Now that High Heaven Sect had formally been established, as Elders and disciples seeing the Sect Master, they needed to salute him. Even Ye Xi Yun, the strongest master present, nodded in acknowledgement towards Yang Kai.
However, her eyes soon turned back to continue staring at Yang Yan’s movements with a kind of fanaticism.
This woman really regarded Yang Yan as her idol, Yang Kai thought to himself with slight amusement.
He did not blame her for this, as the reputation of the Starry Sky Great Emperor was worthy of such devotion. The only reason Yang Kai could treat Yang Yan so casually was that he had become very familiar with her over the past few years.
“What’s happening?” Yang Kai turned his attention to the sky and asked in a puzzled voice.
“Reporting to Sect Master, Vice Sect Master Yang is opening the Flowing Flame Sand Field’s barrier so we may once again see the sun, moon, and stars,” Ning Xiang Chen quickly replied, his tone filled with respect as his old eyes sparkled with vigour, seemingly unable to conceal his respect for Yang Yan.
In this world, who else could manipulate the Flowing Flame Sand Field’s flame barriers? Only Yang Yan could achieve such a feat, so it was only reasonable for Ning Xiang Chen to show her great respect.
Hearing what he said, Yang Kai gently nodded. Knowing what Yang Yan’s plan was in his heart, he no longer continued asking.
Although everyone was happy they had moved to this Supreme Profound Sect ruin and established High Heaven Sect, with the Three Blazing Flame Rings constantly blocking out the sun, moon, and stars, they had become a bit depressed with the living environment.
As such, Yang Yan was intending to open the flame barrier that covered the sky so that High Heaven Sect could feel reconnected with the outside world.
This was a good deed that only Yang Yan could do, so Yang Kai naturally did not have any intention of stopping her, simply standing together with the rest of the crowd and waiting.
Pure Saint Qi continued pouring from Yang Yan’s tender body, transforming into thin streams and shooting off into the sky before disappearing in the next instant.
As time passed, a vortex appeared in the fiery red sky. This vortex was still small in the beginning but gradually became larger in scale.
The swirling vortex was quite visually shocking and caused the people down below to shudder as they had the illusion that they were about to be sucked up into the sky.
After another half an hour or so, the red ring on Yang Yan’s wrist buzzed and flew up into the sky along with her soft shout and transformed into a giant ring nearly a dozen kilometres in diameter.
This ring slowly floated upwards and eventually touched the flame barrier that covered the sky before coming to a halt as it wrapped around the massive swirling vortex.
Immediately, the vortex began to pull back, as if being drawn in by some kind of incredible suction and, with a low rumbling, the flame barrier that covered High Heaven Sect withdrew like a tide, revealing a circular patch of sky more than a dozen kilometres wide.
Sounds of cheering burst out as the disciples jumped for joy.
Yang Kai also grinned, showing a look of happiness on his face, but soon, his eyes were attracted to something high up in the sky and his expression turned to one of shock.
“Sure enough…” Yang Yan muttered softly, her beautiful eyes staring up into the sky, her brow wrinkling slightly as she flicked her wrist again and retrieved the first of the Three Blazing Flame Rings.
However, the flame barrier did not close when Yang Yan did this, instead remaining open, allowing sunlight to pour down as well as granting a view of the blue sky and white clouds outside.
However, at this moment, in addition to the long-lost blue sky and white clouds, there was another clearly noticeable object within view.
A huge and grand palace!
The Emperor Garden!
“Why is that thing here?”
“Wasn’t it floating over Dragon Cave Mountain?”
“When did it arrive here?”
A burst of chatter erupted from the several dozen disciples as they all became somewhat worried. Once bitten by a snake, fearful of ropes for ten years, as the saying goes. Last time, Dragon Cave Mountain encountered great difficulties and ultimately met its end thanks to the appearance of the Emperor Garden.
Originally, after leaving Dragon Cave Mountain and finding a new place to settle down, one that was a thousand times better than Dragon Cave Mountain at that, the haze which had plagued everyone’s heart had been swept away, but never had they imagined that the original source of their calamity, the Emperor Garden, had actually appeared directly above them again.
This was a reality that was somewhat difficult to accept.
The Emperor Garden, one of Shadowed Star’s Three Great Forbidden Zones, seemed to be following them around, unwilling to leave them in peace.
What’s more, no one knew when the Emperor Garden had made the long journey from Dragon Cave Mountain to the sky above High Heaven Sect; after all, High Heaven Sect had been enveloped by the Three Blazing Flame Rings until now, cutting it off from the outside world.
Only Yang Kai and Yang Yan knew why it was here, while Ye Xi Yun had some faint ideas why but was not quite sure.
Yang Yan flew down from the sky and landed lightly next to Yang Kai, her expression calm and indifferent.
After glancing at her, Yang Kai asked softly, “Did you realize this thing had arrived here and decided to open the barrier?”
“En, I had a feeling but I wasn’t sure. Regardless, opening the barrier to expose the sky was always part of my plan so I simply took advantage of this opportunity to confirm my theory,” Yang Yan gently nodded.
Yang Kai understood clearly and pondered for a moment before turning his head to the unsettled disciples and shouted, “Settle down. Since the Emperor Garden has appeared here, there must be a reason for it, so there’s no need to make a fuss about something we can’t control. Just attend to your own affairs.”
After hearing Yang Kai’s words, the commotion amongst the crowd calmed down.
After the lower strength disciples left, Yang Kai thoughtfully said, “We may not know when the Emperor Garden transferred here, but since it has, I think it should be quite lively outside the Flowing Flame Sand Field right now!”
The Emperor Garden had all but played a practical joke on all of Shadowed Star. When it first appeared, it had suspended itself directly above Dragon Cave Mountain, causing countless great forces to gather in Heavenly Fate City.
But who could have anticipated that it would suddenly move away one day?
Now that it appeared above High Heaven Sect, the masters from Shadowed Star’s various great Sects must have chased after it. There was no doubt about this either as, now that the Emperor Jades had appeared, there was certainly not much longer before the Emperor Garden officially opened. No one wanted to miss such a good opportunity.
“Would you like to go out and take a look?” Yang Yan asked.
“En,” Yang Kai nodded lightly. Knowing that there were so many ‘guests’ at his door, Yang Kai naturally wasn’t about to just sit back and watch.
“I’ll come with you,” Yang Yan said immediately.
Yang Kai glanced over at her but did not raise any objections, simply nodding, “Good.”
After a brief discussion, Yang Yan immediately summoned the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle and the two of them quickly boarded. Ye Xi Yun, who refused to leave Yang Yan’s side, naturally accompanied them as well.
The place High Heaven Sect was located was originally in the fourth layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, but now that the First-Layer Flame Area had disappeared, only the Third-Layer Flame Area stood between High Heaven Sect and the outside world.
A short while later, the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle passed through the fourth layer and entered the third, but with Yang Yan here, the extreme heat and rolling Flame Attribute Energy posed no threat to the trio at all, all of it simply moving aside as if it had a mind of its own, allowing them to pass through unhindered.
The Flying Shark Battle Shuttle appeared outside the Third-Layer Flame Barrier sometime after.
The door opened, and Yang Kai flew out, but just as he stood firm, he could not help raising his brow as he swept his eyes around and grinned.
At this moment, there really were a lot of cultivators gathered outside the Flowing Flame Sand Field. There were small scattered groups of two or three as well as large contingents that had set up organized camps, but one thing all of them had in common was that they were gazing towards the Flowing Flame Sand Field with anxiety.
Yang Kai recognized a couple of these forces, some of which he shared enmity with, while others he was friendly with; all in all, almost every big and small force on Shadowed Star had assembled here.
It could be said that all the cultivators who had originally been staying in Heavenly Fate City had come here chasing the Emperor Garden.
When the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle emerged from the Flowing Flame Sand Field and Yang Kai appeared, everyone instantly focused on him, many showing shocked and dumbfounded expressions.
Since the Flowing Flame Sand Field was known as one of the Three Great Forbidden Zones, it was naturally an extremely dangerous place to enter.
During the time when it was in a closed state, no one should have been able to step into it. There had been no shortage of Origin Returning Realm masters who were extremely confident of their strength that had tried to force their way into the Flowing Flame Sand Field, but the instant they entered the First-Layer Flame Area, they were vaporized without exception.
The Flowing Flame Sand Field in its closed state was not something Shadowed Star’s cultivators could resist. Only during the period when it opened could those below the Origin Realm enter.
But now, Yang Kai had casually appeared from inside. Did that mean he had some method to safely traverse this Forbidden Zone and even remain inside?
How could that be?
Many masters present almost thought they had been imagining things as they were unable to believe their own eyes, causing them to feel both dread and envy. Although they did not know what method Yang Kai used to freely enter and exit the Flowing Flame Sand Field, this method was undoubtedly extraordinary.
Moreover, with so many benefits hidden inside this Forbidden Zone and only Yang Kai being able to enter and exit it, didn’t that mean that all these treasures were his to do with as he pleased?
For those masters who had forged a grudge against Yang Kai, each and every one of them wore gloomy expressions and were so depressed they nearly coughed up blood.
Yang Kai was still just a Junior, yet he was already this difficult to deal with. If they really let him occupy all the resources in the Flowing Flame Sand Field for an extended period of time, who on Shadowed Star could possibly oppose him when he fully matured?
Realizing this, many masters present secretly exchanged glances as murderous intent welled up in their hearts.
However, not everyone directed killing intent towards Yang Kai. Shadow Moon Hall’s Great Elder Qian Tong and Heavenly Fate City’s City Lord Fei Zhi Tu both simply wore looks of surprise and joy when they saw Yang Kai. After hesitating for some time, Qian Tong finally called out, “Yang Kai, it was rumoured that you settled down here, could those rumours be true?”
After the incident on Dragon Cave Mountain, when Yang Kai and the others had arrived here, they had expelled a group of treasure hunters and declared that a ten thousand kilometre radius around the Flowing Flame Sand Field was now a restricted area. Naturally, word of this event had spread out.
The masters on Shadowed Star also caught wind of these rumours, but none of them took it seriously.
No one had believed that Yang Kai and his trivial Dragon Cave Mountain could establish themselves inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, most of them were simply thinking that this little brat was spreading nonsense to boost his reputation. Even Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu had laughed when they heard this, thinking that Yang Kai was just venting his anger after his Dragon Cave Mountain had been destroyed.
But now, no one dared to think like this. Yang Kai had clearly come out from the Flowing Flame Sand Field inside his extremely small Starship. Seeing was believing, so no one doubted this truth anymore.
Seeing how it was Qian Tong who had asked, Yang Kai certainly wouldn’t refuse to answer, smiling lightly as he politely cupped his fists and said, “Junior greets Elder Qian, greets City Lord Fei.”
Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu exchanged a glance and saw the happiness in each other’s eyes.
They could clearly tell that Yang Kai didn’t show them any less respect just because he now possessed such a powerful Starship. This boy still regarded them as his Seniors and even greeted them courteously as decorum dictated.
Realizing this, both of them unconsciously relaxed.
“Brother Wei, Sister Dong, you’re here too!” Yang Kai next turned to a young man and woman who were standing behind Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu and greeted them with a smile.
The two of them returned the greeting politely but couldn’t hide the surprise in their eyes, seemingly still unable to believe the scene they had just witnessed.
“Yang Kai, that rumour…” Qian Tong asked again, unable to restrain his curiosity.
A ray of light flashed across Yang Kai’s eyes before he declared loudly, “Haha, the outside rumours are true: I, along with a small group of friends and disciples have indeed settled down inside this Flowing Flame Sand Field.”
Although he did not shout, Yang Kai spoke loudly enough to allow everyone in the vicinity to hear him, and when this statement came out, it immediately triggered a great uproar with many people expressing doubt, envy, and even awe.
“Great!” Qian Tong was both shocked and was happy for Yang Kai, “Having a place to stay is for the best, and such a wonderful paradise at that! It seems that those kinds of unfortunate matters will never happen again.”
The inside of the Flowing Flame Sand Field could be said to be the most secure location on Shadowed Star, allowing one complete peace of mind without fear of being attacked. In order to get to Yang Kai, one had to first get through an impenetrable Flame Area. Who could possibly do this?
At the very least, no one on Shadowed Star had such ability.
“Many thanks for Elder Qian’s concern, Junior also believes that in the future, there won’t be any blind fools who dare disturb my peace,” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, his eyes intentionally and unintentionally sweeping a number of masters among the crowd.
While this caused many people’s expression to become gloomy, none of them dared to comment.
“Junior should have sent word of his status earlier, but these days, I have simply had no free time; fortunately, two Seniors have come here in person. Since you’ve arrived here, why not come inside so we can chat? Of course, Brother Wei and Sister Dong are also invited. There are some things this Junior wishes to ask about after all,” Yang Kai suggested earnestly as he really did have some questions to ask.
“Enter inside?” Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu heard this and couldn’t help showing happy looks, both of them nodding without hesitation, “Alright, us old masters had such intentions but were worried you would not welcome us.”
“Senior must be joking, how could this Junior not welcome you?” Yang Kai stepped to the side and beckoned, “This way, please!”
Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu smiled at each other and did not hesitate to accept the invitation, both of them flying up and entering the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle’s hatch. Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er also hurried to keep up. The Flying Shark Battle Shuttle did not look very big from the outside, but inside, it could easily accommodate twenty or thirty people without feeling crowded. There were also many rooms inside, so upon entering, Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu couldn’t help looking around with great interest, constantly leaking praises from their lips.
After noticing Ye Xi Yun standing behind Yang Yan though, the two of them hurried forward to offer their greetings.
Facing Ye Xi Yun, neither of them dared put on airs. Strictly speaking, both of them were much younger than Ye Xi Yun, so if anyone deserved to act aloof here, it was Ye Xi Yun alone.
“No need for excessive politeness, just find a place to sit down and wait for the Sect Master to handle matters outside then we can return together,” Ye Xi Yun waved her hand lightly.
Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu responded quickly, found a chair, and sat down obediently.
With their two Elders trembling like they were sitting on thin ice, how could Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er dare say anything? Standing up straight behind Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu, the two of them made sure to not even breathe loudly.
Outside the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle, Yang Kai stood in place, upright and with an expression of indifference. Although the masters on the scene all possessed higher cultivations than his, this was his site, so how could Yang Kai show any fear?
After remaining silent for a moment, Yang Kai declared loudly, “Previously, this Yang’s words must not have been heard by everyone. From now on, this Flowing Flame Sand Field is my High Heaven Sect’s territory. Please do not linger here for long, otherwise, I will consider it a provocation of my High Heaven Sect, and the consequence, heh heh…”
“High Heaven Sect?”
“What Sect is that?”
“Was there such a Sect on Shadowed Star?”
Many suspicious voices began clamouring in confusion, but Mo Xiao Sheng, Cheng Peng Xuan, and several others immediately frowned, vaguely guessing something.
“High Heaven Sect is a Sect which I conveniently founded for myself and my like-minded friends. Its headquarters is located inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Do you all understand now?” Yang Kai shouted again, taking advantage of this opportunity to announce High Heaven Sect’s establishment to the rest of the world.
“Founded a Sect?”
“You?”
The doubting voices only grew louder after Yang Kai’s curt explanation.
It wasn’t surprising that these people responded like this though. Founding a Sect wasn’t something that could just be casually done; at the very least, one needed to have a powerful enough master to assume command of the Sect. Even the smallest Sects on Shadowed Star were founded by Origin Realm masters. Occasionally, there would be a Saint King who didn’t know the immensity of Heaven and Earth who tried to found a Sect but none survived very long, disappearing into the long river of history for one reason or another.
As such, no one took this new High Heaven Sect seriously, just as they didn’t take a mere Saint King Realm Junior like Yang Kai seriously.
Listening to the various voices of scorn and mockery, Yang Kai simply curled his lips into an indifferent sneer.
“Boy,” An authoritative voice suddenly called out, and upon hearing it, Yang Kai turned to its source and saw that it was actually Mo Xiao Sheng of Heaven Battling Union looking at him with a sombre face, “Is what you just said true?”
“What does Senior Mo think?” Yang Kai didn’t answer the question directly. Although Mo Xiao Sheng had participated in the siege of Dragon Cave Mountain last time, Yang Kai wasn’t interested in settling accounts with him now; after all, his personal strength was still a little insufficient to do so. Yang Kai figured he could take his time to deal with this old man; after all, Heaven Battling Union was a great force that wouldn’t disappear suddenly.
Mo Xiao Sheng’s eyes narrowed, remaining silent for a moment before asking, “This old master does not believe you are cracking a joke, but may I ask who your noble Sect’s Sect Master is?”
“This Junior is somewhat unworthy, but he currently holds the position of Sect Master. In the future, I may need to ask Seniors for advice regarding this matter,” Yang Kai smiled meaningfully.
“I see…” Mo Xiao Sheng wore a grave expression as he muttered to himself. Although he knew that Yang Kai would definitely not simply forgive him for what had transpired between them, at this moment, he also had no intentions of making trouble, a moment later putting on a smile and speaking enthusiastically, “Little Friend Yang is a dragon among men, so there is nothing wrong with holding the position of Sect Master of a newly established Sect. En, your noble Sect will surely become a great force not inferior to my Heaven Battling Union in time, possibly even exceeding us one day. Congratulations, congratulations, this is truly an event worth celebrating.”
A light flashed across Yang Kai’s eyes as he wore a faint grin and replied “Senior Mo is too polite. High Heaven Sect was founded simply because this Yang and his friends wished for a place to belong. High Heaven Sect’s policy is and always will be the same as this Junior’s. We have neither lofty ambitions nor desires, we simply wish to live safely and peacefully in our little corner of the world. If others don’t provoke us, we won’t provoke them!”
[Old Dog, trying to direct public hatred towards me is simply shameful.]
While maintaining a smile, Yang Kai cursed Mo Xiao Sheng out in his heart. Although this old dog’s expression was one of geniality and his tone was pleasant, his words were clearly suspicious. There were essentially two great forces on Shadowed Star vying for dominance, Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect, so if another force with even or stronger power were to emerge, what room would there be for other great forces to survive?
Mo Xiao Sheng’s intentions were clearly to have the masters gathered here direct their animosity towards High Heaven Sect. Really, each of these old dogs was not easy to deal with.
“Good, ‘if others don’t provoke us, we won’t provoke them!’” Mo Xiao Sheng’s eyes flashed with a hint of anger. Naturally, he understood the meaning of Yang Kai’s words. Clearly, this boy was telling him that he would not let the matter of him attacking Dragon Cave Mountain simply drop. However, now wasn’t the time to break this stalemate, so after pausing for a moment, Mo Xiao Sheng asked, “Since your noble Sect has just been founded, you must surely have many things to attend to. If you could allow this old master to enter though, perhaps he can be of some assistance. What does Sect Master Yang think?”
“I’m afraid such a proposal is not appropriate at this time,” Yang Kai shook his head slowly, not even bothering to give Mo Xiao Sheng any face, “Senior Mo is well aware that my Sect has just been founded and has no time to entertain guests. Perhaps in the future, we will extend an invitation to Senior to visit, if there is an opportunity.”
Mo Xiao Sheng fell silent; wanting to enter High Heaven Sect wasn’t because he wanted to inquire about its secrets or status, but rather because the Emperor Garden had suddenly appeared here. If he could get closer to it, he certainly wouldn’t want to wait outside the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
Otherwise, once the Emperor Garden really opened, the people inside who were closer would gain an advantage over those outside. Even with their fastest speed, it would take half a day longer for those outside the Flowing Flame Sand Field to bypass the flame barrier and arrive at the Emperor Garden.
After all, the area occupied by the Flowing Flame Sand Field wasn’t small.
One mustn’t underestimate this half a day’s worth of time. Perhaps it would be the difference between obtaining some huge opportunity inside and obtaining nothing.
Not just Mo Xiao Sheng believed so, most of the other masters here had similar thoughts.
Seeing Mo Xiao Sheng’s attempt at negotiation fail, Cheng Peng Xuan stepped forward and shouted, “All of us have come from so far away, so why is Sect Master Yang being so unaccommodating, refusing to allow anyone to approach? Why not lower this barrier and invite us inside your noble Sect for some tea?”
“That’s right, we should all sit down and discuss this matter slowly.”
“Yes, Sect Master Yang should show some hospitality!”
Immediately, shameless shouts rang out, each and every one of these old masters taking advantage of their age and position to try to force Yang Kai to give them face.
Naturally, Yang Kai paid them no heed, simply standing in place indifferently as he waited for the noise to gradually subside before declaring, “It is not that this Yang does not wish to invite others to visit his Sect, but how would your Sect’s react if you suddenly discovered so many outsiders lingering within your Sect’s territory without your permission? Wouldn’t you immediately expel these loiterers by force? However, since this Yang’s Sect is newly established and has not had a chance to inform the world of its presence yet, and considering this is your first offence, this Yang will not hold you accountable. However, I must insist you depart quickly.”
“This is also your High Heaven Sect’s territory?” Some people raised their brows.
“Yes, starting from this flame barrier and extending out a hundred kilometres is my High Heaven Sect’s territory!” Yang Kai replied solemnly, “No outsiders are allowed to set foot in this region. Otherwise, they will be regarded as invaders provoking my High Heaven Sect!”
As soon as this remark came out, everyone frowned.
Myriad Beast Mountain’s Old Woman Feng stamped her dragon head cane hard on the ground and coldly snorted, “Boy, aren’t you looking down too much on this world’s people? Actually daring to bluster so wantonly!”
“You believe I’m just blustering?” Yang Kai tilted his head towards her and chuckled, “Then dare I ask Senior Feng, how many kilometres outside Myriad Beast Mountain’s headquarters do you forbid outsiders from entering? One hundred kilometres? A thousand kilometres? More?”
Old Woman Feng’s face immediately went black as she choked on her words.
“What about Heaven Battling Union?” Yang Kai turned to look at Mo Xiao Sheng again, the latter wearing a gloomy expression as he remained silent.
“Thunder Typhoon Sect?” Yang Kai looked at Cheng Peng Xuan, who just coldly snorted and looked away.
Yang Kai smiled heartily and waved his hand, “Several Seniors are all prominent figures so do not try to quibble with this Junior. Not to mention the first-class Sects several seniors hail from, which second or even third-class forces allow outsiders to approach their headquarters at will. As far as this Junior knows, the region a thousand kilometres outside any first-class Sect is considered a restricted area that no outsiders may set foot into, yes? Many of you even claim more than this! This Yang is not asking for much, just a hundred kilometres, or could it be that several Seniors believe that since this Yang is young and High Heaven Sect has just been established, we can be bullied as you wish? Do you not place my High Heaven Sect in your eyes at all?”
As he spoke, Yang Kai’s voice gradually became colder, and his expression chilled to match.
“Sect Master Yang, may I say a few words?” A charming voice suddenly called out, one that was crisp and sweet and instantly attracted everyone’s attention.
Yang Kai turned his head and saw a beautiful young woman standing next to Old Woman Feng, looking at him with a smile.
Yang Kai did not know who this girl was, but since she was standing beside Old Woman Feng, she was clearly a disciple of Myriad Beast Mountain.
“What advice does young miss have?” Yang Kai looked at her lightly.
The girl stepped forward and bowed elegantly, seeming knowing how to observe proper etiquette, and with her graceful looks and sweet smile, it was difficult for others to have a poor impression of her.
Pursing her red lips lightly, she sweetly spoke, “I believe this is our first meeting, Sect Master Yang. This little sister is Myriad Beast Mountain disciple Feng Yan.”
“Feng Yan,” Yang Kai raised his brow as he glanced thoughtfully towards Old Woman Feng. These two shared the same surname and the cultivation of this Feng Yan was not very high, Third-Order Saint King Realm the same as him; however, she was standing in an almost equal position to this old woman, so she was likely one of Old Woman Feng’s descendants. Moreover, she must be quite talented, otherwise, she wouldn’t have dared to speak rashly on such an occasion without fear of being punished.
“Little sister doesn’t dare claim to advise Sect Master Yang, I simply wished to remind Sect Master Yang that this Flowing Flame Sand Field was originally one of Shadowed Star’s Three Great Forbidden Zones, a place with no owner. In fact, it could be said that this place is the common property of all Shadowed Star’s cultivators. Every time the Flowing Flame Sand Field opens, many people will come here to seek benefits and opportunities inside. Sect Master Yang now declaring that place is his territory, and even forbidding others from approaching to within a hundred kilometres of its border… doesn’t that seem somewhat improper?” Feng Yan spoke clearly and concisely, immediately illuminating the crux of the problem, causing many of the gathered masters’ eyes to light up and nod in agreement. The entire crowd’s attention quickly became focused on her, with everyone’s face filled with great anticipation, and Feng Yan did not disappoint them. At first glance, it was clear she had experienced many big scenes and continued with a light laugh, “If one really wishes to discuss semantics, every great force on Shadowed Star has partial ownership of this Flowing Flame Sand Field, so Sect Master Yang’s current behaviour is equivalent to snatching that which belongs to everyone. If My Myriad Beast Mountain were to snatch Sect Master Yang’s property, Sect Master Yang would likely be displeased, no? For the same reason, before declaring that your noble Sect has now occupied and controls the Flowing Flame Sand Field, should you not ask the Seniors gathered here for their opinions?”
“Indeed!” Mo Xiao Sheng immediately beat the snake with a stick, nodding nearby and declaring, “Flowing Flame Sand Field is one of the Shadowed Star’s Three Great Forbidden Zones, but the wealth inside it is shared by all of my Shadowed Star’s cultivators. No one alone should be allowed to possess it!”
“Shared wealth?” Yang Kai sneered, curling his lips into a grin, “That may have been how things were in the past, but now the Flowing Flame Sand Field is my High Heaven Sect’s territory! If you are not convinced, you are welcome to try to seize it from me! If any one of you is capable of wresting control of the Flowing Flame Sand Field from my hands, this Yang will hand it over without any complaint!”
“Sect Master Yang…” Feng Yan frowned, her face showing a look of displeasure as she argued lightly, “Is there any need to speak so aggressively? If you really insist on doing this, you will surely be provoking public anger. Does Sect Master Yang not understand what the consequences of doing so will be?”
Yang Kai sneered, “Before, my Dragon Cave Mountain never provoked public anger, yet it was still besieged by so many people. If not for this Yang’s luck being good, perhaps I would have been buried on that hill, so what does provoking or not provoking public anger matter? Girl, don’t try to play word games with me or to threaten me, you’re not qualified to speak to this Sect Master. Let your Elder come out to speak.”
“You…” Feng Yan bit her red lips lightly as she glared at him with resentment, “Aren’t you being unreasonable?”
“Haha, unreasonable? Don’t you understand that, in this world, whoever has the bigger fist is the one who is reasonable?” Yang Kai looked at her with utter ridicule, causing Feng Yan to shiver in anger, her face blushing with embarrassment but not daring to argue back aggressively.
Not interested in giving others an opportunity to make trouble anymore, Yang Kai coldly snorted and swept his eyes over the crowd before shouting loudly, “This Yang has said everything he needs to. If any of you insist on being besotted, this Sect Master does not mind paying a visit to your respective headquarters in the future to return the courtesy. If you fail to heed this Yang’s advice and continue to willingly trespass upon my High Heaven Sect’s territory, then this Yang will no longer be polite! If your Sect suffers any losses as a result, then don’t blame this Yang for not having warned you beforehand.”
This blatant warning, made without any consideration for others’ faces, caused everyone’s expression to become ugly.
Yang Kai looked around and was very satisfied with the reactions of these people. As long as they feared him, they wouldn’t do anything to displease him in the future; after all, Dragon Cave Mountain had displayed astonishing combat strength in the previous battle, especially when their Origin King Grade Starship was counted. No Sect Master would dare disregard the power of this Starship’s Crystal Cannons as they could likely devastate any Sect Defending Array on Shadowed Star.
Suddenly, Yang Kai’s gaze landed on a certain spot in the crowd and he smiled happily, calling out loudly, “Sister Dai Yuan!”
Among this crowd, there was a group of disciples from Coloured Glass Sect present, led by Gong Ao Fu, Dai Yuan, and Yin Su Die.
Yang Kai had not seen them until now.
Hearing Yang Kai call out to her, Dai Yuan showed a smile on her face and gently nodded to him.
“Sister Dai Yuan should also come inside, it will allow us to communicate more easily in the future,” Yang Kai warmly invited.
In an instant, everyone’s attention was redirected towards Dai Yuan, their faces showing looks of surprise and shock as they did.
If Dai Yuan was a great beauty, then Yang Kai extending her an invitation could be explained; after all, which young man did not have a weakness for beauties?
But not only could Dai Yuan not be considered beautiful; she was extremely ugly. Her face was pockmarked and scarred, filled with green and yellow pustules that made her look both ill and malnourished. Even if her figure was quite enchanting, it couldn’t conceal the utter travesty that was her face.
If such a woman were to go out for a walk, most people would actively try to avoid her.
Yet Yang Kai, who had just ridiculed and embarrassed Feng Yan without hesitation, actually took the initiative to invite this Dan Yuan to visit his High Heaven Sect and even said it would make it more convenient for them to communicate in the future.
What was happening here?
Did this boy have some kind of ‘special’ interests, disliking beauties and preferring ugly women? As this thought crossed many people’s minds, they could not help shaking their heads, feeling this was unlikely.
“I…” Suddenly being scrutinized by so many people, Dai Yuan’s expression cramped up slightly; after all, there were too many masters here, making her uncertain of how she should answer for a while.
Gong Ao Fu, on the other hand, had a splendid light flash across her beautiful eyes as she lightly moved her lips and communicated with Dai Yuan, “Yuan’er, since he invited you personally, you should accept. Go in and see what this High Heaven Sect of his looks like. En, if possible, ask him if he will allow the people from of my Coloured Glass Sect to enter the Emperor Garden from inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field when it opens as well.”
Dai Yuan’s brow furrowed. Although she subconsciously wanted to reject, she could not disobey her Honoured Master’s orders so blatantly, so she could only acquiesce, “Since Junior Brother Yang has been kind enough to invite me, this Dai Yuan will not stand on ceremony.”
“Very good,” Yang Kai smiled slightly.
“Yang Kai!” Yin Su Die suddenly called out, her pair of beautiful eyes glowing subtly, releasing a seductive and enrapturing charm. She had cultivated a profound Beguiling Technique and now that she had broken through to the Origin Returning Realm, this technique, combined with her natural beauty, while unable to confuse the old Origin Realm masters present, no Saint King Realm male could resist staring at her.
“Little sister would also like to accompany you inside to have a look. May I?” Yin Su Die asked tenderly, her voice so sweet and melodious that those who heard it felt like a pair of jade white hands were brushing their heart, giving them a sense of comfort that penetrated deep into their bones.
“Do I know you?” What shocked everyone present was that Yang Kai not only did not care about her, he actually bluntly rejected her.
Yin Su Die’s pretty face went from green to red as she gritted her teeth, the infinite style and charm disappearing from her beautiful eyes and being replaced with endless hatred.
But Yang Kai did not pay any further attention to her, simply continuing to scan the crowd for a moment before his gaze fixed on a particular group. Cupping his fists, he called out, “This Senior…”
In the direction he was looking, a middle-aged man in plain robes with long hair giving him a wild and unruly look raised his brow and revealed a happy expression, laughing heartily as he shouted, “Since Sect Master Yang has invited, this old master will not refuse!”
Yang Kai scratched his cheek, musing that he had not actually said anything, yet the other party had already accepted; obviously, this man had long been expecting this to happen.
However, this did not matter; in any case, Yang Kai’s plan really was to invite this man inside.
This man seemed to be called Mo Yu. Yang Kai did not know his details before, only that he had no malicious intentions towards him and was from Clear Sky Sect. During the battle on Dragon Cave Mountain, this man had even taken action once to help Yang Kai resolve some troublesome attacks directed towards him.
Yang Kai did not quite understand why Mo Yu had helped him back then, but everything became clear after seeing Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying standing behind him now.
Obviously, Mo Yu had helped him at Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying’s request.
These two young women knew how to express their gratitude, and the middle-aged Mo Yu from Clear Sky Sect was also quite upright. If this were not the case, he would not have secretly helped Yang Kai back on Dragon Cave Mountain, and even though it was just a small action, Yang Kai was not one to forget such a grace.
After all, no one had been optimistic about Dragon Cave Mountain’s survival at that point, so taking a righteous stance proved Mo Yu knew how to distinguish gratitude and grudge.
“Sister Chen and Sister Lu Ying, you two come as well,” Yang Kai called out.
Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying’s pretty faces filled with happiness as they nodded and quickly flew up after Mo Yu.
Through the open hatch of the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle, Dai Yuan and the Clear Sky Sect trio entered. After seeing the situation inside, however, Mo Yu’s expression became solemn as he hurriedly greeted Ye Xi Yun before following Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu’s example, sitting down with a straight back, and remaining silent.
Finished delivering his ultimatum, Yang Kai swept his eyes around once more before also entering the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle, after which this strange flight type artifact flickered slightly and disappeared into the flame barrier.
Outside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, countless masters wore gloomy expressions as they stared towards the flame barrier resentfully, but they were powerless to act.
After seeing Yang Kai’s rampant appearance just now, many people couldn’t help wanting to attack him, but since characters like Mo Xiao Sheng and Cheng Peng Xuan didn’t take action, naturally everyone else restrained themselves, leading to them missing their opportunity. Now that Yang Kai had re-entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field, there was nothing they could do to catch him.
“Elder Mo, that little brat acts far too supercilious. Could it be that we’re just going to let him go like this?” A burly man stepped forward and asked Mo Xiao Sheng, his face filled with unwillingness.
This man was not unknown, and his cultivation was not low. Just a few years ago, he had broken through to the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm and was the Sect Master of a second-class force.
Although he was a Sect Master-level figure, his identity was still lower compared to the Great Elder of Heaven Battling Union; after all, Heaven Battling Union and his Sect were simply not comparable.
“So what does Sect Master Lan wish to do?” Mo Xiao Sheng glanced at him faintly, his expression not betraying any emotion.
“This Lan cannot bear such an insult,” The Sect Master surnamed Lan declared angrily.
“If Sect Master Lan really cannot stand it, then you are free to attack this Flowing Flame Sand Field, perhaps you will even be able to break through the flame barrier. If you can accomplish this, this old master will definitely bring the full power of Heaven Battling Union to assist Sect Master Lan in twisting off that boy’s head!”
Hearing Mo Xiao Sheng speak so mockingly toward him, Sect Master Lan didn’t become upset, simply wearing an awkward look on his face and quickly waving his hand, “Elder Mo must be joking. This Flowing Flame Sand Field has been Shadowed Star’s Forbidden Zone since ancient times. No one can even touch it, so how is this Lan supposed to break through it?”
“Since that’s the case, then stop wasting this old master’s time with such meaningless drivel!” Mo Xiao Sheng coldly snorted.
Receiving such rebuke, Sect Master Lan’s face filled with embarrassment and could only silently retreat.
“Brother Mo, it seems we have no choice but to feign deference here,” Cheng Peng Xuan frowned while letting out a sigh.
“En, this Mo also thinks so. For now, our best option is to try to find a way to enter this Flowing Flame Sand Field, otherwise, when the Emperor Garden opens, we will definitely miss out on some opportunities. As for that High Heaven Sect… Hmph, the future is still long, we’ll let that boy have his moment and demand twice the repayment later.”
“What Brother Mo says makes sense. In the meantime, we shouldn’t remain here and continue to annoy him. If that little brat really decides to take that Origin King Grade Starship and rush to my Thunder Typhoon Sect…” Cheng Peng Xuan shivered as he thought about such a possibility before quickly shouting to his subordinates to follow him, taking the lead to withdraw.
Mo Xiao Sheng did the same.
Seeing that these two giants compromised at this junction, how could any of the other great forces dare to remain? All the assembled masters gathered their companions and disciples and quickly retreated beyond the hundred-kilometre mark Yang Kai had delimited.
At the same time, inside the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle, Yang Yan stared at a projection in front of herself and said with a grin, “Sure enough, they all retreated.”
“Wise choice,” Yang Kai sneered, seemingly having anticipated this scene.
It was not that Yang Kai had some kind of foresight ability, it was just that with the power High Heaven Sect had shown, these loiterers had no other choice.
Without even mentioning High Heaven Sect’s location inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, which allowed them to sit back and relax without ever worrying about being attacked, High Heaven Sect also had its Origin King Grade Starship as a deterrent.
With just this Starship at its disposal, none dared to easily provoke High Heaven Sect.
After all, once such a provocation was made, they would spend all day on edge, worrying about that Origin King Grade Starship coming to attack them while they could not attack High Heaven Sect at all. Only being able to passively defend while unable to fight back was a strategy that could only end in defeat.
What’s more, this Origin King Grade Starship was the sole existence on Shadowed Star that could possibly do long-distance voyages.
With it, Shadowed Star could completely restore its contact with the outside world, and those masters who had reached the peak of the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm could use it to travel to other stars, escape the suppression of Shadowed Star’s World Principles, and obtain a chance to break through to the Origin King Realm.
Who among Mo Xiao Sheng, Cheng Peng Xuan, and Old Woman Feng had not had such thoughts? Which one of them did not want to take advantage of this Origin King Grade Starship?
They were all masters who had reached and been stuck at the peak of the Origin Returning Realm for countless years, so their greatest wish in life was to be able to break through to the Origin King Realm. Now that an opportunity to do just that had presented itself to them, they naturally wanted to grab hold of it tightly.
It could be said that if not for the incident on Dragon Cave Mountain, they would all be finding ways to establish a good relationship with High Heaven Sect and Yang Kai.
Unfortunately, they had torn face with High Heaven Sect along with many other great forces during the battle of Dragon Cave Mountain. Naturally, they were extremely reluctant and embarrassed to lower their heads and apologize because, if they had done so, they would become laughing stocks for the rest of their lives. Mo Xiao Sheng, Cheng Peng Xuan, and several others could only take a step back and try to stabilize their relationships with High Heaven Sect by not offending it or its interests for now. From there, they could try to find a way to slowly win over Yang Kai.
If there was a chance to resolve their grievances in the future, that would naturally be best.
If they could not though, they would definitely not just sit back and watch High Heaven Sect grow, doing everything they could to uproot and destroy it.
As people mature, they begin to look more long term rather than focusing solely on immediate gains, if this were not the case then Yang Kai’s warning alone would not be enough to force them to withdraw hundreds of kilometres away.
Everyone’s actions today were due to High Heaven Sect’s strategic location and the existence of its Origin King Grade Starship.
Since Yang Kai was well aware of his advantages, he acted with such overbearing confidence.
Although the speed of the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle was quite quick, the Flowing Flame Sand Field was also quite expansive, so it took half a day before it arrived in front of High Heaven Sect’s front gate.
After Yang Yan opened the battle shuttle’s hatch and took the lead with Ye Xi Yun, Qian Tong, Fei Zhi Tu, and Mo Yu hurriedly exited as well, each of them taking in deep breaths of the fresh air around them.
Inside the Starship just now, the atmosphere had really been quite stifling.
Each of these three was a top-level presence in their respective Sects and was famous across Shadowed Star; however, when facing Ye Xi Yun, they always felt suppressed, not daring to act aloof or to even speak casually.
Only after they left the shuttle were they able to relax somewhat, but moments later, all of them became stunned as their eyes bulged and their faces filled with shock.
Seeing the magnificent white jade steps and feeling the incredibly rich World Energy aura made each of these guests almost think that they were no longer on Shadowed Star.
“This…” Qian Tong opened his mouth to speak but was unable to form his thoughts into words.
“Senior, this is my High Heaven Sect’s headquarters. What do you think?” Yang Kai stood up beside him and introduced with a smile.
Qian Tong and the others glanced over at him speechlessly. It was only after quite some time that Qian Tong managed to say, “Little brat, why did you have to show off such a sight to us? The richness of the aura here is something this old master has never seen before in his life.”
“Yeah… this is without a doubt the best cultivation paradise on Shadowed Star,” Mo Yu also nodded solemnly, his face filled with envy. Clear Sky Sect’s headquarters was also located in a mountain range with rich World Energy aura, but compared to this place, the disparity was not small. On top of that, this was just the entranceway to the Sect, so what would it be like inside?
“These must be the ruins of some ancient Sect, yes? There’s no way you could have built such a massive headquarters in such a short time,” Fei Zhi Tu looked at Yang Kai thoughtfully.
“City Lord Fei’s insight is quite sharp. Yes, this is indeed the ruins of an ancient Sect. We are simply the doves occupying this magpie nest,” Yang Kai chuckled.
“Nonsense, you being able to occupy this place is due to your own good fortune. Even if others wanted to occupy this place, they couldn’t,” Qian Tong smiled and shook his head. He was still unable to figure out how they had so easily crossed the Flame Area just now.
Wasn’t this place a Forbidden Zone? Wasn’t it supposed to be impossible for Origin Returning Realm masters to step into this place?
“If you want to talk, we should go inside first. Why just stand around gawking at the entryway?” Ye Xi Yun said lightly before walking up the jade steps alongside Yang Yan.
Since Ye Xi Yun had spoken, no one dared disagree, all of them quickly following behind her.
Walking along the road, Qian Tong and the others secretly surveyed their surroundings and were thoroughly shocked by the richness of the World Energy aura here. A few words were exchanged now and then as the overall atmosphere remained harmonious.
Yang Kai brought up the rear, accompanied by Wei Gu Chang and the others from the younger generation, laughing and chatting with each other the whole way.
Not long after, this small group of people arrived at the Front Court of High Heaven Sect. Seeing the exquisite palaces and massive, open squares once again amazed the newcomers, and the richness of the World Energy made them unconsciously take a few more deep breaths.
Fascination and envy appeared on all their faces.
Looking up, the entire Flowing Flame Sand Field was still surrounded by the red flame barrier, but directly above the Front Court, there was actually an opening more than a dozen kilometres in size, allowing the natural sunlight to pour in.
The Emperor Garden could also be seen floating directly above.
“Please come in!” Yang Kai said aloud as he led everyone inside the reception hall.
This palace was where High Heaven Sect had decided to welcome honoured guests, and with Qian Tong and the others being their very first guests, Yang Kai would certainly not show any neglect.
After entering the reception hall, the host and guests were seated while High Heaven Sect disciples immediately began serving tea and trays of spirit fruits with great diligence.
Ye Xi Yun and Yang Yan did not join them, so Qian Tong and the others no longer felt suppressed and began drinking tea while offering liberal amounts of praise, expressing their respect and expectations for High Heaven Sect’s future.
Only after chatting casually for some time did Yang Kai smile and raise a more serious topic, “Although this is a bit abrupt, Junior would like to ask how many Emperor Jades have appeared now and how many have several Seniors’ Sects managed to acquire.”
Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu’s eyes flashed as they pondered for a moment before the former replied, “You and I are not strangers, and Brother Mo and I have known each other for hundreds of years and can be considered old friends. If someone else were to have asked this, this old master would definitely not respond, but since it is you… En, my Shadow Moon Hall has worked hard but only managed to obtain two pieces so far.”
Saying so, he turned his head to look at Mo Yu, who grinned meaningfully and said, “While my Clear Sky Sect is situated quite far from where the Emperor Garden originally appeared, our luck was quite good with one piece of Emperor Jade landing near the Sect’s headquarters while this Mo, through some coincidences, managed to obtain another!”
They had two pieces, equaling the number Shadow Moon Hall had.
On the other side, Dai Yuan lightly opened her lips and replied, “I don’t know exactly how many Coloured Glass Sect managed to obtain, but from listening to my Honoured Master, it doesn’t appear to be many, at most one or two pieces.”
Yang Kai gently nodded, the numbers reported here were similar to what he had predicted. The day the Emperor Jades appeared; the first piece landed on Dragon Cave Mountain, causing Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array to be destroyed. After obtaining this piece of Emperor Jade, Yang Kai, Yang Yan, and Ye Xi Yun managed to collect another on their way to the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
Afterwards, the three of them left to track down other Emperor Jades but had failed to obtain any, instead wasting quite a bit of time and effort.
In other words, Yang Kai only had two Emperor Jades as well!
Emperor Jades were entry passes to the Emperor Garden and could be used to resist the omnipresent Emperor Pressure. A piece of Emperor Jade could only guarantee a single person’s safe entrance into the Emperor Garden and the quantity that each of the great Sects was able to obtain was quite low, so when the Emperor Garden really opened, there would definitely be some disputes and even bloodshed.
The Emperor Garden was far too attractive for any Third-Order Origin Returning Realm Master. They, more than anyone else, would want to enter it to seek opportunities that may let them break through to the Origin King Realm.
The disciples from the younger generation also needed to be counted amongst the hopeful entrants; after all, each Sect had one or two young geniuses whom they considered to be the future hopes of their Sect. By allowing these disciples to enter the Emperor Garden for life experience and to seek opportunities, it would benefit their future growth.
However, the number of people who could enter was severely limited, and how to decide who would go would depend heavily on the individual Sects themselves. Yang Kai estimated that at least one member of the older generation would lead a member from the younger generation to enter together.
“Heh, although the Emperor Jades appearing is no doubt a good thing, they also set off a reign of terror on Shadowed Star. It seems that a lot of small forces and families were completely destroyed during the recent period, all because of the Emperor Jades!” Qian Tong sighed, shaking his head slowly.
An ordinary man is innocent, but treasures make one guilty! Some small Sects and small families had the good fortune of obtaining an Emperor Jade, but after word leaked out, they were naturally targeted by powerful masters, ultimately leading to their destruction.
In addition, Emperor Jades had become the most sought-after treasure now, so some cultivators without backers that obtained them tried to sell them since they knew they were too weak to keep the Jades.
This naturally attracted countless buyers and robbers.
Today, the price of an Emperor Jade could be calculated by the hundreds of millions, but they were still in short supply.
Which Sect did not want to have one more entry pass? This was different from the Flowing Flame Sand Field. After the Flowing Flame Sand Field opened, only cultivators below the Origin Returning Realm could enter, but the Emperor Garden had no such restrictions.
It could be said that the emergence of Emperor Jades had stirred up chaos and intrigue all across Shadowed Star.
Although Shadow Moon Hall only had two Emperor Jades today, that did not mean it would stay that way. Perhaps they would be lucky enough to purchase another Emperor Jade and increase the number of cultivators they could send in.
After these thoughts flashed across his mind, Yang Kai asked, “May I ask then, do all of you understand what the purpose of this Emperor Jade is?”
Qian Tong smiled slightly before touching his Space Ring and taking out a white jade token the size of a palm, an Emperor Jade. He naturally, and calmly responded, “Although no one has ever used this kind of thing before, according to the analysis of my Shadow Moon Hall’s Elders, this Emperor Jade is probably a pass which allows one to enter the Emperor Garden.”
Saying so, he began pouring his Saint Qi into the Emperor Jade, causing a white light to burst from it which soon spread out past Qian Tong’s palm.
This white halo was not very big, only about half a meter in diameter after fully forming.
“Oh? It’s slightly bigger than before,” Qian Tong raised his brow, showing a touch of joy, explaining to Yang Kai in the next moment, “When this old master poured his Saint Qi into this Emperor Jade a few days ago, this light halo wasn’t so big. It seems that as time passes, the light halo produced by this Emperor Jade gradually becomes larger, and when it can completely cover a person, that’s probably a sign they can enter the Emperor Garden safely.”
“Exactly!” Mo Yu nodded lightly to the side, “Brother Qian’s speculations match with this Mo’s.”
Saying so, Mo Yu took out his own Emperor Jade and poured his Saint Qi into it, causing another white halo equal in size to the one covering Qian Tong’s palm to appear before continuing, “No one is capable of resisting the Emperor Pressure emitted from the Emperor Garden; it can only be resisted by this Emperor Jade. If this weren’t the case, no matter how high one’s cultivation might be, there would only be one fate for approaching the Emperor Garden!”
Death!
After the Emperor Garden had appeared, nearly a hundred masters from Shadowed Star’s great forces banded to try to approach it, but during this attempt, half of these masters were killed by the ambient Emperor Pressure. Since then, the various great forces on Shadowed Star had been monitoring the Emperor Garden’s movements while trying to find a way to resolve the problem of the Emperor Pressure it constantly exuded, but none of them had come up with a good solution.
The emergence of the Emperor Jades had solved this issue though.
Mo Yu and Qian Tong thought that Yang Kai didn’t know anything about this matter so they kindly explained their hypotheses to him; what they didn’t know was that Yang Kai was clearer about this than any of them.
Yang Kai had invited them into High Heaven Sect with the intention to tell them about the purpose of these Emperor Jade, but now it seems he had done something unnecessary. These old fogies were not stupid, so they had naturally come up with some ideas on their own through observation and experimentation.
“Judging from the rate at which these light halos are increasing in size, I’d say it will be another half a year at least before we are able to enter the Emperor Garden safely!” Qian Tong looked over at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai gently nodded in agreement.
Half a year was quite a long buffer period, enough time for at least the various great forces to buy up more Emperor Jades and do some preparations before entering the Emperor Garden. Although trying to increase their cultivation level in such a period would be impossible for most, it was actually just right to Yang Kai.
Now that he had reached the peak of the Third-Order Saint King Realm, he was just one step away from the Origin Returning Realm. If his luck was good and he had enough opportunity, he could use this half a year to break through, and as long as he reached the Origin Realm, his strength would greatly increase.
If Yang Kai could achieve this, his safety would be much more assured when the time came to enter the Emperor Garden.
Secretly making up his mind, Yang Kai next thought about some issues which had been bothering him, pausing for a moment before asking, “Right, how and when did the Emperor Garden suddenly rush over to my High Heaven Sect?”
Qian Tong and the others looked at each other and smiled bitterly.
Fei Zhi Tu explained, “Only the Heavens would know why this happened. This old master even suspected it was some kind of trick you pulled, or that someone from your little group had some kind of connection to the Emperor Garden. Otherwise, how could it chase after you like this?”
Although he knew the other party was joking, Yang Kai’s brow could not help twitching. After all, what Fei Zhi Tu said was essentially right, the reason the Emperor Garden seemed to be chasing after Yang Kai was completely because of Yang Yan, but this was naturally not something which could be spoken aloud.
“As for when it happened, it was about a month ago. For a time after you left Dragon Cave Mountain, the Emperor Garden did not show any kind of change, but one day, it just disappeared, all of a sudden. At that time, all of us old masters had a scare, thinking that the Emperor Garden had vanished and we missed a giant opportunity as a result, but we soon learned that it had simply relocated to the Flowing Flame Sand Field. In the end, we all ran over and sure enough, the Emperor Garden really was here,” Fei Zhi Tu spoke helplessly while shaking his head, seemingly exhausted after being made to run after the Emperor Garden.
This was the former private residence of the Starry Sky Great Emperor; naturally, no one wanted it to just disappear from sight.
“So that’s how it is,” Yang Kai gently nodded before smiling, “It seems my High Heaven Sect and the Emperor Garden share some kind of fate, wherever we go it seems to follow.”
When these words were spoken, everyone present smiled, not taking Yang Kai seriously.
After chatting again for a while, Mo Yu’s expression became serious and he spoke, “Sect Master Yang, this old master has a request I hope you can agree to!”
Yang Kai grinned heartily and said, “Senior Mo is too polite, although I am a Sect Master, I am still just a Junior. If Senior Mo would like, feel free to just address me as Yang Kai, the title Sect Master does not really suit me.”
A slightly startled light flashed across Mo Yu’s eyes before he let out a burst of hearty laughter and spoke happily, “Good, good, Sect Master Yang is truly a free spirit, not bothered by meaningless trifles, very much in line with this old master’s own personality.”
“Senior is too kind,” Yang Kai replied modestly before asking, “What request does Senior wish to discuss with me?”
Although he was asking this, Yang Kai vaguely guessed what Mo Yu wanted to say.
Mo Yu lightly coughed, his expression turning serious again, “Now that the Emperor Garden is floating directly above your noble Sect, your noble Sect clearly has a distinct advantage over all others. I was wondering if it would be possible for my Clear Sky Sect to depart from here on the day the Emperor Garden opens to enter it.”
Sure enough, it was just as Yang Kai had guessed. Now that the Emperor Garden was floating above High Heaven Sect, if one could depart from here, it would save them at least half a day of time compared to setting out from outside the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Half a day would be enough to find and obtain many good things.
It was not easy for Mo Yu to make this request though; after all, his relationship with Yang Kai was quite thin, and it would not be surprising for him to be rejected outright.
Worried about this very possibility, Mo Yu immediately added, “Of course, if you Sect Master Yang feels this is inappropriate then just pretend this old master had not asked.”
“Inappropriate?” Yang Kai shook his head slowly while saying casually, “Since Senior Mo is the Honoured Master of Sister Chen and Sister Lu Ying, this Junior certainly won’t refuse. Not to mention departing for the Emperor Garden from here, if Senior Mo likes, you are free to wait here in my High Heaven Sect until the day arrives.”
As soon as this statement came out, Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying, who had been standing behind Mo Yu, both had a brilliant light flash across their beautiful eyes as they cast grateful looks towards Yang Kai.
Mo Yu also wore a look of joy on his face, not previously expecting Yang Kai to agree so easily. He had still been considering whether he should have Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying ask personally if Yang Kai refused, but it seems there was no need to do so at all now.
Mo Yu deeply admired Yang Kai’s forthrightness; after all, this kind of matter was not something to be casually decided upon. Clearly, the other party so readily agreeing was completely because of Chen Shi Tao and Lu Ying’s face.
Although these two disciples of his did not have the best of aptitudes, their luck was quite good and they had made a very good friend. Mo Yu immediately felt relieved and offered his sincere thanks. As for Yang Kai inviting him to remain here in High Heaven Sect, Mo Yu naturally had not taken him seriously as it was obvious that this was simply Yang Kai being polite.
High Heaven Sect had only just been founded, and certainly had many matters to attend to, having Yang Kai agree to let Clear Sky Sect use it as a staging ground on the day the Emperor Garden opened was already more than Mo Yu could have expected, so how could he be brazen enough to remain and take advantage of the latter’s hospitality as well?
“En, Elder Qian and Shadow Moon Hall’s contingent are also welcome to set out for the Emperor Garden from my High Heaven Sect!” Yang Kai turned his head to Qian Tong and spoke.
“If that’s the case, this old master will offer his thanks in advance,” Qian Tong grinned meaningfully, not bothering to be polite. Yang Kai had already agreed to allow Clear Sky Sect to enter the Emperor Garden from here, so he definitely would not refuse Shadow Moon Hall doing the same; Qian Tong understood this well.
“Sister Dai Yuan, if you’re interested, you can also set out from here,” Yang Kai looked over at Dai Yuan and said, adding afterwards, “But the others from Coloured Glass Sect may not.”
Although Yang Kai was good to his friends, that did not mean he was charitable to others. Allowing these people to enter the Emperor Garden from High Heaven Sect was all because he had personal friendships with them, but that did not mean he would extend the same courtesy to Coloured Glass Sect. He had no friendship with anyone else in Coloured Glass Sect, and even had a grudge with Yin Su Die.
Dai Yuan’s face became gloomy as she smiled bitterly, “Dai Yuan thanks Junior Brother Yang for his kindness, but… I probably won’t have an opportunity to enter the Emperor Garden.”
Yang Kai frowned but soon understood why she said this. In Coloured Glass Sect, Dai Yuan was not thought of very highly. If there really was a disciple from the younger generation eligible to enter the Emperor Garden, it would be Yin Su Die, not her; after all, the quotas for entering were simply too precious.
Qian Tong, however, grinned meaningfully and said, “Dai Yuan, there’s no need to belittle yourself so. If it was before, I’d agree that you really don’t have a chance to enter the Emperor Garden, but now… heh heh, although this old master doesn’t dare make a guarantee, there’s probably at least a seventy percent chance you will be able to, as long as that old fogey Gong Xing He hasn’t gone senile yet.”
Dai Yuan’s brow furrowed slightly as she turned to look at Qian Tong in surprise, seemingly not understanding why he would make such an assertion.
However, she was not a fool and quickly understood after some thought!
Indeed, if it were before, she would not have a chance to enter the Emperor Garden, but now, the only one who had any kind of relationship with Yang Kai in Coloured Glass Sect was her. They could even be considered close friends. If Coloured Glass Sect really wanted to be on good terms with Yang Kai, they would not mistreat Dai Yuan.
And did Coloured Glass Sect want to be on good terms with Yang Kai? Absolutely.
Without even mentioning that High Heaven Sect was the best place to enter the Emperor Garden from, the Origin King Grade Starship in Yang Kai’s possession was not something Coloured Glass Sect’s Sect Master Gong Xing He could ignore. He was also a master at the peak of the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm and wanted to break through to the Origin King Realm!
To break through to the Origin King Realm, one needed to leave Shadowed Star to escape the shackles of the World Principles here.
The only way to do this, however, was by travelling aboard Yang Kai’s Origin King Grade Starship.
As such, Gong Xing He definitely wanted to be on good terms with Yang Kai and High Heaven Sect, which would lead to Dai Yuan having an opportunity to obtain an Emperor Jade in turn.
Considering all this, Dai Yuan could not help feeling excited as she cast her beautiful eyes towards Yang Kai with gratitude.
Although this matter was far from certain, she now had a chance to enter the Emperor Garden at least, and it was all because of Yang Kai.
When a person’s ability and resources reach a certain level, they can affect the destiny of others, both subtly and overtly! Before now, Dai Yuan had not really given such sentiments much thought, but now she was able to experience it personally, astonishing her somewhat.
With Dai Yuan immediately understanding the crux of this matter, Yang Kai naturally wasn’t ignorant of it either, grinning as he said, “Sister Dai Yuan, after returning to your Sect, please mention to Senior Gong that if Coloured Glass Sect’s delegation is lead by you, this Sect Master would have no reason to not allow them to depart for the Emperor Garden from High Heaven Sect!”
As soon as this remark came out, Dai Yuan’s tender body shivered as she bit her thin lip, not knowing what to say, only able to wear a look of gratitude on her face that everyone was able to understand.
Yang Kai’s words just now were tantamount to forcing Coloured Glass Sect to give her an entry quota!
Although his remarks may have sounded somewhat overbearing, Coloured Glass Sect would obviously make a smart choice; after all, Dai Yuan was a disciple of Coloured Glass Sect, so if she obtained some benefits from the Emperor Garden, it would also increase Coloured Glass Sect’s strength.
Taking a deep breath, Dai Yuan slowly got up and elegantly bowed to Yang Kai. Although she did not speak any words, this gesture was enough to express her attitude.
Qian Tong and the others present all observed this with thought-provoking smiles.
In truth, the few old men present did not quite understand why a young man like Yang Kai cared so much about a woman like Dai Yuan; after all, she was unattractive!
Unattractive was putting it politely, ugly was really the only way Dai Yuan’s face could be described!
However, as a result, their evaluations of Yang Kai rose further, thinking this boy was not someone who judged others by appearance, placing more importance on sentiment and friendship.
After Dai Yuan excitedly took her seat again, Yang Kai suddenly had a thought and grinned as he asked, “Several Seniors, if you can, I’d like you to help this Junior with a little something.”
“Oh?” Qian Tong looked at Yang Kai with a surprised look, “Boy, your means and methods are now extraordinarily high. What do you need our help for? Well, whatever it is, feel free to mention it, it’s a chance for we old masters to do you a favour.”
Fei Zhi Tu and Mo Yu also nodded, turning to Yang Kai curiously.
Yang Kai smiled treacherously and whispered a few words to them.
After Qian Tong and the others heard what he said, they all exchanged a somewhat blank glance before grinning themselves, Qian Tong putting on a forced smile, “Boy, you’re seriously quite crafty. If this kind of news gets out, you’ll likely be able to achieve your objective in short order!”
“Exactly. High Heaven Sect now occupies this incredible geographical advantage, so not using it to your advantage to do some business would be a shame!” Fei Zhi Tu grinned fiercely.
“I’m simply making use of local resources, drinking fresh water from the local stream. Several Seniors don’t need to taunt this Junior,” Yang Kai quickly waved his hand.
“Rest assured, after this old master leaves here, he will definitely spread the word for you, and… even if we don’t say anything, those people outside will probably come here on their own to ask. In fact, I’m sure they’re impatiently trying to figure out a way to do just that right now,” Mo Yu chuckled.
Yang Kai’s eyes flashed as he could not help somewhat looking forward to the future.
This was understandable though. Just now, he had asked Qian Tong and the others here to spread word that High Heaven Sect intended to sell several spots to outside Sects to depart from inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field on the day the Emperor Garden opened.
However, there would only be three such spots, and as for the price, Yang Kai did not mention one, simply implying that whichever great force bids the highest would win the best starting position.
The best spot and the worst spot would mean a difference of three to four hours extra distance from the Emperor Garden.
If anyone was willing to offer up an Emperor Jade, their Sect would even be allowed to set off directly from High Heaven Sect’s Front Court.
Yang Kai currently only had two Emperor Jades, but High Heaven Sect required at least three. He and Yang Yan needed to enter the Emperor Garden, and Ye Xi Yun would certainly need to accompany them as well; after all, she was one of, if not the, strongest master on Shadowed Star, having her by their side would increase their safety margin greatly. Lacking this last Emperor Jade, Yang Kai had been somewhat worried, but now there was a good chance for him to solve this problem.
Departing from High Heaven Sect’s Front Court to enter the Emperor Garden had an incredible appeal, one strong enough that trading an Emperor Jade might be worth it.
Qian Tong and the others praised his proposal, but also warned Yang Kai to remain cautious and not let the people he sold these spots to take advantage of him.
Yang Kai naturally nodded. Since he had decided to do this, he would certainly not make any careless mistakes, planning on having Yang Yan arrange several powerful Spirit Arrays at the designated departure spots so as not to let outsiders wander about freely in his territory.
If anyone dared to leave the designated spots, he would show them no mercy!
As such, this danger was not difficult to avoid.
Afterwards, Yang Kai politely asked Qian Tong and the others for their insights about breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm, a request to which everyone freely offered their own experiences and comprehensions, allowing Yang Kai to benefit greatly.
In particular, the opinions of Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er were extremely helpful to Yang Kai; after all, these two had only broken through recently, so many of their experiences and insights were still quite fresh in their mind. Although their overall comprehension of this matter fell behind Qian Tong and other masters’, they won out in terms of familiarity and understandability.
Dai Yuan also listened very seriously!
Like Yang Kai, she was a peak Third-Order Saint King and would enter retreat to break through to the Origin Returning Realm after returning to Coloured Glass Sect. She also had the Origin Condensing Pill that Yang Kai had given her a while back, so she was completely confident in succeeding.
After half a day, Yang Kai got up and saw his guests off from the reception hall. Outside, Wu Yi personally escorted them out of the Flowing Flame Sand Field via the Flying Shark Battle Shuttle.
Sitting in the reception hall, Yang Kai sank into contemplation for a moment before taking out his communication artifact and pouring his Divine Sense into it.
A moment later, Yang Yan arrived.
Yang Kai told her about his idea of selling departure spots, causing Yang Yan to nod in praise and immediately set off to start making preparations. After all, this news would draw the attention of countless forces and would no doubt set off intense competition.
As for who would end up winning these precious few spots, Yang Kai believed that Wu Yi and Yang Yan would be able to handle it properly. With nothing else for Yang Kai to worry about now, he could focus on breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm!
After giving a brief explanation of things to Yang Yan, Yang Kai immediately returned to First Heavenly Palace and entered retreat.
Inferring from the rate at which the protective cover formed by the Emperor Jades was expanding, the Emperor Garden would open in roughly half a year. Breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm in half a year would be a bit rushed, but it shouldn’t be a problem.
This was the first time Yang Kai had deliberately entered retreat to achieve a breakthrough.
In the past, his breakthroughs had all occurred naturally and were never forced, but this time’s expedition to the Emperor Garden was extremely important. Therefore, with his strength slightly lacking at the Third-Order Saint King Realm, it was natural that Yang Kai wanted to try and raise his cultivation to the next realm.
Forcing a breakthrough was somewhat contrary to the meaning of cultivation, but this was not a big problem. Yang Kai had remained in the Third-Order Saint King Realm for some time now and had experienced several great battles, so he was not lacking in comprehension of his realm. There was also no need to worry about the purity, density, and amount of his Saint Qi, so all he was lacking now was some kind of opportunity to break through.
Inside First Heavenly Palace, Yang Kai sat cross-legged, his expression indifferent, not hurrying to enter a meditative state or accumulate strength. Instead, he calmly began taking out a large number of herbs from his Space Ring and summoned his Alchemy Furnace.
He was preparing to refine pills!
Alchemy was also a part of his cultivation. Through Alchemy, Yang Kai could stabilize his mood while tempering his Saint Qi and Spiritual Energy, something which had been of great benefit to him.
Few people knew he was an Alchemist. Besides Dai Yuan who had asked him to help him once, Yang Yan was likely the only one who knew this. Even Wu Yi wasn’t in the know. Yang Kai had told her once but Wu Yi hadn’t believed him at the time.
After all, a cultivator being able to reach the Third-Order Saint King Realm at Yang Kai’s age was already an incredible feat, so how could he have the extra time and energy to study Alchemy as well?
She had figured that Yang Kai was just joking with her.
However, Yang Kai was indeed an Alchemist, and an Origin Grade Mid-Rank Alchemist at that. Currently, Yang Kai could easily refine Origin Grade Mid-Rank pills, and occasionally, with good luck, he could even refine Origin Grade High-Rank pills.
If this information were to be leaked out, Yang Kai’s status would immediately soar and countless great forces would no doubt try to recruit him.
Even if this was a different Cultivation Star in the Star Field, an Origin Grade Mid-Rank Alchemist would still be a remarkable existence, not to mention in a place like Shadowed Star. But along with such lofty status, it would also cause countless masters to target him.
Yang Kai only used Alchemy as an auxiliary to his cultivation and did not intend to fully devote himself to the Alchemic Way, so how could he allow such sensitive information leak out knowing that it would only cause him trouble?
As he pushed his Conflagrated Spiritual Energy and wrapped it around his Alchemy furnace, Yang Kai began refining one spirit herb after another in an orderly fashion.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was a month later.
At this moment, inside First Heavenly Palace, there was an array of big and small jade bottles in front of Yang Kai, each one filled with pills of varying grades, many of which had fine lines that resembled human meridians emblazoned across their surfaces.
Pill Veins!
These special lines dramatically increased the value of a pill. Pill Veins not only doubled the efficacy of a pill, they also ensured that its potency would not diminish over time if stored properly.
Pill Veins were thought to only be coincidental, and countless Alchemists spent their entire lifetimes trying to find a way to refine pills that formed Pill Veins only to ultimately fail. Yang Kai, however, had a different approach to forming Pill Veins by treating them as a special type of Spirit Array and arranging them thus. As a result, the pills stemming from his hand normally had a terrifying chance of forming Pill Veins.
On Rainfall Star, Grandmaster Zong Ao was thoroughly shocked by Yang Kai’s methods.
At that time, Yang Kai was just a Saint King Grade Alchemist while Zong Ao was already an Origin Grade High-Rank Alchemist, but the problem which had plagued Zong Ao for over a hundred years was something Yang Kai actually managed to accomplish with ease, so how could Zong Ao not be shocked?
Although the two made a deal and Yang Kai taught Zong Ao his special method of forming Pill Veins, the latter was still somewhat frustrated because he didn’t possess Yang Kai’s Conflagrated Knowledge Sea and could not easily use his Divine Sense during Alchemy to portray the necessary Spirit Arrays. However, carefully cutting rough stone into jade, Zong Ao did not leave empty handed from this transaction, and after so many years, Yang Kai wondered whether this old man had reached the rank of Origin King Grade Alchemist.
If Zong Ao was successful, he could be counted among the peak characters in the entire Star Field, enjoying admiration and worship from trillions of cultivators.
Putting away these miscellaneous thoughts, Yang Kai’s eyes swept over the results of his one month’s labour.
Tri-Clear Pill, Jade Spirit Pill, Saint King Pill, Returning Yuan Pill…
There were many types of pills laid out before Yang Kai and he had nearly exhausted his supply of spirit grasses and spirit fruits.
With a flick of his wrist though, a certain pale blue pill appeared between Yang Kai’s fingers, one that released a rich, stimulating fragrance. This pill was only the size of a longan and was densely covered with Pill Veins.
Origin Condensing Pill!
Saint Kings who attempted to break through to the Origin Returning Realm could use this pill as an auxiliary to promote their chances of success! Dai Yuan had gone to Dragon Cave Mountain some time ago specifically to ask Yang Kai to refine an Origin Condensing Pill for her; however, at that time, Yang Kai had not acted fully and only produced an ordinary Origin Condensing Pill without Pill Veins, causing it to be vastly different in value to the one he was currently holding.
Staring at this pill, Yang Kai revealed a thoughtful look, but after a long silence, he put it away again.
This was the fallback guarantee he prepared for himself, to ensure that he could break through to the Origin Realm!
If he could not achieve a breakthrough on his own before the Emperor Garden was scheduled to open, he would use this Origin Condensing Pill to assist him.
Breaking through to the next realm with the assistance of some special pills was not uncommon; in fact, ninety nine percent of cultivators would do so at some point, but doing so would result in a cultivator losing out on the insights and comprehensions they could gain by achieving a breakthrough on their own. This led to varying degrees of imperfection in one’s breakthrough.
It was difficult to say if this ultimately resulted in any disadvantages to a cultivator. Perhaps it would affect their future achievements negatively, or perhaps it would have no effect at all, there was even a chance it had some deleterious effects, but they were so minimal that they could essentially be ignored.
Yang Kai, however, had never used any pills to assist him in breaking through as he did not want any flaws to appear in his cultivation path.
Of course, this was simply a convention he had followed until now and Yang Kai was not so rigid that he would adhere to it at the expense of more urgent and important considerations. This Origin Condensing Pill that had Pill Veins was refined by him simply as a measure of last resort.
Now that he had finished adjusting his mood by refining so many pills, Yang Kai inhaled a deep breath and took out a fist-sized spherical white crystal from his Space Ring.
Saint Crystal Source!
This was a special product that the Stone Puppet could produce by swallowing and condensing Saint Crystals and was an existence above High-Rank Saint Crystals in terms of purity and richness of energy. It was the best auxiliary source of Saint Qi to use during a secluded retreat.
Below First Heavenly Palace, there was a Spirit Spring that constantly produced a steady stream of World Energy, making the aura here extremely rich. Together with these Saint Crystal Sources, Yang Kai’s cultivation speed could only be described as rapid, so with a five month buffer period, he was confident he could break through to the Origin Realm.
Just as he was preparing to enter a state of meditative cultivation, Yang Kai suddenly showed a look of surprise as he glanced outwards.
Someone had touched upon First Heavenly Palace’s barrier, causing Yang Kai to frown.
Before entering retreat, he had specifically told Yang Yan to not disturb him until the opening day of the Emperor Garden, so why after just one month had passed had someone come to seek him?
Could something important have come up in High Heaven Sect?
Thinking so, Yang Kai quickly got up and walked out, waving his hand to open the isolation barrier.
Not long after, Yang Kai arrived outside First Heavenly Palace and found Qian Yue waiting for him. Upon seeing Yang Kai walk out, Qian Yue saluted him quickly.
“What’s the matter?” Yang Kai asked while carefully observing her reactions but not finding any sign of tension on Qian Yue’s face. Obviously, High Heaven Sect had not encountered some kind of difficulty.
“Sister Yang Yan asked me to call you over,” Qian Yue replied softly.
“Yang Yan?” Yang Kai’s brow twitched when his suspicions were confirmed. In High Heaven Sect, no one would dare disturb him while he was in retreat besides her. Pausing for a moment, Yang Kai asked, “Did she say why she wanted me to see her?”
Qian Yue shook her head slowly, pursing her lips and smiling, “Sister Yang Yan just said she had something good to show you.”
“A good thing?” Yang Kai frowned before snorting and mumbling, “That woman’s head is getting a bit too big, disturbing me at this critical time and even calling me over to see her. If this good thing of hers isn’t worth my attention just watch how I tidy her up!”
Saying so, he flew off.
Releasing his Divine Sense around, Yang Kai quickly found Yang Yan’s location.
Hundred Flower Peak, the place where Yang Yan and Ye Xi Yun lived, a mountain covered in a profound Spirit Array that made the temperature feel spring-like all year round and was completely covered in all kinds of rare and precious flowers, making it one of the most elegant and beautiful places in High Heaven Sect.
Hundred Flower Peak was a dozen or so kilometres away from First Heavenly Palace, so with Yang Kai’s current speed, this kind of distance could be crossed in but a moment.
Soon, Yang Kai landed on Hundred Flower Peak and across the expansive fields of blossoms, he saw Yang Yan sitting at a stone table next to a small pavilion, one leg crossed across the other, drinking tea leisurely. Ye Xiang Yun actually stood behind her with a respectful and humble look upon her face, just like a humble maidservant.
The Stone Puppet was also here, squatting on the stone table in front of Yang Yan, its face completely blank, like a statue.
“Yang Kai!” Yang Yan shouted happily when she saw Yang Kai arrive.
“Whatever this good thing is, hurry up and show me,” Yang Kai appeared in front of her and declared, disinclined to engage in idle chatter. Time was short for him right now, so how could he have the mind to discuss any nonsense with Yang Yan?
“Why so anxious?” Yang Yan curled her lips, but still didn’t waste any time, wiping her Space Ring and taking out something that looked like an ore.
This thing was bronze-coloured and irregular in shape, roughly the size of a washbasin with its surface full of pits.
Looking at this thing, Yang Kai’s brow furrowed as he showed a look of confusion.
With his eyesight, he could naturally tell this ore was some kind of very high-grade material, but he could not tell what it was.
It wasn’t surprising that Yang Kai couldn’t recognize this material though. Although Yang Kai had travelled widely over the years and could be considered well-informed, he still could not identify all of the strange materials in this world.
However, since Yang Yan had deemed to disturb him at such a critical time for this piece of ore, its value was certainly not trivial and was also very likely of great use to him somehow.
Otherwise, Yang Yan would not have acted so.
Sweeping this ore with his Divine Sense though, Yang Kai still couldn’t see anything extraordinary about it, as if it was nothing more than an ordinary stone.
“Try pouring your Saint Qi into it!” Yang Yan prompted.
Yang Kai didn’t hesitate, stretching out his hand to touch the ore and pouring out his Saint Qi, but in the next instant, his expression changed dramatically and he quickly withdrew his hand, calling out in alarm, “It absorbed my Saint Qi?”
This was not Yang Kai simply raising a fuss, this ore was simply that strange. When he poured his Saint Qi into it, it was as if he was pouring water into a bottomless sea, causing no reaction at all. It was like this ore could endlessly absorb his Saint Qi.
This kind of situation was one he had never encountered before.
This piece of ore was truly amazing!
“What is this?” Yang Kai suddenly became interested and raised his head to ask.
“Divine Nullification Stone!”
“Divine Nullification Stone?” Yang Kai’s brow furrowed. He had never heard of such a thing before. Even Ye Xi Yun, who was standing behind Yang Yan, frowned, obviously hearing about it for the first time as well.
“What use does it have?”
“Didn’t you see just now?” Yang Yan smiled softly, “Nullifying Saint Qi is the most important property of Divine Nullification Stone. It is a genuine Origin King Grade Artifact Refining material as well, so what do you think would happen if you were to fight an opponent using an artifact refined from this?”
Hearing her explanation, Yang Kai’s eyes lit up. If this was the case, then an artifact refined from Divine Nullification Stone could instantly destroy any kind of Martial Skill, because Martial Skills were condensed from a cultivator’s Saint Qi, which this Divine Nullification Stone could essentially erase before it even had a chance to do any damage.
“Yup, this really is a treasure,” Yang Kai nodded repeatedly, and since it was an Origin King Grade Artifact Refining material, any artifact refined from it would also be Origin King Grade. This grade of artifact on Shadowed Star was incredibly rare.
The Bone Incinerating Flame Lamp in Ye Xi Yun’s hands was an Origin King Grade artifact that was famous across all of Shadowed Star for instance.
After offering his sincere evaluation, Yang Kai’s brow suddenly furrowed again as he asked, “But what does this have to do with me?”
He didn’t believe Yang Yan had called him out just to show off this piece of Origin King Grade Artifact Refining material! After all, Yang Yan wasn’t bored to such an extent. There had to be another purpose to all this.
“This Divine Nullification Stone really has nothing to do with you, but the things inside of it are very useful to you!” Yang Yan smiled meaningfully.
“There’s something inside of it?” Yang Kai looked surprised.
“En, Divine Nullification Stone is a very special ore that can absorb and nullify all forms of energy, even the ambient World Energy aura. This piece of Divine Nullification Stone was given to us by a mid-scale family. According to their Patriarch, it was obtained by one of their ancestors in an Ancient Ruin several thousand years ago, so from this, it can be deduced that this ore definitely has a very long history.”
“Why would a mid-sized family deliver us this kind of treasure?” Yang Kai was even more confused.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to sell a few entry spots to the Emperor Garden? Now, all the great forces outside are struggling to obtain as many quotas to enter the Emperor Garden as possible. The fighting has been intense; even we need another Emperor Jade. This Divine Nullification Stone was the bargaining chip that a family offered!”
“So that’s how it is, it seems the people from that family aren’t very knowledgeable,” Yang Kai grinned, taking pleasure in others’ misfortune. An Origin King Grade material was far too precious on the Shadowed Star, so Yang Kai believed the other party did not understand just how valuable this ore was otherwise they wouldn’t have offered it to them.
“You’re wrong,” Yang Yan, however, shook her head, “Although that Fang Family is now in decline and doesn’t possess any kind of great strength at the moment, it had a number of powerful masters a few thousand years ago, so although they might not have been able to positively identify this Divine Nullification Stone, they would at least understand that it is an Origin King Grade material.”
Yang Kai frowned and hesitantly asked, “Then why…”
“It’s precisely because they know that it is Origin King Grade material that they decided to take out this Divine Nullification Stone to impress us. Do you think something worthless can snatch one of my High Heaven Sect’s departure spots from Shadowed Star’s countless forces?” Yang Yan smiled, “That Fang Family’s luck was good as they managed to obtain a single Emperor Jade, but their strongest master has only reached the Second-Order Origin Realm. If they want to have any hope of obtaining something good in the Emperor Garden, they can only try to win one of the early departure spots from us wholeheartedly.”
Yang Kai gently nodded, revealing a look of understanding.
An Origin King Grade material was indeed worth a fortune, but even if it was incredibly precious, compared to the temptation of entering the Emperor Garden in advance, it was still inferior because on all of Shadowed Star, no one could refine Origin King Grade materials. In other words, this Divine Nullification Stone was a very expensive but useless treasure to that family.
Since they had no way to make use of it, using it as a bargaining chip to win one of the departure spots from High Heaven Sect was a better idea.
Their luck was indeed good, bumping into someone as knowledgeable as Yang Yan. If it was someone else, they wouldn’t have been able to realize the value of this Divine Nullification Stone instantly.
After obtaining a lot of Saint Crystals and this Divine Nullification Stone from that small family, High Heaven Sect agreed to sell them one of the departure spots. Now, all they needed to do was wait for the Emperor Garden to open and they could set out from High Heaven Sect’s territory.
“What did you mean when you said the things inside this are of great use to me?” Yang Kai asked.
“Even if you didn’t ask, I would tell you. Otherwise, why do you think I would call you out here? Weren’t you looking for a supreme Earth Attribute treasure?”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded, a look of joy appearing on his face in the next instant, calling out in surprise, “You’re saying…”
“Exactly!” Yang Yan smiled, “Although the Divine Nullification Stone itself is not of the Earth Attribute, the Divine Nullification Sand inside it undoubtedly is a supreme Earth Attribute treasure, one that can meet your requirements!”
“Divine Nullification Sand!” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up.
“After the Divine Nullification Stone swallows World Energy for a very long time, it will begin generating Divine Nullification Sand particles inside it. As for the Divine Nullification Stone itself, it has no use to you, but I can use it to refine some good artifacts instead.”
“Amazing!” Yang Kai grinned and rejoiced.
He had been looking for a supreme Earth Attribute treasure in order to cultivate the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art. This Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art was a Body Tempering Secret Art he found in the Ancient Yang Sect’s ruins, and according to the descriptions recorded inside it, if one cultivated it to the extreme, they would obtain an immortal and indestructible physique.
Yang Kai had anxiously wanted to cultivate it for some time now.
Unfortunately, the requirements to begin cultivating this Body Tempering Art were extremely high. Not only did one need to already possess a much higher physical strength than average, but they also needed a powerful Soul and supreme treasures from each of the five elements.
Regarding these supreme treasures, Yang Kai already possessed a Thunder Wood, Sun’s True Essence, Profound Yin Sunflower Water, and Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade.
At the last auction of Treasure Trove Pavilion, he had obtained a Profound Gold, a Gold Attribute supreme treasure. It was also for this reason he had gotten into a dispute with Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng. From that point, Yang Kai only needed to find an Earth Attribute supreme treasure.
If this Divine Nullification Sand was as Yang Yan said it was, then Yang Kai would now have supreme treasures from all five elements and he could immediately begin to cultivate the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art!
The benefits of a strong physique were self-evident. Without even mentioning the advantage it brought when confronting enemies, if Yang Kai’s body wasn’t so powerful, every time he tore space and crossed thousands of kilometres in an instant, he would be shredded by the turbulence present in The Void.
As Yang Kai’s comprehension of the Dao of Space and his use of Space Force became more profound, the requirements of his physical body also became greater, so when he understood what the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art truly was, he was naturally ecstatic and immediately set about collecting the required materials.
In his excitement, Yang Kai hurriedly said, “What are you waiting for, hurry up and extract that Divine Nullification Sand!”
Yang Yan couldn’t help sneering at him when she heard this, “Do you think it’s so easy to take out? The Divine Nullification Stone can absorb and disperse all forms of energy, even I can’t refine it with my current abilities.”
“Uh…” Yang Kai’s expression stiffened for a moment, as if a pot of cold water had been dumped on his head, all his previous excitement and joy instantly vanishing.
Seeing this, Yang Yan giggled happily.
“You’re messing with me, aren’t you?” Yang Kai was furious. Seeing Yang Yan like this, how could he not know she had a solution to this problem? If she really couldn’t extract the Divine Nullification Sand, why would she have called him over?
“You didn’t let me finish speaking,” Yang Yan said smugly but no longer acted mysterious, her expression becoming serious as she explained, “While it’s true I don’t have the ability to refine this Divine Nullification Stone right now and extract the Divine Nullification Sand inside, he does!”
Saying so, Yang Yan pointed to the Stone Puppet sitting on the table.
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up with understanding!
When one was too close to the solution, they often overlooked it. Yang Kai had forgotten about the Stone Puppet’s innate ability to devour the mineral essence of any kind of ore. While Divine Nullification Stone was indeed a very high grade of material, it certainly couldn’t resist the Stone Puppet.
After all, even the Thousand Illusion Coloured Glass Mountain was easily bitten into by the Stone Puppet, so how could this trivial Divine Nullification Stone be any different?
“However, I should warn you first, although Divine Nullification Sand will definitely form inside Divine Nullification Stone, the amount of Divine Nullification Sand will vary greatly depending on how old this Divine Nullification Stone is. Perhaps there will only be two or three grains inside that meet your requirements, or perhaps there will be dozens, it’ll be up to you to evaluate that, which is why I asked Qian Yue to call you out.”
Yang Kai frowned, what Yang Yan said just now he naturally understood. The longer they age, the more Divine Nullification Sand grains there would be, this was simply the way things were.
After hesitating for a moment, Yang Kai asked, “How long will it take for a grain of sand to form?”
“Hehe, the formation of this kind of thing is calculated in the thousands of years. If you’re thinking of waiting in order to increase your chances, I am afraid you’ll have to wait for a very long time!”
“Then I might as well extract them now!” Yang Kai’s look became firm as he turned to the Stone Puppet and gave it a command.
With Yang Kai’s order, the Stone Puppet immediately got up, pounded its two fists on its chest, then rushed over to the Divine Nullification Stone, clasping it in his hand and shoving it into its mouth.
The Stone Puppet’s mouth was not very big, but this bizarre thing was easily able to swallow the entire washbasin-sized Divine Nullification Stone, stunning Ye Xi Yun.
…..
An hour later, inside First Heavenly Palace, Yang Kai sat cross-legged with a happy look on his face as he observed the six materials in front of him.
There was a piece of wood with rich vitality that had lightning arcs jumping between its green leaves. This was the Thunder Wood Yang Kai had preserved for many years. This Thunder Wood was born from the vital essence and Monster Core of a fallen Tenth-Order Thunder Luan Monster Beast through a series of opportunities and coincidences. Its value was much greater than the Monster Core of a Tenth-Order Monster Beast, and although it also had Thunder and Lightning Attributes, it was still categorized as a Wood Attribute supreme treasure.
A piece of Profound Gold the size of a palm that he had won the Treasure Trove Pavilion auction for 70 million Saint Crystals emitted an incredibly strong Gold Attribute aura, to the point where Yang Kai could feel a stinging pain on his hand from it.
The dozen or so milk-white drops of Profound Yin Sunflower Water that Yang Kai had not yet used up exuded a profound chill from the bottle which held them.
A fiery-red, metallic sphere the size of a melon sat upon a large, pure, and flawless Ice Jade Pedestal. Both appeared rather plain, but one could freeze the Divine Sense of anyone who tried to examine it while the other alternately held a terrifying heat. They were the Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal and Sun’s True Essence!
And now, in addition to these supreme treasures, there was a small pile of roughly a hundred gravel-like grains. These things looked no different from ordinary sand, but they were actually the Divine Nullification Sand grains that the Stone Puppet had extracted from the Divine Nullification Stone.
That piece of Divine Nullification Stone having formed so many grains of Divine Nullification Sand not only caused Yang Kai to rejoice, even Yang Yan was secretly shocked. She thought it would be quite good if there were twenty or thirty grains, but there ended up being several times that many in the end!
Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth; Yang Kai had gathered the supreme treasures from each of the five elements! There were even two treasures of the Water Attribute!
Each of these six materials was incredibly valuable and difficult to encounter over an entire lifetime, yet at this moment, they were all placed in front of Yang Kai. How could he not be happy?
With these, he could begin cultivating the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art.
If these materials were judged purely on their monetary value, the Thunder Wood and Profound Gold would undoubtedly be the least valuable while the rarest and most precious would no doubt be the melon-sized Sun’s True Essence.
After all, Sun’s True Essence was an extraordinary product refined by legendary masters from the cores of Sun Stars. If all the energy contained in this seemingly small piece of Sun’s True Essence were to be unleashed all at once, destroying Shadowed Star would not be a problem.
Looking at the materials in front of him, Yang Kai took a deep breath, calmed his excitement, and sank into contemplation.
The Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art was a Secret Art dedicated to Body Tempering. A lot of time had passed since Yang Kai first obtained this Body Tempering Art, so he had naturally studied it thoroughly. Strictly speaking, this Secret Art was not very complicated, on the contrary, it was actually quite simple and easy to understand. What was difficult was acquiring the materials and meeting the requirements to begin cultivating this Secret Art.
Additionally, by using different materials to cultivate it, the end results would also differ. This was the most flexible aspect of the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art. In simple terms, the higher the grade of materials one used, the better the effects would be.
While there were good and bad points to the other materials, the Sun’s True Essence could be regarded as a pinnacle material, absolutely unequalled!
The Profound Yin Sunflower Water and Divine Nullification Sand were also nearly legendary existences. As for the Thunder Wood and Profound Gold, they were definitely slightly inferior in rank but were still extremely rare.
By using these materials to cultivate this Body Tempering Art, Yang Kai’s foundation would be extremely robust. Yang Kai believed that even if some other cultivator elsewhere in the Star Field managed to obtain the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art, they would not be able to match him when it came to cultivation materials.
Feeling excited, Yang Kai began arranging a certain Spirit Array around himself.
In order to cultivate the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art, one needed to use a special Spirit Array. Regarding this, the Secret Art’s manual had explained in great detail.
Although Yang Kai wasn’t proficient in arranging Spirit Arrays, he had been together with Yang Yan for so long, observing her means and methods, that even if Spirit Arrays was not his speciality, it wasn’t difficult for him to arrange this simple Spirit Array.
Yang Kai first laid down a few Saint Crystal Sources in a specific pattern, then began arranging the Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth attribute supreme treasures appropriately.
Two days later, Yang Kai gave a satisfactorily nod as he looked down at the Five Elements Indestructible Array he had painstakingly arranged. After carefully inspecting it one last time to confirm that he had not made any mistakes, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged in the centre of the array.
Wiping his Space Ring, Yang Kai took out a few pills before popping them into his mouth, closing his eyes, and circulating the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art.
Saint Qi began flowing freely around Yang Kai as the surrounding ground lit up in a complex and complicated pattern, many large and small patterns and runes flickering unpredictably and mysteriously.
With a loud humming noise, the Saint Crystal Sources placed in the Five Elements Indestructible Array emitted a dazzling brilliance as the rich, pure energy contained inside them began pouring out.
With the Saint Crystal Sources supplying energy to it, the Five Elements Indestructible Array arranged around Yang Kai instantly activated.
An indescribable feeling permeated Yang Kai’s body as a profound and desolate aura flooded the entire First Heavenly Palace. It was almost as if, at this moment, Yang Kai had returned to a long-forgotten ancient era.
With a great whooshing sound, the Profound Gold, Thunder Wood, Profound Yin Sunflower Water, Sun’s True Essence, and Divine Nullification Sand seemed to be stimulated by some kind of invisible force and began leaking out the pure energy contained within them. The energy was then channelled towards the centre of the Five Elements Indestructible Array.
Naturally, at the centre of this array was where Yang Kai sat.
First Heavenly Palace suddenly became filled with five coloured light.
A green light came from the Thunder Wood, gold light from the Profound Gold, white light from the Profound Yin Sunflower Water, red light from the Sun’s True Essence, and yellow light from the Divine Nullification Sand… all of which seemed to possess some kind of spirituality as they drilled towards Yang Kai’s body.
In the next instant, Yang Kai trembled violently and his closed eyes shot open as he released a terrible roar from his throat, like a wounded beast which had just had its injuries set on fire.
An intense, unimaginable pain suddenly wracked Yang Kai’s body, making him feel like his bones were slowly being crushed. The pain suffered from injuries he had sustained in battle with others was incomparable to this as it seemed to be penetrating all the way to his Soul.
In a flash, Yang Kai understood why the requirements for a cultivator’s physique were so. They were necessary to even begin cultivating the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art.
If one’s physique was not intrepid enough, the pure elemental attribute energies from these five supreme treasures would cause their body to explode the instant they began pouring into their body! There was no need to even think about being able to cultivate this Body Tempering Art if this initial requirement could not be met.
Additionally, if the strength of one’s Soul wasn’t high enough, they would be unable to withstand this kind of pain and be driven mad sooner or later, ultimately resulting in cultivation deviation swiftly followed by death.
Yang Kai felt that he had more than met the requirements to cultivate this Body Tempering Art, but upon really cultivating it, he realized that he had greatly overestimated himself. The firm and resolute will he had honed over many years was nearly broken in an instant.
Of course, this was also due to the fact that the materials he had chosen were too high-grade. If they had all been replaced by materials on par with the Thunder Wood, for example, the pain would not have been so intense.
However, this also stimulated Yang Kai pride. Since embarking on the path of cultivation, he had wandered the line between life and death many times, suffered many tribulations, and faced many desperate situations, but had ultimately overcome all of them.
If he were to fail here, all those years of hard work would have been in vain.
Forget everything else, when he first obtained the Wordless Black Book back in High Heaven Pavilion, it was his perseverance alone that allowed Yang Kai to make this life-altering treasure submit to him, allowing him to obtain the Unyielding Golden Skeleton.
At that time, Yang Kai had obtained his mysterious Unyielding Will Martial Skill, and although as his strength had grown to the point this Martial Skill had gradually become useless, it was something he managed to comprehend from the Unyielding Golden Skeleton itself, after all.
That was his self created Martial Skill!
Yang Kai’s comprehension of this Martial Skill also had a lot to do with Su Yan. It was she who had frozen him into a block of ice for several days, which helped him fully understand Unyielding Will.
All sorts of miscellaneous thoughts flashed across Yang Kai’s mind, resulting in him unconsciously using Unyielding Will which, to his surprise, actually caused the pain he felt to weaken a little. It was nothing that would affect his overall situation, but was something positive nonetheless.
Yang Kai’s brow twitched as he immediately sent his consciousness into his Knowledge Sea to stabilize his Soul while no longer paying attention to the changes his body was experiencing in the outside world.
Crackling sounds rang out in a great chorus that filled First Heavenly Palace. Yang Kai’s skin split apart and pale golden blood oozed out, thoroughly soaking his robes within a few breaths of time.
Not only did his body tremble and his skin crack, but even Yang Kai’s meridians were unable to bear the destructive power of the pure five-element energy, causing them to fray and burst.
Yang Kai’s Golden Blood’s incredible restorative power was vividly illustrated at this moment.
His cracked skin, torn muscles, and broken meridians were completely repaired in a short period of time only to be immediately ripped asunder again, thus beginning a seemingly endless cycle of destruction and restoration.
As time passed and this process continued, Yang Kai’s body gradually became stronger to an obvious degree. Not only that, but the Saint Qi inside his body seemed to become purer and richer. Even his Spiritual Energy was quenched to a certain extent.
Although the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art was a Secret Art dedicated to Body Tempering, it seemed to bring benefits to one’s Saint Qi and Spiritual energy as well, a small side benefit.
Terrible roars filled First Heavenly Palace, but fortunately, there were layers upon layers of barriers protecting and isolating it, so these horrific sounds did not leak out. If this were not the case, they would have attracted all of High Heaven Sect’s attention.
Time passed slowly as all of Shadowed Star prepared to enter the Emperor Garden. Each Emperor Jade represented a single entry quota, and each great force only managed to obtain a few of these Emperor Jades. Deciding who would be assigned these Emperor Jades was also a difficult task, and as a result, many great forces began holding competitions between their most talented disciples for the right to enter the Emperor Garden.
High Heaven Sect was also remarkably busy. High Heaven Sect only needed three Emperor Jades and didn’t need to go through any kind of selection process, but it still had many things to prepare. Only Yang Kai had completely disappeared after he entered retreat inside First Heavenly Palace.
Half a year later, on a certain day, High Heaven Sect’s reception hall was extremely lively.
After waiting for half a year, the Emperor Garden’s opening was just days away, and those forces that had reached agreements with Yang Kai to depart from High Heaven Sect’s territory had naturally arrived early.
Shadow Moon Hall’s representatives were, unsurprisingly, Qian Tong, Fei Zhi Tu, Wei Gu Chang, and Dong Xuan’er. Unfortunately, not all of them were going to the Emperor Garden. Although Shadow Moon Hall had paid a massive price and managed to obtain a third Emperor Jade over the past six months, that was ultimately their limit, so for this expedition to the Emperor Garden, Dong Xuan’er would not be going.
Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu would only be accompanied by Wei Gu Chang this time.
Needless to say, Clear Sky Sect’s group was led by Mo Yu. In addition to him, there was a grey-haired Third-Order Origin Returning Realm old man whose strength rivalled Mo Yu’s: Clear Sky Sect’s Sect Master Gu Zhen. Rounding out the group was Chen Shi Tao who, thanks to her close relationship with Yang Kai, had obtained Clear Sky Sect’s final entry quota.
Strictly speaking, Chen Shi Tao’s aptitude and cultivation were not sufficient to warrant her entering the Emperor Garden. Clear Sky Sect had a large number of talents in its younger generations who were superior to Chen Shi Tao in both of these respects, but Mo Yu and Gu Zhen were both worldly old foxes and understood that Clear Sky Sect establishing a connection with High Heaven Sect was completely dependent on Chen Shi Tao’s existence. Therefore, they naturally were not going to deny her the chance to explore the Emperor Garden. Instead, over the past half a year, they helped Chen Shi Tao raise her cultivation to the First-Order Origin Returning Realm by using various precious pills as well as a special Secret Technique executed by several of the Sect’s high-level Elders!
The price Clear Sky Sect paid to accomplish this was not small!
Chen Shi Tao felt immense gratitude towards Yang Kai! Standing behind Gu Zhen and Mo Yu, her beautiful eyes continued to glance around since they arrived, hoping to express her thanks to Yang Kai in person.
Shadow Moon Hall and Clear Sky Sect both arrived right on time, so obviously Coloured Glass Sect did not fall behind.
As Qian Tong had suspected, Dai Yuan had obtained the right to enter the Emperor Garden, but it seemed that Coloured Glass Sect’s luck was better than Shadow Moon Hall and Clear Sky Sect’s, having obtained four Emperor Jades.
Sect Master Gong Xing He had come in person, accompanied by Dai Yuan, Gong Ao Fu, and Yin Su Die.
At this moment, Yin Su Die was gritting her teeth secretly as her red lips wriggled from time to time, whispering something under her breath, her beautiful eyes shooting glances towards Dai Yuan from time to time, a somewhat depressed look on her face.
Dai Yuan simply turned a blind eye to her, however, while like Chen Shi Tao, her attention was focused outside the reception hall, seemingly waiting for something or someone to appear. Her cultivation had already reached the First-Order Origin Returning Realm, but unlike Chen Shi Tao, she had achieved a breakthrough through her own efforts without borrowing assistance from others’ hands.
Both Gong Xing He and Gong Ao Fu were quite surprised by this result, neither of them having expected Dai Yuan to break through to the Origin Returning Realm so quickly. If not for this point, they might not have agreed to let Dai Yuan enter the Emperor Garden.
It was precisely because Dai Yuan showed no inferiority to Yin Su Die in terms of aptitude and cultivation speed that the two of them had relented. In any case, both Dai Yuan and Yin Su Die were disciples from Coloured Glass Sect, so there was no reason to vehemently refuse Dai Yuan from entering the Emperor Garden, and by doing so they could take advantage of this opportunity depart from High Heaven Sect ahead of all their competitors.
In addition to the familiar faces from these three Sects, there were also two strangers present, both of whom were old Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters.
Yang Kai hadn’t had any dealings with these two before, but they were also famous characters on Shadowed Star.
They were the Sect Master and Great Elder of Floating Mist Palace! Floating Mist Palace was also a first-class force on Shadowed Star, so the cultivations of its Sect Master and Great Elder were naturally not bad. The reason they were here was that they had sold an Emperor Jade to High Heaven Sect.
In exchange for this Emperor Jade, High Heaven Sect allowed these two old men to set off directly from the Sect’s Front Court.
At this moment, there were eight Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters seated inside High Heaven Sect’s reception hall, all of them possessing extremely lofty status, but even so, none of them dared to even breathe too loudly and all of them wore solemn looks upon their faces.
The reason for this was simple. With Ye Xi Yun also seated here, who among these guests would dare act arrogantly?
After tasting some of the tea and eating some of the prepared spirit fruits, Qian Tong lightly coughed, looking over at Yang Yan who was sitting at the head of the table, and asked politely, “Lady Yang Yan, has Yang Kai not come out yet?”
Yang Yan just slowly shook her head in response, “There’s been no sign of him exiting yet.”
Qian Tong couldn’t help frowning with worry, “He’s been in retreat for almost half a year, and now the Emperor Garden is about to open, possibly within the next day or two but at latest seven or eight days from now. If he doesn’t exit soon, won’t he miss this opportunity?”
“Thank you for your concern, Elder Qian, but I don’t believe he will miss this opportunity. Perhaps he will make an appearance in the next couple of days,” Yang Yan smiled lightly, but although her expression looked calm, she was actually feeling quite anxious inside.
She naturally knew what Yang Kai was in retreat for, he wanted to enhance his strength as much as possible before the Emperor Garden opened, but until now, there had not been any significant movement from First Heavenly Palace, so Yang Yan was unable to tell if things had gone well for Yang Kai or not.
She wanted to investigate, but worried about disturbing him, Yang Yan could only wait patiently.
“All of you are our honoured guests and you have travelled far to reach here, so for now you might as well return to your temporary residences and rest. Before the Emperor Garden opens, there will definitely be some significant signs; it won’t be too late to assemble and depart at that time,” Yang Yan proposed, fulfilling her duties as Vice Sect Master flawlessly.
Hearing this, everyone exchanged a glance before standing up, thanking Yang Yan for her hospitality, and setting out, preparing to return to the courtyards High Heaven Sect had prepared for them.
But before they could even leave the reception hall, the surrounding World Energy flow became slightly turbulent.
Everyone present was a top-level master, so despite this change in the World Energy being quite minor, they still detected it.
Everyone’s face immediately changed, not bothering to speak with Yang Yan anymore, dashing out of the reception hall and staring up into the sky.
Up above their heads, from the dozen kilometre wide gap in the flame barrier, the sun still shone down brightly, nurturing the vegetation around High Heaven Sect. Although everything appeared normal, everyone present could feel a certain pressure in the air, like a storm was approaching.
Soon, this feeling became obvious, and the World Energy aura began tumbling and surging as if it were a wild horse that had broken free from its reins, making everyone uneasy.
“This is…” Gong Xing He’s eyes narrowed as he showed a startled look.
“Father, is this a sign the Emperor Garden is about to open?” Gong Ao Fu asked softly, her beautiful eyes filled with excitement. Yang Yan had also just said that if the Emperor Garden really opened, there would be some kind of obvious disturbance in the atmosphere, but no one had expected it to occur so quickly.
Most people present shared the same thoughts as her, Qian Tong, Fei Zhi Tu, Gu Zhen, Mo Yu, and the pair of old men from Floating Mist Palace all wore looks of anticipation.
But soon, the brows of these top experts wrinkled as they all turned to look in a different direction.
“No, someone is about to break through!” Qian Tong muttered, stunned silent for a moment before excitement returned to his old face, “It must be Yang Kai!”
He quickly understood what this disturbance was all about.
Yang Yan’s expression also filled with joy as she flew off towards First Heavenly Palace.
The others present naturally wanted to take a closer look as well, but before they could move, Ye Xi Yun’s figure flickered and appeared before them, a cold look filling her face as she declared, “Stay where you are!”
Although most of the people had some friendship with Yang Kai, several of them even having quite close relationships, Yang Kai was at a critical juncture right now, so how could Ye Xi Yun possibly allow them to approach? Yang Kai was about to break through to the next Great Realm, and if he were to fall short because he was disturbed at the last moment, the consequences would be disastrous.
As such, she forced everyone else to remain here without hesitation.
Qian Tong and the others naturally understood this and nodded their heads, halting their steps and preparing to observe from where they stood.
Seeing that everyone was keeping their place, Ye Xi Yun did not say anything more and chased after Yang Yan.
In an instant, only Qian Tong and the other guests remained in front of the reception hall.
“Senior Brother, do you think Senior Brother Yang will be able to break through smoothly?” Dong Xuan’er asked with some concern; after all, she had just crossed this step and well understood the difficulty of breaking through from the Saint King Realm to the Origin Returning Realm.
Every time a cultivator made a breakthrough, they would experience great risks; after all, cultivation itself was an act of struggle against oneself and against the Heavens!
Without even mentioning others, when she and Wei Gu Chang were breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm, they had both experienced several tribulations. When Dong Xuan’er was accepting the World Energy baptism which accompanied her breakthrough, she had almost found it impossible to bear and a stream of heart demons which appeared one after another nearly caused her to fail.
Overcoming this ordeal had nothing to do with aptitude and was something every cultivator had to face.
After hearing Dong Xuan’er’s question though, Wei Gu Chang simply grinned, “Relax, while I wouldn’t dare make any guarantees about others, Brother Yang breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm will absolutely not be a problem.”
While Wei Gu Chang’s words were filled with confidence towards Yang Kai, Yin Su Die nearby bit her lip even harder. Although she dared not say anything here, she was secretly looking forward to Yang Kai dying here.
At the same time, three kilometres away from First Heavenly Palace, Yang Yan came to a stop and observed the situation quietly.
It was not long before Wu Yi, Qian Yue, and Chang Qi and many others arrived, all of them briefly exchanging a few words before they grasped what this situation was about.
In order to prevent Yang Kai from being disturbed, an order was issued that no one was to approach closer than three kilometres to First Heavenly Palace. All the Sect’s disciples also immediately set up a patrol to guard against anyone trying to sneak a closer look.
Not long after this order was disseminated, the atmosphere around Heavenly Palace underwent a dramatic change.
High up in the sky, a great World Energy funnel appeared. This funnel was only a few metres across at first, but it rapidly expanded until it was several hundred metres in diameter in the blink of an eye.
As this funnel revolved though, it disturbed the World Energy aura within a several-hundred-kilometre radius, pulling it all violently towards First Heavenly Palace.
Different coloured lights soon began to appear, some bright red like flame while others pure white like ice. These multi-coloured lights integrated into the funnel one after another, causing the pressure it was emitting to increase dramatically.
“Five Element World Energy?” Ye Xi Yun frowned, a look of shock appearing on her face.
These colourful wisps of light were clearly formed by the integration of the Five Element Energy with the ambient World Energy. In fact, during one of the Emperor Garden’s mutations, such a scene had appeared across all of Shadowed Star.
At this moment, a similar scene was occurring, but unlike the previous incident, the scale was far smaller; however, this was still a remarkable phenomenon.
The Emperor Garden was an Emperor Artifact, it being able to cause a change which affected all of Shadowed Star was not surprising in the slightest.
But now, Yang Kai simply breaking through from the Saint King Realm to the Origin Returning Realm had caused Five Element World Energy to once again appear, making it impossible for Ye Xi Yun to not be shocked.
Could a cultivator breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm really create such a massive disturbance?
The answer was obviously no!
Ye Xi Yun, as a peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, was certainly qualified to comment on such matters. She had seen many people pass through this checkpoint to becoming Origin Realm masters. When Ge Qi went through this process, she had personally stood guard to protect him, but never before had she witnessed a scene like this.
This could already be described as a Heavenly Manifestation!
Ye Xi Yun was thoroughly amazed, and couldn’t help remembering some ancient records she had read a long time ago that said that if a cultivator was strong enough, and had enough potential, they could even cause Heavenly Manifestations when they broke through a Great Realm.
Of course, such cultivators were rare existences. Even when taking all of history into account, one possibly appeared once in ten thousand years.
Did this Sect Master of hers have such potential?
In all fairness, Ye Xi Yun and Yang Kai did not have much friendship between them, nor were they particularly familiar with one another. Ye Xi Yun remaining in High Heaven Sect and assuming the position of Great Elder was entirely because of Yang Yan. Besides Yang Yan, she had never really put anyone here in her eyes.
With her vision, she could naturally tell that Yang Kai was far more powerful than an average Saint King and could be regarded as an elite amongst the elite; but even so, this was not of much interest to her.
However, at this moment, she could not help but raise her evaluation of Yang Kai; after all, if her guess was right, the potential future achievements of this Sect Master of hers were simply unfathomable!
At this point, Ye Xi Yun’s beautiful eyes glowed strangely as she began looking forward to the future.
High up in the air, the massive World Energy funnel swirled about, filled with astonishing and terrifying amounts of energy. On top of that, with the continuous influx of Five Elements World Energy, this World Energy funnel became extremely dazzling as it hung above First Heavenly Palace.
Even if they were all standing three kilometres away, everyone could feel the incredible pressure emanating from this funnel, making them wonder just how much pressure Yang Kai must be enduring as he was directly beneath it.
Outside First Heavenly Palace, multiple light halos flashed wildly as the many defensive Spirit Arrays and barriers were battered by this pressure.
“Great Elder, how is Sect Master’s situation?” Chang Qi and the others were all anxious, but none of them dared release their Divine Senses to investigate this oppressive phenomenon, so they could only consult Ye Xi Yun.
“So far it seems like everything is going smoothly. He has already touched upon Shadowed Star’s World Principles,” Ye Xi Yun replied lightly.
Chang Qi and others heard this and could not help showing joyful looks. Since Yang Kai had already made contact with Shadowed Star’s World Principles, it meant his breakthrough was within sight.
“But whether or not he can succeed will depend on him being able to withstand the approaching World Energy baptism.”
Everyone’s face changed slightly when they heard this, falling silent as they stared forward with worry.
The World Energy baptism was a step every cultivator would experience each time they broke through to a new Great Realm. During this process, a cultivator would have to bear unimaginable suffering and pain and it was a method by which a cultivator’s quality and fortitude were tested. Once one successfully passed through this baptism, their strength would increase dramatically, allowing them to break through the shackles holding them back and reach the next Great Realm.
If one failed, however…
Best case, they would suffer severe injuries, worst case, they would die!
After all, the World Energy baptism was akin to a test imposed on a cultivator by the world itself. If one failed it, the results were obviously not going to be pleasant.
Every year, countless cultivators failed to pass this threshold and fell, so for any cultivator, breaking through to the next Great Realm was both an opportunity and a challenge! The survival of the fittest was vividly reflected in this process.
But how could an ordinary cultivator break through to the next Great Realm cause such an amazing Heavenly Manifestation? Yang Kai accomplishing this was certainly a joyful development, but now that he had arrived at this point, if he wanted to survive, succeeding was his only option.
Judging from the concentration of World Energy at this moment, if Yang Kai were to fail to break through, the only possibility would be his body and soul being completely obliterated!
After all, the power contained in this five-coloured World Energy funnel was simply too much for any Saint King Realm cultivator to bear.
Just as everyone was feeling worried, the massive World Energy funnel suddenly underwent a dramatic change, as if something in First Heavenly Palace was drawing it in. The World Energy funnel began to rotate even faster and in the next instant it, along with all its stored energy, crashed down towards the ground.
There was no delay or reservation at all, as if all the potential it had been storing up burst out in a single eruption!
The layers upon layers of barriers protecting First Heavenly Palace were like thin paper in the face of the massive amount of swirling World Energy, all of them being torn apart in an instant. Seeing this caused Ye Xi Yun’s countenance to change as the five-coloured World Energy poured into First Heavenly Palace and rapidly disappeared.
The massive World Energy funnel shrank at a speed visible to the naked eye, and within a few breaths, had been reduced to half its original size.
“Sect Master!” Chang Qi and the others exclaimed in horror as their faces filled with alarm.
This unrelenting torrent of World Energy pouring down from above caused all of them to stare in astonishment! Everyone present had broken through to the Origin Returning Realm before and passed through this checkpoint.
But the World Energy baptism they experienced when they broke through was best described as streams of energy falling like lightning upon their bodies, with a certain gap between each strike. Although it had been difficult to bear, they at least had some time to breathe and adjust themselves during the process.
The scene in front of them now though was obviously vastly different. Yang Kai simply had no chance to catch his breath at all.
Even if Yang Kai was incredibly strong, how could he survive in the face of such overwhelming pressure?
The faces of Chang Qi and the others suddenly went pale as they instinctively thought that Yang Kai was dead for certain.
Ye Xi Yun’s expression also became quite gloomy as she let out a sigh, a trace of disappointment flashing across her face. She thought she had encountered an extraordinary genius that was only born once in a few thousand years, but now it looked like he was destined to be just a flash in the pan.
Soon, however, her brow wrinkled, and an astonished light flashed across her eyes.
Because the massive World Energy funnel still had not dissipated and the astonishing deluge of World Energy was still pouring down, creating a deafening rumbling sound that filled the air.
[He has not died!]
Ye Xi Yun’s brow rose as she could not help feeling surprised.
If Yang Kai had died just now, the Heavenly Manifestation generated by his breakthrough would naturally have begun to dissipate, but since the World Energy funnel continued to exist, it meant he hadn’t died and was still undergoing the World Energy baptism!
This was also the key step to breaking through to the next Great Realm.
Listening carefully, Ye Xi Yun was able to hear the pained roars of a person amidst the thunderous rumbling.
Yang Kai really had not died. Ye Xi Yun’s eyes brightened as she quickly turned her head to look at Yang Yan, only to discover that the latter was far calmer than herself. It was as if Yang Yan had been expecting this kind of result, but upon closer inspection, Ye Xi Yun clearly saw Yang Yan’s delicate fists clenching tightly and her beautiful eyes flashing with worry and anxiety.
While High Heaven Sect’s group were all feeling incredibly on edge, the masters from Shadow Moon Hall, Clear Sky Sect, Coloured Glass Sect, and Floating Mist Palace all showed looks of amazement.
“Elder, can Brother Yang bear this kind of World Energy baptism?” Wei Gu Chang asked anxiously.
“This old master doesn’t dare make any kind of judgments, but since things have developed to this point, if he can’t bear it, he will definitely die!” Qian Tong frowned as he let out a sigh, he had not expected Yang Kai breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm would result in such a strange and astonishing scene, inevitably causing him to worry greatly.
“It’s not necessarily unbearable…” Clear Sky Sect’s Sect Master Gu Zhen said pensively, “If his physique is strong enough, he should be able to accept this vast amount of World Energy in a short period of time, but… It would be incredibly difficult!”
Although the Sect Master and Great Elder of Floating Mist Palace did not comment, both of them continued observing this scene fixedly, clear looks of shock filling their faces.
When Gong Xing He and Gong Ao Fu of Coloured Glass Sect exchanged a glance, the father-daughter pair clearly saw the shock in each other’s eyes. Both had believed that High Heaven Sect’s shocking reputation and prestige depended entirely upon the special location of their headquarters and Ye Xi Yun’s presence.
However, it now seemed that High Heaven Sect’s Sect Master was also no ordinary character, forcing them to re-examine him. If he fell here today, they naturally would not be upset. On Shadowed Star, there were already two giants vying for supremacy, Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect. Two such forces were plenty, and Gong Xing He would rather not have another great force that could compete with them, but if Yang Kai managed to survive this ordeal, it would be necessary for them to earnestly make friends with him!
Various thoughts flashed across the minds of the people present, but regardless of what they were considering, at this moment, everyone’s attention was concentrated on the huge, multicoloured World Energy funnel. A short time later, the funnel shrank down further, halving in size once more, and it was still continuing to shrink.
After another moment, in the front of everyone’s eyes, the huge multicoloured funnel disappeared, all the World Energy which had originally been contained within having poured into First Heavenly Palace. The original tense and oppressive atmosphere suddenly disappeared, as if it had never even existed, gentle rays of sunlight streaming down from a blue sky that had not a cloud in sight for ten thousand kilometres.
Only a few wisps of Five Coloured World Energy lingered about like fish trapped in a net above First Heavenly Palace.
High Heaven Sect fell silent, as everyone’s eyes remained fixed on First Heavenly Palace, all of them wanting to know what the result of this shocking breakthrough was.
However, for a long time, there was only still silence, as if Yang Kai had really fallen.
Wu Yi and Qian Yue’s complexion turned pure white!
Had he failed? Wu Yi and Qian Yue did not dare continue to think about it; however, they couldn’t think of another explanation for the scene before them.
No cultivator could withstand such an astonishing influx of World Energy in such a short time, even a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master couldn’t accomplish such a feat, let alone Yang Kai who was just a peak Third-Order Saint King.
Although Wu Yi and Qian Yue had not yet reached this level, with their level of insight they could at least determine this much.
Chang Qi and the others also wore ashen expressions.
“Why are all of you wearing such gloomy looks?” Ye Xi Yun swept her eyes around and frowned slightly, “You think he died?”
Chang Qi heard this and immediately wore a look of shock, turning towards her and hesitating for a moment before asking, “Great Elder, you mean…”
Ye Xi Yun’s lips curled upwards and a smile appeared on her chilly face, making her appear exceptionally attractive. Brushing her hair back gently, she replied without any trace of panic in her voice, “Although this Queen doesn’t know how he managed it,… he’s definitely not dead. Not only that, but he also seems to be quite lively.”
Listening to Ye Xi Yun’s words, Chang Qi and the others were all shocked.
Yang Kai hadn’t died… that must mean that his breakthrough was successful!
Chang Qi and the others could hardly believe their ears, but Ye Xi Yun declaring so was extremely authoritative, so none of them thought to question her. Everyone simply wore looks of pleasant surprise as they turned their gazes back to First Heavenly Palace.
Just after Ye Xi Yun finished speaking, the World Energy above First Heavenly Palace suddenly underwent a change again, all of it gathering and forming into a giant palm.
This palm contained a mysteriousness that made it seem like it could cover the Heavens themselves.
As soon as it finished condensing, this palm grasped towards the wisps of five coloured aura still floating above First Heavenly Palace before it quickly retracted and disappeared inside the building.
Seeing this scene, Ye Xi Yun could not help gawking, but soon the smile on her lips rose even higher as she muttered to herself, “This little brat…”
Clearly, Yang Kai did not even want to let off these last few remnants of Five Elements World Energy. These wisps of aura were leftovers from his baptism and had not poured into Yang Kai’s body on their own, so he had simply taken the initiative to grab and refine them himself. If he had the leisure to do this kind of thing, it meant his breakthrough had gone incredibly smoothly, causing Ye Xi Yun to be unable to stifle her laughter.
“Ah! Great! Alright, everyone should disperse, there’s no need for you to worry about Yang Kai anymore,” Yang Yan was finally able to let out a sigh of relief before shouting to everyone.
“Yes!” Chang Qi and the others responded respectfully before quickly departing.
“Great Elder, since he just broke through, he will need some time to consolidate his cultivation. I’ll have to trouble you to stand guard for him,” Yang Yan spoke to Ye Xi Yun.
“Yes, Madam!” Ye Xi Yun gently nodded, immediately obeying Yang Yan’s orders!
After glancing at First Heavenly Palace one last time, Yang Yan smiled lightly before flying off, her figure quickly disappearing. Now that the Emperor Garden’s opening was only days away and Yang Kai was indisposed, all the matters related to High Heaven Sect fell to her. Fortunately, Wu Yi and Qian Yue were there to help her, so Yang Yan did not have too many difficulties.
Inside First Heavenly Palace, Yang Kai was ragged, his clothes ripped apart, covered in traces of pale golden blood and his hair completely dishevelled, giving him an incredibly embarrassed appearance, as if he had just experienced an incredible life or death battle.
However, his expression was filled with joy and comfort.
He had not expected that his breakthrough would go so smoothly.
After obtaining the Divine Nullification Sand five months ago, completing his collection of the five supreme treasures, Yang Kai began to cultivate the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art, but he had not had too many expectations, originally just intending to become slightly familiar with it.
To his surprise though, this became the very turning point he had been seeking.
Over the past five months, Yang Kai had cultivated the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art to its first stage, not only greatly increasing his physical strength but also tempering his Saint Qi and Spiritual Energy to a certain degree. Compared to before he began cultivating this Body Tempering Art, Yang Kai’s overall strength had increased by about twenty percent!
And it was this twenty percent improvement that had allowed him to reach a critical point, where he broke through the shackles of the peak Saint King Realm and touched upon the barrier to the Origin Returning Realm.
Ending his cultivation of the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art at that point, Yang Kai began refining the remnant Souls he had stored in his Knowledge Sea.
During the battle of Dragon Cave Mountain, many Origin Returning Realm masters had died, and most of their remnant Souls had been drawn into Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea and purified, but until now he had not tried to absorb them.
After swallowing the remnant Souls of these fallen masters, Yang Kai received their insights into the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao, making a subsequent breakthrough only a matter of time.
However, this time’s breakthrough was different from any Yang Kai had experienced before, namely the appearance of the Five Elements World Energy. Yang Kai did not know why this had occurred, but he vaguely speculated that it had some relationship with the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art.
In the end, this breakthrough had come about thanks to a mixture of opportunities and coincidences, but was also achieved quite naturally, differing greatly from Yang Kai’s original plans. This time, Yang Kai had entered retreat specifically to break through, even going so far as to prepare an Origin Condensing Pill that had formed Pill Veins.
But the plans of man were inferior to the plans of Heaven, and Yang Kai ended up not using any of his prior preparations.
This, however, was a good thing that made Yang Kai extremely happy.
Although he had cultivated the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art to its first stage, Yang Kai was still a long way off from obtaining an immortal and indestructible body. This Secret Art had a total of nine stages, each one more difficult to achieve than the previous, so if one wanted to reach the pinnacle of this Body Tempering Art, it would clearly take a massive amount of time and five elements supreme treasures!
After cultivating to the first stage, Yang Kai carefully checked the five supreme treasures he had been using and discovered that the highest-end Sun’s True Essence hadn’t experienced much change, but the others had all experienced some obvious consumption.
The pure elemental energy in the Profound Gold and Thunder Wood had been noticeably reduced while three drops of Profound Yin Sunflower Water had been consumed. As for the Divine Nullification Sand, their number had been reduced by more than twenty grains…
This kind of consumption was not small, but it didn’t matter too much as Yang Kai figured the remaining energy in these treasures was enough to support his cultivation of the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art to the second or even third stage. As for the Sun’s True Essence, he estimated he could continue using it much longer than that.
With such a time buffer, Yang Kai figured that he could collect other five elements’ supreme treasures to replace the ones he depleted.
He also was not in a hurry to do this.
Thinking so, Yang Kai stretched out his hand and condensed a ball of five-coloured light on his palm with a thought.
This ball of light was about the size of an egg and was a swirling mixture of gold, blue, white, red, and yellow.
Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi! After five months of cultivating the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art, Yang Kai had completed the first step of this Heaven defying Body Tempering Art, not only greatly enhancing his physical strength, but also allowing him to produce this incredible Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi.
This Sword Qi could be formed by condensing all five of the elements together, or individually one by one, allowing it to take on an array of different characteristics.
However, the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi floating atop Yang Kai’s palm right now appeared quite weak, like a fledgeling bird that had just hatched and was not yet able to withstand great wind and rain, seemingly not usable in combat.
But this did not hinder Yang Kai’s enthusiasm to experiment.
With a thought, Yang Kai dismissed four of the five colours from the ball of light on his palm, leaving behind only the golden light that he then proceeded to transform into a golden sword.
Although this sword was quite small, the sharpness it radiated was not to be underestimated. This was the pure Gold Attribute Indestructible Sword Qi Yang Kai had condensed from the Profound Gold’s essence and had an extremely sharp, offensive nature.
“Go!” Yang Kai shouted as it flicked his wrist, causing the small golden sword to shoot out from his palm. In a flash, this small golden sword penetrated the remaining barriers around First Heavenly Palace and flew several kilometres away. Observing the golden sword with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai clearly saw the path it traced and could not help raising his brow and revealing a happy look.
Although he had yet to test this golden sword’s offensive strength, its speed alone would make it difficult for others to defend against.
Recalling it with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai had the small golden sword instantly fly back to him, manipulating it as easily as if it were an extension of his body.
Yang Kai’s mood was excellent and he quickly proceeded to test the other four Indestructible Sword Qis one by one, his satisfaction only growing as he did.
These five Indestructible Sword Qis each had their own strengths and weaknesses, none superior or inferior to the others, the Gold Sword Qi and Fire Sword Qi had the greatest offensive power, the former focusing on sharpness and speed while the latter emphasized destructive force.
The Earth Sword Qi and Water Sword Qi were mainly focused on defensive strength, the former being thick and solid while the latter was soft and flexible.
The Wood Sword Qi was the most versatile, capable of both offensive and defensive action, but it was also not to be underestimated.
Moreover, if these five types of Indestructible Sword Qi were cultivated to a certain height, one would be able to arrange a Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi Array. This array would allow the five different elements to mutually reinforce one another, multiplying their might in an endless cycle. If an enemy were to be subjected to this array and fail to immediately break free, they would suffer greatly, even if they were in a higher realm than the one who activated it.
After happily experimenting for quite some time, Yang Kai took the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi back into his body. Although this Body Tempering Art was incredibly powerful, it was not something which could show results after just a day or two of effort. A long period of cultivation and accumulation would be required to bring out its true might.
Yang Kai was already psychologically prepared for this.
Now that he had broken through to the Origin Returning Realm, his strength was dramatically different from before; it was almost as if every part of his body was bursting with power.
This was the Origin Returning Realm, the highest Great Realm achievable on Shadowed Star!
It had been more than twenty years since Yang Kai first entered the Star Field. At first, he was just an insignificant Second-Order Saint, but since then he had surmounted two Great Realms. Although he did not dare say that this was an unprecedented achievement, or that there would be no one else in the future who could match it, the number of those who had or would was definitely not great.
While Wei Gu Chang, Dong Xuan’er, and the other young talents on Shadowed Star all looked similar in age to Yang Kai, in truth they were all much older than he was; however, because of their high cultivations, they retained their youthful appearances.
As for masters like Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu, which one of them had not lived for hundreds of years?
Tidying up his mood, Yang Kai remembered not to become complacent; after all, the Origin Returning Realm was just another step on his cultivation path, and there was still the Origin King Realm above it that he had to reach! Beyond that, there were other realms as well; at the very least, the Starry Sky Great Emperor had reached a far greater height than the Origin King Realm.
It was simply that Yang Kai had yet to reach a height where he was capable of peering into these deeper secrets.
There were also many abilities Yang Kai needed to cultivate now, all of which would take a non-negligible amount of time.
Fortunately, using his Golden Blood to cultivate Golden Blood Threads no longer took Yang Kai as much time or effort as it first had, and as long as he condensed one, all he needed to do was warm and nourish it within his body. The longer he did so, the greater the power that Golden Blood Thread would be able to display.
The Verdant Dragon Bone Sword also didn’t require much of Yang Kai’s attention anymore as he could have his Firebird Artifact Spirit help him refine it.
As for his Demon Eye of Annihilation, it had also gradually begun to merge with the Coloured Glass Bead, and as time passed, the Golden Light and Coloured Glass Divine Light were also slowly beginning to amalgamate.
What Yang Kai really needed to spend time cultivating was his Space Blade and the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art!
Even with so many different methods requiring differing degrees of his attention, Yang Kai did not feel the slightest bit distressed. These Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities were all strongly related to his future development, and he was not planning on adding any additional methods to his repertoire. Yang Kai felt as long as he was able to cultivate each of these techniques to the grand accomplishment stage, in this world, there would be nowhere he couldn’t go, and no one who could challenge him!
Setting these thoughts aside, Yang Kai took out two Saint Crystal Sources, held them in his hands, closed his eyes, and began to consolidate his cultivation.
The period right after achieving a breakthrough was a precarious time, and if one did not properly stabilize their realm, there was a chance their cultivation might fall.
In the blink of an eye, several days had passed!
On this day, Yang Kai suddenly opened his eyes, frowned, and released his Divine Sense to check his surroundings before standing up and walking out of First Heavenly Palace, ending his six-month-long retreat.
At this moment, in the huge open square of High Heaven Sect’s Front Court, all the Sect’s cultivators had gathered along with Qian Tong and all the other foreign guests.
Everyone was looking up, their eyes clearly attracted by something in the sky, their expressions solemn and respectful.
This scene was not just happening in High Heaven Sect though. All of Shadowed Star’s cultivators were staring up into the sky towards the same spot at this moment.
The Emperor Garden!
Right now, the Emperor Garden was releasing a dazzling five-coloured light as it hovered quietly high up in the sky, clouds drifting around it, making it somewhat difficult to make out.
At the same time that this change in the Emperor Garden occurred, an invisible coercion appeared.
Emperor Pressure! Fortunately, this Emperor Pressure was not too strong, otherwise, at least eighty percent of cultivators on Shadowed Star would have already collapsed.
*Weng…*
A buzzing sound echoed across all of Shadowed Star and jade tokens the size of one’s palm exuding soft white light appeared. Even if these jade tokens had been stored in cultivator’s Space Rings, seemingly attracted by some mysterious force, they flew out all on their own.
The owners of these Emperor Jades reached out and grabbed hold of them hurriedly, but the instant they did, an indescribable feeling spread across each of their bodies, causing them shock and joy.
The Emperor Garden was about to open!
Although no one told them this explicitly, when they held onto their respective Emperor Jades, these cultivators were somehow able to sense this truth. Since the Emperor Garden first appeared, everyone had been waiting for more than two years for it to open, and now, finally, it was going to.
This was a huge opportunity; one countless people couldn’t help feeling exuberant about.
Inside High Heaven Sect, Yang Kai’s figure flickered and appeared beside Yang Yan and the others before he too turned a solemn gaze skyward.
“Yang Kai!” Yang Yan called out, her red lips opening lightly, seemingly wanting to say something, but before she could, Yang Kai smiled at her and simply said, “I know.”
Yang Yan nodded lightly and said nothing more.
Although Qian Tong and the others wanted to ask if Yang Kai had managed to finish consolidating his cultivation, it was clearly not the time for such questions, so they all remained silent.
Time continued to pass, the five coloured glow surrounding the magnificent Emperor Garden high up in the sky was suddenly drawn into it and seemingly absorbed in front of everyone’s eyes.
Immediately afterwards, three beams of white light shot straight down from the bottom of the Emperor Garden at an extremely slow speed.
Seeing this situation, Yang Kai’s heart froze as his face paled.
When the first Emperor Jade appeared, a similar situation had occurred, and as a result, Dragon Cave Mountain’s Mountain Defending Array had been torn apart. Now that three such beams of light were descending from the Emperor Garden; would High Heaven Sect suffer the same fate?
Fortunately, Yang Kai’s worries turned out to be unnecessary, as although the three beams of light shot straight down, they stopped about half-way to the ground. After these three beams of light disappeared, however, they each left something which radiated a brilliant light floating mid-air.
Everyone held their breaths as they stared towards these floating objects.
Although the distance was quite far, everyone had a certain level of cultivation, so they were naturally able to clearly see what these objects were. To everyone’s surprise though, what remained after the three beams of light disappeared was three white jade discs strangely hovering high up in the sky.
These discs were not large, only a few metres in diameter each, but engraved on each of these jade white platforms was a complicated set of flashing lines. Clearly these lines composed some type of Spirit Array. The distance between each of these discs was at least a hundred kilometres.
“Space Array!” Yang Yan’s beautiful eyes flashed an unusual light before she thoughtfully remarked, “It looks like we need to pass through one of those three Space Arrays to enter the Emperor Garden.”
“So that’s how it is!” Qian Tong and others showed a look of enlightenment.
These days, they had all been pondering over how they were supposed to enter the Emperor Garden after it opened. After all, from what they could see, the Emperor Garden did not have any kind of clear entrance, causing countless masters on Shadowed Star to knit their brows in frustration.
All of them had guessed entering the Emperor Garden had something to do with the Emperor Jades which had appeared not long ago, but now it seems their idea was completely wrong.
When the Emperor Garden opened, it deployed three Space Arrays. Apparently, all one needed to do was use one of these Space Arrays to enter the Emperor Garden! The Emperor Jades were simply used to resist the omnipresent Emperor Pressure.
Without an Emperor Jade, there was no way to get close to these three Space Arrays!
Everything suddenly became clear.
“This old master will be going on ahead!” Just as everyone was lost in thought, an aged voice called out from the side and two figures flew up into the sky, turning into a stream of light that headed towards one of the Space Arrays.
Naturally, these two were the Sect Master and Great Elder of Floating Mist Palace!
Now that the Emperor Garden had finally opened and these Space Arrays had appeared, they were reluctant to delay any further. The one who strikes first gains the advantage so to speak, so these two decisively set out.
In exchange for an Emperor Jade, these two had won the right to depart for the Emperor Garden from High Heaven Sect’s Front Court, granting them nearly a half-day advantage over the rest of Shadowed Star’s cultivators.
These two could use this half-day to explore more places and obtain more treasures!
Moments after these two old men departed for the Emperor Garden, two other groups of people flew up into the air from within High Heaven Sect’s territory; unfortunately for them, their locations didn’t grant them as much advantage as the pair from Floating Mist Palace.
These two groups of people had also paid a massive price to purchase the other two departure spots from High Heaven Sect. Yang Kai had obtained his Divine Nullification Sand from one of them in fact.
At the same time, outside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, the groups from the various great forces of Shadowed Star also rose into the air.
However, if these people wanted to get close to the Emperor Garden’s Space Arrays, they needed to first get around the flame barrier formed from the Three Blazing Flame Rings, a process that would take a significant amount of time.
Seeing that Floating Mist Palace had already gone on ahead, Qian Tong could not help turning an anxious look towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai understood what he wanted to say, grinned, and nodded, “Let’s head out as well.”
Qian Tong was overjoyed and immediately pushed his Saint Qi along with Fei Zhi Tu to wrap up Wei Gu Chang and fly upward.
The four from Coloured Glass Sect followed suit, as did the three from Clear Sky Sect.
“Elders, while we’re away, I’ll have to trouble you to look after the Sect!” Yang Kai turned to Chang Qi and the others and said lightly.
“As Sect Master commands!” Chang Qi and the others responded in unison.
In truth, there was not anything for those remaining in High Heaven Sect to worry about. Although Yang Kai, Yang Yan, and Ye Xi Yun were all leaving for the Emperor Garden, dramatically reducing High Heaven Sect’s available strength, thanks to its unique location, even if someone had malicious intentions, there was simply no way they could break through the Three Blazing Flame Rings’ barrier and launch an attack.
High Heaven Sect could be said to be perfectly safe.
“Let’s go!” Yang Kai glanced over at Yang Yan before his figure flickered and disappeared, reappearing a thousand metres away in an instant.
Yang Kai didn’t know what method Yang Yan used to accomplish it, but the speed she displayed was not inferior to his at all, and needless to say, Ye Xi Yun was easily able to keep up with the two of them with her peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation.
The trio flew straight up, not showing any of the tension or expectation the others around them were displaying. In fact, whether it was Yang Kai or Yang Yan, both wore incredibly calm looks upon their faces.
Yang Kai did not feel rushed because he had already visited the Emperor Garden once and knew a fair bit about the situation inside. With this kind of prior experience, he would not need to waste time searching around for opportunities like the others.
Yang Yan, on the other hand, was the Great Emperor’s Soul Clone. With the Emperor Garden being the Great Emperor’s personal residence, although she did not know much about it now, as soon as she entered it, her dust-laden memories would no doubt rise to the surface. In a sense, no one was more familiar with the Emperor Garden than she was.
Affected by the two of them, Ye Xi Yun’s excitement gradually calmed down as well.
“Yang Kai, what’s your condition like now?” Yang Yan asked with some concern as they continued their upwards flight.
“I haven’t had time to fully consolidate my cultivation, but it’s not a problem. A few battles should be enough to completely stabilize my realm,” Yang Kai grinned, not showing any signs of concern.
Generally speaking, after a cultivator broke through to a new Great Realm, it would take them a certain amount of time to stabilize their foundation. The most common and safest way to do this was through a long period of calm meditation; however, engaging in battle with others was another option, one that carried far greater risks but was arguably faster.
Yang Kai never worried about such things though as he had complete confidence in being able to stabilize his realm through battle.
“En, that sounds good!” Yang Yan gently nodded.
After this brief exchange, the trio fell silent as they continued to fly upwards. The Emperor Garden seemed to be suspended directly above High Heaven Sect, but after really rushing towards it, Yang Kai found that it seemed to be floating several hundreds of thousands of kilometres away, and no matter how high up he flew, it still remained beyond his reach.
Moreover, the further up he flew, the greater the ambient Emperor Pressure around him became. Soon, the Emperor Pressure became so powerful it was almost tangible, making Yang Kai feel like he was swimming through mud, his Saint Qi circulation even becoming sluggish.
Yang Kai was not discouraged by this and instead rejoiced, his eyes lighting up as a thoughtful and eager expression filled his face.
After flying a thousand metres upwards, the intensity of the Emperor Pressure suddenly increased, and Yang Yan and Ye Xi Yun had to stimulate the effect of their Emperor Jades, forming white light halos around their bodies to protect themselves.
Yang Kai, however, just came to a stop.
“What’s wrong?” Yang Yan turned a puzzledled at look at him, not understanding why he had suddenly decided to stop here at this critical moment.
“You go on ahead! I want to cultivate here,” Yang Kai looked over at her.
Yang Yan frowned for a moment but soon showed a look of understanding, “Do you want to use the Emperor Pressure here to condense your Shi?”
Ye Xi Yun was shocked as soon as this remark came out.
“Yup!” Yang Kai did not try to deny it, “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, I want to seize it!”
When he had gone to rescue Qian Tong with Fei Zhi Tu and the others, upon entering Fallen Emperor Mountain, Ning Xiang Chen had told Yang Kai that one day, when he broke through to the Origin Returning Realm, he could use the Emperor Pressure which filled Fallen Emperor Mountain and condense his Shi!
Shi condensed with the assistance of Emperor Pressure seemed to be much stronger than the Shi of an ordinary cultivator, providing incredible benefits for one’s future cultivation; however, such rumours had yet to be truly confirmed by anyone.
At that time, Yang Kai had decided that regardless of whether these rumours were true or not, when he broke through to the Origin Realm, he would go to Fallen Emperor Mountain.
If things were as rumoured, naturally that would be best, but if not, it didn’t matter. In any case, Emperor Pressure really could help a cultivator condense their Shi, this was a fact recognized by everyone.
However, since the Emperor Garden appeared, the Emperor Pressure which had always been present inside Fallen Emperor Mountain had disappeared, so if Yang Kai wanted to use Emperor Pressure to help condense his Shi, this would probably be his only chance. If he were to miss this opportunity, it would be impossible in the future to find such favourable conditions again.
Compared to the various treasures and benefits he could obtain in the Emperor Garden, increasing his own strength was far more important to Yang Kai; after all, one was related to his foundation while the other was simply external tools.
Yang Kai could naturally determine which was more important.
As such, Yang Kai decided that entering the Emperor Garden a bit later wasn’t a problem. As long as his plan succeeded, the benefits he would obtain were far greater than any treasure he could find inside the Emperor Garden!
Considering all this, Yang Kai became quite enthusiastic.
Yang Yan didn’t try to persuade him otherwise, simply pondering for a moment before saying, “Do as you please then, just remember not to act recklessly. I have Great Elder here to protect me, so you don’t need to worry about my safety.”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded lightly before turning to look at Ye Xi Yun, cupping his fists, and saying, “Senior Ye, I’ll be leaving Yang Yan in your hands.”
“Sect Master may rest assured, as long as this Queen still draws breath, no harm will come to Madam!” Ye Xi Yun declared proudly.
Yang Kai grinned and waved, “Go. I’ll find and meet up with you inside the Emperor Garden if possible!”
Yang Yan glanced at him, urged him to be cautious again, then continued to fly upwards. A moment later, however, she suddenly paused again, turned back, and shouted, “Yang Kai!”
“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai looked at her curiously.
“For the days we spent together… Thank you,” Yang Yan smiled radiantly, saying some incomprehensible words before turning around and flying off again.
Yang Kai stared towards Yang Yan’s back blankly, frowning slightly, wondering what this woman was trying to say and why she had suddenly become so sentimental. But unable to understand no matter how much he thought about it, Yang Kai soon shook his head and focused on the task at hand, condensing his Shi with the help of the Emperor Pressure here.
Sweeping away any distracting thoughts, Yang Kai continued to fly upwards unhurriedly.
Every cultivator, after breaking through to the Origin Returning Realm, would begin to condense their own Shi! No one was an exception to this process.
Shi wasn’t something which could be clearly categorized or described. It wasn’t the same as the fighting intent of a cultivator, but rather a fusion of will, Saint Qi, and Spiritual Energy. Once one successfully condensed their Shi, it provided them with a great boost in strength when fighting against opponents!
There were even cultivators who could incorporate their Shi into their Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities, allowing it to play an indispensable role.
However, it was extremely difficult to condense and cultivate one’s Shi, generally requiring years of meditation, insight, and amalgamation. Only after cultivating one’s Shi to the grand accomplishment stage could an Origin Realm cultivator attempt to break through to the Origin King Realm!
This was one of the necessary conditions to achieve a breakthrough.
On Shadowed Star, the number of Origin Returning Realm masters was innumerable, and there was no shortage of those who had reached the Third-Order, but only about one percent of these peak level masters had actually cultivated their Shi to the grand accomplishment stage.
Ye Xi Yun was undoubtedly one such master!
Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu’s situations were somewhat vague, they may have reached the grand accomplishment stage, but perhaps not. On the other hand, masters like Jin Shi and Old Woman Feng had certainly not reached this level. As such, even amongst masters at the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, strengths varied greatly, and the primary reason for this was the difference in their respective Shi.
After initially condensing their Shi, an Origin Realm master would see their combat strength rise at least thirty percent.
Thirty peak Third-Order Saints may be able to defeat a First-Order Saint King.
But thirty peak Saint Kings would definitely not be the opponent of a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator who had condensed their Shi. This clearly illustrated the massive gap between the two Great Realms. Once an opponent fell into their enemy’s Shi, whether it was their Saint Qi circulation or the power of the Secret Techniques they executed, both would receive dramatic suppression, unless they cultivated some kind of Secret Technique which specialized in destroying Shi, such as Demon Blood Temple’s Demon Blood Thread!
Yang Kai had formed a plan for condensing his Shi long ago.
Although he had just broken through to the Origin Realm a few days ago, he had not absorbed the Soul remnants of so many Origin Realm masters in vain, and together with the teachings and personal experiences Qian Tong, Fei Zhi Tu, Wei Gu Chang, Dong Xuan’er, and others had given to him, Yang Kai was confident he could quickly succeed in condensing his Shi.
His foresight and pre-planning had now finally come in handy.
High up in the sky, Yang Kai stood straight like a sword, the Saint Qi in his body condensed to the limit as it rapidly circulated through his meridians.
Above him, there seemed to be an invisible set of stairs that allowed him to climb upwards, and with a relaxed expression, Yang Kai slowly ascended these steps, seemingly not experiencing the slightest pressure.
At this time and place, the Emperor Pressure wasn’t too strong and could only impede the circulation of his Saint Qi slightly. Yang Kai was using this slight suppression to silently ascertain how to integrate his will and Spiritual Essence into one.
As he continued to climb higher, the Emperor Pressure surrounding his body gradually increased, eventually reaching a point where he began to struggle.
Every step soon became laborious and consumed a massive amount of Yang Kai’s strength. At the same time, crackling sounds rang out from his body. The Emperor Pressure here not only hampered Yang Kai’s movements but had also greatly suppressed the speed at which he could circulate his Saint Qi.
It was as if he had fallen into a quagmire, with the surrounding space becoming thick and viscous.
Yang Kai’s expression was grim and the blood vessels on his neck and forehead were now clearly visible. His eyes were bloodshot and looked akin to those of a feral beast.
Although Yang Kai looked quite distressed, there was a deep joy flashing across the depths of his eyes.
Using Emperor Pressure to condense his Shi really had a wondrous effect! At this moment, it seems like every bit of his physique was being crushed by the surrounding Emperor Pressure, which in turn served as a kind of magical catalyst for fusing together his will and Spiritual Essence.
This forced fusion allowed Yang Kai to vaguely comprehend what Shi was, and how to condense his own.
Looking up into the sky, Yang Kai once again took a step forward with great difficulty.
The distance spanned by his foot was less than a normal walking pace, but Yang Kai still felt like it took him several dozen days to make this simple movement!
The Emperor Pressure around him not only slowed Yang Kai’s movements but also began to distort his senses. This kind of slowness was obviously not actually occurring in the outside world, and was all a product of Yang Kai’s mental state, a truly rare and unusual experience.
Crossing this seemingly short stride allowed Yang Kai to experience what would take an ordinary cultivator a massive amount of time to in one moment.
After advancing this one step, Yang Kai closed his eyes and pushed his Saint Qi fiercely, feeling it break free from the Emperor Pressure’s shackles slightly and circulate a tiny bit faster than before.
After a long pause, Yang Kai opened his eyes again, and took another step forward, then closed his eyes again to feel the changes within himself before repeating the process all over again!
At this moment, the benefits of a strong physique fully manifested. If Yang Kai’s physical body wasn’t so intrepid, he wouldn’t have been able to persist in this environment for so long as under the surrounding Emperor Pressure. Instead, he would have already been badly battered.
Fortunately, Yang Kai had just finished cultivating the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art to its first stage and greatly enhanced his physical strength.
Simultaneously, Yang Kai’s newly achieved Origin Returning Realm cultivation was rapidly being consolidated.
Studying the strange sensation filling his body saved Yang Kai a significant amount of time and effort; if not for it, he would have needed to spend at least a year or two in meditative cultivation to achieve the same result.
This alone made this trip worthwhile.
However, Yang Kai wasn’t satisfied with just this. He continued the excruciating climb higher, completely immersing himself in his comprehension, as if he had forgotten everything else around him.
After a full day, Yang Kai managed to climb a thousand metres. This distance was nothing worth noting and he was still extremely far from the Emperor Garden, but this short ascension had allowed Yang Kai to obtain insights in the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao which would ordinarily take a cultivator a hundred years to achieve.
A kind of invisible force was now beginning to spread out from Yang Kai’s body and countering the Emperor Pressure.
Shi!
This was the Shi which belonged to Yang Kai! Although his Shi was weak compared to the awe-inspiring Emperor Pressure, like a newborn fledgeling not even worth mentioning, reaching this step in such a short time was nothing short of a miracle!
No cultivator had ever managed to condense their Shi and reach the minor accomplishment stage in a single day before!
If someone were to even hear of such a feat, they would definitely not believe it to be true.
But Yang Kai, taking advantage of this rare opportunity, truly managed to achieve this.
The Emperor Pressure which emanated from the Emperor Garden was far more coherent and powerful than the one which had permeated Fallen Emperor Mountain.
In the past, many cultivators had gone to Fallen Emperor Mountain to use the profound and mysterious Emperor Pressure to condense their Shi, most of them reaping huge benefits as a result.
Yang Kai had simply imitated this practice but was doing so under far more advantageous conditions than were present in Fallen Emperor Mountain, allowing him to obtain twice the results with half the effort. Nevertheless, Yang Kai was far from done, this was just the beginning.
With a firm expression, Yang Kai continued to climb while immersing in this wondrous experience.
During the past day, some cultivators had caught up to Yang Kai. These cultivators had rushed to the Emperor Garden starting from the periphery of the Flowing Flame Sand Field and had wasted a great deal of time going around the flame barrier. All of these cultivators now showed anxious looks, obviously fearing that others who had gone ahead of them would take away all the benefits inside the Emperor Garden.
When passing by Yang Kai, however, these same people would all gawk at him in complete shock.
They were easily able to resist the Emperor Pressure here and fly upwards because of the protective light halo produced by their Emperor Jades.
But here, they saw that Yang Kai was actually resisting the Emperor Pressure with his own strength.
How could this scene not shock them?
Many of these people were well-known characters on Shadowed Star, and all of them had cultivations at the Second or Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, but even so, none of them dared dismiss the Emperor Jade’s protection.
Occasionally, there were some masters who saw Yang Kai’s actions and couldn’t help feeling a competitive impulse, dismissing the Emperor Jade’s light halo, but in a flash, their forward momentum plummeted and they were quickly surpassed by others.
Although this impact wasn’t enough to cause these masters to immediately fall, just tasting the ambient Emperor Pressure was enough to make them extremely uncomfortable. Thinking about the benefits inside the Emperor Garden, all of these people quickly re-activated their Emperor Jades and flew past Yang Kai.
Not everyone had possessed Yang Kai’s boldness to willingly sacrifice time inside the Emperor Garden searching for treasure in order to condense and cultivate their Shi.
Additionally, not everyone was willing to turn a blind eye to Yang Kai’s existence. Most of these masters were shocked by Yang Kai’s actions, but all of them still quickly left because the seduction of the Emperor Garden was simply too great.
When the masters from the several great forces that had grievances passed by Yang Kai, all of them showed fierce expressions, seemingly wanting to solve this problem once and for all.
Not only did Jin Shi of Demon Blood Temple think this way, he actually acted upon this impulse as well.
During the battle of Dragon Cave Mountain, Jin Shi had participated in order to snatch the piece of Profound Gold from Yang Kai, but after going to steal a chicken he had failed miserably and ended up losing his rice as well, losing an arm to Dragon Cave Mountain’s Origin King Grade Starship’s Crystal Cannons. That battle had forged a deep hatred inside Jin Shi towards Yang Kai and Dragon Cave Mountain.
After half a year of recuperation, Jin Shi finally managed to recover, and although he was still lacking an arm, that didn’t have much impact on his strength. Passing by Yang Kai at this moment and seeing his hated enemy, Jin Shi naturally became enraged.
Without hesitation, Jin Shi summoned his dark red Demon Blood Thread and lashed out in an attempt to behead Yang Kai.
He believed that by catching Yang Kai unprepared, he could definitely kill him!
However, Jin Shi dramatically underestimated the power of the Emperor Pressure in his surroundings.
The moment the reddish-black Demon Blood Thread Jin Shi sent out left the Emperor Jade’s protective halo, it was instantly submerged in the ambient Emperor Pressure, slowing its speed so much it could no longer play any kind of role as a sneak attack.
At that moment, Yang Kai glanced over at Jin Shi faintly, flashed a smile full of ridicule towards him, spoke some kind of profanity towards Jin Shi who was unable to hear it due to them being too far apart, then turned away.
Yang Kai essentially ignored Jin Shi altogether.
*Pa…*
With a soft popping sound, the reddish-black thread which was slowly advancing towards Yang Kai actually burst, filling the air with a thick bloody smell which caused those nearby to want to retch. The Demon Blood Thread Jin Shi had spent countless years condensing and nurturing was vaporized by the Emperor Garden’s Emperor Pressure.
*Pu…*
Jin Shi’s face suddenly went pale as he coughed up a mouthful of blood. His body nearly collapsed as a look of horror filled his expression, seemingly suffering a serious injury.
Demon Blood Threads were extremely special, similar to artifacts but much more closely related to the cultivator who condensed them. As a result, once one was destroyed, the cultivator who condensed it would naturally suffer a strong backlash.
Jin Shi not only failed to kill Yang Kai with this blow, he lost an extremely valuable Demon Blood Thread in the process, causing his eyes to go bloodshot with frustration.
Mo Xiao Sheng, Old Woman Feng, and several others who were nearby saw this scene and couldn’t help showing terrified looks on their faces, their expressions quickly becoming solemn and dignified.
They too had wanted to deal with Yang Kai just now, but Jin Shi had moved faster than them.
However, now it seemed it was their good fortune they had not acted hastily, otherwise, they would likely not be much better off than Jin Shi. After shivering slightly, all of these masters cast a glance towards Yang Kai before silently flying upwards.
“Boy, don’t let this old master meet you in the Emperor Garden, otherwise, I swear I’ll peel your skin and flay your flesh to soothe my hatred!” Jin Shi roared furiously.
Yang Kai glanced over at him once again, raised his hand with great difficulty, clenched his fist, then gave Jin Shi a middle finger.
“Hateful!” Jin Shi’s eyes filled with murderous intent, exhibiting a clear desire to fight Yang Kai to the death right there and then. He was also a famous character who held the position of Demon Blood Temple’s Great Elder; when had he ever been so despised and provoked?
Anyone who dared to show him such disrespect had already been drained of their blood by Jin Shi using a forbidden technique to enhance the power of his Demon Blood Thread.
Yang Kai’s naked contempt for him undoubtedly sent Jin Shi into a rage.
“Great Elder, reaching and exploring the Emperor Garden is our priority now. This little boy will definitely go in as well, so it won’t be too late to find trouble with him when we meet inside,” A beautiful woman in a highly revealing pink dress next to Jin Shi lightly comforted.
This woman’s style could only be described as bold, her jade-white arms and long slender legs almost completely exposed while her pink dress failed to conceal the luscious curves of her body, especially her immense peaks and the deep valley which lay between them, this sight alone was like a whirlpool which drew in the eyes of men, seizing their souls and driving them to distraction.
This woman’s most distinctive feature, however, was her dark red lips. This pair of ruby-like lips seemed to exude a lustrous glow which gave her a seductive allure difficult to ignore.
Like a ripe juicy peach, this woman seemed incredibly tempting and sweet.
Although this woman only appeared about thirty years of age, she was radiating the aura of a top Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master.
At this moment, Jin Shi was filled with indignation, but he still did not dare act dissolute towards this beautiful woman, quickly nodding to her words, “It is as Temple Master says!”
This beautiful woman was none other than the Temple Master of Demon Blood Temple! Those who weren’t familiar with the details of Demon Blood Temple would surely be shocked that a woman actually stood at its helm, but those who did know about her would avoid her like a viper.
Demon Blood Temple was by no means a righteous force, and although they didn’t commit acts of evil with absolutely no restraint, most of its disciples frequently engaged in malicious acts such as murder and robbery.
As the saying went, if the upper beam were crooked, the lower beams would be too, so with the Temple’s disciples committing vile deeds, this beautiful woman who was the Temple Master naturally was not anything good.
It was rumoured that this woman never spent the night without the company of a man. Any male in Demon Blood Temple she felt was to her taste could not escape from her clutches, even several Elders of the Temple were rumoured to be having affairs with her.
Every year, a large number of physically strong, outstanding-looking male cultivators were captured by Demon Blood Temple and disappeared without a trace.
Supposedly, all of these men had been sucked dry by this beautiful woman, quite literally dying beneath her.
However, although Demon Blood Temple carried out such repugnant acts, it still remained safe and sound because the males they targeted all came from small forces or had no stronger background or backers. As such, even if Demon Blood Temple’s reputation was terrible, no powerful force went to find trouble with it.
What’s more, Demon Blood Temple was also a first-class force on Shadowed Star, so unless Thunder Typhoon Sect and Heaven Battling Union joined forces and gathered additional masters from the other great forces on the star, it would be all but impossible to uproot it.
At this moment, this beautiful woman was staring towards Yang Kai, her eyes flashing with a predatory glint as her tongue licked her ruby-red lips, her breathing even becoming a little quick.
No wind leaked through a wall without a hall; all the rumours about this woman were basically true. For example, what she liked the most was strong men!
It was not that she had a deep need for warmth and companionship. As the master of a great force and a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators, how could she waste time on such things? The reason she liked strong men was that the vitality these men had was much richer than that of average cultivators!
While sleeping with such men, she could use a special set of Secret Techniques to devour their vital essence and use it to enhance the strength of her Demon Blood Threads!
Yang Kai being able to stand at this position without relying on the Emperor Jade’s protection, solely depending on his physical body to resist the surrounding Emperor Pressure, clearly displayed how intrepid his vitality was, which in turn greatly stimulated the desires of this beautiful woman.
Moreover, Yang Kai’s cultivation at the First-Order Origin Returning Realm was not low. If she could devour the vitality of this boy, her strength would definitely increase substantially!
After having reached her current cultivation, wanting to increase her strength further became incredibly difficult. If it was another star in the Star Field, she could attempt to break through to the Origin King Realm, but in the special environment of Shadowed Star, where the Origin King Realm was simply unattainable, she could only strengthen her Secret Techniques instead.
To her, Yang Kai’s body was the greatest of delicacies!
The more she looked, the more delighted she became. This beautiful woman wanted nothing more than to rush over, capture Yang Kai, and find a place where no one could interrupt their good deal, but having been frightened greatly by the tragedy which befell Jin Shi after he attacked just now, she knew that now was not the right time to act aggressively.
Giggling lightly, the beautiful woman looked towards Yang Kai and said, “Little brother, hurry up and enter the Emperor Garden, this Temple Master will be waiting for you inside!”
Saying so, she and Jin Shi flew upwards past Yang Kai.
Staring at the backs of these two, Yang Kai just coldly snorted, not paying them any mind.
He had long known his trip to the Emperor Garden would not be peaceful; let alone others, the great forces that had deep grudges with him and Dragon Cave Mountain would not let this opportunity to silence him go.
But what of it?
Now that he had broken through to the First-Order Origin Returning Realm, and his Shi had reached the minor accomplishment stage, even if he was besieged by four or five top-level masters he could not defeat, Yang Kai was confident he could easily escape.
As such, he was not the slightest bit afraid; on the contrary, he was actually feeling quite eager to find an opportunity to test the power of his Shi.
Rays of light flashed past from all directions as the cultivators from Shadowed Star who had obtained Emperor Jades rushed up towards the Emperor Garden. As time passed, everyone who was qualified eventually passed through the floating Space Arrays and entered the Emperor Garden.
Hovering in mid-air, only the lone figure of Yang Kai remained, still climbing upwards at an incredibly slow pace.
Instead of becoming impatient though, he only became calmer.
Now that everyone had gone on ahead, he had nothing more to worry about and could focus all of his attention on tempering and condensing his Shi here.
Yang Kai was not willing to miss such a rare opportunity!
Time continued to pass, and three days later, Yang Kai stood mid-air, pale-faced, his legs trembling nonstop, as if he was on the verge of collapsing.
Having reached this point, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t take another step forward. The Emperor Pressure around him was already so oppressive that it seemed like it would crush him to death if he advanced even one step higher.
These three days of hard work had given him insight and understanding an ordinary cultivator would need to spend hundreds of years to achieve.
Comprehension of Shi!
Yang Kai’s Shi was no longer just at the minor accomplishment stage and had made great strides forward, making it comparable in intensity to masters who had long ago achieved great fame.
[Is this my limit?] A glimmer of sadness flashed across Yang Kai’s eyes. Although he still wanted to continue to climb upwards, willpower alone would not allow him to do so, making him feel quite helpless.
But soon, Yang Kai thought of something and frowned deeply, sinking into a state of contemplation.
After an incense stick worth of time, Yang Kai’s eyes flashed as a smile appeared on his face before he slowly and arduously raised his foot to tread another step upwards.
*Hong…*
The increase in Emperor Pressure Yang Kai experienced after lifting his foot nearly extinguished him in body and soul as it tightly wrapped around him.
At the same time though, a strange series of crackling noises rang out.
A strange force burst out from Yang Kai’s body, turning into innumerable invisible blades, cutting the Emperor Pressure apart which was pressing down on him!
Suddenly, Yang Kai felt significantly lighter, and his figure quickly ascended another step!
The crackling noises became even more numerous and the space around Yang Kai actually became distorted, as if it was constantly collapsing and repairing itself over and over again in an endless cycle.
Space Force!
The Dao of Space was an esoteric field that very few were able to cultivate and fewer still were able to flexibly use.
It was by utilizing his comprehension of the Dao of Space and his Space Force that Yang Kai was able to take this step past his original limit, and this was far from the end. With his Space Force fusing together with his Shi to resist the ambient Emperor Pressure, Yang Kai felt he could continue climbing higher!
After this successful attempt, Yang Kai had a burst of inspiration and a radical plan came to his mind.
Whether this plan would succeed or not though was something he would need to test now!
Considering all this, Yang Kai’s previous gloom was swept away and an unparalleled excitement replaced it. Constantly urging his Space Force to fuse together with his Shi, Yang Kai continued the ascension he had begun three days ago!
…..
Seven days later, a white light curtain wrapped around Yang Kai as he quickly flew upwards. The white light curtain was naturally the Emperor Jade’s protective halo, and with it, Yang Kai could not feel even the slightest bit of Emperor Pressure, allowing him to rapidly approach the Emperor Garden.
It had been ten days since the Emperor Garden opened, and Yang Kai had been condensing his Shi over this period, reaping incredible gains in the process!
Although this delayed Yang Kai by ten days and many treasures in the Emperor Garden had no doubt been claimed already as a result, Yang Kai didn’t have any regrets. Compared to those treasures, his current harvest made him far more satisfied.
His Shi had now reached a certain limit that could no longer be surmounted by using this Emperor Pressure, so Yang Kai decisively rushed towards the Emperor Garden at full speed!
Soon, he arrived at the Space Array closest to him, a strange disk-like platform. When looking at it from afar, Yang Kai had thought this was a physical object, but inspecting it close up, he discovered that it was actually just a projection formed of pure energy.
On the surface of this disk was a series of complicated glowing lines and symbols that made up the actual Space Array.
Looking up at the Emperor Garden for a moment, Yang Kai could not help but frown as it gave him a feeling of etherealness, like it was half-way between real and illusory.
It seemed to be a physical object floating high up in the sky, but also a projection all at once!
After observing the Emperor Garden for a short time, Yang Kai slowly shook his head, withdrew his gaze, and turned his attention back to the Space Array, a look of understanding soon appearing on his face.
With no reason to linger any longer, Yang Kai waved his hand, sending a few pieces of High-Rank Saint Crystals into the grooves of the Space Array. Immediately after, the Space Array lit up and Yang Kai stepped onto it, disappearing in a flash and leaving behind a now silent, empty sky.
At the same time, Yang Kai’s figure appeared atop an unknown grassland.
As soon as he appeared, Yang Kai immediately summoned his Purple Shield and turned it into a purple light halo around him while releasing his Divine Sense and readying his Shi.
He did not dare act carelessly here; after all, many others had entered this place ten days earlier than him. If he were to appear inside some group’s encirclement, a fight would ensue.
Fortunately, Yang Kai’s worries were superfluous as under his Divine Sense investigation he was unable to detect any life auras within ten kilometres, let alone anyone lying in ambush.
But in the next moment, Yang Kai’s expression filled with doubt as he swept his eyes around, dumbfounded by what he saw.
Was this really the Emperor Garden?
Right now Yang Kai was standing atop a grassland he could not see the end of, with a blue sky over his head and not a cloud in sight for ten thousand kilometres, bright sunlight streaming down from above providing a gentle summer warmth!
How could this be the Emperor Garden?
Others did not know what the interior of the Emperor Garden looked like, but Yang Kai couldn’t be clearer. The last time he went to rescue Qian Tong with Fei Zhi Tu and the others, he had entered the Emperor Garden once and seen its numerous lofts and magnificent palaces, so why was he now seeing an expansive grassland?
However, if someone were to tell him this was not the Emperor Garden, Yang Kai would not believe them; after all, it was essentially impossible for the Space Array he passed through to have sent him to the wrong place.
If that was the case though, what happened? Yang Kai was deeply confused.
At the same time, at a certain position inside this sealed space, a young woman wearing a fiery red dress knit her brow slightly and a look of surprise filled her face. This woman was incredibly beautiful, with an astonishing figure and mesmerizing looks.
Her physical looks however were far surpassed by her aura, one that exuded a kind of overwhelming allure that no Beguiling Technique could compare and as clearly a kind of innate trait.
Every smile, every frown, every move she made radiated ten thousand kinds of charm.
Simply standing there, she was like a brilliant flame that could draw in countless moths regardless of their will.
The glamorous Temple Master of Demon Blood Temple also had a bewitching kind of charm, but compared to this woman, hers was vastly inferior.
At this moment, this woman was surrounded by four Origin Returning Realm masters, one at the Third Order, two at the Second Order, and one at the First Order!
These four men had cornered this woman in an obvious attempt to stop her from escaping, each of them staring towards her with obvious greed and desire.
In all fairness, these four men were not naturally loose and lascivious. Aside from some who had particularly strong desires towards beauties, most masters who had reached the level of strength of these four took the pursuit of the Martial Dao and enhancing their cultivation as their first priority.
But this woman was just too special, and her enchanting style was simply irresistible to any man. The moment these four Origin Realm masters saw this woman’s face, whether they had strong obscene desires or not, they could not suppress their desire to obtain her for themselves.
It was almost as if as long as they could spend the night with this beauty, even death wouldn’t be too great a price.
The woman stood here all alone, and although her body radiated a powerful Third-Order Origin Returning Realm aura, the four men surrounding her showed no fear; after all, they outnumbered this woman and one of them had a cultivation equal to hers.
The beauty’s face flashed a look of confusion suddenly, as if she was trying hard to remember something, but even her slightly wrinkled brow had a unique charm to it, causing the four Origin Returning Realm masters gathered around her to feel their hearts pound wildly, their faces flushing as they unconsciously licked their parched lips.
A moment later though, the woman’s eyes brightened, as if she finally remembered something, a surprised and excited expression appearing on her face as she muttered to herself, “He’s here! He’s really here!”
Her voice was soft but incredibly enchanting, seemingly capable of captivating the minds of any who heard it.
A smile flashed across her charming face in the next instant that made all colour from the world fade away, leaving only her behind. The four Origin Realm masters completely lost their sense of reason when they saw this and immediately attacked.
Although the attacks of these four seemed quite ruthless, they held no trace of murderous intent. They were intent on capturing this beautiful woman then wantonly ravaging her, so how could they be willing to hurt her?
However, these four had dramatically underestimated the strength of this beautiful woman.
Facing this barrage of attacks coming at her from all directions, a trace of displeasure flashed across the eyes of this beautiful woman, as if annoyed that these four had interrupted her contemplation.
Even her angry expression was astonishingly alluring, causing the four men who had just attacked her to feel their hearts tighten and unconsciously reduce the amount of strength they were using, fearing they might inadvertently harm her.
The beautiful woman on the other hand did not intend to show any mercy, twirling her tender body on the spot while releasing a pink mist to surround herself.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
All the attacks directed towards her hit this pink mist barrier but only managed to cause a few ripples in it, completely failing to break through.
The mist dispersed in the next moment, revealing the beautiful woman’s angry face. Flicking her wrist, she next summoned a delicate looking fan into her hand, one that radiated a potent aura. Clearly this fan was a high-grade artifact and its surface was adorned by many lifelike pictures.
There were both men and women, all of whom were naked, posing in various lewd positions, seemingly engaging in sensual revelry.
The images on this fan were filled with eroticism!
An ordinary woman would never use such a shameful artifact, but the beautiful woman didn’t seem to pay it any mind, her jade white hand holding onto the small fan tightly as she gnashed her teeth and softly shouted, “You court death!”
As soon as her voice fell, she waved her fan gently.
The erotic pictures embroidered onto the fan suddenly seemed to come to life, as the numerous naked figures rushed outwards and swiftly dove into the four men’s bodies.
The faces of these four masters changed drastically, but by then it was too late for them to put up any kind of resistance.
A single mistake had doomed them. They had underestimated this beautiful woman’s strength and had held back in their attack just now, opening them up to a counterattack which they were not prepared to defend against.
The scene before these men’s eyes immediately changed, the four of them seemingly falling into a decadent palace filled with sinful laughter, sensual music, exotic delicacies, and countless young women dressed in revealing outfits singing and dancing, all of whom were constantly throwing flirtatious and tempting glances towards the four men, as if they lived only to please them!
The four masters instantly fell into a daze, standing there dumbly as intoxicated smiles filled their faces, immersing in the amorous scene before them, unable to extricate themselves.
The beautiful woman swept her eyes over these four in disgust, but instead of ending their lives, she simply donned a veil over her face, looked towards a certain direction, and quickly flew off.
Although the feeling was quite vague, she knew that the person she had always been searching for had really come to this place!
It had been too long since they had last met, almost twenty or thirty years, so wanting to rely on her original Secret Technique to find him was obviously not possible. She could only rely on the vague sensation and her own instincts while praying she could find the other party before the Emperor Garden closed.
Otherwise, if she missed this opportunity, she may never get another chance to fulfil her wish again.
An incense stick worth of time after the beautiful woman flew off, the four dazed men fell limply to the ground, blood flowing out of their seven orifices, their bodies convulsing violently as their vitality rapidly faded away, dying a miserable death.
Just one move had killed four Origin Returning Realm masters, clearly illustrating just how terrifying the beautiful woman’s strength was.
…..
“Is this really the Emperor Garden?” Yang Kai murmured blankly as he stared out across the grassland.
It had already been about a cup of tea worth of time since he came here, but Yang Kai still could not draw any conclusions.
However, the World Energy was indeed extremely rich here, far richer than on Shadowed Star. Even High Heaven Sect’s and the floating continent’s World Energy auras were dwarfed by this place.
From this point alone, it was clear this was the Emperor Garden.
But Yang Kai remembered that in the Emperor Garden, he was unable to extend his Divine Sense very far from his body at all, much less probe the situation in the surrounding ten-kilometre radius, so inferring from this point, it seemed this place was not the Emperor Garden.
In any case, Yang Kai’s best bet right now was to find someone he could ask about the situation, at the very least, it was necessary for him to gather some intelligence about what had happened. Everyone else had entered ten days earlier than him, so they may know something he didn’t. Taking out two communication artifacts from his Space Ring, Yang Kai poured his Divine Sense into them.
One of these communication artifacts was connected to Yang Yan, while the other was connected to Qian Tong, both were things Yang Kai had acquired in the past and now came in handy.
As long as they weren’t too far apart from each other, Yang Kai would easily be able to contact them.
A while later though, Yang Kai put away these communication artifacts in disappointment. Neither Yang Yan nor Qian Tong had responded. Even if they were inside this space, they were clearly too far away from him to make contact.
It seemed that he would have to rely on himself.
Turning his head to look around, Yang Kai casually picked a direction and flew off.
Even without using a Star Shuttle, Yang Kai’s speed was extremely fast, but as he flew along he did not encounter any living people.
However, Yang Kai did come across many corpses as well as traces of fighting. Some of these corpses belonged to Monster Beasts while others belonged to humans. It seemed a number of battles had taken place on this grassland, and from the dryness of the blood, Yang Kai inferred that these battles occurred not long ago, likely just after the Emperor Garden opened.
There were also many traces of spirit grasses and spirit medicines being harvested, so it seemed that many people reaped great benefits here!
After half a day, Yang Kai suddenly came to a stop and turned to look in a certain direction.
A hundred kilometres away, faint sounds of battle could be heard and Yang Kai sensed a number of powerful energy fluctuations; obviously a heated fight was occurring.
Yang Kai didn’t hesitate, immediately changing direction and flying over. Now that he had broken through to the Origin Realm and had condensed his Shi to a certain level, even if he were to face a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, he would still have the ability to fight. He could act boldly because he had faith in his skill.
Yang Kai crossed the hundred kilometres distance in just half a cup of tea’s time, and when he arrived and saw the actual situation, he couldn’t help raising his brow and muttering to himself, “Seven Coloured Elk?”
Yang Kai’s eyes bulged, never having expected to see the famous Seven Coloured Elk here.
He knew about this Monster Beast because of the Ten Thousand Year Incense he had obtained in the sixth layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field. The primary ingredient for refining Ten Thousand Year Incense was the heart of this Seven Coloured Elk!
Needless to say, the benefits of the Ten Thousand Year Incense were immense to any cultivator as its fragrance could calm one’s mind and help dispel heart demons. The materials required to refine Ten Thousand Year Incense, however, were extremely difficult to find, each one belonging to Tenth-Order Monster Beasts. Among these ingredients though, the Seven Coloured Elk’s heart was the most difficult to obtain.
Because this Monster Beast was a rare ancient beast that was rumoured to have gone extinct long ago. So even if some great Sects possessed the refinement method for Ten Thousand Year Incense, the cleverest woman could not cook a meal without rice.
However, after just entering this strange place, Yang Kai had actually encountered a Seven Coloured Elk!
[No, it’s not an actual Seven Coloured Elk!] Yang Kai frowned deeply as he carefully observed the battlefield up ahead. At first glance, this Monster Beast truly looked like a Seven Coloured Elk, but if one observed closely, they could still see some differences.
It was rumoured that Seven Coloured Elks were born as Eighth-Order Monster Beasts, and when they grew to their peak, they could reach the Tenth-Order, but although this Monster Beast was no doubt a full-grown adult, it was clearly just at the peak of the Ninth-Order, not the Tenth-Order.
Moreover, the Seven Coloured Radiant Light it was emitting was not as powerful as it should be.
The Seven Coloured Radiant Light possessed by real Seven Coloured Elks was an innate Divine Ability that had the magical effect of ignoring all forms of defence. Even if an Origin King were to encounter such a beast, they would have to give way.
If one wanted to kill a real Seven Coloured Elk, they would need to join forces with several other Origin Kings.
There were a total of five people battling this Seven Coloured Elk, three men and two women, each of them Origin Realm masters with two of them even having reached the Third Order. These five were using their artifacts and Martial Skills to the fullest while coordinating with one another.
Even so, these five didn’t dare act carelessly and two of them already looked quite dishevelled. It was obvious that these people had suffered a loss at the hands of this Monster Beast.
Martial Skills and artifact attacks blasted towards this Monster Beast, but the other party simply stood still, its face revealing an almost human-like look of contempt as it continued releasing its Seven Coloured Radiant Light, preventing any harm from befalling it.
After this violent clash, the Monster Beast remained unharmed, and instead, the five attackers seemed to be faltering after consuming so much of their Saint Qi in this drawn-out battle.
Yang Kai didn’t conceal his approach which naturally startled this group of five. What they feared most in this place was orioles stalking mantises who were trying to catch cicadas.
But after using their Divine Senses to sweep Yang Kai and discovering he was just a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, they all relaxed.
The weakest of their group of five was at this level, and there were multiple Second and Third-Order Origin Realm masters among them, so they naturally didn’t fear Yang Kai. After exchanging a silent glance amongst themselves, they had one middle-aged man divert a portion of his attention to monitor Yang Kai while the rest of them continued to lay siege to the Monster Beast.
Yang Kai was well aware of how this group of five reacted to him but didn’t pay it any mind. If it was him in their place, he would have done the same.
However, Yang Kai’s brows furrowed.
Because he found that he didn’t know anyone among these five people!
Although Yang Kai hadn’t had much contact with the other great forces on Shadowed Star, when the Emperor Garden opened, he had been condensing his Shi outside; in other words, everyone who entered the Emperor Garden had flown past him at some point.
But none of these five people had a familiar face.
What surprised Yang Kai the most though was the robes worn by these five people as they were quite different from those that were commonly worn on Shadowed Star, as if they weren’t from Shadowed Star in the first place.
This thought made Yang Kai even more confused.
However, he had only come here to find someone to inquire about the situation and didn’t have any intention to intervene or disturb their fight, so he simply prepared to wait until this group of five finished their battle before speaking to them.
The battle continued for half an hour before this group of five began showing the intention to retreat. The reason was simple, this Monster Beast, which was similar to a Seven Coloured Elk, was extremely difficult to kill. The Seven Coloured Radiant Light which it released from its body was so solid it couldn’t be broken by these five’s attacks.
Additionally, the occasional counterattacks from this Monster Beast were both sharp and powerful. By the time they decided to withdraw, all five of these cultivators had suffered injuries, the most serious of which was a black-haired old man whose abdomen had been punctured and was leaking blood. Although this injury wasn’t too serious, if he continued to remain here it would only cause his condition to deteriorate and weaken his combat effectiveness.
“Brother Min, how about we fall back temporarily and come up with a new plan?” Another old man with white hair asked with a frown.
All of them had seen that it would be impossible for them to kill this Monster Beast in short order, and with their location being a wide-open plain, there was a high risk a third party could swoop in and steal their prey.
After all, Yang Kai had found them here following the fallout from their battle.
The injured black-haired old man was not a hot-headed individual and quickly nodded, “Yeah, we’ll retreat for now!”
With the two strongest old men having said so, the remaining middle-aged man and the two women with slightly lower strength obviously wouldn’t raise any objections.
All five of them made a feint and quickly withdrew from the melee before turning towards a certain direction and flying off as quick as lightning.
Whether it was intentional or unintentional, the direction these five people fled was actually the direction Yang Kai stood.
It seemed they wanted to use him to tie down this Monster Beast for a moment.
Yang Kai frowned, immediately understanding this group’s plan, but although he was a bit displeased, he didn’t show anything on his face.
“Run away!” One of the five people, a young woman with an exquisite figure who appeared only seventeen or eighteen years old dressed in a black dress yelled out to Yang Kai as she passed by.
Among these five, her cultivation was the lowest, only First-Order Origin Returning Realm, like Yang Kai. However, the Secret Art she cultivated was obviously quite good as her strength wasn’t low, only her appearance remained quite youthful.
With the other party showing goodwill, Yang Kai smiled back and asked, “You don’t want this Monster Beast anymore?”
The woman’s brow wrinkled slightly, but she didn’t have time to answer before she and her group flew several thousand metres out and disappeared across the horizon.
This group of five wanted to escape, but clearly the Monster Beast was not about to just let them go, letting out a fierce cry before stomping its hooves and transforming into a seven-coloured stream of light to chase after them
Its speed was remarkable, almost to the point where it could not be tracked with the naked eye.
As it shot forward though, it sent out a burst of Seven Coloured Radiant Light from its body towards Yang Kai.
Facing such a Monster Beast, Yang Kai didn’t dare act carelessly. Stretching out his hand, he summoned his Purple Shield to intercept this blast of Seven Coloured Radiant Light.
No impact sound resounded, though!
To Yang Kai’s consternation, his Purple Shield failed to defend against this attack as the Seven Coloured Radiant Light actually passed through it directly and struck towards his chest.
Meanwhile, the Purple Shield remained unscathed.
[It really can ignore all forms of defence?] Yang Kai was shocked and even began doubting his eyes, wondering if this Monster Beast was a real Seven Coloured Elk.
But soon, he rejected this idea, because while the Seven Coloured Radiant Light did penetrate his Purple Shield, its power had been greatly reduced, not having the terrifying force it had been released with.
If it was a real Seven Coloured Elk, its Seven Coloured Radiant Light would definitely not have such a reaction!
As such, Yang Kai figured that, even if this Monster Beast wasn’t a true Seven Coloured Elk, it was most likely descended from one and possessed a kind of mutated bloodline.
He had picked up a treasure! Yang Kai didn’t panic and instead rejoiced, his body flickering to avoid the burst of Seven Coloured Radiant Light while at the same time, he waved his hand and sent out a giant Space Blade towards the charging Monster Beast.
The other party didn’t seem to put Yang Kai in its eyes, thinking that one blow would be enough to kill him thus not putting up any kind of protection. It wasn’t until Yang Kai’s Space Blade got close that it finally reacted.
However, by this point, it was too late for it to dodge. The jet black Space Blade sliced down onto the Monster Beast and cut a small notch into the seven-coloured light halo around its body!
The defence which the previous group of five were completely incapable of penetrating had actually been cut into by Yang Kai!
But this wasn’t surprising since Space Blade was one of Yang Kai’s strongest skills, capable of exiling anything it touched to the Void.
Half an hour later, Yang Kai exhaled lightly, stepped forward, arrived beside the fallen Monster Beast’s body, reached into its chest, and pulled out its heart and Monster Core.
A bizarre scent filled the air and, as Yang Kai sniffed it, he felt relaxed and comfortable.
This Monster Beast really did share a blood relationship with the Seven Coloured Elk, and even if it was not a direct descendent, it should be a close hybrid. Although its heart and Monster Core could not be used to refine a treasure like the Ten Thousand Year Incense, they could be used to refine some rare pills useful for resisting heart demons.
Such pills were extremely precious and almost every cultivator would want one on hand when they broke through to a new Great Realm; however, these pills were also incredibly difficult to acquire, even if one had vast financial resources. This heart and Monster Core landing in the hands of an Alchemist like Yang Kai meant it could play a huge role and bring him immense wealth!
For Yang Kai, the previous battle, although not too dangerous, was quite troublesome.
With his Space Blade alone, Yang Kai had no way to kill this Monster Beast as it was simply too fast. On top of that, it had tried to run away immediately after seeing it was at a disadvantage! Yang Kai naturally was not about to let this happen and immediately used the Spectral Cloud Array’s Array Plate, trapping it inside.
With the Spectral Cloud Array preventing this Monster Beast from fleeing, Yang Kai eventually managed to kill it.
The Spectral Cloud Array’s Array Plate was something Yang Kai obtained the last time he came to the Emperor Garden. At that time, after Yang Kai, Fei Zhi Tu and the others fell into it, they had suffered quite a bit. With Yang Kai’s current strength, his Space Blade, and Golden Blood Threads, this Monster Beast did not stand a chance.
The Monster Core and heart were the most precious parts of this Monster Beast, but the body of a peak Ninth-Order Monster Beast couldn’t simply be discarded, so after some thought, Yang Kai took out the Verdant Dragon Bone Sword and poured his Saint Qi into it.
The Dragon Bone Sword immediately transformed into a giant green dragon and proceeded to swallow the Monster Beast’s body into its belly before spitting out its bones after completely absorbing its vital essence.
Yang Kai smiled happily. His Dragon Bone Sword was an artifact that could continue to grow by swallowing the vital essence of enemies, so over time it would become stronger and stronger.
Putting it away with satisfaction, Yang Kai used his Saint Qi to withdraw the Spectral Cloud Array then retrieved the Array Plate. Turning his head in the direction the previous group of five had disappeared, Yang Kai summoned his Wind and Thunder Wings before shooting off, disappearing from this place in the blink of an eye.
At the same time, the five Origin Returning Realm masters who had previously fought with the Monster Beast were resting inside a natural cave about a thousand kilometres away.
This cave was apparently the den of some snake type Monster Beast, but it had clearly been abandoned long ago. Having found a dry, concealed environment, the five masters decided to use it as a temporary resting place.
They had also arranged some simple concealment Spirit Arrays outside.
“That mutant Seven Coloured Elk has not found us yet, probably because that boy managed to lead it away. Good, although that boy’s cultivation was not very high, he should have some kind of profound escaping Secret Technique,” The dark-haired old man who had been releasing his Divine Sense outside to monitor their surroundings said happily.
“But with his low cultivation, I’m afraid it will be difficult for him to escape with his life,” The petite woman with the lowest cultivation showed a trace of sadness on her face, apparently feeling somewhat guilty.
“What does that have to do with us? We believed this trip to the Emperor Garden would be filled with opportunity and pleasant surprises, but it turned out to be one accident after another. The five of us being able to survive this long is already quite lucky, how could we spare any care for a stranger?” The white-haired old man coldly snorted.
The other woman, who seemed middle-aged, added, “Yeah, I didn’t expect that the inside of the Emperor Garden would be filled with so many dangers. There were ten of us, to begin with, but now only five are left. If we had not withdrawn quickly back then, all of us would have most likely died.”
“Exactly!” The black-haired old man sighed and let out a somewhat self-deprecating laugh, “It’s really true that the older one gets the less courage they have. Although there are many crises in this Emperor Garden, there are also many benefits. If this old master was a few hundred years younger, he would certainly be unwilling to draw back, but now I cannot help acting overcautious and indecisive, far different from the recklessness of my youth!”
This sentiment seemed to resonate with the white-haired old man, who nodded in agreement, “En, back then, where did you and I dare not go? Even if it was a Dragon Den or Tiger Cave, we would still charge in, but now…”
He too let out a long sigh.
For a time, the cave fell quiet, with only the sound of the five individuals breathing echoing off the walls.
After about half a cup of tea’s time though, a shout came from outside, “This Yang greets several friends and hopes to ask you a few questions, may I have your permission to enter?”
This voice clearly passed into the ears of the five who were sitting cross-legged inside the cave, making their expression change dramatically, the white-haired old man immediately shouting out, “Who goes there?”
Someone being able to approach so close to them without being detected caused the white-haired old man’s heart to clench as he secretly felt thankful this newcomer had not launched a sneak attack. If this person had any malicious intentions, the five of them would likely have suffered greatly just now.
Outside, a hearty laugh rang out, “We met just moments ago, could it be you don’t remember this one? En, I should first introduce myself I suppose, this one’s name is Yang Kai!”
“Yang Kai?” The group of five all frowned, but when they released their Divine Senses outside, their looks of confusion soon turned to shock.
“It’s that boy from just now!”
“Not only did he not die, he even escaped from that Monster Beast? How is that possible?”
The five masters all exchanged dumbfounded looks, all of them very curious about how Yang Kai managed to escape from that terrifying Monster Beast; however, they had serious concerns as well. After all, when the five of them had escaped just now, they had clearly used Yang Kai as bait, so seeing him track them down now, they could not help worrying about his intentions.
“Brother Min…” The black-haired old man looked at the white-haired old man and hesitantly spoke.
“It shouldn’t be a problem; from his tone, it doesn’t seem like he’s here to seek revenge, and with his low cultivation, even if he was here for revenge, would he have the ability? Let him come in.” The white-haired old man said lightly. It wasn’t that this old man was blind, it was just that Yang Kai’s realm was really too low. With that and the fact that he was all alone, the white-haired old man was confident Yang Kai couldn’t stir up any trouble even if he wanted to.
The black-haired old man heard this argument and agreed, waving his hand to open a whole in the Spirit Array which was concealing them before politely calling out, “Little friend, please come in!”
“Many thanks!” Yang Kai smiled lightly, stepped forward, and walked into the cave, not showing any sense of wariness, startling the five inside slightly.
This boy acting so boldly either meant he had problems with his head and didn’t understand how brutal the world truly was, or he had something to depend on which allowed him to not place the five of them in his eyes.
The latter was unlikely, so obviously the former must be the truth!
This was indeed possible as Yang Kai looked quite young but was already an Origin Realm cultivator. So, him being the disciple of some great force who had spent his entire life in retreat inside the Sect, not having contact with the outside world, was probable.
Considering all this, the five people in the cave all calmed down greatly.
Such people were easy to deal with.
The cave was not very large, only a couple dozen metres across, and was pitch black inside. When Yang Kai walked inside, he glanced around lightly before nodding to himself.
Although the actions these five people took when they escaped earlier had made Yang Kai somewhat disgruntled, from what he could tell, they were not truly vile and wicked people. Otherwise, they would definitely have attacked him as soon as he stepped into the cave.
At least, for now, none of them showed any openly hostile intent. The younger woman even nodded lightly to him while the older woman wore a somewhat embarrassed look, seemingly feeling guilty about how they acted when they last separated.
Yang Kai also relaxed at this moment. Up until now, he had still been thinking that if these people did not know how to show some discretion, he would certainly not show them any mercy.
Now it seemed he would not need to trouble himself over this.
“Yang Kai greets several friends,” Yang Kai cupped his fists and chuckled slightly.
“Little Friend Yang is too polite!” The old man with white hair seemed to be the leader of this group and tactfully did not ask how Yang Kai managed to escape from the previous Monster Beast, instead introducing himself in return, “This old master is Vanishing Moon Island’s Island Master Min Sha, and these are this old master’s closest friends.”
He spoke in an easy-going tone, as if nothing had happened before.
“Vanishing Moon Island?” Yang Kai frowned, a black look covering his face.
However, since the other party called himself an Island Master, he was probably from the Limitless Ocean, so it was not surprising Yang Kai had never heard of him. After all, Yang Kai had never travelled to the Limitless Ocean, and the only great force he had any substantial contact with from there was the Sea Heart Sect.
Yang Kai came to his own conclusions to explain his lack of familiarity with these people, but the next words that came out of Min Sha’s mouth caused him to stare dumbfounded.
“En, Vanishing Moon Island is an island force on Azure Tree Star, it’s only natural little friend has never heard of it. May I ask which star Little Friend Yang comes from?” Min Sha asked.
“Azure Tree Star?” Yang Kai’s eyes widened as he stared towards Min Sha and the others in complete shock, his heart pounding violently for a moment.
However, Yang Kai’s mind was sharp, so although Min Sha didn’t say much just now, he was also to pick out some unexpected information and quickly asked, “Does Island Master Min mean that cultivators from more than one star have entered this Emperor Garden?”
As soon as the words came out, all five of the people here laughed.
Yang Kai scratched his head and stood there awkwardly, knowing he must have asked something obvious.
“Is the star Little Friend Yang hails from a remote place?” Min Sha speculated.
“What Island Master Min says is correct, the star this Yang comes from is indeed relatively remote, so…” Yang Kai nodded slightly.
“En, no wonder.” Min Sha said with a look of understanding, “Our Azure Tree Star is the same, its location quite remote with limited contact with the outside world. Originally, this old master and his friends had the same idea as Little Friend Yang, thinking that only Azure Tree Star’s cultivators were able to enter the Emperor Garden. It was not until we actually entered this place that we learned that all of the Star Field’s cultivators could come here. This old master also found someone to inquire about this situation and discovered that the Emperor Garden had appeared on every star in a kind of illusionary state, and as long as one held an Emperor Jade, they would be able to pass through the special Space Array and arrive here.”
“So it’s like this…” Yang Kai murmured before saying casually, “This Yang’s Shadowed Star is probably in a similar situation to Island Master Min’s Azure Tree Star.”
“Shadowed Star?” All five frowned, apparently never having heard of Shadowed Star.
However, it seemed that although Azure Tree Star was indeed quite remote and it was hard for them to communicate with the outside world, it was still far better off than Shadowed Star. Shadowed Star was essentially isolated from the rest of the Star Field, its cultivators unable to reach any other star no matter how hard they tried. Azure Tree Star was not such an extreme case.
The situation here really surprised Yang Kai. He never thought that the Emperor Garden would actually open to the entire Star Field; all along, he had assumed it was only Shadowed Star’s cultivators who would have a chance to enter it.
This accident was nothing less than a calamity to the cultivators from Shadowed Star; after all, the number of competitors had now dramatically increased along with the danger they were facing.
Suddenly thinking of something, Yang Kai hurriedly asked, “Island Master Min, are there Origin King Realm masters here?”
Hearing this question, Min Sha smiled lightly and waved his hand, “Little Friend Yang need not worry about this. There are no Origin Kings here.”
He had the same concerns as Yang Kai before; after all, Azure Tree Star’s World Energy wasn’t too rich, nor were its cultivation resources, so although there was no suppression from its World Principles and Origin Kings could indeed appear, it had been several thousand years since anyone broke through to the Origin King Realm on Azure Tree Star. With his Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation, Min Sha was already a top expert on Azure Tree Star.
This was basically the same as Shadowed Star!
Entering this place with this kind of cultivation, Min Sha had thought he would be able to explore at ease, but when he learned that cultivators from other stars could also enter this place, naturally he feared he would encounter fierce opponents.
However, after some enquiries, Min Sha was overjoyed to learn that, due to some kind of mysterious force inside this place, no Origin Kings could enter it. That is to say, the strongest cultivators currently inside the Emperor Garden were on the same level as he was.
After hearing Min Sha’s explanation, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling relieved and his expression eased greatly.
Although he had broken through to the Origin Realm now, and was confident he could compete with Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters, if he was facing an Origin King, he was quite certain he would not be able to fight back. Meeting an Origin King here would lead to dire consequences.
Fortunately, the situation wasn’t that bad…
Yang Kai pondered for a while before suddenly wearing a solemn expression and asking, “Then may I ask, is this place really the Emperor Garden?”
Before Min Sha could answer, the young woman wearing a tight-fitting black combat outfit replied, “Of course this is the Emperor Garden. We all entered here through the Space Array by using an Emperor Jade, if this place wasn’t the Emperor Garden, where would it be?”
She stared towards with an amused look on her face Yang Kai, sizing him up with great interest.
“If this is the Emperor Garden, then why…” Yang Kai frowned.
“Little Friend Yang wants to ask why this place is so different from what he imagined?” Min Sha looked at him with a smile.
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“In your imagination, as the Great Emperor’s residence, shouldn’t the Emperor Garden be a vast and grand palace?”
“Exactly!”
“En, that’s only natural. There is a palace a hundred thousand kilometres west of here, that should be the real Emperor Garden!” Min Sha said while pointing in a certain direction.
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up.
Min Sha laughed before continuing, “But the Emperor Garden is not only the Great Emperor’s palatial residence, there is actually a vast territory surrounding it. The grassland we are standing on now is part of that territory. Aside from this grassland, there is also a vast swamp, dessert, and ocean in the other three cardinal directions, each of which has its own dangers and opportunities. The cultivators holding Emperor Jades were all sent to random locations inside this place. En, our luck is pretty good actually, the grassland actually has the lowest risk, but it is still not to be underestimated!”
“So that’s how it is!” Yang Kai wore an enlightened expression. If he didn’t find someone to ask about these matters, he really wouldn’t have been able to understand his current situation. In fact, before talking to Min Sha, Yang Kai was still wondering whether this was or was not the Emperor Garden.
“Since the real Emperor Garden is over there, why are Island Master Min and several friends here?” Yang Kai looked around at the five people in amazement, not understanding why they would let go of such an astonishing opportunity to enter the depths of the Emperor Garden in favour of lingering on this grassland.
Min Sha smiled bitterly and replied, “It’s a long story. Suffice it to say that, although the main palace of the Emperor Garden is indeed filled with treasures, there is an equal amount of danger inside. Without even mentioning the ancient barriers, Spirit Arrays, and mechanisms, just the number of powerful masters concentrated inside at this moment is quite terrifying! Originally, this old master’s group numbered ten people, but little friend can see how many of us are left now.”
Listening to his explanation, Yang Kai immediately understood that these five people probably encountered some kind of huge danger inside the Emperor Garden’s main palace and withdrew in fright.
This was not difficult to understand though; after all, everyone only had one life, so although treasures and opportunities were tempting, if one lost their life trying to obtain these benefits, how were they to enjoy them?
It seemed the Emperor Garden was a little different from when Yang Kai last visited it! The degree of danger should also have greatly increased, otherwise, it would not have scared off these five people so easily.
This too was not too surprising though. When Yang Kai came here with Fei Zhi Tu, the Emperor Garden had not truly opened, so many of its defences were likely in an inactive state.
Seeing Yang Kai sink into contemplation, Min Sha didn’t disturb him. After a while though, he smiled heartily and said with enthusiasm, “However, Little Friend Yang should not underestimate this outer perimeter of the Emperor Garden. Whether it is the grassland, swamp, desert, or ocean, each one hides numerous astonishing opportunities.”
“Oh? Why do you say so?” Yang Kai couldn’t help getting excited.
“That palace is truly the residence of the Great Emperor, but Little Friend Yang should understand that the Great Emperor did not live a completely solitary life. There were certainly many people who served him, as well as disciples he cultivated. What cultivation the Great Emperor reached in the past, this old master doesn’t dare to speculate, but even those who served him were surely not weak. Additionally, the Great Emperor’s disciples should not have all lived inside the main palace but instead had their own residences scattered about outside. As such, there are plenty of secluded homes and cave mansions in the Emperor Garden’s surroundings. As long as one can find such a secluded home, heh heh… such a discovery would guarantee that this old master and his friends had not made this trip in vain!” Min Sha said while stroking his long beard, a ruddy glow appearing on his face.
“En, in addition to these hidden secluded homes and cave mansions, there are also many spirit grasses and spirit medicines that have long disappeared from the outside world as well as precious ores and rare Monster Beasts like that Seven Coloured Elk variant. If we could just kill it…” The young woman began speaking but suddenly stopped as she directed an awkward look towards Yang Kai, as if only just remembering that she shouldn’t be mentioning this creature.
Yang Kai simply laughed at this though, not showing any meaning of blame. Not only had he not suffered any loss as a result of that incident, instead he had reaped significant gains, after which he had even obtained a lot of useful information from these five.
Based on this, Yang Kai considered them to be even.
“Has anyone found one of these secluded homes yet?” Yang Kai asked casually.
“Yes!” Min Sha nodded solemnly, a look of envy filling his face, “Just three days ago, someone found a hidden cave mansion somewhere in this grassland and managed to obtain an Origin King Grade artifact and many valuable pills from inside it!”
As he narrated this point, Min Sha’s breathing quickened slightly. The situation on Azure Tree Star was almost the same as that of Shadowed Star, so Origin King Grade artifacts were naturally quite tempting to him.
“Since this news has leaked out, it seems that the person didn’t have a very good end!” Yang Kai’s lips curled upwards slightly.
Min Sha looked at Yang Kai with admiration, “Little Friend Yang understands well, that person was indeed chased down by many people, as for what ultimately happened, this old master isn’t clear, but it’s fairly obvious his fate was quite miserable.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, not saying anything more.
He had learned what he wanted to learn; knowing that this was indeed the Emperor Garden was enough for Yang Kai. On top of that, he had learned where to find the main palace as well.
Yang Kai wasn’t planning on spending any more time outside. Although he didn’t know when the Emperor Garden would close, there was definitely a time limit, so before then, there were at least two things he needed to do. There were two treasures he had encountered the last time he came to the Emperor Garden, but back then, he had not had enough time or ability to collect them.
Now that his strength had greatly increased, it was only natural for him to try again.
“Little Friend Yang, from the looks of it, you entered this place alone. If you are willing to trust this old master, how about acting together with us? If we find something good, the six of us will each take an equal share. You won’t suffer any kind of loss.” For some unknown reason, Min Sha actually took the initiative to invite Yang Kai to join their group suddenly.
“This Yang will have to politely decline Island Master Min’s kind intentions,” Yang Kai didn’t even consider it before shaking his head and refusing, “Although I am alone now, I did not enter this place alone, I still have companions waiting for me, I have to find them!”
“Is that so…” A regretful look flashed across Min Sha’s face, but he didn’t press the issue any further, just nodding lightly, “In that case, just pretend this old master didn’t say anything.”
“Thank you. All of you take care, this Yang will take his leave.” Yang Kai cupped his fists before his body flickered and he rushed out of the cave, found the appropriate direction, and flew off.
After Yang Kai left, the dark-haired old man inside the cave directed a puzzled look towards Min Sha, “Brother Min, why did you invite that little brat? He’s so weak!”
The others of this group were also confused, not knowing what Min Sha’s true intentions were.
Min Sha simply chuckled and explained, “Although his strength isn’t worth mentioning, him being able to escape from that Seven Coloured Elk variant proves his speed must be quite astonishing. This old master inviting him to join us was because I wanted to use him as a scout, but since the other party refused, there’s no reason to force things.”
The other four inside the cave showed looks of understanding.
“Enough about this matter, we should focus on figuring out how to kill that Seven Coloured Elk variant. If we can kill it, we can sell its heart and Monster Core for an incredible price!” Min Sha’s face became serious.
The others nodded repeatedly before immediately beginning to plan out their next move, completely unaware that the Seven Coloured Elk variant had already been harvested by Yang Kai, its heart and Monster Core now stored inside his Space Ring.
At this moment, Yang Kai was flying in the direction of Emperor Garden’s main palace.
According to Min Sha, the main palace was a hundred thousand kilometres away from this place, which at Yang Kai’s current speed was a two to three days journey. As such, he wasn’t in too much of a rush.
While he looked calm and indifferent on the surface however, his heart and mind were in a state of chaos as he was filled with anticipation!
Most of all though he felt a deep sense of hope.
He hoped to meet Su Yan here!
Since the Emperor Garden had opened to the entire Star Field, Su Yan would naturally be able to access it as well. However, Yang Kai wasn’t clear what her current cultivation was or whether she had enough qualifications to obtain an Emperor Jade to come here!
Although there were various uncertain factors, and the chances of the two of them meeting here could be said to be very small, that did not stop Yang Kai from hoping.
Because of the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art, he and Su Yan had formed a kind of intangible bond and could feel each other’s existence within a certain range, so if she was really here, it shouldn’t be difficult for Yang Kai to find her.
With his head filling with such thoughts, Yang Kai unconsciously wiped the ring on his finger and took out a crystal clear bead that radiated an icy cold aura.
Su Yan’s Ice Soul Bead! As long as she was alive, this bead would remain intact!
This Ice Soul Bead was given to him by Qian Yue, and even though it had been condensed many years ago, the aura which lingered about it still made Yang Kai nostalgic. Feeling the coolness of this bead on the palm of his hand, Yang Kai’s eyes softened gradually and his thoughts quickly became calm.
After storing this bead back into his Space Ring, Yang Kai let out a loud roar, like an awakening dragon, the sound echoing throughout the sky. After venting the last of his rampaging emotions, Yang Kai increased his speed as he shot towards the Emperor Garden’s main palace like lightning.
One day later, Yang Kai was still flying above the grassland, the surrounding scenery not having changed much at all, showing just how expansive this strange place was.
As he flew along, Yang Kai didn’t encounter any kind of danger. Although many cultivators had entered the Emperor Garden, they were scattered about this massive space so it was by no means crowded.
Atop this grassland, there were many strange Monster Beasts; however, they were clearly not affable, most of them either releasing potent Monster Qi to demonstrate their outstanding strength or display their incredible speed, making them all but impossible to catch up to.
Yang Kai did not intend to waste his time on these Monster Beasts, all he wanted to do was find someone to confirm he was going in the right direction.
Flying forward, Yang Kai constantly released his Divine Sense into his surroundings.
Suddenly, Yang Kai’s figure came to a stop and a smile formed on his face. Up ahead, slightly to the left, he could clearly feel the aura of living people, and quite a number of them at that.
Wanting to ask for some directions, Yang Kai quickly changed direction and flew towards this unknown group.
After just a cup of tea worth of time, Yang Kai reached a location where he could see these people and couldn’t help showing a stunned and interested expression as he stared towards a certain spot.
The reason for this was because he noticed traces of a Spirit Array.
Where he was staring, Yang Kai saw a light barrier that was flickering somewhat, as if it was showing flaws after being attacked. The scenery around this light curtain was slightly distorted, not matching with the surrounding terrain.
An Illusion Array!
Yang Kai raised his brow and looked more carefully.
The terrain here was rather special. Although it was still part of the grassland, there was also a ring-shaped hill at this location. To the naked eye, the mountain valley formed inside the ring-shaped mountain appeared perfectly normal, filled with many trees but with no signs of precious spirit grasses.
However, all of this was clearly just camouflage, because when the barrier fluctuated, the scenery inside the mountain valley also changed.
[Could I really be this lucky?]
Yang Kai was amazed. He had heard Min Sha say a day ago that there were many hidden secluded homes on this grassland, but he hadn’t expected to actually encounter one so quickly.
This mountain valley was clearly a hidden secluded home! There was no doubt about this, otherwise, there would be no need to arrange an Illusion Array around it to confuse others’ prying eyes. Despite this though, it was discovered and was now being attacked.
At this moment, two different groups of people were gathered here, four people on one side, three on the other. Both groups were led by a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master while the rest were First- or Second-Order.
The group closer to the mountain valley was the smaller one, and it was composed entirely of women.
When Yang Kai swept his eyes over these three women, he couldn’t help raising his brow slightly, revealing a thoughtful look. These three women were all wearing the same white robes and were clearly from the same Sect. Each of them was quite beautiful, with even the oldest of them radiating a unique charm. The other two had different styles of beauty, each with their own strong points.
But what Yang Kai took note of was not their appearances, but their temperaments.
Cold, aloof, even somewhat arrogant, seemingly rejecting contact with others with the frigid aura they released from their bodies!
This temperament made Yang Kai feel somewhat nostalgic, as it was very similar to how Su Yan was.
On the other side, the group of four cultivators also seemed to be from the same Sect and were all wearing red robes that seemed to burn like fire! There were three men and one woman in this group and they were all staring at the three women opposite them with clear malicious intent.
Although Yang Kai had only just arrived, it didn’t take more than a glance for him to understand what was going on.
The three women must have discovered this hidden secluded home first, but as they were attacking the barrier here, they were spotted by this group of people who had come over to lay claim to it.
However, because the gap in number and strength of these two groups wasn’t very large, a kind of stalemate had formed, with no one willing to make the first move! Generally, when cultivators encountered situations like this, there were only two possible solutions.
The first option was for them to fight it out, with the victor obtaining all the benefits.
The other was for the two sides to negotiate an agreement and explore this hidden secluded home together before distributing any benefits they found inside.
Other than these, there was no third possibility.
Yang Kai observed this situation and felt that the first option was far more likely, because from the way these two parties glared at each other with obvious hatred in their eyes, it seemed they both knew enough about the other and had some kind of deep-seeded grudge between them.
It was also a mystery to Yang Kai which star these two groups came from.
This situation was quite interesting! Yang Kai couldn’t be happier. If these two groups joined forces, he would not be able to fish for any advantages here. Facing seven opponents, two of which were Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters, Yang Kai wasn’t arrogant enough to believe he could emerge victoriously. Taking a huge risk for a secret secluded home that may or may not have any substantial benefits inside was obviously not a reasonable choice.
However, if there were enough clear benefits, Yang Kai didn’t mind inserting himself into this situation to pick some advantages.
Although these three women gave Yang Kai a more relatable impression, he had only just arrived here and shared no friendship with them, so he naturally was not about to righteously appear and support them, he simply planned on staying out of things while waiting for these two groups to fight it out with each other.
To Yang Kai’s disappointment though, neither side seemed to have any intention to act, but his arrival actually created a turning point in this delicate situation.
When Yang Kai arrived, the seven people naturally noticed him, but after realizing this newcomer was just a First-Order Origin Realm cultivator, all of them relaxed, the leader of the flaming red-robed group even revealing a disdainful look.
This leader was a burly bald-headed man and looked extremely sturdy. When he saw that Yang Kai didn’t immediately withdraw and instead floated nearby, this bald-headed man could not help snorting coldly and shouting, “Boy, there’s nothing here that concerns you. If you don’t want to die, then scram.”
Hearing this threat, Yang Kai simply curled his lips slightly, not displaying any fear, instead becoming even calmer.
The woman who was leading the other group, however, raised her brow slightly, a hint of joy actually flashing across the depths of her beautiful eyes.
There were only three people on her side, and although her personal strength wasn’t much worse than the bald-headed man leading the other party, her group was still at a disadvantage in numbers. Seeing the burly bald-headed man threaten Yang Kai so bluntly, her thoughts flashed quickly as she considered how to win Yang Kai over to her side.
As long as Yang Kai joined them, the gap between their two groups would be evened out, and she wouldn’t have any more scruples about acting.
Although a First-Order Origin Realm cultivator couldn’t be considered very strong, they were still an Origin Realm cultivator! In this kind of critical moment, this boy could definitely be of some use.
Realizing all this in a flash, the young woman no longer hesitated and directed a cold glare towards the burly bald-headed man, “Kong Wen Dong, you’re far too arrogant! With this Queen here, do you think you can still harm the innocent?”
After saying so, she turned to Yang Kai and gently nodded, saying in a warm tone, “Little brother, don’t be afraid, as long as I am alive, you need not fear him!”
“Haha…” Yang Kai laughed dryly, feeling somewhat speechless.
This young woman’s intention to win him over could not be more obvious, and with his vision, Yang Kai obviously understood what she was planning. She needed his help, otherwise, she would not have spoken up to shelter an irrelevant outsider.
However, judging from the dialogue between the two parties, these people really did know each other and shared a deep enmity.
“Cheap slut!” The burly bald-headed man smiled contemptuously, “Do you have such ability? Actually saying this Kong is too arrogant, I’d say you’re the one who is acting arrogant here!”
Saying so, he turned to glare at Yang Kai and said fiercely, “Boy, I’ll warn you one last time, if you don’t want to die, hurry up and scram! Don’t think that this cheap slut will really protect you, if you dare interfere in my Brilliant Flame Sect and her Ice Heart Valley’s dispute, all that awaits you is a cruel death!”
[Brilliant Flame Sect, Ice Heart Valley…] Yang Kai raised his brow. Although he had not heard of these two great forces, just from their names it was clear they were incompatible.
Naturally, he didn’t put Kong Wen Dong’s threat in his eyes though. With his current strength, if someone wanted to kill him, they’d need to be at least an Origin King; no Origin Realm cultivator had such ability.
The young woman smiled even wider as she brushed her hair back and said carelessly, “Kong Wen Dong, it seems you’ve only grown more cowardly with age, are you only able to bark threats to others now? Little brother, you don’t need to be afraid of him, although his Brilliant Flame Sect isn’t weak, my Ice Heart Valley is not easy to bully either. If you can help this Mistress here, this Mistress can give you some benefits, what do you say?”
Listening to her say this, Kong Wen Dong frowned while Yang Kai showed an interested look. Putting on a look that screamed ‘men die for wealth as birds die for food’, he grinned and asked, “What kind of benefits?”
The young woman smiled brilliantly as she lightly replied, “Some pills and Saint Crystals?”
Yang Kai couldn’t help laughing as he slowly shook his head.
While pills and Saint Crystals may have a lot of appeal to other First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators, they meant nothing to Yang Kai.
“What benefit do you want then?” The young woman seemed a little displeased that Yang Kai actually wanted to bargain with her at this time.
Before Yang Kai could answer though, Kong Wen Dong cut in. How could he sit back and watch Yang Kai be drawn over to the young women’s side? With an aggressive look on his face, he loudly shouted, “Boy, this Kong gave you an opportunity! Since you insist on courting death, you can only blame yourself! If this Kong wants to kill a trivial First-Order Origin Realm brat, who here can block me?”
Saying so, Kong Wen Dong pushed his Saint Qi and released a burning aura from his body, causing the surrounding temperature to soar.
He looked like he was about to unleash a killing blow, but he was actually just putting up a front, hoping to make Yang Kai retreat. Since he had offended this Yang Kai the moment he appeared, Kong Wen Dong naturally didn’t want him to remain, but before understanding Yang Kai’s details and background, he didn’t really dare start a fight.
His plan was quite good, and his reasoning was sound, but the young woman opposing him was also no fool. How could she let Yang Kai just leave now? Without waiting for Kong Wen Dong to even finish what he was saying, she shouted, “If you think you have the skill just try it!”
A chill radiating from her tender body as she glared towards Kong Wen Dong without fear.
Yang Kai frowned as he shot a gloomy look towards this beautiful woman.
Just listening to this young woman’s words, she didn’t seem to be saying anything wrong, even showing some intentions to shelter him, but if Yang Kai wasn’t wrong, it seemed she didn’t have such pure intentions.
On the contrary, this woman seemed eager for Kong Wen Dong to attack him!
If this burly bald-headed man really attacked him, Yang Kai would inevitably be pushed towards the three women’s side! At that time, whether he wanted to or not, in order to survive, he would have to join forces with them!
This woman… wasn’t clear as ice or pure as jade as she seemed, instead she was quite manipulative. This greatly reduced Yang Kai’s impression of her.
The key now was whether or not Kong Wen Dong would act on her provocations! With things reaching this point, Yang Kai could only look towards the burly bald-headed man again and sigh to himself.
Since this man declared himself to be from Brilliant Flame Sect, obviously he must cultivate a Fire Attribute Secret Art. Most cultivators that cultivated this attribute of Secret Art had short tempers, irritable personalities, and aggressive impulses. This had nothing to do with their personalities but rather was connected to the innate qualities of their Secret Arts.
The young woman’s few words truly provoked Kong Wen Dong Shi, and with him already being prone to violence, how could he hesitate? What’s more, he really didn’t put a trivial First-Order Origin Returning Realm boy in his eyes, otherwise, he wouldn’t have tried to expel Yang Kai with no trace of politeness when he just arrived.
Grinning, Kong Wen Dong snorted, “Boy, don’t blame father here, when you arrive in the nether world, blame this cheap slut for forcing my hand!”
Saying so, he stretched out his hand and made a grasping motion towards Yang Kai.
Fire Attribute energy in the surroundings immediately began gathering together above Yang Kai’s head, condensing into a blazing palm in the next instant, then slammed down towards Yang Kai without a hint of mercy.
Seeing this scene, the women on the other side all narrowed their eyes as they showed dignified looks on their faces. Although they had fought with Brilliant Flame Sect’s cultivators for many years, this was the first time they had witnessed such an imposing attack. Kong Wen Dong had clearly achieved a high degree of mastery of his Fire Attribute strength!
While slightly fearful, witnessing this attack, the leading young woman was not about to let this rare opportunity pass!
Just as Kong Wen Dong attacked Yang Kai, and almost everyone’s attention had been attracted, this young woman suddenly formed a seal with her hands while condensing an ice-cold strength from her body to form a pure white spear. With a soft shout, this ice spear shot out at tremendous speed towards the Brilliant Flame Sect’s weakest cultivator.
The cultivation realm of this cultivator was the same as Yang Kai’s First-Order Origin Returning Realm, the weakest existence among these seven people.
Better to cripple a weak enemy than merely weaken a strong one. This young woman appeared gentle but was actually ruthless and merciless.
The pitiful scream rang out as the cultivator targeted by the young woman coughed up blood. Although they had instinctually dodged at the last moment, avoiding instant death, they still had an ice spear penetrate straight through their lower abdomen, suffering a critical blow!
This wasn’t surprising though as he was sneak-attacked by a cultivator two Minor Realms above him. It was lucky for him to even be alive at this moment. Even so, most of his combat strength had been lost, so if a fight broke out, the role he could play would not be big.
With her attacking going well, the young woman’s beautiful face showed a satisfied smile.
After a moment of shock, Kong Wen Dong’s face suddenly distorted with rage as he cursed, “Cheap slut, this was your plan all along!”
He had underestimated the viciousness of this young woman. He thought that after he attacked, this young woman would show goodwill by rescuing Yang Kai, thus drawing him over to her side and turning the situation into a four versus four.
But instead, this woman had not paid any attention to whether Yang Kai lived or died, not even attempting to rescue him and instead taking advantage of the situation to cause heavy losses to one of Kong Wen Dong’s allies.
Exchanging the life of an unknown, unrelated boy for the fighting strength of an enemy, Ice Heart Valley had made a huge profit on this sale!
Kong Wen Dong’s face became extremely ugly, as if he had just been forced to eat a fly.
The young woman, on the other hand, smiled radiantly as she said leisurely, “Kong Wen Dong, if you know your limits, hurry up and leave, otherwise don’t blame this Queen for acting ruthlessly.”
“Bitch!” Kong Wen Dong cursed, “You think you can not place father here in your eyes? You don’t know the immensity of Heaven and Earth!”
“Hmph, take a look at what this is!” The young woman didn’t pay any mind to the other party’s insults, instead waving her hand and summoning an exquisite looking drum into her palm, one that gave off astonishing energy fluctuations.
“Profound Yin Heart Shattering Drum!” The burly bald-headed man’s eyes shrank when he saw this and was nearly stunned silent. Seemingly recognizing this artifact and finding it impossible to believe it was in this young woman’s hands, he cried out in disbelief, “How could you have this thing!?”
The young woman simply giggled lightly, “Since we planned to enter the Emperor Garden, we would naturally bring some good artifacts to protect ourselves. What? Don’t you have an Origin King Grade artifact?”
These few words almost caused Kong Wen Dong to choke. He and this young woman had similar cultivations, and their status in their respective Sects was almost the same, but now, she had an Origin King Grade artifact while he did not. Comparing himself to her, Kong Wen Dong suddenly felt somewhat poor and unvalued.
How he felt though, wasn’t of any consequence, the key was the power of this artifact. Since it was an Origin King Grade artifact, it certainly possessed great lethality, and understanding the peculiarities of this Profound Yin Heart Shattering Drum, Kong Wen Dong couldn’t help showing a look of fear on his face.
But soon, he let out a snide laugh, as if he had just figured out something, and taunted “Slut, don’t try to pretend in front of Father. If you could use the full power of this Profound Yin Heart Shattering Drum, why didn’t you just take it out from the start? You haven’t fully refined that thing, have you?”
This time, it was the young woman’s face that turned gloomy.
It was indeed as Kong Wen Dong said, this Origin King Grade artifact had been specially given to her by her Sect’s Elders for this trip to the Emperor Garden; after this expedition was over, she would need to return it. Having only received it a short time ago, naturally, she had yet to fully refine it, so at most she could exert half of this artifact’s power. If this wasn’t the case, she wouldn’t have wasted so much time with Kong Wen Dong and instead used it directly to repel him.
Seeing the young woman’s face changed slightly, Kong Wen Dong immediately knew he was right and laughed even harder, “Taking out an artifact you haven’t refined to scare this Kong? Bitch, you think this Kong Mou is so easily fooled?”
“So what? An Origin King Grade artifact is still an Origin King Grade artifact. If you want to try its might, I’d be happy to accommodate you. If you don’t have the courage, then hurry up and scram!” The young woman coldly declared.
Kong Wen Dong frowned and fell silent for a moment, not knowing what decision to make.
On the one hand, he very much wanted whatever treasures were hidden inside this secluded home, but on the other hand, he was wary of the Profound Yin Heart Shattering Drum. He really didn’t want to test its power, so his expression became hesitant.
“Hey, are you guys going to fight or not? If you aren’t, I have other things to do,” An exasperated voice suddenly called out from nearby, instantly drawing everyone’s attention, causing them to stare dumbfounded towards a certain spot.
At the spot where all of them were staring was a whirl of flame, the very one that Kong Wen Dong had condensed from the surrounding Fire Attribute energy a moment ago. But before everyone’s eyes, the roaring flames were quickly dispersed, revealing a figure hiding within them.
“How is that possible?” Kong Wen Dong almost bit his tongue, unable to believe his eyes.
There, the First-Order Origin Returning Realm boy who he attacked was standing calmly; not only had this brat not died, he actually seemed completely unscathed.
How could that be?
Kong Wen Dong was well aware of the power of his attack just now. Forget about a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, even if it was a Third-Order Origin Realm master they shouldn’t have been able to simply shrug off this blow. As for this First Order boy, he should have been instantly burnt to ash.
The other party hadn’t summoned any kind of defensive artifact at all, nor did he seem to use his Saint Qi to shield himself, so how was he able to remain unhurt?
Kong Wen Dong almost thought he was dreaming.
Not only was he shocked, but the three young women from Ice Heart Valley were thoroughly stunned as well, their eyes filled with surprise.
Yang Kai, on the other hand, wore a helpless expression. Originally, after being attacked by Kong Wen Dong, he had concealed his aura and was planning on sitting atop the mountain while watching the tigers fight. But now it seemed that this idea was somewhat unrealistic. The strength of these two parties was now essentially equal, so their stalemate was likely to drag on for quite some time unless something happened to tip the balance again.
With no other options, Yang Kai could only reveal himself.
Now, however, not only was Kong Wen Dong’s expression quite ugly, the lead young woman’s expression was also somewhat bitter.
When Yang Kai had been attacked just now, instead of trying to help him she had used him as bait to launch a sneak attack on her enemy. While the words she spoke were righteous, when Yang Kai actually faced danger she had stood by and done nothing, so she was naturally feeling somewhat embarrassed.
However, compared to Kong Wen Dong, the young woman still occupied some advantage; after all, she had only used Yang Kai rather than directly attacking him, so after quickly adjusting her expression, she called out sweetly, “Sure enough, little brother is truly fierce. This Mistress knew you would be fine.”
She spoke as if she had predicted this outcome.
Yang Kai simply chuckled before striding forward and saying, “Enough idle chatter. Sister, is the offer you made just now still valid?”
The young woman was stunned for a moment before immediately becoming overjoyed, quickly nodding, “Naturally!”
“Good!” Yang Kai nodded with satisfaction, “In that case, after this matter is settled, I want half of whatever is inside this secluded home. If Sister agrees, I will immediately help you. If you don’t agree, I’ll be on my way.”
“Half?” The young woman gawked at Yang Kai, a displeased look soon filling her face as she snorted, “Little brother, don’t you think this proposal is a little unfair?”
“How is it unfair?” Yang Kai looked at her with a grin.
“You are all alone and only have a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation, but my Ice Heart Valley has three people. Even if we split everything evenly between us, you should receive a quarter of the benefits inside this place, as for taking half… Hehe, aren’t you simply asking for the lion’s share?”
“I don’t think so!” Yang Kai shook his head earnestly, “If I don’t intervene here, you won’t get anything, which means that in order to obtain anything you need to secure my cooperation, so our two sides each taking half the benefits here is truly a fair proposal.”
“Nonsense!” The young woman shook her head vigorously and said firmly, “I can’t agree to this proposal, I can at most give you a fifth of what’s inside; if you can’t agree, then forget the whole matter.”
“Is that so?” Yang Kai grinned even wider as he looked her over with interest, “Even if they have their own reinforcements on the way, you won’t agree?”
“What did you say?” The young woman’s complexion changed.
“Why don’t you take a look for yourself?” Yang Kai replied casually.
The young woman was no fool and swiftly turned her head to look at the four Brilliant Flame Sect cultivators opposing her, her eyes narrowing coldly a moment later. The reason was simple, the First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator she had wounded heavily was now secretly pouring his Divine Sense into a communication artifact, seemingly trying to call for help, but whether he had succeeded yet was impossible to tell.
Seeing this scene, the lead young woman immediately knew that this matter could no longer be delayed, grit her teeth, and nodded, “Good, half it is. As long as we can obtain the treasures inside this mountain valley, this Mistress will definitely not go back on her word!”
“I certainly hope you mean what you say!” Yang Kai gave her a meaningful stare, causing the young woman’s heart to clench up, for some reason feeling a little uneasy.
But soon, she swept such thoughts aside. Right now, what was most important was to drag this little brat into this muddy water. As for how to distribute the benefits inside this mountain valley, that wasn’t for him to decide. As long as she gave him a tenth or so, it should be fine.
As for giving him half… it was just pure nonsense. Even if she didn’t plan on completely burning bridges after crossing them, if this little brat didn’t know his limits, it wouldn’t be too late to put him in his place when the time came.
“You may rest assured.” Thinking so, the young woman smiled lightly.
While Yang Kai was negotiating with the young woman, Kong Wen Dong didn’t try to interrupt. He knew that he had formed an irresolvable grudge with Yang Kai, so no matter what he said now, it wouldn’t matter. After Yang Kai and the young woman finished though, he grinned fiercely and asked, “Boy, you must think highly of yourself, don’t you?”
“Whether that’s the case or not, you’ll soon understand,” Yang Kai grinned but didn’t go to find trouble with Kong Wen Dong; after all, of the four Brilliant Flame Sect cultivators, this burly, bald-headed man was the strongest and would certainly be a bit troublesome to deal with. Instead, Yang Kai targeted an elderly man at the Second-Order Origin Returning Realm who was wearing black robes and had his beard tied up in three braids, giving him an almost sage-like appearance despite his skin looking quite soft and supple.
A Golden Blood Thread flew out towards the old man in yellow robes, showering him in a storm of swift, cutting attacks.
Seeing Yang Kai take action so decisively, without any intention of holding back or delaying, even choosing an opponent a Minor Realm above himself, the three women from Ice Heart Valley all reacted joyfully. The leading young woman also let out a shout and met Kong Wen Dong head-on while the remaining two women each engaged their own opponent.
From Ice Heart Valley’s side, besides the lead young woman who was a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, one was at the Second-Order while the last was at the First-Order.
The remaining Brilliant Flame Sect cultivators had identical cultivations.
However, Brilliant Flame Sect’s First-Order Origin Realm cultivator had taken a serious blow from Ice Heart Valley’s leader, so the First-Order Origin Realm woman from Ice Heart Valley would obviously not need to spend much time dispatching him. Once she won that battle, she would be able to assist the others.
One by one, a rolling snowball effect would be created, and Brilliant Flame Sect’s group would eventually suffer defeat!
The lead young woman instantly predicted how the battle would proceed and secretly celebrated, but couldn’t help glancing over at Yang Kai with some concern; after all, her predictions were all based on Yang Kai’s ability to entangle the yellow-robed old man.
If Yang Kai was quickly killed by this yellow-robed old man from Brilliant Flame Sect, her predictions would not be true.
The young women could only hope Yang Kai would be able to hold out.
She believed that Yang Kai would be caught in a one-sided battle, constantly on the defensive, barely able to support himself; after all, his opponent was a Minor Realm above him in cultivation.
But when she glanced over, the young woman was shocked!
The battle was indeed one-sided, but not the way she had imagined, it was actually the Second-Order Origin Realm old man in yellow robes who was beset with difficulties and was barely managing to support himself.
The old man’s figure was constantly being attacked by threads of golden light that seemed capable of slicing through space itself. Every time these golden lights flickered, the old man would have to put all his strength into defending himself, simply not having enough spare capacity to counterattack.
The young woman leader from Ice Heart Valley almost felt her eyes pop out of their sockets!
In that moment of distraction, she was nearly injured by Kong Wen Dong though, and in a panic, she quickly calmed her mind and focused on her own fight, no longer paying any attention to Yang Kai.
At the same time, on Yang Kai’s side, the old man in yellow robes had gone pale, never having expected that this First-Order Origin Returning Realm young man to be so difficult to deal with.
The golden threads attacking him had unparalleled sharpness. He couldn’t tell what kind of Secret Technique these golden threads were, but every time they slashed towards him they easily managed to slice apart the Saint Qi he condensed to protect himself.
The yellow-robed old man was quickly forced to summon his Artifact Armour, but even after doing so, he was having difficulties simply protecting himself.
This wasn’t the worst part of it for the old man though; what was the most unbearable for him was that he had no way to suppress his opponent with his Shi. When Origin Realm masters fought, the strength of their respective Shi could sometimes become the decisive factor.
Once one managed to overwhelm their opponent’s Shi with their own, they could thoroughly suppress their enemy, making them far easier to deal with.
The yellow-robed old man hadn’t put Yang Kai in his eyes at the start of their battle, thinking he could use his superior Shi to suppress this young man. But the moment he released his Shi, it was actually cut apart by the strange golden threads, unable to even form a cohesive field much less cover Yang Kai.
[These golden threads are actually able to cut apart Shi!] The old man was thoroughly shocked by this and didn’t dare underestimate Yang Kai again. Letting out a fierce roar, he waved his hands and condensed a washbasin sized fireball before fiercely pushing it out towards Yang Kai.
Halfway to its target, the giant fireball exploded, separating into countless smaller fireballs that blotted out the sky and surged forward with imposing force.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes slightly before flicking his wrist and sending out a stream of Demonic Flame fireballs to meet his opponents.
“You want to play with fire?” The old man in yellow robes saw this and couldn’t help wearing a smile of ridicule. He was an expert in controlling flames; after all, he was a master from Brilliant Flame Sect and had spent his entire life cultivating Fire Attribute Secret Arts and Secret Techniques. As such, even if this young man had a strange technique which allowed him to eliminate Shi, the old man was confident that in a competition of Fire Attribute Secret Techniques, he would come out on top.
Thinking so, he prepared himself to watch a good show.
But in the next moment, his smiling face stiffened before it was quickly replaced with an expression of shock.
The black fireballs the young man released actually began giving off a frigid aura, one even stronger than the Ice Attribute Secret Techniques Ice Heart Valley cultivators used. Still, they seemed ordinary when they were first shot out, but soon after these cold fireballs twisted and morphed into tiny flying birds that while seemingly scattered and disorderly, flew out with extreme precision towards his own fireballs.
“Yuan Control Mastery!” The old man in yellow robes’ eyes shrank as his face filled with shock.
Although Yuan Control Mastery was technically achievable by those at the Origin Returning Realm, not everyone was capable of using it. The yellow-robed old man had also spent time cultivating Yuan Control Mastery and even had some small accomplishments in it, but he was unable to use the kind of precise Saint Qi control that Yang Kai clearly could.
Being able to have such profound Yuan Control Mastery was not achievable simply through comprehension and practice, it also required incredibly powerful Spiritual Energy!
This boy was obviously just a First-Order Origin Realm cultivator, so how did he possess this kind of ability? The old man couldn’t help silently calling out in alarm as he realized he was at a disadvantage.
Although they were both using flames, his opponent’s attack was obviously much sharper and stronger thanks to his superb Yuan Control Mastery.
Sure enough, when the black birds met his fireballs, the red hot flames were immediately frozen and annihilated while the little birds received only minor damage. They then gathered together to condense a giant black firebird and proceeded to strike out towards him.
“Have a taste of my flames!” Yang Kai grinned and transformed his ice-cold Demonic Flames into a scorching inferno with a single thought.
Yang Kai’s Demonic Flames could be hot or cold, and he only needed to will it so in order to change their nature, making these black flames incredibly difficult to counter.
The old man in yellow robes failed to notice this mutation right away and suffered a big loss as a result.
The change from cold to hot was too fast, catching him off guard and unprepared, only able to hurriedly summon a shield-like defensive artifact, which transformed into a light curtain around his body just before he was enveloped by Yang Kai’s Demonic Flame.
Thinking his strike had gone well, Yang Kai was about to step forward and deal the finishing blow when his brow suddenly furrowed and he immediately leapt backwards.
*Hong…*
With a loud bang, the light curtain guarding the yellow-robed old man suddenly exploded. Using the force of his artifact exploding, the old man was able to escape the Demonic Flames while simultaneously retreating several dozen metres to relative safety.
From the looks of it, the yellow-robed old man didn’t suffer much damage and only looked slightly dishevelled.
For the cost of a defensive artifact, this old man had managed to escape from the Demonic Flames, illustrating how decisive he was.
Yang Kai was secretly surprised and had to admit that he had somewhat underestimated his opponent. Anyone who could reach the Second-Order Origin Returning Realm clearly had a wealth of combat experience!
“Boy! This old master must skin you alive to dispel his hatred!” After the yellow-robed old man narrowly escaped disaster, not only did he not give in, but he ground his teeth and glared towards Yang Kai threateningly instead.
As soon as his words fell, this old man drew in a sharp breath, his expression becoming strained, as if he was about to execute some kind of powerful Secret Technique.
Naturally, Yang Kai was not going to sit back and wait for this old man to act. Although he didn’t know what kind of card his opponent was going to play, the tide of battle could shift in the blink of an eye; perhaps this yellow-robed old man really had some kind of killing blow that could reverse his current disadvantage.
Considering this, Yang Kai flicked his wrist again and sent his Golden Blood Thread piercing forward like a spear towards the old man’s head.
The Golden Blood Thread’s sharpness was unrivalled, and after being warmed and nourished by Yang Kai for such a long time, its power was truly immense. Furthermore, Yang Kai could control this Golden Blood Thread as if it was an extension of his body. After the yellow-robed old man self-destructed his defensive artifact, it was clear that he only had the Artifact Armour he was wearing to protect himself, so Yang Kai could use his Golden Blood Thread to pierce him where his guard was weakest.
Yang Kai had full confidence to kill or severely injure his opponent with this blow.
What shocked Yang Kai though was that, facing his Golden Blood Thread, the old man did not show any intention to dodge, simply standing in place and spitting out a fiery red wave of energy from his mouth.
In the blink of an eye, a crimson red mass appeared in front of the old man, radiating a power so imposing that even Yang Kai could not help feeling shocked!
This red mass was clearly still composed of Fire Attribute energy, but its energy fluctuations were on a completely different level compared to the flames the old man had released previously and obviously contained profound mystery.
Just after this fiery red mass took shape, the Golden Blood Thread pierced into it.
The moment it did, however, Yang Kai’s complexion changed slightly, and he immediately withdrew his Golden Blood Thread. With a frown, Yang Kai saw that the leading section of his Golden Blood Thread showed signs of melting.
If Yang Kai had not swiftly pulled his Golden Blood Thread back, the forward section of it would surely have evaporated, causing a certain amount of backlash against him.
Yang Kai could not help narrowing his eyes slightly, not having anticipated that his opponent’s Secret Technique would be so powerful.
On the other hand, the old man’s original ruddy face had gone slightly pale, most likely because of the heavy burden using this Secret Technique had on him. Even so, he laughed wildly, “Boy, have a taste of this old master’s Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire’s might!”
Saying so, the old man pushed his hands forward and madly poured his Saint Qi into the fiery red haze. With this infusion of Saint Qi, the fiery red haze swelled up suddenly and began releasing a heat that caused the space around it to distort. In the next instant, this heat mass transformed into a kind of ferocious-looking monster that rippled with intense flames.
As soon as this monster took shape, it pounced towards Yang Kai, seemingly melting the air around it as it moved forward, the sand and gravel down below turning into molten glass, making for a shocking scene.
This monster wasn’t just composed of extremely high-temperature flames though, as there were obvious streaks of jet black lightning swimming about its form, crackling violently, adding to its ominous prestige.
However, Yang Kai was not the least bit afraid facing this strange creature, only wearing a somewhat puzzled look on his face, seemingly lost in thought.
But soon, he regained his calm, and with a quick thought, a sharp bird cry rang out and a strange-looking Firebird leapt from his body, spreading its several dozen metre wide wings as it released a dazzling light into the surrounding space.
Firebird Artifact Spirit!
After being released by Yang Kai, the Artifact Spirit’s eyes flashed with excitement as it stared at the monster rushing towards Yang Kai. It was like it saw a delicious feast.
The moment the Artifact Spirit appeared, the strange thunder fires monster’s imposing manner stagnated for a moment and its eyes even flashed a look of dread, seemingly terrified of the Firebird before it. At the same time, the speed at which it was charging dramatically decreased.
The self-satisfied look on the yellow-robed old man’s face instantly cramped up, as if someone had just slapped him across the face, causing his jaw to drop as he stared at the Firebird Artifact Spirit Firebird in amazement.
He had never imagined that Yang Kai could use a method similar to his.
However, worrying now was useless. He did not believe that this boy’s methods could compare to the Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire he had cultivated for most of his life and had absolute confidence in.
In his moment of absent-mindedness, the Firebird Artifact Spirit and strange thunder fire monster collided and a bizarre scene of two different flames battling each other suddenly emerged. Monstrous howls and sharp bird cries constantly rang out as the two fought one another for dominance.
The yellow-robed old man secretly began to sweat while he watched; although he felt that his means were superior, saying he was not concerned at all would be a lie.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was extremely indifferent. His Firebird Artifact Spirit had even absorbed many wisps of Sun’s True Fire, and although he did not know what this Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire was, Yang Kai was certain it wasn’t on the same level as the Sun’s True Essence.
His Firebird Artifact Spirit should not have any difficulty dealing with it.
Taking advantage of this brief pause in hostilities, Yang Kai quickly probed the situation on the other battlefields.
Kong Wen Dong and the lead young woman’s battle need not be mentioned. With the two of them both having the same cultivation, without using the Origin King Grade Profound Yin Heart Shattering Drum artifact, neither could gain the upper hand on the other.
The same was true for the battle between the two Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators nearby.
The battle between the two First-Order Origin Realm cultivators, on the contrary, was completely lopsided, with the woman from Ice Heart Valley holding a distinct advantage. This was not a surprise though as her opponent had suffered a heavy blow from Ice Heart Valley’s leader before the battle began and was thus unable to display much of his strength at the moment. He could only clench his teeth and struggle desperately.
Even so, it was obvious this man was not far from being defeated.
As long as Ice Heart Valley’s side won a single battle, the momentum would shift dramatically in their favour and obtaining victory would only be a matter of time.
It only took Yang Kai a moment to use his Divine Sense to determine the situation around himself, but immediately after he learned what he wanted to, a mournful beast roar suddenly rang out from in front of him.
Yang Kai raised his brow and looked over just in time to see his Firebird Artifact Spirit Firebird completely suppress the strange thunder fire monster beast, wrapping itself around it completely.
Although the two creatures were both composed purely of flame, they both had their own unique advantages and disadvantages.
Yang Kai’s Artifact Spirit had long ago obtained sentience and had been nourished by the Earth’s Lung Fire Pond for over ten thousand years. Even in its original form, the Firebird was not a creature ordinary flames could compete with, and after swallowing several wisps of Sun’s True Fire, it had only become stronger. The monster transformed from the yellow-robed old man’s Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire was simply incomparable to it.
As such, moments after the fight began, the strange thunder fire monster fell into a disadvantage and, judging from the Firebird Artifact Spirit’s current behaviour, it seemed it wanted to swallow this thunder fire beast entirely.
Realizing this, the yellow-robed old man immediately became angry and anxious. He had spent a huge amount of his strength to use his trump card, but now it was obviously unable to play any role, so how could he not feel like coughing up blood?
Continuously pushing his Divine Sense, the old man attempted to recall his Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire monster from the Firebird Artifact Spirit’s suppression, but his efforts were to no avail.
“Old dog, look here!” Yang Kai suddenly grinned towards the old man and called out to him.
The yellow-robed old man could not help turning his head to look towards Yang Kai, wary that this boy would try to use this opportunity to attack him if he didn’t.
But the moment his eyes met Yang Kai’s; he was no longer able to look away.
In Yang Kai’s left eye, a strange lotus-bud strangely appeared before swiftly taking root in the old man’s Knowledge Sea, its beautiful petals slowly beginning to blossom in the next instant.
What horrified the yellow-robed old man though was that as this lotus blossomed, his Spiritual Energy began gathering towards it, as if it was being absorbed by it regardless of how he tried to stop it!
It was almost like this lotus was using his Spiritual Energy as nourishment to make itself bloom.
In the blink of an eye, almost a tenth of his Spiritual Energy had been drained and the rate of consumption was only increasing. At this rate, the old man estimated it would be less than ten breaths of time before his entire Knowledge Sea was dried up.
Once this happened, his Soul would suffer a devastating blow, one that would be extremely difficult to recover from.
The yellow-robed old man was thoroughly terrified and could not spare any of his attention to urge his Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire, quickly pushing all of his Spiritual Energy towards the strange blooming lotus to submerge it.
*Hong…*
A silent explosion occurred in the old man’s Knowledge Sea, instantly filling it with great waves and storms.
*Pu…*
The old man immediately coughed up a large blood mist, as if he suffered a serious injury.
Although he had used his Divine Sense to forcibly dispel Yang Kai’s Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique, he had still suffered a severe blow as a result.
As the saying goes, however, good fortune never came in pairs while misfortunes never occurred alone. Just as the old man escaped this crisis, without his conscious control, his Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire was swallowed by the Firebird Artifact Spirit.
The Firebird once again revealed its original form, but the strange thunder fire monster transformed from the old man’s Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire was nowhere to be seen. However, if one looked carefully, they could spot a few streaks of black lightning swimming about the Artifact Spirit’s belly.
There was no doubt it was the Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire!
*Pu…*
Another blood mist spurted from the yellow-robed old man’s mouth. His Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire was connected to his Soul, but now that the Firebird had swallowed it and forcibly cut this connection, it was inevitable for the old man to suffer backlash.
These successive blows had caused the yellow-robed old man’s momentum and aura to drastically weaken and his face was as pale as paper. Nothing remained of this Second-Order Origin Returning Realm’s former arrogance, and now he simply looked like a frail old man who was in danger of being toppled by a strong breeze.
One wrong move had led to his complete loss. This yellow-robed old man had never anticipated that a trivial First-Order Origin Returning Realm boy could force him to this extent.
Before the old man could even stabilize his turbulent Saint Qi though, a streak of golden flashed towards him.
Yang Kai’s Golden Blood Thread!
Taking advantage of an opponent’s moment of weakness to finish them was something Yang Kai had long ago learnt through his many years of wandering and innumerable battles.
The yellow-robed old man was already an arrow at the end of its flight, so despite knowing the approaching Golden Blood Thread was a life-threatening attack, he was simply unable to avoid or resist it. He was only able to hurriedly push his Saint Qi to protect himself and pray it would be enough for him to survive.
With a slicing noise, however, the old man’s Saint Qi protection was pierced through like paper and his head was swiftly penetrated by the sharp Golden Blood Thread.
The yellow-robed old man’s lips squirmed as he stared towards Yang Kai in disbelief, seemingly wanting to say something but unable to form any words; soon after his vitality drained from his eyes.
When Yang Kai withdrew his Golden Blood Thread, the old man’s body crumpled to the ground.
Since Yang Kai first rushed his opponent, only half a cup of tea’s worth of time had passed yet the result had already been decided with the yellow-robed old man, who supposedly had higher strength, being the one who fell.
The briefness of this battle and the unexpected end result thoroughly shocked everyone present.
In truth, Yang Kai was also quite surprised. Although Yang Kai didn’t fear a mere Second-Order Origin Realm cultivator and was even confident he could kill one with his current means, from the beginning of this fight until its conclusion, he had not even exerted all his strength; mainly using his Golden Blood Thread and Firebird Artifact Spirit and momentarily activating his Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique once.
It was not that he was trying to conserve or conceal his strength, it was simply that he didn’t need to show any more of his methods.
The Firebird Artifact Spirit was a significant factor in why the yellow-robed old man fell so quickly, however; if it hadn’t devoured the old man’s Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire, causing him heavy losses, it would have been impossible for Yang Kai to have won so easily.
Although the others present were all engaged in their own battles, everyone was still paying attention to the changes in their surroundings, so the death of the old man naturally was not missed by them.
Seeing Yang Kai kill the yellow-robed old man so easily, the burly bald man, Kong Wen Dong, could not help becoming furious while also showing an extremely ugly expression. Even the beautiful young female leader from Ice Heart Valley had a look of dread flash across her face.
She had thought that Yang Kai was not strong, so although she had deliberately tried to win him over, she had not counted on him providing much help, nor had she taken the conditions he previously proposed seriously, but how could she have known that this young man was not only ruthless but also extremely powerful?
However, considering everything, the young woman was far happier than depressed; after all, with a cultivator from Brilliant Flame Sect dead, she was now certain her group would win this battle.
Thinking so, she immediately yelled to Yang Kai, “Little brother, please hurry to assist this Mistress’ sisters!”
“Sure!” Yang Kai nodded casually before turning his eyes to the First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator who had been hit by the woman’s sneak attack earlier.
This man was seriously injured and was being thoroughly suppressed by his opponent from Ice Heart Valley. He was already unable to fight back and was barely able to defend himself, so after seeing the yellow-robed old man die and noticing Yang Kai eyeing him menacingly, how could this man not begin to panic?
With his state of mind thrown into chaos, his strength fell once more, and faced with the fierce assault of his Ice Heart Valley opponent, he actually allowed himself to suffer a hit in order to withdraw from the battle and attempt to escape.
The woman from Ice Heart Valley definitely would not allow her opponent’s plan to succeed and took this opportunity to land a heavy blow with her artifact, opening a giant gash on the fleeing man’s back and causing him to cough up blood and crash to the ground.
This young woman had a beautiful continence and seemed gentle and temperate, but she understood the concept of beating a snake to death to avoid future calamity and immediately stepped forward to deliver a final blow; ending her opponent’s life.
After winning this battle, she and Yang Kai exchanged a glance before both of them flew towards another battlefield.
These two chose was the one where the two Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators were fighting. Originally, this battle had been an even fight, but with Yang Kai and the other First-Order Ice Heart Valley woman joining in, the situation immediately changed.
With the situation becoming a three on one, the female cultivator from Brilliant Flame Sect had no chance of running away, persisting only thirty breaths of time before she was killed by the two women from Ice Heart Valley.
Yang Kai only played a containment role, but his contribution was no less significant!
The state of this battle had changed far faster than anyone expected and Ice Heart Valley grained the absolute upper hand with Yang Kai serving as a lynchpin. Currently, only Kong Wen Dong left of the original group of four from Brilliant Flame Sect.
Seeing that the situation had become hopeless, hatred flashed across the depths of Kong Wen Dong’s eyes as he shouted out fiercely, “Cheap slut, Father will make you pay for this one day!”
Saying so, he made a feint and escaped from the range of the young woman he was fighting, condensed a mighty flame around his body, and shot off towards the distance at incredible speed.
It was impossible to tell what kind of escaping Secret Technique had been used.
In a moment of distraction, the young woman actually allowed Kong Wen Dong to flee several kilometres before her beautiful face darkened.
The last thing she wanted was to allow Kong Wen Dong to escape and call for help, the situation might turn against her again, so she quickly shouted, “Stop him!”
Hearing her cry, the other two Ice Heart Valley women naturally flew off, but Yang Kai simply frowned and stood in place without moving.
Whether Kong Wen Dong lived or died was none of his concern. Yang Kai didn’t know what star Brilliant Flame Sect was based on, so even if he allowed Kong Wen Dong to flee, no harm would come to him. What Yang Kai cared about now was the benefits inside this hidden secluded home. As long as he could break through the barrier protecting this place and obtain the treasures inside, he could just calmly depart.
He had no interest in inserting himself in the grudge between Brilliant Flame Sect and Ice Heart Valley.
Seeing Yang Kai not moving, clearly showing no intention to help, the young woman leader from Ice Heart Sect could not help becoming somewhat flurried, but she quickly thought of something and said, “Kong Wen Dong also has a Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire on him, killing him will allow your Spirit Fire to obtain more benefits!”
Her mind really was quite sharp as it only took her one sentence to arouse Yang Kai’s interest!
“Really?” Yang Kai looked at her suspiciously; after all, that Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire had looked quite powerful so his first thought was that the yellow-robed old man had obtained it through some kind of rare opportunity, therefore, he found it difficult to believe that Kong Wen Dong had one as well.
“How could this Mistress deceive you? I can explain the specific reasons for this later, but believe me when I say Kong Wen Dong definitely has a Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire on him!” Seeing Yang Kai’s look of interest, the young woman immediately knew she had made the right bet and quickly offered her assurances.
“If that’s the case, we really can’t let him run away!” Yang Kai’s eyes flashed before his figure flickered and he suddenly disappeared.
When he reappeared, he was already a few kilometres away.
The young female leader’s eyes shrank when she saw this and her sense of dread increased once more. Even with her cultivation, she was unable to see what kind of miraculous Movement Skill Yang Kai had used to achieve such speed.
This wasn’t surprising since the Space Force Yang Kai cultivated was something very few people could recognize, and even fewer could cultivate to any practical degree. Only if someone like Heaven Battling Union’s Great Elder Mo Xiao Sheng, who also cultivated Space Force, was here would they be able to see through the method Yang Kai had just used.
By applying a small amount of his Space Force, Yang Kai was able to almost instantly cross over a few hundred metres in an instant. Although this method could not compare to tearing space in terms of distance travelled, it was by no means a trivial method as it required very fine control over Space Force. Furthermore, this method was far more subtle than tearing space as it did not create such an obvious disturbance in the surroundings.
Kong Wen Dong’s speed was indeed quite quick, but no matter how fast he was, he still couldn’t compare to Yang Kai who was literally leaping across space.
In just a few dozen breaths, Yang Kai came to a stop in front of Kong Wen Dong and with a wave of his hand sent out a flock of Demonic Flame birds towards him.
“Out of my way, boy!” Kong Wen Dong didn’t even try to hide his anger as he plunged headfirst into Yang Kai’s attack while summoning a large sword artifact into his hand, pouring his Saint Qi into it, and slashing out.
A massive hundred-metre long sword wave shot forward with astonishing momentum.
The Demonic Flame birds were blown away in an instant. Facing such a blow, Yang Kai didn’t dare act carelessly; after all, his opponent’s strength wasn’t by any means weak. Without any hesitation, Yang Kai summoned his Purple Shield and activated its sandstorm ability to protect himself.
A loud noise rang out as the wind and sand were scattered about as the massive sword wave was dispersed, leaving behind a gap in the sandstorm the Purple Shield had created, nearly exposing Yang Kai’s figure.
“An Origin Grade High-Rank defensive artifact?” Kong Wen Dong’s eyes shrank as he exclaimed.
His vision was good so he had no trouble identifying the grade of the Purple Shield.
“For the sins you’ve committed, the Heavens will pass their own judgement, but today, Kong Wen Dong, this will be your burial place!” From behind, a soft shout rang out from the lead Ice Heart Valley woman who had chased after Kong Wen Dong Heart.
Although her speed was slower than that of Yang Kai’s, with the latter having blocked Kong Wen Dong’s way, it wasn’t difficult for her to catch up. Seeing the current situation, the young female leader was overjoyed. She quickly summoned her Origin King Grade Profound Yin Heart Shattering Drum artifact, and used her jade white hand to gently rap it.
An invisible wave spread out from the drum in the next instant, carrying with it a resonant sound. Although this sound was quite faint, when it reached one’s ears, it caused their vitality to tumble, making it incredibly uncomfortable to listen to.
This wasn’t the end though as the young woman’s jade white hand continued to beat this drum slowly, her face becoming paler with each strike, seemingly having to pay a huge price each time she beat this drum. The drumbeat from the Profound Yin Heart Shattering Drum grew louder and louder until it became absolutely deafening, as if it was being struck inside one’s ears, completely impossible to guard against.
Not only did this drum sound effect Kong Wen Dong though, but even Yang Kai was not spared.
As the pounding drum beat entered his ears, Yang Kai’s eyes were gradually turned bloodshot and his face crimson, all the blood in his body seemingly rushing to his head. Sensing this, Yang Kai shot a cold glare towards the approaching young woman.
Even separated by a few thousand metres, this icy glare caused the young woman’s tender body to shiver and she involuntarily paused her assault. When she resumed beating her drum a moment later, the sound in Yang Kai’s ear weakened dramatically, almost to the point where he could ignore it altogether.
Conversely, the pressure Kong Wen Dong was feeling in front of Yang Kai greatly increased. The power of an Origin King Grade artifact was not to be underestimated, and although the young woman had not fully refined the Profound Yin Heart Shattering Drum and could only exert half of its strength, Kong Wen Dong still found it extremely difficult to resist.
Before he even realized it, blood began leaking from Kong Wen Dong’s seven orifices and his aura became disordered, seemingly suffering from unbearable pain; even his well-built body began to tremble violently.
With the young female leader’s Profound Yin Heart Shattering Drum suppressing Kong Wen Dong, Yang Kai was able to act without any scruples, sending out his Golden Blood Thread as well as a few Space Blades concealed inside his Demonic Flames.
At the same time, the Firebird Artifact Spirit was also directed by Yang Kai to rush towards Kong Wen Dong.
Kong Wen Dong perished without any suspense. Although his cultivation wasn’t any worse than the lead young woman from Ice Heart Valley, in a four on one, with the lead young woman able to calmly display the power of the Profound Yin Heart Shattering Drum and Yang Kai attacking from nearby, there was no way Kong Wen Dong could escape no matter how strong he was.
After struggling desperately for about an incense stick worth of time, Kong Wen Dong fell to his four attackers’ coordinated assault.
What the young female leader from Ice Heart Valley said was true; Kong Wen Dong had a Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire in his body, one that was exactly the same as the yellow-robed old man’s, a dark crimson flame with black lightning arcs flickering about it.
After Kong Wen Dong died, this Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire was naturally swallowed by the Firebird Artifact Spirit.
Once the battle ended, it was time to divide the spoils. The Space Rings of these four enemies couldn’t be let off. Yang Kai acted with no trace of politeness, taking away Kong Wen Dong’s Space Ring while casually leaving the other three for the trio from Ice Heart Valley to collect.
Regarding this, although the lead young woman wore a somewhat displeased expression, she didn’t say anything; after all, if not for Yang Kai’s assistance, they would have gained nothing and might not even have been able to preserve their lives. At the very least, her weakest sister would definitely have been in a dangerous situation.
The Firebird Artifact Spirit continued hovering above Yang Kai’s head, calling out happily, seeming to be in a good mood after devouring two Heaven Scorching Thunder Fires.
When she looked at the Firebird Artifact Spirit, the lead young woman’s beautiful eyes could not help flashing a look of dread. While she had been unable to observe much of Yang Kai’s true abilities, just the fluctuations coming from this Firebird Artifact Spirit were incredibly worrisome.
[This Artifact Spirit can no doubt compete with a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master!] The young woman secretly judged.
“Little brother, this Mistress offers her sincere thanks. If not for little brother taking action to uphold justice here, this Mistress might not have been able to kill these Brilliant Flame Sect villains.” A bright smile appeared on the young woman’s face as she thanked Yang Kai.
Yang Kai smiled lightly and replied modestly, “Sister is too serious, I only acted according to my own needs. What’s more, they were the ones who attacked me first.”
Although this young woman had shrouded him with the Profound Yin Heart Shattering Drum just now, Yang Kai wasn’t planning on tearing face with her over it, whether it was intentional or not.
However, it was necessary to put up a show of deterrence lest this woman decide to burn bridges after crossing them. The Profound Yin Heart Shattering Drum she was carrying was very powerful and quite troublesome to deal with, so as long as it wasn’t necessary, Yang Kai didn’t want to stir up conflict with these three from Ice Heart Valley. Now, he just wanted to finish up his business here and head to the main palace of the Emperor Garden.
As such, Yang Kai made no attempt to take back his Artifact Spirit and instead used it to indirectly pressure this young woman so she wouldn’t get any ideas.
“Right, Sister, would you mind explaining to me why both those Brilliant Flame Sect cultivators were able to cultivate that Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire Secret Technique?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
“Hehe, so Little Brother was still wondering about this issue,” the young woman smiled and didn’t try to conceal anything, simply stating, “In fact, there are many cultivators in Brilliant Flame Sect who have cultivated this Secret Technique, not just the two of them. Most of their stronger masters and have cultivated the Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire, but the strength of each individual’s thunder fire varies dramatically.”
“Oh? How do they accomplish this?” Yang Kai was very interested. The Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire was of great benefit to his Artifact Spirit, but unfortunately, of the four Brilliant Flame Sect masters here, only Kong Wen Dong and the yellow-robed old man seemed to have cultivated this Secret Technique. After listening to this young woman’s words, Yang Kai naturally had to investigate further.
“It’s actually quite simple: they have a Heavenly Thunder Fire in Brilliant Flame Sect that also serves as the foundation of their Sect. Relying on this Heavenly Thunder Fire, coupled with a special Secret Technique, most of the high-level cultivators from Brilliant Flame Sect can cultivate the Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire which has many profound uses in combat,” The young woman explained lightly before asking casually, “Since little brother asked this, does it mean you are not from Scarlet Wave Star?”
“En, I’m indeed not from Scarlet Wave Star,” Yang Kai didn’t try to deny it but also did not explain his origins, simply nodding and continuing, “So that’s how it is, about that Heavenly Thunder Fire…”
Although its name was only slightly different from the Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire, it was, after all, the foundation of Brilliant Flame Sect, as well as the foundation upon which Kong Wen Dong and the yellow-robed old man cultivated their own Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire. If his Artifact Spirit could devour the original Heavenly Thunder Fire, what kind of benefits would it obtain?
Of course, this thought only briefly passed across Yang Kai’s mind.
After all, the Scarlet Wave Star was in this vast Star Field, it was impossible for Yang Kai to simply take a trip to it for no reason at all. What’s more, there was no way for him alone to challenge all of Brilliant Flame Sect as he could infer from Kong Wen Dong’s cultivation that this Sect very likely had an Origin King master commanding it!
“Never mind, let’s not talk about this now,” Yang Kai grinned before changing the subject, “Sister, shouldn’t we enter that secluded home now? There’s bound to be many good things inside!”
“Hehe, that’s right,” The young woman’s brow twitched slightly. Although she was filled with reluctance, she could not simply renege on her previous agreement with Yang Kai now.
When she first tried to win him over, she had not put Yang Kai’s strength in her eyes and felt that she could arbitrarily decide the distribution of benefits once everything was over, but following this battle, she realized that her original thoughts were little more than wishful thinking.
This boy was not some weakling she could casually bully and he obviously had some vigilance towards her now. Otherwise, he would not have continued to have his strange Firebird hover above them all this time.
With things having reached this point, the young woman could only sigh lightly. Unwilling to deal with any more trouble, she simply turned around and flew back to the hidden mountain valley.
The other two women followed closely.
A moment later, the group of four arrived at the barrier concealing the mountain valley again.
This barrier was still maintaining its previous appearance, flickering slightly while projecting a somewhat distorted image. These were clear traces of it having been attacked before but it was still a fair distance from completely breaking.
“Is little brother proficient in cracking Spirit Arrays by any chance?” The young female leader of Ice Heart Valley turned to Yang Kai and asked.
“No!” Yang Kai shook his head decisively. If it were Yang Yan here instead of him, this barrier would likely take her less than ten breaths to crack, but Yang Kai was not Yang Yan.
The young woman failed to stifle her laughter hearing this before shaking her head and declaring, “Then there’s no other way, this Mistress and her sisters also have not studied Spirit Arrays, so we’ll just have to break it by force.”
Saying so, she took the lead by summoning a long crystal sword into her hand that looked like it was refined from the purest of ice jade, pouring her Saint Qi into it, then slashing towards the barrier. The other two young women from Ice Heart Valley quickly followed suit.
Naturally Yang Kai wasn’t idle either, the only difference was he didn’t use any kind of artifact, not because he didn’t want to, but because the only offensive artifact he had on him was the Verdant Dragon Bone Sword, which was not something he could easily show others.
As such, he could only use his Demonic Flame to attack the barrier. Even so, that didn’t make his momentum any weaker, especially as his Demonic Flames fluctuated rapidly between hot and cold, causing severe damage to the barrier.
Ultimately, Yang Kai’s attack power wasn’t any weaker than those of the three women.
For a time, the group of four simply stood before the mountain valley, shelling its protective barrier together.
Regardless of how strong this barrier was, it could not withstand such indiscriminate bombings, not to mention that this barrier had been left unattended for over ten thousand years. Even if it was originally incredibly solid, after so many years of neglect, its power had obviously waned.
Even so, the group of four spent half a day attacking this barrier before it finally broke!
During this period, the three women from Ice Heart Valley were obviously on edge, seemingly afraid that another strong enemy would come to investigate, so after successfully breaking the barrier undisturbed, they couldn’t help flashing happy looks. After exchanging a quick glance, the lead young woman dove in first.
Yang Kai released his Divine Sense, found there wasn’t any danger inside, and quickly followed.
The interior was a gourd-shaped mountain valley with a narrow entrance that expanded the deeper one went.
Passing through a several-kilometre-long mountain trail, the group of four arrived at the heart of the valley and were greeted by a stunning scene.
Before their eyes was a vast Medicine Garden filled with exotic flowers and spirit herbs planted in neat rows. Even after countless years with no one tending to them, many of these spirit grasses were still alive and well.
At a glance, there were at least a thousand precious herbs in this place.
The entire mountain valley was filled with a rich medicinal fragrance.
It turned out this mountain valley was actually a hidden Medicine Garden!
Yang Kai could not help showing a look of joy and excitement on his face, and the appearance of the three women from Ice Heart Valley was not any better, each of them breathing somewhat rapidly as their eyes flashed brilliantly.
This could not be helped though as this place had not seen any visitors in at least ten thousand years, which meant that even if the herbs here were of lower grade, their medicinal ages would be at least ten thousand years!
With such high medicinal ages, even ordinary herbs would become priceless treasures, so it was only natural that all of them were so excited.
This harvest alone had made their trip to the Emperor Garden worthwhile.
However, the leading young woman didn’t allow herself to become blinded by the riches in front of her, quickly turning to Yang Kai first to ask, “Little Brother, this…”
“En, let’s collect everything first then figure out how to distribute it afterwards,” Yang Kai smiled carefreely.
“Good!” The young woman nodded lightly, shot a glance towards the other two women, then immediately got to work picking these herbs.
Although collecting precious herbs like these required some special procedures since any negligence could lead to a great reduction in their value, everyone here was an Origin Realm cultivator, so they naturally had enough experience with this kind of task. As such, Yang Kai didn’t need to remind the three women about anything in particular.
As for these three trying to secretly harbour these herbs, it probably wouldn’t happen as Yang Kai was constantly releasing his Divine Sense, unabashed. Even if these three women had such thoughts, they would likely be too embarrassed to try to act on them with Yang Kai so obviously watching them.
While these three were collecting herbs, Yang Kai also got to work, meticulously collecting the various herbs from the Medicine Garden at a rate much faster than the trio from Ice Heart Valley.
For an Alchemist like Yang Kai, he couldn’t be more familiar with this kind of work.
The more Yang Kai collected though, the more excited he became, because in this hidden Medicine Garden, he not only saw many long-extinct spirit grasses and spirit medicines, he even found many herbs he could not recognize.
Such herbs were undoubtedly extremely valuable.
The grades of these herbs varied somewhat, from Saint King Grade all the way to Origin King Grade; however, likely because they couldn’t withstand the passing of time, there was nothing lower than Saint King Grade. Even so, the Saint King Grade herbs here could still be used to produce excellent pills.
Yang Kai was extremely happy. During his last retreat, his Alchemy skill had reached the Origin Grade High-Rank, but if he wanted to go a step further, he needed to practice a great deal with Origin King Grade herbs.