After the artifact protecting her body was destroyed, the old woman’s aged physique was directly exposed to the puppet’s might, and as the giant hand tightened, the sound of cracking bones burst out.
After a brief struggle, the old woman realized she was unable to escape her current crisis with only her strength and a trace of panic and fear flashed across the depths of her eyes. Turning to Yang Kai and the others, she shouted, “Save me!”
But as soon as her voice rang out, a muffled bang occurred.
The old woman suddenly exploded, her blood splashing out through the air as her head fell from the sky, a look of great unwillingness still filling her face.
Although she had been on guard against this humanoid statue, the old woman never imagined that it wasn’t either a kind of mechanism or a part of the Spirit Array and instead a real puppet!
On top of that, this puppet seemed to be able to move independently without an operator, a completely unreasonable existence.
If Lian Guang had been here, perhaps he may have been able to see some clues, but the four who were here knew next to nothing about puppets, nor did they expect to see puppets operating inside these Ancient Ruins.
Moreover, this was no ordinary puppet. Being able to easily crush a First-Order Origin Returning Realm to death fully illustrated the enormous strength of this puppet.
The instant the old woman died; Yang Kai’s eyes flashed a resolute light as he stared at the round gateway between its legs. Sprinting forth at full speed, Yang Kai ignored the puppet’s reaction, not wanting to become entangled with it, only hoping he could leave from this place.
Yang Kai’s speed was extremely fast, but the response of the puppet was also extremely fast. After crushing the old woman, the statue’s red eyes fixed onto the approaching Yang Kai and a dangerous aura soon erupted from it. Sensing this dangerous aura, Yang Kai’s face changed, and he swiftly summoned his Purple Shield and activated its sandstorm ability to protect his body.
Faintly, Yang Kai saw a flash of light appear from the giant puppet’s hand and immediately after a thick shadow swept towards him.
Even before this shadow hit him, Yang Kai felt his breathing become laboured, as if the entire world was collapsing on him, giving him the illusion that he could not escape this blow.
Clenching his teeth, Yang Kai pushed the power of his Purple Shield to its greatest extent while at the same time condensing his Saint Qi to form a strong second protective barrier outside his body.
*Hong…*
With a great bang, the sandstorm was scattered, the Purple Shield’s proud defensive ability shattered under a single blow. The shield itself was impacted next and was knocked away by an immense force. Yang Kai next felt his Saint Qi protection break just before his body was struck, sending him flying uncontrollably.
His vitality tumbling, a mouthful of golden blood spewed from Yang Kai’s mouth, transforming into a cloud of blood mist.
*Hong long long…*
Yang Kai flew a thousand metres through the air before he crashed into a flower bed, bouncing a few times before he finally came to a stop.
Up until now, Yang Kai still had not seen exactly what the statue had hit him with, only knowing that in front of that thick shadow any kind of resistance or protection had been rendered useless.
Among the ruins of the flower bed, Yang Kai coughed up a few more mouthfuls of blood as he gasped for breath and forced himself to his feet through sheer willpower, a look of fear still lingering on his face.
He had never eaten such a big loss before, so the discomfort in his heart could easily be imagined.
If not for his Purple Shield taking the brunt of this blow though, his injuries might have been far more serious, but even so, Yang Kai found that his five viscera and six organs had all been shifted and his entire body felt like it was on the verge of breaking apart.
This both shocked and angered him!
Looking up, Yang Kai took in the situation and could not help gawking for a moment.
Right now, the puppet was still standing in the same spot, as if it had never moved, while Cai He and Du Si Si were standing just over a hundred metres from it, their faces deathly pale. It was as if the two of them had been struck by lightning as they stared in terror at the statue in front of them; however, the puppet itself showed no intention of attacking them at all.
Grasped in the puppet’s hand now tough, was a giant stick,
Calling it a stick was a bit inappropriate though as it was clearly some kind of powerful artifact; however, from appearance alone, stick was the most accurate description. This giant stick was jet black in colour, made from some unknown material, and was several dozen metres long and a couple metres wide. It was incredibly imposing.
Yang Kai immediately understood that it was this giant black stick that had struck him just now.
[Where did that thing come from?] A trace of suspicion flashed across Yang Kai’s eyes. There was no such thing anywhere near the puppet a moment ago; however, the moment Yang Kai tried to escape through the round gateway, he vaguely remembered seeing a flash of light from the puppet’s hand. Could the two things be related?
Even a thousand metres away, Yang Kai could feel the threatening aura from this giant stick. On this stick’s surface, there were some strange indecipherable characters engraved, identical to the ones they had seen upon entering these Ancient Ruins.
After coughing a few more times, Yang Kai spat out a last mouthful of blood before staring fixedly at the puppet, but soon discovered that it showed no intention to pursue him.
Only now did Cai He and Du Si Si seem to have recovered their wits, with Cai He turning his head to Du Si Si tremblingly and whispering, “Si Si, retreat!”
Du Si Si’s pretty face was completely white, apparently still in shock over the old woman’s death, turning her head to Cai He as tears leaked uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes.
She was terrified!
Although she had encountered some dangers before today, this event was simply too shocking for her. The moment the old woman burst into a blood fog was witnessed by Du Si Si clearly and even now, the severed head of the old woman was lying on the ground. The old woman’s eyes were still spread wide and staring directly at Du Si Si, seemingly blaming her for not helping.
Such a tremendous mental shock caused Du Si Si to completely lose her ability to react, so she simply froze in place.
Even though she heard Cai He, she was unable to take a single step, fearing that if she moved, she would be the next to die.
Cai He saw this and new anxiety filled his face. Although the puppet seemed to only be concerned about guarding the gateway, there was no way to know whether it would suddenly strike out at them. Cai He certainly did not want to see the woman he was interested in die the same way as the old woman just had.
Gritting his teeth, Cai He’s body flickered as he rushed over to Du Si Si’s side, grabbed her, then fled without looking back.
Cai He didn’t stop until he arrived at the spot Yang Kai had landed, after which he collapsed to the ground a few metres away. This brief action seemed to have exhausted all his strength, and his teeth kept chattering in fear as he kneeled on the ground.
Du Si Si was not any better, the shock of recent events reducing her to a miserable state, her eyes still filled with fear and panic.
Although the old woman was just a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, while she was alive, she still gave these two young Array Masters some sense of security, but now that she was dead, leaving just three Saint King juniors behind, Du Si Si suddenly felt like there was no one here she could rely on.
Yang Kai’s expression was also extremely gloomy. He had been struck by that giant stick just now and had yet to completely regain his faculties. Fortunately, Yang Kai’s Golden Blood had extremely powerful restorative abilities; if it had been someone else who had taken that strike, they would likely need at least a few months to recover.
Swallowing a few healing pills, Yang Kai sat cross-legged and adjusted his breathing.
Regardless of what came next, his first priority was to stabilize his injuries, only after doing so could he begin thinking about how to leave this place.
Half a day later, Yang Kai opened his eyes and silently examined his condition.
Although his wounds had not been completely healed, they wouldn’t hinder his movements or his ability to fight anymore. Cai He and Du Si Si also seemed to have recovered slightly and their conditions were much better than before. However, Du Si Si’s eyes were still red and puffy while a gloomy expression filled her face.
Cai He’s state wasn’t as bad, but despair and helplessness were still apparent in his eyes.
This was not surprising though. Since that puppet was able to kill the Origin Realm old woman with a single blow and it was tightly guarding the door, Cai He didn’t think there was any way he or anyone else here could safely escape.
After glancing at the two of them, Yang Kai frowned slightly, but said nothing before standing up. Waving his hand, he summoned back his Purple Shield which had been blown away earlier. Catching this shield, Yang Kai checked it for a moment and found that it had a noticeable dent in it and a crack along its surface at least a finger-width wide. From the dim glow it was emitting, it had obviously lost a great deal of spirituality as well.
Seeing this, Yang Kai could not help shivering slightly. This Purple Shield was a defensive artifact Yang Yan had enhanced twice to reach the Origin Grade High-Rank. As the artifact that specialized in defense, its toughness was extremely high.
But even so, after a single hit from that giant jet-black stick, it had actually been reduced to such a state, highlighting just how terrifying the force behind that blow was.
Sighing slightly, Yang Kai put away the Purple Shield, preparing to have Yang Yan fix it once again after he went back. Glancing over at the huge puppet a thousand metres away next, Yang Kai paused for a moment before wearing a dignified expression and walking over towards it.
“Brother Yang…” Cai He saw this and his expression shrank slightly as he hurriedly called out, “What are you planning on doing?”
“Testing its strength!” Yang Kai replied.
“Testing…” Cai He looked dumbfounded and said in amazement, “Isn’t that a bit too hasty?”
He had witnessed the old woman’s tragic death at the hands of this giant puppet so naturally he wasn’t optimistic about Yang Kai’s chances; after all, according to common sense, Yang Kai’s strength should be much lower than that old woman’s.
“Are you trying to make trouble!?” Du Si Si, who had been staring out soullessly for some time now suddenly screamed, “It finally stopped moving, yet now you’re going to provoke it on your own? Do you want to kill all of us?!”
Yang Kai shot her a cold glare.
Du Si Si shifted her eyes, seemingly a little afraid to look at him, but still anxiously argued, “That Senior died, if you die too, what are Cai He and I supposed to do?”
Although she was arrogant and thought highly of herself, never placing other cultivators in the same generation in her eyes, the more people there were here right now the more at ease she felt. She did not really care about Yang Kai’s life, but she didn’t want to see him die here either because that would only make her feel less secure.
Yang Kai snapped back coldly, “Then what do you suggest we do?”
Du Si Si immediately lowered her head as she had no good answer to this question.
Cai He thought about it for a moment before smiling bitterly. When the old woman was still alive, the four of them had carefully searched this place and confirmed that there was no other way out except for the exit guarded by the giant puppet. If they wanted to leave here, they needed to pass through that gateway.
The only other option was to remain here and wait for Fei Zhi Tu and the other masters to come rescue them, but there was no guarantee that would ever happen. Whether Fei Zhi Tu and the others could even find this place was debatable, so doing nothing might just be akin to waiting here to die.
Rather than depending on hope, they might as well take their chances trying to escape. If they were lucky, they may be able to find some kind of weakness in the puppet they could exploit to escape from here.
Although such hope was thin, it was better than doing nothing.
Considering all this, Cai He’s expression became firm and he nodded to Yang Kai, “Brother Yang, I’ll accompany you. Although this Cai is not very good at fighting, two people sharing the burden is still better than one.”
Yang Kai, however, just slowly shook his head and said, “No, I am just going to test its abilities, I don’t need Brother Cai’s help for the time being. After learning more about that puppet’s strengths and weaknesses, we can come up with a plan to leave here together.”
“Very well, but Brother Yang, you must be careful!” Cai He exclaimed nervously.
Yang Kai nodded before turning around, raising his vigilance as high as it could go, then slowly approaching the puppet while Cai He and Du Si Si stood nervously and observed.
Half an hour later, Yang Kai returned in a disheveled state.
This test forced Yang Kai to use all of his methods, and thanks to his strength greatly exceeding those in the same realm as him, combined with a bit of luck, he was able to avoid taking any serious damage from the puppet. Only once was his body brushed by the statue’s giant stick, causing half of his clothes to shred and his body to go a bit numb.
Cai He and Du Si Si watched this battle from beginning to end, and when Yang Kai returned, both of their eyes contained a trace of awe, because the various probes Yang Kai had just made were all taken by risking his life. Many times, both were convinced Yang Kai would die, but no matter how desperate the situation was he always managed to find a way to survive.
After watching this life or death struggle for half an hour, the two of them were even more tired than Yang Kai, the one who was doing all the fighting. Both of their palms were drenched in cold sweat as they felt it had been an entire year since the fight began.
From this exchange though, the two of them clearly saw that Yang Kai was no ordinary Saint King Realm cultivator. The methods he displayed were both varied and powerful, exceeding even those or ordinary Origin Returning Realm masters.
Neither Cai He nor Du Si Si dared look down on Yang Kai anymore.
After returning, Yang Kai silently took out several healing pills and sat down cross-legged to meditate.
A day later, Yang Kai exhaled lightly and opened his eyes, a strong light flashing across their depths, seemingly fully recovered. Cai He and Du Si Si, who had been waiting nearby, saw this and quickly walked over with expectant looks upon their faces.
Yang Kai obviously knew what they were thinking and did not keep them in suspense, declaring firmly, “There’s an opportunity!”
Hearing this, Cai He and Du Si Si’s eyes lit up as a touch of joy appeared on their faces. Cai He quickly sat cross-legged in front of Yang Kai and asked anxiously, “Brother Yang, how do we get past that puppet? Just inform us and Si Si and I will do our best to cooperate.”
“Get past it?” Yang Kai smiled strangely as he stared Cai He in the eye, “We can’t get past it. You should have seen what happened when I tried just now. Although its build is massive, it is extremely fast and agile. If it was just me, I might have a chance to slip past it, but with the two of you, there’s absolutely no possibility of success!”
This was not Yang Kai underestimating them, but simply telling them the truth. Even with Yang Kai using his full speed and boosted by his Wind and Thunder Wings, he still had less than a fifty percent chance of slipping through the puppet’s blockade. He had experimented with this just now, rushing towards the gateway several times during the fight, but each time he had been forced back by the statue.
This puppet seemed to have extreme hostility towards any living creature that tried to pass through this gateway and went all out to kill anyone who tried!
Hearing Yang Kai say this, Du Si Si pretty face paled and she immediately shouted, “You can’t leave us here!”
She instinctively thought that Yang Kai planned to leave here without them.
Cai He forced out a smile and said loudly, “Si Si, you’re thinking too much, Brother Yang won’t do that.”
His words weren’t just meant to comfort Du Si Si, but himself as well, and while he said them, he quietly observed Yang Kai’s reaction, obviously a little worried Yang Kai might really do this.
Yang Kai did not try to explain himself either way. In all honesty, if he really was confident that he could slip past the puppet, he would have done so. That did not mean he intended to abandon these two here, though. If he was able to leave, he would have gone to look for Fei Zhi Tu and the other masters before returning to rescue them; after all, one person escaping and looking for help was better than three people being trapped here with no hope of survival.
Ignoring Cai He’s thinly veiled probe, Yang Kai simply continued his explanation, “If we want to leave this place now, we need to work together. With just my abilities, protecting myself is the best I can do, while being its opponent is completely out of the question.”
Cai He nodded repeatedly for a moment before asking, “Brother Yang, you just said that we can’t get past it, so what are we going to do? From the looks of it, that thing won’t leave too far from the exit.”
This was something Yang Kai had also confirmed while probing the situation. Once he got to within a hundred metres of the gateway, the puppet would immediately attack, but if he left this range, it would return to being an inanimate object.
Listening to Cai He’s question, Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, “Naturally we’re going to kill it!”
“Kill it…” Cai He parroted dumbfounded.
Du Si Si also gawked and retorted, “Are you insan…”
Before she could finish speaking though, she saw Yang Kai shoot her a cold glare and quickly swallowed down the rest of her words; however, her face remained sullen, clearly indicating she thought Yang Kai’s proposal was ridiculous.
“Since I dared to speak about this, naturally I have confidence in accomplishing it,” Yang Kai knew that if he didn’t explain things properly these two wouldn’t cooperate with him. The great power of this giant puppet and the scene of it killing the old woman had left a shadow in their hearts, making it impossible for them to summon the courage to oppose it.
“First, let us talk about its biggest shortcoming. That puppet only guards that gateway, so what lies beyond it must be too important for it to leave its post; however, we can use this to our advantage. Since the two of you are Array Masters… it should go without saying what we need to do, yes?” Yang Kai glanced at the two of them.
Cai He and Du Si Si’s expressions became thoughtful and both soon gently nodded.
This huge shortcoming of the puppet gave them ample time to arrange a large Spirit Array, and if they could coordinate this Spirit Array with Yang Kai, there might really be a chance for them to kill this puppet.
“Arranging an array isn’t a problem; moreover, we can arrange one specifically to limit that puppet’s speed. From what I have seen, while that puppet’s resistance to damage from various attributes is a problem, its speed is the most troublesome issue. If we can slow it down, it will become far easier to deal with,” Cai He stroked his chin slowly.
“You can arrange such a Spirit Array?” Yang Kai was overjoyed. It seemed that Cai He was thinking the same as he was. Puppets were different from living creatures, so there were some Spirit Arrays that, although powerful, would have no effect on it. Yang Kai’s original intention was to ask Cai He and Du Si Si to arrange a Spirit Array to dampen its speed, and Cai Hi had unexpectedly drawn this same conclusion.
“It shouldn’t be too difficult, I have the equipment to arrange the Mirror Lake Clay Dragon Array while Si Si should have the materials to arrange the Painting Earth Prison Array, right?” Cai He looked towards Du Si Si.
“En,” Du Si Si gently nodded, not surprised he knew about such details; after all, the Cai Family and Du Family both specialized in arranging Spirit Arrays, so it was normal for there to be some competition and intelligence gathering between them.
“How powerful are these two Spirit Arrays?” Yang Kai asked hurriedly.
Cai He quickly showed a proud look, “The power of these two Spirit Arrays is naturally immense. If they can be fully activated, even if a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master falls into it, their speed will fall dramatically,” Saying so though, an embarrassed look flashed across his face, “Unfortunately, with just mine and Si Si’s strength, we’ll only be able to display about half that kind of power.”
“Half…” Yang Kai frowned slightly. Seeing this, Cai He quickly followed up, “Rest assured Brother Yang, even at only half strength, these two Spirit Arrays will be able to display incredible might. They’ll be able to reduce that puppet’s speed by at least ten percent, possibly even twenty percent!”
“Ten to twenty percent, it’s a bit less than I was hoping for, but it’ll have to do!” Yang Kai nodded.
“But Brother Yang, even if Si Si and I used our Spirit Arrays to slow it down, how do you plan on eliminating that puppet?”
“En, you weren’t able to damage it in the slightest when you were testing it yesterday!” Du Si Si also hurriedly asked. This was a life or death matter so no one dared act carelessly after all, if they couldn’t coordinate and cooperate properly in the upcoming battle, there was a chance all of them would die.
Yang Kai showed a faint grin, “Although I wasn’t able to damage it, I was able to verify one thing.”
“And that is?”
“The reason that puppet can move autonomously without being operated by a cultivator is because there is some kind of Soul Wisp inside it!”
“Soul Wisp?” Cai He and Du Si Si asked curiously.
“En, you can think of it as a kind of Soul Clone. Have you ever observed Lian Guang operate his puppets?” Yang Kai looked at the two of them as he said solemnly, “Lian Guang inserts a wisp of his Divine Sense into each of his puppets that allows him to operate them. Although this puppet is much higher in grade than Lian Guang’s, the principle behind its operation should be similar; after all, puppets aren’t living creatures. If you want it to act, it needs to have something giving it commands! Since this puppet is not being operated by some external cultivator, it must have some kind of Soul Wisp sealed inside of it, but as to what exactly this Soul Wisp is, I can’t be certain.”
Listening to Yang Kai’s analysis, both Cai He and Du Si Si suddenly felt their confusion clear up. Before, both of them had simply been overwhelmed by this puppet’s incredible power and had not considered the issue carefully. Now that Yang Kai explained this to them though, the two of them immediately felt he made sense.
“So Brother Yang’s meaning is…”
“En, I don’t need to destroy this puppet, as long as I can find where the Soul Wisp is located and destroy it, the puppet naturally won’t be able to move anymore,” Yang Kai’s eyes flashed fiercely.
Cai He’s eyes also lit up as he nodded, “So that’s how it is. In that case, this approach might really be feasible!”
Compared to destroying such a solid puppet, finding and eliminating the Soul Wisp controlling it was naturally much easier.
“Then, do you know where that Soul Wisp is located?” Du Si Si asked.
Yang Kai’s face darkened upon hearing this question and slowly shook his head, “I’m not sure yet; however, there are a few suspicious places, which is why I need to borrow your strength to restrict its speed so I can investigate these locations to find where that Soul Wisp is stored.”
When beset by crisis on all sides, the most fearful thing was being unable to see any hope of survival; but now, after listening to Yang Kai, both Cai He’s and Du Si Si’s spirits rose because, if he was right, the three of them may have a chance to disable the puppet.
The haze which had covered the two young Array Masters’ faces was swept away and, after exchanging a competitive glance, they became very enthusiastic.
Without further ado, the three got to work. Because of Yang Kai’s previous probe, all of them knew the puppet’s exact range of movement so standing at a distance of just over a hundred metres, Cai He and Du Si Si began taking out a number of tools and materials from their Space Rings, infusing them with their Saint Qi and arranging them in specific patterns on the ground nearby.
As soon as these tools fell to the ground, they disappeared without a trace; even Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was unable to detect them.
While these two arranged their respective Spirit Arrays, Yang Kai’s eyes lingered on the puppet’s head, chest, abdomen, and a few others vital positions. These were the spots he felt the Soul Wisp, which was driving this puppet, might be located while he was fighting it earlier, but had been unable to confirm.
As long as he could identify the exact location this Soul Wisp was hiding and destroy it, the puppet should stop moving.
Yang Kai went over his plan again and again and ultimately felt that there was nothing wrong with it.
A short time later, both Cai He and Du Si Si nodded to one another, clapped their palms together, and let out a shout, “Start!”
The next moment, their Saint Qi seemed to form a kind of resonance with something in their surroundings which in turn harmonized with the World Energy within a several-hundred-metre radius around the humanoid puppet before quickly returning to normal.
Yang Kai looked around but was unable to see the slightest anomaly; however, that didn’t mean nothing had changed. Many Spirit Arrays, even when activated, couldn’t be detected from the outside. Only by entering such an array would one be able to see its effects.
“Brother Yang. Si Si and I are ready, you can begin at any time!” Cai He shouted.
Yang Kai gently nodded and said with a serious expression, “Then I’ll be troubling you two.”
“Brother Yang need not act so polite, you are the one responsible for the actual battle. Be careful, Si Si and I can only operate our Spirit Arrays to cooperate with your actions!”
“Don’t take this opportunity to run away,” Du Si Si’s expression changed a few times, clearly somewhat worried about how Yang Kai would act. If Yang Kai suddenly fled from this place while they used their Spirit Arrays to suppress the puppet’s speed, all her and Cai He’s efforts would go to waste.
Facing her mistrust, Yang Kai didn’t get angry; after all, she wasn’t familiar with him in the slightest, so it was only natural to have such concerns. Now that they were forced to work together, any disagreement or conflict may lead to unimaginable consequences, so he simply said lightly, “Rest assured, since I’ve decided to work together with you, I naturally won’t just ignore your wellbeing.”
Receiving this commitment from Yang Kai, Du Si Si smiled widely and said perfunctorily, “I was just joking.”
Yang Kai did not say anymore, instead taking a deep breath and staring at the unmoving giant puppet in front of him, his expression becoming solemn and dignified as his figure flickered and he charged forward.
In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai rushed into the large array arranged by Cai He and Du Si Si and found the scene before him suddenly distort. From Yang Kai’s perspective, he was now standing atop a shimmering clear lake, one that perfectly reflected his figure, but from its surface, he felt an invisible suction that seemed to be trying to restrain his actions.
Not only that, another invisible pressure was weighing down on him from all directions, similarly restricting his freedom.
The lake illusion at his feet was obviously an effect created by Cai He’s Mirror Lake Clay Dragon Array while the invisible pressure he felt from the air should be the Painting Earth Prison Array arranged by Du Si Si.
[Seems these two have some good methods after all!]
Neither of these two Spirit Arrays were deliberately aiming at Yang Kai, but even so, the moment he stepped into them, Yang Kai felt his movements become sluggish. If these two Spirit Arrays were to be aimed at him, the suppression he felt would clearly be far greater.
Thinking this, Yang Kai’s mouth curled into a smile. For him, the greater the power of Cai He’s and Du Si Si’s Spirit Arrays the better since it meant the puppet he was facing would be even more constrained.
Moments after he stepped into these Spirit Arrays, the two Array Masters changed their hand seals as they adjusted the Saint Qi they were pouring into the barriers at the bottom of their feet. Suddenly, Yang Kai felt the suction force and pressure disappear and his freedom restored.
With the two Array Masters personally driving the Mirror Lake Clay Dragon Array and Painting Earth Prison Array, they naturally would not allow them to affect Yang Kai.
Yang Kai took another step forward, his foot-falls causing ripples to spread out on the reflective lake surface, while at the same time, the giant puppet, which had not been moving, suddenly flashed its red eyes and opened its mouth, spitting out a beam of red light straight towards Yang Kai in the next moment.
Yang Kai’s expression did not show any surprise as he quickly kicked off the lake and disappeared.
When he had been probing the puppet’s abilities before, he had witnessed it use this attack many times, so he was easily able to avoid it.
*Hong…*
The crimson energy beam hit the lake surface, but aside from a huge splash and some large ripples, the Mirror Lake Clay Dragon Array remained unaffected, allowing Yang Kai to relax slightly.
“Go!” Yang Kai shouted and the Firebird Artifact Spirit immediately appeared, spreading its wings several dozen metres wide as it rushed towards the giant puppet.
The giant jet black stick in the puppet’s hand immediately rose and smashed against the Artifact Spirit. As the giant stick passed through the air, it seemed to distort space itself and released a crushing pressure like an oncoming landslide, making its way pale.
In a single hit, the Artifact Spirit’s body collapsed, but the Artifact Spirit didn’t have a true physical form, so such an attack actually didn’t pose any threat to it. The scattered flames coalesced quickly and the Firebird soon reappeared, opening its mouth and spitting out a giant fireball that struck the puppet with astonishing might.
A violent bang resounded as the puppet was hit by this fireball, its giant body pushed back slightly.
After taking such a blow, the puppet seemed to become irritated as the red glow of its eyes deepened somewhat. Staring at the Firebird, it began waving the giant stick in its hand, immediately engaging in a fierce struggle with it. In an instant, a scene of giant stick after-images, beams of crimson energy, and scorching fireballs filled the sky.
These two strange beings fought wildly with one another, and while the Artifact Spirit didn’t fear the puppet’s giant jet-black stick, it did have to worry about the red energy beams it shot from its mouth. Once the puppet released these beam attacks, the Firebird had no choice but to dodge while looking for opportunities to counterattack.
Yang Kai was overjoyed to see this. When he had been probing the puppet before, his Artifact Spirit had also participated and now it seemed this puppet was holding a grudge against it. At this moment, the puppet was ignoring Yang Kai, focusing all its attacks on the Artifact Spirit. This lined up with Yang Kai’s intentions.
Seizing this opportunity, a golden thread shot out from Yang Kai’s hand straight towards the puppet’s left eye.
With a loud ringing sound, the indestructible Golden Thread hit the puppet’s left eye accurately, but after a few sparks, the Golden Thread was easily bounced back.
Yang Kai frowned slightly at this sight, but at that exact moment, a shout rang in his ear, “Brother Yang, watch out!”
As soon as he heard this, Yang Kai saw the puppet wave its giant stick and smash it down towards him. The murderous intent pulsing from this giant stick was so thick it almost solidified the entire space.
Yang Kai’s eyes shrank, but just as he was about to dodge, he suddenly noticed that the mirror lake beneath his feet began releasing a strange energy fluctuation. Immediately, the calm, crystal clear lake’s surface became muddy and turbid. This mud rapidly gathered and transformed into a dragon’s shape which flew up and intercepted the giant stick.
At the same time, small wisps of light began appearing all around Yang Kai, like fireflies. At first, there were only a few of these wisps, but in the blink of an eye, they had covered the entire sky, like a swarm of locusts. These wisps of light then shot towards the giant stick, like maggots drawn to rotten meat.
Before Yang Kai’s eyes, the speed of the giant stick noticeably decreased.
The mud dragon rushing out of the lake hit the giant stick and was instantly scattered, but it succeeded in blunting the force of its attack in the process.
Yang Kai saw this and smiled happily.
What happened just now was obviously a result of the two Spirit Arrays, causing Yang Kai’s evaluation of the Mirror Lake Clay Dragon Array and Painting Earth Prison Array to rise once more along with his confidence in killing this puppet.
As long as Cai He and Du Si Si cooperated closely with him, the chances of them being able to escape this place increased greatly.
The giant stick was still crashing down towards Yang Kai, but with the hindrance of the two Spirit Arrays, he was able to dodge it without much effort. Commanding the Firebird with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai had the Artifact Spirit transform into a great blaze of fire that engulfed the puppet’s body and go all out to burn it down.
Yang Kai did not really expect the Artifact Spirit to be able to burn this puppet of course. Whatever material this puppet was refined from was impervious to fire and water, and swords and spears. Even though the Artifact Spirit had refined some of the Sun’s True Fire, its current firepower was still not enough to melt this puppet.
Yang Kai’s goal here was to use this special form of the Artifact Spirit to find the place where the Soul Wisp controlling the puppet was hiding.
The Artifact Spirit’s fire raged but the giant puppet remained completely unaffected; instead, without the Artifact Spirit to distract it anymore, it immediately began moving to target Yang Kai.
After just two steps though, the lake beneath the puppet’s body transformed into a great vortex, sucking in one of its feet, causing it to lose its balance and nearly fall over.
Yang Kai did not miss this opportunity and immediately pushed his Saint Qi violently, sending out a Heaven Covering Hand to strike the puppet’s head and further knock it off balance.
Cai He’s and Du Si Si’s two Spirit Arrays were greatly helping Yang Kai. Before, when he fought the puppet alone, he had constantly been in life threatening danger, but with the three of them cooperating now, Yang Kai no longer felt as much of a burden when fighting this statue.
As long as this situation continued, Yang Kai just needed to avoid the puppet’s attacks while using his Divine Sense in concert with the Artifact Spirit to find the hidden Soul Wisp. As long as he found it, Yang Kai could launch an all-out attack towards it and disable this puppet once and for all.
Trapped by the mirror lake vortex, the puppet was unable to move and Yang Kai’s Heaven Covering Hand accurately landed on its body with a thunderous bang. Under the force of this impact, the puppet, which was already unstable, fell directly to the ground.
Yang Kai hurriedly retreated two steps but didn’t attack again.
For him, the priority now was to keep the puppet occupied because, before finding the Soul Wisp which was driving it, any attack was meaningless.
Cai He and Du Si Si apparently knew Yang Kai’s intentions and increased the power of their Spirit Arrays, causing more eddies to appear on the lake’s surface and the wisps of light in the air to become more dense.
Restricted by the two Spirit Arrays, the puppet was unable to get up immediately and its red eyes continuously flashed with anger.
Yang Kai’s expression remained indifferent as he observed the puppet, silently monitoring its condition through his Artifact Spirit while at the same time scanning it constantly with his Divine Sense.
Since there was a hidden Soul wisp inside of this puppet, it would definitely be emitting some kind of aura fluctuations, something Yang Kai could only find by relying on his Divine Sense.
Just as he was investigating the puppet though, a sudden change occurred and the entire lake suddenly became turbulent. The puppet saw that it couldn’t easily get up so it had begun waving its giant jet black stick around in a rage, smashing its surroundings aimlessly.
Such an attack wouldn’t cause any harm to Yang Kai, but when Cai He saw this, his face changed greatly.
The reason was simple, in order to maximize the power of their Spirit Arrays, the two young Array Masters had arranged their tools and equipment over a very narrow range, but now that the puppet was wantonly destroying its surroundings, once it damaged the framework of the Spirit Array, it would likely collapse entirely.
Not only that, the puppet’s wild attacks carried enormous force behind them, creating shockwaves that were affecting the Spirit Array’s stability. If the puppet was not stopped, even if none of the equipment which created the Spirit Array was damaged, it would still collapse in time.
Out of desperation, Cai He could only weaken the suppression of the Spirit Array to ensure it continued functioning. Next to him, Du Si Si was forced to make a similar choice, weakening the power she put into the Painting Earth Prison Array.
Neither of them had ever encountered such a situation and it unavoidably frustrated them.
The glowing wisps in the sky and swirling vortexes on the lake diminished in strength rapidly, and with the shackles binding it weakened, the puppet no longer waved its giant stick indiscriminately and instead got back on its feet. However, when it finally stood firm, it first stared at Yang Kai for a moment, then down at the mirror lake under his feet, revealing a thoughtful expression.
Immediately after, it opened its mouth wide and released a swarm of buzzing wasp-like creatures. Each of these wasps was only about the size of a fist, but they easily numbered in the hundreds. Gathering together in a group, these wasps circled the puppet a few times before swooping down towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s eyes shrank as he revealed a look of surprise.
This was the first time he saw that this puppet actually possessed such a strange ability. When he had tested its capabilities the other day, it hadn’t released these wasps.
Sweeping this swarm with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai’s face sank because he discovered that these wasps were all small puppets, each one exuding a strange aura.
Naturally, Yang Kai wasn’t about to allow these wasps to approach him, so he quickly condensed a long Demonic Flame sword in his hand and hacked towards them.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
An unexpected scene happened next. These wasps, which seemed to have extraordinary power, actually burst apart the moment Yang Kai’s sword waves struck them, as if they were frail and unable to withstand even the lightest blow. However, this only led to Yang Kai’s brow creasing even further.
Because these wasps hadn’t actually exploded as a result of his attack, rather they all self-destructed.
Each exploding wasp sent out powerful energy fluctuations while at the same time releasing a yellow mist into the air. This mist soon completely filled the surrounding space.
Yang Kai carelessly inhaled a bit of this yellow mist and immediately felt slightly dizzy. Sobering up immediately, he shouted, “It’s poison, hold your breath!”
As he shouted this warning, a jet black ball of Demonic Flame appeared in his hand and flew towards the yellow mist. Wherever this ball of Demonic Flame passed, the yellow mist was swept away. Although the yellow mist was quite toxic, it apparently was unable to resist the burning power of the Demonic Flame.
Cai He and Du Si Si breathed sighs of relief. When they heard Yang Kai shout just now, both of them had immediately tensed up, worried that the situation would spiral out of control, but after witnessing Yang Kai easily incinerate this yellow mist, they were able to relax and concentrate on operating their Spirit Arrays.
Yang Kai, on the other hand, was unable to relax in the slightest as he continued to chop and slash the wasp-like puppets while burning the yellow mist released by them with his Demonic Flame.
Since this puppet had such a method, there was no way of knowing if it didn’t have stronger ones as well. Delay only invited complications, so Yang Kai secretly began feeling anxious.
The hundreds of wasp puppets were soon wiped out.
However, at that moment, Yang Kai’s complexion changed, immediately revealing a look of pleasant surprise because he received a message from the Firebird Artifact Spirit.
It had found the location of the Soul Wisp that was driving the puppet’s actions!
Just as Yang Kai expected, the hiding spot of this Soul Wisp was in the centre of the puppet’s chest. Because this Soul Wisp was constantly sending out orders to manipulate the puppet, under the constant investigation of the Artifact Spirit, it had finally revealed a trace of itself.
Light flashed across Yang Kai’s eyes as he sent out a Divine Sense command. In the next instant, the Artifact Spirit which had been wrapping the puppet in flames reverted to its Firebird form and flew up above the puppet’s head while spraying out a barrage of fireballs to attract its attention.
Simultaneously, Yang Kai focused his own attention on the puppet’s chest, took advantage of it being distracted by the Artifact Spirit, and rushed up right in front of it. Leaping up high, Yang Kai curled his fist and punched fiercely towards the puppet’s chest.
With a loud bang, Yang Kai was bounced back by a huge counter-force while the puppet’s chest remained unharmed, without even a scratch on it.
This punch was just a probe, not meant to do any real damage, so Yang Kai wasn’t surprised by this result. Narrowing his eyes, he quickly shouted, “You two, increase your Spirit Arrays to their maximum power, victory or defeat will depend on this next move!”
Hearing this, Cai He and Du Si Si no longer held back and fiercely pushed their Saint Qi to power their Mirror Lake Clay Dragon Array and Painting Earth Prison Array to their limits.
In an instant, the wisps of light appeared in the sky again and the small vortexes on the mirror lake’s surface swelled in size. At the same time, a new mud dragon rushed out of lake and wrapped around the puppet’s limbs, shackling its movements.
In conjunction with the Firebird’s attack, the puppet immediately fell into disadvantage and began waving its giant jet black stick around aimlessly again.
This time however, Cai He and Du Si Si paid it no mind and only increased the suppressive force of their Spirit Arrays.
Yang Kai saw the speed of the puppet greatly slow down and a look of joy surfaced on his face. Lifting his Demonic Flame long sword, he leapt up and chopped down at the centre of the puppet’s chest once more.
Flames splashed out and Yang Kai’s sword disappeared, but still no damage was done to the puppet’s chest.
Cai He and Du Si Si witnessed this scene and couldn’t help feeling their hearts sink.
Although the two of them could use their Spirit Arrays to limit the puppet’s actions, if Yang Kai couldn’t break through the puppet’s defense, they would still fall short. The situation was already beyond their ability to control though, so they could only put all their hopes on Yang Kai and pray that he would have a way to succeed.
To their disappointment, however, Yang Kai actually created another black blade-like attack and chopped towards the puppet’s chest.
But in the next moment, both of them were startled because this blade-like attack actually left a shallow mark on the puppet’s body! Although this mark was small, it was the first real damage the trio had managed to deal to the puppet.
This naturally filled Cai He and Du Si Si with joy as they stared towards Yang Kai with looks of admiration.
Even if they hadn’t faced it directly, the two of them understood just how tough this puppet’s body was from all the previous attacks Yang Kai and the Artifact Spirit had launched against it. Even if an Origin Returning Realm master were here, they may not necessarily have a way to damage this puppet, but now it seemed Yang Kai could.
This meant that there was a chance he could cut open the puppet’s body and destroy the Soul Wisp hidden inside it!
As if they had seen the light of dawn after a dark night, their hearts filled with great anticipation for Yang Kai.
On the other hand, Yang Kai looked at that tiny mark he had made and couldn’t help frowning. Just now, he had used his Space Blade condensed from Space Force which, although appearing similar to a sword wave, worked on an entirely different principle.
Space Blade could be considered Yang Kai’s trump card, difficult to sense and capable of devouring anything it touched; however, even it was only able to cause this degree of damage to the puppet. If he wanted to cut into the puppet’s chest, he would need to hit that exact spot at least a hundred times with his Space Blade.
Could Cai He and Du Si Si hold out for that long?
It was not that Yang Kai didn’t have confidence in their abilities, it was just that this puppet was far too difficult to hold down. The giant stick it waved around randomly not only made it difficult for Yang Kai to attack it accurately, it also destabilized the two Spirit Arrays which were fettering it. If too much time passed and these two Spirit Arrays broke, Yang Kai couldn’t guarantee he could hit that spot on the puppet’s chest at all.
There was no point in worry about such things right now, so Yang Kai steeled himself and began sending out one Space Blade after another towards the mark on the puppet’s chest.
Silently, Yang Kai’s Space Blades continued to strike the puppet.
As time passed, the scar on the puppet’s chest gradually became larger, but Cai He and Du Si Si were paling much faster. The two of them were trembling as they powered their Spirit Arrays to their maximum potential, and although they continued swallowing restorative pills, they were still consuming Saint Qi far faster than they could recover it.
What made everyone more anxious though was that, after the puppet fiercely struggled for so long, the two Spirit Arrays suppressing it had become precariously unstable. Whether it was the swirling vortexes and the mud dragon produced by the Mirror Lake Clay Dragon Array, or the light wisps produced by the Painting Earth Prison Array, both were clearly losing strength.
As a result, the force holding down the puppet weakened significantly and the number of Yang Kai’s attacks that were able to hit their mark decreased accordingly, frustrating him greatly.
Compared with the anxiety and helplessness of the three of them, the puppet only grew fiercer by the moment. Then it waved its giant stick around so violently that even the Firebird was unable to get close to it, only able to send out streams of pure Fire Attribute Energy from a distance to attract its attention.
Inside the Ancient Ruins, in front of the round gateway, Yang Kai continuously released his Space Blades towards a certain point on the puppet chest while it was still being tied down by the Mirror Lake Clay Dragon Array and Painting Earth Prison Array. Suppressed like this, the puppet had no other recourse than to wildly wave its giant stick around.
As a result, even if Yang Kai often failed to hit the exact same point, after repeated strikes, a crack about palm length deep had been cut into the puppet’s chest. Unfortunately, this cut did not seem to affect the puppet in any way.
On the other hand, achieving just this had cost Yang Kai and the two young Array Masters a great deal of strength.
Cai He and Du Si Si had almost exhausted their Saint Qi to maintain the large formation, needless to say.
Yang Kai, too, was suffering from a heavy load releasing so many Space Blades in succession. Once or twice was not an issue, but as the number of Space Blades he sent out approached the thousand mark, his Knowledge Sea began drying up. If not for the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus constantly nourishing his Soul, this kind of overdraft would have already caused Yang Kai to pass out.
Even after stuffing another round of pills for restoring Spiritual Energy into his mouth, Yang Kai’s face remained as pale as paper. However, his eyes stayed fixed on the crack on the puppet’s chest as he continued sending out Space Blades.
Suddenly, a cracking noise resounded from all around him.
In the next instant, Cai He called out, “Brother Yang, we can’t hold it any longer!”
His voice was filled with an indescribable anxiety because the Spirit Arrays restraining the puppet were on the verge collapsing. Once these Spirit Arrays failed and the puppet regained its full speed, the trio’s actions this time would very likely end in failure.
Although they would still have a chance to escape even if that happened, given the puppet’s monstrous speed, whether he or Du Si Si would be able to escape its deadly wrath was highly uncertain.
Moreover, after investing so much effort and time into this plan, Cai He was naturally unwilling to fall short now.
Just as his words ended though, a louder crack rang out and in an instant, the countless glowing wisps of light which had filled the air around the puppet vanished, as if they had never even existed.
Beside Cai He, Du Si Si’s pretty face sank as she stared at the array control device in her hand. This Spirit Array had been given to her by the Elders of her family. Yet now, it had broken completely and could no longer be used.
The Painting Earth Prison Array she had arranged had failed before Cai He’s Spirit Array! This caused Du Si Si to feel both distressed and frustrated.
Without the assistance of the Painting Earth Prison Array, the vortexes and mud dragons generated on the mirror lake couldn’t restrict the puppet’s movements anymore and the puppet’s strength erupted in the blink of an eye, allowing it to rid itself of the several mud dragons’ entanglement. Finally freeing itself from the swirling vortexes, the puppet’s red glowing eyes fixed on the dazed Du Si Si. Seeing this, Yang Kai swiftly touched his Space Ring, summoning out a scroll-like artifact.
Pouring his Saint Qi madly into this scroll, illusionary mountain peaks flew out of it one after another.
Hundred Mountains Picture! Yang Kai’s only offensive artifact. Because in combat, Yang Kai was more inclined to believe in his own personal strength than the external power of artifacts, he rarely used offensive artifacts. It was only because of its unusual abilities that he had even bothered refining this Hundred Mountains Picture.
The entire time he had fought with the puppet, Yang Kai had not summoned the Hundred Mountains Picture, but now he had taken it out.
Suddenly, the air was filled with large and small peaks, with Yang Kai ignoring the stability of the artifact to forcibly summon almost forty of them all at once.
This was the absolute limit he could achieve currently.
As soon as these phantom peaks appeared, they flew towards the puppet, but by waving its giant stick around, the puppet managed to knock back all the mountains, not allowing a single one to get close.
Yang Kai’s eyes flashed sternly as he sent out a command with his Divine Sense, moving all of the phantom peaks that had been blown away back again, but this time, instead of pounding towards the puppet, they formed a ring around it, sealing off all its escape routes.
“Explode!” Yang Kai grit his teeth and shouted.
As soon as he shouted this, all the large and small phantom peaks gave off a shocking energy fluctuation and released a dazzling flash of light brighter than the noon sun, causing Cai He and Du Si Si to be unable to look at it directly.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
A terrifying energy wave blasted out, as if the entire world was shaking apart. Fierce winds erupted and violently swept up Cai He and Du Si Si, hurling them off into the distance while at the same time blasting away all the Spirit Array equipment which had been hidden in the surroundings.
After this pulse of energy subsided, a tattered scroll-like artifact fell from the sky. Obviously, it was the Hundred Mountains Picture Yang Kai had just summoned.
But at this moment, the Hundred Mountains Picture had lost all spirituality and the pictures of mountains drawn on it had all disappeared. Before this scroll even hit the ground, it was reduced to dust.
The artifact had self-destructed!
Not every artifact had this kind of ability, but the Hundred Mountains Picture that Yang Kai obtained happened to be one of the ones who did by chance. The Hundred Mountains Picture had helped Yang Kai a lot since he acquired it and its grade was also quite good, at the upper end of the Low-Rank Origin Grade; however, in order to restrict the puppet’s movements, Yang Kai had no choice but to sacrifice this artifact. If he had not exploded the Hundred Mountains Picture just now, Du Si Si, who had been shocked stiff, would definitely have died.
When Yang Kai looked back at the puppet, he was stunned for a moment but quickly became overjoyed.
The puppet had been knocked to the ground by the Hundred Mountains Picture’s self-destruction and currently seemed to be disabled as it was no longer moving. At the same time, from the location of the crack on its chest, a strange red light was flickering.
The power of an Origin Grade artifact’s self-destruction was obviously extraordinary.
Steeling himself, Yang Kai immediately rushed forward and, in the blink of an eye, arrived beside the puppet. Leaping up, Yang Kai landed directly above the puppet’s chest and took aim at the crack he had opened, sending out one Space Blade after another.
At such a close distance, the puppet was unable to resist or dodge at all, allowing Yang Kai’s Space Blades to precisely hit their target, causing the crack to deepen at a speed visible to the naked eye.
A look of joy flashed across Yang Kai’s face as he felt that as long as he was given a bit more time, he could definitely pierce the puppet’s chest.
Yang Kai did not relax his vigilance though while wielding his Space Blades and continuously monitored the puppet’s movements. After twenty breaths, the puppet’s eyes suddenly flickered and a crimson light like that of an enraged beast burst flashed across them.
Yang Kai instinctually felt this danger, causing his hair to stand on end as he noticed a fierce wind approaching his head. Unwilling to give up now though, Yang Kai condensed a Space Blade onto his fist and punched down with all his might towards the crack.
Yang Kai’s fist and Space Blade hit the crack at almost the same time.
*Kacha…*
Hearing a cracking sound, Yang Kai’s eyes lit up as he sent a Divine Sense command to the Firebird Artifact Spirit.
The Firebird cried out sharply as it swooped down and rushed straight towards the open crack. At the same time though, the puppet’s giant hand, which seemed to cover the entire sky, swatted at Yang Kai.
Looking at this terrifying horrible palm, Yang Kai’s expression remained indifferent as he did not even try to dodge. It was not that he didn’t want to evade, but that he no longer possessed the strength to even move. Currently, Yang Kai felt as if his head was splitting apart. Using his Space Blade so many times had put an incredible strain on his Divine Sense, so even his vision had gone blurry at this point.
However, there was no need for Yang Kai to avoid this blow.
In that instant, the Firebird Artifact Spirit rushed into the puppet’s body through the crack Yang Kai had desperately opened and immediately began incinerating its insides.
Red lights appeared all over the body of the puppet, like tiny snakes wandering about its surface, but soon these red lights disappeared and the giant palm came to a stop mid-air.
A crisp bird cry came out as the Artifact Spirit rushed out of the puppet and circled Yang Kai’s head before landing on his shoulder.
The corners of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched as a heavy look of fatigue appeared on his face before he fell to the ground and landed flat on his back.
On the other side, Cai He and Du Si Si, who had been caught up in the explosion of the Hundred Mountains Picture were a bit disheveled but had not suffered much damage. Struggling to their feet, the two of them saw that the puppet had frozen in place and exchanged a confused gaze, not knowing what was going on.
After releasing their Divine Senses to probe the situation, both of them breathed a sigh of relief. Although they did not know what Yang Kai had done, his life aura was still there which meant he was alive, and since that was the case, the puppet had definitely been defeated.
Apart from their excitement, both also felt some lingering fear.
Although they knew they were not a match for this puppet which was capable of instantly killing an Origin Returning Realm master, they had apparently still underestimated its toughness. Fortunately, Yang Kai’s strange attack had worked on it and, with their cooperation, they slowly but surely managed to grind away the puppet’s defenses and ultimately defeat it.
After experiencing this great battle, neither Cai He nor Du Si Si had any energy to talk any more. Cai He only yelled out to Yang Kai once to confirm he was alright, and after receiving a positive reply, the three of them fell silent and adjusted their breathing.
Half a day later, Yang Kai was the first to get up. He had consumed much of his strength, but as a high-grade Alchemist, he had countless restorative pills in his Space Ring. Coupled with his Golden Blood’s powerful restorative abilities, Yang Kai naturally recovered faster than the two Array Masters.
After glancing over and seeing the two Array Masters were still meditating, Yang Kai did not disturb them and instead jumped back onto the giant puppet’s body while stroking his chin.
This puppet was clearly not ordinary. Even the Lian Family could not possibly create such a monstrosity. In a direct confrontation, even a master like Fei Zhi Tu probably would not be this thing’s opponent.
Three Saint King Realm Juniors being able to bring this puppet down this time was mainly thanks to the two Spirit Arrays they arranged beforehand. Without the assistance of these two Spirit Arrays, Yang Kai would have had a difficult time just protecting himself, while destroying this puppet would have been impossible.
Aside from the crack on his chest, this puppet’s body was still completely unscathed.
After pondering for a while, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense, wrapped up this puppet, and attempted to store it into his Space Ring; however, when he attempted this, the puppet did not even budge. This surprised Yang Kai greatly.
It was not that his Divine Sense wasn’t strong enough, but rather that the puppet itself was too heavy to fit into his Space Ring.
Space Rings weren’t able to store everything without limit. If an item was too big or too heavy and exceeded the capacity of a Space Ring, it could not be stored inside one. There were also some special treasures, such as the Sun’s True Essence Yang Kai and Yang Yan took from the Corpse Cave that could not be stored either.
The Sun’s True Essence couldn’t be placed into a Space Ring because the heat it gave off far exceeded what a Space Ring could withstand. Once one tried, the Space Ring would be destroyed.
That was why Yang Yan spent a great deal of time and effort to refine a special storage ring for it.
Strictly speaking, the puppet in front of Yang Kai wasn’t too great in size, but since it couldn’t be put into a Space Ring, the only explanation was that it weighed far more than Yang Kai estimated.
Realizing this, a trace of surprise flashed across Yang Kai’s eyes.
Just when he was thinking about what to do next, Cai He and Du Si Si came over from where they had been meditating. Now that the battle was over, it was time to divide up the spoils. Everyone had seen how extraordinary this puppet was, so the Array Masters naturally didn’t want Yang Kai to reap all the benefits by himself and hastily ended their meditation to meet up with him.
“Brother Yang, this puppet is probably a work from ancient times and is of incredibly great value,” Cai He chuckled, his words carrying thinly veiled hidden meaning.
“En, if we can figure out how to operate it, it would become a massive boon,” Du Si Si’s beautiful eyes flashed with excitement.
Yang Kai stroked his chin as he looked at these two, not exposing their inner thoughts as he smiled and said lightly, “Are the two of you interested in it?”
Cai He laughed awkwardly while Du Si Si just bluntly stated, “Of course. Who would want to miss such a good thing? Even if it’s impossible to figure out how to operate it directly, studying it should still yield some information on how puppetry in ancient times worked. Others might not care, but I think Lian Guang would be incredibly interested in it.”
What she said held some truth. Such a puppet, regardless of its own value, had incredible worth as research material. If the Lian Family, known for their puppet techniques, heard about this thing, they would definitely go all out to acquire it.
“En,” Yang Kai gently nodded. Although Du Si Si had the demeanor of an arrogant young lady, after the three of them joined forces in a life or death battle, Yang Kai’s opinion of her had improved somewhat. Pondering for a moment, he followed up, “All three of us made great efforts in this battle, but there is only one puppet, how should we allocate it?”
Cai He and Du Si Si looked at each other awkwardly, unable to immediately come up with any good ideas.
Seeing these two act like this, Yang Kai chuckled lightly and proposed, “Good, I’m not that interested in this puppet so I don’t mind giving it up. In exchange, I want that giant jet black stick. The two of you can discuss who this puppet will go to; of course there is also the Space Ring that dead Senior left behind to allocate.”
After the old woman was crushed to death, her Space Ring had fallen at the feet of the puppet. Yang Kai had never had a chance to pick it up but now that actually came in handy as, together with the puppet and giant stick, there were three treasures to divide among the three of them.
No one knew the complete content of her Space Ring, but what was certain was there was a bottle of the Life Revitalizing Jade Cream in it.
“You want that stick?” Du Si Si glanced at the giant jet black stick and a trace of reluctance flashed across her beautiful eyes. To tell the truth, she also saw that the value of this giant stick was not under the puppet itself, so simply handing it over to Yang Kai was something she hesitated over. However, when she thought about what was inside the old woman’s Space Ring, her reluctance dissipated somewhat.
Cai He saw all this and quickly cut in, “Good, Brother Yang was also the main contributor in this battle, risking his life several times, so this Cai has no objections.”
With him saying so, what else could Du Si Si do?
Yang Kai nodded in thanks before walking over to the giant jet black stick. After thinking about it for a moment, he reached out his hand, placed it on the stick, then poured his Divine Sense into it to carefully examine it.
A short time later, Yang Kai’s expression changed and he poured a large amount of his Saint Qi into the giant jet black stick.
An incredible scene happened next. As Yang Kai infused his Saint Qi into it, the giant stick with a length of a couple dozen metres and a thickness greater than a man’s height actually rapidly shrank and became only a metre or so long in the blink of an eye.
Cai He and Du Si Si, who were negotiating over the puppet’s and Space Ring’s distribution, saw this and couldn’t help gawking for a moment.
Yang Kai nodded in affirmation when he saw this. The first time he saw the puppet, there was no sign of this giant stick at all, but after it crushed the old woman, it had suddenly appeared in its hand. At that time, Yang Kai wondered if this giant stick could freely change its size, and after trying it just now, he was able to confirm his guess.
Reaching out to pick up this black stick, Yang Kai’s face suddenly froze before revealing a look of pleasant surprise.
He found that he was unable to lift this stick at all, making him more certain that his decision to take it as his spoils of war was right. Whatever materials this stick was refined from were certainly incredible.
The puppet had been destroyed, and with the techniques and knowledge of Shadowed Star, it was impossible to repair it, so it was essentially useless. At most it could be exchanged for some Saint Crystals or treasures with the Lian Family. As for the Life Revitalizing Jade Cream in the old woman’s Space Ring… there was a good chance it was just a diluted byproduct. Yang Kai was almost certain that there was purer Life Revitalizing Jade Cream somewhere in that rockery.
Rejoicing in his heart, Yang Kai’s face remained indifferent as he used his Saint Qi and Divine Sense to wrap up this stick and move it into the special ring Yang Yan had refined for him.
This ring was even capable of storing the Sun’s True Essence and Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal, so it naturally had no trouble storing this strange stick.
While Yang Kai finished putting away the stick, Cai He’s and Du Si Si’s negotiations also concluded. Cai He walked over to the place where the puppet originally stood and picked up the old woman’s Space Ring while Du Si Si took out a bracelet-like artifact and tossed it up as her pretty face flashed a look of joy. Mid-air, the bracelet rapidly expanded until it completely encircled the fallen puppet. Silk like threads of energy then began shooting out from the giant bracelet.
These energy filaments swiftly wrapped around the puppet, soon making it look like a giant dumpling, at which point Du Si Si shouted, “Seal!”
The countless silk threads instantly began pulling the huge puppet into the bracelet and it had been completely secured in less than ten breaths. The strange storage bracelet then shrank back down and flew back over to Du Si Si’s wrist.
Everyone was happy with the gains they made.
Yang Kai also had no plans of eating everything up on his own. This time, Cai He and Du Si Si limiting the puppet’s ability to move really helped him a lot, so naturally Yang Kai wasn’t going to destroy the bridge after he crossed it.
As for which one of the three had gotten the best deal out of this, only the Heavens knew. In any case, after Cai He searched the old woman’s Space Ring, his face filled with joy, so obviously he was very satisfied with the result.
“Brother Yang, what should we do next?” It seemed that because of the previous battle, Cai He was now unconsciously treating Yang Kai as their group’s leader.
Hearing this, Du Si Si also turned her head and looked over.
Yang Kai pondered for a while before grinning, “Waiting here isn’t really an option, and since there’s only one exit, we have no choice but to go through it. What’s on the other side of this gateway, or what dangers we might face, are impossible to tell, but since this puppet was guarding it so tightly, there must be something good…”
Cai He’s and Du Si Si’s eyes both shined.
Yang Kai however quickly became solemn as he warned, “But where there are good things, there is definitely danger, so the two of you should prepare yourselves.”
“Naturally. So Brother Yang’s intentions are to continue exploring this place?”
“Yeah. No matter what, we need to find a way to leave these Ancient Ruins, at least.”
Regarding Yang Kai’s decision, the two Array Masters naturally had no objections so the three of them rested a while to completely restore themselves before Yang Kai took the lead and passed through the round gateway.
Through the gateway, Yang Kai suddenly found himself in front of a straight corridor.
After sweeping the area with his Divine Sense and confirming that there were no immediate dangers, Yang Kai began walking forward while maintaining a high level of vigilance.
The corridor wasn’t too long, only about a thousand metres in total, so it wasn’t long before the trio crossed it and arrived at another hall.
As soon as he entered this hall, Yang Kai’s eyes shrank as he looked towards the centre spot with clear surprise on his face and called out, “Elder Qian?”
Cai He and Du Si Si heard Yang Kai call out like this and couldn’t help smiling and quickly catching up with him. However, when they looked over in the direction Yang Kai was staring, bitter smiles filled their faces.
Over there, Qian Tong sat cross-legged, wearing an equally bitter smile as he stared back towards them.
Sitting beside Qian Tong was another middle-aged man who was a Second-Order Saint King. This man’s face was somewhat pale, clearly indicating that he had been injured. Yang Kai quickly judged that this person was the Artifact Refiner who followed Qian Tong to this place.
Fei Zhi Tu had said that Qian Tong hadn’t come here alone but had brought a Saint King Grade Artifact Refiner with him, hoping that through this exploration, this middle-aged man would be able to become an Origin Grade Artifact Refiner to replace Grand Master Ge Lin who recently died.
Next to Elder Qian and this middle-aged man was a Stone Tablet. This Stone Tablet was densely engraved with countless tiny characters. Even from a fair distance away, Yang Kai was able to identify these characters as the same unrecognizable ancient text they had come across multiple times since entering these Ancient Ruins. However, unlike all the other writing they had encountered, the characters on this Stone Tablet had a strange charm to them, almost as if one would gain some kind of enlightenment if they diligently studied them.
Most importantly though, around Qian Tong were a dozen or so puppets. Some of these puppets had humanoid appearances while others resembled Monster Beasts, but every one of them was radiating a thick malicious intent. Each of these puppets was clearly not affable and were currently eyeing Qian Tong and that Saint King Grade Artifact Refiner covetously; however, they currently showed no intention to attack and were simply surrounding them for now.
After probing these puppets lightly, Yang Kai felt the urge to curse.
Even if these dozen puppets weren’t as powerful as the giant one they had encountered before, the difference wasn’t great. It made sense that Qian Tong could only sit in place, not daring to act rashly; if he did, these dozen puppets would quickly tear him and the middle-aged Artifact Refiner to pieces.
“How did you get here?” Qian Tong’s voice was a little weak, but it didn’t seem he was in any kind of life threatening danger. Looking at Yang Kai and the other two young Array Masters though, clear surprise filled Qian Tong’s face.
“Elder Qian, these puppets…” Yang Kai didn’t answer immediately, instead concentrating solely on the dozen puppets.
“Don’t worry, they seem to only care about protecting this place. As long as you don’t come any closer, they won’t attack. As for this old master… en, with this Stone Tablet as a deterrent, they don’t dare to come close, so we won’t die any time soon.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai’s taut expression loosened. After taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he began explaining how Fei Zhi Tu had recruited them to launch this rescue operation.
Hearing that Yang Kai and the other two beside him had been invited by Fei Zhi Tu to help rescue him, Qian Tong expressed his sincere gratitude. The three Saint King Realm Juniors naturally replied humbly. After hearing that they had been scattered when passing through the black and white Space Array Gate, then had watched the old woman die a tragic death at the hand of the giant humanoid puppet, Qian Tong’s expression became gloomy as he seemingly blamed himself.
A short time later, after Yang Kai finished narrating his group’s story, Qian Tong frowned and asked, “So you don’t know where Old Fei and his group are now, correct?”
Yang Kai and the others shook their heads slowly.
Qian Tong laughed bitterly, “This time, this old master has wrongly implicated all of you. This place is a dead end; even if you return the way you came, I’m afraid you won’t be able to find a way back.”
“Then what should we do?” Du Si Si asked anxiously.
“There are only two options!” Qian Tong sighed heavily.
“What options?”
“Do you see the Space Array over there?” Qian Tong pointed his finger towards a certain direction. Following his finger, Yang Kai, Cai He, and Du Si Si saw an intact Space Array at the opposite end of the hall.
“That Space Array should lead to the outside world, so if you are confident in slipping past these puppets, you can try to escape through it; however, this old master doesn’t recommend trying this. Most of the puppets here are somewhat avoidable, but that wolf-shaped one’s speed is quite frightening. Even this old master isn’t certain he can outrun it.”
Yang Kai and the two Array Masters had already fought one of these puppets before so how could they have any thoughts of challenging another casually? Even if these puppets were not as overwhelming as the previous one, just the number of them in this place was enough to cause Yang Kai’s blood to run cold.
What’s more, although the Space Array was intact, it would still take some time to activate. That slight delay would be more than enough time for these puppets to swarm them.
Facing such a dire situation, how could they act rashly?
“Other than that, the only option is to wait. When Old Fei arrives, we can try to find a way out of this mess together,” Qian Tong saw the look of helplessness and despair on Cai He’s and Du Si Si’s face and couldn’t help comforting, “Rest assured, if the situation becomes dire, this old master will find a way to delay these evil creatures long enough for you all to escape.”
“No!” Cai He panicked and hurriedly objected, “Elder Qian must not! Shadow Moon Hall’s internal strife continues to escalate even now, so Elder Qian must return to help the Sect Master overcome the situation. If Elder Qian were to fall here because of us, then we three would forever be dishonoured. We cannot afford such disrepute.”
Du Si Si nodded firmly in agreement.
Qian Tong chuckled heartily as he shook his head, “It was only a method of last resort. Don’t worry, unless there is truly no other way, this old master won’t do such a thing, I also want to live a few more years.”
Only when he heard this did Cai He feel relieved.
With no way back and the way forward blocked, the three newly arrived Saint King Realm Juniors could only sit down cross-legged to meditate while sometimes chatting with Qian Tong to pass the time.
After chatting for a while, Yang Kai learned that the Stone Tablet was actually engraved with an ingenious Artifact Refining technique, and although no one could understand these ancient characters, if an Artifact Refiner simply meditated nearby and studied it, their comprehension of Artifact Refining would gradually increase.
This middle-aged man had gained a certain understanding of this profound technique now and had begun personally refining an Origin Grade artifact. Once this artifact was completely refined, he would become the next Origin Grade Artifact Refining Grandmaster of Shadow Moon Hall.
With the assistance of this person, together with Qian Tong’s methods and prestige, Shadow Moon Hall’s internal strife could be settled once more.
Time passed by as everyone grew somewhat anxious, all of them wondering what had happened to Fei Zhi Tu and the others as no trace of them had been seen for half a month.
After half a month of rest and recuperation, all the injuries Yang Kai and the two young Array Masters suffered in their battle with the giant puppet completely healed.
On this day, as Yang Kai was sitting in meditation, he suddenly noticed a strange energy fluctuation around him and immediately opened his eyes in surprise.
At the same time, Qian Tong also noticed this anomaly and released his Divine Sense to investigate.
Cai He and Du Si Si on the other hand failed to notice anything.
However, a moment later, both wore terrified looks because the hall they were sitting in suddenly began shaking violently, with dust and debris falling from the ceiling, as if the entire Ancient Ruin had become unstable.
“This is…” Qian Tong’s eyes widened, as if he had discovered something.
Yang Kai was also shocked. He did not know what Qian Tong had discovered, but he had clearly felt that this Ancient Ruin was now being flooded with pulsing Space Force.
Yang Kai had cultivated this strength, so he was very clear about its unique fluctuations.
A violent rumbling filled the air and everything around began heaving and shaking, as if the end of the world was approaching. The middle-aged man next to Qian Tong as well as Cai He and Du Si Si all began looking around in panic.
The dozen or so puppets that had been surrounding Qian Tong also experienced a change at this moment, all their red eyes flashing warily as they slowly retreated in fear.
This change had happened too fast, and before Yang Kai could investigate properly, the surrounding space filled with a kind of irresistible repulsive force, wrapping everyone’s body and making it difficult for them to even breathe.
But Yang Kai was not frightened by this and instead wore a happy look because he had experienced this feeling once before.
The current situation was exactly the same as the one he experienced when the Flowing Flame Sand Field was closed a few years ago!
[Could it be…]
Just as this thought crossed Yang Kai’s mind, the surrounding World Energy began condensing at a speed visible to the naked eye and a moment later a burst of radiant light filled the hall. After the flash high up in the air passed, the World Energy that caused it transformed into a giant hand.
Seeing this, Yang Kai brow lifted as his face filled with joy.
This hand formed from World Energy looked incredibly familiar and was no doubt the same female jade white hand that had appeared in the Flame Sand Field at that time.
However, this jade white hand was several times larger than the one from back then. At that time, this jade hand had wanted to expel Yang Kai from the Flowing Flame Sand Field but was blocked by the Star Emperor Token he had obtained by chance, allowing Yang Kai to remain inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field for six months after it had closed.
Having previously experienced this matter, Yang Kai naturally calmed down.
The jade hand soon reached down from above and grabbed hold of Yang Kai, squeezing him tightly.
During this process, Yang Kai did not attempt to resist at all. Glancing over and seeing Cai He and Du Si Si’s desperate expressions as they fiercely pushed their Saint Qi, apparently wanting to struggle, Yang Kai quickly comforted them, “Don’t panic, this will let us escape from this place.”
Just as he finished saying this, the jade hand holding him exploded into particles of light and Yang Kai felt a violent repulsion from the space around him. In a flash of light, Yang Kai’s figure disappeared from where he was standing.
After receiving Yang Kai’s reassurance, Cai He and Du Si Si both froze for a moment, allowing two jade hands to grab hold of them as well. After these two jade hands burst, they also vanished.
This scene also happened to Qian Tong and the middle-aged Artifact Refiner, as well as a gloomy-faced Fei Zhi Tu somewhere else inside the Ancient Ruins.
In the blink of an eye, no living person remained inside the Ancient Ruins.
Somewhere ten thousand kilometres outside Fallen Emperor Mountain, a figure strangely appeared, and after trembling and staggering slightly, the figure stood firm. It was Yang Kai, who was sent out of the Ancient Ruins by its unique World Principles.
At almost the same time as he appeared, several other silhouettes appeared around him one after another.
Everyone looked around and after seeing each other’s faces, Cai He shouted with joy, “Senior Fei, Senior Ning!”
Fei Zhi Tu’s eyes widened as he showed a happy look, “You also managed to come out?”
“En, I don’t know what happened, but we were suddenly teleported out of the Ancient Ruins and came here. What about Senior Wen?” Cai He suddenly discovered that the cultivator surnamed Wen was missing.
Fei Zhi Tu and Ning Xiang Chen both sighed deeply as their faces darkened.
Seeing this, the others immediately understood that the cultivator surnamed Wen had died in the Ancient Ruins.
“My old friend…” Ning Xiang Chen was also surprised when he found no trace of the old woman.
Cai He smiled bitterly, “That Senior also fell.”
Ning Xiang Chen was dumbfounded for a moment before he let out a sigh and smiled bitterly, “It was her fate!”
During this Ancient Ruins’ exploration, two Origin Returning Realm masters had died but all four Saint King Realm Juniors had managed to return safely, including Lian Guang who appeared unharmed; however, after spending these days suffering greatly together with Fei Zhi Tu and the other masters, his expression was now quite haggard.
“Old Ghost Qian, you’re not dead, seems your luck is as good as ever,” Fei Zhi Tu looked at Qian Tong and coldly snorted.
Qian Tong didn’t retort as his eyes filled with the light of remorse. Seeing this, Fei Zhi Tu, no longer made any sarcastic remarks.
Yang Kai and his group had been sitting in that hall all this time without moving, so naturally it was not anything they did that allowed them to leave the Ancient Ruins this time. As such, it only made sense that Fei Zhi Tu and his group had triggered something which caused the entire Ancient Ruins to expel them.
Although only Yang Kai had entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field among the people here, all of them had naturally heard some information about it, including the appearance of the jade white hand condensed from World Energy that sent everyone out.
The situation just now was exactly the same as when the Flowing Flame Sand Field closed, so was there some kind of connection between the two? Not only was Yang Kai’s brow furrowed, the Origin Returning Realm masters also sank deep into thought. Of the people here, it seemed only Cai He, Du Si Si, and Lian Guang did not understand what was going on.
Just as Qian Tong opened his mouth to say something though, a sudden rumbling sound came from afar.
Suddenly, everyone’s footing became unsteady and their faces changed greatly as they stared in shock towards the source of the sound.
“It’s coming from Fallen Emperor Mountain?” Du Si Si muttered.
The direction of the sound was indeed from Fallen Emperor Mountain, and even though they were already ten thousand kilometres away, everyone could vaguely see traces of the mountain range and hear it rumbling, as if some great change had suddenly occurred.
One could only imagine how violent the movement over there was to produce such a violent sound.
And just now, all of them had been sent out of the Ancient Ruins, so could this sudden development be related somehow?
As everyone stared curiously, Fallen Emperor Mountain, which was ten thousand kilometres away, suddenly underwent another astonishing change as all the World Energy within tens of thousands of kilometres rapidly began flooding towards it.
The cultivators who were cultivating on Fallen Emperor Mountain all suddenly wore horrified looks as they hurriedly used their movement skills to try to escape to the periphery, but clearly, they acted a bit too late. Just as these people began to flee, an incredible Emperor Pressure suddenly descended upon them, one just as strong as at Fallen Emperor Mountain’s most central region.
Under this omnipresent Emperor Pressure, everyone could not help feeling like a majestic pair of eyes was looking down at them.
Under the gaze of these eyes, everyone felt as tiny as an ant and their movements stiffened to the point where even moving a finger was difficult.
Fortunately, this Emperor Pressure disappeared as quickly as it came, but when the cultivators who regained their freedom wanted to continue escaping, they were shocked to discover that all the World Energy within a hundred thousand kilometre radius had gathered around them in what appeared to be colourful bubbles visible to the naked eye.
Inside each of these bubbles was an astonishing amount of energy, enough to cause anyone who saw them to tremble.
A violent rumbling suddenly came from down below and the earth began cracking in a giant web-like pattern. Many cultivators fell into these cracks and were ruthlessly crushed to death by some strange power without even a chance to fight back.
In just a dozen breaths, most of the cultivators who were cultivating on Fallen Emperor Mountain died or were seriously injured as wails echoed through the air.
Only those cultivators whose strength was not very high and had already been in the mountain range’s periphery had luckily escaped.
Ten thousand kilometres away, Fei Zhi Tu and Qian Tong both stared forward with pale complexions. Despite being so far away and being unable to see the situation clearly, they were able to feel the powerful energy fluctuations coming from Fallen Emperor Mountain. Exchanging a glance, these two masters could clearly see the doubt and panic in each other’s eyes.
Before Qian Tong was even able to ask Fei Zhi Tu and his group what they had experienced, Fallen Emperor Mountain had undergone such a violent change. A moment later though, all these strange occurrences suddenly subsided and the rumbling sound swiftly vanished; however, an incredibly dangerous aura still filled the air.
It was like the calm before the storm, only increasing everyone’s anxiety.
World Energy was still flowing towards the centre of Fallen Emperor Mountain and even seemed to be increasing in speed now.
A moment later, a dazzling light burst from somewhere in Fallen Emperor Mountain, like a great thunderbolt across the clear sky, rendering all unable to look at it directly.
A Heaven-destroying-Earth-shattering aura filled the air, causing everyone to go pale.
When the light faded, the crowd looked over and could not help being stunned.
In the sky above Fallen Emperor Mountain, a palace-like building had suddenly appeared. This palace was simple in design but gave off an ancient aura as gold and silver runes flickered and flowed across its surface.
At the moment, this palace was flying up into the sky, not seeming to move that fast, but a terrifying Emperor Pressure that covered all Shadowed Star radiated from it.
“This is…” Ning Xiang Chen stared blankly at this palace and, as he suddenly seemed to remember something, his face changed drastically, a complex expression of surprise, excitement, and anxiety filled his face.
“Emperor Garden!” Fei Zhi Tu and Qian Tong exclaimed at the same time.
The few Saint King Realm Juniors who heard this all could not help showing looks of shock as their eyes lit up.
Yang Kai was no exception as he had long ago heard of the Three Great Forbidden Zones on Shadowed Star.
One was the Flowing Flame Sand Field that he had been to, its dangers needing no further explanation. More than ten thousand elite disciples from all the great Sects on Shadowed Star had entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field but more than half fell inside, and that was while the Flowing Flame Sand Field’s Flame Area had been dramatically weakened.
The Flowing Flame Sand Field’s opening always had such a survival rate.
The second Forbidden zone was the Emperor Garden which Fei Zhi Tu and the others had just labelled this floating palace.
According to rumours, this was the Starry Sky Great Emperor’s personal palace! This alone was enough to awe others.
As for the third one, it was Shadowed Soul Island, which existed somewhere on Shadowed Star’s Limitless Ocean!
The first Forbidden Zone was constantly present on Shadowed Star and would open once every few hundred years. Every great force on Shadowed Star was incredibly familiar with it, and every time it opened they would reap great benefits.
The second Forbidden Zone, the Emperor Garden, had never been entered by anyone and would only occasionally appear before disappearing soon after. Most cultivators on Shadowed Star had only heard of the existence of the Emperor Garden. While over tens of thousands of years a few people had seen it for themselves, it had always been in an illusionary state and no records of anyone ever having set foot into it existed.
As for the third, Shadowed Soul Island, it was a complete mystery. It was rumoured that anyone who entered Shadowed Soul Island perished, making it much more mysterious than the Emperor Garden.
At this moment, hearing Fei Zhi Tu and Qian Tong actually shout the words ‘Emperor Garden’, how could Yang Kai not be shocked? Quickly composing himself though, he asked respectfully, “Two Seniors, is this the rumoured Starry Sky Great Emperor’s personal palace?”
Fei Zhi Tu’s eyes flashed as he continued staring at the floating palace, gently nodding his head as he replied, “It should be. Although this City Lord has never seen it personally, it matches the records in the Sect’s ancient books exactly, but…”
“But what?” The several Saint King Realm Juniors stared at him.
“It’s slightly different from the descriptions,” Qian Tong frowned.
“Different how?”
Qian Tong pondered for a while before saying slowly, “I suppose there’s no harm in telling you. Since the Emperor Garden has appeared now, even if this old master does not say anything, this information will certainly spread out quickly and reach you. You should have heard some rumours about the Emperor Garden saying that it appears mysteriously and then disappears soon after. More than a thousand years ago, a Senior of my Shadow Moon Hall had the honour of witnessing the advent of the Emperor Garden and left records of it in the Sect’s archives. At that time, the Emperor Garden appeared silently and then disappeared silently, not alarming many people, but this time… I’m afraid at least half of the Shadowed Star’s population can see it.”
Saying this, Qian Tong showed a slightly bitter smile.
“Not only that, the Emperor Garden has always had an illusory appearance like a mirage, visible to the naked eye, but immaterial and ethereal, yet this time…” Fei Zhi Tu’s brow furrowed deeply as clear worry appeared on his face.
There was no need for him to explain further as everyone here could clearly see that the Emperor Garden in front of them was nothing like a mirage. Its image was so vivid it made one believe they could fly up and enter it.
“Was the Ancient Ruin we entered before actually the Emperor Garden?” Yang Kai’s expression flashed as he wondered out loud.
Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu didn’t reply, but judging from their complexions, they clearly agreed with Yang Kai’s conjecture. After all, moments after they had been expelled from Fallen Emperor Mountain, the Emperor Garden had slowly risen above Fallen Emperor Mountain. There must be some connection between the two events.
If the Ancient Ruins they were exploring just now were really the Emperor Garden, then it would easily explain why so many long-lost herbs and treasures had appeared. The Emperor Garden’s name was so renowned that it would be strange if there were not many good things inside it.
Thinking that they had entered the Emperor Garden and managed to leave alive, Cai He, Du Si Si, and the others could not help trembling.
Now though, since the Emperor Garden had appeared, they may have a chance to enter it once more.
As Yang Kai’s group conversed, the Emperor Garden continued flying upwards, but the strange thing was that no matter how high or how far it flew, they could all still see it clearly and it did not seem to shrink in size at all. The only thing that changed was the Emperor Pressure surrounding it slowly weakened.
“When the Emperor Garden appears, the Star Field will be thrown into chaos. The ancient books recorded this, but whether it is true or false remains to be seen!” Fei Zhi Tu murmured softly.
“No matter the case, Old Fei, you and I should go investigate it first. If the Emperor Garden has truly manifested this time, it may not be a good thing for us!” Qian Tong said with a worried look on his face.
“Yeah, even if you didn’t propose this, this City Lord would have,” Fei Zhi Tu nodded.
With the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters reaching an agreement, Qian Tong immediately urged the juniors to return to Heavenly Fate City as soon as possible and not involve themselves in this matter. Then, Qian Tong spoke a few words to Ning Xiang Chen, asking him to look after the Juniors before he and Fei Zhi Tu flew off in the direction of the Emperor Garden.
After they left, Ning Xiang Chen stood on the spot, his face sullen for a while before he eventually let out a sigh and said, “Let’s go back.”
He also wanted to visit the Emperor Garden, but after thinking of the Emperor Pressure being emitted from it, he had no choice but to give up such thoughts; after all, his strength was lower than Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu. Before he even got close to the Emperor Garden, he might be ground to dust by the Emperor Pressure.
Accepting this reality, he flew off together with the four Saint Kings and the middle-aged Artifact Refiner towards Heavenly Fate City.
On the way, Yang Kai could not help glancing back at the Emperor Garden suspiciously. The more he looked, the more puzzled his expression became.
He had seen a flying palace before, namely Meng Wu Ya’s Heavenly Palace artifact. It may be that this Emperor Garden was also a kind of artifact, but it was innumerable times higher grade than Meng Wu Ya’s Heavenly Palace.
On top of that, the owner of this artifact was definitely the Starry Sky Great Emperor as the Emperor Pressure emanating from it was impossible to fake.
Yang Kai was not puzzled about this, however, but rather because he felt that this Emperor Garden seemed to be missing something. But this was just a feeling and he was unable to tell what was missing.
Yang Kai quickly set aside this idea, not bothering to think about it any further; after all, this was related to the Emperor Garden, so even if he was curious, there really was no one he could ask to learn more.
On the way back, Cai He and Du Si Si asked Ning Xiang Chen some questions and soon learned that after the two groups had separated, Fei Zhi Tu’s group had repeatedly fought with a number of puppets, causing them a great deal of suffering and even resulting in the man surnamed Wen dying a tragic death.
Hearing all this, Du Si Si shot a grateful look towards Cai He.
If not for Cai He’s foresight, taking her hand back then and bringing her with him, she would have certainly passed through the white Space Array Gate with Ning Xiang Chen and the other masters, which would have undoubtedly been disastrous for her with her weak cultivation.
Lian Guang’s safe return should be taken as an exception; after all, he was proficient in puppet techniques so, at a moment of crisis, he could use his puppets to preserve his life. Du Si Si, on the other hand, didn’t have such an ability.
Although they had still encountered that giant humanoid puppet after entering the black Space Array Gate, the overall situation on that side was quite relaxed, with only a single battle needing to be fought.
On Fei Zhi Tu’s side, after fighting several dangerous battles, their group had entered an ice-cold chamber where they found an Ice Crystal Jade Coffin. There seemed to be a person lying inside this jade coffin, but before they could figure out who it was, they accidentally triggered some kind of Spirit Array.
What happened next, Yang Kai and the others already knew; the Emperor Garden’s World Principles repelled everyone, teleporting them ten thousand kilometres outside of Fallen Emperor Mountain.
It seemed that jade coffin was the root of this sudden development as Fei Zhi Tu and his group tripping the Spirit Array near it had resulted in all of them being sent out and the Emperor Garden appearing.
As for who was inside that jade coffin, Ning Xiang Chen couldn’t tell clearly. All he could see from that individual’s outline was that it was most likely a woman.
Hearing this, Yang Kai raised his brow pensively.
He had experienced this World Principle rejection twice now, and both times he had witnessed a flourishing jade white hand. That jade hand was obviously a woman’s hand. Now, an Ice Crystal Jade Coffin inside the Emperor Garden contained a woman who seemingly possessed no vitality. Were all of these incidents somewhat related?
Moreover, what kind of connection was there between the Flowing Flame Sand Field and the Emperor Garden? The more Yang Kai thought about it, the more confused he became.
Unable to make sense of any of this, Yang Kai simply shook his head.
In addition to these mysteries, Shadowed Star also had quite a few peculiarities to it. There were no Origin King Realm masters here, and even the highest grade of Alchemist and Artifact Refiner was merely Origin Grade Low-Rank. It seemed like there was some kind of suppressive force at work here that made it impossible to overcome these bottlenecks. Everyone being unable to escape these shackles made Yang Kai faintly feel there was more to this star than met the eye.
The journey back was uneventful, with only a few words exchanged the whole way. Several days later, the group returned to Heavenly Fate City and Cai He, Du Si Si, and Lian Guang said their goodbyes, while Ning Xiang Chen stayed and chatted with Yang Kai briefly before taking his leave.
Knowing what it was this old man had been thinking about, and taking into consideration the care Ning Xiang Chen had shown him along the way, Yang Kai certainly wouldn’t act stingy. Immediately, he told him that whenever he had time he could come to Dragon Cave Mountain as a guest, and if he wanted to repair his artifacts, to simply let him know.
Receiving this promise, Ning Xiang Chen was overjoyed and immediately thanked Yang Kai before hurriedly leaving. Apparently he had some preparations to make; after all, in order to properly repair his artifacts, it would be necessary to collect some materials. He couldn’t expect Yang Kai to also provide such things.
Standing outside Heavenly Fate City, Yang Kai looked up at the sky.
At this moment, Emperor Garden seemed to have stabilized and was suspended somewhere above Shadowed Star. Its size had still not changed, but the crushing Emperor Pressure had essentially disappeared, obviously because it was now very far from the ground.
Yang Kai didn’t know what Fei Zhi Tu and Qian Tong were planning on investigating, but he estimated that before long, all of the great forces on Shadowed Star would begin moving.
The Emperor Garden’s appearance was a matter of great importance, so no great force could afford to ignore it. When the time came, everyone would want a piece of the benefits, so there would definitely be some friction and conflict in the near future.
After observing for a while though, Yang Kai’s expression suddenly sank and became incredibly ugly.
He hadn’t paid much attention to it before, but now that he observed the Emperor Garden carefully, especially its placement, he noticed that it was hovering above Heavenly Fate City. Or more precisely, it was hovering just above Dragon Cave Mountain.
[Shit…]
Yang Kai almost couldn’t help cursing out loud. With the Emperor Garden floating here, although Dragon Cave Mountain was simply adjacent to the real prize, that would be enough to cause some unnecessary trouble. The masters of all the great forces on Shadowed Star would definitely come here to investigate, and Shadow Moon Hall would not be willing to provoke them, so even with Qian Tong’s protection, Dragon Cave Mountain may not necessarily remain safe.
With a hazy expression, Yang Kai stood in place pondering for a while before eventually stomping his foot and flying off towards Dragon Cave Mountain.
Worrying about this now was meaningless; in the first place, he didn’t have any way to get rid of the Emperor Garden. What he should be considering right now was how to strengthen Dragon Cave Mountain’s defences.
Silently cursing the Starry Sky Great Emperor in his head, Yang Kai quickly rushed back.
A short time later, Yang Kai arrived outside Dragon Cave Mountain’s protective barrier and took out the control token Yang Yan had given him. Pouring his Saint Qi into this token, a stream of light poured out from it and into the giant Spirit Array.
Instantly, a straight passage opened in the fog bank that surrounded the mountain. With a casual look, Yang Kai put away the token and walked inside. After he passed through it, the passage disappeared again and the entire Dragon Cave Mountain was once again shrouded in a fog bank, completely obscuring it from the outside world.
As soon as he entered, a few figures flew over to intercept him, but upon seeing it was Yang Kai, all of these people showed looks of joy on their faces and quickly cupped their fists to welcome him.
Yang Kai couldn’t actually remember the names of these people, only knowing they were originally disciples of the Hai Ke Family. After Wu Yi separated from her family and joined Dragon Cave Mountain, all these people, with their incredibly varied strengths, followed her here.
However, thanks to the amazing financial resources of Dragon Cave Mountain, everyone’s cultivation had improved greatly. Now, the leaders among this group were all Saint Kings, while almost everyone else was a Third-Order Saint.
This kind of cultivation in the outside world was nothing, but it was something the Hai Ke Family could only dream of cultivating in such a short time.
“Sect Master, it’s good that you’ve returned,” The leading Saint King Realm called out happily, but a hint of anxiety remained on his face.
Yang Kai frowned and asked, “Why do you address me as Sect Master?”
The leader grinned meaningfully and explained, “Young Lady Wu Yi said I will have to call you Sect Master when I see you in the future. She said that you will definitely found a Sect in time, so calling you Sect Master now shouldn’t matter.”
Yang Kai was struck speechless.
He indeed had the idea of founding a small Sect, not to develop some kind of great force, but rather to pave the way for his friends and family on Tong Xuan Realm. When the time comes, he would need to bring them out into the Star Field. At that time, they would need a place to stay, and given the number of people he planned to bring, forming a Sect was the most logical option.
He had never mentioned this out loud, but it seemed Wu Yi had taken notice and begun making plans.
Yang Kai didn’t dig any deeper into this issue, instead noticing the look of anxiety on the face of the man who spoke to him and asking, “What happened while I was out? Why do you all look so worried? Did the Xie Family stir up trouble again?”
Yang Kai almost took it for granted that the Xie Family would target Dragon Cave Mountain, so seeing the anxious looks on everyone’s face, he immediately felt some anger welling up.
Hearing this question, the lead cultivator quickly said, “No, no, a trivial Xie Family can’t pose any threat to our Dragon Cave Mountain. After Sect Master left, they tried to scout us out a few times, but after everyone they sent died without a complete corpse, they learned their lesson and didn’t dare try to break into our protective barrier.”
“Then why do you all look like this?”
“It’s… it’s…” His eyes darting around, it appeared that whatever this lead cultivator had to say was something quite difficult to bring up.
“Stop hesitating and explain!” Yang Kai’s face sank.
“It’s Young Lady Yang Yan!” The cultivator grit his teeth and shouted.
“Yang Yan?” Yang Kai’s complexion changed, “What happened to Yang Yan?”
“I don’t know, I only heard from Young Lady Wu Yi that Young Lady Yang Yan suddenly fell into a deep sleep a few days ago and has not awoken since. Young Lady Wu Yi and Miss Qian Yue have been trying to find a solution this whole time but…!” The lead cultivator couldn’t finish answering Yang Kai’s question before the latter disappeared without a word. With his First-Order Saint King Realm cultivation, this man wasn’t even able to tell how Yang Kai disappeared, causing a look of admiration and envy to fill his face.
Hearing that something happened to Yang Yan, Yang Kai had no patience to listen to a long explanation.
Since coming to Shadowed Star, he had only made a few friends, and even fewer of these friends could he truly open up to.
Yang Yan was one of his closest friends, and the weight she held in Yang Kai’s heart ranked first in Shadowed Star. Without her, Dragon Cave Mountain wouldn’t have been able to develop to such a scale. Without her, Yang Kai wouldn’t have so many artifacts in his possession.
Dragon Cave Mountain being able to reach its current glory was largely in part due to Yang Yan’s contributions. Yang Kai was able to cultivate with peace of mind all thanks to Yang Yan’s efforts.
In the beginning, this mysterious woman was refining Saint Grade artifacts to earn a measly few Saint Crystals at the Artifact Refining Pavilion in Heavenly Fate City. If not for a series of coincidences that resulted in Yang Kai bringing her back with him to assist with arranging a Spirit Array, the two of them might never have even met.
As time passed, Yang Yan’s importance to Yang Kai increased greatly, so now hearing that something was wrong with her, he naturally became anxious.
Releasing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai soon found that Yang Yan was in the loft where she normally lived.
At the moment, Qian Yue and Wu Yi were there too, one of them feeding Yang Yan a bowl of some kind of potion while the other sat cross-legged by her bed and poured their Saint Qi into her, attempting to wake her up.
The two women were in a state of sorrow and anxiety.
In a flash, a figure suddenly appeared behind them and Wu Yi’s and Qian Yue’s expressions both changed dramatically. The two of them were about to attack, but when they saw it was Yang Kai who had come, both of them smiled happily towards him.
Yang Kai didn’t waste any time talking to them as he focused his attention on Yang Yan. From a glance, he could see she was completely unconscious and extremely pale. Even in this kind of deep sleep, she seemed to be experiencing some kind of nightmare.
The Saint Qi in her body was also flowing irregularly, creating a kind of chaotic circulation.
Yang Kai quickly arrived at the bed, stretched out his fingers, and placed them on Yang Yan’s wrist while also releasing his Divine Sense to carefully inspect her condition.
A moment later, his brow furrowed as he removed his hand from Yang Yan’s wrist and asked, “What happened? When did it happen?”
Wu Yi and Qian Yue glanced at each other for a moment before the former replied, “Just four days ago she was perfectly fine. At that time I was helping her refine something when suddenly her complexion went pale and she whispered some words I couldn’t understand before directly fainting. I didn’t know what had happened, so I brought her to her bed, but since then she remained unconscious. We fed her the healing pills you left behind as well as pills meant to restore Spiritual Energy, but nothing we did was able to improve her condition.”
Four days ago? Yang Kai raised his brow thoughtfully. Four days ago was exactly when the changes in Fallen Emperor Mountain had occurred and the Emperor Garden had appeared. Why would Yang Yan’s sudden collapse coincide with those events?
What was the relationship between the two events? After thinking for a while, Yang Kai shook his head as he felt that his speculations were too absurd.
Fallen Emperor Mountain and the Emperor Garden were both related to the Starry Sky Great Emperor, so how could that have anything to do with Yang Yan?
“Yang Kai, what happened to her?” Wu Yi asked anxiously, concern filling her pretty face.
“I don’t know,” Yang Kai raised his eyes to meet hers, “Have Foreign Elder Chang and Foreign Elder Hao examined her?”
“En, but the two Foreign Elders were also helpless. Should we send her to Medicine Pill Sect for treatment?” Wu Yi bit her thin lip lightly and proposed. Although Medicine Pill Sect was famous for its Alchemy techniques, there was also no one on Shadowed Star who better understood Alchemy and medical treatment than masters. If they sent Yang Yan there, they might be able to help her.
Wu Yi came up with this idea a while ago, but since Yang Kai was not around, she didn’t act on it immediately.
“No,” Yang Kai shook his head, “Forget about how long it would take to bring her there, even if we did, we may not be able to have one of their Elder level characters act.”
“What should we do then?” Wu Yi was as anxious as an ant on a hot wok. In Dragon Cave Mountain, Yang Kai was the hidden dragon who showed his tail but never his face, often in a state of secluded retreat or out on some adventure, so in his absence, everything about this place’s development and management had been handed over to her and Yang Yan. Yang Yan was also the one Wu Yi got along with best, so now seeing Yang Yan suffer like this, Wu Yi felt helpless and anxious.
“Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to help her,” Yang Kai comforted, before casually explaining, “I just performed a check on her condition, and there appears to be nothing wrong with her physically. Since that is the case, the reason she’s remained unconscious obviously has something to do with her Soul. If I can break into her Knowledge Sea, I should be able to determine what’s wrong with her.”
“Then be careful, don’t hurt her.”
“I know, you should go out first!” Yang Kai waved his hand.
Wu Yi and Qian Yue exchanged a glance before the two both walked out with worried expressions.
In a blink of an eye, only Yang Kai and Yang Yan remained inside the loft. Seeing Yang Yan’s pale complexion, Yang Kai sighed slightly, stretched out his hand to support her head, then sat her up in a cross-legged sitting position facing him before slowly touching her smooth forehead with his finger.
Immediately after, Yang Kai closed his eyes and began pouring his Divine Sense into Yang Yan’s forehead.
Currently, Yang Yan was in a coma, so her Knowledge Sea had sealed itself off automatically. If Yang Kai wanted to break into Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea, he first had to break through her Knowledge Sea defences. Doing so may cause some damage to Yang Yan, but Yang had great confidence in his methods, so he was not worried about permanently harming her.
After all, after so many years of being nourished by the Soul Warming Lotus, Yang Kai’s Soul cultivation far exceeded other cultivators in his realm.
A moment later, Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar left his body and appeared outside a barrier inside Yang Yan’s mind. This barrier was Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea defence. At a glance, Yang Kai couldn’t help showing some surprise as he hadn’t expected Yang Yan to have such powerful protections around her Knowledge Sea even while in a coma. Yang Kai felt like he was staring at a strong, solid and thick city wall, one that would not allow him to go one step further.
Not only that, but there were also glowing runes flowing across this giant wall that gave off an uncomfortable aura.
Yang Kai frowned slightly. He found that he had underestimated Yang Yan’s strength. Since encountering this woman, Yang Kai had never been able to discover her true cultivation and had never taken the initiative to ask. Yang Kai had thought that she carried a special artifact that blocked others from investigating her, but now it seemed that her cultivation was actually much higher than expected.
Sure enough, she was a woman full of mystery! Yang Kai was not totally surprised and instead looked up at this great barrier with a grin. In the next moment, his Divine Sense burst out, forming a powerful Soul attack which he launched.
The runes on the wall flashed brightly as Yang Kai’s attack landed and was subsequently dispersed like a rock sinking into the sea, leaving no trace.
Seeing this, Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed slightly as he increased the power behind his attack and began repeatedly bombarding the barrier. During this process, Yang Kai was careful, not only to ensure the effectiveness of his attacks but also to make sure he maintained absolute control so that he would not cause Yang Yan any harm after breaking through the barrier.
This was no easy task to accomplish.
The runes on the barrier shone continuously and several of them often flew out to meet and counter Yang Kai’s Divine Sense attacks.
However, Yang Yan was in a coma, so even though her Knowledge Sea defences were not weak, they couldn’t withstand Yang Kai’s persistent bombardment. After an hour, Yang Kai finally tore a hole in the great barrier.
Seeing this, Yang Kai smiled happily and was just about to rush into Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea when three beams of light suddenly flew out to cover this opening.
An elegant purple glow, a flawless white glow, and a deep blue glow.
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed as he instinctively sensed great danger from these three glows. It seemed that if he didn’t withdraw his Soul Avatar, he would quickly face disaster, so he hurriedly retreated.
Looking back, Yang Kai could not help being dumbfounded.
These three brilliances turned out to be three differently shaped artifacts.
The purple glow was a dagger-like artifact whose image sometimes morphed into a twisting snake with vicious fangs which gave off a thick malicious intent.
The white glow was a loop made of pure white jade which seemed both big and small at the same time and gave off a terrifying restrictive force.
The last sky blue light was a profound looking seal. The azure light which radiated from this seal made Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar feel like a snowflake under the hot summer sun, melting away the Spiritual Energy which composed his Soul Avatar at an incredible rate.
Yang Kai paled.
Although he had long known that Yang Yan was a powerful Artifact Refiner and had many artifacts on her person for her own protection, he had not imagined she would have three Soul type artifacts this powerful in her Knowledge Sea.
And from the way these three artifacts moved, it was obvious they could act independently to protect her.
With the situation becoming troublesome, Yang Kai’s face became ugly.
Although he had successfully torn open a hole in Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea defences, if he could not resist the attacks of these three Soul type artifacts, he couldn’t enter Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea.
Judging from the energy fluctuations coming from these three Soul type artifacts though, it would be no simple matter to overcome them! If Yang Kai really fought against these three artifacts, either he would be injured or Yang Yan would be. Whatever the result, it was not what Yang Kai wanted to see.
With a solemn look on his face, Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar hovered in front of Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea defences, not daring to act hastily.
But after delaying like this, Yang Kai saw Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea defences begin to repair themselves, and he estimated it would only be a few breaths before they completely recovered.
When that happened, all his previous efforts would have gone to waste.
The opening continued closing at an increasing rate, but with the three Soul type artifacts focused on him, Yang Kai did not dare move forward to launch an attack. Suddenly, however, Yang Kai thought of a solution.
Sending out a burst of Spiritual Energy, Yang Kai silently sent a message straight into Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea.
Finishing this, he watched nervously.
To his disappointment, Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea defences continued repairing themselves and had been completely restored in the blink of an eye, as if Yang Yan had not heard his call at all.
Just as Yang Kai let out a sigh and was about to give up this attempt, the city-wall like Knowledge Sea defences suddenly took the initiative to open on their own and the three artifacts silently flew back inside.
Yang Kai stood on the spot for a moment before noticing that this crack showed no signs of immediately closing. Overjoyed, his figure flickered as he rushed into Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea through this opening.
Yang Yan had really heard his call! Clearly, she had taken the initiative to open a hole in her Knowledge Sea defences to let him enter.
Yang Kai had only sent out that Divine Sense Message as a shot in the dark, not actually expecting it to succeed, but it seemed Yang Yan was not unaware of what was happening to her at the moment, but rather her Soul was deeply immersed in her Knowledge Sea and had no ability to react to the outside world.
Entering Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea, Yang Kai stood mid-air and looked around, a trace of surprise soon flashing across his face.
Because he found that the situation in Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea was extremely similar to his own. The water that rolled below was like a sea of flames and extremely hot, even the sky was dyed crimson. Standing here was like standing in a furnace.
Conflagrated Knowledge Sea!
When Yang Kai brought back nine Flowing Flame Flying Fires from the Flowing Flame Sand Field, he had given a couple of them to Yang Yan. Flowing Flame Flying Fires were precious treasures that could allow one to obtain a mutated Knowledge Sea, but after Yang Kai gave her these, he had not asked her about them again.
Now, it seems that Yang Yan had successfully refined them. Not only that, but her Conflagrated Knowledge Sea wasn’t much different from his own. Even if there was a gap in power between them, that was simply the result of a difference in accumulation.
After all, Yang Kai’s Conflagrated Knowledge Sea had formed long before Yang Yan’s.
Inside this Knowledge Sea filled with tumbling flames, many transparent bubbles were suspended mid-air. These bubbles were filled with images of Yang Yan’s life experiences and the memories she had created over the years.
Yang Kai was not so crass as to intentionally spy on Yang Yan’s secrets; but he still noticed that many of these bubbles exuded a special kind of aura, something that surprised him greatly.
No such profound aura existed in his Knowledge Sea.
Shaking his head, Yang Kai put aside the doubts in his heart and looked up into the sky. Spotting what he was looking for, he quickly flew over.
Somewhere in the sky above this burning Knowledge Sea, a figure curled up into a ball, with her hands clasped around her knees and her long hair flowing down to her hips was wrapped in the inexplicable transparent energy barrier.
It was Yang Yan’s Soul Avatar!
At this moment, she looked like a baby in a mother’s womb, seeming somewhat vulnerable, her eyes closed tightly, her lashes fluttering gently.
Seeing this scene, Yang Kai inexplicably felt a sense of sadness, causing him to frown. Even though Yang Yan’s Soul Avatar was without a wisp of covering right now, with every part of her body exposed to his eyes, he couldn’t feel even a single wicked thought, only a great impulse to awaken her and comfort her.
Seemingly aware of Yang Kai’s arrival, Yang Yan slowly opened her beautiful eyes and glanced at him through the transparent energy barrier.
When their eyes met, Yang Kai felt startled.
Because at that moment, he was shocked to find that Yang Yan’s eyes were a little strange, involuntarily giving him the illusion that he was nothing but a small, humble ant in front of her.
But when he looked again carefully, Yang Yan had returned to normal, as if everything just now was his mind playing tricks on him.
After Yang Yan glanced at him, she closed her eyes again, her look not changing in the slightest. Yang Kai tried to call out to her several times, but never once received a response.
The next instant, Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea seemed to boil as an orange bubble suddenly appeared from below the sea of flames. This bubble slowly rose towards Yang Yan before bursting right below her. When this bubble burst, Yang Kai sensed some kind of strange energy pour into her Soul Avatar.
As soon as this happened, Yang Yan’s expression filled with pain, as if she was experiencing great suffering, her brow furrowing tightly as her tender body trembled violently, her arms clinging even tighter to her knees.
Yang Kai’s heart clenched as uncertainty and confusion filled his face.
He did not understand what had happened to Yang Yan, but at this moment, he finally realized the reason she was in this state was related to these bubbles in her Knowledge Sea.
[Didn’t these bubbles contain Yang Yan’s life experiences and memories? Why would they cause her so much discomfort?]
Suddenly, Yang Kai remembered something. Yang Yan once told him that no one had taught her about Artifact Refining or Spirit Arrays and that all her knowledge was innate, as if it had been buried in her subconscious and she could unlock them through studying Spirit Arrays and Artifact Refining.
Could it be that knowledge of these two fields Yang Yan had yet to master was what was sealed inside these orange bubbles? But where did this knowledge come from? Why would they be stored in her Knowledge Sea? Why would all of them suddenly become unlocked?
Yang Kai could not figure it out.
Yang Yan’s current situation was like she was forcefully accepting a massive amount of information, far more than she could immediately digest, resulting in her Soul Avatar closing itself off in her Knowledge Sea to protect itself.
Although all of this was just Yang Kai’s guess, he was certain they were correct.
If this was really the case, Yang Kai couldn’t help her unless he stole away some of the knowledge sealed in those bubbles to share the burden with Yang Yan, but this knowledge was Yang Yan’s wealth, so without her permission, Yang Kai would naturally not do this.
Doing so now would be nothing short of robbing Yang Yan.
Although she seemed to be suffering a little right now, as long as she could endure this, her gains would be unimaginable.
Understanding this, Yang Kai let out a sigh of relief. Now that he had found the source of the problem and it was nothing bad like he had imagined, he was naturally no longer worried.
However, for the time being, Yang Kai was not in a hurry to leave, planning on watching over Yang Yan’s Soul Avatar so he could intervene quickly if a real accident happened.
After making up his mind, Yang Kai whispered a few words to Yang Yan, informing her of his intentions, before immediately withdrawing a short distance and sitting down cross-legged in the air while carefully observing her condition.
Yang Kai did not know if it was an illusion or not, but Yang Yan seemed somewhat encouraged because he was close by. For some time after, the bubbles in Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea continued to rise and pop around Yang Yan, flooding her with all the information sealed within them when they burst.
Even though Yang Yan’s expression was filled with pain, her reaction seemed much better than before.
And as time passed and the number of bubbles that appeared decreased, Yang Yan’s expression gradually stabilized.
In a blink of an eye, about half a month passed. During this period, Yang Kai did not withdraw an inch or even close his eyes for a moment, paying constant attention to Yang Yan’s state at all times.
Finally, the last bubble rose from her Knowledge Sea and burst, and the information sealed inside of it was quickly absorbed by Yang Yan. When this was finished, the transparent barrier around Yang Yan’s body also broke and she slowly opened her eyes. Slowly stretching out her body, Yang Yan used one hand to cover her chest while the other blocked her most precious place. As she rose into a standing stance, her long hair flowed out widely despite there being no wind.
Her entire Knowledge Sea suddenly became calm at this moment.
Yang Kai stared blankly. This beautiful scene made him feel that Yang Yan was like an awe-inspiring goddess.
Until now, Yang Yan had always worn black robes that covered her completely, so even if Yang Kai had wanted to see her whole face, he had never had an opportunity. Now, although he had somewhat expected it, he was quite shocked at how attractive she was. If Yang Yan dressed better, she would certainly be able to drive countless men crazy for her.
While Yang Kai was staring, a dazzling light suddenly burst from Yang Yan’s Soul Avatar. Not only was this light blinding, it was accompanied by an aura that caused Yang Kai to pale slightly.
When that aura struck him, he could not help trembling.
[Emperor Pressure!] Yang Kai’s eyes widened instantly. He had experienced this kind of aura before in Fallen Emperor Mountain, so it was naturally impossible for him to mistake it for something else.
This strange Emperor Pressure disappeared quickly and, when the light faded and Yang Kai regained his sight, he saw Yang Yan’s Soul Avatar had donned her signature black robe and was currently staring towards Yang Kai with a somewhat apologetic look.
Seeing this, Yang Kai frowned slightly, stood up, and quickly flew towards her, sticking close as he swept his eyes over her a few times.
Yang Yan seemed to be the same Yang Yan he had always known, without any kind of change, but everything he had witnessed still caused Yang Kai to become suspicious.
“Are you all right?” Yang Kai asked after a long silence.
“En, I’m fine now,” Yang Yan brushed her hair behind her ear and smiled at Yang Kai.
This smile was filled with immense self-confidence! It was a look Yang Kai had never seen on Yang Yan before. Until now, she had always seemed as timid as a mouse, only showing her confidence when it came to Artifact Refining or Spirit Array arranging.
“I’ve made you worry,” Yang Yan whispered gratefully.
“As long as you are alright, everything is fine. Wu Yi and Qian Yue were very worried, they had no idea what happened to you. En, since you’re fine now, I’ll take my leave.”
“En, you go first, I have to stay here for a while, there are some things I need to take care of!” Yang Yan bit her red lips.
Yang Kai looked at her and nodded, “Alright, just come out after you finish what you need to.”
Saying so, Yang Kai’s figure flickered and disappeared out of Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea.
After Yang Kai left, Yang Yan’s face suddenly showed a complicated expression that made it impossible to understand what she was thinking. There seemed to be a haze covering her beautiful eyes, but after a while, she let out a gentle sigh, sat down cross-legged, closed her eyes and began sorting through all the information in her head.
Inside the loft, Yang Kai opened his eyes and glanced towards Yang Yan who was sitting cross-legged in front of him. Seeing that her face had become much rosier and her breathing was much smoother, Yang Kai understood that she really was out of danger. Right now, her Soul Avatar was simply immersed in her Knowledge Sea, so she wouldn’t regain consciousness for some time.
No matter what she suffered or what she obtained, Yang Kai did not try to ask. To him, as long as Yang Yan was still Yang Yan, that was all that mattered. If she was willing to tell him, she would do so on her own.
After carefully laying Yang Yan down on her bed and covering her with her bedding, Yang Kai left.
Outside the door, Wu Yi and Qian Yue were still anxiously waiting. Yang Kai had remained inside Yang Yan’s room for half a month, silent the entire time, so naturally they were quite worried.
They did not dare to disturb him at will, but that didn’t mean they weren’t anxious.
Hearing the door opening, the two women were overjoyed, and after seeing Yang Kai, Wu Yi hurriedly asked, “How is she?”
“Everything’s fine now, don’t worry. She will probably wake up in a few days.”
Hearing Yang Kai say this, Wu Yi and Qian Yue could not help exchanging a joyful glance and breathing sighs of relief.
“Putting aside Yang Yan’s matter, after the Emperor Garden appeared, has our Dragon Cave Mountain been affected?”
“You also know about the Emperor Garden’s appearance?” Wu Yi showed a trace of surprise. After all, the Emperor Garden had only appeared recently and during this period Yang Kai had been with Yang Yan, so it was quite strange he would have obtained this news so quickly.
The reason why Wu Yi knew about the Emperor Garden’s appearance was because news had come from Shadow Moon Hall.
But soon, Wu Yi sorted out her thoughts and replied, “There are more strange faces around the area, and the number of cultivators in Heavenly Fate City has also skyrocketed, but it hasn’t had much impact on our Dragon Cave Mountain yet. However, if things continue like this, that may not be the case for much longer.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly. What Wu Yi had said was exactly what he was worried about.
The Emperor Garden had coincidentally appeared right above Dragon Cave Mountain, attracting the attention of many foreign cultivators this past fortnight. As more time passed, more masters would arrive and at that time this place would be swarmed by many hidden dragons and crouching tigers.
“Elder Qian sent you a message a few days ago, would you like to see it?” Wu Yi quickly remembered and asked.
“Oh? What message?” Yang Kai looked towards her.
Wu Yi immediately took out a letter from her Space Ring and handed it over. Yang Kai took it, but after opening it, he found that there wasn’t anything written on it. However, this did not surprise Yang Kai as he quickly used his Divine Sense to scan it and soon collected all the information it contained.
The news from Qian Tong was quite simple. There were only two points. Shadow Moon Hall’s internal strife had subsided. It was not difficult to imagine that, since the other party only made a move after Qian Tong disappeared for half a year, they were quite wary of him. Now that Qian Tong had returned safely and brought with him an Artifact Refiner highly likely to reach the Origin Grade level, all of the internal turbulence had quickly been suppressed.
What’s more, now that the Emperor Garden had appeared, everyone inside Shadow Moon Hall didn’t have the liberty to fight anymore. The Sect Master had issued a firm command and the battle had ceased, with only a few people being disposed of to warn others not to act up.
With the end of this internal struggle, Qian Tong made sure to mention to Yang Kai that Shadow Moon Hall would not intervene in any way in the grudge between Dragon Cave Mountain and the Xie Family. He also said that the trade relationship between Dragon Cave Mountain and Shadow Moon Hall would be fully restored and that Shadow Moon Hall would lower its selling price on materials by an additional ten percent as an apology.
Seeing this, Yang Kai was very satisfied. Qian Tong was a man worthy of respect. Yang Kai risking his life to rescue Qian Tong had paid off. Without even mentioning the grievances between Yang Kai and the Xie Family, just the ten percent discount on materials purchased from Shadow Moon Hall would be of enormous benefit. From the speed at which Dragon Cave Mountain purchased materials, this ten percent discount would save them many Saint Crystals in short order.
The second piece of information recorded in this letter was about the Emperor Garden.
On that day, Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu had joined forces to investigate whether the Emperor Garden had truly manifested or not, and although they were forced to retreat before they could get close due to the Emperor Pressure, they were able to confirm one thing.
The Emperor Garden before them was real, and not some short-lived illusion that would quickly disappear like its previous incarnations. This time, it had appeared before all of Shadowed Star’s cultivators, creating a shocking scene.
Moreover, after so many days, many Origin Returning Realm masters had gone to check the situation, but none were able to approach the Emperor Garden. On top of that, no one knew how to enter it even if they did manage to approach it. As the host of this place, Shadow Moon Hall had widely distributed invitation letters to all the great forces on Shadowed Star to hold a discussion about entering the Emperor Garden.
Qian Tong told Yang Kai that many masters from all over Shadowed Star had rushed to Heavenly Fate City in recent days, many of whom were Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators.
Although this was conveyed to him as simple information, Qian Tong’s meaning was very obvious. He was subtly telling Yang Kai to not cause trouble during this time.
Seeing this, Yang Kai raised his brow and grinned.
Even without Qian Tong’s causion, he wouldn’t try to stir up trouble. It was really not an appropriate time to be taking overt actions and Yang Kai still had many things to deal with, so he had already been thinking about using this opportunity to completely close off Dragon Cave Mountain and cultivate quietly for a while.
It wouldn’t be too late to worry about the Emperor Garden after it was investigated. If the masters found a way to enter the Emperor Garden, Yang Kai would naturally be willing to participate. The Life Revitalizing Jade Cream rockery needed to be investigated, and that Ice Attribute World Spirit was also important to the Phoenix Empress Inheritance. If the Ice Phoenix Remnant Soul was able to swallow that World Spirit, it would definitely bring it great benefits, which in turn would allow Su Yan to gain more benefits when she finally accepted it.
Thinking so, Yang Kai used his Demonic Flames to burn the letter from Qian Tong to ash before telling Wu Yi and Qian Yue to take good care of Yang Yan and handing over his damaged Purple Shield to them. Asking the two women to have Yang Yan repair the broken shield, Yang Kai returned to his cave mansion alone.
Yang Kai first took a look at the Red Candle Fruit which had been stored in the cave mansion and found that, under the nourishing effect of the Red Candle Stalk and the rich World Energy aura over the past few years, the Red Candle Fruit piece showed no signs of withering or losing its medicinal efficacies.
Back in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, choosing to prioritize this Red Candle Stalk had really been the right choice. Yang Kai didn’t know how the other great forces were preserving their Red Candle Fruit pieces, but even if they had astonishing means, he was confident that none were as good as the one he implemented.
This fruit piece was a rare treasure, and if refined into a pill it might help a cultivator break through the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm bottleneck and reach the Origin King Realm! Although Yang Kai couldn’t use it right now, there would always come a day when he could.
The Ten Thousand Year Incense fragrance lightly floated through the cave mansion, but its magical effects of calming one’s mood did not diminish in the slightest.
This tiny cave mansion was actually filled with countless treasures.
After checking up on all these precious treasures, Yang Kai returned to his regular room, sat cross-legged and sorted out his thoughts.
In any case, his top priority was to increase his strength. If those masters really found a way to enter the Emperor Garden, he would need enough strength in order to compete with Shadowed Star’s tyrants for the benefits inside.
Yang Kai didn’t believe he could break through to the Origin Realm any time soon, but increasing his cultivation realm wasn’t the only way to improve his strength, there were many other methods.
Considering all this, Yang Kai’s expression became firm and he waved his hand, laying out all of the spoils he collected during his latest outing.
This time, there weren’t many items harvested, but each one was invaluable. Not to mention the long-lost Life Revitalizing Jade Cream, the Spectral Cloud Array Plate was a powerful trump card. Yang Kai originally owned two artifacts, but during this trip he had detonated one while the other was severely damaged, lowering his overall combat strength greatly. This Array Plate happened to supplement his losses just perfectly.
As long as he refined it, it would provide him with a big boost in combat strength.
There was also the strange, giant, jet-black stick. Yang Kai had never seen the material this thing was made from, but the amount it weighed was truly astonishing. It didn’t need any fancy effects or to be wielded in any special manner, as long as one could swing it at an enemy, given its immense weight, it would simply be unstoppable.
Before overwhelming strength, nothing else mattered.
However, to his dismay, Yang Kai found that even when using his full strength, he was unable to use this stick as a weapon, causing him to sigh helplessly.
These three things were his gains this time, nothing more, nothing less.
Of course, Yang Kai had other things to deal with besides these three treasures.
After thinking about it for a moment, Yang Kai reached out his hand and summoned the Origin King Grade Artifact Refining Furnace into his palm. A crisp chirp resounded as the Artifact Spirit materialized, spreading its wings a dozen metres out across the cave mansion.
In the next instant, the Artifact Spirit shrank down and flew over to Yang Kai’s shoulders, landing on him before calmly preening its feathers with its long beak.
Yang Kai glanced at it and a smile appeared on his lips, immediately using his Divine Sense to communicate with it. After a moment, Firebird tilted its head at him before glancing down at the special ring on Yang Kai’s finger, a dignified yet excited light flashing across its eyes.
It was hesitant and fearful, but also extremely excited.
“If you don’t want to, you can refuse and continue to help me refine the Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead,” Yang Kai smiled slightly.
As soon as he said these words, the Artifact Spirit turned into blazing flames and rushed towards the special ring. Yang Kai raised his brow as he sent his Divine Sense into the ring, causing a suction force to emerge from it and draw in the Artifact Spirit.
The Artifact Spirit ultimately couldn’t resist the temptation Yang Kai had just suggested. Seeing this, Yang Kai was very satisfied.
After a moment, the ring flashed and Yang Kai released the Artifact Spirit again. Only now, the Artifact Spirit’s body appeared slightly different from before, because there was a red fiery thread wandering about inside of it like a snake.
The Artifact Spirit let out a sharp tweet as the raging flames which composed its body seemed to be struggling against this crimson light, trying to refine and assimilate it.
Sun’s True Fire!
This special ring on Yang Kai’s finger contained only two things, one was the Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal and the other was the Sun’s True Essence.
The last time the Artifact Spirit devoured a wisp of Sun’s True Fire, it had gained tremendous benefits and growth, but when fighting with the Ice Attribute World Spirit in the Emperor Garden, it had still not been the latter’s opponent, showing just how difficult it was to handle this Ice Attribute World Spirit.
Since Yang Kai had ideas about this Ice Attribute World Spirit, naturally he intended to enhance the strength and power of his Artifact Spirit, and devouring more Sun’s True Fire was the most effective and efficient way to accomplish this.
Of course, this method was quite dangerous, so he had offered the Artifact Spirit a choice and it had not failed to live up to his expectations. Its desire for the Sun’s True Fire exceeded its fear, and it had actively entered his ring to ingest a trace of it.
Having experienced this process once before, the Artifact Spirit’s performance this time was much better than back in the Corpse Cave. Although it seemed that its form had become somewhat unstable under the impact of the Sun’s True Fire, and the Fire Attribute Energy which composed its body was fluctuating unstably, at least it had not fallen directly into a coma.
Yang Kai smiled heartily as the Artifact Spirit returned to the Artifact Refining Furnace and began to assimilate the Sun’s True Fire.
He believed that when the Artifact Spirit re-emerged, it would become stronger than before.
After dealing with the Artifact Spirit, Yang Kai put away the Artifact Refining Furnace, picked up the Array Plate of the Spectral Cloud Array, and began carefully examining it.
When he obtained this Array Plate, he didn’t have time to take a closer look at it, and only through talking to Cai He and Du Si Si did he learn about its great value and that it was a long lost treasure. Now, after observing it, Yang Kai suddenly found that this Array Plate wasn’t made of any kind of metal or wood he could identify. It looked like a wooden token, but it weighed quite a bit more than that. It was roughly the size of a palm and there were many images of white clouds on its surface. If one stared at it closely, they would feel as if they were seeing a sea of clouds. Yang Kai sighed and quickly withdrew his vision before holding it in his palm, closing his eyes and using his Saint Qi and Divine Sense to refine it.
Array Plates were refined by Artifact Array Masters and were existences similar to artifacts, so the process to refine them was naturally the same. Moreover, an Array Plate could be completely refined without too much effort, making it an extremely convenient tool.
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed by. During this period, Yang Kai had successfully refined the Array Plate and taken it into his body. Now, as long as he could comprehend the mysteries of the Spectral Cloud Array, he could instantly set up this powerful Spirit Array anytime, anywhere he wanted.
Yang Kai was very pleased with this unique treasure as it more than made up for the loss of his Hundred Mountains Picture, which he was forced to destroy.
At this moment, Yang Kai opened his eyes as he sensed something and found Yang Yan sitting in front of him, staring at the metre long black stick lying nearby.
Although she was still shrouded in her signature black robe, Yang Kai found that her expression was a little weird, as if she was deep in thought.
“When did you arrive?” Yang Kai asked in amazement.
Although Yang Yan also had a control token for the cave mansion’s barriers, Yang Kai not even being able to notice her arrival was quite surprising.
“A few days ago, but I saw you were refining that Array Plate so I didn’t disturb you,” Yang Yan replied casually before wearing a cheerful smile and pointing to the black stick on the ground, “Did you bring the Heaven Shaking Pillar back with you from the Emperor Garden?”
“Heaven Shaking Pillar?” Yang Kai frowned, but quickly realized something and asked in surprise, “Can you read these characters?”
There were three ancient characters on this black stick, ones that Yang Kai could not understand, but now that Yang Yan had called it the ‘Heaven Shaking Pillar’, he immediately made the association.
Yang Yan glanced over at him and snorted lightly, “What’s wrong with me understanding these characters? In any case, that Array Plate you refined before, was it also from the Emperor Garden?”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded as he continued staring towards Yang Yan.
Realizing Yang Kai’s gaze was somewhat different from before, Yang Yan chuckled, “What’s wrong, you think I’ve changed?”
“That’s not it. Although I know you know a great many things, I didn’t think that would include this star’s ancient characters.”
“These aren’t ancient characters, they were still in use a couple dozen thousand years ago, it’s just that Shadowed Star experienced a great change during that time so these words became lost. This Heaven Shaking Pillar is a treasure, it’s actually composed entirely of Heavenly Crystal Profound Iron.”
“Heavenly Crystal Profound Iron?” Yang Kai raised his brow, his expression filling with shock.
Although he did not know much about Artifact Refining, Yang Kai was still somewhat knowledgeable about precious Artifact Refining materials, and Heavenly Crystal Profound Iron was one of the most valuable. It was a top-class Origin King Grade material and was rumoured to weigh an astonishing amount. A palm-sized piece could weigh ten thousand kilograms. Moreover, it was exceptionally hard, nearly impossible to destroy.
Adding a little of this material when refining an artifact could dramatically increase that artifact’s strength, giving one a powerful advantage in combat.
Yang Yan said that this Heaven Shaking Pillar was actually entirely refined from Heavenly Crystal Profound Iron though! This was nothing short of astonishing.
However, if this was really the case, it would explain this stick’s incredible weight.
“Was it very dangerous acquiring this?” Yang Yan asked with concern.
Yang Kai chuckled before briefly explaining about the battle with the giant humanoid puppet. After listening, Yang Yan nodded, “You made the right choice. Although that puppet is quite precious, its value is still far below this Heaven Shaking Pillar. You profited greatly. On top of that, only such a puppet can wield this kind of artifact.”
“Only a puppet can wield it? Alright then, I’ll just give it to you, if you melt it down you should be able to refine many artifacts with it,” Yang Kai’s brow twitched. Originally, he had chosen this giant jet black stick because he fancied the material it was refined from.
“Melt it down?” Yang Yan spat disdainfully, “Why should I melt it? I cannot refine this kind of artifact now, and there are many amazing Spirit Arrays portrayed inside it. Melting it is too much of a waste of Heaven’s precious gift. If we can just find the right person to use it, then…”
“Who can use it?” Yang Kai laughed, “Unless you can also refine a puppet like the one that originally wielded this thing that is.”
“Someone can use it though!” Yang Yan smiled mysteriously.
“Who?” Yang Kai’s brow rose. He did not believe that on Shadowed Star someone had the strength to freely wave this Heaven Shaking Pillar around. This thing was simply not designed to be used by human cultivators. Even a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master wouldn’t be able to use this artifact for long before their Saint Qi and strength would be completely exhausted.
“It!” Yang Yan pointed to a certain spot nearby. Yang Kai looked over in the direction she pointed and suddenly noticed the Stone Puppet looking towards him fixedly.
Seeing both Yang Kai and Yang Yan staring at it together, the Stone Puppet no longer concealed itself and using its hands and feet, like a little stone ape, it raced over to Yang Kai, it’s two eyes staring up at him fixedly.
“The Stone Puppet?” Yang Kai frowned.
“Just let it try and you’ll understand,” Yang Yan smiled before pointing her hand towards the Heaven Shaking Pillar and shouting lightly, “Xiao Xiao!”
Hearing this shout, the Stone Puppet looked at Yang Yan then over Yang Kai. After getting Yang Kai’s permission, the stone puppet walked over to the metre-long Heaven Shaking Pillar.
After a short moment, the Stone Puppet’s eyes flashed a joyful light as its hunched back straightened up and its hands pounded its chest a few times before it grabbed the Heaven Shaking Pillar.
Yang Kai’s eyes shrank as he watched without blinking.
He clearly saw the Heaven Shaking Pillar, which he was unable to lift through normal means, being picked up by the Stone Puppet as if it weighed nothing at all. The Stone Puppet acted like a small child which had been given a new toy, its face filling with smiles as it held the Heaven Shaking Pillar appreciatively in front of it before swinging it around.
*Hu hu…*
A strong roar of wind rang out as the air within the cave mansion was greatly disturbed and a kind of tornado began forming with the Stone Puppet at its centre. The next moment, Spirit Arrays began flashing all around, creating barriers to block the fallout of this event.
At the same time, Yang Kai felt invisible blades of wind cut at his body, even going so far as to create scraping noises.
[This…]
Yang Kai was dumbfounded!
Back in the Emperor Garden, when the humanoid puppet waved this giant stick, its movements were not nearly as smooth as the Stone Puppet’s just now. This tiny Stone Puppet’s body contained such immense power that it was hard to believe.
Yang Kai realized that this Stone Puppet was not as simple as he originally thought. It seemed that other than quenching and refining Artifact Refining ores, it had other untapped potential!
Last time, in the Corpse Cave, the Stone Puppet had suddenly grown larger and swallowed the Sun True Essence before keeping it inside its body for several days. Without it, Yang Kai would not have been able to take away the Sun’s True Essence.
This little guy was truly full of surprises.
“Good, good!” Yang Yan’s eyes filled with brilliant light as she waved at the Stone Puppet, “Go play outside, if you keep waving it around in here all the Spirit Arrays will get destroyed and I’ll have to fix them. It’s too troublesome.”
Receiving this command, the Stone Puppet stopped its movements immediately and the whirlwind which had formed quickly dissipated. Immediately, the Stone Puppet opened its big mouth wide and swallowed the Heaven Shaking Pillar into its belly before diving into the earth and disappearing.
When Yang Kai sensed it again, it had already moved a dozen kilometres away.
Realizing the potential of the Stone Puppet once more, Yang Kai was excited. The reason was simple, inside his Black Book Space, there was another Stone Puppet egg. Unfortunately, he had not found another Blood Essence Stone, otherwise, it would have been born as well.
Over the years, this Stone Puppet embryo had maintained its strong sense of vitality, showing no signs of dying.
“Here’s your shield. You need to be more careful next time. Although I can repair it once or twice, if it’s damaged so badly repeatedly, I’m afraid it will reach a point where it can no longer be fixed,” Yang Yan said while handing Yang Kai his Purple Shield.
Yang Yan didn’t actually care about the shield but seeing this Origin Grade High-Rank defensive artifact so badly damaged, it was conceivable how much danger Yang Kai had been in, so this was her way of indirectly caring about him.
Yang Kai understood this and did not say a word, simply nodding vigorously before accepting the shield. Examining it silently, he found that it was as good as new, without the slightest defect, and happily put it away.
“Show me that Array Plate again,” Yang Yan held out her hand to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai did not hesitate to take out the Array Plate and give it to her.
Yang Yan stared at the Array Plate for a while, probing and examining it seriously before tossing it back to Yang Kai, “This Spectral Cloud Array Plate is very powerful. I’ll teach you how to manipulate it properly so that you can maximize its power in the future.”
Yang Kai’s expression brightened slightly upon hearing this. Yang Yan deserved her reputation as a Spirit Array Grandmaster, a single glance and she was able to recognize the Spectral Cloud Array inside this Array Plate. If it were some other Array Master, such a feat would have been impossible.
Even if she boasted like she was first under the Heavens, Yang Kai would not doubt her at all.
Yang Yan stretched out a finger, condensing a white ball of light at its tip before pointing it towards Yang Kai’s forehead.
Yang Kai did not move, allowing her to do whatever she wanted. A moment later, Yang Kai felt a slight jolt as a stream of information flowed into his mind. After a brief investigation, he found that this Divine Sense package contained a variety of subtle yet profound descriptions about the Spectral Cloud Array, causing him to be overjoyed. Originally, he was going to ask Yang Yan about this Spirit Array, but now she had taken the initiative to teach him about it, saving him the effort.
However, after using this method, Yang Yan’s face became slightly pale, seemingly suffering from some overdraft.
“Alright, you can study it yourself. There is a lot of chaos outside right now with countless cultivators coming and going. There is also no shortage of powerful masters. Dragon Cave Mountain has been completely sealed up according to your instructions. We can use this time to deal with our own matters. En, right, I’ll need to bring you some things over the next few days that I need your help with refining.”
“Got it,” Yang Kai nodded gently, but as he saw her turn around, about to leave, after hesitating for a moment, he called out, “Yang Yan!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Is there nothing you can tell me?” Yang Kai looked at her with a faint smile.
“Not now, I will tell you when the time is right!” Yang Yan narrowed her eyes slightly, a complicated expression filling her face before she turned back, opened the barriers, and left.
Staring in the direction she left, Yang Kai smiled slightly. No matter what happened to Yang Yan, she did not have any malicious intentions and was still his friend just as before, which was all Yang Kai wanted. As for whatever secrets she was still holding onto, Yang Kai would not ask.
Shaking his head, Yang Kai set these matters aside and began comprehending the mysteries of the Spectral Cloud Array.
Two hours later, Yang Kai had mastered the operation of this Spirit Array. All that was left was to test it out in battle, but even now he could not help feeling slightly awed.
This Spectral Cloud Array was worthy of being a lost ancient Spirit Array. Arranging it alone was extremely difficult and required the ability to refine the clouds in the sky. Such methods were incredibly shocking, and Yang Kai was clearly unable to understand or use this Spirit Array’s full power.
Back in the Emperor Garden, no one was operating this Array Plate so it was only able to display a small portion of its might, allowing Yang Kai and the others to break through it and resulting in him picking up a bargain.
Now, with Yang Kai’s strength and understanding of the Spirit Array, he would be able to bring out about thirty to forty percent of this Spectral Cloud Array’s might, but that was enough for now. With this Array Plate, Yang Kai’s combat strength has risen dramatically, and as long as it was not a master on Qian Tong or Fei Zhi Tu’s level, Yang Kai estimated he would have no trouble dealing with them. Of course, if he wanted to kill such a powerful enemy, it would mainly depend on what kind of strength and means the other party had.
Under normal situations, Yang Kai was confident he could now kill a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master in one-on-one combat.
After dealing with the Array Plate, Yang Kai picked up a jade bottle in front of him.
What was contained in this jade bottle was none other than the Life Revitalizing Jade Cream obtained inside the Emperor Garden! However, if Yang Kai’s guess was correct, this was just a diluted version of Life Revitalizing Jade Cream.
In order to verify his conjecture, Yang Kai opened the jade bottle and took a big sip without any hesitation.
If someone were to see Yang Kai doing this, they would likely hurl curses at him for his family-ruining practices. Life Revitalizing Jade Cream could extend the life of a cultivator and enhance their vitality. It was nothing short of a magical elixir that could rejuvenate one’s youth, something extremely attractive to any Origin Returning Realm master. A single drop could extend a cultivator’s life by a hundred years, yet Yang Kai just drank a mouthful of it. This was nothing short of a careless waste of Heaven’s precious gifts.
The taste was pure and even somewhat sweet, as if it was the freshest spring water from a mountain stream, and after this liquid reached Yang Kai’s stomach, it immediately transformed into a wave of pure energy that began flowing through his veins.
Yang Kai carefully felt the changes going on inside his body while showing a joyful look upon his face.
He found that his own vitality and Blood Qi were rapidly being strengthened, with his blood showing faint signs of boiling over. Soon, this massive influx of vitality reached a kind of limit and no longer had any place to go, causing Yang Kai’s face to flush bright red and making him feel like he would explode and die in the next moment.
However, Yang Kai was not panicked at all and instead began silently cultivating, using his Saint Qi to gather the erupting vitality in his body together.
As this vital energy gathered, so too did Yang Kai’s blood, all of its components and essence coming together, as if attracted by some kind of inexplicable force.
Time passed by and after roughly half an hour, Yang Kai suddenly heard a soft dripping sound in the depths of the mind.
Frowning slightly, Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to investigate his body and was shocked and pleasantly surprised by what he discovered.
He found that a new drop of Golden Blood had been added to his body!
Not the kind of ordinary, dull golden blood that flowed through his vessels, but the pure, orthodox Golden Blood that could be cultivated into a Golden Blood Thread!
Not much of this Golden Blood currently existed in Yang Kai’s body. When he first came to Shadowed Star, he possessed more than ninety drops, but after all these years, using some of it in combat, feeding some of it to the Divine Tree, and using it for various other reasons, the number of drops of Golden Blood had decreased to about half that number.
And since Yang Kai knew that his Golden Blood was of great benefit to the Divine Tree, he had been giving it a drop every few months. This was quite an expensive price to pay, but the results were also quite astonishing.
Now that he had his Golden Blood Thread Secret Technique, each drop of Golden Blood could be cultivated into a Golden Thread, but even if Yang Kai refined every drop of Golden Blood he had left like this, he would still only possess a couple dozen or so, which was far fewer than he planned for.
Although Yang Kai could supplement this Golden Blood all on his own through cultivation, each drop of Golden Blood required three months of accumulation to condense. This was something Yang Kai verified a long time ago.
Yang Kai never imagined this Life Revitalizing Jade Cream would allow him to condense pure Golden Blood in his body.
However, this was not difficult to understand; after all, Life Revitalizing Jade Cream was one of the Three Great Divine Waters and was originally meant to enhance the vitality of a cultivator. Yang Kai’s Golden Blood was essentially an extremely condensed mass of vital energy.
Composing himself, Yang Kai continued circulating his Secret Art, refining the efficacy of this Life Revitalizing Jade Cream.
After another half an hour, a second drop of Golden Blood was formed.
It was not until after the third drop of Golden Blood took shape that the efficacy of the Life Revitalizing Jade Cream disappeared completely.
A small sip of Life Revitalizing Jade Cream allowed him to condense three drops of Golden Blood, so with the amount he had left, Yang Kai figured he could condense another thirty or so drops. This would almost completely make up for all these years of consumption.
Yang Kai was overjoyed and immediately began drinking the Life Revitalizing Jade Cream bit by bit, continually refining it into Golden Blood.
He did not feel it was wasteful in the slightest. Life Revitalizing Jade Cream may be a life-saving medicine for those masters who didn’t have long left to live, but for him, creating more Golden Blood from it was the best use possible.
After taking it like this though, Yang Kai was even more certain that the Life Revitalizing Jade Cream he obtained was just a diluted product. The real Life Revitalizing Jade Cream must have more powerful effects than this and was surely hidden somewhere inside the Emperor Garden!
Considering all this, Yang Kai’s blood began to boil. If he could really enter the Emperor Garden and obtain that pure Life Revitalizing Jade Cream, he would never again have to worry about having enough Golden Blood. In fact, it probably would not be a dream to replace all of his blood with this kind of pure Golden Blood.
With the powerful vitality and restorative abilities of this pure Golden Blood, even if Yang Kai became grievously injured, he would be able to recover rapidly.
After two days, the entire bottle of Life Revitalizing Jade Cream had been consumed clean, but Yang Kai still showed an unsatiated look. But unable to ask for more, he took out a piece of Space Spirit Crystal, closed his eyes, and began absorbing the Space Force contained within it.
Quickly, half a year passed by.
Over the past six months, Yang Kai did not take one step outside his cave mansion, only doing three things.
First was cultivating the Dao of Space by absorbing the Space Force contained within Space Spirit Crystals, and the second was refining more Golden Blood Threads inside his body. By now, he had several Golden Blood Threads. Because of his previous experience, he had become much faster at cultivating them.
The number of Golden Blood Threads had increased, but his combat strength had not grown much. The main reason for this was that Yang Kai only had the first half of the Demon Blood Temple Secret Technique. How to manipulate and combine these multiple Golden Blood Threads was likely hidden in the technique’s second half.
Yang Kai was not in a rush though, as long as Demon Blood Temple still existed, he would always have an opportunity to deal with this issue. Refining more Golden Blood Threads in advance is still beneficial.
The third thing Yang Kai attended to during this six-month retreat was promoting the fusion between the Coloured Glass Bead and his Demon Eye of Annihilation. After previously refining the Coloured Glass Bead, it had transformed into a hazy halo which encircled the Demon Eye of Annihilation. The two different entities had the same effect, but merging them together proved to be somewhat difficult. Now that he had some time, Yang Kai naturally focused on hurrying this process along.
In addition to these things, Yang Yan had brought him a number of strange looking items and had him pour his Space Force into them three times!
Not only did these things range in size from big to small, they had all kinds of shapes to them, making it impossible for Yang Kai to know what they were for. He had asked Yang Yan once about what these items’ purpose was, but the latter just grinned and refused to answer, only saying not to worry and just pour his Space Force into them.
Yang Kai shook his head helplessly. He had originally wondered why Yang Yan specifically said she would need his help refining some items, but now he understood, there really was no one else other than him who could do this.
In his spare time, Yang Kai also refined some pills.
After all, there were several dozen people on Dragon Cave Mountain, and they all required pills to assist in their cultivation. If they bought all their pills from the outside, the expense would be too great, so Yang Kai just instructed Wu Yi to purchase the appropriate herbs which he then refined himself, saving a large amount of Saint Crystals. This also allowed Yang Kai to practice and improve his Alchemy skills.
Over the past half a year Yang Kai refined many pills, but to avoid raising too much of a fuss, he intentionally only refined ordinary pills. Only occasionally would he refine one or two that had Pill Veins.
Yang Kai found that with the growth in his strength, his Alchemy technique had also improved greatly. It was no longer difficult for him to refine Origin Grade Mid-Rank pills and he figured that as soon as he broke through to the Origin Realm, he would be able to refine Origin Grade High-Rank pills.
The Artifact Spirit had also just recently woken up. This was its second time awakening as Yang Kai had allowed it to swallow another wisp of Sun’s True Fire after the first time. Counting the previous one, the Artifact Spirit had now devoured three wisps of Sun’s True Fire.
The burning aura of the Artifact Spirit was now more than twice as powerful as when Yang Kai first received it.
While Yang Kai busying himself, the Artifact Spirit used its power along with its Artifact Refining Furnace to refine the Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead for him, saving Yang Kai some additional effort.
On this day, Yang Yan brought a bunch of miscellaneous items for Yang Kai to inject his Space Force into.
Yang Kai had no complaints and did what she asked.
As he was doing this, Yang Yan informed him about the developments in the situation outside.
Because Qian Tong regularly sent people to deliver news, Dragon Cave Mountain was aware of the changes in the outside world.
Shadow Moon Hall had issued an open invitation to all the masters of all the major forces on Shadowed Star to discuss the matter of the Emperor Garden. After some discussions, it was agreed that a group of fifty top level Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters would attempt to approach the Emperor Garden in search of a way inside.
Fifty masters set out, but only half returned.
The other half had fallen!
This happened almost four months ago. When Yang Kai heard about this, he nearly bit his tongue in surprise. After some inquiries, he learned that these fifty masters accidentally triggered some kind of profound Spirit Array and were immediately suppressed by a surge in Emperor Pressure, rendering them defenceless as the flourishing jade white hand transformed from World Energy crushed them to death one by one. The half who survived had only managed to escape using profound Secret Techniques or by causing their precious artifacts to self-destruct to free themselves, otherwise they would have all been wiped out!
Learning from this costly lesson, no one dared to approach the Emperor Garden again. Even a powerful lineup of fifty Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters had no way to reach the Emperor Garden, let alone others.
However, the great forces did not simply give up and instead left behind some people to monitor the movements of the Emperor Garden!
Everyone guessed that the Emperor Garden had not yet officially opened. This guess was not without reason though; because of the Flowing Flame Sand Field’s precedent. Ordinarily, the Flowing Flame Sand Field was extremely dangerous and anyone who tried to intrude would be killed; however, after it opened, Saint King Realm cultivators could enter and explore it.
It was impossible to verify this hypothesis, but it had gradually been accepted by most people.
The masters from the great forces naturally didn’t have time to simply sit here and wait for the Emperor Garden to open as they had their own business and problems to attend to, so they simply left behind some people to monitor the situation.
Unfortunately, Shadow Moon Hall suffered much hardship after this incident.
They had invited all the parties to explore the Emperor Garden together, which was done out of good intentions, but suddenly, more than twenty Third-Order masters had died, damaging nearly every great force on Shadowed Star. With no other place to vent, the blame naturally landed on Shadow Moon Hall’s head.
Shadow Moon Hall’s good intentions had only given them trouble in this instance. If one or two great forces had accused them, they would not have cared, but with more than twenty blaming them, Shadow Moon Hall had no choice but to handle things with caution.
In fact, this kind of unfounded accusation was completely unjustified; Shadow Moon Hall knew it and the other great forces knew it too.
But who made the Emperor Garden float above Shadow Moon Hall’s territory? Everyone feared that Shadow Moon Hall would reap all the benefits due to their proximity, but no one said it out loud, instead using this incident to raise a fuss.
After some arguing and bargaining, the great forces on Shadowed Star reached a consensus, which was, even if the Emperor Garden opened, the masters from Shadow Moon Hall couldn’t enter it in advance and had to wait for the other great forces to arrive, otherwise they would face universal condemnation.
Although the current situation of Shadow Moon Hall wasn’t akin to walking on thin ice, it clearly wasn’t in a very good situation either; after all, it had just experienced a serious internal power struggle and was in need of time to rest and recuperate, so faced with this unfair proposal, they had no choice but to acquiesce.
Currently, Heavenly Fate City was completely overcrowded as the number of people left here to monitor the Emperor Garden was quite significant. All the inns in Heavenly Fate City had no open rooms, their businesses literally bursting at the seams.
Even some small families in the surrounding area had begun hosting one or more delegations from the various great forces.
Where there were more people, there were inevitably more conflicts; after all, the great forces on Shadowed Star by no means had only harmonious relationships. There were various rivalries and grievances between each of these forces, so when they all gathered, disagreements and fights naturally broke out.
Almost every day, cultivators died, all while the host, Shadow Moon Hall, adopted a policy of non-interference. As long as these foreign forces didn’t interfere with Shadow Moon Hall’s interests, they were content to remain a neutral party.
Inside his cave mansion, Yang Kai poured his Space Force into the strange contraptions Yang Yan brought him while listening to her update him on the situation outside, asking a question or two, which she promptly answered.
As the two of them were conversing, Yang Yan’s expression suddenly changed and she quickly took out a communication artifact from her Space Ring, sent her Divine Sense into it, then shot a somewhat ambiguous look towards Yang Kai.
“What happened?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
“Someone is looking for you,” Yang Yan smiled and said profoundly, “A special friend.”
“Special friend?” Yang Kai’s face turned black. There were very few people he knew on Shadowed Star and even fewer he could call friends, so Yang Yan saying someone was looking for him confused him greatly. Even after thinking about it for a moment, he could not think of anyone who would suddenly come to find him. On top of that, when Yang Yan said it was a ‘special friend’, her tone was clearly a bit strange.
“Who?” Yang Kai did not bother guessing and simply asked.
“Dai Yuan!” Yang Yan replied with a smile.
“Her…” Yang Kai’s brow furrowed. If it was someone else who had come, he would have unceremoniously declared that Dragon Cave Mountain was closed and refused to see them, but since it was Dai Yuan then it was a different matter. She had given him her Coloured Glass Bead, which Yang Kai had obtained great benefit from. Additionally, Yang Kai had no idea if Coloured Glass Sect had discovered any clues about the Stone Puppet digging a channel from Dai Yuan’s peak to the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain last time, so this was an opportunity to quietly probe Dai Yuan about this matter.
Considering all this, Yang Kai stood up and said, “I’ll go have a look.”
Saying so, he walked outside.
A moment later, Yang Kai arrived at the entrance to Dragon Cave Mountain, took out his control token and poured his Saint Qi into it, causing a mysterious light to be emitted from it and open a large path through the protective barrier.
But before Yang Kai could step outside, he heard many voices and couldn’t help feeling suspicious. Could Dai Yuan have come here with a group? However, when he listened to what the people outside were saying, his face sank and he quickly walked out.
Currently, Dai Yuan silently stood outside Dragon Cave Mountain. If one were simply to observe her from behind, they would think she was a peerless beauty whose mere figure was enough to enchant others, making them sink into an inextricable reverie.
However, once one saw her face from the front, they would not be able to associate her with the word beauty.
Dai Yuan maintained the same image as before, her face filled with scars and pustules, giving her an extremely ugly appearance which she stubbornly refused to cover up.
Beside her, a group of more than a dozen cultivators wearing matching robes and with various cultivations were unscrupulously showing their disgust, pointing at Dai Yuan while several women were snorting disdainfully towards her.
These women were not too beautiful, but compared with Dai Yuan’s face, all of them immediately appeared more attractive, causing them to feel a sense of superiority.
“Hey, this Young Master is talking to you! Are you deaf or mute woman?” The leader of this group shouted out to Dai Yuan.
Dai Yuan glanced over at him lightly but showed absolutely no intention of answering.
This blatant disregard immediately annoyed the leader of this group and he quickly sneered, “Damn woman, just speaking to you is giving you more face than you deserve. Don’t think that this Young Master doesn’t dare deal with you because you’re a woman. Although you are the epitome of ugliness, you’re still a woman. This Young Master has given you face, so don’t refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit.”
Dai Yuan’s brow furrowed and a trace of disgust flashed across her face, but she quickly regained her calm.
Before, if she had heard such an insult leveled against her, she would lose control and attack. This was simply because her appearance was her reverse scale. But now, after Yang Kai helped detoxify her, her appearance had been restored, and she was just using her pockmarked face as a disguise. Even if this group of people’s words were unpleasant to hear, she didn’t let it get to her.
“Senior Brother Hai, don’t bother speaking any nonsense with her, just seize her directly. Clearly, she came here to find someone so she must know the people inside. We’ve been waiting here for a few days now yet the owner of this place has yet to appear. They’re clearly not putting us in their eyes,” Someone from the crowd called out impatiently, his face filled with eagerness to fight.
“Oh? And who exactly am I supposed to put in my eyes?” A slightly mocking voice suddenly called out from inside Dragon Cave Mountain. As these words were spoken, the fog-like barrier split open, revealing a young man.
“Yang Kai,” Dai Yuan wore a happy expression as she quickly called out to him.
“Sister Dai Yuan!” Yang Kai gently nodded to her before glancing over at the other group of people standing outside and asking lightly, “Are these people with you?”
Dai Yuan shook her head and said softly, “They’re from Sea Heart Sect.”
“Sea Heart Sect? Never heard of it,” Yang Kai spat disdainfully. Although he still wasn’t familiar with all the various big and small forces on Shadowed Star, he at least knew about all of the relatively powerful and influential ones so, since he hadn’t heard of this Sea Heart Sect, it showed that they weren’t an important influence.
On the contrary, Dai Yuan seemed to be incredibly well informed about such matters, allowing her to see through the origins of these people from their robes alone and quietly whisper, “It’s a force from the Limitless Ocean. It’s normal that you haven’t heard of it.”
“So that’s how it is,” Yang Kai nodded. The Limitless Ocean was extremely far away from here, and if not for the Emperor Garden sudden appearance, they would definitely not have sent representatives here.
“Are you the owner of this place?” On the Sea Heart Sect’s side, their leader swept his eyes over Yang Kai and with some surprise.
“Yes, I’m the master of this place!” Yang Kai grinned.
“En, since you’re the owner of this place, then we can talk,” The cultivator saw Yang Kai’s cultivation wasn’t very high, only reaching the Third-Order Saint King Realm, and inevitably felt somewhat contemptuous, speaking with a smug, prideful look on his face, “We are Sea Heart Sect’s disciples from the Limitless Ocean. This mountain is now requisitioned by our Sea Heart Sect! Go back inside and tell your people to clean it up and make room for us.”
This man wore an aloof expression, as if he was instructing his subordinates to do things, speaking without a trace of politeness.
Dai Yuan heard this and could not help wearing a strange look on her face, turning back to Yang Kai, wondering if these people regarded Yang Kai as the patriarch of the small family attached to Shadow Moon Hall.
Yang Kai also had this conjecture. Although he did not understand what was going on when he first came out, he now had a rough guess.
Now that Heavenly Fate City was completely full, many foreign cultivators could not find places to lodge, and as a result, some small families nearby were becoming targets. To conveniently monitor any chances in the Emperor Garden, it was only natural to find a good location.
Dragon Cave Mountain was located almost directly below the Emperor Garden, so its location was excellent and many people had set their sights on it.
As a matter of fact, since a while ago, many cultivators belonging to various great forces had taken a fancy to Dragon Cave Mountain and tried to enter it, but the protective Spirit Array here was incredibly powerful and seeing this, most groups had simply given up.
Others knew that Dragon Cave Mountain’s owner was a young man capable of killing Origin Returning Realm masters and who had a good relationship with Qian Tong, so they naturally steered clear. However, Sea Heart Sect was based on the Limitless Ocean, so it was inevitable that they did not know such local information.
Dragon Cave Mountain had many internal secrets and was constantly shrouded by various powerful Spirit Arrays, so not to mention Sea Heart Sect, even if representatives of Heaven Battling Union or Thunder Typhoon Sect came, Yang Kai would not give this place up. On top of that, these people had come forward and declared that this place was now theirs, as if letting them living in Dragon Cave Mountain was an honour that couldn’t be refused, a fact that Yang Kai found both funny and infuriating.
Requisitioning Dragon Cave Mountain for themselves, this Sea Heart Sect’s tone was simply higher than the Heavens.
Understanding all this, Yang Kai’s eyes turned slightly before he let out a chuckle and cupped his fists, “So these friends are from Sea Heart Sect, this one has long admired your Sect’s resounding name.”
This flattering comment caused this group of Sea Heart Sect disciples’ pride to inflate even further, thinking that their Sect’s reputation was so great that it had even spread all the way to Shadow Moon Hall’s territory. Their leader puffed up his chest proudly as he glanced back confidently at his Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters before turning to Yang Kai and saying with a smile, “There’s no need to act so polite, since you know we are from Sea Heart Sect, quickly prepare a proper place for us to stay. For the dozen or so of us here, it matters not, but when our Martial Uncle arrives you must serve him well. Martial Uncle’s temper is a bit poor, so if you cannot satisfy him, you should know the consequences.”
Saying so, the threatening tone this man used was quite strong, as if providing insufficient entertainment would result in disaster for Dragon Cave Mountain.
“Oh? Your Sect’s Senior is not here yet?” Yang Kai raised his brow.
“Naturally, Martial Uncle is currently resting in Heavenly Fate City and has sent us out to find a more permanent place to stay. Since we have now found such a place though, I will send word to him!”
Saying so, the lead cultivator took out his own Sect’s communication artifact and poured his Divine Sense into it.
Yang Kai didn’t make any attempt to stop this man, instead just looking on with a smile. After waiting for this man to put away the communication artifact, Yang Kai narrowed his eyes slightly and began speaking, “It’s not a problem to host your honoured Sect here. Dragon Cave Mountain has many spare lofts, beautiful scenery, and rich World Energy, so it should meet your requirements.”
“Heh heh, from the looks of it, your little hill does have a good World Energy aura, why else would do you think we decided to wait here for a few days?” The leading cultivator shook his head for a while before boldly declaring, “With the strength of our Sea Heart Sect, any small family nearby would definitely welcome us to stay with them. En, little brat, your luck is quite good, although my Martial Uncle’s temper is somewhat bad, he is also quite generous. If you can please him during our stay here, you will receive plenty of benefits.”
“Is that so?” Yang Kai replied in an excited and overjoyed voice, asking quickly, “Then seeing how you’ve traveled so far, why not let little brother here prepare a grand banquet for you all to help you recover from your fatigue?”
“Good, seems you know what you should do. It does not matter to us whether you arrange anything, but be sure to not disappoint Martial Uncle, his taste is very refined so if what you serve displeases him there will be consequences!” Seeing how using his Martial Uncle’s name was so effective, this cultivator immediately began making veiled threats and demands as such.
“Yes, yes!” Yang Kai nodded repeatedly, “Yes, dare I ask this friend, does your honoured Senior have any other interests or preferences?”
“Other interests?” The Sea Heart Sect cultivator raised his brow and smiled knowingly, “You mean…”
“Heh heh!” Yang Kai laughed meaningfully, as if he was a master of flattery and groveling.
Standing off to the side, Dai Yuan watched this whole scene in dumbfounded silence. She had never known that Yang Kai had such a side. She knew Yang Kai was mocking these people, but the other party was clearly unaware and only thought he was cowering before them, making for quite a funny dynamic.
“Good, good, good. Boy, you’re quite thoughtful,” The lead cultivator laughed, leaning in and whispering a few frivolous words to him.
Yang Kai raised his brow and nodded firmly, “Alright, such a matter is easy to handle. Dragon Cave Mountain may not have much to offer, but we do have many beautiful women.”
As soon as he spoke these words, the male Sea Heart Sect disciples showed joyful looks, their leader nodding, “Very good, but before allowing Martial Uncle to see them, I should first inspect these women of yours so as to avoid disappointing him.”
“Very good!” Yang Kai thumped his chest before quickly grabbing Dai Yuan’s arm and pulling her over, “Please take a look friend, how about this girl?”
Dai Yuan’s face immediately filled with shame and anger as she shot a vicious look towards Yang Kai. Although she did not hear what Yang Kai and this man had been whispering just now, seeing the loose look on both of their faces, how could she not understand what they were discussing?
Although she had now truly restored her stunningly beautiful appearance, she was still annoyed at being pulled into this farce by Yang Kai.
All of the Sea Heart Sect cultivators froze up as they stared at Dai Yuan. The smile on their leader’s face quickly collapsing as a cold light flashed across his eyes, “Boy, what kind of joke are you making? Can that thing even be counted as a woman?”
Dai Yuan’s pretty face grew colder!
“I’m not joking at all!” Yang Kai smiled lightly, “This young lady possesses peerless grace and talent, a true Heaven-blessed beauty, can’t you see?”
Hearing this, Dai Yuan’s eyes revealed even more anger, but on the contrary, her heart filled with happiness.
Others didn’t know her true face hidden behind her ugly visage, but Yang Kai was perfectly clear about it, so when he spoke these words, he had done so in a completely heartfelt manner, the smile on his face filled with sincerity.
“You don’t have any other women here?” The lead Sea Heart Sect cultivator asked hesitantly.
“We do have some, but they’re a bit inferior to her,” Yang Kai shook his head.
The Sea Heart Sect disciples froze up, their leader now feeling that something was wrong, his expression turning gloomy as he snapped, “Little brat, are you serious?”
“Do I look like I’m being serious?” Yang Kai’s mouth curled up into a grin as he stared back at this man.
Realizing that Yang Kai had been mocking him all along, with all the previous flattery and worship nothing but a show, this man roared angrily, “Boy, you court death!”
Saying so, he grabbed towards Yang Kai ruthlessly.
This man’s cultivation was also at the Third-Order Saint King Realm and he was an elite disciple of Sea Heart Sect, so he did not put someone like Yang Kai in his eyes.
As he grabbed towards Yang Kai, Saint Qi condensed on this man’s palm, causing the surrounding World Energy to twist fiercely and transform into a giant blue palm that was seemingly condensed from pure water.
Sea Heart Sect was based on the Limitless Ocean so its disciples naturally cultivated Water Attribute Secret Arts and Martial Skills, taking advantage of their geographical location to obtain twice the results with half the effort.
This giant blue palm of water covered Yang Kai and Dai Yuan in an instant.
But in the next instant, a golden radiance suddenly flashed, seemingly cutting through the sky and, in the blink of an eye, the giant blue palm burst apart, as if it were a fragile bubble.
The lead Sea Heart Sect cultivator was overwhelmed and unconsciously shouted in alarm as he pushed his Divine Sense to activate an artifact.
The moment they clashed, this man found that Yang Kai was a little different from other Saint King Realm cultivators he had dealt with before and he quickly put away his contempt and urged the power of his artifact.
Suddenly, the golden light which had just appeared condensed into a thread and shot towards him.
This man’s reaction was not slow. Waving his hand, he sent out a burst of energy to intercept the golden thread, but unfortunately for him this thread seemed to have a mind of its own and easily avoided all his attacks before swiftly winding itself around him.
Feeling a deadly threat from this Golden Thread, the cultivator’s forehead instantly oozed cold sweat and he did not dare to move, simply screaming out “Stop!”
The Sea Heart Sect disciples behind him who were about to attack hurriedly withdrew their Saint Qi when they heard this shout, all of them staring blankly at the scene in front of them.
This Senior Brother Hai was the strongest Saint King in Sea Heart Sect. Normally, when sparring with his fellow Sect Brothers and Sisters, no one was his opponent. The Sect Master and Elders all lavishly praised him while his Juniors worshiped him with great respect.
But now, a young cultivator in the same realm from some small hill had easily managed to subdue their Senior Brother Hai Zhen.
The other Sea Heart Sect disciples stared at this scene in disbelief but quickly found that they were not seeing things. Their awe-inspiring Senior Brother Hai had indeed been entangled by some kind of golden thread; his life was no longer even his to control.
With Yang Kai’s current methods, handling a cultivator in the same realm was as easy as waving his hand.
With a slight snort, Yang Kai brought the captured Hai Zhen before him, raised his hand, and slapped him across the face.
*Pa…*
A crisp slapping sound rang out as Hai Zhen’s face twisted to the side and a mouthful of blood and some broken teeth flew out, his cheeks also visibly swelling up.
Seemingly stunned by this slap, it took quite a while before Hai Zhen recovered from his daze.
Yang Kai waved his hand, as if he were disgusted at being made to touch something unclean as he stared at Hai Zhen lightly and asked, “Do you know why I slapped you?”
Hai Zhen shook his head subconsciously.
*Pa…*
Another resounding slap rang out, causing Hai Zhen’s cheeks to swell further.
Yang Kai snorted louder and declared, “Because you had eyes but failed to see!”
Hai Zhen suddenly recovered and began nodding repeatedly, “Yes, yes, this Hai had eyes but failed to see and offended Your Excellency. Please show mercy, Your Excellency!”
“Heh heh!” Yang Kai chuckled lightly before lifting his hand and slapping Hai Zhen again, his expression remaining completely indifferent as he snapped, “Wrong, try again!”
After three slaps, even though Yang Kai hadn’t used extreme measures, Hai Zhen still felt dizzy, his eyes seeing stars, and his nose and mouth were dripping blood as he shouted, “This Hai did not know his place and coveted Your Excellency’s property!”
“Wrong!” Yang Kai slapped him again.
By now, the dozen or so Sea Heart Sect disciples were completely dumbfounded while Hai Zhen felt dead inside. Yang Kai said he had eyes but failed to see, so his first thoughts were obviously about the two issues he had just mentioned, but the only response to his apology was another slap. Regardless of how he thought, he could not think of what other mistake he had made while this whole time he was being helplessly suppressed by Yang Kai’s Golden Thread. Worse, this disgraceful scene was playing out right in front of his Junior Brothers’ and Junior Sisters’ eyes; after this was over, what face would he have left in Sea Heart Sect?
As his thoughts churned quickly, whether by luck or coincidence, Hai Zhen’s wits finally kicked in and he quickly shot a glance over towards Dai Yuan as he shouted, “This Hai’s eyes were blind and were unable to see this young lady’s Heaven-defying beauty and grace!”
When Dai Yuan heard this, her face inevitably turned slightly red. Although the other party wholeheartedly did not believe the words he just spoke, it still made her feel somewhat bashful.
Yang Kai raised his brow and grinned, “Good, good. it seems your two eyes aren’t completely useless after all. If they had failed to see again, I would have had to dig them out!”
Hai Zhen dripped cold sweat. Although he felt so disgusted he wanted to die, he still vigorously praised Dai Yuan as a world destroying beauty, as if her ugly pockmarked face was the most radiant continence he had ever seen, weaving words of adulation most would find difficult to even conceive of.
Listening to all these, even Yang Kai felt his skin crawl slightly.
“Yang Kai!” Dai Yuan stomped her feet, unable to bear this situation any longer. Although she knew Yang Kai was just looking for excuses to punish this man, hearing all this false praise was quite awkward for her.
“I know,” Yang Kai gently nodded, but just as he was about to release Hai Zhen, he suddenly frowned and turned his eyes towards the sky.
In the direction he was staring, a streak of light was quickly approaching this place. Before this person arrived, their Divine Sense swept the area and after seeing what was happening, a great shout rang out, “Who dares to shame my disciple!”
This voice was filled with anger and a trace of force even impacted Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea when he heard it.
Yang Kai just coldly snorted, condensing his Spiritual Energy to offset this shockwave.
Hearing this voice, Hai Zhen, who was still entangled by the Golden Thread, was overjoyed, and shouted, “Martial Uncle, save me!”
From this cry, Yang Kai immediately understood that the person approaching must be the Origin Returning Realm Elder from Sea Heart Sect he had been hearing about. Heavenly Fate City was only a few dozen kilometres away from Dragon Cave Mountain, so with a message being sent a short time ago, it was not strange for this master to arrive so quickly.
However, Yang Kai was not afraid; in fact, he had been waiting for this Origin Returning Realm master to arrive so he could settle this issue once and for all.
Staring in the direction of the approaching man, a strange smile appeared on Yang Kai’s face as he condensed an invisible blade of Spiritual Energy from his Knowledge Sea and shot it towards the other side.
Since the other party wanted to use their Divine Sense to attack him, Yang Kai naturally felt it rude to not return the gesture.
The streak of light which was rapidly approaching suddenly staggered and a low shout rang. Trembling slightly, the light streak surrounding the approaching master trembled and seemed on the verge of collapsing.
Although the one who was coming was a First-Order Origin Returning Realm master, under Yang Kai’s Divine Sense attack, he had still suffered a small loss and now had a suspicious look on his face, no longer rampantly approaching Dragon Cave Mountain but instead doing so vigilantly.
He had just received a message from one of his Sect’s disciples that they had found a good place to stay and the owner had submissively welcomed them. He had just thought it was a small family and had flown over with great interest, but the sight which greeted him was an embarrassing scene.
In the blink of an eye, the Origin Returning Realm master from Sea Heart Sect arrived at Dragon Cave Mountain and revealed his figure.
Yang Kai glanced at him and found that this man gave off a powerful image, if not an imposing one. He had a sturdy build and long red hair, accompanied by a somewhat flat nose and concave eyes. This man had a fierce and somewhat malicious look about him overall.
Sweeping his eyes over the scene in front of him, this newcomer’s eyes shrank, and anger filled his heart.
Although strong dragons don’t challenge local snakes, his Sea Heart Sect was considered a strong force on Shadowed Star so, after travelling so far just to witness his disciple in such a miserable state, he immediately questioned angrily, “Boy, what’s the meaning of this?”
When he said this, he stared straight at Yang Kai, a cold, coercive light flashing across his eyes.
Although he had suffered a small loss just now, when he discovered Yang Kai’s true cultivation, he was not afraid, subconsciously believing this boy had used something like a powerful artifact to achieve the last strike he made. With his Origin Realm cultivation, dealing with a mere Saint King was child’s play, all he needed to do was use his Shi to suppress the other party.
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai grinned at him, seemingly not caring in the slightest about his coercion, remaining calm and relaxed.
“Why did you attack my disciple?” The red-haired cultivator asked sharply.
“Why?” Yang Kai smiled lightly and glanced over at Hai Zhen whose face was black and blue, swollen all over, “Your Excellency, why not just ask your disciple to explain?”
The red-haired cultivator frowned before glaring fiercely at his disciple, quickly snapping, “Tell me what the hell happened here. If you were the one who wronged him first, don’t blame this old master for not involving himself; however, if it was others who first shamed you, although my Sea Heart Sect’s base is in the Limitless Ocean, we are not some soft persimmon that anyone can pinch.”
These words were spoken quite meaningfully, and when Hai Zhen heard them, his eyes quickly lit up and he immediately wore a despondent expression, leaking tears and snot as he cried out, “Martial Uncle must see, we were simply following your instructions to find a suitable place to lodge when we came across this place. I wanted to have a polite discussion with the owner of this place to negotiate an appropriate price to rent some rooms here, but how could I have known these people would act so unreasonably? Without any provocation, he suddenly attacked. Caught off guard, Disciple was captured by this scoundrel and then humiliated by him, forced to speak words contrary to my beliefs and convictions, causing me such great shame I can only wish for death! I beg Martial Uncle to seek justice for me!”
Yang Kai stared at Hai Zhen in amazement, discovering for the first time that this man really had no sense of shame. With his miserable appearance and the forlorn tone he cried out in, it was as if he had suffered unimaginable shame and torment.
Although Yang Kai was angered by this farce, his expression remained calm and only a light sneer appeared on his face.
The red-haired old man heard this and the cold light in his eyes became more profound, asking in the next moment, “Did you inform him you were all disciples of Sea Heart Sect?”
“Yes, disciple made sure to state our origins, but he didn’t put our Sea Heart Sect in his eyes at all,” Hai Zhen replied with a sad face, continuing to speak a stream of slander and embellishment, thinking that now that his Martial Uncle was here, he was perfectly safe.
“Great!” The red-haired old man took a deep breath before suddenly turning his eyes to Yang Kai, questioning aggressively, “Little brat, do you have anything to say?”
“Naturally not,” Yang Kai slowly shook his head, his expression somewhat strange, “Your Sea Heart Sect’s Secret Arts and Martial Skills don’t seem to be worth much, but your ability to speak nonsense and reverse black and white is truly impressive!”
“Little brat, you dare to insult my Sea Heart Sect!?” The red-haired old man was infuriated and almost could not stop himself from immediately attacking. Although he understood that any force which was situated so close to Heavenly Fate City must have some connection to Shadow Moon Hall, with the latter being suppressed on all sides by Shadowed Star’s great forces, he figured that if he taught this boy a lesson, it wouldn’t raise any fuss. According to his estimations, Shadow Moon Hall would not make things difficult for his Sea Heart Sect for a few unimportant people.
Even if he used this opportunity to seize this Dragon Cave Mountain, presumably Shadow Moon Hall would remain silent.
“Bringing contempt upon oneself yet trying to blame others?” Yang Kai coldly snorted as he turned to stare at Hai Zhen and said, “Do you think I don’t dare to kill you?”
“Ah?” Hai Zhen noticed murderous intent in Yang Kai’s eyes and his expression changed dramatically.
“Little brat, you dare!” The red-haired old man also felt something was wrong and quickly released his Shi to enveloped Yang Kai, trying to limit his movements and save his disciple.
Yang Kai simply shot this old man a contemptuous glance before clenching his fist, causing his Golden Thread to flicker and a faint slicing noise to ring out, his actions as swift as the wind, not affected by the red-haired old man’s Shi at all.
Demon Blood Temple’s Secret Technique could cut through Shi, so the Golden Blood used by Yang Kai, which was a more powerful variant, naturally had such ability as well. How could the red-haired old man possibly hinder it?
The Golden Thread cut into Hai Zhen’s body a dozen times in an instant, after which Yang Kai withdrew it, allowing Hai Zhen to stand on his own in a daze, unable to figure out what had just happened.
However, in the next moment, his face changed dramatically as he looked down at his body and found thin lines of blood flowing out from all over it. This blood continued flowing out steadily until all of a sudden it burst forth like a fountain.
With a clatter, as if a mirror had been broken, Hai Zhen collapsed to the ground in dozens of pieces of minced meat.
A bloody smell filled the air and witnessing this horrifying scene caused the dozen or so other Sea Heart Sect disciples to go pale, with a few of the more timid women turning away and vomiting.
The red-haired old man’s eyes instantly bulged as he stared at Yang Kai in disbelief. It seemed he had never imagined this little brat would act so decisively and ruthlessly.
As for Yang Kai, at first, he didn’t intend on killing these people, only wanting to teach them a harsh lesson to deter others from having ideas about Dragon Cave Mountain, but the way the situation developed, with Hai Zhen and this red-haired old man so blatantly confusing right and wrong, Yang Kai’s murderous intent had been roused.
As such, Yang Kai could not be bothered trying to negotiate a settlement here. A trivial force from the Limitless Ocean was nothing he needed to take seriously.
After the tragic death of Hai Zhen, the red-haired old man was naturally livid, his fiery hair blowing outwards despite there being no wind as his murderous intent soared to the Heavens. Gritting his teeth, he called out menacingly, “Little brat, this old master will make you pay for this in blood!”
The one who died just now was Sea Heart Sect’s top disciple, making the loss quite significant. This red-haired old man had been ordered to remain near Heavenly Fate City to monitor the movements of the Emperor Garden and Hai Zhen had been left in his care so the latter could gain some life experience here; however, before being able to accomplish anything significant Hai Zhen had been tragically killed. After returning to the Sect, this old man would suffer severe punishment.
After all, Hai Zhen was a direct descendant of the Sect’s Great Elder!
“Daring to act dissolute in my Dragon Cave Mountain? None of you will leave here alive!” Yang Kai’s expression became stern as murderous intent burst from his body. Killing one or killing a dozen made no difference to him, but the deterrent from killing everyone here would clearly be stronger, making it less likely others would try to ‘requisition’ Dragon Cave Mountain in the future.
“Oh, it’s so lively here!” Just as Yang Kai and the red-haired old man were about to act, a voice filled with surprise called out from afar and soon after two streams of light quickly appeared on the horizon. At the same time, two powerful Divine Senses belonging to Origin Returning Realm masters swept the area.
Realizing the strength of the approaching party, the red-haired old man’s expression became gloomy and he glanced over.
Yang Kai raised his brow, revealing a surprised but somewhat understanding look.
“Senior Brother, Senior Brother Yang seems to be fighting with someone,” After the first voice called out, a second, melodious female voice followed up.
“En, Senior Brother noticed, but I really wonder which blind fool actually dared come to provoke Dragon Cave Mountain. Too interesting.” The male voice quipped, seemingly taking pleasure in another’s misfortune. The red-haired man heard this and could not help feeling his heart clench. Was there some reason this Dragon Cave Mountain should not be provoked?
Wasn’t this place just some small family force attached to Shadow Moon Hall? The red-haired old man frowned. He was no fool though, so he immediately withdrew his murderous intent while putting on a solemn expression.
A moment later, the two streams of light had flown over and as their glow faded, two figures appeared.
One of these figures was an imposing and heroic-looking young man with sharp eyes. Being stared at by this young man, the red-haired old man could not help feeling chills shoot up his spine, causing the unease in his heart to grow stronger. Beside this young man was a beautiful young woman who stood shoulder to shoulder with him, the two of them looking very intimate. Obviously, these two shared an uncommon relationship.
After the newly arrived young woman’s pair of beautiful eyes looked around, she revealed a curious look.
Upon seeing Dai Yuan standing behind Yang Kai though, this young woman called out in pleasant surprise, “Big Sister Dai Yuan, you’re here too!”
“Xuan’er!” Dai Yuan returned the smile.
“Brother Wei!” Yang Kai laughed as he cupped his fists to the young man. The ones who had come were amongst the few friends Yang Kai had made on Shadowed Star. They were Shadow Moon Hall’s top disciples, Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er.
“Brother Yang, long time no see!” Wei Gu Chang replied spiritedly.
“En, it’s been a few years since we last met, but I didn’t expect Brother Wei and Sister Dong would already have broken through to the Origin Returning Realm. Congratulations!” Yang Kai sincerely said.
After returning from the Flowing Flame Sand Field last time, Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er had entered secluded retreat in order to prepare to break through to the Origin Returning Realm. Now that Yang Kai was meeting them again, it was obvious these two had successfully arrived at the realm.
And from the momentum and Saint Qi fluctuations being emitted by these two, their cultivations had obviously been completely consolidated, otherwise, they would not have come out from Shadow Moon Hall like this.
Dai Yuan had also told Yang Kai she would be entering secluded retreat to prepare for her own breakthrough to the Origin realm, but for some reason, she had now appeared here. Recalling this, Yang Kai shot a glance over towards Dai Yuan but found that she was simply holding hands with Dong Xuan’er and chatting intimately. Because they were whispering, he wasn’t able to hear what they were saying. Dai Yuan’s face was clearly blushing as Dong Xuan’er smiled brightly and cast her eyes towards Yang Kai.
All of them, however, were completely ignoring the red-haired old man and the other Sea Heart Sect disciples as if they were nothing but air.
Receiving such treatment, the red-haired old man naturally became livid, but after observing Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er for a while and recalling how Yang Kai had addressed these two, his complexion changed slightly and he solemnly cupped his fists, “May I be so bold as to ask, is Your Excellency Shadow Moon Hall’s Wei Gu Chang?”
Hearing this, Wei Gu Chang glanced over and nodded lightly, “En, it is this Wei. What advice does Senior have?”
Although in terms of age, Wei Gu Chang was much younger than the red-haired old man, because their cultivations were the same, he didn’t need to act too polite so he only responded flatly.
“I wouldn’t dare!” The red-haired old man was stunned. Wei Gu Chang might have only recently broken through to the Origin Returning Realm, but if one were to ignore that, his name had become famous across Shadowed Star. With Wei Gu Chang’s aptitude and talent, he would no doubt become one of the dominant characters of Shadowed Star in the future!
Offending him now would definitely lead to trouble in the future.
After determining that the young man he was dealing with was Wei Gu Chang, how could the red-haired old man dare act dissolute? Just from the previous chatter he witnessed, the red-haired old man could tell that Wei Gu Chang and this boy who owned Dragon Cave Mountain were quite close. Realizing this, the red-haired old man knew it was impossible for him to avenge his disciple’s death, but simply choking down this insult made him incredibly uncomfortable, not to mention the damage that withdrawing here would cause to Sea Heart Sect’s dignity.
For a moment, the old man hesitated, uncertain of how he should proceed.
At the same time, he was violently cursing to himself. If not for Hai Zhen having eyes but failing to see and provoking such a person, how could he have been put in this awkward situation? If the one who had killed Hai Zhen was from some small family force, the old man wouldn’t have any scruples in killing the offender.
But now, there was essentially no hope for revenge, and whether he himself could withdraw from this situation unharmed was no longer in his hands.
“Brother Yang, what happened here? Why are there so many people gathered around?” Wei Gu Chang asked, “Is there going to be a fight? This Wei just broke through recently and hasn’t had an opportunity to test out his new strength. If you have such an opportunity available, why not allow me to take it?”
Wei Gu Chang’s remarks only caused the red-haired old man’s expression to become uglier.
“Haha,” Yang Kai laughed, “It’s no big deal, just some people coming here to requisition my Dragon Cave Mountain.”
“Requisition?” Wei Gu Chang raised his brow, a deep sneer appearing on his face, “Such boldness! Who are these people who want to take over this treasured land? I think they should first ask this Wei for his opinion.”
Saying so, Wei Gu Chang turned his eyes to glare at the red-haired old man, making no effort to hide his malicious intent.
The red-haired old man was startled by how rapidly the situation was deteriorating, but understanding what needed to be done, he quickly cupped his fists and said, “Nephew Wei misunderstands, this old man’s disciple simply misspoke before. There are no problems here, everything is just a misunderstanding!”
This old man knew when to advance and when to retreat, speaking such words without any sign of distress or resentment on his face. It was as if he didn’t care at all that his Sect’s top disciple had just been killed in front of him.
“A misunderstanding?” Wei Gu Chang, however, wasn’t prepared to just let things end here and swiftly pointed to the broken corpse on the ground, “This misunderstanding seems to be a bit big, how else could someone have died here?”
The red-haired old man’s eyes shrank and his face began twitching slightly as he said, “Nephew Wei may rest assured, that blind fool’s death isn’t worth pitying. This old master will have his disciples clean up this place so as not to stain this treasured land.”
Wei Gu Chang’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the red-haired old man, and only after a long silence did he chuckle and turned back to Yang Kai, “Brother Yang, what do you think?”
“Since it’s all a misunderstanding, there’s no need to take things any further; however, such a misunderstanding better not happen again, otherwise, there might be undesirable consequences,” Yang Kai stared at the red-haired old man with a smile.
“This old master will take Your Excellency’s words to heart and properly educate his disciples in the future,” The red-haired old man nodded. Seeing Wei Gu Chang and Yang Kai not show any intentions of further discussion, the old man instructed his disciples to clean up Hai Zhen’s remains before all of them cupped their fists and departed quickly.
Looking at this group’s disappearing backs, Wei Gu Chang frowned and muttered, “Brother Yang, be careful of this fox. Someone capable of enduring such humiliation will not give up so easily.”
“I know, I’ll deal with it when the time comes,” Yang Kai grinned, not caring about this incident in the slightest.
“This Wei didn’t intend to stop Brother Yang from acting just now, but you should know Shadow Moon Hall’s current situation. If some people were to use the conflict that sparked here as an excuse to make trouble for Shadow Moon Hall…”
“I know, Brother Wei doesn’t need to worry,” Yang Kai certainly understood what he meant. In fact, if Wei Gu Chang hadn’t arrived just now, Yang Kai would have certainly slaughtered everyone from Sea Heart Sect, even if he knew doing so would cause problems for Shadow Moon Hall. Any small conflict right now would certainly be blown up into a big conflict with all the great forces around engaging in shadowy intrigue. But since Wei Gu Chang had come and inserted himself into the matter, Yang Kai had to sell him some face.
“Enough about this, please come in first,” Yang Kai chuckled, waving his hand to open a channel in Dragon Cave Mountain’s barrier before leading Wei Gu Chang and the others inside.
As soon as they stepped inside and felt the rich World Energy aura around them, Wei Gu Chang could not help taking a deep breath and praised liberally, “Brother Yang, your Dragon Cave Mountain is truly an amazing place. The World Energy concentration here is so high that it’s comparable to best locations in Shadow Moon Hall atop the Earth Vein intersections.”
“Brother Wei is too polite. Dragon Cave Mountain’s territory and population are so small, how can they be compared with Shadow Moon Hall? The aura here is just right for helping a few dozen people cultivate.”
“The scenery here is also good. Senior Brother and I often talk about coming here to relax for a few days, I don’t know if Brother Yang would welcome us, though,” Dong Xuan’er pursed her lips and smiled.
“Haha!” Yang Kai laughed heartily, “Was that a subtle hint from Sister Xuan’er? If you were to come, how could I reject you? Dragon Cave Mountain’s doors will always be open to you.”
Dong Xuan’er heard this and her pretty face couldn’t help blushing slightly, spitting out her tongue playfully to cover her embarrassment in the next moment.
Just as Dong Xuan’er was feeling slightly awkward, she suddenly saw something and couldn’t help calling out in surprise.
Wei Gu Chang also spotted this strange phenomenon and asked curiously, “Brother Yang, you actually have a sapient tree here?”
What they saw was obviously the Yang Attribute Divine Tree. The Divine Tree had been living on Dragon Cave Mountain since Yang Kai brought it out from his Black Book Space, and although it didn’t possess traditional limbs, moving about wasn’t an issue for it. As a result, sometimes it would migrate from place to place, taking root in different locations to enjoy different sceneries. Using its roots as legs, the Divine Tree was able to walk around at a moderate pace and was currently in the middle moving.
On the thick trunk of the Divine Tree, there was a withered face, and although it was quite a weathered, old-looking face, its features were very distinct.
This was a clear sign it had gained a high degree of sapience.
Seemingly hearing these voices, the Divine Tree paused and looked over, rustling its leaves for a moment before extending two branches from its canopy over to Dong Xuan’er and Dai Yuan.
Held by these branches was a golden yellow fruit that gave off a lovely fragrance. The old face on the Divine Tree’s trunk smiled amiably as it offered these gifts.
“This…” Dong Xuan’er and Dai Yuan glanced at each other, both showing surprised looks, but soon reached out and accepted these fruits and offered their thanks.
Yang Kai was also extremely surprised by this scene. It was the first time he saw the Divine Tree doing such a thing, and while he was shocked inside, he was also extremely happy. It seemed the Divine Tree’s sapience was becoming more and more complete, which in turn indicated its evolution was going well.
After the Divine Tree sent out these two fruits, it continued its walk by slowly moving its roots forward.
Wei Gu Chang failed to stifle his laughter as he commented, “This sapient tree actually discriminates between men and women? Why do these two get a gift but I don’t?”
As soon as this remark came out, everyone burst into laughter.
In the end, this was just a minor interlude. Although the Divine Tree’s fruits weren’t anything special, since it was the first time Dong Xuan’er and Dai Yuan had received a gift like this, they naturally treasured it.
Yang Kai soon shook his head and continued leading this group of people forward.
At the same time, outside Dragon Cave Mountain, the Sea Heart Sect group, led by the red-haired old man, all wore extremely gloomy looks on their faces. They had thought that with the arrival of their Martial Uncle, they would be able to avenge the death of Hai Zhen, but things had turned out far differently from their expectations. Suffering such humiliation, all of them were naturally quite unhappy and the atmosphere around them was clearly quite depressing.
Suddenly, another Origin Returning Realm master appeared in front of them, rousing the red-haired old man’s anger. He had humbled himself in front of Wei Gu Chang, not daring to act presumptuous, but how could he not be upset now that someone dared block his path all of a sudden without so much as a word?
If he hadn’t noticed that this newcomer had no malicious intent, the red-haired old man might have directly attacked in his anger.
“What important matter does this friend have to go so far as to bar our way?” The red-haired old man forcefully held down his anger and asked in a cold tone.
“Please be at ease, Brother Cui, I’m a friend, not an enemy,” The man smiled slightly.
“You know my origins?” The red-haired old man heard this newcomer address him by his surname and could not help becoming somewhat vigilant.
Of course, this issue extends to groups and gangs as well. You can also see this in drama shows.]
“En, although Sea Heart Sect is situated far away on the Limitless Ocean, it is not a weak Sect, so this one has heard a thing or two about it. On top of that, in Sea Heart Sect, there is only one Elder with fiery red hair, so naturally I knew you were Brother Cui,” The cultivator in front of the Sea Heart Sect group explained in a calm and relaxed manner.
After hearing such compliments, the red-haired old man’s look eased, but he did not relax his guard and continued to ask, “And who are you?”
“My surname is Xie!” The man smiled profoundly.
“Surnamed Xie? What business do you have with me?” The red-haired old man frowned.
The cultivator surnamed Xie’s brow wrinkled slightly, but after thinking about it for a moment, he tentatively asked, “Brother Cui has travelled far to come here. How many days has it been since you arrived?”
“It’s only been three days, but what does that have to do with you?” The red-haired old man was confused by the seemingly erratic line of questioning the other party was following. This man was not explaining himself clearly, or even giving his full name, making him seem all the more suspicious. This, in turn, caused the red-haired old man to become somewhat impatient.
“So that’s how it is. Presumably, Brother Cui didn’t carefully investigate the various forces located around Heavenly Fate City yet, yes?” The cultivator surnamed Xie seemed to understand something and smiled lightly.
The red-haired old man coldly snorted, “What of it? Speak clearly damn it!”
The man surnamed Xie chuckled, “Please forgive me, Brother Cui, but it now makes sense why your disciples actually went and pulled the tiger’s whiskers atop Dragon Cave Mountain.”
“Pulled the tiger’s whiskers?” The red-haired old man narrowed his eyes, “Atop that small hill? Are they worthy?”
The man surnamed Xie said lightly, “If this Xie told Brother Cui that the owner of that hill has a close relationship with Elder Qian Tong, is rumoured to have ties to City Lord Fei Zhi Tu, and killed a First-Order Origin Realm cultivator with his own hands, would Brother Cui continue looking down on him?”
“What?” The red-haired old man suddenly paled, his expression becoming somewhat hesitant as he muttered, “Are you serious?”
“This Xie doesn’t need to lie to you.”
“Even so, that brat killed my Sect’s top disciple! He must pay for this with his own blood!” The red-haired old man tried to put up a strong front while secretly feeling anxious inside. Although the information this man surnamed Xie just gave him was very worrying, there was no way for him to not seek revenge with things having reached this point.
If he could not achieve this, there was no way he could return to Sea Heart Sect.
“Haha! This Xie was hoping Brother Cui would have such sentiment,” The man surnamed Xie laughed as a sharp glow flashed across his eyes, “I’ll be honest with Brother Cui, the Origin Realm master who died at that brat’s hands was from my Xie Family, so we have an absolutely irreconcilable grudge with that brat!”
“Oh?” The red-haired old man raised his brow in surprise, seemingly understanding something all of a sudden as he swept his eyes over the cultivator in front of him and hesitantly asked, “In Shadow Moon Hall, there is a Deacon named Xie Li. Could Your Excellency be…”
“Xie Li is my cousin!” The man surnamed Xie smiled lightly.
Hearing this, the red-haired old man was overjoyed and did not dare continue acting in a standoff manner, cupping his fists politely and bowing, “So it is Brother Xie, this Cui has been disrespectful.”
“Pay it no mind!” The cultivator surnamed Xie waved his hand carelessly, continuing intimately, “Might I assume Brother Cui has been tasked with monitoring the movements of the Emperor Garden along with your disciples and is currently searching for a place to stay nearby? If so, why not come to my Xie Family’s residence? Although my Xie Family is not a big family, we still have plenty of well-tended courtyards that I’m sure we can make available.”
“That sounds great! Then we’ll be imposing on your honoured family,” The red-haired old man smiled happily. He had been worried that he would not be able to find a good place to settle down nearby, but now someone had actually come to invite him into their home. On top of that, it seemed that this new host of his had a profound resentment with the boy who owned Dragon Cave Mountain. As someone who shared a common enemy, it was natural for this man surnamed Xie to reach out to them; after all, the enemy of one’s enemy was their friend. Although the red-haired old man also understood that this man surnamed Xie was trying to take advantage of them, he did not particularly care.
“Brother Cui is too polite; you and your disciples are more than welcome at my Xie Family. Let us talk while we walk, this one has always been interested in visiting the Limitless Ocean but has never had a chance to go. Perhaps Brother Cui has some interesting stories he could tell,” The cultivator surnamed Xie invited.
“Please!” The red-haired old man politely nodded before leading the dozen or so Sea Heart Sect disciples towards the Xie Family residence.
The man surname Xie was quite an elegant speaker and chatted fluidly with the red-haired old man along the way, weaving a web of stirring stories while expressing just the right amount of interest and longing for the scenes of the Limitless Ocean, immediately making the red-haired old man open up to him as if they were old friends.
After chatting for a while, the red-haired old man started to inquire about Yang Kai. After learning that he truly had Qian Tong’s backing, his face could not help becoming slightly gloomy. If this was really the case, the difficulty of seeking revenge definitely wouldn’t be small.
Moreover, the Xie Family was also a peripheral force related to Shadow Moon Hall. Would blatantly acting hostile towards the Dragon Cave Mountain be an issue as well?
Seemingly realizing the concerns in this red-haired old man’s heart, the cultivator surnamed Xie immediately told him that Shadow Moon Hall had decided to not intervene in the grievances between the Xie Family and Dragon Cave Mountain. This news greatly heartened the red-haired old man and he felt that deciding to go to the Xie Family was the right decision more and more. As long as Shadow Moon Hall didn’t interfere with the Xie Family and his Sea Heart Sect’s strengths combined, wouldn’t it be easy to destroy a small hill?
Thinking this way, the red-haired old man could almost imagine the scene of him shredding Yang Kai’s corpse into ten thousand pieces.
……
Meanwhile, on Dragon Cave Mountain, inside a relatively large loft, Yang Kai welcomed Wei Gu Chang and the others. After everyone had taken their seats, Wu Yi personally brought out a few plates of spirit fruits and served them fragrant tea before respectfully withdrawing.
“Brother Yang, please accept this Wei and Xuan’er’s sincerest gratitude!”
To Yang Kai’s surprise, Wei Gu Chang suddenly stood up again and bowed deeply to him along with Dong Xuan’er.
“Brother Wei, what is this for?” Yang Kai was stunned and quickly got up to hold them up.
Wei Gu Chang grinned, “This Wei has lived his entire life never humbling himself to anyone from Shadowed Star’s younger generation. Even Qu Chang Feng and Fang Tian Zhong are not worthy of having this Wei bow. Brother Yang, you are the first and the only one I sincerely admire.”
Yang Kai frowned for a moment but quickly understood why Wei Gu Chang was acting so solemnly here and hurriedly waved his hand, “Brother Wei need not do this. Rescuing Elder Qian recently had little to do with me. The specific process must have been explained to you by Elder Qian so you should know I simply followed City Lord Fei around the Emperor Garden. In the end, if City Lord Fei and the others had not accidentally triggered that ancient restriction, perhaps I would still be trapped back there.”
“Perhaps, but I know for a fact that if not for Brother Yang, Cai He and Du Si Si would definitely have died inside that place. If those two had fallen inside the Emperor Garden, their families would resent my Shadow Moon Hall so, regardless of anything else, I and Xuan’er should thank you.”
Hearing him go this far, Yang Kai did not try to argue any more as doing so would only make him appear insincere. On the other hand, when Dai Yuan heard this conversation, she could not help turning a surprised look towards Yang Kai, seemingly never having expected him to have already entered the Emperor Garden.
“I only regret that Xuan’er and I were both consolidating our cultivation at that time and were unaware of the outside situation. If not for us accidentally hearing some people gossiping about this matter after we went out, we might still have been ignorant of these events,” Wei Gu Chang’s face flashed a low-spirited look. Although he was not Qian Tong’s direct disciple, but rather the Sect Master’s, after so many years of receiving his favour, Qian Tong held no less weight in Wei Gu Chang’s heart. Learning that Qian Tong had fallen into danger yet knowing he had not done anything to help made Wei Gu Chang feel a deep sense of guilt every time he thought about it.
“The Seniors of Shadow Moon Hall were only acting out of concern for both of you. So soon after you two broke through to the Origin Returning Realm, before you even had time to consolidate your cultivations, how could they possibly tell you such news and risk disturbing your state of mind? Enough about this though, Brother Wei. Might I ask why you’ve come to visit all of a sudden?” Yang Kai quickly changed the subject when he noticed the atmosphere turning gloomy.
“It’s nothing important really. We’re just here to deliver an invitation,” Wei Gu Chang chuckled as he nodded to Dong Xuan’er.
The latter understood and quickly withdrew a golden invitation from her Space Ring and handed it to Yang Kai.
“An invitation you say? Could it be an invitation to Brother Wei and Sister Xuan’er’s most important celebration?” Yang Kai chuckled as he asked meaningfully.
Dong Xuan’er immediately blushed brightly, spat out her tongue, and ran over to Dai Yuan’s side, seemingly too embarrassed to continue this conversation.
Wei Gu Chang, on the other hand, wore a big grin and said, “Unfortunately not, but there will certainly be a chance in the future. When that day comes, Brother Yang will, of course, receive an invitation. The invitation we’re here to deliver today still isn’t something an ordinary person can obtain, mind you.”
Yang Kai raised his brow slightly and looked down only to mutter in surprise, “Treasure Trove Pavilion?”
“Yes, it is an invitation from Treasure Trove Pavilion,” Wei Gu Chang returned to his seat and took a sip of the fragrant tea before slowly explaining, “This invitation is to Treasure Trove Pavilion’s upcoming auction; does Brother Yang have any interest in participating?”
Yang Kai did not answer immediately. The last time he had participated in the Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction, his gains were not small and he was also somewhat interested in this upcoming event, but he didn’t think it was necessary to go either. Rather, he was wondering why Treasure Trove Pavilion had suddenly decided to hold an auction and what implications this action had.
“Oh, they’re hosting it in Heavenly Fate City again?” Yang Kai was even more surprised now. According to what he knew about Treasure Trove Pavilion, they were the biggest merchant and commercial alliance on Shadowed Star, focused on doing business to accumulate Saint Crystals. Their auctions were held once every few years to a decade, but each time the location would change as they rotated through the major cities in the various great force’s territories.
It had only been a few years since the last auction was held, yet they were planning to host another, and in Heavenly Fate City, no less. Obviously, this was breaking with their previous practices. According to precedence, it should be at least another hundred years before this grand auction was held in Heavenly Fate City again.
“Naturally, it’s going to be held in Heavenly Fate City. All the great forces on Shadowed Star have their attention focused here because of the appearance of the Emperor Garden, so if Treasure Trove Pavilion chose Heavenly Fate City as the location to host its auction, no one would disagree,” Wei Gu Chang chuckled.
Hearing this explanation, Yang Kai nodded in agreement. The cultivators gathered in Heavenly Fate City were more numerous than the hairs on an ox, with all forces big and small being represented. Taking advantage of this opportunity to hold a grand auction was a natural move.
Moreover, although the Emperor Garden had indeed appeared, it was temporarily impossible for anyone to enter it and no one knew when it would open, so many cultivators were already planning ahead and trying to find ways to enhance their strength. When the Emperor Garden opened, they all hoped to rush inside to obtain a rich cup of soup. Under these circumstances, an auction would surely attract a lot of guests.
After all, when Treasure Trove Pavilion was taking advantage of the Flowing Flame Sand Field opening last time, their auction had been a massive success, so obviously, Treasure Trove Pavilion was hoping for a repeat performance.
As for why Treasure Trove Pavilion would specifically send him an invitation, it was not difficult to guess.
After all, in the auction a few years ago, all the final auction items had been brought by Yang Kai. Others may not know this information, but Treasure Trove Pavilion certainly did. Not to mention, with the financial resources shown by Dragon Cave Mountain, they were completely qualified to participate in this auction.
“This invitation was personally made by Senior Yan Pei, who gave it to Elder Qian, who in turn ordered us to deliver to you. If Brother Yang has the time, you should participate,” Wei Gu Chang laughed.
Hearing that this invitation was from Yan Pei himself, Yang Kai immediately recalled a somewhat sinister-looking old man and asked, “Could it be that Senior Yan specially asking you to deliver this invitation was because it’s not just an invitation? Is there something else as well?”
Wei Gu Chang scratched his cheek and shook his head with a wry smile, “Xuan’er, I told you Brother Yang was too smart and even if we didn’t mention it, he would certainly realize.”
Dong Xuan’er also smiled bitterly.
Yang Kai looked at Wei Gu Chang and said, “Brother Wei, just say it, you and I are not strangers.”
Wei Gu Chang hesitated for a moment before nodding, “Senior Yan did give me another message to pass along, but I wasn’t planning on mentioning it. However, since Brother Yang has asked, I will just say that Senior Yan hoped you could provide a few items for the auction’s finale!”
“Final auction items?” Yang Kai parroted with a stunned voice before sneering wryly, “What does he think this place is, an inexhaustible treasure-trove? How could I possibly have so many final-auction-worthy items?”
Wei Gu Chang shrugged helplessly. This was truly what Yan Pei had requested, and if not for Elder Qian and Yan Pei having a good relationship, Wei Gu Chang would not have come to deliver such a message, so he simply said, “I’ll report back to Elder Qian that you have no more treasures here.”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded. In truth, this place really was filled with a great many incredible treasures, any of which could be used as a final item in the upcoming grand auction. Even if he did not take out one of these precious treasures, all Yang Kai would need to do was ask Yang Yan to refine a few Origin Grade High-Rank artifacts so he could fulfil the requirement.
The Emperor Garden had appeared, so presumably, Origin Grade High-Rank artifacts would be highly sought after.
However, Yang Kai understood the truth of great wealth inviting criticism. The few items he had casually brought out last time had stirred up an incredibly heated competition between all Shadowed Star’s top forces. If he were to do so again, he would attract unwanted attention.
He did not even allow Yang Yan to sell her artifacts without permission, so how could he do something as foolish as exposing his true wealth?
“However, Brother Yang, you really should participate in this auction as there may be some good things you’d like to obtain,” Wei Gu Chang laughed heartily before saying, “The following pages of the invitation in your hand list some of the more precious items that are being auctioned.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai heard this and suddenly found himself somewhat interested. Flipping through the invitation, Yang Kai soon found that what Wei Gu Chang said was right. These pages were filled with exquisite pictures and descriptions of some of the most valuable items being auctioned.
There were good artifacts, pills that could increase one’s cultivation, powerful Secret Techniques, and rare and valuable materials.
Yang Kai browsed through these items one by one and was secretly surprised by Treasure Trove Pavilion’s ability. This great force was worthy of being the biggest commercial alliance on Shadowed Star. It had only been a few years since the last grand auction, yet they had already managed to collect so many treasures. This really made one wonder where they had acquired all these treasures.
Unfortunately, although there were indeed many good things listed on this invitation, nothing really caught Yang Kai’s eyes. It was not a problem of value or rarity; it was simply that Yang Kai had no use for any of these things. Whether it was artifacts, pills, or Secret Techniques, he already had more than enough, so naturally, he felt disinterested in this auction.
However, when he arrived at the last page and saw the treasure which was listed there, his expression suddenly changed as he stared at the picture fixedly, a trace of surprise and joy flashing across the depths of his eyes.
Although this change of expression happened extremely quickly, Yang Kai still failed to conceal it from the others present. Seeing this, Wei Gu Chang chuckled, “It looks like Brother Yang really found something good that he currently needs.”
“I have indeed. I never expected Treasure Trove Pavilion to even be able to take out this kind of treasure!” Yang Kai openly declared as he did not feel the need to conceal this fact in front of the people present. Carefully putting away the auction invitation, he asked, “When will this auction start?”
“A month from now, and the location is the same as last time. Has Brother Yang decided to go?”
“Such a grand event naturally shouldn’t be missed!” Yang Kai chuckled and nodded.
“Then, this Wei will look forward to seeing you there,” Wei Gu Chang also showed a happy expression. In any case, he had to attend this auction, so he naturally felt it was better to have like-minded friends to accompany him.
Next, Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er had a long chat with Yang Kai.
After all, none of them had seen each other since they entered retreat to break through. Only a few years had passed and Yang Kai was now a Third-Order Saint King, likely not far away from breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm as well. Both Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er had just finished crossing this stage and were not stingy with explaining their experiences, allowing both Yang Kai and Dai Yuan to benefit greatly.
Especially Dai Yuan, who listened with extreme interest while asking a few questions about particular details she didn’t immediately understand. Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er patiently answered any questions Dai Yuan and Yang Kai asked, not concealing anything.
Half a day later, the two Senior Brother and Junior Sister took their leave. Before setting off though, Dong Xuan’er invited Dai Yuan to come to Shadow Moon Hall for a time, the latter naturally agreeing.
After the Shadow Moon Hall pair left, Yang Kai turned to Dai Yuan with a smile.
The latter, however, shot him an angry glare as her ugly facial features suddenly distorted. In the next moment, a completely different face appeared in front of Yang Kai.
Creamy white skin with gentle crescent eyebrows, eyes that shimmered like stars, a dainty nose, and fine red lips. It was not an exaggeration to describe her as a Heavenly beauty.
This abrupt change in appearance stunned Yang Kai. Dai Yuan gently brushed her hair back behind her ear and demurely chuckled, “Does Junior Brother Yang think this look is more appealing?”
Yang Kai put on a serious look and shook his head, saying, “One’s external appearance is inconsequential, whether one is ugly or beautiful is an inherent trait that is gifted by their parents. What is most important is internal and intrinsic.”
Dai Yuan was deeply stunned and was preparing to nod in agreement when Yang Kai suddenly declared solemnly, “But you’re not wrong that your current look is more appealing; after all, everyone loves beauty.”
Dai Yuan was instantly filled with indignation as she shot a wicked glare at Yang Kai, her peerless face distorting once again and being replaced by the former pockmarked ugly continence.
Just now, she had felt deeply touched by Yang Kai’s words, but he had gone and ruined that sentiment completely before she could even digest them properly.
Yang Kai lightly coughed, knowing he had severely annoyed Dai Yuan and quickly changed the subject, “Right, Sister Dai Yuan coming here so suddenly, do you need my help with something?”
“What? Do you think I only come here when I need something from you? Could it be that I cannot just come here to say hello? Am I not welcomed here?” Dai Yuan snorted as she continued glaring at Yang Kai.
“That’s certainly not what I meant,” Yang Kai knew he had once again misspoken and suddenly found himself at a loss for what to say.
However, Dai Yuan soon grinned and said, “I’m kidding. Do you think you are the only one who can make fun of me? To be honest, I really did come here to ask for your help.”
Yang Kai’s look finally relaxed and he quickly declared, “If I can be of help, Sister Dai Yuan only needs to ask.”
Dai Yuan nodded and spoke frankly, “I need an Origin Condensing Pill!”
Hearing this, Yang Kai showed a look of understanding.
Dai Yuan still explained though, “Originally I was planning on breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm after a long secluded retreat, but now that the Emperor Garden has appeared, I cannot afford to wait that long, so I need an Origin Condensing Pill to assist me. This shouldn’t be a problem for Junior Brother Yang, should it?”
“Naturally,” Yang Kai smiled confidently. Him being an Alchemist was a secret only known to three people on Shadowed Star, Wu Yi, Yang Yan, and Dai Yuan. The first two knew for obvious reasons while the latter knew because Yang Kai had used his Alchemy skills to help detoxify her.
With Yang Kai’s current methods, refining a trivial Origin Condensing Pill required little effort.
Dai Yuan wore a delighted smile and said, “I have all the materials ready. I’ll be troubling Junior Brother Yang.”
Saying so, Dai Yuan took out several sets of herbs necessary for refining an Origin Condensing Pill from her Space Ring. Yang Kai nodded and accepted the herbs before quickly saying, “Rest here for today, I’ll bring you your Origin Condensing Pill by tomorrow.”
“En,” Dai Yuan nodded happily.
Refining an Origin Condensing Pill was truly a simple matter for Yang Kai, only requiring an incense stick worth of time to complete, but he still said he would bring it to Dai Yuan tomorrow personally.
Dai Yuan had no objections and gave her thanks.
Chatting for a while longer, Dai Yuan informed Yang Kai that there were many people stationed in Heavenly Fate City from Coloured Glass Sect to monitor the changes in the Emperor Garden, and that her Junior Sister Yin Su Die was among them.
Yin Su Die, like Wei Gu Chang, had successfully broken through to the Origin Realm, but she had only done so recently and was still in the process of consolidating her cultivation. It also seemed that she had ill intentions towards Yang Kai, which Dai Yuan thoughtfully warned him about.
Hearing this, Yang Kai wore a strange look upon his face as he tapped the table with his finger, immediately concluding that Yin Su Die had concealed the matter about their fight and even him killing a Coloured Glass Sect disciple when he last left Coloured Glass Sect.
This was good news for Yang Kai. Yin Su Die willingly covering up that incident was something he was happy to learn.
Then, however, Dai Yuan seemingly casually mentioned the accident that had befallen Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain, causing a bit of cold sweat to drip down Yang Kai’s back as he faced a meaningful stare from this woman.
Fortunately, she did not seem to have any interest in continuing this topic, just mentioning it before moving on.
After finally managing to take his leave, Yang Kai stood in front of his cave mansion with a contemplative look upon his face.
Yang Yan mysteriously appeared beside him a moment later, frowning as she said, “From her tone, it seems she knows something.”
“En, others might not be clear, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know; after all, the Stone Puppet entered Coloured Glass Mountain from her Thousand Illusion Peak. Although I concealed the tunnel it dug, she might have discovered something if she investigated carefully. Moreover, since she cultivates that Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Art, she may have been able to learn something from examining Coloured Glass Mountain itself,” Yang Kai postulated.
Although he did not know what the truth was, he was fairly certain about his speculations. The reason why Dai Yuan knew there was something wrong inside Coloured Glass Mountain was largely in part due to her practising that particular Secret Art.
“What should we do?” Yang Yan asked with some worry.
“It’s fine to do nothing. She purposefully brought the subject up as a subtle way to tell me not to worry about it. No one else in Coloured Glass Sect should know about this, otherwise she wouldn’t have come here to ask me to refine her an Origin Condensing Pill.”
“That being said, we should act carefully; after all, Coloured Glass Mountain is Coloured Glass Sect’s foundation and most precious treasure. If they were ever to find out what we’ve done, Coloured Glass Sect would definitely not let it go.”
“I know,” Yang Kai gently nodded, “Right, is Qian Yue in retreat right now?”
“Nope.” Yang Yan shook her head.
“Tell her to come see me then, I have something I need her to help me find!” Yang Kai said briefly before turning around and walking into his cave mansion.
Inside his cave mansion, Yang Kai was sitting cross-legged, his expression calm and indifferent, seemingly thinking about something. When he noticed someone approaching from the outside, he immediately opened the barrier and let them in.
As expected, it was Qian Yue.
“Yang Kai, you wanted to see me?” Qian Yue asked.
“En, come in and sit down!” Yang Kai gestured to her. Qian Yue was somewhat confused about why Yang Kai suddenly summoned her, but she still quickly sat down cross-legged on a futon while glancing around curiously.
Besides Yang Yan, who came and went frequently, Yang Kai’s cave mansion was basically unvisited by others. Only when one of Dragon Cave Mountain’s cultivators wanted to break through a bottleneck or when they needed to enter a long secluded retreat would they come here to use one of the specially prepared cultivation rooms. Using these cultivation rooms was of great benefit because the aura from the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree and the fragrance of the Ten Thousand Year Incense which permeated the cave mansion were both useful for achieving breakthroughs.
This was Qian Yue’s first time coming here, in fact, so naturally she was a bit curious.
This was one of the most confidential places in all of Dragon Cave Mountain.
“What did you need from me?” After looking around for a moment, Qian Yue collected herself and asked. She and Yang Kai were natives of Tong Xuan Realm, and although many years ago her strength was enough to tower over Yang Kai, the good cultivation environment and abundant resources she had now were all thanks to Yang Kai’s blessings. On top of that, Yang Kai’s current strength far exceeded her own.
As such, Qian Yue treated Yang Kai as someone from the same generation, even feeling a hint of awe towards him in her heart.
“I need your help with something.”
Qian Yue smiled lightly, “Oh. I was just worrying about not being able to contribute anything here. Whatever you need from me, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“I need your Soul Avatar to enter my Knowledge Sea!” Yang Kai stared into her eyes and said seriously.
“Ah?” Qian Yue looked surprised as she stared back at Yang Kai in shock. She had never expected him to make such an unbelievable request. It was not a trivial matter to allow someone else’s Soul Avatar to enter your Knowledge Sea. Generally speaking, this practice was only done between the most trusted of friends or the most intimate of partners.
After all, there were too many private things stored in a person’s Knowledge Sea that no one would want outsiders to know about.
Last time, Yang Kai diving into Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea was also thanks to Yang Yan lowering her Knowledge Sea’s defences, otherwise, there would have been no way for Yang Kai to enter.
Listening to Yang Kai say this, Qian Yue was of course extremely surprised as well as grateful.
Regardless of what kind of request Yang Kai had for her, him allowing her into his Knowledge Sea proved first and foremost how much he trusted her.
“It’s fine for me to enter your Knowledge Sea, but what do you want me to do once inside? Are you cultivating some special Secret Technique?” Qian Yue guessed casually.
“No, you don’t need to think too much about it, I just want you to help me find a place,” Yang Kai explained.
“Find a place?” Qian Yue frowned, even more confused. Why would she need to enter Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea to find a place?
“The place where you separated from Su Yan!” Yang Kai’s complexion became slightly gloomy as he let out a sigh. Not waiting for Qian Yue to ask any more questions, he quickly continued, “It’s a bit troublesome to explain in words but you’ll understand once you’re inside.”
Qian Yue was still confused, but she no longer made any inquiries, simply nodding, “Then lower your Knowledge Sea defences.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, closed his eyes, and immersed his consciousness into his Knowledge Sea. The next moment, his Soul Avatar appeared, standing at a position high above the flames.
Before long, Yang Kai felt another Soul attempting to enter his Knowledge Sea. Not making any attempt to resist, he allowed this newcomer inside and soon after, a light flashed in front of him and Qian Yue’s Soul Avatar appeared.
The moment she appeared though, she couldn’t help letting out a scream and quickly circulated her Spiritual Energy to resist the heat coming from all directions.
The situation inside Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea was similar to that of Yang Yan’s but more powerful. The seawater below was essentially comprised of burning hot flames so Qian Yue, who was just a First-Order Saint King, was naturally affected by them.
Seeing this, Yang Kai waved his hand to create a barrier of Spiritual Energy around Qian Yue, isolating her from the impact of his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea.
“Your Knowledge Sea… is quite dangerous…” Qian Yue’s face was filled with lingering fear as she scanned her surroundings. With her vision, she could naturally tell that Yang Kai possessed a mutated Knowledge Sea, and one of great power at that. If not for Yang Kai providing her protection in this place, she wouldn’t be able to remain for long.
“Let’s go!” Yang Kai beckoned to her and immediately flew upwards while focusing his consciousness.
A moment later, an incredible scene appeared as a vast starry expanse began to appear above Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea. One by one, twinkling stars like fireflies began flickering into existence and rapidly spreading out across the sky. Qian Yue’s thoughts froze up as she involuntarily felt like she had suddenly been transported to the Starry Sky.
“This is…” Qian Yue looked around in shock. The scene around her had changed so dramatically and so rapidly that if she was not conscious of being inside Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea, she would definitely have believed she had somehow entered the Starry Sky.
Looking at this astonishing scene, Qian Yue couldn’t help recalling the various trials and tribulations she experienced after entering the Star Field together with Sect Master Qing Ya and her fellow Sect Brothers and Sister from Ice Sect.
These stars were so massive, dazzling, and imposing that Qian Yue could deeply feel how small and insignificant she was. The devastating Starry Sky Storms and endless Asteroid Seas also appeared in her eyes as she examined her surroundings.
Reminded of the tragic death of several of her fellow Ice Sect Elders, Qian Yue’s expression dimmed.
Everything that had happened during that perilous journey was still vivid in her memory and Qian Yue was capable of recalling it all like it was yesterday.
Suddenly, a figure appeared beside her; naturally, it was Yang Kai. Qian Yue turned her head to look at him as a hint of loneliness filled her beautiful eyes.
At the moment, Yang Kai was the only person close to her that she was familiar with. She had no sense of belonging to the Star Field. Qian Yue soon whispered, “Yang Kai, I want to go back to the Tong Xuan Realm. I want to go back to the Ice Sect.”
The weakness in her heart seemed to be completely exposed because of the scene before her, making her look extremely delicate and fragile.
A slightly unusual light flashed across Yang Kai’s eyes as he said lightly, “Such a day will definitely come, but before then, you need to first improve your strength.”
As if there was some kind of mysterious power in his voice, Qian Yue heard these words and her beautiful eyes began to cloud over. Yang Kai frowned when he noticed this and quickly let out a shout.
With the loud shout ringing in her ears like spring thunder, Qian Yue’s tender body shook and the weakness clouding her eyes quickly disappeared, allowing her original demeanour to restore itself. After understanding what just happened, she couldn’t help revealing a trace of fear and gratitude.
When she saw this scene of the Starry Sky just now, a crack in her heart had appeared. This flaw in her mind might currently seem unremarkable, but if it was allowed to fester, it would definitely become a Heart Demon, one that would pose a great danger to her whenever she tried to break through in the future.
Once a Heart Demon surfaced during a breakthrough, not only would one fail to reach the next realm, they would suffer from severe backlash and quite possibly have their Soul extinguished on the spot.
Although Yang Kai’s shout wasn’t too loud, he had used his own Spiritual Energy to deliver a shock to Qian Yue, allowing her to awaken her from weakness and reminiscence.
After understanding this point, Qian Yue naturally felt grateful and even rejoiced somewhat. At the same time, she secretly felt like her will was inferior to Yang Kai’s as he was able to maintain control while carrying an even heavier burden.
Taking a deep breath, Qian Yue collected herself before asking, “What is this, and why does it exist in your Knowledge Sea?”
“This is a Star Chart!” Yang Kai stood beside her while also observing the surrounding stars.
This Star Chart was something he obtained from a Chart Master named Wu Suo, who belonged to Purple Star when he first entered the Star Field.
Although Yang Kai didn’t know how Chart Master Wu Suo obtained this strange Star Chart, when the latter died aboard the Purple Star Starship, his Remnant Soul was swallowed by Yang Kai and this Star Chart had remained after using the Demon Eye of Annihilation to purify Wu Suo’s memories.
Yang Kai had explored this Star Chart before but hadn’t paid too much attention to it. After arriving on Shadowed Star, he hadn’t actually taken the time to study this Star Chart thoroughly.
However, after finding Qian Yue and learning that she had been separated from Su Yan and the others from Ice Sect at some point, Yang Kai began searching this Star Chart in his Knowledge Sea for probable locations where the separation might have occurred.
He had once asked Qian Yue to carefully describe the surrounding scene where she had been separated from Su Yan, but he had so far found several matching positions, making it impossible to determine which was the correct one. As such, he needed Qian Yue to enter his Knowledge Sea to confirm the location he was looking for.
Yang Kai was currently unable to find Su Yan, but if he could determine her approximate location, Yang Kai felt he would at least have a place to start looking.
After briefly explaining the mysteries of this Star Chart to Qian Yue, the latter couldn’t help showing a look of shock, never having imagined such a magical thing existed in the Star Field!
The Chart Master profession was non-existent on Shadowed Star; after all, Shadowed Star was extremely remote and isolated from the outside world. Sometimes, people would travel the nearby Starry Sky to look for ores and Saint Crystals, but there was no need for a Chart Master on such a short journey.
“You mean, this Star Chart includes every star in the entire Star Field?” Qian Yue asked with surprise and joy.
“En, even if it doesn’t have absolutely everything, it shouldn’t be missing much,” Yang Kai nodded.
“What about Tong Xuan Realm?” Qian Yue turned to look at him.
“Do you want to have a look?” Yang Kai smiled.
Qian Yue nodded repeatedly, an impatient expression filling her face.
“Then I’ll lead you to have a look!” Yang Kai waved his hand and wrapped Qian Yue in his Spiritual Energy before shuttling through the Star Field in the Star Chart.
As she passed many bright stars, Qian Yue felt as if she could touch them if she just reached out, but she knew that these seemingly real stars were just projections from the Star Chart and were not actually material.
Nevertheless, travelling through the Star Chart still felt like a dream to Qian Yue.
Not only were there brilliant Sun Stars, but also soft glowing Moon Stars, countless Dead Stars without any vitality, and vast Asteroid Seas. It was like the entire Star Field had been shrunk down countless times over and transplanted here.
Qian Yue followed Yang Kai without a sound, and in what seemed like a flash, but felt like forever, the pair came to a halt. At this moment, Yang Kai wore a complicated look upon his face as he stared forward silently.
Following the direction of his eyes, Qian Yue saw a faint blue star. This star was not too noticeable amongst the vast Star Field. This star was not brilliant or dazzling in any way, inferior to many she had witnessed before, but the moment she laid eyes on it, this star became all Qian Yue could see.
Staring blankly at this star, a strange sense of homecoming filled her heart with warmth.
Tong Xuan Realm!
This star was none other than the homeland she dreamed of, the place she had been born and raised, Tong Xuan Realm.
After entering the Starry Sky from the Ice Sect, she had once had the opportunity to see a similar scene of this gorgeous blue star from afar. At that time, she had been filled with a sense of yearning but had no choice other than following Sect Master Qing Ya away.
Qian Yue wept bitterly!
Even if she was a Saint King Realm cultivator now, even if she had been cultivating for several dozen years, at this moment, she was still unable to control her emotions as she felt like a wanderer who had finally returned home, the deep longing in her heart bursting forth.
Yang Kai did not say anything. When he was initially exploring this Star Chart by himself and found where Tong Xuan Realm was located, his reaction wasn’t much better than Qian Yue’s. As a man, he managed not to shed tears, but his emotions were still just as chaotic.
It took a long time for Qian Yue to stop sobbing, turn to look at Yang Kai, and ask softly, “Yang Kai, can we return?”
“Yes!” Yang Kai affirmed categorically.
Qian Yue’s eyes glowed with pleasant surprise. Although Yang Kai’s answer was unfounded, and she was unable to really see any hope of achieving it right now, hearing this answer still filled the emptiness in her heart greatly.
“Thank you, thank you!” Qian Yue suddenly felt quite embarrassed for completely losing self-control in front of a junior, but when she saw her homeland, she simply could not keep her emotions in check. The grievances she had suffered in the Joyous Union Pavilion over the years had weighed down on her heavily, all of them erupting at this moment.
Fortunately, all of that was now behind her and it did not take long for her to regain her composure.
Yang Kai smiled slightly before sending out his Spiritual Energy again to wrap up Qian Yue and lead her away from the blue star.
After a while, the two stopped at a certain place in the Star Chart and Yang Kai asked, “Take a look closely, is this where you and Su Yan separated?”
Qian Yue observed her surroundings for a while before slowly shaking her head, “It’s not here. I remember the Asteroid Sea there was bigger than this one.”
Yang Kai nodded and set out together with Qian Yue again.
…..
Half a day later, the barrier of the cave mansion opened and Qian Yue walked out. Meanwhile, Yang Kai sat alone in his cave mansion with a big smile upon his face.
Finally, Qian Yue was able to positively identify the place where she had separated from Su Yan and the others. Although the rest of Su Yan’s group had also passed through that Void Corridor at that time and it was unknown where they had ended up, this was still an extremely precious clue.
When the time came, as long as he was strong enough, Yang Kai could go directly to that place, find that Void Corridor, enter it, and hopefully find Su Yan.
Of course, all of this depended on him having the necessary strength, so it was a bit early to be considering such things.
After sorting out his thoughts, Yang Kai took out his Alchemy Furnace and a few herbs, refining some pills to calm his mood.
Time flew by and soon a month had passed. On this day, the gateway barrier surrounding Dragon Cave Mountain opened and two figures slowly emerged from it. It was Yang Kai and Yang Yan.
The two of them were naturally setting out to participate in the Treasure Trove Pavilion auction.
In fact, Yang Kai’s original attitude towards this auction was indifference, but after seeing one of the items which was going to be auctioned off, he immediately changed his opinion.
That item was of great use to him, and no matter what, he had to obtain it. As such, he brought out all of the Saint Crystals he could get from Wu Yi in preparation.
Currently, Dragon Cave Mountain did not have anywhere near its peak amount of Saint Crystals, but there were still around 70 million of them. According to his and Yang Yan’s estimates, this number of Saint Crystals would be enough to get that treasure.
After all, although that item was precious, it was just a raw material, so no matter what use others might have for it, no one except Yang Kai should be willing to pay this much for it.
Yang Kai was confident about his assumptions.
Crossing the trivial distance between Dragon Cave Mountain and Heavenly Fate City took but a moment via Star Shuttle.
Heavenly Fate City was currently filled with fishes and dragons, becoming completely overcrowded. City Lord Fei Zhi Tu had already become thoroughly exhausted attempting to maintain order in the city. He was originally a person who didn’t want to get involved in troublesome matters, otherwise, he wouldn’t have requested the Sect Master to assign him to supervise Heavenly Fate City, but with the appearance of the Emperor Garden and a sudden influx of foreign masters from all of Shadowed Star, Fei Zhi Tu’s peace and quiet had been completely destroyed.
The City Defending Array was now fully open, and no one was allowed to fight inside, or else they would be severely punished. On top of that, a powerful Flight Inhibiting Array was active inside the city, preventing anyone from flying.
This set of rules was completely different from before. Previously, when Yang Kai came to Heavenly Fate City, he was able to fly in and out directly, but now he had no choice but to land outside and enter through the city gate together with Yang Yan.
The city gate was also extremely crowded, and Yang Yan couldn’t help shrinking down towards Yang Kai. It took quite a lot of effort for the two of them to pass through safely.
After entering the city and seeing the sea of people literally rubbing shoulders as they walked through the streets, whether it was Yang Kai or Yang Yan, both of them felt a headache coming on. The population of Heavenly Fate City was now more than ten times its usual number.
Fortunately, with the auction being held today, teams of people had been specially assigned to clear roads and maintain order from all the major gates to Treasure Trove Pavilion. This allowed those people of high status who were participating in the auction to move relatively unhindered.
Making his way over to a reception area, Yang Kai took out the golden invitation from his Space Ring and handed it over. The cultivator responsible for the reception immediately showed a flattering look and respectfully said, “Welcome to Treasure Trove Pavilion’s grand auction, two Honoured Guests. You have been assigned a private room in Block B. This way please!”
Saying so, this cultivator called out to a young woman nearby and commanded, “Qing’er, take these two Honoured Guests to their room!”
Although Yang Kai and Yang Yan’s cultivations were not very high, the number of these golden invitations wasn’t large. Yan Pei was fully aware of the amazing financial strength of Dragon Cave Mountain and hoped that Yang Kai could provide a few items for the auction’s finale, so the invitation he had sent to Dragon Cave Mountain was of very high grade. Even if it was not as good as those received by first class Sects, the difference wasn’t great.
When the cultivator responsible for the reception near this city gate saw this invitation, how could he dare act disrespectful?
Upon hearing his orders, a young girl who seemed only seventeen or eighteen years old immediately responded. Bowing elegantly, she opened her red lips and gently beckoned, “Honoured Guests, please come with me!”
Although the girl did not have a particularly beautiful face, she was by no means unpleasant to the eye. Her strength was not very high, only reaching the Immortal Ascension Boundary, however, her voice was particularly charming to the ear. Every move and smile she made had a mysterious charm to it. Clearly, she cultivated a type of Beguiling Technique.
Seeing this, Yang Kai quietly nodded, knowing that Treasure Trove Pavilion had really put in a lot of painstaking effort for this auction. Probably every great force that came here to participate would be assigned a female attendant such as this young girl. Treasure Trove Pavilion wouldn’t have any difficulty cultivating maids of this cultivation, but having them serve their guests would allow them to gain some favour with those who had particular interest in women.
Perhaps if these men were happier, they would be more inclined to spend their money.
The girl named Qing’er walked ahead, leading Yang Kai and Yang Yan in the direction of Treasure Trove Pavilion. While walking, she explained warmly, “Qing’er will be responsible for the two Seniors this time. If two Seniors win anything at the auction, Qing’er will deliver the required Saint Crystals and retrieve the auction item. If two Seniors have any other orders, please don’t hesitate to ask. The managers have specifically instructed Qing’er to satisfy any requirements two Seniors may have.”
“Any requirements?” Yang Yan raised her brow, revealing a faint smile.
“En,” The girl named Qing’er gently nodded, her exquisite earlobes dying a tantalizing shade of pink.
Yang Yan giggled as she shot a meaningful glance over at Yang Kai before moving closer to Qing’er and whispering into her ear. The young girl’s face quickly turned from pink to red, but she still nodded.
Yang Kai wrinkled his nose when he saw this. Although he did not deliberately try to overhear the conversation between Yang Yan and this girl, he knew what kind of questions Yang Yan had asked.
Since this girl had awoken from her coma, her personality had changed! Yang Kai observed Yang Yan pensively as he felt she was not so bold or dissolute in the past. However, this much did not matter as he always felt that Yang Yan’s character was too shy and introverted. Such a change was actually good for her.
Along the way, there were a lot of people on the road and the surrounding area was even more crowded, but with the routes deliberately opened by Treasure Trove Pavilion, the three of them had no trouble advancing.
A short time later, the group arrived at Treasure Trove Pavilion.
There were not many people standing in front of this building, only two actually, but when Yang Kai saw them, he couldn’t help narrowing his eyes.
Because these two were both Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters.
One of them was City Lord Fei Zhi Tu, who was standing there with a clearly unhappy and disgruntled look on his face. Thinking about how he was able to relax freely just a short time ago, but now was inundated with problems all day long and needed to constantly deter others from causing trouble, it would be strange if his complexion was good, and indeed it was only slightly better than the man standing next to him.
The one standing next to City Lord Fei was none other than Yan Pei. This Old Black Face not only had a dark complexion but also an even darker heart. Everything auctioned by him personally was sold for a sky-high price; for example, the Origin Condensing Pill that formed Pill Veins that sold during the last auction garnered a miraculous hundred million Saint Crystals.
The masters from the various great forces on Shadowed Star had a complicated relationship with Old Black Face Yan Pei. What they loved about him was that once he organized an auction, the items sold were all guaranteed to be superb, but what they hated was naturally how he made sure each of these items was sold for an outrageously high price, even making their powerful forces feel like they had been taken advantage of.
Two Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters standing here showed just how much importance Treasure Trove Pavilion placed on this auction.
Seeing Yang Kai arrive, whether it was Fei Zhi Tu or Yan Pei, both suddenly wore smiles on their faces. When the young girl Qing’er saw this, she couldn’t help feeling greatly stunned. According to her memory, Head Manager Yan Pei rarely showed a smile, and it was enough to cause her to become quite excited.
Such a reaction illustrated that Yang Kai’s status was incredible, which in turn meant that the rewards she might receive were also greater. If she was lucky enough to have Yang Kai take a liking to her, then she wouldn’t need to worry about having enough cultivation resources ever again. Anyone who could attend this auction definitely didn’t lack Saint Crystals.
“Greetings, two Seniors!” Yang Kai’s brow twitched but he still had to step forward and salute.
At the end of the day, he was still the Junior here so he couldn’t just ignore decorum.
“Haha, there’s no need to act overly courteous,” Fei Zhi Tu smiled lightly and waved his hand, causing an invisible force to lift Yang Kai up in a kind and friendly manner. Since seeing the Phoenix Soul Remnant Yang Kai was carrying in his body back in the Emperor Garden, Fei Zhi Tu no longer dared underestimate him.
Even if it was just a weak Soul Remnant, it still belonged to a legendary Ancient Divine Spirit that had disappeared long ago. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that as long as Yang Kai didn’t die and his strength kept improving, the power that the Ancient Divine Spirit Soul Remnant could display would also increase. Although Yang Kai may not have an opportunity to break through to the Origin King realm while suppressed by Shadowed Star’s World Principles, once he reached the peak of the Origin Realm, with the help of that Ice Phoenix Soul Remnant, he would be absolutely invincible.
If Fei Zhi Tu didn’t take advantage of this opportunity to curry favour with Yang Kai while the latter was still small and weak, once he became strong it would be too late.
“Boy, I heard you stirred up some trouble again recently,” Fei Zhi Tu grinned meaningfully and commented.
“I don’t know what Senior is referring to,” Yang Kai replied doubtfully.
“Don’t feign ignorance, didn’t you kill someone from Sea Heart Sect?” Fei Zhi Tu glared at him.
“So it’s about Sea Heart Sect. En, I killed him, so? Did Senior hear some kind of rumour about this?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
“Not really,” Fei Zhi Tu shook his head slowly, “Sea Heart Sect is based far away, on the Limitless Ocean, but it is still counted as a second-class Sect after all, not a force that can be casually humiliated. Acting so unscrupulously right from the start, have you considered the possible consequences?”
Yang Kai grinned back meaningfully, “After being intolerably bullied, did Senior expect me to simply stand back and bear it?”
Seeing the sharp look in Yang Kai’s eyes, Fei Zhi Tu failed to stifle his laughter and nodded, “If you could bear it, then you wouldn’t be you.”
Last time, Yang Kai had made a mess in Heavenly Fate City despite being surrounded by eight Origin Returning Realm masters and had even killed one of them that belonged to the Xie Family. Fei Zhi Tu had long known that Yang Kai was not one to settle things peacefully, but he still warned lightly, “I heard that the people from Sea Heart Sect are now staying at the Xie Family’s residence and the relationship between the two forces seems to be quite good.”
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes. A cupped his fists said, “Many thanks for Senior’s reminder.”
“En, in addition, there seems to be another force staying in the Xie Family called Flowing Cloud Valley. In any case, you should be careful.”
“Flowing Cloud Valley?” Yang Kai frowned, his expression changing slightly.
“What, don’t tell me there’s some kind of grudge between you and that Flowing Cloud Valley too?” Fei Zhi Tu was stunned.
Yang Kai just laughed.
Seeing him acknowledge it, Fei Zhi Tu was speechless and quickly waved his hand, “It’s fine, young people should be energetic, so raising a big fuss is only natural. If it gets to be too much of a problem just come to my Heavenly Fate City, that Flowing Cloud Valley won’t be able to stir up anything here.”
“Junior will remember,” Yang Kai gently nodded.
Fei Zhi Tu believed that Flowing Cloud Valley was just a trivial little force, but Yang Kai was actually most concerned about it simply because that Lu Ye came from Flowing Cloud Valley! Yang Kai really didn’t know what he had done to offend Lu Ye to the point where the latter wanted to put him to death back in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, and although Yang Kai successfully cut off one of Lu Ye’s arms during that conflict, the latter has still managed to escape.
At that time, Yang Kai felt that Lu Ye was somewhat unusual, even an elite like Wei Gu Chang might not be his opponent.
Facing Lu Ye, Yang Kai felt no less pressure than when facing that young man named Leng Qing from Star Emperor Mountain. Both of them could pose a great threat to him, something not possible for Qu Chang Feng or Fang Tian Zhong.
Flowing Cloud Valley was actually able to cultivate such a disciple, so even if they themselves weren’t too powerful a force, Yang Kai didn’t dare look down on them. As such, he had especially collected information on Flowing Cloud Valley since then and after hearing Fei Zhi Tu mentioned them, Yang Kai’s first thoughts were naturally about Lu Ye.
Now that several years had passed, it was impossible for Yang Kai to tell how much Lu Ye’s cultivation had advanced. If he were to fight him again, it wasn’t certain who would emerge the victor, but Yang Kai wasn’t afraid. After all, his own strength was also much higher than when he first fought Lu Ye and he had obtained many more methods with which to confront powerful enemies.
Yang Kai’s conversation with Fei Zhi Tu ended here, but Yan Pei seemed to be waiting to jump in and quickly said, “Little Friend Yang being able to participate in my Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction is a great blessing.”
“Haha, Senior is too polite. It is this Junior’s honour to be able to participate in this auction,” Yang Kai replied humbly.
Yan Pei maintained an affable smile as he lowered his voice to ask, “Does little friend perhaps have anything he would like to auction today? Although the auctioned items have already been determined, if little friend has something to contribute, this old master is willing to make an exception. This is not difficult for this old master.”
“Senior must be joking. The good things accumulated by my Honoured Master were all taken out many years ago for the previous auction, there’s really nothing left worth contributing,” Yang Kai said casually. In any case, he had always used this non-existent master to deflect trouble and no one as of yet had been able to determine whether such a powerful master really lived on Dragon Cave Mountain, so speaking nonsense here wasn’t a burden for Yang Kai in the slightest.
“Is that so…” Yan Pei showed a disappointed look, suddenly lowering his voice further and whispering again, “How about this old master reduces the commission by fifty percent again?”
“I truly have nothing to contribute!” Yang Kai replied bitterly.
“Oh, seems this old master was being too forceful. En, little friend, since you’ve arrived then you shouldn’t have to stand around outside. Go inside and rest for a moment, the auction will begin in an hour!” Yan Pei reluctantly relented and allowed Yang Kai’s group to pass.
Yang Kai cupped his fists once more before he and Yang Yan were led inside by Qing’er.
Like the last time he was here, the hall of this grand building was already full of cultivators here to participate in the auction. Even if there were occasionally a few free positions, the number wasn’t high and in the centre of the auction hall was a large round raised platform. It was from this stage that Treasure Trove Pavilion presided over its auction. The walls were all inlaid with glowing stones that spotlighted the high centre platform.
“Two Seniors, please wait a moment,” The young girl named Qing’er asked after walking inside before she moved to a nearby spot and discussed something with another Treasure Trove Pavilion cultivator.
A short time later, she returned with a smile and respectfully handed Yang Kai a wooden token, “This is the control token for two Senior’s private room.”
Yang Kai accepted this token, glanced down at it, and found it was inscribed with the characters ‘B-13’.
After having participated in such an auction before, Yang Kai was familiar with this type of token and knew that it was for room B-13.
However, this was an interesting coincidence. The last time he participated in the auction here, he had been seated in room C-13. But today, he was assigned to room B-13. Although the number had not changed, the grade increased a level.
Last time, it was because of Qian Tong that he could obtain a private room, but this time it was not due to anyone else’s prestige, it was entirely due to Dragon Cave Mountain’s reputation.
Considering all this, Yang Kai curled his lips slightly before storing away this token and indicating to Qing’er to lead the way.
Shortly after, Yang Kai and Yang Yan were seated in the room B-13 and Qing’er was attentively serving them tea. There was no one else in the box except for the three of them.
Motioning to the spirit fruits arranged on the table, Qing’er explained, “These are Sparrow Spirit Fruits which were specially collected by the pavilion for this auction. They are quite sweet and can help purify one’s Saint Qi. Please feel free to try them.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, picked up one of the fruits, and stuffed it into his mouth, nodding with satisfaction a moment later.
Seeing his pleased expression, Qing’er became slightly emboldened and continued, “The auction will not start for another hour. If two Seniors would like, I can arrange for some dancers to entertain you.”
“Oh? Is your Treasure Trove Pavilion’s hospitality so thorough?” Yang Yan asked in surprise.
Qing’er smiled, “Not every guest receives such treatment, only those in Block B and above.”
Yang Yan swept her eyes over Qing’er and smiled tenderly, “It’s not necessary to call anyone else, from your supple waist and slender legs, it’s obvious you’re also versed in such forms of entertainment, why not show us how you dance?”
“Me?” The girl blushed as she timidly shot Yang Kai a glance. Although her cultivation and status weren’t high, she could tell that of these two, Yang Kai was the lead, so naturally, she sought his approval first.
“Don’t cause trouble!” Yang Kai glared over at Yang Yan before saying to the young girl, “She’s just joking with you, you don’t have to take it seriously.”
“Yes,” Qing’er whispered softly, both happiness and disappointment flashing across her eyes.
Fortunately, these two Honoured Guests she was assigned to seemed easy going. Although the woman seemed to like to tease her, there was no malicious intent behind her actions while the man was obviously an upright person so she didn’t have to worry about being put in an awkward position. What disappointed Qing’er was that she didn’t have a chance to perform here.
Yang Kai saw the look on her face and could guess what she was thinking, so he lightly said, “We have no special requirements. You can just tend to your own matters for now. After the auction is over, there will be plenty of benefits for you.”
Qing’er heard this and smiled very happily, “Many thanks, Senior.”
Seemingly having figured out the temperaments of these two Honoured Guests, Qing’er withdrew a few steps and remained silent, only taking the initiative to speak or act if Yang Kai or Yang Yan called upon her.
Soon after, Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er came over to chat with Yang Kai.
It wasn’t surprising that these two knew which room he was in as all they needed to do was ask Yan Pei.
These two only left just as the auction was preparing to start.
Inside the auction hall, a middle-aged man dressed in scholarly robes walked onto the high platform. The light beams emitted by the lighting stones gave him a clean appearance, and with the paper fan in his hands, he seemed like a free and unrestrained spirit.
This middle-aged scholarly man was quite good looking and had a few sharp edges to his eyes, which did not make him appear old, but rather added a refined flair to his face. Many of the young girls and women in the hall were instantly drawn to him and many even revealed infatuated looks while they hid more unspeakable desires in their hearts.
There were many other cultivators who also recognized this middle-aged man and could not help showing bitter and gloomy expressions when he appeared.
Many began whispering in the hall and private rooms.
“Damn, it’s Little Black Face presiding over this auction, what the hell is Treasure Trove Pavilion thinking.”
“It’s all over, this time we’ve all fallen into a pit again.”
“I knew Treasure Trove Pavilion didn’t have any good intentions hosting this auction, but I never expected this guy to suddenly run out. Hasn’t it been more than ten years since the last time he played host?”
…..
There were various opinions and comments, and although no one spoke loudly, everyone who was participating in this auction had fairly strong cultivation, so it wasn’t difficult to hear what was being said. This was also true of the middle-aged scholarly man called Little Black Face, but upon hearing all this not only did he not look upset, but he smiled more brilliantly instead, as if he didn’t care one bit about the harsh words being said about him. Seeing this, the young girls and young women who were infatuated with this man began sweeping their beautiful eyes around angrily, as if they were rebuking others for their indiscreet words.
“Little Black Face?” In private room B-13, Yang Kai frowned before thoughtfully asking, “Is this person related to Senior Yan?”
Yan Pei’s nickname was Old Black Face, so this person clearly had something to do with Yan Pei as he was called Little Black Face; however, Yang Kai didn’t understand why all the cultivators around him were treating this middle-aged man like some kind of plague to be avoided.
Yang Yan shot a look of inquiry at Qing’er, expecting her to give an explanation.
Qing’er pursed his lips, seemingly wanting to laugh but not daring to act so inappropriately, taking a moment to compose herself to just smiling before explaining, “Two Seniors, this is Ren Tian Rui, one of our pavilion’s lead auctioneers. Senior Yan Pei is his master, so everyone calls him…”
Qing’er did not dare say anymore. It was alright for outsiders to use the nicknames Old Black Face and Little Black Face as Yan Pei and Ren Tian Rui had clearly earned such reputations, but as a junior member of Treasure Trove Pavilion, Qing’er obviously couldn’t take such liberties, otherwise, if others were to hear of it, she would definitely be punished.
Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter though and nodded, “So that’s how it is, I understand.”
It seemed that this auctioneer named Ren Tian Rui was Yan Pei’s disciple and followed his master’s practices quite religiously. Otherwise, he would not have such infamy. It seemed that Yang Kai would have to be a bit careful while participating in this auction.
Atop the high platform, Ren Tian Rui smiled as warmly as ever and waved his hand before saying loudly, “To all of the Honoured Guests who have travelled from afar to participate in my Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction, Treasure Trove Pavilion offers its sincere thanks. This auction will be presided over by this Ren. Please forgive me if you find that I have made a mistake.”
These opening remarks were so polite and inviting that no one was able to find any fault with them. No matter who saw him, they would think this Ren Tian Rui was the perfect host for an auction and he instantly earned the favour of many who were none the wiser.
Ren Tian Rui quickly followed up, “In fact, this auction was originally going to be presided over by my Master…”
As soon as these words were spoken, many people’s expressions became aghast and they subconsciously covered their Space Rings while staring towards the centre platform with vigilance, afraid that Yan Pei would suddenly slink out from the shadows.
Fortunately, Ren Tian Rui smiled and said, “But this Junior felt that, at Master’s age, he should stay behind the scenes and allow the younger generation to have a chance in the spotlight.”
“Good!” A cry of applause rang out.
“Brother Ren is a man of boldness with a great breadth of spirit!”
“Just let Old Black Face stay behind the scenes forever!”
Laughter quickly filled the hall.
Ren Tian Rui also smiled and nodded to the guests in the hall, “This Ren also had such intentions. En, after the auction is over, he will certainly work hard to persuade his Master to spend his remaining days in relaxation.”
Although these words carried a faint implication of betrayal and treason, it undeniably garnered a great amount of goodwill from many in the audience. At once, everyone’s vigilance towards Ren Tian Rui disappeared and was replaced with gratitude that he was the host of this auction.
“He’s not simple!” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes as he stared towards Ren Tian Rui. With just a few words, he had managed to bring the audience around to his side, and although this was nothing but a simple prologue, it had given him an advantageous position to host the following auction from. When the bidding began in earnest, even if this Ren Tian Rui continued raising prices, most people wouldn’t feel anything wrong with it.
This Ren Tian Rui’s comprehension of people’s mentality was extremely profound; it was no wonder he was called Little Black Face. His style of auction hosting was quite different from Yan Pei’s, but it was equally interesting.
“Good, I’m certain these friends are anxious to get started so this Ren won’t waste any more time on idle gossip. The auction will begin now!” Ren Tian Rui closed his folding fan with a snap and motioned to the curtains behind him.
A beautiful woman wearing an exquisite dress quickly walked out with an enchanting smile on her face. Holding a jade plate in her jade white hands, she soon arrived to stand in front of Ren Tian Rui.
Although this woman was an extraordinary beauty and her slightly wet eyes were capable of drawing in any man’s soul, at this moment, very few people were looking at her. Since these people had come here to attend the auction, naturally their attention was focused on the jade plate this woman was holding.
Needless to say, the object which was placed atop the jade plate was the first auction item. Unfortunately, this object was covered in a special red cloth making it impossible to see what it was. Many of the participating cultivators craned their necks anxiously as they waited for an explanation to be given.
Ren Tian Rui carefully read the mood of the hall and after pausing just enough to add some suspense to the atmosphere, he shouted, “In accordance with tradition, the first item auctioned, while not comparable to those of the finale, is not trivial either. If any of you find it of interest, please make a bid, otherwise, if you miss this opportunity you will certainly regret it for the rest of your life!”
Saying so, he reached out, grabbed the red cloth, and pulled it away to reveal a colourless round bead roughly the size of a goose egg. At first, this round bead appeared completely transparent, but if one looked carefully, they would see some thin filaments swimming about inside it. What was odd though, was that this bead gave off no energy fluctuations at all, as if it were just a common ornament without any real value.
“What is this?”
“I’ve never seen anything like it before!”
“Since Treasure Trove Pavilion dared to use it as the first auction item, there must certainly be something unique about it. En, just let Brother Ren explain.”
…..
“Spirit Storage Bead?” Inside private room B-13, Yang Yan’s eyes lit up as she instantly identified this first auction item.
Yang Kai glanced over at her lightly, really beginning to suspect that there was nothing in this world she did not recognize. If not for her seemingly boundless knowledge, Yang Kai would not have brought Yang Yan to this auction.
However, Yang Kai did not ask her what the purpose of this Spirit Storage Bead was, because he knew Ren Tian Rui would explain carefully.
Atop the centre high platform, Ren Tian Rui reached out and silently picked up the Spirit Storage Bead, holding it in his hand before quickly circulating his Saint Qi and infusing it into the bead. In front of everyone’s eyes, the colourless round bead began acting like a bottomless pit as it continuously absorbed Ren Tian Rui’s Saint Qi.
After a short time passed, the round bead began radiating a faint light and giving off a Saint Qi fluctuation identical to Ren Tian Rui’s.
Moments later, Ren Tian Rui stopped his actions and while smiling meaningfully he began circulating his Secret Art.
A surprising thing happened next. The Saint Qi which had been absorbed by this Spirit Storage Bead once again returned to Ren Tian Rui’s body in a smooth manner, without the slightest signs of incompatibility.
At the same time, the Spirit Storage Bead’s original appearance was rapidly restored, and its internal energy fluctuation also quickly disappeared.
The entire process was clearly witnessed by everyone in the hall, and by now, ninety-nine percent of the cultivators who were participating in the auction had at least a vague awareness about what this Spirit Storage Bead’s function was, causing them to stare excitedly towards the platform.
Ren Tian Rui chuckled and declared loudly, “I’m certain everyone must now understand the purpose of this Spirit Storage Bead. Indeed, it can store a cultivator’s Saint Qi and then rapidly return it to them, providing them with an immediate boost in the middle of a battle. Many friends, all of you must know that in the midst of a battle, the only way to supplement one’s Saint Qi is to take pills or absorb the energy from Saint Crystals, but regardless of which method one uses, the effect is far too slow. This Spirit Storage Bead is different! It can restore a cultivator’s Saint Qi reserves from empty to their peak state in an extremely short amount of time! Of course, one must store enough Saint Qi inside it beforehand.”
As soon as this description came out, the audience broke into a stir. Although everyone had their speculations just now, when Ren Tian Rui explained it in detail, they all found that they had greatly underestimated the value of this Spirit Storage Bead.
If this Spirit Storage Bead worked exactly as described, possessing it would be was nothing short of possessing a second life!
Many cultivators had fallen because their Saint Qi reserves had dried up in the middle of a fight, but if they could use this Spirit Storage Bead to supplement their Saint Qi, turning certain defeat into victory was not impossible.
For a time, countless hot eyes stared towards the centre platform, full of greed and desire. If not for having scruples about this being Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction, countless masters here would have raced to snatch this life-saving treasure.
Even Yang Kai in room B-13 was moved by this Spirit Storage Bead.
This kind of treasure was truly Heaven defying, and even with his net worth and assets, Yang Kai was unable to ignore it, let alone others.
However, this thing was useless to Yang Kai because he never lacked Saint Qi, so soon after the idea of acquiring it occurred to him, he dismissed it and sat back to observe quietly. After all, such a good thing would certainly sell for an extremely high price. Although he brought 70 million Saint Crystals with him, Yang Kai was not completely confident he could win the item he had come here for. If he were to use his Saint Crystals now, causing him to be short of funds later, the gains would not equal the losses.
Yang Kai’s reactions weren’t missed by Yang Yan and, seeing that he seemed somewhat interested in this Spirit Storage Bead, she smiled and said, “Although this thing is indeed a good treasure, it has a number of limitations to it, so you don’t have to feel bad about missing it.”
“Oh? What kind of limits?” Yang Kai asked in surprise.
“Hmph, although this is no doubt a good thing, no matter how Nephew Ren promotes it, this bead must have some kind of limits to its use, correct? Why don’t you explain about it clearly!” Before Yang Yan could answer Yang Kai’s question, a majestic voice from one of the other private rooms echoed loudly.
[It seemed Yang Yan is not the only one who knows about this Spirit Storage Bead,] Yang Kai mused to himself.
Ren Tian Rui looked over towards where the voice came from and smiled slightly, cupping his fists as he said, “So it is Thunder Typhoon Sect’s Senior Cheng. Senior’s vision is indeed profound. Although this Spirit Storage Bead is very convenient to use, it does have some limitations. Even if Senior Cheng had not brought this up, Junior would have properly explained so these friends would properly understand the value of the item they were bidding on. After all, this Ren must uphold the reputation of Treasure Trove Pavilion.”
Hearing this, the cultivator surnamed Cheng snorted dismissively. Whether he believed Ren Tian Rui’s words or not, only the Heavens knew.
Many people secretly suspected that Ren Tian Rui would not have said anything about this Spirit Storage Bead’s limitations if no one had questioned it. At most, after the auction was over, he would quietly inform the new owner of this Spirit Storage Bead as a minimum courtesy.
This wasn’t the first time Treasure Trove Pavilion had done something like this.
“Who was that?” Yang Kai asked Qing’er as he gazed in the direction of the previous voice.
Although Qing’er’s cultivation was not high, she was born and raised on Shadowed Star so she naturally would have some idea about this speaker’s identity. After hearing Yang Kai’s inquiry, the young girl’s eyes flashed with slight surprise, seemingly puzzled about why Yang Kai would ask her this, but she still replied quickly, “If Junior is not mistaken, this should be Senior Cheng Peng Xuan of the Thunder Typhoon Sect. After all, in the Thunder Typhoon Sect, he is the only master surnamed Cheng.”
Yang Kai gently nodded, satisfied with her answer.
At the same time, Ren Tian Rui had begun explaining the restrictions on the use of the Spirit Storage Bead.
The story was not too disappointing. It seemed this Spirit Storage Bead had inadvertently been acquired by a small declining family and sold to Treasure Trove Pavilion. According to the one who sold it, this Spirit Storage Bead had a limited capacity to store Saint Qi, roughly equivalent to the total amount an average Third-Order Saint King could hold in their body.
In other words, it could not accept any more Saint Qi beyond what a Third-Order Saint King cultivator could hold; once it did, it would simply leak that energy into its surroundings.
This was not a major problem though. For Saint King Realm cultivators, this was not even a restriction at all. As for Origin Realm cultivators, as long as they paid attention to this storage limit, and didn’t pour too much Saint Qi into it, this Spirit Storage Bead could still play a useful role.
What it really meant was that, in a moment of crisis, an Origin Realm master would not be able to use this thing to completely restore their Saint Qi reserves.
Overall, this limitation was harmless.
However, the second limitation greatly diminished the value of this Spirit Storage Bead.
This was an artifact that stemmed from ancient times and had already been used many times. According to what the previous owner of this Spirit Storage Bead told Treasure Trove Pavilion, this bead could only be used five more times at most before too much damage was done to it and it became useless.
Hearing this, the heat in the eyes of many cultivators immediately cooled. Although five uses was not an insignificant amount, spending a lot of Saint Crystals on something which was not helpful for improving one’s fundamental strength wasn’t worth it.
“Besides these two limitations, there is nothing else one needs to concern themselves over with this bead,” Ren Tian Rui didn’t seem to care about whether this item sold for a high price or not, continuing to smile as he said, “The starting price of this Spirit Storage Bead is 500,000 Saint Crystals and each new bid must increase the price by no less than 10,000. Everyone, please!”
In fact, such a starting price was not remarkably high considering the purpose and value of this Spirit Storage Bead; after all, as the first item to be auctioned, Treasure Trove Pavilion intended for it to generate some excitement.
However, half a million Saint Crystals instantly precluded about ninety percent of the cultivators in the hall from bidding.
A Saint King Grade High-Rank artifact normally sold for about 300,000, so with this bead’s reserve price being 500,000, even if some technically had enough Saint Crystals to purchase it, most could not afford to.
Of course, this was not the case for everyone. Since they had come to attend this auction, these people had gathered enough Saint Crystals for their own use, so immediately after Ren Tian Rui’s voice fell, someone bid the base price.
Swiftly, more voices rang out throughout the hall.
Each price increase was modest, but with gathering momentum, in less time than it would take to make a cup of tea, this Spirit Storage Bead had already risen in price to 820,000 Saint Crystals.
By this time, the competing bids inside the auction hall had become somewhat sparse, with only two or three people still raising the price.
“This old master bids one million!” The booming voice of Cheng Peng Xuan suddenly called out from Thunder Typhoon Sect’s private room.
When Ren Tian Rui heard this voice as he stood atop the centre platform, he just smiled lightly, not showing the slightest surprise. It would be strange if those from the great Sects did not participate in this competition.
The few cultivators who were sitting in the main hall bidding on this item heard this and all wore dark expressions before letting out deep sighs. Since someone from Thunder Typhoon Sect had made a bid, they no longer had any hope of obtaining this Spirit Storage Bead. One by one, these cultivators silently cursed Cheng Peng Xuan for not speaking up sooner. If they had known he would bid for this item, why would they have futilely plowed the air all this time?
[Such awful luck!] Each of them grumbled to themselves.
“Haha, Old Ghost, you’ve already reached the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, why would you want this Spirit Storage Bead? Did you feel like brazenly competing with these Juniors?” Another voice suddenly laughed and called out from a different private room, a thick meaning of sarcasm and taunting apparent in its tone.
“Hmph, this old master may not need it, but can he not give it to the disciples of his Sect?” Cheng Peng Xuan coldly snorted, “Aren’t your words a bit misplaced, Brother Mo? Since this is an auction, this old master making a bid is perfectly reasonable, how is that in any way brazenly competing with these Juniors?”
“En, en, what Brother Cheng says makes sense!” The person man from the other private box replied carefreely before slowly adding, “Good, then this Mo will also join in the fun. We cannot have Brother Cheng enjoying the spotlight all on his own. 1.1 million!”
“Old Ghost Mo, do you know what you’re doing?” Cheng Peng Xuan called out in an unhappy voice, “1.2 million!”
“Brother Cheng just said that this was an auction, so naturally the highest bidder will win, 1.5 million!”
“Good, then let’s see who will come out on top here, 2 million!”
…..
These two seemed to be old enemies and immediately took to fighting one another both verbally and financially, neither one of them willing to back down. As a result, the price of this Spirit Storage Bead had increased several fold in the blink of an eye, and judging from the ongoing competition, it seemed like the final price was going to reach an outrageous number, causing all the cultivators in the hall to stare dumbfounded.
“Surnamed Mo?” In private room B-13, Yang Kai frowned as he glanced towards the private room which was competing with Cheng Peng Xuan.
“It should be Elder Mo Xiao Sheng of Heaven Battling Union!” Qing’er quickly explained.
Yang Kai gently nodded. This time, even if Qing’er had not explained, Yang Kai could have guessed the identity of this man because he had heard many others talk about Mo Xiao Sheng of Heaven Battling Union. Yang Kai himself had paid more attention to this person because, like him, Mo Xiao Sheng cultivated Space Force!
Even considering all of Shadowed Star, only Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Sheng studied this esoteric field, there was no third individual to be found.
Regarding the Dao of Space, Yang Kai was confident he was not inferior to this Mo Xiao Sheng. In fact, if it was just a contest of Space Force, Yang Kai estimated that he could easily crush the other party; after all, Yang Kai’s Space Blade was an incredibly lethal technique, one that not just anyone could understand.
However, this Mo Xiao Sheng had lived many more years than Yang Kai, so he may have his own unique comprehensions about the Dao of Space. Therefore, he should not be underestimated. If Yang Kai could find an opportunity to have an exchange with this Elder Mo, he might be able to obtain some positive results.
But that was clearly impossible. With Heaven Battling Union’s arrogant and aloof behaviour, if Yang Kai exposed his proficiency with Space Force, it would only bring him trouble.
So as quickly as Yang Kai had this thought, he also dismissed it.
Meanwhile, standing atop the high platform, Ren Tian Rui lightly fanned himself with his paper fan, a gentle smile adorning his face as he carefreely listened to the two Elders from these two great forces argue back and forth. Every time one of them spoke, it made Ren Tian Rui all the happier.
Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect had always been somewhat incompatible, so this competition for the Spirit Storage Bead was not just a financial competition but also one for the face of their Sect. As such, neither of these two was willing to show weakness.
After an incense stick worth of time, Cheng Peng Xuan shouted a sky-high price of 10 million Saint Crystals, causing all the cultivators in the hall to audibly gasp.
In all fairness, the Spirit Storage Bead was an excellent treasure, but 10 million Saint Crystals had obviously far exceeded its true value. If Mo Xiao Sheng of Heaven Battling Union had not stepped forward to compete with Cheng Peng Xuan, the price would never have reached such an outrageous level.
By now, whether it was Cheng Peng Xuan or Mo Xiao Sheng, both were feeling quite annoyed. The two of them naturally knew that fighting like this would only result in Treasure Trove Pavilion profiting, but both were riding a tiger now with no way to vent their anger, so they could only choke down their bitterness and continue to bid.
10 million Saint Crystals was not a big deal for their respective Sects, but it was also not a figure to casually be wasted. This many Saint Crystals would be sufficient for several elite disciples to cultivate for a lifetime, but the Spirit Storage Bead could only be used by a single person a few times.
Both Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters ground their teeth while cursing at each other.
After the price reached 10 million, Heaven Battling Union remained silent. It seemed that Mo Xiao Sheng was weighing the gains and losses of continuing this struggle.
It was at that moment that another voice suddenly called out.
“Ten million ten thousand!”
In an instant, almost all eyes in the hall gathered on this new bidder and were shocked to discover that the one who had called such a grand price was not from any of the private rooms but was instead a young cultivator in the main hall.
This cultivator’s realm was not too high, just Third-Order Saint King Realm, and the clothes he wore were quite ordinary. This young man was the very definition of a generic Shadowed Star cultivator and from the fact that he was sitting in the main hall to participate in the auction, it was clear his background was not high.
Still, simply calling out such a price made many in the hall admire this young man’s guts and courage!
One had to know that the two who were competing fiercely just now were Elders of Thunder Typhoon Sect and Heaven Battling Union, two people no one wanted to offend, but now this young man had suddenly stepped in and outbid them.