The price this young man shouted was exactly 10,000 more Saint Crystals than the previous bid, just in line with the rules Treasure Trove Pavilion set out for this auction item.
Not only were many cultivators wondering about this youth’s identity, even Ren Tian Rui, who had been as stable as a mountain, frowned slightly as he cast a suspicious glance towards this young man, wondering where he came from and how he possessed such massive net worth.
Even stared at by everyone in the hall, this young cultivator looked perfectly at ease, seemingly not feeling the slightest pressure or tension at all, winning him some approving nods from the masters in the crowd.
“Lu Ye!” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes from inside room B-13, staring at the young man down in the hall who had just bid with a look of disbelief. What shocked Yang Kai wasn’t that Lu Ye had come to participate in this auction, Flowing Cloud Valley wasn’t a giant force, but it was still at least a second class Sect, so Lu Ye was naturally eligible to enter Treasure Trove Pavilion as the Young Master of Flowing Cloud Valley, he simply wasn’t fortunate enough to obtain a private room and could only sit in the crowded hall.
No, what shocked Yang Kai was Lu Ye’s arm!
At this moment, both Lu Ye’s arms were completely intact, neither one of them missing.
[How is that possible?] Yang Kai exclaimed in his heart. He clearly remembered that he had cut off one of Lu Ye’s arms during their fight for the Red Candle Stalk in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. At that time, Lu Ye had quickly fled, but Yang Kai still vividly remembered the scene.
Yet now, this severed arm had somehow grown back, and judging from the colour and aura fluctuations, this new arm wasn’t some kind of prosthesis or artifact, it was clearly a flesh and blood arm!
How did he do that? Yang Kai was stunned on the spot. Re-growing a severed limb was something that only happened in legendary tales, not to mention that Lu Ye was just a trivial Saint King Realm cultivator.
Yang Kai suddenly found that he had underestimated Lu Ye. Solely from the fact that he was able to regenerate his severed arm, it was clear that this person still had many shocking secrets.
“This person…” Just as Yang Kai was feeling puzzled, Yang Yan suddenly frowned and stared towards Lu Ye down below, a thoughtful look flashing across her beautiful eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai turned to look at her.
“I don’t know why, but for some reason I find him quite repugnant!” Yang Yan shook her head slowly, her pretty face filling with suspicion, “But this is the first time I’ve seen him. You just called him Lu Ye, do you have some kind of grudge with him?”
“Yes! I don’t know why, but this person tried to kill me back in the Flowing Flame Sand Field!” Yang Kai snorted. His grievances with Lu Ye were indeed inexplicable; his opponent had suddenly attacked him for no reason, and directed a kind of malice towards him that said it was impossible for them to coexist under the Heavens.
Yang Kai had carefully thought about it, but before going to the Flowing Flame Sand Field, he was certain he had never even met Lu Ye. Indeed, inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, they hadn’t even exchanged greetings before suddenly becoming life or death enemies.
“En, be careful of this person, he seems very dangerous,” Yang Yan made a point to warn Yang Kai.
“I know.” Yang Yan didn’t need to warn him as Yang Kai already understood this point. However, he couldn’t help wondering where Lu Ye managed to obtain so many Saint Crystals to bid on this Spirit Storage Bead. According to his understanding, Flowing Cloud Valley was actually quite weak among second-class Sects, barely stronger than some small families with the Sect Master only being a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, and totalling in only three or four hundred disciples.
The territory they controlled wasn’t wealthy and they possessed no Saint Crystal mines, so where had these ten million Saint Crystals come from?
“Haha, Brother Cheng, I believe as Elders we should be generous with the younger generation. Since this little friend wants this Spirit Storage Bead, this Mo will withdraw,” Just as Yang Kai was immersed in his suspicions, he heard Mo Xiao Sheng’s hearty laughter from Heaven Battling Union’s private room.
Immediately afterwards, Cheng Peng Xuan snorted in response, “Hmph, Old Ghost Mo, stop putting on a righteous act. Since you’re willing to give up then this Cheng will also bow out.”
These words made it seem like he no longer had any interest in this Spirit Storage Bead, but many of the cultivators present weren’t fooled by this. They naturally understood that these two old men were simply taking advantage of this opportunity to dump this Spirit Storage Bead onto someone else.
From another perspective, this young man, for the price of ten million ten thousand Saint Crystals, had not only won the Spirit Storage Bead, but had also sold a favour to these two powerful figures.
Considering all this, many people secretly felt regret. If they had only thought of this sooner, they would have willingly paid such a price for this prize. Although ten million Saint Crystals wasn’t a small amount, if they could exchange that for an opportunity to become friends with these two Elders, it would certainly have been worth it.
But even if they understood this now, if they were given the chance once more, they still might not have had the guts to enter such a bid. If these two old men saw it as an affront instead of a favour, wouldn’t they have brought disaster down upon themselves?
This young man’s decisiveness and boldness made many admire him.
Ren Tian Rui stood on the high platform, called the last price three times and, since no one up-bid again, the Spirit Storage Bead was purchased by Lu Ye for a price of ten million ten thousand Saint Crystals. Immediately, someone led Lu Ye to the back of the auction hall where the transaction was completed.
The auction continued soon after and became more spirited with the atmosphere being heated up after the first item. Treasure Trove Pavilion hosting an auction at this time was indeed a good idea. Each treasure that appeared set off an intense competition between the gathered cultivators, causing the prices to rise sharply. Ren Tian Rui stood atop the high platform fanning himself with his folding fan the whole time appearing aloof and harmless, but he didn’t fail to live up to his nickname of Little Black Face as he quietly pushed the audience along to lift each auctioned item’s price well above their original value. However, most of the cultivators present seemed unaware of the clever means he was using to accomplish this, causing those who did understand to admire Ren Tian Rui’s methods.
The items sold in this auction were all very useful for cultivators; artifacts, pills, Secret Arts, Secret Techniques, spirit grasses, precious ores, and so on.
Yang Kai didn’t participate at all, simply sitting in room B-13 and listening to Yang Yan describe the auctioned items while enjoying a comfortable massage from Qing’er.
Although these items were indeed good, he had no use for them as it wasn’t difficult to acquire such things through Dragon Cave Mountain and Shadow Moon Hall’s channels. On the whole, the first half of the auction went smoothly, with most of the items being things that could be bought with Saint Crystals under normal circumstances. Most of the bidders were cultivators in the main hall, while the masters from the private rooms rarely participated unless something they truly needed appeared.
Nevertheless, during the second half of the auction, the masters from the private rooms bid frequently, but the items being auctioned now weren’t things the cultivators in the main hall were qualified to compete for in the first place.
Surprisingly, the young man who won the first auctioned item participated in this second half multiple times, showing off his huge financial resources. It wasn’t long before the number of Saint Crystals he spent exceeded 40 million.
Lu Ye’s actions naturally stunned Yang Kai, but soon his mouth curled into a sneering smile.
Without a strong Sect as a backer, Lu Ye showing off his wealth like this was akin to drawing trouble to himself. Sitting in his private room, Yang Kai felt many powerful Divine Senses continuously sweep towards Lu Ye. After the auction ended, Yang Kai didn’t doubt these people would try to ‘talk’ with Lu Ye.
This was something Yang Kai was happy to see. No matter what reason Lu Ye had for targeting him, since the other party had taken the initiative to attack, they were now enemies. Since Lu Ye was asking for trouble, Yang Kai was content to stand by and watch, hoping very much that someone would be able to kill him.
However, this Lu Ye was clearly not ordinary as he was still able to calmly sit inside the hall with so many malicious eyes peering towards him, not showing the slightest intention to leave, as if he was intent on continuing to participate in the auction.
With each item being sold off, the auction gradually approached its finale.
Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling somewhat nervous now as he waited for the item he needed to appear. Unfortunately, there had been no trace of it until now, causing Yang Kai to grow anxious and wonder if Treasure Trove Pavilion had suddenly changed its mind and withdrawn it from the auction. However, when he thought about it, since Treasure Trove Pavilion had advertised that this item would be sold on the invitations it sent out, and those invitations had been widely distributed, it was highly unlikely they would suddenly withdraw it lest they ruin their own reputation.
Just as Yang Kai was thinking about this though, atop the high platform down below, another beautifully dressed woman walked out with an exquisite jade plate, and although the item to be auctioned was covered with a red cloth like always, when Yang Kai’s Divine Sense swept it, a look of joy filled his face and he hurriedly sat up in preparation.
The item he was here for had finally appeared.
At the same time, Divine Senses also swept forward from all the private rooms and soon even the cultivators in the main hall began whispering amongst themselves. The reason for this was simple, it was because the item being auctioned this time seemed a bit unusual. When the jade plate appeared, everyone felt an invisible energy emanating from it, one that felt like an invisible blade cutting against their skin.
What could this be!
The crowd sat up and stared curiously, anticipating this item’s reveal.
Ren Tian Rui was very satisfied with everyone’s response and tapped his folding fan against his shoulder as he smiled lightly, “The next item to be auctioned is something which one may only see once in ten thousand years, an incredibly rare treasure. When this treasure was first discovered, this Ren was actually unable to identify it and could only conclude it was some kind of precious material. However, to many Seniors who cultivate some special Secret Arts or Techniques, it certainly has great uses.”
“Enough flowery words, let this old master see what it is!” From one of the private rooms in the A Block, an old yet dignified voice called out. There was a hint of anxiety in this voice however, clearly indicating that the owner placed a great deal of importance on this auctioned item.
Yang Kai’s brow furrowed as he secretly felt that obtaining this item would not be as simple as he imagined.
“Oh, is this not Senior Jin Shi of Demon Blood Temple? Senior need not be so anxious, this Junior will let you see this treasure clearly,” Ren Tian Rui immediately exposed the identity of the person who spoke before reaching out and lifting the red cloth.
Instantly, a dazzling golden light blossomed, causing many of the cultivators in the hall with lower strength to feel a stinging pain in their eyes, forcing them to look away or close them. Even those of higher strength had to condense Saint Qi into their eyes in order to clearly see through this golden radiance.
Yang Kai’s eyes also narrowed, but after seeing through the golden light clearly, his heart filled with excitement.
Atop the jade plate was a fist sized lumpy piece of unidentifiable ore that had a pure gold colour!
What was shocking about this ore though was that there were runes flowing across its surface. Obviously it was sealed under a barrier arranged by some powerful master to prevent its aura from leaking out, but even so, everyone in the auction hall could clearly feel the sharp energy radiating from it.
It was already like this in a sealed state, so what would happen if the seal was broken?
The cultivators in the hall with slightly lower strength here likely wouldn’t even be able to approach this ore in its raw form!
This item was clearly unusual, but the number of people who recognized what it was was very small, everyone only knew that it was definitely a rare treasure. It only made sense for Treasure Trove Pavilion to auction this off as its finale item.
“Good good good, hahaha, this Jin has struggled for most of his life searching for this but never expected to see it here today! Treasure Trove Pavilion’s reputation for gathering treasures from all over the world is well-deserved!” The master named Jin Shi laughed, seemingly immensely satisfied with this ore and extremely determined to obtain it.
“Do you want this?” Yang Yan glanced suspiciously towards Yang Kai inside.
Yang Kai was clearly excited so how could Yang Yan not see his thoughts?
“En,” Yang Kai nodded gently.
Yang Yan nodded but didn’t ask why Yang Kai wanted this or what he planned on doing with it.
The young Qing’er obviously overheard this and a look of joy flashed across her face, but soon that look turned to one of worry as she said, “Senior, Elder Jin of Demon Blood Temple seems to want this item too.”
“This is an auction, so the highest bidder will win it!” Yang Kai grinned. He had brought 70 million Saint Crystals this time, so he wasn’t afraid of fighting Jin Shi for this; after all, during the auction, Demon Blood Temple had already purchased a number of items for quite a sum.
Qing’er nodded docilely and said, “Then I wish Senior a swift victory!”
“I’ll be taking advantage of your auspicious words!” Yang Kai grinned. He naturally knew why this little girl seemed anxious. It was because if he participated in this auction and successfully obtained this item, she would receive a reward from Treasure Trove Pavilion and this reward would be directly proportional to the price Yang Kai paid. Before now, Yang Kai had not bid on anything, so naturally she wouldn’t be receiving any special reward; however, if Yang Kai won this item, the reward given by her Treasure Trove Pavilion would be enough for her to enjoy for a very long time.
This matter was explained by Qing’er herself without Yang Kai needing to ask her about it. This entire time, this little girl had served them very attentively, so naturally Yang Kai didn’t mind giving her some small benefits.
“Forgive this old master’s ignorance, but what exactly is this thing? Old Ghost Jin, why are you so eager to obtain it?” Another strange voice called out from a different private room, and from what was said, it seemed this individual couldn’t identify this ore.
It wasn’t as if this individual was ignorant and uninformed, but rather that in the vast Star Field, there were so many kinds of materials and this particular ore was extremely rare. Jin Shi being able to identify it was because he cultivated a special Secret Art that required this kind of ore, so he actively paid attention to and searched for it.
Only someone like Yang Yan, who seemed to possess infinite knowledge, would be able to identify this kind of material offhand, but people like her were obviously a rare minority.
“Oh, it’s understandable that Senior Jin will be this excited; after all, this Profound Gold is of great benefit to the Golden Cicada Extreme Demon Art Senior Jin cultivates. With this Profound Gold as an auxiliary, I presume Senior Jin reaching the grand accomplishment stage is just around the corner!” Ren Tian Rui spoke openly, as if he was afraid that others wouldn’t know Jin Shi’s personal details.
“Profound Gold?” The person who spoke before heard this name, seemed to think of something, and called out in surprise.
“Little brat Ren, your only job is to host an auction, not spread around information about this old master’s Golden Cicada Extreme Demon Art!” Jin Shi snapped in annoyance as he naturally understood Ren Tian Rui’s malicious intentions here. If they were anywhere else right now, Jin Shi would definitely have taken action to teach Ren Tian Rui a harsh lesson, but they were currently inside Treasure Trove Pavilion, so even if he was angry, he had no choice but to endure it. Perhaps because of the thinly veiled threat Ren Tian Rui gave just now, the difficulty of winning this Profound Gold would increase greatly; after all, Demon Blood Temple had many enemies and they would not want him to easily obtain this Profound Gold.
“Please forgive me, Senior. This Junior clearly spoke too much just now!” Ren Tian Rui seemed to know that he was wrong and quickly bowed in apology.
However, words spoken were like water spilling, there was no way to take it back. Although Ren Tian Rui seemed to be apologizing, behind his seemingly fearful expression was a trace of pride. To Treasure Trove Pavilion, it didn’t matter who won this Profound Gold, as long as they could sell it for a high price.
“Enough nonsense. Hurry up and start the auction!” Jin Shi urged strongly in his annoyance.
“Good!” Ren Tian Rui smiled, pointing his folding fan at the Profound Gold and declaring loudly, “For this one kilogram piece of Profound Gold, the starting price is 5 million Saint Crystals. Everyone, please!”
“Ten million!” As soon as Ren Tian Rui’s words fell, Jin Shi called out, directly doubling the price, demonstrating his determination to obtain this Profound Gold.
It was no secret now that he needed this piece of Profound Gold, so he had no reason to hold back.
“Heh, such a rare Artifact Refining material, just what this old master needs for his Golden Bone Shield, 10.1 million!” Heaven Battling Union’s Mo Xiao Sheng’s voice sounded.
“This old master will also join in the excitement, 10.5 million!” Cheng Peng Xuan of Thunder Typhoon Sect chimed in, seemingly not wanting to be outdone.
“11 million!” Another husky voice sounded from a different private room, an old woman’s voice at that.
“12 million!”
…..
Inside Demon Blood Temple’s private room, Jin Shi’s expression was ugly to the extreme. Although he knew that Demon Blood Temple had many enemies and that obtaining this Profound Gold would definitely be difficult, he hadn’t anticipated that six other people would actually try to compete with him. Worse, these six all had equal status and strength to him, so there was no way he could suppress them in any way. Frustrated by this development, he angrily shouted, “20 million!”
“Brother Jin’s boldness is admirable, but you don’t really believe you can obtain this piece of Profound Gold for a trivial 20 million do you? Brother Jin should stop dreaming. This old woman bids 25 million!” The old lady sneered and raised the price by 5 million directly.
However, this price only lasted a moment before a higher one replaced it.
This wasn’t surprising though as this Profound Gold was truly rare. Ren Tian Rui wasn’t exaggerating when he introduced it before. This kind of rare material was really something that only appeared once in ten thousand years. Whether it was used for Artifact Refining or to cultivate a special Secret Art, it would yield great benefits.
For a time, bids came flying in from the private rooms of the auction hall, and the price for this Profound Gold soared to a height which shocked countless people as they secretly admired these great Sects. The amount of Saint Crystals being quoted here was high enough to allow a small Sect or family develop worry-free for many years, these great forces were actually willing to spend this much for a single small piece of material.
Inside room B-13, Yang Kai remained silent, not participating in this competition at all because he knew that the current price was far from what it would eventually sell for. As such, he didn’t want to waste his energy and instead was waiting for his competitors to drop out.
“40 million!” Jin Shi’s voice sounded again. This piece of Profound Gold had heated the auction up to new heights, but it was still far from over. After shouting this price, Jin Shi called out again, “This Profound Gold is truly important to this Jin, if fellow friends are willing to relinquish it to me, this Jin will always remember it in his heart and will certainly return the favour in the future.”
Even now, no one was willing to withdraw, causing Jin Shi’s heart to pound like a drum. Seeing the price continue to rise, he faintly felt it wouldn’t be long before it surpassed his limit, so he chose to speak out.
As soon as this remark came out, the bids from Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect stopped as it seemed Cheng Peng Xuan and Mo Xiao Sheng were weighing the pros and cons.
A moment later, Mo Xiao Sheng let out a laugh and said aloud, “Since Brother Jin has said so, this Mo will withdraw. En, in any case, no Artifact Refiner can properly refine this grade of material, so using it on this old master’s Golden Bone Shield would be a careless waste of Heaven’s precious gifts.”
Immediately afterwards, several other masters who had been participating in this bidding war also expressed their willingness to withdraw. It wasn’t that Jin Shi’s face was so big, but rather, all of them knew how determined he was to obtain this Profound Gold. Continuing to fight over it would only result in Treasure Trove Pavilion and Ren Tian Rui picking up a bargain. Instead of allowing this little brat with a slippery tongue to profit, it would be better to sell a favour to Jin Shi.
What’s more, even if they bought this Profound Gold for themselves, it didn’t really have a big use to them. Although it was a very high grade ore, there was no Artifact Refiner capable of using it to its fullest, so what point was there struggling over it to this extent?
Seeing this, Jin Shi calmed down and offered some words of thanks.
“Hmph! Old Ghost Jin, just because you say this Profound Gold has a big use to you, you think this old woman will simply hand it over? 41 million!” The old woman’s voice sounded again, but contrary to the others, she didn’t give Jin Shi any face.
“Old Woman Feng, what do you want this Profound Gold for? If you don’t make yourself clear immediately, this old master will not forgive you!” Jin Shi was furious. Everyone else had known when to back down, but this Old Woman Feng seemed intent on competing with him. Unable to stand it anymore, Jin Shi erupted in fury.
“You think this old woman is afraid of you?” Old Woman Feng seemed to also have a bad temper and, hearing Jin Shi’s threat, she immediately snapped back dismissively.
Inside the private rooms of these two great forces, the auras of two Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters surged upwards and their words were quickly filling with hostility.
“You two, this is Treasure Trove Pavilion, please act with some restraint!” Suddenly, from somewhere undisclosed, a faint voice called out. Hearing this voice, Old Woman Feng and Jin Shi’s looks both changed slightly as they seemingly remembered something and quickly withdrew their auras.
The cultivators in the main hall all panted for breath as lingering fear filled their faces.
Ren Tian Rui, who was still standing atop the high platform, couldn’t help wiping his cold sweat as well. Although Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auctions have had some minor incidents in the past, if these two people had really exchanged blows, the matter would not have ended with just some small consequences. Thinking for a moment, Ren Tian Rui opened his mouth and said, “Please do not feel aggrieved Senior Jin, since Senior Feng insists on participating in this auction, she must naturally have a use for this Profound Gold.”
“And what use would that be?” Jin Shi coldly snorted, obviously not believing Ren Tian Rui’s words so easily.
Ren Tian Rui however just smiled lightly and said, “As far as this Junior knows, the Golden Thunder Vein Lion which has accompanied Senior Feng for most of her life should have need of this Profound Gold to assist it with breaking through.”
“Golden Thunder Vein Lion!” Demon Blood Temple’s Elder Jin Shi exclaimed with a hint of fear in his voice.
Many of the masters in the other private rooms also frowned, seemingly quite wary of this Golden Thunder Vein Lion.
“Qing’er, where does this Senior Feng come from? What kind of Monster Beast is that Golden Thunder Vein Lion?” Yang Kai turned to the young girl standing nearby and asked.
Qing’er smiled and replied softly, “Senior, this Senior Feng is an Elder of Myriad Beast Mountain and that Golden Thunder Vein Lion is her Companion Monster Beast which is connected to Senior Feng’s life. It is said that this Golden Thunder Vein Lion is a variant of a powerful ancient species and is currently a Ninth-Order Monster Beast. In terms of strength, it is probably equivalent to a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm Master. Senior Feng has apparently just recently broken through to the Third-Order Origin Realm, but if she works together with her Companion Monster Beast, the two should be able to display strength equal to an established Third-Order Origin Realm master.”
“Myriad Beast Mountain?” Yang Kai raised his brow. He had long heard about this great force which was capable of taming and controlling Monster Beasts. Yang Kai had also briefly encountered a group of Myriad Beast Mountain disciples in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. This Sect seemed to be situated close to Coloured Glass Sect and there was clearly some friction between the two forces.
As for the Companion Monster Beasts that Qing’er spoke of, Yang Kai had also heard about them. Myriad Beast Mountain cultivators cultivated somewhat differently from other cultivators. Every Myriad Beast Mountain disciple had their own Companion Monster Beast and their strength would improve together with the said Monster Beast’s. If their Companion Monster Beast broke through, it would be of great assistance to their cultivation as well, possibly even providing an opportunity to break through their own bottlenecks.
According to Qing’er, this Old Woman Feng had just reached the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, but if her Golden Thunder Vein Lion was able to obtain this Profound Gold, it was very likely that the pair’s strength would increase dramatically.
Once her Companion Monster Beast broke through as well, if they worked together, they would be able to overpower most lone Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters.
Thinking of this, Yang Kai immediately understood why this Old Woman Feng was competing with Jin Shi for the Profound Gold. At the same time, Yang Kai felt a slight headache coming on. Whether it was Old Woman Feng or Jin Shi, both had great need of this Profound Gold, so they were unlikely to give it up. The only way Yang Kai could obtain it now was through outbidding them.
“Little brat Ren, does your Treasure Trove Pavilion not only gather treasures from around the world but information as well?” Old Woman Feng’s voice was mixed with a trace of annoyance, obviously because Ren Tian Rui had exposed her reason for wanting this Profound Gold.
Ren Tian Rui, who was standing atop the high platform, laughed lightly but didn’t dare respond.
“Hmph, even so, this old master won’t easily give up. Your little beast may need this Profound Gold, but this old master needs it more, 42 million!”
Old Woman Feng hadn’t had time to raise its price yet when all of a sudden a melodious giggle, full of seductive flavour, rang out from a nearby private room, “This Junior would also like to join the fun, 43 million!”
Yang Kai was startled and the corner of his mouth curled upwards slightly, revealing a strange smile.
It was a natural reaction though as the one who just bid was none other than Yin Su Die of Coloured Glass Sect! It wasn’t surprising that she was here; after all, Dai Yuan had told Yang Kai the last time she came to Dragon Cave Mountain that Yin Su Die was leading the team Coloured Glass Sect had sent to monitor the Emperor Garden.
However, her daring to bid now should be on instructions from the Elders of her Sect. Coloured Glass Sect and Myriad Beast Mountain had always been incompatible with one another, so naturally, they weren’t just going to stand by and watch Old Woman Feng obtain this Profound Gold which would allow her strength to soar.
This was a great opportunity!
Yang Kai was still thinking about how to enter this bidding war without being too noticeable, now Yin Su Die calling out this price had given him his chance. Not hesitating, Yang Kai quickly followed up, “50 million!”
A burst of noise immediately spread throughout the auction hall while, in private room B-13, Qing’er’s beautiful eyes opened wide as she stared at Yang Kai in shock. It seemed she had not thought Yang Kai possessed such great wealth.
Two new voices suddenly joining this auction caused the already tense atmosphere to become even more treacherous.
“Good good good!” Old Woman Feng ground her teeth and coldly snorted, “Truly interesting, it seems many stray cats and dogs dare to fight for this old woman’s thing, are you not afraid of paying out money but failing to receive anything in the end?”
The implied threat in her tone was so apparent that Ren Tian Rui, who was standing atop the high platform, immediately narrowed his eyes coldly.
Treasure Trove Pavilion had held many auctions in the past, and although masters from various forces would always furiously compete for items, even coming to blows once the auction was over, sometimes resulting in deaths, no one had ever dared utter blatant threats while still inside the hall.
After all, such a statement was showing naked disdain for Treasure Trove Pavilion’s authority and credibility. As such, Ren Tian Rui sullenly called out, “Senior Feng, I only want to hear such words spoken once in my Treasure Trove Pavilion, if it happens again, Myriad Beast Mountain will be forever banned from attending our auctions. Please consider carefully!”
Although Ren Tian Rui’s cultivation wasn’t high, he was representing Treasure Trove Pavilion at the moment, so his words naturally carried weight.
Old Woman Feng also seemed to realize that her words had been out of line and let out a peal of hoarse laughter, “Little brat Ren, there’s no need to get so worked up. This old woman was just making a joke, of course. This matter will be settled through bidding.”
“I see,” Ren Tian Rui suddenly smiled happily, fanning himself lightly as he nodded, “It seems this Junior became overanxious, please forgive me for speaking out of turn, Senior Feng. Good, for this Profound Gold, does Senior Jin wish to enter a new bid?”
“Naturally, 51 million!”
“60 million!” Yang Kai didn’t hesitate, immediately entering this price without even raising his brow. To him, the biggest purpose of this trip was to obtain this piece of Profound Gold, so he was naturally not going to back down. Even if he had to spend all his fortune, he would acquire it. At this point, there were still a number of people competing for this Profound Gold, so Yang Kai felt he had to display some financial prowess and determination by sharply raising the price in order to deter others.
The private room belonging to Myriad Beast Mountain suddenly fell silent. It seemed that this price had exceeded Old Woman Feng’s bottom line. This Profound Gold was indeed valuable, but apparently not more than 60 million Saint Crystals.
On the contrary, Jin Shi of Demon Blood Temple said after a moment of hesitation, “60.1 million! If you can offer a higher price, this old master will withdraw.”
60 million Saint Crystals had obviously also exceeded Jin Shi’s bottom line.
Inside private room B-13, Yang Kai grinned meaningfully and shouted,”60.2 million!”
He only added 100,000, which was the minimum up-bid.
“Good, good, good!” Jin Shi said good three times in succession, with everyone able to hear the dark emotion in his voice. However, he really didn’t increase the price further, allowing Yang Kai to relax as this Profound Gold was now in all likelihood his.
Treasure Trove Pavilion was obviously very satisfied with such a price and with a big happy smile on his face, Ren Tian Rui looked up to private room B-13 and said, “Is there any higher bid? If not, this Ren will begin the countdown. Good, 60.2 million once, 60.2 million twice…”
“61 million!” Just as Yang Kai was full of confidence and was preparing to have Qing’er receive the Profound Gold, a new voice suddenly called out from inside the hall.
Yang Kai was startled, but as he traced the voice back to its source, he couldn’t help clenching his teeth.
Because he found that the one who had suddenly raised the price at the last moment was none other than Flowing Cloud Valley’s Lu Ye!
Lu Ye had completely exposed himself to the limelight during this auction by bidding numerous times on various treasures, spending tens of millions of Saint Crystals.
This was completely unheard of for a small cultivator from a small Sect, and many people were now secretly paying attention to him. However, instead of knowing when to conceal his abilities and wealth, Lu Ye had actually swaggered out at the last moment and drawn everyone’s attention back onto himself.
However, since the price had been refreshed, Yang Kai, of course, refused to show any weakness, gritting his teeth and immediately going all in, “70 million!”
Ren Tian Rui raised his brow atop the high platform as he turned his attention to Lu Ye, seemingly expecting him to bid again, but to his disappointment, Lu Ye only offered a single bid after which he stayed silent, shooting a meaningful grin up towards Yang Kai, one filled with pride and sarcasm.
[Fuck!] Yang Kai cursed to himself as his face sank, understanding that he had been badly cheated.
If he hadn’t bid just now, it would surely have caused great trouble for Lu Ye because he absolutely didn’t have enough Saint Crystals on him anymore to pay up. Lu Ye had only called out a new price to coax Yang Kai into up-bidding him, and in a moment of carelessness, Yang Kai had fallen into this pit.
Understanding this, Yang Kai’s mood plummeted as he felt like he had just been forced to swallow a fly.
Yang Kai wasn’t too distressed over the extra Saint Crystals he was forced to pay, but rather that he had missed an opportunity to cause trouble for Lu Ye. Treasure Trove Pavilion had its own rules. If a cultivator didn’t have enough Saint Crystals but still bid with malicious intentions, they would surely pursue and kill this agitator after the auction ended!
This was a Heaven-sent opportunity Yang Kai had just missed, so his face was naturally quite ugly.
But soon, a smile returned to his face as he calmed himself. If you often walk next to the river, how can you not wet your shoes? There was nothing to do but continue walking and see what the future had in store!
After the price of 70 million Saint Crystals was called, no one made another bid, Ren Tian Rui happily completed his three-count and announced at last that this piece of Profound Gold belonged to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai took out a Space Ring and handed it to Qing’er, ordering her to retrieve his winnings from Treasure Trove Pavilion, an order she carried out swiftly.
At this moment, another item was brought up to auction, a Ninth-Order Monster Beast egg, and like Old Woman Feng’s Golden Thunder Vein Lion, it too traced its lineage to a powerful ancient Monster Beast. Although not as powerful as the Golden Thunder Vein Lion, it was still quite precious.
Such a good thing naturally caused many people to furiously bid for it, especially Myriad Beast Mountain which truly spared no effort.
After all, this was a Ninth-Order Monster Beast’s egg. As long as it was properly cultivated, it would be akin to one day adding another Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master to a Sect.
This beast egg was eventually snatched by Myriad Beast Mountain for the not high but not low price of 36 million. Several other finale items were brought up one after another following this beast egg and each one was sold for several times its initial price, causing the cultivators sitting in the main hall to be struck speechless.
As the last few items were being auctioned, Yang Kai was naturally sitting on the sidelines. All of the Saint Crystals he had taken from Wu Yi had already been used to buy the Profound Gold, so he no longer had the capital to fight for other things.
Having said that, although the last few auction items were all quite good, Yang Kai was not interested in any of them.
After an incense stick worth of time, Qing’er returned along with a jade box. Handing this box to Yang Kai respectfully, she congratulated him, “Congratulations Senior for obtaining the item you desired, please accept this.”
Yang Kai naturally accepted it with a smile and opened the jade box to take a look. Inside he found the piece of Profound Gold he had bid on. It was the size of a goose egg and its entire body radiated a pure golden radiance. This piece of Profound Gold was sealed by powerful masters with a strong barrier, but it still could not stop the strong metal aura from overflowing from it. The sharpness of this aura was not to be underestimated.
The best way to describe this Profound Gold was as an invisible sharp blade.
Yang Kai happily played with it for a while before storing it away into his Black Book Space.
The reason he acquired this Profound Gold was naturally in preparation to cultivate the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art. If one wanted to cultivate this Body Tempering Secret Art, they first needed to find five extremely precious treasures from the five elements!
Of these five treasures, Yang Kai already possessed the Thunder Wood, Profound Yin Sunflower Water, and Sun’s True Essence. Now that he had acquired this Profound Gold, the only precious treasure he still needed was one of the Earth Attribute. Once he found such a treasure, he would be able to start cultivating the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art.
Yang Kai actually thought about asking Treasure Trove Pavilion to help him with this matter; after all, this great force was dedicated to searching the world for precious treasures. As such, after this auction ended, Yang Kai felt that he should pay a visit to Yan Pei.
He did not believe the other party would refuse as long as he offered a sufficient price.
In a good mood, Yang Kai naturally wasn’t going to be stingy with his reward, so he quickly waved his hand and gave Qing’er several bottles of pills, a good artifact and many Saint Crystals.
The pills were all refined by him personally, so their quality was naturally superb, while the artifact was one Yang Yan had refined and was also equally excellent. These things were all quite suitable for this little girl to use right now, and although there weren’t so many Saint Crystals, only a couple tens of thousands, for a cultivator a Qing’er’s level, it would be enough to support her cultivation for quite some time.
Naturally, this made Qing’er extremely happy.
Just then, Ren Tian Rui’s slightly excited voice came from below, “Friends, this auction has been very fulfilling and will end here. Many thanks to all of you for travelling from afar to participate. En, though the auction has ended, please remain for a moment. My Treasure Trove Pavilion has been entrusted by a powerful secluded master with a certain request.”
“Ren boy, what is this all about?” Immediately, a master from one of the great forces asked.
Ren Tian Rui just smiled lightly however, and gestured towards the rear while bowing slightly. The crowd all followed this gesture with their eyes but soon could not help recoiling slightly, because the one who emerged from the shadows was none other than Old Black Face Yan Pei.
“Hehe, friends, there’s no need to act so nervous. Since the auction is over, there will be no more items sold. This Yan was only entrusted by an old friend to discuss a certain matter with all of you,” Yan Pei said unhurriedly.
“What is this matter for discussion? If you want to fart, put it out quickly, we don’t have time to waste here with any nonsense.” Obviously not everyone believed Yan Pei and many remained on high alert.
“My old friend simply wanted to propose an exchange of goods!” Yan Pei did not keep everyone guessing and after lightly explaining, he took an item from his Space Ring and held it up high in front of the crowd.
The masters in the hall all released their Divine Senses to carefully scrutinize this object.
A moment later, a burst of exclamations sounded.
“This is…”
“No, could it possibly be?”
“There’s a lingering Emperor Pressure about it, so there’s no chance we’re mistaken. I never dreamed that legend was actually true!”
Inside private room B-13, Yang Kai also stared at the object in Yan Pei’s hand with a stunned expression on his face. As he was lost in thought though, he suddenly realized something was off and turned to look at Yang Yan who he saw was wearing a look of excitement and hesitation, her two pink fists clenched tightly with her nails unconsciously almost piercing into her flesh.
“Star Emperor Token!” Mo Xiao Sheng’s exclamation sounded, “Brother Yan, forgive this old master’s limited vision, but is the object in your hand truly a legendary Star Emperor Token?”
Yan Pei smiled lightly, “Since Brother Mo already knows, why ask this Yan? Presumably, most of you present have reached this conclusion, yes?”
“It’s really a Star Emperor Token? Not a fake?”
“If it was a fake, how could this Yan take it out?” Yan Pei snorted, “This Yan and several others from Treasure Trove Pavilion have personally appraised this and determined it to be a genuine Star Emperor Token; after all, the faint remnant Emperor Pressure around it is something no one can imitate!”
“Rumor has it that the Starry Sky Great Emperor refined ten of these Star Emperor Tokens, each of which sealed one of his Divine Abilities. Each of these Divine Abilities can only be described as Heaven Destroying and Earth Shattering, moving mountains and filling seas. Could it be that it is so for this one too?” Cheng Peng Xuan’s voice was filled with excitement.
If this was truly one of the ten Star Emperor Tokens refined by the Starry Sky Great Emperor, as long as one could possess it, they would essentially be invincible.
The Starry Sky Great Emperor was an existence above the Origin King Realm! On top of that, there were no Origin Kings on Shadowed Star, so who could possibly compete with the Divine Ability sealed inside a Star Emperor Token?
All the masters from each of the great forces had this thought and, in an instant, they fixed hot eyes on this Star Emperor Token, causing the atmosphere inside Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction hall to become incredibly tense.
Yan Pei was carefully observing everyone’s mood and understood that countless people now felt intense greed in their hearts towards this token, but he still didn’t rush and simply explained slowly, “This is indeed one of the ten Star Emperor Tokens, but the Divine Ability that was sealed inside of it has already been used, so do not even consider it.”
There was a slight implied warning in his words.
Hearing this, many of the masters felt like they had cold water splashed onto them. This only made sense though, if this Star Emperor Token was completely intact, no fool would ever take it out to trade, nor would Yan Pei make its existence public.
“Its Divine Ability has already been used. A pity, a pity,” Mo Xiao Sheng’s tone was extremely deflated as he let out a long sigh.
“Hmph, Old Ghost Mo, do you not want to obtain this Star Emperor Token even though its Divine Ability has already been used up?” Cheng Peng Xuan sneered.
“Does Brother Cheng not have the same idea?” Mo Xiao Sheng did not mind the sarcasm in Cheng Peng Xuan’s voice and readily admitted his intentions.
“Brother Yan, what use does this Star Emperor Token have now that its Divine Ability has been used up?” Someone asked.
Yan Pei calmly answered, “Although the Divine Ability in this Star Emperor Token has already been expended, the token itself is by no means useless; after all, it is a treasure personally refined by the Starry Sky Great Emperor. Without even mentioning the remaining Emperor Pressure inside that one can meditate on and gain inspiration from, just the material this token is refined from is beyond the understanding of my Treasure Trove Pavilion. Perhaps others know of even more uses for this Star Emperor Token.”
“That being said, the value of this Star Emperor Token is still not too high. What, may I ask, does Brother Yan want in exchange for it?” Mo Xiao Sheng asked after he pondered over the matter for a moment. Even if the Divine Ability of this Star Emperor Token had already been used, the token still retained tremendous research value, so Mo Xiao Sheng was certainly not willing to miss an opportunity to acquire it.
Many other masters had similar thoughts to him, some of them echoing Mo Xiao Sheng’s sentiments, “Yes, Brother Yan, with all of Shadowed Star’s great Sects here, there’s a good chance one of us has what you want. Please tell us what your friend is seeking, perhaps one of our Sects will have it in our treasuries!”
Yang Pei shook his head lightly, “What my old friend wants in exchange for this is not something easily found!”
This made sense. If whatever this person wanted was easy to find, with the strength and connections of Treasure Trove Pavilion, this Star Emperor Token would have long ago landed in their pockets. So, although there were many people gathered here, Yan Pei did not have much confidence he could help his old friend acquire what they wanted.
“Well, what is it then? Out with it!” Cheng Peng Xuan said impatiently.
“A Flowing Flame Flying Fire!” Yan Pei revealed the answer.
“Your friend actually wants a Flowing Flame Flying Fire?”
“Where are we supposed to find such a thing?”
“The previous Flowing Flame Sand Field opening was over four hundred years ago, and although it opened again just a few years ago, I haven’t heard of any Sect whose disciple managed to obtain one by luck.”
…..
The auction hall instantly became noisy.
Some masters inquired if this Star Emperor Token could be exchanged for other valuable materials. Some others even proposed purchasing it with Saint Crystals. However, Old Black Face Yan just swung his head like a rattle and repeatedly said, “Forgive me, but this Star Emperor Token is not my Treasure Trove Pavilion’s thing, it was only entrusted to this Yan to exchange specifically for a Flowing Flame Flying Fire. Of course, if there is anyone who can inform this Yan about the location of a pool of Soul Cleansing Divine Water, that will also be acceptable!”
“Soul Cleansing Divine Water, Brother Yan must be joking. If any of us knew where such a treasure was, we would already have enjoyed it for ourselves. How could we possibly exchange it for a useless Star Emperor Token?”
Many of the masters present felt deeply annoyed, thinking that the owner of this Star Emperor Token was being too unreasonable. If they possessed a Flowing Flame Flying Fire, exchanging it for this Star Emperor Token wouldn’t count as a loss, but Soul Cleansing Divine Water was known as one of the Star Field’s Three Great Divine Waters and its value was immeasurable. No fool would exchange it for a used Star Emperor Token.
Inside private room B-13 on the other hand, Yang Kai and Yang Yan looked at each other with strange expressions.
While no one else might have a Flowing Flame Flying Fire, Yang Kai did!
Last time, in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Yang Kai obtained a total of nine Flowing Flame Flying Fires, and besides the few he used and the two he gave Yang Yan, he still had three left. Yang Kai was thinking about finding time to refine them to enhance the power of his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, but having been busy with so many other things, he simply had not gotten around to it.
Never had he expected that these Flowing Flame Flying Fires would suddenly come in handy like this.
Yang Kai was no stranger to Star Emperor Tokens as he already possessed two of them. One of these two was given to him by the Origin King Realm master Gui Zu while the other he had found deep inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field. However, the one given to him by Gui Zu actually still possessed its stored Divine Ability while the one from the Flowing Flame Sand Field was the same as the one Yan Pei now held, devoid of the Starry Sky Great Emperor’s power.
“Should I trade for it?” Yang Kai muttered to himself, his expression a little hesitant. Regarding this exchange, he was qualified to make it, but he felt that trading a Flowing Flame Flying Fire for a useless Star Emperor Token wasn’t quite worth it.
“You should!” Yang Yan firmly declared.
“Oh? Why?” Yang Kai looked at her curiously.
“I don’t know, but I have a vague feeling that these Star Emperor Tokens are useful for more than just the Divine Ability sealed inside of them. It must have other valuable secrets.”
This token possessing other secrets was a distinct possibility; however, to exchange for it, there probably wasn’t a need to use a Flowing Flame Flying Fire. Yang Kai had some guesses about what the other party really wanted in exchange for this Star Emperor Token, but he could not be sure yet. Regardless, each Flowing Flame Flying Fire was of great use to him for enhancing his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, so if there was a chance to save it, Yang Kai was willing to try.
Considering all this, Yang Kai nodded gently and prepared to make an exchange.
Atop the high platform in the centre of the auction hall, Yan Pei waited for half a stick of incense, but after seeing that no one was willing or able to make this exchange, he couldn’t help showing a look of disappointment, “It seems that none of you have a Flowing Flame Flying Fire or news of a pool of Soul Cleansing Divine Water. Alright. Very well, that is all, thank you all again for attending this auction!”
Saying so, he turned away and left.
Although the masters from the various great forces very much wanted to acquire the Star Emperor Token, since none of them could meet the request of the token’s owner, they could only shake their heads and sigh. They had no intention to snatch this token either; first of all, the Divine Ability it contained had already been used rendering it mostly useless, but more importantly, doing so would highly offend Treasure Trove Pavilion which made it not worth it.
Soon, the cultivators in the auction hall withdrew, but when Yang Kai glanced around the hall curiously, he suddenly discovered that Lu Ye had at some point disappeared.
It appeared that even he knew he had shown off too much of his wealth and drawn too much attention to himself, making it dangerous for him to remain, thus he quickly and quietly left. Yang Kai snorted and no longer paid any attention to the issue. In any case, the grievance between him and Lu Ye would be resolved sooner or later, so Yang Kai wasn’t in a rush. Standing up, he turned to Qing’er and said, “Take me to see Senior Yan, I have something I want to discuss with him.”
“Yes!” Qing’er nodded, not asking any questions before leading the way.
Although Yang Kai had only bid on one item this auction, that alone was enough to prove his extraordinary wealth. On top of that, when he had arrived at Treasure Trove Pavilion, Qing’er saw Yan Pei take the initiative to speak to Yang Kai and Yang Yan, indicating that the two of them weren’t strangers. As such, Qing’er knew that Yang Kai was qualified to meet with Yan Pei.
Just after leaving private room B-13, Yang Kai felt two subtle Divine Senses sweep over him, causing him to pause for a moment before he continued following after Qing’er casually.
Although he couldn’t trace who was spying on him, Yang Kai had a fairly good guess.
No doubt it was Old Woman Feng from Myriad Beast Mountain and Jin Shi from Demon Blood Temple. During the auction, the one time Yang Kai bid on something he had been competing against these two, and now it seemed they had not given up on acquiring the Profound Gold.
Sneering dismissively in his heart, Yang Kai didn’t show anything on his face.
The Divine Senses that spied on him just now had come and gone rapidly, without showing any other intentions. After a while, Yang Kai arrived at one of Treasure Trove Pavilion’s back rooms and sat down to wait.
About half a cup of tea’s worth of time later, Old Black Face Yan Pei opened the door with a smile, walked in, and greeted, “Little Friend Yang.”
“Greetings, Senior Yan!” Yang Kai got up and cupped his fists.
“You are very courteous, please have a seat,” Yan Pei gestured before walking over to a chair opposite Yang Kai, sitting down, and asking, “Does Little Friend Yang have a matter he needs this old master’s assistance with?”
“Senior Yan thoughts are indeed sharp. This Junior does have something he wishes to ask Senior Yan to assist him with,” Yang Kai grinned and added, “En, to be precise, I want to borrow the strength of your noble establishment.”
“Please go on. However, please keep in mind that my Treasure Trove Pavilion’s primary objective is to earn profit, so even though this old master is happy to help Little Friend Yang, you will still have to pay a certain amount of Saint Crystals. Additionally, Treasure Trove Pavilion and this old master do not accept requests that require killing or pillaging.”
“Junior naturally understands this and has no intention of violating Treasure Trove Pavilion’s principles.”
“Very well!” Yan Pei nodded in satisfaction.
“En, Junior would like to request Treasure Trove Pavilion look for a precious treasure of the Earth Attribute.”
“An Earth Attribute precious treasure?” Yan Pei raised his brow as he observed Yang Kai and smiled meaningfully, “Today, Little Friend Yang spared no expense to obtain a piece of Profound Gold, and now you come requesting my Treasure Trove Pavilion search for an Earth Attribute precious treasure… could it be Little Friend Yang is trying to cultivate some kind of profound Secret Technique?”
[This old fox!] Yang Kai secretly cursed. Around sharp and well informed people like Yan Pei, one needed to be extra careful with how they spoke as anything one said may give away precious information. However, even though the other party had guessed his purpose, Yang Kai wasn’t about to foolishly admit to anything and instead just smiled, “Senior Yan, in addition to collecting treasures from around the world, could it be Treasure Trove Pavilion is really responsible for prying into others’ private information?”
During the auction that was just held, Old Woman Feng of Myriad Beast Mountain had said something to similar effect, so now Yang Kai taking advantage of her words couldn’t be considered as offensive.
Yan Pei gawked for a moment before letting out a chuckle, “This old master was simply asking casually. Little Friend Yang does not need to explain his purpose, of course. However, I must ask Little Friend Yang for a few more specifics so that this old master and Treasure Trove Pavilion will be able to determine a direction and objective for our search. There is even a chance we may have what Little Friend Yang needs in our storehouses already.”
“My specific requirements are that the scale of this treasure must be no lower than a Tenth-Order Monster Beast core!”
“A Tenth-Order Monster Beast core…” Yan Pei narrowed his eyes as he stared at Yang Kai with some shock. Although he had some speculations, he hadn’t expected Yang Kai’s request to be so great. If this was the case, then the items Treasure Trove Pavilion currently had in storage would not be able to meet Yang Kai’s request; after all, a Tenth-Order Monster Beast was equivalent to an Origin King Realm master. It was impossible to find such an existence on Shadowed Star.
“It need not be a Monster Core, any treasure which is of equivalent scale to a Tenth-Order Monster Beast Core will do,” Yang Kai added.
“Alright. This request will be somewhat difficult to fulfil, so this old master doesn’t dare make any guarantees. I can only say that Treasure Trove Pavilion will do its best. Of course, Little Friend Yang should not remain idle himself, perhaps with enough opportunity Little Friend Yang will be able to obtain what he wants on his own.”
“Junior naturally understands this,” Yang Kai gently nodded. Of course he wasn’t going to place all his hopes on Treasure Trove Pavilion. This time, him coming to see Yan Pei was primarily to discuss the Star Emperor Token, the Earth Attribute treasure was simply a side-note.
Thinking this way, Yang Kai moved the conversation forward, “Right, Senior Yan, the Star Emperor Token you took out a moment ago…”
“What’s wrong, do you want to exchange for it?” Yan Pei put down the tea he was drinking when he suddenly heard Yang Kai mentioning the Star Emperor Token, raising his brow and asking hurriedly, as if he was quite anxious to make this deal.
This came as a great surprise to Yang Kai; after all, according to Yan Pei, he was only acting on behalf of a mysterious old friend. Seeing Yan Pei act so urgently though, showed that the relationship between this powerful master and Yan Pei was not shallow, otherwise how could this Old Black Face act so urgently?
“Good, this Junior is interested in this exchange!” Yang Kai nodded thoughtfully.
“You have a Flowing Flame Flying Fire?” Yan Pei’s eyes widened as he asked excitedly.
Yang Kai, however, shook his head.
Yan Pei frowned for a moment but was immediately startled and shouted, “Then you know where to find Soul Cleansing Divine Water?”
“I don’t,” Yang Kai still shook his head. Soul Cleansing Divine Water could not be carried away from its source, hence it could only be used where it was found. If this wasn’t the case, when the pond of Soul Cleansing Divine Water was found in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Qu Chang Feng, Leng Qing, and all the others would have long ago divided it up and taken it away, there would have been no need to soak in that pool at all.
Seeing him repeatedly deny having the required items for this exchange, even though Yan Pei had a good impression of Yang Kai, he still couldn’t help his face from sinking as he asked lightly, “Little Friend Yang, are you intentionally making trouble for this old master? Only these two items can be exchanged for that Star Emperor Token, but since you have neither a Flowing Flame Flying Fire nor information about Soul Cleansing Divine Water, why would you bring up this topic?”
“Please calm yourself, Senior!” Yang Kai smiled lightly, not showing the slightest signs of panic as he explained, “If it is convenient, could you allow this Junior to speak directly with the Senior who made this request? Junior guarantees he will not disappoint him.”
Seeing how calm Yang Kai looked, Yan Pei couldn’t help wondering where the former’s confidence came from.
If it were someone else, Yan Pei would have already asked them to leave, but Yang Kai’s origins were quite profound. According to his investigations, Yang Pei knew that Yang Kai actually came to Shadowed Star from the outside world. Perhaps he would have some means or methods that locals of Shadowed Star didn’t possess that were comparable in effect to Soul Cleansing Divine Water or a Flowing Flame Flying Fire.
Considering all this, Yan Pei’s complexion eased but he still stated calmly, “Since that is the case, I will call him over, but Little Friend Yang, you’d best have enough assurance of success.”
“Is one hundred percent assurance enough?” Yang Kai grinned confidently.
This was not an exaggeration on Yang Kai’s part, for even if his speculations were wrong, he still had Flowing Flame Flying Fires on him; it was simply that he didn’t want to exchange them unless forced to do so.
Yan Pei’s mouth twitched slightly when he heard this but did not say any nonsense, instead immediately taking out a communication artifact, pouring in his Divine Sense, exchanging a few words with someone, then quietly waiting.
Less than half an incense stick worth of time later, a knock came at the door.
“Come in!” Yan Pei shouted.
The door was pushed open immediately and a man walked inside. This man looked young but the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes showed that he was not as young as he appeared.
What was more eye-catching though was this man’s peculiar looking face. He had two thin eyes that seemed to almost be closed as well as puffy cheeks and rounded ears, making him look a bit like a monkey. Additionally, his arms were somewhat long, his hands somewhat big. However, of all his odd features, it was his two buck teeth that drew the most attention.
Yang Kai’s first impression of this person was wild.
After recovering from his initial shock, Yang Kai swept this man with his Divine Sense and was shocked to discover that he was only a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator.
This was the man Yan Pei called an old friend?
[Why does he look like a common thug from the city backstreets?] Yang Kai almost spat out his tea, and even Yang Yan who was sitting next to him couldn’t help covering her mouth with her small hands, trying hard to suppress her shock and laughter.
Yan Pei lightly coughed and broke the silence, “There’s no need for suspicion, this is a disciple of my old friend. It is a little inconvenient for my old friend to appear in public, so the Star Emperor Token was brought to exchange this time by him.”
Yang Kai showed a look of understanding. If this wild looking man was the disciple of a powerful mysterious master, having such a cultivation at such an age was reasonable.
“Senior Yan, you wanted to see me?” The bucktoothed man didn’t seem to put Yang Kai or Yang Yan in his eyes at all and instead directly asked Yan Pei upon entering.
“En,” Yan Pei gently nodded.
The other party looked delighted and asked, “Is there news about the proposed exchange?”
“Something like that,” Yan Pei didn’t know how to answer, and his words caused a look of surprise to appear on this bucktoothed man’s face. Fortunately, Yan Pei moved the conversation along quickly by pointing to Yang Kai and explaining, “This Little Friend Yang Kai, he says he can satisfy Nephew Ge’s requirements, but that he wished to speak with you face-to-face first. This old master is only responsible for introducing the two of you, as for what comes next, that will be up to you to discuss.”
“Satisfy my requirements?” The bucktoothed cultivator turned his head and looked at Yang Kai for the first time, a strong look of suspicion and disdain flashing across his eyes.
After all, Yang Kai was just a Third-Order Saint King, and although this bucktoothed man was only a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, it was not an exaggeration to say most Second-Order Origin Realm masters were not his opponent, so naturally, he felt a sense of superiority.
Without sparing Yang Kai a second glance, he turned his eyes to Yang Yan.
In that instant, the face of this bucktoothed cultivator changed dramatically, as if he had just seen something impossible, causing him to stumble backwards involuntarily, directly bumping into the door he just walked through with a loud thud. With a look of shock and fear, his slit eyes shot open as he lifted his finger and pointed at Yang Yan while muttering, “You… you you…”
“Nephew Ge, what’s wrong?” Yan Pei looked at him in amazement before glancing back at Yang Yan, not knowing why he suddenly looked like he had seen a ghost.
Yang Kai was also suspicious and quietly asked Yang Yan, “Do you know him?”
Yang Yan shook her head blankly and replied, “I’ve never seen him.”
“Could he have mistaken you for someone else?” Yang Kai became even more confused. Although Yang Yan had reached an astonishing height in the fields of Artifact Refining and Spirit Array arranging, she had always maintained a temperate personality and shouldn’t have made any enemies. However, from the reaction of this bucktoothed cultivator, it was clear that the other party was absolutely terrified of Yang Yan, as if he had suffered a massive loss at her hands before, ingraining fear of her into his very soul.
“Nephew Ge!” Yan Pei called out loudly, sending an invisible pulse of Spiritual Energy to the bucktoothed cultivator which forcefully shook him out of his shock.
Under the effects of this pulse, the fear in the eyes of this cultivator surnamed Ge faded significantly, but his forehead was still saturated with cold sweat and his face visibly turned from blue to white.
[What is this all about?] Yang Kai muttered to himself unhappily. Even if this person had suffered some kind of loss at Yang Yan’s hands before, did he need to act so miserably when simply meeting her again? What’s more, Yang Yan clearly said she didn’t recognize this man, so it was quite likely the other party had simply mistaken her for someone else.
Acting so frightened for such a reason, it seemed this bucktoothed man was just an embroidered pillow. Yang Kai coldly snorted and could not help looking down on this man.
Finally recovering somewhat, the cultivator surnamed Ge continually wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hands. Unfortunately, both his hands quickly became soaked, he next resorted to using his sleeves, soaking them in short order as well.
While wiping his sweat, he kept glancing over at Yang Yan, but he never stared at her for more than a moment, quickly looking away in fear and awe.
Seeing this, Yang Yan pursed her lips and smiled, suddenly finding this person quite interesting. Immediately grinning widely, she stared at this man fixedly with her pair of beautiful eyes, and under her intense gaze, this cultivator surnamed Ge’s legs slowly began trembling and his eyes began darting around, as if he couldn’t wait to find a hole to crawl into or a way to quickly flee from this place.
Seeing this disgraceful display, Yan Pei did not know whether to laugh or cry and quickly called out, “Nephew Ge, we should continue our discussion.”
The cultivator surnamed Ge seemed like he wanted to laugh but was only able to squeeze out a smile that was uglier than if he had been crying and stutteringly asked Yang Yan, “Dare I ask this young lady’s high… no no, honoured name!”
Just speaking this sentence alone seemed to use up all his strength and after he finished, he anxiously began gulping.
Yan Pei rubbed his forehead seeing this, as he was struck speechless.
He knew a little bit about this disciple of his old friend and understood that this bucktoothed man had secluded himself from the world along with his master, but although that meant his life experience wasn’t great, his cultivation aptitude was Heaven defying. It was for this reason that even as a First-Order Origin Realm cultivator, this bucktoothed man could defeat enemies above his realm, making him an elite amongst the elite.
This time, his old friend had assigned this task to his disciple, and any troubles this bucktoothed man had encountered along the way were solved with overwhelming force.
This cultivator surnamed Ge was by no means a timid person. Despite his appearance being somewhat dreadful, he was without a doubt bold and imposing. Yan Pei even intended to ask his old friend to let this cultivator surnamed Ge take up an important position in Treasure Trove Pavilion.
All of this was why the scene Yan Pei was seeing was so unbelievable. Even if this little girl was hiding some kind of astonishing methods, there was no need for this bucktoothed man to act so scared, was there? What’s more, this little girl appeared harmless to humans and animals alike.
“Me?” Yang Yan smiled lightly and charmingly, making this cultivator surnamed Ge not dare look at her directly, “My name is Yang Yan. Is there something Your Excellency would like to say to me?”
“Yang Yan…” The cultivator surnamed Ge trembled visibly and nearly collapsed onto his butt, muttering this name repeatedly to himself before suddenly straightening himself up, cupping his fists, and bowing deeply, “This one doesn’t dare. My name is Ge Qi, but please just call me Xiao Qi.”
As he spoke, Ge Qi put on his best flattering smile, but with his great buck teeth it only made him look more dreadful than before.
“Xiao Qi!” Yang Yan gently nodded, hiding her smile and replacing it with a noble expression as she lightly called out, “Xiao Qi.”
“Yes!” Ge Qi responded quickly, bowing nearly parallel to the floor.
“Am I that ugly?” Yang Yan seemed to ask casually.
This remark boomed like a thunderbolt on the sunny day in Ge Qi’s ears, causing his face to pale greatly as he frantically waved his hand, “No, no, Young Lady’s appearance shames the moon and flowers alike, in no way related to the word ugly.”
“Is that so?” Yang Yan raised her brow and pressed the issue, “Then why did it seem like you saw a ghost when you first laid eyes upon me? I began to think my appearance was frightful.”
Ge Qi became more and more terrified as he teetered on the verge of crying, “That’s not true, Young Lady is, is…”
“Is what?” Yang Yan asked in a forceful manner as she suddenly gave off a dignified and majestic aura.
This scene caused both Yang Kai and Yan Pei to stare in shock, because the majesty Yang Yan was suddenly radiating was not something one could simply fake, but instead carried with it a kind of overwhelming pressure that made one unconsciously wish to submit. At that moment, even Yan Pei felt as if Yang Yan stood at a height far beyond his own.
Under this invisible coercion, Ge Qi became even more miserable as his knees gave out and he collapsed to the ground. Fortunately, before he could hit the floor, Yan Pei waved his hand and managed to hold him up before lightly coughing and turning to Yang Kai. “Little Friend Yang, this…”
Yang Kai gently nodded and glared at Yang Yan, “Don’t make trouble!”
Regardless of anything else, Ge Qi was still a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, so although Yang Kai did not know why he was so afraid of Yang Yan, he couldn’t allow her to continue playing tricks on him.
Yang Yan spat out her tongue playfully and pouted, “Who asked him to be so timid?”
[Timid…] Yan Pei smiled wryly, this disciple of his old friend could not be described as timid, it was just today that he had acted in such a strange fashion. As for why this was all happening, Yan Pei had no ideas.
“Brother Ge!” Yang Kai stood up and cupped his fists slightly to Ge Qi, putting a smile on his face as he said, “My Senior Sister is a bit mischievous and likes making jokes, I hope Brother Ge will not take offence.”
“Senior Sister?” Ge Qi froze for a moment before the look he directed towards Yang Kai swiftly changed, all of the contempt and disdain vanishing as he nodded vigorously, “I wouldn’t dare. This friend is too polite.”
Yang Kai scratched his forehead helplessly. He could see that in front of Yang Yan this Ge Qi was like a mouse that ran into a cat. Pondering for a moment, Yang Kai proposed, “Yang Yan, could you go out first? I want to speak with Brother Ge about something.”
“Oh?” Hearing this, Yang Yan pouted with displeasure.
“There’s no need!” Ge Qi quickly waved his hand again, as if making Yang Yan wait outside for him was a sin worthy of death.
Yang Yan also secretly began feeling a headache. She had just wanted to tease this person a little bit, but now seeing him act so submissive and frantic, even she felt a bit apologetic.
Seeing Ge Qi looking at him with an almost imploring look, Yang Kai smiled bitterly and gave a glance at Yang Yan. Yang Yan understood what he meant and quickly concealed her face with her black robe and sat back quietly.
Seeing this, Ge Qi exhaled heavily.
“Brother Ge, please sit down,” Yang Kai greeted with a smile.
Ge Qi looked at Yan Pei for direction, and seeing him nod gently, he hesitantly sat down. His appearance remained that of a Junior meeting his Elders, and even though he was sitting, his muscles were taut, fully illustrating his continued anxiety.
Yang Kai and Yan Pei both saw this clearly but neither of them commented on it.
“From what Senior Yan has said, it seems that the Star Emperor Token that appeared earlier was brought here by Brother Ge, yes?” Yang Kai asked Ge Qi.
“Yes,” Ge Qi nodded bitterly while quietly glancing over at Yang Yan before for some reason taking the initiative to explain, “If not for having no choice, my Martial Ancestor would never have taken this Star Emperor Token to use in an exchange, but currently, we simply have no other options. Please understand this, Brother Yang, Sister Yang Yan.”
After hearing this, Yang Kai seemed to suddenly understand something that, if true, would explain Ge Qi’s inexplicable actions up until now.
“And what Brother Ge wants in exchange for this Star Emperor Token is a Flowing Flame Flying Fire or the whereabouts of Soul Cleansing Divine Water?” Yang Kai asked again.
“Yes!” Ge Qi nodded cautiously.
“Although this Yang made Senior Yan call Brother Ge here, I should mention up front that I have neither a Flowing Flame Flying Fire nor information about Soul Cleansing Divine Water.”
“That’s fine,” Ge Qi said completely earnestly, “If Brother Yang wants this Star Emperor Token, please just allow this Ge to report about this matter to my Martial Ancestor. If Ancestor agrees, delivering it to Brother Yang… and Sister Yang Yan should not be a problem.”
“Eh…” Yang Kai looked at Ge Qi in amazement before quickly waving his hand, “This Yang did not mean to imply that. Although this Star Emperor Token’s Divine Ability has already been used, it is still a treasure refined personally by the Starry Sky Great Emperor and is of extraordinary value. This Yang has no intention of receiving it for free. What I wished to ask from the start was, could Brother Ge’s Martial Ancestor have a problem with their Knowledge Sea?”
After listening to Yang Kai’s inquiry, Yan Pei’s eyes flashed in surprise, finding it quite astonishing that Yang Kai was able to make this kind of connection. As an old friend to this mysterious master, Yan Pei naturally knew why the other party would resort to trading this Star Emperor Token at this time.
More surprising though was that Ge Qi openly admitted this with a nod, “Brother Yang is correct. My Martial Ancestor was plotted against by a wicked enemy half a year ago and had her Knowledge Sea poisoned, which is why I need a Flowing Flame Flying Fire or Soul Cleansing Divine Water, because according to Martial Ancestor, only these two things are capable of detoxifying this poison.”
“So, that’s how it is!” Yang Kai nodded confidently before reaching out, touching his Space Ring, and taking out a jade bottle which he handed to Ge Qi, “Although I do not have a Flowing Flame Flying Fire or information on a pool of Soul Cleansing Divine Water, Brother Ge may wish to see if this pill meets the requirements of your Martial Ancestor.”
Even after conversing a bit, Ge Qi’s expression was still filled with caution, but his emotions had at least stabilized somewhat, so after directing a somewhat suspicious look towards Yang Kai, he nodded and accepted the jade bottle.
Ge Qi carefully opened the bottle and was instantly hit with a delicate medicinal fragrance that caused his furrowed brow to stretch as a look of surprise filled his face because the moment he inhaled this pill fragrance, he felt his soul become somewhat refreshed.
Pouring out the pill from its bottle, Ge Qi’s eyes instantly bulged.
“This is…” Yan Pei, who was sitting to the side, also straightened up, his eyes fixed on this pill, his expression filled with shock and disbelief.
Although Ge Qi had secluded himself from the world with his Martial Ancestor for many years, he was still an Origin Realm cultivator and was able to judge the quality of treasures.
Meanwhile, as the chief auctioneer of Treasure Trove Pavilion, Yan Pei had seen many valuables during his life, so his vision was naturally quite extraordinary.
The two of them instantly recognized how extraordinary this pill was.
“An Origin Grade High-Rank pill?” Yan Pei called out in alarm, paying no heed to his age or status as he quickly snatched the pill from Ge Qi’s hands and held it in his own to investigate it.
“It really is an Origin Grade High-Rank pill?” Ge Qi asked in disbelief.
“Yes! It is indeed an Origin Grade High-Rank pill! This colour, this fragrance, the medicinal efficacy stored inside it, there’s no doubt it is an Origin Grade High-Rank pill!” Yan Pei shouted.
Yan Pei could not be blamed for his extreme reaction as, on Shadowed Star, Origin Grade High-Rank pills were legendary existences. Here, the highest grade of Alchemist was Origin Grade Low-Rank; it was impossible to advance beyond that. It was also well known that when an Alchemist refined pills, there was a high chance of failure, so even those Origin Grade Low-Rank Alchemists didn’t dare claim they had a one hundred percent chance to refine an Origin Grade Low-Rank pill.
On occasion, with extremely good luck and some auxiliary methods, these Alchemists could refine an Origin Grade Mid-Rank pill, each one of them selling for an incredible price or more often hidden away by the force which refined it to ensure the outside world never learned of its existence
But an Origin Grade High-Rank pill… To put it bluntly, with the level of Alchemy on Shadowed Star, no one was capable of refining one.
Over its many years of existence, Treasure Trove Pavilion had managed to obtain a handful of pills of this grade, but without exception, they were found in Ancient Ruins and had already lost most of their medicinal efficacies. Only once had one such pill which was still in relatively good condition been taken to auction and Yan Pei vividly remembered how all the great forces on Shadowed Star had competed madly for it, almost resulting in war.
During that Treasure Trove Pavilion auction, many had almost lost their lives, and whenever he thought back to that day, Yan Pei could not help trembling.
Now, after so many years, another Origin Grade High-Rank pill had appeared in front of his eyes. No matter what kind of effect this pill had, its value was inestimable.
However, since Yang Kai had taken this pill out at this time, Yan Pei had a fairly good idea about what effects it had.
“This is a Soul Cleansing Pill, perhaps Senior Yan has heard of it,” Yang Kai smiled lightly before taking a sip of his tea.
“Soul Cleansing Pill, it really is a Soul Cleansing Pill!” Yan Pei exclaimed, “This is the perfect pill for this situation!”
“Senior Yan, do you mean…” Ge Qi turned to look at Yan Pei and asked hesitantly.
“Take it,” Yan Pei poured the Soul Cleansing Pill in his hand back into its jade bottle and threw it to Ge Qi, “This Soul Cleansing Pill is enough to resolve Nephew Ge’s crisis. Although its effects are not as profound as Soul Cleansing Divine Water or a Flowing Flame Flying Fire, it is actually better suited to your need.”
“Really?” Ge Qi was overjoyed.
“You think this old master will deceive you?” Yan Pei snorted, “The reason why Nephew Ge didn’t try to exchange for such a pill was presumably because you didn’t believe an Origin Grade High-Rank pill would exist in this world and thus settled on using a Flowing Flame Flying Fire or Soul Cleansing Divine Water, but this pill’s effects are perfect to your Martial Ancestor’s condition. Nephew Ge is truly lucky.”
Ge Qi heard this, and his face filled with joy, quickly and carefully storing this Soul Cleansing Pill into his Space Ring before profusely thanking Yang Kai.
“Brother Ge is too polite, we both simply exchanged for what we wanted,” Yang Kai smiled and waved his hand. This Soul Cleansing Pill was, of course, something he refined during his last retreat. During his last seclusion, Yang Kai had refined many pills, but only a few of them were Origin Grade High-Rank, one of them just so happened to be this Soul Cleansing Pill though.
During the auction, when Yan Pei said that the owner of this Star Emperor Token wanted to exchange it for a Flowing Flame Flying Fire or the whereabouts of a pool of Soul Cleansing Divine Water, Yang Kai had guessed that the other party was suffering some kind of problem with their Knowledge Sea, and if that was the case, this Soul Cleansing Pill would no doubt be the best solution to use.
Accepting the Soul Cleansing Pill, Ge Qi naturally handed the Star Emperor Token over to Yang Kai. Examining it slightly, Yang Kai found that it was no different from the Star Emperor Token he obtained in the Flowing Flame Sand Field last time and simply tossed it into his Space Ring.
Having completed his task, Ge Qi could not wait to leave this place and return to his Martial Ancestor to deliver the Soul Cleansing Pill.
Before leaving though, Ge Qi solemnly cupped his fists and said, “If Martial Ancestor recovers, we will surely come to express our gratitude. At that time, I hope Sister Yang Yan will not refuse our visit!”
Having said what he needed to say, he nodded to Yan Pei before hurrying off.
Inside the room, Yang Kai rubbed his nose as he turned a somewhat confused look towards Yan Pei. Ge Qi’s words before leaving had been quite meaningful, imply that his Martial Ancestor would pay a visit to Yang Yan rather than Yang Kai; it was all quite intriguing.
“Senior Yan, this Brother Ge…”
“Little friend does not need to inquire, if my old friend really comes to visit, you will naturally understand at that time. If they do not, then this old master will not reveal their identities. However, Little Friend Yang should know that although my old friend has been in seclusion for many years, she has an incredibly resounding name and status!” Yan Pei smiled lightly and inscrutably before suddenly asking in a low voice, “Yes, Little Friend Yang, about that Soul Cleansing Pill…”
Yang Kai, of course, knew what Yan Pei was thinking and quickly shook his head, “That was the only one.”
Obviously, Yan Pei would not believe him so easily, but instead of continuing to struggle, he gave Yang Kai a thoughtful look, “Was this pill something Little Friend Yang obtained by chance?”
“Yeah,” Yang Kai nodded, “Senior Yan should know about my origins, but even in the outside world, Origin Grade High-Rank pills are rare treasures, so I’m afraid I must disappoint you.”
“So that’s how it is,” Yan Pei sighed and smiled, “Very well, if Little Friend Yang ever finds such a good pill again, please consider bringing it to Treasure Trove Pavilion to auction, I guarantee the price will definitely satisfy you.”
“Certainly,” Yang Kai replied casually.
Yan Pei chuckled, got up, and said, “Alright then, this old master will also do his best to search for the thing Little Friend Yang asked about. If I do find an Earth Attribute treasure of appropriate grade, I will inform you as soon as possible.”
“Many thanks, Senior Yan.” Yang Kai also stood up, “This Junior will take his leave then.”
After exiting Treasure Trove Pavilion, Yang Kai cast a curious look towards Yang Yan, secretly wondering what this mysterious woman had done before he met her and why Ge Qi seemed to be so frightened and cautious around her.
However, he truly had no clues to work with. Yang Yan had always been quite a mystery, and the more he was around her, the more Yang Kai was unable to see through her.
The one thing Yang Kai could be sure of though was that Yang Yan had no malicious intent towards him, allowing him to relax.
“Yang Kai, it seems that someone is observing us,” Yang Yan suddenly whispered once they left Heavenly Fate City.
“Oh?” Hearing this, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense immediately and soon realized that there was indeed someone hidden nearby, but the cultivation level of this person was not too high, only reaching the First-Order Origin Returning Realm. On top of that, it was not just one person but a group of people.
Although it was clear these people didn’t have good intentions, Yang Kai couldn’t sense any murderous intent from them, so after a little bit of thought, he immediately understood who they were and smiled lightly as he said, “Don’t worry about them, this area is still within Heavenly Fate City’s jurisdiction, they won’t dare attack us. Let us head back first.”
Saying so, he flew off towards Dragon Cave Mountain with Yang Yan.
A moment later, the two landed outside the Mountain Defending Array and Yang Kai said to Yang Yan, “You go back first, I’ll talk to them here.”
“Understood,” Yang Yan nodded, not saying another word as she walked forward. The defensive array obviously could not block Yang Yan in the slightest and it wasn’t long before her figure disappeared completely.
After Yang Yan left, Yang Kai turned around with a smile on his face and called out loudly, “After following me all this way, you’re still not coming out?”
No response came.
Yang Kai was not surprised by this though and just continued smiling, “Since you don’t want to come out, I will say goodbye here.”
Seeing that Yang Kai really intended to leave, the cultivators who had hidden finally could not contain themselves. On his left, with a series of ripples, a group of six people appeared while on the right, in a flash of light, another group roughly the same size appeared.
As soon as these two groups appeared, they began directing fierce glares laced with hostile intent at one another.
The group on the left were contaminated with a faint Monster Qi and their robes were embroidered with various birds and beasts. Needless to say, these people were from Myriad Beast Mountain as only disciples from Myriad Beast Mountain, who dealt with Monster Beast all day, would themselves have persistent Monster Qi on them.
As for the group of people on the right, although their cultivations were about the same as the group of the left, the vitality they exuded was clearly stronger, and a faint bloody smell lingered about their bodies.
Demon Blood Temple!
Yang Kai’s eyes fell on one person in particular on his right. Raising his brow slightly, Yang Kai cupped his fists and smiled, “Brother Deng, long time no see.”
This man smiled bitterly and showed a helpless look before returning the greeting, “Brother Yang is doing well it seems!”
The words spoken between these two clearly indicated that they were familiar with one another, causing the group from Myriad Beast Mountain on the left to frown slightly while Origin Returning Realm master who led the group of the right smiled and asked, “Do you know this little brother?”
“En,” Hearing his Elder’s question, the cultivator surnamed Deng nodded helplessly.
“Oh?” The Origin Returning Realm master grinned. “Since you know him, this will be easy to handle. Deng Ning, explain to this little brother here carefully about how Elder Jin Shi needs that Profound Gold. See if you can make him see reason.”
This Demon Blood Temple disciple was none other than Deng Ning, whom Yang Kai had met once before. When Yang Kai emerged from the Flowing Flame Sand Field, he happened to encounter this Deng Ning being chased down by two of his fellow Sect Brothers. After helping him conveniently, Yang Kai had acquired the Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique from Deng Ning. This Secret Technique’s power was immense and had helped Yang Kai quite a lot.
Later, Deng Ning had also brought Yang Kai to Demon Blood City, where he used a mixture of personal connections and contribution points to allow Yang Kai to use the Space Array to teleport to a city nearby Heavenly Fate City.
From their brief interaction, Yang Kai’s perception of Deng Ning was quite good. Although the Demon Blood Temple that Deng Ning belonged to had a rather poor reputation, that was not a problem when it came to private relationships.
Yang Kai had not expected Deng Ning to come to Heavenly Fate City this time though; but seeing how he was just part of a group from Demon Blood Temple, Yang Kai wasn’t about to blame him for following orders.
What’s more, the relationship he shared with Deng Ning wasn’t even on the level of friendship, so a minor event like this didn’t matter much, to begin with.
Receiving orders, Deng Ning turned a helpless look to Yang Kai, but before he could speak, Yang Kai simply raised his hand to stop him and declared, “Brother Deng need not say any more since this Profound Gold is of great use to me. I will not hand it over to anyone, please withdraw!”
The expression on the face of the Origin Realm master leading Demon Blood Temple’s group instantly became gloomy, but just as he was about to say something, a burly man over on Myriad Beast Mountain’s side let out a laugh, “Boy, don’t be in such a hurry to make a decision, you should first hear the price we’re offering. Although my Myriad Beast Mountain is not quite on par with Heaven Battling Union or Thunder Typhoon Sect, it is still a first-class Sect. I’m certain we can make you an offer you won’t be able to refuse.”
This man spoke casually, but the meaning of threat in his voice was not lost on anyone present.
The Demon Blood Temple Origin Returning Realm master immediately sneered, “Your tone is quite bold, what are you planning on offer? If you had enough capital from the beginning, why did you shrink back during the auction?”
The burly man leading Myriad Beast Mountain’s group just coldly snorted, not bothering to address the Demon Blood Temple man and instead stared directly at Yang Kai, his lips wriggling as he used his Divine Sense to send a message, “Boy, I can see you don’t lack Saint Crystals, otherwise you wouldn’t have offered such a high price back at the auction, but my Myriad Beast Mountain has our own unique means of bargaining. I can take responsibility here to offer you thirty Seventh-Order Monster Beasts and ten Eighth-Order Monster Beasts, with a method of controlling them of course, as long as you hand over that Profound Gold. En, your little hill here is not very broad, so if you were to have these Monster Beasts to help you guard it, it would become far more secure. I cannot make any guarantees, but such a force would be more than enough to deter most troubles. How about it?”
Objectively, this price was neither high nor low, but it was definitely not equal to the amount of Saint Crystals Yang Kai had paid; after all, Seventh-Order Monster Beasts were only equivalent to Saint Realm cultivators while Eighth-Order ones were on par with Saint Kings.
Myriad Beast Mountain clearly wanted to pick up a bargain here, but with all the layers of protection around Dragon Cave Mountain, what use would Yang Kai have for these few Monster Beasts?
So even if the other party had shown some slight sincerity, Yang Kai decisively shook his head.
The lead man from Myriad Beast Mountain frowned slightly but continued to bargain, “I can add five more Eighth-Order Monster Beasts, but that is as high as my Myriad Beast Mountain is willing to go, you best think hard about your answer!”
“I already said, this Profound Gold is mine now, I won’t be selling it for any price. Please withdraw,” Yang Kai looked at him lightly.
“Little brat, don’t refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! Don’t think I don’t dare flatten your tiny hill right here and now!” The burly man flew into a rage seeing Yang Kai bluntly refuse his face-saving offer.
Hearing his intimidation though, Yang Kai simply grinned, “Sure. I look forward to seeing how you plan to flatten my Dragon Cave Mountain!”
“You court death!” A murderous intent flashed across the eyes of the burly man, but soon, as if remembering something, he suddenly glanced over to his side to see the people from Demon Blood Temple staring at him happily, as if they couldn’t wait for him to attack.
This burly man immediately realized that once he took action, he would only be helping this group from Demon Blood Temple. Quickly pressing down his anger, the burly man sneered and stepped back, as if he was preparing to watch a good show.
He was unable to obtain the Profound Gold, but he was not going to help the Demon Blood Temple group obtain it by acting rashly. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to explain himself to Elder Feng when he returned.
Moreover, this place was too close to Heavenly Fate City, so he could not just kill at will. If this were not the case, how could he have been here in the first place? Old Woman Feng or Jin Shi would have already personally dealt with Yang Kai if they could settle things by force.
Because this area was technically still under Heavenly Fate City, and because they didn’t want to lower themselves to deal with a Junior, these two Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters had sent their respective disciples to negotiate with Yang Kai about this Profound Gold, hoping he would understand his limits and turn it over to one of them.
The Demon Blood Temple Origin Returning Realm master saw the man from Myriad Beast Mountain snickering towards him but didn’t back down, declaring out loud, “I don’t know what price this friend from Myriad Beast Mountain has offered you, but my Demon Blood Temple is willing to offer you twenty virgin Blood Slaves in exchange for that Profound Gold, what do you think?”
Having said this, he looked down at Yang Kai smugly, as if he could not imagine this young boy refusing such an offer.
When the group from Myriad Beast Mountain heard this, all of their faces changed greatly, with the burly man even drawing in a sharp breath as he shouted, “Twenty virgin Blood Slaves, your Temple is willing to go that far?!”
After he finished speaking, he turned a rather nervous look towards Yang Kai, worrying he might agree; after all, the temptation of twenty Virgin Blood Slaves was too great for most to refuse.
If Demon Blood Temple was willing to give himself such benefits, he would immediately betray Myriad Beast Mountain and join them instead.
“Heh heh, compared to allowing Elder Jin Shi’s Secret Technique to advance, what do twenty Blood Slaves count for?” The leader of the Demon Blood Temple’s group smiled slightly as he looked towards Yang Kai and said, “Only my Demon Blood Temple has the ability to train Blood Slaves on Shadowed Star, but by following a few special rituals, these Blood Slaves can be made to faithfully and whole-heartedly serve you until death. Each of the Blood Slaves you receive would also have their Primordial Yin intact which can help you significantly enhance your vitality.”
Saying so, he suddenly turned his eyes to a woman standing behind him and flashed an evil grin, “This is one of my Blood Slaves!”
Immediately after declaring so, he issued a stunning command, “Take off your clothes!”
The woman froze for a moment, her face turning pale and her tender body trembling lightly.
This woman’s face was beautiful and her figure was enchanting; moreover, probably due to cultivating some kind of Charm Technique, she gave off a kind of seductive aura that drew men’s eyes to her.
This woman’s cultivation was not low either, reaching the First-Order Saint King Realm; however, after listening to the orders of this Demon Blood Temple man, in full view of the public, she began to undress.
Biting her thin lip strongly, this woman’s face was completely white, making it obvious she was extremely unwilling, but she seemed incapable of disobeying this man’s orders.
As the sound of rustling clothes echoed through the air, the male disciples of Myriad Beast Mountain stared dumbfounded as they constantly made audible gulping noises while the few female disciples present eyes them with extreme scorn.
Finished removing her dress, the woman was soon left with just her undergarments covering her most sensitive places. Her skin was pure white, like warm jade, and there was an attractive lustre on her face, causing a primal reaction to stir in the men present, making it hard for them to keep their composure.
Seeing that she was actually on the verge of removing her undergarments as well, Yang Kai couldn’t help but frown while revealing a look of impatience as he said, “I’ll only say this one last time, I won’t hand this Profound Gold over to anyone, there’s no room for negotiation.”
Demon Blood Temple’s Origin Returning Realm master’s complexion changed slightly as he stared at Yang Kai and muttered in a low voice, “Do you really want to act so stubbornly, boy? You won’t even consider my offer?”
Yang Kai looked at him indifferently, too lazy to say anything more.
“Hmph, good, kids nowadays all think they are mightier than the Heavens, I hope you don’t regret your rashness!” The man sneered as he left his ruthless remark, no longer interested in engaging in any discussion with Yang Kai. Waving his hand, he quickly led the other Demon Blood Temple disciples away.
Before leaving, the female Blood Slave gently nodded to Yang Kai as she flashed a look of gratitude, grabbing her clothes which were on the ground and disappearing in the next moment.
Deng Ning also cupped his fists to Yang Kai somewhat apologetically before following after the others.
After the group from Demon Blood Temple withdrew, the burly man leading Myriad Beast Mountain’s group chuckled, “Boy, you’d best reconsider our offer. My previous offer still stands, once you’ve cleared your head, come find me in Heavenly Fate City.”
His face flashed a temperate look, as if all the unpleasantness from a moment ago had not happened.
Finished here, he too took his people away.
After temporarily resolving this issue, Yang Kai secretly frowned. He found that he had been making more and more enemies recently, but there was nothing he could do about it; after all, this Profound Gold had an important use to him, there was no way he could easily hand it over.
Dragon Cave Mountain was situated near Heavenly Fate City, so naturally, it fell under Shadow Moon Hall’s protection, and although they had agreed to not get involved in Yang Kai’s grievances with the Xie Family, if Myriad Beast Mountain and Demon Blood Temple were to openly attack Dragon Cave Mountain, Shadow Moon Hall wouldn’t just stand idly by.
As such, Yang Kai could ignore these two forces for the time being; however, a method to handle the Xie Family needed further consideration.
Originally, Yang Kai planned to handle the Xie Family after coming out of his latest seclusion, but now that he learned that Lu Ye was currently staying with the Xie Family and even Sea Heart Sect’s people had joined them, it was a bit difficult for Yang Kai to immediately take action.
The strength of Dragon Cave Mountain’s defence was unquestionable, but in terms of offensive power, it was indeed somewhat lacking. This matter needed further consideration. Yang Kai still dreaded Lu Ye, especially after seeing the other party had some mysterious method which allowed him to regrow his severed arm. Before he was able to completely understand Lu Ye’s capabilities, Yang Kai felt it was unwise to openly challenge him.
Thinking so, Yang Kai turned and walked into the Mountain Defending Array.
Yang Yan had not gone inside to rest but instead waited for him. Seeing Yang Kai return safe and sound, Yang Yan did not seem too surprised, instead just beckoning to him to walk towards the cave mansion.
Yang Kai smiled faintly before leisurely following after her.
Inside the cave mansion, the two sat face to face and Yang Yan reached out and said, “Show me that Star Emperor Token.”
Seemingly having known Yang Yan would say so, Yang Kai smiled slightly and handed the Star Emperor Token he obtained from Ge Qi to her.
Yang Yan accepted it and a slightly complex look appeared on her face as she gently stroked it. Her expression changed constantly as her eyes revealed a look of reminiscence.
Yang Kai sat to the side without interrupting.
After half an hour, the strange look upon Yang Yan’s face completely faded and she let out a long sigh, returning the Star Emperor Token to Yang Kai as she said, “Keep this thing safe, it may be of great use in the future.”
“Great use?” Yang Kai raised his brow, “What kind of use?”
“I don’t know,” Yang Yan shook her head slowly, “This is just my feeling, I can’t give you anything more than that; however, I can confirm that there is some secret hidden within this thing. It’s rumoured that the Great Emperor refined ten of these Star Emperor Tokens, so perhaps one needs to gather all ten pieces together to unravel that mystery.”
Saying so, Yang Yan let out a wry laugh, “But doing so is far too difficult. Obtaining a single Star Emperor Token can already be considered a once in a very lucky lifetime opportunity, how is one supposed to obtain all ten?”
“Really?” Yang Kai smiled strangely, “I have others.”
“What?” Yang Yan stared at him in amazement, her beautiful eyes going wide in the next moment as she stared at another Star Emperor Token that appeared in Yang Kai’s hands.
This Star Emperor Token was basically identical to the one exchanged by Ge Qi, with the Divine Ability which had been sealed inside already having been used. Both of these tokens had faint Emperor Pressure lingering on them, so it was clear they were genuine.
The surprise hadn’t ended yet though as Yang Kai raised his other hand and summoned another Star Emperor Token to it.
When Yang Yan saw this third Star Emperor Token, she couldn’t help covering her mouth as her beautiful eyes bulged in shock, hesitantly asking, “Could this be…”
This third Star Emperor Token was obviously different from the first two. Although their appearances were identical, this third one gave off a terrifying energy fluctuation, and with Yang Yan being so knowledgeable, how could she not understand what this implied?
“Yeah, this in an unused Star Emperor Token!” Yang Kai smiled lightly as he tossed it over to Yang Yan.
Yang Yan hurriedly caught it.
Just as she did though, something unexpected happened.
When that unused Star Emperor Token was caught by Yang Yan, a ripple of energy visible to the naked eye burst from it. At the same time, a resonant cry rang out, like the piercing call of a bird. Immediately after, an exotic looking cyan coloured bird with long feathers suddenly emerged from the Star Emperor Token.
In the next instant, Yang Yan’s Saint Qi fluctuations and the energy contained in the Star Emperor Token resonated with each other and both floated up involuntarily.
A pulsing noise so great rang out that the entire cave mansion was thrown into disorder and a pressure which caused Yang Kai to pale suddenly emerged.
Yang Kai didn’t understand what was going on so he hurriedly summoned his Purple Shield and circulated his Saint Qi to protect himself. Only once this was done did he release his Divine Sense to check Yang Yan’s situation.
After a brief investigation, Yang Kai was shocked by what he discovered.
He found that Yang Yan hadn’t received any ill effects and instead seemed to be receiving some kind of information from the Star Emperor Token. Her beautiful eyes were shut with her lashes fluttering slightly, her brow sometimes tightened while sometimes relaxed.
This scene didn’t last long, only about ten breaths. Just as Yang Kai was wondering what to do, Yang Yan suddenly opened her eyes and caught the Star Emperor Token floating in front of her before lightly descending to the ground, a thoughtfully look filling her face.
“What happened?” Yang Kai asked hurriedly.
Yang Yan glanced over at him lightly before completely changing the subject, “You haven’t refined this yet.”
“This thing can be refined?” Yang Kai was shocked.
Yang Yan smiled lightly, “This is also a kind of artifact, a single-use one, so naturally it can be refined. Fortunately you’ve only been hiding it so far and hadn’t tried to use it at all, otherwise you would have died.”
Yang Kai didn’t show any surprise or shock at this comment. Gui Zu had warned him about this earlier, so even though he had encountered many dangerous situations over the years, Yang Kai had never thought of using this Star Emperor Token. Currently, this token was only a way to drag down an enemy with him, so of course Yang Kai wasn’t going to use it easily.
“You seem to know a lot about this,” Yang Kai stared at her with a slight frown.
“What are you trying to say?” Yang Yan pursed her lips lightly, her expression slightly uneasy.
“Since you fell into a coma for no reason last time, I feel like you’ve changed a lot, what exactly is it that you’re hiding? Is there anything you can tell me?” Yang Kai finally decided to express his doubts. He had become incredibly curious after he saw Ge Qi react to meeting Yang Yan, as if the former had seen a ghost yet Yang Yan claimed to have never met him. And now, this Star Emperor Token actually resonated with Yang Yan. All of this pushed Yang Kai to the point where he could no longer just ignore the situation.
He wanted to speak with Yang Yan openly.
“It’s not that I want to hide anything, it’s just…” Yang Yan showed a hesitant look on her face.
“Just what?”
“It’s just that I’m not sure either, so I didn’t want to say anything. When I am certain, I promise I’ll tell you, okay?” Yang Yan looked at him, nearly begging.
Yang Kai pondered for a moment before suddenly smiling, “Tell me how to refine this thing, I’ve studied it a few times before but was never able to learn anything about it.”
Seeing Yang Kai not continue to press to issue, Yang Yan felt relieved and smiled happily, “I can do that, hehe.”
Saying so, she condensed a ray of Saint Qi at her fingertip and with a quick stroke made a small cut on her wrist, allowing her fresh blood to immediately flow out. Yang Yan next presse the Star Emperor Token against this new wound.
Yang Kai heard a terrifying suction force, like a starving ghost was feasting, as the Star Emperor Token began absorbing the blood from the wound on Yang Yan’s wrist.
In the blink of an eye, the Star Emperor Token became blood red.
After finishing this, Yang Yan seemed a bit tired as she tossed the Star Emperor Token to Yang Kai and sat down cross-legged.
“Is that it?” Yang Kai stared at Star Emperor Token in amazement, finding that only its colour had changed while everything else seemingly remained the same.
“En,” Yang Yan nodded seriously.
Yang Kai observed this token with some suspicion. If refining this thing required blood, it should be the one attempting to refine it that provides it. Why would Yang Yan need to provide her blood?
“You’ll understand if you try it now,” Yang Yan smiled before standing up and walking towards the exit, “Make sure you keep these three Star Emperor Token safe.”
“Got it,” Yang Kai nodded helplessly.
After Yang Yan left, Yang Kai held the bright red Star Emperor Token in his palm curiously and tried pouring his Saint Qi into it. Surprisingly, his Saint Qi easily infiltrated it, without the slightest hindrance. There was no sign of the Divine Ability inside being triggered but the Star Emperor Token at this moment was like a bottomless pit that constantly swallowed Yang Kai’s Saint Qi, establishing a kind of vague connection with him.
This was clearly the first sign of an artifact being refined, causing Yang Kai to feel overjoyed and immediately understood that what Yang Yan said was right. This Star Emperor Token could really be refined, so he spared no effort to do so.
At the same time, in a jungle about four hundred kilometres away from Dragon Cave Mountain.
A young man seemed to be carefreely flying forward, his speed neither fast nor slow.
If Yang Kai were here, he would have immediately attacked this person for a very simple reason: it was none other than Lu Ye of Flowing Cloud Valley. Yang Kai hated Lu Ye greatly, and from the direction he was flying, it seemed he was headed to the Xie Family.
Lu Ye’s face was filled with a meaningful grin as he quickly changed the direction his Star Shuttle was flying and flew deeper into the jungle, gently landing on the ground with his hands behind his back a moment later.
It was silent all around, with only the breeze blowing and the noise of swaying branches and leaves.
“What? You all waited here in ambush for this Lu did you not? This Lu has now arrived, yet you haven’t actually shown yourselves. Why hide your head and show your tail?” Lu Ye tilted his head slightly as he glanced around at the thick trees surrounding him.
No one answered and no one showed up, as if it really was just Lu Ye here.
However, Lu Ye wasn’t discouraged and sneered, “A group of cowardly rats actually dares to ambush this Lu? Good, since you refuse to show yourself, don’t blame this Lu for being rude.”
“Little brat, your sight is quite good, even able to see through my concealment methods. What a pity your life has come to an end!” A loud voice sounded, and the next moment, several people suddenly jumped out from behind the nearby trees.
Immediately afterwards, there were clamouring noises all around, from left and right, as more figures emerged one by one, all of them staring towards Lu Ye with malicious intent.
In the blink of an eye, Lu Ye was surrounded on all sides, with no way to escape.
At the auction just now, Lu Ye had been too high-profile and had naturally drawn the attention of countless people. Although he had quietly withdrawn during the last moments of the auction, he had still been followed by many people in secret.
Knowing that he was going to return to the Xie Family, many had set up an ambush in this jungle in advance, waiting for gains without pains.
Sure enough, Lu Ye did pass through here, but what these conspiring people didn’t expect was that Lu Ye would truly not know how to fear the Heavens and was willing to step into this ambush.
The one who spoke just now was a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator with short stature and a big forehead. This ugly looking man stared at Lu Ye with an evil grin on his face and nodded, “Not bad, you’ve got some guts. I haven’t met a brat as brave as you for many years.”
“Brother Cheng, enough nonsense, just hurry up and do it,” On the other side of the ambush, an elderly man with a long beard urged impatiently. Although on the surface, this man looked far older than Cheng Dong, the two didn’t differ in age much.
“Good, a long delay only creates more troubles. This little brat is worth a lot of money so our gains this time will definitely not be small.”
“What’s the rush?” Cheng Dong coldly snorted, “We can take care of this brat at any time, I think we should first discuss how to allocate his wealth, what do you say?”
There were a total of three Origin Returning Realm masters here while the others were just Saint Kings or Saints. Altogether, there were a total of sixteen people.
In this situation, none of these three groups placed Lu Ye in their eyes; after all, under the investigation of their Divine Senses, he was just a Third-Order Saint King, discussing how to divide up his wealth seemed more troublesome than actually killing him.
Anyone capable of spending more than 40 million Saint Crystals at an auction should have some Saint Crystals left over. Not to mention, the things he won at the auction were all excellent treasures, enough to divide amongst all of them.
These three groups did not have strong backgrounds, each of them at most representing a force on par with Flowing Cloud Valley, where Lu Ye was from. Only such small forces would engage in this kind of blatant banditry as cultivators in great forces, because of concerns about face and regulations, would act with more self-discipline.
With such a fat sheep in front of them, everyone from these three groups was practically drooling, each of them trying to use their own strength to lay claim to a bigger portion of his wealth. The three Origin Returning Realm masters quarrelled quite vehemently, with spit flying between them, none of them willing to compromise.
Lu Ye stood in place indifferently, with no look of panic on his face, as if these people were not even talking about him; however, his expression gradually became impatient.
Glancing between the three masters, who were only becoming noisier and noisier, Lu Ye finally could not help coldly snorting, “Just a bunch of incompetent wastes!”
As soon as this remark came out, all three Origin Returning Realm masters looked at him in amazement, Cheng Dong cupping his ear and asking in a thuggish manner, “Boy, what did you just say? If you have the courage, say it again.”
“I called you a bunch of incompetent wastes. Before you even kill the person you want to rob, you start bickering over how to distribute the benefits? Simply ridiculous. You think you’re capable of killing this Lu?” Lu Ye snapped sarcastically as he flashed a disdainful smile.
Cheng Dong’s face sank as he let out a hollow laugh, “Brothers, this little brat seems impatient to die. Since he is asked for it, we might as well fulfil his last wish before sitting down to discuss how to split his wealth.”
The other two masters were also incensed by Lu Ye’s rampant words and naturally had no reason to disagree.
Cheng Dong grinned, waved his hand, and shouted, “Cut him to pieces, I want him to regret being born into this world!”
Receiving this order, the many Saint Kings and Saints present summoned their artifacts and were just about to launch an attack when Lu Ye’s expression suddenly changed and became extremely ghastly, letting out wicked laughter, “You want these wastes to take the life of this Senior? You are the most ridiculous wastes this Senior has met in ten thousand years!”
“Huh?” The three Origin Returning Realm masters were dumbfounded as a faint sense of uneasiness welled up inside them, as if something bad was about to happen.
After Lu Ye let out this wild laughter, he waved his hand and sent out bolts of blood-red light towards the cultivators surrounding him.
There was a strange noise coming from these blood-red lights, as if they were living creatures, causing everyone’s expression to change dramatically as they quickly tried to resist, but regardless of what kind of offensive or defensive action they took, none of them were able to stop these blood-red lights from approaching. Forget about the various Saint King Realm and Saint Realm cultivators, even the three Origin Returning Realm masters like Cheng Dong failed to stop these red lights.
The blood-red lights only flickered slightly before passing through these cultivators’ Saint Qi protection as if it were nothing, digging into their flesh in the next instant before disappearing.
“What is this?!” Cheng Dong screamed in horror as he stumbled back a few steps, his face going pale as he hurriedly used his Divine Sense to examine himself.
What surprised him though was that he did not find anything wrong. His Saint Qi was still circulating smoothly, his meridians were unobstructed, and his Divine Sense hadn’t been affected in any way, so what did that blood-red light just do?
Even after so many years of cultivating, this was the first time Cheng Dong had encountered something so strange. Suspicious, he glanced over at the other two Origin Realm masters and found that they were in the same condition as he was, making it impossible for him to learn anything from them.
After releasing those blood-red lights, Lu Ye didn’t move, just standing in place with a contemptuous look on his face, coldly snorting with dissatisfaction, “Originally I thought that I would be able to draw out a number of useful people, but all I got was three wastes! Whatever, you still might have some use; from now on, you take orders from this Senior!”
“Draw out?” Cheng Dong heard these words and frowned slightly, but after a moment of contemplation, his face changed greatly, “You deliberately acted so boldly at the auction to tempt people into trying to rob you?”
The other two Origin Returning Realm masters heard this and instantly understood what happened, the two of them turning somewhat fearful looks towards Lu Ye.
No matter what this person had planned, just this intention alone was suspicious enough. On top of that, none of them could figure out what those blood-red lights from a moment ago were for.
“You’re not qualified to ask questions. Obey this Senior’s orders and I may let you live, otherwise…”
“Otherwise, what?” Cheng Dong was obviously not willing to sit here waiting for death, and he did not believe that the blood-red light just now had any mysterious use; after all, he didn’t feel any kind of discomfort.
Perhaps the other party was just bluffing! Or at least that was how he comforted himself.
“Otherwise your end will be quite miserable!” Lu Ye grinned incredulously. Just as his voice fell, Cheng Dong suddenly grabbed his head with both hands and screamed loudly, terrifying everyone present.
In less than a breath of time, Cheng Dong’s clothes had been soaked with sweat and he had collapsed to the ground as he writhed in pain. The beast-like roars he was releasing showed just how much agony he was in and it was not long before his skin turned bright red, as if he was about to explode.
“What did you do to Brother Cheng!? What was that thing just now?” Another Origin Returning Realm master’s eyes bulged as he asked in horror.
Cheng Dong was not the only one hit by that blood-red light just now, everyone present was! Seeing Cheng Dong tortured like this, naturally, these cultivators felt a deep sense of fear.
“This Senior simply gave him a Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect, why raise a fuss?” Lu Ye sneered.
“Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect?” Everyone heard this and exchanged an aghast look with one another. Although none of them had heard of this thing before, just from Cheng Dong’s performance, it was obviously something sinister.
The elderly Origin Realm master’s expression flickered before he suddenly pointed his hand and a jet-black sword strangely appeared. This sword was shrouded in black Qi and there was a faint bloody aura about it. In an instant, this black Qi surged up and condensed into a several metre-long snake that opened its fanged mouth and shot towards Lu Ye.
He planned to kill Lu Ye directly!
This plan was not a mistake. It did not matter what Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect was. Even if it could cause Cheng Dong to be reduced to this state, it was still only able to do so through Lu Ye’s command. Since the elderly man had also been invaded by the Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect, the only way for him to escape was to kill Lu Ye by surprise.
In this old man’s opinion, Lu Ye was just a Third-Order Saint King, and the only reason he could stand here so calmly was because of his strange Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect.
But even if he had a Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect inside him now, if the one controlling it died, wouldn’t it become useless?
The elderly man was a decisive person, so the moment he came to this conclusion, he immediately attacked. Without any kind of shout or warning, this elderly man acted ruthlessly, summoning and using his most powerful artifact without hesitation.
The black snake arrived in front of Lu Ye in an instant and a cruel smile appeared at the corner of the elderly man’s lips.
But in the next moment, his eyes bulged.
Because Lu Ye reached out and grabbed the black snake without any apparent effort. Lu Ye held the black snake in his hand while it tried to struggle, but ultimately it was unable to break free.
“How can this be?” The elderly man’s face changed greatly. His artifact was extremely malevolent, so let alone holding it, any Saint King that came into contact with its black Qi would immediately be rendered unconscious, allowing them to be casually slaughtered without even being able to fight back.
This scene shocked the elderly man, but as an Origin Realm master with extremely rich battle experience, he immediately composed himself and commanded the black snake being held by Lu Ye to open its mouth and spray out venom.
“Let’s see if you can survive this!” The elderly man chuckled sullenly, but after saying this, his jaw dropped and was unable to close anymore.
He was shocked to find that even after being sprayed with this venom, Lu Ye was completely unharmed, his expression gradually becoming violent as his eyes grew extremely cold.
Facing these two eyes, the elderly man shivered as a chill ran from his head all the way down to his feet.
He felt the chill of death.
Lu Ye reached out his free hand and slowly wiped the venom from his face, sneering in a low tone, “I originally wanted to spare your life, but if you wish to die, this Senior will accommodate you.”
Saying so, he shot a piercing glare towards the elderly man.
The next instant, the elderly man’s blood began to boil as his skin turned red like soldering iron and his body began to swell.
“No… no! Merc…” The elderly man shouted in horror before bursting apart into a blood mist before he could even finish his words, not even his bones remaining behind.
The smell of blood filled the air!
The last Origin Realm master standing saw this scene and was frozen in place, as if he had been plunged into a frozen world.
What kind of monster had they tried to ambush? Clearly, this boy was just a Third-Order Saint King, yet he was able to completely ignore the attacks of the elderly man and make him explode with a single thought. Could such a feat be accomplished by a mere Saint King?
After killing the elderly man, Lu Ye casually dropped the black snake in his hand to the ground. Without its owner operating it, the black snake reverted into a black sword. Lu Ye took out a cloth and wiped his face clean before turning to the last standing Origin Returning Realm master.
This cultivator was not a fool and realized immediately that he only had one chance to escape this disaster. Seeing Lu Ye looking towards him, this man immediately knelt down and knocked his head to the ground, “This humble one is willing to serve Master through flame or ice, never refusing a single command on pain of death!”
With an Origin Returning Realm master kowtowing for his life, the Saint Kings and Saints all exchanged a knowing glance before also kneeling on the ground and swearing allegiance.
Meanwhile, Cheng Dong, who had been brutally tortured, was now terrified of Lu Ye, so how could he possibly choose to rebel? He also hurriedly got on his knees and expressed his willingness to serve Lu Ye.
The reaction these people had obviously satisfied Lu Ye greatly. Even if he knew that their words carried no sincerity, Lu Ye didn’t need it.
In the face of absolute strength, what did unwillingness matter?
Grinning wickedly, Lu Ye nodded, “Good, since you are so sincere, it’s not a bad idea to spare your lives, but… the Saints are too weak, they’re useless to me. Kill them all!”
Hearing this, the faces of everyone present changed dramatically, especially those of the few Saint Realm cultivators who began to panic. None of them had expected that even after kowtowing and pledging allegiance to this man, they would still be unable to escape death, so they immediately began begging for mercy.
The two Origin Returning Realm masters also wore incredulous looks; after all, these Saints were their Juniors. How could they just kill them?
Lu Ye was unimpressed by this sight, however, and coldly uttered, “Do I have to do it myself?”
Cheng Dong and the other Origin Realm master were dazed when they heard this, but remembering what the fate of the elderly man and exchanging a knowing glance, they steeled themselves and pushed their Saint Qi towards the few Saint Realm cultivators.
With a series of cracking noises, all the Saints had their heads crushed and died on the spot.
“En,” Lu Ye gently nodded, satisfied with this and commanded, “This Senior has a task for you all.”
“Please command us, Master!” Cheng Dong said reverently.
“No matter what method you use, whether through force or temptation, find some more Origin Realm masters for this Senior. Their strength should not be lower than yours. Find some more Saint Kings as well.”
“Yes,” Cheng Dong heard this and immediately understood what Lu Ye was going to do. This young man clearly wanted to use the same method he had used on them to gather subordinates, something Cheng Dong felt no reluctance to do.
A person’s psychology was usually like this. After suffering a loss, they were quite happy to see others suffer with them.
“But Master, where should we bring these people?”
“The Xie Family!” After Lu Ye finished, he summoned his Star Shuttle and flew off towards the Xie Family residence.
After he left, Cheng Dong gasped for breath. When he was tortured by Lu Ye just now, he was certain he was about to die, but unexpectedly he had survived, so he felt naturally somewhat fortunate.
“Brother Cheng, do we really have to take orders from that little brat?” The other Origin Realm master stared in the direction Lu Ye disappeared and frowned, his face filled with unwillingness. Although he was the first one to kneel down and pledge allegiance, he was clearly still unconvinced.
Lu Ye’s cultivation was lower than his, and Flowing Cloud Valley, which he belonged to, wasn’t any more powerful than his own background, so what skill or ability did he have to command his loyalty?
“What else can we do? Would Brother Ren like to try the pain of that Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect?” Cheng Dong recalled the torture he had just suffered and couldn’t help shivering in fear.
Ren Zhu’s face turned ugly as he hesitantly said, “But this little brat…”
“It’s strange, right?” Cheng Dong said thoughtfully, “Flowing Cloud Valley isn’t a very strong force, so how could they produce such an extraordinary character? His methods are simply extraordinary, even that Black Snake Sword was unable to harm him. Brother Ren, do you have confidence that you could withstand a sneak attack from that Black Snake Sword?”
Ren Zhu shook his head slowly, the Black Snake Sword was elderly man’s most powerful artifact so Ren Zhu didn’t dare take a hit from it, but Lu Ye did. Now, in retrospect, there were many strange aspects to this brief confrontation, but Lu Ye’s strength was obviously not low.
“Neither you nor I would be a match for him alone, yet he’s only a Third-Order Saint King. If he reached the Third-Order Returning Realm one day, heh heh, Brother Ren, don’t you understand the concept of finding shade under a great tree?”
Hearing this, Ren Zhu’s eyes flashed.
“Furthermore, both of our families aren’t very powerful, and now that the Emperor Garden has appeared, everyone wants a cup of soup from it. If we join hands with that little brat, perhaps we can obtain some benefits. Most importantly, this Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect is too strange, I’ve never even heard of it before, so there obviously aren’t many people who would be able to remove it.”
“What Brother Cheng says makes sense; it seems we might as well take orders from that kid for now. In any case, the future is still far away.”
“En, my thoughts exactly!” Cheng Dong nodded.
Now that the two of them had reached an understanding, they quickly started planning how to carry out the task assigned to them by Lu Ye: Finding some Origin Returning Realm masters and luring them to the Xie Family to let them be implanted with the Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect.
…..
Half a month later, inside his cave mansion on Dragon Cave Mountain, Yang Kai stared at the blood-red Star Emperor Token in his hand with a look of joy on his face.
After half a month, he had finally finished refining this intact Star Emperor Token and could now take it into his body. He had heard of one-time use artifacts before and understood that each one was incredibly powerful, but because of the limited number of uses, ordinary Artifact Refiners wouldn’t easily refine them.
Yang Kai never expected to obtain one, much less an incredibly famous one like this Star Emperor Token!
Sealed inside of this token was one of the Starry Sky Great Emperor’s Divine Abilities, one powerful enough to make him invincible on Shadowed Star; however, the consequences for using it were equally great. The Starry Sky Great Emperor’s Divine Ability was not something ordinary, and if one didn’t possess enough strength to withstand the backlash from using it, they would very likely die together with the enemy he used it on.
Yang Kai couldn’t withstand such backlash currently, and even if he reached the Origin Returning Realm, he would have to think twice about it. Perhaps he would need to reach the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm just to be capable of using it.
After happily playing with this token for a while, Yang Kai took it into his body. Just as he was about to begin cultivating his Golden Blood Thread Secret Technique though, his expression suddenly changed as he turned to stare in a certain direction, a look of surprise on his face.
A moment later, Yang Kai got up and disappeared like a ghost from his cave mansion, concealed his aura, and silently flew out of Dragon Cave Mountain.
With it being night time and with Yang Kai deliberately hiding his whereabouts, no one on Dragon Cave Mountain noticed he had left.
Half an hour later, Yang Kai’s figure landed in a patch of wilderness about three hundred kilometres from Heavenly Fate City.
Not far away stood a graceful figure, seemingly waiting for him. Aware of his arrival, this figure glanced over at him and helplessly said, “I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide from you.”
“Of course not!” Yang Kai coldly snorted, “You gave me a control token for the Mountain Defending Array, of course I’ll notice if you activate it!”
It was Yang Yan who had quietly left Dragon Cave Mountain in the middle of the night!
“What did you come out here for?” Yang Kai asked suspiciously.
“I want to go somewhere,” Yang Yan didn’t conceal anything.
“Where do you want to go? Why didn’t you tell me first?” Yang Kai looked at her with dissatisfaction. Nowadays dragons and snakes mixed together all around Heavenly Fate City. Every great force on Shadowed Star had masters here to monitor the Emperor Garden, but the Emperor Garden hadn’t done anything for quite some time, so many had become idle and were now beginning to stir up trouble; after all, many of the forces gathered here had grudges between them.
Every day, fights occurred near Heavenly Fate City and many people died each time.
Shadow Moon Hall wouldn’t interfere casually with these grievances, so the situation near Heavenly Fate City had become more and more chaotic.
Yang Yan leaving alone at this time was very dangerous, so Yang Kai would naturally be angry.
“Didn’t you follow me anyways?” Yang Yan pouted.
“Tell me, where do you want to go by sneaking out?” Yang Kai looked at her helplessly.
“You’ll know when we get there,” Yang Yan grinned, and before Yang Kai could ask any questions, she continued, “When I get there, I’ll know much more and I may be able to answer all of your questions. Don’t ask now, because I currently don’t have those answers.”
Yang Kai frowned, but still nodded gently after a long silence, “Let me explain to everyone back on Dragon Cave Mountain, then we can set out.”
“No need, I already sent a message to Wu Yi and Qian Yue,” Yang Yan spat out her tongue, causing Yang Kai to realize that she never had any intention of leaving alone.
Unable to stifle it, Yang Kai let out a laugh.
Yang Yan next wiped her Space Ring and took out a shuttle-like artifact.
Tossing it up, in an instant, a brilliant light flashed and this shuttle-like artifact rapidly began expanding, growing to a length of ten metres in the blink of an eye while quietly floating in front of the pair, looking like a long shark.
“This is…” Yang Kai stared in shock.
“My improved flight type artifact, the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle. This should be a good test for its maiden voyage,” Yang Yan smiled lightly before injecting some of her Saint Qi into the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle, causing a door in its side to open.
Yang Yan flew up to the door and beckoned to Yang Kai before hurriedly disappearing inside.
Still in a state of shock, Yang Kai flew up and circled the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle several times before following Yang Yan inside.
Upon entering, Yang Kai abruptly froze because, from the outside, this so-called Flying Shark Battle Shuttle was only ten metres long, but inside it actually had the appearance of a ship with several rooms, and although the space wasn’t too large, it wasn’t small either.
A familiar power fluctuation came from all around Yang Kai, allowing him to realize what was happening.
[Space Force!]
After briefly examining the interior of this Flying Shark Battle Shuttle, Yang Kai located Yang Yan and walked over to her, arriving at a room filled with a variety of Spirit Arrays.
The entire room was filled with a dense aura and many objects that resembled Saint Crystals were densely placed in various grooves.
Saint Crystal Sources!
These were Saint Crystal Sources that only the Stone Puppet could condense, existences on a higher level than High-Rank Saint Crystals.
At this moment, Yang Yan was fiddling with an array in front of her. When Yang Kai looked over her shoulder, he found that this array actually displayed a giant map with many glowing points on it, similar to a Star Chart.
Yang Yan chose one of these glowing spots and in the next instant, Yang Kai noticed that the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle jerked slightly and shot off like a bolt of lightning.
Releasing his Divine Sense to check, Yang Kai was again dumbfounded.
He found that the flying speed of this Flying Shark Battle Shuttle was several times greater than that of a Star Shuttle, reaching quite a terrifying level.
“A while ago, you had me infuse Space Force into a number of objects, were they used as components for this thing?” Yang Kai’s eyes flashed a surprised light.
“En.”
“You can even refine something like this?” Yang Kai was thoroughly shocked.
This Flying Shark Battle Shuttle was nothing short of a miniaturized Starship, one of an extremely high grade at that.
One had to know that Starships on Shadowed Star were not very high grade and the total number of them was also quite small, with only a few big Sects possessing them.
The Starship the Hai Ke Family sent to the Star Field last time had been rented from Shadow Moon Hall for an exceedingly high price.
If one wanted to refine a Starship, it was no simple process. Ordinarily, it required dozens or even hundreds of skilled Artifact Refiners working together for many years to complete a single one.
Yet, Yang Yan had actually achieved something of this level with just her own strength.
Although it was small compared to normal, in the end, it was still a Starship.
“This is nothing, I can refine a bigger one,” Yang Yan stated proudly as she puffed out her chest and threw her head back.
Yang Kai was dumbfounded and suddenly felt his mouth go dry as he stared at Yang Yan fixedly.
Why was Shadowed Star isolated from the outside world and unable to communicate with other stars in the Star Field? It was because its location was too remote, several years’ journey from the nearest Cultivation Star. Travelling across such a distance meant encountering many crises and difficulties; the Artifact Refiners on Shadowed Star were unable to refine a Starship capable of undertaking such a long-range, high-risk voyage.
If there were an Origin King Grade Starship, or even just an Origin Grade High-Rank Starship, Shadowed Star’s cultivators could completely restore contact with the outside world.
The time Yang Kai had spent on Shadowed Star was not short, so he also knew that there were only two ways to leave Shadowed Star. One was by using the power of his own cultivation. Yang Kai could ignore many of the various dangers in the Star Field with his special strength, and cross the vast distance required if his cultivation were to reach a high enough realm. The second way to leave Shadowed Star was to rely on a high-grade Starship.
However, neither of these methods could be easily used. Forget about Shadowed Star’s World Principles which made it impossible for cultivators to break through to the Origin King Realm, just refining a Starship that could withstand the hazards of the Star Field was impossible.
But now, Yang Yan had actually refined such a Starship. This Flying Shark Battle Shuttle was definitely a powerful artifact that could support travelling across the Star Field.
This gave Yang Kai hope of leaving Shadowed Star!
Suddenly, he felt that he had taken a giant step closer to reuniting with the beauties he yearned for. Before obtaining news of Su Yan’s whereabouts, Yang Kai did not spend too much time thinking about this issue, but after confirming that Su Yan was alive and well somewhere in this Star Field, he couldn’t wait to find her.
On top of that, Xia Ning Chang was still living in the Tong Xuan Realm! Yang Kai very much wanted to go back and see how she was.
Seeing Yang Kai staring blankly towards herself, how could Yang Yan not know what he was thinking? Snickering lightly, she continued, “Okay, okay, after this matter is over, when we return, I’ll let you see it. The ship itself has already been refined and is being stored in the Secret Storehouse under Dragon Cave Mountain; however, some improvements are still needed so I’m a bit reluctant to use it right now.”
“Dragon Cave Mountain has an underground Secret Storehouse?” Yang Kai was even more shocked.
Yang Yan could not help laughing, “You spend all day in secluded retreat or wandering around outside, so of course you wouldn’t know about it.”
Yang Kai suddenly felt embarrassed. Although he was technically the owner of Dragon Cave Mountain, he never cared much about what happened on the mountain. The only thing he would ask about was the need for more Saint Crystals or materials. When a shortage came up, he would think of a way to collect the required resources, as for what happened to them afterwards, he did not really know.
He used to think that Dragon Cave Mountain spent money like running water because Yang Yan was constantly arranging new Spirit Arrays, but now he knew that Yang Yan had been refining a Starship.
It was no wonder it wasn’t enough, no matter how many Saint Crystals and materials he collected. Thinking about the scale of the Starships he had previously seen on Water Moon Star at Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce, Yang Kai understood just how expensive refining one must be.
As the pair talked, the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle continued flying forward at an incredible speed, almost faster than Yang Kai’s Divine Sense could track.
“I’m going to do an experiment. If something goes wrong, remember to save me,” Yang Yan suddenly said.
“What?” Yang Kai was stunned but quickly recovered when he saw Yang Yan flash a strange grin. Covering his entire body with a layer of Saint Qi, Yang Kai saw one of the large Spirit Arrays inside this control room light up. With a loud humming noise, all the Saint Crystal Sources which were installed in the room’s slots began glowing brilliantly and a shocking amount of energy began gathering from them towards a certain spot.
Yang Kai turned to look at these Saint Crystal Sources and was shocked to discover that they had all grown dim, as if all the energy inside had been drawn out.
Roughly calculating the amount of energy which the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle had just consumed, Yang Kai could not help going slightly pale.
*Hong…*
With a muffled thud that sounded like thunder from the Heavens above, the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle began to tremble violently.
In the next moment, Yang Kai saw a beam of energy, so dazzling it nearly blinded him, shoot out from somewhere on the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle’s hull and smash towards the front.
Like snow under a scorching sun, the space in front of the shuttle began to melt and transform into a chaotic vortex of nothingness that slowly rotated while emitting strong Space Force fluctuations.
“A Void Corridor!” Yang Kai’s eyes bulged.
Yang Yan steered the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle towards the newly opened Void Corridor before Yang Kai could stop her, her joyful, silver bell-like laughter filling the control room the whole time.
A familiar feeling he had experienced many times before overcame Yang Kai in the next instant, the kind of unique sense of weightlessness that only occurs when you pass through a Void Corridor or use a Space Array.
This feeling disappeared as soon as it came, and after everything calmed down, Yang Kai found that he and Yang Yan were already in a different place as the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle was slowly exiting from a large vortex.
With no time to remain shocked, Yang Kai hurriedly released his Divine Sense to investigate his surroundings and in the next moment, his face sank.
Because not far away, there were two groups of people fighting each other. The strength of these two groups was not high, with each one being led by Second-Order Saint Kings while most of the rest were merely Saints.
The total number of people in these two groups added up to around forty but there were also a few corpses nearby, each one of them appearing to have died quite terrible deaths.
Nearby, there was also an Eighth-Order Monster Beast corpse. Just from looking at this scene, it was obvious that these two groups were fighting over this dead Monster Beast. Most likely, these two parties had joined forces to kill it, but after succeeding, their cooperation had broken down for some reason.
This kind of situation was all too common, and Yang Kai was able to guess what had happened almost immediately after sweeping the area with his Divine Sense.
“Aiya…” Yang Yan muttered, showing an apologetic look on her face. She had not expected the first time the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle tore space in order to perform a long-distance jump, it would emerge not in a deserted wilderness but nearby two groups of people.
“What are you gawking for? Let’s hurry up and leave, unless you enjoy being stared at like an odd monkey,” Yang Kai snorted to her wickedly.
“Ah, en,” Yang Yan immediately recovered and tapped on a control panel in front of her, causing the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle to buzz and shoot off like a stream of light once more.
Down below, the two groups who had been fighting all stared up in shock.
“Senior Brother, what was that?” A young woman approached one of the leading Saint King Realm cultivators and asked, her beautiful eyes flashing somewhat. She was not young, but she had been properly maintaining her appearance, so she remained charming. It could be seen that when she was young, she must have been a beauty, but now, her pretty face was full of confusion, obviously because she had no idea what had just happened.
“I’m not clear either,” The Saint King Realm man shook his head in something of a daze.
It was not as if these people were ignorant, it was just that what transpired was too shocking. A Void Corridor appeared out of nowhere, then a giant shark flew out of it, as if it was leaping out of the sea. Even if an Origin Returning Realm master was here, they would likely be stunned, not to mention these people.
“From the looks of it, it should be a Starship, right?” The man murmured again.
“Is there such a small Starship?” The young woman was obviously sceptical. “Junior Sister was lucky enough to see one of Thunder Typhoon Sect’s Starships set sail a few years ago, but it was several dozen times larger than that one.”
Just as the two were talking, a scream rang out, causing the young man and woman’s faces to go cold as they turned their heads and suddenly found that one of the cultivators on their side had suffered a severe wound and was now crying out in pain while bleeding profusely.
The man was furious, “Old Xu San, launching a sneak attack now, have you no shame?!”
Saying so, he once again urged his artifact and sent a blast towards the other group. The brief silence was instantly broken, and the two groups began fighting again; as for what they just saw, it was thrown beyond the furthest Heavens as they once again drowned themselves in a sea of blood.
Above a piece of grassland thousands of kilometres away, the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle quietly came to a stop.
Inside, the shock on Yang Kai’s face had still yet to fade while Yang Yan was busy changing the Saint Crystal Sources.
Yang Kai never thought that this Flying Shark Battle Shuttle could tear space! Although the consumption was enormous, requiring the complete energy of hundreds of Saint Crystal Source for a single use, this was still not a simple feat.
Moreover, the distance covered by the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle just now was much farther than Yang Kai could cross on his own. At the very least, Yang Kai was unable to find their initial position with his Divine Sense anymore.
Moments later, after Yang Yan finished replacing the Saint Crystal Sources, the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle began moving forward again.
“How far can this thing cross in a single jump?” Yang Kai asked.
“Just now we should have crossed about a hundred thousand kilometres,” Yang Yan replied casually, frowning slightly a moment later as if she was still a bit dissatisfied.
“A hundred thousand kilometres…” Yang Kai gasped.
“En, but the consumption is too great and I’m unable to determine our destination accurately; after all, I only applied the principles of a Space Array to the shuttle, so it seems that it needs to be improved still,” Yang Yan stroked her chin thoughtfully.
“This thing’s existence can never be leaked out, otherwise it will cause great trouble,” Yang Kai said seriously.
“Hehe, it doesn’t matter if word of this leaks,” Yang Yan stated confidently, “Even if others get hold of this Flying Shark Battle Shuttle, they can’t use it.”
“Why?” Yang Kai looked at her in surprise.
“Because others don’t have Saint Crystal Sources! High-Rank Saint Crystals are insufficient to drive this Flying Shark Battle Shuttle, only the Saint Crystal Sources condensed by Xiao Xiao can supply its needs,” Yang Yan explained.
Yang Kai suddenly understood, “So that’s why you’ve constantly been keeping the Stone Puppet with you?”
“En,” Yang Yan nodded happily.
[The poor Stone Puppet…] Yang Kai’s mouth twitched slightly as he paid silent tribute to the Stone Puppet.
The Flying Shark Battle Shuttle flew forward at an unimaginable speed while Yang Kai sat cross-legged and cultivated alone in one of its rooms. As for Yang Yan, she was still busy in the control room.
This kind of special flight type artifact was far superior to an ordinary Star Shuttle.
First, this Battle Shuttle had separate rooms that weren’t small or cramped, allowing Yang Kai to seclude himself without the worry of being disturbed, something Star Shuttles couldn’t compare to.
Secondly, when using a Star Shuttle, in order to resist headwinds, one needed to open the protective barrier which would consume Saint Qi, but this Flying Shark Battle Shuttle didn’t have such a drawback as its power was provided entirely by Saint Crystal Sources, so a cultivator wouldn’t experience any consumption.
Thirdly, the speed of this Flying Shark Battle Shuttle refined by Yang Yan was far greater than any Star Shuttle.
Yang Kai had spent the last ten days in cultivation but hadn’t felt the slightest bit of disturbance, as if the cultivation room he was in could block out everything outside.
Yang Kai was currently a Third-Order Saint King, one step away from the Origin Returning Realm where he could condense his own Shi; however, breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm wasn’t a simple matter. At least, Yang Kai could not currently see an immediate path to breaking through. Secretly, he felt that in order to break through, he couldn’t just rely on hard work but needed some kind of opportunity or external stimulus.
It was similar to how he broke through to the Third-Order Saint King last time. When he heard the news about Su Yan from Qian Yue, it had led to an opportunity for him to break through.
Yang Kai wanted to find such an opportunity through cultivating his various Secret Techniques, so these days he had been busy cultivating his Golden Blood Thread, assimilating the Coloured Glass Bead with the Demon Eye of Annihilation, and had even refined his last few Flowing Flame Flying Fires.
The intensity of his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea had increased a lot, allowing him to improve his Alchemy. At the same time, the power of his Divine Sense also greatly improved. If he were to use his Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique now, it would definitely show even greater might.
Unfortunately, Yang Kai couldn’t find an opportunity to experiment with it.
On this day, while Yang Kai was using his Golden Blood to condense a new Golden Blood Thread, he suddenly felt the Battle Shuttle tremble slightly and come to a stop.
Yang Kai opened his eyes, got up, and walked out, soon arriving in the control room next to Yang Yan.
“We’re almost there, so we should use our Star Shuttle’s to fly the rest of the way,” Yang Yan glanced over at him and said.
Naturally, Yang Kai had no objections. He had been quite curious where Yang Yan was taking them all this time and now that he was about to get an answer, he couldn’t help looking forward to it.
After the pair left the Battle Shuttle, Yang Yan waved her hand and caused it to quickly shrink down. Taking the miniaturized Flying Shark Battle Shuttle into her Space Ring, Yang Yan summoned her Star Shuttle together with Yang Kai and flew off.
The further they flew, the clearer Yang Kai could feel Fire Attribute aura in the air, causing his expression to gradually become somewhat thoughtful.
Two hours later, standing atop a barren ground that was filled with cracked earth and dried up ravines, with a fiery red sky hanging overhead, Yang Kai couldn’t help muttering, “The Flowing Flame Sand Field? The place you wanted to go was the Flowing Flame Sand Field?”
Yang Kai was quite familiar with this scene. Throughout all of Shadowed Star, only the Flowing Flame Sand Field had such a harsh environment.
As far as Yang Kai could tell, even if one continuously used a Star Shuttle, it should take three months or so to go from Heavenly Fate City to the Flowing Flame Sand Field, but this time he and Yang Yan had covered that distance in just ten days.
This was a testament to how terrifying the speed of the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle was.
Facing Yang Kai’s inquiry, Yang Yan didn’t answer and instead stared at the fiery red wall in front of herself, a complex look flashing across her beautiful eyes, seemingly remembering something, but at the same time being slightly worried.
As the pair stepped closer, Yang Yan’s expression became clearer and clearer, seemingly afraid of something, her face slightly pale.
Yang Kai walked up and gently held her hand.
Yang Yan was startled by this, but after turning her head to look at Yang Kai, she managed to wear a forced smile.
“What are we doing here? Can you tell me now?” Yang Kai stared into her eyes.
“Confirming something,” Yang Yan hesitated for a moment before answering truthfully.
“Oh? What do you want to confirm by coming to the Flowing Flame Sand Field?” Yang Kai was confused. The last time the Flowing Flame Sand Field opened, Yang Yan didn’t even bother thinking about it. She never showed any interest in coming together with him, but now, several years after it had closed, Yang Yan had suddenly taken the initiative to come here.
One had to know, there was no way to enter this place now, unless one had a Star Emperor Token to protect them and open the way.
Yang Kai had been stranded inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field a few years ago and had to use a Star Emperor Token to return safely from it, wasting him a good deal of time.
“Yang Kai, do you believe in reincarnation?” Yang Yan suddenly asked.
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai frowned.
Yang Yan smiled bitterly, “Do you remember when I told you that my knowledge of Artifact Refining and Spirit Arrays is all innate and that no one has ever taught me any of it? All of it was simply buried in my memories and would appear out of thin air.”
Yang Kai’s brow furrowed deeper. Not knowing what Yang Yan wanted to express, he could only offer some faint comfort, “Nothing simply appears out of nowhere; perhaps you encountered some kind of accident which damaged your memory a bit.”
“Perhaps,” Yang Yan smiled bitterly, not trying to argue.
As the two talked, they arrived at the periphery of the first layer Flame Area of the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Staring at the dark, tumbling flame barrier, even though Yang Kai’s strength had greatly increased since he was last here, he still felt somewhat anxious.
The terrifying power coming from this flame barrier was something even a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master couldn’t withstand; entering it would only lead to certain death.
Yang Kai also didn’t know if he was imagining it or not, but when Yang Yan arrived here, the flames seemed to become even more powerful.
“Over the years, I’ve often dreamed I was another person. That person… was someone who commanded the wind and clouds, could cover the Heavens with one hand, and held dominion over the entire world!” Yang Yan stared forward without showing any signs of panic, just quietly mumbling to herself.
“Do you think you were that person?” Yang Kai looked at her serious face wanting to laugh but couldn’t bring himself to as he faintly felt something wasn’t quite right.
“Before, I didn’t think so, but since the Emperor Garden appeared, those hazy dreams have become much more vivid. Sometimes, when I meditate or refine things, these inexplicable scenes will also appear. After experiencing such things so frequently, I can no longer just dismiss them as my imagination.”
“So you came here to confirm everything?” Yang Kai finally cleared his head and asked curiously, “How do you plan on confirming things? Is there something special here that will help you do that?”
“En, it’s actually quite simple!” Yang Yan smiled widely before her tender body flickered, disappearing from the place she stood and instantly rushing straight into the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Yang Kai didn’t know what kind of exquisite Movement Skill Yang Yan executed, but he was completely unable to stop her.
Yang Kai’s face changed drastically as he turned his eyes to the Flowing Flame Sand Field just in time to see Yang Yan’s figure plunge into the flame barrier.
Hurriedly taking out one of his Star Emperor Tokens, Yang Kai was about to use its power to chase after Yang Yan, but before he could, the first layer’s flame barrier roared violently and began to tumble. Suddenly, an irresistible force burst forth from the barrier and formed what seemed to be a giant invisible hand that shoved Yang Kai several thousand metres away.
Yang Yan’s intrusion into the flame barrier was like sprinkling a handful of salt in hot oil, causing the Flowing Flame Sand Field’s first layer Flame Area to boil over.
The world shook and the already red sky became an even deeper shade, as if it was weeping blood. The dried-up crisscrossing ravines on the ground cracked apart, creating even bigger gaps and heaving up and down in all directions, causing Yang Kai’s footing to become unstable.
Looking ahead, the Flowing Flame Sand Field’s first layer Flame Area had become completely unstable, with all the World Energy and Fire Attribute energy within a few thousand-kilometres of the flame barrier suddenly gathering towards it madly, creating a tidal wave of energy that was so thick it became visible to the naked eye.
Yang Kai stared at all of this blankly.
Facing such a violent gathering of energy, let alone Yang Yan, even the most powerful masters on Shadowed Star would be unable to resist it and would quickly be ground to death.
However, when he saw a graceful figure standing quietly in midair, Yang Kai’s nervousness completely dissipated.
Yang Yan was actually fine!
Although Yang Kai couldn’t clearly see her face or movements, he could infer from the vague figure in front of him that Yang Yan was forming a series of hand signs and the Fire Attribute Energy and World Energy which composed the first layer Flame Area of the Flowing Flame Sand Field was all gathering towards her.
The resulting momentum was absolutely terrifying.
Such a massive disturbance had naturally drawn the attention of many people, with cultivators tens of thousands of kilometres away from this place still able to clearly feel it.
Immediately, many azure lights shot up into the sky and began racing over towards the Flowing Flame Sand Field, wanting to investigate what had happened.
Yang Kai stood on the spot and watched anxiously.
He never imagined that Yang Yan’s courage would be so great that she would directly rush into the Flame Area. She only wanted to confirm something to herself, so was there any need to risk her life? While Yang Kai felt some anger and anxiety, he mainly felt helpless. Every time he wanted to get closer, he would be pushed away by that invisible force.
Yang Kai deeply realized at this moment what powerlessness felt like!
*Hong long long…*
A loud noise suddenly echoed from all directions as the heat and energy of the Flowing Flame Sand Field’s first layer Flame Area began flowing towards Yang Yan, as if she had become a bottomless hole able to accept all of it.
As time passed, Yang Kai was surprised to find that the Fire Attribute energy of this first layer Flame Area was rapidly becoming thinner and thinner, its power greatly reducing.
Within half an hour, Yang Yan’s tender body was clearly revealed and the first layer Flame Area had almost ceased to exist. Yang Kai stood in place and saw Yang Yan standing with a solemn look upon her face, her eyes closed, her black robe and long black hair fluttering in the wind, and a large red ring held in both her hands.
This red ring was only about the size of a collar, but it gave off a terrifying Fire Attribute energy fluctuation. All the Fire Attribute aura and energy from the Flame Area was pouring into this ring and being absorbed.
Yang Kai had never seen this ring before, and he was certain Yang Yan did not possess such an artifact before. It was as if this artifact appeared out of thin air, and as for its grade, Yang Kai was unable to tell, something which shocked him greatly.
With his current vision, Yang Kai could clearly identify Origin Grade High-Rank artifacts, so could this ring be an Origin King Grade artifact?
Thinking so, Yang Kai was taken aback.
A moment later, everything suddenly became calm, and the chaos in the surrounding world completely disappeared.
At the same time, the First-Layer Flame Area of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, a famous Forbidden Zone on Shadowed Star that all cultivators dared not enter, had ceased to exist, leaving behind only an expanse of dark red ground in its place.
Yang Yan slowly opened her eyes and Yang Kai was about to call out to her, but before he could, he noticed a strange light coming from her beautiful eyes and immediately squinted.
Yang Yan played with the ring in her hands for a moment before a smile appeared on her face, as if she had just recovered something precious to her, making her extremely happy.
Holding up her hands, the ring she was holding quickly shrank down and wrapped around her wrist, fitting perfectly in place. Yang Yan flashed another happy smile as she revealed a look of satisfaction.
“Yang Kai!” Standing mid-air, Yang Yan suddenly raised her head and called out loudly.
Yang Kai didn’t respond immediately and instead just stared at her more and more intensely because the current Yang Yan, although identical in appearance, gave him a completely different feeling compared to before, as if she had become a different person, making him feel a bit uneasy.
Although he did not know why Yang Yan had undergone this kind of change, Yang Kai was certain it had something to do with the strange event that had just transpired. Rather than why the First-Layer Flame Area of the Flowing Flame Sand Field had disappeared though, Yang Kai was more interested to know what had happened to Yang Yan.
Yang Yan did not mind Yang Kai staying silent, instead just brushing her hair back behind her ear and saying softly, “I know who I am.”
“Who are you?” Yang Kai asked aloud.
“I am the Starry Sky Great Emperor!” Yang Yan flashed a proud look on her face, lifting her head up slightly, revealing a majestic and noble aura. This kind of temperament shouldn’t have appeared on this timid woman at all, but at the moment it seemed completely natural for her, as if it was part of Yang Yan’s innate nature. This caused anyone who gazed upon her to feel lowly and humble.
Even an Origin King Realm master may not necessarily possess such a temperament.
Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed and he nodded lightly, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly as his figure suddenly flickered, disappearing from where he stood and appearing again beside Yang Yan a moment later.
Under her stunned gaze, Yang Kai lifted his finger and flicked Yang Yan’s forehead.
With a light thump, Yang Yan let out an alarmed cry and used her hands to cover her forehead, her beautiful eyes watering up as she directed a grievance-filled stare towards Yang Kai. The graceful and majestic temperament she had been exuding had seemingly been instantly defeated by this finger and disappeared without a trace.
“So your name is Starry Sky Great Emperor, is it?” Yang Kai grit his teeth and stared at Yang Yan for a moment before reaching out his hand, pinching her cheek, and pulling it out.
“What are you doing?” Yang Yan seemed to be dumbstruck as she called out, her speech somewhat unclear as her cheek was being pulled.
“What do you think I’m doing?” Yang Kai grinned wickedly as he pulled even harder.
“Let go of me!” Yang Yan shouted as she glared at Yang Kai, “Hurry up and let go, don’t think I don’t dare fight back! Just you wait for my true body to awaken, then I’ll make you pay!”
“Wait for your true body to wake up, right?” Yang Kai reached out his other hand and pinched Yang Yan’s free cheek, twisting her face into funny shapes. Yang Yan responded by waving her hands angrily and trying to break free, but regardless of how she struggled, Yang Kai remained unmoved and continued playing with her.
It was not long before tears welled up at the corner of her eyes.
Suddenly, Yang Kai’s expression changed and he turned his head to look into the distance. At the same time, Yang Yan’s struggles also stopped, the two of them exchanging a knowing glance before their figures flickered and disappeared.
Both of their Divine Senses had detected a large number of people rapidly approaching their location, obviously attracted here by the massive disturbance that had just occurred.
About a cup of tea’s worth of time after Yang Kai and Yang Yan disappeared, dozens of different coloured lights flew over from various directions. When these people landed at the periphery of the Flowing Flame Sand Field and saw the surroundings, all of them were dumbstruck as looks of disbelief filled their faces.
The Flowing Flame Sand Field’s First-Layer Flame Area had existed on Shadowed Star for tens of thousands of years, yet now it had suddenly disappeared. These cultivators rubbed their eyes involuntarily, wanting to confirm whether or not they were seeing things.
However, to their shock, the First-Layer Flame Area really seemed to have strangely disappeared.
After a long, stunned silence, these cultivators began quickly taking out their communication artifacts and sending out messages, and as time passed, more and more cultivators rushed to this place, all of them wearing blank looks of shock.
After several hundred cultivators had gathered, everyone reached a simple agreement to explore the situation together; after all, the First-Layer Flame Area had disappeared, which meant the Second-Layer Treasure Area had become exposed, so there were perhaps gains to be had.
What disappointed everyone though, was that after several days of searching, no one was able to discover anything of value in the Second-Layer Treasure Area. It was as if all the spirit herbs which should have existed had disappeared without a trace together with the Flame Area.
While these people were searching through the Second-Layer Treasure Area, Yang Kai and Yang Yan had already penetrated the rolling mountains of the Fourth Layer.
Yang Kai did not have to use his Star Emperor Tokens to reach this place. Instead, all he needed to do was follow behind Yang Yan.
The Third-Layer Flame Area had much more intense heat and Fire Attribute energy than the First-Layer, but for some reason, whenever Yang Yan passed through it, the heat and flames separated on their own, as if they had spirituality and didn’t dare bar her path.
The pair continued deeper this way, but didn’t encounter any danger.
Looking at the expansive palatial pavilions shrouded in mist, Yang Yan revealed a look of reminiscence as she stated, “These are the ruins of the Supreme Profound Sect.”
“The Supreme Profound Sect’s ruins?” Yang Kai frowned as he turned to look at her and asked, “Is it related to you?”
“Yes and no,” Yang Yan’s brow furrowed slightly.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s the Sect the Starry Sky Great Emperor conveniently created in the past.”
“Aren’t you the Starry Sky Great Emperor?” Yang Kai’s brow twitched slightly.
Yang Yan curled her lips, “I am me, the Starry Sky Great Emperor is the Starry Sky Great Emperor. Although we are somewhat related, I cannot represent the Great Emperor.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai became even more interested. He never doubted what Yang Yan had said; after all, he had suspected that there might be some connection between the Flowing Flame Sand Field and the Starry Sky Great Emperor ever since he obtained a Star Emperor Token in the loft in the sixth layer.
When Yang Yan fell unconscious after the Emperor Garden appeared and Yang Kai had broken into her Knowledge Sea to awaken her, he had seen many incredible things.
Now Yang Yan had easily been able to enter and even take away part of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, combined with all the information he had gathered before, Yang Yan declaring herself the Starry Sky Great Emperor wasn’t actually too shocking.
Even though there was some uneasiness and hesitation in his heart, Yang Kai still chose to believe Yang Yan.
After a long silence, Yang Yan asked, “Have you heard of Soul Clones?”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded.
“I am a kind of Soul Clone of the Starry Sky Great Emperor. For some reason, the true body of the Great Emperor is in a deep sleep. My Artifact Refining and Spirit Array knowledge have also been inherited from the Great Emperor.”
“Why is she in a deep sleep?” Yang Kai frowned and asked. He was not too curious about Soul Clones because he had cultivated a Soul Clone technique that he comprehended after refining a drop of Golden Blood from Great Demon God. Yang Kai had used his Soul Clone back on the floating continent when Gui Zu was testing out his Space Array. As a result, it had been severely damaged and nearly destroyed.
However, after so many years of cultivation, Yang Kai’s Soul Clone had been restored and was now even more powerful than before.
It was just that Yang Kai was unable to find a vessel to fuse his Soul Clone with so it could act independently.
“She seems to have been injured,” Yang Yan spoke an astonishing truth.
“The Starry Sky Great Emperor can also be injured?” Yang Kai was startled.
“Why can’t a Great Emperor be injured? She also has enemies, enemies that possess strength on par with her own. However, I do not know the specific situation as the memories I’ve inherited from her are somewhat incomplete. I didn’t even know about any of this until I arrived here; although, from what I can gather, it seems that after fighting a great battle, the Great Emperor fell into a deep sleep, and now tens of thousands of years have passed,” Yang Yan slowly shook her head, “My strength is too low, so I can’t recall too much. Only after my strength improves will I be able to remember everything.”
“What about that enemy?” Yang Kai asked.
“They’re probably dead,” Yang Yan replied uncertainly.
“And that bracelet…” Yang Kai asked thoughtfully as he glanced towards the red ring on her wrist.
“One of the three Blazing Flame Rings. Since it was one of the Starry Sky Great Emperor’s artifacts, I can also use it,” Yang Yan smiled lightly, “The Third Layer and Fifth Layer are both parts of the Three Blazing Flame Rings, but with my current strength, I can’t recall them for now, nor can I use much of the first ring’s power.
Yang Kai secretly panicked. While he had been able to tease and toy with Yang Yan a moment ago, that was only because he had been friends with her for many years now, but if the one standing before him was the true Starry Sky Great Emperor, Yang Kai wouldn’t dare act so dissolute.
The Great Emperor’s majesty could not be easily offended.
Moreover, the so-called Three Blazing Flame Rings was just one of the Great Emperor’s artifacts, yet it had become a famous Forbidden Zone on Shadowed Star for tens of thousands of years. So how strong was the Great Emperor herself?
To think that such a person had actually been severely injured though. Who was her enemy?
But what shocked Yang Kai even more was that the Starry Sky Great Emperor famous throughout the Star Field was actually a woman!
If such knowledge were to be spread out, many men would likely feel so ashamed they would want to die.
Fortunately, many things became clear to Yang Kai with this.
No wonder when the Flowing Flame Sand Field closed, the hand which appeared to remove everyone clearly belonged to a woman, and when the Emperor Garden appeared, that same jade-white hand appeared for a second time. Obviously, this was some kind of technique left behind by the Great Emperor; after all, whether it was the Flowing Flame Sand Field or the Emperor Garden, they belonged to the Great Emperor, strictly speaking.
With the Great Emperor’s strength and methods, being able to accomplish these feats should not have been difficult.
Although Yang Kai’s heart was tumbling and it felt as if a chaotic storm was blowing in his mind, he remained extremely calm on the surface. While chatting with Yang Yan, he learned all kinds of information about the Starry Sky Great Emperor; after all, Yang Yan’s memory was slowly being restored and after learning she was the Soul Clone of the Great Emperor, she herself must have become quite flustered. Therefore, if Yang Kai didn’t maintain composure, the situation would only get worse.
What Yang Kai was most curious about was why the Great Emperor had chosen to enter a deep sleep on Shadowed Star. Were the World Principles here restricting cultivators from breaking through to the Origin King Realm somehow related to her?
After chatting for a while, Yang Kai learned that the place where the Starry Sky Great Emperor’s true body was currently sleeping was inside the Emperor Garden.
This reminded him of something.
Fei Zhi Tu had said that he and his group had come across a jade coffin that held a woman inside a palace in the Emperor Garden.
Fei Zhi Tu and the others accidentally touched a barrier near this jade coffin at that time, causing the Emperor Garden to appear after sending Yang Kai, Qian Tong, and the rest out.
Could it be that the woman lying inside that jade coffin was the Starry Sky Great Emperor? On this isolated and backward Shadowed Star, a supreme master was actually in deep sleep? Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling that all of this was too shocking.
While contemplating these issues and examining Yang Yan, Yang Kai was still unable to connect her with the Starry Sky Great Emperor, a figure famous across the entire Star Field.
“Let’s go,” Yang Yan looked at the fog covered ruins of the Supreme Profound Sect for a long time before seemingly losing interest and moving on.
“Don’t you want to go in and see?”
“No,” Yang Yan shook her head slowly, lightly stepping away.
“Where are you going now?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
“To the Sixth Layer to retrieve something,” Yang Yan smiled lightly, not bothering to explain further.
The Sixth Layer was where that small loft was located, the place Yang Kai had found the Ten Thousand Year Incense. It seemed that the Ten Thousand Year Incense belonged to the Great Emperor. In other words, it was Yang Yan’s.
Yang Kai wrinkled his nose for a moment before relaxing, not showing any kind of embarrassment. In any case, Yang Yan was his friend, so there was no need to worry about such minor issues.
The speed of the pair wasn’t too fast, but because Yang Yan was leading the way through the Flowing Flame Sand Field, they didn’t encounter any danger. The pair quickly arrived at the Fifth-Layer Flame Area and, similar to the Third Layer, the heat and flames all spontaneously separated in front of Yang Yan, revealing a path leading to the Sixth Layer.
A piercing cry suddenly came out and the Firebird Artifact Spirit leapt out from Yang Kai’s body on its own initiative.
Flapping its wings, it circled above Yang Kai’s head for a moment, communicating with him. Yang Kai smiled lightly as he understood its intentions and nodded, not making any attempt to stop it.
The Artifact Spirit cried out happily before immediately transforming into a flame and flying off into the distance, disappearing in the blink of an eye. From the direction it was flying, it was obviously headed towards the Earth Lung Fire Pond.
The Earth Lung Fire Pond was the Artifact Spirit’s birthplace, and although it had been there for tens of thousands of years, it was unable to continue to draw more power from Earth Lung Fire Pond due to its growth limitations. But now, it was different from the past. After absorbing several wisps of Sun’s True Fire, the Firebird Artifact Spirit was significantly stronger compared to when Yang Kai first obtained it.
Now, it wanted to go to the Earth Lung Fire Pond to devour the pure Fire Attribute aura there to further strengthen itself.
For something beneficial, how could Yang Kai prevent it?
Half a day later, the pair crossed the Fifth-Layer Flame Area and reached the delicate loft hidden in the bamboo forest.
Looking at this humble loft, Yang Yan’s eyes flashed a nostalgic light, seemingly recalling many memories of this place. Seeing this, Yang Kai didn’t disturb her, instead just waiting outside the bamboo forest silently.
These bamboos were extremely hard. Yang Kai had spent half a year here cutting them with his Space Blade, but had only managed to harvest twenty pieces. These cuts still appeared fresh when Yang Kai spotted them.
“These are Black Gold Bamboos. Although they are an excellent material for refining sword-type artifacts, that’s nothing compared to their other uses so don’t cut down any more of them,” Yang Yan suddenly spoke.
“Other uses?” Yang Kai heard this and asked. He knew the strength of these bamboos so, naturally, he understood they were a rare artifact refining material.
“En, after these Black Gold Bamboos blossom, they produce Black Gold Bamboo Shoots which contain highly concentrated and extremely pure World Energy. These shoots can be easily absorbed by any cultivator to raise their cultivation without any hidden dangers.”
Yang Kai was startled and quickly asked, “Is that true?”
“You think I’d lie to you?” Yang Yan shot him an unhappy glare.
“When will they blossom and produce shoots?” Yang Kai asked eagerly.
“From the looks of it, somewhere between ten and twenty years,” Yang Yan smiled, naturally knowing what he was thinking.
“Ten or twenty years…” Yang Kai showed an ugly expression. Who could tell what would happen over the next ten or twenty years? By that time perhaps he would no longer even be on Shadowed Star.
With a chuckle, Yang Yan ignored Yang Kai and walked towards the loft. Letting out a reluctant sigh, Yang Kai hurriedly followed after her.
After entering the first floor of the loft, the first thing Yang Kai saw was the picture hanging directly in front of him. There was nothing else depicted in this picture other than a woman’s back. When Yang Kai first came here, he had studied this picture for a while, but was unable to discover anything out of the ordinary with it. This picture seemed to only be a common painting, without the slightest energy fluctuations.
At that time, Yang Kai had felt this back was faintly familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
Now that he saw it again though, everything became clear.
This back was exactly the same as Yang Yan’s!
Yang Kai simply hadn’t connected the two at that time because Yang Yan was always wearing a loose black robe, making it difficult to see her profile; however, with Yang Yan currently standing in front of the picture staring at it intently, Yang Kai could clearly see the similarity between them.
While thinking this way, the picture seemed to be shaken by the breeze, trembling slightly before an incredible scene appeared.
The figure in the picture actually turned around slowly, and her beautiful eyes met Yang Yan’s directly as a smile formed on her lips.
Yang Kai stared at all this in amazement, too shocked to move for a while.
When the woman drawn in the picture turned around completely, it was clearly Yang Yan, the only difference was that she was wearing very different clothes. The Yang Yan that Yang Kai knew was always wearing a long black robe, but the woman in the picture wore all white, giving her an icy and pure look.
This strange scene looked like Yang Yan was standing in front of a mirror, causing Yang Kai to feel somewhat at a loss for what to do.
What shocked him even more though was that the woman in the picture actually glanced over at him, as if she had her own sentience and consciousness.
If Yang Kai had any doubt about Yang Yan’s identity before, now that doubt had been completely erased. Forget about anything else, just the extraordinariness of this picture alone was beyond Yang Kai ability to understand.
One person and one portrait stared at each other for a long time before Yang Yan suddenly let out a gentle sigh, “I’ve already awoken, so you no longer need to remain here. Come out, you’ve worked hard all these years.”
“I am you and you are me, why try to draw distinctions now?” The same voice as Yang Yan’s sounded from the picture and immediately, the woman in it smiled slightly before transforming into a stream of light and leaping off the canvas before diving into Yang Yan’s forehead and disappearing.
Yang Yan herself shivered slightly, showing a hint of pain on her face, but she quickly calmed down and closed her eyes, seemingly sensing something.
Yang Kai didn’t disturb her. This trip with Yang Yan to the Flowing Flame Sand Field had allowed him to witness many things that exceeded the scope of his understanding. The Great Emperor’s means were not something a cultivator of his level could possibly comprehend.
After the portrait of the Great Emperor disappeared, the canvas it was drawn upon suddenly ignited and was burnt to ash in an instant, disappearing from the world entirely.
Yang Yan remained immersed in her perception with her eyes closed, so Yang Kai also remained silent and waited.
After about two hours, Yang Yan exhaled suddenly and slowly opened her beautiful eyes before turning to Yang Kai and smiling.
Although he still found it impossible to determine Yang Yan’s cultivation, Yang Kai felt that after receiving the portrait from the picture, some changes had taken place in Yang Yan’s aura, making her seem more powerful than before.
“This place was left here as a failsafe by the Great Emperor. If I hadn’t appeared and regained my memories, she would have taken up my role,” Yang Yan explained softly.
“And what role is that?”
“To awaken the Great Emperor!” Yang Yan replied, “You should be thankful that you aren’t a woman. If you were, your body would already have been taken over when you arrived at this place.”
Yang Kai’s face sank as he was struck speechless, but soon his curiosity re-asserted itself, “So what you mean to say is you now have the duty of awakening the Great Emperor?”
“Yes,” Yang Yan nodded.
“How are you going to accomplish that?”
“Wait for the Emperor Garden to open then travel to its innermost sanctum,” Yang Yan looked up towards the location of the Emperor Garden but, unfortunately, nothing could be seen through the Flowing Flame Sand Field’s red flame barrier.
Yang Kai didn’t ask any more questions, as he knew sometimes knowing too much was not a good thing.
“That’s how it is, let’s head back,” Yang Yan said with satisfaction.
“Yeah, just wait a moment,” Yang Kai nodded while sending out a command with his Divine Sense before standing in place and waiting.
A moment later, a blazing wisp of fire flew over. It was the Firebird Artifact Spirit which had left Yang Kai a few hours earlier.
In the blink of an eye, the Artifact Spirit arrived in front of Yang Kai as violent flames and heat surged around its body.
It seemed that although it had not spent much time in the Earth Lung Fire Pond, the Artifact Spirit had still gained many benefits. After being summoned back by Yang Kai, the Artifact Spirit showed a look of reluctance and continued to tweet its displeasure.
Yang Kai just waved his hand helplessly and the Artifact Spirit obediently entered his body.
Finished with their business here, Yang Kai and Yang Yan began walking out.
In order to avoid being seen, the two proceeded very carefully. Fortunately, the Emperor Garden had attracted the attention of most cultivators, so the number of people who rushed to investigate the changes in the Flowing Flame Sand Field wasn’t too high. Concealing themselves properly, the two finally left the Flowing Flame Sand Field without incident.
Once they were a fair distance from this Forbidden Zone, Yang Yan immediately summoned the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle and the pair set out towards Heavenly Fate City.
Twenty days passed in the blink of an eye before a young man and a black-robed young woman stood two thousand metres outside Heavenly Fate City. Naturally, it was Yang Kai and Yang Yan.
After leaving the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Yang Yan made the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle tear space again, but unfortunately, while the distance travelled this time did not change, the position the Battle Shuttle emerged from The Void was completely wrong, delaying the pair’s return trip by a few days.
However, this little mishap did not matter too much as the Emperor Garden was still not open, so there was no need to rush.
Yang Kai figured out another important point during this trip, and that was why the Emperor Garden had settled in the sky above Dragon Cave Mountain, bringing so much attention to Heavenly Fate City. This was no accident, nor did it have anything to do with Dragon Cave Mountain’s good or bad fortune, but rather because Yang Yan lived on Dragon Cave Mountain!
The Emperor Garden was both the Great Emperor’s residence as well as the place where her true body slumbered, so there being an inextricable connection to Yang Yan was only natural.
Of course, this was just Yang Kai’s conjecture, and he did not ask Yang Yan to confirm it, but he felt all of this shouldn’t just be a coincidence.
Now, Yang Kai was staring out towards a certain direction where multiple flashes of light were constantly occurring accompanied by strong energy fluctuations. Exchanging a knowing glance with Yang Yan who was standing next to him, the pair both showed gloomy expressions.
It was obvious that a battle was taking place, and this fight was surrounding Dragon Cave Mountain.
Could it be that, in the month he and Yang Yan had been gone, someone had decided to attack Dragon Cave Mountain?
Thinking so, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense before summoning his Star Shuttle and rushing over at full speed with Yang Yan following close behind.
Yang Kai’s expectations were soon confirmed as he determined that Dragon Cave Mountain was indeed under siege, and the leader of this assault was none other than the Xie Family that held many grudges against him.
Due to Lu Ye’s staying in the Xie Family and because Yang Kai had been busy with a number of issues recently, he hadn’t had time to settle his grievances with the Xie Family, but he hadn’t expected the other party would actually launch an all-out attack.
At the moment, outside Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array, a middle-aged man wearing a purple robe with a hazy look in his eyes stared angrily towards the flashing light display occurring in front of him.
This man was none other than Xie Li, the Xie Family’s most powerful master, a genuine Second-Order Origin Returning Realm master. He held a fairly high position in Shadow Moon Hall, but currently, he had not hesitated to leave Shadow Moon Hall in order to avenge the dead Xie Hong Wen!
It was no secret that Xie Hong Wen had died at Yang Kai’s hands, and although no one had publicly revealed it, before Xie Hong Wen dived into the Flowing Flame Sand Field he had a secret technique planted on his body, proving Yang Kai killed him as this secret mark had been stealthily transferred to him during the process.
Afterwards, as long as the Xie Family investigated, they could confirm who the murderer was.
Unfortunately, Yang Kai had Qian Tong as a backer, forcing Xie Li to act cautiously lest he harm himself. The only option Xie Li had was to wait for an opportunity to act.
Such an opportunity came quickly though. When Qian Tong disappeared, he naturally wanted to immediately take revenge, so Xie Li instructed his subordinates in Heavenly Fate City to embezzle Dragon Cave Mountain’s Saint Crystals then seize the cultivators who came to investigate in an attempt to draw out Yang Kai.
This strategy worked perfectly, but Xie Li had greatly underestimated Yang Kai’s strength. After storming into Heavenly Fate City, Yang Kai had killed a Xie Family Origin Returning Realm master in front of the entire city’s eyes and, even after Fei Zhi Tu intervened, Yang Kai was able to calmly leave.
Afterwards, Qian Tong returned safely and Xie Li was forced to withdraw temporarily.
What Xie Li had not expected, however, was that Qian Tong actually announced that Shadow Moon Hall would not intervene in any way in the grievances between the Xie Family and Dragon Cave Mountain. This statement made Xie Li both happy and wary, thinking that Qian Tong was simply trying to lure all the snakes from their holes to destroy them all at once.
However, after inquiring through many parties, Xie Li learned that this non-interference pledge was made at Yang Kai’s request; Qian Tong was only cooperating with him.
[This little brat was seeking his own destruction!] Xie Li was overjoyed; without Qian Tong as a backer, and without Shadow Moon Hall’s support, how could a trivial Dragon Cave Mountain withstand the Xie Family’s strength?
As far as Xie Li knew, there were only two Origin Returning Realm masters on Dragon Cave Mountain, and both were just First-Order Origin Realm cultivators that had broken through a few years prior.
There was even a time when Xie Li could not wait to personally rush to Dragon Cave Mountain to kill Yang Kai, but after seeing Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array, Xie Li realized he had greatly underestimated this place.
He was unable to see the slightest flaw in this protective Spirit Array, and even after sending many of the Xie Family’s disciples in to probe it, Xie Li had been unable to learn anything, instead incurring severe losses.
Originally, Xie Li planned to invite members of the Cai Family and Du Family who were proficient in Spirit Arrays to try to crack Dragon Cave Mountain’s protective array, but to his surprise, the leaders of both the Cai Family and Du Family categorically rejected his request and sent back all the rewards he promised them without hesitation.
Afterwards, Xie Li learned that Yang Kai had once saved the lives of the Cai Family’s Cai He and the Du Family’s Du Si Si, so when these two heard someone wanted to act against Dragon Cave Mountain, as the rising stars of both families, they used their influence to force their families to reject Xie Li’s invitation, frustrating the latter greatly.
Fortunately, the Heavens opened another path for Xie Li. Dragon Cave Mountain was apparently extremely proud of its defensive capabilities and did not put anyone in their eyes. As a result, they had offended a great force from the Limitless Ocean, Sea Heart Sect, and then offended Myriad Beast Mountain and Demon Blood Temple.
On top of that, the Young Master of Flowing Cloud Valley staying at the Xie Family, Lu Ye, had some kind of deep grudge with Yang Kai.
Xie Li’s confidence soared when he learned these several forces were willing to collaborate! He even believed that Dragon Cave Mountain would be trampled flat this time and immediately assembled the elites of his family and declared their separation from Shadow Moon Hall before beginning an assault on Dragon Cave Mountain.
There were more than thirty Origin Returning Realm masters in this attacking force, and although there was no Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master leading them and Myriad Beast Mountain and Demon Blood Temple did not openly cooperate with them, just secretly sending some masters to provide assistance, Xie Li was still very satisfied.
In any case, there were no masters on Dragon Cave Mountain, so they could only rely on the protection of their Mountain Defending Array. As long as this protective array was destroyed, Xie Li was confident he could easily slaughter the people inside by himself.
Every time he imagined Yang Kai kneeling before him, begging for mercy, Xie Li felt great happiness.
The saddest thing in this world was for a parent to have to bury their child. When he first learned that Xie Hong Wen had died in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Xie Li had been overcome with grief. Then, after finding out that Yang Kai was the murderer, Xie Li had been unable to rest at ease these past few years, or even eat or sleep in peace, knowing Yang Kai was still alive. Yang Kai’s very existence had become a kind of heart demon for Xie Li, even preventing him from cultivating properly.
Although he was no longer young, Xie Li’s violent temper had not changed since his youth.
Revenge for the death of his child was one thing, but the incredible wealth of Dragon Cave Mountain had also drawn Xie Lie’s attention. The heritage exhibited by Dragon Cave Mountain in recent years was extremely shocking. Just the materials it had purchased from Shadow Moon Hall alone were worth hundreds of millions of Saint Crystals.
Xie Li even wondered whether Dragon Cave Mountain sat atop a rich Saint Crystal lode; how else could they have acquired so many Saint Crystals?
If the attack on Dragon Cave Mountain was successful this time, the biggest gains would go to his, Xie Family. The people from Myriad Beast Mountain and Demon Blood Temple had already declared they did not want anything other than the Profound Gold Yang Kai had taken from them. As for who would ultimately end up owning the Profound Gold, that was a matter for them to decide among themselves and had nothing to do with the Xie Family.
Being offered such good conditions, Xie Li naturally agreed.
As for the condition that Flowing Cloud Valley put forward, it was even stranger. That Flowing Cloud Valley Young Master Lu Ye wanted Yang Kai’s body and nothing else.
What use did a mere Saint King Realm cultivator’s corpse have? Although Xie Li didn’t understand, he had no intention to dwell on the matter. Lu Ye, on the other hand, was worth being vigilant about. Whenever he saw this young man, Xie Li always felt a sense of unease, as if he weren’t facing a Saint King Junior but rather a poisonous snake hiding its fangs!
What surprised Xie Li even more was that this Lu Ye’s subordinates consisted of more than a dozen Origin Returning Realm cultivators. Although all these cultivators were just First-Order Origin Realm masters, Flowing Cloud Valley was just a small force so they shouldn’t have had so many masters in the first place.
These Origin Returning Realm masters also gave Xie Li a sense of incongruity. The few times he had seen them interact with Lu Ye, Xie Li could clearly tell these Origin Realm masters were incredibly respectful towards Lu Ye, displaying a mix of awe and fear, as if they were slaves facing the master who controlled whether they lived or died.
All sorts of miscellaneous thoughts flashed across Xie Li’s mind, but he soon shook his head to dismiss them before shouting to the crowd of people gathered around him to bombard Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array.
Since he could not bring an excellent Array Master to come here to crack this array, he could only use brute force to break it open.
Xie Li firmly believed that he could eventually break open this protective array.
This method also aligned with Xie Li’s temperament. He wanted to see the look on Yang Kai’s face when this Spirit Array was broken and he wantonly destroyed Dragon Cave Mountain.
Two days had passed since the siege was launched, but over this time the more than thirty Origin Returning Realm masters had exhausted themselves, not to mention the many Saint Kings under their command. Countless Saint Crystals and pills had already been consumed to supplement everyone’s Saint Qi.
This Mountain Defending Array was far stronger than Xie Li ever imagined. After two days of continuous bombardment, the light curtain itself had only become slightly dimmer and was nowhere near breaking.
Up until now, Dragon Cave Mountain had not launched any kind of counterattack, as if everyone inside was already dead.
Various artifacts of different shapes and sizes radiated dazzling light as all of the cultivators present pressed down their shock and continued to attack the light curtain in front of them.
None of them had ever encountered such a solid Spirit Array before. All of them could only describe it as impregnable.
Suddenly, inside the Spirit Array, the fog began to tumble and revealed several figures.
Xie Li frowned and raised his hand, motioning everyone to stop.
In the next moment, everyone withdrew their artifacts and looked towards the newly appeared figures. What they saw was two beautiful women standing side by side, with three old men who were clearly First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators standing behind them.
Xie Li’s eyes were cold as he observed the two women leading this group with a sneer.
Many other cultivators revealed ill-intent as well, some even directing lecherous looks towards these two women, sweeping their eyes over their beautiful bodies as if these two women already belong to them. Many of them wished to hurriedly break through this barrier and devastate these two.
On the other hand, the two women remained indifferent, not showing the slightest fear.
Xie Li recognized the identity of these two women at a glance. In order to deal with Dragon Cave Mountain, he had naturally investigated the details of this place. One of these two women was named Wu Yi, a disciple of the Hai Ke Family who later left her family to join Dragon Cave Mountain. As for the other woman, she was called Qian Yue and seemed to have been brought back by Yang Kai from somewhere.
The cultivations of these two were not even worth mentioning. A Second-Order Saint King and a First-Order Saint King could not be placed in Xie Li’s eyes at all.
Of the three old men standing behind them, two of them must be Chang Qi and Hao An, former Foreign Elders of the Hai Ke Family. These two had entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field when it last opened and obviously obtained some opportunities which allowed both of them to break through to the Origin Realm, after which they joined Dragon Cave Mountain.
As for the last person, Xie Li looked at him suspiciously for a moment before calling out to him in surprise, “Brother Ning, why are you here?”
The last old man with a snow-white beard was none other than Ning Xiang Chen, who had accompanied Yang Kai to the Emperor Garden.
Ning Xiang Chen felt extremely helpless at the moment. After returning from the Emperor Garden and receiving Yang Kai’s promise, he had immediately gone to collect the necessary materials to repair his Origin Grade Artifact before coming to Dragon Cave Mountain to borrow Yang Kai’s Firebird Artifact Spirit.
Finally, he had managed to gather the materials he needed and rushed to this place, but unexpectedly, Yang Kai was out.
With no other choice, he decided to stay on the mountain to wait for Yang Kai to return.
However, he had barely gotten settled in before the Xie Family began its assault on Dragon Cave Mountain.
Ning Xiang Chen immediately fell into an embarrassing situation. It would be dangerous to remain here as, once the Mountain Defending Array of Dragon Cave Mountain was broken, he would definitely be lumped together with the others here, but simply escaping was also somewhat inappropriate. At the very least, he could forget about ever borrowing Yang Kai’s Firebird Artifact Spirit to repair his artifact if he abandoned this place now.
Ning Xiang Chen was now riding a tiger, uncertain of what to do next.
He was a lone wanderer with neither a Sect nor family. Cultivating to his current realm had been a treacherous journey filled with countless dangers and narrow escapes.
In the past, when Shadow Moon Hall’s Grandmaster Ge Lin was still alive, if his artifacts became damaged, Ning Xiang Chen could bring them to the former to have them repaired as the Grandmaster was quite friendly and approachable. Ning Xiang Chen had been under the care of Grandmaster Ge Lin for many years and did not know any other Origin Grade Artifact Refiners as a result. If this was not the case, how could he have come to ask for help from Yang Kai?
Ning Xiang Chen had spent the last two days on Dragon Cave Mountain in a constant state of unease as so many cultivators were constantly bombarding the protective barrier, but after these two days, he noticed something very strange.
Even facing such a heavy siege, none of the cultivators on Dragon Cave Mountain showed the slightest sign of panic, all of them simply going about their business, cultivating calmly, as if the enemies outside did not even exist.
One or two cultivators behaving like this could be interpreted as them having unusual mental fortitude, but everyone behaving so was a bit strange.
This was especially true for Wu Yi and Qian Yue. These two women were calmer than anyone else, even gathering to drink tea and chat happily several times these past two days. Did they simply not know how to write the word ‘death’?
Ning Xiang Chen felt shock and admiration after seeing this. Compared to him constantly weighing the pros and cons of remaining here and suffering in anxiety, the performance of these Juniors was markedly superior.
What truly shocked Ning Xiang Chen though was that Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array had been assaulted for two straight days by more than thirty Origin Returning Realm masters and two hundred or so Saint Kings but had barely taken any damage.
This small hilltop was not simple!
This Mountain Defending Array alone was not something ordinary people could arrange.
Recalling Yang Kai’s incredible performance back in the Emperor Garden, Ning Xiang Chen grit his teeth and decided to take a risk! He would stay here and fight together with Dragon Cave Mountain. There were various indications that this hilltop was not a soft persimmon that could be easily pinched and very likely had many powerful hidden cards that could turn danger into safety.
Of course, Ning Xiang Chen making such a choice was not out of a sense of chivalry, but rather a deliberate gamble.
He was betting on Dragon Cave Mountain being able to survive this disaster, and once it did, he would be able to easily borrow the Firebird Artifact Spirit from Yang Kai. Otherwise, Ning Xiang Chen would have already left.
As such, when Wu Yi and Qian Yue went out to meet the enemy, Ning Xiang Chen requested to follow them without even being asked.
Hearing Xie Li’s question, Ning Xiang Chen chuckled, “Brother Xie, it’s been too long since we last met. I heard Brother Xie has recently left Shadow Moon Hall, is that true?”
“Why ask something you already know, Brother Ning?” Xie Li coldly snorted. Ning Xiang Chen was a lone cultivator without any background, so even if he was an Origin Realm master, Xie Li didn’t put him in his eyes. The only reason he bothered speaking to him was because they had met before in the past, “Since Brother Ning is here though, this Xie has a suggestion. I wonder if Brother Ning would be willing to consider it?”
“Oh? And what does Brother Xie propose?” Ning Xiang Chen frowned.
Xie Li glanced over at Qian Yue and Wu Yi before using his Divine Sense to send a message, “Brother Ning, I’m certain you can understand the current situation. In the face of so many forces collaborating with me, this puny hilltop is as good as doomed. Once this annoying barrier is broken, Dragon Cave Mountain will be a fish on a chopping board. I do not know what kinds of benefits Dragon Cave Mountain promised you, but this Xie is willing to pay double the price as long as you can capture those two women and turn them over to me. It shouldn’t be difficult for Brother Ning to accomplish this, yes?”
Ning Xiang Chen raised his brow for a moment before revealing a faint smile and saying out loud, “Brother Xie, this Ning doesn’t believe he is a noble warrior, but he at least understands honesty and loyalty, sneak attacking two Juniors from behind is an incredibly improper act. If this Ning were really to perform such a scandalous act, I’m afraid there would be no place left in this world for me to take shelter in the future.”
Hearing Ning Xiang Chen’s words, Xie Li’s complexion sank. The other party had not sent him a Divine Sense Message but chose to speak openly, so that everyone present could hear him. This was a naked display of contempt, something which made Xie Li annoyed.
Ning Xiang Chen continued to speak however, “Brother Xie does not need to speak any exaggerated words. Although there are indeed many people who have come here to stir up trouble, I’m afraid that breaking this barrier is not a matter that can be accomplished in just a day or two. En, this old master choosing to interfere in this matter is also my own decision, no one has offered me any kind of reward or compensation, so I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint Brother Xie.”
When they saw Xie Li quietly sending messages to Ning Xiang Chen, both Wu Yi’s and Qian Yue’s expressions had become a little nervous, worried the other party would be won over by Xie Li. After all, they were not familiar with Ning Xiang Chen, but listening to his words just now, they couldn’t help showing a relieved look while nodding to him in appreciation.
As for Chang Qi, he patted Ning Xiang Chen’s shoulder and said with a hearty laugh, “Brother Ning, you will rejoice you made this choice one day.”
Hao An also smiled as his opinion of this old fellow Ning Xiang Chen improved greatly.
[I hope so…] Ning Xiang Chen portrayed calm on the surface while his heart was pounding like a drum on the inside. Ning Xiang Chen making this choice was also due to him not being able to stand Xie Li and these people using strength to bully the weak. However, now that he had torn face with Xie Li, if Dragon Cave Mountain were really to fall, he would certainly suffer severe consequences.
Wu Yi smiled lightly while a look of confidence filled her face, making it impossible to read what she was thinking as she spoke, “Seniors, my Dragon Cave Mountain has neither grievance nor grudge with any of you, why make things difficult for us?”
“Neither grievance nor grudge?” Xie Li heard this and grinned angrily, “If there was no injustice or hatred between us, do you think we would all assemble here to attack your pathetic little hill? This old master will not speak any nonsense with you. Girl, you’d best know your place and withdraw this Mountain Defending Array. Do so and I will spare you some suffering, otherwise…”
“Otherwise what?” Wu Yi raised her head slightly and stared towards Xie Li, not displaying a hint of timidity.
Xie Li coldly snorted, “Otherwise, when this barrier breaks, we will peel your skin and crack your bones!”
“Senior’s words are big, are you not afraid the wind will clip your tongue after speaking so forcefully?” Wu Yi still laughed lightly, but her words were filled with ridicule. Sweeping her beautiful eyes over the many enemies eyeing her covetously, Wu Yi declared, “Junior advises all the Seniors present to leave now. Do so and my Dragon Cave Mountain will not hold you responsible for what has already transpired here, but if you fail to heed this warning, do not blame my Dragon Cave Mountain for acting ruthless!”
The words she spoke were nothing less than astonishing.
Many of the Origin Returning Realm masters present could not help staring at Wu Yi as if they were looking at a fool.
They had been attacking this barrier for two days but still had not managed to break through Dragon Cave Mountain’s protection, so they were already quite disgruntled, but listening to Wu Yi’s shameless boasting, they immediately became incensed!
All of the cultivators who had come here to attack Dragon Cave Mountain either had ulterior motives or deep hatred against Yang Kai, so how could they be scared off by a few empty threats from Wu Yi? Not only were they not deterred, they became even more aggressive.
Some of the more hot-tempered people present immediately attacked with their artifacts or Martial Skills towards Wu Yi.
*Hong long long…*
A series of explosions rang out as the light curtain in front of Wu Yi shone brilliantly blocking all these attacks.
Wu Yi’s expression remained completely calm as she glanced over at the cultivators who just attacked and declared, “Since you insist on acting besotted, I can only hope you won’t regret the decision you made today!”
Saying so, she waved her hand and the thick layer of fog re-emerged, engulfing the figures of Wu Yi and the others, causing them to disappear from the sight of their enemies.
“Arrogant little bitch, when this old master catches her, he will let her know what a life worse than death feels like!” An old Origin Returning Realm master sitting cross-legged atop a giant toad-like Monster Beast stared at the spot where Wu Yi disappeared and cursed.
This old man was extremely ugly, with bulging eyes, a crooked nose, a bald head, and warts covering his face. On top of that, he was at least a head shorter than average, making his appearance perfectly match with the toad he was sitting on.
Needless to say, this person was from Myriad Beast Mountain, and although no one present was wearing any robes or markings that could identify them as being from Myriad Beast Mountain, people would easily be able to see their origins as long as they weren’t fools because these people’s main method of attack was by controlling Monster Beasts.
Such an obvious trait could not be concealed.
The Blue-Eyed Blood Toad this old man was sitting on was a powerful Ninth-Order Monster Beast, and combined with his own techniques, this human-beast combination was powerful enough to take on Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators. Everyone present also knew that not only was this man’s outer appearance ugly, his mental state was also quite distorted. While being petty and lustful, he most enjoyed torturing and humiliating beautiful women, often to death, deriving some kind of sick, vindictive pleasure from such acts.
If Wu Yi really fell into his hands, she would certainly experience a fate worse than death.
“Heh heh, those two girls both have good strength, if this old master can capture them, they can be made into two good Blood Slaves!” Nearby, a middle-aged man covered in a blood-red aura flashed an evil grin and was undoubtedly from Demon Blood Temple.
“There’s no point talking about any of this until we find a way to break through this barrier!” Xie Li chided, showing a disgruntled look. Their group had barely made any progress trying to destroy this Mountain Defending Array, so what use was there discussing how to carve up the benefits behind it?
The old man from Myriad Beast Mountain cackled, “Originally this old master didn’t want to use this trick, but since that little bitch wants to seek death, this old master can only offer a helping hand, haha!”
Saying so, his expression suddenly became solemn as Saint Qi burst from his body. At the same time, the cheeks of the Blue-Eyed Blood Toad beneath him swelled up and a low croaking like the sound of a frog rang out.
Suddenly, the surrounding World Energy aura became turbulent and began gathering towards the man-beast pair.
Xie Li’s eyes lit up as he stared at the old man’s movements for a moment before asking, “Do you plan on using the Blood Toad Poisonous Smoke?”
Hearing this, the other Origin Returning Realm masters all looked startled and turned shocked gazes towards the old man.
The old man from Myriad Beast Mountain just coldly snorted and said, “Blood Toad Poisonous Smoke is my baby’s unique skill, but the number of times it can use it in its lifetime is limited. This old master is putting forward such effort, so I hope friends will not continue to conceal their cards as well!”
Finished with his explanation, this old man suddenly spat out a blood arrow. This blood arrow shot forward towards the Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array. Simultaneously, the Blue-Eyed Blood Toad blew a jet of black venom from its mouth towards the blood arrow.
When the blood arrow and black venom mixed together, they instantly transformed into a dark fog that bombarded towards the barrier’s light curtain.
*Ci la la…*
A sound reminiscent of something being corroded filled everyone’s ears in the next moment as the light curtain surrounding Dragon Cave Mountain began to flicker and at a speed visible to the naked eye, a gap was melted in it.
This gap was large enough to allow a person to pass through, and although it quickly repaired itself, it still demonstrated the great power of this blow.
Over the past two days, no one had been able to open even a tiny hole in this barrier, but now this old man from Myriad Beast Mountain had done just that.
Even if the barrier was quickly restored, this blow had depleted a significant amount of the Mountain Defending Array’s power, so if a few more attacks of similar intensity could be unleashed, perhaps it really could be broken.
After using this technique though, the old man’s complexion became slightly pale and the Blue-Eyed Blood Toad he was riding also seemed a little emaciated. Without saying a word, the old man took out a jade bottle from his Space Ring, poured out a blood red pill, and tossed it forward. The Blue-Eyed Blood Toad spat out its scarlet tongue and caught this pill, swallowing it down in the next moment, its blue eyes flashing a look of enjoyment as it did.
For the Blue-Eyed Blood Toad, this blood red pill was undoubtedly a great supplement.
“Excellent,” Xie Li laughed loudly while carefully concealing his shock, nodding in approval as he declared, “In that case, this Xie will not hold back either.”
Saying so, he quickly summoned a small dagger-like artifact that radiated a silvery luster and potent spirituality.
“White Rainbow Dagger!” When the old man from Myriad Beast Mountain saw this dagger, he could not help calling out in surprise, “I never expected Brother Xie would possess this kind of barrier breaking artifact. It seems that Brother Xie’s opportunities in life have not been small.”
The other Origin Returning Realm masters present also turned greedy looks towards this White Rainbow Dagger, as if they had all heard about it before.
Xie Li chuckled and said lightly, “Rather than an opportunity, I simply obtained it by accident.”
As he said so, he poured his Saint Qi into the White Rainbow Dagger with a solemn expression. Naturally, no one believed Xie Li when he said such words; as far as they knew, this White Rainbow Dagger was an artifact specifically designed to break Spirit Arrays and barriers, and its grade was also extremely high, reaching the Origin Grade Mid-Rank. Perhaps such an artifact was not considered much when considering the entire Star Field, but on Shadowed Star, it was incredibly valuable.
After all, when something is rare, it becomes precious.
Moreover, this White Rainbow Dagger should be an heirloom from some small family. As for why it fell into Xie Li’s hands, that was unknown, but it was likely that Xie Li had forcefully obtained it at some point in the past.
Nevertheless, this was someone else’s problem, so although everyone felt Xie Li’s actions were somewhat shameful, they did not bother commenting out loud.
A moment later, Xie Li activated the White Rainbow Dagger and the tiny dagger transformed into a mass of silvery light in a flash and vanished in place, reappearing just outside Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array in the next instant.
With a loud bang, the White Rainbow Dagger plunged into the barrier, penetrating it without any kind of difficulty. While seemingly not having any effect, everyone present could tell that the spirituality of this grand Spirit Array had been greatly damaged.
The reason why this White Rainbow Dagger was known as a Spirit Array breaking artifact was because it utilized a trace of Space Force to penetrate any kind of barrier and directly disrupt Spirit Arrays from the inside.
Such artifacts could not be refined by Shadowed Star’s current Artifact Refiners, making this White Rainbow Dagger a relic from ancient times.
Sure enough, after Xie Li drove the White Rainbow Dagger back and forth a few times through the Mountain Defending Array, the light curtain became somewhat dim.
Seeing this, Demon Blood Temple, Sea Heart Sect, and Lu Ye’s Origin Returning Realm masters all began displaying their own methods which they would normally try to conceal to attack the Mountain Defending Array.
Anyone who could reach the Origin Realm was no vegetarian, everyone present had experienced countless life or death battles and been on countless adventures, so it was only natural for them to possess some hidden means or treasures. However, these cards normally remained hidden and were only brought out as last resorts.
With more than thirty Origin Returning Realm masters acting together, it became a spectacular display of force that even a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master would have to tread carefully before.
Seeing this, the remaining Saint Kings also began taking action and for a time, this hastily organized coalition of forces’ momentum became greatly inspired.
Under such a violent attack, the Mountain Defending Array began to buckle, causing everyone to become even more excited.
At the same time, in Heavenly Fate City, atop a certain building fifty kilometres away from Dragon Cave Mountain, Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu were sitting opposite each other, each of them holding a glass they occasionally raised to their mouths, seemingly lost in thought as they casually drank.
Behind Qian Tong, Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er stood together with anxious looks upon their faces.
Feeling the violent energy fluctuations coming from Dragon Cave Mountain, Wei Gu Chang finally could not bear it and shouted, “Elder, please allow this disciple to go!”
Although Dong Xuan’er did not say anything, it was clear to anyone that worry filled her beautiful eyes.
Qian Tong just smiled lightly however, put down the glass in his hand, and turned to Wei Gu Chang, “What can you do even if you go?”
“Although disciple has only recently broken through to the Origin Realm, I can still offer some kind of help to Brother Yang. At least it’s better than just sitting and watching!” Wei Gu Chang declared forcefully.
Qian Tong raised his brow, grinned, and asked, “Do you think this old master is just sitting here drinking and having fun?”
“Disciple wouldn’t dare!”
“You don’t dare to even admit your own thoughts?” Qian Tong didn’t seem to mind.
Wei Gu Chang wore a look of struggle on his face for a moment before it became firm, cupping his fists and saying, “Elder, please forgive this disciple for speaking with disrespect!”
“Good, speak,” Qian Tong gently nodded.
“Elder, without even mentioning Brother Yang’s life-saving grace for both Xuan’er and myself, just him being willing to risk entering the Emperor Garden last time to rescue Elder should be enough reason for Elder to not stand idly by. What thing is Xie Li? In order to deal with Brother Yang, he even declared he was separating himself from Shadow Moon Hall. Is our Shadow Moon Hall a place anyone can join or leave as they please? As for that dead Xie Hong Wen, hmph, everyone is well aware of his nature. Even if Brother Yang had not killed him back then, this disciple would definitely have done so one day! Elder, please allow this disciple and Xuan’er to go kill Xie Li! Even if Xuan’er and I have only reached the First-Order Origin Realm, killing Xie Li will not be a problem!”
“Bold!” Qian Tong roared loudly, but with a wide smile on his face. Obviously, he didn’t feel that Wei Gu Chang was simply speaking nonsense and acknowledged his strength. “Then tell this old master, what justification do you want to use to kill Xie Li? Because he arbitrarily decided to leave Shadow Moon Hall?”
“Is such a reason insufficient?”
“Even if it wasn’t, it would be the Law Enforcement Hall’s responsibility to handle this matter, it is not your place to intervene.”
“But…”
“I understand. You don’t have many friends, but Yang Kai is definitely one of them, naturally you don’t want to just stand back and watch this, but… he was the one who requested Shadow Moon Hall to not interfere in his grievance with the Xie Family.”
“It’s not just the Xie Family that is attacking Dragon Cave Mountain though! Demon Blood Temple, Myriad Beast Mountain, Flowing Cloud Valley, and Sea Heart Sect are all particip…”
“Yes, this old master is well aware, which is why I am so interested in seeing what kind of method he is going to use to resolve this disaster. If he can really turn danger into safety this time, haha, this little brat would be too amazing.”
“And if Brother Yang can’t?” Wei Gu Chang did not seem to have much confidence in such a possibility, the gap in strength between the two opposing forces was too great. As long as they weren’t blind, anyone would be able to see that Dragon Cave Mountain was completely outmatched.
“Calm down, do you really think Old Ghost Qian is really just observing the situation?” Fei Zhi Tu, who had remained silent this whole time, shot a mild glare towards Wei Gu Chang. He had not wanted to intervene, but this little boy was being a bit too noisy and spoiling the mood while he was trying to watch the good show in front of him.
Wei Gu Chang turned to look at Fei Zhi Tu in amazement, wondering what he meant.
Fei Zhi Tu snickered in response, “Do you think the Heaven Gathering Hall’s forces really went out to perform some kind of task? The Sect is currently besieged by troubles and is being constantly monitored by all of Shadowed Star’s great forces. Everyone is worried that the Emperor Garden will suddenly open and Shadow Moon Hall will use its proximity to gain a decisive advantage. At such a sensitive time, what kind of task could possibly make the Sect deploy its elite forces outside? Wouldn’t such a rash action only allow others to take further advantage of us?”
Hearing this, Wei Gu Chang’s eyes lit up, “Sir City Lord means…”
Wei Gu Chang had also heard about many masters from the Heaven Gathering Hall being sent out on some task a few days ago, so when Fei Zhi Tu mentioned this point, he immediately understood what was happening.
“You still fall far short when it comes to using your head, young man!” Fei Zhi Tu snorted before taking another sip from his glass.
Wei Gu Chang scratched his cheek for a moment before awkwardly nodding and turning an apologetic look towards Qian Tong, bowing deeply as he declared, “Elder, please forgive this disciple for misunderstanding you.”
“Hahaha!” Qian Tong laughed heartily, “Daring to stand up for your friends, even if it meant acting against this old master’s wishes, not acting pretentious nor hypocritical, good, you’ve not disappointed this old master. Come fill this old master’s cup, there will be a good show to watch today!”
“Yes!” Wei Gu Chang hurried forward, picked up a nearby jug, and filled both of his elder’s glasses before stepping back and standing next to Dong Xuan’er, the two of them exchanging a glance devoid of the anxiety and worry that had just been plaguing them.
Heaven Gathering Hall was a special existence in Shadow Moon Hall; it didn’t have many members, only about sixty or so, but each one was a powerful elite ranging in cultivation from First-Order Saint King Realm to First-Order Origin Returning Realm. However, because of the special Secret Arts and Martial Skills they cultivated, each of these people was capable of fighting across realms. More importantly, every member of the Heaven Gathering Hall was trained in group combat tactics, making them stronger when more of them fought together.
If the entire Heaven Gathering Hall joined forces, even fighting a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master head on would be easy.
So, as soon as Wei Gu Chang heard that the Heaven Gathering Hall’s forces had been deployed, his worries faded greatly. Even without mentioning Dragon Cave Mountain’s incredibly mysterious Mountain Defending Array, just the Heaven Gathering Hall’s forces alone would be enough to make this shameless group of bandits suffer a cruel death.
It was just… Elder Qian was taking a big risk. Once others noticed what was happening, it was highly likely that Shadow Moon Hall would be further suppressed by the other great forces.
The appearance of the Emperor Garden had forced Shadow Moon Hall into an incredibly uncomfortable position already.
Elsewhere, on a desolate hillside a few dozen kilometres away, a ruddy faced old man stood with his arms crossed as he stared towards Dragon Cave Mountain, his demeanor as tranquil as an ancient well, devoid of any joy or sorrow, however, the strong vitality which pulsed from his body created an intimidating atmosphere.
Next to him there was an old woman with a rickety body supporting herself with a dragon head walking stick. This old woman had a seemingly frail appearance and even coughed weakly from time to time, as if she might collapse at any moment. Beside this old woman was a young beauty who seemed to be assisting her by supporting her arm. As the wind blew through these two women’s hair, a sharp contrast in image became apparent between the two of them.
The old man was none other than Demon Blood Temple’s Elder Jin Shi, and the old woman was Myriad Beast Mountain’s Old Woman Feng!
Two top-level Origin Returning Realm masters gathering in such a spot was not difficult to understand; after all, both of them were seeking the piece of Profound Gold in Yang Kai’s hands. As such, it was only natural for them to be monitoring the activity on Dragon Cave Mountain. Once Dragon Cave Mountain fell and Yang Kai had been killed, the two of them would immediately move to snatch the Profound Gold.
As for why they had not moved personally, it was simply because it was inconvenient for them to use their strength to bully the weak.
After all, this place was still within Shadow Moon Hall’s territory, so if they took direction action, it was difficult to guarantee that Shadow Moon Hall would not respond in force.
“Senior Sister Feng, are you interested in considering this Jin’s proposal? As long as you can give up on obtaining this piece of Profound Gold, this Jin promises to fulfill three of your requests in your lifetime,” Jin Shi said suddenly.
“Hmph!” Old Woman Feng struck her cane against the ground and sneered, “Old Ghost Jin, don’t address me so intimately, my Myriad Beast Mountain and your Demon Blood Temple have never been allies and we have never been Senior Sister and Junior Brother. Still, if you can give up on this Profound Gold, this old woman will accomplish three tasks for you in your lifetime.”
She threw his proposal right back to him.
Both of them knew this kind of verbal commitment carried very little weight, and that the one who obtained the Profound Gold would be the biggest winner regardless.
Jin Shi’s eyes narrowed as his expression became a little unpleasant, but after thinking about it for a moment, he chuckled, “Why must Senior Sister Feng insist on refusing my offer? As far as this Jin knows, Senior Sister’s age is not small. How many more years do you have to live? What matters could you possibly accomplish for me in that time?”
“Is that so? This old woman can guarantee that she’ll live longer than you at least!”
“Ahem… There’s no point in us arguing here,” Jin Shi suddenly felt that arguing like this with Old Woman Feng was juvenile and instead decided to get to the root of the problem, “How about this, why don’t we exchange pointers here and whoever wins will also win the Profound Gold. What does Senior Sister Feng think?”
“You think this old woman fears you?” Old Woman Feng’s rickety waist suddenly straightened up and as an astonishing fighting intent pulsed from her body. Sneering, she declared, “This old woman has been interested in witnessing the power of your Golden Cicada Extreme Demon Art for some time now!”
Saying so, she directed a shocking momentum towards Jin Shi, indicating she was more than willing to fight with him here. Old Woman Feng was indeed advanced in age, but although she was now an elderly figure, in her youth she had been as hot-tempered and aggressive as any man, something which had not been calmed with age. In fact, her vicious nature was even more pronounced now than when she was young.
Jin Shi, on the other hand, as an Elder of Demon Blood Temple Elder and a man who had cultivated the Golden Cicada Extreme Demon Art, possessed extremely powerful vitality and an equally short temper. Facing such naked coercion, he naturally wasn’t going to show any weakness as a top-level Origin Returning Realm master.
An invisible pressure began to spread out, forcing these two masters’ in-name disciples standing behind them to retreat in fear.
The young woman who stood beside Old Woman Feng, holding her arm, stumbled briefly before standing firm; however, her face had become slightly pale as she was caught up in the storm these two masters were creating.
“Grandmother, Senior Jin, please show some patience,” The young woman brushed her hair back behind her ears as she laughed helplessly, “Dragon Cave Mountain’s protective array is yet to be broken, so you bothengaging in a fight now to decide who will claim ownership of the Profound Gold, it will only make outsiders laugh. Not to mention, both of you are top masters on Shadowed Star, if you really fought, I am afraid deciding a winner will take quite some time, no?”
How could Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng not already understand what this young woman pointed out? It was just that both were somewhat short-tempered and neither was willing to show weakness to the other, slowly forcing them into this kind of confrontation. After listening to this young woman though, Jin Shi borrowed her words as an excuse to de-escalate and let out a laugh, “What you say is quite right little girl. En, what is your name?”
As he spoke, he also withdrew his aura.
The young woman’s complexion improved greatly with the reduction in ambient pressure and gave an elegant salute, “Disciple’s name is Feng Yan.”
“Feng Yan?” Jin Shi frowned before glancing suspiciously towards Old Woman Feng, after which the latter coldly snorted, “She is this old woman’s granddaughter. Don’t get any ideas about her, otherwise this old woman will fight with you to the death!”
A hint of awkwardness flashed across Jin Shi’s face as he lightly coughed, “She’s just a junior, how could this old master have any ideas about her? En, no wonder this little girl’s cultivation is so good despite being so young, it turns out she is Senior Sister Feng’s descendant. Alright, little girl, let me ask you, if Senior Sister Feng and I do not compare notes, how should we decide who the Profound Gold belongs to? Since you have already intervened, you must have a proposal regarding this, hurry up and inform us.”
Feng Yan smiled lightly, “In front of Senior Jin, how could this Junior dare insert her opinion?”
“There’s no need to fear, just speak freely, this old master won’t blame you,” Jin Shi said with a temperate expression.
Feng Yan glanced at Old Woman Feng for her approval before continuing, “Since that is the case, Junior will offer her suggestion. Grandmother and Senior Jin are both powerful masters, so it is somewhat inappropriate for the two of you to settle things with each other directly. If by some chance something goes wrong, wouldn’t it push our two Sects into a precarious situation? Now that the Emperor Garden has appeared and no one knows when it will open, having more friends is always better than having more enemies.”
Hearing this, Jin Shi nodded lightly, apparently feeling that what Feng Yan said made sense. Even Old Woman Feng’s face eased greatly as her anger faded.
“Although it is not suitable for the two of you to confront one another, both my Myriad Beast Mountain and Senior Jin’s Demon Blood Temple have sent forces to participate in this attack on Dragon Cave Mountain, so why not let them decide who will claim ownership of the Profound Gold? If Demon Blood Temple’s disciples manage to snatch it, my Myriad Beast Mountain is willing to withdraw and wishes that Senior Jin manages to reach new heights in strength!”
“Oh?” Jin Shi looked at Feng Yan with a faint smile on his lips, “Are you so confident in the disciples of your Myriad Beast Mountain?”
Feng Yan returned the smile and asked, “Is Senior Jin not confident in your Sect’s disciple’s methods?”
Jin Shi’s eyes narrowed slightly before letting out a laugh, “Little girl, there is no need for you to provoke this old master, this old master naturally has full confidence in the methods of his Sect’s disciples. Good, this old master can agree to your proposal, but can your words represent Senior Sister Feng’s opinion as well?”
“Since Yan’er has made this proposal, this old woman will naturally agree!” Old Woman Feng lightly tapped her cane and nodded.
“Since you have said it, I will take it that you really mean it!” Jin Shi coldly snorted before extending his hand to Old Woman Feng. The latter glanced down at it for a moment before clasping it. After exchanging an oath about this agreement, the two masters began completely ignoring one another as they turned all their attention towards the distance, strange smiles appearing on both of their faces.
Both of them were clearly completely confident in their own disciples.
While Dragon Cave Mountain was under siege, it was not just Qian Tong, Fei Zhi Tu, Jin Shi, and Old Woman Feng who were observing from afar. At this moment, at various positions between a dozen and hundreds of kilometres away from Dragon Cave Mountain, there were strong observers pointing and whispering to one another as they spectated this event.
Treasure Trove Pavilion’s auction had happened not long ago, so many of the masters who had come to participate had yet to leave. They had wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to observe the movements of the Emperor Garden, but after several days of nothing happening, these masters found themselves idle. Now that such a good show had appeared, no matter who it was, they were willing to take a look in hopes of finding some small entertainment.
The extraordinary sturdiness of Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array was of particular concern to the observing masters.
Needless to say, Thunder Typhoon Sect, Heaven Battling Union, Twin Heart Valley, Grand Fire Temple, Floating Mist Palace, Clear Sky Sect, Flame Shield Union, and the various other great forces from Shadowed Star were coveting this Mountain Defending Array.
A small, trivial hill possessing such a powerful defensive array, the question all of them was asking was, [Who arranged it?] No one cared whether Dragon Cave Mountain survived or not, but all of them cared about the Grandmaster who arranged this formation. If they could rescue this master at a critical moment, they might be able to recruit them for their own force.
Everyone was silently making such plans, but all of them had tacitly chosen to stand by and let the Xie Family take the lead along with its allies that were attacking Dragon Cave Mountain.
At the same time, inside Dragon Cave Mountain, Wu Yi and Qian Yue, who had retreated back behind the Mountain Defending Array, couldn’t help going slightly pale.
The two of them had stepped forward just now in order to negotiate, and although they appeared calm and composed, not displaying the slightest fear or cowardice, anyone who saw so many masters gathered against themselves would feel pressured. When had either of these two young women encountered such an astonishing scene? What was especially troubling though was that neither Yang Kai nor Yang Yan were present at this critical moment.
If it weren’t for Wu Yi having a thorough understanding of Dragon Cave Mountain’s various Spirit Arrays, she would likely have already fallen into a panic.
In terms of familiarity with the grand Spirit Arrays covering Dragon Cave Mountain, after Yang Yan who had arranged them, Wu Yi’s understanding was the best; even Yang Kai didn’t know these Spirit Arrays as well as she. After all, when Yang Yan was arranging these formations, Wu Yi had often accompanied and assisted her, so she clearly knew just what kind of terrifying heritage lay in the region surrounding Dragon Cave Mountain.
As such, even though she was somewhat anxious, her emotions remained relatively stable and she was able to withdraw calmly while issuing instructions to the other cultivators present.
However, relying on the protective barrier was not a long term plan. Even if the Mountain Defending Array was incredibly sturdy, under a persistent bombardment, it would eventually break. Wu Yi’s only hope was to somehow establish contact with Yang Kai and Yang Yan. As long as either of them could return to take charge of the situation, Dragon Cave Mountain would be able to mount an effective defence.
Unfortunately, Wu Yi had no idea where the two of them had gone, nor when they would return.
Just as her anxiety was beginning to well up, Qian Yue beside her suddenly let out a cry of surprise and pulled out her communication artifact. Pouring her Divine Sense into it, Qian Yue soon smiled and reported, “Yang Kai and Yang Yan are back.”
“Really?” Wu Yi was overjoyed and hastily asked for confirmation, almost like a drowning person catching hold of a life-saving straw.
“En, Yang Kai sent me a message.”
“Where are they?” Wu Yi looked around, but was unable to spot any trace of Yang Kai or Yang Yan.
“They’re in a hidden spot nearby. Yang Kai said there are too many people outside so it’s difficult for them to sneak in without anyone noticing, so they haven’t returned yet, but…”
“But what?”
“But, he sent a message saying to deactivate the Mountain Defending Array and then let everyone hide inside the cave mansion while Foreign Elder Chang and Foreign Elder Hao confront the enemy. He and Yang Yan will also find an opportunity to act in ensuing chaos.”
“Is that so…” Wu Yi showed a thoughtful expression while everyone else wore calm expressions. Everyone except for Ning Xiang Chen, who had only been here for two days, was calm.
[Could it be that this little brat surnamed Yang has gone crazy? Why else would he issue such an outrageous order?] Although he had not been on Dragon Cave Mountain for long, Ning Xiang Chen knew that there were only a few dozen cultivators here, most of whom were just Saints or Saint Kings, there were even a few Transcendents. There were only two First-Order Origin Realm cultivators, Chang Qi and Hao An.
On the other hand, there were more than thirty Origin Returning Realm masters attacking them, a number of whom were Second-Order. As for Saint Kings, there were more than two hundred among the enemy’s force. In this situation, if Dragon Cave Mountain continued to use its Mountain Defending Array, it could hold out for a while longer, but once the barrier was lowered, the only option left would be to fight a hopeless battle. How was this any different from digging their own grave?
Even if Yang Kai’s strength was exceptional, he was still just a single person. How were Yang Kai, Chang Qi, and Hao An planning on overcoming such impossible odds?
Ning Xiang Chen’s mind was simply unable to keep up with all of these sudden developments, and just as he was about to ask what exactly was happening, he suddenly saw Wu Yi smile and calmly declare, “If that’s the case, then we’ll do as he says! It’s about time we show those shameless bastards Dragon Cave Mountain’s fangs.”
With how she so categorically issued this order, it was as if she didn’t place the invaders outside in her eyes, like Yang Kai’s presence alone gave her unlimited confidence.
Ning Xiang Chen on the other hand nearly bit his tongue off.
Qian Yue responded immediately by issuing orders to everyone to take shelter inside Yang Kai’s cave mansion as it was the most secure and strongly fortified position on Dragon Cave Mountain. Unless one had a token to open it, Yang Kai’s cave mansion’s barriers would be even more difficult to break through than the Mountain Defending Array itself.
After Yang Kai’s order was given, Wu Yi understood what he wanted to do and naturally wouldn’t make any objections.
The other cultivators on Dragon Cave Mountain acted swiftly after receiving orders from Qian Yue, all of them rushing over to the cave mansion. In the blink of an eye, only Chang Qi, Hao An, Qian Yue, Wu Yi and Ning Xiang Chen remained.
At this time, Wu Yi frowned as she glanced towards Ning Xiang Chen. Despite her insight and intelligence, she didn’t know what to do with Ning Xiang Chen at this moment.
Allowing him to enter the cave mansion to take refuge was clearly impossible; the cave mansion was Yang Kai’s retreat where many incredible secrets were hidden, and although all of the important treasures were protected behind powerful barriers. If Ning Xiang Chen accidentally discovered something, it would inevitably lead to trouble.
But it was even more impossible to simply make him leave at this point. Just now, Ning Xiang Chen had taken the initiative to stay and offer his assistance to Dragon Cave Mountain, earning him Wu Yi’s gratitude. If she were to shut him out at this point, making him fend for himself, it would be too ungrateful. Not to mention, Ning Xiang Chen couldn’t even leave if he wanted to because Dragon Cave Mountain was completely surrounded by enemies.
Wu Yi immediately felt a headache.
Fortunately, Ning Xiang Chen was a worldly person and was quickly able to discern Wu Yi’s concerns, so he actively proposed, “If you have use for this old master, please don’t be polite. Although this old master’s strength is not high, he is still willing to contribute.”
In that short moment of time, Ning Xiang Chen had again weighed the pros and cons in his mind and decided to gamble once more!
Although he didn’t know where Wu Yi and others were getting their confidence from, their calmness and indifference facing their current situation put him more at ease. Perhaps this Dragon Cave Mountain really was as dangerous as a dragon’s den!
What’s more, after having shown himself to everyone outside and torn face with Xie Li, even if he wanted to withdraw now, he didn’t possess the necessary strength or status, so he might as well see this through to the end.
Ning Xiang Chen had encountered many desperate situations throughout his life, some even more dangerous than the one he currently found himself in, so he was well aware that the greater the investment, the higher the return.
This was the best time for him to make his standpoint clear.
Moreover, even if Dragon Cave Mountain really wound up powerless to resist this foreign invasion, he may still be able to escape.
Based on these considerations, Ning Xiang Chen decided to take a risk.
“Alright. Since Senior Ning is willing to contribute, this Junior won’t be polite. In light of this, I hope Senior Ning can join Foreign Elder Chang and Foreign Elder Hao to meet the enemy. This Junior will retreat first. I wish the three Seniors a swift victory!” Saying so, Wu Yi cupped her fists respectfully before turning around and entering the cave mansion.
Wu Yi was just a Second-Order Saint King, so she understood that there was no point in her remaining outside. As such, she decisively entered the cave mansion.
Ning Xiang Chen was once again left with his mouth slightly agape, standing in place with a dumbfounded look upon his face.
He had thought that Wu Yi would have some kind of clear instructions or proper plan, but what he received instead was just a request to wait here to confront the enemy. It was simply too irresponsible.
[Have I just dug my own grave?] Ning Xiang Chen’s heart filled with bitterness as he wondered to himself.
But Chang Qi just patted him on the shoulder and laughed, “Brother Ning, you will definitely rejoice you made this decision in the future!”
[This sentence again!] Ning Xiang Chen had now heard this line twice within a stick of incense worth of time, but as for what kind of cards this place had hidden, he had no idea, so how was he supposed to rejoice? As far as he could tell, he had made a stupid decision in the heat of the moment and as a result dug his own grave! Ning Xiang Chen really didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Old Hao, you still have two bottles of that Moon Beam Wine don’t you?” Chang Qi suddenly remembered something and turned to ask Hao An.
“What are you trying to say?” Hao An asked back vigilantly.
Chang Qi grinned widely, “You and I are old brothers, are you still unclear what I’m trying to say?”
Hao An was immediately filled with righteous indignation, “Last time, little Wu Yi bought back ten bottles of that wine and you and I split them evenly between us, five bottles each. You drank all of yours already so now you’re having ideas about this old master’s? You think this Hao is so easy to bully?!”
“We’re all one family, why speak such distant words? Brother Ning has also joined us so you shouldn’t act so stingy Old Hao, take those bottles out and let us have a drink before we kill our enemies!” Chang Qi pestered Hao An with both logical and emotional pleas.
Hao An ground his teeth as he glared at Chang Qi with grief and anger for a time before finally letting out an exasperated sigh, “Damn it, I know you’re just coveting this old master’s two bottles of good wine, but since you’ve involved Brother Ning as well, this Hao won’t be stingy lest others accuse me of being mean-spirited.”
Saying so, he wiped his Space Ring with his hand and took out two bottles of wine from it.
Chang Qi laughed happily before quickly taking out a few plates of splendid spirit fruits from his Space Ring along with a table and a set of chairs.
Hao An opened a bottle of the Moon Beam Wine and filled three glasses with it before sitting down in an exhausted manner.
At the same time, Chang Qi beckoned to Ning Xiang Chen before reaching out and picking up one of the glasses and sipping it, his face filling with joy as he urged Hao An to continue to fill it.
Ning Xiang Chen looked at this absurd scene and couldn’t help his expression from contorting weirdly. He couldn’t understand anything anymore. With such strong enemies literally knocking on their door, knives placed against all of their necks, how could these two old fogeys still have the thought to drink and make merry? Could it be that they really not know how to write the word ‘death’?
After a long hesitation, Ning Xiang Chen let out a sigh and asked, “Brother Chang, Brother Hao, if it is convenient, could you enlighten this Ning how you plan to repel the enemy outside? With just the three of us, how are we supposed to overcome so many masters?”
Hearing this, Chang Qi and Hao An both looked at each other and laughed.
Ning Xiang Chen secretly felt irritated seeing this and anxiously asked, “Do you two think my words are so funny?”
Chang Qi waved his hand lightly before adjusting his expression to a serious one and declaring, “Brother Ning, you’ve only recently come to Dragon Cave Mountain, so although this Chang is quite impressed with your temperament, it is a bit inconvenient for us to disclose too much. However, this Chang suggests you just wait and see how this group of clumsy mischief-doers brings about their own destruction. En, this glass of wine is by no means the last toast before our demise, but rather one to our coming victory. Each of these bottles is worth 100,000 Saint Crystals and is exceedingly difficult to buy. Brother Ning should really give it a try.”
Ning Xiang Chen’s expression changed dramatically as he was overwhelmed with shock. Not because of the price of this Moon Beam Wine, of course, since Moon Beam Wine was quite famous Ning Xiang Chen had naturally heard about its incredible cost; what he was surprised by was Chang Qi’s confidence.
He clearly didn’t put any of these invaders in his eyes!
After his expression fluctuated for a while, Ning Xiang Chen grit his teeth, steeled his heart, and sat down with a snort, “Alright then! This old master will see if you are all bringing about your own destruction or are luring the enemy into a deadly trap! If it is the former though, don’t blame this old master for greasing his soles and taking off.”
Chang Qi and Hao An looked at each other, smiled, and nodded, “Should be so!”
Saying so, they filled up Ning Xiang Chen’s glass.
With varying thoughts, the three old men sat around eating spirit fruits while tasting this fine wine, not showing any awareness that the enemy was approaching.
Inside the cave mansion, Wu Yi had settled the disciples and had joined Qian Yue inside a separate room before taking out a silver and gold disk from her Space Ring. Tossing this glowing disk forward, Wu Yi said with a solemn expression, “Elder Sister Qian Yue, this is the master control plate for all of Dragon Cave Mountain’s Spirit Arrays. By myself, I’m afraid I will not be able to operate it smoothly, so I must ask Elder Sister to assist me.”
“Okay,” Qian Yue nodded.
Wu Yi reached out and poured her Saint Qi into the control plate. In an instant, the gold and silver colours began rotating an incredible speed, filling the room with a brilliant light.
Wu Yi’s expression turned solemn as she shouted, “Open!”
The control plate made a whirring sound as the gold and silver colours on its surface intertwined as if they had come to life before withdrawing to their respective sides and in the blink of an eye, splitting apart cleanly.
At the same time, outside Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array, the more than thirty Origin Realm masters headed by Xie Li continued their assault on the barrier. After everyone had displayed some of their powerful hidden methods, this seemingly solid Spirit Array had begun to crumble, dimming significantly as it flickered weakly.
“Everyone, keep it up! This damn Spirit Array won’t be able to last much longer!” Xie Li’s eyes shone cruelly as he shouted. Simultaneously, he used his White Rainbow Dagger to shuttle back and forth through the light curtain, continuing to apply damage.
There was no need for him to remind these Origin Realm masters, as all of them who were participating in this attack could see that they were making progress. From the intensity of their assault, many judged that this Mountain Protecting Array wouldn’t be able to last more than half a day before breaking.
For a time, this group became excited and their blood boiled as they poured more Saint Qi into their artifacts and Martial Skills.
Brilliant rays of light continued to bombard the light curtain, setting off a continuous rumbling.
Suddenly, along with a strange buzzing sound, the light curtain of Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array began fading at an extremely fast speed before disappearing altogether.
The attacks of more than thirty Origin Returning Realm masters suddenly passed through the place where the barrier once stood and blasted the surrounding ground.
“It broke?” The old man from Myriad Beast Mountain who was riding the Blue Eyes Blood Toad raised his brow and revealed a surprised look. Just now, he clearly felt that this Spirit Array could last a while longer but now it had suddenly disappeared, making him wonder if some kind of unexpected accident had occurred.
“It doesn’t seem like it, it looks more like they closed it on their own!” A middle-aged man wrapped in a blood-red aura from Demon Blood Temple narrowed his eyes towards the interior of Dragon Cave Mountain, a trace of vigilance appearing on his face.
“Hmph, maybe they realized that resisting to the end would only cause them to suffer more, so they took the initiative to lower the barrier thinking they could somehow escape?” Someone posited.
Naturally, not many agreed with this idea, but since the other party had indeed withdrawn their defensive array they must have some other method to rely on. With the layer of fog still tumbling outside Dragon Cave Mountain, not to mention their eyes, even their Divine Senses were greatly restricted, so no one could determine the situation inside, causing all of them to become cautious. No one wanted to be the first to act.
“A group of spineless cowards!” Xie Li ground his teeth secretly as he prepared to force others to move forward and investigate the situation, but before he could say anything he saw the fog bank covering Dragon Cave Mountain begin to dissipate.
A short time later, the rolling clouds and mists lifted revealing the scenery inside Dragon Cave Mountain.
Today’s Dragon Cave Mountain had become quite picturesque actually, the surrounding mountains and streams all appearing clean and refreshing. The ambient World Energy aura was also rich. It was a far cry from the barren hill it once was.
But what shocked everyone present was that no one had left the mountain to meet the enemy. There were no apparent defences or cultivators lying in wait, just three old Origin Realm men gathered around a table drinking and relaxing.
When this kind of rampant contempt entered everyone’s eyes, all of their expressions became cold.
Clearly these people weren’t putting them in their eyes, otherwise, how could they be sitting there leisurely drinking?
“Hmph, still trying to act mysterious after reaching a dead end!” Xie Li coldly snorted as he released his Divine Sense to explore Dragon Cave Mountain. Although he was unable to discover anything suspicious, he still instinctively felt a sense of trepidation, as if stepping into this hill was akin to treading through the gates of death.
This feeling made him extremely uncomfortable and as he turned his head to look at the others, and found that everyone was similarly wearing a solemn expression.
However, this situation was akin to an arrow already having left the string, so although Xie Li hadn’t carefully inspected the surrounding region, he knew that many eyes were currently watching him. If at this point, he was to meekly withdraw, he would no longer have any face to appear in public.
Understanding this, Xie Li’s expression became firm and he shouted loudly, “Everyone, this damn barrier has finally broken. If we don’t act now, when will we?”
As he said so, he waved his hand and immediately sent twenty Saint Kings from the Xie Family towards Dragon Cave Mountain.
Although these twenty Saint Kings were clearly not capable of defeating the three Origin Returning Realm masters in front of them, they could at least test Dragon Cave Mountain’s depths. Xie Li had such intentions and after these twenty flew forward, he immediately began carefully monitoring them.
With the Xie Family taking the lead, the people from Demon Blood Temple and Myriad Beast Mountain were naturally unwilling to be outdone. Lu Ye, who was hidden from view, also quietly issued a command and soon after, sixty more Saint Kings stepped forward from the main force and began approaching Chang Qi, Hao An, and Ning Xiang Chen.
Seeing the number of enemies, Ning Xiang Chen’s hand trembled and he nearly spilled the wine in his glass. Even though he was an Origin Realm master, he wasn’t confident he could face so many Saint Kings all at once.
Chang Qi obviously didn’t miss this but simply let out a chuckle and said, “Don’t worry, Brother Ning, it’s not yet time for us to act.”
“Yes, Brother Ning, you should put your heart at ease,” Hao An echoed, not even bothering to look at the approaching Saint Kings.
Unfortunately, Ning Xiang Chen didn’t share their calmness and couldn’t help turning to observe the nearing enemies while secretly condensing his Saint Qi, preparing to take action at a moment’s notice.
However, in the next moment, these aggressive Saint King Realm cultivators all let out a cry of shock as panic filled their faces and their bodies fell from the sky one by one, making for quite an amusing scene.
“A Flight Inhibiting Array?” Ning Xiang Chen’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, never having expected that this tiny Dragon Cave Mountain would actually have a Flight Inhibiting Array.
This Spirit Array was extremely complex and only some large cities and Sect headquarters would be equipped with them. Once they entered the range of such an array, cultivators would lose the ability to fly. Of course, the ability of such an array to restrict cultivators varied greatly depending on the skill of the master who arranged it and the materials invested in its construction.
Ning Xiang Chen tried circulating his own Saint Qi, wanting to fly up into the air, but to his horror, after reaching a height of just two metres, he felt a crushing pressure restricting him from ascending further.
In light of this, Ning Xiang Chen determined that the Flight Inhibiting Array here was capable of at least suppressing Second-Order Origin Returning Realm masters. Even if a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm came here, they wouldn’t be able to fly very high!
The power of this Spirit Array was simply astonishing!
Just as he was immersed in his shock, the dozens of Saint King Realm cultivators fell like raindrops onto the ground, raising a cloud of dust upon impact.
Fortunately for these Saint Kings, they had not been flying very high, so with the innate strength of their physiques, other than becoming slightly dirt and embarrassed, none of them suffered any harm. Of course, after getting up, all of them wore frowns filled with resentment.
Having suffered such shame, these Saint Kings’ hatred towards Dragon Cave Mountain increased dramatically.
But before they could completely recover, another abrupt change occurred.
Suddenly and strangely, energy fluctuations appeared all around these Saint Kings. These energy fluctuations were extremely well concealed and inconspicuous at first, but they quickly condensed into a whirlwind. When this whirlwind first appeared, it wasn’t very strong, but in the blink of any eye, its size and intensity multiplied many times over. Countless wind blades flew about, slicing into all of the nearby Saint King Realm cultivators.
Screams rang out as the sound of flesh being torn apart filled everyone’s ears, horrifying all who were watching. Soon, this whirlwind was dyed blood red as smashed meat and broken flesh swirled through it.
At a different location, numerous ice cones as thick as a grown man’s thigh strangely materialized mid-air and shot forward like arrows, immediately passing through the chest of two absent-minded cultivators, causing them to explode into blood fogs.
There were also fireballs the size of washbasins being shot about, causing several unlucky Saint King Realm cultivators who were hit to instantly be burned to ashes.
Other Saint Kings from this group just inexplicably disappeared before everyone’s eyes, seemingly vanishing from existence with only their panic-filled screams remaining behind.
A rich scent of blood soon filled the air as this first batch of more than eighty Saint Kings who rushed into Dragon Cave Mountain failed to advance more than a few metres before suffering serious losses.
In literally the blink of an eye, yet in what seemed to last unbearably long, less than half remained alive of the more than eighty Saint Kings who had gone forward to test Dragon Cave Mountain’s defences. Those who were left now scrambled about like headless flies, unable to escape.
As they witnessed this eerie scene, the cultivators outside all felt their blood go slightly cold.
Everyone could tell that these Saint Kings acting so erratically was due to them falling into some kind of Illusion Array, making it impossible for them to determine where they were or where they were going, making the few steps it should have taken them to escape an impassable moat separating life and death.
Moving around indiscriminately would only lead to triggering more Spirit Array traps, akin to seeking one’s death.
Sure enough, with all the Spirit Arrays arranged around Dragon Cave Mountain’s periphery, the more than eighty Saint King Realm cultivators that entered to probe its defences were wiped out in just half an incense worth of time.
Ning Xiang Chen could hardly believe his eyes!
That was eighty plus Saint King Realm cultivators! If he were to encounter such a force, he would have no choice but to avoid head on confrontation, but now, without even needing to deploy a single soldier, Dragon Cave Mountain had easily annihilated them.
What did a dragon den count for? This little hilltop was clearly more terrifying than any dragon den or tiger cave!
However, Ning Xiang Chen also realized that with the power of these Spirit Arrays alone, it would have been impossible to kill those eighty or so Saint Kings so quickly. The decisive factor was the expenditure of the master who had arranged these Spirit Arrays.
The Array Cores of each of these Spirit Arrays was actually a powerful artifact! With these Spirit Arrays powering these artifacts, the might they could display was greatly enhanced, making it impossible for those Saint Kings to put up any kind of resistance at all.
Just how many powerful artifacts were used to arrange all these Spirit Arrays? Ning Xiang Chen couldn’t even begin to imagine.
Back in Heavenly Fate City, Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu were also dumbfounded as they exchanged an astonished glance. Although they both knew that there were many Spirit Arrays arranged on Dragon Cave Mountain, they never thought that they would be able to display such power.
Eighty Saint King Realm had been sent in, but before they could even probe Dragon Cave Mountain’s depths, they had been eliminated. This time, the Xie Family, Myriad Beast Mountain, and Demon Blood Temple were bound to suffer a great loss.
“It seems Heaven Gathering Hall’s forces may not even need to move!” Wei Gu Chang snickered, taking great pleasure in others’ misfortune.
“Not necessarily!” Fei Zhi Tu shook his head slowly, “The attacking force only lost Saint Kings during this probe, none of the Origin Realm masters have acted yet. We should continue monitoring the situation.”
Wei Gu Chang pondered for a moment before nodding in agreement; after all, the might an Origin Realm master could display was in a different league compared to mere Saint Kings. While it was true that the Xie Family coalition had taken heavy losses just now, they hadn’t suffered a fatal blow.
Outside Dragon Cave Mountain, Xie Li, the old man from Myriad Beast Mountain, and the middle-aged man from Demon Blood Temple all wore gloomy looks, their expressions were all dark. None of them had anticipated that Dragon Cave Mountain’s defensive power would be so overwhelming. Even without those three drinking old men acting, all of the Saint King Realm disciples they had deployed had been killed.
If all the Spirit Arrays around Dragon Cave Mountain were this strong, Saint Kings wouldn’t be able to play much role here other than becoming sacrificial pawns.
After hesitating for a moment, Xie Li suddenly proposed, “Friends, shall we try attacking separately?”
“Attacking separately?” The old man from Myriad Beast Mountain frowned.
“Yeah, there seems to be a massive number of Spirit Arrays arranged at the front of this mountain, so breaking through from this spot won’t be easy. But since that’s the case, we can simply try attacking from different directions. This Xie doesn’t believe that this mountain is completely surrounded by such troublesome Spirit Arrays, it’s bound to have weak spots,” Xie Li explained.
“Yes, what Brother Xie says makes sense,” The old man nodded in agreement, feeling that what Xie Li said was correct, immediately following up, “Then this old master will take that side.”
Saying so, he pointed his finger towards a certain direction, signaling to the disciples of Myriad Beast Mountain to follow him, sat down on his Blue-Eyed Blood Toad and flew over.
The middle-aged man from Demon Blood Temple naturally had no objections and immediately brought his Sect’s disciples in the opposite direction.
The others from Sea Heart Sect and Flowing Cloud Valley did not move, instead choosing to stick together with the Xie Family and follow Xie Li’s lead.
Immediately, the coalition of forces split into three groups and began probing Dragon Cave Mountain’s defenses from three different directions.
Xie Li’s eyes flashed a ruthless light and issued a few commands before waving his hand and rushing towards Dragon Cave Mountain. Under his leadership, a dozen or so other Origin Returning Realm masters, accompanied by several Saint Kings each, split up and began advancing forward while maintaining a high degree of wariness.
Divine Senses began probing every rock and patch of grass on Dragon Cave Mountain, the invading enemy unwilling to miss the slightest detail or suspicious place in worry they would accidentally trigger a Spirit Array and doom themselves to disaster.
This extremely cautious approach soon bore fruit.
Several traces of Spirit Arrays were quickly discovered by these masters and were subsequently avoided with great vigilance. Even if someone did accidentally touch some restriction or trap, they didn’t fall into the kind of hopeless situation that had been witnessed moments earlier.
After all, with the addition of Origin Returning Realm masters, even if someone fell into a Spirit Array, they could put up some resistance.
What made everyone even more overjoyed was that, after the Spirit Arrays arranged around Dragon Cave Mountain had displayed such profound might, they seemed to have exhausted their strength and could now only display relatively weak attacks. Even if some of these arrays were triggered, they could be easily resisted by the Origin Realm cultivators.
After proceeding a distance of five hundred metres and not suffering any casualties, the attacking forces’ morale soared upwards as many people began directing malicious glares towards Chang Qi’s group of three who were still casually drinking. It was as if these invaders couldn’t wait to soar over to these three old men and cut off their heads to vent the anger in their hearts.
A moment later, the many cultivators following Xie Li arrived just twenty metres away from Chang Qi’s group of three and Xie Li raised his hand to signal his group to stop. Staring at these three old men with a cold glare, Xie Li sneered, “You three, if you have any other means, why not let this Xie experience them now? Otherwise, I’m afraid you won’t get a second chance.”
Hearing this, Chang Qi simply looked over at him without the slightest panic on his face and smiled very strangely, “Brother Xie, why do you think you were able to travel this far unscathed? Do you really think my Dragon Cave Mountain is so easily trespassed?”
These two faint questions caused Xie Li’s face to fill with alarm as he cried out, “Not good!”
As he spoke, he lashed out with a jet black long whip. This whip seemed to contain a potent Wind and Thunder Attribute energy and was clearly a powerful artifact. Striking out, it was like a dragon soaring out of the sea towards Chang Qi’s chest.
What made Xie Li feel strange though was that Chang Qi didn’t make any attempt to defend himself, simply remaining where he sat smiling towards him, not moving at all.
Xie Li’s plan had been to capture Chang Qi in order to force Dragon Cave Mountain to act cautiously lest he be hurt, but how could he have anticipated that facing his vicious attack, his opponent would not even try to resist?
[Hmph, courting death!] Xie Li’s eyes flashed sharply, not retracting his whip but instead pouring his Saint Qi into it, intending to instantly kill Chang Qi.
*Hong…*
With a loud bang, the jet black whip struck Chang Qi’s body and released a burst of lightning, splitting its target apart and reducing the nearby table and chairs to dust. Even Hao An and Ning Xiang Chen who were sitting nearby were not spared.
When Chang Qi’s body was torn apart, the two of them also burst into pieces.
However, there was no spattering of blood or smell of iron, nor did it feel like he had hit anything. Xie Li’s eyes shrank as he called out in shock, “An Illusion Array?”
Looking again, there was no table or chairs in front of him, and even the surrounding scenery had disappeared, being replaced by a dull grey world with no sun, moon, or stars. All that surrounded Xie Li was a barren world that stretched out without end.
Unexpectedly, he had stepped into an Illusion Array his enemy had arranged, causing Xie Li’s heart to sink.
What disturbed him even more though was that the Origin Realm masters who should have been accompanying him were now all gone, leaving just four Saint King Realm cultivators beside him.
It seems that the moment this Illusion Array activated, all the masters in his group had been separated and forced into a situation where they had to fight alone.
“How can this be?” Xie Li’s complexion became ugly. How could a puny little hilltop arrange such a profound Spirit Array? He suddenly felt that it was not a wise decision to provoke Dragon Cave Mountain.
While the group of cultivators headed by Xie Li were trapped in an Illusion Array, the group from Myriad Beast Mountain was also struggling hard.
The Myriad Beast Mountain cultivators, led by the old man, had detoured around Dragon Cave Mountain preparing to look for a weak spot in its defences. Everything had gone smoother than anyone expected and it seemed that the direction they had chosen to invade from had no powerful Spirit Arrays to block them. Without much difficulty, this group had soon made it halfway up Dragon Cave Mountain.
The old man leading the group even noticed that many cultivators were hiding inside a cave up ahead.
This caused the old man to rejoice and immediately prepare to end this once and for all by breaking into that cave and finding Yang Kai.
But all of a sudden, his good fortune came to an end as Monster Beasts of all different shapes, ranks, and sizes, seemingly composed of flaming red aura, strangely appeared all around his group just after this old man gave the order to attack.
The old man was shocked by what he saw as these Monster Beasts clearly didn’t have physical bodies and were simply condensed of pure Fire Attribute energy. On top of that, these Monster Beasts seemed a bit familiar to him.
It was not until one of the young disciples following him shouted that this old man suddenly realized that these things were the Fire Spirit Beasts that were supposed to be unique to the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
[How could these things appear in this damned place? There doesn’t even seem to be a strong Fire Attribute Aura in this area?]
Although he didn’t understand how this was happening, the old man didn’t show any fear and was even somewhat happy instead because Fire Spirit Beasts would produce Fire Crystal Stones when they died. Each Fire Crystal Stone was a treasure that could be used for Artifact Refining or Alchemy. The only shortcoming was that Fire Crystal Stones could only be acquired by Shadowed Star’s cultivators when the Flowing Flame Sand Field opened.
But now, with such a large group of Fire Spirit Beasts in front of them, the gains would definitely not be small if they could kill them all.
Feeling excited, the old man began coordinating with his Blue Eyes Blood Toad to kill these Fire Spirit Beasts.
Soon though, the old man noticed something wrong. No matter how many of these Fire Spirit Beasts he beheaded, none of them produced a Fire Crystal Stone! It was as if these Fire Spirit Beasts didn’t have Fire Crystal Stones to begin with.
Instead of a great harvest, this fight turned into an endless killing grind with several of the leading Fire Spirit Beasts equivalent to Ninth-Order Monster Beasts causing considerable casualties among the old man’s disciples.
The old man became enraged and used a powerful Secret Technique to cut open a path through these Fire Spirit Beasts.
Unfortunately for him, the Fire Spirit Beasts with strength equivalent to Ninth-Order Monster Beast simply refused to die no matter how much he attacked, as if they were immortal.
This situation occurred several times in succession, causing the old man to gradually become anxious.
Although most of these Fire Spirit Beasts weren’t difficult to deal with, enough ants would still be able to bite an elephant to death. If they continued fighting like this, besides a few of the stronger Origin Realm masters in this group, everyone else would certainly die.
From the opposite direction Myriad Beast Mountain’s group was invading, the other force from Demon Blood Temple was carefully walking through a thick jungle, the middle-aged man covered in a blood-red aura in the lead was extremely alert. Although this man was constantly examining his surroundings with his Divine Sense and had yet to discover any kind of anomaly here, he could still feel a vague sense of unease in his heart, as if there was great danger all around him.
This place should be regarded as the right flank of Dragon Cave Mountain, and was not too far from its centre; after all, Dragon Cave Mountain itself wasn’t very big to begin with.
Suddenly, a few screams came from far away as the characteristic rumblings and violent energy fluctuations of battle appeared.
The expressions of the Demon Blood Temple disciples behind this middle-aged man all changed when this occurred and one of the First-Order Origin Realm cultivators said with a somber face, “Senior Brother Wu, those sounds came from Myriad Beast Mountain’s side, it seems something has happened to them. We should not take this small hilltop for granted.”
“En, although there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong here, everyone should remain vigilant. Don’t fall into the enemy’s traps or Spirit Arrays,” Wu Xun turned back and said lightly.
“Yes.”
“Huh, what’s this?” Suddenly, one of the Saint King disciples behind Wu Xun seemed to discover something strange and asked aloud. However, before Wu Xun and the other Origin Realm masters were able to investigate, a panic-stricken scream rang out before coming to an abrupt halt, after which the fresh smell of blood filled the air.
*Kacha…*
A gruesome crunching sound echoed, and as Wu Xun looked back, he saw that, where once one of his disciples stood, there was now a strange blood-red plant at least ten metres in height. At this moment, the plant had actually wrapped itself around a corpse and was squirming violently, as if it was a mouth tasting delicious food.
The crunching sound was clearly coming from this plant.
What was even more terrifying though was that as the corpse of this Demon Blood Temple disciple was being chewed up, it was also shrivelling at a rate visible to the naked eye, as if the very essence of its physique was being drained, transforming it into a dry husk moments later.
After this strange plant absorbed the corpse’s blood and vital essence, it turned an even darker shade of red, like a giant sword giving off a blood-red aura, causing everyone who saw it to shudder.
*Xiu…*
This seemingly hard blade suddenly danced like a long whip, shooting out tens of metres towards another Demon Blood Temple disciple who was standing dumbfounded.
This disciple’s reaction was not slow, and he hurriedly summoned a golden shield-type artifact to defend himself in a panic. Although this artifact was not high grade, it was still a decent defensive artifact.
With this shield protecting his front, the Demon Blood Temple disciple could not help breathing a sigh of relief, but just as he was about to retreat, his eyes caught sight of an incredible scene.
*Kacha…*
The tough shield was unable to withstand a single blow from this strange plant and was sheared directly in half. The strange plant’s momentum was not even slightly diminished as it continued forward and quickly pierced this cultivator’s lower abdomen before wrapping around him and dragging him back.
“You dare!?” Wu Xun roared angrily. How could he simply stand by and watch as his Sect’s disciple was brutally murdered? His failure to respond in time just now was simply because this scene had been so unusual; he had never met such a strange and cruel plant.
As he shouted, Wu Xun’s right hand flicked, sending out a sword-wave-like attack that cut towards the retreating blood red plant.
The blade struck its mark and caused a series of sparks to fly along with a grinding sound of metal to ring out; however, besides causing the long blade of grass to tremble slightly and slow down a bit, it had not actually been cut apart.
[How could it be so hard!] Wu Xun sucked in a sharp breath. Although he had not put much strength into his attack just now, it was still a blow delivered by a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, yet it had failed to cut down a mere plant.
A sharp light flashed across Wu Xun’s eyes as he again flicked his wrist and sent out a jet-black thread from his fingertip. This black thread revealed a very strange aura and had a strong black Qi pulsing from it.
Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique!
Rather than the Secret Technique Yang Kai was cultivating, this was the real Demon Blood Thread Secret Technique. Almost every high-ranking member of Demon Blood Temple was proficient in this flexible and mysterious method that was even capable of cutting apart Shi.
The black thread flashed forward and the long blade of grass that was dragging the helpless Demon Blood Temple disciple was swiftly cut apart. With a crisp sound, the strange blade of grass was cut into two sections, the base rapidly retreating back towards its roots while the section which was wrapping the Demon Blood Temple disciple fell to the ground.
What made everyone’s skin crawl though was that the section of this strange plant that had been cut off continued to wriggle on the ground, as if it had a life of its own.
The Demon Blood Temple disciple that had been caught by this strange plant was still unable to escape misfortune. Even though Wu Xun attacked swiftly to rescue this disciple, by the time the strange plant was severed in two, this unfortunately disciple had been completely drained of all his blood.
“What the hell was that?” Wu Xun turned slightly pale as he stared towards the strange plant, a clear look of fear appearing on his face. A single plant had managed to do this, but if there were ten or them, or a hundred…
Wu Xun didn’t dare think about it any further, for if that was the case, everyone here would definitely fall today. Where had Dragon Cave Mountain found this monstrosity? Moreover, weren’t they worried they would bring about their own destruction by planting it here?
Just as he was frowning deeply and his expression was filling with bitterness, another First-Order Origin Returning Realm nearby suddenly shuddered, “Senior Brother Wu… Isn’t this bad?”
“What do you mean?”
“That damn thing has been constantly smacking the ground as if… as if…”
“As if what?” Wu Xun asked but suddenly seemed to think of a possibility which caused him to pale greatly.
The moment after Wu Xun realized this possibility, the ground all around his ground began to tremble and crack. Soon, one after another, more strange plants began bursting up from below, like mushrooms sprouting after a spring rain.
These strange plants all had different heights, some of them an imposing five to ten metres tall while others barely reached half a metre in height, as if they were newly sprouted; however, all of them were deep red in colour, as if they had been soaked in fresh blood.
The most terrifying thing was that after these plants sprouted, they began probing around, as if they were predators drawn here by the scent of their prey.
Wu Xun’s forehead began dripping with cold sweat.
In fact, all the Demon Blood Temple disciples were currently standing perfectly still, not daring to move.
Just now, all of them had witnessed the terrifying power of this strange plant. Their two fellow disciples had not even had a chance to fight back before dying on the spot. Now, many of these strange plants had emerged from the ground and surrounded their group so how could they act rashly? Wouldn’t that be akin to seeking death?
However, them not moving did not mean these strange plants would not. After these strange blade-like plants swung back and forth for a moment, all of them suddenly pierced forward like arrows towards the Demon Blood Temple disciples.
“Dodge! Quickly!” Wu Xun shouted as he pushed his Saint Qi violently. Using his Demon Blood Thread again, he began cutting through the blood red blades of grass approaching him before his figure flickered and disappeared as he took evasive action.
But not everyone had Wu Xun’s strength. The Saint King Realm cultivators were the first to fall, with six of them dying instantly during the first wave of attacks, cut into pieces of bloodied meat by these strange plants. The broken remains of these six splashed out across the ground, but a moment later their flesh and blood was absorbed by these plants. After absorbing fresh blood, these strange plants seemed to become even more violent and began swinging around wildly, turning the surrounding several-hundred-metre region into a bloody killing field filled with terrified screams, each one representing another dead cultivator.
Wu Xun was both startled and furious, but at the same time he was helpless. Although he was not afraid of these strange plants, wanting to rescue all the others from Demon Blood Temple with his strength was nothing but a fantasy.
Above Dragon Cave Mountain, Yang Kai and Yang Yan stood quietly, overlooking the whole situation.
The reason why these two could stand here undetected by anyone was thanks to a cloak artifact Yang Yan had refined. This artifact had an incredibly powerful concealment ability. Of course, this artifact could not hide them from the senses of a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, but the closest master of that level was more than fifty kilometres away so it was impossible for them to be exposed from across such a distance.
“Did the Blood Sword Grass already grow to such a scale?” Yang Kai was greatly surprised. The strange blood-red plant Demon Blood Temple had encountered was clearly the Blood Sword Grass he had brought back from the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
At that time, Yang Kai had only brought a single seed with him. After planting it, he had given it a drop of Golden Blood, but Yang Kai has not paid any attention to it since then. Now, the Blood Sword Grass had given him a pleasant surprise.
“This thing has astonishing growth potential. With enough blood, it can grow indefinitely. It once caused a lot of trouble on Shadowed Star,” Yang Yan explained lightly, but in her beautiful eyes, a trace of suspicion flashed, “However, it shouldn’t have grown this fast. We haven’t given it much blood in recent years… strange.”
Yang Kai wrinkled his nose as he secretly speculated that this was related to the drop of Golden Blood he had fed it, but he didn’t bother explaining this and instead asked curiously, “But I only brought back one Blood Sword Grass seed, how come there are so many of them now?”
“This thing’s vitality is tenacious. As long as there is a mother plant, it can produce an endless stream of offshoots.”
“So that’s how it is!” Yang Kai nodded lightly before glancing over towards Myriad Beast Mountain’s group that was fighting with the Fire Spirit Beast horde and grinning, “We should make our move, it’s time to cut off the enemy’s retreat and annihilate them.”
Yang Yan had been waiting for this for a long time now and immediately took out a plate from her Space Ring. This plate was similar to the one Wu Yi was using, half gold and half silver, but it was significantly smaller.
Although this control device was smaller, it was still fully capable of manipulating all of Dragon Cave Mountain’s Spirit Arrays.
After Yang Yan poured her Saint Qi into this plate, a whirling sound immediately rang out from it and the silver and gold colours began moving closer together, quickly merging into one solid state.
At the same time, the originally clear Dragon Cave Mountain was once again obscured by fog as the Mountain Defending Array surrounded the mountain.
“I’m going back first. Wu Yi isn’t very skilled at controlling the various Spirit Arrays,” Yang Yan said.
“En.” Yang Kai gently nodded.
Yang Yan flew down below in a flash, and as soon as she left, Yang Kai’s figure was immediately exposed. This scene surprised all the masters who were staring at this place.
Yang Kai swept his eyes around coldly. Although he could not see anyone, he knew that, at this moment, Dragon Cave Mountain had attracted the eyes of many powerful masters. Most of these people were just here to enjoy the show while a few had a role in the current siege.
Sneering dismissively, Yang Kai also quickly flew into Dragon Cave Mountain.
“This little brat… opening his Mountain Defending Array again, does he want to trap and kill all of these people?” In Heavenly Fate City, Fei Zhi Tu stared blankly.
Qian Tong also starred in confusion, “Does he really have such a ravenous appetite?”
The two exchanged a glance but really did not know how to explain the scene in front of them.
Elsewhere, Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng also had similar doubts, but they were still completely confident in their subordinates, so they did not display any worry. Only Feng Yan, who had been attending to Old Woman Feng, showed a look of interest as she stared towards Dragon Cave Mountain.
She very much wanted to know what the result of this battle would be.
“Doesn’t know the immensity of Heaven and Earth!” Among Coloured Glass Sect’s group, a glamorous young woman in magnificent dress slowly shook her head, a look of disapproval flashing across her eyes. Originally, when she had witnessed all of Dragon Cave Mountain’s powerful Spirit Arrays, she had been somewhat impressed, but now, after seemingly gaining some small advantages, Dragon Cave Mountain being so pretentious as to open their Mountain Defending Array again only disappointed her.
Without possessing an absolute advantage, opening this protective barrier was not catching a turtle in an urn but trying to contain a ferocious tiger.
Behind this young woman stood two other women, one seemingly taking pleasure in Dragon Cave Mountain’s misfortune while the other was slightly pale with worry.
These two young women appeared to be the same age and their bodies were equally enchanting, but their appearances could not have been more different. One of them was incredibly beautiful while the other was extremely ugly. These two were naturally Yin Su Die and Dai Yuan of Coloured Glass Sect, and the young woman who had spoken just now was none other than Gong Ao Fu, the daughter of Coloured Glass Sect’s Sect Master who was Yin Su Die and Dai Yuan’s Honoured Master.
“Honoured Master, what do you think Dragon Cave Mountain’s fate will be this time?” Although Yin Su Die seemed to be asking her Honoured Master for her opinion, her beautiful eyes were fixed towards Dai Yuan.
Yin Su Die had once suffered a big loss at Yang Kai’s hands, so she naturally hated him. Now seeing Dragon Cave Mountain battered by wind and rain, she could not help rejoicing, especially when she saw the worried look on Dai Yuan’s face. This whole situation brought her immense satisfaction.
“Why bother asking something so obvious?” Gong Ao Fu coldly snorted.
“Honoured Master means that Dragon Cave Mountain won’t be able to overcome this tribulation?” Yin Su Die grinned.
“From the beginning, the decision of the person who owns this Dragon Cave Mountain was wrong,” Gong Ao Fu slowly shook her head, not directly answering the question, “With just the power gathered on such a small hilltop, opposing Myriad Beast Mountain and Demon Blood Temple was akin to trying to break a rock with an egg. Even if this hilltop had numerous powerful Spirit Arrays that allow them to gain a victory this time, what does it matter? With Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng still here, do you believe they will stand by and watch Dragon Cave Mountain bluff and bluster before them? If those two take action, what other choice will there be but to submit?”
“So that’s how it is!” Yin Su Die showed an enlightened look before glancing proudly towards Dai Yuan who was biting her red lips tightly without saying a word.
With a chuckle, Yin Su Die continued, “Then what Honoured Master means is that Dragon Cave Mountain should have known its limits and not provoked Myriad Beast Mountain and Demon Blood Temple.”
Gong Ao Fu showed neither approval nor disapproval, simply saying, “The way of the world is just like this, whoever’s fist is bigger is right.”
“But Honoured Master, if Senior Jin Shi and Senior Feng really take action, Shadow Moon Hall won’t just sit back and do nothing, Elder Qian Tong will surely not stand idly by!” Dai Yuan suddenly asserted with a serious expression.
“Shadow Moon Hall?” Gong Ao Fu glanced lightly towards Dai Yuan and chuckled, “Even so, what of it? If Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng want to deal with this Dragon Cave Mountain, it will not take them more than a few breaths. Even if Qian Tong moves, will he be able to stop them? When the time comes and everyone on that hilltop is dead, do you think Shadow Moon Hall will choose to make enemies of Myriad Beast Mountain and Demon Blood Temple?”
Hearing this, Dai Yuan could not help shivering.
Gong Ao Fu frowned seeing this and asked suspiciously, “Yuan’er, are you feeling alright?”
Before Dai Yuan could answer, Yin Su Die giggled and said, “Honoured Master, Senior Sister isn’t feeling unwell, she is just worried about Dragon Cave Mountain.”
“Why would you be worried about this Dragon Cave Mountain’s fate?” Gong Ao Fu looked at Dai Yuan puzzledly and asked, “Do you know someone there?”
“Honoured Master, have you forgotten? Didn’t two people come to visit Senior Sister at the Sect a while ago?”
“Naturally, I remember this, it was a young man and a young woman, right? Could it be that man and woman were…” Gong Ao Fu suddenly thought of something?
“Yes, that young man’s name is Yang Kai and the woman’s name is Yang Yan, they are the leaders of this Dragon Cave Mountain and their relationship with Senior Sister seems to be quite good,” Yin Su Die replied with a smile.
Gong Ao Fu wrinkled her brow as she stared towards Dai Yuan and asked, “Yuan’er, is that true?”
“Yes!” Dai Yuan nodded heavily.
“No wonder you look so worried, but even if that is the case, you must not draw calamity to yourself. This time, whether Dragon Cave Mountain wins or loses, their future will certainly be quite bleak. Too many great forces are involved in this matter so my Coloured Glass Sect must not wade into these muddy waters.”
“But Honoured Master, I owe Junior Brother Yang a life-saving grace!” Dai Yuan said anxiously.
“So what?” Gong Ao Fu glared at her, “Just looking at his rampant behaviour, he is clearly a foolish and arrogant child. Such a person is not one to become friends with, otherwise you will sooner or later suffer disaster. Su Die!”
“Exactly!” Yin Su Die responded quickly.
“Your Senior Sister’s mood is unstable, stay close to her and do not let her do anything stupid.”
“Yes!” Yin Su Die looked over at Dai Yuan with a harmless smile upon her lips, but in her heart, she was secretly rejoicing. The meaning of her Honoured Master was already obvious, she wanted her to monitor this Senior Sister of hers and not allow her to go to Dragon Cave Mountain and involve herself in this matter.
Looking at Dai Yuan’s sorrowful face, filled with helplessness and anxiety, Yin Su Die felt happier than if she had picked up a million Saint Crystals. Although her cultivation level had now reached the First-Order Origin Returning Realm, one step higher than Dai Yuan’s, because of the special Secret Art Dai Yuan cultivated, she was an indispensable asset to the Sect, so Yin Su Die still felt uncomfortable in her heart. She always dreamed about completely suppressing Dai Yuan inside Coloured Glass Sect so she could enjoy all her Honoured Master’s attention and favour.
…..
Inside Dragon Cave Mountain, Ning Xiang Chen stared blankly at the enemy in front of him who had the same cultivation as him, like he was lost in a dream.
The enemies in front of him no longer had any vitality and had only a single wound on his body, a bloody hole in his chest the size of a finger out of which red blood still flowed.
Needless to say, this enemy had been killed by him.
But the ease with which he had made this kill made Ning Xiang Chen unable to believe it had happened. If it were not for him being certain it was impossible, he might have thought he had somehow instantly become a peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master.
After encountering this enemy just now, Ning Xiang Chen simply summoned a short sword artifact and fought for half a cup of tea’s time before everything was over. Originally, he had wanted to feign weakness to lure the enemy into lowering their guard then take advantage of the situation by launching a killing strike, but how could he have anticipated that this enemy would be completely incapable of resisting him, allowing Ning Xiang Chen to thrust his short sword through his opponents chest and kill him on the spot.
Was this person really an Origin Realm master like him? Why did it feel like he was casually killing a Saint King Realm cultivator?
Moreover, this was already the second Origin Returning Realm master Ning Xiang Chen had killed.
In the past, when he encountered an opponent in the same realm, when had he not fought a hard battle for at least an hour? The longest time Ning Xiang Chen remembered fighting continuously was eight hours, after which he and his opponent had both exhausted their Saint Qi and mutually withdrawn, swearing to settle the score another day.
But now, in just the time it would take to boil a cup of tea, he had killed two opponents who possessed strength equal to his own.
Both of these enemies had died with their eyes wide open, as if they had seen something impossible at the moment of their death.
Although Ning Xiang Chen didn’t quite understand what happened to his enemies here that caused them to act so erratically, he knew there was some kind of mysterious force at work helping him, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to kill these two masters so easily.
Obviously, this mysterious force was related to the Spirit Arrays arranged here, as when Ning Xiang Chen encountered these two Origin Returning Realm masters, he had keenly noticed that they seemed disoriented and unable to circulate their Saint Qi properly, as if they were suffering both suppression and confusion. When he was fighting these two masters, they would often scream out in panic and attack towards empty space for no apparent reason.
Ning Xiang Chen had lived for many years, but this was the first time he had ever encountered such an outrageous scene. The evaluation of Dragon Cave Mountain in his heart soared upwards after experiencing all this. Being able to completely confuse the sense of and suppress the Saint Qi of enemy Origin Returning Realm masters while not hindering the strength of their own allies was not a feat an ordinary Array Master could achieve.
Recalling the inscrutable smiles of Chang Qi and Hao An, Ning Xiang Chen suddenly realized why they had remained so calm even in the face of so many strong enemies.
Perhaps this time he had really made the most brilliant decision of his life!
Thinking so, Ning Xiang Chen stretched out his hand, recalled his short sword from a short distance away, then continued walking forward calmly, without any of his previous uneasiness and anxiety.
He did not need to understand how these mysterious Spirit Arrays worked, he just needed to casually kill the enemies that kept ‘appearing’ in front of him.
The situations of Chang Qi and Hao An were almost exactly the same as that of Ning Xiang Chen, but the two of them had long known the phenomenal power of Dragon Cave Mountain’s Spirit Arrays. Therefore, after picking a spot to defend, they were acting in a far more calm and relaxed manner.
From time to time, some enemies would appear in front of them in a state of bewilderment and would be killed unceremoniously.
After Yang Yan returned to take control of Dragon Cave Mountain’s defences, she used the various Spirit Arrays she had arranged to split up the enemy forces and slowly guide them towards the positions where Chang Qi and Hao An were waiting.
As such, Chang Qi and Hao An were having an even easier time than Ning Xiang Chen.
The Saint King Realm invaders, who were significantly weaker than Chang Qi and Hao An from the start, had their Saint Qi further suppressed by Dragon Cave Mountain’s Spirit Arrays, so they were unable to last even three breaths in a fight while even the First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators were forced into a desperate struggle. As time passed, they too began falling one after another.
The number of cultivators from the Xie Family, Sea Heart Sect, and Flowing Cloud Valley began decreasing at a terrifying rate, sending those who were still alive into a state of panic. Every time an anguished scream rang out, the fear of the survivors inside this forsaken place increased, making all of them wish they had never come here in the first place. Many of them secretly vowed that if they were able to escape this calamity, they would never come near Dragon Cave Mountain again.
Xie Li, on the other hand, had not encountered any kind of danger, but he and the several Saint Kings trapped together with him in this Illusion Array were unable to escape and quickly became anxious like ants on a hot wok.
The Spirit Arrays arranged by Yang Yan already exceeded the limits of Shadowed Star, so it was naturally effortless to keep a few people trapped like this.
On the left flank of Dragon Cave Mountain, the old man from Myriad Beast Mountain managed to lead a number of his Sect’s disciples to break through the horde of Fire Spirit Beasts and arrive at the inner depths of Dragon Cave Mountain.
Looking at the elaborate lofts and large open scenery up ahead, the surviving Myriad Beast Mountain cultivators shivered with excitement and rushed forward at full speed.
A moment later, the crowd arrived at what seemed to be a safe location and glanced back with fear. Fortunately for them, the inexhaustible Fire Spirit Beasts did not pursue them after they left a certain range, allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief.
The old man riding his Blue Eyes Blood Toad narrowed his eyes and glanced around to find that only eight of his subordinates remained with him, causing his heart to sink.
When he entered this place, there were forty cultivators in his group, but now, only eight remained. Two of these survivors were First-Order Origin Realm masters while the rest were just Saint Kings, and each and every one of them had visible injuries.
What kind of place was this Dragon Cave Mountain? Just crossing the periphery had cost them so many lives so who could say what kind of dangers lay ahead of them?
Thinking so, the old man stopped his pulse from racing as thoughts of retreating came to mind, but he knew that returning the way they came was impossible because they would have to once again face the horde of Fire Spirit Beasts.
The only option now was to capture the king!
The old man squinted towards the cave where all the cultivators in this area seemed to be gathered and a trace of cruelty flashed across his eyes.
However, in the next instant, the old man’s expression cramped up because a young man with a sturdy figure appeared not far away with a sarcastic grin on his lips and a cold glint in his eyes.
Whether the other party was originally there or suddenly appeared, the old man was uncertain, but he naturally recognized that this young man was none other than the owner of Dragon Cave Mountain and the one who had won the Profound Gold at the recent auction: Yang Kai!
He was no different from the description in the information, only a trivial Third-Order Saint King!
What made the old man truly rejoice was that the other party had boldly appeared by himself, like a tiny mantis trying to stop a runaway cart. Even if his group had suffered heavy losses arriving here, there were still three Origin Realm masters and five Saint King Realm cultivators together with him, not to mention that he himself was a Second-Order Origin Realm master, so there shouldn’t be any problem capturing this boy.
The only thing to worry about was whether this boy was plotting something!
Considering all this, the old man pointed and shouted angrily, “Boy, you dare make enemies of my Myriad Beast Mountain? Today I’ll make you die without a burial!”
“Shameless boasting!” Yang Kai snickered, “After daring to invade my Dragon Cave Mountain, your life and death are no longer yours to control!”
Yang Kai was disinclined to say anything more to this group, so he simply shouted, “Yang Yan!”
As soon Yang Kai called out, the surrounding scenery suddenly changed, the exquisite lofts and open fields distorting and being replaced by a vast expanse of green grassland.
“Illusion Array?” The old man’s face changed slightly. He never thought that Dragon Cave Mountain would arrange such a profound Spirit Array in such a place. Logically, the periphery and core regions of a force would be filled with powerful defensive barriers, not the space between the two where nothing of importance was housed. So, generally, there should not be any Spirit Arrays. After all, this was ordinarily the location where the force’s cultivators lived and worked; if a disciple accidentally triggered a dangerous Spirit Array, wouldn’t that result in more harm than good?
This logic was why the old man from Myriad Beast Mountain and his subordinates had rushed over when they saw an open space just now.
Little did they know that what they thought was safe harbour was the location of another powerful Spirit Array.
Dragon Cave Mountain was just a small hilltop so there should not have been a reason for them to arrange so many Spirit Arrays. Did they anticipate that a day would come when they would be invaded by powerful enemies?
How could this old man have understood the strange thoughts of Yang Yan? In truth, the reason why Dragon Cave Mountain had so many Spirit Arrays arranged all over the place was entirely because Yang Yan wanted to use this method to unlock the Spirit Array and Artifact Refining knowledge buried in her subconscious mind.
Only by constantly arranging Spirit Arrays would Yang Yan be able to recall more of her original knowledge about Spirit Arrays.
In short, the arrangement of Spirit Arrays on Dragon Cave Mountain did not follow common sense at all.
After falling into the Illusion Array, the old man did not panic however, because his strength wasn’t weak. Laughing wildly, he shouted, “You think a trivial Illusion Array is enough to put this old master to death? You look down on this old master far too much!”
“I never said anything about killing you with this Illusion Array,” Yang Kai sneered.
“Then what were you planning on doing? If you have some other shocking means, feel free to display them!” The old man smiled proudly, “Today, this old master will let you understand the gap between you and me.”
“Sure, but there is no need to be so restless, I’ll be right back! Wait for me here patiently, okay?” Yang Kai nodded lightly before his figure strangely and rapidly began fading away.
“You want to run?” The old man shouted furiously as he released his Divine Sense and sent a burst of scarlet light towards the position where Yang Kai stood.
However, the old man was a step too late as Yang Kai’s figure disappeared before the scarlet light could hit him.
The old man’s expression became extremely gloomy!
He had allowed Yang Kai to escape from him, proving that this Illusion Array was not simple! No matter how he tried, the old man was unable to figure out how this boy had managed to evade his sight and Divine Sense, nor did he know what Yang Kai was planning on doing.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to the old man and he quickly scanned his surroundings, his face turning green in the next instant.
The two Origin Realm masters and five Saint King Realm juniors that had been accompanying him had mysteriously disappeared, as if the only one trapped in this Illusion Array was him.
When he thought about what Yang Kai said just now, the old man immediately understood what this boy was going to do and his heart filled with rage. Roaring hysterically, he summoned a one-handed hatchet filled with malevolent aura and poured his Saint Qi into it before ruthlessly slashing the air, trying to destroy the illusion in front of him.
He did not even notice when he had fallen into this Spirit Array, so he naturally had no idea how to crack it and could only use the crudest method of breaking it by force.
The grade of this one-handed hatchet artifact certainly was not low, reaching the Origin Grade Mid-Rank. Although the Artifact Refiners of Shadowed Star were not capable of refining such an artifact, such items could still be obtained from ancient ruins so albeit rare, they still existed.
After pouring his Saint Qi into this one-handed hatchet, the old man swung it to release a giant black wave which flew out several dozen metres before smashing into the air, creating a loud buzzing sound and producing an amazing shockwave.
However, such an attack obviously was not enough to destroy this Illusion Array, not to mention that this Spirit Array was currently being controlled by Yang Yan.
After releasing five such attacks and consuming a great deal of Saint Qi, the old man stayed his hand as a dark expression filled his face. Silently, he waited and observed his surroundings.
He believed that Yang Kai would appear again soon.
Sure enough, after the time it would take to boil a cup of tea, a blurry figure suddenly emerged out of thin air and, as it solidified, it revealed Yang Kai’s appearance.
The old man’s eyes were instantly drawn to Yang Kai’s face and clothes because there were several fresh blood stains on them now, seemingly having been spattered onto him. There was also some lingering Monster Qi in this fresh blood.
As a master from Myriad Beast Mountain, this old man was naturally familiar with this aura. It was the blood of powerful Monster Beasts, and the only cultivators around who possessed such powerful Monster Beasts came from his Myriad Beast Mountain.
“What happened to my subordinates?” The old man glared at Yang Kai and asked coldly.
“Why ask something you already know? Since I have returned, what fate do you think befell your disciples?” Yang Kai sneered. Two First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators and five Saint Kings were not enough to trouble Yang Kai here on Dragon Cave Mountain.
After all, when he was just a Second-Order Saint King, Yang Kai was able to kill First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators, so now that he had Yang Yan controlling the various Spirit Arrays here to assist him, if he couldn’t solve these invaders he would really have cultivated all these years in vain.
Although he already had some speculation in his heart, the old man still grit his teeth when he heard this response and nodded, “Good! Good! Daring to slaughter my subordinates, from today onwards, my Myriad Beast Mountain and you cannot exist under the same sky!”
Even though he was making such a dramatic declaration, the old man’s face remained incredibly calm.
Seeing this, Yang Kai was incredibly surprised. Unexpectedly, even at this moment, this old guy was able to restrain his anger. It seemed that this old man’s mental fortitude was commendable. Yang Kai immediately raised his vigilance while maintaining an arrogant and rampant facade, “How Myriad Beast Mountain acts from today onward is none of your concern old dog, because today, you will die here!”