into the dirt, Hou Jian was embarrassed, but no matter how he struggled, Yang Kai’s foot pressing on his shoulder remained as heavy as a mountain, rendering him unable to move at all. Even covered in dust, the crimson glow on his face from indignation was apparent.
A thousand metres or so away, Yin Su Die and Luo Min who had finally arrived witnessed this unbelievable scene and could not help doubting their eyes.
The two of them had followed behind Hou Jian at a leisurely pace, and although they seemed to be chatting casually, both had witnessed the entire conflict between Yang Kai and Hou Jian.
Of course, this short exchange of blows could barely even be called a fight.
Hou Jian had charged forward in an imposing manner, sent out a powerful strike, and shouted arrogantly for Yang Kai to kneel. Yin Su Die and Luo Min had clearly heard all this but instead of Yang Kai being the one on the ground now, it was their companion who was having his face pressed into the dirt.
Yin Su Die and Luo Min were naturally clear that among Coloured Glass Sect’s Saint Kings, Hou Jian’s strength ranked among the top ten; but such an elite disciple had actually been defeated in a single blow by Yang Kai and was being suppressed to the point where he was unable to even fight back. How could Yin Su Die and Luo Min not be shocked?
None of the Saint Kings in Coloured Glass Sect could achieve such a feat.
Didn’t that mean that this Yang Kai was far more powerful than all the elites in their Sect? Luo Min’s complexion went slightly pale as he nervously swallowed. He considered his own strength and imagined if he had been the one to go forward instead of his Senior Brother Hou, quickly estimating that his end would not have been much better.
Being defeated was one thing, but the key point here was that this loss had happened in front of Yin Su Die. Worse, Hou Jian had been arrogantly boasting just moments ago so the embarrassment he was suffering right now was even greater. Presumably, Hou Jian would not have any face to continue pursuing Yin Su Die in the future. Realising this, Luo Min secretly took some pleasure in Hou Jian’s misfortune.
Yin Su Die was also learning for the first time how powerful Yang Kai truly was. Although she had met Yang Kai a few times before, she did not have any kind of deep relationship with him, so how could she have known that a small unknown character like him would possess such strength?
Perhaps even Fang Tian Zhong and Qu Chang Feng would not be Yang Kai’s match. Moreover, he seemed to have a close relationship with her Senior Sister Dai Yuan.
Thinking so, Yin Su Die was not discouraged in the slightest and instead had a different kind of light flash across her eyes. As she stared at Yang Kai, she covertly whispered to Luo Min, “Senior Brother Luo, you see that woman in black robes over there?”
“En, what is Junior Sister thinking?” Luo Min Zhe Yan glanced over at Yang Yan
“Can you quietly capture her?” Yin Su Die smiled lightly, as if she was asking about some trivial matter.
Luo Min’s face changed slightly. Although he wanted to strike his chest and agree right away, seeing the scene in front of him, he hesitantly said, “Junior Sister can see the current situation, even Senior Brother Hou isn’t that surnamed Yang’s opponent, so how am I supposed to capture that woman right in front of his eyes? Also, he does not seem like an affable fellow, if attacking that woman enrages him, the gains won’t be worth the cost.”
“Senior Brother Luo may rest assured. Since Junior Sister has proposed this, naturally I have my own arrangements,” Yin Su Die smiled slightly, “While I keep him occupied, Senior Brother Luo just needs to take the opportunity to seize that woman.”
Even hearing this, Luo Min still hesitated to agree.
Seeing this, Yin Su Die pretty face sank slightly, but light soon flashed across her beautiful eyes as she thought of something and said, “Senior Brother Luo, I know what you’re worried about but I only need you to capture that woman. So long as you don’t hurt her, that man won’t have any reason to find trouble with you later. Not to mention, Senior Brother Luo, although you are not his opponent, with your Flowing Light Escaping Shadow, even if he attacks could he catch you? Can Senior Brother Luo really not satisfy Junior Sister’s little request?”
Contemplating Yin Su Die’s words, Luo Min pondered for a moment before nodding, “Fine. Since Junior Sister thinks so highly of Senior Brother, just leave that woman to me. However, Junior Sister, you must be careful. That surnamed Yang does not seem to be an ordinary person, you must make sure to not suffer a loss at his hand.”
Luo Min seemed to be greatly confident in his Flowing Light Escaping Shadow, so even after witnessing Yang Kai instantly force Hou Jian onto the ground in defeat, he still agreed to Yin Su Die’s request.
Yin Su Die let out a peal of enchanting laughter and nodded, “If Junior Sister fought him head-on, I would surely lose within ten moves, but how could I give him such a chance?”
Luo Min turned his head and glanced at Yin Su Die upon hearing this only to discover that a faint halo of light was being emitted from his Junior Sister. This halo of light didn’t have any kind of aura to it, but the moment Luo Min saw it, his mind shook and it seemed as if his Junior Sister’s body was now exuding an overwhelming attraction, pulling directly on his soul, making him unwilling to move his eyes away from her, as if he couldn’t wait to be drawn in and submit his entire being to her.
Luo Min was dazed for a moment but quickly bit his tongue to extricate himself from this attraction, cold sweat dripping from his forehead in the next moment as he turned his eyes away. He didn’t dare gaze at Yin Su Die again as he realized that his Junior Sister’s Beguiling Technique had improved far more than he earlier estimated, to the point where he had no confidence in resisting it should he be targeted by her. This boosted Luo Min’s confidence in Yin Su Die greatly.
At that moment, Yang Kai, who was still stepping on Hou Jian’s shoulder, suddenly looked over towards Yin Su Die and Luo Min, as if he had only just now noticed them. Smiling widely, he called out, “Sister Yin, what a coincidence! To actually meet you here, it seems we share a bond of fate.”
“Bond of fate, hehe…” Yin Su Die covered her mouth and smiled, a bewitching light flashing across her beautiful eyes as she exuded a seemingly infinite charm and said, “We do seem to share some fate, but this time is not a coincidence. I deliberately used Coloured Glass Sect’s Space Array to travel to the nearby city in order to find you.”
“You came to look for me?” Yang Kai raised his brow slightly, feigning surprise, “What for? Does Sister Yin have something she needs from me?”
The smile on Yin Su Die’s face faded and was replaced with a sad one, “It’s nothing so important, I just wondered if Little Brother forgot about the agreement with me from the other day? Didn’t you say that you would come to visit my Myriad Crystal Peak when you have time? Now you have suddenly decided to leave without even saying goodbye… could it be that Senior Sister Dai Yuan didn’t provide you with an appropriate reception? If so, please allow Junior Sister here to make up for it. Senior Sister Dai Yuan is not fond of communicating with others and can be somewhat difficult to get along with. I hope Little Brother can be forgiving and not haggle over such small matters.”
Saying so, Yin Su Die really bowed in apology, cleverly displaying just enough of her astonishing assets in the process as she also cast her eyes towards Yang Kai elegantly, exuding a kind of charm that seemed to pull directly on one’s soul.
In response though, Yang Kai put on a flattered appearance and quickly waved his hand, “Sister Yin is far too serious. Sister Dai Yuan’s entertainment wasn’t lacking in any way, it is just that Junior Brother has some important matters to attend to, so it is inconvenient to remain in Coloured Glass Sect for a long time. That is why I departed so anxiously.”
While appearing completely at ease on the surface, Yang Kai was silently sighing with relief. As soon as Hou Jian appeared, he had charged Yang Kai with breaking the barrier around Coloured Glass Mountain, but now Yin Su Die was not even mentioning it. It seems the Stone Puppet had not been exposed, so Yang Kai no longer had anything to worry about.
“So that’s how it is!” Yin Su Die nodded her delicate chin lightly before lifting her jade white hand and gently brushing her hair behind her ear, exposing her dainty pink earlobe and saying with a smile, “Little Brother, before we speak any further if you don’t mind, could you release my foolish Senior Brother? It seems that there was a misunderstanding between him and you just now, but Little Brother has given him an appropriate punishment already, so can you let him off with just that?”
“He is your Senior Brother?” Yang Kai wore a startled look before putting on an apologetic look, “So he is also a disciple from Coloured Glass Sect. I was wondering who this blind fellow who suddenly appeared and started looking for trouble with me was, even attacking without asking anything. Since he is Sister Yin’s Senior Brother, naturally I will return him to you!”
Saying so, as if he was just casually sweeping his foot, Yang Kai kicked Hou Jian’s abdomen.
A cracking sound rang out and Hou Jian’s complexion, which had been bright red with embarrassment, suddenly went white as he flew through the air towards Yin Su Die.
Yin Su Die pretty face changed slightly, apparently not having thought Yang Kai would act so ruthlessly. Although that kick seemed to have been delivered lightly, judging from the sound just now, it was likely that more than half of her Senior Brother Hou’s ribs had been broken by it. This kind of injury, while not heavy, was certainly not light either and would take at least three of four months of bed-rest to completely recover from.
Yin Su Die’s eyes flashed with a trace of irritation, secretly annoyed that Yang Kai did not sell her any face at all. Waving her jade white hand lightly, she condensed a kind of pink cloud in front of herself.
When Hou Jian’s body hit this pink cloud, it was as if he had sunk into a ball of cotton and all the force from Yang Kai’s blow was resolved, allowing him to land without suffering any further injuries.
Yin Su Die raised her hand once more, placing it on Hou Jian’s shoulder and spinning him about. After everything was over, Hou Jian was calmly standing beside her, but his complexion was pale white, and he could not wait to find a hole to crawl into and disappear.
What made him most uncomfortable was that Yin Su Die did not even spare him a glance, completely ignoring him after helping him land, leaving him to stand there awkwardly, unable to utter a single word.
On the other side, when Yang Kai saw this scene, he could not help feeling a bit of surprise. A moment ago, he had poured a significant amount of Saint Qi into Hou Jian’s body, but Yin Su Die was able to resolve it without any difficulty. It seems that this woman was not as simple as she appeared; since she was able to become the leader of Coloured Glass Sect’s younger generation though, it was natural for her to have some means.
“If there’s nothing else Sister Yin has to say, this Yang will take his leave,” Yang Kai decided not to tangle with this woman; after all, she was the head disciple of Coloured Glass Sect, so there was no way he could kill her. If Yang Kai continued to engage with her, he was the one who would inevitably suffer a loss, so he decided to leave immediately.
Listening to Yang Kai say this, Yin Su Die giggled coquettishly before saying, “Please don’t be in such a rush Little Brother! Junior Sister came here this time especially to invite Little Brother to visit Myriad Crystal Peak. Junior Sister is quite curious about Little Brother’s relationship with Senior Sister Dai Yuan. If possible, I’d very much appreciate it if Little Brother can come back with me. Little Brother must know that Senior Sister Dai Yuan does not communicate with others in the Sect, even Junior Sister has difficulty having a good conversation with her. On the other hand, Little Brother is the first guest she brought back in the past two decades. Not only am I curious about this matter, even my Honoured Master has taken an interest in it. Junior Sister has actually come here to request Little Brother come back on my Honoured Master’s orders.”
“On your Honoured Master’s orders?” Yang Kai looked at Yin Su Die with a smile, seemingly pondering for a moment before replying, “It is not that I wish to refuse Senior Gong’s invitation, but this Yang truly has some important matters to attend to that cannot wait. Would it be acceptable for this Yang to pay his respects to Sister Yin’s Honoured Master when he visits Coloured Glass Sect in the future?”
“In the future… who knows when that future date will be. Junior Sister thinks that instead of waiting, it would be best for Junior Brother to accompany me back today,” Yin Su Die did not back down and instead became much more forceful in her words to Yang Kai, seemingly implying she would not relent no matter what.
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed slightly; the other party pestering so incessantly had naturally made him a bit disgruntled. It seemed that this matter could not be settled so easily, but thinking about it carefully again, Yang Kai realized he was being naive. Since Yin Su Die had chased him all this way, it was naturally impossible for her to simply give up and retreat.
Letting out a light sigh, Yang Kai asked solemnly, “If I insist on not following you back?”
“You want to refuse?” Yin Su Die giggled as she looked at Yang Kai with interest, exhaling an orchid scent as she said, “I’m afraid that decision is not one Little Brother can make.”
As soon as her voice fell, Yang Yan, who was standing about a thousand metres from Yang Kai, suddenly let out a shout, as if she had encountered a sneak attack.
Yang Kai eyes instantly became cold as he quickly turned around to look.
He didn’t know when it had happened, but a male cultivator wrapped in a bright white light had at some point moved to capture Yang Yan, but he had clearly failed in his initial attempt and was instead repelled by one of Yang Yan’s defensive artifacts. At this moment, this male cultivator stood in place with a deep frown on his face, his hand still stretching out in a grasping position, seemingly competing with a fiery red light being emitted from Yang Yan’s body.
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as he immediately recognized that this male cultivator was the one that had been following Yin Su Die.
Hurriedly turning his head back to look behind Yin Su Die, the figure that had been standing there a moment ago had mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind only a white glow that was rapidly dissipating.
Yang Kai was genuinely shocked!
He had no idea when this man had left Yin Su Die’s side and gone off to sneak attack Yang Yan. The secret technique cultivated by this man was obviously quite unusual and was even capable of deceiving Yang Kai’s sharp senses.
It was conceivable that if Yang Yan had not been wearing so many artifacts she had personally refined, this man’s sneak attack would have succeeded. If Yang Yan had been captured, Yang Kai would have immediately fallen into an extremely passive situation, and even if he did not want to, he would have had to follow Yin Su Die back to Coloured Glass Sect.
After realizing he had fallen for the other party’s scheme, Yang Kai became furious. Ignoring Yang Yan’s situation, his eyes flashed a sharp light as he glared coldly towards Yin Su Die.
The artifacts Yang Yan had on her were all outstanding, and although Yang Kai did not know the exact number she was wearing, he was confident that no Third-Order Saint King would be capable of even touching her.
Even an ordinary Origin Returning Realm cultivator may not be able to seize Yang Yan, that was how outstanding her self-protection ability was.
The moment Luo Min attacked Yang Yan, Yin Su Die also acted against Yang Kai. With the sweet, crisp, silver bell-like laughter, the pink cloud she had summoned once before appeared again, this time transforming into a large pink mist barrier that completely enveloped Yang Kai.
In the next moment, Yin Su Die exhaled a fragrant breath into this pink mist barrier. The pink mist barrier immediately tumbled as if it had come alive while the sounds of delightful music and tender laughter echoed throughout it.
As soon as these voices came out, the originally pale Hou Jian who was standing behind Yin Su Die immediately blushed red as his blood boiled and his eyes filled with burning fire as he stared into Yin Su Die’s Beguiling Technique obsessively.
Seemingly feeling his fiery gaze, Yin Su Die frowned, turned around, and smacked Hou Jian’s head, causing his glazed over eyes to once again restore their clarity.
“Compose yourself! Disgraceful!” Yin Su Die snorted disapprovingly, causing Hou Jian’s face to turn even redder.
He had embarrassed himself twice today so, in the future, he would not have the face to lift his head in front of Yin Su Die. This Beguiling Technique had not been aimed at Hou Jian, so with his strength and cultivation, it shouldn’t have been difficult to resist, but having been injured by Yang Kai, causing his Saint Qi flow to become unsteady and his mood to swing wildly, Hou Jian had actually failed to maintain a clear state of mind.
Hearing Yin Su Die’s harsh rebuke just now, Hou Jian felt his heart sink and his only thought now was to return to Coloured Glass Sect and enter an extended retreat.
“There will be a place where Senior Brother Hou’s strength is needed later, so focus on recovering for now!” Yin Su Die saw Hou Jian’s embarrassed look and quickly offered some words.
After hearing this, Hou Jian’s eyes flashed, and a stern look returned to his face as he restrained his embarrassment. Nodding once, he sat down cross-legged and took out a few bottles of pill from his Space Ring, pouring them into his mouth and swallowing them before taking out two High -Rank Saint Crystals, holding them in his palms, and circulating his Secret Art.
Seeing this, Yin Su Die showed a slight look of satisfaction on her face while continuing to manipulate the pink mist barrier in front of her, enhancing the power of her Beguiling Technique.
Inside the pink mist barrier, Yang Kai stood still and observed his surroundings. The place he was standing had changed dramatically. Originally, it had been a vast wilderness, but now Yang Kai actually found himself standing inside a grand palace.
In front of him right now was a huge pool filled with crystal clear water that carried strong scent of wine that seemed to penetrate directly into Yang Kai’s nose.
Beside the pool, there were more than twenty young girls in revealing dresses who were dancing playfully. Each of these young girls had a soft waist, graceful figure, overall outstanding appearance, but none of them were the same, all of them having their own particular charm. Some of them boldly sent Yang Kai’s passionate gazes while others shyly avoided making eye contact.
Some of them had chilly auras, making them appear like cold, inviolable goddesses.
Others were bold and flirtatious, showing off the amazing fullness and elasticity of their twin peaks and milk white bottoms as they twirled about enticingly.
Still others wore shy, innocent looks that would elicit feelings of pity from even the coldest of men.
A soft, melodious music filled the air which in conjunction with the dancing poses of these beautiful young girls gave people the illusion that they had arrived at the most glorious flower garden, involuntarily pulling on their hearts as they were drawn in by these alluring sights and sounds. It made one wish to immerse themselves in this paradise and never leave.
Yang Kai, however, just stood on the spot and looked at everything around him indifferently, not showing even the slightest interest in the young dancing girls.
After suffering such a big loss using her Beguiling Technique to deal with Yang Kai last time, Yin Su Die apparently had not learned her lesson and was attempting to use the same strategy again. It was hard to imagine what she was thinking.
However, this Beguiling Technique did have some impressive features to it. If it was an ordinary Saint King Realm cultivator standing here, they would definitely have their mind thrown into chaos. But Yang Kai’s Soul and Divine Sense were astonishingly powerful and this was not the first or second time he had dealt with Beguiling Techniques, he could even be called an experienced expert in this field, so looking around at this scene filled with flaws, how could his mind be shaken?
Yin Su Die also seemed to realize that Yang Kai had not fallen into confusion and after a while, she changed her tactics. The pink mist barrier suddenly roiled and the expressions on the more than twenty young girls who had been singing and dancing gleefully just now all changed and became filled with sorrow and sadness, the music filling the air also slowing and becoming more somber.
With this sad music in the background, these young girls seemed to transform from enchantresses to abandoned young women filled with sorrow and dissatisfaction.
Their originally neatly arranged clothes also instantly became thinner and clung to their tender bodies more tightly, emphasizing their full curves and flat abdomens, even causing the fragrant grasslands between their long delicate legs to become partly visible. If Yang Kai was willing, obtaining them would be as easy as lifting his hand.
The temptation of this situation, compared to the previous happy revelry, immediately rose to a whole new level!
Yang Kai frowned for a moment but soon grinned widely. He was planning on taking decisive action just now but after thinking about it briefly he actually withdrew his Saint Qi and folded his arms, assuming the position of an amused observer, preparing to appreciate Yin Su Die’s Beguiling Technique as if it were some kind of show.
After half a cup of tea’s worth of time, the pink mist barrier transformed again, and Yin Su Die increased the power of her Beguiling Technique for a second time.
When the fog settled, the previously grieving girls had become completely naked and were now entangled with one another like water snakes, exposing their beauty to the air in pairs or groups of three or five. Each one of them was exhaling a rich orchid sent as they brushed against their partner’s lips and bodies, wrapping them arms and legs around one another as they explored every inch of each other, leaving nothing to Yang Kai’s imagination.
Yang Kai’s eyes bulged slightly as he watched with great interest.
This was the first time he had witnessed such a scene, and although he knew it was all just an illusion, that did not diminish the impact it made. At the very least, Yang Kai had some reaction to it, his blood flow accelerating quite a lot.
“Not bad. Not bad at all!” Yang Kai nodded lightly, seemingly quite satisfied.
He did not have any intention to immediately break this Beguiling Technique and instead was actually enjoying it leisurely; after all, it wasn’t a scene one could usually appreciate.
A cold snort suddenly rang out as it seemed Yin Su Die became somewhat angry out of shame. In the next instant, all the entangled young girls overflowing with erotic auras had their expression warp into ones filled with hatred. It was as if all of them had transformed into poisonous vipers who were glaring at Yang Kai maliciously, their beautiful eyes all exuding an icy light.
When Yin Su Die coldly snorted, the young dancing girls all directed undisguised hatred towards Yang Kai and charged him while, at the same time, the pink mist barrier welled up and engulfed him.
Inside the concealing mists, these girls fluttered back and forth like butterflies, their bodies gradually blurring until they disappeared without a trace while the melodious music also became dissonant filled with murderous intent. This assault on Yang Kai’s senses was specially aimed at shaking his heart and disturbing his mind.
At the same time, the pink mist seemed to come alive and tried to silently penetrate Yang Kai’s body through his pores, affecting his judgment and the circulate of his Saint Qi.
Yin Su Die realized that her attempts to confuse Yang Kai were futile and immediately changed to a more aggressive approach.
She didn’t expect to be able to defeat Yang Kai like this and was only planning on delaying him long enough for her Senior Brother Luo to catch Yang Yan.
Inside the pink mist, Yang Kai’s expression became solemn as black flames burst from his body, covering him in a scorching hot aura. The pink mist that had been trying to invade his body was incinerated the moment it came in contact with these flames.
However, this pink mist seemed to be able to regenerate infinitely, so no matter how much of it was burned away by the Demon Flame, it continued to flow towards Yang Kai.
From inside this pink mist, vague figures continuously launched sneak attacks towards Yang Kai. Naturally, these vague figures were the beautiful young girls who had disappeared a moment ago. They would appear from Yang Kai’s blind spots, making them impossible to guard against, and send out pink ribbons that wrapped around him tightly.
Yang Kai remained unharmed for the moment, but the pink ribbons which were binding him were quite strange, completely unaffected by his Demonic Flames.
This point caught Yang Kai’s attention, and upon observing these ribbons closely, he discovered that these pink ribbons were not actually illusions created from the fog but rather an Origin Grade Artifact Yin Su Die had summoned at some point. It was just that the colour and shape of this artifact matched perfectly with her Beguiling Technique, making it difficult for Yang Kai to tell immediately tell what was real and what was fake.
On top of that, these pink ribbons were able to restrain the circulation of Yang Kai’s Saint Qi, causing the layer of Demonic Flame protecting his body to rapidly weaken.
A tender laughter echoed from in all directions, making it impossible to distinguish where the source was, and immediately after, the pink ribbon tightened greatly, seemingly wanting to completely wrap up Yang Kai like a giant dumpling.
Yang Kai coldly snorted, grabbed one of the ribbons wrapped around his arm, and fiercely yanked on it, instantly dragging a beautiful figure out of the pink mist bank.
Without even waiting for this figure to get close, Yang Kai’s other hand clenched into a fist and punched out towards this tender body.
A pitiful scream filled the air as the tender body of a young girl exploded into a blood flower which rapidly disappeared from Yang Kai’s vision and merged into the pink mist, causing its colour to become slightly thicker.
Seeing the effectiveness of this method, Yang Kai instantly spun like a top, exerting all his might on each ribbon, dragging all the young girls at the other ends screaming towards him.
Demonic Flames burst from Yang Kai’s hands and smashed towards these illusionary figures, raising a series of ghastly screams as these young girls burst into blood mists and instantly disappeared.
The moment all these illusionary girls were destroyed, Yang Kai seemed to hear Yin Su Die snort.
It seemed that his actions just now had caused some damage to Yin Su Die, who was the source of this Beguiling Technique.
Yin Su Die had indeed received a bit of backlash from her Beguiling Technique being forcefully broken like this. She had not expected Yang Kai to be so ruthless and not show the slightest hint of tender affection.
For other men trapped in this Beguiling Technique Bewildering Array, even if they knew that these young girls were fake, they would find it difficult to ruthlessly slaughter them, allowing Yin Su Die to gain some time to exhibit the next step to her technique. This next step not only had the function of restraining an enemy, but also had an extraordinarily strong killing power. Yin Su Die had figured she could stall Yang Kai for at least as long as it took to boil a cup of tea.
But Yin Su Die had not anticipated that Yang Kai would completely disregard the beautiful young girls who had been created by her Beguiling Technique and cleanly slaughter them, disrupting her plans while also causing her to suffer some backlash.
Although the backlash was not strong and wouldn’t affect her combat capability, Yin Su Die’s beautiful eyes still filled with a ruthless colour as she called out sharply, “Senior Brother Hou!”
“Yes!” Hou Jian, who had been meditating behind Yin Su Die to restore himself, heard her call and immediately got up, his figure flickering as he charged into the pink mist.
At the same time, Yin Su Die’s Divine Sense moved, and a number of graceful figures once again appeared in the large mist bank surrounding Yang Kai. These figures however were different from the last ones as each of them was holding a different weapon, each of which were exuding a not weak energy fluctuation. There were even some figures wearing glowing Artifact Armour.
Yang Kai could not help but feel stunned for a moment.
Although he looked down on Yin Su Die for twice trying to use her Beguiling Technique to deal with him, he also knew that this woman would not be stupid enough to keep repeating the same mistake again and again. He had just smashed these figures with ease a moment ago, so why had she suddenly summoned more of them?
What drew Yang Kai’s attention most though were the weapons these newly emerged figures held in their hands.
Just as he was feeling some doubt, one of the young girls next to him waved a small fan in her hand towards Yang Kai.
This little fan wasn’t very eye-catching, only having some birds and beasts embroidered on it.
But when this fan was waved, the sound of beast roars immediately rang out and a black light suddenly flew out from its surface, transforming into several large and small Monster Beasts.
These Monster Beasts were the same as the embroidered pictures on the small fan, and after they appeared, the fan itself became completely empty.
There were more than thirty of these Monster Beasts, some of them as big as buildings while others were as small as ordinary snakes, and as soon as they appeared, they all rushed directly to Yang Kai.
“An illusion?” Yang Kai’s brow furrowed but his expression soon took on a look of shock as he condensed a Demonic Flame sword in his hand and released a series of slashes.
In an instant, the more than half of the thirty Monster Beasts descending upon Yang Kai were splint into halves by the sword waves, but some of them were more flexible than the others and avoided this attack and pounced onto their prey. As for the Monster Beasts that had been split apart transformed into clouds of Black Qi, gathered together, and actually reappeared, seemingly unharmed.
However, if one looked closely, they would notice that the colour of these reconstituted Monster Beasts was significantly dimmer than before.
In a blink of an eye, Yang Kai was surrounded by a dozen Monster Beasts and one of them, which was the size of a small building and modeled after a Qilin, lifted its giant front claws and pressed them down towards Yang Kai.
Before these claws even fell, a suffocating pressure enveloped Yang Kai, seemingly trying to press him into a meat patty.
Yang Kai didn’t dodge though, and in order to verify his guess, he actually punched upwards to meet this attack head on.
A fist wrapped in Demonic Flame impacted the claw of this giant Monster Beast and knocked it flying, but at the same time, Yang Kai was forced back a few steps. The other Monster Beasts took advantage of this opening and pounced upon Yang Kai.
Seeing this from the outside, Yin Su Die wore a smug smile on her lips, but this smile went stiff just as fast as it blossomed.
Inside the pink mist, this group of Monster Beasts which had piled onto Yang Kai were themselves enveloped in a black light, releasing pitiful wails as they were blasted out in all directions.
“They’re not illusions! Amazing, it seems the top disciple of Coloured Glass Sect has some good methods!” Yang Kai’s appraising voice called out.
Only now was he able to determine that the fan and these Monster Beasts were not mere illusions. The fan was an artifact, and the Monster Beasts it released were a part of its power, both of which were tangible existences. Not only this fan though, it seemed all the weapons the girls were holding were real artifacts.
Inside this pink mist, only the young girls themselves were created by Yin Su Die’s Beguiling Technique, existences that straddled the line between real and illusionary.
“Little Brother should stop struggling pointlessly and obediently come with me!” Yin Su Die saw Yang Kai was more difficult to deal with than she anticipated and shouted coldly.
“If you want me to follow you, you first need to have prove you have the skill!” Yang Kai sneered, and as soon as his voice fell, his figure flickering, disappearing from its original position in a crack of thunder.
The instant Yang Kai’s figure reappeared though; a flash of light pierced towards him. Although this flash of light was extremely fast, Yang Kai could still clearly see its true appearance. It was a dagger-like artifact that had been thrown by one of the illusionary girls towards him with near perfect timing.
Yang Kai roared angrily as he stretched out a hand covered in burning hot Demonic Flame and grabbed this dagger.
With a cold snort, Yang Kai pushed his Saint Qi fiercely, causing his Demonic Flames to completely envelop the dagger.
At a speed visible to the naked eye, this dagger, which was a genuine Saint King Grade High-Rank artifact, melted like a snowflake under the sun.
In a flash, this dagger had been reduced to a molten metal and slipped through Yang Kai’s fingertips.
Now that he had determined that these artifacts were all real, Yang Kai naturally knew what to do. Yin Su Die pestering him endlessly like this had annoyed him greatly, so he was planning on teaching her what fate awaited those who crossed him.
When they saw this Saint King Grade artifact so easily destroyed, the expressions on the faces of the remaining young girls changed to shock. Perhaps they were connected to Yin Su Die’s mind so they would reflect her expression at the moment.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yang Kai grinned and struck towards these girls.
In the next instant, cries of surprise sounded out, and the girls all spread out, urging the power of the artifacts in their hands to simultaneously attack Yang Kai.
It had to be said that Yin Su Die’s Beguiling Technique was unique and powerful. With this strange technique, she could easily defeat cultivators in the same realm without ever facing them directly.
Unfortunately, the one she was now trying to use this Beguiling Technique on was Yang Kai.
Firstly, Yang Kai’s Soul was far stronger than average cultivators in the same realm, so he would not easily be manipulated, and secondly, Yang Kai had cultivated the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art so he had a natural resistance to Beguiling Techniques.
A burst of screams rang out as the girls inside the pink mist barrier were slaughtered by Yang Kai.
Yang Kai wasn’t actually targeting them directly as they were all simply illusions manifested by Yin Su Die, so even if he did kill them it would achieve nothing. Instead, Yang Kai was targeting the artifacts these illusionary girls were carrying.
There were more than twenty Saint King Grade High-Rank artifacts in total. The fact that Yin Su Die could collect this many high-rank artifacts and even use all of them at once was quite surprising because although it appeared that this illusionary girls were the ones manipulating them, Yin Su Die would have first had to refine these artifacts before that was possible.
Collecting and refining more than twenty artifacts must have taken Yin Su Die a great deal of time and effort, so if they were all destroyed, she would undoubtedly be distressed.
Sure enough, after seeing five or six of the precious Saint King Grade artifacts she had painstakingly refined being melted into slag by Yang Kai’s Demonic Flame, Yin Su Die’s anger soared as she ground her teeth and screamed, “If you destroy any more of my artifacts, I’ll make you pay!”
Hearing her frustrated scream, Yang Kai’s mood became more carefree as he spun around to face another of the young girls standing next to the wine pool. This illusionary girl was holding a long whip that let out a flash of lightning each time it was cracked. Among the more than twenty artifacts, it could be ranked in the top three in terms of power and value.
The price of such an artifact was certainly not low, and if it were to be destroyed, Yin Su Die’s mood would surely worsen.
Yang Kai rushed towards this girl immediately, his figure flickering a few times before suddenly appearing in front of her. This illusionary girl’s senses were connected with Yin Su Die, so she immediately noticed Yang Kai’s attack and her pretty face was filled with panic. The long whip cracked as it struck towards Yang Kai, releasing a blue flash of lightning.
Yang Kai coldly snorted, and made a sweeping motion with his hand, releasing a wave of Demonic Flame that neutralized all the lightning, causing it to disappear without a trace.
Yang Kai then reached out his other hand and grasped towards the air ruthlessly.
The series of whip shadows that had just been blotting out the sky instantly solidified as it was caught by Yang Kai. The Demonic Flames on his palm burst forth and the long whip’s glow quickly grew dim. At the rate it was losing its spirituality, it wouldn’t be long before this whip was destroyed like the other artifacts before it.
At that moment, a dream-like whisper brushed Yang Kai’s ear. This whisper seemed to contain an infinite charm and it swiftly slipped into Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea.
Yang Kai’s Saint Qi circulation was instantly disrupted and the intensity of the Demonic Flames covering his hand rapidly weakened.
Simultaneously, an extremely burly figure suddenly emerged from the wine pool. This figure was abnormally tall, with muscles as strong as forged iron, and two eyes like those of a fierce beast that were glaring hatefully towards Yang Kai. In this figure’s hand was a kind of broken blade, one that was obviously cutting into its wielder’s hand. Strangely though, there was no blood dripping from the wound opened by this broken blade, instead, it seemed the blood which should have been leaking out was being absorbed by the broken blade, dying it a crimson colour.
A bloody smell thick enough to make others nauseous quickly filled the air.
This burly man was none other than Hou Jian who was previously injured by Yang Kai.
At some point he had obviously snuck into the pink fog barrier and hidden himself in the wine pond. With Yin Su Die coordinating with Hou Jian, even Yang Kai wasn’t able to notice him until he attacked.
While Yang Kai’s attention was attracted to the long whip artifact, Hou Jian saw an opportunity and immediately launched a sneak attack.
The broken blade Hou Jian held, released a crimson sword wave as he swung it ruthlessly towards Yang Kai’s waist. At that moment, Hou Jian was releasing a thick murderous intent as a cold grin crept onto his face.
Hou Jian had suffered a big loss at Yang Kai’s hand and understood that this young man was extremely powerful, but since he dared to rush out at this time, Hou Jian was naturally completely confident in his ability to win. His source of confidence was the broken Origin Grade High-Rank artifact he was wielding. It was an evil artifact that Hou Jian had picked up during one of his trips outside for life experience and was twenty or thirty percent more powerful than an average artifact.
Normally, which his current cultivation, Hou Jian didn’t dare to use this artifact; after all, if it were used too many times, the evil aura inside it would likely begin to affect his personality.
But today he had been humiliated again and again and all that was on Hou Jian mind right now was saving face in front of Yin Su Die, so how could he care about such trivial consequences now? As such, he had immediately summoned this artifact in order to kill Yang Kai.
His timing was quite good. Yang Kai’s concentration had just been disturbed by Yin Su Die and also had his attention focused on trying to destroy the long whip artifact. So even if Yang Kai’s strength was outstanding, he wouldn’t be able to easily avoid this sneak attack.
As long as he was hit by this sword wave, he would definitely die!
Yang Kai was naturally able to notice the strangeness of this broken blade and for the first time showed a dignified expression. Just as he was about to dodge though, the girl who was standing in front of him manipulated the long whip in her hand to entangle Yang Kai.
Before Yang Kai could escape, he was bound in place while at the same time, lightning flashed from the long whip as the power of this artifact was stimulated to the fullest.
Bolts of lightning crackled and flooded Yang Kai’s body. Facing this situation, Yang Kai’s face grew cold and gloomy as he pushed his Saint Qi fiercely, releasing a surge of flames from his body that burned down the long whip.
In an instant, the long whip was destroyed and broken into countless pieces that fell to the ground, but this momentary delay was enough for the blood-red sword wave to arrive in front of Yang Kai, making it impossible for him to evade!
Facing this blood-red sword wave that was about to cut his body, Yang Kai calmly summoned his Purple Shield and injected his Saint Qi into it. A purple halo flashed from the shield as a series of runes lit up on its face. These runes rotated rapidly and soon leapt out from the shield, transforming into a giant illusionary shield that blocked the path of the approaching sword wave.
*Hong…*
With a loud bang, the blood-coloured sword wave landed on the light shield, causing it to explode, but at the same time the blood-coloured blade was repelled.
Seeing this, Hou Jian’s expression was dumbfounded, as if he hadn’t anticipated Yang Kai would actually possess such an excellent defensive artifact, one that was even capable of resisting his killing blow!
He had greatly underestimated Yang Kai’s depths.
When the Purple Shield was first refined, it was just an Origin Grade Low-Rank artifact, but after being enhanced once by Yang Yan, it had been upgraded to the Origin Grade Mid-Rank. Later, inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Yang Kai had used the Purple Shield to fight against the Artifact Spirit, resulting in its spirituality being greatly damaged. After bringing it back, Yang Kai had Yang Yan enhance it a second time, resulting in today’s Purple Shield already being an Origin Grade High-Rank artifact.
Its defensive capability was even more outstanding than before.
Being an Origin Grade High-Rank artifact as well, the Purple Shield was naturally able to block the strike of Hou Jian’s broken blade. If this hadn’t been the case, Yang Kai wouldn’t have summoned it out with such confidence.
After blocking the bloody blade, Yang Kai took back his Purple Shield and stared straight at Hou Jian with a stern look, a sneer soon creeping onto his face.
How could Yang Kai have missed the strong murderous intent the other party had released during that strike just now.
This man had already decided to kill him!
If they just wanted to bring him back to Coloured Glass Sect, Yang Kai wouldn’t have taken things too far, but now…
Waving his hand, a scroll-like object appeared in front of Yang Kai who wore a fierce grin. In an instant, the illusionary shadows of several mountains rushed out from this scroll. When these shadows rushed out, they immediately expanded to the point where they covered the sky before pounding down towards Hou Jian with incredible force.
Hou Jian’s face changed drastically and he could no longer care about anything else, hurriedly pouring all his strength into the broken blade, allowing it to wantonly consume his blood as he lifted it up high and slashed out.
A blood-red sword wave impacted the bottom of the approaching phantom mountain and split it in half, causing the broken pieces to fall away from Hou Jian. The earth trembled on this series of impacts as several giant pits were created.
However, Yang Kai had used dozens of phantom peaks this time, each successive one bigger than the last, so how could Hou Jian defend against all of them?
Hou Jian only managed to defend himself for three breaths before his strength was completely consumed and he powerlessly watched the approaching mountain peak press down on him. Hou Jian’s face became ashen as his gaze became hollow.
He was certain that he would die in the next moment! Instantly, he regretted following Yin Su Die out here.
At that moment though, the pink mist in the surrounding as well as the grand palace and wine pool all suddenly twisted and disappeared. The figure of Yin Su Die appeared in front of the Hou Jian like a ghost, her usual charming expression replaced with solemn on as she lifted up a white bead that released a soft light in to the surrounding.
When he was hit by the light from this bead, Yang Kai suddenly felt his murderous intent decrease and his mood become tranquil. Even his desire to ruthlessly kill Hou Jian faltered.
However, in an instant, Yang Kai dispelled this hesitation as he stared at Yin Su Die coldly.
He knew that the reason why his will had suddenly weakened was related to the strange bead in her hand.
Yin Su Die on the other hand stared at the bead in her hand for a moment, seemingly looking for something, but she soon wore a happy smile as she called out to Yang Kai tenderly, “Do you really want to do this? You won’t regret it?”
When she spoke these words, she stood in front of Hou Jian, completely disregarding the illusionary mountain peaks above her, seemingly unafraid of death.
After Yin Su Die asked this, she showed no further signs of resistance, her tender body seemingly delicately blowing in the wind.
But the look on Yang Kai’s face changed greatly as he stared at her, immediately waving his hand and retrieving the phantom mountain peaks that had been smashing down towards her. Even the Hundred Mountains Picture was tightly grasped in his hand.
He gazed incredulously in the direction of Yin Su Die, his eyes filled with tenderness as his lips trembled a few times before finally whispering, “Su Yan?”
At this moment, the one standing in front of Hou Jian was no longer Yin Su Die but rather the woman that Yang Kai longed for deep in his heart, the beauty who appeared in his dreams every night and had enchanted his heart and soul.
His expression immediately solidified as infinite longing filled his mind and tenderness that could melt even the coldest ice flashed across his eyes.
The opposite Su Yan also looked at him with the same kind of infinite tenderness, but imperceptibly, the corner of her mouth twitched slightly, as if he she had just heard a stranger’s name, changing her appearance ever so slightly.
Just when she thought that Yang Kai had been thoroughly confused by herself, his expression suddenly became ice cold and all the tenderness in his eyes disappeared, replaced with a thick disgust and anger.
Seeing Yang Kai’s look change, Yin Su Die realized that the situation had taken a turn for the worse, immediately reached out to grab the pale and bloody Hou Jian in an attempted to escape.
But before she could even move a step, Yang Kai’s low voice suddenly sounded, “Blossoming Lotus!”
Yin Su Die’s tender body, which was still facing Yang Kai, suddenly stiffened as she saw the vague vision of a lotus bud appear in his eyes. This vision was incredibly beautiful and exuded a soft seven coloured light, instantly attracting her completely attention, making it impossible for her to look away.
In the next instant, this lotus vision suddenly disappeared from Yang Kai’s eyes and strangely appeared in Yin Su Die’s Knowledge Sea.
[Soul Skill!] Yin Su Die’s face changed dramatically as she comprehended what had just happened, but as she tried to raise her defences, she noticed that the Spiritual Energy in her Knowledge Sea was rapidly being drained towards a certain location. It seemed that a huge vortex had appeared and was absorbing her Spiritual Energy. At the source of this attraction though was the ethereal lotus bud she had just seen.
Yin Su Die groaned as her vision was completely covered by the slowly blooming seven coloured lotus. For every petal that unfurled, the Spiritual Energy in her Knowledge Sea decreased, as if it were the nutrient required for it to blossom.
Yin Su Die was terrified and hurriedly tried to defend her Soul, but no matter how hard she tried, she was unable to slow the speed at which her Spiritual Energy was being swallowed.
In the blink of an eye, the greater part of her Knowledge Sea had dried up! But the lotus blood had only slightly blossomed.
If blossoming only a tiny bit had consumed so much of her Spiritual Energy, would her Knowledge Sea be completely drained once it fully bloomed? At that point, even if she did not die, her Soul would surely suffer a grievous wound, something that couldn’t easily be healed.
At this point, Yin Su Die’s face suddenly paled. She had not expected that Yang Kai would really dare to kill her, and for a time, her beautiful eyes flashed a deep regret and pleading, becoming incredibly pitiful.
*Peng…*
Yin Su Die fell to the ground, her tender body covered with dust, no longer exuding any of her previous charm. At this moment, her face was pale white and she behaved as if there was a vice gripping her head, causing laboured gasps to escape her lips and large drops of sweat to drip from her body, soaking her clothes in the blink of an eye.
She could not even beg for mercy!
The pain she felt from having her Soul drained out was harder to bear than any pain she had suffered before, but all Yin Su Die could do was grit her teeth and stubbornly defend the last vestiges of her Knowledge Sea.
Even so, she knew that once the seven coloured lotus fully bloomed, she would meet her end.
*Sha sha…*
The sound of footsteps leisurely approaching reached Yin Su Die’s ear. Barely managing to turn her head in the direction of the sound, she saw Yang Kai’s gloomy staring down at her coldly, no trace of emotion in his eyes at all.
Yin Su Die opened her mouth and tried to say something but failed to vocalize any words.
Yang Kai then snapped his fingers.
The seven coloured lotus blooming slowly in Yin Su Die’s mind suddenly stopped opening and soon disappeared into a scattering of light.
Seeing this, Yin Su Die’s expression relaxed as she quickly examined the situation in her Knowledge Sea. A brief glance was all it took though to fill her with terror again. Her Knowledge Sea was almost completely dried up. If Yang Kai had not stopped his secret technique just now, the consequences would have been dreadful. Even so, if Yin Su Die wanted to completely recover, it would cost her a significant amount of time and resources.
From beginning to end, Yang Kai had only used his Blossoming Lotus for three breaths.
During these three breaths, the burly man who had originally been protected by Yin Su Die was unable to understand what had happened, only further realizing that this time the three of them had really kicked an iron plate.
Seeing Yang Kai not paying any attention to him, Hou Jian glanced over at the extremely disheveled Yin Su Die and steeled his heart, condensing his Saint Qi as he prepared to flee.
He did not have the ability to care about Yin Su Die.
But the moment his body move, a figure flashed in front of him, and an indifferent Yang Kai blocked his path.
Hou Jian’s mouth went dry as he stared at the figure in front of him, his eyes overflowed with horror, not daring to move.
Yang Kai simply pointed his finger at Hou Jian and sent out a blast of Demonic Flame that punched a hole directly through his left chest. The burly man couldn’t even muster the will to resist, stumbling backwards a few steps while covering the hole where heart once was. A look of utter disbelief flashed across his face before his eyes grew dim and he collapsed to the ground, the black Demonic Flames wrapping up his body and quickly burning his corpse to ash.
After finishing this, Yang Kai figure blurred and returned to Yin Su Die.
Yin Su Die was still gripping her head with both her hands and panting heavily. It seemed that the Blossoming Lotus Yang Kai used on her had caused her such a heavy injury she was unable to even move.
Beside her, a delicate white bead had fallen to the ground.
Yang Kai glanced over at this bead, reached out, and pulled it into his hand. Although he didn’t know what this bead was, he was certain that Yin Su Die had used it just now to probe his mind, allowing her to use her Beguiling Technique to make it appear like Su Yan was standing in front of him.
After hesitating for a moment, Yang Kai tightened his grip and condensed a rich Demonic Flame to melt this bead down, completely destroying it.
Regardless of what this bead was, or how precious it might be, Yang Kai was not willing to let it remain.
After incinerating this bead, Yang Kai stared coldly at Yin Su Die and said indifferently, “Did you think I wouldn’t dare to kill?”
Fright flashed across Yin Su Die’s eyes and she did not dare to respond.
The scene just now of Yang Kai killing Hou Jian was seen clearly by her. She realized that what she had done just now had touched her opponent’s psychological bottom line, otherwise Yang Kai would not have acted so ruthless. Given his strength, the first time Hou Jian attacked him, Yang Kai could have killed him if he wished.
The woman named Su Yan must be especially important to him, otherwise how could things have become so serious so quickly?
Realizing all of this, Yin Su Die felt a deep sense of regret. If she had known Yang Kai’s strength was this tyrannical, how could she have run out here to embarrass herself?
“Do you think I won’t dare kill you?” Yang Kai asked again.
“You can’t kill me…” Yin Su Die said haltingly, “My Senior Brother should have succeeded by now, you need to consider the safety of your companion.”
“Succeeded?” Yang Kai’s mouth curled into a sneer as he waved his hand, releasing an extremely slender ray of light just like a golden silk thread that shot off towards the distance.
A moment later, the panic-stricken shout of a male cultivator rang out and a flash of light appeared mid-air, revealing Luo Min’s figure.
After Yin Su Die inexplicably collapsed and Hou Jian had been killed, it seemed Luo Min realized the situation was beyond saving and immediately used his Flowing Light Escaping Shadow secret technique to escape. But before he could get far, a strange golden thread chased after and swiftly broke his technique. No matter how he tried, Luo Min could not escape from the pursuit of this gold thread and in the blink of an eye, was captured by it.
This golden thread was naturally the Golden Blood Thread Yang Kai had been cultivating for the past year or so, an existence similar to an artifact.
Yang Kai’s Golden Blood Thread was derived from Demon Blood Temple’s Demon Blood Thread secret technique. Yang Kai had been wanting to test the power of his Golden Blood Thread, so he had quickly displayed it here. Now seeing how the Golden Blood Thread had easily captured Luo Min and rendered him unable to escape, Yang Kai felt that all his effort was worth it.
Waving his hand once more, the Golden Blood Thread that bound Luo Min dragged him back over to Yang Kai.
Yin Su Die’s expression became extremely gloomy upon seeing this.
Just now, she had engaged in a battle with Yang Kai even though she knew she would lose because she was confident that her Senior Brother Luo would be successful, so she hadn’t paid any attention to the situation with Yang Yan, only instinctively thinking the latter had been captured.
But looking at it now, Yin Su Die immediately realized her thinking had been too naive.
When Luo Min was captured, Yang Yan in her black robe also walked over. Looking at her appearance, besides being a bit frightened, she was completely unscathed, even her black robe did not have any wrinkles. It was a mystery how she had resisted Luo Min for so long without suffering the slightest loss.
“Succeeded was it? Have you woken up yet?” Yang Kai sneered.
Yin Su Die’s face went from blue to red, wishing she could find a find a hole to crawl into and hide. At the same time, she glared coldly at Luo Min, secretly blaming him for being useless.
Luo Min was also full of bitterness. He had not expected Yang Yan to have so many artifacts on her, each of which possessed great power. While he was attempting to capture her, the other party had not fought back at all and just passively defended herself. But no matter how he attacked, he was unable to break through Yang Yan’s defenses, so now, after being captured by Yang Kai, he really did not have the face to look at Yin Su Die.
Seeing Yin Su Die fall silent, Yang Kai coldly snorted and launched a palm strike towards Luo Min, pounding him into the ground and breaking many of his bones. This single blow had caused Luo Min very heavy injuries.
But even in this condition, Luo Min was feeling quite lucky, because it seemed Yang Kai did not intend to kill him.
Acting together with her two Senior Brothers, Yin Su Die had thought it would be easy to bring Yang Kai back to Coloured Glass Sect, but the result was actually one of them dying here while the other two had suffered grievous wounds. Seeing Yang Kai still staring down at her coldly, Yin Su Die suddenly realized that she had made a big mistake.
“Even if I fought against the entire world, she would willingly stand behind me, never barring my path or asking if I will regret,” Yang Kai suddenly said some inexplicable words to Yin Su Die, the corners of his mouth rising into a sneer as he snorted, “A cheap woman like you actually daring to transform into her likeness, you really court death!”
As soon as these words fell, a jet black ray shot into Yin Su Die’s tender body from Yang Kai’s hand.
Yin Su Die beautiful face lost all colour as she felt the hand of death reach out for her, two tears involuntarily falling from the corners of her eyes.
These black Demonic Flames had just now easily burned her Senior Brother Hou’s body to ashes, and now they had actually been shot into her body; how was she supposed to survive? What surprised Yin Su Die though was that these Demonic Flames weren’t hot like she imagined, but extremely cold. As soon as they entered her body, she shivered involuntarily and the Saint Qi in her body began to freeze, a layer of frost soon appearing on her pale skin.
“I won’t kill you this time! But if you dare act against me again, I’ll give you a fate worse than death!” Yang Kai coldly snorted before waving his hand and retrieving the golden thread which had bound Luo Min.
Under the complex gaze of Yin Su Die, Yang Kai turned around and led Yang Yan away.
Only after the figures of Yang Kai and Yang Yan had disappeared for a long time did Yin Su Die and Luo Min dare to move. Although both of them had suffered greatly, neither had fatal injuries. Luo Min had many broken bones in his body, but overall he was still able to move; on the other hand, Yin Su Die’s injuries were more severe. The damage to her Soul and the frigid chill permeating her body made her feel very uncomfortable.
“Junior Sister Yin… are you okay?” Luo Min stood forced himself to his feet and asked with concern, reaching out his hand as he spoke, seemingly wanting to help Yin Su Die up.
“Do I look like I’m fine?” Yin Su Die’s pretty face twisted in anger as she swatted away Luo Min’s hand and staggered to her feet. Her hair and clothes were in a state of chaos and she was covered in dirt, her beforehand exquisite image completely destroyed.
Luo Min knew that she was blaming him for his incompetence, but even if he was angry about this inside, he didn’t dare to say anymore.
However, if he had known that surnamed Yang was so powerful, he would never have agreed to accompany Yin Su Die to intercept him. How was that any different from seeking destruction? Fortunately, that surnamed Yang did not seem intent on killing him, otherwise, he would currently be accompanying his Senior Brother Hou to the next life.
Luo Min hadn’t figure out why Yang Kai had only killed his Senior Brother Hou though, was it simply punishing one to warn the others?
“Junior Sister, shouldn’t we find a hidden place to rest first? We’re not too far from Myriad Beast Mountain so their disciples should pass by here quite often. If they were to see us in this state, it would become troublesome,” Luo Min asked Yin Su Die gently as she fixed her clothes. Although Yin Su Die was currently quite angry with him, he did not dare ignore her wellbeing. After all, if he were to really abandon her, after going back, he was the one who would suffer.
Hearing this, Yin Su Die’s expression lightened somewhat as she nodded, “Yeah, let’s find a place to heal first. Moreover, we need to discuss how to explain what has transpired here to the Sect Elders before returning.”
Luo Min was startled for a moment but soon nodded, “It is as Junior Sister says.”
The two of them then supported each other as they dragged their injured bodies to a well-concealed spot nearby to meditate and heal.
…..
Several thousand kilometres away, Yang Yan followed behind Yang Kai without saying a word, both of them using their respective Star Shuttles to fly towards a certain direction. As she stared at Yang Kai’s back, Yang Yan didn’t know why, but she felt as if it was revealing a desolate and lonely air. Since separating from Yin Su Die and her group, Yang Yan had noticed a change in Yang Kai’s mood. He now seemed to be in quite low spirits and his mind was obviously elsewhere.
Yang Yan didn’t step forward to disturb him though, instead just following behind him quietly.
She knew that Yang Kai becoming like this was somehow related to the last secret technique Yin Su Die had displayed and the woman whose name he had called out.
After a whole day and night, Yang Kai, who had been rushing ahead, suddenly came to a stop and landed on a nearby hill. At this moment, the lonely aura coming from his back suddenly disappeared.
Yang Yan controlled her Star Shuttle to land beside Yang Kai and observing his profile, she found that he had indeed returned to normal. Secretly breathing a sigh of relief, she shifted her eyes slightly and asked, “Who’s Su Yan?”
“Why do you ask?” Yang Kai turned his head to her and asked back.
“Just curious,” Yang Yan smiled, immediately understanding that Yang Kai was reluctant to say more; but even if she didn’t ask this question or get any kind of response, she could still guess that this Su Yan must be the most important woman in Yang Kai’s life.
While Yang Yan did not ask anything more, Yang Kai actually wore a smile and began talking, “She is my real Senior Sister, different from the fake Senior Sister you are.”
“Then you’re…” Yang Yan’s smile faded, as if she had just learned something serious, a curious look appearing on her face.
“En,” Yang Kai nodded calmly, “But I don’t know where in the Star Field she is now.”
“She’s not on Shadowed Star?” Yang Yan was startled.
“No, arriving here was a complete accident for me. As for her, she entered the Star Field earlier than me, but I don’t know where she went.”
“Is that so… are you worried about her?” Yang Yan asked softly.
“I am worried, therefore I want to find her as soon as possible, but I don’t even know when I’ll be able to leave Shadowed Star,” Yang Kai sighed sadly, “For now, all I can do is cultivate as quickly as possible. When I grow strong enough, I’ll have a chance to leave Shadowed Star and enter the outside world to search for her.”
Yang Yan’s eyes turned, as if she wanted to say something, but after thinking carefully, she swallowed the words back down and waved her hand, “Let’s not discuss this anymore, you seem quite sad when you do. En, I was meaning to ask actually, why didn’t you kill those two just now? Could it be you couldn’t bring yourself to kill her because she was a woman?”
Yang Kai slowly shook his head, “If I could, I would naturally have killed them, but Yin Su Die’s status in Coloured Glass Sect makes things difficult. If I was to really kill her, Coloured Glass Sect would definitely not let me off. More importantly, before pursuing us, those three definitely informed others about their intentions; without such worries, I wouldn’t have minded silencing them all.”
“If that’s the case, you shouldn’t have killed any of them then,” Yang Yan frowned secretly. She had witnessed all of Yang Kai’s battles with Hou Jian and Yin Su Die and felt that there were only two appropriate choices, either kill none of them or kill all of them. Killing just one person obviously didn’t have any benefit.
Yang Kai smiled, “I killed him because he wanted to kill me, nothing more!”
As for Coloured Glass Sect’s reaction, Yang Kai didn’t care too much, at worse he would become enemies with them; after all, one of their disciples died at his hand. However, Hou Jian’s status was obviously not as high as Yin Su Die’s, so even if this incident created some trouble for Yang Kai, it would not be on the level of all Coloured Glass Sect’s Elders would be after his head. If Coloured Glass Sect really wanted to seek revenge, they would only send a small number of people after him. With the current defensive strength of Dragon Cave Mountain, Yang Kai didn’t fear a small raid.
In any case, he already had a grudge with the Xie Family, so adding one or two more enemies wouldn’t change his situation much.
Besides, which great Sect didn’t have a number of disciples encounter accidents or even die each year? If these Sects always sought trouble with others because their disciples died, they would not be able to develop themselves.
As such, Yang Kai didn’t worry about killing Hou Jian much.
During this battle, Yang Kai not only got to test out his Golden Blood Threads, but also the power of the Soul Skill derived from his Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus.
The Blossoming Lotus was a Soul Skill Yang Kai comprehended after the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus evolved.
The first time he used it, Yang Kai was able to instantly incapacitate Yin Su Die.
However, although the power of this Blossoming Lotus technique was extremely powerful, the load it placed on him was also great and the amount of Spiritual Energy it consumed was also significant. Yang Kai thought about the pros and cons for a moment and decided that this Soul Skill should be reserved for critical situations.
Currently, Yang Kai had his Space Blade, Blossoming Lotus, Golden Blood Thread, Demon Eye of Annihilation, and hot and cold Demonic Flame along with the Hundred Mountains Picture, Purple Shield, Origin King Grade Artifact Refining Furnace and Artifact Spirit, so even if he was just a Second-Order Saint King, he was confident he could compete with an ordinary Origin Returning Realm master.
As for whether he would be able to win such a battle, that would mainly depend on his opponent’s cultivation.
There was also Leng Qing of Star Emperor Mountain and Lu Ye of Flowing Cloud Valley that Yang Kai wasn’t certain he could kill in a head-on confrontation, especially the former who gave him quite a strong feeling of danger.
Naturally, this kind of matter was just a feeling as the two hadn’t actually fought yet.
After sifting through some of these thoughts, Yang Kai suddenly asked, “Where are we now?”
“You’re only asking that now?” Yang Yan snorted, “Why didn’t you think about that yesterday when you were rushing around all depressed?”
A trace of embarrassment appeared on Yang Kai’s face. After being affected by Yin Su Die’s mysterious technique yesterday, although there was nothing physically or mentally wrong with him, it had still sunk him into a kind of dazed, nostalgic state, and it was only after a day of adjustment that his mood had recovered.
Yang Yan saw this and simply laughed lightly, “Fortunately we didn’t deviate too much from our original route; we probably added three or four hours to our journey at most.”
“That’s good,” Yang Kai gently nodded. For this trip, he and Yang Yan had not only wanted to visit the Coloured Glass Sect, but also take care of another matter. If this wasn’t the case, it wouldn’t have been necessary for Yang Yan to come along in the first place.
“But before that, should you release Xiao Xiao and see how much Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass he swallowed?” Yang Yan suddenly proposed excitedly.
Although Yang Kai summoned the Stone Puppet back the night before, for the sake of safety, neither of them dared to check the results of their heist. Now that they finally had the time and opportunity, Yang Yan naturally couldn’t wait to see how much Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass they’d obtained.
Seeing this, Yang Kai nodded slightly before releasing his Divine Sense and investigating their surroundings. After confirming that there was no one within a few-dozen-kilometre radius, he summoned out the Stone Puppet with a wave of his hand.
In the sky above a huge mountain valley that seemed to span several hundred thousand kilometres, Yang Kai and Yang Yan stood observing the thick, rolling clouds down below and frowned as they felt the abnormal chill in the air.
Even without delving into it, Yang Kai could tell that this chill would not be easy to resist, and from time to time he could hear something similar to howling or shrieking that was not just the wind. It was enough to make normal people shudder.
“Are you sure this is the place?” Yang Kai watched for a while before turning his head to look at Yang Yan.
“En, although I don’t know the specific location, if these two map fragments are pieced together, the path they create definitely leads to this place,” Yang Yan looked at the two map fragments she was holding before examining the surroundings and nodding once more.
“This will be bit troublesome then,” Yang Kai frowned.
The reason why he had brought Yang Yan out on this trip was precisely because of these two map fragments, one of which was originally owned by Yang Yan. How she obtained it, Yang Kai never asked. As for the other fragment, it had once appeared in the Treasure Trove Pavilion auction in Heavenly Fate City and was later obtained by Yang Kai after he killed an Imperial City Sect disciple called Meng Hong Liang in the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
When these two map fragments were pieced together, although it was still impossible to obtain any precise coordinates, one could still make out some vague clues.
These map fragments obviously had a long history and should hide some valuable secrets, so once one could figure out where it led, they may be able to obtain great benefits. Dragon Cave Mountain’s resources were essentially depleted, and Yang Kai refused to allow Yang Yan to continue auctioning off artifacts, so she decided to take this opportunity when Yang Kai was going to visit Coloured Glass Sect to search for the location pointed to by these map fragments in the hope that she could find a way to resolve their poverty stricken situation.
After checking the amount of Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass swallowed by the Stone Puppet, the pair had rushed to this place. It had taken a full ten days before they finally arrived at this massive mountain valley. Yang Kai called it a mountain valley because he could see some mountains at its edge, but such a massive valley was something Yang Kai had never witnessed before.
At first glance, it almost looked as if some powerful expert had split the ground apart to create this valley. The coldness of the air inside was also quite uncomfortable. This was already the case at the periphery, so it was easy to imagine that inside the environment and danger would only be worse.
“Do you know where this place is?” Yang Kai asked. If he was alone, he wouldn’t be worried about anything, but Yang Yan was currently accompanying him, and although she had superior self-protection ability, if they really encountered great danger, Yang Kai wasn’t confident he could keep her safe, causing him to hesitate somewhat now.
“I don’t know. Shadowed Star is too big so how am I supposed to recognize every single area? However, it does not look like there is any kind of settlement in the surrounding region,” Yang Yan shook her head.
Yang Kai felt quite exasperated hearing this comment. It was easy to see this place was not suited to live in, why would Yang Yan need to point it out?
Wanting to find someone to ask about the situation here was likely impossible as the last time the two of them had seen people was six days ago when they passed through a small city.
“Since we are already here, let’s just go in and see. The final position marked on the map fragments is still uncertain, but I don’t want to let them go to waste completely,” Yang Yan saw Yang Kai’s hesitant appearance and couldn’t help urging him.
Yang Kai glanced at her and pondered again for a moment before nodding, “Okay! But you must follow closely, don’t get further than ten metres from me.”
“I know!” Yang Yan spat out her tongue before pulling her black robes tightly.
The two no longer hesitated and dove straight into the mountain valley.
The moment they entered, a thick cold air came at them from all directions, causing Yang Yan to shiver subconsciously. However, in the next instant, hot Fire Attribute Saint Qi burst from her body, dispersing the chill and allowing her to return to normal.
Yang Kai naturally would not care about the cold as his physique was powerful enough to passively resist it.
Looking around, it was obvious that this place was incredibly barren and desolate. It was difficult to see any trees and there were only occasionally some patches of grass growing here and there. The entire mountain valley was filled with a cold, dark aura, and the eerie sounds of howling constantly flooded one’s ears. Gusty winds blew back and forth, brushing against Yang Kai and Yang Yan’s bodies, sending a chill straight into their Souls, making it somewhat difficult to resist.
“Let’s go!” Yang Kai shouted lightly as he led Yang Yan forward, passing along the road. However, besides the uncomfortable environment and the occasional strong winds, there did not seem to be any real danger here, offering Yang Kai a pleasant surprise.
One day later, the pair had already advanced three thousand kilometres and were currently standing in front of some scattered ruins, feeling a bit confused.
Obviously there had been a building here at some point, but it had long ago collapsed. The years had also not been kind and much of this ruin had been completely flattened and worn down, some of the stone surfaces even having been polished to a mirror finish by the high winds.
“Oh!” Yang Yan suddenly noticed something and hurriedly ran over to a nearby broken wall, slowly walking around and examining it after she arrived.
Yang Kai did not stop her because under the investigation of his Divine Sense, he couldn’t find any signs of danger nearby.
After a while, Yang Yan walked back with a thoughtful look upon her face.
“What did you find?”
“A barrier,” Yang Yan quickly said, “This seems to have been the site of a long-lost Sect. There are traces of Spirit Arrays and barriers here, but they’ve all been destroyed. It seems that we’ll have to be more careful as we advance. Generally, the protective Spirit Arrays of a Sect become stronger as one proceeds further. We probably didn’t encounter anything up until now because we were still outside the borders of this ancient Sect.”
Listening to her saying this, Yang Kai nodded immediately and asked, “Where do we go now?”
Yang Yan took out the two map fragments and examined them for a moment before point in a certain direction, “That way!”
Yang Kai continued leading the way immediately and just as Yang Yan had suspected, along the road, the pair really encountered some remnant barriers and Spirit Arrays. However, these Spirit Arrays were not even worth mentioning in Yang Yan’s eyes. With her reminder, Yang Kai was able to easily avoid most of these barriers while the ones that could not be avoided were broken by Yang Yan.
None of these barriers or Spirit Arrays could last longer than three breaths in front of Yang Yan’s skill.
But Yang Kai didn’t show a single look of joy, his expression only growing more solemn the longer that passed. This was obviously the site of an ancient Sect, but even so many years after it had been destroyed, these barriers and Spirit Arrays were still functioning. It wasn’t difficult to imagine how powerful this Sect had been at its height, and such a Sect would not have arranged poor quality protective Spirit Arrays to defend itself.
Whenever Yang Yan was breaking a barrier and Spirit Array, Yang Kai would protect her from the side; then, after she broke a barrier, Yang Kai would lead the way again. The two of them worked together and cooperated exceptionally well.
At this moment, Yang Yan finished dismantling a small Illusion Array and clapped her hands happily. Just as she was about to say something to Yang Kai though, his face went cold, and he rushed over to her side. Grabbing her by the shoulder, Yang Kai placed Yang Yan behind himself as he pushed his free hand forward.
A scorching black flame was released from his palm.
This palm seemed to hit thin air but strangely, a howling scream suddenly rang out, one that contained a mysterious power, similar to a Soul Skill, that rushed towards Yang Kai and Yang Yan’s Knowledge Seas. However, this attack was quite weak and couldn’t even breach the pair’s Knowledge Sea defenses so they easily repelled it.
Even so, Yang Yan’s complexion went pale. She had not noticed any danger until the attack hit her, so naturally she was quite terrified.
When she peeked around Yang Kai to see what had happened, Yang Yan saw that some kind of illusory figure had actually been caught in his grasp. At this moment, Yang Kai’s Demonic Flames were illuminating the blurred features this figure which showed a very painful look, squirming as if it was being burnt alive.
“Yin Soul!” Yang Kai and Yang Yan blurted out almost at the same time, both of them exchanging a glance with each other as they felt the temperature around them drop slightly.
Yin Souls were incredibly special existences that were formed when the Soul of a creature of cultivator did not dissipate after its warm body died.
Generally speaking, such Souls wouldn’t be able to exist for long periods of time as without a body to contain them, they would soon dissipate and become part of the ambient World Energy. Only if a Soul were preserved inside a suitable artifact could it find a suitable physical body in short order could it survive.
However, could it be so easy to refine such a Soul artifact? Seizing another’s body was also extremely dangerous, if one was careless, they might instead be swallowed by the body’s original host. For example, when Old Demon wanted to seize Yang Kai’s body, he had wound up being controlled instead and forced to obey Yang Kai’s orders.
But there was another situation where a Soul would not quickly dissipate, and that was when their host body died in a special environment.
This giant mountain valley was one such environment. The chill and Yin Qi which permeated this place was incredibly rich, so Souls that were released here would dissipate at greatly reduced speed, and if there was enough opportunity, a disembodied Soul could actually transform into a Yin Soul.
Of course, after being transformed into a Yin Soul, this Soul would lose all be sentience and become a malicious ghost that could only act on instinct to survive.
Yin Souls formed like this were incredibly aggressive and would see any living creature as an enemy. They also straddled the line between the corporeal and incorporeal, making them exceedingly difficult to eliminate if one didn’t have a suitable Secret Art or artifact.
After Yang Kai’s Demonic Flame transformed into a pure Hot Attribute, it was equivalent to the burning rays of the sun, making it the perfect nemesis to this Yin Soul, allowing him to easily grasp and kill it. Had it been another cultivator here, they would not have had such an easy time.
In fact, Yang Kai had dealt with these kinds of creatures before. Many years ago, when he dove into the Evil Cavern in the Ash Grey Cloud Evil Land, the Evil Spirits he encountered were similar existences to Yin Souls. At that time, he was able to collect a lot of Evil Spirit Essences after killing them, but unfortunately, no such thing remained after he destroyed this Yin Soul.
After entering the giant mountain valley, Yang Kai had wondered whether Yin Souls would exist here, but until now he and Yang Yan hadn’t encountered any, so he didn’t think much about it.
What caused Yang Kai to frown though was that since there was one Yin Soul here, it meant there would undoubtedly be a second, third, and so on.
Looking at Yang Yan’s complexion, she apparently thought of this as well, and her expression became uncertain.
As if to verify the pair’s conjecture, as soon as Yang Kai eliminated this first Yin Soul, from beneath the ground in all directions, wisps of frigid aura visible to the naked eye began sprouting up, seeming to have been roused by the death scream of the Yin Soul Yang Kai had killed.
These frigid auras varied in opacity, from almost invisible to as thick as fog, but no matter their density, all of them squirmed momentarily before transforming into a Yin Soul. Without exception, these Yin Souls lacked clear features and some were even missing limbs, all of them appearing extremely strange.
Seeing this, Yang Yan immediately activated her Artifact Armour and in a flash, a fiery glow enveloped her body. On the other hand, Yang Kai just lifted his hands and released ten jets of Demonic Flame that swiftly penetrated the surrounding Yin Souls.
Although there was quite an intimidating number of Yin Souls, all of them were apparently weak and simply collapsed after a single blow. Every Yin Soul touched by Yang Kai’s Demonic Flame quickly evaporated, leaving no trace behind.
Yang Yan was quite relieved when she saw this and after composing herself, she took out a disc-shaped artifact and activated it with her Saint Qi.
In the next moment, a large halo of red light was formed, centred on the disc-shaped artifact. As this light halo expanded, it actually dispelled the ambient chill in the air and the Yin Souls caught in its radius were quickly destroyed, all of them screaming pitifully as they melted.
The red light halo spread out a thousand metres before it ran out of energy and faded; however, the dense swarm of Yin Souls within this radius had all been vanquished.
Yang Kai was stunned, quickly turning to stare at Yang Yan in amazement.
“Hehe, my newly refined artifact isn’t bad, right?” Yang Yan smiled back at Yang Kai happily.
“En, it’s very suitable for this kind of situation, but if you were facing a single opponent that is stronger, its strength would be insufficient,” Yang Kai’s vision was quite sharp and immediately saw the shortcoming of this artifact.
Hearing Yang Kai say this, Yang Yan pouted, “I have other artifacts that can be used against single opponents, it’s just that I’m disinclined to fight with others, hmph!”
Having the flaw in her artifact pointed out by Yang Kai seemed to make her unhappy.
Yang Kai scratched his cheek and said lightly, “Let’s go. Although these Yin Souls are quite weak, there may be stronger ones as we proceed further. We can’t be careless.”
And so, the two immediately continued forward.
This Sect ruin was quite strange. There were many Spirit Arrays still functioning as well as many Yin Souls that had spawned. On the following road, Yang Kai and Yang Yan encountered barriers and attacks from Yin Souls several times, but all these were solved by Yang Kai and Yang Yan easily, so they didn’t encounter any real danger.
The pair explored the mountain valley for several days, with Yang Yan checking the map fragments more and more frequently as time passed. It seemed that as they approached their destination it became more difficult for her to determine the correct position.
One day, while Yang Yan was checking the map fragment, Yang Kai’s expression suddenly changed and he released his Divine Sense in a certain direction. After a while, a look of surprise appeared on his face as he muttered, “There are other people here.”
“Other people, like who?” Yang Yan asked, startled.
“I’m not clear, but there are only four of them, two Third-Order Saint Kings and two Second-Order Saint Kings. It seems that they’ve been trapped in some kind of barrier.”
“Do you want to check it out? Perhaps they’ll be able to tell us where this place is,” Yang Yan suggested.
According to Yang Kai’s original idea, since the two of them had come here to treasure hunt, naturally, he wasn’t willing to complicate the situation. Regardless of who these people were, or what danger they had encountered, Yang Kai had no intention of interfering, but just now, under his Divine Sense’s investigation, two of the life auras from this group gave him a familiar feeling, as if he had encountered them before.
This unavoidably made him curious, and hearing Yang Yan’s proposal, he nodded and said, “Ok, let’s quietly take a look without exposing ourselves.”
“En,” Yang Yan naturally had no opinion.
The pair rushed quietly towards the unknown group’s location. Yang Kai Soul was incredibly powerful, so as long as he suppressed his aura by wrapping himself in his Divine Sense, he wasn’t worried about being discovered by cultivators in the same realm.
As for Yang Yan, she activated a necklace artifact she was wearing and was instantly shrouded in a thin energy barrier that appeared like flowing water. In the blink of an eye, her figure faded from Yang Kai’s vision and nearly disappeared, leaving only a faint outline behind. Even when he used his Divine Sense, Yang Kai was unable to detect her aura, so unless someone stood extremely close to Yang Yan and saw her with their own eyes, it would basically be impossible to discover her.
Realizing this, Yang Kai nodded lightly.
The unknown group of four were at least thirty kilometres away from Yang Kai and Yang Yan’s position and were only detected by Yang Kai because he dared to release his Divine Sense indiscriminately in this kind of place.
After an incense stick worth of time, Yang Kai and Yang Yan arrived atop a small hill and looked curiously towards this group of four.
The pair saw an empty field with a dome-shaped light curtain covering a range of about three hundred metres down below. From afar it almost looked like a giant overturned transparent bowl was lying on the ground with four cultivators trapped inside. Each of these four was facing a different direction and was on high alert. Light flashed around these four as each of them used their Saint Qi to operate artifacts they were holding. Two of them were focused on attacking the light curtain.
Although each attack these two launched could shake the light curtain, a moment later, this barrier would actually rebound their attacks towards the four trapped cultivators.
The remaining two from this group needed to use their defensive artifacts to resist the rebounded energy after their companions attacked so that they didn’t wind up injuring themselves.
This team of four was quite skilful actually and it was obvious at a glance that they were familiar with one another, but no matter how hard they tried, it seemed they were unable to break this hemispherical light curtain in short order. It was impossible to tell how long they had been trapped here, but from the unsteady fluctuations of their Saint Qi, it was apparent they had consumed a great deal of their strength.
“Oh, it’s actually a barrier with reflective properties, interesting,” Yang Yan’s eyes lit up as she seemed to take an interest in the dome-shaped barrier.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was frowning slightly as he stared at an enchanting young woman among the group of, muttering with a strange expression, “It’s her!”
Previously, Yang Kai had felt that two of the life auras here were familiar, which was why he agreed to come take a closer look, but he never expected it to actually be this woman.
The young woman he was seeing now was none other than Chen Shi Tao of the Clear Sky Sect. Yang Kai couldn’t say he had a deep relationship with this woman; in fact, they could barely be considered acquaintances, having interacted only briefly in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. However, this woman seemed to have identified him as a person of great destiny. At that time, she had extended an invitation to him to act together, but before Yang Kai could refuse, they had encountered Chang Qi who had been chasing down the Dragon Soul. As a result, she had gotten lucky and followed Yang Kai to an underground Saint Crystal lode.
Later, Yang Kai departed from the underground Saint Crystal lode in advance, leaving only the small group from Clear Sky Sect and Chang Qi to mine Saint Crystals there.
However, judging from the gains Chang Qi made, the group lead by Chen Shi Tao must have also reaped significant benefits. With several people working together, they had to have harvested at least a hundred million Saint Crystals while not taking any risks.
Furthermore, Yang Kai had obtained his Dragon Bone, Dragon Bead, and Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree from that Saint Crystal Lode, so it wasn’t impossible that Chen Shi Tao and her group obtained other treasures there as well.
From a certain perspective, she really had benefited from Yang Kai’s luck at that time, allowing her to have such great gains.
Yang Kai never expected to encounter Chen Shi Tao in this kind of place though. Of the two familiar auras he felt just now, one belonged to her while the other belonged to another beautiful woman who had been part of Chen Shi Tao’s group at that time. This young woman was a Second-Order Saint King and was currently one of the two responsible for defence.
“You know them?” Yang Yan tilted her head and asked softly.
“Barely,” Yang Kai nodded.
“Do you want to help them?”
“No,” Yang Kai shook his head decisively, “This woman is somewhat troublesome, so I don’t want to get involved with them. The situation they’re in also doesn’t seem to be that dangerous; judging from the state of that barrier, they should be able to break free in a day or two.”
“But I want to study…” Before Yang Yan could finish her words, her eyes suddenly narrowed as she turned away from Yang Kai and stared in a certain direction.
Yang Kai turned his head back at this moment and a helpless expression filled his face.
Because in the direction he was looking, there were several Yin Souls flying over, seemingly attracted by the disturbance here. Worse, if they continued on their current course, these Yin Souls would pass right by the hill where Yang Kai and Yang Yan were hiding.
Yang Kai immediately became annoyed and quietly pulled Yang Yan’s hand to retreat.
But the moment Yang Kai tried to withdraw, the group of Yin Souls seemed to sense his movements and all turned to look in his direction before wailing loudly and rushing over menacingly.
Although the concealment techniques Yang Kai and Yang Yan were using made them all but impossible to discover by Saint King Realm cultivators, as far as these Yin Souls were concerned, as long as it was a living creature, no concealment technique mattered.
Seeing this, murderous intent flashed across Yang Kai’s eyes as he reached out and seized the nearest Yin Soul before releasing a wave of Demonic Flames to incinerate the others.
These few Yin Souls were not powerful, and their attack was easily repelled by Yang Kai, but as a result of having to defend himself, Yang Kai’s figure was exposed and noticed by the group of four nearby.
This group of four was startled and quickly directed a vigilant look towards Yang Kai, only to see him standing there with a helpless and awkward expression.
Of those four, the two males naturally had grim looks upon their faces because they were currently trapped inside a barrier and there was a separate pair of cultivators sneakily watching them from the outside. Such a situation would naturally cause suspicion as suspecting Yang Kai had some kind of nefarious purpose here wasn’t unreasonable. As such, both of them stopped their movements and directed wary glares towards Yang Kai.
On the other hand, the two women, after seeing Yang Kai, just gawked, but soon, Chen Shi Tao and the other beautiful young woman recalled who this familiar looking young man was.
Although it had been almost two years since they separated, how could Chen Shi Tao forget this man who had brought her such great benefits? Immediately revealing a look of joy, she waved her jade white hand and shouted, “So it’s you.”
The other beautiful young woman smiled lightly at Yang Kai, a look of delight filling her face.
Yang Kai felt a headache as he decided to feign ignorance, showing a surprised look and asking, “You are…”
Chen Shi Tao covered her mouth and smiled coquettishly, fluttering her lashes as she asked, “Could it be Little Brother Yang doesn’t recognize me? This Young Lady is Chen Shi Tao of Clear Sky Sect, we met each other in the Flowing Flame Sand Field.”
“Flowing Flame Sand Field?” When the two men beside Chen Shi Tao heard this, they could not help frowning slightly as they re-examined Yang Kai.
After all, anyone who could survive the Flowing Flame Sand Field could not be taken lightly. The two of them had missed the opportunity to enter the Flowing Flame Sand Field for various reasons and after learning about the massive harvest Chen Shi Tao and her team had reaped, they had felt a deep sense of regret. Their understanding of the Flowing Flame Sand Field also came from stories Chen Shi Tao had told them, so both felt that any cultivator that could return safely from it was worthy of their attention.
However, after realizing that Yang Kai was just a Second-Order Saint King, one of the two men spat disdainfully and promptly began ignoring him. He figured that the reason Yang Kai was able to return alive was because he had only wandered about the first layer.
The other male’s cultivation was lower, but he appeared quite full of spirit and was even staring at Yang Kai with interest.
He was the same as Yang Kai, a Second-Order Saint King, so naturally felt a bit of competitiveness.
Seeing Chen Shi Tao showing such a familiar look, Yang Kai felt the situation become more troublesome. When he last encountered this woman, Yang Kai deeply realized that she was a source of stress, but he had underestimated her sense of familiarity. Seeing her greet him so enthusiastically, Yang Kai really had no choice but to smile and nod, “So it’s you, I remember now.”
“So you’ve finally remembered me, for a moment I thought Little Brother Yang hadn’t put me in his eyes and really forgotten about me, hehe…” Chen Shi Tao seemed very happy and smiled charmingly despite still being trapped inside a barrier, her playful laughter stunning the other three in her group greatly.
Hearing her say this, Yang Kai could only laugh along with her.
After giggling for a while, Chen Shi Tao suddenly looked at Yang Kai elegantly and asked, “Right, Little Brother Yang, why have you come here?”
“We stumbled upon this place by accident and felt it was a little strange so we decided to come in and explore. We sensed some movement from this place a moment ago and came to investigate; however, we didn’t know what was happening, so we concealed ourselves. Please don’t blame us for acting cautiously!” Yang Kai cupped his fists.
“Stumbled upon this place…” Chen Shi Tao smiled as she looked at Yang Kai deeply. Although she naturally did not believe Yang Kai’s words, she didn’t ask anything more, her eye rotating slightly as she changed the subject, “Since you’ve come here, could I ask Little Brother Yang for a favour?”
“What kind of favour?” Yang Kai felt his brow twitch as he knew he could not avoid the coming trouble.
“Could you attack this barrier with your companion from the outside? This barrier has the ability to reflect attacks so it is quite troublesome for us to break from the inside, but if you attack from the outside, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
Yang Kai hesitated for a moment as he turned silently to Yang Yan; the latter gently nodded to him.
Yang Kai then nodded, “Of course.”
Chen Shi Tao pretty face filled with happiness as she said, “Many thanks, Little Brother Yang. After we get out of trouble, I will be sure to express my gratitude.”
“It’s just a minor matter, Sister Chen need not be so polite!” Yang Kai waved his hand before asking the group of four to stand back a bit and taking out his Hundred Mountains Picture, summoning several phantom peaks and smashing them towards the barrier.
Yang Kai did not use his own Saint Qi because he didn’t want to expose too much in front of outsiders. The Hundred Mountains Picture was just an artifact, so others would not be able to judge much from him using it.
The phantom peaks smashed down violently, and just as Chen Shi Tao had expected, the rebound effect of the barrier did not activate. It seems that only those trapped inside would have their attacks reflected back at them while those attacking from the outside wouldn’t encounter such a situation.
Under the attack of Yang Kai, the dome-shaped barrier soon became creaky and its glow dimmed. Judging from the rate at which it was weakening, it would likely break in about a cup of tea’s worth of time.
Seeing this, Chen Shi Tao and the other beautiful young woman could not help feeling cheerful. The four of them had been trapped here for two days already, and although they could forcibly break this barrier in another day or two, it was naturally much easier if they had help from someone on the outside, allowing them to escape from this damned place.
It was at this time that the male Third-Order Saint King suddenly whispered, “Sister Chen, are you familiar with this person?”
Chen Shi Tao heard this and after considering how to respond for a moment, honestly nodded and said, “I am not too familiar with him, I just met him twice in the Flowing Flame Sand Field; however, he’s quite an interesting person.”
“Interesting?” The male cultivator was shocked, wondering what the meaning of Chen Shi Tao’s evaluation was. Just when he was about to inquire more carefully though, the other young man spiritedly asked, “Sister Tao, just now you said he was also in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, right?”
“En, I met him in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Oh… he is actually a Second-Order Saint King now. The last time I saw him, he was just a First-Order Saint King. It looks like he had some good opportunities inside,” Chen Shi Tao’s eyes brightened as if she had discovered something surprising.
“A First-Order Saint King actually dared to enter Flowing Flame Sand Field, he really must not know the immensity of Heaven and Earth!” The male cultivator who had spoken first snorted coldly and scornfully said, “Him being able to live must all be due to luck, I bet he only wandered around the periphery of the first layer.”
For some unknown reason, this person seemed to look down on Yang Kai greatly, and although this was only their first meeting, he was intentionally disparaging him in front of Chen Shi Tao.
Chen Shi Tao however just smiled and shook her head, “He didn’t just wander around the periphery of the first layer, he at least reached the second layer as that’s where I met him.”
“He broke through the first layer?” The male cultivator looked surprised. After all, he heard many people say that crossing the Flowing Flame Sand Field’s first layer Flame Area was not too difficult, but there were still many dangers. Those with weaker or impure Saint Qi, such as poorly prepared Second-Order Saint Kings, wouldn’t be able to overcome these dangers and reach the second layer, so how could this brat, who was just a First-Order Saint King at the time, have the ability to break through?
He did not believe it.
“Naturally. Junior Sister Lu Ying was also present at the time, so if you do not believe me, you can ask her,” Chen Shi Tao pointed to the other beautiful young woman standing beside her.
The beauty called Lu Ying’ nodded repeatedly, confirming that Chen Shi Tao wasn’t lying.
“But… Senior Brother Wang is right about one thing, his luck is really quite good,” Chen Shi Tao smiled deeply.
“His luck?” The cultivator surnamed Wang heard this and slowly shook his head, “Luck is not strength, Junior Sister Chen. Haven’t you heard that counting on luck only leads to disaster? If everything in life was decided by luck, there would be no need to cultivate at all.”
Chen Shi Tao immediately showed a disapproving look, and seeing this, the cultivator surnamed Wang turned to the other male and asked, “Junior Brother Chen, do you think your Senior Brother’s words are unreasonable?”
“No, Senior Brother’s words makes sense,” The man with the same surname as Chen Shi Tao, and who even looked a bit similar to her, didn’t hesitate to agree with his Senior Brother’s words; however, he still looked at Yang Kai with a smile and asked Chen Shi Tao, “Sister Tao, could he be the guy you mentioned last time?”
“En!” Chen Shi Tao gently nodded.
“So it’s him! In that case, we should really become friends with him.”
He had clearly obtained information about Yang Kai from Chen Shi Tao and just like her, he had become interested in Yang Kai.
Seeing the appearance of these two people, the cultivator surnamed Wang snorted softly but no longer said anything.
Outside, Yang Kai’s brow twitched slightly but his expression remained indifferent.
Although the voices of the people inside were extremely low, with the strength of his Divine Sense, how could he not have heard them? Listening to the content of the conversation this group of four caused him to secretly complain to himself and made him feel like being curious was not always a good thing. He had come here just to quietly investigate but had wound up doing free labour while also drawing the ire of a complete stranger.
However, since these four people had appeared here, Yang Kai estimated that they had some important reason, otherwise they would not have come to such a strange place. Perhaps after escaping from this barrier, they would not want to become entangled with him and would look forward to him leaving as quickly as possible.
Hoping so, Yang Kai immediately relaxed a lot and increased the power he put into his Hundred Mountains Picture.
After the time it would take to boil a cup of tea, the giant phantom peaks finally overwhelmed the barrier trapping Chen Shi Tao’s group and with a crisp sound, it began to shatter.
Seeing this, Yang Kai took back the phantom peaks, stowed away the Hundred Mountains Picture, and stood waiting in place.
A moment later, Chen Shi Tao’s group emerged from the broken barrier with smiles on their faces and walked over to Yang Kai.
A delicate fragrance reached Yang Kai’s nostrils as Chen Shi Tao arrived in front of him, smiled happily, and said, “Many thanks for your assistance, Little Brother Yang, this Young Lady is extremely grateful.”
“Sister Chen is too polite, such a trivial matter isn’t worth mentioning,” Yang Kai quickly waved his hands and was just about to take his leave when out of the corner of his eye he spotted Yang Yan silently rushing out to examine the broken barrier, as if she was seeking something.
Seeing this, Yang Kai smiled bitterly; knowing that Yang Yan wanted to study this Spirit Array, his plan to quickly leave had been foiled and he could only resign himself to talking with Chen Shi Tao with a smile while waiting for Yang Yan to finish.
During the conversation, Chen Shi Tao naturally introduced her companions to Yang Kai with great enthusiasm.
The other young woman was someone Yang Kai had bet before as she had been part of Chen Shi Tao’s group in the Flowing Flame Sand field, Clear Sky Sect’s Lu Ying.
As for the other two, the male with bright eyes but lower cultivation was called Chen Fan Lei and was Chen Shi Tao’s younger brother. After listening to her introduction, Yang Kai suddenly understood why there were some subtle similarities between the two, it turned out they were blood siblings.
The last Third-Order Saint King cultivator was called Wang Yu Han.
To Yang Kai’s surprise, this Wang Yu Han and Chen Fan Lei were not disciples of Clear Sky Sect. The two of them belonged to Extreme Path Sect, which was a different force from Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying.
However, cultivators who had friendships or familial ties would commonly travel together even if they did not belong to the same force, so Yang Kai wasn’t too shocked after learning this information.
However, the name ‘Extreme Path Sect’ sounded familiar to Yang Kai, as if he had heard about it somewhere before.
After some brief introductions, Chen Shi Tao smiled and asked, “Little Brother Yang, why are you here in Grand Burial Valley?”
Her voice was sweet and soothing, and combined with a mature temperament and outstanding looks, her natural appeal almost made her more attractive than Yin Su Die when she was using her Beguiling Technique. Yang Kai quickly noticed that the man named Wang Yu Han had some intentions towards Chen Shi Tao.
But when Yang Kai heard the words ‘Grand Burial Valley’, his face changed slightly as he asked hesitantly, “This is Grand Burial Valley?”
Chen Shi Tao was surprised by this reaction and immediately covered her mouth to stifle her laughter, smiling as she asked in amazement, “Little Brother Yang, you couldn’t have really inadvertently stumbled into this place without knowing what it was, could you?”
When Yang Kai had explained his presence before, Chen Shi Tao had naturally not believed his excuse; after all, this place was several days away from the outermost edge of Grand Burial Valley, so even if someone had wandered inside accidentally, they shouldn’t have arrived at such a deep place. However, Yang Kai’s reaction and expression didn’t seem fake, making her wonder if he had actually been telling her the truth earlier.
“Haha,” Yang Kai’s lips twitched, “I really didn’t know what this place was.”
After thinking for a while, he asked, “This is the Grand Burial Valley that was left behind after the Ancient Yang Sect was destroyed?”
“Yup,” Chen Shi Tao nodded lightly, pursing her lips as she smiled, “It seems that you’re not ignorant about this much at least.”
“En, I’ve heard some rumours about this place before.”
The reason why Yang Kai knew about Grand Burial Valley was that Dai Yuan had told him about it in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. At that time, while waiting for the Red Candle Fruit to mature, he had asked Dai Yuan about the disciple of the Star Emperor Sect, which had eventually led to this topic.
According to Dai Yuan, Grand Burial Valley was originally the site of a great Sect with power equal to Thunder Typhoon Sect and Heaven Battling Union called the Ancient Yang Sect, but over two thousand years ago, this Ancient Yang Sect had killed a disciple from Star Emperor Sect that had left Star Emperor Mount for life experience, thoroughly offending this behemoth. As a result, one month later, Ancient Yang Sect had been razed to the ground and its headquarters became this strange place known as Grand Burial Valley.
Moreover, Dai Yuan also said that since then, many cultivators liked to come here to look for opportunities, because it was rumoured that although Ancient Yang Sect had been destroyed, there is still a Secret Cave left behind where most of this former great Sect’s accumulated wealth was hidden. Such rumours were enough to draw in treasure hunters from all over the world.
However, there are many still active Spirit Arrays in this place and the Yin Qi was incredibly thick, so many who came here seeking wealth actually lost their lives instead and the so-called Secret Cave had never been found. Over time, fewer and fewer people came here to try their luck.
Whether the Ancient Yang Sect had truly been wiped out by Star Emperor Sect was true or false, there was no conclusive proof.
Dai Yuan had personally visited this place but hadn’t gained anything. Instead, her body had suffered the invasion of an unusual cold aura that took much time and effort for her to resolve after returning to Coloured Glass Sect.
Yang Kai recalled what Dai Yuan said at the time as his expression fluctuated.
If this was really the Grand Burial Valley, then he would need to increase his vigilance. The people who came here in the past were not just Saint Kings, there were even Origin Realm Masters who had explored this place and fallen as a result. Yang Kai did not dare act carelessly even if he was confident in his own strength.
Could it be that ancient map fragments Yang Yan possessed was leading them to the location of Ancient Yang Sect’s Secret Cave? Considering this possibility, Yang Kai’s heart jumped, and he couldn’t help feeling a bit excited.
If this was really the case, they would really be able to solve the current poverty-stricken situation of Dragon Cave Mountain. After all, the treasury of a large Sect would undoubtedly contain amazing wealth.
While thinking so in his heart, Yang Kai maintained a calm look on his face.
Chen Shi Tao and others seemed to see that Yang Kai was thinking about something but didn’t interrupt his thoughts. Only after a long pause did Yang Kai take a deep breath and cup his fists to Chen Shi Tao, “Many thanks, Sister Chen. If I had not met Sister Chen this time, my companion and I might still be ignorant of where we were.”
Chen Shi Tao giggled, “You’re really quite carefree aren’t you, not even inquiring about where you before diving in to explore? Fortunately, your luck is quite good. Entering this place is quite dangerous, even for an Origin Returning Realm masters.”
A look of rebuke flashed across her face as if she was blaming Yang Kai for not cherishing his life.
Yang Kai could only let out a hollow laugh.
Seemingly just remembering something, Chen Shi Tao asked Yang Kai with utmost seriousness, “Little Brother Yang, don’t judge this place by the dangers you’ve encountered up until now. This place was once the site of the Ancient Yang Sect, and these grounds are just the outer periphery, so the Spirit Arrays here aren’t too powerful, but if you go deeper inside, the barriers will become far more powerful and won’t be so forgiving like the one which trapped my group of four.”
“Sister Chen,” Wang Yu Han suddenly cut in, “This friend just inadvertently broke into this place, so how could he intend to go deeper? Telling him these things is useless.”
Chen Shi Tao’s brow furrowed slightly, not even turning to address him as she continued looking at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai said with a smile, “Since I now know that this is Grand Burial Valley, I will naturally not delve any deeper. En, I assume that you’ve come here for something important, so this Yang won’t delay you any further, goodbye!”
“Take care, Brother Yang!” Wang Yu Han smiled at Yang Kai, changing the way he addressed him to a friendlier one immediately, seemingly quite eager for him to depart.
Yang Kai shot him a glance out of the corner of his eye before curling his lips upwards slightly and calling out to Yang Yan and setting off together with her, his figure gradually fading away into the mist.
Looking at his increasingly estranged back, Chen Shi Tao opened her mouth and seemed to want to say something, but she eventually held her tongue, only letting out a sigh after he completely disappeared.
“Em, this Brother Yang indeed has some good luck,” Wang Yu Han nodded with a sneer, “Without knowing anything at all, he actually wandered into Grand Burial Valley. Fortunately, he ran into Sister Chen, otherwise, he wouldn’t even know how he died.”
“Senior Brother, you don’t seem to like him very much,” Chen Fan Lei asked in an almost naively honest tone.
Wang Yu Han chuckled, “It has nothing to do with like or dislike, I just can’t help looking down on people who rely solely on luck to survive. Senior Brother said before, luck can only get a person so far, next time, his luck might not be so good and result in his death.”
Saying so, he glanced over at Chen Shi Tao seemingly unintentionally, wanting to persuade her to agree with him, but Chen Shi Tao currently had an obviously unhappy look on her face, making Wang Yu Han feel extremely helpless.
Chen Shi Tao was naturally upset. It was quite rare to encounter a person like Yang Kai who carried a great destiny, so she had wanted to try inviting him to accompany them. After all, although the reason the four of them had come to Grand Burial Valley this time should not be too dangerous, there was always the chance of an accident happening. If Yang Kai was with them, they might able to rely on his luck to reduce this risk to a minimum.
How could she have known though that before she could ask, Yang Kai would depart. Wang Yu Han’s follow up only made her feel more annoyed.
“Ah, Senior Sister Chen,” Lu Ying, who hadn’t spoken until now, suddenly called out, “You forgot to ask where he came from again.”
When Chen Shi Tao heard this, her nose cramped and her rich peaks heaved up and down in exasperation.
Last time, she had wanted to ask Yang Kai about his origins, hoping it would give her more opportunities to become friends with him; however, after she had collected enough Saint Crystals, she found that Yang Kai had disappeared at some point and asking Chang Qi hadn’t produced any results. Chang Qi knew better than to disclose Yang Kai’s background clearly.
This was something Chen Shi Tao regretted deeply.
Now, after a rare coincidence had allowed her to meet him again, Chen Shi Tao should have asked Yang Kai clearly about his origins so she could pay him a visit later. If Wang Yu Han had not interrupted and distracted her, she definitely wouldn’t have missed this opportunity.
If she knew where Yang Kai lived at least, the next time Chen Shi Tao wanted to go out, she could have invited him to accompany her.
Rather than acting with others, she was more willing to work with Yang Kai, who was lucky.
Wang Yu Han constantly interrupting her conversation with Yang Kai and making her forget about this matter, annoyed her greatly, causing Chen Shi Tao to shoot him a harsh glare. However, the other side simply welcomed her gaze, and even put on a somewhat flattering appearance, causing Chen Shi Tao to quickly lose interest and wave her hand, “Let’s go, we need to find that Thunder Pond as soon as possible so Fan Lei can break through his bottleneck.”
Saying so, she set out again. Lu Ying naturally understood why Chen Shi Tao was so disgruntled right now and shot Wang Yu Han a disapproving glance before hurriedly following her Senior Sister.
Chen Fan Lei seemed a bit airheaded and did not notice anything wrong, just following after his sister happily while Wang Yu Han stood in place and glared in the direction Yang Kai had departed.
Although the Extreme Path Sect he and Chen Fan Lei came from was not a small force, compared to Clear Sky Sect it was still somewhat dwarfed, that was why he had long been interested in the sister of his Junior Brother. Chen Shi Tao had outstanding looks, especially her watery, enchanting eyes which seemed capable of capturing one’s soul. Every time Chen Fan Lei returned to his family home; Wang Yu Han would find an excuse to tag along so he could meet Chen Shi Tao. He wanted to appeal to her in hopes of moving her heart.
If he could really obtain this woman, Wang Yu Han would not only have a beautiful flower to accompany him in the future, perhaps he could even use her to enter Clear Sky Sect.
However, after meeting several times, and making clear his intentions towards her, Chen Shi Tao still did not show any favour towards him. Gradually, Wang Yu Han lost heart and no longer planned to get entangled with her again, lest he truly annoy her.
But the last time he chatted with his Junior Brother Chen Fan Lei, he accidentally heard some shocking news from him.
Chen Shi Tao now had a net worth in the millions of Saint Crystals and also possessed several high-quality Origin Grade High-Rank artifacts!
It seemed that she obtained these riches when she entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field. According to Chen Fan Lei, his sister had gotten extremely lucky and discovered a Saint Crystal lode, allowing her to collect a massive quantity of Saint Crystals. Later, although she had to turn over the vast majority to her Sect, she still managed to retain a hefty sum and the Clear Sky Sect Elders also rewarded her for her contribution with many artifacts and pills.
In particular, the Origin Grade High-Rank artifacts were given to Chen Shi Tao by the Great Elder of Clear Sky Sect personally!
Chen Fan Lei was not one to have hidden intentions and was seemingly born carefree. His relationship with Wang Yu Han was good, so he had not had any reservations speaking about this subject with him; however, the latter was a different story, and after hearing about her sudden rise in status and wealth, Wang Yu Han once again decided to aim for Chen Shi Tao.
The purpose of this trip was actually for Chen Fan Lei to use a Thunder Pond to help him break through a bottleneck he was facing in his cultivation, but when Wang Yu Han heard about this, he urged his Junior Brother to invite Chen Shi Tao along. Everything had gone smoothly; hearing that her little brother needed help breaking through his bottleneck, Chen Shi Tao, as a supportive older sister, naturally agreed to help, even bringing along Lu Ying from Clear Sky Sect as backup. All four of them met up outside Grand Burial Valley before entering this place together.
Initially, things were going well, but then their group had accidentally fallen into the reflecting barrier and been trapped for two days. It was then that the little brat named Yang Kai had appeared and seeing Chen Shi Tao pay so much attention to him, Wang Yu Han naturally became vigilant and even targeted him slightly.
But now it seems that his way of doing things had irritating Chen Shi Tao, so Wang Yu Han stood in place somberly for a moment before helplessly shaking his head and following after the other three towards the Thunder Pond while secretly pondering what method he should use to impress Chen Shi Tao and win her affection.
After a moment, he indeed came up with an idea, and one that he thought would go well, immediately smiling while he began looking for an opportunity to implement his new plan.
On the other side, after separating from Chen Shi Tao and her group, Yang Kai took Yang Yan back along the route they had travelled and only stopped after withdrawing a couple of dozen kilometres.
“This is Grand Burial Valley?” After listening to Yang Kai’s explanation, Yang Yan not only did not panic but instead showed a joyful, eager look.
“What do you want to do?” Yang Kai asked with a frown, suddenly having a bad premonition.
“It’s nothing. I was just thinking that if this is really the former site of a great Sect, it must be covered with many powerful barriers and Spirit Arrays!” Yang Yan’s beautiful eyes lit up with a strange light as she shot a look of excitement towards Yang Kai.
Gently rubbing his forehead, Yang Kai said, “Since we’re already here, I don’t have any intentions of just leaving, but what about the directions on those two map fragments? If it doesn’t point to the inner recesses, then there’s no need for us to take unnecessary risks.”
“Hehe, then I’ll have to disappoint you, the direction these fragments indicate really is towards the depths of this place, but you can rest assured that there is no barrier or Spirit Array in this world I cannot break. If there were people still living here tending to these Spirit Arrays, I wouldn’t be able to make any guarantees, but only dilapidated barriers that cannot display their full might remain now, so how could they pose any problems?” Yang Yan said with great confidence.
Seeing this, Yang Kai also felt somewhat inspire and nodded, “Fine. Since you’re so confident, let’s continued deeper and see if the place marked on the map fragments is the so-called Secret Cave of the Ancient Yang Sect. If it is, then we should be able to find enough riches to allow you to purchase any Artifact Refining and Spirit Array materials you want!”
Yang Yan’s eyes lit up and immediately began urging Yang Kai to lead the way.
The pair took a long detour so they would not run into Chen Shi Tao’s groups before continuing deeper into the ruins.
Chen Shi Tao was right about one thing though. Around the periphery, the barriers and Spirit Arrays they encountered were not very powerful; in fact, the strongest Spirit Array in the vicinity was likely the one that had trapped their group of four. However, all of these Spirit Arrays were easily dismantled by Yang Yan, taking anywhere from a dozen breaths to the time it would take to burn a stick of incense.
Yang Kai and Yang Yan could basically walk about unimpeded.
Five days later, the pair seemed to enter the inner reaches of Ancient Yang Sect, because here, broken walls and ruins could be seen everywhere. It seemed that there were once many, many buildings here but at some point, all of them had been destroyed.
The barriers and Spirit Arrays here were also much more powerful than before, so Yang Yan had to spend some time to carefully crack them.
On top of that, these Spirit Arrays were quite old, and some had become very unstable, causing Yang Yan to run into some unexpected situations when taking them apart. Yang Kai was responsible for her safety during this time.
Yang Kai originally wanted to search through these ruins to see if there was anything of value left, but he soon gave up on this unrealistic idea.
Grand Burial Valley had existed for over two thousand years and, during this time, countless cultivators had searched through this place, so even if there had been treasures left here at one point, anything good must have already fallen into other’s hands.
On this day, Yang Yan stared at a huge open space in front of her for a moment before suddenly raising her hands and taking out two strange-looking artifacts which quickly flew forward and seemingly disappeared into thin air.
Yang Kai didn’t find this strange though as he had witnessed similar scenes multiple times already. Standing behind Yang Yan, he quietly circulated his Saint Qi and prepared to act at a moment’s notice.
Yang Yan closed her eyes for a while but soon a smile appeared at the corner of her lips and she turned around to Yang Kai and said, “There’s a big Spirit Array here, I’m afraid it will take some time to crack.”
“Can we go around it?”
“No!” Yang Yan looked at Yang Kai imploringly, “Well, yes, we can go around it, but this is a rare type of Spirit Array and I really want to study and crack it. I told you before that as long as I keep arranging Spirit Arrays and Artifact Refining, I will be able to unlock more and more knowledge about these subjects from my memories, yes? This is a good opportunity then, because breaking through these Spirit Arrays benefits me just as much as refining my own Artifacts or arranging Spirit Arrays. Doing it this way will save us a lot of money and materials don’t you think?”
Yang Kai shook his head helplessly and asked cautiously, “Will there be any danger?”
“Absolutely not!” Yang Yan swung her head like a rattle.
“Alright… how long will it take you to crack it?” Yang Kai asked
“Two or three days. You can do whatever you like during that time,” Yang Yan spat out her tongue before immediately ignoring Yang Kai and immersing herself in studying the big Spirit Array in front of her.
Seeing her like this, Yang Kai didn’t go to disturb her and after thinking about what to do for a moment, he took out the Origin King Grade High-Rank Artifact Refining Furnace and in a flash made it expand to three metres or so in diameter.
Yang Kai sat down cross-legged in front of this furnace and sent his Divine Sense into it. Soon after, a high-pitched cry rang out and the Firebird Artifact Spirit flew out of the Artifact Refining Furnace, circled it a few times, then came to a hover just above it and began spraying out pure Fire Attribute energy from its mouth in order to assist with refining the Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead inside.
Yang Kai did not remain idle either and actively poured his Saint Qi into the Artifact Refining Furnace to enhance its power while at the same time he split his attention to continue cultivating his Golden Blood Threads.
Whether it was cultivating his Golden Blood Thread technique or refining the Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead, both were incredibly time-consuming processes so having found a spare moment now, Yang Kai was not about to waste it.
So, he didn’t object to Yang Yan cracking the Spirit Array here, if he didn’t have anything to do, he wouldn’t have agreed.
Time passed by, yet Yang Kai barely noticed. At some point though, while immersed in cultivating his Golden Blood Threads, a slight noise suddenly came from beside him, causing him to look up and see some fluctuating rays of light and a disturbance in the ambient World Energy. Yang Yan was smiling as she stood nearby, putting away the tools she had been using until now one by one.
A short time later, all the lights faded, and Yang Kai felt that something had disappeared from the open space nearby, immediately understanding that the large Spirit Array arranged here had been cracked by Yang Yan.
With a thought, he received his Artifact Refining Furnace and Artifact Spirit, got up, and asked, “Done?”
“En, let’s move on. I’m beginning to like this place more and more. Last time, I should have entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field with you. I heard that there were many Spirit Arrays there.”
“If you had come in with me, you would probably be disappointed. Although there were some barriers there, there weren’t many… En, I did see a giant ruin of an ancient Sect though, one that seemed nearly completely intact at that. It probably would have met your requirements.”
Yang Yan sighed, “Unfortunately I didn’t have an opportunity, and there’s no telling how many years it will be until the next time the Flowing Flame Sand Field opens.”
The two continued walking while talking.
As they continued deeper into the ruins, the Spirit Arrays and barriers they encountered really became much stronger and the time it took Yang Yan to crack them also grew longer, unlike in the periphery where she could dismantle them with ease.
Even so, Yang Kai could not help feeling quite shocked. Although they had been left unattended for many years, these Spirit Arrays were still the crystallization of a great Sect’s knowledge and resources, yet they were continuously being broken by Yang Yan. Yang Kai really wondered what the people who had arranged these barriers would think if they were to learn about this.
On top of that, Yang Kai noticed that each time Yang Yan deciphered one of these Spirit Arrays, she would wear a giant smile; obviously, she was gaining many benefits from this process.
This point alone made the trip they had taken worthwhile; after all, Yang Yan cracked these Spirit Arrays not only allowed her to unlock more of her memories, it also saved Dragon Cave Mountain a lot of money.
Although Yang Kai did not obtain anything, he also didn’t lose anything, and he could even take advantage of this opportunity to work on his own projects.
Yang Kai even secretly thought that if they weren’t able to earn enough Saint Crystals to buy materials for her in the future, he could always take Yang Yan out to look for similar places to let her crack Spirit Arrays.
With Shadowed Star being so enormous, there should be many places like this Grand Burial Valley.
Inside Grand Burial Valley, Yang Yan stood on the spot, looking at the two map fragments in her hands, her expression flickering, because these two map fragments had led her here but there were no further instructions beyond that.
Relying on just these two map fragments to reach this point was all thanks to Yang Yan incredible analytical abilities, but now she was unable to determine the final position they were guiding her towards, only that their destination was somewhere within the surrounding thousand-kilometre radius.
A thousand-kilometre range was neither big nor small, but it would be very time-consuming to find some kind of hidden location.
While the Spirit Arrays they encountered as they moved deeper did not bother Yang Yan, the Yin Qi had become extremely rich and resisting it was constantly consuming her Saint Qi. Thankfully, Yang Kai had huge reserves of Saint Qi in his body so he could cover for Yang Yan when she became exhausted. If this weren’t the case, the two would have had to retreat long ago.
“What should we do?” Yang Yan turned her head to look at Yang Kai. They had come so far already so she was naturally unwilling to just give up. If she tried diligently, perhaps she could find the ultimate destination marked on these map fragments, but everything would depend on Yang Kai’s opinion.
Yang Kai frowned and grumbled to himself. Although they hadn’t encountered much danger along the way, since two days ago, the Yin Souls that had attacked them had strength equivalent to ordinary Saint Kings, and some of those that had been absorbing the Yin Qi of this place for countless years had even begun to achieve a slight degree of sentience, making them far more difficult to deal with as they would immediately retreat if they felt they were in danger, then, after recuperating, would come back to attack again. Thankfully, Yang Kai’s strength was still far greater, allowing him to thoroughly destroy most of these Yin Souls otherwise the situation would have been far more troublesome.
Yang Kai was also beginning to vaguely sense that there were more dangers to this Grand Burial Valley than could be seen on the surface. After all, if there weren’t, there wouldn’t be rumours about Origin Returning Realm masters falling here.
After hesitating for a moment, Yang Kai asked, “If I say we need to go back now, would you feel unwilling?”
Yang Yan nodded honestly.
Yang Kai grinned and nodded back, “I am also unwilling, and since that is the case, let’s keep looking. In any case, it’s just a five-hundred-kilometre search radius, at worst we can just dig up the entire thousand-kilometre region.”
Hearing this, Yang Yan’s spirit immediately rose, and the pair immediately began scouring the nearby area.
One day later, Yang Kai paused suddenly and looked around in surprise. Yang Yan saw this and naturally knew that he had discovered something, so she immediately fell silent and waited. Only after some time did Yang Kai show a strange look and ask, “Do you smell something strange?”
“En, it’s like there’s a faint rotten odor in the air,” Yang Yan responded, obviously also having noticed this.
“So, it wasn’t just my imagination,” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, a black fireball suddenly appearing in his palm and unleashing such intense heat that the surrounding space began to warp.
Swiftly, Yang Kai waved his hand and threw this black fireball towards a nearby dead tree.
This fireball was not very fast, but just as it was about to hit the seemingly unremarkable dead tree, a low roar suddenly rang out from it. Along with this bestial roar, and rich malevolent aura also erupted.
With a loud bang, the dead tree exploded into dust under the strong force erupting from inside it and a tall, abnormal figure suddenly appeared in its place.
A big hand suddenly stretched forward, covered in a light-yellow aura, and instantly intercepted the black fireball.
There was a loud sizzling sound the moment the pale yellow aura made contact with the black fireball, as if a handful of salt was sprinkled into a hot pan of oil. The yellow aura rapidly faded, but the Demonic Flame also grew weaker as a result.
A short time later, the pale yellow aura and the black fireball completely disappeared, leaving behind the strange tall figure in front of Yang Kai and Yang Yan.
After seeing the face of this person, Yang Kai’s brow furrowed as a look of shock filled his face while Yang Yan exclaimed loudly, “A Corpse Soldier!”
“Corpse Soldier?” Yang Kai turned his head to look at her curiously as this was the first time he had heard of such an existence. The tall, abnormal figure opposite him was clearly not a living person. Its face was shriveled and seemed devoid of any kind of moisture and its skin had sunk in, exposing the outlines of its bones. Two green eyes flickered like flames and its face was abnormally thin. Its appearance was quite terrifying and would cause anyone who saw it to shudder.
Most importantly though, Yang Kai was unable to feel any vitality from it, only a thick Death Qi and Corpse Qi. If not for this odd body emitting aura fluctuations on par with those of an average Third-Order Saint King, Yang Kai would really have thought it was just a corpse.
However, this corpse-like figure in front of him had just neutralized his Demonic Flame fireball with a single blow without taking any apparent damage.
The rancid smell that Yang Kai and Yang Yan had smelt was clearly being emitted by this figure but because it was hidden inside the dead tree a moment ago, it wasn’t so obvious.
“What is this?” Yang Kai asked in surprise.
“You can think of him as a special kind of life-form!”
“A life-form?” Yang Kai’s brow rose, and he wanted to ask more, but the Corpse Soldier opposite them suddenly showed a strange expression, one that seemed similar to a grin but because of its shrivelled face looked particularly strange and ugly. Immediately, a hoarse voice came from its throat, “Ah, excellent. Two big supplements delivered themselves to me. En, and one is a fresh little girl with tender flesh, her flavour will certainly be scrumptious.”
Hearing this, Yang Yan shivered involuntarily and quickly hid behind Yang Kai.
The look of surprise on Yang Kai’s face quickly disappeared. Since Yang Yan said that this Corpse Soldier was a lifeform, then naturally it would possess sentience and it would not be surprising for it to speak. It was his first time encountering such a strange creature, but when Yang Kai thought about all the Yin Souls here, he was no longer surprising that this Corpse Soldier had appeared.
Also grinning, Yang Kai looked at him and asked, “You want to eat my companion?”
“Do you have any objections?” The Corpse Soldier looked at Yang Kai coldly, a dangerous light flashing across its green eyes, “Rest assured, you also won’t escape, I’ll be eating both of you.”
“You want to eat me too?” Yang Kai seemed to hear something funny, his face turning cold as he snorted, “I’m afraid your teeth will break!”
As soon as his voice fell, with the wave of his hand, Yang Kai condensed a black sword and immediately slashed forward, sending out an imposing black sword wave that sliced cleanly through the air.
The Corpse Soldier didn’t show any fear at all, instead releasing a hoarse laughter as he crossed its arms in front of its chest. The pale yellow aura from just before enveloped it once again as it met the sword wave head on.
Yang Kai’s gaze become colder but he didn’t make any follow-up actions, simply observing for the moment.
Yang Kai saw his sword wave strike his opponent’s arms head on, but this only resulted in the Corpse Solider being forced back a few steps and the pale yellow aura guarding him fade slightly. There was also a burst of crisp scraping noises, like metal clashing against metal.
“Corpse Soldiers have extremely strong physical bodies incomparable to cultivators in the same realm, not much different from defensive artifacts of the same level,” Yang Yan’s reminder came from behind.
“I see!” Yang Kai gently nodded.
“Little girl, you seem to know a lot about us. Kaka, boy you will be the first. I’ll take my time to enjoy her later!” The Corpse Soldier cackled again before rushing out, the jet black nails on its big shriveled hand extending and releasing a cold light as it clawed towards Yang Kai.
As it reached out, the sound of air being split rang out and it seemed as though it wanted to twist off Yang Kai’s head.
Yang Kai raised his hand and sent out a punch to greet this big open hand.
“Overconfidence!” The Corpse Soldier saw Yang Kai wanted to face him with just his fist and sneered, grasping with its claw-like hand as if it wanted to crush Yang Kai’s outstretched fist.
But to the Corpse Soldier’s shock, when it tried to crush Yang Kai’s seemingly frail fist, he discovered that it was actually incomparably firm, and even though he used at least seventy percent of his strength, he was unable to even cut into his opponent’s skin.
On the contrary, a huge force came from his opponent’s fist, causing his green eyes to shrink, and with a strange cry, the Corpse Soldier’s body flew out like a paper kite as a look of shock filled his face.
Yang Kai was also shocked as he was forced back a few steps. He felt an icy coldness on his fist and when he looked down, he actually saw five black finger prints on the back of his hand which were exuding a thick Black Qi. This Black Qi seemed to be alive and was constantly wriggling back and forth, trying to dig into his flesh.
“Be careful of his Corpse Qi, it’s extremely virulent. Once it invades your body it’s extremely difficult to get rid of,” Yang Yan’s timely reminder sounded.
Yang Kai’s face went cold as he changed the Demonic Flames in his body into a pure hot existence.
The squirming Black Qi seemed to meet its nemesis and after a burst of what sounded like wailing was ejected from Yang Kai’s hand and dissipated into the air.
Seeing this, Yang Yan finally calmed down. What made Corpse Soldiers difficult to deal with were their solid bodies and strange Corpse Qi, but since Yang Kai was not affected by either, there was nothing she needed to worry about.
Sure enough, seeing Yang Kai easily expel his Corpse Qi, the eyes of the Corpse Soldier who hit the ground rolling became somewhat hesitant.
Originally, in his mind, the Second-Order Saint King Yang Kai and Yang Yan were not his opponents at all. He would quickly defeat these two then devour their bodies to enhance his own strength.
This was not the first or second time he had done this, but this time’s Second-Order Saint King was different from those he had encountered before and seemed quite difficult to kill.
This made him wonder if he should continue struggling here.
While he was hesitant though, Yang Kai had no intention of letting him off. With a flick of his wrist, Yang Kai silently sent a golden silk thread flying over that swiftly struck towards the Corpse Soldier. This Corpse Soldier did not notice this golden thread until it was already upon him and with a loud roar it sprayed out a thick Corpse Qi from his mouth to intercept it.
In an instant, the thick Corpse Qi shrouded the golden silk thread, but what surprised the Corpse Soldier was that his normally formidable Corpse Qi simply had no effect on this thin golden thread. The golden silk thread also seemed to have spirituality and contained an astonishing amount of vitality. With a quick flick, it shook off the Corpse Qi and then proceeded to pierce straight through the Corpse Soldier’s abnormally sturdy body as if it was tofu.
The golden thread then coiled around the Corpse Solider a few times and bound him tightly.
This Corpse Soldier instantly became terrified, but before he could take any kind of defensive action, Yang Kai released a pitch-black blade-like attack towards him. This blade did not give off any kind of energy fluctuation but upon seeing it, the green flame like eyes of the Corpse Soldier bulged as he sensed great danger from it.
In a flurry, he twisted his figure and managed to avoid a hit to his vitals, allowing the black blade-like attack to instead land on one of his arms.
An incredibly strange scene appeared next though, as his arm silently fell from his body. There was also a small portion of his arm missing where the cut had taken place, so the wound on his body and the fallen arm did not match exactly.
Naturally, it was Yang Kai’s Space Blade.
Although the Corpse Soldier’s physical body was unusually strong, Yang Kai’s Space Blade was also incredibly powerful as it could swallow anything it cut into The Void. The small missing section of the Corpse Soldier’s arm had been forever exiled to The Void.
When Yang Kai observed this cut though, there was only a light green liquid that was leaking out and no trace of blood at all, appearing quite strange.
Even so, the Corpse Soldier seemed to have suffered serious harm and a mournful wail escaped from its mouth, Corpse Qi erupting from its body and quickly engulfing it.
Yang Kai was just about to finish it off, but a look of horror suddenly came over his face and with a hurried wave of his hand, the golden thread which was binding the Corpse Soldier flew back to him.
The Corpse Soldier had regained his freedom and from within his shroud of Corpse Qi, he glared at Yang Kai fiercely before grabbing the fallen segment of his arm and transformed into a yellow streak of light, escaping at a surprisingly fast speed.
Yang Kai stood somberly in place as he stared down at his Golden Blood Thread and noticed that it had been horribly contaminated with Black Qi.
Because he had only been cultivating his Golden Thread technique for a short time, Yang Kai was unable to display its full power; if he had been skillfully use it, this kind of contamination would never have occurred. Having been bound by the Golden Blood Thread, despite having incredible strength, the Corpse Soldier should have been easily killed by Yang Kai.
Flicking his wrist, Yang Kai withdrew the Golden Thread into his body and condensed his Saint Qi around it to purge the residual Corpse Qi. At the same time, he grabbed Yang Yan by her shoulder and chased after the Corpse Soldier as quick as lightning.
The confrontation between Yang Kai and Corpse Soldier was over in the blink of an eye, so Yang Yan had yet to even react before this enemy she regarded as quite dangerous escaped in a panic. Only after they were already pursing it did she come to her sense and begin explaining the origins of this Corpse Soldier to Yang Kai.
Through her remarks, Yang Kai realized that this Corpse Soldier was just a classification in a hierarchy of similar creatures.
Just like Yin Souls, Corpse Soldiers could only be born in environments rich in Yin Qi. When a living cultivator or creature died here, under a combination of chance and opportunity, its Soul and flesh would not just wither away but instead transform into a different kind of existence. This is what a Corpse Soldier was.
Of course, some Corpse Soldiers were not formed this way but were instead the result of a Yin Soul reaching a certain degree of strength and sentience and then seizing the body of a living creature. This would result in a Corpse Soldier-like existence.
Corpse Soldiers could also artificially be created through evil Secret Arts. On Shadowed Star, there were many Sects that possessed these kinds of evil arts.
However, in general, the formation of a Corpse Soldier was far more difficult than that of a Yin Soul. If the conditions were right, any disembodied Soul that didn’t disperse could transform into a Yin Soul. On the other hand, Corpse Soldiers required both the Soul and flesh body to endure after death and re-integrate with one another. This significantly increased the difficulty of a Corpse Soldier forming.
These creatures could roughly be divided into three levels, Hundred-Year Corpse Soldiers, Thousand-Year Corpse Generals, and Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Kings!
Needless to say, Hundred-Year Corpse Soldiers had an extremely difficult time cultivating because they were essentially undead and could not easily absorb World Qi. As such, they cultivated many times slower than living creatures on average. It was not unusual for a Corpse Soldier that cultivated for a few hundred years to be inferior to an ordinary Saint King Realm cultivator.
However, the strength of a Corpse Soldier was far superior to others in the same equivalent realm. This was true all the way from the Initial Element Stage all the way to the Saint King Realm.
The Corpse Soldier Yang Kai encountered just now was an existence equivalent to the peak of the Saint King Realm. It had probably taken seven or eight hundred years of cultivation for it to reach this kind of level.
Once a Corpse Soldier was promoted to a Thousand-Year Corpse General, it would have power on par with an Origin Returning Realm master. As for a legendary Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse King, it would be comparable to an Origin King Realm master. It could even be said that a Ten Thousand Year Corpse King was far more powerful than an ordinary Origin King because the flesh body of a ten-thousand-year-old Corpse King was almost indestructible.
As Yang Yan explained all of this in detail, Yang Kai was secretly shocked.
He had never contacted such strange creatures before and had never even heard about them from anyone. He had honestly never expected that there would be such a weird form a life in this world.
However, Yang Kai was not an ordinary person and had seen many types of strange creatures before, so although he was a little interested in the indestructible body of a Ten Thousand Year Corpse King, after calming down, he didn’t show much surprise.
Along the way, Yang Kai did not know what strange means the Corpse Soldier used, but in a place some fifty kilometres ahead of them, it suddenly disappeared.
Yang Kai released his Divine Sense but could not find any clues besides a faint trace of Corpse Qi that had been leaking from the damaged body of the Corpse Soldier.
Following this trail of Corpse Qi, Yang Kai and Yang Yan arrived in front of a collapsed ruin and upon looking around, they discovered that within a range of a dozen kilometres or so, there were many crumbled buildings. Obviously, this place had been a core region of this Sect, otherwise there wouldn’t have been so many buildings.
“There are traces of Spirit Arrays here,” Yang Yan’s eyes stared at what appeared to be an open square nearby with bright eyes, a smile soon creeping onto her face, “But it’s just a simple Illusion Array, nothing difficult to crack.”
Yang Kai gently nodded and motioned for her to do her thing.
Yang Yan once again took out her strange tools, filled them with her Saint Qi, and threw them out, causing them to disappear in the next moment.
After a stick of incense worth of time, the scene in front of Yang Yan distorted and soon transformed from an open square to a completely different set of ruins.
Before Yang Yan could even put down her hands though, a strange blast of energy rushed towards her and Yang Kai from all directions, blocking all paths of retreat.
“A Nested Array!” Yang Yan called out in alarm. Yang Kai responded very quickly, pulling Yang Yan behind him and summoning his Purple Shield, madly pouring his Saint Qi into it and immediately creating a wall of yellow sand and wind around them.
It was the sandstorm ability of the Purple Shield.
The waves of energy attacks hit the sandstorm and were blocked by the wind and sand. Although these attacks did not completely disappear, their power was greatly reduced, making them far less ferocious than before.
Yang Kai constantly waved his hands, releasing multiple black fireballs to resist the remnants of these energy attacks.
Seeing this, Yang Yan calm down and hurriedly began surveying their surroundings. She had not expected that there would be a Nested Array here; after all, arranging such a series of concentric Spirit Arrays was quite difficult and also consumed a massive amount of materials. Even great Sects would not easily arrange this type of Spirit Array.
However, there was indeed such a Nested Array here, something which surprised Yang Yan and caused her vigilance to increase.
The attacks from the second Spirit Array were endless, and although they were not Heaven Destroying or Earth Shattering in power, they were enough to put Yang Kai completely on the defensive and even showed signs of overwhelming him in short order.
After a moment though, Yang Yan suddenly pointed to a small bronze gate in the ground smirked, “Hit that!”
Hearing this, Yang Kai did not hesitate to release his Space Blade.
In an instant, the Space Blade cut this bronze gate in half. A buzzing sound resounded all around and the attacks all quickly ceased.
After waiting for a while to confirm that no more attacks were coming, Yang Kai withdrew his Purple Shield and looked around.
He thought that the Corpse Soldier that had fled before would be hiding somewhere nearby, but there was nothing in sight, causing him a great deal of doubt.
“This doesn’t make sense. This Spirit Array would be very troublesome even for me to crack, but the Corpse Soldier disappeared as soon as it entered here. It’s impossible for him to be the master of this Spirit Array,” Yang Yan frowned deeply, obviously unable to understand what had just happened.
Yang Kai’s wore an uncertain expression as well as he hypothesized, “Could he have simply known a safe route through this Spirit Array?”
“Impossible,” Yang Yan shook her head decisively, “Unless he was an Array Grandmaster before his death, he wouldn’t be able to accomplish that even if he was far stronger. Of course, if he was a disciple of this Sect before he died, he might be able to control the Spirit Array here, but he is just a Corpse Soldier that cultivated for a few hundred years while the Ancient Yang Sect was destroyed over two thousand years ago, so it’s impossible for him to be one of their disciples.”
“Whatever the case, he must still be here,” Yang Kai grinned, “Not to mention, with this place being so well hidden, don’t you think it might be the place we’ve been looking for?”
“You mean, as long as we can find where he’s hiding, we’ll also complete our original objective?” Yang Yan suddenly remembered their purpose in coming here and asked excitedly.
“Maybe,” Yang Kai replied.
The two exchanged a glance before immediately beginning to search their surroundings.
After half an hour, the pair stood in front of a certain ruin. This place appeared unremarkable at first glance, but if one looked carefully, they would notice that unlike everywhere else, there were some slight distortions in space here.
There was another barrier here, but this one only had some concealment ability and no offensive power. Fortunately, Yang Yan had profound attainments in Spirit Arrays, otherwise, they might not have discovered it.
The more hidden the barrier was, the more Yang Kai affirmed his previous guess was correct.
After staring at this barrier for some time, Yang Kai’s expression suddenly changed and he waved his hand, summoning out the Origin King Grade Artifact Refining Furnace, tapping it with his finger, and lightning saying, “Go in and take a look around!”
With a light cry, the Firebird Artifact Spirit flew out of the Artifact Refining Furnace and plunged towards the barrier without the slightest hesitation. When the Artifact Spirit touched the barrier, the surrounding space shook for an instant before the Firebird disappeared entirely.
Yang Kai frowned for a moment, but after confirming that his connection with the Artifact Spirit still existed, he relaxed.
Standing on the spot, Yang Kai carefully reviewed the information passed back to him from the Artifact Spirit, his expression uncertain. Only after some time did he say, “It looks like we were right, this is definitely a Cave Heaven, and the World Energy aura inside is quite astonishing. It’s likely the place we are looking for.”
“Really?” Yang Yan was overjoyed.
“But… the Corpse Qi inside is also quite dense. It seems that more than one Corpse Soldier lives here,” Yang Kai said, solemnly dignified.
Yang Yan was dumbfounded and a look of hesitation appeared on her face. If there was only one Corpse Soldier, with Yang Kai’s strength, there would not be anything to fear, but if there were many of them, Yang Kai wouldn’t be able to handle them all on his own. This situation required some careful consideration.
It took a while for Yang Yan to finally say, “Since this is the site of the Ancient Yang Sect, it means that these Corpse Soldiers appeared after its destruction. It is very likely that many of them were disciples of the Ancient Yang Sect and only because of some coincidences they became like this after they died. In other words, the most powerful existence here would be a two-thousand-year-old Corpse General, equivalent to a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm at best.”
“A Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master,” Yang Kai murmured with a look of contemplation.
If this was the case, he didn’t need to worry. He didn’t have the strength necessary to fight such a powerful Corpse General, but escaping together with Yang Yan wouldn’t be a problem.
After a moment of contemplation, Yang Kai made a decision and gently nodded, “Then let’s go in.”
If the only thing he noticed inside this place was the thick Corpse Qi, Yang Kai would surely have turned around and left. Although he wasn’t afraid of a Thousand-Year Corpse General, avoiding an unnecessary fight would still be for the best. However, in addition to the thick Corpse Qi, the World Energy inside was also extremely rich, so clearly there were some good things hidden inside.
He and Yang Yan had come all this way, so with their goal now right in front of them, naturally they were unwilling to just give up.
Saying so, Yang Kai released his Saint Qi and wrapped himself and Yang Yan within it before leading her forward.
After stepping into past the Concealment Array, the world seemed to spin for a moment and the scene in front of them changed dramatically. Yang Kai and Yang Yan now found themselves inside a cave-like place that seemed to have a faint wailing sound echoing through the air, causing one to shudder unconsciously.
Along the cave walls, there were many green fluorescent stones, emitting a somewhat ghastly light.
Inside this cave though, the World Energy aura was incredibly rich, and Yang Kai could even smell a subtle medicinal fragrance. His heart trembled as he realized that he and Yang Yan had really found the right place, those two ancient map fragments had really led to the Secret Cave of the Ancient Yang Sect.
Although the light in this cave wasn’t very bright, with Yang Kai’s cultivation, as soon as he concentrated some Saint Qi into his eyes, he could still see everything in front of him perfectly. At the same time, he quietly released his Divine Sense to monitor their surroundings. Yang Kai soon found that this cave had traces of artifact excavation. It seemed that it was a naturally formed several thousand-metre deep cave that was later processed to make it more spacious.
In the deepest depths of this cave, there were also many channels extending in multiple directions, but where each of these channels lead, Yang Kai didn’t know. Yang Kai traced one of these tunnels with a thread of his Divine Sense for about thirty kilometres before his face suddenly changed, a look of horror filling his expression.
“What did you find?” Yang Yan asked softly.
“Shh!” Yang Kai quickly raised his finger to his lips as he quietly withdrew his thread of Divine Sense, whispering to Yang Yan a moment later, “Corpse Soldiers, lots of them.”
Yang Yan beautiful face paled.
Yang Kai quickly added, “But they seem to be in a state of hibernation. We should be fine as long as we’re careful not to disturb them.”
“How many are there?” Yang Yan asked nervously with a pale face.
“I’m not sure, I only probed one of the channels down below and found seven or eight Corpse Soldiers, but there were at least a hundred channels down there. If every channel is the same as the one I probed, then…”
“This place is probably a Corpse Cave!” Yang Yan seemed to remember something and declared.
“A Corpse Cave?” Yang Kai frowned.
“En, there rumours of some special places that are able to easily give rise to Corpse Soldiers, and if Corpse Soldiers slumber in such places, they can more easily merge their Soul and flesh body to obtain sentience. If this is really a Corpse Cave, it’s a very dangerous place.”
“I don’t know if this place is a Corpse Cave, but the Corpse Qi deeper inside is indeed quite rich and the chill in the air is also extremely potent. Those sleeping Corpse Soldiers were also absorbing the Yin Qi in the air from what I could see.”
“If that’s so, this is definitely a Corpse Cave,” Yang Yan was startled and quickly muttered, “With so many Corpse Soldiers here, it’s likely that only part of them were disciples of the Ancient Yang Sect while another part were cultivators that were later killed and entombed here. It seems we’ve come to quite a terrible place.”
“Since we’re already here, there’s no point in thinking too much about it,” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, and with a quick thought, a streak of flame flew over from afar and soon dove into Yang Kai’s body, disappearing in the next instant. Obviously it was the Artifact Spirit he had released to scout the situation before.
Seeing this, Yang Yan clenched her teeth and once again activated her necklace artifact. This time though, the concealment halo of this necklace not only wrapped around her, but also around Yang Kai as well.
In an instant, both of their auras disappeared.
The two exchanged a glance and nodded before quietly moving forward.
Since the Corpse Soldiers down below were in a deep sleep, they weren’t a cause for concern. The only thing that made Yang Kai a little worried was the Saint King Grade Corpse Soldier he had wounded before that was still hidden somewhere. Yang Kai also didn’t dare to freely investigate this place, so he was unable to find this wounded Corpse Soldier immediately.
As the pair passed by some of the tunnel offshoots, they clearly noticed a burgeoning Corpse Qi as well as some non-negligible noises coming from the inside, but these noises were orderly and rhythmic so it was obvious that without some great external shock, the slumbering Corpse Soldiers wouldn’t awaken.
Whenever passing by these tunnels, Yang Yan couldn’t help moving closer to Yang Kai, as if she was subconsciously looking for some sense of security.
Fortunately, Yang Yan’s artifacts were all superb and the two had plenty of preparation, so no trace of their auras leaked out.
While the two of them were continuing their exploration though, deep inside the Corpse Cave three skinny Corpse Soldiers were sitting cross-legged on the ground, circulating some kind of strange Secret Art that allowed them to inhale the surrounding white gas and strengthen their bodies.
These three Corpse Soldiers all emitted auras equivalent to peak Third-Order Saint Kings.
In a flash, another Corpse Soldier suddenly entered this passageway looking extremely disheveled. One of his arms had been cut off at the elbow, making him appear quite miserable.
As soon as he appeared, he was noticed by the other three Corpse Soldiers who opened their eyes to look at him. In an instant, six ghostly green eyes flashed.
“Oh, Brother Nie, how did you become like this?” One of the Corpse Soldiers saw his companion’s broken arm and asked in surprise, “Did you encounter some kind of danger outside?”
The eyes of the wounded Corpse Soldier flashed with anger as he grits his teeth and said, “I truly encounter some danger, and in a moment of carelessness, my arm was cut off!”
“Such a thing actually happened!?” The Corpse Soldier who had spoken just now called out in surprised, “After so many years, did an Origin Realm cultivator enter Grand Burial Valley? Did you run into such a master?”
“It wasn’t an Origin Returning Realm master, it was just a Second-Order Saint King,” The wounded Corpse Soldier said, seemingly a little ashamed, “This Nie let his guard down and was unexpectedly injured heavily.”
“Haha, Brother Nie must be joking. If we were still humans, such an injury would be very difficult to heal, but in our current state, a cut off arm isn’t even worth worrying about. As long as you use a bit of time and circulate your Corpse Qi you should be able to re-attach it in short order.”
“I’m afraid that Brother Nie’s injury can’t be healed so simply,” Another Corpse Soldier with long hair said in an unexpectedly pleasant to the ear voice after seemingly noticing something. This Corpse Soldier actually turned out to be a woman, and although her figure was somewhat distorted now, it was conceivable that before she died she was quite a beauty.
“Why so?” The Corpse Soldier who spoke previously asked suspiciously.
“If I’m not mistaken, part of Brother Nie’s severed arm is missing, right?” The female Corpse Soldier’s eyes flashed.
Hearing what she said, the other two sitting Corpse Soldiers took a second look and discovered that this was indeed the case. The broken arm brought back by the wounded Corpse Soldier was indeed missing a segment, almost as if his arm had been cut twice by some kind of extremely sharp blade.
“Could a Second-Order Saint King really be so powerful? Brother Nie, did you underestimate your opponent?” The female Corpse Soldier said with some meaning of blame.
“It’s not that this Nie underestimated him, it’s just that the power he used was too strange. I’ve never encountered a technique like that before,” The wounded Corpse Soldier recalled that black blade-like attack and even though he was already a corpse, he couldn’t stop himself from shivering slightly. If he hadn’t reacted quickly enough, he would likely have died again. After his last death, he had been brought back by the Corpse Soldiers inside this Corpse Cave and had to cultivate for a hundred years before regaining his sentience; he then spent centuries to achieve his current strength. If he died again, he would forever disappear.
“What kind of power?” The other three Corpse Soldiers felt surprised and quickly asked.
The wounded Corpse Soldier hurriedly talked about his previous encounter with Yang Kai, relaying every detail he could remember without any omission or exaggerations.
After listening, the female Corpse Soldier’s body shuddered slightly as she asked, “You mean, he cut your arm off with a black blade-like attack? And the attack gave off no energy fluctuations but was able to easily slice through your body?”
“En. After getting hit by that strange attack, a part of my arm simply disappeared,” The Corpse Soldier nodded repeatedly, his green eyes staring expectantly at the female Corpse Soldier as he asked, “Do you know anything?”
The female Corpse Soldier pondered and hesitated for a while before answering, “From what you’ve described, it sounds like your opponent was using Space Force.”
“What?” The other three Corpse Soldiers showed looks of shock, “Space Force? Are you serious?”
The female Corpse Soldier coldly snorted, “Did you all forget where I came from originally?”
The wounded Corpse Soldier was startled but quickly remembered and nodded, “I see!”
The female Corpse Soldier nodded lightly and continued, “Among Heaven Battling Union’s Elders, there has always been one who cultivates Space Force. I had the honour of seeing Elder Mo Xiao Sheng display such a Divine Ability once before, so I know more about Space Force than you, but…”
“But what?”
“If what Brother Nie said was accurate, this intruder’s attainments in the Dao of Space are too high. Even Elder Mo was not capable using Space Force to create a blade that could cut through an opponent’s body, so how did a mere Second-Order Saint King achieve this? That is why I said it sounded like he was using Space Force, but I can’t say for certain.”
“Hmm… I’ve also heard much about Mo Xiao Sheng, but all of that was from a few hundred years ago. I don’t even know if he’s still alive for that matter. If that little brat was really able to form a blade from Space Force though, it would be quite terrifying no matter the circumstances.”
“Is there any point in wondering about such things? Did you forget what kind of existences we are now? Sister Lan, I know you have some connection with Elder Mo, but if the current you were to appear in front of him, do you think he’d let you leave alive?”
The female Corpse Solider called Sister Lan heard this and her ghastly green eyes flashed, her mood becoming a bit unstable.
“Right, Brother Nie, when you returned, did properly cover your tracks?” The Corpse Soldier who spoke first asked cautiously.
“Naturally, and even if that person finds this place, he won’t be able to break the barrier protecting it. The defensive Spirit Array around this place was arranged by the Ancient Yang Sect. If we did not know the way to enter and exit it, we would never have been able to break through it. He’s just a trivial Second-Order Saint King, how could he possibly have such skill.”
“Fair enough.” The first Corpse Soldier nodded in agreement, sighing a moment later as if he remembered something, “I really don’t know whether I should be thankful towards the Ancient Yang Sect or if I should hate them. If not for them, I would not have died back then, but without them, perhaps I would have long ago passed on. Now that I have ended up like this, it’s… heh heh!”
Hearing these remarks, the other three Corpse Soldiers remained silent, but obviously, they felt the same way.
After a long silence, the female Corpse Soldier said, “Alright, let’s not think about such things anymore, it’s our four’s turn to guard this place for this decade, so just in case, let’s go take a look so that the Seniors don’t wake up and punish us for acting negligent.”
“Alright, I’ll go and check the situation out with Sister Lan, Brother Nie, you should use the Yin Qi here to quickly connect your severed arm. Although it will not be a perfect match, it is still better than nothing.” Saying so, this Corpse Soldier stood up and walked out with the female Corpse Soldier.
At the same time, inside another huge cave Yang Kai and Yang Yan had just snuck into, they were observing several empty wooden shelves in front of them along with various boxes that had been scattered on the floor. Yang Kai’s expression was horrendous right now and he was having trouble not cursing out loud.
He and Yang Yan had followed a faint medicinal fragrance all the way here and after carefully determining that there were no Corpse Soldiers sleeping inside, had rushed inside.
But how could they have known they would be greeted by such a scene?
This was the place where Ancient Yang Sect had stored its spirit herbs. There were at least several hundred rows of wooden shelves, each one with at least three levels that could hold a minimum of five or six boxes next to each other, but now, all these boxes were scattered about in an unorganized manner.
All of the boxes had been opened and whatever contents they once held were missing.
It was exceedingly difficult to find this place, and just when he was looking forward to reaping a huge harvest, this travesty had appeared in front of him; it could be imagined what Yang Kai’s current mood was.
There was no need to guess, these spirit grasses and spirit medicines must have been eaten by the Corpse Soldiers sleeping here.
Although consuming these spirit herbs like this was a great waste of their medicinal efficacies, it was impossible for Corpse Soldiers to perform Alchemy, so this was really the only option. In a sense, a Corpse Soldier’s cultivation method was similar to that of a Monster Beast.
However, after a careful search, Yang Kai still found the remains of some Fire Attribute and Yang Attribute spirit herbs. Such herbs were akin to poison to Corpse Soldiers who thrived on cold Yin Qi so naturally they had not swallowed them.
Unfortunately, all the boxes had been opened, and after so long, these spirit herbs had completely withered and became useless. This made Yang Kai furious and he even had the impulse to rush out and chop up all the Corpse Soldiers to bits to relieve his anger.
After a long, unfruitful search, Yang Kai and Yang Yan both sighed.
The spirit herb storage of a great Sect going completely to waste was enough to make anyone who saw it feel distressed.
Fortunately, in addition to this place, this Secret Cave had deeper levels, so the pair didn’t hesitate to continue exploring.
Shortly after the two left, the female Corpse Soldier and her companion stealthily appeared. Both Corpse Soldiers sniffed the air lightly before exchanging a surprised glance.
“It’s the aura of a living person!” The male Corpse Soldier whispered.
The female Corpse Soldier nodded in agreement, “Two of them at that. It seems the people Brother Nie met really managed to intrude.”
“Oh no, they must be headed for the ore and artifact storage, that place is where the Seniors are storing a vital material for their future plans!” The male Corpse Soldier glanced at the direction where Yang Kai and Yang Yan disappeared and whispered nervously.
The female Corpse Soldier’s eyes flashed and said, “Let’s follow them for now. If you and I can solve this ourselves, we should avoid alarming the Seniors, otherwise, once they learn we allowed intruders to get this far, we’ll be punished.”
Hearing her say so, the male Corpse Soldier shivered slightly, seemingly quite frightened. In the next moment, he nodded in agreement, “Okay!”
The two Corpse Soldiers circulated their strength to conceal their auras and quietly followed their prey.
Deeper inside the Secret Cave, Yang Kai and Yang Yan walked between another set of wooden shelves. As they waved their hands, various thick and thin ancient books on these shelves disappeared.
This was the storage place for Ancient Yang Sect’s Secret Arts, cultivation techniques, and Martial Skills.
Yang Kai did not have time right now to examine these ancient books closely and simply decided to collect all of them first.
However, from the titles of some of these ancient books, Yang Kai saw that there were a large amount related to Corpse Refinement, allowing him to understand why there were so many Corpse Soldiers here. The Ancient Yang Sect was a great Sect not inferior to Heaven Battling Union or Thunder Typhoon Sect, so it was normal that they had such secret books. Presumably, some Ancient Yang Sect disciples or Elders had cultivated these techniques which had allowed so many Corpse Soldiers to appear here two thousand years later.
There were many secret books and Secret Arts in this storage area, but they were still quickly collected by Yang Kai and Yang Yan.
After making sure they had not missed anything, the two of them continued deeper into the Secret Cave.
After a while, the two entered another Secret Cave and were greeted by a dazzling array of artifacts. Even with his rich net worth, Yang Kai could help but feel excited seeing this kind of wealth.
There were thousands of artifacts of all shapes and sized stored here. Weapons represented about ten percent of the total while the rest were discs, beads, various types of jewellery, flags, and other assorted designs. There were also many sets of Artifact Armour.
On the floor of this Secret Cave, there was a massive Spirit Array that seemed to be gathering the surrounding World Energy to maintain these artifacts.
The effects of this Spirit Array were quite good. Although more than two thousand years have passed, most of the artifacts stored here were still shimmering, so it was obvious that they had not lost their spirituality. Most were not at their peak, but they had been preserved well so as long as they were repaired slightly, there would be no issue using them.
Most of the artifacts here were Saint King Grade, with about twenty percent being Origin Grade.
The number of artifacts had Yang Kai in awe.
Exchanging a glance with Yang Yan, the two separated and began collecting with no trace of politeness.
In less than half an incense stick worth of time, this massive storage became empty.
“There’s still another Secret Cave.” After Yang Kai received these artifacts, his eyes drifted towards another passageway, a look of pleasant surprise filling his face.
He and Yang Yan had already passed through the Ancient Yang Sect’s herb storage, secret book archive, and artifact armoury, so what was left was a mystery, but obviously whatever lay beyond this passageway would not be of low value.
Not hesitating in the slightest, Yang Kai and Yang Yan continued deeper.
The two Corpse Soldiers who had been following them waited until they left before quietly appearing while glancing towards the direction they departed with gloomy eyes.
“What should we do? They’ve already entered that place. Even the Seniors can’t enter that place!” The male Corpse Soldier asked.
“What else can we do?” The female Corpse Soldier sighed, “Since the Seniors can’t enter there, naturally we can’t either. We can only wait here for now. The Ancient Yang Sect’s most precious treasure, the Sun’s True Essence, which is housed inside that room has a strong suppressive effect on us, otherwise, the Seniors wouldn’t be helpless to enter that place.”
“En, I’ve heard about that Sun’s True Essence. It is said that it is refined from the core of a Sun-Star. I really wonder what kind of master possessed such Heaven defying means to refine such a thing and how it then fell into the hands of the Ancient Yang Sect.”
“There’s no need for us to think about such matters. Moreover, although they’ve entered that place, with their cultivations, there’s no way they can take the Sun’s True Essence out with them, so we don’t need to worry,” The female Corpse Soldier sneered.
“Yeah,” The male Corpse Soldier also chuckled, “That Sun’s True Essence is not something that can be handled easily, perhaps those two will suffer a big loss and fall without us even needing to do any work. We should just sit back and watch the show.”
Thinking so, the two Corpse Soldiers relaxed and, after concealing their auras, quietly crept forward while waiting to see what would happen next.
Meanwhile, inside the cave, Yang Kai looked at the scene in front of him and almost couldn’t help laughing.
This place was actually a storehouse for Saint Crystals and various rare ores!
High-Rank Saint Crystals were piled up in several hills, each one several metres in height. Even a single one of these hills had at least three or four million Saint Crystal in it.
In other words, there were tens of millions of Saint Crystal stored here!
Yang Kai had been secretly praying that this trip would be able to solve the poverty-stricken situation of Dragon Cave Mountain, but now that wish had actually come true.
He and Yang Yan looked at each other and both saw the deep surprise in each other’s eyes.
Not rushing out to collect these hills of Saint Crystals, the two of them instead turned their attention to a certain jade pillar. This jade pillar was a pure snow-white colour and was exuding a profound chill that made this entire Secret Cave quite cold. It was clear at a glance that this jade pillar was an extraordinary treasure.
On top of this jade pillar were four Space Rings and a strange ore that was surrounded by a thin energy barrier.
Walking up to this jade pillar and examining it carefully, Yang Yan whispered in a solemn manner, “This is… It is! It really is a Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade!”
“Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade!” Yang Kai’s eyes bulged as he anxiously asked, “Are you certain?”
“This is no doubt about it. It’s a Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade, I wouldn’t mistake it for something else.” Seeing her confident expression, Yang Kai was naturally convinced, but for a time his eyes still flashed with surprise and astonishment.
Ice Jade was rare treasure, and Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade was extremely rare even among Ice Jade. If an Ice Attribute cultivation used Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade to refine a personal artifact, it would allow them to more efficiently transform World Energy and increase their cultivation efficiency.
But Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade’s uses didn’t end there. If an Ice Attribute artifact had some Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade added to it, it could increase its power by at least thirty percent and could even allow such an artifact to release a frigid aura that could freeze an opponent’s body and Soul. It was a supreme Ice Attribute treasure.
Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade was known as one of the Three Great Profound Jades, and a fist-sized piece of it would sell for a fortune.
With such a big piece of Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade in front of him, how could Yang Kai not be surprised? But what truly shocked him was that this Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade was actually just a pedestal for the four Space Rings and the strange piece of ore placed above it.
The four Space Rings were unremarkable, and were probably just placed atop this pillar randomly, but the strange looking melon-sized ore was definitely a valuable treasure, otherwise it wouldn’t have been protected by its own barrier.
Yang Kai glanced at Yang Yan quietly and found that she really was wearing a dignified expression. While observing this piece of ore, she never spoke, as if even she didn’t know what it was, surprising Yang Kai greatly.
“Let’s take a look at these four Space Rings first,” Yang Kai waited for a long time but still didn’t see any reaction from Yang Yan so he made such a proposal and reached out to pick up the rings.
After sweeping the contest with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai gently nodded.
Unsurprisingly, these four Space Rings were half filled with Saint Crystals and half filled with rare ores. Needless to say, the amount of Saint Crystals was enormous while the ores were actually rarer and more precious than the ones stored outside.
Yang Kai tossed the rings to Yang Yan, who swept them herself and nodded happily, “Great, with these things, I can refine the treasure I’ve been planning to.”
“What treasure?” Yang Kai asked curiously, wondering just what kind of treasure Yang Yan was so focused on refining.
“It’s a secret for now, but when the time comes I may need to borrow your strength,” Yang Yan grinned and returned the Space Rings.
Yang Kai glanced at her but didn’t ask anymore. After putting away the rings, he turned his attention back to the jade pillar’s barrier and asked, “Can you open this?”
“I can!” Yang Yan gently nodded, “But are you sure you want to open it? I don’t know why, but I feel a dangerous aura coming from this thing.”
“You also feel it?” Yang Kai was surprised. He had thought it was just an illusion, but now Yang Yan’s intuition was telling her the same thing as his. Immediately, Yang Kai’s expression became solemn, anything that could make him feel a sense of unease just sitting in front of him was no doubt very dangerous, but at the same time it was obviously incredibly valuable.
Yang Yan didn’t speak as she continued staring at the melon-sized stone in front of them intently, only after some time nodding, “Let’s open it. I believe that even if it is dangerous, we should be able to defend ourselves. If we were to just give up after coming this far, it would be too much of a waste.”
Saying so, she took out her array breaking tools and got to work.
Seeing this, Yang Kai immediately became vigilant and condensed his Saint Qi, preparing to act at a moment’s notice.
After thinking for a while, Yang Kai released the Stone Puppet as well and sent it a command with his Divine Sense. The Stone Puppet immediately rushed to the Saint Crystals and other rare ores and began inhaling them.
The structure of the Stone Puppet’s body was truly mysterious. Although the Stone Puppet looked quite small, its stomach seemed to contain infinite space, and in the blink of an eye it had already swallowed half a hill of Saint Crystals.
Yang Kai had asked Yang Yan about this before, and from her learned that the Stone Puppet itself had an innate ability to devour ores and evolve. Most of the ore swallowed would be spit back out, but it would absorb part of them and their essence to enhance itself.
Additionally, the Stone Puppet would take on some of the characteristics of the ore it swallowed after absorbing them.
Coincidentally, among the first ores the Stone Puppet devoured after it was born were Space Spirit Crystals that contained large amounts of Space Force. It was probably because of this that the Stone Puppet’s stomach capacity had increased exponentially, otherwise, even if an average Stone Puppet had the innate ability to devour large quantities of ore, it would not have been so exaggerated.
The Stone Puppet devoured the Saint Crystals and ores extremely quickly so Yang Kai didn’t need to pay any attention to it, instead focusing his attention on Yang Yan’s actions.
The barrier covering the strange ore seemed quite complicated, and even though it was Yang Yan, it was taking her quite some time to crack it. Yang Kai was naturally concerned that something unexpected would happen, so he quietly released his Divine Sense to monitor their surroundings.
After an initial investigation though, he was quite surprised.
Just outside, in the Secret Cave that the two had swept clean a moment before, there were two faint Corpse Qi auras hiding themselves. Although they were concealed quite well, with Yang Kai’s powerful Divine Sense he was still able to detect them.
What comforted Yang Kai was that these two Corpse Soldiers were only equivalent to Third-Order Saint Kings, and they didn’t show any signs of aggression. In fact, these two were just staying in place, motionless.
As long as they didn’t interfere, Yang Kai was disinclined to manage them, so he simply pretended not to notice anything while silently monitoring their movements as Yang Yan continued her work.
For Yang Kai, as long as they could sweep away everything here, this trip would be a success. At that time, he could just take Yang Yan away with him by tearing space, so even if he alarmed the countless Corpse Soldiers here, he could escape with ease.
Before arriving on Shadowed Star, Yang Kai hadn’t dared to bring along another person as he tore space; after all, The Void was an extremely unstable and hostile environment, and accidents were likely to occur when transitioning to and traveling through it. He could cope with these dangers if he was alone, but he couldn’t guarantee he could keep another person safe if he took them with him.
But now, his understanding and comprehension of the Dao of Space had improved dramatically, so taking another person with him across a thousand kilometres wasn’t a problem anymore.
With such confidence, Yang Kai naturally was not afraid of anything.
The barrier that surrounded the strange ore atop the jade pillar remained radiant even as Yang Yan worked on it, but if one looked closely, they would notice that slight ripples were now occurring across its surface. At the same time, the barrier began stretching and contracting, sometimes expanding and sometimes shrinking, making for quite an odd sight.
This time, unlike with all the previous Spirit Arrays she had cracked along the way, Yang Yan’s expression was particularly solemn and a touch of red filled her cheeks, indicating she was somewhat strained.
As time passed, the light barrier began to distort more obviously, and even Yang Kai could tell that it was on the verge of breaking.
Suddenly, Yang Yan muttered seriously, “Be careful.”
As soon as she spoke these words, the barrier broke, and at the same time, a pure Fire Attribute aura that shocked both Yang Kai and Yang Yan greatly burst from the strange ore.
In an instant, the entire Secret Cave became blisteringly hot as the mass of Fire Attribute energy seemed to transform into a Fire Dragon and charged out.
Yang Yan’s face suddenly turned pale. Although she had somewhat anticipated things would quickly become dangerous, she hadn’t expected it would happen the instant the barrier broke. The Fire Dragon hadn’t even reached her yet but she already felt as if she was being melted.
Several defensive artifacts on her body automatically activated just as Yang Yan sensed danger, and several layers of defensive barriers appeared in front of her.
These artifacts were all Origin Grade Low-Rank and were tailor-made for her, so the protection they offered wasn’t worse than an ordinary Origin Grade High-Rank artifact.
However, the Fire Dragon approaching her seemed unstoppable, and the instant its pure Fire Attribute energy impacted the light shields in front of Yang Yan, they all evaporated and with a crisp crack, the two earring she was wearing shattered, along with a bracelet on her wrist while at the same time, the glow from the Artifact Armour she was wearing went dull.
These three layers of protection were unable to stop the approach of the heat wave and had all been burnt through as if they were paper. Some of her prided artifacts were even destroyed in the process.
The moment the three defensive artifacts Yang Yan had tailor made for herself were destroyed, she couldn’t help letting out a panicked scream.
At that moment, a huge hand grasped her shoulder and dragged her back. Simultaneously, a figure moved in front of her wearing a dignified expression. Solemnly, Yang Kai waved his hand and sent out two giant black fireballs to intercept the Fire Dragon.
Yang Kai had already changed the nature of his Demonic Flame from pure hot to pure cold, but the instant these fireballs impacted the Fire Dragon, they were annihilated.
Yang Kai’s complexion changed, and while he hurriedly retreated, a crisp cry rang out from his body. In a flash of light, the Firebird Artifact Spirit leapt out and grandly spread its wings, growing to nearly ten metres in width as it sprayed out a fiery red blast of light towards the approaching Fire Dragon. Unfortunately, even this intense attack was unable to halt the advance of the Fire Dragon, causing it not even the slightest of hindrances.
The Fire Dragon seemed like an unstoppable force, and every type of defence Yang Kai put up would be torn through easily.
The Firebird Artifact Spirit’s eyes flashed an almost human-like light as a look of horror filled its face, but immediately after, a violent determination filled its aura as it shrank back down and transformed its entire body into a ray of light that shot out to meet the Fire Dragon.
The dragon roared and the Artifact Spirit cried as the two clashed inside the Secret Cave in a blazing exchange.
After the Artifact Spirit rushed into the Fire Dragon’s body, it finally slowed its advance, but only a moment later, the Artifact Spirit let out a pained cry and fled back out of the Fire Dragon, swiftly disappearing into Yang Kai’s body.
Yang Kai’s complexion changed greatly.
He had already refined the Origin King Grade Artifact Refining Furnace so he could naturally sense the state of the Artifact Spirit. This Origin King Grade Artifact Refining Furnace had been heated inside the Earth Lung Fire Pond for tens of thousands of years in order to form the Artifact Spirit, yet it had been severely damaged by the Fire Attribute Energy of this Fire Dragon. How could Yang Kai not be shocked?
The Fire Attribute energy the Artifact Spirit formed from was already extremely rich and pure, so what had this Fire Dragon been born from that it could cause severe trauma to the Artifact Spirit, which was of the same attribute?
However, although the Artifact Spirit was injured, the Fire Dragon seemed to have also been weakened greatly. Its colour had not only dimmed considerably but its size had also been greatly reduced. Even so, with a shake of its head, it once again rushed towards Yang Kai, as if vowing to never give up until it burnt him and Yang Yan to ashes.
On the other hand, Yang Kai’s expression became calm and a mysterious wave of power pulsed from his body. Reaching out with both his hands, Yang Kai seemingly grabbed the space in front of him and as he grits his teeth hard ripped it apart.
Instantly, a bottomless black hole that seemed capable of swallowing everything in existence appeared, and as Yang Kai continued pulling on it, this Void Tear continued to expand.
As soon as this Void Tear took shape, the Fire Dragon plunged inside it.
Space distorted greatly as the Void Tear became extremely unstable, as if it would collapse at any moment. Yang Kai snorted and, using all the Space Force he could generate, he reinforced this Void Tear so it would not instantly be destroyed.
After three breaths, the Fire Dragon completely vanished into The Void, and at the same time, this Void Tear fractured like the surface of a cracked mirror and broke apart.
Standing in place, Yang Kai gasped for breath while Yang Yan, who he had been shielding, shivered in fright.
But after the disaster had passed, Yang Yan seemed to think of something and as she stared towards the strange stone, her beautiful eyes trembling violently as she covered her mouth and uttered hoarsely, “Sun’s True Essence?”
Yang Kai’s face twitched, as if he had heard something unbelievable while his eyes flashed brilliantly.
What was strange, however, was that after the Fire Dragon was swallowed up by The Void, this thing that Yang Yan called Sun’s True Essence once again became plain and unremarkable. Yang Kai couldn’t even feel any burning power from it, as if it had become an ordinary stone people would flat out ignore if they saw it on the roadside.
However, there was no time to think about such things at the moment. Yang Kai and Yang Yan had snuck into this place secretly, and although they had been followed by two Corpse Soldiers, those two seemed to have no intention of blocking them.
But now, the violent exchange must have woken up the slumbering Corpse Soldiers.
Releasing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai’s face sank as he easily confirmed his guess. The Corpse Soldiers hibernating in the forked caves had mostly woken up, and many different Corpse Qi fluctuations were now rapidly approaching.
At the same time, a dull roar came from further underground. This roar was like that of a fierce beast and contained a potent, angry, malevolent aura. Just this roar alone caused Yang Kai’s Soul to vibrate and his eyes to go bloodshot as violent impulses welled up in his heart.
The Corpse Soldiers who were rushing over heard this low roar and, as if they had received some kind of order, returned a low roar of their own that echoed throughout the entire cave network. Immediately after, these Corpse Soldiers began racing over even faster than before.
In an instant, cries and howls that made one’s skin crawl rang out from all directions.
The Corpse Soldiers that had been secretly following behind Yang Kai and Yang Yan no longer hid themselves and stood openly at the entrance to the Secret Cave, glaring as they bared their cold, gleaming fangs.
Yang Yan saw all this and her heart sank, her face going completely white.
However, these two Corpse Soldiers didn’t seem to have any immediate intention to rush inside. Instead, they were just glaring at Yang Kai and Yang Yan while secretly observing the piece of Sun’s True Essence, their eyes filling with fear each time they glanced at it.
The originally peaceful Sun’s True Essence suddenly began emitting a terrifying fire aura the moment the Corpse Soldiers appeared; however, it didn’t release this Fire Attribute energy in any way, as if so long as the Corpse Soldiers didn’t approach, it wouldn’t act.
Seeing this, Yang Kai was overjoyed and quickly reached out to grab this piece of Sun’s True Essence. Releasing a massive amount of his Saint Qi, Yang Kai wanted to wrap up the Sun’s True Essence to put it into his Space Ring when Yang Yan hurriedly shouted, “Don’t!”
Yang Kai was stunned, but he immediately realized what was wrong. In the instant that his Divine Sense and Saint Qi contacted the Sun’s True Essence, they were incinerated, causing Yang Kai to stumble backwards several steps as he stared at this melon-sized object in terror.
He wasn’t able to move this Sun’s True Essence into his Space Ring at all.
Seeing this, the two Corpse Soldiers standing at the door unscrupulously showed a grin, the female Corpse Soldier even shouting, “Daring to break into our Corpse Cave and even having ideas about our Sun’s True Essence, just wait for the Seniors to come and see what fate awaits you.”
The male Corpse Soldier also taunted, “Now now, these two will soon become our companions! Sister Lan should speak a little more kindly; after all, we’ll all be family in the future.”
The female Corpse Soldier coldly snorted, “Why do I need to treat them politely? Transforming into Corpse Soldiers and obtaining sentience will take them at least a hundred years, if they’re even successful. If they fail to become one of us, they’ll just turn into our food.”
The male Corpse Soldier pondered a little and nodded, “Fair enough, there really isn’t any need for us to be polite with them.”
These two were openly mocking Yang Kai and Yang Yan, Yang Kai didn’t have any intention to respond to them. Since the other party didn’t dare to enter this place, he didn’t need to waste time killing them. On top of that, the fight just now had already alarmed the entire Corpse Cave and from these two Corpse Soldier’s conversation, it was clear that Corpse General level existences were on their way. The most important thing right now was to find a way to take away this Sun’s True Essence.
Yang Kai couldn’t help turning his eyes to Yang Yan, but seeing that Yang Yan was also in a state of utter frustration, he couldn’t help feeling his heart sink.
Yang Yan naturally knew a method of taking away this Sun’s True Essence, but it would require quite a bit of time and effort to implement. Wanting to use a Space Ring to carry this treasure was impossible, but as Yang Yan was trying to find another option, the same deep roar which had emanated from down below once again resounded and a terrifying coercion and pressure enveloped the Secret Cave.
“Third-Order Origin Returning Realm!” Yang Kai felt the force of this pressure and his face changed dramatically.
The situation here was quite different from what he and Yang Yan had expected. Previously, he and Yang Yan estimated that even if a Corpse General was present, it would at most be two thousand years old. Based on the difficulty of using Corpse Qi to cultivate, over two millennia, it would already be quite impressive if a weak Second-Order Origin Realm Corpse General had emerged.
So now that Corpse General equivalent to a peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, only one step away from becoming a Corpse King, had appeared, how could Yang Kai not be shocked?
Thinking about it for a moment though, Yang Kai realized that the existence of this Corpse Cave had likely accelerated the cultivation of this Corpse General.
Even if Yang Kai used all of his means, it would be impossible for him to oppose such a powerful opponent, much less protect Yang Yan in the process.
[Was the only option to immediately flee?] Yang Kai looked at Sun’s True Essence and his face filled with unwillingness!
This was one of the most valuable treasures he had ever seen, and to him, it was even more important than the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree, second only to his Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus.
Because he still had a number of drops of Profound Yin Sunflower Water, if Yang Kai was able to obtain this Sun’s True Essence and draw out the astonishing Fire Attribute Energy inside it, he could continue refining the Profound Yin Sunflower Water. The benefits of this were difficult to even estimate.
After refining Profound Yin Sunflower Water in the Earth Lung Fire Pond last time, Yang Kai discovered that doing so not only enhanced his physical strength and cultivation, but also the power of his Demonic Flame.
Right now, he could only pin his hopes on Yang Yan. If even Yang Yan couldn’t think of a solution, he could only withdraw temporarily.
Yang Kai was confident that even if this Corpse General possessed astonishing strength, it had no way to take away or use this Sun’s True Essence, otherwise, it wouldn’t have been left idle here for so many years.
As Yang Yan continued to wear a strained expression, seemingly unable to find a solution to this problem, the source of the malevolent pressure rapidly closed in. Soon, the approaching enemy closed to within a couple of kilometres and Yang Kai could now even hear its hurried footfalls.
Yang Kai sighed as he realized it would be too late if he didn’t immediately leave. Although ordinary Corpse Soldiers wouldn’t dare to get close with the Sun’s True Essence here, there was no way to know if this Corpse General that had cultivated for two thousand years would be subject to the same restrictions. If he and Yang Yan continued to linger, they would only be putting themselves in grave danger.
But before Yang Kai could speak up to suggest they withdraw, Yang Yan’s eyes suddenly brightened as if she just remembered something and hurriedly called out, “Xiao Xiao!”
Hearing her call, the Stone Puppet which had been devouring the piles of Saint Crystals and ores rushed over without hesitation. At this moment, of the dozen or so hill like piles of ores, the Stone Puppet had swallowed more than half.
After the Stone Puppet arrived, Yang Yan pointed at the Sun’s True Essence in front of them and asked softly, “Can you swallow it?”
The Stone Puppet’s seemingly always indifferent face showed a hint of hesitation and fear as its eyes flashed a dignified light.
The Stone Puppet had an innate ability to devour all kinds of ore and absorb their essence. Even Space Spirit Crystals could be swallowed effortlessly, but in front of this melon-sized Sun’s True Essence, the Stone Puppet hesitated.
Obviously, even for it, this thing was extremely dangerous.
Seeing this, Yang Yan showed a look of helplessness and didn’t try to force it. After all, for Yang Yan, although the Sun’s True Essence was truly invaluable, the Stone Puppet was equally irreplaceable. This little thing had repeatedly cooperated with Yang Yan to temper Artifact Refining materials, and she had already developed a deep affection for it. It was impossible for her to treat it like a simple tool now.
However, to Yang Yan’s surprise, after hesitating for an instant, the Stone Puppet suddenly let out a great roar and its body shone brightly as a series of mysterious glowing ruins flowed across its rocky Battle Armour.
The Stone Puppet’s aura underwent a rapid and dramatic change, suddenly giving off an incredibly sturdy feeling, as if nothing in this world could harm it.
Both Yang Kai and Yang Yan were dumbfounded, neither of them having expected the Stone Puppet to possess such an ability.
The mysterious runes only appeared for a moment before sinking into the Stone Puppet’s body. At the same time, its Battle-Armour-like skin now shimmered brilliantly and looked extremely powerful.
A crackling sound came from all the joints of the Stone Puppet, and under the stunned gazes of Yang Kai and Yang Yan, its tiny body grew to ten metres in height.
In a few giant steps, the Stone Puppet arrived in front of the Sun’s True Essence and stretched out its big hand, grabbing the rock with a dignified expression.
A terrifying ray of fire leapt out from inside the Sun’s True Essence and transformed into a fire snake that struck towards the Stone Puppet’s approaching hand. The Stone Puppet flashed a strange grin and used its giant hand to grasp this fire snake and seemingly easily crush it, scattering a dazzling light in all directions.
Even so, Yang Kai noticed that the Stone Puppet’s big hand had slightly melted, shocking him greatly.
Without the hindrance of the fire snake, the Stone Puppet directly grabbed the melon-sized Sun’s True Essence, opened its mouth wide, and swallowed it. In the next moment, a dull roar burst from Stone Puppet’s throat, as if it was suffering from unimaginable torture, and the surface of its body glowed a bright red light. The runes surfaced on its mighty Battle Armour again and rapidly began bursting, changing into a mysterious kind of strength that poured back into its body and suppressed the terrifying heat.
Completing all this, the Stone Puppet’s body shrank down again, and in a flash, it returned to its original look.
Without any hesitation, Yang Kai took the Stone Puppet into his Black Book Space.
He had previously experienced the horrifying power of the Sun’s True Essence so he hadn’t dared to put it into his Black Book Space at will, but now that the Stone Puppet had swallowed it, this was the natural choice.
What happened here was not missed by the two Corpse Soldiers standing at the door who had been constantly observing Yang Kai and Yang Yan.
Seeing this pair that had invaded the Corpse Cave actually possessed a method to take away the Sun’s True Essence, these two Corpse Soldiers could no longer stand idly by, so with a great roar, they charged into the Secret Cave.
The female Corpse Soldier’s fingernails released a dark glow as they extended and her hair shot out like snakes to grab Yang Kai.
At the same time, the male Corpse Soldier inhaled deeply before spewing out a cloud of Corpse Qi that flew over to engulf Yang Kai and Yang Yan.
Yang Kai just coldly snorted and with a flick of his wrist, a golden thread flew out towards the female Corpse Soldier while he simultaneously waved his other hand to release a black blade-like attack towards the male Corpse Soldier.
“A Space Force blade!” The male Corpse Soldier had already learned about some of Yang Kai’s methods from his companion, so the moment he saw this black blade which emitted no discernible aura, he was naturally terrified and frantically dodged. The female Corpse Soldier wasn’t as lucky and was directly penetrated by Yang Kai’s Golden Blood Thread which instantly restrained her in place.
With a single thought, Yang Kai transformed this single Golden Blood Thread into a golden net which quickly wrapped up the female Corpse Soldier in a blinding golden radiance.
“Impossible!” The female Corpse Soldier screamed out in shock, as if she had just witnessed something impossible. After the golden light faded, this female Corpse Soldier’s body had actually be cut into hundreds of pieces and scattered about across the floor.
After the male Corpse Soldier witnessed how his companion, who was equal in strength to him, was instantly killed by the other party, a terrified light flashed across his ghastly green eyes. He didn’t dare confront Yang Kai any longer and hastily fled towards the exit to this Secret Cave.
At that moment though, a tall and majestic figure wearing a blood red robe suddenly appeared in the entrance to the Secret Cave. Although this figure was still a bit thin, he resembled a living person quite closely. With a relatively normal looking face and the typical black and white eye colour, were it not for the intense Corpse Qi coming from him, this man could likely have passed for an ordinary cultivator.
As soon as he appeared, he eyes landed on Yang Kai who was currently taking away the Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal. Noticing its escaping subordinate, this figure waved its fist towards him and the male Corpse Soldier who had just barely managed to escape Yang Kai Space Blade burst apart and was smashed into dust.
Yang Kai’s eyes shrank as he witnessed this scene and shouted, “Corpse General!”
This figure was obviously the powerful Corpse General Yang Kai had sensed approaching, but the moment it appeared, it had instantly killed one of its subordinates, so it was clear to see it was quite enraged.
On the other hand, the Corpse General saw the Ice Jade Pedestal disappear and was unable to sense any trace of the Sun’s True Essence, so how could he not know what had happened?
Immediately, a low roar burst from his mouth.
Yang Kai trembled involuntarily and he suddenly felt as if he was being torn in two. At the same time, his Knowledge Sea tumbled violently, like it was on the verge of boiling over.
Yang Yan was in even worse shape. A halo of light appeared around her but shattered instantly, after which her small face went white and she coughed up a mouthful of blood. Obviously she had received a serious injury.
“Return what you stole!” The Corpse General snorted and took a big step towards Yang Kai.
With no time to hesitate, Yang Kai flung out a dozen Space Blades and at the same time ripped open a Void Tear. Taking advantage of the Corpse General’s surprise, Yang Kai grabbed Yang Yan and rushed directly into The Void.
It wasn’t until that moment that the approaching Corpse General seemed to realize that something was wrong, and with a terrifying roar, he shot out a giant yellow Corpse Qi hand towards the Void Tear.
However, he was too late. By the time his Corpse Qi hand reached the tear, Yang Kai and Yang Yan’s figures had completely disappeared, and although this attack managed to affect the stability of this Void Tear, it still couldn’t stop them from escaping.
[Space Force!] The Corpse General was stunned, but in the next moment became furious, sending out an enrage howl as his face filled with unwillingness.
If it wasn’t for the other party having cultivated Space Force, how could he have allowed them to escape with such a massive gap in their strength? As long as he was given three breaths, he was confident he could grind these two intruders into patties and retrieve what they had stolen.
Shortly after, other figures appeared in Secret Cave, all of them looking around the now half empty room somberly. Each of these figures exuded an aura not inferior to the first Corpse General who had arrived here. They were all peak Origin Returning Realm masters, four of them in total.
Other Corpse Generals who were equal to Second-Order Origin Returning Realm masters also soon arrived, making the entire Secret Cave quite a bustling scene.
“Where’s the Sun’s True Essence?” One of the Corpse Generals dressed in azure robes glanced at the spot where the jade pedestal originally stood and asked.
“It was taken away,” The first red-clothed Corpse General who rushed here replied angrily.
“What? The Sun’s True Essence was taken away?” The other two peak-level Corpse Generals shouted in disbelief, “Was the person who came a peak Origin Returning Realm master? But just a moment ago I only detected a Second-Order Saint King.”
“It really was just a Second-Order Saint King. As for how he took away the Sun’s True Essence, I don’t know,” The red robed Corpse General replied.
“You couldn’t stop a trivial Second-Order Saint King? Junior Brother Long, did you rot after sleeping for so long?” The azure robed Corpse General looked at the former with a sneer.
The red robed Corpse General simply glanced over at this man and replied indifferently, “The other party cultivated the Dao of Space, and it seems his attainments in it are extremely high, allowing him to directly tear space and flee. Does Senior Brother Mo think he could have stopped him if he were here?”
“The Dao of Space?”
“Tore space?”
“Impossible!”
The other three Corpse Generals exclaimed, their eyes overflowing with shock.
“There are still some residual distortions in the space here. Whether I am telling the truth or not, you should be able to tell for yourselves.” The red robed Corpse General didn’t seem to want to explain any further and simply stopped talking.
The other Corpse Generals heard this and all released their Divine Senses to investigate. After a while, their expressions turning ugly. They were indeed able to sense a slight Space Force fluctuation, so it was obvious the red-robed Corpse General wasn’t lying.
The Secret Cave was quiet for a while as the four Corpse Generals whose strength was comparable to peak Origin Returning Realm masters did not know what to say. They did not immediately pursue Yang Kai; after all, this thief was capable of tearing space. Even if they possessed great strength, they might not be able to catch him. Only if they possessed a similar method to instantly cross great distances would they have a chance.
“The Sun’s True Essence was the key to our promotion to Corpse Kings, but now that it has been taken away, what are we supposed to do?” A white-robed Corpse General frowned and asked in annoyance.
“En, without the Sun’s True Essence, how are we supposed to continue our Corpse Refinement Art and reach the Corpse King stage, achieving immortal and indestructible bodies?” The final black-robed Corpse General asked, a fierce light flashing across his eyes, seemingly unwilling to just let Yang Kai escape.
“Indeed, even if he is proficient in Space Force, we can’t just let him go. I’ll go now and capture him,” The azure-robed Corpse General clenched his teeth, stomped his feet, and turned around, as if he really intended to pursue Yang Kai.
“Senior Brother Mo, could it be you’ve forgotten about Star Emperor Mountain? Although two thousand years have passed, if we leave this place at this time, it will draw those monsters’ attention. Furthermore, since that person is proficient in Space Force, will we even be able to catch up to him now?” The white-robed Corpse General quickly stopped him.
Hearing the name Star Emperor Mountain, the other three Corpse Generals couldn’t help narrowing their eyes, a mixture of fear and hatred flashing across their faces. The azure-robed Corpse General also stopped in place.
The white-robed Corpse General suddenly chuckled at that moment, “Although the Sun’s True Essence has been lost, that might not necessarily be a bad thing.”
“What?” The azure-robed Corpse General looked at him in amazement.
“Do Senior Brothers know why our Ancient Yang Sect put this piece of Sun’s True Essence here?” The white-robed Corpse General smiled meaningfully and asked.
“Does Junior Brother Kang know?”
The white-robed Corpse General didn’t explain right away but instead glanced over at the location where the Ice Jade Pedestal had stood and said, “I was never quite certain about this matter, but now I am at least eighty percent sure. Senior Brothers should take a look over there to see if they can feel anything.”
Hearing this, the other three Corpse Generals exchanged a glance before releasing their Divine Senses to carefully investigate.
A moment later, the three Corpse Generals all wore shocked looks, the azure-robed Corpse General even exclaiming, “Such rich Yin Qi! It looks like it has been sealed off somehow and is now only slightly revealing itself, but even so, the Corpse Qi here is far denser than anywhere else in the Corpse Cave.”
The red-robed and black-robed Corpse Generals did not speak but showed equally surprised expressions on their faces. Obviously, this rich Yin Qi was extremely important to them.
The three Corpse Generals quickly turned their attention back to the white-robed Corpse General, the azure-robed one asking, “Junior Brother Kang, you are the only direct descendant of our Honoured Master, do you know something? If so, don’t keep your Senior Brothers in suspense.”
“Yes, yes. Junior Brother Kang, although the three of us are older than you, how could we compare with your understanding of the Sect’s secrets? When the Sect was destroyed, all of us were mere Saint Realm cultivators. If not for Junior Brother bringing us here to hide, I’m afraid we would have long ago perished.”
Even the red-robed Corpse General, who seemed to be the most recalcitrant, turned to the white-robed Corpse General with a softened look, showing an expectant expression.
The white-robed Corpse General just chuckled lightly, “The matters of the past should be left in the past, the several Senior Brothers don’t need to care about them so much. The reason why I brought all of you here was because it was the Sect Master’s orders, a last-ditch attempt to preserve some of the Ancient Yang Sect’s heritage.”
When these words came out, the expressions of the four Corpse Generals all dimmed.
Although they had indeed managed to preserve the last remnants of the Ancient Yang Sect, the four handsome and heroic Sect Brothers had degenerated into such a state, so they couldn’t help questioning if they had actually fulfilled the hopes of their Sect Master.
After a moment of silence, the white-robed Corpse General composed himself and continued, “At that time, my strength wasn’t very high, and although my father was the Sect Master, I was not qualified to know many of the Sect’s core secrets. However, I once heard my father and mother talking about this Secret Cave, and at that time, they said that there was an Underworld Well Spring sealed here. “
“An Underworld Well Spring!” The three Corpse General heard this and could not help calling out in alarm.
“Indeed!” The white-robed Corpse General nodded solemnly, “In the past, we obviously wouldn’t have known what an Underworld Well Spring was, but I assume Senior Brothers all understand now, right?”
“Naturally!” The azure-robed Corpse General nodded with a dignified expression, “Underworld Well Springs are rumoured to be entrances to the underworld and are the most coveted Holy Lands for existences like us.”
“No wonder, no wonder a Corpse Cave formed here, it turns out there was actually an Underworld Well Spring!” The black-robed Corpse General murmured thoughtfully.
“In order to seal this Underworld Well Spring, one of our Ancient Yang Sect’s former Sect Masters somehow obtained a piece of Sun’s True Essence and used its scorching Sun’s True Fire to suppress it. This method on its own could be considered quite good, but in order to store the Sun’s True Essence absolutely safely, some later generation’s Sect Master spent a huge price to refine that Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal and placed it here! It could be said that this matter is one of the Sect’s biggest secrets that only the Sect Master and a few select Elders were eligible to know.” After the white-robed Corpse General finished, he smiled and said, “Although I heard a few words about this many years ago, I didn’t understand much about them. On top of that, with the Sun’s True Essence sealing this place, we were unable to even get close to it, so I never bothered telling Senior Brothers. I hope Senior Brothers won’t blame me!”
“Hahaha!” The azure-robed Corpse General laughed heartily before patting the white-robed Corpse General’s shoulder heavily, “How could Junior Brother ask such a thing? We four brothers are already family, how could we blame you? Not to mention, even if you had told us about this matter, there wouldn’t have been anything we could have done about it. En, but now it seems there really is an Underworld Well Spring here!”
“Indeed, just the Yin Qi which is leaking from the seal is already so strong, so if we were to completely open it, wouldn’t we be able to obtain endless benefits? With the help of this Underworld Well Spring, it should not be impossible for us to reach the Corpse King level, and this method is far safer than the Corpse Refinement Art we were originally planning to use.”
“Exactly. None of us have attempted to cultivate the last part of the Corpse Refinement Art, but having to rely on an item as dangerous as that Sun’s True Essence is really quite daunting. Originally, I didn’t approve of us continuing to try to advance our cultivation, but now, all our problems are solved. It seems we should be thanking that kid who took away the Sun’s True Essence.”
The red-robed Corpse General, who had been silent for a long, suddenly said thoughtfully, “I always wondered why the Sect practiced Corpse Refinement and why Elder Liu possessed several extremely powerful Corpse Puppets, but now it makes sense. It seems it was all because of this place.”
The several Corpse Generals pondered for a moment before nodding in agreement.
The azure-robed Corpse General soon waved his hand, “Good, now that we know there is an Underworld Well Spring here, our first priority should be to find a way to break its seal. Presumably, without the Sun’s True Essence suppression, with our current strength, it should not be difficult to break this thing. Before we begin though, we need to make we are not disturbed by outsiders again, otherwise, if someone becomes aware of our Sect’s survival, word may reach Star Emperor Mountain’s ears.”
“That’s easy enough to solve, just let them go clean up the area. In any case, the outside world’s powerhouses don’t know anything about the situation here, as long as we don’t act too overtly there shouldn’t be any big problems,” The red-robed Corpse General sneered before turning his head to look at the large number of Corpse Soldiers and Corpse Generals that had at some point arrived here and were standing around in a dense formation. Each of these Corpse Soldiers and Corpse Generals had a rich malevolent aura and their green eyes, though eerie, were still filled with a sharp light, clearly indicating that they possessed a substantial level of sentience.
Several top-ranking Corpse Generals immediately issued a series of orders, after which the Corpse Soldiers and Corpse Generals began flooding out of the Corpse Cave in groups of three to five, all of them headed to clean up various important locations inside Grand Burial Valley.
While the four Corpse Generals were talking, however, a thousand kilometres away, a black crack in space appeared. This rough and crooked crack was clearly quite unstable. A moment later, a figure emerged from it, quickly followed by another.
Almost at the same time the second figure emerged, the Void Tear suddenly disappeared.
Yang Kai turned his head back to the closed Void Tear with a look of lingering fear.
Although he was able to successfully bring Yang Yan and flee a thousand kilometres away by tearing space at the last moment, the attack of the Corpse General in red still affected the stability of the Void Tear, nearly causing him and Yang Yan to become forever lost in The Void. If it were not for his comprehension of the Dao of Space having improved dramatically in recent years, even if he had been able to escape, Yang Yan would certainly have died.
Yang Yan was unaware of the danger she had just been in, but Yang Kai had a cold sweat dripping down his back as he secretly decided that the next time he wanted to bring someone else along with him using this method, he had to first reach a position where the enemy wouldn’t be able to interfere, otherwise the risk would be far too great.
Additionally, Yang Kai was not sure if it was his imagination or not, but before leaving the Corpse Cave, he felt an unusual aura coming from the place where the Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal had stood.
Shaking his head, Yang Kai did not think too deeply about it. Escaping from a peak level Origin Returning Realm master was fortunate enough, and this trip had also resulted in a huge harvest.
There was not enough time to take inventory of his gains here though, so Yang Kai just checked on the Stone Puppet’s situation inside the Black Book Space for now. After confirming that it would be fine in the short term, Yang Kai wrapped Yang Yan in his Saint Qi, confirmed his bearings, and began heading for the outskirts of the Grand Burial Valley.
Yang Yan seemed to still be quite frightened by what had happened in the Corpse Cave, so along the way she did not say anything, just shivering slightly as she clung tightly to Yang Kai.
It was expected as she was naturally timid.
There was no danger along the way, only a few Yin Souls who were disturbed by the movement of Yang Kai’s Saint Qi; however, because Yang Kai was quite eager to leave and was travelling at great speed, no Yin Soul was able to pursue them for long and before he knew it, the two of them had already crossed half the distance to the valley’s exit.