In addition to the Fire and Water Attribute treasures, Yang Kai also had the Bird Wood, which might satisfy the Wood Attribute treasure.
This Bird Wood was something Yang Kai obtained before arriving on Shadowed Star and was formed from the corpse of a Tenth-Order Thunder Luan Monster Beast. It should be no worse than the Monster Core of a Tenth-Order Monster Beast in value.
As for where he could find appropriate Earth and Metal Attribute treasures, Yang Kai temporarily had no ideas.
However, he wasn’t in a hurry; after all, even if he did manage to gather treasures from all five elements, he didn’t have time to dedicate to cultivating this Body Tempering Secret Art. Right now, Yang Kai had to cultivate his Space Blade and Golden Blood Thread Secret Technique, refine the Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead, and find a way to refine the Coloured Glass Bead.
The Golden Blood Thread was of particular importance to Yang Kai after he learned that it was capable of cutting through Shi. Yang Kai’s evaluation of this Demon Blood Temple Secret Technique had risen dramatically after he discovered this and he couldn’t help praising its creator for their ingenuity once more.
Currently, he had only cultivated a single Golden Blood Thread, and even that had yet to reach the grand accomplishment stage. Yang Kai wanted to cultivate more Golden Blood Threads, but he had no idea how much time that would take. For these reasons, even though Yang Kai was extremely interested in this Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art, he didn’t immediately begin cultivating it, planning to wait until he collected all the required treasures first.
Of course, studying and comprehending this Secret Art wasn’t an issue as doing so would allow him to gain twice the result with half the effort once he did begin cultivating it.
After silently making up his mind, Yang Kai temporarily stored the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art back into his Space Ring before clearing his head of distractions and beginning to absorb the Soul remnant left behind by Manager Wang.
This was the first Origin Returning Realm Soul remnant that Yang Kai had absorbed, so naturally, he was quite prudent and careful with it, refining it slowly to ensure he didn’t miss anything.
After three days, the Soul remnant of the old man surnamed Wang was completely refined and Yang Kai opened his eyes to reveal a thoughtful look.
Although Manager Wang’s cultivation wasn’t very high, he had spent many years in the First-Order Origin Returning Realm and had his own unique insights into Shi. Now, these insights had become Yang Kai’s and through this refinement, he had gained a small understanding of Shi.
An understanding was one thing, but Yang Kai realized even more now that if he wanted to try to cultivate Shi, it would be almost impossible unless he broke through to the Origin Returning Realm. However, if he were to face an Origin Returning Realm master again, Yang Kai would now be able to use his understanding of Shi to bolster his resistance to it, so it wasn’t like he hadn’t obtained any immediate benefits at all.
Yang Kai believed that as long as he killed more Origin Returning Realm masters in the future, his comprehension of Shi would continue to increase, allowing many grains of sand to become a tall tower and ultimately reach a height greater than anyone else.
Regarding the process of breaking through, only when an Origin Returning Realm master cultivated their Shi to the grand accomplishment stage would they have a chance to break through to the Origin King Realm, but on Shadowed Star, no person was able to achieve this, so no Origin King Realm masters currently existed here.
The World Principles of Shadowed Star suppressed all the Origin Realm masters’ understanding of Shi. Yang Kai had yet to reach this level but even so, it was impossible for him to remain trapped on Shadowed Star forever. If he really reached the peak of the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, Yang Kai would find a way to leave Shadowed Star, escape the suppression of its World Principles, and break through to the Origin King Realm in the outside world.
It was too early to be worried about such things, however, so Yang Kai quickly focused his mind and took out the Coloured Glass Bead Dai Yuan had given him, holding it in his palm before silently pouring his Saint Qi into it, attempting to refine it.
After maintaining this process for some time, Yang Kai’s eyes flashed as a look of pleasant surprise appeared on his face. Immediately increasing the output of his Saint Qi, a faint multi-coloured light began leaking from the Coloured Glass Bead into Yang Kai’s body, and under his guidance, it began gathering in his left eye.
This Coloured Glass Bead was equivalent to a Monster Beast’s Monster Core, so Yang Kai had thought that refining it and absorbing the energy from a Monster Beast’s Monster Core would be the same. Therefore, he had tried to use this kind of direct method and, to his surprise, it seemed this method was not only effective, but also quite easy to implement.
This made him overjoyed.
No longer holding back, Yang Kai slowly began to refine this Coloured Glass Bead while continuing to cultivate the Golden Blood Threads inside his body at the same time.
Time flew by and soon it had been two months.
This day, Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes and glanced down at his empty palm, furrowing his brow.
After two months of absorption, the Coloured Glass Bead Dai Yuan had given him was finally consumed clean and no longer existed. However, although this Coloured Glass Bead’s essence had been absorbed into his body, it would still take some time for Yang Kai to completely refine it. Now, in his Knowledge Sea, the gorgeous glowing light comprised of the Coloured Glass Divine Light contained inside the Coloured Glass Bead was suspended close to the Demon Eye of Annihilation.
However, Yang Kai felt that it was going to take quite some time to fuse this Coloured Glass Divine Light with his Demon Eye of Annihilation, something that slightly differed from his expectations, causing him to feel a bit unhappy.
After all, according to his previous predictions, the Demon Eye of Annihilation and the Coloured Glass Divine Light shared many similarities. So, in theory, they should have easily integrated, but now it appeared that his thinking had been too naive.
But such a possibility wasn’t beyond Yang Kai’s expectations, and as long as there was enough time, the Coloured Glass Divine Light and his Demon Eye of Annihilation could be successfully combined, the only difference now was how long it would take.
Putting this matter aside temporarily, Yang Kai waved his hand casually and two Golden Threads appeared from it.
One of these Golden Threads radiated a brilliant golden light and seemed capable of cutting space itself with unstoppable might. The other Golden Thread was obviously inferior to the first, with not only its coloured being dimmer but the power contained within it also being weaker.
This Golden Thread was the second one Yang Kai had condensed.
When a Demon Blood Temple cultivator cultivated this Secret Technique, even if they spent their entire life they may not have been able to create two Demon Blood Threads because the foundation of this technique was their own vitality. Everyone had a limited amount of vitality and using it excessively endangered their life. In Demon Blood Temple, only Elder-level characters whose strength had reached the Second or Third-Order Origin Returning Realm were capable of cultivating two or three Demon Blood Threads, while those below the Origin Realm would never have more than one.
Even so, these Elders were only able to cultivate multiple Demon Blood Threads after consuming numerous elixirs to nourish their vitality, otherwise, once they used too much of their vital energy they would die.
However, Yang Kai was different as there were several dozen drops of Golden Blood in his body. One drop of Golden Blood could be converted into a Golden Blood Thread, and he could increase the amount of Golden Blood in his veins infinitely. In theory, Yang Kai could condense countless Golden Blood Threads, which was also why he dedicated so much time and effort to this Secret Technique. It was simply tailor-made for him.
More than a month ago, he felt that his first Golden Thread had been cultivated as far as it could be.
It wasn’t that this Golden Thread was refined to its peak though. Because he had only obtained the first half of the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique, Yang Kai simply didn’t know how to continue enhancing this Golden Thread.
With no other choice, Yang Kai began to cultivate this second thread.
With his previous experience, this second Golden Thread took shape much faster than the first and Yang Kai was certain he could bring it to its limit much faster as well.
Also, while cultivating the second Golden Thread, Yang Kai faintly realized something.
He felt that this Secret Technique wasn’t as simple as he first thought. If he had enough Golden Threads, he may be able to combine them to take on new forms and functions, but none of these were introduced in the first half of the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique, so Yang Kai could only speculate that they were hidden in the second half!
After cultivating his Golden Threads to their limit, Yang Kai had no idea how to continue enhancing them or how to combine or manipulate them, so everything right now was only his own speculation. It seemed that if there was a chance in the future, he would have to pay Demon Blood Temple a visit. Only by obtaining the second half of the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique could he continue enhancing his Golden Blood Threads.
During this retreat Yang Kai had gained a lot and, after calculating how much time he had been in seclusion, he decided it was time to go out.
He remembered Yang Yan saying that she would require his power to complete whatever project she was working on last time, but he couldn’t tell if that time had come yet. Since he had been in retreat all this time, Yang Yan had definitely not considered disturbing him.
Having made up his mind, Yang Kai took another look at the Red Candle Fruit piece to make sure it showed no signs of withering under the nourishing of the Red Candle Stalk before opening the cave mansion’s barrier and leaving.
The World Energy aura on Dragon Cave Mountain seemed to have become a bit richer than before, but this was only to be expected as there weren’t very many cultivators living here and their respective cultivations weren’t high. Because of this, the World Energy which was drawn to Dragon Cave Mountain by the Aura Gathering Array would only grow in richness, unlike in big Sects where thousands of disciples would continuously consume it. In such Sects, even if they had high-quality Earth Veins providing a constant stream of World Energy, maintaining a balance was the best they could do.
Dragon Cave Mountain was peaceful and quiet, and as Yang Kai swept his eyes around, he was unable to see anyone at all. This wasn’t a surprise though. Releasing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai quickly found where Yang Yan and the others were.
But what puzzled Yang Kai was that all those who had any authority on Dragon Cave Mountain were gathered together, as if they were discussing something important.
With a slight smile, Yang Kai wandered over to a bamboo tower where these few people were gathered, but before he arrived he heard Hao An’s voice call out, “They’re going too far! They were the ones who set the price in the first place, so why is this happening now?”
Immediately, Chang Qi responded in a calming tone, “Okay, okay! Old Hao, sit down first. The young ones are all sitting calmly, so why are you getting all excited for?”
“Foreign Elder Chang, what do you think of this?” Wu Yi asked.
“Hmph, this situation is clearly a little strange!” Chang Qi replied with a sneer, “Our cooperation with Shadow Moon Hall isn’t something recent. Over the past two years, the number of materials we have purchased from them can be considered to be astonishing, worth in excess of two hundred million Saint Crystals. We’ve always negotiated in good faith and paid in full, but now they are suddenly saying the cost of materials has increased! There’s definitely something more to this than meets the eye.”
“Exactly! Not only that, they even detained Yu Feng, which is also truly unusual,” Hao An seemed to have calmed down and agreed with him.
“On top of that, I noticed another strange matter,” Wu Yi said pensively deeply.
“Oh, what?”
“For the past three months, many of the shopkeepers and shop hands belonging to Shadow Moon Hall in Heavenly Fate City have been replaced and the people we’re all familiar with have completely disappeared. I cannot even find Luo Qing anymore.”
Inside the bamboo tower, the group of people looked around at each other as they suddenly realized that something big must have changed inside Shadow Moon Hall.
Amidst the crowd’s rising suspicions, the main door of the bamboo tower opened, and a single person stepped in.
After an initial period of shock, everyone stood up, having recognized the person who entered. Wu Yi said in joy, “Yang Kai, you came out of seclusion?”
“Mhm,” Yang Kai nodded. Looking around the crowd, his gaze finally settled onto Qian Yue. She was looking much better than when Yang Kai saw her at the Joyous Union Pavillion, a reassuring sign that she was rather happy with her life here.
Off to the side, Chang Qi and Hao An exchanged a glance, a look of awe flashing across their eyes. Both of them made a fist palm salute at the same time. “Congratulations, Nephew Yang, for reaching Third-Order Saint King. Your rate of cultivation is unmatched within the entire Shadowed Star.”
When they went to the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Yang Kai was a mere First-Order Saint King. By the time they made it out of there, he had reached the Second-Order, and now he was already a Third-Order, all within a period of two to three years. This left the duo with not just a sense of awe, but also a slight feeling of inferiority. Compared to Yang Kai’s cultivation speed, they were mediocre at best.
“You flatter me, Foreign Elders. Luck played no small role in getting me to where I am today. Compared to the true geniuses, this is nothing.” Yang Kai smiled humbly before changing the topic, “That aside, I heard you discussing Shadow Moon Hall and mentioning something about Yu Feng being detained? I want to hear more about this.”
Hearing Yang Kai’s questions, everyone exchanged glances, allowing Wu Yi to take up the role of explaining the situation to Yang Kai.
Listening to her explanations, Yang Kai finally found out about the unfavourable occurrences which had taken place in Heavenly Fate City regarding the order of goods Dragon Cave Mountain had made from the Shadow Moon Hall a month ago.
A few days ago, Yu Feng led cultivators from the Hai Ke Family to Heavenly Fate City to pick up the goods, only to find that they refused to honour the previous terms of exchange, instead raising the price of the goods by more than a good thirty percent.
Such a price was obviously unacceptable, and Yu Feng immediately went to reason with Shadow Moon Hall’s person-in-charge stationed there. However, they refused to back down a single inch. Exasperated, Yu Feng then requested them to return the initial deposit. After all, they were the ones who went back on the contract, and Yu Feng thought that they should at least get the deposit back even if they were not going to purchase the goods.
Nobody expected even that request to be refused. Not only that, they decided to resort to force to settle the conflict, resulting in Yu Feng and the other four disciples being injured.
Obviously, Yu Feng’s group wouldn’t simply sit there and allow themselves to be beaten up, so they returned a few blows, damaging some of the shelves within the shop. They were immediately captured by an Origin Returning Realm master, detained, and stripped of all of the Saint Crystals which they were preparing to use for the exchange.
Only a single disciple was allowed to return to let Dragon Cave Mountain know that they had to prepare a large amount of Saint Crystals as ransom.
Otherwise, Wu Yi and the rest wouldn’t have known about the details either.
Having listened to the explanation, Yang Kai remained calm and expressionless, speaking only after a moment of thought, “Their lives are not in danger, right?”
“According to the disciple who returned, their injuries are not light, but not that serious either. They should be fine after a few days of recuperation.”
“Hm, that’s good,” Yang Kai nodded, directing his next question to the crowd, “What do you think is the problem here?”
“What’s the problem?” Wu Yi looked bewildered. Then she retorted, “Everything’s a problem! We have been working with the Shadow Moon Hall for so long without facing a single issue. We pay the Saint Crystals, they sell us the materials and we all mutually benefit. In the last few years, we seem to have already become the largest buyers of Shadow Moon Hall. Normally, they should be trying to maintain our interest instead of causing rifts like this. Not to mention, they wouldn’t have the courage to do so in the first place. I suspect there’s someone behind the scenes giving the orders.”
“I think so too!” Chang Qi agreed, “Dragon Cave Mountain doesn’t have a strong establishment, only plenty of resources. The precious stone lands its innocent possessor in jail. Perhaps Shadow Moon Hall is no longer willing to continue trading with us periodically and instead wishes to take everything that we have in one go?”
“You suspect this is the work of Qian Tong?” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes.
“It’s not impossible,” Wu Yi nodded.
“The possibility is there, but I don’t think this has anything to do with him,” Yang Kai shook his head slowly. Out of everyone here, he’d interacted with Qian Tong the most. Regardless of his inherent character, Qian Tong wouldn’t turn against Yang Kai, especially considering his relation with Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er, and how he saved them in the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
“I heard you saying that three months ago, all the Shadow Moon Hall’s stores at the Heavenly Fate City replaced all their store owners and employees? Is that true?” Yang Kai asked again.
“Yes, that’s right,” Wu Yi nodded immediately, “I often go to Heavenly Fate City, so I’m quite confident about this.”
“In the last six months, did anything peculiar or significant happen at the Shadow Moon Hall?” Yang Kai furrowed his brows.
“If we’re talking about peculiar things, nothing happened at the Shadow Moon Hall, but there’s something going on here. In recent months, a few unfamiliar faces appeared around Dragon Cave Mountain. At first, they were just loitering around the area, but then some of them started trying to breach into our territory. They were caught in the Spirit Array, and all of them said that it was an accident when we questioned them. We decided to release them after a warning since none of them had high cultivation. As for significant things… well, there was one.”
“What?” Yang Kai’s expression grew serious.
“Grandmaster Ge Lin passed away!” Wu Yi lowered her voice.
“Grandmaster Ge Lin?” Yang Kai thought for a while before realizing, “the Low-Rank Origin Grade Artifact Refiner of Shadow Moon Hall?”
“That’s him. This happened half a year ago. According to rumours, Grandmaster Ge Lin had lost a lot of vitality right after repairing an artifact for Shadow Moon Hall, so much so that he hadn’t refined a single artifact these past few years. But what does that have to do with us?”
“I don’t know about the exact details, but there might be some connection,” Yang Kai pondered, “I heard from Qian Tong that he was on very good terms with Grandmaster Ge Lin once.”
Wu Yi thought for a moment, “You’re saying that Grandmaster Ge Lin’s passing affected Elder Qian Tong, and since he’s the one who’s been looking out for us, we’re being affected too?”
Yang Kai grinned, “It’s just my guess. It could also be Qian Tong turning on us, but if it really has something to do with Shadow Moon Hall’s internal strife, we should try not to get dragged into the situation.”
“That’s right. We definitely can’t mess with the matters of Shadow Moon Hall,” Wu Yi immediately became more cautious. She hadn’t thought about this this deep before, but with Yang Kai’s help, she was starting to see the underlying issue.
“Any news from Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er?” Yang Kai asked.
Wu Yi shook her head, “All that Shadow Moon Hall said was that they were secluding themselves to break through to the Origin Returning Realm, nothing else.”
“Understandable. Forget it, it’s not good to depend on others anyway. I’ll make a trip to get Yu Feng back. Saint Crystals aside, the people are what’s important.”
“That’s a whole twenty million Saint Crystals gone!” the expression of pain was clearly written on Wu Yi’s face, “So what’s your plan?”
“If they’re not going to be nice, then I’m not going to be nice either. Otherwise, they’ll really think that Dragon Cave Mountain is an easy target,” Yang Kai said coldly.
Wu Yi stared at him, dumbfounded.
Yang Kai merely smiled and waved away her concerns, “If it really is due to internal strife, we have nothing to worry about. They don’t have the time to divert any attention onto us, so there probably aren’t any masters there. Plus, I myself really want to know exactly who is showing such malicious intent towards our Dragon Cave Mountain! What better way to find out than to personally make a trip there?”
“This elder will accompany you!” Chang Qi stood up.
Hao An said, “So will this elder! Even though my and Old Man Chang’s cultivations are nothing special, we’re still Origin Returning cultivators. Ever since we broke through, we haven’t had a single fight yet. This is the perfect opportunity to test our strength.
The two elders looked at each other and smiled.
Yang Kai thought this over before replying, “Alright, then I’m counting on you two Foreign Elders. The rest of you, however, should stay here.”
“Okay, be careful,” Wu Yi warned.
With that settled, Yang Kai exited the bamboo tower with Chang Qi and Hao An, took out his Star Shuttle, and headed straight for Heavenly Fate City.
At Heavenly Fate City, in a room within the inner garden of a store called the Gathering Source Hall, Yu Feng and the rest were tied up. All of them had bruises all over, and not a single strand of Saint Qi could be detected in their bodies. Clearly, they had all been restricted by a strong barrier.
They had been lined up in a single row and forced to kneel on the floor.
In front of them was a malicious looking old man with white hair sitting on a chair of sandalwood and holding a purple teapot in his hands. His eyes were half-closed, as if asleep, but the occasional sparkle of ferocity which could be seen in his eyes proved that he was wide awake.
“Speak. I want to know a safe way into Dragon Cave Mountain. Speak and I will allow you to leave, so you no longer have to suffer.” Beside the old man stood a fierce-looking brute, toying with a long whip with the thickness of three fingers in his hands as he spoke.
“Ptui!” Yu Feng’s reply was a glob of spit mixed with some blood aimed right at the brute’s face, “You want information from me? Dream on! I’d die before handing any information over to you despicable lot!”
The brute stayed still, allowing the glob of spit to run down his face. He smiled viciously, and the whip in his hands suddenly moved, swishing through the air and landing on Yu Feng’s face.
Coupled with a resounding crack, the right side of Yu Feng’s face tore open and a piece of mutilated meat flew out amidst the bloodshed. Yu Feng’s whole body was shaken by the force of the blow, nearly causing him to fall over. However, he quickly straightened back up, roaring with a fierce look in his eyes, “Come on! You can beat me to death today, and you still won’t get anything out of me! Just wait till you rush into Dragon Cave Mountain and get ripped to pieces by the thousands of Spirit Arrays there. Hahahahaha!”
The arrogant laughter caused a look of annoyance to show on the brute’s face, and even the old man seated on the chair was starting to lose his patience.
The old man was a First-Order Origin Returning cultivator. If it weren’t for certain concerns he had, he would have saved himself all this trouble by reading the information from Yu Feng’s mind using a Soul Search.
However, because of said concerns, the old man didn’t dare to kill off anyone just yet. Furthermore, using a Soul Search was exhausting and did not guarantee that one will get the exact piece of information that one is looking for. These factors combined were why he was resorting to these simple methods of interrogation instead.
Seeing how stubborn Yu Feng was, the malicious-looking brute laughed, “Good, good! I like people with guts! You can withstand this torture, but what about them? I’d like to see if everyone is as tough as you are!”
He looked towards the second person, asking the same question as before.
The reply was another glob of bloody spit.
Once again, the whip lashed out, sending the disciple from the Hai Ke Family spinning into the air. He landed heavily on the ground and stayed there for a long while.
Following this, he turned towards the third person, furious to the extreme. He roared, “Make this easy for yourself and give it up! Or else you’ll get what’s coming to you!”
The third Hai Ke Family disciple raised his head and looked him in the eye, expression cold. He had the lowest cultivation out of everyone here, a mere First-Order Saint. With his Saint Qi sealed, a single strike from the whip could mean half a month in bed.
Yu Feng opened his mouth as if wanting to say something, but the disciple cut him off, “Don’t worry, Brother Feng. We haven’t spent that much time at Dragon Cave Mountain, but we have all received great benefits. We won’t be ungrateful traitors. To hell with Shadow Moon Hall. Have they got the means to improve the cultivation of so many people by one or two Minor Realms in such a short period of time?”
“Exactly!” Yu Feng felt a swell of pride and nodded. The disciple was right. The fifty or so Hai Ke Family disciples who separated from the family under the leadership of Wu Yi to join the Dragon Cave Mountain had no worries regarding cultivation resources these past two to three years. They were given an endless supply of various pills and medications and each received at least one or two artifacts, all of which were Saint King Grade. This was infinitely better than what they could have gotten back in the Hai Ke Family.
It can be said that every Hai Ke Family disciple had recognised Dragon Cave Mountain as their home, resulting in a strong sense of belonging.
By now, the brute understood that he was wasting his breath with these questions, and simply raised the whip. Just as he was about to unleash a strike, the old man on the chair suddenly opened his half-closed eyes and turned to look outside.
Boom…
A loud noise was accompanied by several violent pulses of Saint Qi. There appeared to be a fight going on outside, but everything died down after a few cries of shock and agony.
“Who dares trespass the Gathering Source Hall!” The old man’s expression stiffened as he rose from his seat and turned to head out. However, he let out a strange cry midair, flying backwards as if he had suffered a serious injury.
A burst of white light followed after him, landing in the room and heading towards the old man with a tremendous aura.
Shocked, the old man immediately took out a defensive artifact in the shape of a small shield, placing it in front of himself.
A huge blast rang out, causing the old man to stumble back several steps before he was able to disperse the immense force. Looking down at his shield, he couldn’t help but wince.
A small flicker of jet-black flame was burning on this Low-Rank Origin Grade Artifact, and its blazing heat was starting to cause the shield to melt.
This sight frightened him greatly. Had he touched this flame just now, he would have suffered a fatal injury even if he didn’t outright die.
Before he could react, two gusts of Shi descended from the sky, enveloping the whole room. He raised his head and saw the imposing figure of a youth clad in a chilling aura entering the room.
Behind the youth were two old people, both who were First-Order Origin Returning cultivators. The two gusts of Shi from earlier were clearly their doing.
The old man’s eyes widened, knowing that the situation had become unfavourable for him. As a lone First-Order Origin Returning cultivator, there was no way he could handle two other cultivators of the same Realm by himself. Realising this, he immediately took out an item from his Space Ring and crushed it, secretly breathing a sigh of relief as he successfully did so.
“Yang Kai! Foreign Elder Chang, Foreign Elder Hao!” Yu Feng and the rest exclaimed in joy when they saw the intruders.
Yang Kai took a quick look across the room, eyes narrowing as he saw the grievous injuries on several of the detained individuals. Murderous intent welled up within him. He could tell how serious the injuries were, and how they had caused their vitalities to deplete almost to the extent of damaging their foundations. Right now, a few pills and a few days of recuperation could still heal them, but had he come out of seclusion a day or two later, their cultivations would undoubtedly have fallen.
“You’re Yang Kai?” the old man stared at him in shock after hearing their words.
Yang Kai glanced at him, showing no interest in answering his question. Instead, he signalled towards Chang Qi.
Chang Qi immediately walked up, condensing Saint Qi onto his fingertips like knives, cutting Yu Feng and the rest out of their bondage. He then checked the restrictive barrier that was placed within their bodies and furrowed his brows.
Although this was merely the work of a fellow First-Order Origin Returning cultivator, it would still take him two to four hours to undo it. Now was clearly not the best time for that.
He brought Yu Feng and the rest back to Yang Kai’s side, and communicated the situation to him in a hushed voice before standing down.
Yang Kai nodded, then looked towards the old man. Narrowing his eyes, he said, “You sound like you already know me?”
“Hmph! So what?” the old man grunted.
Yang Kai smirked, then asked, “Is your surname Xie?”
The old man’s expression changed immediately to one of extreme shock, “How do you know?”
“I knew it!” Yang Kai nodded, a look of understanding spreading across his face. He had guessed it earlier when talking with Wu Yi and the rest about the situation. If there really was internal strife in Shadow Moon Hall, the Dragon Cave Mountain shouldn’t have been affected to this much of an extent.
After all, Dragon Cave Mountain was a major customer, meaning that there’s nothing but benefit in cooperating with them. No one would make an enemy of them without any reason like this.
Yang Kai instinctively felt that anyone who would stand against Dragon Cave Mountain so brazenly must be someone with a grievance against him. That, together with the criteria of being related to Shadow Moon Hall, narrowed the choices down to a single one: the Xie Family.
Xie Hong Wen had been a disciple of Shadow Moon Hall, while his father, Xie Li, was a Deacon. His status was not as high as Qian Tong, but it did give him some degree of power.
The Xie Family was a faction independent from Shadow Moon Hall, but these two definitely shared some connections.
As for why they would antagonize Yang Kai, there were two reasons. Firstly, out of suspicion that Xie Hong Wen’s death had something to do with him. After all, Xie Hong Wen died in the Flowing Flame Sand Field after a Shadow Moon Hall disciple told him about Yang Kai’s location there, which was enough for the Xie Family to believe that Yang Kai had something to do with his death. They probably refrained from causing Yang Kai trouble so far because they were apprehensive of Qian Tong and that Origin Grade Artifact Refiner.
Secondly, they probably wanted to take this chance to test the waters with Qian Tong!
If Qian Tong still had the time to look after Dragon Cave Mountain, he would have long since done so. It would, therefore, seem that he wasn’t in a favourable situation either.
Yang Kai quickly deduced the possible state of affairs based on his own assumptions. Even though he couldn’t be completely certain whether that was the truth just yet, it shouldn’t be far off. He just had to ask around a little afterwards to make sure.
Suddenly, Yang Kai’s mood improved slightly. As long as it wasn’t Qian Tong acting against him, it was fine. Moreover, since the Xie Family was the main mastermind, it must mean that the strife in Shadow Moon Hall was quite serious. Not only was Qian Tong occupied, but his opponent also didn’t have the time to care about this either.
In that case, Yang Kai had no more concerns. The current Dragon Cave Mountain had no problem handling a mere Xie Family. If they came at him, he would give them a reason to be sorry.
“I am Xie Quan!” The old man realised his slip-up and stopped trying to hide it altogether. He laughed coldly, “You’re quite bold for daring to destroy the Gathering Source Hall even after knowing that I’m from the Xie Family!”
“Xie Family… Hehe…” Yang Kai laughed for a while. Stroking his chin, he asked Yu Feng, “Who beat you up?”
Yu Feng looked stunned for a while, before pointing at the brute behind Xie Quan.
Yang Kai nodded, face twisting into a rage. He flicked his wrist, sending a thin golden thread flying straight at the brute.
Xie Quan’s expression changed, and he exclaimed, “How insolent!”
At the same time, a wave of Shi burst from his body, and he sent several bursts of energy towards the golden thread with flicks of his fingers.
He thought that it would be easy to disperse the attack of a Third-Order Saint King. In fact, releasing his Shi was beyond necessary.
However, his eyes grew wide in shock the next moment. The golden thread tore his Shi to shreds, nullifying the bursts of energy completely.
That’s when he understood that he had underestimated his opponent. He hurriedly took out an artifact in the shape of a top. As it spun, wave after wave of light rays shot out from it, forming a protective layer in front of the brute in the blink of an eye.
As an Origin Returning cultivator, it would be too shameful to allow Yang Kai to capture someone right in front of him.
However, yet another shocking scene unfolded. The protective shield was not able to stop the advance of the golden thread, shattering to pieces as it made contact. In the next moment, the brute shouted in surprise as he was pulled towards Yang Kai with immense force.
“Put him down!” Xie Quan’s face was fuming red. Channelling the Saint Qi within his body, he struck his palm towards Yang Kai, materializing a gigantic palm print in the process, as if trying to flatten Yang Kai completely.
Yang Kai laughed coldly and pushed his own palm forward.
Another gigantic palm print materialized, meeting Xie Quan’s own head on. Not only did it swallow Xie Quan’s palm print entirely, it advanced towards Xie Quan with an intensity that seemed to cover Heaven and Earth.
Xie Quan’s eyes were almost popping out of their sockets. Never had he thought that a Third-Order Saint King could face him head-on, not to mention gain the upper hand in the process!
In a flash, the brute had been captured and brought to Yang Kai’s side, his eyes wide in an expression of horror.
As a Third-Order Saint King, it was terrifying how powerless he was in front of this youth who was at the same cultivation level as him. Only now did he remember to try and resist, but just as he was gathering up his Saint Qi, Yang Kai tapped lightly on his shoulder, causing the brute to turn pale and let out a grunt, the energy he was trying to summon dispersing all over again.
Following that, Yang Kai sent him flying in front of Yu Feng and the rest with a single kick. He grabbed the whip from him and threw it over to Yu Feng, speaking coldly, “Take revenge for your grudges!”
Yu Feng caught the thick whip, looking stunned for a moment before regaining his bearings. He exchanged a glance with the fellow detainees who had been beaten and surrounded the brute while grinning maliciously.
The next moment, the brute’s pitiful cries of pain rang out amidst the sounds of kicks and punches and the cracks of the whip.
Xie Quan’s face was dark with anger while eyes shining with a fierce glow, as if looking for prey to release his anger upon. He looked at Yang Kai, “Youths are reckless indeed. Good, I shall see how long you can maintain that arrogance!”
As he said that, he waved his hand. All of a sudden, numerous figures started appearing from all around the place. There were at least several dozen of them, and they surrounded the now decimated Gathering Source Hall, glaring at Yang Kai’s group with animosity. Although there were no Origin Returning Realm cultivators amidst the group, the large number was enough to cause Chang Qi and Hao An to feel uneasy.
Not only that, but many people from all around Heavenly Fate City were starting to fly towards them, and there was no lack of Origin Returning cultivators amongst those.
In a mere moment, the situation had flipped. Where Yang Kai’s side originally had a slight advantage, it was now completely lost in terms of both numbers and cultivation.
Chang Qi scanned his surroundings, his expression growing sombre as he did. There were seven to eight Origin Returning cultivators here, and they were all reinforcements Xie Quan had called. Reinforcements were within expectations. After all, they were heading deep into the enemy camp with this trip, and it would be impossible to expect there to be no backup. However, the scale of it was completely unexpected.
He stole a glance at Yang Kai, only to find him looking calm and composed as always. This surprised Chang Qi a little but also gave him a bit of confidence. Surely, Yang Kai had some kind of trump card hidden away.
“Brother Xie, is this the brat who destroyed the Gathering Source Hall?” one of the newcomers was an old man sporting a goatee, and he asked this question coldly while staring at Yang Kai after exchanging quick greetings with Xie Quan.
Xie Quan made a fist palm salute, saying, “Regretfully so. I didn’t expect there to be two Origin Returning cultivators with him, and I alone was no match and could not protect this place. I will apologize to Shadow Moon Hall after this.”
The goateed old man laughed and waved his hand in dismissal, “Don’t take this too seriously, brother Xie. With such a grand scale of the enterprise, our Shadow Moon Hall wouldn’t care so much about the destruction of a mere Gathering Source Hall. More importantly, your junior looks to be in quite the predicament.”
He shifted his gaze towards the group who was still beating up the brute. Speaking sharply and coldly, he said, “Are you not being too contemptuous by continuing with your acts of violence even after we have arrived? This old master is asking you to stop!”
With that, a spark of light flashed across his eyes, and an imposing gust of spiritual energy descended from the heavens towards Yu Feng’s group.
At the same time, Chang Qi smirked and channelled out his own spiritual energy, causing the two gusts to clash midair and disperse silently. As a fellow First-Order Origin Returning cultivator, he would obviously have no fear of meeting the attack, and this particular clash hence ended in a draw.
Yu Feng and the rest couldn’t help but stop, and they collectively looked towards Yang Kai. This was the first time they had been surrounded by so many Origin Returning cultivators, and it was making them anxious.
“Go on. Don’t stop until you feel like the grudge has been completely settled!” Yang Kai glanced nonchalantly at the numerous Origin Returning cultivators, the condescending look in his eyes eliciting widespread displeasure from them.
The goateed old man was about to say something, but Yang Kai interrupted him, “You’re from the Shadow Moon Hall?”
“That’s right!” the old man stroked his beard, “This old master, Ma Xin Yuan, is a Lower Manager of Shadow Moon Hall.”
“Lower Manager…” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes, the edges of his mouth rising in mockery, “May I ask where Elder Qian Tong is right now?”
“Elder Qian…” Ma Xin Yuan’s expression changed slightly, as if he were slightly apprehensive. This reaction was shared by most of the Origin Returning cultivators gathered around. Seeing this, Yang Kai immediately realized that this group of cultivators were not under Qian Tong. They were probably on opposing sides within Shadow Moon Hall, otherwise, they would not have shown such expressions.
Looks like his prior deductions regarding the situation have been quite accurate.
“Elder Qian is naturally standing guard within Shadow Moon Hall. Listen up, brat! Not only did you destroy the Gathering Source Hall, you also injured our men. Don’t think that you can get away with this just by saying that you know Elder Qian. You’re not getting away today no matter what!” A middle-aged man towards the right exclaimed.
Yang Kai glanced at him and laughed lightly, “Of course I will not leave until the matter is settled. I came here today for two reasons.”
He pointed towards Yu Feng and the rest as he spoke, “To bring them back, and collect the resources you owe us while I’m at it.”
The numerous Origin Returning cultivators looked at one another, seeing the amusement in each other’s eyes. A few of them couldn’t help but laugh out loud, mocking Yang Kai’s inability to understand the extent of his own powers.
Xie Quan smirked at Yang Kai, “Such arrogance. Did you say you were going to bring them back? Have you asked whether this master agrees to that?”
“If you dare disagree, I will beat you until you change your mind!” Yang Kai exclaimed as he pointed his hand out. An artifact resembling an Artifact Refining Furnace appeared out of thin air, causing the temperature within a thousand-metre radius to rise rapidly. It caused everyone to feel as if they had suddenly fallen into a sea of fire, and even the air was being distorted due to the heat.
The next moment, a sharp shriek sounded out from within the furnace, and a ten-metre long Firebird of bright scarlet flew out. As it spread its wings, all the Fire Attribute World Energy in the Heavenly Fate City seemed to be pulled towards it, gathering within its body.
No one could have expected Yang Kai to be so daring as to make the first move even under such a clearly disadvantageous situation.
It was only after the Firebird absorbed the World Energy, growing to a massive size of over thirty metres, and starting to cover up the sky that the group of Origin Returning cultivators began to regain their senses. Xie Quan, in particular, was staring at the firebird with shaking eyes, exclaiming in shock, “Artifact Spirit! It’s an Artifact Spirit!”
No sooner had he finished speaking, that the Firebird spit a fireball the size of a washbasin at him.
The Artifact Spirit Firebird had awoken a month ago, which was one of the better pieces of news during the period of Yang Kai’s seclusion. After absorbing a strand of Sun’s True Fire, not only did it become more sapient, its strength increased drastically as well.
At the very least, the power of its flames was thirty percent stronger than when Yang Kai first obtained it.
Xie Quan’s face drained of all colour as he stared at the fireball approaching with an earth-crushing force. Completely tense against the imminent threat of death, he hurriedly took out his Defensive Artifact in hopes of mitigating the impact, at the same time turning and running away as quickly as possible.
Boom…
With a loud explosion, the fireball crashed down. The Defensive Artifact was not even able to hold for a single second before becoming badly damaged, losing all its lustre. A large pit appeared on the ground, the edges of which still showed signs of melting.
“This Artifact Spirit is fierce! Everyone, attack it together!” Xie Quan knew immediately that he would be no match for the Artifact Spirit.
Hearing this, the other Origin Returning cultivators all took out their artifacts, preparing to gang up on the Firebird. Everyone had a glint of excitement in their eyes, and no one bothered to direct any more attention towards Yang Kai.
In their eyes, the only reason why Yang Kai would so fearlessly go on the offensive was due to this Artifact Spirit. As long as they subdue it, what was a single Third-Order Saint King to them?
Furthermore, subduing this Artifact Spirit would benefit them greatly. In front of such a precious treasure, who had the time to care about Yang Kai?
Seeing that, Yang Kai laughed coldly and, with a wave of both hands, sent blasts of black fireballs shooting in all directions, causing the rest of the cultivators to fall all over the place. Where the Demonic Flames passed, everything ignited spontaneously. The ones with quicker reactions were able to scatter, while the ones who were too slow were swallowed whole by the flames, not a single bone remaining of them.
In an instant, this region of Heavenly Fate City had turned into a sea of fire, the intensity of the blaze threatening to burn a hole in the very heavens.
“Run!” Yang Kai shouted towards Chang Qi and Hao An.
The two of them took out their Star Shuttles, immediately dragging Yu Feng and the rest onto them. Mobilizing their Saint Qi, they headed straight out of Heavenly Fate City with the ex-detainees in tow.
“Stop them!” How could that goateed old man called Ma Xin Yuan allow them to escape from right under his eyes? With a single flash of the long sword held in his hand, he sent several bursts of Sword Waves towards Chang Qi and Hao Ao.
Yang Kai laughed coldly, immediately bringing out his purple shield and injecting Saint Qi into it. A gust of sandstorm immediately encased Chang Qi and the rest within it, protecting them. At the same time, Yang Kai sent out a hasty message to Chang Qi.
Chang Qi stared back for a moment before flying forward again at full speed, disappearing together with Hao An, Yu Feng, and the rest of the disciples.
The only one left on the ground was the brute who whipped them earlier, now howling in pain. He was mutilated beyond recognition and looked wretched to the extreme.
Yang Kai flicked a single burst of Demonic Flame at him with a single finger, causing him to burn away without a trace from the world. Yang Kai was not going to be merciful to someone from the Xie Family.
“Little Brat! How dare you kill a disciple of the Xie Family!” Xie Quan raged when he saw Yang Kai kill the brute.
“So what if I did? What can you do?!” Yang Kai’s expression was one of ferocity. The Demonic Flame shrouded his body, making it look like a savage god descended from the heavens, thirsting for blood.
As he spoke, he fired a strand of Saint Qi into the Origin King Grade Artifact Refining Furnace floating in the air, causing it to start spinning. As it spun, bursts of flames emerged one after another, transforming into the shape of Firebirds and shooting out.
Those Firebirds were like miniature versions of the Artifact Spirit, looking very much the same, other than the smaller size and lower power. This was the Fire Attribute World Energy stored within the Origin King Grade Artifact Refining Furnace itself. After spending tens of thousands of years burning within the Earth Lung Fire Pond, it was no ordinary item. Usually, Yang Kai only needed to release the Artifact Spirit in order to deal with his enemies, but against so many Origin Returning Realm masters, he didn’t dare to be careless, opting to invoke the force of the Furnace as well.
The Artifact Spirit Firebird spread both wings, causing countless fireballs to form and swarm towards the enemies like a cloud of locusts.
The combination of the two caused the many Origin Returning Realm masters to scramble in fear.
The already blazing Heavenly Fate City suffered even greater losses from this. All the houses and shops within a thousand-metre radius turned to ashes, leaving a seared, pitch-black wasteland where they once stood. Ten or so cultivators were too slow to avoid the attack and died on the spot.
Several gusts of Shi descended from the heavens, and Xie Quan exclaimed in fury, “Little brat! Now that those two old farts are gone, let’s see how a mere Saint King like you can escape!”
The pressure from more than ten layers of Shi stacked together caused Yang Kai to feel like he was completely unable to move. In response, two strands of Golden Thread shot out, furiously cutting away the formless Shi, causing their strength to decrease drastically. With that, Yang Kai took another step forward, his body suddenly blurring away, causing all of the Origin Returning cultivators to be unable to perceive where he went.
He was invoking the Space Force. Although this was not directly tearing space, it was enough to free him from the usual restrictions of space.
When he next appeared, he was already behind Xie Quan.
“Brother Xie, watch out!” No sooner had Yang Kai appeared than the goateed old man shouted.
Xie Quan similarly realized this, his expression changing to shock. A layer of white mist suddenly emerged from his body, wrapping around him and concealing his figure. Yang Kai snorted in disdain, letting a single strand of Golden Thread fly out and wrap around the white mist.
A small bursting sound rang out, followed by Xie Quan’s scream. The layer of white mist condensed, then spontaneously erupted, causing his figure to appear once again.
When the crowd registered the scene before them, they gasped in shock.
Xie Quan was standing at his original position, his face ashen. He stared blankly at the single strand of Golden Threaded passing right through his chest, shock written all over his expression. His eyes were filled with apprehension, and he did not dare move even a finger.
The other end of the Golden Thread was wrapped around Yang Kai’s finger.
He was so easily subdued by Yang Kai! Not only was it unexpected to the rest, but even Xie Quan himself did not imagine that he would fall so easily. All he knew was that the Golden Thread had mysterious properties and was sharp beyond measure. The Saint Qi protecting his body could not block it at all, or else he would not have been pierced by it so easily.
A sharp shriek came from overhead once again, and the gigantic Artifact Spirit Firebird moved to hover over Yang Kai’s head, its eyes scanning the area around it. Every Origin Returning Realm cultivator who met its gaze turned white in fear. Though their fight with it had not been long, everyone had realised how scary it was. One-on-one, not a single one of them was a match for it, and even if they teamed up, it was impossible to subjugate it. Even if this Artifact Spirit was not as strong as a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, it was close.
“Move and you die.” Yang Kai’s voice sounded to Xie Quan like the cold wind blowing from the ninth pit of hell, sending a shiver down his spine.
Seeing that Xie Quan was obeying his instructions and standing there quietly, a look of satisfaction flashed across Yang Kai’s face. He then turned to the other Origin Returning Realm cultivators, and said, “I told you, I came here for two things. The first is done, now the second.”
“What do you want?” Xie Quan said bitterly.
“Return all of the Saint Crystals that you took from my Dragon Cave Mountain!” Yang Kai said coldly.
“Your Saint Crystals are in my Space Ring. Take it if you want.” Xie Quan said through clenched teeth. He had no choice but to obey Yang Kai right now.
Yang Kai glanced at his finger and sent the other Golden Thread out. It wrapped around Xie Quan’s finger, and in the next moment, both the ring and his finger landed onto Yang Kai’s palm.
Fresh blood spurted out, but Xie Quan could only clench his teeth and bear with the pain, not daring to make a single move.
Yang Kai scanned the contents of the ring with his Divine Sense, a smirk forming on his face, “Isn’t the quantity a little low?”
Not just a little, half of it was gone. The materials that Dragon Cave Mountain had ordered from Shadow Moon Hall this time around were worth twenty million Saint Crystals, yet only ten million could be found within the ring, with the rest nowhere to be found.
Xie Quan remained silent, but he glanced towards the goateed old man Ma Xin Yuan. Immediately, Yang Kai understood that they had already split the Saint Crystals that Yu Feng had brought, and the remaining half was probably on him. He stared coldly towards Ma Xin Yuan.
Ma Xin Yuan’s face was one of hesitation and unwillingness. Obviously, he wasn’t too happy to simply give up the profits he had just obtained. A whole ten million Saint Crystals! If it weren’t for this, why would Shadow Moon Hall assist the Xie Family in fighting against Yang Kai? Especially when the internal strife had gotten so heated that very few people could be sent out to deal with external affairs.
Seeing how he looked like he didn’t want to hand the Saint Crystals over, Yang Kai’s expression hardened, the second Golden Thread flying out once again and wrapping around Xie Quan’s shoulder.
Bathed in blood, Xie Quan’s arm fell to the ground. Everyone paled immediately, looking at Yang Kai in disbelief, not expecting him to be so ruthless as to inflict such a grievous injury without saying a single word.
Xie Quan had the tenacity to stay silent, at least. He didn’t make a single noise when his finger was cut off earlier, and similarly not when this whole arm was chopped off. All he did was to turn towards Ma Xin Yuan in anger, his dry lips cracking as he exclaimed, “Brother Ma! Are you simply going to watch as I get dissected by this little brat?”
At this point, Ma Xin Yuan knew that he could no longer keep the Saint Crystals for himself. The Xie Family still had Xie Li within the Shadow Moon Hall, whose position was even higher than his own. If he really allowed Xie Quan to die at the hands of Yang Kai, Xie Li would definitely come for him.
Clenching his teeth, he took the Space Ring off of his finger, taking out his personal belongings and throwing it over to Yang Kai as he spoke vehemently, “Little brat, the rest of the Saint Crystals are all in there. Now release him, unless you want a fight to the death!”
They initially thought that they had everything in control, only to have the entire plan come undone by the Artifact Spirit. Even this little brat called Yang Kai was extremely strange. Up until now, Ma Xin Yuan still hadn’t figured out how he was able to attack Xie Quan and subdue him.
While cursing Xie Quan’s carelessness, he was also starting to feel a little apprehension towards Yang Kai.
If he was able to subdue Xie Quan just like that, there’s a chance that he might be able to kill him. After all, he wasn’t much stronger than Xie Quan.
[Is he really a Third-Order Saint King?] Ma Xin Yuan had strong suspicions that Yang Kai was hiding his cultivation. Looking at how relaxed he was, it was clear that he still hadn’t played all his cards.
Catching the ring that Ma Xin Yuan threw over, Yang Kai did a quick check to make sure he didn’t lie, before nodding and keeping both rings. He ignored Ma Xin Yuan’s threat entirely, instead saying, “Now that I have the Saint Crystals back for, let’s settle the other grudge!”
“What is there to settle?” Ma Xin Yuan’s expression darkened.
“Don’t play dumb with me,” Yang Kai snickered, “detaining the disciples of Dragon Cave Mountain, even going as far as to whip them. After causing them such injuries, did you think I was going to let this go?”
“Injuries…” Ma Xin Yuan roared in anger, “if that’s the case, what about all these shops you destroyed? The disciples you killed? Should I settle things with you as well?!”
“That’s your own fault. Our Dragon Cave Mountain has been fairly trading with you these past two years, never lagging behind on Saint Crystal payments, and yet you abuse our trust in such a way. Just try getting the word out. No one will side with you.”
“Alright then. State your terms!” Ma Xin Yuan seethed.
“Pay up!” Yang Kai went straight to the point, “If not, let’s see if you are prepared to face the consequences!”
“Are you threatening this old master, you little brat?!” Ma Xin Yuan shouted.
“Yes!” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes at him, “I’ll count to three. Disagree, and negotiations are over. One…”
Seeing how unrelenting Yang Kai was, to the point that he was actually starting to count, all the Origin Returning Realm cultivators’ expressions turned cold, a sense of helplessness arising despite their anger. Originally, they thought that their forces were more than enough to take down Dragon Cave Mountain, but things soon got out of hand.
“Two…”
When this number sounded out, Xie Quan started yelling urgently, “Brother Ma…”
Ma Xin Yuan looked at him from afar, an ambiguous expression flashing across his face as he said, “Brother Xie, it was a disciple of your Xie Family who caught and injured them, right? This doesn’t have much to do with Shadow Moon Hall, don’t you agree?”
Xie Quan looked stunned, then immediately felt a pang of anguish. While Ma Xin Yuan was technically correct in that the main perpetrators who engineered this episode against Dragon Cave Mountain were the Xie Family, the way he was shifting all the blame was still too hurtful. After all, they only proceeded with the plan after receiving orders to take the opportunity to test Qian Tong’s response. Either way, Ma Xin Yuan shouldn’t be trying to distance himself completely from this affair.
“Three!” Yang Kai grinned after reaching the last number, “looks like you’re not willing to pay up. Well then, allow me to collect it myself!”
As he said that, the Golden Thread on his hand trembled slightly, and amidst the golden radiance that seems to fill the skies, Xie Quan turned into a pile of mincemeat.
As the smell of blood wafted out, all the Origin Returning Realm cultivators stared in shock.
Nobody expected Yang Kai to kill Xie Quan.
The Origin Returning Realm masters had not dared to act carelessly just now for two reasons. Firstly, there was the threat of the Artifact Spirit Firebird. Secondly, Xie Quan had been subdued by Yang Kai. They acted cautiously out of fear that Yang Kai might kill Xie Quan out of anger. After all, everyone had seen how brutal Yang Kai was. If Xie Quan really died here, it would become a problem with Xie Li later on.
But now, this was no longer a concern, and ironically, Yang Kai was the one who removed the concern for them. This was not just unexpected, it was infuriating as well! Only now did they realise that they had completely underestimated this youth’s madness and insolence!
Without Xie Quan as a hostage, did he really think that he was a match for so many Origin Returning Realm masters? The thought of Xie Li’s anger when he learned of the deaths of Xie Quan and the Xie Family disciples further agitated the crowd. Ma Xin Yuan pointed several times at Yang Kai, seemingly too enraged to speak. After a long while, he finally spoke through clenched teeth, “You’re dead, brat. You’re really dead.”
“Brother Ma, stop wasting your breath with him. Let’s just capture him and bring him to Manager Xie,” someone spoke coldly from aside.
“You think you can?” Yang Kai laughed boldly. If Chang Qi and the rest were still here, he might have some trouble, but now that he was the only one left, not even a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm would be able to stop him. Having cultivated Space Force, he could escape by tearing space anytime.
The situation this time was nothing like that time in the Corpse Cave, where he not only had to bring Yang Yan with him but also face off an opponent on the level of a Thousand-Year Corpse General.
There were only seven or eight First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators here. They would be dreaming if they thought that they could capture Yang Kai.
“Let me turn Heavenly Fate City upside down before I settle my grudges with you!” Yang Kai’s voice suddenly grew cold, raising his hand and commanding, “Burn it!”
The Artifact Spirit Bird raised its head towards the sky and let out a long shriek when it received the command. The flames on its body blazed, and the Fire Attribute World Energy started converging onto it once again. In a flash, it had become even larger.
Seeing this, the Origin Returning Realm cultivators turned pale, hastily covering their bodies with Saint Qi and summoning their own defensive artifacts in order to protect themselves.
The Firebird opened its mouth wide, a huge ball of light forming within. After a moment, the ball turned into a beam of fire that burst out with frightening force, its temperature almost high enough to melt space itself.
The target of the attack was not any cultivator, but the largest store in the vicinity.
Yang Kai was actually planning on turning the entire Heavenly Fate City upside down. Given how badly the people of Dragon Cave Mountain had been bullied, there was no way he could back down. Doing so would only leave an impression of weakness, making them the prime choice as a target in the future.
After all, this could be considered Dragon Cave Mountain’s first fight since its establishment!
Before the beam of fire reached the store, the latter had already been set ablaze by the high temperatures. Suddenly, a beam of light shot out from far away, reaching the store before the fire, causing a thin layer of energy to surround the building.
This was the defensive barrier of the store, which can be considered a kind of Spirit Array. All of the larger stores in Heavenly Fate City had this, but the strength of the barrier depended on the profits of the store in question.
The barrier of this particular store clearly wasn’t weak. It was emitting a light green glow like ripples of water, obviously a work of intricate design.
Even so, when the fire came into contact with the barrier, it shook and broke apart almost immediately. The green glow dimmed quickly, and it didn’t even last a few seconds before shattering into pieces.
The remaining fire roared straight down towards the shop.
Suddenly, an artifact looking like a Round Bowl appeared, growing to a size of several dozens of metres in midair and intercepting the fire right above the shop.
Unable to change its course, the fire shot right into the Bowl. Following this, a flash of blue light shone out from within the Bowl, rounding the fire into a ball and suppressing it within. A middle-aged man dressed like a scholar then appeared above the Round Bowl, his expression sombre to the extreme. He shot several bursts of Saint Qi towards the Round Bowl, and with the activation of his Divine Sense, the Bowl quickly shrank to its original size.
With a wave of his hand, the middle-aged scholar summoned the Round Bowl back to his palm, staring at the fire raging within with a disturbed expression.
“You’ve finally shown yourself!” Yang Kai snorted coldly. He did not make any further moves, instead choosing to stand there and glare at the middle-aged scholar.
He had sensed the scholar’s presence the moment he stepped foot into Heavenly Fate City. After all, the scholar had the cultivation of Third-Order Origin Returning Realm!
Other than him, there was no one else in the entire Heavenly Fate City whom Yang Kai was apprehensive about. Otherwise, he would not have acted so fearlessly before.
The only thing he could not understand was how the scholar did not seem to have any intention of showing himself despite everything that Yang Kai was doing. However, Yang Kai had kept track of him, and now that the store was almost going to be destroyed, the scholar finally could not bear to stay hidden any longer.
Yang Kai did not yet know whether he was friend or foe, but he instinctively felt that he did not mean any harm, or else he would have come out long ago.
“Blue Jade Bowl!”
“City Lord Fei!”
The exclamations of the First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators gave away the identity of the scholar.
The City Lord of Heavenly Fate City, Fei Zhi Tu!
Although Yang Kai has never interacted with him before, he had heard of his name. Back when he was having a conflict with the Hai Ke and Xu Families, the two Families once went to the City Lord’s Mansion to ask for help. While they were not able to meet Fei Zhi Tu in the end, Patriarch Yi En from the Hai Ke Family bumped into Xie Hong Wen there and managed to drag him into the conflict.
Yang Kai only knew him from Wu Yi’s introductions, and even then he didn’t know that he was a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm.
Looking at him, Yang Kai finally felt a sense of apprehension. The Blue Jade Bowl, being able to contain the attack of the Firebird, was clearly of a rather high grade and he, himself, had an unbelievably deep aura comparable to that of Qian Tong’s.
Just because he had the ability to act as he wanted under the eyes of seven to eight First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators didn’t mean that he could do the same before a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master. However, he also didn’t have any plans to retreat before confirming the standpoint of the scholar. There were still trump cards that he had not yet played, such as the Space Blade and the Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique.
The crowd’s expression changed slightly when they recognised Fei Zhi Tu, and immediately stepped forward to pay their respects. Ma Xin Yuan said, “City Lord, Sir, I heard that you were cultivating a Secret Technique in retreat? Does this mean that you have succeeded?”
Fei Zhi Tu took a slow look at him, replying, “Why, is Steward Ma interested in the Secret Technique of this City Lord?”
“No, no, it was just a random question,” Ma Xin Yuan flinched and decided to stop talking.
“Hmph!” Fei Zhi Tu looked at the First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators one by one, speaking in slight mockery, “If this City Lord had not appeared, were you planning on taking apart this entire Heavenly Fate City?”
“We apologise, City Lord!” The crowd cupped their hands and responded immediately after hearing that. One of them stepped forward to explain, “There’s a reason for all of this. It is not our fault that the stores ended up in this state, but that insolent brat’s reckless actions that caused this. We ask you to be fair in your judgements, City Lord, Sir!”
He pointed towards Yang Kai.
Fei Zhi Tu turned to look at Yang Kai. While he was somewhat surprised at the fact that Yang Kai met his gaze without fear, he did not show it, instead scolding, “What a bunch of useless garbage! You call yourselves Origin Returning Realm cultivators when you can’t even handle a single Saint King Realm brat? I can’t believe you’ve still got the face to be here. Even dogs can do better than you!”
The seven or eight Origin Returning Realm cultivators all lowered their heads without saying a single word, a feeling of indignation growing in their hearts.
After scolding them, Fei Zhi Tu finally turned to Yang Kai and laughed dryly, “And aren’t you a brave little brat? Daring to wreak all this havoc in the Heavenly Fate City as if I didn’t exist?”
“Please understand, Senior. I was only forced to engage in a little bit of self-defence because this group of dishonest people were bullying me,” Yang Kai replied indifferently.
“A little bit of self-defence…” Fei Zhi Tu’s face twitched slightly. He had seen the whole exchange while he was in hiding. It was not so much self-defence as it was Yang Kai toying with the Origin Returning Realm cultivators. [What a shameless brat], he thought, lying with a straight face. “I heard you saying that you wanted to turn Heavenly Fate City upside down?”
Yang Kai cringed, “That was merely a bad choice of words due to all the anger I was feeling just now. Surely, you are too magnanimous of a person to take it seriously. Right, Sir?”
Fei Zhi Tu took a deep breath, laughing coldly, “I don’t care if it was just a bad choice of words. What’s said is said. Either you actually turn Heavenly Fate City upside down today, or you accept a punishment. Otherwise, you won’t be leaving this place that easily.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai’s expression hardened. After a moment’s thought, he smiled, “If that’s the case, then I shall be so bold as to ask for your instructions!”
With such a high cultivation master here, he certainly wouldn’t be able to keep causing trouble. However, from the implied message within Fei Zhi Tu’s words, it seemed that he wasn’t exactly an enemy.
The other Origin Returning Realm cultivators weren’t idiots either, and they clearly understood Fei Zhi Tu’s unspoken message. The City Lord was trying to call a truce with Yang Kai. Ma Xin Yuan’s heart jumped at the thought, and he was just about to speak up when Fei Zhi Tu said, “You’ve killed quite a few people and burned a number of shops. Even if the Shadow Moon Hall was in the wrong, this should be more than enough revenge for you. Originally, things would end here, but if word got out that I let you off just like this, people will assume that this City Lord is but a mere coward.”
“I understand!” Yang Kai nodded.
Seeing how collaborative Yang Kai was being, Fei Zhi Tu showed a look of approval. When observing the little brat earlier, he had thought Yang Kai was an utterly lawless rebel, but as it turned out, he was quite the perceptive fellow, so his efforts did not go to waste.
Even though many stores in the city were indeed burned down, those were ultimately replaceable and could be easily reconstructed afterwards. As for the people who died, most were disciples of the Xie Family, who didn’t have much to do with Fei Zhi Tu. In fact, even if everybody here died, it didn’t really matter much to him.
After a moment of thought, Fei Zhi Tu said, “I shall give you two choices. You pick one.”
Yang Kai immediately started acting as if he were listening attentively.
“One, use the Saint Crystals you obtained just now as reimbursement. I can’t simply let you go after all that destruction, but those Saint Crystals should be enough as a fine. What do you say?”
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the goateed old man and the rest immediately changed. Their worry was real, and City Lord Fei was indeed intending to let Yang Kai off lightly! Remembering the rumours that were going around the Hall, they seemed to understand something, and nobody dared to speak.
Yang Kai looked stunned for a moment, then tilted his head in thought for a while before replying with a confident smile, “That is a great suggestion, Senior, but I’m afraid I would like to reject it.”
“Hm?” Fei Zhi Tu narrowed his eyes, staring at Yang Kai in surprise. Honestly speaking, the only reason he would make such a suggestion was that he was the strongest of everyone here, and the City Lord on top of that, which meant that Ma Xin Yuan and the rest were unlikely to raise any objections. However, he didn’t expect the little brat to reject his goodwill entirely, making him slightly annoyed. While silently berating Yang Kai for not understanding the severity of the situation, he snorted coldly, “You dare reject it even before hearing the other option?”
Yang Kai replied seriously, “The reason why I came here today was to take back the Saint Crystals which were stolen. Now that I have them, there’s no way I will give them back. Please tell me what the second choice is, Senior.”
Fei Zhi Tu stared at him for a long while before saying, “Alright then. Since you’re set on it, this City Lord will not attempt to persuade you any further. The second choice is much simpler. Withstand a single move of mine without dodging. As long as you don’t die, I shall allow you to leave!”
“Withstand a single move without dodging!” Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed. Contrarily, Ma Xin Yuan and the rest were overjoyed to hear that.
Fei Zhi Tu was already at the peak of Third Order Origin Returning Realm, his strength almost comparable to Qian Tong’s. If he personally attacked, even if it’s just a single move, the arrogant brat would most certainly be gravely injured, if not outright dead.
As they rejoiced, Ma Xin Yuan and the rest even thought that they had misinterpreted Fei Zhi Tu’s intentions. So he didn’t plan on letting the little brat leave unharmed. It was only because of the difference in status and cultivation that made it difficult for him to act directly, but now that Yang Kai chose this himself, there was no more contention to be had. They looked towards Yang Kai in glee, waiting for the show to start.
“Chicken?” Fei Zhi Tu looked towards Yang Kai in mockery.
“Why would I be?” Yang Kai’s eyes were shining with anticipation. A Third Order Origin Returning Realm was too great an opponent for him right now, but a single move shouldn’t be too much to withstand. Even if he were to be hurt, it wouldn’t take long for him to recover with his current restorative abilities.
This was the perfect chance to test the difference between himself and a cultivator of that level.
On the Shadowed Star, the peak of Third Order Origin Returning Realm was the highest cultivation. If he could leave unscathed after a clash against Fei Zhi Tu, then he could re-evaluate his own strength.
“Little brat, you’ve got balls!” Fei Zhi Tu’s previously amiable expression suddenly grew fierce. He exclaimed, “I hope you don’t regret your choice!”
Yang Kai remained silent, a look of focus on his face. With a wave of his hand, the Firebird hovering above his head let out a shriek and morphed into a ball of flames, shrouding his body completely in what looked like flowing magma, causing the space around him to bend.
Yang Kai then summoned his Purple Shield and poured his Saint Qi into it. The sandstorm formed around him immediately, concealing his figure within.
The next moment, a shield formed of pitch-black flames appeared before Yang Kai. This was the Grand Heavenly Shield formed from his own Saint Qi!
No sooner were the three layers of defence put up before a frightening pulse of Saint Qi radiated out from Fei Zhi Tu’s direction. He took a step forward and, without anyone being able to see what happened clearly, appeared directly around thirty metres away from Yang Kai.
The roar of a tiger rang out from within his body, and a gigantic tiger head began to form right above his body. At first, it looked to be a mere illusion, but as Fei Zhi Tu started injecting his Saint Qi into it, it became more and more solid.
At the same time, an unparalleled aura of savagery spread out from the tiger head.
The onlookers turned pale and backed away hurriedly. Although Fei Zhi Tu was not directing the attack towards them, the waves of murderous intent spreading out from the tiger head felt like wind blades cutting into their skin, chilling them to the bone.
The City Lord was serious! Everyone watched on in joy.
“Be careful, little brat!” Fei Zhi Tu exclaimed as the tiger head floating above his own suddenly opened its mouth and pounced towards Yang Kai with immense force, much like a real tiger pouncing on its prey.
Yang Kai’s expression was grave as he mobilised his Saint Qi with all his might.
In the next moment, the tiger head came into contact with the Grand Heavenly Shield set up in the outermost layer. A series of loud cracking sounds rang out as the tiger head tore through several dozen layers of the Grand Heavenly Shield like they were paper mache as it headed unimpeded towards the second layer of sandstorm.
The enormous power of the sandstorm was generated by the force hidden within the Purple Shield. As the tiger head plunged into it, it slowed all of a sudden, and even seemed to show signs of stopping.
However, Yang Kai was shocked rather than elated at this, and his expression grew even graver.
Fei Zhi Tu laughed coldly. Activating his Divine Sense, the tiger head suddenly shot out a beam of dark light from its mouth, which exploded as soon as it appeared, tearing a gap in the sandstorm. Taking this opportunity, the tiger head pushed forward, and the sandstorm could do nothing to stop it.
In the blink of an eye, the gigantic tiger head had advanced all the way to Yang Kai, opening its mouth and biting downwards at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai didn’t dare be careless, and he immediately willed the defensive barrier which the Artifact Spirit Firebird had morphed into to start rotating, causing it to appear as if his whole body was being set ablaze, radiating an intense heat outwards.
The roars of the tiger and shrieks of the bird were unceasing.
Ma Xin Yuan and the rest craned their necks in hopes of seeing if Yang Kai was already gravely injured or dead, but their sights were completely obstructed by the sandstorm, and they could only wait anxiously for the result.
Nonetheless, a few people were able to infer from Fei Zhi Tu’s expression that Yang Kai wasn’t suffering any immediate dangers.
With a fwoosh, the sandstorm suddenly dispersed, converging once again into a shining Purple Shield as it flew aside. At the same time, Yang Kai’s figure backed away from within, his face pale. The Artifact Spirit Firebird which had been shrouding him had already disengaged and was now hovering once again above his head. While the colour of the tiger head had dimmed significantly, it was still chasing after Yang Kai, looking like it was still going for the kill.
Midair, Yang Kai’s expression grew fierce, and with a wave of both of his hands, several pitch-black Space Blades slashed out, heading towards the tiger head.
Seeing this, Fei Zhi Tu furrowed his brows, then shouted as realisation dawned on him, “Stop!”
As he spoke, he had already repositioned himself in front of the tiger head, absorbing it back into his body with a wave of one hand while the other summoned out the Blue Jade Bowl. A beam of blinding blue light shot out and headed towards the Space Blades.
Chi chi chi…
The blue light instantly dimmed, causing Fei Zhi Tu to show a pained expression.
The Blue Jade Bowl was a long-time artifact of his, and one of which he relied upon most. The blue light stored in it harboured some strange qualities, and had been able to save him many times in fights against enemies. However, just now, he clearly felt that some of that light had disappeared, and he couldn’t even tell exactly where to.
Possibly because of those mysterious blades giving out the pulse of Space Force, he realised as his pained expression grew.
The blue light that he had lost would take years for him to replenish, and he would even have to sacrifice some precious treasures for that purpose.
At this point in time, he was having serious thoughts about killing Yang Kai. He had not suffered such a loss even against opponents of the same cultivation, not to mention a mere Saint King Realm.
By the time Fei Zhi Tu summoned the Blue Jade Bowl, Yang Kai had already stopped his attacks, retreating to his shield and reclaiming it. He took a few deep breaths, finally restoring some colour to his pale face. Only after all this did he look towards Fei Zhi Tu with a slightly strange expression on his face.
“You…” Fei Zhi Tu looked at his Blue Jade Bowl, then at Yang Kai, his expression twisted to the extreme.
Yang Kai merely chuckled, “Senior, that’s the second move.”
Fei Zhi Tu froze, laughed bitterly, took a long look at Yang Kai, then finally waved his hand in exasperation, “Go on, get out. Don’t ever step foot within Heavenly Fate City ever again, or I will make you regret it.”
“Thank you for showing mercy, Senior. Um, if possible, I would like to ask Senior to return the ball of fire you absorbed earlier!” Yang Kai stared at the Blue Jade Bowl in his hands.
Fei Zhi Tu’s face twitched. He then sent a strand of Saint Qi into the Blue Jade Bowl, and a ball of fire flew out at once. The Artifact Spirit Firebird opened its mouth and sucked the fire in, hovering one last round before disappearing into Yang Kai’s body.
It wasn’t that Fei Zhi Tu was being extremely nice, just that he felt that something was off with the ball of fire that had been absorbed. It wasn’t something he could refine and, if sealed within the Blue Jade Bowl for too long, could not only affect the artifact’s power but also cause damage to it. Compared to that, he was more willing to do Yang Kai a favour.
“Goodbye!” Yang Kai cupped his fists. He took one last long look at Ma Xin Yuan and the rest, as if trying to commit their faces to memory, and let out a cold laugh before summoning his Star Shuttle and heading off towards the direction of Dragon Cave Mountain.
Among the ruins of Heavenly Fate City, Ma Xin Yuan and others stood silently, their faces sombre and the atmosphere dignified.
They had not expected Yang Kai to really be able to resist one move from Fei Zhi Tu and then retreat safely.
All of them had witnessed the power behind that move and understood that Fei Zhi Tu had not just been putting on a show. None of the Origin Realm masters present were confident they could have successfully blocked that move, yet a mere Third-Order Saint King Realm youth had.
While Ma Xin Yuan and the others felt shocked, a fear of Yang Kai swept over them. This boy was just a Third-Order Saint King yet already possessed such strength, so what would happen if he were to break through to the Origin Returning Realm?
Everyone on the scene was an old fox, so naturally they understood the truth of strangling danger in its cradle, and after witnessing Yang Kai’s cold gaze before he left, none of them doubted he would seek revenge for this when he rose up in the future.
After hesitating for a moment, Ma Xin Yuan cupped his fists and haltingly asked, “Sir City Lord, are you really going to just let him go?”
“If I don’t let him go, what do you want me to do?” Fei Zhi Tu had a stomach full of grievances but nowhere to vent, so he glared coldly the moment Ma Xin Yuan spoke up.
“But that little brat killed a member of the Xie Family…”
“Xie Family!” Fei Zhi Tu coldly snorted, “So what? Are you also a member of the Xie Family? What do the lives of the Xie Family have to do with me?”
Ma Xin Yuan lowered his head and did not dare say anything more.
“Hmph, if you don’t want to let him go, you can chase after him now, as long as you have the confidence to make him remain!”
“Sir City Lord surely jests,” The group of people all looked extremely embarrassed, none of them daring to mention Yang Kai again.
“Since you have no confidence in your own strength, just shut up and stay put! If anyone dares question this City Lord’s conduct again, do not blame this City Lord for not giving any face. In addition, do you really think that old fart Qian Tong really will not come back? Heh, you’d all best pray you’ve made the right choice today, otherwise, there may be no place for you in Shadow Moon Hall in the future.”
The group of people all glanced around at each other in dismay and were about to try to inquire more about the current situation when they saw Fei Zhi Tu flick his sleeve and fly off.
“Brother Ma, what should we do? Listening to what City Lord Fei said just now, there seems to be some twists and turns in the battle inside the Sect. Perhaps the rumours about Elder Qian aren’t…” Someone looked at Ma Xin Yuan and asked.
“That’s right! Brother Ma, didn’t you say this time’s matter was foolproof and wouldn’t have any repercussions? Why else would we all cooperate with the Xie Family against a Saint King Realm Junior if that wasn’t the case?” Someone else chimed in.
Ma Xin Yuan’s expression became ugly and impatient as he shouted, “If you ask this old master, who is this old master supposed to ask? This old master just listened to the people above and followed their instructions, how am I supposed to understand the specific situation? If you really want to know, go try asking Manager Xie and see what answer he can give you.”
“Manager Xie…” Listening to Ma Xin Yuan’s excuses, how could everyone here not know that this time they had been used as pawns? Feeling deeply regretful and remembering Qian Tong’s power and ability, all of them went pale, cupped their fists, and left quickly.
Back at Dragon Cave Mountain, Yang Kai returned with a pale face.
As soon as he entered the mountain, he saw Wu Yi, Yang Yan, Qian Yue, and the others standing there waiting for him. When the three women saw him appear, they all greeted him joyfully.
“Are you hurt?” Wu Yi saw Yang Kai’s complexion and could not help calling out in alarm.
“I’m fine. How are Yu Feng and the others doing?” Yang Kai waved his hand and asked.
“They’re busy healing, but it shouldn’t take long before they recover. If you had not returned just now, Foreign Elder Chang and Foreign Elder Hao would have rushed back to Heavenly Fate City.”
“En,” Yang Kai gently nodded, “Tell them there’s no need for that, this time’s matter will end here. Shadow Moon Hall shouldn’t engage in any kind of harassment anymore, but you should try not to go out during this time and be especially careful of the Xie Family. They might try to make a move.”
“Understood, I’ll make sure no one leaves unless absolutely necessary,” Wu Yi responded quickly before immediately saying with concern, “You also need to heal your wounds.”
Yang Kai nodded and walked towards his cave mansion.
Fei Zhi Tu deserved his reputation as a peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master. Although the move he made did not outwardly seem fancy or profound, only Yang Kai, who had taken it head-on, understood how fierce it was. Unfortunately, whether his opponent had used his full strength or not was something Yang Kai could not tell.
Needing only a single move to wound him, even without using full strength, it seemed the gap between Yang Kai and the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm was still too big.
Taking a few bottles of pills out from his ring, Yang Kai poured them out and began stuffing them into his mouth before closing his eyes and adjusting his breathing.
Fortunately, his injuries were not serious and only his aura was a bit unstable, so after half a day of meditation, Yang Kai had basically completely recovered. His Golden Blood’s restorative abilities were as astonishing as ever, so this minor injury was really nothing to Yang Kai.
Releasing his Divine Sense and realizing that it was already late at night, Yang Kai’s expression became solemn as he quietly got up, opened the cave mansion’s barrier, and stealthily left Dragon Cave Mountain before flying straight to Heavenly Fate City.
Soon after, Yang Kai arrived at the city and, following the route in his memory, rushed towards the City Lord’s Mansion.
After another cup of tea worth of time, Yang Kai landed outside the City Lord’s Mansion, and although this was his first time here, under the investigation of his Divine Sense, he was quickly able to grasp the situation here.
Tonight, the City Lord’s Mansion seemed a little weird. There were no people around, not even the cultivators who would normally be responsible for patrolling and guarding the perimeter.
The City Lord’s Mansion’s staff did not know what was happening, only that tonight the City Lord himself had ordered that everyone was forbidden to move about the compound. Anyone found disobeying this decree would be killed without mercy!
Facing this kind of strict order, no one dared to violate the City Lord’s command.
Seemingly having anticipated this, Yang Kai simply walked right through the front entrance of the City Lord’s Mansion. After taking a few turns, he soon arrived at a certain side building inside the City Lord’s Mansion and, just as he stood firm, Fei Zhi Tu’s voice called out, “Since you’ve arrived, come in and sit down.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai smiled slightly and pushed the door openly.
Inside this building, Fei Zhi Tu sat on a chair and looked towards the door with a smile. After Yang Kai walked in, he waved his hand lightly, using his Saint Qi to close the door again.
Yang Kai’s expression remained unchanged as he walked directly to another chair across from Fei Zhi Tu and sat down calmly.
“Today I saw you were quite bold, but it seems I still underestimated your courage. Aren’t you afraid that after entering the tiger’s cave you won’t be able to easily leave?” Fei Zhi Tu sneered meaningfully.
“Senior need not joke, if you really wanted to deal with this Junior, there would be no need to go through all this trouble. Taking action directly would have sufficed,” Yang Kai replied lightly.
Fei Zhi Tu’s eyes flashed brightly, and he nodded, “Good, it seems that old fart Qian Tong didn’t misread you, a truly impressive youth!”
“May I ask why Senior Fei silently sent this Junior a message earlier today, asking me to come here at this time?” Yang Kai asked in a solemn tone.
During the day, when he fought with Fei Zhi Tu, the other party had suddenly sent him a Divine Sense Message asking him to come to the City Lord’s Mansion at night, a development that puzzled Yang Kai greatly. Although he did not know the reason, he could guess that it was related somehow to the recent changes in Shadow Moon Hall.
“If I said I want to ask you for your help, would you believe me?”
“My help?” Yang Kai frowned, “What kind of help?”
“Let’s set that aside for the moment. Let me first ask you, what do you think of Shadow Moon Hall’s current situation?” Fei Zhi Tu lowered his voice and asked solemnly.
Yang Kai slowly shook his head, “Junior has recently been in retreat on Dragon Cave Mountain, so he isn’t aware of what has been happening outside. I hope Senior can enlighten me.”
“So, that’s how it is!” Fei Zhi Tu gently nodded, “In that case, this City Lord won’t beat around the bush. The reason your Dragon Cave Mountain was targeted this time is actually because of the infighting going on inside Shadow Moon Hall. Regarding this, my Shadow Moon Hall has utterly wronged you; after all, you have been happily cooperating with us over the past few years and our relationship has brought great benefits to both parties. However, your Dragon Cave Mountain still being able to remain safe and steady is mainly because of that old fart Qian Tong sheltering you. Now though, Qian Tong has encountered a little trouble and some people want to take this opportunity to deal with him. They used your grievance with the Xie Family as an excuse to act against your Dragon Cave Mountain so they could test Qian Tong’s reaction.”
Having said this much, Fei Zhi Tu stared at Yang Kai for a moment but to his surprise he did not see any change in expression on this youth’s face, prompting him to ask, “You already knew?”
Yang Kai simply chuckled, “I had my speculations.”
“Fierce!” Fei Zhi Tu’s eyes flashed with approval, “Since you’ve already guessed that much, the rest is easier to explain. In short, Shadow Moon Hall is currently divided into two camps, one headed by Qian Tong, the other by an Elder named Feng Zhen. These two have different ideas and employ different methods, causing conflict between them inside the Sect. Moreover, these two respectively oversee the Sect’s Artifact Refining and Alchemy divisions with the other Elders and Deacons fairly evenly distributed among them. These two factions have been struggling with one another for many years, but no major incidents had taken place until recently a big event broke the balance between them.”
“Grandmaster Ge Lin’s death?” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes as he recalled this matter. Qian Tong and Grandmaster Ge Lin had a particularly good personal relationship, so when Grandmaster Ge Lin passed away, it was equivalent to Qian Tong losing one of his greatest supporters, inevitably causing the other faction to have some ideas.
Yang Kai thought his guess was correct, but Fei Zhi Tu sneered and shook his head, “Grandmaster Ge Lin’s death was indeed part of the reason, but the real cause of this falling out was something else.”
“Something else?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
“Speaking of this matter, you were also involved in it,” Fei Zhi Tu whispered, “The Red Candle Fruit piece!”
“That?!” Yang Kai suddenly realized.
“In Shadow Moon Hall, the Sect Master isn’t actually the strongest. The most powerful ones are that old fart Qian Tong and Feng Zhen. Both of them have the highest chance to break through to the Origin King Realm, but there is only a small piece of the Red Candle Fruit and everyone wants it. Surely you can imagine how the situation developed from there, right? “
“If that’s the case, it certainly could explain the current situation,” Yang Kai’s expression flashed a look of understanding.
Two years ago, when the Flowing Flame Sand Field opened, a Red Candle Fruit had appeared in the third layer, and although it had ultimately been cut into several pieces by Leng Qing of Star Emperor Mountain, Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er managed to snatch one of those pieces and successfully bring it back to Shadow Moon Hall. This treasure was rumoured to be able to allow an Origin Returning Realm master to break through to the Origin King Realm. This kind of temptation was far too great, so it was not surprising that the original balance between Shadow Moon Hall’s factions was broken by its appearance.
“Heh, in truth, that old fart Qian Tong isn’t the type of person who likes fighting with others, but the significance of that Red Candle Fruit piece is just too great. If it could really promote him to the Origin King Realm, then my Shadow Moon Hall would become the first Sect on Shadowed Star. Not even Star Emperor Mountain would be a match for my Shadow Moon Hall, so although this hope is slim, in the end, it is still hope. Old Qian knows this and Feng Zhen naturally knows it as well, so the hostility that had been just below the surface finally broke out. The internal workings of Shadow Moon Hall can now only be described as a chaotic mess,” Fei Zhi Tu said with some sadness, “If this matter isn’t handled well, at best my Shadow Moon Hall will suffer a sharp decline, and at worst it will completely collapse!”
“Are things really so serious?” Yang Kai’s face changed slightly.
“The grievances between the Elders and Deacons of the two factions that Qian Tong and Feng Zhen lead have been piling up for many years. Until now, they had been suppressed by the Sect Master so no big trouble ever erupted, but this time, the Sect Master is truly helpless. In fact, if not for Sect Master being so old, this Red Candle Fruit piece would have been taken by him and that would have been the end of it, but Sect Master couldn’t bear to waste such a Heaven defying treasure, so he refused to use it. If this dispute inside the Shadow Moon Hall really turns into an all-out conflict, heh, little brat, you understand what it means to be an egg in a quarrelling nest?”
Yang Kai’s eyes twitched; how could he not understand what Fei Zhi Tu wanted to say? If Shadow Moon Hall really fell apart, then Dragon Cave Mountain would also suffer disaster; after all, Dragon Cave Mountain was still within the core territory of Shadow Moon Hall, so what would happen to them if a war broke out was impossible to say.
But soon, Yang Kai’s expression became flat as he stared at Fei Zhi Tu and asked, “Senior need not spin such a terrifying tale, this Junior just wants to know now, which faction do you belong to?”
“Me?” Fei Zhi Tu raised his brow, laughing wryly a moment later as he slowly said, “This City Lord had grown tired of those people’s infighting, so I asked the Sect Master to assign me the duty of overseeing Heavenly Fate City. As the master of this city, which faction do you believe I belong to?”
Yang Kai gently nodded and said with a smile, “From Senior’s words just now and the concern you showed about Elder Qian, I thought for sure you were a member of Elder Qian’s faction.”
“Bullshit! Qian Tong that old fart…” Fei Zhi Tu coldly snorted, seemingly wanting to continue cursing, but halfway through he swallowed his words and waved his hand in annoyance, “Forget it. Long story short, I owe Qian Tong a big favour, so this time I plan on paying it back in full!”
“What does this matter have to do with me?” Yang Kai frowned, “For what reason did Senior call Junior out here so late at night?”
Fei Zhi Tu stared at Yang Kai with a solemn look and said, “Qian Tong ran into some trouble!”
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed.
“You don’t seem like an ungrateful person. Your Dragon Cave Mountain being able to develop steadily these past few years has much to do with Qian Tong’s care. Do not think he hasn’t looked after you. If not for him taking a commanding position here in Heavenly Fate City, your little home might have already been swallowed whole. A trivial few youngsters who don’t know the immensity of Heaven and Earth actually occupying other people’s territory and lording over it? Hmph.”
“For the time being, let us not mention Dragon Cave Mountain. City Lord Fei, tell me about Elder Qian’s situation. If there is any place I can help with, I will certainly not refuse,” Yang Kai said lightly. There was no need to mention out loud things that Yang Kai was already well aware of. He knew that Dragon Cave Mountain remaining so calm and steady these past few years was indeed mainly thanks to Qian Tong’s shelter, but Fei Zhi Tu blatantly pointing out this fact was still uncomfortable to hear, causing his tone to become somewhat cold.
Fei Zhi Tu didn’t seem to mind either way and continued, “What I want to tell you next is something only a few people know. This matter is of great importance, so absolutely do not let it leak out.”
After receiving this urge, Yang Kai nodded in understanding.
Listening to Fei Zhi Tu’s explanation, Yang Kai realized that Qian Tong had been missing for nearly half a year. Calculating the time, Qian Tong had already been gone when Yang Kai and Yang Yan set out for Coloured Glass Sect.
As for where he went, there were many differing opinions. Some people said that he had entered a secluded retreat to comprehend some kind of profound Secret Technique. Others said he went out in search of some opportunity and encountered an unexpected accident. Others still said he did not wish to be the cause of Shadow Moon Hall’s collapse and had decided to go into exile.
However, no matter which hypothesis, no one was able to confirm anything.
At this moment, when Shadow Moon Hall was falling apart and fierce disputes were happening throughout the Sect, Qian Tong’s sudden disappearance was truly quite puzzling. It was precisely because he had disappeared at such a critical juncture that Feng Zhen was becoming more and more daring. Now, in Shadow Moon Hall, although there were still several influential Elders who could join forces to suppress Feng Zhen, without a key person like Qian Tong to lead them, they had fallen into a disadvantage.
If Qian Tong failed to return soon, the consequences would definitely be unimaginable.
This time, Ma Xin Yuan and several others joining forces with the Xie Family to deal with Dragon Cave Mountain was a final probe from Feng Zhen towards Qian Tong. Feng Zhen wanted to see if, when he took this opportunity to deal with Dragon Cave Mountain it would force Qian Tong to appear. Although the result of this probe was the death of an Origin Returning Realm master from the Xie Family, it should still be able to satisfy Feng Zhen’s faction.
Qian Tong not showing up from beginning to end was enough to prove that something had gone wrong.
As soon as the outcome of this probe was passed back to the Sect, it was almost certain that Feng Zhen’s faction would begin making a big move.
“Where is Elder Qian now?” Yang Kai asked with a frown.
“An Ancient Ruin!” Fei Zhi Tu replied in a low voice.
“An Ancient Ruin?” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up.
“Yes, but whether he’s alive or dead, I don’t know,” Fei Zhi Tu sighed, “The last time I received news from him was half a month ago. At that time, he used this thing to pass me a message.”
Saying this, Fei Zhi Tu flicked his wrist and a small white light suddenly appeared at his fingertips and flew directly to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai reached out and directly grabbed the white light, holding it in his palm as he observed it. To his surprise though, this white light turned out to be a kind of insect similar to a snow-white silkworm. It was only a couple centimetres long and through its pure white exterior one could make out some tiny blood vessels.
However, when Yang Kai swept this strange insect with his Divine Sense, a message suddenly sounded in his mind.
Yang Kai was startled but quickly calmed down and listened quietly.
The message this insect relayed was indeed left by Qian Tong, and by listening to it, Yang Kai immediately understood the other party’s situation.
It was just as Fei Zhi Tu had said, Qian Tong was stranded in an Ancient Ruin and could not get out of it. He had been forced to let this insect come to Heavenly Fate City with his distress message to ask Fei Zhi Tu for help.
“This insect is called a Messenger Insect. It is an Exotic Ancient Insect whose only use is delivering messages. However, because it can ignore all forms of barriers and arrays, it is quite convenient to use. Don’t be fooled by its bloated appearance either, it’s quite fast,” Fei Zhi Tu explained after Yang Kai finished his investigation.
Yang Kai gently nodded, and a dignified look flashed across his face as he returned the Messenger Insect to Fei Zhi Tu.
Judging from what he heard just now, Qian Tong’s situation was not optimistic. The message left in this Messenger Insect seemed to have been recorded after Qian Ton had suffered injury, so after so long it was impossible to know what state he was in.
“City Lord Fei, might I ask why Elder Qian would choose such a critical moment to go explore an Ancient Ruin?” Yang Kai asked in confusion.
Fei Zhi Tu coldly snorted, “How should I know what he’s thinking?”
After a pause though, he continued, “If I had to guess, he didn’t want Shadow Moon Hall’s conflict to erupt into a full blown civil war, so he was looking for a way to balance the two factions’ power again in order to stabilize the current situation. You should know that he had a close personal relationship with Grandmaster Ge Lin before. En, with the prestige and contacts of Grandmaster Ge Lin, it was previously possible to completely suppress Feng Zhen’s faction, but now that Grandmaster Ge Lin has passed away, while the other side still has an Origin Grade Alchemist supporting them, the delicate balance has naturally disappeared. The Ancient Ruin Old Qian went to explore was something Grandmaster Ge Lin had discovered, and the reason Grandmaster Ge Lin was able to become an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner was also thanks to that ruin. Qian Tong going to search this Ancient Ruin this time was his desperate attempt to allow another person to break through their bottleneck and reach the level of Origin Grade Artifact Refiner. Once another Origin Grade Artifact Refiner emerges, the initiative for this situation would fall back into Qian Tong’s hands. Right, I forget to tell you, Qian Tong did not go out alone, he brought with him another person, a Saint King Grade Artifact Refiner who can be regarded as Grandmaster Ge Lin’s successor.”
“Then Elder Qian’s actions were well thought out,” Yang Kai could not help saying with a hint of admiration.
“Well thought out?” Fei Zhi Tu sneered disdainfully, “I think he was just trying to avoid the issue. Originally, with his means and connections, as long as he could harden his heart, even without Grandmaster Ge Lin’s presence he could definitely make Feng Zhen beg for death, but instead, that old fart chose to go around the sun to reach the moon. Why bother with those damned Ancient Ruins? Why not just solve the problem once and for all?”
Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, “It seems City Lord Fei and Elder Qian have a very good relationship.”
“The relationship between this City Lord and that old fart has no need for your comments!” Fei Zhi Tu’s face went cold, “I called you this time because I want your help fishing Qian Tong out from those Ancient Ruins, lest he really dies inside.”
“How this Junior can assist in this matter, I hope City Lord Fei can make clear. If those Ancient Ruins can trap Qian Tong, with my negligible cultivation, if I were to run over and explore them, what difference with seeking death would there be?”
“You’re certainly cautious enough, but this City Lord will make his point clear, lest you not be able to feel at ease. What I am interested in is not your personal strength. You are indeed extraordinary, a Third-Order Saint King being able to socialize with so many Origin Returning Realm masters, and even receive a move from me is quite extraordinary. Even if you relied on external forces like that shield artifact and your Artifact Spirit, your skills cannot be discounted. But if you were to enter that Ancient Ruin with only this kind of strength, you would only be a burden… however, your Artifact Spirit is a different matter. I want to borrow its power.”
Yang Kai curled his lips, realizing that Fei Zhi Tu’s purpose in calling him out here late at night was because he had his eyes on the Artifact Spirit.
“There is an ice road inside that Ancient Ruin which is extremely dangerous. Your Artifact Spirit’s flames are also not ordinary; even my Blue Jade Bowl was unable to refine and disperse them. If this City Lord can have your Artifact Spirit’s assistance, it will be much easier to pass through that ice road.”
“Is that all?” Yang Kai asked in surprise after he finished listening.
“That’s all!” Fei Zhi Tu nodded slowly, “After crossing that ice road, whether breaking any kind barriers or rescuing Qian Tong, you don’t need to worry about it, this City Lord will make appropriate arrangements. If not for being unable to find an appropriate Fire Attribute artifact to restrain the chill of that ice road, I wouldn’t have delayed for so long. “
Yang Kai stroked his chin silently.
Fei Zhi Tu did not urge him further, allowing Yang Kai time to think things over. This was a matter of great importance, and although Fei Zhi Tu said he only wanted to use the power of Yang Kai’s Artifact Spirit to safely cross the ice road, it would still require entering an Ancient Ruin, so saying that there would be no risks was impossible. Even a master like Qian Tong had become trapped in that place, so Fei Zhi Tu could not make any guarantees.
This was a life or death risk, so of course, Yang Kai would need to think about it.
However, Fei Zhi Tu was confident Yang Kai would agree. As Heavenly Fate City’s City Lord, Fei Zhi Tu knew much about the nearby Dragon Cave Mountain and had heard enough rumours about Yang Kai to know he wasn’t an ungrateful villain.
Sure enough, after a while, Yang Kai raised his head and a steady look flashed across his eyes, obviously having made a decision. Noticing this, Fei Zhi Tu immediately stared at him.
“City Lord Fei, my Dragon Cave Mountain truly owes Elder Qian a great graciousness, so now that he has encountered trouble this Junior will naturally try his best to help!”
Hearing this, Fei Zhi Tu gently nodded, a trace of satisfaction appearing on his face as he secretly thought this youth had a praiseworthy sense of character.
But in the next instant, Yang Kai grinned and asked, “But what benefits are there in this for me?”
“Benefits?” Fei Zhi Tu was dumbfounded as he gawked towards Yang Kai and asked, “You actually want benefits?”
Yang Kai smiled as he said, “Isn’t City Lord Fei underestimating Junior too much? Junior has already passed the age where he acts hot-blooded and reckless with no regard for the future. City Lord Fei doesn’t think I will agree to help after only hearing a few words, right? Since I must take on risks, naturally I want to obtain some benefits!”
Fei Zhi Tu frowned as a trace of disappointment flashed across his face, coldly saying, “But this is about rescuing Qian Tong, not some random stranger!”
“And so? If Elder Qian had sent me a message personally, of course, Junior would have done his utmost without asking for compensation, but the one asking for my help now is Senior Fei. Junior is not familiar with you, so naturally, I should be asking you for benefits; after all, if we successfully rescue Elder Qian, the one Elder Qian will owe a favour to is you. It will have little to do with this Junior.”
“What kind of sophistry is that!?” Fei Zhi Tu’s face went blue as he shouted. Never had he imagined that Yang Kai would bluntly ask him for benefits. This was completely different from what he had envisioned. In Fei Zhi Tu’s opinion, his inviting Yang Kai was already giving this youth a great amount of face. If the other party didn’t possess that Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit, with his Third-Order Saint King Realm cultivation, he would simply not be eligible to participate in this action, and when the time really came, how could Qian Tong not show this kid any gratitude?
[This little brat is too shameless!] Fei Zhi Tu snorted angrily.
“Whether or not my words are sophistry, City Lord Fei should be able to judge himself,” Yang Kai replied calmly, not showing any signs of impatience.
Fei Zhi Tu glared at him for a long time, but suddenly remembering something, he wore a cunning grin and said, “If you want benefits, then I will give you benefits! Boy, you killed Xie Hong Wen of the Xie Family, right?”
Yang Kai’s face changed slightly but he quickly said, “City Lord Fei, food can be eaten freely, but words may not be spoken randomly. What evidence do you have to prove that I killed Xie Hong Wen?”
“Don’t try to play dumb with me!” Fei Zhi Tu coldly snorted, “Do you think other people don’t know about what you’ve done?”
Yang Kai frowned, feeling that the other party really was not just making baseless accusations. Quickly wearing a humble appearance, he asked, “Please enlighten me, Senior.”
Fei Zhi Tu smiled deviously and said, “Your grievances with Xie Hong Wen were known by many people, and when the Flowing Flame Sand Field opened, Xie Hong Wen deliberately brought two Xie Family Saint King Realm disciples with him just to seek revenge on you. However, when the Flowing Flame Sand field closed, none of them appeared again, so clearly they had died in the Flowing Flame Sand Field!”
“The Flowing Flame Sand Field is filled with danger. Even if he did die inside, what does that have to do with me?” Yang Kai’s expression remained indifferent as he continued to deny the charge.
“Shadow Moon Hall has a rather special Secret Technique which can be applied to a Junior by their Elders. When a Junior falls, this Secret Technique will transfer itself to the one who killed them automatically. Not only does Xie Hong Wen have this Secret Technique placed on him, Wei Gu Chang, Dong Xuan’er and all the other elite disciples of the Sect do as well. I assume this City Lord doesn’t need to explain any further, yes?”
Yang Kai’s flashed an amazed expression. If Fei Zhi Tu was not lying to him, he must have been marked by that Secret Technique, and if that was the case, his killing Xie Hong Wen was probably not a secret.
“The Xie Family hadn’t taken action against you for two reasons, firstly because they feared Qian Tong and secondly because you rarely appeared after returning from the Flowing Flame Sand Field. The barriers and arrays protecting Dragon Cave Mountain are extremely powerful, so the Xie Family masters were unable to detect whether that Secret Technique had been transferred to you, but you leaving Dragon Cave Mountain just once was enough to confirm you killed Xie Hong Wen,” Fei Zhi Tu grinned meaningfully, “As long as you can accompany this City Lord on this trip, not only can I help you to disperse that stubborn Secret Technique, I can also promise you that in the future the Xie Family will never trouble your Dragon Cave Mountain again. I can even restore your previous trade relationship with Shadow Moon Hall, so are these benefits enough?”
While he was talking, Yang Kai had already used his Divine Sense to carefully examine his body, a moment later his expression turned extremely ugly.
In his body, Yang Kai discovered an extremely well concealed foreign energy mark. This mark’s energy fluctuations were very weak and if not for him meticulously scanning every inch of his body, Yang Kai would not have noticed it. Even with Fei Zhi Tu revealing this, Yang Kai had to check himself three times before he was able to discover the existence of this mark.
It seemed that this Shadow Moon Hall Secret Technique was truly covert.
“You found it?” Fei Zhi Tu looked at him in surprise. Although Yang Kai did not say anything, from the change in his expression, this point was fairly easy to determine.
This Secret Technique was extremely stealthy, and as far as Fei Zhi Tu knew, the mark which was applied to Xie Hong Wen was planted by Xie Li. Xie Li was a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, but even a master with equivalent strength may not have been able to find a trace of it, so how had this Third-Order Saint King youth done so?
Fei Zhi Tu could not help admiring Yang Kai while secretly wondering if he had used some kind of powerful artifact to help him find this mark.
Yang Kai did not answer his question and instead tried to wrap this weak energy mark with his Demonic Flames to dissolve it. However, he soon found that although this mark’s energy fluctuations were extremely weak, they were also extremely difficult to refine. From the looks of it, it would take at least a few days to eliminate this mark.
Now that he had found it though, Yang Kai wasn’t in a hurry to remove it and pondered for a moment before turning to Fei Zhi Tu with a solemn expression, “I can agree with half of Senior’s proposal!”
“Half?”
“En, after this matter is completed, Dragon Cave Mountain’s trade relationship with Shadow Moon Hall can be restored, but the price of goods will need to be discussed again. As for Xie Family… heh, this Junior only has one request.”
“Let’s hear it!” Fei Zhi Tu narrowed his eyes at him.
“Shadow Moon Hall must not interfere with my and the Xie Family’s grievances!” Yang Kai declared.
Fei Zhi Tu raised his brow in astonishment. He had thought that Yang Kai was going to ask Shadow Moon Hall to suppress the Xie Family and not allow them to seek trouble with Dragon Cave Mountain in the future, how could he have known that this little brat’s courage would be so great. From the request Yang Kai made, it was obvious he wanted to personally and permanently settle things with Xie Family!
After understanding this point, Fei Zhi Tu suddenly became interested.
Although the Xie Family wasn’t a top-level family, it still had many Origin Returning Realm masters with its Patriarch being a genuine Second-Order Origin Realm master. With the strength of Dragon Cave Mountain today, could it really compete with a force like this? Was this boy simply sleep-talking?
Fei Zhi Tu didn’t want to interfere in the grievances between Yang Kai and Xie Family in the first place, and he was completely disinterested in what kind of bear hearts and leopard galls this boy had eaten to dare run his mouth like this, so he immediately nodded, “Sounds reasonable. As long as Qian Tong can return, I can guarantee that even if you destroy the Xie Family completely, Shadow Moon Hall will not raise any objections; of course, that will depend on if you have this ability.”
He was not very confident about Yang Kai’s chances.
Yang Kai did not bother arguing with him and instead began discussing the details of the operation. After agreeing on a date and place to meet, he got up and left the City Lord’s Mansion alone.
After Yang Kai left, Fei Zhi Tu frowned and muttered, “Wait, why didn’t that boy ask me to help him get rid of that Secret Technique mark? Does he have a way to remove it himself?”
Thinking about it for a while, Fei Zhi Tu slowly shook his head, too lazy to bother with it any further. The Xie Family already knew that Xie Hong Wen had died at Yang Kai’s hands, so it didn’t really matter if this mark was removed or not.
Yang Kai returned to Dragon Cave Mountain without alerting anyone.
The date he agreed on with Fei Zhi Tu was in three days’ time. Fei Zhi Tu apparently still had to make some preparations and he had to make sure to conceal his activities, otherwise, he might draw unwanted attention.
Taking advantage of these three days, Yang Kai planned to purge the weak mark from his body. Although from what Fei Zhi Tu had explained, this Secret Technique was only used to determine the killer of an elite disciple, who knows what other kinds of effects it could have?
Such a thing lingering inside his body made it impossible for Yang Kai to rest easy.
Fortunately, Yang Kai’s Demonic Flames were quite extraordinary, incomparable to the Saint Qi of ordinary cultivators.
With the Artifact Spirit Firebird’s help, only two days later, Yang Kai managed to destroy the energy mark and, upon re-examining himself, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Next, Yang Kai summoned Chang Qi, Hao An, Yang Yan, Wu Yi, and Qian Yue, carefully telling them not to go out during this time, so as not to be targeted by the Xie Family’s people. After seeing everyone nod, Yang Kai returned to his cave mansion to make a few preparations.
In fact, there were no special preparations to make. Saint Crystals would ordinarily be a must, but in addition to what Yang Kai always carried with him, Yang Yan had given him many of the crystal spheres the Stone Puppet had compressed and refined. Whether it was in terms of quantity or total internal energy, these spheres were far superior to High-Rank Saint Crystals whether they were used for healing, restoring, or combat.
Yang Yan called these Saint Crystals spheres made by the Stone Puppet Saint Crystal Sources!
Just before the sun rose, at the darkest time before dawn, a figure quietly snuck out from Dragon Cave Mountain and quickly disappeared.
Half an hour later, several thousand kilometres north of Heavenly Fate City, this figure appeared again. It was Yang Kai. Glancing around for a moment, Yang Kai spotted the meeting place and immediately flew towards the small, nearby hill.
At this moment, two other people who had arrived earlier were sitting in meditation atop this hill. Both were male and they didn’t appear very old. Most surprising, however, was that both of them were just Third-Order Saint Kings.
Yang Kai did not conceal his approach and after landing atop the hill, the two young men opened their eyes and glanced over at him lightly. One of these two did not show any intention to speak and simply closed his eyes indifferently again.
The other observed Yang Kai with interest for a moment before nodding slightly.
Yang Kai nodded back, but neither side made any attempt to speak. This hill was not small, so with a few doubts in his heart, Yang Kai found an empty spot and sat down cross-legged.
He heard from Fei Zhi Tu that this operation would be very dangerous, so Yang Kai had naturally assumed there would be many Origin Returning Realm masters taking part; after all, Fei Zhi Tu had made it clear that if not for the existence of the Firebird Artifact Spirit, even Yang Kai would not be qualified to participate in this action.
Yet, as soon as he arrived at the rendezvous point, Yang Kai was greeted by two young men with cultivations equal to his own.
Although he was quite curious about this, Yang Kai also understood that, since Fei Zhi Tu had invited these two, he must have a good reason. Either these two had some kind of special ability Fei Zhi Tu needed to borrow, or they were elites among the elite.
Judging from their appearances, the former was more likely.
Atop this hill, the three young men did not make a sound, and for some time only silence could be heard. Half an incense stick worth of time later, Yang Kai suddenly opened his eyes and looked towards the distance where he saw an azure streak of light rapidly approaching. Obviously, it was another cultivator.
Because Fei Zhi Tu’s action this time required the utmost confidentiality, everyone had arrived here separately, something Yang Kai had anticipated.
After the azure streak arrived, it flew down and landed on the hill, revealing a beautiful figure. The one who had come was a young woman with an enchanting body, beautiful face, and long raven black hair. She was an eye-catching beauty.
However, this woman’s cultivation was also just Third-Order Saint King, puzzling Yang Kai even further.
Counting himself, there were now four Third-Order Saint Kings gathered here, but where was Fei Zhi Tu? Surely, he couldn’t be expecting these four Saint Kings to rescue Qian Tong, could he?
Thinking of this possibility, Yang Kai’s face sank.
After this young woman landed, she quickly discovered that the three best spots on top of the hill had already been occupied, causing her brow to furrow.
Upon seeing this young woman, the man who had nodded politely to Yang Kai earlier stood up hastily and cupped his fists, “So it is Sister Si Si, it has been many years since we last met! I trust Sister Si Si has been well since then.”
From the tone of his voice, it was apparent that he knew this young woman and from the look on his face, it was also obvious he was interested in her.
The woman named Si Si glanced over at this young man indifferently and said, “Cai He? So you’re here too. It seems City Lord Fei’s vision is not very good, even inviting an Array Master like you on this trip. It makes me worry deeply about the future.”
Despite being belittled by this young woman, the man named Cai He didn’t show any trace of annoyance and continued, “Actually, City Lord Fei invited my father first, but unfortunately he is currently in retreat, making it inconvenient to come out. As such, I was sent in his place. During this trip it seems Sister Si Si and I will need to cooperate; I hope Sister Si Si will grant me your instruction.”
“Hmph!” The woman named Si Si coldly snorted, her pretty face filling with arrogance as she declared, “I wouldn’t dare grant you instruction. Although your Cai Family’s understanding of Spirit Arrays is not as profound as my Du Family’s, it has its own unique insights. Just don’t become a burden this time and everything will be fine.”
“Naturally, naturally!” Cai He nodded while still smiling, as if he had no backbone at all, making the other young man present flash a look of contempt.
After listening to their conversation, Yang Kai realized why Fei Zhi Tu had invited these two Third-Order Saint Kings along. It turns out that they were both experts in the field of Spirit Arrays and came from famous families which were similarly professionals in this regard. Evidently, Fei Zhi Tu wanted to be prepared for any situation.
Du Si Si next glanced over at the indifferent man then Yang Kai before asking proudly, “Who are these two? Were they also invited here by City Lord Fei? How could they only have the same cultivation as us?”
This young woman looking down on all other Saint Kings made Yang Kai frown and realized she was a spoiled, arrogant young lady from a big family.
Cai He smiled helplessly, “I’m not clear about these two brothers’ origins. If they do not mind, why don’t we all introduce ourselves? In any case, all of us will be travelling and working together, so getting to know one another will benefit our future cooperation.
Compared with Du Si Si, this Cai He’s demeanor should be very temperate, almost the opposite of Du Si Si. When he asked Yang Kai and the other young man about their backgrounds, he did it with a smile on his face with not even a trace of arrogance.
“Lian Guang!” The indifferent man apparently cherished his words like gold and only reported his name before falling silent again.
“Surnamed Lian…” When Du Si Si and Cai He heard this name, both of their expressions changed dramatically. Both of them now looked at this Lian Guang with a hint of fear, as if the other’s surname by itself was a powerful deterrent.
Even Yang Kai could not help giving this Lian Guang a curious look.
This was because, in the local region, the Lian Family was quite famous. Even if one were to take all of Shadowed Star into account, the Lian Family’s reputation wasn’t lower than general second-class Sects, allowing even someone as ignorant and uninformed as Yang Kai to have heard of them. It could easily be imagined what kind of reputation this family had.
The Lian Family itself did not have very powerful masters, nor did it have many members. All in all, there were only about a hundred or so Lian Family members with the strongest being just a First-Order Origin Returning Realm master. On Shadowed Star, even if there were not a thousand such families, there would be at least eight hundred, but only the Lian Family name was widely known.
The reason for this was simple: The Lian Family were Puppet Masters.
It was well known that the Lian Family specialized in refining and operating puppets, so while their personal cultivations weren’t too high, their combat effectiveness was far superior to others in the same realm because they could use countless puppets to assist them in battle. When a Lian Family cultivator fought, it would always become a spectacular scene where up to dozens of puppets would appear.
Moreover, the Lian Family had several supreme puppets which were comparable to Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters in strength. The existence of these puppets alone was enough to deter many other forces.
There was once a family force which far exceeded the Lian Family in strength that coveted the latter’s puppet techniques. This family attempted to destroy the Lian Family and claim its Secret Techniques for themselves, but at the end of that conflict, it was the Lian Family that emerged victorious and wiped out the other family.
It was this war that caused the Lian Family’s reputation to soar and highlighted their Third-Order Origin Returning Realm puppets’ incredible strength. These supreme puppets killed countless enemies during that battle, causing many to covet and fear them all at once.
The Lian Family weren’t fools though, and understood that an ordinary man is innocent, but treasures made him guilty. After that war, the Lian Family attached themselves to Shadow Moon Hall and agreed to refine some puppets for them free of charge in exchange for protection.
So, after hearing this Lian Guang’s self introduction, Du Si Si and Cai He were both taken aback. The families the two of them came from weren’t small or unknown and could even be considered quite famous due to their proficiency in Spirit Arrays, but compared to the Lian Family they were still dwarfed.
Yang Kai also wore a thoughtful look. Fei Zhi Tu bringing Du Si Si and Cai He along must be in anticipation of needing to break through some barriers and Spirit Arrays in the Ancient Ruins, which was justifiable, but what point was there in inviting someone from the Lian Family?
After Lian Guang reported his name, he fell silent. Obviously, he was a naturally reticent individual.
After Du Si Si and Cai He recovered from their shock, they turned to look at Yang Kai. After Yang Kai, too, reported his name, their expressions became strange.
Cai He looked Yang Kai up and down for a moment before venturing a guess, “Brother Yang, you wouldn’t happen to be the one who caused a scene in Heavenly Fate City a few days ago, would you?”
Yang Kai chuckled and said, “If there was no other person who went and caused a fuss that day in Heavenly Fate City, it should be me!”
Cai He was immediately startled by Yang Kai’s admission, and even Du Si Si withdrew much of the arrogance on her face. Even Lian Guang opened his eyes again to take a second look at Yang Kai.
Although the families of these three were not weak, none of them had the courage to go to Heavenly Fate City, kill people, and burn down shops. What was even more bizarre was that after this guy ran amok and even committed murder, he emerged essentially unscathed and was even invited by Fei Zhi Tu to participate in this operation.
This surprised all three of them and made them wonder what kind of agreement Yang Kai and Fei Zhi Tu had reached that allowed him to get off scot free.
However, the three of them knew that there were some secrets best left unknown, so they didn’t try to get to the bottom of the situation. However, after learning Yang Kai‘s identity, Cai He became much friendlier towards him, no longer remaining silent and even engaging him in a lively discussion.
After chatting for a while, Yang Kai realized why this Cai He’s attitude had changed so dramatically. It turned out that there were many disputes between the Cai Family and Xie Family, and Cai He himself had suffered a few big losses at the hands of Xie Family disciples. Last time Yang Kai went to Heavenly Fate City though, he had killed a Xie Family Origin Returning Realm master. The details of the incident had spread, and many families and cultivators who had grudges against the Xie Family cheered; the Cai Family was, naturally, among them.
Yang Kai cutting down Xie Quan was equivalent to helping them get revenge, so how could they not be happy?
As a Cai Family member, Cai He naturally found Yang Kai pleasing to the eye.
Du Si Si on the other hand found a place to sit down, and closed her eyes.
After waiting for about half an hour or so, several figures suddenly and mysteriously appeared atop the hill, surprising the Saint Kings here apart from Yang Kai. Only Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was powerful enough that he had noticed this group’s arrival ahead of time, allowing him to remain calm and indifferent.
After seeing that the one who led this group of newcomers was Fei Zhi Tu, Cai He and the other young cultivators breathed a sigh of relief and quickly cupped their fists in greeting.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yang Kai looked at the cultivators who had accompanied Fei Zhi Tu here. There were three Origin Returning Realm masters, one of whom was a middle-aged man who appeared to be about the same age as Fei Zhi Tu and had reached the Second-Order. The other two were an old man and an old woman who were both First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators.
However, although these two were just First-Order Origin Realm masters, their auras were deep and steady, very different from those who had only recently broken through to the Origin Realm. These two should have been immersed in the Origin Realm for many years and possess great strength.
The appearance of these Origin Returning Realm masters made Yang Kai feel a little relieved. It seemed that Fei Zhi Tu was not unprepared. Moreover, with the current unstable situation, secretly gathering these Origin Realm helpers must have been quite difficult.
After all, this operation was to rescue Qian Tong, so it would definitely have been inconvenient to requisition helpers from Shadow Moon Hall. At the same time, it was also necessary to ensure no one realized this rescue mission was taking place. It actually came as a surprise to Yang Kai that so many Origin Returning Realm masters had been recruited. With this many masters and a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm powerhouse leading this operation, security shouldn’t be a problem. The only concern now was whether there were any hidden dangers inside the Ancient Ruin.
Fei Zhi Tu exchanged a few words with the Origin Realm masters he brought with him before addressing Yang Kai and the other youths, “It looks like you kids have already gotten acquainted. En, very good, during this trip there will be a place for each of you to contribute, so forming a mutual understanding will be of great benefit. As long as this trip is successful, this City Lord will certainly write down this favour. After we return, you may tell your respective Patriarchs that if they have need of my help in the future, they need only ask.”
Cai He, Du Si Si, and Lian Guang all heard this and showed joyful looks as they quickly thanked Fei Zhi Tu.
“Good! Now that everyone is here, let’s set out!” Fei Zhi Tu waved his hand, summoned an Origin Grade Low-Rank Star Shuttle, boarded it, and led the way.
Yang Kai thought he would introduce the three other Origin Returning Realm masters to him and the other youths, but apparently Fei Zhi Tu had no such intentions, so after snapping out of his daze, Yang Kai quickly summoned his own Star Shuttle and followed.
From the chat he had with Cai He just now, Yang Kai had learned from him that the only objective of this trip was the rescue Qian Tong from the Ancient Ruins, but where these Ancient Ruins were, Fei Zhi Tu had not disclosed.
Even now that everyone had gathered together and were currently on their way, Fei Zhi Tu apparently still had no intention to explain. This caused Yang Kai to feel a bit annoyed, but he didn’t try to ask anything and simply followed along for now.
The three Origin Returning Realm masters who came with Fei Zhi Tu seemed to be very interested in Yang Kai and would use their Divine Sense or eyes to examine him from time to time, especially the old man. When Yang Kai looked back once, the other party actually nodded to him with a smile, showing a kind and amiable look, causing Yang Kai a great deal of confusion, he really wanted to know what kind of snake oil this old man was trying to pedal.
Although the Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator and the old woman didn’t show such obvious favour, they were clearly displaying goodwill towards Yang Kai as well.
Yang Kai understood that these three people shouldn’t have any ill intentions towards him, but receiving such obvious favour for no apparent reason caused him to become tense and he immediately decided to keep his mouth shut and focus entirely on hurrying along. To Yang Kai, the fewer incidents he got caught up in the better because he had so many things to do. If not for the need to rescue Qian Tong this time, Yang Kai had planned to hole up in Dragon Cave Mountain for a long retreat to study various Secret Techniques.
Also, since the Firebird Artifact Spirit woke up, the efficiency of refining the Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead had greatly increased, decreasing the amount of time it would take to finish this process from several years to just a few months. Yang Kai wanted to immediately enter retreat and use the power of the Artifact Refining Furnace and the Artifact Spirit to fully refine these two treasures.
The people in this group of eight all seemed quite reticent. At the beginning, Cai He laughed and tried to interact with Du Si Si, but after being rebuffed several times, he gave up trying to court favour with this arrogant young lady.
After flying for four days straight, Fei Zhi Tu arrived at a large rolling mountain range and came to a stop, landing a moment later.
The remaining seven naturally followed behind him.
A moment later, the crowd stood outside this mountain range and Fei Zhi Tu took out a yellowed map from his Space Ring before studying it carefully.
“Isn’t this Fallen Emperor Mountain?” Cai He wondered, asking in surprise, “Is the Ancient Ruin we’re entering inside Fallen Emperor Mountain?”
“That can’t be, can it? How many people come to Fallen Emperor Mountain every year? Even you and I have come here a few times, but I’ve never heard anything about an Ancient Ruin. If there really is an Ancient Ruin here, why hasn’t word of it leaked out?” Du Si Si shook her head slowly.
While these two were talking amongst themselves, Yang Kai was busy observing this so-called Fallen Emperor Mountain. It was his first time hearing about this mountain range and naturally the first time he had come here so, of course, he knew nothing about it. Looking around, all Yang Kai could tell was that this mountain range was expansive, stretching out beyond the horizon. It was hard to tell just how vast this lush and verdant mountain range was, but the weirdest part about it was that it was completely quiet, without even the song of birds or insects in the air.
Yang Kai also couldn’t see any traces of beasts wandering about, confusing him greatly.
“Hoho, is this little friend’s first time coming to Fallen Emperor Mountain?” Just when Yang Kai was feeling puzzled, the old man came up to him suddenly, stroking his white beard and asking with a smile.
“Yes, this is indeed Junior’s first time here,” Yang Kai’s brow furrowed, not understanding why this old man had suddenly taken the initiative to talk to him.
“No wonder. En, this old man is Ning Xiang Chen!” The old man actually turned his head and introduced himself with a smile. Although this only caused Yang Kai to feel even more suspicious, he still returned the greeting politely; after all, this old man was clearly his senior.
But this wasn’t the end to this strange situation. The old man named Ning Xiang Chen next pointed to the old lady and the middle-aged Second-Order Origin Returning Realm man and introduced them to Yang Kai, both of them showing him a smile and offering some casual praise to him.
Several Origin Returning Realm masters suddenly taking the initiative to show goodwill towards Yang Kai naturally shocked Cai He and the other youths. None of them could understand what it was about Yang Kai that warranted such favourable treatment. Du Si Si was particularly incensed, seemingly feeling that Yang Kai had robbed her of the limelight.
“Several Seniors, may I ask what is so special about this Fallen Emperor Mountain?” Yang Kai took advantage of a pause in their words to quickly change the subject. By now, Yang Kai could tell that these three Origin Realm masters probably had something they wanted to ask of him, otherwise, they would never have bothered showing him goodwill.
But no matter what kind of help they sought from him, it would certainly be troublesome, so Yang Kai had to make sure the conversation wasn’t dominated by them.
Hearing this question from him, Ning Xiang Chen’s expression suddenly became solemn and started by asking a question of his own, “Do you know why this place is called Fallen Emperor Mountain?”
Yang Kai frowned and pondered for a while before hesitantly asking, “Does it have something to do with the legendary Starry Sky Great Emperor?”
Ning Xiang Chen nodded in approval, but before he could speak, the old lady next to him said with a smile, “Yes, this place is indeed related to the Starry Sky Great Emperor, because there are rumours that this is the place where he fell!”
Yang Kai’s face changed as he asked in shock, “Is that true?”
Ning Xiang Chen chuckled, “Whether this is true or not, no one can confirm, but the fact that there is a trace of Emperor Pressure permeating this Fallen Emperor Mountain is well known across Shadowed Star.”
“Emperor Pressure?” Yang Kai frowned.
“You should have noticed by now that this Fallen Emperor Mountain is devoid of all birds and beasts. The reason for this is not because this place is unsuitable for them to live; in fact, with this place’s rich aura and beautiful scenery, it is superior to the headquarters of many Sects. However, there is no Sect in this place, and not even any Monster Beasts because of the omnipresent Emperor Pressure! This invisible Emperor Pressure envelopes all Fallen Emperor Mountain and the closer one gets to its centre, the more powerful it becomes. No birds or beasts can survive for long under this Emperor Pressure which is why you can’t see any here.”
“En, a long time ago, Fallen Emperor Mountain was also favoured by a powerful Sect who wanted to set up their headquarters here, but even their Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters couldn’t stay inside Fallen Emperor Mountain for long. No matter how high one’s strength is, prolonged exposure to the Emperor Pressure in this place will only lead to one being driven insane!” The old lady followed up and explained.
“Is that Emperor Pressure so powerful?” Yang Kai was amazed.
“Don’t underestimate this Emperor Pressure. I also came here to cultivate many years ago, but if I hadn’t withdrawn quickly at that time, I would have certainly been driven mad,” The Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master sternly warned.
“It’s possible to cultivate inside this place?” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up.
“Hoho, this was actually what this old man wanted to tell little friend. The Emperor Pressure in Fallen Emperor Mountain makes it impossible for any living creature to remain here for long, and the closer one gets to the centre of this mountain range, the more intense the Emperor Pressure will become. However, this Emperor Pressure is actually quite suitable for tempering one’s Soul and Spiritual Energy, so every year, there are many cultivators who come to Fallen Emperor Mountain to take advantage of the Emperor Pressure to cultivate their Souls. Not only that, but this Emperor Pressure also has the effect of enhancing one’s ability to comprehend Shi. This old man can see that little friend’s aptitude is extraordinary and one day you will certainly break through to the Origin Realm. When that time comes, little friend might as well come to Fallen Emperor Mountain to try to enhance your understanding of Shi. You should find that cultivating in this place will allow you to achieve twice the results with half the effort.”
“Exactly. Out of all of Shadowed Star’s Origin Returning Realm masters, probably sixty percent or so come to Fallen Emperor Mountain to comprehend and condense their own Shi. Although no one has verified it, it appears the Shi condensed here in Fallen Emperor Mountain is better than Shi condensed in the outside world, and one’s comprehension of Shi will also be higher if they comprehend it here. Little friend must not miss this once in a lifetime opportunity in the future!”
“There’s actually such a good opportunity here!” Yang Kai was amazed and quickly cupped his fists, “Many thanks to three Seniors for enlightening me. If the day comes when this Junior breaks through to the Origin Realm, he will definitely come to this Fallen Emperor Mountain to condense his Shi.”
Although there was no need for these three to tell him about this, as Yang Kai would definitely have heard about it from other sources, in the end, they were still showing him goodwill, so Yang Kai needed to express his thanks.
“A minor matter,” Ning Xiang Chen smiled, “If at the time little friend needs someone to escort him here, just let this old man know and he will certainly do his best to help.”
Not only did Ning Xiang Chen say so, the old lady and the middle-aged Second-Order Origin Realm masters also made similar pledges, causing Yang Kai heart to clench even tighter. He felt that these three clearly wanted something from him, so he quickly waved his hands and declared he wouldn’t dare inconvenience them so.
As the four of them were talking, Fei Zhi Tu’s brow slowly rose as he seemed to have gotten his bearings. After putting away the animal skin map, he beckoned to the rest of the group before setting out towards Fallen Emperor Mountain.
“Hoho, little friend, please go on ahead, this old man will bring up the rear. Right, you should try to not resist the Emperor Pressure in this Fallen Emperor Mountain right away and instead feel it silently,” Ning Xiang Chen once again kindly advised.
“Many thanks for your guidance, Senior!” Yang Kai gently nodded and, together with Cai He, Du Si Si and Lian Guang, rushed into Fallen Emperor Mountain.
After the four Saint King Realm Juniors entered, Ning Xiang Chen and the three Origin Returning Realm masters followed after them.
Inside Fallen Emperor Mountain, there was no such thing as dangerous beasts, but there were some mad cultivators that would suddenly launch indiscriminate attacks.
These cultivators all came to Fallen Emperor Mountain to cultivate, but for various reasons had stayed too long inside and been driven insane by the Emperor Pressure.
Every year, countless cultivators came here and accidents happened quite frequently. In addition, there were some wicked cultivators who regarded this place as a good hunting ground to kill others and steal their possessions.
However, with four Origin Realm cultivators accompanying them, Yang Kai and the other Juniors weren’t worried, especially with a master like Fei Zhi Tu leading the way.
As soon as they stepped into Fallen Emperor Mountain, Yang Kai felt an invisible force envelop his body. Under the influence of this invisible force, Yang Kai found Saint Qi circulation hindered slightly and when he released his Divine Sense, he could only detect the situation within a few thousand meters of himself.
Unexpectedly, under the influence of this Emperor Pressure, his Divine Sense had been suppressed to this extent.
Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a bit frightened. This omnipresent Emperor Pressure felt like there was a pair of eyes constantly staring at him, observing his every movement and giving him the impression that he was under constant surveillance.
And this was just a small leftover portion of Emperor Pressure! If the real Starry Sky Great Emperor were here, just how terrifying would he be?
Now, Yang Kai no longer doubted whether this person really existed. The two Star Emperor Tokens were relics left behind by the Starry Sky Great Emperor while Star Emperor Mountain was rumoured to have some kind of relationship with this legendary figure. The same was true of Fallen Emperor Mountain.
All of these things couldn’t have simply appeared out of nowhere. It was more than likely that the Starry Sky Great Emperor really existed.
Facing this Emperor Pressure. Yang Kai instinctually wanted to resist it, but remembering the kind advice of Ning Xiang Chen and noticing that Cai He and the others weren’t pushing their strength to protect themselves, Yang Kai also calmed down and began sensing this mysterious force.
This place was still considered the outer periphery of Fallen Emperor Mountain, so the Emperor Pressure wasn’t too strong and no harm would be done from not resisting it for a time.
Following Fei Zhi Tu, the group of eight didn’t encounter any other cultivators on the road. Fei Zhi Tu was able to perfectly lead everyone around any cultivators who had come here to cultivate.
Secrecy was vital to this expedition, so Fei Zhi Tu wanted to have as little contact with others as possible.
In a flash, two days passed by.
As the group proceeded deeper and deeper into Fallen Emperor Mountain, the power of the ambient Emperor Pressure also grew far stronger; however, Yang Kai wasn’t worried about this and instead felt quite happy about it because, after just two trivial days, he felt that his Spiritual Energy had become slightly stronger and, under the influence of this Emperor Pressure, his Knowledge Sea had become slightly purer.
This was really a good place for cultivating one’s Soul. Yang Kai didn’t need to do anything at all. Just by standing here he could continuously obtain benefits. If one were to really cultivate their Soul or Soul Skills here, they would certainly obtain twice the result with half the effort.
It was a pity that the Emperor Pressure of Fallen Emperor Mountain was only suitable for Soul cultivation though. Besides also helping one condense their own Shi, it had no other effects on one’s strength, otherwise this place would have become a cultivation paradise. The great forces on Shadowed Star would likely have even fought over the distribution of land in this place.
After proceeding another three days, Yang Kai began having some slight difficulty. The reason was simple; although the Emperor Pressure here could purify one’s Knowledge Sea and improve the strength of their Spiritual Energy, this constant pressure would also put a burden on a cultivator’s Soul. This kind of burden couldn’t be sustained indefinitely or it would begin damaging one’s mind.
Yang Kai’s performance so far had been quite good as he had not needed to circulate his strength to resist the Emperor Pressure so far. All this time, he had been silently comprehending the mysteries contained in this Emperor Pressure like Ning Xiang Chen had advised him to and had gained much in the process.
The other three Saint Kings, on the other hand, weren’t so fortunate. As early as yesterday, the three of them had been forced to use their Spiritual Energy to resist the invasion of the Emperor Pressure. This alone painted a clear picture of whose Soul was more powerful.
This scene not only surprised the three Saint Kings, but also the Origin Realm masters.
Although Cai He and the other Juniors were Third-Order Saint Kings like Yang Kai, two of them were proficient in Spirit Arrays and the other was proficient in refining and operating puppets.
Both of these professions were extremely demanding on one’s Soul, especially the puppeteering techniques Lian Guang used. In combat, he could manipulate hundreds of puppets at once, each of which required a thread of his Divine Sense. In fact, the requirements for Lian Guang’s Divine Sense were even more terrifying than studying Spirit Arrays.
It could be said that the Soul cultivation of these three youths already far exceeded the average cultivator in their own realm.
But now, compared with Yang Kai, they were obviously weaker.
How could this not surprise them? All of them began secretly guessing what kind of Secret Art Yang Kai cultivated to allow his Soul to become so strong.
Of course, Yang Kai was not paying any attention to such things, he simply felt that by resisting the Emperor Pressure, the benefits obtained would be diminished, so he freely opened his mind and body to it instead.
When Du Si Si noticed this, she immediately showed a look of unwillingness; after all, since she began cultivating and studying Spirit Arrays, she had always had a much stronger Soul than other cultivators in the same realm. Yang Kai showing off so blatantly in front of her wounded her pride.
Grinding her teeth, she steeled herself and let go of her Knowledge Sea’s defenses again.
Cai He didn’t notice anything wrong until he saw Du Si Si’s face go pale. Quickly stepping forward to ask if she was alright though, he was rebuffed by her once more and could only smile bitterly and withdraw.
Arriving at a large swamp, Fei Zhi Tu came to a halt and wore a dignified expression. Taking out the animal skin map again to verify their position, he soon whispered, “We’re almost there. All of you, follow closely.”
Hearing this, everyone felt their spirits lift and quickly kept up with his pace.
This swamp in Fallen Emperor Mountain was actually the basin of a huge mountain valley. No one knew why there was a swamp here, but because of the lingering miasma and clearly poisonous water, cultivators seldom came here.
After all, cultivators that came here did so to cultivate their Souls, so their first objective would be to find a comfortable place to cultivate. Who would come to this kind of place to suffer?
Following behind Fei Zhi Tu, the group traversed this swamp for some time before Fei Zhi Tu suddenly came to a stop in front of a particularly large puddle.
“Here?” Ning Xiang Chen stepped forward, stood side by side with Fei Zhi Tu and asked.
“Yes, according to the message from old Qian, it should be right here, but revealing the entrance requires a little trick!” Saying so, Fei Zhi Tu took out a kind of bead and tossed it towards the centre of the puddle.
In front of everyone’s eyes, when the beads fell into the puddle, it immediately became turbulent, as if something underneath it was stirring the water.
Moreover, a whiff of white mist suddenly emerged from this puddle and caused the temperature in the surrounding thousand meter range to plummet.
*Kacha…*
With a loud crackling noise, the huge puddle froze into a sheet of ice at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving behind only a dark, downward passage at its centre.
Yang Kai released his Divine Sense but was unable to explore what was at the bottom of this hole.
After waiting for a while, the crackling sounds ceased and the passage completely stabilized. Fei Zhi Tu then nodded, “Let’s go. Brother Ning, you bring up the rear, I’ll take these little guys down first.”
“Understood,” Ning Xiang Chen gently nodded.
Fei Zhi Tu glanced at Yang Kai and the others, but after seeing Du Si Si’s pale complexion and sweat drenched brow, a trace of displeasure appeared on his face. How could he not understand that Du Si Si had done this to herself by acting recklessly out of a petty sense of rivalry? This operation was very important, and if not for him being unable to find a true Array Master, he would not have invited this little girl to help in the first place.
Releasing a blue halo of light, Fei Zhi Tu wrapped Yang Kai and the other Saint Kings in his Saint Qi before immediately jumping into the passage.
Yang Kai estimated that their group fell several thousand meters before they reached the ground. The sound of a flowing stream entered his ear and with the help of the blue light around him, Yang Kai spotted an underground river nearby.
Moreover, the Emperor Pressure which had enveloped them all this time had suddenly disappeared.
“There’s actually such a place underground here?” Cai He also looked around strangely, apparently never having expected that such a cave existed under Fallen Emperor Mountain.
“Yeah, if the location of this Ancient Ruin was easy to find, it would have long been turned upside down while that old ghost wouldn’t have been able to obtain anything from it!” Fei Zhi Tu coldly snorted before shooting a sharp glare towards Du Si Si, “Rest here for a moment, if this happens again, you don’t need to continue following us.”
Du Si Si bit her red lips lightly and nodded. Although she was prideful and arrogant, she didn’t dare rebel against Fei Zhi Tu.
After waiting for a while, Ning Xiang Chen and the other Origin Realm masters came down and the group of eight decided to take a short rest.
Yang Kai stared in one direction silently, not knowing whether it was an illusion or not that he felt some kind of ancient and desolate aura. He was unable to describe this aura in words, but he found it quite fascinating.
When Fei Zhi Tu saw him staring in that direction, he couldn’t help raising his brow, because that was the direction they needed to head next, making him wonder whether Yang Kai had discovered something.
About half an hour later, after everyone had restored themselves, Fei Zhi Tu stood up and motioned, “Let’s go.”
Having said that, he began following the underground river in the direction Yang Kai had originally been staring.
As they travelled further, the ancient and desolate aura Yang Kai felt earlier became more and more apparent until even Cai He and the other Saint Kings were able to notice it, causing some excitement to flash across their eyes.
Anything that was capable of exuding such an aura must be extremely ancient. Everyone in this group was an experienced cultivator and had been on many external excursions, so they could determine with great confidence that this place really had an Ancient Ruin!
Despite knowing it was impossible for Fei Zhi Tu to have deceived them, as they approached their destination, everyone couldn’t help feeling excited.
For this time’s mission, rescuing Qian Tong was naturally the priority, but there was no reason they couldn’t obtain some benefits during their exploration of these Ancient Ruins.
The chances of finding treasure were particularly high in ruins like this one where very few, if any, people had previously come.
But a moment later, when a Space Array appeared, everyone couldn’t help feeling surprised.
The desolate aura all of them had been feeling up until now was actually coming from this Space Array, and looking at its appearance, it was clearly somewhat different in design from the Space Arrays in use on Shadowed Star today. Although it shared many of the same characteristics, there were still many subtle differences.
Yang Kai had also seen a number of Space Arrays and had even cultivated the Dao of Space, so he was immediately able to determine that this Space Array was a relic from many millennia ago.
This being the case, it wasn’t a surprise that this Space Array differed from the ones on Shadowed Star; after all, over many years, the Space Arrays on Shadowed Star would have been patched and altered numerous times.
Around the base of this Space Array were several grooves where a number of depleted High-Rank Saint Crystals were inserted. Obviously, these Saint Crystals had been consumed in order to activate it.
Fei Zhi Tu picked up one of the depleted Saint Crystals and examined it for a moment before nodding, “En, that old fogy Qian should have used this Space Array to teleport to the Ancient Ruins. These Saint Crystals were drained recently.”
“Since that’s the case, let’s quickly go in,” Ning Xiang Chen said anxiously.
Fei Zhi Tu shook his head slowly though, “We must certainly enter, but as for what is on the other side of this Space Array, we have no way of knowing. The message sent by that Old Qian is too vague, even us finding this place was in part due to luck. However, since these Ancient Ruins were capable of trapping him, whatever is inside them is definitely quite dangerous. You kids must not act rashly after we enter. Stick close to us at all times so that we can protect you if there is any danger, is that understood?”
Cai He and the others didn’t dare to refute and all quickly nodded.
Seeing these four Saint King Realm juniors act obediently, Fei Zhi Tu nodded in satisfaction. With a big wave of his hand, Fei Zhi Tu inserted a number of High-Rank Saint Crystals into the grooves at the base of the array before using his own Saint Qi to cover everyone and step onto the platform.
In the next moment, the Space Array flashed and the group of eight disappeared.
When the eight people appeared again, they were already in a completely different place.
Immediately after firmly steading themselves, Fei Zhi Tu and the other Origin Realm masters released their Divine Senses to sweep their surroundings vigilantly while they all condensed their Saint Qi in case they needed to take action.
After confirming that there was no danger nearby, Fei Zhi Tu and the other masters relaxed and began to carefully examine their surroundings.
Yang Kai also took the opportunity to observe the area but after a quick scan, he couldn’t help showing a strange look, because he found that after using that Space Array, the place they had arrived at was actually kind of bizarre.
The World Energy aura here seemed quite rich compared to the outside, even higher than the current Dragon Cave Mountain. Moreover, in the sky, there was blue, with white clouds and a sun shining in a seemingly boundless space.
The location his group had arrived at was actually among a large group of buildings that seemed to be the ruins of an ancient Sect.
However, under his Divine Sense’s perception, Yang Kai found no living creatures other than the eight from his group.
“This is the Ancient Ruin?” Ning Xiang Chen and others couldn’t help looking at each other, revealing a trace of suspicion.
“There’s no doubt these are the Ancient Ruins we were looking for,” Fei Zhi Tu replied confidently, seemingly having discovered something and pointing his finger in a certain direction, “Those characters are not the ones we currently use on Shadowed Star and haven’t been widely seen for tens of thousands of years.”
In the direction Fei Zhi Tu was pointing there was a loft. This loft was quite exquisitely constructed and had a plaque hanging from the second floor that had several stylized characters written on it. What these words meant, however, was unknown to anyone present.
In addition, there were some other buildings that also had plaques engraved with unreadable words.
“It’s really an Ancient Ruin, and one that is so well preserved!” Ning Xiang Chen said excitedly, his old face suddenly looking a bit ruddy. The old lady and the Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator also wore inspired looks.
It wasn’t like other Ancient Ruins hadn’t been discovered on Shadowed Star, but none of them were so complete. An intact ruin meant that no one had searched through them for treasures, so anything of value was likely still here. As long as they successfully rescued Qian Tong, there would be a lot of time to explore this place.
Thinking this, the several Origin Returning Realm masters suddenly felt far more enthusiastic.
“Finding Old Qian is our first priority, as for these ruins, it won’t be too late to explore them after!” Fei Zhi Tu understood his priorities and swiftly issued this order, to which everyone else nodded in agreement.
After all, he was the one with the greatest strength here and Ning Xiang Chen and the other Origin Realm cultivators had close friendships with him, so naturally, none of them would try to argue at this point.
Immediately, Fei Zhi Tu began looking around for marks left by Qian Tong. Fortunately, Qian Tong had acted cautiously and after entering these Ancient Ruins he had left markers along the path he travelled, otherwise Fei Zhi Tu wouldn’t even know where to begin looking for him.
After a short time, Fei Zhi Tu found the right direction and began leading the way.
Everyone followed after him, but glancing at the buildings around them they couldn’t help letting out some sighs. If they weren’t in a rush to rescue Qian Tong, they would have all gone to search through these buildings.
With so many intact structures around, finding something valuable was all but guaranteed.
But now, they could only try to ignore this urge to explore.
Unexpectedly, after about a stick of incense worth of time, the group of eight remained perfectly safe, as if there was no danger in this Ancient Ruin at all; however, this only made everyone’s expression grow more dignified.
Suddenly, a strange medicinal fragrance reached the tip of everyone’s nose, and all eight of them couldn’t help turning their heads in a certain direction as a sense of comfort and enlightenment washed over them.
“This is…” Ning Xiang Chen’s eyes widened as he pointed forward, “The medicinal fragrance is coming from there!”
Fei Zhi Tu’s expression also brightened and he accelerated the group’s pace. Only a valuable treasure would be able to produce such a rich medicinal fragrance, so naturally, he wanted to see what the source was.
Soon after, the group of eight arrived in front of a flower bed where a number of exotic flowers and grasses. Although most of these had substantial effects, only the half metre tall purple grass stalk in the very centre of the garden which stood straight like a sword was worthy of their attention.
The fragrance everyone smelled before was being exuded by this purple grass.
“Sword Soul Grass! And it’s purple!” Ning Xiang Chen exclaimed, staring hotly at this purple grass. Not just him though, even Fei Zhi Tu couldn’t hide his excitement.
Sword Soul Grass was the primary ingredient in the Sword Soul Pill, which was the most suitable auxiliary pill for cultivators who cultivated swordsmanship. Consuming a Sword Soul Pill would increase a cultivator’s ability to grasp and control the Dao of Swords and allow them to display greater strength when using sword type Divine Abilities.
The Sword Soul Grass itself was an Origin Grade Mid-Rank spirit herb, so even taking all of Shadowed Star into consideration, it was incredibly rare. When mature, a Sword Soul Grass would have a pale blue colour, but as its medicinal age increased, its colour would also slowly deepen.
At present, this Sword Soul Grass that had turned purple must have a medicinal age exceeding ten thousand years, a rare and precious treasure.
If one were to use this Sword Soul Grass to refine a pill and then let a cultivator who cultivated the Dao of Swords consume it, the benefits that cultivator obtained would be difficult to estimate.
This spirit grass was of incredible value! What’s more, it was incredibly useful for the Origin Returning Realm masters here, including Fei Zhi Tu.
Although no one here took the Dao of Swords as their primary cultivation path, all of them had more or less dabbled in it and mastered some Martial Skills or Divine Abilities related to swords. As a result, all of them naturally coveted this Sword Soul Grass greatly. Even if none of them could really use it, selling it would result in massive profits.
“Brother Fei…” Ning Xiang Chen turned his head to look at Fei Zhi Tu. Although this treasure was incredibly precious, it wasn’t enough to destroy the friendship between these people. On top of that, they had just entered this Ancient Ruin and had already found such a thing, so if they continued searching, wouldn’t they be able to find even more good things?
As such, Ning Xiang Chen’s first response was to ask Fei Zhi Tu’s opinion on how to deal with this Sword Soul Grass. While they couldn’t go and explore the surrounding buildings for treasures for fear of complications, if a treasure were to appear right in front of them there was no reason to simply ignore it.
“If several friends are willing to trust this Fei, I will collect this Sword Soul Grass for now and after we exit, everyone can discuss how to assign it,” Fei Zhi Tu declared.
“I have no objections,” The old lady immediately expressed her support.
“We trust City Lord Fei, I have no objections!” The Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator also nodded in agreement, and the remaining Ning Xiang Chen naturally wasn’t going to disagree.
Seeing that everyone had reached an agreement, Fei Zhi Tu quickly took out a small jade shovel and walked over to the Sword Soul Grass, seemingly intent on digging it up completely.
“Brother Yang, why do you look so serious?” Cai He suddenly approached Yang Kai and asked with concern after accidentally having noticed Yang Kai’s deeply furrowed brow.
Yang Kai turned a deaf ear to his question as he frowned even deeper, but in the next instant a look of understanding flashed across his face and he quickly shouted, “No, this isn’t a Sword Soul Grass, City Lord Fei, stop!”
Cai He was taken aback by his sudden shout and quickly looked over towards Fei Zhi Tu, but Yang Kai’s words came out a moment too late as the jade shovel in Fei Zhi Tu’s hand had already dug into the soil of the flower bed.
When Fei Zhi Tu’s jade shovel hit the soil of the flower bed where the Sword Soul Grass was planted, a white flash of light suddenly burst from it and an abnormal energy fluctuation filled the air at the same time.
Fei Zhi Tu’s face changed dramatically as he hurriedly withdrew. The old lady and old man along with the Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master also pushed their Saint Qi rapidly to protect the four Saint King Realm juniors.
The Sword Soul Grass, which originally looked like a straight purple sword, suddenly distorted and in the blink of an eye disappeared. Replacing it was a dazzling halo of light that rapidly spread out and then transformed into a thick cloud bank which enveloped the group of eight.
Within just a breath, the surrounding environment had undergone a tremendous change. Looking around, there were no more lofts or buildings, no exotic flowers and no Sword Soul Grass, only an endless sky filled with strange clouds.
The place where everyone was standing now appeared to be inside a gathering of multicoloured clouds of all shapes and sizes, with nothing else visible for as far as the eye could see.
“A Spirit Array!” Fei Zhi Tu’s face went black. By now it was obvious that the Sword Soul Grass everyone had been coveting a moment ago was just a trap. Once someone tried to pick the Sword Soul Grass, this Spirit Array would appear immediately and surround the would-be thieves.
However, this Spirit Array was incredibly well concealed. Among the eight cultivators present, only Yang Kai was able to notice something wrong and shout a last minute warning; unfortunately his warning came too late.
Thinking of this, Fei Zhi Tu glanced over at Yang Kai curiously, wondering how he had noticed a flaw in this trap when none of the four Origin Returning Realm masters had.
Yang Kai naturally understood what Fei Zhi Tu was thinking and proactively explained, “Junior has some slight knowledge of alchemy. Since the Sword Soul Grass just now was purple, its medicinal age must be extremely high, but such a Sword Soul Grass should give off a slightly pungent fragrance that would make one feel as if they were being pricked by invisible sword blades.”
Fei Zhi Tu was startled, but didn’t dwell on the subject further. Now that the trap had been sprung and they had been surrounded by this Spirit Array, figuring out why wasn’t the immediate priority. Turning to Cai He and Du Si Si, he asked, “You two are skilled in Spirit Arrays, do you have any idea what this one is?”
Hearing this, Du Si Si and Cai He began observing their surroundings, and after a while, Du Si Si’s pretty face became gloomy as she reported, “If Junior is not mistaken, this should be a type of lost, ancient Spirit Array called the Spectral Cloud Array!”
“Junior concurs!” Cai He nodded in agreement with Du Si Si’s conjecture.
“Spectral Cloud Array?” Fei Zhi Tu glanced at the other three Origin Returning Realm masters, but seeing their blank faces it was apparent none of them had heard of this Spirit Array before, so he turned back to the youths and asked, “Is this array difficult to crack? What kind of power does it have?”
Du Si Si smiled bitterly, “Setting aside cracking it for the moment… Junior should explain about this array’s characteristics first. Do you all see the clouds surrounding us?”
“Naturally! These clouds don’t seem to be illusions or a form of energy, truly peculiar!” Ning Xiang Chen nodded.
“Because they are real clouds!” Du Si Si declared.
“What?” Fei Zhi Tu and all the others couldn’t help showing looks of shock as they asked, “You mean to say these are real clouds?”
“Yes, the reason why the Spectral Cloud Array became a lost Spirit Array was because of the requirement of refining the clouds in the sky. Currently, even the most powerful cultivators on Shadowed Star lack such ability, so naturally it became impossible to arrange this Spirit Array.”
“Refine the clouds in the sky…” Fei Zhi Tu and all the others present were dumbfounded by Du Si Si’s statement, finding it somewhat unbelievable.
What kind of shocking means would a cultivator need to even be capable of refining the clouds in the sky?
Du Si Si turned a blind eye to their stunned expressions and continued to explain, “Refining the clouds is just the first step. Next, different energy attributes need to be fused with these clouds along with the Souls of powerful Monster Beasts, transforming the originally inanimate clouds into a kind of life form. All the clouds in a Spectral Cloud Array can transform into Cloud Beasts. The Monster Beast Souls extracted by the one who arranged this array can vary greatly in strength, creating Cloud Beasts over different strengths, but regardless of what kind of strength they possess, these Cloud Beasts are extremely difficult to kill!”
“You mean all these things will transform…” Fei Zhi Tu glanced around at the countless different coloured clouds with an extremely ugly expression.
There was no need for Du Si Si to answer though, because before Fei Zhi Tu could even finish his question, a dozen or so of the scattered clouds began to wriggle and twist, transforming into different forms resembling Monster Beasts in the next moment. However it was apparent that these so called Cloud Beasts didn’t have a true physical body and were simply a combination of the cloud they were formed from and a large amount of pure attribute energy, making them even stronger than ordinary Monster Beasts.
Everyone’s Divine Sense swept through the bodies of these Cloud Beasts nervously, but after feeling the energy fluctuations emitted by them, Du Si Si breathed a sigh of relief and a bit of colour returned to her pretty face as she said, “It seems our luck isn’t too bad, there are only Ninth-Order Cloud Beasts here.”
Her thinking they were fortunate wasn’t without reason. Since this Spirit Array was from ancient times, who could tell how powerful the master who arranged it was? If there was even one Tenth-Order Cloud Beasts here, all of them would certainly die here.
Even if they had Heaven shaking methods, there was no way Fei Zhi Tu and the other Origin Realm masters here could fight against a Tenth-Order Monster Beast, as it would be the same as trying to fight an Origin King.
Just having stepped into this Ancient Ruin and already falling into such a Spirit Array caused everyone to feel great pressure and naturally none of them dared to take the situation lightly. Fei Zhi Tu quickly shouted, “Du Girl and Cai Boy, focus on cracking this array, leave these Cloud Beasts to us!”
“Yes!” Cai He and Du Si Si nodded hurriedly and knowing that the time for them to display their talents they immediately became spirited.
Fei Zhi Tu glanced over at Yang Kai and the reticent Lian Guang next, “You two take care of yourselves, don’t accidentally fall here.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly while Lian Guang said nothing.However, he did take out a number of palm sized puppets from his Space Ring; all exquisitely refined. With a wave of his hand he scattered them around. Immediately after, Lian Guang began pouring his Saint Qi into each of these puppets.
In the next moment, these puppets rapidly grew bigger, causing Yang Kai’s eyes to flash in surprise and interest.
This was the first time he had witnessed someone using puppet techniques. Lian Guang was a Third-Order Saint King Realm cultivator, but all of the puppets he was operating gave off energy fluctuations equivalent to First or Second-Order Saint Kings.
There were six puppets in total, all of them different shapes and sizes. The smallest one looked like a small snake while the biggest was actually the size of a house, but all of them had an imposing aura to them.
Yang Kai immediately understood the reason why the Lian Family was so famous, and clearly deserving of their reputation. With these puppets, Lian Guang was invincible among cultivators in the same realm, and even if he were to encounter an Origin Realm master, he would still have an opportunity to escape.
Nearby, Fei Zhi Tu summoned his Blue Jade Bowl and expanded it to over ten metres in diameter. With a wave of his hand, Fei Zhi Tu sent out his Blue Jade Bowl towards one of the menacing Cloud Beasts and in the next instant, a flash of blue light erupted. Before this Ninth-Order Cloud Beast could even launch a single attack, it was engulfed by this blue light and, despite struggling and howling fiercely, it was dragged into and captured by the Blue Jade Bowl.
Seeing this, Yang Kai realized he had greatly underestimated the power of this Blue Jade Bowl.
At the same time, Ning Xiang Chen snorted and a cane-like artifact appeared in his hand. With a flick of his wrist, this cane transformed into a black streak that struck towards a nearby Cloud Beast while the old lady sent out a large net-like artifact that emitted a dazzling three-coloured light that not only captured another Cloud Beasts but also began viciously cutting into it.
When the Origin Realm masters of this group all suddenly took action, the surrounding Cloud Beasts seemingly became enraged and bestial roars rang out. Besides the Ninth-Order Cloud Beast which had been swallowed by the Blue Jade Bowl, all the others leapt forward with their great maws opening wide. Before any of them even arrived, beams of energy shot out from their mouths, raining down on the group with imposing might.
This scene caused Fei Zhi Tu and the other Origin Realm masters’ expressions to grow even more dignified. Summoning back the Blue Jade Bowl, Fei Zhi Tu used it to create a light shield around Cai He and Du Si Si to protect them.
“Brother Wen, take care of Du Girl and Cai Boy,” Fei Zhi Tu left behind his Blue Jade Bowl while shouting to the middle-aged Second-Order Origin Realm man before he pushed his Saint Qi and shot forward to meet the approaching Cloud Beasts.
Ning Xiang Chen followed with his cane artifact along with the old woman and her net artifact, the three of them intercepting eight of the attacking Cloud Beasts.
The middle-aged man surnamed Wen remained where he was, but seeing Du Si Si and Cai He standing there stunned, he shouted, “Haven’t you begun yet?”
“Oh!” Hearing this scolding, Cai He and Du Si Si recovered and quickly took out some specialized tools from their Space Rings and injected their Saint Qi before spreading them around.
Yang Kai glanced over at them and seeing them begin to study this Spectral Cloud Array, he calmed down.
He had been together with Yang Yan for a long time now and naturally knew that the tools these two had scattered a moment ago were called bases and plates. These things were used not only to arrange Spirit Arrays but were also essential when one was trying to crack them.
Moreover, with these tools, even if one wasn’t proficient in arranging Spirit Arrays, they could still set up some simple ones.
Before, Yang Kai had wanted to ask Yang Yan to refine a couple powerful sets of these tools for him, but unfortunately he had not found the opportunity or time to ask her. It seemed that after returning from this mission, he would need to prioritize asking her for these tools.
Although using such tools to arrange a Spirit Array wouldn’t result in as powerful a Spirit Array as when one follows an orthodox methodology, as long as the tools themselves weren’t damaged, they could be reused without limit. For someone like Yang Kai who frequently encountered crisis when out exploring the world, such tools would undoubtedly be beneficial to have on him.
Suddenly, Yang Kai saw Lian Guang send his puppets to intercept one of the Eighth-Order Cloud Beasts Fei Zhi Tu and the other masters let past them. Completely made of clouds, this Cloud beast was incredibly unpredictable and after rushing in, it quickly entangled several of Lian Guang’s puppets.
Yang Kai did not hesitate either, leaping forward to block another one of the Eighth-Order Cloud Beasts.
Fei Zhi Tu and the other masters had let these two Eighth-Order Cloud Beasts through deliberately. Firstly, there were too many of these Cloud Beasts to deal with, so the ones they were holding off were their limit as it was. Secondly, they wanted to know what kind of combat effectiveness Yang Kai and Lian Guang possessed so they could judge whether they would be an asset or a burden going forward.
The Eighth-Order Monster Beast stopped by Yang Kai had the appearance of a giant tiger with a majestic aura about it. Its long tail looked like it was made of cold steel that flashed dangerously and its body overall was more than ten metres high; however, this tiger was completely green in colour, making it appear quite strange.
As it moved, a foul scent wafted from its body, making anyone who smelled it feel like vomiting. Yang Kai immediately understood that this Cloud Beast had been fused with a highly toxic substance.
Yang Kai did not wait for it to act, taking the initiative to send out a Golden Thread from his finger and slice apart the tiger’s body. Angry roars continued to ring out as the giant tiger was chopped to pieces, easily falling apart in the next instant.
However, this scene did not cause Yang Kai any joy as the aura of this tiger had not decreased in the slightest, even after it was cut to pieces. Instead, its momentum became even more violent.
After Yang Kai took back his Golden Thread, the cut up pieces of the giant tiger burst into puffs of green clouds then quickly fused together. Within a couple of breaths, the giant tiger reappeared without a scratch on it, apparently not even slightly weakened.
These Cloud Beasts were incredibly difficult to kill. If this tiger had been an ordinary Eighth-Order Monster Beast, after experiencing Yang Kai’s attack it would definitely have died, but this Cloud Beast didn’t have a traditional physical form so even if it was cut apart, it could quickly fuse back together. It seemed that what Du Si Si said earlier was not an exaggeration.
After understanding this, Yang Kai put away his Golden Thread and with a flash of his Divine Sense, a crisp bird cry rang out. In the next moment, the crimson Firebird Artifact Spirit appeared, spreading its wings wide as it grew to several tens of metres in length before diving towards the giant tiger under Yang Kai’s orders.
The tiger’s eyes flashed a trace of fear as it instinctively felt that the Artifact Spirit was not an existence it could face, the arrogance and disdain it had on its face when hunting Yang Kai disappearing completely. Inhaling deeply, it spat out a green poisonous mist that rapidly engulfed and concealed its body.
The Artifact Spirit flashed a disdainful look before letting out a crisp cry and charging into the poisonous fog without a moment’s hesitation.
For a time, the green and crimson lights became entangled as tiger roars and bird cries sounded one after another, all while Yang Kai stood back with his arms folded, observing fixedly.
Wisps of green fog were rapidly being evaporated by the extremely high-temperature flames and soon, the poisonous mist which had been concealing the giant tiger grew thin, revealing its figure once more.
Very quickly, the Artifact Spirit got the upper hand completely in this battle and the hot flames it sprayed from its beak continued to burn down the giant tiger’s poisonous mist, suppressing it to the point where it couldn’t even fight back. Every time it was burned by these flames, the giant tiger would show a terrified expression.
The Firebird seemed unsatisfied with the progress it was making though and increased the heat and intensity of its flames, clearly intent on ruthlessly eliminating the giant tiger.
This scene made the cultivator surnamed Wen, who was protecting Cai He and Du Si Si nearby, stare at the Firebird with deep envy.
Word of Yang Kai causing trouble in Heavenly Fate City and even executing an Origin Returning Realm master of the Xie Family had quickly spread and many people now knew he had an amazingly powerful fire attribute Artifact Spirit.
This was also the reason why the old man named Ning Xiang Chen and the other three Origin Realm masters kept showing goodwill to Yang Kai.
Almost every Origin Returning Realm would possess at least one Origin Grade artifact, but over many years of use, these artifacts would become damaged and lose spirituality in battle. If one wanted to repair such an artifact, an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner would be necessary.
However, on Shadowed Star, how scarce were Origin Grade Artifact Refiners? In Shadow Moon Hall, a great sect, only Grandmaster Ge Lin was an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner, but after he passed away six months ago, all of these Origin Realm masters who wanted to repair their artifacts now had nowhere left to turn.
When these masters learned that Yang Kai possessed a Firebird Artifact Spirit, they immediately took an interest.
If Yang Kai allowed them to borrow this Firebird Artifact Spirit for a period of time, with their own strength, it may not be impossible for them to repair some of the damage to their artifacts. Even if they could not restore them to their peak state, it would certainly be of great benefit.
If not for this, how could three Origin Returning Realm masters have lowered themselves to fawning over Yang Kai so obviously? It could not be more apparent they had a reason for acting so.
Now that the cultivator surnamed Wen saw the power of this Firebird Artifact Spirit with his own eyes, he was even more overjoyed. When Yang Kai was running amok in Heavenly Fate City, he had summoned a furnace-like artifact.
If things were as he expected, this Firebird should be the Artifact Spirit of that furnace. The Artifact Refining Furnace such an Artifact Spirit was born from was not low in grade.
With an Artifact Refining Furnace that had an Artifact Spirit, even if one wasn’t proficient in Artifact Refining it would still be possible to make decent repairs to their artifact; however, wanting to borrow this kind of treasure would certainly not be easy. To convince someone to loan you such a precious treasure, a life-long, life and death friendship would be required.
While the cultivator surnamed Wen was looking after Cai He and Du Si Si, he was actually looking for an opportunity to assist Yang Kai, wanting to sell him a favour, but how could he have known that Yang Kai wouldn’t need any help fighting these Cloud Beasts? Seeing that there was no need for him to intervene made him pleasantly surprised at the power of this Artifact Spirit while at the same time caused him some slight regret.
While he was mulling over these complicated thoughts, the body of the giant tiger had shrunk by a third. After suffering the pursuit of the Artifact Spirit, half of the cloud that formed its body had been evaporated.
Being the fusion of a cloud and the Soul of a Monster Beast, after noticing its precarious condition, the giant tiger roared loudly and its huge body suddenly swelled up, emitting a dangerous aura.
Yang Kai’s expression sank, and the Artifact Spirit’s eyes flashed intelligently, immediately flying up high to avoid the giant tiger.
In the next moment, the giant tiger suddenly burst into pieces, sending out scattered green mist and light. This mist and light however quickly transformed into many miniature green tigers that fled in all directions.
The Artifact Spirit was startled for a moment before flying into a rage. It had thought this giant tiger wanted to detonate its own Soul and had withdrawn to a safe distance to avoid taking damage, but it turned out the other party actually was just putting on a show in order to escape.
With its wings spread wide, the Firebird sent out a barrage of scorching fireballs towards these miniature tigers, rapidly burning them down.
However, after the giant tiger’s body exploded, it released far too many of these miniature green tigers and the Artifact Spirit could not take all of them out, allowing a few of them to avoid this barrage of fireballs and survive.
Yang Kai saw this and grinned wryly, waving his hands to send out a large net formed from Demonic Flame to surround the escaping tigers.
In an instant, all the miniature green tigers that had escaped the Firebird’s attack were wrapped up in this giant net.
Capturing Heaven Net was one of Yang Kai’s Nine Heavens Divine Skills and just so happened to be suitable for this occasion.
Although the Nine Heavens Divine Skills were a set of Martial Skills from Tong Xuan Realm, with the improvement of Yang Kai’s strength, the power they could display had also grown rapidly, not to mention this net was formed from his Demonic Flames.
A sizzling sound rang out and no matter how these miniature green tires struggled, they were unable to break free of the Capturing Heaven Net, instead quickly burning down under the scorching hot Demonic Flames.
A moment later, the giant tiger Cloud Beast disappeared without a trace.
Yang Kai let out a light sigh as he realized that, without the Firebird Artifact Spirit’s power, if he wanted to kill this Cloud Beast, it would have been too difficult. Although his Demonic Flames could also restrain its poisonous mist, Yang Kai wasn’t impervious to this poison like the Artifact Spirit. If he were to have fought it alone, he would have had to act more cautiously, lest he have an accident.
Calling back the Artifact Spirit, Yang Kai turned to see what was happening on Lian Guang’s side, catching him looking over towards him as well. Apparently, he had also concluded his battle with the Cloud Beast, his puppets having thoroughly destroyed it.
Looking at each other, both showed looks of surprise, Yang Kai not knowing what method Lian Guang had used to kill the Cloud Beast in such a short time while the other party was thinking the same about Yang Kai.
However, after seeing the Firebird Artifact Spirit perching on Yang Kai’s shoulder, preening its feathers, a look of understanding appeared on Lian Guang’s face and a trace of disdain flashed across his eyes. Obviously, he thought that the elimination of the Cloud Beasts was all thanks to the Artifact Spirit.
Immediately after, the two young men looked up to see how the battle the Origin Realm masters was going.
Straightaway, both of their expressions became gloomy.
Because when the two of them had killed their respective Cloud Beasts, one of the wandering clouds began transforming into a Cloud Beast and was exuding the aura of a Ninth-Order Monster Beast.
After noticing this, not only did Yang Kai and Lian Guang’s expression become ugly, even Fei Zhi Tu and the others felt headaches.
Teaming up with the old lady and old man, the three of them were finally able to hold back the remaining Cloud Beasts, but if another Ninth-Order Monster Beast were to join the fray, how were they supposed to resist?
The cultivator surnamed Wen saw this too, but his job was to protect Cai He and Du Si Si, so even though he wanted to help, he did not dare leave these two easily. If these two were to have an accident, there would be no one left to break this Spirit Array.
And seeing that there are still so many clouds around, even if he were to go all out and quickly kill this newly emerging Cloud Beast, another would certainly take its place.
This Spirit Array was clearly designed to ruthlessly consume its victim’s strength before killing them.
Everyone understood the sinister intentions of the master who arranged this array, allowing them to see a trace of hope only to crush it brutally. It was truly malicious.
As the cultivator surnamed Wen was wavering, Yang Kai simply pointed his finger and ordered the Artifact Spirit to meet this Cloud Beast head-on, turning his head to Lian Guang with a laugh and saying, “Brother Lian, how about we hold it down together? Looking at the situation, there’s no need to keep killing, stalling for time will work just as well.”
“You don’t need to tell me of this kind of thing!” Lian Guang snarled coldly before sending out his puppets to join the Artifact Spirit.
Although a Ninth-Order Cloud Beast possessed extraordinary might, neither Yang Kai nor Lian Guang were ordinary Third-Order Saint Kings. Yang Kai could defeat opponents above his own realm while the several puppets operated by Lian Guang were also not to be underestimated, so together with the Firebird Artifact Spirit, holding down a single Ninth-Order Cloud Beast was not a problem.
If not for them having scruples about what changes the Spectral Cloud Array would undergo, the two Saint Kings would have been able to destroy this Ninth-Order Cloud Beast in short order.
Seeing that the two Saint King Juniors could easily handle the situation, Fei Zhi Tu and the other masters were overjoyed and quickly regained their composure. After seeing what happened after they destroyed some of the first Cloud Beasts to appear, they also understood that, in this Spirit Array, stalling for time was the best solution and immediately changed their tactics from killing them to suppressing them.
As a result, the pressure on the group was greatly reduced and they were able to cope with the current situation more easily.
During this period, Cai He and Du Si Si continually poured their Saint Qi into their array tools to spy on the mysteries of this Spectral Cloud Array, trying to find where its Array Core and Array Nodes were located. However, this Spirit Array was quite ancient and exotic, so even though the two of them had good attainments in Spirit Arrays, for a short time, they were rendered helpless as cold sweat dripped from their foreheads.
Despite Yang Kai, Lian Guang, and the three Origin Returning Realm masters led by Fei Zhi Tu seemingly having an easy time dealing with the current situation, once it dragged on, all of them would definitely begin to tire and lose ground. Not to mention, Heaven knows how many more Cloud Beasts were sealed inside this Spirit Array.
Therefore, Du Si Si and Cai He both had to hurry, taking everything they had learned in their lifetime to continuously unravel the structure of this Spirit Array.
An incense stick of time passed…
Half an hour passed …
An hour passed…
The cultivator surnamed Wen’s complexion gradually grew dignified while Fei Zhi Tu and the other Origin Realm masters also began showing signs of unease. On the other hand, Yang Kai and Lian Guang both seemed quite refreshed as they freely and liberally fought.
For Yang Kai, his main contribution to this battle was the Firebird Artifact Spirit while he personally displayed his Nine Heavens Divine Skills only occasionally to contain the Ninth-Order Cloud Beast. In terms of Saint Qi consumption, Yang Kai was using the least. On the other hand, Lian Guang was primarily using his puppets to meet the enemy, so although his Divine Sense consumption was quite high, after taking some pills to supplement his Spiritual Energy, he remained calm and steady.
However, after being entangled in this fight for so long, Fei Zhi Tu and the other Origin Realm masters were getting slightly overwhelmed since their Saint Qi consumption was truly enormous. If they continued on in this way, the situation would soon become worrying. Fei Zhi Tu couldn’t help feeling anxious as he kept glancing over at Cai He and Du Si Si, hoping to see how they were progressing.
Seeing this, the cultivator surnamed Wen also opened his mouth to urge Cai He and Du Si Si. Fortunately, the two of them lived up the group’s expectations and, only an hour into their analysis, they finally found a flaw to exploit.
A strong light suddenly burst from Du Si Si’s and Cai He’s array tools and, after circling them for a moment, it shot off into the distance.
In the blink of an eye, the flash of light hit a particular fiery-red cloud. After being struck by this light, the fiery red cloud that was originally gently drifting suddenly froze in place.
Du Si Si’s pretty face beamed with delight as she quickly shouted, “The Array Core is there, if it’s broken, the Spectral Cloud Array will also collapse!”
Hearing this shout, everyone showed a happy expression. All of them had already speculated the Array Core was hidden amongst the countless clouds in their surroundings, but none of them had dared to touch these clouds as there was no guarantee something terrible wouldn’t happen. Now that they had identified exactly where the Array Core was though, this concern naturally disappeared.
“Brother Wen!” Fei Zhi Tu shouted.
“Leave it to me!” The cultivator surnamed Wen’s face showed a severe look as he glared towards the cloud which was struck by the flash of light. Lifting his hand, he summoned a half metre long golden needle between his fingers and poured his Saint Qi in, causing it to release a radiant, golden light before shouting out, “Go!”
As soon as his voice fell, his hand shook and the golden needle shot forward. Mid-air, the golden needle seemed to transform into a glowing golden snake that bared its fangs fiercely as it struck out.
Just as the golden needle was about to hit the red cloud though, a surprising scene took place.
This cloud unexpectedly changed into a fiery red beast that looked like a squirrel, its tiny eyes narrowing slightly as it revealed a disdainful look before its figure flickered and it completely disappeared.
The golden snake’s fangs hit only thin air.
The cultivator surnamed Wen’s expression turned ugly as he saw this. Although he knew that the cloud would certainly undergo some kind of change when it was attacked, he had never expected that the Cloud Beast would suddenly just disappear. Worse yet, releasing his Divine Sense, the man surnamed Wen was unable to find any trace of this red squirrel’s aura.
Just as he was feeling annoyed though, he saw Yang Kai’s figure shoot out, arriving directly at the place where the small Cloud Beast vanished, stretch out his hand coldly, and grab something.
*Puchi…*
Yang Kai’s huge hand seemed to have caught something, but no matter how the cultivator surnamed Wen looked, he was unable to see anything. Instead, only a kind of squeaking noise rang out.
Immediately after, a flash of light erupted and the little Cloud Beast which had disappeared a moment ago unexpectedly reappeared in the grip of Yang Kai’s hand.
It hadn’t gone anywhere; it had instead concealed its figure using some kind of extremely profound method that was capable of even deceiving the Divine Sense of the man surnamed Wen!
But how did this boy find it then? The cultivator surnamed Wen looked at Yang Kai in amazement, wondering if it was just a case of a blind cat hitting a dead mouse or if Yang Kai had actually been targeting it from the beginning.
Just as this thought crossed his mind though, black Demonic Flames covered Yang Kai’s hand and burned down the little beast mercilessly.
Regardless of how the little beast struggled to resist, it was unable to free itself from Yang Kai’s clutches. It seemed this Cloud Beast which served as the Array Core had no fighting power at all and was only capable of concealing itself. Perhaps it did have some other profound abilities, but it simply didn’t have any time to display them.
In the blink of an eye, the little beast was incinerated by the Demonic Flames and transformed into a wooden token-like object that floated strangely in front of Yang Kai.
Yang Kai showed a look of surprise as he grabbed the Wooden Token.
At the same time the little beast was destroyed, all the Cloud Beasts that had been entangled with Fei Zhi Tu and the others, the one which was being tied down by the Firebird and Lian Guang, and even the countless clouds floating in the group’s surroundings, all transformed into streaks of light that poured into the Wooden Token.
It was as if there was an amazing suction force coming from this Wooden Token that pulled in all the surrounding clouds.
After just three breaths, the crisis was lifted, and the originally cloud-filled world suddenly shattered. After everyone recovered their wits, they actually found themselves standing once again beside the flower bed where the purple Sword Soul Grass still stood straight like a sword.
The Spectral Cloud Array was completely broken!
However, no one called out for joy at the moment as they were all standing there staring blankly at the Wooden Token in Yang Kai’s hand, revealing envious expressions; even Fei Zhi Tu was no exception.
The look on Cai He’s and Du Si Si’s faces could even be described as fanatical.
At this moment, this Wooden Token-like thing was releasing a powerful white light which made it impossible for others to look at it directly. At the same time, it was releasing a powerful energy fluctuation clearly identifying it as a great treasure.
“Array Plate! This is actually a legendary Array Plate!?” Du Si Si screamed out, drawing everyone’s attention.
“It really is an Array Plate!” Fei Zhi Tu’s voice rose in pitch greatly as his expression became a bit complicated. Although he had guessed this just now, he wasn’t certain, but after hearing Du Si Si shout, he immediately knew his hypothesis was correct.
It turned out to be an extremely rare and precious Array Plate!
Everyone present had obviously heard about the rarity and preciousness of an Array Plate, and when the cultivator surnamed Wen remembered that this kind of exotic treasure had actually slipped through his fingers and landed in Yang Kai’s hand, he couldn’t help feeling bitter.
Just now, if he had taken action directly to catch that little squirrel, this Array Plate might be his own. Such an Array Plate was undoubtedly more precious than an ordinary Origin Grade artifact.
“Brother Yang…” Cai He began to call out, but the moment he began speaking, he saw Yang Kai calmly and relaxedly put the Array Plate into his Space Ring, causing him to stand there and stare blankly.
*Ahem…* Fei Zhi Tu lightly coughed, “Since Yang Boy obtained it, that is his opportunity. It’s his now.”
Listening to this, Ning Xiang Chen pondered for a moment before letting out a hearty laugh and saying, “Congratulations for obtaining this rare treasure, little friend. It seems your strength has greatly increased.”
The old lady and the cultivator surnamed Wen thought about it and also offered their congratulations, obviously agreeing with Fei Zhi Tu’s decision and not showing any intention to snatch this Array Plate from Yang Kai.
After all, the main purpose of their journey this time was to rescue Qian Tong, so it would obviously be unwise to fall out over this Array Plate right now.
What’s more, these three Origin Returning Realm masters all wanted to forge a friendship with Yang Kai in order to borrow his Firebird Artifact Spirit.
With the opinions of the Origin Returning Realm masters having been unified, the remaining three Saint Kings didn’t dare voice any objections.
Nevertheless, Du Si Si pouted openly as she glared towards Yang Kai. In her opinion, this guy did not understand anything about Spirit Arrays, let alone how truly precious an Array Plate was, yet he was the one who actually managed to obtain it. It was completely unreasonable.
If she could acquire this Array Plate and bring it back with her, perhaps her Du Family’s attainments in Spirit Arrays would advance a level and allow them to completely suppress the Cai Family.
Cai He mulled over the issue for a moment before also offering his congratulations to Yang Kai; however, the smile on his face was clearly quite bitter. If it was some other kind of treasure, he wouldn’t have cared, but this Array Plate’s significance to him and his family were just too great.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai just frowned slightly. Although he had never heard of an Array Plate before, from the reactions of the people around him, he was at least certain he had obtained something amazing.
However, he had no intention to ask these people about it and was simply planning on waiting until he returned to Dragon Cave Mountain to ask Yang Yan what this Array Plate was.
After this incident with the Sword Soul Grass, everyone deeply understood that this Ancient Ruin was not as peaceful or safe as it appeared on the surface, and was instead filled with crisis. One small slip up had actually trapped them in a deadly Spirit Array.
Everyone naturally raised their vigilance.
“Let’s first restore ourselves. If we encounter anything on the road from now on, don’t act hastily,” Fei Zhi Tu said a moment later before sitting down to meditate.
Everyone nodded their heads before taking out some Saint Crystals and pills to restore themselves.
Although Yang Kai had no need to restore himself, in order to avoid being too conspicuous, he found a quiet spot nearby and sat down to meditate.
The World Energy here was much richer than outside, so meditating here produced twice the result with half the effort; as such, after a short while, the Saint Kings had completely restored themselves.
Sensing approaching footsteps, Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes and saw Cai He and Du Si Si walking over towards him. Du Si Si wore the same gloomy look on her face while Cai He was smiling lightly.
“Is there something you two wish to discuss with me?” Yang Kai asked when they approached, pretending to be confused. Although he wasn’t certain why they had come over to speak with him, Yang Kai was fairly positive it had something to do with the Array Plate.
Sure enough, Cai He cupped his fists and said, “Please don’t blame us, Brother Yang. We’re all comrades here so naturally this Cai doesn’t wish to impose on you. I simply came here to ask Brother Yang how he plans to deal with the Array Plate he just acquired. Do you perhaps have any intention to sell it?”
When he asked this question, Du Si Si also stared at Yang Kai, seemingly quite eager to cut in, as if she couldn’t wait to make an offer the moment Yang Kai said he planned to sell it.
Unfortunately for them, Yang Kai simply smiled and shook his head, “Sorry, I’m not currently lacking money so I don’t have any plans to sell this thing right now!”
A trace of pity flashed across Cai He’s face. Despite having some faint speculation, when he heard Yang Kai’s answer in person, he inevitably felt disappointed.
On the other hand, Du Si Si coldly snorted, “Just by looking at you it’s obvious you know nothing about Spirit Arrays. Do you even know what that Array Plate is or what it’s used for?”
Yang Kai glanced over at her lightly, “Is that any concern of yours? This thing is in my hands, so naturally I have the freedom to do with it what I please.”
“You…” Du Si Si’s chest heaved up and down as she shouted, “But your being able to obtain that Array Plate is thanks to everyone’s concerted efforts! On top of that, your being able to find that Array Core is all thanks to me and Cai He! Even if that Array Plate is now in your hands, it still partially belongs to me!”
“Oh?” Yang Kai stroked his chin as he looked at her with a smile, “Listening to you, it seems you want to snatch this Array Plate from me, yes?”
“I said no such thing, don’t make false accusations!” Du Si Si’s complexion paled slightly as she unconsciously glanced over at Fei Zhi Tu. After all, Fei Zhi Tu had just said that since the Array Plate had been taken by Yang Kai, it belonged to him. If she really tried to snatch it from Yang Kai now, she would have no way to explain herself to Fei Zhi Tu.
“Then what do you want?” Yang Kai’s expression became cold. He didn’t have a favourable impression of this arrogant young woman. If others didn’t provoke him, he could ignore them, but once they did provoke him, he would certainly not give them any face.
“I… I just want to buy your Array Plate on behalf of the Du Family!” Du Si Si grit her teeth and declared.
“I’ve already said that this Array Plate is not for sale,” Yang Kai shook his head slowly. Right now, he still didn’t know the value of this Array Plate, so forget about a trivial Du Family, even if Shadow Moon Hall wanted to buy it from him, he wouldn’t agree. How could he so easily give up this Array Plate before understanding its role and value?
Du Si Si raising the Du Family’s name was clearly an attempt to pressure Yang Kai, something he felt even more disgusted by.
Hearing Yang Kai’s refusal, Du Si Si sneered before saying, “Don’t be in a rush to refuse, it won’t be too late to reject my offer after you hear it. My Du Family will pay you thirty million Saint Crystals for that Array Plate!”
“Thirty million… that’s certainly a lot of Saint Crystals,” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully.
This little girl clearly had no clue about Dragon Cave Mountain’s reputation if she thought a trivial thirty million Saint Crystals would be enough to move Yang Kai. On the contrary, Cai He seemed to have heard some rumours about Dragon Cave Mountain and smiled wryly.
“You’re not satisfied with such a price?” Du Si Si was obviously taken aback. After all, she heard that Yang Kai was nothing more than a wanderer who had occupied a single mountain and was followed by a band of misfit cultivators. Such a cultivator should never have seen such a number of Saint Crystals before. Even for her Du Family, taking out so many Saint Crystals at once was not a simple matter and Du Si Si certainly had no right to make such a decision on its behalf, but for a matter as important as this Array Plate, even if she returned home and informed her family of this negotiation, they would definitely not object.
Even if they needed to smash their pots to sell the scrap iron, they would find a way to put together this amount.
Du Si Si’s brow furrowed. She thought Yang Kai was simply trying to raise the price by acting aloof and silently cursed him for being so despicable. Narrowing her eyes, she continued, “If you can sell this Array Plate to me, my Du Family will not only pay you thirty million Saint Crystals, but our Array Masters will also help you arrange several sets of powerful Spirit Arrays for free. Is that not enough?”
“It’s not for sale!” Yang Kai still shook his head.
Du Si Si stared at Yang Kai as if he was a fool. In all honesty, the price she offered was not low, but she never expected that it wouldn’t be able to move Yang Kai at all. After hearing what he said, she ground her teeth audibly and began to hesitate, seemingly debating whether to raise her offer again.
Yang Kai interrupted her with a wave of his hand though and declared, “Miss Du, please withdraw. No matter what kind of offer your Du Family makes I will not sell this Array Plate!”
“You’ll regret this!” Du Si Si shouted angrily before stomping her foot, turning around, and walking away, no longer interested in talking nonsense to Yang Kai.
Cai He opened his mouth and seemed to want to comfort her, but eventually held his tongue.
After Du Si Si left, he smiled bitterly and apologized, “Brother Yang, don’t blame her. Si Si was raised a bit spoiled and so her temperament is a bit difficult. If Brother Yang feels offended, this Cai will respectfully withdraw as well.”
Yang Kai looked at him with a smile and shook his head, “It’s fine, I won’t lower myself to her level.”
“Many thanks, Brother Yang,” Cai He breathed a sigh of relief before continuing, “It seems Brother Yang really doesn’t understand the value of this Array Plate, correct?”
Yang Kai brow rose slightly as he said, “Please enlighten me!”
Cai He chuckled as he sat down cross-legged opposite Yang Kai and began chatting with him.
After listening to Cai He’s explanation, Yang Kai realized just how rare and precious this Array Plate was and why Du Si Si was so adamant about obtaining it.
The Dao of Spirit Arrays was broad and profound, and even if a cultivator spent their entire life studying them, they may not be able to truly understand all the various aspects and components of Spirit Arrays.
Meanwhile, Array Plates were another field unto their own.
Shadowed Star’s current Array Masters were no longer capable of producing Array Plates, not only because the method of refining Array Plates had been lost to history but because even those qualified to refine Array Plates no longer existed.
It was rumored that a long time ago, there was a special division of Array Masters known as Artifact Array Masters!
From this title alone, it could be easily inferred that Artifact Array Masters weren’t only proficient in Spirit Arrays, but also in Artifact Refining. Only by reaching a certain level of competency in both fields could one become an Artifact Array Master, and only Artifact Array Masters could refine Array Plates.
In general, Array Masters would have some knowledge of Artifact Refining; after all, arranging Spirit Arrays required a number of auxiliary tools similar to artifacts.
In the same way, Artifact Refiners also understood methods of arranging Spirit Arrays. The Spirit Arrays used in Artifact Refining were still Spirit Arrays. This was also the case with Alchemists.
However, under normal circumstances, one would not have deep knowledge of two such fields.
The Dao of Spirit Arrays was extensive and profound, so how could an Array Master have enough time and energy to also study Artifact Refining? Over time, the special existences called Artifact Array Masters disappeared.
An Array Plate refined by an Artifact Array Master, in a strict sense, was a self-contained Spirit Array.
It didn’t require setting up a complicated set of equipment, but could still perfectly play the role of a Spirit Array. In other words, as long as Yang Kai refined the Array Plate in his hand, he could arrange and activate that Spectral Cloud Array whenever or wherever he wanted.
Hearing Cai He explain this point, Yang Kai’s eyes lit up.
He had experienced the power of the Spectral Cloud Array in person. The strength of the Cloud Beasts inside wasn’t low, to the point where he had no confidence in beating them. Even Origin Returning Realm masters like Fei Zhi Tu and Ning Xiang Chen were completely trapped by it. With this Spirit Array at his disposal, Yang Kai’s strength would rise sharply and he would have another powerful method of combating his enemies.
Moreover, when their group had been trapped by the Spectral Cloud Array just now, it hadn’t actually displayed its full might; after all, no one was operating it so it was simply responding automatically.
If Yang Kai were to personally deploy it and drive the power of this Spirit Array, even a master like Fei Zhi Tu would have died inside.
This lost Array Plate was of great significance to Array Masters. If they could obtain and study it, they may be able to deduce the refinement method for Array Plates. This would obviously be far superior to having to arrange Spirit Arrays with cumbersome tools and equipment. And an Array Plate was akin to a type of artifact which, after being refined, could be received inside one’s body and taken out at will, meaning it would be impossible for others to steal.
There were so many advantages!
While Cai He was explaining these things to Yang Kai, his face was filled with complicated emotions and envy, so how could Yang Kai not know what he was thinking?
Although he didn’t openly bid for it like Du Si Si, Cai He obviously had the same intentions as her. It was only out of consideration for Yang Kai’s face that he didn’t directly raise the topic.
“Does Brother Yang understand the rarity and value of this Array Plate now?” Cai He asked with a face full of envy.
Yang Kai nodded, “I understand. Many thanks for dispelling my doubts, Brother Cai. If this Yang ever finds himself in desperate need and has to sell this Array Plate, he will definitely give priority to your Cai Family!”
Hearing this, Cai He was overjoyed and quickly cupped his fists, “Many thanks for Brother Yang’s good intentions. Although this Cai also hopes to obtain this Array Plate, I sincerely hope such a day does not come.”
Yang Kai chuckled, knowing that Cai He was being honest when he said he hoped the day didn’t come when Yang Kai went down in the world and became desperate for money. Yang Kai’s impression of this young man improved once more as he felt he was an upright character.
What transpired between these three Saint Kings was naturally not missed by Fei Zhi Tu and the other Origin Returning Realm masters; however, none of them minded, nor did they have any intention to interfere. After Cai He got up and left though, a thoughtful frown appeared on Yang Kai’s face.
[Artifact Array Masters… There are actually such special people in this world.]
Although such masters couldn’t be found elsewhere, there was definitely one on Dragon Cave Mountain!
Yang Yan was not only proficient in Artifact Refining, but also in arranging Spirit Arrays, so she was clearly an Artifact Array Master. Didn’t that mean Array Plates could also be refined by her?
Moreover, when Yang Kai obtained this Array Plate, he felt a faintly familiar aura lingering about it but was unable to identify where he had felt it before. Yet now, he couldn’t help feeling a bit suspicious.
Putting the Array Plate aside for the moment, Yang Kai secretly decided that after going back he would ask Yang Yan about it. If she was really capable of refining Array Plates, he would definitely ask her to refine a few of them so he could set up large Spirit Arrays anytime, anywhere in the future.
A moment later, Fei Zhi Tu and the other Origin Realm masters finished restoring themselves and the group continued forward after a brief discussion.
As they travelled, they would see some exotic flowers and plants randomly sitting in nearby flower beds, from time to time, each of them worth as much as a city, some of them even thought to be extinct and all of them seemingly genuine.
However, after their first experience with the Spectral Cloud Array, Fei Zhi Tu and the others no longer dared to arbitrarily touch these rare spirit flowers and herbs lest they accidentally trigger another Spirit Array.
Yang Kai, on the other hand, had an extraordinarily strong interest in these spirit flowers and herbs because, with his knowledge and judgment, he found that these things were all the real deal.
In other words, those things were not set up as traps but were instead real herbs that were just waiting to be picked. However, because he could not be one hundred percent certain there were no traps here and the priority of this trip was to rescue Qian Tong, he suppressed his desires and followed behind Fei Zhi Tu and the others.
Still, Yang Kai silently memorized the route they took in preparation for after they saved Qian Tong. At that time, he planned to come back here and carefully determine whether these things were real or just traps.
Even acting with an abundance of caution, the journey forward was not free of trouble. The Spirit Arrays inside this Ancient Ruin were all extremely well hidden, to the point where even Fei Zhi Tu, a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, was unable to always spot them despite constantly using his Divine Sense to sweep their surroundings.
Fortunately, the two young Array Masters, Cai He and Du Si Si were accompanying them. Whenever the group found themselves trapped inside a Spirit Array, the two of them would work together to crack it while the others defended against the Spirit Array’s attacks.
This pattern continued for some time and, although everyone was somewhat dishevelled, there were no casualties. Only the old lady was slightly injured while Yang Kai and Lian Guang, the two Saint King Juniors, never encountered any real danger.
Unfortunately, after these Spirit Arrays were cracked, none of them left behind an Array Plate, greatly disappointing Cai He and Du Si Si.
After three days, the group of eight stood in front of a spacious passageway. This passageway was white and flawless, seemingly paved from the purest of white jade. However, a deep chill lingered in the air while wisps of frigid energy visible to the naked eye floated about. On either side of this passage were numerous ice cones that glistened with cold light, giving off an imposing and dangerous aura.
Even if they were just standing in front of this passage and had not actually entered, everyone was still being affected by the chill, and frost was even forming at the tips of their hair.
“This should be the ice road!” Fei Zhi Tu’s expression grew solemn as he spoke, half to himself, half to everyone else.
“So cold, how did Elder Qian pass through this place?” Ning Xiang Chen’s old face turned slightly pale. He estimated that if he were to enter this passage on his own, forget about reaching its end, he would quickly be transformed into an ice sculpture.
Although Qian Tong was a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, without some kind of powerful treasure or artifact to restrain the cold here, it would have been impossible for him to take a mere Saint King Grade Artifact Refiner with him to cross this ice road.
“I heard that Elder Qian obtained a Blazing Flame Bead several dozen years ago, he probably crossed this ice road with the help of that,” The old lady said thoughtfully to the side.
Fei Zhi Tu lightly nodded, “En, Old Qian indeed has a Blazing Flame Bead, otherwise, he would definitely have had to retreat here,” Saying so, he turned to Yang Kai and asked, “How about it?”
Yang Kai stared at the passage but did not answer the question directly, “City Lord Fei, do you know how long this passage is?”
Fei Zhi Tu shook his head slowly, “The message from Old Qian didn’t mention how long this passage was. However, since Old Qian was able to lead another person through it with just his Blazing Flame Bead, it shouldn’t be too long.”
“As long as it’s not too long it should be fine then,” Yang Kai said somewhat hesitantly.
Fei Zhi Tu’s reason for bringing Yang Kai on this trip was to borrow the power of the Firebird Artifact Spirit to cross this ice road, so now it was naturally time for Yang Kai to fulfil that role.
“Relax, this City Lord also prepared something for this moment, we’re not counting on your Artifact Spirit alone.” Fei Zhi Tu reassured as he waved his hand and summoned a bronze bell-like artifact into his palm. This bronze bell was crimson in colour and radiated a pure, hot aura.
“The Grand Fire Ward!” Ning Xiang Chen’s eyes lit up as he smiled, “I didn’t expect Brother Fei to even borrow the Grand Fire Ward. It seems that passing this ice road shouldn’t be a difficult matter.”
Fei Zhi Tu smiled, “Although this Grand Fire Ward is the Sect Master’s treasure, he rarely summons it even if he is in a fight. However, since this trip is to rescue that old ghost Qian, the Sect Master naturally won’t act stingy.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai and the other juniors understood that this Grand Fire Ward artifact belonged to Shadow Moon Hall’s Sect Master and had only been borrowed by Fei Zhi Tu for this mission.
Although a borrowed artifact could not display its full power, providing some assistance wouldn’t be an issue.
Seeing this, Yang Kai nodded his head and calmed himself. With a command of his Divine Sense, the Artifact Spirit rushed out of Yang Kai’s body and quickly transformed into a light curtain that surrounded the group of eight.
The Firebird did not have a true physical form so although it usually appeared in the shape of a bird, it could transform into essentially any shape.
At the same time, Fei Zhi Tu poured his Saint Qi into the Grand Fire Ward and in the next moment, it expanded in size until it too covered everyone.
Under these two layers of protection, everyone felt more secure.
“Hey, don’t push me!” Du Si Si murmured from behind, causing Yang Kai to glance back in time to see Cai He smiling awkwardly.
It was not his fault though, there were simply too many people here. To maximize the protective power of the Firebird Artifact Spirit and the Grand Fire Ward, Yang Kai and Fei Zhi Tu both made sure to expand them to only the minimum radius required to cover everyone.
As a result, the group of eight had to stand quite close together. Cai He clearly had intentions towards her, so he stood next to Du Si Si to play the part of a gentleman and shield her from the others, but not only did she not appreciate his gesture, she even began complaining.
Cai He had a temperate personality, so he didn’t get angry and patiently explained himself to Du Si Si.
“Let’s go!” Yang Kai took the lead together with Fei Zhi Tu and began advancing.
As soon as they stepped onto the ice road, everyone shuddered involuntarily. The cold here was so profound it was like an invisible blade that pierced through the double-layered protection and directly entered everyone’s body, causing their skin to tighten.
Even with two powerful Fire Attribute shields, the cold was still potent, so without any protection, it was obvious that stepping onto this ice road would be deadly.
Realizing this, everyone paled slightly. Du Si Si no longer had any complaints about Cai He and instead moved closer to him, seemingly looking for some sense of security. Seeing this, Cai He was overjoyed and suddenly began wishing this ice road would never end.
Yang Kai’s expression became dignified as he was communicating with the Artifact Spirit with his Divine Sense. As such, he could perceive the coldness of this ice road far clearer than anyone else. For every moment they stayed here, the Artifact Spirit would consume a great deal of energy, and although it wasn’t impossible to supplement this consumption, the Firebird was one of Yang Kai’s greatest boons for this Ancient Ruin exploration, so he didn’t want to needlessly drain its strength.
Immediately, the group’s pace increased.
When they were standing in front of it, none of them could clearly see what was happening on this ice road, but now that they had set foot onto it, glancing around, everyone could not help trembling slightly. The Ice Attribute energy that was lingering in their surroundings was so dense it had transformed into a kind of thick fog.
Although everyone knew that some incredible treasures would definitely have been formed due to such extreme densities of Ice Attribute Energy and so many years of accumulation, no one had any interest in searching for them and only wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible.
After a half cup of tea’s time, Yang Kai’s brow furrowed as he found that he had underestimated the length of this ice road. Looking forward at this moment, he was still unable to see the end of this ice road. At the same time, he could not clearly see his surroundings. It was as if the entire world had fallen silent, with only the occasional heartbeat and breath filling disrupting the eerie stillness.
Sometime later, Du Si Si suddenly called out, “Look over there!”
Everyone was startled and turned to look in the direction she was pointing, only to pale upon seeing what she had seen.
In front of everyone’s eyes, about three hundred metres away, were several human-shaped ice sculptures, each one of them exceptionally lifelike.
These ice sculptures had male, female, old, and young forms. All of them wore different robes and had different expressions on their face. Some of them showed looks of pleasant surprise, others wore looks of terror, while others showed completely indifferent looks, as if they did not realize what was happening right up until the moment they died.
These ice sculptures were all frozen people!
“It seems like it wasn’t just Old Qian who found this Ancient Ruin,” Fei Zhi Tu sighed softly.
These ice sculptures were clearly cultivators who had come here to explore before, but for some unknown reason, they had all become frozen here, with no trace of scars on their bodies from a battle at that.
“This is…” Ning Xiang Chen’s old eyes flashed a terrified light as he stared at a certain ice sculpture, unable to speak for quite a while.
“Brother Ning, do you recognise him?” The old lady glanced over at him and asked.
“Since you were able to recognize him as well, I shouldn’t be mistaken. Unexpectedly, it is really him. When I was young, I was fortunate enough to meet him once, but I never dreamed he would actually fall here,” Ning Xiang Chen smiled bitterly.
“Is there someone here whom two Seniors know?” Cai He asked in surprise.
“Yes, two hundred years ago, there was an extremely famous master on Shadowed Star who, although not from Star Emperor Mountain, was rumoured to be the most likely to break through Shadowed Star’s World Principles and reach the Origin King Realm. Unfortunately, he suddenly disappeared a hundred years ago and was never heard from again,” Ning Xiang Chen explained lightly.
“Such a master also fell here…” Cai He showed a trace of sympathy.
“Take a closer look at the robes these people are wearing!” Fei Zhi Tu seemed to have discovered something and called out.
After a few careful examinations by the Saint King Realm Juniors, all of them showing amazed looks because the robes on these ice sculptures were clearly similar to the Sect uniforms of Shadowed Star’s current great Sects.
For example, there was one person with a small thunder pattern embroidered on their chest, which was the emblem of the Thunder Typhoon Sect.
Another person had the character for ‘War’ emblazoned on his sleeve cuff, identifying him as a disciple of Heaven Battling Union.
There were others who wore uniforms from Coloured Glass Sect, Grand Fire Temple, Myriad Beast Mountain, etc as well. Fei Zhi Tu even found a Senior who once belonged to Shadow Moon Hall.
The cultivators frozen here were all great masters, and since they were able to reach this place, their luck was also quite good. Each of them had profound strength and means, but they all still fell here.
“Is this the time to be casually observing these people?” Yang Kai frowned, seeing Fei Zhi Tu and the others all glancing towards the Space Ring worn by these dead Seniors, urging them lightly, “Perhaps these people being frozen here means there is some great danger here, shouldn’t we hurry and leave?”
When Yang Kai said this, the looks on Fei Zhi Tu and the others sank.
When they discovered these ice sculptures just now, everyone naturally was attracted to their Space Ring. Since these people were all famous masters during their lifetimes, there were definitely many good things in their Space Rings.
Everyone had some degree of greed in them but while they were distracted by thoughts of these Space Rings, all of them had failed to wonder why these people would all be frozen in this place until Yang Kai spoke out.
Fei Zhi Tu instantly felt some cold sweat drip down his back and nodded quickly, “Exactly! Let’s hurry!”
Ning Xiang Chen and the others also withdrew their unwilling gazes and immediately fell in behind Fei Zhi Tu and Yang Kai.
But after walking just a thousand metres, Yang Kai suddenly snorted, “Who!”
At the same time, a Golden Thread shot out from his hand and pierced towards the air. There was a flash of white light and a faint flicker of a shadow before whatever it was disappeared from everyone’s sight without a trace. However, at that moment, a burst of frigid Ice Attribute Energy descended, crashing towards the group and colliding with the protective curtain formed by the Artifact Spirit, causing it to creak audibly.
In the blink of an eye, the Firebird’s layer of protection was punctured and a terrifying wave of Ice Attribute Energy rushed in through the hole that had been opened. Fortunately, the Grand Fire Ward played its role and blocked this rush of cold energy.
Even so, Fei Zhi Tu’s complexion paled because the residual Ice Attribute Energy which penetrated the Firebird’s defensive cover still nearly caused the Grand Fire Ward to collapse.
“What was that?” Ning Xiang Chen’s face changed greatly as his eyes began darting around.
Everyone else was equally frightened. Without even mentioning how strong the protective heat curtain formed by the Artifact Spirit was, the Grand Fire Ward was originally a special artifact owned by Shadow Moon Hall’s Sect Master that specialized in restraining cold energy, but simply being touched by whatever it was that attacked them had nearly caused it to break. It could be imagined just how powerful this blast of Ice Attribute energy was.
If not for these two layers of protection, whatever happened a moment ago might have caused everyone here to join their nearby frozen Seniors.
There really was great danger in this place!
Yang Kai’s face was particularly ugly, because in that brief exchange a moment ago, he discovered that his Firebird Artifact Spirit was not this attacker’s opponent, a fact which greatly shocked him.
The Artifact Spirit had been formed under tens of thousands of years of accumulated Fire Attribute Energy from the Earth Lung Fire Pond, yet it still couldn’t compete with this creature. What exactly was it they were facing then?
Fortunately, the flashing white light did not attempt to hide itself for long. After failing in its initial attack, it re-appeared in its original form a short distance away.
Glancing over at this creature, everyone could not help feeling stunned.
Because their attacker turned out to be a white rabbit, but this white rabbit was quite large, at least three times the size of a normal rabbit. It was covered in snow white hair without the slightest blemish, like it was a sculpture carved from the finest white jade. Only its pair of eyes was different, crimson red in colour and exuding a violent and cruel light.
“World Energy Manifestation!”
“World Spirit!”
Fei Zhi Tu and the other Origin Returning Realm masters exclaimed.
With their knowledge and vision, they were naturally able to see that this white rabbit didn’t possess a true physical form but was instead an existence similar to the Firebird Artifact Spirit which was completely composed of World Energy and possessed its own sentience.
This kind of existence was known as a World Spirit!
Artifact Spirits could barely be classified as World Spirits; they differed greatly from the genuine article because they were born from Artifacts. For instance, Yang Kai’s Firebird was his Artifact Refining Furnace’s Artifact Spirit and the Artifact Refining Furnace was the foundation of its existence. Once the Artifact Refining Furnace was damaged, the Artifact Spirit would possibly be destroyed.
But this white rabbit with red eyes in front of them was a true World Spirit. It did not have a container from which it was born, instead it was purely a manifestation of the intense Ice Attribute Energy in this place that had gained self-awareness and sapience over many millennia.
World Spirits were extremely scarce, and their value was immeasurable.
Once a cultivator with the same attribute obtained a World Spirit, if they could refine or even absorb it, their strength would increase dramatically without any negative side-effects, saving them many years of cultivation.
However, World Spirits were also incredibly powerful, so even if someone managed to find one they were compatible with, they may have the tables turned on them and be killed by it before they could capture it.
Although everyone had long speculated that some good things would be born in this ice road under such severe conditions and after years of accumulation, no one had expected that a World Spirit would appear.
For a moment, everyone’s expression was filled with a strange mix of emotions including, fear, excitement, panic, and so on.
Why all these Seniors had been frozen into ice sculptures was apparent now, it was clearly the handiwork of this World Spirit. It had hidden itself among the flows of Ice Attribute Energy and suddenly launched a sneak attack, catching even Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters by surprise. With its strength and means, once a cultivator was hit, they would not have a good end.
If Yang Kai had not received a warning from his Artifact Spirit just now, he definitely would not have noticed this World Spirit’s approach. It was also only because the Firebird and this white rabbit World Spirit’s attributes were polar opposites that the former realized an incoming attack a moment ago.
It was no wonder Yang Kai felt his Artifact Spirit was not this thing’s opponent, it turned out to be a genuine World Spirit!
At this moment, the World Spirit in the form of a white rabbit was staring at Yang Kai’s group with clear, malicious intent, making none of them dare act rashly.
Fei Zhi Tu’s face twitched as he asked, “This is quite a problem. Does anyone have a way to scare it off?”
He did not expect anyone here to be able to defeat this World Spirit or even capture it. Driving it off so that they could cross this ice road was the best he could hope for. In front of such a powerful World Spirit, in this environment, even if the eight of them joined hands they might not necessarily be its opponent. The reason why the other party had not attacked again was only that the layers of protection formed by the Firebird and the Grand Fire Ward restrained it.
But this place was flooded with Ice Attribute Energy, so as long as it could stall for time, the power of the Artifact Spirit and Grand Fire Ward would be exhausted at some point and this white rabbit wouldn’t even need to act as none of Yang Kai’s group would be able to survive.
Hearing Fei Zhi Tu’s question, everyone wore an ugly expression and shook their heads.
Ning Xiang Chen’s complexion paled as he whispered, “I’ve heard that World Spirits like to devour the vitality of living creatures to strengthen themselves. It seems the reason all our Seniors here were killed was because of this reason.”
“Swallow vitality?” The several Saint King Realm Juniors paled, apparently hearing this secret for the first time.
Yang Kai, however, revealed a weird look, secretly thinking that if this white rabbit really wanted to devour their vitality, he may have a way to lead it away.
After all, the amount of vitality in his Golden Blood was astonishing, so as long as he put out a drop, it should be enough to lead this white rabbit away. However, this white rabbit was far too fast, and there was no way to tell how long this ice road was, so if it managed to swallow the drop of Golden Blood Yang Kai put out before their group left this place, it would definitely return to pursue them. At that point, Yang Kai would be forced to put out a second or third drop, possibly even more.
It was not cost-effective! Yang Kai shook his head secretly, deciding to use this method as a last resort. Only if there was no other feasible way for them to escape would he use his Golden Blood to attract its attention.
“If we can’t lead it away, we can only try to break through!” Fei Zhi Tu smiled bitterly, “Continuing to delay will only make the situation worse. Everyone, stay alert. Let’s go.”
“Yes!” Everyone nodded their heads before summoning their defensive artifacts to protect themselves.
Lian Guang said nothing before suddenly throwing out a python puppet. After pouring his Saint Qi into the puppet, it transformed from a tiny figure into one that was over ten metres in length. With its thick scales and imposing aura, it was clearly not weaker than a Third-Order Saint King cultivator.
“Go!” Lian Guang snorted, sending his python puppet out to clear the way ahead. Apparently, he intended to use this puppet to attract the attention of the white rabbit.
Generally speaking, rabbits had an instinctual fear of snakes, so although no one knew if this would be the case with this World Spirit, Lian Guang felt it was worth a try.
Seeing this, a trace of satisfaction flashed across Fei Zhi Tu’s face as he led everyone to closely follow behind the giant python.
The group’s actions weren’t too hurried, and their pace wasn’t very fast as they didn’t want to stimulate the white rabbit unnecessarily.
The giant python puppet, on the other hand, lifted its head high and displayed a mighty stance, surprising Yang Kai greatly.
The Lian Family’s techniques for refining and controlling puppets were impressive. This python would be indistinguishable from a real one if not for the fact that it did not radiate any vitality.
Nearby, the white rabbit’s crimson eyes flashed a strange light. Obviously, its sentience wasn’t low and, after staring at the giant python for a moment, its body began to distort and it soon transformed into a giant eagle.
A loud eagle cry rang out and in the next moment, the transformed World Spirit swooped down at the python’s head while spewing a white mist from its beak.
Seeing this, everyone paled as none of them had thought this World Spirit would actually know how to freely manipulate its form.
Lian Guang was even more surprised and quickly formed a seal with his hand, causing the python puppet to stand upright, open its mouth, and spew out an imposing red beam of light.
However, when this red beam of light touched the white mist, it was instantly overwhelmed and frozen. Not only that, but when the white mist reached the python itself, its body began to freeze over at a speed visible to the naked eye, making an eerie crackling sound as it happened.
Even a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master wasn’t an opponent of this World Spirit, so how could a trivial python puppet equivalent to a Third-Order Saint King defeat it? After being shrouded in the white mist, the python puppet immediately began to freeze. Lian Guang’s complexion paled and he tried to take it back, but he was still a step late.
In the blink of an eye, the giant python was frozen into an ice sculpture and even the connection between it and Lian Guang was forcefully severed!
Immediately, the giant eagle’s claws grabbed the giant python, flew up into the air with it, and then dropped it to the ground.
With a loud bang, the python puppet shattered into pieces!
Under normal circumstances, such a puppet falling from such a height would suffer no damage. This python puppet had strength comparable to a Third-Order Saint King and was extremely durable, otherwise Lian Guang wouldn’t have used it to fight with his enemies; however, the white mist the giant eagle spat out had easily embrittled the puppet’s body so falling from any height naturally let to its destruction.
Lian Guang’s expression was as cold and gloomy as the ice road itself! He was a Third-Order Saint King, so it had taken him a great deal of energy and effort to refine this puppet that possessed strength equal to his own, but now, without being able to play any role at all, it had suddenly been destroyed.
It was easy to imagine the pain and grief in Lian Guang’s heart.
However, facing this World Spirit, he was helpless and could only stand there with a sullen face. No matter how many puppets he had, he was unwilling to simply discard them, but against such a World Spirit, all of his prided puppets were little more than scrap.
After the giant eagle crushed the giant python, its red eyes flashed a trace of smug disdain and soon began flapping its wing towards the crowd.
Fei Zhi Tu saw this and roared, “Block it!”
As soon as his words fell, Fei Zhi Tu summoned his Blue Jade Bowl while Ning Xiang Chen and the others all activated their defensive artifacts. In an instant, colourful light filled the air as various secret techniques and artifacts intertwined to form a defensive shield.
An eagle cry resonated through the air and another blast of white mist descended upon Yang Kai’s group. No matter what kind of attack or artifact it was, all of them were overwhelmed by the white mist and quickly froze. Even the blue light shield emitted by Fei Zhi Tu’s Blue Jade Bowl showed signs of freezing.
The giant eagle was unrelenting and immediately swooped down towards its prey, extending its talons like sharp blades to directly pierce the protective shield formed by the Firebird Artifact Spirit.
With a crack, the protective shield formed from the Artifact Spirit actually began to break in several places as a dense spider-web cracks rapidly spread out. Yang Kai’s face changed when he saw this and sent the Artifact Spirit a command via his Divine Sense before immediately releasing scorching hot black flames from his body to condense another dome-like shield to protect everyone.
At the same time, a sharp tweet rang out and the Artifact Spirit restored its usual Firebird shape. Spreading its fiery red wings several dozen metres wide, the Artifact Spirit charged at the giant eagle.
The Artifact Spirit seemed to be enraged; after all, although it wasn’t an orthodox World Spirit, it was still an existence extremely close to one. Just now, in order to protect Yang Kai and the others, it was impossible for it to show its true body and had to passively suffer repeated attacks from the giant eagle World Spirit. Naturally, it had become annoyed.
Now that it received Yang Kai’s permission, it immediately began fighting back.
Yang Kai was forced into this action. It was obviously not a wise decision to continue simply using the Firebird Artifact Spirit as a shield. The power of his Artifact Spirit was slightly inferior to this World Spirit so if he allowed the situation where it was continuously beaten to continue, sooner or later the Artifact Spirit would run out of strength.
That being the case, the better option was to let the Artifact Spirit fight directly with the giant eagle while everyone else used this opportunity to quickly escape the ice road.
Fortunately, the Grand Fire Ward was still active and, supplemented by Yang Kai’s hot Demonic Flames, there was temporarily no need to worry about freezing to death.
In the sky, the battle between the giant eagle and Artifact Spirit quickly became intense as the World Energy aura in the ice road distorted amidst the constant eagle and bird cries.
Seeing this, Fei Zhi Tu was overjoyed and hurriedly waved, “Go!”
As he spoke, he quickly used his movement skill to lead the way. Everyone else also hurriedly activated their defensive artifacts and vigorously pushed their Saint Qi to resist the chill which leaked through Yang Kai’s Demonic Flame and the Grand Fire Ward as they followed Fei Zhi Tu.
Unlike the anxious looks on everyone else’s face though, Yang Kai wore a puzzled expression on his.
Because the moment a whiff of the Ice Attribute Energy seeped into his body, he felt something stir within him and actually begin to absorb this cold energy in his surroundings.
Even with the profound chill invading his body, Yang Kai didn’t feel much discomfort. Instead, whatever it was that was absorbing this cold energy seemed to have received a great supplement and was becoming excited.
Yang Kai’s brow furrowed and while running forward he began probing himself.
A moment later, his expression became even weirder.
“So, that’s what it is!”
Yang Kai hadn’t imagined the Ice Phoenix Tattoo on his back would suddenly show a reaction at this time!
Strictly speaking, this was the Phoenix Empress’ Inheritance. He and Su Yan cultivated the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art and obtained two profound inheritances, both of which originated from Dragon Phoenix Palace in Tong Xuan Realm. Among them, the Dragon Emperor Inheritance was obtained by Yang Kai personally and had long ago been integrated into his body. The Phoenix Empress Inheritance on the other hand had previously been sealed in the Phoenix Nest, but before leaving Tong Xuan Realm, Yang Kai had visited it and managed to take it away with him.
Since then, Yang Kai had two tattoos on his body, one was of a Golden Dragon and the other was of an Ice Phoenix.
Yang Kai’s plan was to take the Phoenix Empress Inheritance with him so that when he found Su Yan, he could give it to her directly; but so far he hadn’t been able to accomplish this wish. Before meeting Qian Yue again, he hadn’t even heard the slightest news about Su Yan.
Yang Kai had received this Ice Phoenix Tattoo into his body more than ten years ago, but after accepting it, it had shown no movement at all. Thankfully, after arriving at this ice road and especially when the cold energy of this place had invaded his body, the Ice Phoenix Tattoo began reacting. After swallowing this wisp of Ice Attribute Energy, the Ice Phoenix Tattoo became more and more rowdy and was even showing signs of wanting to leap out from Yang Kai’s body.
Yang Kai’s mood suddenly became subdued as he couldn’t figure out whether the situation was good or bad.
The reason the Ice Attribute Energy here could stimulate the dormant tattoo was obvious; after all, the Phoenix Empress’ Inheritance itself was related to the Ice Attribute. However, Yang Kai had no control over it at all so he couldn’t tell what would happen if he were to release it now.
If it didn’t come back, Su Yan’s Phoenix Empress inheritance would be gone.
As Yang Kai was worrying about such a possibility though, his complexion changed.
Within moments of its first stirring, the Ice Phoenix Tattoo movements grew to the point where Yang Kai could no longer suppress it and in the next instant, he felt something suddenly rush out of his body. With a loud phoenix cry, a crystal white Ice Phoenix phantom more than thirty metres in length suddenly appeared on top of everyone’s head.
In that instant, an awe-inspiring pressure suddenly descended from above.
Fei Zhi Tu and the other’s complexions changed dramatically as they all came to a halt and turned to stare at the manifestation which had appeared above Yang Kai’s head.
After just a glance, Fei Zhi Tu was unable to stop himself from calling out in alarm, “Ancient Divine Spirit!”
The shock he felt in his heart could no longer be described in words. Originally, he felt that although there would be some danger in diving into this Ancient Ruin to rescue Qian Tong, with his plans and means, it shouldn’t be too difficult.
But contrary to his expectations, after stepping onto this ice road, he had first seen a true World Spirit, and then all of a sudden an Ancient Divine Spirit appeared out of thin air! Neither of these things were creatures ordinary people would be able to see in several lifetimes as they belonged to the category of legendary existences, but today they seemed to be appearing one after another.
Even with Fei Zhi Tu’s incredible self discipline and composure, at this moment, he couldn’t help his body from trembling and his heart from clenching.
The others present weren’t fairing much better; all of them had their mouths agape as they stared at the majestic Ice Phoenix before them, as if all of them had suddenly fallen into a daze, unable to speak and even forgetting to continue escaping.
On the other hand, Yang Kai’s mouth twitched as he stared at the Ice Phoenix with a worried look. The Ice Phoenix itself was in an illusionary state and although the pressure coming from it was grand and imposing, the actual energy fluctuations it was giving off weren’t very strong.
“No, it’s just a Remnant Soul!” Fei Zhi Tu also soon noticed this, allowing his expression to relax somewhat. If a true Ancient Divine Spirit had appeared here, it would be impossible for it to be giving off such a weak aura, the only explanation was that this was just a Remnant Soul.
However, even if this was just a weak Remnant Soul of an Ancient Divine Spirit, if it was given enough time, it may be able to restore itself, and even if it only managed to recover ten percent of its peak strength, it would still be an existence rivaling an Origin King!
The moment the Ice Phoenix appeared, its pair of beautiful eyes fixed on the giant eagle that was fighting with the Artifact Spirit, a look of pleasant surprise flashing across its eyes as it let out a joyful cry.
The giant eagle reacted as if its natural predator had suddenly appeared and its behaviour became chaotic, allowing the Artifact Spirit, which was originally being completely suppressed, to burn its face. Immediately, the World Spirit ignored the attack of the Artifact Spirit and fled.
The Ice Phoenix spread its wings and transformed into a streak of white light to pursue the fleeing World Spirit.
In the blink of an eye, the Ice Phoenix and the giant eagle had disappeared.
After losing its opponent, the Firebird Artifact Spirit immediately flew back and once again transformed into a protective cover, shielding Yang Kai’s group from the cold.
The chill which had been seeping past the Grand Fire Ward and Yang Kai’s Demonic Flame barrier was immediately blocked.
The entire ice road suddenly became silent as everyone stared dumbfounded at Yang Kai. Yang Kai himself wore a somber expression as he stared in the direction the Ice Phoenix had departed, no one able to tell what he was thinking.
Only after quite some time had passed did Fei Zhi Tu cough and asked hesitantly, “Yang Kai, was that Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul yours?”
Although he had seen a flash of light come from Yang Kai’s body before the Ice Phoenix appeared, until now he still couldn’t believe that this young man actually possessed a Remnant Soul of an Ancient Divine Spirit.
This little brat had a shocking Artifact Spirit as well as an Ancient Divine Spirit’s Remnant Soul…
Just how Heaven-defying must his luck be to have obtained these two things?
“Yes!” Yang Kai glanced over at him, and although he felt that it was impossible for the people here to try to fight for the Ice Phoenix with him, he still had some vigilance in his heart as he asked lightly, “City Lord Fei, do you know why my Ice Phoenix chased after that World Spirit?”
He had yet to figure out why the Ice Phoenix had suddenly reacted this time. There was no way it was simply because it had been stimulated by the Ice Attribute Energy in this place as Yang Kai had traveled to many frigid places before and had never seen such a reaction. His Profound Yin Sunflower Water also had an extreme amount of cold energy stored within it and the same was true for the Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal, but the Ice Phoenix had never appeared like that before Yang Kai came to this ice road.
Fei Zhi Tu chuckled, his attitude softening significantly as he explained, “You not understanding is reasonable. Ancient Divine Spirits like to devour World Spirits of the same attributes because it is extremely beneficial to them. It looks like your Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul is quite weak, so it should urgently want to swallow that World Spirit to restore its strength. Ancient Divine Spirits are natural predators to World Spirits! However, you can rest assured, since that Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul belongs to you, after swallowing that World Spirit, it will naturally return.”
“So that’s how it is!” Yang Kai nodded with a composed look while still feeling anxious inside.
Others did not know the situation, but he was perfectly clear that the Phoenix Empress Inheritance was only using his body as a vessel to reside in for a time and didn’t actually belong to him. If not for him possessing the Dragon Emperor Inheritance, the Phoenix Empress Inheritance would not have come with him and would still be sealed in the Phoenix Nest back on Tong Xuan Realm.
Naturally, Yang Kai wasn’t going to disclose this kind of information and could only swallow down his worries. If the people here learned that the Ice Phoenix did not actually belong to him, it might cause some unnecessary trouble.
However, after this incident, Yang Kai understood that Dragon Phoenix Palace’s Dragon Emperor and Phoenix Empress Inheritances were actually Ancient Divine Spirit Remnant Souls. Knowing this, it was easy to understand why they had such power and why the two tattoos on his back seemed so lifelike, often swimming across the surface of his skin.
The World Spirit of this ice road wanted to devour the vitality of Yang Kai’s group, but now it had met its natural enemy and been forced to flee. As a result, the big stone that was pressing on everyone’s hearts lifted along with the life or death crisis. With the Artifact Spirit and Grand Fire Ward’s two layers of protection, the group didn’t need to worry about being affected by the ambient cold but they still accelerated their pace to rush towards the end of the ice road.
A short time later, Yang Kai realized that the coldness of this place was converging towards a certain place and the dreadful chill in the air was significantly easing.
After a while, this abnormal movement stopped and at a certain point in the distance, a bright glow appeared. A gorgeous and noble figure soon came into view as it rushed over towards Yang Kai’s group.
Yang Kai wore a look of joy as the Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul returned.
Although he had been somewhat worried, he was still certain the other party wouldn’t just leave so easily; after all, the Phoenix Empress Inheritance and his Dragon Emperor Inheritance shared a strong bond that attracted one another.
For these years, the Ice Phoenix had taken his body as its vessel and been in a state of deep sleep, so it suddenly leaving without reason was an unlikely scenario.
With a great flash of light, the huge figure of the Ice Phoenix floated above everyone’s head, its cold and noble eyes staring down at all of them, causing everyone to unconsciously hold their breath.
Seeing this, Yang Kai’s eyes flashed a strange light and quietly whispered, “City Lord Fei, could I trouble you to open a gap in the Grand Fire Ward?”
“En,” Fei Zhi Tu nodded quickly and with a quick thought opened a small hole in the Grand Fire Ward’s protection. At the same time, the Firebird Artifact Spirit also opened a passage through its barrier.
The Ice Phoenix’s figure transformed into a beam of white light that dove into Yang Kai’s body and disappeared.
Although everyone was curious whether the Ice Phoenix had successfully swallowed the World Spirit, no one asked at this time as what was most important right now was to leave this ice road.
Fortunately, it seemed that they were not far from the ice road’s end and after only a few dozen breaths the group stepped off it and into a stone hall. At the same time, the chill which had filled the air finally disappeared.
Fei Zhi Tu turned his head and looked at Yang Kai, but upon seeing him frown as he seemingly investigated himself, he didn’t bother him and just said, “All of you take a rest here for now, I’ll search for the markings left by Old Qian.”
Saying so, he walked off to search the area.
When everyone heard Fei Zhi Tu’s proposal, none of them objected, all of them finding a spot to sit down cross-legged and control their breathing. Although they had not expended much strength when crossing this ice road, the mental strain they experienced was great. If not for the Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul appearing at the last moment, the consequences would have been unimaginable. To resist the ambient cold and the World Spirit’s attack, everyone had consumed some power, so now was a good chance to restore themselves.
Yang Kai sat silently as he continued to inspect the situation in his body.
Although the Phoenix Empress Inheritance did not belong to him, since it was living in his body, he was able to sense some things about it. To his surprise, the Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul did not seem to have obtained much nourishment after it left him, and although it indeed felt stronger than before, it was obviously not because it had swallowed that World Spirit.
[It failed to devour the World Spirit!] Yang Kai immediately made this conclusion. However, after absorbing some of the Ice Attribute Energy from the ice road, it had managed to strengthen itself a bit.
This result did not surprise Yang Kai. For one, the Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul did not have much strength right now. It was just an ancient inheritance and could not play any kind of big role in his hands. Only when he transferred it to Su Yan and the two fused would it be able to display its full might.
Secondly, since the Ice Attribute World Spirit was born on this ice road, it must be extremely familiar with the environment so avoiding the Ice Phoenix should not have been a problem.
[What a pity!] Yang Kai sighed. If the Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul could have swallowed the World Spirit, maybe some unexpected changes would have occurred. If he could give it to Su Yan after that, the benefits she would obtain would be even greater.
Yang Kai was not ready to go back to find trouble with the World Spirit right now though. Although the Ice Phoenix was its natural enemy, Yang Kai could not control the Ice Phoenix at all and even a cornered rabbit would bite back, let alone a powerful World Spirit. From what Yang Kai observed, if that World Spirit was really driven into a dead end, who would die and who would live between it and the Ice Phoenix was uncertain.
While everyone was meditating and resting, they would also shoot glances towards Yang Kai from time to time. Everyone hid deep envy in the depths of their eyes, and even the always indifferent Lian Guang was no exception.
In response, Yang Kai pretended not to notice and simply continued his meditation. What they thought to themselves was not any of his concern, as long as they didn’t try to find trouble with him.
“Good, I found the marks left behind by that old ghost Qian. Follow me!” Fei Zhi Tu’s voice suddenly called out. When everyone heard this, they stood up and walked over towards the source of the sound.
This hall’s area was not very large and, after leaving it, the group soon arrived at the entrance to a labyrinth. There were many passages that split and criss-crossed, leading to who knows where. Just looking at it made everyone feel a headache coming on.
Standing at the entrance of the labyrinth, everyone looked around at one another, unsure of how to proceed.
Fei Zhi Tu stepped forward at that moment, causing everyone to fall in behind him.
As he walked, Fei Zhi Tu explained, “Although some of the things in Old Qian’s message were not clear, he did mention this labyrinth. There are no Spirit Arrays in this maze but there are some other traps!”
“Traps?” Ning Xiang Chen looked surprised.
“Yeah, traps!” Fei Zhi Tu gently nodded, “Don’t underestimate these traps, if you accidentally touch one of them, we may not be able to escape from here with our lives!”
Ning Xiang Chen and the others all paled slightly upon hearing this.
While talking, a fork in the road suddenly appeared in front of the group. Fei Zhi Tu stood at the fork and looked back at Lian Guang, “Lian Boy, you’re up.”
Without a word, Lian Guang waved his hand and suddenly a few puppets resembling mice appeared on the ground. Under Lian Guang’s command, these mice dove into the various forks and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up as he finally understood why Fei Zhi Tu had brought the Saint King Realm Lian Guang along: it was to use his puppet to explore the way here.
This was indeed an excellent method. In places where it was too dangerous for a cultivator to explore, Lian Guang’s puppets could be used instead. Even if some of these puppets were lost, it wouldn’t result in much harm.
After the few mice-like puppets disappeared, Lian Guang closed his eyes as if he was sensing something. After a while, a squeaking noise came from the left channel and Lian Guang’s face cringed in pain for a moment.
Judging from this, the passage on the left was probably quite dangerous and the puppet which was scouting it had been destroyed.
After a while, another squeak sounded from the front passage and Lian Guang opened his eyes and said, “Right!”
Fei Zhi Tu nodded lightly and headed into the right passage.
With Lian Guang’s pathfinder puppets, it was much more convenient to explore this labyrinth. These mouse puppets did not seem to have any combat power but were instead extremely well suited for scouting. After sacrificing about thirty of these puppets, the group exited the labyrinth without a single scratch.
But Lian Guang’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot and it was obvious that he was feeling quite distressed.
Although it was not too difficult to refine these mice puppets, each of them had consumed a lot of materials. Thirty mouse puppets were equivalent to a few years of Lian Guang’s savings.
It would be strange if his mood was good.
“Rest assured, after we return, you will receive enough benefits to compensate for your loss,” Fei Zhi Tu comforted.
With this promise, Lian Guang’s complexion became much better.
“Brother Fei, you didn’t mention anything about this before. What should we do now?” Ning Xiang Chen frowned as he stared forward.
Hearing this question, Fei Zhi Tu turned his head and looked towards the front, a dumbfounded expression soon covering his face.
Because after passing through the labyrinth, two arched doors appeared in front of the group, one black and one white. These doors were quite strange, the white one seemingly made of warm white jade while the black one gave off a cold and menacing aura. The contrast was quite stark.
Beyond the two arched doors there was only a void. Any Divine Sense that penetrated this void was unable to perceive anything. It was like staring into a bottomless lake.
“A Space Array Gate?” Fei Zhi Tu exclaimed in surprise.
“What, did Elder Qian not tell you which one of these we’re supposed to enter?” Ning Xiang Chen asked in amazement. If there was something in the message sent by Qian Tong, Fei Zhi Tu would not be showing a surprised look right now, so the only explanation was that even Fei Zhi Tu didn’t know about this thing.
“He didn’t mention this gate!” Fei Zhi Tu slowly shook his head.
“How could Elder Qian have neglected to mention something so important?” Ning Xiang Chen called out in alarm.
“That old ghost Qian’s message was clearly sent in a rush, so him not being able to mention some things isn’t unexpected,” Fei Zhi Tu frowned. Saying so, he turned his head to look at Cai He and Du Si Si and asked, “Can you two analyse this gate?”
Two completely different circular doors, one black, one white; a difficult choice had appeared in front of everyone. In general, most people would tend to choose the white door because black always represented evil and death, but one could not make such an arbitrary judgement as none of them knew where these two Space Array Gates led.
Perhaps one represented life and one death, or perhaps it did not matter either way…
Fei Zhi Tu could only pin his hopes on Cai He and Du Si Si.
Hearing this question, the two Array Masters exchanged an awkward look with Cai He eventually replying, “Although we’ve both studied Spirit Arrays all our lives, we know nothing about the Dao of Space or Space Force, nor have we ever come into contact with something like a Space Array Gate. However, Spirit Arrays are still Spirit Arrays, if Senior Fei is willing to allow us, Si Si and I can study this Space Array Gate to see if we can determine which path is the suitable one.”
Fei Zhi Tu gently nodded, “Good, don’t worry, the two of you just study it carefully. If you discover anything, be sure to inform me right away.”
Cai He and Du Si Si nodded and stepped forward, spreading out their tools to begin their examination of the two Space Array Gates.
Everyone else present could not provide any assistance to these two so they had no choice but to sit or stand on the sides and observe. Even Yang Kai, who cultivated the Dao of Space, could not help. The situation right now was quite simple. Both Space Array Gates could be used, but where they lead, no one knew, so everyone could only pin their hopes on Cai He and Du Si Si.
It was a pity that although these two had been trained by their families since they were young and had decent attainments in Spirit Arrays, this situation was essentially completely foreign to them. In the beginning, everything proceeded smoothly, but soon the two young Array Masters began arguing. It seemed one of them favoured entering the white Space Array Gate while the other was convinced the black Space Array Gate was the correct choice. Neither could persuade the other as their decisions were based on their own intuition rather than substantive facts.
Although Cai He was interested in Du Si Si, this was a matter of great importance, so he refused to compromise on his opinion.
Seeing this, Yang Kai sighed slightly.
These two certainly had exceptionally good attainments in the Dao of Spirit Arrays, but compared with Yang Yan, the difference was still immense. When they fell into Spirit Arrays along the way, Yang Kai was able to estimate that, if Yang Yan were here, it would not take her longer than a quarter of an hour to find their cores and crack them. On the other hand, these two working together would often take many times longer than that.
If Yang Yan were here, which gate would she choose?
Yang Kai squinted at the two Space Array Gates for a moment before smiling wryly, secretly thinking that if Yang Yan encountered this situation, she would choose the black one.
The reason was simple, that girl was always wearing a black robe, even going so far as to wrap it around her head and face, so obviously she had a liking for the colour black.
Just as he was thinking this, an intense suction force suddenly erupted from the black and white Space Array Gates, their surfaces changing in appearance from the surfaces of calm lakes to massive vortices in the shape of funnels, drawing in everything around them.
It seemed that after being probed by the Array Tools arranged by Cai He and Du Si Si, the two Space Array Gates had been inadvertently activated and were now running out of control.
The power of this suction force caused everyone to pale because when it appeared they all felt themselves being pulled towards the black and white Space Array Gates uncontrollably.
Fei Zhi Tu and the other Origin Realm masters furiously pushed their Saint Qi but were still unable to resist this suction. Seeing himself being dragged towards the Space Array Gates, Fei Zhi Tu hurriedly shouted, “Cai Boy, Du Girl, which choice is the right one?”
Cai He and Du Si Si, who were arguing a moment ago, were currently panicking, so there was no way they would be able to reach a consensus within a short time, each of them shouting out their own choice.
Hearing this, Fei Zhi Tu immediately understood he couldn’t count on them for an answer but he didn’t blame them, no one had expected such a strange incident to suddenly occur.
“I can’t hold on!” Ning Xiang Chen shouted and consciously stopped resisting, turning his head back to shout, “Brother Fei, this old master will be going on ahead.”
As soon as his words fell, he rushed towards the white gate and his figure disappeared through it in a blink of an eye.
At the same time, the old woman was being drawn into the black gate. Seeing Ning Xiang Chen rush to the other gate, she struggled violently but to her dismay, she was unable to escape the black gate’s pull and was sucked into it with a pitiful cry.
In a flash, two Origin Returning Realm masters were pulled into two different Space Array Gates, causing everyone to no longer know which choice they should make.
Moreover, at this moment, even if they wanted to make a choice, they were unable to. The cultivator surnamed Wen and Fei Zhi Tu were also pulled towards the white gate and seeing that their resistance was pointless, Fei Zhi Tu grit his teeth and shouted, “Go in!”
As he said so, he and the man surnamed Wen disappeared into the white gate.
Before the two of them entered, Lian Guang had also disappeared. Everyone had been busy trying to save themselves, so no one had noticed when he had been sucked into the gate or even which gate he had entered. On the other hand, Yang Kai was still quite far away and struggling to resist. Cai He and Du Si Si were also putting up a last-ditch struggle with the help of the Array Tools they had previously deployed.
Seeing that most of the masters had rushed into the white gate, Du Si Si grit her teeth and shifted her figure, hoping to follow after them, but at that last moment she was actually pulled back by Cai He who hurriedly shouted, “We need to go this way!”
Du Si Si did not even have time to get angry before she and Cai He were sucked into the black gate.
Yang Kai was the last one remaining of the group and as he was being pulled towards the gates, he smiled wryly and muttered aloud, “Yang Yan, Yang Yan, don’t let me down!”
Saying so, he leapt into the black gate.
In the next instant, his body was swallowed by the black gate and, after a brief bout of dizziness, Yang Kai found himself in a completely different place. After looking around carefully, he spotted Du Si Si harshly scolding Cai He while the latter was frantically apologizing.
Fortunately, all of them had been transported to the same place and there did not seem to be any danger in their immediate surroundings. Realizing this, Yang Kai calmed down and immediately released his Divine Sense to scan the local region.
This place seemed to be another grand hall, one that was surrounded by open fields, a fact that relieved Yang Kai greatly.
The reason why he chose the black Space Array Gate was not entirely because of Yang Yan’s preference for black, Yang Kai also had his own thoughts about the issue. Although acting with most masters would probably increase his security, no one could say for certain what lay beyond the two gates, so the choice he made didn’t really matter.
On the other hand, the two Array Masters Cai He and Du Si Si would be able to play a huge role in exploring this Ancient Ruin and since they had entered the black gate, Yang Kai was naturally willing to follow.
This would allow him to avoid getting stuck inside some Spirit Array.
“Don’t quarrel!” The old woman who had come here a step faster suddenly shouted, interrupting Du Si Si’s tirade against Cai He. After glaring at the two young Array Masters for a moment, she turned to Yang Kai and asked, “What about the others?”
“All the others entered the other gate, I was the last one to come through,” Yang Kai glanced around but didn’t see any trace of Lian Guang’s figure, concluding he must have entered the other side.
“What…” The old woman’s complexion changed slightly as she did not seem to expect she would be completely separated from the other masters. When she looked at the three Juniors in front of her, she could not help feeling a bit frustrated and helpless. At this time, given her strength and status, if their group encountered danger, it would probably fall on her to deal with it, so the pressure she felt was quite unpleasant.
However, when she thought about the power of Yang Kai’s Artifact Spirit, the old woman relaxed slightly. While the two Array Masters probably would not be much use in a fight, Yang Kai was a different story.
After pondering for a while, the old woman said, “Regardless of the situation on their side, Du Girl, this old woman feels that our choice should be correct.”
Although Du Si Si’s anger was suppressed by the old woman’s words and she did not try to chastise Cai He for bringing her here against her will, she still asked in an unconvinced tone, “Why is that?”
“At the very least, it’s safe here. City Lord Fei’s side may not be as peaceful as this place. Don’t blame Cai Boy anymore, he had good intentions.”
“En,” Du Si Si nodded reluctantly. She still felt it would have been better to follow the other group which had more masters.
The old woman sank into thought for a while before turning to Yang Kai and asking, “Little Friend Yang, what do you think we should do now?”
She took the initiative to ask Yang Kai’s opinion.
Yang Kai chuckled and cupped his fists, “Senior is too polite. Junior is young and inexperienced, so he will defer to Senior’s knowledge. Senior need only lead, Junior will follow!”
Hearing this made the old woman’s wrinkled brow loosen slightly and a smile form on her lips, “Alright, let’s first leave here then.”
Cai He and Du Si Si naturally did not have any objections, so the three Saint King Realm juniors quietly followed the old woman out of the hall.
The outside of the hall appeared almost identical to the scene everyone had seen when they first entered these Ancient Ruins. There were flower beds all around with rare and exotic plants growing here and there, but in addition to these, there were several decorative rockeries.
Sniffing the air, Yang Kai suddenly showed a look of surprise.
At the same time, the old woman and the two young Array Masters also noticed something and could not help exchanging an excited glance.
Because there was an incredibly refreshing fragrance floating through the air. This fragrance was not fake or some kind of illusion, which could only mean that there was something good at the location it was originating from!
Considering all this, everyone’s pulse sped up.
“Obviously, you’ve also noticed!” The old woman smiled slightly, “Accompany this old woman to see what good thing it is, but be careful not to fall into another Spirit Array trap.”
The several Juniors nodded before quickly following behind the old woman to search for the source of the fragrance.
Surprisingly, while everyone acted very careful along the way, they didn’t encounter any kind of danger, and after spending about half an hour, they arrived at the source of the fragrance.
Unexpectedly, what lay in front of their group was a large rockery, one that was over ten metres high and several tens of metres wide. No one knew what material this rockery was built from, only that it seemed to be quite uniformly constructed.
Yang Kai squinted at this rockery with interest. He noticed that whatever this rockery was constructed from was a rare Artifact Refining material. If he was able to bring it out from this place, it could definitely be refined into several powerful artifacts! Unfortunately, this rockery was far too large. Even if a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master came here, they wouldn’t be able to take it away, causing Yang Kai to sigh helplessly.
Inside the rockery was a small pool only about a metre in diameter. This pool seemed to be only a finger deep, but the liquid inside it was a milky white, making it impossible to see the bottom.
The fragrance everyone smelled was coming from this pool.
Just above the pool, there were trances of flowing liquid, so it seemed that the water here was collecting from some unknown place. However, after not being maintained for countless years, there still only being the accumulated liquid in this pool clearly indicated how slowly this accumulation process was.
“This is…” The old woman stared at the finger deep pool as her expression changed from serious to excited, and from joy to hesitation.
“Is this Ten Thousand Year Stone Milk?” Cai He exclaimed.
“It really is Ten Thousand Year Stone Milk?” Du Si Si was also excited. Although they had never seen Ten Thousand Year Stone Milk before, both of them had heard its name before. Ten Thousand Year Stone Milk was extremely rare but had some incredible uses.
It was said that when used in Alchemy, it could produce a wondrous healing remedy that could bring a cultivator back from the brink of death. It was a rare treasure for any cultivator.
Yang Kai initially thought this was Ten Thousand Year Stone Milk as well; after all, the appearance of the liquid in this pool was very similar to the records he had read, practically identical in fact. However, upon closer inspection, he felt this was wrong, because Ten Thousand Year Stone Milk was rumored to be milky white with a touch of light gold, but this pool of liquid was only milky white.
If it wasn’t Ten Thousand Year Stone Milk though, what was it? Although Yang Kai was an Alchemist, and had read many ancient books about herbs and pill recipes, it didn’t mean he recognized all the medicines in the world.
He couldn’t help turning his eyes to the old woman, hoping she would recognize what this was.
The expression of the old woman had been changing constantly, but after much pondering, she gently exhaled and said, “Whether it is Ten Thousand Year Stone Milk or not, we’ll know after giving it a try!”
Saying so, she dipped her finger into the pool of liquid, extracted a drop, then placed it into her mouth.
In the next moment, the old woman’s eyes bulged as an incredible vital energy suddenly burst out from her aging body, causing her old face to flush bright red.
At a speed visible to the naked eye, the wrinkles on her face began to diminish and her rickety back slowly straightened up.
After a dozen breaths, the old woman’s expression returned to normal, but her appearance had undergone a dramatic change. She seemed to be a lot younger, and although she would still be classified as an old woman, it was far better than before.
The three Saint Kings were stunned.
The old woman also couldn’t believe the change she just experienced. Quickly taking out a mirror from her Space Ring, she held it in front of her face as she stroked her cheek with her free hand. After seeing her new appearance, a few tears leaked from her old eyes and her body trembled visibly.
Yang Kai and the others didn’t disturb her, standing to the side and waiting for her to calm down, hoping she could give them an explanation.
It took a while before the old woman let out a burst of laughter and began nodding repeatedly, “So that’s how it is!”
“Senior, what kind of elixir is this to have such magical effects?” Cai He asked anxiously.
“What kind of elixir is this…” The old woman glanced over at him, “This isn’t a mere elixir, it is a long-lost supreme treasure that no amount of money can purchase!”
When she said this, Yang Kai frowned slightly and secretly began circulating his Saint Qi preparing to take action at a moment’s notice. Men die for wealth just as birds die for food, so although this old woman had been showing him much goodwill during this expedition, if this treasure truly was as precious as she described it, there was no guarantee that this old woman wouldn’t try to kill all of them in order to keep it for herself.
There were only four of them in this place with her strength being the greatest and, judging from her reaction just now, this pool of liquid was apparently worth her taking some risks.
Yang Kai even noticed a light flash across this old woman’s eyes. Obviously the other party was weighing such thoughts, but for some unspoken reason, she ultimately decided not to act on his impulse and instead slowly answered Cai He’s repeated questions with a question of her own, “Have you ever heard of the Star Field’s Three Great Divine Waters?”
“Three Great Divine Waters?” Cai He and Du Si Si both wore confused looks.
Yang Kai on the other hand raised his brow.
“It seems Little Friend Yang has heard of them,” The old woman saw Yang Kai’s reaction and smiled.
“I have heard the term, but as for what these Three Great Divine Waters are, I don’t really know,” Yang Kai answered honestly.
He really had heard of the Three Great Divine Waters; after all, the pool of Soul Cleansing Divine Water back in the Flowing Flame Sand Field was one of them! Soul Cleansing Divine Water could remove the impurities in a cultivator’s Soul and greatly increase their Soul cultivation.
However, the conditions for the creation of Soul Cleansing Divine Water were extremely demanding. First, an Origin King Realm master needed to die inside a Spirit Spring or Spirit Well, then the Spiritual Energy of that dead Origin King needed to blend together with that Spirit Spring; finally, after thousands of years, there was a chance a pool of Soul Cleansing Divine Water would form.
At that time, back in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Yang Kai had obtained many benefits from the pool of Soul Cleansing Divine Water which eventually led to the Soul Warming Lotus evolving to its Seven Coloured form. Yang Kai also comprehended his Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique from that opportunity.
At that time, Yang Kai had heard people talk about the Star Field’s Three Great Divine Waters and had made a note to ask Yang Yan about them when he returned, but after many twists and turns he had forgotten to do so.
Now hearing the old woman mention the Three Great Divine Waters, Yang Kai naturally paid attention.
“Is this one of the Three Great Divine Waters?” Yang Kai asked in surprise.
“Yes, if this old woman isn’t wrong, this is Life Revitalizing Jade Cream!” The old woman declared.
“Life Revitalizing Jade Cream!” The three Saint Kings all called out in shock. Although they weren’t clear just how precious this Life Revitalizing Jade Cream was, since it could be classified as one of the Star Field’s Three Great Divine Waters, and after witnessing the changes the old woman just underwent, they could at least tell it was indeed a priceless treasure.
“Heh heh,” The old woman chuckled, “Our luck is really quite good, actually finding Life Revitalizing Jade Cream here. This is a once-in-a-hundred-thousand-year opportunity!”
“Senior, what exactly is this Life Revitalizing Jade Cream used for?” Cai He asked excitedly.
“The number of wondrous uses for it is countless, but the primary one is to enhance the vitality of a cultivator. It can even extend the life of the cultivator. This old woman only swallowed a drop of it yet I already feel decades younger! It is no different from restoring one’s youth! Compared to Ten Thousand Year Stone Milk, this Life Revitalizing Jade Cream’s value is many times higher,” The old woman explained excitedly.
Because her aptitude had been insufficient, she had remained stuck at the First-Order Origin Returning Realm for many years, and with her remaining lifespan growing shorter, she felt it was impossible for her cultivation to rise any further.
But all of a sudden, this Heaven defying Life Revitalizing Jade Cream had appeared in front of her.
With this treasure, not only could she restore her youthful appearance, she could greatly extend her lifespan. With these additional years, she would have ample opportunity to break through her own bottlenecks and reach the peak of Shadowed Star’s Martial Dao in time.
Listening to her explanation, how could Yang Kai and the others not understand how valuable this Life Revitalizing Jade Cream?
On Shadowed Star, the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm was the highest cultivation one could reach and their lifespan was also limited to the peak of this realm. Many shocking talents were crushed by this immutable reality that forever shackled them, but if they could obtain some Life Revitalizing Jade Cream and increase their lifespan, they would also be increasing their chances of breaking through those very limits.
Once word of such a treasure’s existence leaked out, it wouldn’t be long before all of the masters on Shadowed Star came to try to snatch it.
Thinking of this, everyone fell silent.
The old woman glanced around at the three juniors and said solemnly, “I hope all of you can keep silent regarding this treasure. Even when you return to your families, it would be best to not let irrelevant people hear of this.”
“Junior understands!” Cai He and Du Si Si echoed in unison.
Yang Kai also nodded his head. He knew the significance of this matter and naturally wouldn’t cause unnecessary trouble for himself.
“Senior, if I may ask, you just referred to this Life Revitalizing Jade Cream as one of the Three Great Divine Waters, so what are the other two?” Cai He asked curiously. Naturally he was unwilling to let an opportunity to gain some important insight slip by. Although the Three Great Divine Waters were no doubt extremely difficult to obtain, since they were able to discover one of them, there was no reason to believe they wouldn’t have an opportunity to obtain the other two in the future.
Hearing this, the old woman nodded and explained, “The other two are equally valuable once-in-a-hundred-thousand-year existences. One of them is Soul Cleansing Divine Water, and I heard that this treasure actually appeared a few years ago.”
“It did?” Cai He and Du Si Si exclaimed.
“Yes, it appeared in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. If neither of you went in, it’s reasonable you didn’t know about it. Unfortunately, no Origin Realm cultivator can set foot into the Flowing Flame Sand Field, otherwise this old woman might have had a chance to obtain some of it.”
“What about the last one?” Du Si Si asked.
“That last one, heh, the last one is the Immortal Source Liquid!” The old woman’s face revealed a fascinated look as she slowly said, “Soul Cleansing Divine Water can help a cultivator wash and purify their Soul while improving their Soul cultivation. Life Revitalizing Jade Cream can increase one’s vitality and lifespan. Finally, Immortal Source Liquid can help a cultivator strengthen their physique and is the ultimate Body Tempering treasure. If one has truly Heaven defying luck, they may even be able to refine the Immortal Divine Tree and gain an immortal and indestructible body!”
“Immortal Divine Tree?” Yang Kai’s expression changed and he unavoidably became very excited when he heard the old woman say that Immortal Source Liquid was the ultimate Body Tempering treasure. Although he had the Five Element Indestructible Sword Tempering Art, a high-grade Body Tempering Secret Art that, when cultivated to its highest level, could produce an immortal and indestructible physique, in the end, he had yet to cultivate it, so there was no way of knowing what its true efficacy was. On top of that, he was still lacking two of five elemental treasures and was not anticipating obtaining them any time soon. Now hearing that this Immortal Divine Tree actually had such a wondrous effect, of course he would take an interest.
Yang Kai didn’t know what kind of relationship there was between the Immortal Divine Tree and the Immortal Source Liquid, but since the old woman had mentioned it, there must be a reason.
Cai He and Du Si Si were also listening and with rapt attention.
The old woman paused for a moment before explaining, “The Immortal Divine Tree is said to have been created at the beginning of the universe and is, itself, an immortal and indestructible existence. Immortal Source Liquid is rumoured to be the dew secreted from the Immortal Divine Tree. According to ancient records, some people with Heaven defying luck have managed to acquire some Immortal Source Liquid, but no records of anyone ever seeing the Immortal Divine Tree itself exist. Whether it is even real or not, this old woman doesn’t know.”
“So it’s like that!” Yang Kai thought about it while stroking his chin. If this was the case, it would clearly be more reliable for him to cultivate the Five Element Indestructible Sword Tempering Art. Even if the effects of the Five Element Indestructible Sword Tempering Art were somewhat exaggerated, all in all, it was still a high-quality Body Tempering Secret Art. After cultivating it, it would definitely increase his strength whereas this Immortal Source Liquid and Immortal Divine Tree were only illusory existences that may or may not exist.
“Good, let’s end the talk about the Three Great Divine Waters here. Right now, we should decide how to divide this Life Revitalizing Jade Cream,” The old woman waved her hand and wore a solemn look as she stared at the three Saint Kings in front of her and said, “This old woman won’t use her age to take advantage of you Juniors. How about we simply split this Life Revitalizing Jade Cream equally?”
Cai He and Du Si Si glanced at each other briefly before nodding happily.
Yang Kai certainly wouldn’t raise any objections.
Seeing this, the old woman immediately took out a few jade bottles and used some mysterious method to extract the Life Revitalizing Jade Cream from the pool. The whole process was carried out in front of the three Saint King Realm youths’ eyes so they could tell she didn’t play any tricks. This old woman really divided up the Life Revitalizing Jade Cream into four equal parts, one for each of them.
“Take good care of this and after you return home, make sure you discuss its existence with no one!” The old woman again exclaimed solemnly.
“Yes!” Cai He and Du Si Si tightly clenched the bottle of Life Revitalizing Jade Cream in their hands before carefully storing it away into their respective Space Rings.
Having obtained such a precious treasure, both of them felt that this entire trip had been worthwhile and Du Si Si no longer felt like blaming Cai He for dragging her through the black Space Array Gate. Deep down, she was now actually feeling grateful towards him.
If not for Cai He’s actions back then, she would have missed this opportunity to obtain this priceless treasure.
“Let’s go, we still need to find a way out of this place,” The old woman seemed to be in a good mood and led the three Saint King youths away after saying so.
Yang Kai remained silent the whole time, but before he left, he couldn’t help glancing back at the rockery, a strange light flashing across his eyes.
Since Life Revitalizing Jade Cream was known as one of the Three Great Divine Waters, according to reason, its effects couldn’t possibly have been so weak. The old woman had taken a drop of it but it had only made her appearance a few years younger, which was not something too remarkable.
Moreover, the old woman had freely divided the pool of Life Revitalizing Jade Cream into four parts, something which puzzled Yang Kai greatly. Just taking her strength and age into consideration, even if she requested to take half of the pool for herself, Yang Kai believed Cai He and Du Si Si wouldn’t refuse, nor would he, but the old woman only took a quarter, which was oddly generous.
Thinking about the traces of liquid flowing into the rockery, Yang Kai silently guessed that this pool of Life Revitalizing Jade Cream was not actually composed of pure Life Revitalizing Jade Cream.
Perhaps… it was just a diluted byproduct which had flowed here from somewhere else!
If he could follow the flow of this liquid back to its source, he may be able to find a purer Life Revitalizing Jade Cream!
If this was the case, the old woman’s actions could also be explained. She may have been aware of this, so she was willing to divide up the pool of Life Revitalizing Jade Cream equally, satisfying the others first while intending to come back here another time to further explore this region.
This wasn’t impossible! Considering all this, Yang Kai’s mouth curled into a grin. If others had such ideas, there was no way he didn’t have them too. After all, obtaining good things for oneself would not only bring a greater sense of accomplishment, but also a greater sense of satisfaction.
Of course, all of this was just his own guess and it would be necessary to verify whether this was really the case in the future.
After dispersing for a time, the group of four gathered together at an agreed upon spot and began going over their findings in turn.
After half a day of exploration, everyone found that there was really no danger here, but even after deciding to split up and search for a way out, it had taken half a day to fully search this space.
Once they regrouped and spoke of their individual discoveries, Yang Kai immediately understood that this location was an isolated space that occupied a large area, but apart from the Life Revitalizing Jade Cream they had previously discovered, there was nothing else worthy of note. There was also no obvious exit.
The only possible way out was discovered by Cai He.
After he mentioned this possible exit, the old woman quickly postulated, “So we can only leave through that exit? Cai Boy, did you see anything about that exit we need to pay attention to?”
“There was nothing there worth noting besides a several-dozen-metre-tall humanoid statue that was standing above the exit. That statue looked fierce and imposing and the exit is actually between its legs.”
“A humanoid statue?” The old woman frowned.
“En, other than that, there was nothing suspicious.”
The old woman nodded lightly, “Since that’s the case, let’s go take a look.”
After a brief discussion, the group of four moved to the location Cai He had found. Half an hour later, everyone arrived at their destination and Cai He pointed to the front and said, “Senior, that’s the exit I found.”
Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing and couldn’t help staring for a moment because there was indeed a round gateway there, one that was pitch black and seemed bottomless. Sending their Divine Senses into this black abyss felt like tossing a rock into the ocean, making it impossible to determine what lay beyond.
In front of this gateway was a several-dozen-metre-tall statue, its legs spread ever so slightly as they stood on either side of the gateway. This scene made everyone smile somewhat bitterly.
Although it was just a statue, it was quite an uncomfortable feeling to have to pass under a humanoid figure’s crotch.
Moreover, whether this statue held any secrets or dangers was undetermined. The old woman said nothing and released her Divine Sense to probe the statue carefully. Yang Kai did the same.
After a while, the old woman took back her Divine Sense and whispered, “There doesn’t seem to be anything amiss with this statue, nor do there seem to be any traces of barriers or Spirit Arrays, but everyone should remain alert. Since this statue was placed here specifically, it must have some purpose, so don’t act carelessly.”
The Saint King juniors naturally nodded and consciously raised their vigilance.
The Spirit Array traps in this Ancient Ruin were all extremely well hidden, to the point that even Fei Zhi Tu was sometimes unable to notice them until it was too late. If that wasn’t the case, after entering this Ancient Ruin their group wouldn’t have gotten trapped in one Spirit Array after another.
There was no guarantee that this statue wasn’t part of some kind of barrier, Spirit Array, or trap mechanism.
A dignified look flashed across the old woman’s eyes as she opened her mouth and spat out a brown beam of light. This brown light was clearly some kind of artifact and quickly transformed into a halo which surrounded her body.
With this extra layer of protection, the old woman’s expression calmed slightly as she called out, “This old woman will lead the way, all of you follow close.”
Yang Kai and the others also summed their own defensive artifacts and then immediately followed after the old woman.
A moment later, the old woman walked to within a hundred or so metres of the gateway while constantly monitoring her surroundings to guard against any accidents. Of course, most of her attention was focused on the statue.
However, until now, nothing had happened, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief. After all, even after approaching so close, there had been no signs of danger, causing her to think that this place was probably really safe.
But instead of relaxing her guard, she became even more alert.
Walking a dozen more steps forward yet still not suffering any accidents, the old woman let out a wry laugh and was about to say something when a subtle noise suddenly rang out from the humanoid statue standing in front of her.
Hearing this, everyone’s face changed dramatically.
The old woman’s reaction was also extremely quick, her figure leaping backwards, leaving behind an afterimage in her place as she hurriedly escaped.
But what happened next terrified the old woman. When she looked up, her view was covered with a giant palm that was reaching towards her with unstoppable momentum. This palm moved so fast it gave the old woman no opportunity to dodge and in the blink of an eye had captured her.
“Senior!” Cai He called out in alarm as his eyes bulged with fear.
Yang Kai was also shocked as he hoarsely called out, “A puppet?”
At this moment, the humanoid statue, which hadn’t shown any reaction until now, actually began moving, its eyes gleaming with terrifying, dark-red light. Its giant body seemed clumsy at first glance, but its actual speed was nothing short of astonishing.
Yang Kai was right behind the old woman so he had clearly seen what happened just now. The moment the humanoid statue made a noise, its big hand swept over, and although the old woman’s reaction was quick, she was still caught by the other party.
All this happened in the blink of an eye and by the time Yang Kai had instinctually leapt away, the old woman had been captured.
Fortunately, this old woman was a First-Order Origin Returning Realm master who had been immersed in this realm for many years, so her strength was deep. Condensing her Saint Qi, she formed a massive blade that she ruthlessly chopped down onto the puppet’s hand that was holding her body.
A crisp metallic sound rang out at the moment of impact and a large amount of sparks flew out, but to the old woman’s shock, her full powered attack was unable to even scratch the puppet’s giant hand.
Seemingly angered because it had been attacked, the giant puppet’s red eyes flashed dangerously and it tightly clenched the hand it was using to hold the old woman.
The old woman’s complexion became ashen as a force not inferior to a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master burst from her body as she struggled violently.
Unfortunately, all of this was to no avail as the giant hand was like an iron vice, tightly binding her body and rendering all of her struggles futile.
*Kacha…*
A loud noise rang out as the brown light halo the old woman was using to protect her body filled with cracks under the immense force of the puppet’s giant hand, and in the next moment it completely shattered. At the same time, a bead-shaped artifact fell to the ground and crumbled to dust.
This high-grade defensive artifact had actually been completely destroyed!