“Take someone? Who do you want?” Luo Li frowned, “My Ice Heart Valley should not have anyone you need, Chi Huo.”
“Indeed, your Sect truly does not have anyone I need, but…” Chi Huo waved his hand and shouted, “Little bastard, stand up and say it yourself; after all, this is your business.”
Wei Feng wore a happy look and quickly walked out from behind Chi Huo. First, he saluted Luo Hai, Luo Li and the others, following proper etiquette, then straightened his waist and opened his mouth, but just as he was about to speak, suddenly noticed a pair of cold eyes fixed on him.
This gaze pierced Wei Feng like a sharp sword, making his face pale with fright and forcing the words he was about to speak back down his throat.
He was unable to utter a word.
Following that gaze, Wei Feng only saw Luo Li staring at him coldly. Although she was not using any of her power, just this simple gaze was enough to chill him to the bone.
Wei Feng’s legs began to shiver as he nearly started choking, his eyes filling with panic.
Bing Long and the other Elders suddenly thought of something and unconsciously glanced over at Su Yan.
When Wei Feng came forward, they realized what Chi Huo was thinking about, and all of them became extremely displeased.
The son of Brilliant Flame Sect’s Sect Master had ideas about Su Yan for quite some time, and the fighting which broke out a little more than a year ago was all because Brilliant Flame Sect asked Ice Heart Valley to hand over Su Yan.
The people of Ice Heart Valley knew exactly what Wei Feng’s disposition was.
It could be said that if Wei Feng was not born in Brilliant Flame Sect, and if he was not Wei Qing’s son, even breaking through to the Saint King Realm would have been impossible.
Even if he consumed countless rare and precious pills and piled up innumerable Saint Crystals, he had barely managed to break through to the Origin Returning Realm.
Even with all that, he could not even condense his Shi!
He may be the only Origin Realm cultivator in the entire Star Field that did not possess his own Shi, making him a laughingstock to the world.
Wei Feng’s aptitude was obviously trash.
Compared with him, Su Yan was a beautiful fairy blessed by the Heavens. The two of them belonged to different worlds and should never have met.
But one time, when Su Yan went out for life experience, she accidentally bumped into Wei Feng, and he was immediately entranced by her and became determined to make her his.
Brilliant Flame Sect decided to use this as an excuse to kick up a big fuss!
Wei Feng’s character and morals were indeed terrible, but he was still the son of Wei Qing, so his status was extraordinary. Brilliant Flame Sect thought that Wei Feng taking a fancy to Su Yan was Su Yan’s blessing…
And so, Chi Huo bringing Wei Feng to Ice Heart Valley and forcing him to stand up and speak now made his purpose self-evident.
However, this pitiful boy nearly passed out from fear just by being glared at by Luo Li, unable to even open his mouth to speak.
Chi Huo’s face became extremely ugly as he watched Wei Feng destroy all the face Brilliant Flame Sect had. Annoyed, he kicked out and almost knocked Wei Feng to the ground.
“Useless thing! With this old master here, what are you afraid of? Just say what it is you want and prove to this old master you’re still a man!”
Chi Huo shouted loudly.
It seemed that being scolded by Chi Huo, on top of receiving such a guarantee, Wei Feng’s courage grew slightly, and with a flushed face, he grit his teeth, stretched out his finger, and declared, “I want this woman named Su Yan!”
All of Ice Heart Valley’s Elders were enraged!
Ran Yun Ting also wore an unsightly expression.
The smile on Yang Kai’s face gradually dimmed as his eyes became icy cold as he glared towards Wei Feng and curled his lips into a subtle grin.
Since entering this ice palace, Yang Kai had found this pathetic excuse for a man continuously staring at Su Yan; however, he hadn’t taken it to heart, after all, Su Yan was an incredible beauty who naturally attracted the attention of men. Now that Wei Feng had said something like this though, Yang Kai immediately understood that the other party wasn’t just satisfied with looking but wanted to possess her too!
A murderous intent surged in Yang Kai’s heart as he stared at Wei Feng faintly, his expression somewhat similar to the one Wei Feng gave him before.
It was as if he was staring at a dead man!
Su Yan turned her beautiful eyes at this time and frowned slightly as she stared at Wei Feng suspiciously.
She did not seem to regain consciousness until this time as all her thoughts had been focused on Yang Kai before, with nothing else entering her vision at all.
“You again?” Su Yan recognized Wei Feng and spoke indifferently, “What? Was the lesson I gave you not enough? Did you come here looking for more?”
These simple words made Wei Feng jump up like a frightened rabbit and he hurried back to Chi Huo, seeking a sense of security.
Wei Feng’s performance was terrible to the extreme, and Chi Huo also felt he had lost all face, his expression turning as black as the bottom of a pot.
Even Luo Hai, who had been watching from the side, slowly shook his head.
“You know him?” Yang Kai asked.
Su Yan shook her head, “I don’t know him. Last time we met; he made some impertinent remarks so I broke a few of his ribs. It turns out he actually belongs to Brilliant Flame Sect, no wonder he was so persistent and annoying.”
After saying so, she sighed again, “If I had known things would turn out like this, I would have just killed him directly and been done with it.”
“En, don’t show mercy next time,” Yang Kai patted the back of Su Yan’s hand.
Su Yan smiled and nodded slightly.
“You…you… how dare you!” Although Wei Feng was timid and incompetent, he also could not help feeling a little angry at this moment. He could not forget about Su Yan even in his dreams, yet the other party clearly did not even know about his background.
On top of that, it seemed she did not even know his name.
Wei Feng suddenly felt aggrieved, watching her act so intimately with this bastard of a man, completely ignoring his existence, he felt ashamed.
“You’ll see! When you become mine, I’ll let you know how fierce I am!” Wei Feng vowed daringly.
“Courting death!” Yang Kai’s eyes flashed a cold light as he violently waved his hand towards Wei Feng.
A recognizable palm of Saint Qi appeared and shot towards Wei Feng like a violent storm. This palm clearly contained terrifying destructive power.
Wei Feng was frightened and trembled as his face turned pale and he called out anxiously, “Supreme Elder, save me!”
“Boy, you’ve got guts, daring to act in front of this old master!” Chi Huo coldly snorted as he stretched out his hand and hit the air, causing the Saint Qi palm to burst apart.
The moment this palm exploded, however, it immediately underwent a subtle change and transformed into a sharp blade that once again shot out and caught Chi Huo off guard. Before he could react, the blade had already stabbed through Wei Feng’s left cheek and out his right.
Chi Huo’s face changed dramatically!
Luo Hai also raised his brow as he stared at Yang Kai in surprise.
Luo Li’s beautiful eyes also flashed brilliantly as she gave a nod of appreciation.
The three of them all saw that it was not that Yang Kai had applied some hidden trick to his Saint Qi palm, but had instead manipulated his Saint Qi masterfully, reorganizing it after it was shattered by Chi Huo to form a new attack.
Although as a result, this attack’s power was greatly reduced, to the point where even Wei Feng should have easily been able to defend against it.
However, Wei Feng’s performance was disappointing as he did not even notice anything until he was abruptly injured.
Only after blood began splashing from both sides of his mouth did Wei Feng notice the severe pain, feeling as if his cheeks were being burned as a strange power seeped into his wounds.
He immediately began howling violently, covering his cheeks with his hands as tears and snot dripped down his face, making everyone present embarrassed to even look at him.
Many Ice Heart Valley Elders shook their heads slowly as looks of contempt and disgust filled their faces.
Such a person actually wanted Su Yan? Comparing him to Yang Kai, the latter was countless times better, a real match for her.
Chi Huo’s old face went blue then white as he stared at Yang Kai and squeezed out a low shout like that of a mad beast, “Brat, you’re dead!”
In front of his face, Wei Feng’s cheek had been pierced. This was akin to slapping his face as well.
Chi Huo being slapped in the face was the same as Brilliant Flame Sect being slapped!
An old monster like Chi Huo could not bear such an insult.
Like a dormant lion, a horrific aura burst from Chi Huo’s body, causing everyone from Ice Heart Valley to pale.
Yang Kai remained calm and relaxed, though, as he stared at the red-haired old man indifferently, a sarcastic grin appearing on his lips.
“Chi Huo!” Luo Hai shouted, “Finish your business!”
He naturally would not let Chi Huo kill Yang Kai. Chi Huo using him to persecute Ice Heart Valley this time was something Luo Hai was willing to go along with only if Chi Huo did not pursue Yang Kai’s secrets.
However, if Chi Huo wanted to act against Yang Kai, he would not just sit back and watch.
No one could touch Yang Kai in front of him until he extracted everything he wanted.
Hearing this shout, the aura around Chi Huo’s body was like a raging flame that was doused with cold water, extinguishing instantly. He seemed to have regained his composure in that instant and simply glared at Yang Kai coldly.
“Supreme Elder, you must seek justice for me! Kill him! Kill him! Supreme Elder you must kill him for me!” Wei Feng wailed and cried incoherently, oblivious to the situation around him.
Chi Huo’s breathing began somewhat ragged hearing these cries.
Why did he bring this waste here to Ice Heart Valley?
At this moment, he could not wait to slap Wei Feng dead.
Chi Huo secretly made up his mind that after this trip, he would definitely imprison Wei Feng in Brilliant Flame Sect and never let him go out. Otherwise, he would continue destroying Brilliant Flame Sect’s face wherever he went.
Brilliant Flame Sect having such a waste in its midst was simply a curse from the Heavens!
“You shut up!” Chi Huo shouted angrily.
Wei Feng’s howling stopped abruptly as he did not dare disobey the Supreme Elder’s command, but the pain he felt still distorted his expression, and combined with the still dripping blood, made him look quite hideous.
Holding his cheeks with his hands, his eyes darted about, but not daring to look at anyone present in this hall, he settled for staring at his feet while holding his tongue.
“Boy, consider yourself lucky! Since Brother Luo Hai intends to shelter you, this old master will not care about you this time. If you want to thank anyone, you should thank Brother Luo Hai!” Chi Huo said grimly before turning to Luo Li and shouting, “I think you’re clear why this old master has come this time. My good-for-nothing Junior has taken a fancy to this girl, so I’ll be taking her back to Brilliant Flame Sect with me!”
When he said this, the corners of Chi Huo’s mouth twitched, as even he felt that Wei Feng was not worthy of holding Su Yan’s shoes.
However, this was indeed a good opportunity to deal a blow to Ice Heart Valley; as long as Ice Heart Valley could be forced to compromise here, then Brilliant Flame Sect would have the upper hand in all future battles.
The most important point was that he could use this incident to attack Luo Li’s state of mind and act contrary to her convictions.
Once this happened, it would surely become a heart demon for Luo Li and halt her cultivation in place.
After that, once he could advance his own cultivation, under the current circumstances, Scarlet Wave Star would belong to Brilliant Flame Sect.
As soon as Chi Huo’s voice fell, Ran Yun Ting took a step forward and coldly declared, “In your dreams! Su Yan is my Ice Heart Valley’s Core Disciple, how could she be allowed to marry an outsider? She will always be an Ice Heart Valley disciple!”
Chi Huo snickered as he stared at Ran Yun Ting and said, “If this old master isn’t mistaken, what she has cultivated should be your Ice Heart Valley’s Ice Jade Secret Art, right?”
“So what?” Ran Yun Ting did not know what he was thinking.
“If so, then this will be simple. This old master can see her heart has been moved, and her Ice Jade Heart stained, causing her to receive backlash from the Secret Art. This backlash also seems quite serious… En, in her situation, I’m certain that within a year or two her cultivation will completely scatter, and she will become an ordinary mortal. What use will she have for your Ice Heart Valley then?”
Ran Yun Ting’s face changed slightly as she was shocked by Chi Huo’s shrewdness.
Su Yan’s situation had been concealed very carefully, and only she, her Master, truly knew its full extent, but it only took Chi Huo a glance to properly assess Su Yan’s condition.
For a moment, Ran Yun Ting’s face became extremely gloomy and she shot a look filled with disappointment towards Su Yan.
However, Su Yan turned a blind eye to this, not even changing her expression, still just smiling happily as she stood there cuddling next to Yang Kai, as if her cultivation and strength meant nothing to her. As long as she could be with Yang Kai, even death was worth it.
Ran Yun Ting was even more disappointed.
“Su Yan…” Yang Kai was stunned and turned to the beautiful woman standing next to him with worried eyes.
Quickly releasing his Divine Sense and scanning Su Yan’s body, he finally noticed something wrong.
Su Yan’s aura was indeed fluctuating slightly, which was obviously an outward sign of her receiving backlash from her Secret Art. The situation was still manageable now, but if it was allowed to continue, it would definitely get worse.
“It’s fine,” Su Yan smiled softly, remaining perfectly calm, not worrying about this seemingly inevitable fate at all.
“I will find a way to resolve it for you,” Yang Kai took a deep breath and promised her solemnly.
“Kill yourself here and now and you can solve the problem immediately!” Ran Yun Ting burst into anger and shouted at Yang Kai.
“Honoured Master, please don’t say such things!” The smile on Su Yan’s face suddenly disappeared as she frowned and declared seriously, “If Junior Brother dies, I will immediately follow him!”
Ran Yun Ting opened her mouth and stared at Su Yan in a daze, showing an expression of astonishment.
It was the first time Su Yan used such a tone of voice to speak to her, which shocked Ran Yun Ting greatly. Su Yan had always been obedient to her; no matter her command, this disciple would complete the task with absolute certainty, making her extremely satisfied. This, in turn, raised Su Yan’s value in her eyes.
But today, her impression wavered.
It was as if all the work she put into teaching her and the great expectations she had for her, as her Honoured Master, were not as important as this little brat in her heart.
Ran Yun Ting’s face became cold and gloomy as she glared at Yang Kai and said in a deep tone, “Boy, you’ve destroyed Su Yan’s future, even if you die here, you won’t be able to redeem your sin!”
After speaking, she backed away and closed her eyes, as if she did not want to interfere with what would surely happen next.
“I’ve destroyed Senior Sister’s future? That is not something you get to decide, what the hell do you count for?” Yang Kai coldly snorted.
“Good, this farce ends here!” Chi Huo stood up, his eyes burning like flames as he turned to Luo Li, “This old master has explained his intentions. Luo Li, it is your choice, if you agree, this old master can retreat, if you don’t…”
There was an obvious threat in his words.
Many Elders of Ice Heart Valley wore anxious looks.
Luo Li looked at Chi Huo faintly, then turned to look at Luo Hai and lightly opened her lips and asked, “Is this Sir Luo Hai’s will as well?”
She knew better than anyone that Chi Huo daring to come to Pure Ice Island in such a bold manner this time and even pretentiously asking for the Sect’s best disciple was all because of Luo Hai’s backing!
Without Luo Hai, Chi Huo would not even dare to set foot within a thousand kilometres of Pure Ice Island.
Luo Hai smiled at this and said mildly, “Junior Sister Luo Li’s words are a bit unreasonable. This matter is between your Ice Heart Valley and Chi Huo’s Brilliant Flame Sect. This King is just here to enjoy the show, that’s all.”
Having said so though, Luo Hai continued, “However, this King feels that what Chi Huo said isn’t wrong. This disciple called Su Yan truly has good aptitude, but since she is suffering from the backlash of your Ice Jade Secret Art, I’m afraid it will be difficult for her to achieve anything of note in the future. As such, it would be better to marry her to Wei Feng so your two Sects can become in-laws, allowing you a chance to resolve your long-standing grievances. Wouldn’t it be best if you could all live in harmony in the future?”
Hearing what he said, Luo Li’s face grew dark as she knew that Luo Hai was standing on Brilliant Flame Sect’s side.
As for becoming in-laws and resolving the grievances between the two factions… that was nothing but sophistry.
The two Sects had fought for dominance of Scarlet Wave Star for thousands of years, and the grievances between them had been forged in oceans of blood, making them absolutely impossible to resolve. In this world, there would never be peace between Ice Heart Valley and Brilliant Flame Sect. The two Sects were destined to be enemies until the day one of them was destroyed.
“I understand,” Luo Li gently nodded and closed her limpid pupils, apparently caught in a difficult decision.
No one disturbed her, but all the Elders of Ice Heart Valley had their eyes fixed on her, wondering what answer she would give.
Luo Hai had a calm and relaxed face as he quietly sipped his tea.
Chi Huo wore a triumphant look, as he laughed under his breath constantly.
He was not afraid that Luo Li would refuse. This time, he was taking advantage of Luo Hai’s prestige to crush Ice Heart Valley’s morale. As for the girl named Su Yan, she was just a pawn in their battle.
Without Su Yan, there was Zhang Yan, Wang Yan… With so many female disciples in Ice Heart Valley, how could he not find a suitable candidate?
Wei Feng did not howl anymore. At this time, he was like a cat smelling fish and his eyes brightened as they darted back and forth. Although he still felt pain in his cheeks, he still gazed at Su Yan lustfully, like she was some kind of new toy he was about to acquire and could play with all he wanted.
In his heart, he was secretly pondering how he would torture this woman named Su Yan to teach Yang Kai the price for incurring his wrath.
Yang Kai and Su Yan stood side by side in the middle of the ice palace, as if they were outsiders.
No one cared about their feelings or opinions. In such high-level dialogue, the two of them had no right to speak.
The happiness in Su Yan’s beautiful eyes was dimmed with a tinge of sorrow, and the small hand she used to hold Yang Kai’s became harder.
She secretly decided that if Supreme Elder really compromised, then she would use her life to create an opportunity for Yang Kai to escape! As for herself, even if she died, she couldn’t go to Brilliant Flame Sect.
Yang Kai looked on with cold eyes, as if this matter had nothing to do with him, carefully observing the changes in Luo Li’s expression.
After a while, he let out a sigh and whispered in Su Yan’s ear, “Senior Sister, do you trust me?”
Su Yan did not even hesitate to nod.
“Good,” Yang Kai smiled warmly, “Junior Brother assures you that no one will take you away today. If they dare have such thoughts, I’ll make sure that they will all end up inside a coffin!”
“Then Senior Sister will wait and see,” Su Yan winked to Yang Kai.
This playful appearance made Yang Kai dumbfounded for a moment. He had never seen such a side to Su Yan before. It seemed that because of the great crisis, she dared to do things that she would never do before.
Although the two people spoke softly, how could they hide their conversation from Luo Hai and Chi Huo?
Hearing Yang Kai’s bold claims, the two Origin Kings both shot Yang Kai a disdainful look.
“Luo Li, it’s time to make a decision,” Luo Hai urged impatiently.
He was anxious to bring Yang Kai back to Green Mountains Star and extract all of his secrets. He was unwilling to delay time here.
Luo Li opened her eyes, and for an instant, all eyes inside the ice palace focused on her.
First, Luo Li turned to look at Su Yan, and a faint light of guilt flitted across her eyes, but that disappeared in a flash.
“You may take her away; I hope you can treat her well in the future!” Luo Li’s aura instantly deflated, as if it was punctured, with even her face going pale.
Obviously, making such a concession had violated her principles and caused her injuries to worsen.
“Supreme Elder…” Ran Yun Ting called out.
Although she had already guessed this would happen, she still could not accept Supreme Elder’s answer in the end. After shouting unconsciously though, she could not say anything anymore, just turning a regretful look towards Su Yan and sighing, “This is your own choice, don’t regret it in the future!”
At this moment, she ultimately decided to abandon Su Yan.
She had no way to resolve the flaw in Su Yan’s cultivation, so even if she could safeguard her here today, Su Yan’s cultivation would at best halt where it was. For such a disciple, it was not worth putting all of Ice Heart Valley in danger. Not to mention, she couldn’t violate Luo Li’s orders even if she wanted to.
Forcing the entire Sect into perdition for Su Yan would make her an eternal sinner to Ice Heart Valley.
Ran Yun Ting would not do such a thing, as it was obvious that no single disciple was more important than the Sect itself.
She closed her eyes to avoid looking at Su Yan again.
“Good!” Chi Huo laughed.
After so many years, he had finally completely suppressed Luo Li and made her back down in front of him. Although all of this was based on Luo Hai’s strength and status, the result was what Chi Huo wanted to see most.
Chi Huo smiled happily, his red hair dancing even without any wind, a strong momentum radiating from his body as he spiritedly pointed his hand at Su Yan and said to Wei Feng behind him, “Little beast, this girl is yours from now on, whether you torment or kill her, it’s all up to you to decide!”
He was not satisfied with the victory in front of him and wanted to further irritate the leadership of Ice Heart Valley and try to provoke them into making a rash decision.
However, everyone from Ice Heart Valley remained silent, just wearing despondent expressions, not even questioning Luo Li’s decision.
This made Chi Huo extremely disappointed, but also a bit contemptuous.
The actions and attitudes of these people from Ice Heart Valley may have been taken for the good of the Sect, but they had lost all moral standing as a result. He believed that after this incident, the future Ice Heart Valley would certainly not need to be feared!
Wei Feng smiled deviously, the injuries on both his cheeks making his laughter somewhat weak as he spoke unclearly, “How could disciple torment or kill her? Disciple is completely unwilling to even hurt her. Disciple thanks Supreme Elder! Supreme Elder’s might is truly unparalleled!”
Although Wei Feng was timid and weak, he was good at sucking up, so his few words further energized Chi Huo, and even made him feel this little brat was not so unpleasant to the eye.
“Good!” Luo Hai clapped his hands with a faint smile on his face. “This King congratulates you all. I hope your two Sects can use this as an opportunity to further peace between you in the future; after all, it benefits no one for the two greatest forces on Scarlet Wave Star to constantly fight and kill one another.”
“Brother Luo Hai, if you have nothing urgent to attend to, why not come back to Brilliant Flame Sect to share in the wedding festivities?” Chi Huo looked at him and sent out an invitation.
Luo Hai shook his head slowly, “No, this King has been away for too long already, it is time he returned to Green Mountains Star.”
Ice Heart Valley everyone looked at Chi Huo, seeing him boast and bluster in such a domineering fashion, but not daring to say anything. Even Luo Li adopted a stance of ‘what the eyes do not see, the heart does not grieve’.
“Yang Kai, come with me!” Luo Hai looked at Yang Kai and spoke in a tone that allowed no refusal.
Yang Kai sneered slightly without even looking at him, his eyes sweeping across the faces of everyone from Ice Heart Valley.
All of them, however, set aside their gazes, with looks of guilt upon their faces.
Even Ran Yun Ting was the same, but soon, she turned back and snapped back, “You’ve brought this upon yourself, you have no one else to blame!”
Yang Kai sneered even more.
Gently patting the back of Su Yan’s hand, Yang Kai said, “Senior Sister, go and salute these so-called Elders of yours. From now on, you have nothing to do with them!”
“Of course, I’ll listen to you,” Su Yan nodded obediently before stepping forward and sweeping her eyes across the Ice Heart Valley Elders. After bowing deeply, she lifted her head and spoke to Ran Yun Ting, “This is the last time Disciple will call you Honoured Master. Disciple offers here sincere thanks for Honoured Master’s generous teachings over these years. Please be well in the future, Honoured Master!”
Ran Yun Ting opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately, she just turned her eyes away.
Su Yan seemed to break free of the shackles binding her at that moment and returned to Yang Kai’s side lightly.
“Little brat, don’t be stubborn, just follow Brother Luo Hai obediently. As for this little girl next to you, she belongs to my Brilliant Flame Sect from now on,” Chi Huo coldly snorted.
Yang Kai and Su Yan looked at each other and suddenly smiled at the same time, their smiles dispelling the oppressive atmosphere in the ice palace like a scorching sun.
“If you want to take away Senior Sister, you must first step over my corpse!” Yang Kai suddenly said.
At the same time, Su Yan’s soft voice came out, “I pledge to live and die together with Junior Brother!”
The momentum of the pair suddenly soared as their Saint Qi burst out.
The Saint Qi of one person was of an extremely hot Yang Attribute, while the other was extremely cold Yin Attribute.
An unexpected change appeared next, as Yang Kai and Su Yan’s Saint Qi seemed to resonate and blend together.
More violent energy fluctuations came out suddenly.
Everyone’s complexion changed slightly as they turned their eyes towards the young man and woman standing side by side in front of them in shock.
Luo Hai’s eyes flashed as well, a look of amazement filling his face as if he had just discovered something extraordinary. Luo Li, who had been closing her eyes tightly, opened them at that moment as a strong light flashed across their depths.
Chi Huo also expressed surprise together with the other two Origin Kings present.
From an outsider’s perspective, Yang Kai and Su Yan seemed to become a single entity at this moment, their Second-Order and First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivations superimposing upon one another without the slightest conflict, directly reaching an intensity equivalent to the peak Third-Order.
“Interesting, this is a Dual Cultivation Technique, right?” Luo Hai frowned. With his profound knowledge, it was natural for him to see at a glance that Yang Kai and Su Yan had already reached an extremely deep level of connection. Otherwise, their two completely opposite Saint Qis would never have been able to merge together so perfectly.
“Bastard!” Chi Huo shouted.
In his opinion, Su Yan was already Wei Feng’s woman, but this woman had apparently dual cultivated with Yang Kai, this was nothing less than an insult to Brilliant Flame Sect.
Was retaining her purity not a pre-requisite for cultivating the Ice Jade Secret Art? How else could this scene be explained?
As soon as Chi Huo’s voice fell, a deafening roar suddenly sounded inside the ice palace. This roar was so deafening and majestic that it seemed to be able to shake the soul of any who heard it. When it rang out, everyone, including the three Origin Kings, felt their hearts jump.
As for the Ice Heart Valley Elders, all their expressions changed dramatically.
“This is…” Luo Hai stood up, tremblingly as he stared at the change Yang Kai was undergoing.
A golden aura suddenly shot out from Yang Kai’s body and quickly transformed into a massive golden phantom.
This phantom was more than a hundred meters long and radiated a blinding golden light, its hard scale armour shining like the strongest protection in the world, strong enough to resist any attack.
Two eyes the size of small houses and filled with endless majesty and indifference appeared and seemed to look down loftily from above.
Everyone felt a humble sense of insignificance before these eyes.
“A Golden Dragon!” Luo Hai’s eyes shot open as her tone of voice even rose slightly.
Staring fiercely at this golden phantom, it was as if he was witnessing something absolutely impossible.
Chi Huo stood in place, his eyes flashing with unreadable light.
He had not imagined that such amazing wealth was hidden in Yang Kai’s body!
[Did Luo Hai chase this boy to Scarlet Wave Star because of this? No, looking at Luo Hai’s face, he seems to have just learned about this as well.]
[Did this little brat have other secrets as well?]
Before Chi Huo’s thoughts could finish, however, another resounding voice rang out.
This sound was not as shocking as the previous Dragon Roar, but it seemed capable of piercing the Heavens themselves.
Accompanied by this cry, another ray of light shot out from Yang Kai’s body and flew above Su Yan’s head, transforming into a pure white phantom.
*Hua…*
This phantom unfurled its wings to a similar hundred-metre length as the Golden Dragon and a deep and profound chill suddenly filled the air. At that moment, the purest energy in the surrounding world began rapidly gathering towards Su Yan.
Luo Li’s expression changed dramatically this time as she stared at the massive white phantom above Su Yan’s head and exclaimed, “Ice Phoenix!”
“What!?” Luo Hai was thoroughly shocked this time and could no longer maintain his outwardly calm demeanour.
The Golden Dragon and Ice Phoenix were both legendary Ancient Divine Spirits that had long gone extinct, but today, he saw both appear from Yang Kai.
Although this was not a real Golden Dragon or Ice Phoenix, the faint Source fluctuations radiating from them could not be faked.
In other words, these two phantoms possessed at least part of the Source strength from a True Golden Dragon and Ice Phoenix that had died!
Just how much untold wealth was there on this boy! Luo Hai looked at Yang Kai with fiery eyes.
The strange domain of scorching heat and frigid cold expanded as Yang Kai and Su Yan stood side by side, an awe-inspiring aura radiating from their forms.
Pillars of golden and white light shot into the sky, like two giant swords cutting through the Heavens, parting the clouds in half.
All of Ice Heart Valley bore witness to this spectacle as they stood dumbfounded in place, not knowing what was happening.
The ice palace had become a ruin as the two completely opposite yet complimentary energies burst out, shattering any kind of protective barriers and Spirit Arrays.
The dozen or so Elders from Ice Heart Valley were forced to circulate their Secret Arts to resist the pervasive scorching heat and ice-cold air.
Wei Feng required Chi Huo’s protection to simply keep his life.
Out of everyone present, only the three Origin Kings could resist this horrible aura head-on without difficulty.
Ran Yun Ting was stunned as she stared blankly at Su Yan at this moment, a deep feeling of regret surging up in her heart.
She had told Yang Kai that Su Yan would fly from the branch to become a phoenix one day and that someone like him was not worthy of her.
But now, Su Yan had done just that. With the power of a true Ice Phoenix’s Source, she was fully capable of utilizing the Divine Abilities and strengths of an Ice Phoenix, essentially becoming one herself.
But all of this had been given to her by Yang Kai.
The Ice Phoenix Source had clearly flowed from Yang Kai’s body to Su Yan’s.
In this world, the only being capable of standing on par and walking together with a phoenix was a dragon.
Ran Yun Ting turned her gaze towards the massive Golden Dragon phantom above Yang Kai’s head and formed a silent, bitter smile.
The many Elders from Ice Heart Valley and even Luo Li herself wore similar expressions.
Luo Li had never anticipated the situation developing like this. If she had known, she would never have agreed to Chi Huo’s outrageous request, even if she needed to sacrifice all of Ice Heart Valley as the price.
What kind of Heaven defying opportunity was it to possess an Ice Phoenix’s Source? With this Source, the backlash from the Ice Jade Secret Art was no problem at all. Su Yan would surely lead Ice Heart Valley to a glorious future and reach heights she could only ever dream of.
Such a talent was worth the entire Sect using their lives to protect!
But unfortunately, she had pushed her away like a useless pawn, just to maintain the Sect’s pitiful existence.
The light in Luo Li’s eyes suddenly became a little dim as she coughed up a mouthful of blood.
She suddenly discovered that she had just made the biggest mistake of her life.
“Is this mine?” Su Yan looked up at the huge Ice Phoenix phantom, and as if sensing her gaze, the Ice Phoenix, which should be nothing more than a remnant image, lowered its head and staring at Su Yan with its noble eyes, a look of kindness and approval flashing across them in the next instant.
Everyone stared dumbfounded.
With the Ice Phoenix Source strength integrating into her body, Su Yan felt incredibly relaxed and the backlash she had been suffering from the Ice Jade Secret Art was instantly resolved.
The pure white phantom floating above her head felt like her own flesh and blood, merging perfectly with her form.
In an instant, her skin became like polished white jade and her slender neck gained a porcelain-like sheen. At this moment, Su Yan’s charm increased several levels, enough to entrance all living things.
Even masters like Chi Huo and Luo Hai could not help losing their focus temporarily as they stared at Su Yan’s dazzling radiance.
“En, I brought it with me from Tong Xuan Realm,” Yang Kai nodded.
The Senior Sister and Junior Brother pair talked with one another as if they were the only ones present, completely unphased by their current situation.
“Hmm… it feels so natural,” Su Yan took a breath and closed her beautiful eyes, her heart resonating at that moment with the Ice Phoenix phantom. The Ice Phoenix cried out happily, seemingly with infinite power, causing the icy air across all of Pure Ice Island to pulse in resonance. Soon, the ice-cold World Energy within thousands of kilometres began flooding towards Su Yan’s body, which absorbed it without any difficulty.
Su Yan’s own aura grew at a terrifying speed.
Originally, she was at the peak of the First-Order Origin Returning Realm and, if Yang Kai had not appeared, would have been in the final stages of preparing to break through to the Second-Order.
But because of the backlash of the Ice Jade Secret Art, her cultivation had instead regressed slightly.
Now, however, her cultivation began soaring upwards.
Peak First-Order, Second-Order, peak Second-Order…
Su Yan smashed through the barriers between these realms like they were made from rotting bamboo, only stopping at the peak Second-Order after some kind of external influence intervened.
This interference naturally came from Yang Kai!
At this moment, the two had formed a bizarre resonance, and with Yang Kai’s cultivation having only reached the peak Second-Order Origin Realm, Su Yan was also unable to continue improving, otherwise, the balance between their Saint Qis would definitely be broken.
However, everyone could tell that she still had plenty of energy to spare! She was more than capable of breaking through to the Third-Order at this instant!
Everyone was shocked as none of them had ever even heard of someone breaking through so quickly and without any hidden dangers. This could not be described as an opportunity anymore, only the word miracle was appropriate.
Yang Kai just smiled lightly, as if all of this was within his expectations.
A resonant dragon roar and phoenix cry sounded again, as the giant Golden Dragon and Ice Phoenix phantoms suddenly distorted, transformed into bright flashes of light, and poured into the bodies of Yang Kai and Su Yan.
Around the Senior Sister and Junior Brother pair, a strange aura continued to linger, however.
This aura was visible to the naked eye, with one half of it golden and the other white, the two halves pulsing with completely opposite attribute energies, but still merged together perfectly, giving off a momentum that far exceeded anything an Origin Returning Realm cultivator could achieve!
No Origin Returning Realm master could work up the will to resist when faced with such an overwhelming aura.
“This is your trump card?” Luo Hai’s eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at Yang Kai indifferently, stepping forward lightly from where he stood.
Every time he took a step, however, Pure Ice Island seemed to shake, along with the hearts of everyone else on the island.
With each step he took, his momentum also increased.
Yang Kai’s and Su Yan’s golden and white Yin-Yang field could not suppress Luo Hai.
Yang Kai still did not change his expression though, smiling as he watched his approaching enemy.
“If this is your last card, then this King advises you to give it up. Your strength is indeed amazing, enough to be invincible below the Origin King Realm, even giving you the capital to resist an ordinary First-Order Origin King.”
As soon as these words came out, both Chi Huo and Luo Li frowned.
Whether they wanted to admit it or not, Luo Hai was telling the truth. Both of them felt some slight pressure when facing the current Yang Kai and Su Yan pair, as if fighting with them would be tricky and even if they could ultimately win, they would have to pay a huge price to do so.
This was nothing short of astonishing.
Origin Kings were the peak of this world, and any Origin King could sweep away Origin Realm cultivators with ease, no matter how many of them they faced.
Yang Kai and Su Yan being capable of fighting an ordinary Origin King with only their own power went beyond the limits of conventional thinking.
Out of everyone present, only Luo Hai had the qualifications to disdain the current Yang Kai and Su Yan.
“Boy, obediently follow this King and I promise not to kill you!” Luo Hai looked at Yang Kai sternly, no longer keeping up his previous act.
“You won’t regret it unless you see your coffin it seems. Luo Hai, I had no grievance or grudge with you, but you have continued to pursue me doggedly and forced my hand. Good, today, I’ll kill you, so I can avoid any trouble with you in the future,” Yang Kai shouted.
“Kill me?” Luo Hai seemed to have heard some funny joke and laughed loudly, “It seems that your self-confidence is overwhelming, but do you think you can kill me like this? This King will let you understand what it means to be a true Origin King!”
As soon as these words fell, a bizarre force suddenly spread out towards Yang Kai and Su Yan.
Domain!
A Star Master level Domain at that.
The earth suddenly creaked, and at the original location of the ice palace, fissures began opening, as if the world itself was about to collapse under the effects of Luo Hai’s Domain.
“Brother Luo Hai, this old master will assist you!” Chi Huo yelled and at the same time released his Domain, putting even more pressure on Yang Kai and Su Yan.
Luo Hai glanced at him but didn’t raise any objections.
He naturally knew what Chi Huo was thinking.
Chi Huo simply did not want him to monopolize all the benefits this brat had to offer for himself, so he decided to ‘help’ in an attempt to get a piece of the pie.
Luo Hai was not bothered by this though. All he wanted was Yang Kai’s secrets, as for the girl named Su Yan… Although her Ice Phoenix Source was an incredible treasure as well, it was incompatible with his cultivation method, so it was useless to him.
As soon as the Domains of two Origin King Realm masters came out, the faces of the Ice Heart Valley Elders changed dramatically.
Luo Li hurriedly released her own Domain to offset the pressure on them and at the same time shouted, “Withdraw!”
If they did not leave immediately, these Elders would be injured.
Bing Long, Ran Yun Ting, and all the others did not say a word as they quickly used their Movement Skills to leave this place, leaping back a thousand meters and flying up into the sky. From their position, they all looked down in shock, leaving only Luo Li standing close to the strange standoff with a complicated expression on her face. Luo Li had no intention to interfere, and could only let out a sigh as she stared at Yang Kai and Su Yan full of regret.
“Senior Sister, are you ready?” Even with two Origin King Realm masters suppressing them with their Domains, Yang Kai remained calm and relaxed.
After experiencing the Blood Prison Trial, he had become accustomed to the intensity and influence of Domain. Such a Domain alone could not crush him, and so long as he did not fall, neither would Su Yan.
“I am!” Su Yan nodded.
The two of them were one in body and mind, so there was no need for Yang Kai to explain anything more, with just a thought, Su Yan understood what he was going to do.
“Then our fight begins now!” Yang Kai grinned, turned his head, and stared at Luo Hai coldly, “Luo Hai, today, you die!”
As soon as these words fell, a strange token suddenly appeared in his hand.
This token was black, made from some unidentifiable material, and was somewhat unremarkable.
But as soon as this token appeared, Luo Hai brow jumped as a feeling of terror suddenly gripped his heart.
“This is…” Luo Hai stared at the token with uncertainty for a moment before finally shouting, “Emperor Pressure! A Star Emperor Token?”
There was a faint, almost imperceptible aura coming from this token, but it was enough to cause Luo Hai’s face to pale.
Also, the character for ‘Emperor’ was clearly emblazoned on this token, allowing Luo Hai to understand what Yang Kai’s final card was.
He possessed a Star Emperor Token! And it was a still intact Star Emperor Token!
Rumours had it that the Starry Sky Great Emperor lived thousands of years ago and reigned supreme over the Star Field, leaving behind many legendary tales before at some point simply vanishing without a trace.
However, during the Great Emperor’s time, he refined nine Star Emperor Tokens and sealed one of his Divine Abilities inside each one. This Divine Ability was enough to kill any Origin King in mere breaths, a level of power impossible for any master in the Star Field to achieve.
Star Emperor Tokens were just the stuff of legends for ordinary cultivators, most of whom had no idea whether they even really existed or not.
However, masters at Luo Hai’s level knew full well that the Star Emperor Tokens really did exist. It was an open secret amongst top-level powerhouses that Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce possessed a Star Emperor Token, but theirs had already been unsealed. Only retaining barely any Emperor Pressure.
If an Origin King wore a Star Emperor Token on their body and perceived the Emperor Pressure it gave off for many years, it increased their chances of comprehending a higher Heavenly Way and Martial Dao.
As such, Luo Hai recognized the token in Yang Kai’s hand immediately and became unnerved.
“Not good!” Luo Hai exclaimed, “Brother Chi Huo, kill them quickly, they must not be allowed to unseal that Star Emperor Token.”
Chi Huo shivered as a trace of determination and cruelty flashed across his eyes. Biting his tongue, Chi Huo spat out a mouthful of his Blood Essence which immediately transformed into a raging ball of flame that shot towards Yang Kai and Su Yan.
He was a decisive man and understood that if he hesitated for an instant here, he would suffer unbearable consequences, so he had not hesitated to use his Blood Essence to deliver an overwhelming attack. He only wanted to kill Yang Kai and Su Yan as quickly as possible; otherwise, once the Star Emperor Token was unsealed, he would be defeated in an instant.
The Great Emperor’s prestige was so great that none dared challenge his might.
While Chi Huo took action, Luo Hai also acted, summoning a long sword-like artifact. The surface of this sword shone brightly, like moonlight, and exuded an aura of an Origin King Grade artifact. Luo Hai poured his Saint Qi into this sword, causing it to tremble slightly before his figure flickered and he suddenly disappeared.
By the time he reappeared, he was already standing in front of Yang Kai, piercing his sword towards the latter’s heart.
Yang Kai just stood on the spot and sneered lightly, unafraid of the deadly threats approaching as he poured his Saint Qi madly into the Star Emperor Token in his hand.
The world suddenly shook, as if the end of all creation had arrived, and an ancient and terrifying aura filled the air.
At that moment, on Scarlet Wave Star, every bird in flight fell from the sky, and every beast on the ground curled up and cowered.
In giant cities, small villages, headquarters of powerful Sects, and homes of tiny families, trillions of people all felt a terrifying aura press on their hearts.
This pressure was so horrifying it felt as if they would die at any moment.
Regardless of how old or young, weak or strong they were, every last living creature on Scarlet Wave Star dripped with cold sweat as they collapsed to the ground and were unable to stand up for quite some time, their strength completely drained in an instant.
Fortunately, this oppressive aura disappeared as fast as it had appeared.
Otherwise, billions of injuries and deaths would have been suffered on Scarlet Wave Star!
On Pure Ice Island, where its main ice palace once stood, above Yang Kai and Su Yan, a giant pair of illusory closed eyes suddenly appeared.
At the same time, Yang Kai and Su Yan were surrounded by a kind of invisible force which even Divine Sense could not detect.
The attack fueled by Chi Huo burning his Blood Essence, and the sword which Luo Hai had stabbed out, were both blocked by this invisible force, without so much as a ripple being created.
“Impossible!” Luo Hai cried out in horror.
With his Second-Order Origin King cultivation, he was unable to scratch Yang Kai even with an artifact, and all this was due to the appearance of this pair of closed eyes.
This was simply unacceptable to him.
The Great Emperor was only a character from legend to ordinary people, but masters like Luo Hai knew he was a real existence and many had been working hard their entire lives to find pieces of his inheritance while trying to surpass his position as the strongest cultivator to ever exist.
In their hearts, the Great Emperor was only somewhat more tyrannical in terms of cultivation, not some invincible existence.
Luo Hai also held similar thoughts, that the Great Emperor was just a master at the very peak of the Third-Order Origin King Realm and that one day he would be able to stand side by side with him, possibly even surpassing him.
But today, he finally understood that the Great Emperor had reached a level completely beyond his reach, completely surpassing the Origin King Realm, reaching some unknown and terrifying realm!
His pride and arrogance took a significant hit.
The closed pair of eyes slowly opened a moment later.
Luo Li’s face finally changed as she no longer dared to remain in place, her tender body flickering as she fled like a frightened rabbit, moving several thousand meters back from where the ice palace once stood.
The floating pair of eyes fully opened soon after, and their clear and flawless pupils radiated an overwhelming sense of majesty. Moreover, Luo Hai and Chi Huo were extremely surprised to see that these eyes clearly belonged to a woman!
[Could the legendary Starry Sky Great Emperor have been a woman?]
This kind of stray thought pricked the hearts of the two Origin Kings and left them in a state of disbelief.
These beautiful eyes stared at Luo Hai and Chi Huo coldly, without any emotion, like they were nothing but a pair of ants.
Chi Huo let out a pitiful cry in the next instant and was sent flying, as if he had suffered a crushing blow, blood spraying from his mouth as he tumbled through the air.
His Domain was suddenly shattered.
As for Wei Feng, who was being protected by Chi Huo the whole time, his body was shredded into a paste, leaving him without even a complete corpse.
A cracking sound resounded through the air and in Luo Hai’s heart. There were signs that his Domain was also on the verge of collapsing.
It seemed these indifferent eyes contained a supreme might which the so-called masters present were completely powerless against.
Luo Hai’s face turned pale as blood began leaking from the corners of his mouth and his body staggered. However, thanks to his significantly higher cultivation, he managed to stand his ground.
After this pair of beautiful eyes gave a casual glance, they vanished, as if they had never even appeared.
At the same time.
An overwhelming Emperor Pressure poured into Yang Kai and Su Yan. This was a power that did not exist naturally in this world and radiated an aura which made all of creation bow its head.
This was the power of the Great Emperor!
Yang Kai let out a burst of thunderous laughter that seemed to contain some kind of strange force which shocked Luo Hai’s mind, causing his Knowledge Sea to roil and become unsteady.
Just after Chi Huo stood firm, hearing this laughter, his face grew paler.
Gold and White Qi wrapped around Yang Kai and Su Yan’s figures as dragon roars and phoenix cries constantly resounded, but this mix of Yin and Yang Qi was now on a completely different scale compared to before.
Although the Yin and Yang Qis earlier were already powerful enough to threaten an ordinary First-Order Origin King, it was still negligible before Luo Hai.
But the current gold and white Qi had become so powerful it caused Luo Hai to feel a sense of panic!
It seemed that after unsealing the Star Emperor Token, an overwhelming power had poured into Yang Kai and Su Yan.
Suddenly, the Yin and Yang Qis completely merged into one.
In everyone’s field of vision, Yang Kai and Su Yan disappeared, leaving behind only a blinding ball of light.
“Chi Huo, you die first!” Yang Kai’s cold voice sounded from the mass of light and in the next moment, it flashed forward towards Chi Huo.
Chi Huo’s face changed drastically as he cried out in horror, “Brother Luo Hai, save me!”
At the same time, he formed a seal with his hands and desperately pushed his Saint Qi to form a protective barrier before himself.
This Saint Qi was so thick and dense that it was almost tangible, but Chi Huo did not stop there. He continued to summon an Origin King Grade defensive artifact which seemed to be wrapped in flame in the next instant as well.
However, all his efforts were in vain.
When the mass of light approached, the first thing to be broken was his Origin King Grade defensive artifact which had transformed into a wall of flames. This was a unique artifact and a rare treasure to the entire Star Field; however, it was easily shattered.
Inside the mass of light, a Golden Dragon and Ice Phoenix phantom swam about, displaying a majestic and noble dance.
The mass of light swiftly passed by Chi Huo.
Chi Huo stood motionless, staring blankly into space, a look of horror remaining on his face.
“This old master… regrets…”
Chi Huo’s words remained unfinished as a dazzling light burst from his body, pouring out from his pores, making him look like a glowing hedgehog.
*Hong…*
With a loud bang, Chi Huo’s body exploded into a blood mist that splashed out across the ground.
High up in the sky, gasps sounded as the Ice Heart Valley Elders inhaled sharply, all of them revealing frightened and alarmed expressions.
Chi Huo, a First-Order Origin King Realm master, was unable to resist a single blow from Yang Kai and Su Yan who were using the power sealed inside the Star Emperor Token, resulting in his instant death.
It was likely that not even the most powerful Third-Order Origin King would possess such phenomenal strength!
Luo Li’s tender body trembled as a hint of amazement flashed across the depths of her beautiful eyes, along with an incredible amount of regret.
She could understand Chi Huo’s mood just before he died and knew what it was that he was regretting.
Chi Huo regretted, but how could she not as well?
Had she known the situation would develop like this, how could she have violated her own convictions and feigned ignorance today?
If she had known things would turn out like this, she would have done everything in her power to protect Yang Kai and Su Yan, even if she died in the process.
Luo Li sighed deeply.
Ice Heart Valley was destined not to rise! A Heaven-sent opportunity was laid out in front of her, but she had turned a blind eye to it and even pushed it away, so what use was there in regretting now?
Now, she could only hope that this young man still took into consideration the fact that Su Yan was once an Ice Heart Valley disciple and after solving his immediate trouble would not turn his anger on them, for it he did, today would be the day of Ice Heart Valley’s destruction.
“Ha, hahahaha!” Mad laughter suddenly rang out, causing Luo Li to frown and turn, only to discover that Ran Yun Ting was its source.
Although she was laughing, the expression on her face was filled with endless bitterness and regret.
From the moment she decided to give up Su Yan, and Su Yan called her Honoured Master for the final time, she was destined to spend the rest of her life in regret.
“Luo Hai, it’s your turn!”
Yang Kai’s voice rang out from inside the mass of light again, and an intense murderous intent surged towards Luo Hai.
Luo Hai’s face changed drastically as he found he had still underestimated the terrifying power of the Star Emperor Token. Chi Huo being killed in a single blow was something even he could not accomplish.
In other words, he was completely outmatched!
“Star Force come to me!” Luo Hai’s expression fluctuated as he gave up any last hesitation and shouted.
He knew that trying to negotiate with Yang Kai was useless, he knew too many of this boy’s secrets, so it was absolutely impossible for them to simply part ways. What’s more, after Yang Kai had used a treasure as precious as a Star Emperor Token, how could he settle for not killing him? It was better to go all out in a fight than humiliate himself by begging.
Somewhere in the distant Star Field, Green Mountains Star flickered, and the unparalleled power from its very source blasted out, leapt across the barriers of space, and arrived on Scarlet Wave Star where it poured into Luo Hai’s body.
Luo Hai’s power and momentum surged, and his Second-Order Origin King cultivation rose to the very brink of the Third-Order in an instant.
As soon as this was complete, he fled towards the distance without looking back!
He had used his Star Source Support to escape, not even having the courage to confront Yang Kai and Su Yan head-on.
“You want to run?” Yang Kai laughed as the mass of light flickered and ripples of Space Force spread out, allowing him to instantly overtake Luo Hai where he released a blast of light towards him that contained terrifying power.
Luo Hai was shocked and the Origin King Grade artifact in his hand flashed, releasing a blade of light which seemed capable of cutting through the Heavens.
With the silent collision, space collapsed, and the sword wave was scattered, but the remaining power of the light blast still forced Luo Hai back a few thousand meters and had turned his face pale.
In their very first frontal exchange, he had suffered a small loss.
Stabilizing his figure and using the momentum he gained from being thrown out, Luo Hai continued to flee towards the Star Field!
The light mass which contained Yang Kai and Su Yan flickered once again and appeared in front of Luo Hai mysteriously.
“Boy, don’t go too far!” Luo Hai was so angry he coughed up blood. Although he knew that Yang Kai cultivated the Dao of Space, he never thought he would be toyed with in such a manner by it.
Those who cultivated the Dao of Space had unique advantages in both escaping and pursuing others.
If this were not the case, Luo Hai would have caught Yang Kai a year ago rather than allowing him to escape to Scarlet Wave Star.
“Now you want to talk about going too far? Why didn’t you think of this when you chased me across the Star Field? It’s useless to say anything more. Today, you die!”
A massive Void Crack suddenly formed, like the giant maw of an ancient beast, and bit towards Luo Hai, as if trying to swallow him whole. Luo Hai didn’t dare meet this attack and could only dodge desperately while searching for an opportunity to escape.
On Pure Ice Island, countless disciples shivered as the sturdy barriers all around them had long been destroyed by the terrifying explosions.
The current Pure Ice Island was almost completely undefended.
Luo Li’s face darkened when she realized this and shouted in a low voice, “Quickly make all disciples enter the underground secret rooms for refuge!”
Bing Long was also in a daze, but quickly reacted to these words and took out a communication artifact she then poured her Divine Sense into.
In short order, all of Ice Heart Valley’s disciples received the order and fled to the Sect’s underground chambers.
Only Bing Long and the dozen or so Elders remained beside Luo Li as they shivered, watching the terrifying battle taking place in front of them.
Only with Luo Li protecting them did they have the courage to stand where they were.
Above the clouds, at a location beyond where their eyes could reach, two extraordinary auras were clashing, these belonged to Yang Kai, Su Yan, and Luo Hai!
Although the Elders were unable to see the situation from where they stood, from the pitiful cries Luo Hai let out from time to time, it was easy to infer he was at a complete disadvantage.
From the clouds above, drops of blood which contained immense energy rained down occasionally, each droplet like a round gem that smashed open large craters whenever they hit the ground.
This was the blood of an Origin King Realm master!
“Supreme Elder…” Bing Long trembled, “What is the situation now?”
Luo Li’s beautiful eyes flashed as she stared into the void and whispered, “Luo Hai’s fate looks grim.”
The crowd was terrified when they heard this and could barely believe their ears.
Luo Hai was a Second-Order Origin King, so even if his opponent was a Third-Order Origin King, he would likely not die. With Luo Hai’s strength, even if he could not defeat his opponent, he should be able to make an escape and stage a comeback.
However, Luo Li had evaluated Luo Hai’s fate as grim.
This was indirectly saying it was highly likely that Luo Hai would die here today!
Could it be that Yang Kai and Su Yan, who united in body and mind, now had combat power that exceeded a Third-Order Origin King? Was this the true might of a Star Emperor Token? For a moment, everyone was at a loss for words.
Suddenly, Yang Kai’s laughter echoed through the sky again, accompanied by a litany of Luo Hai’s angry curses.
The entire sky was in chaos, as waves of Space Force distorted the battlefield and massive Void Cracks shuttled back and forth, swallowing everything in their path.
Red blood constantly splashed and fell on the icy peaks of Pure Ice Island.
The devastating energy released from the clash caused many ice peaks to collapse and threw all of Pure Ice Island into chaos.
Bing Long and the others were deeply shocked as this kind of battle had rapidly moved into a realm they could no longer comprehend. Even if they wanted to watch, they could not see anything clearly or even feel anything aside from the fallout, making it impossible for them to gain any insight from it.
Only Luo Li could barely see something.
However, as time passed, the space and the flow of energy up in the sky grew more chaotic, to the point even she could not follow the situation.
Luo Hai’s curses had long ago ceased as he seemingly lacked the spare energy to even do that.
However, his aura was obviously weakening.
“Death!” Suddenly, Yang Kai’s shout rang out, together with Luo Hai’s panicked screams.
A shocking explosion occurred that sent out powerful shockwaves in the next moment.
Large amounts of blood fell from the sky like rain, together with some broken limbs and hashed meat.
The aura belonging to Luo Hai suddenly vanished.
Luo Li’s pupils shrank to the size of needle tips as her tender body could not help trembling.
She was well aware of what had just happened.
The earth-shaking battle subsided at that moment, but the Elders of Ice Heart Valley did not dare to even breath, all of them staring up into the sky in horror.
The chaotic battlefield began to clear as the massive Void Cracks slowly repaired themselves.
Gradually, a ball of light that was a blend of gold and white appeared before everyone’s vision, while there was no sign of Luo Hai anywhere to be seen.
There seemed to be a gaze projecting from the mass of light, overlooking everything below it.
This gaze was cold and merciless, with a hint of murderous intent mixed into it.
All those who fell under this gaze could not help shuddering.
Luo Li could not stop herself from inhaling sharply as she felt her heart leap up into her throat.
However, she soon felt relieved as this cold gaze quickly turned away and a shocking dragon roar and phoenix cry sounded before the mass of light flashed and suddenly disappeared.
No one knew where it had gone.
The Elders of Ice Heart Valley were unable to regain their composure for quite some time, and none of them dared to speak, all of them simply releasing their Divine Senses to carefully survey their surroundings.
It was not until half a day later, as the mass of light still did not appear, that they gradually relaxed.
Yang Kai apparently had no intentions of acting ruthlessly. Otherwise, Pure Ice Island would definitely have been filled with rivers of blood.
…..
Green Mountains Star, Star Master Shrine.
In the centre of the Star Master Shrine, there was a huge square, and at the centre of this square stood a statue about a hundred meters tall. This statue was carved extremely vividly and possessed an almost lifelike charm.
The statue was naturally of Luo Hai.
As a Star Master, Luo Hai had such a privilege. This statue was a symbol of his status as Green Mountains Star’s Star Master.
Below the statue, many cultivators sat cross-legged and seemed to be comprehending something from the statue.
Suddenly, there was a cracking sound. This cracking was immediately noticed, and the cultivators sitting in front of the statue frowned, opened their eyes, and looked around, wondering where this sound came from, but none of them were able to discover where it originated.
Just as they were about to close their eyes and continue their comprehension, however, another cracking sound occurred, this time clearer than before.
It was at this point that everyone finally turned their heads up towards the giant statue.
After a single glance, everyone was thoroughly stunned!
“Sir Luo Hai’s statue has cracked!”
“What? Impossible! How could there be cracks in Sir Luo Hai’s statue?”
“This statue is closely connected to the Star Source and Sir Luo Hai’s own aura! Since it’s cracked, could Sir Luo Hai be in some kind of danger?”
“Nonsense, Sir Luo Hai is Green Mountains Star’s Star Master and has profound cultivation, how could he have encountered any kind of danger… oh, there really is a crack.”
News spread like the wind and instantly forced all the cultivators who were present seeking enlightenment to awaken. These thousands of cultivators all looked up, and seeing the cracks gradually increase and widen, they could not help feeling stunned and panicked.
“Everyone, rest assured, Sir Luo Hai is Green Mountains Star’s Star Master, even if he encounters danger, he will surely be able to overcome it and come back safely, there’s no need to panic.”
“Exactly! How could a master like Sir Luo Hai fall so easily? Don’t make a fuss.” Someone immediately agreed, obviously admiring Luo Hai extremely.
However, as soon as this person’s voice fell, the huge human-shaped statue suddenly released a loud noise and burst apart, with giant pieces of it falling to the ground.
The closer cultivators gawked in shock, but quickly their eyes shrank, and they used their Movement Skills to flee.
*Hong long long…*
When the statue collapsed, the entire square shook as a cloud of dust flew up into the air.
At the same time, all of Green Mountains Star seemed to tremble and all those who possessed slightly higher strength immediately noticed that the World Energy of Green Mountains Star seemed to be weaker than before.
“Sir Luo Hai… fell?” Atop the square, thousands of cultivators with different levels of cultivation realized what had happened after experiencing a brief period of silence and consternation.
With this statue being closely connected to Luo Hai and the Star Source of Green Mountains Star, if the statue was destroyed, there was only one plausible explanation.
Luo Hai died!
No one could believe it!
How could such a powerful cultivator like Luo Hai die?
“Who did it? Which bastard did it? Someone tell me now so I can rip him into ten thousand pieces!” Someone shouted angrily as his face twisted in rage.
“Whoever killed Sir Luo Hai is the eternal enemy to all of Green Mountains Star!!”
“Everyone, we must punish the criminal!”
In the square, countless cultivators roared with indignation.
Luo Hai had nothing to do with most of them, and most had never even met him before, but he was still the Star Master of Green Mountains Star. With the Star Master falling, Green Mountains Star would also be affected. The drop in World Energy density on the star could not be recovered in short order, unless another Origin King came to Green Mountains Star and successfully refined its Star Source that is.
In other words, the fall of Luo Hai had caused a certain degree of loss to every cultivator on Green Mountains Star.
Whoever killed Luo Hai was naturally their enemy now.
As many cultivators shouted angrily, others wore solemn expressions as they took out their communication artifacts, poured their Divine Senses into them, and sent the shocking news to their relatives and friends.
One day later, everyone on Green Mountains Star knew that Star Master Luo Hai had fallen!
After one month, the news spread throughout the Star Field!
The entire Star Field shook!
There were many different opinions about Luo Hai’s death. Some people claimed that one of the Star Field’s old monsters who had not shown their face for thousands of years had killed Luo Hai. Others said that Luo Hai broke into some dangerous place and failed to escape. As for what the truth was, no one knew.
However, this was still explosive news. The number of Origin Kings in the Star Field was not very large, and the death of any of them was a sensational event.
What’s more, the Star Master of Green Mountains Star, Luo Hai, who died this time, was a Second-Order Origin King.
News soon reached Scarlet Wave Star, where Ice Heart Valley’s Supreme Elder Luo Li had ordered all disciples of the Sect not to leak a word of what happened that day. Otherwise, she would personally take action to clean up the Sect. Naturally, none dared challenge her command.
In all honesty, only the top dozen or so Ice Heart Valley Elders actually knew what transpired that day, while the ordinary disciples knew nothing. They only knew that a terrifying battle had suddenly erupted over Pure Ice Island, but as for who was fighting, and what the outcome of the battle was, they were completely in the dark.
-Pure Ice Island-
Inside a rebuilt ice palace, all the leaders of Ice Heart Valley gathered.
Luo Li sat at the head of the hall with Bing Long, Ran Yun Ting, and the other Elders all sitting to either side of her while one Elder was reporting on the progress of restoring the various barriers and Spirit Arrays on the island.
The last shocking battle had destroyed almost every barrier around Pure Ice Island, so the disciples had been busy repairing all of them until today, when they finally finished.
However, the collapsed ice peaks could never be returned to their former glory. Fortunately, the disciples had all evacuated early so there were no casualties, the only bit of good news from the entire incident.
Luo Li kept her eyes closed until the Elder finished her report before gently nodding but not speaking.
Bing Long glanced at her, then turned to look at another person and asked, “Thirteenth Elder, is there any news about that person?”
Hearing this, Thirteenth Elder Yu Xue Qing shook her head solemnly, “No, we looked for him for an entire year before but never found any trace of him. If he had not shown up at that time of his own accord, we might still be unable to find him. This time, if he wants to deliberately conceal his location, there is nothing we can do to find him.”
“En!” Bing Long sighed.
“There’s no need to look for him!” Luo Li suddenly opened her eyes and said lightly.
“Supreme Elder…”
“He doesn’t want us to find him, so how could we? Besides, after such a battle, he must be busy healing.”
“Healing?” Bing Long and the others raised their brows as they looked a little surprised, but they quickly understood, “What Supreme Elder means is…”
“He used a power far beyond his own means, so he clearly must have paid a heavy price as well,” Luo Li said lightly.
“So, he’s currently wounded?” Ran Yun Ting’s eyes lit up and a hint of eagerness flashed across her face, “If that is the case, then we could…”
Before she could finish her words, however, Luo Li suddenly opened her eyes and shot her a cold glare, causing Ran Yun Ting to immediately fall silent, unable to speak a word.
“My Ice Heart Valley enduring until this day has not been easy, and my most earnest wish is not to make Ice Heart Valley rise, but to ensure our ancestral foundation is not destroyed. Do you understand?” Luo Li’s beautiful eyes swept around, revealing an endless majesty.
Everyone shivered as they understood the meaning of Luo Li’s words, quickly getting up and respectfully saying, “Disciple understands.”
“As long as you understand, don’t go provoking disaster for Ice Heart Valley.”
Ran Yun Ting’s face turned pale as she tremblingly spoke, “Disciple knows her wrongs!”
Luo Li nodded lightly, satisfied with her attitude, before suddenly smiling, “Let all those who we sent out to look for him return, he will come back on his own eventually.”
“He’ll come back?” One Elder’s complexion changed drastically. The day Yang Kai killed Luo Hai in battle, he had truly frightened them, so the thought that he would return to Pure Ice Island again at some point suddenly made them a little nervous.
Bing Long seemed to understand and smiled, “He left someone here on Pure Ice Island, so naturally he’ll come back for her.”
Ran Yun Ting thought for a while before positing, “Valley Master means that disciple named Qing Ya?”
“En, Qing Ya and Su Yan joined Ice Heart Valley together and share a very close relationship, so even if Yang Kai doesn’t want to return, Su Yan will definitely come back.”
“Should we try talking to Qing Ya?” Ran Yun Ting frowned.
“This Queen has already tried to speak with her a few days ago,” Bing Long gave a wry smile.
“Oh? And what did she say? Does she know the whereabouts of Yang Kai and Su Yan or what Yang Kai’s attitude towards our Ice Heart Valley is?” Ran Yun Ting asked.
“Although this Queen went to find her, she was unable to meet her,” A slightly embarrassed look appeared on Bing Long’s face.
“What happened?” All the Elders were surprised.
“Yang Kai left that stone man to guard her. When this Queen tried to approach, she was beaten back by that stone man,” Bing Long explained with a wry smile and some slight fear on her face. “If it wasn’t for Qing Ya hastily stopping it at that time, this Queen may have been wounded.”
“That stone man is so strong?” Ran Yun Ting’s face changed drastically.
She too had seen the stone man. When she ordered Bing Die to kill Qing Ya, it was the stone man who protected Qing Ya, but at that time, all her attention was focused on Yang Kai and Su Yan, so she hadn’t paid much attention to this strange creature.
Now, however, from Bing Long’s description, it seemed this stone man was quite extraordinary in its own right.
“In a head-on confrontation, I am not its opponent,” Bing Long declared solemnly.
Gasps sounded throughout the hall.
Bing Long was the strongest master among all of Ice Heart Valley’s Origin Returning Realm cultivators. Even taking all of Scarlet Wave Star into consideration, she was one of the greatest masters, but if even she was not this stone man’s opponent, didn’t that mean it was close to an Origin King in strength?
Just what kind of existence was it?
Everyone turned their eyes to Luo Li, hoping that she could enlighten them.
“Don’t look at me, I don’t know the origins of that stone man either. Perhaps it is a puppet that survived since ancient times, or perhaps it is an independent lifeform of some kind.”
[Even Supreme Elder does not know what it is?] Everyone was shocked. They always thought Supreme Elder was almost omnipotent, but today, that illusion was broken.
And the root of all of this was none other than Yang Kai.
“That disciple called Qing Ya must still hold some gratitude in her heart towards Ice Heart Valley, otherwise, she wouldn’t have stopped that stone man from attacking Bing Long. Don’t bother her anymore, just ask someone to attend to her needs. Yang Kai and Su Yan will come here again and take her away soon enough.”
“Yes!” Bing Long nodded respectfully.
“When he appears next time… make sure not to act disrespectful again!” Luo Li left this sentence before her figure flickered and suddenly disappeared.
The Elders all exchanged silent glances before they dispersed, leaving only Ran Yun Ting behind, who was still wallowing in endless regret.
…..
Inside the Sealed World Bead, in the loft where Xia Ning Chang lived before, Yang Kai and Su Yan sat cross-legged across from one another, their palms overlapping.
Saint Qi flowed between the two of them and blended together, forming a profound and endless cycle.
Both of their faces were slightly pale.
The battle with Luo Hai might have seemed simple and easy, but in order to use such terrifying power, both Yang Kai and Su Yan had paid a huge price.
It was for this reason that after that great battle, Yang Kai left Ice Heart Valley immediately, not even stopping to pick up Qing Ya, and went to find a place to recover.
Luo Li’s insight was quite sharp.
Fortunately, he had only used the Star Emperor Token after joining forces with Su Yan, so even though the cost paid was enormous, with the two of them sharing the burden, it was not unbearable.
Yang Kai felt quite lucky.
If Su Yan had not shared the burden with him this time, and he had instead used the Star Emperor Token all on his own, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
The power of the Great Emperor was not something he could bear.
Around the two of them, Saint Crystal Sources were scattered, and several empty jade bottles lay nearby, all the pills inside of them already taken.
Pure energy poured into the two of them as they carefully healed their wounds. As time passed, their complexions gradually recovered and the fluctuations in their auras slowly stabilized.
One day, Yang Kai exhaled a long breath and opened his eyes.
Facing him were Su Yan’s beautiful eyes.
The two smiled at each other. After more than three months of healing, they had finally recovered.
“Junior Brother, did you break through?” Su Yan eyes flashed with a hint of surprise.
“It seems so,” Yang Kai only then realized the changes he had undergone.
Before the battle with Luo Hai, he had reached the peak of the Second-Order Origin Returning Realm, and after the first battle, he had broken through and reached the Third-Order.
Truthfully, he didn’t even know when he broke through. It may have been that the Great Emperor’s divine might was too great, so when he took it into his body, it shattered his bottleneck all on its own without him realizing.
Moreover, his current cultivation was extremely stable, so Yang Kai did not need to spend any time consolidating it.
“You did as well,” Yang Kai looked at Su Yan and suddenly found that her cultivation realm was the same as his own, having reached the Third-Order as well.
Su Yan smiled.
The light from the entire world seemed to gather on Su Yan, making her look even more noble and glamorous.
Yang Kai could not help staring for a while before stretching out his hand to hold hers, his emotions rising rapidly, “Su Yan…”
Su Yan blushed, naturally aware of what he was thinking, and managed to mutter haltingly, “Honored Master and everyone else are waiting outside.”
Yang Kai released his Divine Sense to investigate and quickly discovered that his acquaintances and friends had already heard the news and were now waiting outside.
The masters of the Human, Monster, and Demon races were waiting silently outside the loft.
Yang Kai scratched his cheeks for a moment before making up his mind and grinning, “They’ve waited for so long already, there’s no need to rush out and see them.”
Saying so, he leapt like a wolf onto Su Yan and pinned her to the ground.
…..
When the loft door opened, Yang Kai and Su Yan appeared in front of Ling Tai Xu and the others.
Everyone ran forward and asked about their situation, while Xia Ning Chang’s beautiful eyes were filled with anxiety and concern.
On that day, Yang Kai and Su Yan suddenly appeared inside the Sealed World Bead, with both their auras fluctuating wildly, as if they had been seriously injured. Naturally, Xia Ning Chang was shocked and quickly arranged a place for them to heal their injuries while at the same time spreading the news.
That was three months ago, and only now had the two of them emerged.
“Yang Kai, are you two all right?” Ling Tai Xu asked first.
“I’ve worried Grand Master unnecessarily; Disciple is fine now.”
“Smelly brat, you almost worried… your mother to death!” Yang Ying Feng also breathed a sigh of relief. Originally, he wanted to say that he was worried, but feeling like that would make him lose face, he quickly pushed that charge onto Dong Su Zhu.
Dong Su Zhu stood beside Yang Ying Feng, biting her red lips, her nose sniffling slightly as big tears threatened to leak from her eyes, seemingly wanting to cry but not daring to make a sound.
“Mother, don’t worry. I’m fine, really,” Yang Kai grinned and thumped his chest strongly to prove he was healthy.
Seeing this, Dong Su Zhu finally could not hold back and began weeping loudly.
If it were not for the presence of so many people, she would likely have rushed forward, embraced her son into her arms, and refused to let go for some time.
“Little Brat!” Yang Ying Feng became irritated and glared at Yang Kai.
“Why are you shouting? Who said you could shout!” Dong Su Zhu punched him with her pair of delicate fists, “Why are you shouting at my son!”
Yang Ying Feng’s face turned dark, thinking, [He’s not just your son but mine too! And he wouldn’t lose anything from being shouted at a bit!]
The entire matter quickly became noisy.
However, depressed as he was from all the injustice, Yang Ying Feng knew not to say anything and simply allowed Dong Su Zhu to punch him, not daring to move away.
Meeting a group of relatives and friends after so long, it was easy to feel their care and concern.
Yang Kai’s body and mind both felt warmed by this sight.
He reaffirmed that his decision to return to Tong Xuan Realm and bring out all these people was the correct one, despite the difficulties it had involved.
A great tree needed strong roots, just as a flowing river needed a source; these people from Tong Xuan Realm were Yang Kai’s.
Wood without roots and water without a source were destined to dry out quickly.
Inside the Sealed World Bead, in order to celebrate the return of Su Yan, the Three Clans put on a grand and extremely lively banquet.
During the banquet, drinks were pushed around constantly and no matter what one’s cultivation or age was, they all became swept up in the festive atmosphere.
Yang Kai was nearly drowned by all the toasts from the Three Clans’ masters, causing him to wake up the next day with a splitting headache.
Afterwards, Yang Kai stayed with his parents for two more days to fulfil his filial piety duties before leaving the Sealed World Bead.
Before leaving, however, Yang Kai taught Su Yan the Monster Transformation Secret Art.
Now that Su Yan possessed the Ice Phoenix Source, she too could cultivate the Monster Transformation and slowly develop the Source strength inside her body to strengthen herself.
He also gave her the Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal.
This supreme treasure had originally been used to hold the Sun’s True Essence, and although it was now no longer useful to Yang Kai, it was an extremely useful auxiliary cultivation tool to Su Yan.
With the Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal, Su Yan’s cultivation speed should increase by at least thirty percent.
With everything arranged, Yang Kai flew towards Ice Heart Valley again.
Pure Ice Island had returned to its original tranquillity.
The disciples seemed to have recovered from the aftermath of the shocking war that erupted several months ago and had now resumed their regular cultivation, spending their days calmly and peacefully.
On the Outer Island, below a certain ice peak, a woman in a white dress was sweeping a small ice road when suddenly a gust of wind rushed past and she couldn’t help shivering as an inexplicable sense of panic rose from her heart.
She looked up suspiciously and scanned her surroundings, but ultimately found nothing.
Feeling doubtful, she checked around herself for a while longer, but after still discovering nothing, she simply shook her head and continued to clean the ice road.
In front of an ice peak not far from this woman, a figure mysteriously appeared.
This figure walked forward towards a certain ice room, and after a short time, he arrived at his destination. Looking at the barrier in front of him, barring his path, this figure smiled slightly, stretched out his hand, and slashed towards the space.
A series of ripples emerged as the barrier split open and he walked directly inside.
Inside the ice room, Qing Ya sat cross-legged on the ground, her delicate cheeks resting on her hands as she stared at the Stone Puppet in front of her.
She seemed to be very interested in the Stone Puppet.
Yang Kai and Su Yan had killed two Origin Kings with shocking methods that day then immediately retreated, leaving her behind. Qing Ya had no complaints about this though, as she could vaguely tell that Yang Kai and Su Yan were both injured during this battle and had no leeway to remain.
What’s more, even though Yang Kai left, this weird Stone Puppet remained to guard her, so Qing Ya certainly wouldn’t have any complaints.
She also knew that Yang Kai and Su Yan would definitely return to Ice Heart Valley to take her away at some point.
These days, Qing Ya had remained behind closed doors, looking forward to the day she would leave this ice room, but when she was bored, she would often come and exchange stares with the Stone Puppet.
She discovered that although the Stone Puppet had its own sentience, no matter how she tried to communicate with it, it would not respond, instead just following her around all day silently.
“Little guy, when do you think Yang Kai and Su Yan will come?” Qing Ya sighed lightly. Once, she was proud to belong to Ice Heart Valley, but after her most recent experiences, she could not wait to leave this Sect that so greatly disappointed her and almost forced her to her death.
“Haa, you look a bit dull but how can you not even know how to speak?” Qing Ya stretched out her hand and flicked the Stone Puppet’s forehead lightly
This flick naturally caused no harm, but the Stone Puppet still blinked and wore a bewildered expression on its face.
Qing Ya was amused by its appearance and could not help giggling.
“Seems like you’re in a good mood,” Suddenly, a voice called out from behind her.
Qing Ya’s complexion changed greatly and she instinctually began condensing her Saint Qi, but after realizing who this voice belonged to, her frightened expression turned to one of pleasant surprise.
Turning around, Qing Ya saw a young man standing behind her smiling brightly, his presence like a ray of warm sunlight, dispelling the cold and darkness in the ice room.
The Stone Puppet’s two small black eyes also burst with life as he scampered over to the young man, stretched out his thick fingers, then pointed to himself and Qing Ya in turn, as if trying to express something but unable to form the words.
“I know, you’ve done a good job guarding her!” The young man patted the Stone Puppet on the head.
The Stone Puppet’s small eyes narrowed, obviously feeling quite happy.
“Yang Kai!” Qing Ya shouted as her face flushed slightly.
It seemed that the scene where she was talking to herself just now was seen by him, embarrassing Qing Ya a little.
But soon, Qing Ya adjusted her mood and asked with concern, “Are you all right?”
Yang Kai nodded lightly and replied, “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”
“That’s good. Ah… what about Su Yan?” Qing Ya’s face changed as she was unable to see Su Yan’s figure anywhere and could not help worrying that something bad had happened.
“Su Yan is in a very safe place,” Yang Kai motioned to her not to be nervous, “I’m here to take you away. Are you ready?”
Qing Ya took a deep breath then nodded firmly, “I’m ready.”
“Then let’s go!” Yang Kai nodded before suddenly frowning slightly and glancing in a certain direction, smiling wryly a moment later, “En, seems I was still noticed.”
At that moment, a cold voice echoed in the ice room, “Since Young Master Yang has taken the trouble to come, why leave so hastily? If you have time, why not come to Pure Ice Peak so we can chat?”
“Supreme Elder!” Qing Ya’s beautiful face lost all colour as she exclaimed in shock, recognizing that the voice which had just sounded belonged to Ice Heart Valley’s Supreme Elder, Luo Li.
Yang Kai cast her a reassuring look before staring into the distance, a subtle grin appearing on his face as he called out, “It would be rude for Junior to refuse Senior’s kind invitation!”
“Then this Queen will await your arrival on Pure Ice Peak!” Luo Li’s voice sounded once more before her Divine Sense presence disappeared.
“Let’s go!” Yang Kai waved to Qing Ya.
“Yang Kai…” Qing Ya’s face filled with worry.
“Rest assured, she has no malicious intentions,” Yang Kai smiled slightly.
Hearing this, Qing Ya relaxed and quickly followed after Yang Kai as he walked out of the ice room.
Stepping outside, Qing Ya couldn’t help gasping slightly when she saw a dozen people standing nearby, the Valley Master, Great Elder, and other high-level figures of Ice Heart Valley among them, all of them seemingly waiting to see Yang Kai.
When these women saw Yang Kai, all of their expressions couldn’t help becoming solemn and respectful.
Yang Kai’s expression remained unchanged as he simply nodded to them.
“Young Master Yang…” Bing Long quickly greeted Yang Kai, but how she did so was far more respectful than before. It was obvious that the shocking battle that day had left a huge impact on her.
“Senior Bing Long!” Yang Kai cupped his fists.
“Please don’t be so polite,” Bing Long waved her hand quickly, “If Young Master Yang does not mind, please address this Mistress as Bing Long.”
A visible look of relief spread across Bing Long’s face. Before she came here, she was frightened Yang Kai would not give her any face or would speak insulting words. She was prepared to endure humiliation, but Yang Kai had spoken in a relaxed and casual manner instead while not neglecting proper etiquette, making Bing Long feel as if she had been a bit overly suspicious and pessimistic.
Thinking so, Bing Long was somewhat ashamed.
Seeing that Yang Kai did not seem to bear hostility towards Ice Heart Valley, Bing Long felt a great weight lift from her heart.
“I’ll have to ask Valley Master Bing to lead the way,” Yang Kai nodded.
“En, this way please!” Bing Long stepped back and gave way.
Yang Kai stepped forward.
Inside the crowd, Ran Yun Ting’s expression changed several times, but in the end, she couldn’t hold herself back and called out, “Where is Su Yan? Is she alright?”
Yang Kai stopped, turned around, and gave Ran Yun Ting a faint look.
The hearts of more than a dozen Elders immediately clenched tightly, and even Bing Long’s expression became tense, all of them silently sending signals to Ran Yun Ting to hold her tongue.
Ran Yun Ting turned a blind eye to all of this however and simply met Yang Kai’s gaze head-on with a bitter smile, “I’m not qualified to serve as her Honoured Master any longer, but that does not mean I am not worried about whether Su Yan is safe or now.”
“She’s safe, you need not worry about her!” Yang Kai responded lightly.
“As long as she’s safe,” Ran Yun Ting breathed a sigh of relief.
“From now on, Su Yan has nothing to do with Ice Heart Valley,” After Yang Kai made this declaration, he continued to walk forward.
Ran Yun Ting’s body trembled as the bitterness on her face became even more obvious. At the same time, the other Elders present sighed and shook their heads sadly.
Pure Ice Peak was the central ice peak of Pure Ice Island. It was not the tallest or most majestic ice peak, but it had the richest World Energy. Supreme Elder Luo Li of Ice Heart Valley lived in seclusion here.
It was rumoured that there was a pond which overflowed with cold energy on Pure Ice Peak, and that anyone who cultivated an Ice Attribute Secret Art nearby would be able to cultivate far faster than normal.
When the small group arrived at the base of Pure Ice Peak, Bing Long and the others came to a stop, “This is Pure Ice Peak. Supreme Elder is waiting for you at the summit, please enter, Young Master Yang!”
Without the Supreme Elder’s permission, no one could enter Pure Ice Peak, so Bing Long and the others could only remain here.
Yang Kai nodded, then turned to Qing Ya and said, “You wait for me here.”
“Ok,” Qing Ya nodded.
Yang Kai then set foot on a set of jade white steps as he ascended the mountain.
Along the way, cold and bitter winds whipped about as an icy strength which seemed capable of freezing anything under the Heavens filled the air.
Yang Kai was unaffected by this as he walked forward, he even had some spare capacity to enjoy the surrounding scenery.
A quarter of an hour later, Yang Kai arrived at the summit.
It only took a single glance for Yang Kai to take in everything at this summit as this place was extremely sparse. There were no grand ice palaces or pavilions present, only a small, thatched house covered in snow that seemed like it would leak wind from all sides.
The Supreme Elder of Ice Heart Valley, Luo Li, sat cross-legged inside this thatched hut with a small stone table in front of her. Atop this stone table was a pot of lightly steaming tea which was somehow isolated from the surrounding cold.
When Yang Kai arrived, the tea seemed to have just finished steeping.
Luo Li opened her eyes, looked at Yang Kai, smiled slightly, and gestured, “Young Master Yang, please sit down!”
Yang Kai cupped his fists, “Junior won’t stand on ceremony then!”
Saying so, he walked over and sat down cross-legged opposite of Luo Li.
Seeing him look so calm, Luo Li nodded slightly, stretched out her hand, poured some tea into a small teacup in front of Yang Kai, and said, “Have a taste of this Queen’s Tranquil as Snow Tea.” As she spoke, a clear and refreshing fragrance wafted towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s expression changed as he picked up the teacup and put it under his nose, sniffing it a few times as a slightly intoxicated look appeared on his face. Immediately after, he lifted the cup of tea up and drank it down in one gulp before chewing a small tea leaf that became stuck in his teeth.
Luo Li was slightly startled and smiled lightly, “Young Master Yang does not seem to have dabbled much in the art of tea ceremonies.”
“En, I haven’t studied it at all,” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, “I have been too busy running around these years so I haven’t had the time or mind to learn about such things.”
“That is only natural. Young Hero Yang already has such a shocking cultivation at his age, so clearly he is an assiduous individual.”
“Senior is too polite; however, though Junior does not know much about the tea ceremony, he can tell that this Tranquil as Snow has the effect of calming one’s mood. Senior giving me this tea as soon as I arrived… could you be worried about something?” Yang Kai smiled without really smiling.
Luo Li sighed openly, “Why does Young Master Yang ask something he already knows the answer to?”
Yang Kai’s expression became serious as he stated, “Junior will be direct then. Ice Heart Valley’s previous attitude and practice truly angered me greatly, and for a moment I felt that it would be best to wipe it from existence!”
Luo Li’s expression remained unchanged as she continued looking at Yang Kai, waiting for him to continue.
“But reflecting on it now, that was just an impulse driven by anger and completely unnecessary. Moreover, even if I really wanted to do so, Su Yan would not have agreed.”
When Yang Kai mentioned Su Yan, Luo Li’s face flashed with sadness, “Su Yan is a good child. I have taught her several times and her understanding, aptitude, and will are all outstanding. If it were not for matters occurring in such a manner, Su Yan would definitely have grown into the pillar of my Ice Heart Valley and lead it to a glorious future.”
“Unfortunately, that will never come to pass,” Yang Kai smiled coldly.
“This time, it was my Ice Heart Valley’s fault. My, Luo Li’s, fault. Young Master Yang having the heart to forgive our transgressions even after everything that happened is more than this Luo Li can thank you for!” Luo Li stood up and bowed to Yang Kai elegantly.
Yang Kai frowned, but his expression soon softened. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Senior is too serious. Senior is an Origin King while Junior is a mere Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator. Senior need not display such courtesy or respect.”
Luo Li shook her head sternly, “This Queen cannot depend on her status to remain aloof. Besides, although this Queen is somewhat short-sighted, she knows Young Hero’s future must be bright.”
Yang Kai laughed loudly, “Then I’ll take advantage of Senior’s auspicious words.”
After this laugh, Yang Kai said solemnly, “Since Senior is willing to speak openly and honestly, then Junior will reciprocate in kind. From now on, Su Yan and Qing Ya no longer have any relationship with Ice Heart Valley, and in return, I will not take what Ice Heart Valley has done in the past to heart.”
A trace of sadness flashed across Luo Li’s face as she nodded lightly, “Very well, it is my Ice Heart Valley that is not fated to receive these blessings and opportunities, so we will not try to demand them.”
“Senior being able to think so is for the best,” Yang Kai nodded in satisfaction.
Yang Kai was happy that Luo Li did not try to make things difficult here. Although his main purpose in coming here was to take Qing Ya away, he also wanted to meet with this Supreme Elder to draw a clear line between Ice Heart Valley and Su Yan.
After all, Ice Heart Valley had nurtured and taught Su Yan and Qing Ya for more than thirty years, using plenty of effort and resources on them, so although Yang Kai was extremely angry and disappointed with their most recent actions, some things still needed to be made clear.
“Good, since the personal affairs have been concluded, let’s talk about proper business,” Yang Kai’s expression changed as he spoke to Luo Li, a sly merchant’s grin appearing on his face.
Luo Li was stunned for a moment before she asked, “Proper business? What business?”
Despite her sharp instincts, she was unable to keep up with Yang Kai’s constantly changing rhythm.
“Brilliant Flame Sect and Ice Heart Valley have fought over Scarlet Wave Star for thousands of years and share an indelible blood feud. The number of Ice Heart Valley disciples who have died at the hands of Brilliant Flame Sect cultivators must be quite astonishing. Now that Brilliant Flame Sect’s Supreme Elder Chi Huo has been killed by me, hasn’t Senior had any ideas about taking advantage of the situation?” Yang Kai looked at Luo Li with a smile and slowly stated, “For example, cutting weeds and pulling out roots to avoid future troubles.”
Luo Li’s expression changed as she looked at Yang Kai in shock, “Young Hero is apparently a merciless person.”
“Hmph, those who aren’t merciless can never stand firmly,” Yang Kai sneered.
Luo Li’s beautiful eyes flashed, “These words are both learned and cultured, it seems this Queen has looked down on Young Hero.”
“So what are Senior’s intentions?”
“This Queen will speak opening then. This Queen indeed had such intentions; with Chi Huo dead, Brilliant Flame Sect now is leaderless, so now is indeed the best time to settle all the grievances between our two factions, but… this Queen is strong in will but weak in strength.”
Yang Kai raised his brow slightly before gently nodding, “Is Senior referring to her internal and Soul injuries?”
“Young Hero’s eyes are indeed sharp,” Luo Li did not deny it.
The internal injuries were the result of her recent cultivation dissonance, while the damage to her Soul was a result of her choice to abandon Su Yan. The latter made the situation of the former worse, which was the reason why Luo Li had not taken any action.
Otherwise, given all the grievances between the two factions, as early as the day Chi Huo was beheaded, Luo Li would have set out for Brilliant Flame Mountain Range to uproot Brilliant Flame Sect.
“Even so, with Senior’s means, is there no way to take Brilliant Flame Sect?” Yang Kai asked suspiciously.
“Young Hero thinks too highly of me,” Luo Li laughed and shook her head. “If this Queen was at her peak, she would have at least a seventy percent chance of breaking through Brilliant Flame Sect’s Sect Defending Array, but under the current circumstances… it would be quite difficult. Although Brilliant Flame Sect does not have an Origin King to protect it now, it still has hundreds of Origin Realm cultivators, and with the help of their Sect Defending Array, they would have a fair chance of defeating this Queen.”
“It seems I’ve underestimated Brilliant Flame Sect!” Yang Kai stroked his shin, showing a trace of solemnity on his face.
In the end, Brilliant Flame Sect had endured for more than ten thousand years, so it possessed a profound heritage.
“So… if I can allow Senior to restore her strength to its peak, heal her injuries, and offer my cooperation, there would be a good chance of success?” Yang Kai suddenly laughed strangely.
“What?” Luo Li was startled as she furrowed her delicate brow, “You have a method to allow me to restore my peak strength?”
“Indeed!”
“But to heal my injuries, only an extraordinary cure will be useful. I would need a very specific type of Origin King Grade pill!” As she spoke, Luo Li seemed to realize something and her complexion changed dramatically, calling out in alarm, “Is Young Hero also an Origin King Grade Alchemist?”
Yang Kai smiled meaningfully, giving off a profound image as he nodded, “Whether or not that is the case, Senior can see for herself. Good, I need these materials. With Ice Heart Valley’s heritage, it shouldn’t be difficult to take them out…”
Yang Kai quickly listed a number of herbs, all of them Origin King Grade.
Luo Li was in a daze as she took down the list of materials while staring at Yang Kai in disbelief, her tender body trembling slightly as she did.
All the signs pointed to this young man being an Origin King Grade Alchemist. At the very least, an Origin King Grade Alchemist was standing behind him, otherwise, he would not have any need for such herbs.
Luo Li’s heart tumbled like it was being battered by great stormy waves, making it impossible for her to regain her calm for a long time.
Origin King Grade Alchemists were extremely rare even considering the entire Star Field, almost to the point where they could be counted with one’s fingers. Each of these Grandmasters was extremely famous and even peak Third-Order Origin Kings would have to act respectful and polite whenever they met them.
They were the true nobility of the Star Field.
If the young man in front of her was really an Origin King Grade Alchemist, then Ice Heart Valley’s loss this time would be difficult to quantify.
As soon as she thought about this, Luo Li felt the light in front of her eyes dim slightly and she nearly fainted. Fortunately, thanks to her profound cultivation and many years of tempering, she somehow managed to endure this shock and maintain her consciousness.
“These materials shouldn’t be difficult to find, right?” Yang Kai looked at Luo Li.
“En, the materials Young Hero has listed should be in the Valley’s storehouses, I will have someone check immediately!”
“Very good. En, I will also need a seclusions room.”
“This Queen will have one prepared!” Luo Li nodded immediately.
“Alright, in three days, I will come here again, Senior should look forward to it!” Yang Kai stood up.
“Young Master Yang…” Luo Li also stood up and called out.
“Is there something else Senior wishes to say?”
“I would like to ask, why are you trying to destroy Brilliant Flame Sect? Although Wei Feng insulted Su Yan that day, he is also dead. Brilliant Flame Sect has not truly provoked Young Hero, right? Young Hero would also not do this simply to help my Ice Heart Valley.”
“Who said they haven’t provoked me?” Yang Kai snorted, “They’ve provoked me several times. Of course, this is not the main reason. I want to deal with Brilliant Flame Sect because I want their Heavenly Thunder Fire!”
Shock filled Luo Li’s face as she muttered, “Young Hero has a big appetite! The Heavenly Thunder Fire is the foundation of Brilliant Flame Sect. It is also rumoured to have its own sentience and possess incredible strength. The primary reason this Queen has hesitated to invade Brilliant Flame Sect was precisely because of the Heavenly Thunder Fire!”
“En, very good. Since it can cause Senior so much worry, the Heavenly Thunder Fire must be stronger than I anticipated. I want it even more now!” Yang Kai laughed happily.
“You…” Luo Li stared at Yang Kai in amazement, thinking that he was indeed somewhat crazy. Even she was extremely concerned about the Heavenly Thunder Fire, yet this young man showed not the slightest fear of it, it really was a mystery what he had to rely on.
[I hope he is not someone who does not know his own limits.]
Luo Li prayed secretly in her heart.
After her expression fluctuated a few times, Luo Li seemed to make some kind of important decision and spoke once more, “Young Master Yang, if there is a chance, could you have Su Yan come to see this Queen one last time? This Queen has something she wishes to tell her.”
Yang Kai looked at her seriously, but after a short silence, he nodded and said, “Sure, I will have Su Yan come see you tonight. I’ll take my leave first.”
“Many thanks, Young Hero,” Luo Li nodded gently.
Yang Kai descended Pure Ice Peak and met up with Qing Ya, who was waiting at its base. The latter released a sigh of relief when she saw him return safely.
Obviously, Bing Long had received Luo Li’s communication and immediately greeted Yang Kai, “Young Master Yang, please follow me.”
“Please!”
A short while later, Yang Kai was led to a certain isolated loft on the Inner Island while the herbs he had requested before were delivered to him by Bing Long herself.
After being brought out from the Sealed World Bead, Su Yan headed to Pure Ice Peak alone.
Although Yang Kai did not know why Luo Li wanted to meet Su Yan, he could tell that she had no malice towards Su Yan. He even felt that this was an opportunity for Su Yan.
The strange appearance of Su Yan shocked the Ice Heart Valley Elder who had been standing guard outside the secluded room.
She never saw Su Yan enter the room, but she had no doubt walked out from it.
No matter how she thought about it, she could not figure out what was going on.
In the meantime, Yang Kai remained in the secluded room to perform Alchemy.
An Origin King Grade Spirit Pill was not something that could simply be refined at will. According to Yang Kai’s understanding of the True Alchemic Way, if one wanted to refine an Origin King Grade Spirit Pill, they needed to infuse it with an appropriate pill spirit.
Only by possessing spirituality, could a refined pill be considered a Spirit Pill.
Yang Kai used high-grade Monster Beast Monster Cores as pill spirits.
A Monster Beast’s Monster Core contained its Spiritual Essence, which possessed its own spirituality, thus satisfying the Spirit Pill conditions.
Yang Kai naturally did not possess a Tenth-Order Monster Beast Monster Core, nor did Ice Heart Valley, but Ice Heart Valley did not lack Peak Ninth-Peak Monster Beast Monster Cores, one of which they supplied among the other materials Yang Kai had requested.
For the next three days, Yang Kai secluded himself.
From time to time, strange sounds and energy fluctuations emerged from the secluded room, and before long, a potent medicinal fragrance filled the air.
Bing Long and the other Elders, who had already heard some news from Luo Li, were absolutely stunned as they stood guard outside the secluded room, their jaws unable to close.
Yang Kai turned out to be an extremely skilled Alchemist, and although they didn’t know if he could truly refine an Origin King Grade Spirit Pill, just the signs they could see were enough to prove his extensive knowledge in the Alchemic Way.
But how was that possible?
Yang Kai didn’t seem to be very old, and his cultivation had already reached an incredible height at the Third Order Origin Returning Realm, so how could he have had any spare time or energy to study Alchemy, much less possess such high attainments in the field?
It was only at this moment that Bing Long and the other Elders realized just how terrifying an existence Yang Kai was.
The looks they directed towards the secluded room gradually became ones of awe.
Over time, the abnormal movement from the secluded room became more and more obvious as thousands of rays of light shone from it and the pill aroma that filled the air became more and more intense. Simply taking a deep breath of this fragrance was enough to allow the various Elders present to feel relaxed and comfortable.
Three days passed by in a flash, but no one dared open the door to this secluded room.
Suddenly, Yang Kai’s voice came from inside, “Senior Bing Long, please enter.”
Bing Long adjusted her expression and hurried forward.
A short time after entering the secluded room, she walked out again, her expression filled with both excitement and anticipation.
“Valley Master, what is the situation?” Great Elder Ran Yun Ting and the others looked at it with anxious eyes. All of them knew that Yang Kai had been refining a Spirit Pill for the Supreme Elder these days. So, naturally, they could not wait to know what the results were.
Bing Long did not respond directly and instead just showed them a white jade bottle she held in her palm before quickly storing it into her Space Ring and then flying off to Pure Ice Peak in full haste.
“He succeeded?” Ran Yun Ting muttered to herself with a pale face.
The other Elders stared at the disappearing figure of Bing Long before turning their eyes to Ran Yun Ting again, a few of them letting out obvious sighs while others showed some meaning of blame in their eyes.
They knew that if they were in the same position as Ran Yun Ting on that day, with Chi Huo and Luo Hai applying pressure on Ice Heart Valley, they would have made the same decision as her: To give up on Su Yan to save the Sect.
However, Yang Kai’s bizarre performance and his incredible potential still made them feel a deep sense of regret.
If they had desperately tried to protect Su Yan instead of abandoning her that day… how wonderful would things have been? If that were the case, they could have forged a good relationship with Yang Kai.
Just how distinguished were Origin King Grade Alchemists?
Inside the secluded room, Yang Kai closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing. The Origin King Grade Spirit Pill refining he performed this time had given him some new insights he needed time to digest, and it just so happened that Luo Li would also need some time to refine this pill and heal her wounds, so he was in no rush to exit.
Once Luo Li recovered from her injuries, it would be time to attack Brilliant Flame Sect.
Yang Kai wanted to destroy Brilliant Flame Sect partly because of their Heavenly Thunder Fire. All the peak Brilliant Flame Sect masters he had encountered before had cultivated the Heaven Scorching Thunder Fire Secret Technique which when swallowed by the Firebird Artifact Spirit gave it a massive boost in strength.
Another reason was naturally because they had touched his bottom line.
Yang Kai had several grievances with this Sect even before the most recent incident, so his impression of them was quite poor.
One day later, Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes and nodded in satisfaction.
To continue improving in the Alchemic Way, practice really was a requirement. Refining a single Origin King Grade Spirit Pill had allowed him to accumulate a lot of experience, so if he had enough materials to continue practising regularly, Yang Kai felt that his Alchemy techniques would improve significantly in short order.
Feeling a gaze upon him, Yang Kai turned his head to the side and saw that Qing Ya seemingly wanting to speak to him.
“Senior Sister Qing Ya, if you have something to say, don’t hold back,” Yang Kai smiled slightly, “Do you want me to refine a certain pill for you?”
“No no no,” Qing Ya waved her hands quickly, hesitated for a while, then finally spoke, “It’s about Qian Hao.”
“Qian Hao…” Yang Kai nodded. Qian Hao was one of the former Elders of Ice Sect, as well as Qian Yue’s brother.
He had also come to Scarlet Wave Star with Qing Ya and Su Yan back then, but because he was male, he could not enter Ice Heart Valley. Fortunately, Ran Yun Ting arranged for him to enter a subordinate Sect of Ice Heart Valley and apparently, he had been doing well these past few decades.
“Do you want him to leave that Sect?” Yang Kai immediately understood Qing Ya’s intentions.
“En, Su Yan and I are no longer disciples of Ice Heart Valley, so if Qian Hao were to remain in his current Sect, there is a good chance he will become the target of discrimination. Also, since we have all reunited now, it makes no sense to leave Qian Hao to be on his own. He should come back and join us.”
“En, a simple matter,” Yang Kai smiled lightly as he released his Divine Sense and communicated with one of the Elders outside.
A moment later, he smiled at Qing Ya and said, “Qian Hao will come tomorrow, then all of Ice Sect’s members can be reunited.”
“Thank you,” Qing Ya said, full of emotion.
Ice Sect had been one of the most powerful Sects on Tong Xuan Realm, and although it did not have many disciples, it also did not have a very high public profile, any master of significance knew of its existence and that it was a silent hegemon in its own domain.
But now, only four people remained from Ice Sect.
Reflecting on the past, Qing Ya cherished the present even more.
[Su Yan had found herself a good man!] Qing Ya looked at Yang Kai with a smile of relief on her face.
Ice Heart Valley’s efficiency was great and the next day, Qian Hao arrived on Pure Ice Island. After seeing Qing Ya, he felt a sense of comfort, as if he had returned home, and after seeing Yang Kai, he was thoroughly dumbfounded, like he had seen a ghost.
Qian Hao had to rub his eyes several times before he could confirm that the Yang Kai in front of him was real and not some kind of illusion.
“Good, you’ve not met in quite some time so you should have a lot you wish to say to one another. Relax, I will send you to a place where someone is waiting for you!” Yang Kai smiled lightly as he spoke to Qing Ya and Qian Hao.
The pair did not ask any questions and immediately relaxed their guard.
Yang Kai waved his hand, enveloping the pair in an invisible force that in the next moment sent Qing Ya and Qian Hao into the Sealed World Bead.
When the brother and sister met, Qian Hao and Qian Yue cried with joy…
Ten days later, Yang Kai suddenly received Luo Li’s summon and immediately left his secluded room for Pure Ice Peak.
Luo Li’s voice sounded much better than before; obviously, the Origin King Grade Spirit Pill had played its role. Yang Kai did not know why she called him to Pure Ice Peak at this time, but he could vaguely guess that it had something to do with Su Yan.
Since Su Yan entered Pure Ice Peak that day, she had not returned.
Yang Kai was not worried because he could still sense that Su Yan was safe and sound.
A short time later, Yang Kai arrived at the summit of Pure Ice Peak. The scenery here was as simple as ever, with nothing of note except for the small, thatched shed.
Luo Li sat cross-legged inside this small hut, her aura stable, and even her complexion somewhat rosy.
Her injuries had obviously healed.
“You’ve arrived,” Luo Li motioned Yang Kai to sit down and talk.
Yang Kai turned his head around and asked with a slight frown, “Where is Su Yan?”
He did not see any trace of Su Yan here.
“Young Hero and Su Yan seem to share a kind of spiritual bond, so can’t you tell where she is?” Luo Li smiled without answering.
Was she testing him?
Yang Kai curled his lips slightly before immediately casting his eyes towards a cold pond not far away.
This cold pond was only about five metres in diameter and was filled with the purest of water; however, it was impossible to see to its bottom, so there was no telling how deep it was. Above the pond, there was a thin layer of white Qi which seemed to be composed of the purest Ice Attribute energy.
Yang Kai released his Divine Sense instinctually but quickly took it back as a look of alarm filled his face, not daring to repeat his actions.
The last time he came here, he noticed this cold pond, but had not gone to observe it too closely. This time though, under his Divine Sense’s investigation, he was quite surprised.
A kind of Domain surrounded this cold pool which blocked his Divine Sense from penetrating it too far and even managed to freeze some of his Spiritual Energy the moment he tried.
Because of the Soul Warming Lotus, Yang Kai’s Spiritual Energy was comparable in intensity to that of an ordinary Origin King.
What exactly was this cold pond then, and how was it so powerful?
Even so, Yang Kai could clearly sense that Su Yan was somewhere deep inside this cold pond.
“This is my Ice Heart Valley’s Heavenly Blessings Frozen Pond!” Seeing the look of doubt on Yang Kai’s face, Luo Li took the initiative to explain, “Together with Brilliant Flame Sect’s Heavenly Thunder Fire, they make up Scarlet Wave Star’s two Heavenly treasures. Those who enter the Heavenly Blessings Frozen Pond may receive the good fortune of Heaven, assuming they can withstand its extreme cold.”
“Oh, what kind of blessings does it bestow?” Yang Kai looked towards the cold pond with curious eyes, wondering about its mysteries.
“For those who cultivate Ice Attribute Secret Arts, the Heavenly Blessings Frozen Pond is the most precious of opportunities. The reason why my Ice Heart Valley was founded in this place was precisely because of this cold pond. It can transform a cultivator’s innate physique to make it more compatible with Ice Attribute Energy. The seniors of my Ice Heart Valley have all benefited from this cold pond.”
Yang Kai nodded gently and calmly.
Luo Li continued, “Additionally, every Origin King Realm master of my Ice Heart Valley, before their predestined time of death, deposited some of their Domain into this cold pond, allowing anyone who enters it to comprehend the mysteries of Ice Domain.”
“The Heavenly Blessings Frozen Pond is the ultimate Restricted Area of my Ice Heart Valley. No one is allowed to enter without explicit permission. The cold pool is divided into twelve layers, and the lower one goes, the higher the difficulty and the greater the danger, but the more benefits one can obtain,” Luo Li looked at Yang Kai and continued to explain.
“Oh? How deep has Senior managed to descend?” Yang Kai asked with interest.
“The deepest this Queen has managed to dive was the eighth layer,” Luo Li said with some slight embarrassment.
“Su Yan is inside?”
“En, her aptitude is superb, and she possesses an Ice Crystal Jade Body. Originally, I wanted to wait a few more years before allowing her to enter this place to seek opportunities, but she has now managed to break through to the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm far ahead of when I anticipated, so she has the qualifications to enter the cold pond. Although she is no longer my Ice Heart Valley’s disciple, this can be considered a parting gift from this Queen.”
“If that is the case, I offer Senior my thanks.”
Naturally, he understood that Luo Li had done this to ease the relationship between Ice Heart Valley and him. In any case, allowing Su Yan to enter this Heavenly Blessings Frozen Pond wouldn’t have any detriments and could improve his opinion of Ice Heart Valley.
Luo Li smiled lightly, “This is what Ice Heart Valley owes her, Young Master Yang need not be so polite. En, she should be coming out soon, so it is just a question of how far down she was able to dive.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai’s expression changed, and from his connection, he realized that Su Yan’s aura was truly rising up slowly from this deep pond.
A short time later, a small vortex suddenly appeared on the surface of the water and released a profound chill from deep below.
Soon, a beautiful figure’s shadow flew out from this vortex.
A bit of cold light flashed along with this beautiful figure’s appearance, forcing Yang Kai to narrow his eyes. Even with his current strength, he could not help feeling a chill on his skin, like a million tiny needles were piercing him when this cold light shone upon him.
Yang Kai’s expression turned to one of shock as he stared towards the source of this cold light.
“This is…” Luo Li was also shocked as she stared up into the sky.
Up above, Su Yan’s figure stood quietly, motionless as an extremely tyrannical frozen aura pulsed from her right hand. In her grasp, there was a meter-long shining sword.
The stinging cold light was emanating from this long sword.
Yang Kai and Luo Li’s eyes instantly fixed on the long sword, the former flashing a smile as warm as the sun while the latter could not help trembling with shock.
The sword held by Su Yan was slightly strange in shape. Although it was a meter long, it was far slenderer than a normal sword of such length. The sharp aura it gave off was also quite astonishing.
The cold light shone without restraint from this sword as Su Yan held it in one hand while caressing it with her other.
The sword gave off a light hum as the cold light it was emitting suddenly transformed into a terrifyingly cold field centred around Su Yan.
Pure Ice Peak, which was already extremely cold, suddenly plunged in temperature once more.
The barrier outside the thatched hut creaked under this field, as if it was being overwhelmed and about to collapse.
“Profound Frost?” Luo Li could no longer maintain her composure as she leapt to her feet and exclaimed, her pair of beautiful eyes staring fixedly at the slender sword in Su Yan’s hand, a look of disbelief filling her face.
Yang Kai did not miss her reaction and instantly understood that Su Yan had picked up a big bargain this time, one that Luo Li apparently hadn’t expected her to, so he couldn’t help letting out a hearty laugh.
Su Yan also seemed to have finally recovered at this moment and turning her head, the ice aura suddenly faded and she revealed a warm smile, her tender body flickering as she flew down to the thatched hut and asked, “Junior Brother, why are you here?”
“Senior Luo asked me to come over,” Yang Kai explained with a smile and a twinkle in his eye.
He discovered that Su Yan’s aura was extremely calm and stable, becoming far stronger than when they had separated a dozen days ago. Obviously, she had obtained many benefits from this Heavenly Blessings Frozen Pond.
Yang Kai’s gaze then fell on the slender long sword again and after observing it for a moment, Yang Kai, who had seen several Origin King Grade artifacts before, couldn’t help feeling startled.
This slender sword was like a pure condensation of cold energy and was constantly releasing a sharp, invisible aura, one that pierced his mind all on its own, as if it was resisting his investigation.
“Su Yan, this sword… can you let this Queen examine it?” Luo Li composed herself and asked solemnly.
“Please have a look, Supreme Elder!” Su Yan respectfully held up the slender sword and handed it over.
Luo Li reached out and accepted.
A gleam of brilliance flashed across the sword as an unimaginable chill emerged from it and spread towards Luo Li’s body.
Luo Li’s delicate hand was being frozen at a speed visible to the naked eye, with a thin layer of ice quickly condensing on her fair skin.
However, she seemed to have expected this to happen and with a slight flick of her wrist, the ice broke.
Yang Kai raised his brow as he revealed a look of surprise.
This slender sword was truly extraordinary; even without anyone operating it, it could cause some minor trouble for a master like Luo Li. If it was being used consciously by a person, just how powerful would it be?
With this sword alone, Su Yan’s combat power would soar several levels!
This was probably a peak level Origin King Grade artifact! Yang Kai secretly guessed.
“Sure enough, it is Profound Frost!” Luo Li carefully observed the sword and nodded after a long time, a somewhat emotional expression filling her face as she muttered, “This Queen never expected to see Profound Frost in her lifetime.”
Yang Kai could not help asking, “What is the origin of this sword?”
A hint of respect appeared on Luo Li’s face as she solemnly replied, “This is the personal sword of my Ice Heart Valley’s Ancestral Founder: Bing Yun.”
Yang Kai and Su Yan exchanged a look of shock.
Ice Heart Valley had existed for over ten thousand years and it was rumoured that its Ancestral Founder was a peak Third-Order Origin King, a true powerhouse of the Star Field. However, although she had left behind her complete inheritance, throughout Ice Heart Valley’s history, it had never been able to replicate its original glory. The strongest master it had produced after its founding was only a Second-Order Origin King.
In this generation, Luo Li was the only Origin King, and she was only a First-Order.
“This is Ancestral Founder’s sword?” Su Yan was in a daze, but after coming back to her senses she said, “Since it is the Ancestral Founder’s sword, it should be kept by Supreme Elder. Disciple did not know the significance of this sword and only thought it was extremely valuable when she brought it out.”
Luo Li slowly shook her head, “You still calling me Supreme Elder is more than this Queen deserves. As for keeping this sword, hehe… this Queen cannot do that.”
As she spoke, she shook her arm and broke the layer of ice which had covered her arm. If she had not done so, the frost would likely have reached her chest and soon after, frozen her solid.
Luo Li did not dare to continue holding the sword. Reaching out, she handed Profound Frost back to Su Yan and said, “Since you’ve managed to obtain it, you should keep it. This is your opportunity after all! This Queen has no reason to take it back. Ancestral Founder’s last teachings state that Profound Frost will choose its own master, so if this Queen kept it, she would be disobeying Ice Heart Valley’s ancestral precepts. This Queen cannot bear such a sin.”
“But…” Su Yan seemed to want to say something.
“Fate works as so. Profound Frost’s decision is equivalent to Ancestral Founder’s decision,” Luo Li sighed.
If Su Yan was still an Ice Heart Valley disciple and she managed to obtain Profound Frost, Luo Li would feel only joy. However, Su Yan was no longer an Ice Heart Valley disciple, so her being recognized by Profound Frost was nothing less than a huge loss to Ice Heart Valley.
Even so, Luo Li did not dare violate the Ancestral Founder’s teachings.
At this moment, Luo Li very much wanted to ask Su Yan to return to Ice Heart Valley, but when she remembered the attitude she and the other Elders had shown, she was unable to voice such thoughts.
“Since Senior Luo has said so, you should accept it, Su Yan. As long as you keep Ice Heart Valley in your heart, what does it matter if you are an Ice Heart Valley disciple or not?” Yang Kai said indifferently from the side.
Luo Li glanced over at him thoughtfully before nodding in gratitude.
Although Yang Kai had not spoken too clearly, Luo Li was able to understand the meaning behind his words. Though what was broken once could never be fully restored, with the weight of Profound Frost in her hand, if Ice Heart Valley were to really encounter disaster in the future, Su Yan would definitely not just sit back and watch.
This was the best outcome Ice Heart Valley could currently ask for.
“En, Su Yan, since you managed to obtain Profound Frost, that must mean you reached the twelfth layer, yes?” Luo Li suddenly remembered something and asked nervously.
“Disciple does not know how many layers she managed to penetrate, but she did reach the bottom of the pond,” Su Yan replied softly.
“En, the bottom of the pond is the twelfth layer,” Luo Li sighed, “It seems that, with the power of the Ice Phoenix Source added to your body, your future achievements will be much higher than this Queen’s.”
She had cultivated diligently for many years but was still only able to reach the eighty layer. On the contrary, Su Yan managed to reach the twelfth layer of the Frozen Pond on her first attempt. This was more than enough to illustrate the great power of her Ice Phoenix Source.
Without the Ice Phoenix Source, Su Yan would never have been able to accomplish this feat at her current level.
“Since you reached the bottom of the pond, did you manage to find Ancestral Founder’s Origin Essence Crystal?” Luo Li’s expression became even tenser when she asked this.
“Origin Essence Crystal?” Su Yan frowned, “I did not see anything like that. Besides an extremely powerful Domain at the bottom of the pond, there was only Profound Frost. Disciple did not find any Origin Essence Crystal.”
“You truly did not find it!?” Luo Li’s beautiful eyes flashed brightly, as if she was thinking of something, her expression constantly changing. Only after quite some time smiling brightly as she muttered, “It seems the rumours were true after all, haha!”
In the end, she could not help laughing, as if extremely excited.
Yang Kai frowned and asked suspiciously, “What is Senior referring to?”
“My Ice Heart Valley’s Ancestral Founder may not be dead!” Luo Li made a shocking statement!
Yang Kai’s face changed dramatically, and Su Yan could not help covering her mouth in shock.
“Of course, this is only a possibility,” Luo Li smiled lightly, “A grand character like Ancestral Founder could not have fallen easily, and according to my Ice Heart Valley’s ancient books, it was only recorded that Ancestral Founder left behind Profound Frost in the deepest depths of the Heavenly Blessings Frozen Pond, but there was never any mention of whether she fell or not. However, since Ancestral Founder’s Origin Essence Crystal was not at the bottom of the pond, there is a chance she may still be alive!”
When one’s cultivation reached the Third-Order Origin King Realm, an Origin Essence Crystal would be condensed in their body. An Origin Essence Crystal contained the life experiences of an Origin King as well as the accumulation of their insights into the Martial Dao. Even if such a cultivator died, their Origin Essence Crystal would not disappear.
The Ancestral Founder of Ice Heart Valley left Profound Frost at the bottom of the Heavenly Blessings Frozen Pond, but her Origin Essence Crystal was nowhere to be seen, which was enough to raise many suspicions.
She might really still be alive!
Even if this was the case, no one had seen her for over ten thousand years, so there was no way to tell for certain if Ancestral Founder Bing Yun was alive or dead.
This was undoubtedly extremely exciting news for Luo Li nonetheless.
Luo Li turned to look at Yang Kai once more and sighed slightly.
She discovered that if Yang Kai were a disciple of Ice Heart Valley, he would surely bring them a great fortune!
Since his appearance in Ice Heart Valley, there had been too many happy events for them. First, Chi Huo was killed, second, her injuries had been healed, now Profound Frost had reappeared in this world, and if what Su Yan had seen was any indication, there was a chance Ice Heart Valley’s Ancestral Founder may still be alive somewhere in this universe…
This series of events were all excellent news for Ice Heart Valley.
Unfortunately, Yang Kai was a man, so he couldn’t join Ice Heart Valley, not to mention he did not hold a very good impression of them in the first place.
“Senior, it’s time we go to Brilliant Flame Sect,” Yang Kai suddenly said.
“En,” Luo Li nodded when she heard these words, “It is indeed time.”
Turning her gaze towards the distance, a strong light flashed across her eyes.
From now on, Scarlet Wave Star would be dominated by Ice Heart Valley!
…..
A fleet of five Starships took off from Pure Ice Island a few days later. These five Starships carried a total of three thousand Ice Heart Valley elites as they sailed towards Brilliant Flame Mountain Range.
Ice Heart Valley was one of the top two Sects on Scarlet Wave Star, so it had its own Starships.
However, Yang Kai could tell that there was only one Origin Grade High-Rank Starship, which served as a flagship of sorts, while the other four were only Origin Grade Mid-Rank.
The quality was incomparable to the one he possessed.
Evidently, Origin King Grade Starships were extremely rare even when the entire Star Field was taken into consideration.
To lay siege to Brilliant Flame Sect and thoroughly destroy it, Luo Li chose to use these Starships, as they were powerful mobile fortresses.
The disciples of Ice Heart Valley also knew the purpose of this expedition, so all of them wore solemn and fierce expressions.
Countless years of conflict made the feud between Ice Heart Valley and Brilliant Flame Sect incredibly deep, unable to be resolved in any other way than total victory. Many of these disciples had seen their Senior and Junior Sisters die tragically at the hands of Brilliant Flame Sect cultivators, and because they were all women, once one of them was captured alive, their fate would be worse than death.
Knowing that their Supreme Elder was personally leading a crusade against Brilliant Flame Sect, these three thousand elites immediately took the initiative to volunteer. All of them enthusiastically participated in this war and could not wait to charge into Brilliant Flame Mountain Range to destroy their hated enemy once and for all.
The fleet moved extremely fast, and although Ice Heart Valley was several million kilometres from Brilliant Flame Sect, it only took a few days for the five Starships to arrive outside Brilliant Flame Mountain Range.
At the head of the flagship, Luo Li stood looking into the distance as a group of high-level Ice Heart Valley Elders stood behind her.
Yang Kai and Su Yan were also present amongst this group.
“This is Brilliant Flame Mountain Range?” Yang Kai looked around with some admiration.
This mountain range looked like a long dragon laying on the ground that stretched on and on for tens of thousands of kilometres.
More importantly, this entire mountain range possessed a rich Fire Attribute aura, a faint red-light halo seemingly surrounding the mountains themselves.
Even the ambient temperature here was quite warm.
“En, this is Brilliant Flame Mountain Range. There is a giant Fire Dragon Earth Vein buried beneath this place which matches perfectly with Brilliant Flame Sect’s Secret Arts, allowing its disciples to cultivate very rapidly in this environment,” Bing Long explained softly to Yang Kai.
“Hmph, starting today, there will be no more Brilliant Flame Sect here,” Ran Yun Ting coldly snorted.
As soon as she spoke these words, she suddenly seemed to sense something, turned her gaze towards a certain spot, and stretched out her hand to grasp towards the void.
Accompanied by a panicked shout, a cultivator wearing Brilliant Flame Sect robes was dragged up and thrown onto the deck of the ship by Ran Yun Ting from the forest down below.
This person appeared middle-aged and did not have an extremely high cultivation, only First-Order Origin Returning Realm. His Fire Attribute Saint Qi was easily suppressed by Ran Yun Ting and after falling on the ship, seeing such a variety of beauties, he couldn’t help gulping as he immediately understood what his situation was and shouted, “Ice Heart Valley, why have you appeared here? So aggressively invading my Brilliant Flame Mountain Range, are you planning to start a war with my Brilliant Flame Sect?”
“Start a war?” Ran Yun Ting sneered, “Since when has my Ice Heart Valley and your Brilliant Flame Sect been at peace?”
The cultivator’s expression stagnated as he became speechless.
Indeed, the two great forces that dominated Scarlet Wave Star had never once called a truce. Small conflicts continued to happen without end, but a blatant full-scale invasion like this had never occurred before.
“What are your intentions here?” The Brilliant Flame Sect cultivator apparently had some backbone so even though he was facing so many masters whose strength far exceeded his own, he was still able to ask questions clearly.
“What are our intentions?” Ran Yun Ting sneered, “Naturally we’re here to trample your Brilliant Flame Sect flat!”
This cultivator turned pale as he stared at Ran Yun Ting with wide eyes, seemingly trying to tell if she was telling the truth or just bluffing.
“Your cultivation isn’t bad, and it seems your status in Brilliant Flame Sect isn’t low. Fine, scram back to your Sect and tell Wei Qing to wash his neck and wait for me, Ran Yun Ting, to claim his head.”
“Ran Yun Ting!?” The cultivator cried out in terror.
He naturally knew who Ice Heart Valley’s Great Elder was and what her reputation was like. Turning his head around, he quickly discovered that every woman here had a cultivation which far surpassed his own and could only shout out instinctually, “My Brilliant Flame Sect’s Supreme Elder will not let this pass!”
“You mean that old monster Chi Huo?” Ran Yun Ting sneered, “Don’t you know? Chi Huo is already dead.”
“Supreme Elder is dead?” The man’s eyes bulged as he parroted hoarsely, “Impossible, Supreme Elder is an Origin King, who among you has the ability to kill him?”
“Is that so? Go ask Wei Qing yourself then, this Elder has no time to talk nonsense with you!” Ran Yun Ting stopped talking, reached out, and tossed the hapless man off the Starship.
Regaining his balance mid-air, the cultivator hurriedly flew off while occasionally glancing back at the five imposing Starships behind him, pushing his Saint Qi to its limits so he could report this news to the Sect’s leaders as quickly as possible.
“En, sending a warning ahead is only proper. Allowing them some time to prepare will prevent them from slandering this Luo Li as someone who bullies the weak,” Luo Li, who hadn’t been paying attention to the previous situation, simply said lightly as the Brilliant Flame Sect cultivator disappeared from sight.
The fleet continued to move forward at a pace neither swift nor slow; however, the invisible and terrifying pressure quickly began spreading across Brilliant Flame Mountain Range from their presence.
A stick of incense worth of time later, chaos erupted inside Brilliant Flame Sect’s headquarters.
“Ice Heart Valley is actually attacking?”
“How dare they!”
“It seems that the lessons they have received this past year weren’t enough. Haha, good, since they’ve come of their own accord, we can teach them again, ruthlessly.”
“I heard that all of Ice Heart Valley’s top Elders are country toppling beauties, but there has never been an opportunity to capture one of them before. Now that they’ve delivered themselves to our door, this old master can snatch a few of them and train them well.”
“Elder Qi, at your age, you’re still interested in such pursuits?”
“Hmph, this old master’s prowess only grows stronger with age, why wouldn’t he be able to satisfy a few cheap sluts?”
“En, those sluts will definitely submit to Elder Qi’s might.”
A group of Elders all boasted and blustered heartily, not feeling at all anxious after hearing that Ice Heart Valley was attacking and instead feeling quite excited. Thinking of the screams they would pull from these tender women before they died or when they were devastating them put all the Elders into high spirits.
Ravaging a pure and innocent beauty, especially one that was unwilling, had always provoked the bestial instincts of men.
And the women of Ice Heart Valley were undoubtedly the purest of them all.
“Sect Master, please order us into battle immediately, we need to meet them head-on!” Many of the Elders called out to Wei Qing, who was sitting at the head of the hall.
However, when Wei Qing heard all these cries, all he could do was sweep his eyes around as a deep anxiety covered his face.
“Sect Master, you…” Wei Qing’s demeanour made many Elders furrow their brows and the noise inside the hall gradually subsided as everyone turned to him suspiciously.
“Catastrophe has come to Brilliant Flame Sect!” Wei Qing sighed.
The expressions of all the Elders changed when they heard these words.
“Sect Master, what do you mean?” One of the Elders who had spoken before wore a solemn expression and asked, “Ice Heart Valley is indeed strong, but since they dared to violate my Brilliant Flame Sect’s territory, all we need to do is defeat them and send them back, how could this be a catastrophe for my Brilliant Flame Sect?”
“Because… Supreme Elder may have already fallen.”
As soon as this statement came out, the audience fell silent.
Only after a long silence passed did one Elder ask hesitantly, “How is that possible? Sect Master, are you making some kind of joke?”
“At this time, how could this King make such a bad joke?” Wei Qing said solemnly.
“But… How could Supreme Elder fall? Wasn’t Supreme Elder entertaining Sir Luo Hai in his residence in the mountains?”
Wei Qing rubbed his forehead as he explained, “A few months ago, Supreme Elder and Sir Luo Hai left Brilliant Flame Sect and went to Ice Heart Valley, but they have not returned since then.”
“That doesn’t mean Supreme Elder has fallen though,” Some could not believe it and still held onto a glimmer of hope, but even while speaking this conjecture they did not have much confidence in their voices.
If the Supreme Elder had not fallen, how could this have happened? Why hadn’t he simply returned to Brilliant Flame Sect?
If Supreme Elder had not fallen, how could Ice Heart Valley dare act so aggressively?
Ice Heart Valley obviously knew the truth of this situation and was using this opportunity to launch an attack.
“Ice Heart Valley’s Luo Li could not possibly have killed the Supreme Elder! Could it be… Sir Luo Hai?” Someone exclaimed.
Only Luo Hai could kill their Supreme Elder on this star. However, wasn’t it rumoured that the two of them had a good relationship? Moreover, when Sir Luo Hai visited Scarlet Wave Star this time, he had been a guest at Brilliant Flame Sect for over a year, so why would he suddenly launch a deadly attack against their Supreme Elder?
“It was not Sir Luo Hai,” Wei Qing shook his head with a heavy expression, “Sir Luo Hai… also fell.”
“What?”
Gasps sounded all around as everyone in the hall showed a look of shock. All of Brilliant Flame Sect’s Elders turned incredulous gazes towards Wei Qing as the words he just spoke were even more unbelievable than the fall of their Supreme Elder.
“There is no need to doubt. I have received a message from Green Mountains Star two months ago saying the statue of their Star Master shattered and Sir Luo Hai’s Soul Brand, which was encased within it, disappeared. He has indeed fallen, and considering the timing, it should have happened during the few days he went to Ice Heart Valley together with Supreme Elder.”
“Supreme Elder and even Sir Luo Hai fell… who in Ice Heart Valley has such skill?”
“That’s right, a few months later, weren’t there earth-shattering energy fluctuations emanating from Ice Heart Valley? Could they be related to that matter?”
“Could it have been Ice Heart Valley’s Ancestral Founder? This old master has heard some rumours saying she has not died.”
“How could that be? Ice Heart Valley was founded more than ten thousand years ago. If their Ancestral Founder had really not died, why has she not shown up before now?”
“What’s the point of speculating about this now? Ice Heart Valley has already reached our borders! Right now, we need to quickly devise a way of dealing with them.”
“How are we supposed to deal with them? My Brilliant Flame Sect’s Supreme Elder has already fallen, and Ice Heart Valley’s Luo Li will definitely take action personally. No one from Brilliant Flame Sect can resist her!”
“Stop with your cowardly drivel! Even if Luo Li has come personally, this old master pledges to fight! If this old master is to die here today, he will at least do so after landing a blow on her!”
…..
After learning that Chi Huo had died, the group of Elders no longer had the same carefree attitudes they had before as all of them began expressing their own opinions of how to proceed with solemn expressions.
Wei Qing sat at the head of the hall without saying a word, as if he were just an outside observer.
After a long time, he raised his hand and the noisy hall instantly became silent, with everyone turning their attention towards him.
“Enough, calm down!” Wei Qing said lightly, “Ice Heart Valley is threatening our borders as we speak, and although this may be the greatest catastrophe my Brilliant Flame Sect has ever faced, if we handle this properly, we may yet emerge from this predicament intact. Luo Li is indeed an Origin King Realm master and none of us on our own are her opponent, but do not forget that they are the attackers while we are the defenders. We can take advantage of our Sect Defending Array to consume their strength, and… the rumours say that Luo Li experienced a cultivation dissonance recently and suffered backlash as a result, so she should not be able to display her full strength.”
“Exactly! What Sect Master says is correct, we are the defenders here so we have the advantage!”
“Jie Jie… don’t forget, we still have that thing as well! If we let that thing out, even Luo Li won’t get off easily!” Someone laughed strangely as a smile filled with madness filled his face.
Others also quickly realized what this old man was talking about and their expressions grew serious.
Even Wei Qing’s expression became more solemn as he pondered for a moment before saying, “Unless we have no other choice, that thing cannot be released! Transmit my orders, have all disciples prepare to meet the enemy. Today, we fight to the death!”
“Fight!” All the Elders shouted together.
….
Ice Heart Valley’s five Starships slowly sailed towards the depths of Brilliant Flame Mountain Range, approaching Brilliant Flame Sect’s headquarters at a steady pace.
Some Spirit Arrays and barriers appeared along the way to obstruct their advance, but none were able to dampen Ice Heart Valley’s momentum. Often, it only took a single volley of the Starships’ Crystal Cannons to destroy these barriers.
“Bing Long, go on ahead and announce that this Queen is only here to punish the leaders of Brilliant Flame Sect and that any disciples who leave now will not be targeted. Anyone who remains by the time my Ice Heart Valley’s Starships arrive will be considered enemies and shown no mercy,” Luo Li suddenly said.
“Yes!” Bing Long cupped her fists and flew off.
Soon, Bing Long’s Divine Sense spread out widely, conveying the message that only the Elders of Brilliant Flame Sect were targets of their assault while the common disciples were of no concern to them.
When Brilliant Flame Sect received this message, all of the Elders and leaders couldn’t help cursing Bing Long for her despicable behaviour, debasing her as a shameless and lowly slut.
Brilliant Flame Sect had tens of thousands of disciples, and although their cohesion was not frail, not all of them would choose to die with the Sect when facing this life or death crisis. Also, Bing Long deliberately spread the news that their pillar of support, Supreme Elder Chi Huo, had fallen, causing much panic and fear amongst the Brilliant Flame Sect disciples.
It was not long before some began fleeing from Brilliant Flame Mountain Range.
Once they discovered a deserter, the higher-ups of Brilliant Flame Sect would act decisively, killing a few to warn the many.
Although this bloody and cruel method temporarily deterred most of the common disciples, more and more Brilliant Flame Sect’s people became panicked and tried to flee as time passed.
Streams of light rose from many different places inside Brilliant Flame Sect, speeding away in all directions.
Luo Li quickly released her powerful Divine Sense to envelop all of Brilliant Flame Mountain Range.
The cultivators below the Origin Returning Realm were allowed to escape, but any Origin Realm master who tried was personally executed by Luo Li.
Any Brilliant Flame Sect cultivator that had reached the Origin Realm had the blood of countless Ice Heart Valley disciples on their hands, so Luo Li was naturally not about to let them escape.
Soon, the disciples with cultivations below the Origin Realm also discovered this situation and they immediately rejoiced, many of them ignoring the threats from their leaders and fleeing with all haste.
For a time, Brilliant Flame Sect became chaotic as even the Elders and Deacons’ bloody methods of suppression were unable to salvage the situation.
“Senior Luo Li, I’ll be going on ahead,” Yang Kai’s gaze suddenly landed on a mountain at the back of Brilliant Flame Mountain Range.
Luo Li also turned to look in that direction, understood what Yang Kai’s intentions were, and did not try to stop him, simply exhorting, “Be careful.”
Yang Kai gently nodded.
“Junior Brother, do you want me to accompany you?” Su Yan asked.
“No, you can stay here with Senior Luo Li,” Yang Kai waved his hand before disappearing from the flagship. When he reappeared, he was already a thousand metres away.
Luo Li’s beautiful eyes shrank slightly.
Only now did she realize how Yang Kai was able to escape from Luo Hai’s pursuit for several months.
Based on this profound Movement Skill alone, any ordinary Origin King would have no way to catch him. Even she was unable to see how he moved despite standing right next to him.
Was this the mysterious Dao of Space?
Luo Li wore a look of interest on her face as she took a moment to observe Yang Kai carefully, but no matter how she tried, she was unable to comprehend anything about how he used Space Force, simply feeling that everything around him blurred momentarily before he disappeared and reappeared.
With a slight sigh, Luo Li retracted her gaze as she confirmed that the Dao of Space was not something she could fathom. Immediately, she focused her attention back on Brilliant Flame Sect.
At the deepest depths of Brilliant Flame Mountain Range, there was a barren, extremely high temperature thousand-metre high mountain.
Standing at the base of this mountain and looking up, one could vaguely see a bright red light at its peak.
This volcanic crater was extremely active and the energy aura which diffused from it not only contained a potent Fire Attribute, but also an overbearing Thunder Attribute.
Inside the volcano was a hideous, suppressed aura, one that was filled with brutality and ferocity, making any who approached shudder.
“This must be it,” Yang Kai arrived at the base of the mountain and muttered thoughtfully.
This time, he did not intend to intervene in the battle between Ice Heart Valley and Brilliant Flame Sect. His only goal was Brilliant Flame Sect’s Heavenly Thunder Fire!
This was an ominous flame creature that even Luo Li feared.
According to the rumours, this creature seemed to have gained sentience and was extremely formidable.
From his Divine Sense investigation, Yang Kai determined that this entire volcanic mountain peak was covered in a powerful Spirit Array.
Yang Kai cast his gaze towards a certain spot in the sky and said with a grin, “Two friends, why show your tails while trying to conceal your heads? Why not just show yourselves openly?”
As soon as Yang Kai spoke these words, a cold snort sounded, and the air rippled as two figures appeared strangely.
It was as if they had appeared from a different world.
The two who appeared were both very old, with white hair and beards, but their cultivations were at the peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm and the Fire Attribute Saint Qi radiating from their bodies was extremely hot. The one on the left was tall and thin while the one on the right had dark brownish-red skin. Obviously, these two held high status in Brilliant Flame Sect.
“Boy, who are you?” The skinny Elder stared at Yang Kai and asked in a cold voice.
“Don’t worry about who I am, I just came here to collect this Heavenly Thunder Fire. If two old gentlemen do not mind, could you tell me how to open the Spirit Array blocking this place?” Yang Kai smiled and asked lightly.
“Bold Junior!” The skinny Elder was furious, “You dare covet my Brilliant Flame Sect’s Heavenly Thunder Fire? Out of consideration for your young age and high cultivation, we old masters won’t embarrass you and give you one chance to withdraw peacefully!”
This old man seemed somewhat easy to speak to as he did not try to immediately kill Yang Kai for trespassing into Brilliant Flame Sect’s Restricted Area.
“Old sir is quite kind!” Yang Kai raised his brow as a sarcastic grin appeared on his face. Stomping his foot lightly in the next instant, Yang Kai snickered, “Is this what old sir meant by not embarrassing me?”
*Hong…*
As Yang Kai’s foot fell, the ground suddenly cracked and a fissure spread from his position towards the two old men.
From this fissure, two well-concealed wisps of Fire Attribute energy flew up from a point only a few metres away from Yang Kai.
These two wisps of Fire Attribute energy were like venomous snakes lying in wait to strike out without warning.
“Your vision isn’t bad little brat. Since you’ve already seen through everything, there’s nothing left to discuss. For trespassing into Brilliant Flame Sect’s Restricted Area, you must die!” The skinny Elder did not hesitate after Yang Kai saw through his little trick, immediately removing his hypocritical face and pushing his Saint Qi, causing the wisps of Fire Attribute energy down below to transform into flame pythons that leapt towards Yang Kai.
“Paltry tricks!” Yang Kai laughed loudly as he summoned the Verdant Dragon Bone Sword into his hand and with a single swing sent out a wave of green light that easily split the terrifying flame python in half, causing it to scatter and dissipate.
[Strong!] The two old men both wore solemn expressions when they saw this display.
The Dragon Bone Sword in Yang Kai’s hand released a pressure akin to a giant mountain that pressed down on the two old men from Brilliant Flame Sect, causing their expressions to distort.
A thunderous dragon roar also resounded in their ears, deafening them.
“Take care of them quickly, I’ll be waiting up ahead,” Yang Kai said casually as he waved his hand to release the Stone Puppet and Firebird Artifact Spirit.
After saying so, Yang Kai did not even glance at the two old men again as he calmly stepped forward.
With this one step, Yang Kai seemed to cross over space, his figure flickering and disappearing before reappearing halfway up the mountain.
“Bold!” The skinny Elder’s face flushed as the naked contempt Yang Kai showed them greatly angered him. In an attempt to chase after Yang Kai, he turned his old figure around and prepared to dash off.
But the moment he acted, a jet black stick struck towards him, releasing an incredible pressure as it approached, as if it weighed a million kilograms, even ripping apart the air as it passed through it.
A harsh whipping sound rang in the old man’s eardrums.
The skinny Elder’s face sank as he hurriedly raised his arms to guard himself while simultaneously releasing a blazing flame around his body.
*Hong…*
The flames were instantly snuffed out as the thin Elder responded like he was struck by lightning, his figure flying out several dozen metres before finally stabilizing, his complexion completely pale as blood leaked from the corners of his mouth.
With one blow, he had been slightly injured.
Looking up in shock, the skinny Elder only saw a stone man less than a metre in height standing in front of him, carrying a long black stick on its shoulder, its small beady eyes showing a lifelike intelligence as it stared at him like he was prey.
On the other side, a crisp bird cry rang out as the dark-skinned old man battled the Firebird high up in the sky. The two figures exchanged volleys of flames, creating an intense and dazzling display that shook space itself.
“What the hell is this?” The skinny Elder muttered dumbfoundedly.
He could vaguely tell that the Firebird which was fighting with his companion was some kind of Artifact Spirit, but he had no clue what the stone man in front of him was.
There was no energy fluctuation coming from this thing’s body, but it still radiated a tyrannical aura he could not ignore.
“Ohhhhhhhh…” Xiao Xiao suddenly roared towards the Heavens as he pounded his chest with his fist, raising a resounding clatter that shook the soul like a great war drum.
As this sound rang out, the Stone Puppet, which was less than a metre tall, rapidly grew in size to become a dozen-metre-tall stone giant!
The long black stick it was shouldering also grew proportionally in size.
In addition, a scorching, dark-red light began radiating from the Stone Puppet’s body and covered it with a layer of lava armour in an instant!
This lava armour released a terrifying energy that caused the old man’s heart to clench.
In the next moment, the knees of the lava giant bent and its huge body shot out like an arrow from the string, shaking the earth and opening a giant pit where it once stood.
In a flash, the skinny Elder saw the lava giant rush up to him and swing its giant stick down towards his head with an unstoppable momentum that cracked the very space around him.
Perceiving the terrifying power contained in this attack, the skinny Elder roared as he dared not take it lightly, hastily using his Movement Skill to dodge.
However, despite his rapid reaction, the incoming attack was still faster.
Although he was only grazed by this attack, half his body went numb and his Saint Qi circulation became chaotic.
There was no hope of resistance!
The skinny Elder’s eyes shrank violently as he realized how big the gap between him and this lava giant was.
Before he could compose himself though, the pitch-black stick once again attacked from above, pressing down on him like Mount Tai.
The skinny Elder’s pupils shrank to the size of needles as he desperately pushed his Saint Qi and roared while summoning a shield-like artifact to protect his head.
*Hong Hong…*
The giant stick fell, and the shield artifact shattered into tiny fragments that shot off in all directions.
The power of Xiao Xiao’s attack remained undiminished as it smashed down towards the skinny Elder, pounding half his body into a paste and exposing his internal organs to the open air.
Even with such a grim injury, the skinny Elder did not immediately die, and if he could get his hands on powerful enough pills quick enough, he may even be able to recover.
But the fear that had been pounded into his heart made him lose all fighting spirit.
Staring blankly at the pitch-black giant stick that swept towards him once more, only one thought flickered across his mind.
[What the hell is this…]
At the end of his life, the last scene the skinny Elder saw was his companion being swallowed by the Firebird as the former howled miserably!
The black stick swept across and minced meat flew out, staining the surrounding world in red.
A ball of thunder fire flew out from the corpse of the skinny Elder, and the Firebird Artifact Spirit immediately inhaled it, like a whale drinking water, pulling the thunder fire into its belly before letting out a satisfied cry.
On top of the volcano, Yang Kai stood mid-air, looking down into the fierce volcanic crater that was filled with surging crimson lava as far as he could see.
The intense temperature around the peak of this volcano would be unbearable even for an ordinary Origin Realm master, and any cultivator below the Origin Realm master would certainly be burned to death in an instant just by standing here.
The Artifact Spirit flew over to Yang Kai’s side while the Stone Puppet resumed its harmless appearance, carrying the Heaven Shaking Pillar on its shoulder as it sat atop the Firebird Artifact Spirit.
“That was fast, you guys are also a little too violent.” Yang Kai grinned.
The Stone Puppet scratched his head, as if he did not know what Yang Kai was talking about, while the Artifact Spirit merely let out a cheerful chirp.
“Xiao Xiao, you come back for now,” Yang Kai stretched out his hand and sent the Stone Puppet into the Sealed World Bead, leaving only the Firebird Artifact Spirit behind.
The Firebird flew circles around Yang Kai letting out crisp tweets from time to time, seeming extremely excited, several times almost rushing directly into the volcanic crater.
Along with its cries, however, a thumping sound echoed from deep inside the volcano, as if responding to Firebird’s provocation.
“You can sense it, right?” Yang Kai squinted towards the volcanic crater and grinned.
The Firebird responded affirmatively.
“Can you defeat it?” Yang Kai asked again.
The Firebird went silent for a moment, before letting out an even louder cry.
“Okay, if that’s the case, then I look forward to your success. However, you need to be sure about this; there is no turning back once you begin, and if you don’t succeed, only oblivion will await you!”
The Firebird responded with a loud cry again.
“En, I understand. Then… good luck,” Yang Kai nodded solemnly before immediately waving his hand and summoning a massive Artifact Refining Furnace.
This was the Artifact Refining Furnace that gave birth to the Firebird Artifact Spirit. It was brought out by Yang Kai from the Earth Lung Fire Pond in the fifth layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
It was the Firebird’s true body!
If the Artifact Refining Furnace was destroyed, the Firebird would perish together with it without any doubt.
Since obtaining the Firebird Artifact Spirit, Yang Kai had basically never used this Artifact Refining Furnace, first for the safety of the Artifact Spirit, and secondly because he did not need to use it.
But this time, he had not hesitated to summon this Artifact Refining Furnace.
By coordinating with its true body, the strength the Artifact Spirit could display would increase by at least twenty percent.
As soon as the Artifact Refining Furnace appeared, the Firebird opened its mouth and swallowed it into its belly.
Yang Kai closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, his left eye had become golden in colour.
Demon Eye of Annihilation!
The golden pupil in his left eye now seemed to contain an endless majesty that made all who saw it shudder in fear.
Looking down again, everything which had previously been hidden was revealed to Yang Kai.
The Demon Eye of Annihilation was able to see through all illusions, and with its help, Yang Kai immediately discovered the huge Spirit Array which was sealing the volcanic crater.
Stream of pure energy, like giant shackles, locked the entire volcanic crater from eight different directions.
This Spirit Array not only sealed the violent energy of the volcano inside its caldera, it also chained the creature which was hidden down below in place.
Yang Kai observed carefully for a moment before his eyes flashed with light and he began pouring his Saint Qi into the Dragon Bone Sword in his hand.
A thunderous dragon roar shook the sky.
“Go!” Yang Kai threw out the Dragon Bone Sword.
In a dazzling flash of green light, the Dragon Bone Sword transformed into a giant dark green dragon and bombarded a certain point in the sky with an unstoppable charge.
The Eight Shackles Spirit Array that was sealing the volcanic crater shook slightly as a small gap was opened in it.
A scorching aura immediately burst from this opening, burning everything in its path.
“Enter!” Yang Kai shouted.
The Firebird Artifact Spirit turned into a stream of light and rushed into the opening, quickly followed by Yang Kai.
The Eight Shackles Spirit Array shook slightly before it repaired itself, continuing to seal off the huge volcanic crater.
Inside the Spirit Array, Yang Kai’s face changed slightly as he hurriedly circulated his Saint Qi to resist the pervasive burning heat.
The Firebird meanwhile shot towards the base of the volcanic crater.
Looking around, the magma inside the volcano was rolling, and along the red lava, faintly flashes of blue lightning swam about like snakes. The entire caldera stirred, as if stimulated by the Firebird Artifact Spirit, like a sleeping dragon slowly awakening.
The Artifact Spirit rushed into the magma in the next instant and disappeared.
A moment later, an astonishing pressure suddenly erupted as a thunderous voice rang out.
“A trivial Artifact Spirit dares challenge this King’s majesty? A foolish ant that knows not its place! Tremble before my power!”
Yang Kai’s body trembled as he stared downwards in amazement, his gaze seemingly penetrating the thick magma and staring directly into the depths of the earth.
It seemed the rumours were true. Brilliant Flame Sect’s Heavenly Thunder Fire had indeed obtained sentience, and… this sentience was not low, at least more complete than the Firebird.
It was able to clearly convey its thoughts and meaning while the Firebird obviously did not have such ability.
The Firebird was clearly in a dire situation, causing Yang Kai to worry.
Before coming here, he had not expected the Heavenly Thunder Fire to have evolved to this level. He thought that the Heavenly Thunder Fire was at best on the same level as the Firebird, but now it seemed that the Heavenly Thunder Fire was superior.
Beneath the volcanic crater, a shocking struggle began between the Firebird Artifact Spirit and the Heavenly Thunder Fire, causing the World Energy aura which pervaded Brilliant Flame Sect to tumble.
In front of Brilliant Flame Sect’s headquarters, the elites of Ice Heart Valley, led by Luo Li, broke through countless layers of defensive barriers as they drove towards the center of the Sect.
The five Starships formed a line in the sky and continuously shot volleys of Crystal Cannon fire, bringing death and destruction wherever they went.
Aboard the fleet’s flagship, Luo Li watched indifferently as the Elders of Ice Heart Valley all displayed their might.
In a certain square up ahead, a thousand meters below, at this moment, the leaders of Brilliant Flame Sect had all gathered, led by Wei Qing, all of them wearing ugly expressions as they stared upwards.
Between these two groups, a fiery red-light barrier remained intact.
This was Brilliant Flame Sect’s last defensive barrier, and once it was breached, Brilliant Flame Sect would become completely undefended and fall to the mercy of Ice Heart Valley.
Staring across the barrier and each other for some time, Wei Qing shouted, “Senior Luo Li, is Ice Heart Valley really determined to fight to the death with my Brilliant Flame Sect?”
“Yes!” Luo Li responded immediately.
Wei Qing laughed, “Forcing Senior Luo Li to act personally is my Brilliant Flame Sect’s honour, but… does Senior believe Brilliant Flame Sect is some soft persimmon you can crush at will? If that is the case, Junior must advise Senior to reconsider. If Senior is not prepared for all of us to die here together, Junior advises her to retreat, otherwise Senior will surely regret it!”
“Are you threatening this Queen?” Luo Li’s cold gaze pierced Wei Qing, like a sharp knife, causing even someone as strong as him to stumble back a few steps.
With shock in his heart, he cupped his fists and shouted, “Junior would not dare; however, this Wei Qing is Brilliant Flame Sect’s Sect Master, so he must take into consideration the safety of the Sect’s tens of thousands of disciples. Senior’s cultivation is profound, and there is indeed no one in Brilliant Flame Sect that can serve as your opponent, but if you wish to destroy my Brilliant Flame Sect, know that it will not be as easy as you believe.”
“I know what it is you are relying on!” Luo Li smiled suddenly, “To be honest, this Queen also felt that dealing with that thing would be quite difficult, and if at all possible I do not wish to confront it.”
“If Senior understands, everything can be discussed!” Wei Qing’s face brightened slightly, thinking Luo Li was still worried about acting rashly, lest innocents be hurt.
Unexpectedly though, Luo Li simply smiled even more brightly, “But this Queen is only responsible for dealing with you, as for that thing, someone else will take care of it, so… you’d best surrender quickly. This Queen does not enjoy bullying the weak. As long as you waste your cultivation, this Queen will give you a chance to survive!”
Wei Qing’s face turned angry and was just about to snap back when suddenly his Knowledge Sea rolled as an astonishing and terrifying will spread out from a certain direction, carrying with it a message that caused a chill to run up his back!
“A trivial Artifact Spirit dares challenge this King’s majesty? A foolish ant that knows not its place! Tremble before my power!”
As soon as this voice sounded, a fierce battle erupted at the volcano in the deepest part of Brilliant Flame Sect.
Everyone clearly felt the energy fluctuations from this clash spread out.
Brilliant Flame Sect’s leadership all wore looks of shock as they turned in the direction of this disturbance.
“Who would dare provoke the Heavenly Thunder Fire!” An Elder of Brilliant Flame Sect exclaimed.
“It has already started?” Luo Li narrowed her eyes.
She had apparently still underestimated the speed with which Yang Kai would act. She thought it would take some time before Yang Kai engaged the Heavenly Thunder Fire in battle, but now, she had barely reached her main target with her forces and Yang Kai had already begun.
“You have ten breaths to cripple yourselves. Do so and this Queen will spare your lives. If you still refuse to comply and force this Queen to break this barrier, you will all perish!” At this moment, Luo Li’s temperament, which should have been cold and indifferent, became fierce and aggressive.
The grievances between the two great forces were too deep, reaching the point where they could simply not live under the same sky.
Wei Qing’s expression changed dramatically as he felt the powerful fluctuations coming from the Heavenly Thunder Fire’s Restricted Area and understood that the last card he had to play was no longer available to him. However, crippling himself was naturally impossible.
All cultivators fought against the Heavens throughout their lives, crossing one narrow bridge after another, with countless trillions falling along the way. Wei Qing had spent three hundred years cultivating to the peak of the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm and had high hopes to break through to the Origin King Realm.
How could he be willing to waste his cultivation now?
Rather than linger on in disgrace, it would be better to put his life on the line to fight for a chance to survive.
“To battle!” Wei Qing roared.
Brilliant Flame Sect’s leadership obviously held the same idea as Wei Qing. All of them knew how deep the grievances were between their two Sects and that even if they begged for mercy, there would be none. As such, once Wei Qing cried for war, all the Elders present pushed their Saint Qi, summoned their artifacts, and struck towards the five Starships.
“Death!” Luo Li’s face went cold as she lifted her hand and gently tapped the air in front of her.
She did not make any fancy movements, nor create any spectacular display, but the moment her finger pointed forward, a crystal-clear six-petal snowflake condensed before her.
In the blink of an eye, this six-petal snowflake expanded to cover the entire sky above the square.
A chill that caused all to shiver quickly descended from the sky!
“Endless Frozen Seal!” Bing Long, Ran Yun Ting, and all the other Ice Heart Valley Elders shouted in unison.
Saint Qi surged from all their bodies and gathering together before flooding into the space in front of them.
Wherever their Saint Qi passed, the ground began to freeze.
Snow then began falling from the sky.
Shocking energy fluctuations pulsed from each tiny snowflake and as they landed lightly on the fiery red barrier, it seemed to melt through it, slowly opening holes in Brilliant Flame Sect’s last protective shield.
A region of frozen earth spread out towards the square.
The less powerful Brilliant Flame Sect disciples instantly turned into ice sculptures.
Wei Qing instantly fell into despair, knowing that Brilliant Flame Sect was doomed this time.
With Luo Li taking action personally, all hope was basically lost. Originally, he had been relying on the sealed Heavenly Thunder Fire making Luo Li cautions, but now it had somehow been entangled by some unknown force and was of no use.
Moreover, looking at Luo Li’s appearance and aura, where were there any signs of injury?
She was clearly at her peak!
[Is Brilliant Flame Sect really going to fall today?] Darkness covered Wei Qing’s eyes, as if dark clouds had descended upon him, blocking out any trace of light.
…..
Inside the volcanic crater, Yang Kai landed on a red rock outcropping. This rock was extremely hot, and Yang Kai was forced to use his Saint Qi to protect himself so he would not be burned.
The magma in front of him roiled as two different auras fought desperately down below. From time to time, the low roars of the Heavenly Thunder Fire and the cries of the Firebird rang out
It seemed the two were evenly matched.
However, as the owner of the Artifact Spirit. Yang Kai was keenly aware that the Firebird was at a disadvantage.
It was not as evolved as the Heavenly Thunder Fire as the conditions for its birth were not as profound as the latter.
The Artifact Spirit was born from an Origin King Grade Artifact Refining Furnace after ten thousand years of accumulation in the Earth Lung Fire Pond, meaning it was an acquired entity.
As for this Heavenly Thunder Fire, it was an innate existence that had steadily grown since the formation of this star, a rare, pure energy entity.
Both in background and strength, the Firebird was inferior, so even with the assistance of its host Artifact Refining Furnace, the Firebird was gradually being suppressed.
It needed assistance.
Yang Kai promptly sat down cross-legged atop the rock, summoned Xiao Xiao to protect him, closed his eyes, and began releasing his Divine Sense.
An illusory shadow suddenly projected from Yang Kai’s forehead, one that had an appearance identical to Yang Kai himself.
However, this figure had no physical essence.
Soul projection!
What had appeared was Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar!
With a flicker, Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar plunged into the magma and dove down deep.
Releasing one’s Soul Avatar outside one’s body was an extremely dangerous move as, once it was done, one’s physical form would be left in a completely undefended state.
This was why Yang Kai summoned Xiao Xiao again.
Moreover, the Soul was a fragile and sensitive existence. Without the protection of a physical body, it would be easily damaged.
Even in an ordinary environment, one would need to be wary of releasing their Soul Avatar, much less in this burning hot volcanic crater. The Soul of an ordinary cultivator would not be able to survive in this kind of environment and would likely be incinerated the moment it appeared.
But Yang Kai was different.
He possessed a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, which meant that his Spiritual Energy and Soul had the same attribute as the flaming magma of this place.
As such, the burning heat that would even deter an Origin King in this place was no hindrance to Yang Kai.
Without much effort, Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar penetrated deep underground.
The surrounding environment grew hotter and more terrifying the deeper he proceeded.
After finally reaching the deepest depths, a strange subterranean battlefield appeared.
In this battlefield, with a wingspan of nearly three hundred meters, the beautiful Firebird Artifact Spirit flew back and forth as it fought against a massive red and purple shadow.
This shadow had a figure somewhat similar to a human’s as it floated in the sea of magma, but instead of ordinary limbs, it had long tentacle-like arms that swayed back and forth throughout the entire space.
At the head of this shadow, there was a single massive eye that emitted a frightening light.
Its body pulsed with rich Fire Attribute energy as purple arcs of lightning danced across the surface of its figure.
Heavenly Thunder Fire!
Yang Kai could not help staring for a moment, not having expected the true body of the Heavenly Thunder Fire to look like this.
However, just as he expected, this Heavenly Thunder Fire contained a terrifying destructive power that could make any who felt it tremble.
Its tentacle-like arms swept about, shrouding the entire battlefield in a torrent of attacks. Any time the Firebird was impacted by these attacks, the light of its body would slightly weaken.
It was as if the Heavenly Thunder Fire was sapping the strength of the Firebird.
The Firebird did not back down though, and whenever an opportunity presented itself, it would rush forward and bite into the Heavenly Thunder Fire, swallowing its essence to restore itself.
These two strange creatures regarded one another as prey and were using their own unique methods to try to consume the other, resulting in a strange but still earth-shaking battle.
However, Yang Kai keenly noticed that behind this Heavenly Thunder Fire, eight golden energy chains locked its body in place.
These eight chains gave off the exact same aura as the Spirit Array which surrounded the volcanic crater.
It seemed that the existence of these eight chains greatly limited the abilities of the Heavenly Thunder Fire. If not for it, the Firebird would not have been this entity’s opponent.
Realizing this, Yang Kai felt deeply shocked.
It was hard to imagine just how strong the Heavenly Thunder Fire would be without the shackles of this Spirit Array. Would it be equivalent to a Second-Order Origin King? Perhaps even a Third-Order Origin King?
Moreover, which kind of master was able to chain it here in the first place?
Nevertheless, this situation was fortunate for the Firebird. With the eight chains restricting the Heavenly Thunder Fire, the Firebird was barely able to contend with it.
As soon as Yang Kai appeared on the battlefield, the Heavenly Thunder Fire sensed him, and a bright light flashed from its single massive eye towards him.
“Another ant, but this one seems to be a tasty snack for me! Feel honoured to become my strength!”
The voice of the Heavenly Thunder Fire caused the entire chamber to shake.
A strong suction force descended on Yang Kai as the light beam seemed to have an irresistible attractive force which was trying to swallow Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar.
Yang Kai coldly snorted and released a burst of his Spiritual Energy.
A crackling sound rang out in the next instant and the attractive force shattered, freeing Yang Kai.
“A mere ant dares resist my will? Unforgivable!” The Heavenly Thunder Fire seemed to be irritated and it quickly swung one of its giant tentacles towards Yang Kai.
The Firebird let out a fierce cry as it shot a column of fire from its mouth, blocking the tentacle from reaching Yang Kai.
Yang Kai stood in place indifferently, focusing all his attention on observing the situation around him.
He did not currently have a method to successfully deal with this strange Heavenly Thunder Fire.
Right now, his Soul Avatar was here, but his physical body was still up above inside the volcanic crater, so he could not use his Saint Qi to help the Firebird against this enemy, only his Spiritual Energy.
Yang Kai did not want to act recklessly and rile up his opponent before coming up with a plan.
Tentacles swept in all directions as the Heavenly Thunder Fire seemed to have sensed the importance of Yang Kai to the Firebird, so he shamelessly began targeting Yang Kai almost exclusively.
The Firebird was instantly put on the defensive.
The sudden arrival of Yang Kai seemed to make the Firebird’s situation worse.
The two strange creatures thus began a fierce struggle over Yang Kai.
As time passed, the aura of the Firebird gradually weakened while the Heavenly Thunder Fire was as fierce as ever, not showing any signs of fatigue.
“Here, I am the master! You ants must surrender to me!” The Heavenly Thunder Fire’s voice roared once more.
At that moment, Yang Kai’s eyes flashed brightly, and he couldn’t help laughing out loud, “So that’s how it is!”
Sensing Yang Kai’s joy, the Firebird’s waning momentum surged upwards again, and a brilliant radiance burst from its body as it once more entangled the Heavenly Thunder Fire, trying to swallow its energy.
“I’ve seen through your trick already. Today, you will fall!” Yang Kai shouted as he swiftly stretched out his hand and slashed it through the air.
A strange wave of power lashed out.
Instantly, the space around the Heavenly Thunder Fire became somewhat distorted.
Space Force!
Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar could not use the Saint Qi which was contained in his physical body, but that did not hinder him from using his comprehension of the Dao of Space.
Using his Space Force, Yang Kai cut off the Heavenly Thunder Fire from a certain nearby position.
The Heavenly Thunder Fire was instantly taken aback, and a look of panic flashed across its massive eye. At that moment, it gave up attacking the Firebird entirely and instead launched a flurried attack towards Yang Kai.
“So, my thoughts have proven to be true!” Yang Kai laughed, concluding from the Heavenly Thunder Fire’s reaction that his guess was correct.
Without any hesitation, Yang Kai released a burst of Space Force from his Soul Avatar and rapidly spread it outwards to form a type of cage around the surrounding region.
After just ten breaths, the cage had taken shape!
This invisible cage isolated the Heavenly Thunder Fire from the outside world, enclosing it here with the Firebird.
This cage had no effect on the Firebird, but it was a fatal threat to the Heavenly Thunder Fire.
Now, the Heavenly Thunder Fire was no longer able to draw strength from its surrounding environment to restore itself!
Yang Kai had observed for a while and found that the Heavenly Thunder Fire had some kind of invisible connection with the surrounding magma and the scorching heat of the ground; because of that, no matter how much of its essence was swallowed by the Firebird, it was quickly able to restore itself.
On the other hand, the Firebird obviously had no such advantage!
This wasn’t too much of a surprise, however. The Heavenly Thunder Fire had been sealed in this place for countless millennia, so it had found a way to use this environment to its benefit.
Yang Kai’s Space Force cage, however, cut off this advantage in an instant.
“We’ll attack it together, it can’t restore itself anymore,” Yang Kai shouted to the Firebird before using his Soul Avatar to charge forward.
“Pitiful ants, you cannot defeat me! Even without the help of this place’s power, you are still not my opponents!” The Heavenly Thunder Fire roared disdainfully.
“Then we’ll just have to see who is stronger!” Yang Kai smiled fiercely as he shouted, “Demon Eye of Annihilation!”
From his left eye, a golden light suddenly flashed, and a majestic golden pupil revealed itself.
From this golden pupil, a beam of light containing a mysterious power shot forward and pierced the massive one-eyed Heavenly Thunder Fire.
The Heavenly Thunder Fire’s huge body froze up for an instant before it released a resounding howl, as if it had been wounded.
The Demon Eye of Annihilation was able to purify Souls.
When the Heavenly Thunder Fire obtained sentience, it formed its own Soul, so it was vulnerable to the Demon Eye of Annihilation.
Its huge body twisted as its countless tentacles waved about madly, seemingly threatening to collapse the entire space.
The Firebird shot forward, opened its mouth wide, and bit into the Heavenly Thunder Fire’s body.
A stream of pure power visibly to the naked eye flowed into the Firebird’s body from its mouth.
At the same time, the Heavenly Thunder Fire’s aura dropped noticeably.
“Ants! You dare anger me!? I will have all of you dead!” The Heavenly Thunder Fire roared madly as its tentacles flew back, wrapped up the Firebird, and hurled it away.
Immediately, its single eye locked onto Yang Kai and a fierce and destructive aura descended upon him. From that single eye, a mysterious light blasted out, one which was capable of fighting against Yang Kai’s golden light and slowly began pushing it back.
It was conceivable that once this profound light covered Yang Kai, his Soul Avatar would be erased.
“Blossoming Lotus!” Yang Kai shouted sharply.
Within the golden pupil of his left eye, a lotus bud suddenly appeared.
Immediately after this lotus bud appeared, it flickered and disappeared.
But from the perspective of the Heavenly Thunder Fire, this lotus bud rushed into its Knowledge Sea.
This lotus bud took Spiritual Energy as its nutrients and began madly swallowing all it could from the Heavenly Thunder Fire, slowly blossoming in the process.
The more it blossomed, the more Spiritual Energy it drew in. By the time the lotus bloomed halfway, the Heavenly Thunder Fire’s figure was shaking, and its originally solid form became a bit illusory.
Yang Kai had a splitting headache and was unable to stop himself from letting out a miserable cry.
To deal with Heavenly Thunder Fire, he had used almost all of his Spiritual Energy at once to condense this lotus bud.
But the effects were astonishing. The Heavenly Thunder Fire took a devastating hit and lost the strength to target him.
An angry growl and miserable howl burst from the Heavenly Thunder Fire’s mouth.
The Firebird took this opportunity to free itself from its restraints and summon its base Artifact Refining Furnace.
Stimulated by the Firebird, the Artifact Refining Furnace began rotating rapidly as it sent out an amazing attractive force from its mouth.
The Heavenly Thunder Fire’s unstable body could not withstand this suction and was gradually pulled towards the Artifact Refining Furnace.
“Nooo!” The Heavenly Thunder Fire yelled madly but to no avail.
Yang Kai’s Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique had swallowed most of its Spiritual Energy, rendering it incapable of resisting the Firebird’s attack.
As it howled miserably, the Heavenly Thunder Fire was pulled into the Artifact Refining Furnace like a plume of blue smoke!
The Firebird then turned and glanced towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai gripped his temples as their four eyes met and gently nodded, conveying an encouraging look.
The Firebird flapped its wings, turned into a ball of flame, and wrapped itself around the Artifact Refining Furnace before immediately sinking deeper into the magma below.
Its battle was not over yet!
The next stage of this battle would be fought inside the Artifact Refining Furnace, but unlike before, it would be on the Firebird’s home field where it would occupy the absolute advantage.
Yang Kai was no longer able to intervene.
However, he believed that when the Firebird appeared again, it would bring him a big, pleasant surprise.
Turning his head and looking around, Yang Kai did not choose to remain and immediately sent his Soul Avatar back to his body.
Opening his eyes, Yang Kai saw the Stone Puppet’s concerned gaze.
After giving it a comforting look, Yang Kai immediately took out some pills and stuffed them into his mouth before closing his eyes and refining their efficacies.
Time passed by.
The tearing pain in Yang Kai’s mind gradually faded, and with the help of the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, his Spiritual Energy was restored in short order. Recovering to the point where he could move about within a day.
After this battle, Yang Kai surprisingly found that his Spiritual Energy had also increased.
This was a fortunate accident.
A fragrant wind appeared behind him at a certain point, but Yang Kai didn’t even turn his head to look, instead just smiling slightly and saying, “Congratulations Senior, now Ice Heart Valley may dominate Scarlet Wave Star and become its sole ruler.”
Luo Li’s faint voice sounded, “This Queen has no intention of dominating anything. Everything done today was simply to settle our long-standing grievances. As long Brilliant Flame Sect remained, many from Ice Heart Valley would die.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, thinking these words conformed well with Luo Li’s mentality.
“However, this success was only thanks to Young Master Yang’s assistance. If you had not been here dealing with the Heavenly Thunder Fire, my Ice Heart Valley would not have been able to act so easily,” Luo Li said gratefully.
“We each simply attended to our own needs, Senior need not be so polite,” Yang Kai slowly shook his head, “En, what about Brilliant Flame Sect’s people?”
“All those in the Origin Returning Realm were killed, those below the Origin Realm who were known to have killed my Ice Heart Valley disciples were also killed. As for the rest… their cultivations were crippled and they were set free,” Luo Li replied.
“Senior is benevolent.”
“What you mean to say is this Queen shows too much womanly compassion, right?” Luo Li smiled softly.
“Junior wouldn’t dare. Senior must have her reasons for acting this way, Junior has no reason to question that,” Yang Kai replied calmly.
Luo Li smiled and said, “If you wish to say it, just say it, I doubt there’s anything you dare not do. En, if this Queen really slaughtered every Brilliant Flame Sect disciple from weak to strong… the Heavens would not reflect kindly upon it.”
Yang Kai nodded and said nothing more.
Cultivators had to act following their own convictions. Luo Li was not one who enjoyed killing, so if she were to engage in a reckless slaughter of Brilliant Flame Sect, it would no doubt have an impact on her mental state, which was not good for her. Although releasing these Brilliant Flame Sect disciples may seem like benevolence, it was just Luo Li obeying her own heart.
“Young Master Yang, where is the Heavenly Thunder Fire now?” Luo Li asked curiously.
Yang Kai pointed to the magma below, “It’s still inside right now, but it won’t be around much longer.”
Luo Li’s body shook as terrified light flashed across her beautiful eyes.
She naturally knew how powerful the Heavenly Thunder Fire was, but listening to the meaning of Yang Kai’s words, he seemed to have found a way to completely extinguish it, a development beyond Luo Li’s expectations.
Originally, she believed that Yang Kai merely had some kind of ability which he could use to hold back the Heavenly Thunder Fire, allowing her to freely deal with Brilliant Flame Sect.
As such, once she was done processing the remnants of Brilliant Flame Sect, she immediately rushed to this place to assist Yang Kai.
Never had she imagined that there would be nothing more for her to do here.
“Young Master Yang’s methods are truly astonishing, this Queen is incredibly impressed,” Luo Li spoke with sincere admiration. Even if she had acted personally, she was not confident she could destroy this strange flame, but Yang Kai apparently had this ability.
“Senior is too polite.”
“Since everything is settled here, this Queen won’t linger. If Young Hero has free time in the future, please accept my open invitation to Ice Heart Valley as a guest. Ice Heart Valley will offer Young Hero a fitting welcome.”
“If there is a chance,” Yang Kai replied in a noncommittal manner.
Luo Li nodded lightly before departing quickly.
After Luo Li left, another person flew down from the volcanic crater and, with a burst of refreshing icy air, arrived by Yang Kai’s side, sitting down.
Naturally, it was Su Yan.
Yang Kai turned his head, reached out, and grabbed one of her delicate hands, holding it in his own appreciatively.
Su Yan did not speak, simply smiling lightly as she turned to look at the rolling magma in front of her while leaning her head on Yang Kai’s shoulder with a satisfied look on her face.
It seemed the Senior Sister and Junior Brother pair simply wanted to spend some quiet time together.
“Junior Brother, where are we going next?” After a long silence, Su Yan asked.
“To Shadowed Star.”
“Shadowed Star? Where is that?”
“Shadowed Star is extremely far away, but it has a much better environment than today’s Tong Xuan Realm. Although there is a strange World Principle suppression there, it is suitable for everyone from Tong Xuan Realm to grow and develop. I founded High Heaven Sect there on a cultivation paradise…”
Yang Kai began describing the various aspects of Shadowed Star one by one, causing Su Yan to feel a sense of yearning.
The Star Field was incredibly vast, filled with wonders, but to her, it didn’t really matter where she went. As long as she could accompany the man beside her, even the ends of the universe could be a warm home.
At this moment, Su Yan felt a sense of satisfaction she never experienced before.
The battle between the Firebird and Heavenly Thunder Fire lingered on for quite some time.
Yang Kai and Su Yan waited next to the volcanic crater for half a month, but still, the battle down below had not been decided.
Bing Long came at one point and handed Yang Kai a large number of Space Rings filled with an astonishing amount of wealth which formerly belonged to Brilliant Flame Sect. There were many precious ores, herbs, artifacts, pills, and Secret Arts, Martial Skills, and billions of Saint Crystals.
Ice Heart Valley was able to wipe out Brilliant Flame Sect in one fell swoop thanks to Yang Kai, so they did not take sole possession of Brilliant Flame Sect’s wealth. After receiving instructions from Luo Li, Bing Long personally divided this huge harvest in half, one part going to Ice Heart Valley while the other was given to Yang Kai exclusively!
Naturally, this was a gesture of goodwill from Ice Heart Valley that was meant to ease the relationship between them and Yang Kai.
Yang Kai understood this and did not refuse, readily accepting the Space Rings.
Now that he was bringing over ten thousand of his friends and family to Shadowed Star, he would need an extraordinary amount of cultivation resources to support them. This wealth from Brilliant Flame Sect was enough to support those from Tong Xuan Realm for ten or twenty years without any difficulty.
Although Yang Kai had not left the volcanic crater after he arrived, he could still detect the movements of those from Ice Heart Valley.
After Brilliant Flame Sect was eliminated, Brilliant Flame Mountain Range became a treasured land without any owner, but since Ice Heart Valley’s disciples all cultivated Ice Attribute Secret Arts, they were not going to open a branch here.
Nevertheless, there were many Sects attached to Ice Heart Valley, so they had several of them migrate to Brilliant Flame Mountain Range to occupy this cultivation paradise.
All of this had nothing to do with Yang Kai as he was simply a passerby to Scarlet Wave Star.
While they waited, Yang Kai and Su Yan had plenty to talk about, sharing their respective experiences from the past thirty years, from the stunning adventures to the trivial occurrences.
From time to time, they would sit in meditation to cultivate as well.
The two found that when they cultivate together, their rate of cultivation increased ten-fold compared to when they were alone.
Saint Qi flowed between them and merged together, forming an endless cycle that rapidly drew in the surrounding World Energy to strengthen themselves.
Time flew by and soon another half a month passed.
While they were cultivating today, Yang Kai and Su Yan both sensed something and simultaneously opened their eyes before turning their gazes down.
Below, the originally tumbling and roaring magma was rapidly calming down and the terrifying heat which filled the air began to abate. Even the liquid magma was solidifying at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Obviously, something was absorbing all the Fire Attribute energy in this volcanic crater.
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up as he had a vague guess in his heart about what was happening, raising his expectations greatly.
After half a day, the situation became more obvious as the temperature in the volcanic crater dropped to a normal level where even an ordinary mortal who had never cultivated would not feel much discomfort.
The tumbling magma in front of him had already become semi-solidified.
Suddenly, a stream of aura rapidly rose from the depths.
This aura was very familiar to Yang Kai and when he sensed it, a smile appeared on his face.
*Xiu…*
A red light blasted out from below and a Firebird with a ten-metre wingspan suddenly flew up into the air.
Its entire body was a dazzling fiery red while purple streaks of lightning flashed across its surface, giving it a domineering and devastating aura.
Yang Kai raised his brow as he looked at the radiant Firebird in surprise, secretly feeling shocked by the intensity of the aura it gave off.
The Firebird had undoubtedly successfully swallowed the Heavenly Thunder Fire and obtained a quantitative evolution, but the increase in its strength was actually quite shocking, possibly ten times more than before.
Yang Kai felt a pressure from the Firebird now comparable to an ordinary Origin King.
Was the Firebird now comparable to an Origin King? Yang Kai could not help smiling happily thinking so.
*Li…*
The Firebird raised its head high and released a resounding cry, seemingly extremely excited.
Immediately after, its figure began to distort, its wings folding in as its body underwent a rapid and dramatic transformation.
Soon, a beautiful young woman with fiery hair appeared in front of Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was dumbfounded!
The beauty that appeared in front of him was so dazzling it was somewhat unbelievable. Her delicate face was dotted with elegant features, without the slightest flaw, and her slender willow brows, dazzling eyes, and tender lips which had a shimmering ruby lustre easily provoked the imagination.
Her figure was also extremely provocative, full in all the right places while slender in all the others, complimented perfectly with two long, beautiful legs.
Most noticeable was the highly exposed way she dressed.
She wore a fiery red armour which only covered her most sensitive places while revealing much of her thighs and lower abdomen.
Her seductive neckline, flat abdomen, and delicate belly button were all exposed to the air, as was much of her beautiful legs along with her snow-white jade feet which lightly stepped through the air, enchanting all who bore witness to them.
Yang Kai suddenly felt a little dizzy.
Su Yan also covered her mouth with her small hands in surprise, but immediately thinking of something, she shot Yang Kai a light smile as a profound light flashed across her eyes.
“You… you… how did you become like this?” Yang Kai pointed at the evolved Firebird in a somewhat incoherent manner.
“Greetings, Master!” The Firebird suddenly saluted Yang Kai elegantly and spoke in a clear voice.
Her voice and expression were cold and indifferent, a clear contrast to her scorching hot figure.
Moreover, her voice seemed to contain an aura of destruction and killing intent while her dark red eyes burned like flames.
Gazing into her eyes, Yang Kai faintly felt he saw a world of flames that could incinerate one’s Soul if they stared too long.
“You… can talk?” Yang Kai was even more shocked, his mouth hanging agape.
The Firebird nodded, thought for a moment, then explained, “After consuming that guy, I suddenly discovered I could speak. Why, does master not like this me?”
“Am I supposed to?” Yang Kai brow furrowed as he caught a glimpse of Su Yan staring at him with interest from the corner of his eye, making him feel a little guilty.
“It should… I have been following Master for many years and felt that my current appearance should match very well with Master’s interests, so…”
“Shut up!” Yang Kai roared frantically as he took a deep breath, turned to Su Yan, and declared solemnly, “This is slander, pure slander! Senior Sister, don’t take her seriously.”
Su Yan smiled lightly and said, “Naturally, I believe in Junior Brother.”
“It seems… I was mistaken,” Firebird thought about it for a while before sincerely admitting her wrongs. After completing this, she turned to Su Yan and bowed with a serious expression, “Greetings, Madam.”
[Seems her vision is sharp, at least!] Yang Kai cast an approving look towards the Firebird.
Su Yan pursed her lips and giggled, walking forward as she took the Firebird’s hand and said, “You don’t need to be so polite. Your current image is not old, so from now on, we will be sisters. En, you said you have followed Junior Brother for many years, so you must be very clear about all he’s done these years. If we have time, we should have a good chat.”
“Master probably wouldn’t want me to expose his private affairs, especially with regards to certain women,” Firebird frowned and replied, appearing somewhat reluctant.
Yang Kai’s face became as black as the bottom of a pot.
He suddenly discovered that the Firebird who was obedient to him and did not know how to talk was more likeable.
The current Firebird’s sentience had advanced greatly, and her strength had soared, but why did it feel like he had lost something in the process?
“By the way, Junior Brother, she now has a human form, so does she have a name?” Su Yan did not try to dig into these trivial matters and suddenly asked.
Yang Kai shook his head and turned to the Firebird to ask, “Do you want a name?”
A strange brilliance flashed across the Firebird’s eyes and she quickly nodded, “Please bestow me a name, Master!”
Possessing a true name was a special privilege that only existences which had achieved a certain level of sentience could possess, in other words, only those that had true names could be considered true, independent beings!
“En, then from now on your name will be Liu Yan,” Yang Kai did not think much before replying.
The black Origin King Grade Starship sailed through the vast Star Field without much need for human intervention, moving quickly towards a certain destination.
Inside the Starship, only a few cultivators were stationed to monitor the surrounding environment.
Yang Kai himself was inside the Sealed World Bead.
This was a homeward journey.
Shadowed Star would be the new home of all those from Tong Xuan Realm.
It had been a year since Yang Kai departed from Scarlet Wave Star, and since then, the Starship had sailed safely and smoothly according to the Star Chart drawn by Yang Kai.
The occasional minor problems that came up were quickly taken care of by a volley of Crystal Cannon fire, allowing the Starship to proceed unimpeded.
The tyrannical power of the Origin King Grade Starship was not something many could afford to challenge.
Inside the Sealed World Bead, Yang Kai and Xia Ning Chang were constantly refining pills, spending massive quantities of resources to improve the cultivation of those from Tong Xuan Realm.
The overall strength of the Three Clans had now soared with Saints everywhere. As for the top masters of the Three Clans, many had reached the Second or Third-Order Saint King Realm, their strength having risen greatly.
Cultivation was a process of accumulation. Tong Xuan Realm was different from Shadowed Star. The former had insufficient World Energy, so it severely limited the development of cultivators while the latter actually suppressed cultivators from reaching peak heights.
Now inside the Small Sealed World, with rich aura and abundant cultivation resources, the cultivators from Tong Xuan Realm were able to develop and improve their strength at astonishing speed.
Yang Xiu Zhu and the other Origin Realm masters also spent much time teaching those from Tong Xuan Realm the mysteries of cultivation, so it was no surprise that the latter group progressed quickly.
The atmosphere inside the Sealed World Bead was jubilant as every day someone would break through to the next realm.
Yang Kai gave special treatment to his closest relatives.
All people had selfish desires, and Yang Kai was no exception
His parents, Grand Master, Ancestral Founder, Martial Uncles and Aunt, Old Demon and others were all given Heaven-defying pills that Yang Kai refined personally, allowing them to transform their physiques, dredge their meridians, and thoroughly enhance their potential and aptitude.
Inside a certain loft, at a window on the second floor, a beautiful figure stood enjoying the breeze blowing through her hair, staring out across a nearby square, her eyes fixed on a brave and heroic-looking young man, a touch of gentleness and nostalgia across her face.
“Elder Sister Qiu.” Suddenly, a shout came from behind her and Qiu Yi Meng retracted her gaze, turned her head around, and saw a pair of twin sisters arriving together. Naturally, it was Hu Jiao’er and Hu Mei’er.
“You’ve come?” Qiu Yi Meng smiled slightly, bringing her thoughts to the present and motioning, “Have a seat!”
Hu Jiao’er glanced at her thoughtfully before turning her eyes to the window where she noticed a bustling figure in the square, heaving a sigh as she muttered, “It seems that the gap is only getting wider and wider between us. I don’t know if it will ever be possible for us to catch up to him in this lifetime.”
“En, the more I cultivate, the farther I feel from him,” Hu Mei’er’s expression also dampened.
Qiu Yi Meng smiled at them and said, “Why are you two sisters so discouraged? At least your cultivation pace is shockingly quick compared to your Elder Sister here. The two of you have reached the Second-Order Saint King Realm while I just entered the Saint King Realm.”
“Even so, I heard that he has already reached the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm,” Hu Mei’er said sadly. “Now, those who can stand next to him are only Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang. I really wonder how they cultivated, all of them actually reached the Origin Returning Realm already. A few days ago, Xia Ning Chang also seems to have broken through to the Second-Order Origin Realm. It’s simply maddening to think about it.”
“They have their own opportunities. We just need to work harder ourselves. Don’t try to catch up to him, just strive to not be left too far behind,” Qiu Yi Meng persuaded.
“Elder Sister Qiu’s determination and resolve are inspiring,” Hu Jiao’er was a little moved as she looked at Qiu Yi Meng admiringly.
Qiu Yi Meng smiled and said, “Since we chose to leave Tong Xuan Realm with him, we should have at least this much heart. If we could not withstand this kind of desperation, we should have just remained on Tong Xuan Realm where we would still be considered peak level masters. Isn’t that what you thought as well, two little sisters?”
Hu Jiao’er and Hu Mei’er looked at each other and nodded solemnly.
“Good, enough about this topic. Come with me, it’s time for the youths from the Three Clans to compare notes. Only by competing constantly can we really mature,” Qiu Yi Meng got up and motioned to the two sisters.
Hu Jiao’er and Hu Mei’er quickly followed.
…..
The days in the Sealed World Bead were calm and steady, allowing time to flow by freely and before anyone knew it, another year had passed.
One day, Yang Kai was cultivating together with Su Yan, their palms pressed against each other’s, their Saint Qi circulating between them.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes as if sensing something.
“What happened?” Su Yan also opened her eyes and asked curiously.
“It seems we’ve arrived,” Yang Kai grinned.
“We’ve finally arrived?” Su Yan was also quite pleased, “The journey was quite long.”
“En, Shadowed Star is very remote. If it were not for this Origin King Grade Starship, we wouldn’t have been able to reach this place. Come with me to have a look.”
“Good, call Ning Chang too.”
After meeting up with Xia Ning Chang, the trio moved out to the Starship.
Immediately, a disciple from High Heaven Sect came forward to report, “Sect Master, Shadowed Star is directly in front of us. We’re finally home.”
His expression was very excited.
Unlike those from Tong Xuan Realm, this disciple was originally a member of the Hai Ke Family, a native of Shadowed Star. He had come out with Yang Kai for eight years now, so he missed his hometown.
“Please give the order, Sect Master!” The disciple of High Heaven Sect respectfully bowed.
“En, bring us down.”
“Yes!”
The next moment, the Starship sailed towards the massive Cultivation Star and in just over a quarter of an hour, it entered the atmosphere, revealing the charming scenery below.
Yang Kai did not order the Starship to continue forward and instead took Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang out before putting the Starship into the Sealed World Bead and using his Star Shuttle to finish their descent.
The Origin King Grade Starship was a bit too noticeable and Yang Kai was not willing to draw too much attention to himself at this moment.
Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang breathed Shadowed Star’s air for the first time and immediately felt the rich World Energy surrounding them, both wearing expressions of pleasant surprise as they inhaled gently.
“Junior Brother, what city is down below? It’s so big,” Xia Ning Chang pointed to a city nearby and asked.
“Well… I actually don’t know,” Yang Kai scratched his head awkwardly. Although he had spent many years on Shadowed Star now, Shadowed Star itself was simply too big so he could not recognize every city at a glance.
Xia Ning Chang smiled seeing this and no longer embarrassed Yang Kai.
“Oh…” Yang Kai’s expression suddenly changed, however, and after carefully examining the outline of the city below, he laughed, “Never mind, I do know where we are.”
“Where?”
“This is Heavenly Fate City!” Yang Kai pointed down, “Look over there, do you see that small mountain range? When I first arrived on Shadowed Star, this is where I settled down, Dragon Cave Mountain. Later, after being besieged by many people and engaging in a great battle, Dragon Cave Mountain was destroyed, and we moved to the current High Heaven Sect.”
Turning towards the direction Yang Kai pointed, Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang saw a small, dilapidated mountain range.
Perhaps because of the relationship this place shared with Yang Kai, the two women looked at the mountain range with cordial eyes.
“It seems you share some fate with this place,” Su Yan said with a little emotion.
When Yang Kai first came to Shadowed Star, this was where he arrived and settled, and now that he had returned after a long journey, this was the first place he came back to. It was almost serendipitous.
“There must indeed be some fate at work here. Good, let’s go down, I know the City Lord of Heavenly Fate City quite well, so we should be able to borrow their Space Array without any trouble,” Yang Kai waved his hand and flew down.
The City Lord of Heavenly Fate City was Fei Zhi Tu. If it had not been for his cultivation having fallen after suffering a serious wound, he would have followed Yang Kai to leave Shadowed Star like Qian Tong.
After so many years, Yang Kai wondered whether Fei Zhi Tu’s cultivation had recovered.
When Yang Kai was still weak, Fei Zhi Tu had taken good care of him, so Yang Kai naturally felt grateful to him.
Suddenly, a violent energy fluctuation erupted from nearby.
“Junior Brother, someone is fighting,” Su Yan noticed and pointed to a certain direction.
Yang Kai turned his head and looked over, only to reveal a look of shock in the next instant as he froze in place with a stunned expression on his face.
“How could it be them?”
Although they were separated by a great distance, with the strength of Yang Kai’s current Divine Sense, he was easily able to tell the identity the parties which were fighting.
It was Shadow Moon Hall’s top disciples Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er.
These two were the rising stars of Shadow Moon Hall, famous figures who were well-known throughout Shadowed Star. Yang Kai had not seen them for many years but he could tell that their cultivation had been progressing quite rapidly. Together, the two of them were able to exert power far beyond that of ordinary First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators.
However, their opponents were even stronger. There were more than a dozen Origin Returning Realm masters engaging them, with a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm powerhouse taking the lead. Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er were currently surrounded and had no chance of escape.
But how was this possible? Yang Kai was extremely puzzled.
They were currently right next to Heavenly Fate City, which was a city under the direct jurisdiction of Shadow Moon Hall. Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er were the future pillars of Shadow Moon Hall, with the former being the disciple of the Hall Master and the latter the disciple of its Great Elder, Qian Tong. Both of them possessed extraordinary status.
Who would dare to attack them within the territory of Shadow Moon Hall?
Yang Kai instinctively realized something was terribly wrong, as if something big had happened to Shadowed Star during the years he had left.
“You know them, Junior Brother?” Su Yan asked.
“En, let’s go take a look,” Yang Kai calmly led Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang towards the direction of the battle.
A few hundred kilometres away, Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er were engaged in a bloody battle. Their opponents were five Origin Returning Realm masters.
Even if Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er possessed extraordinary combat strength for their realm, they were still being suppressed heavily because they were outnumbered and outmatched. Moreover, it seemed they have experienced many battles recently, causing their Saint Qi auras to be somewhat weak.
If not for their opponents seemingly worrying about the moon-shaped artifact floating above Wei Gu Chang’s head, they would already have rushed forward and killed them.
This moon-shaped artifact was being driven by Wei Gu Chang with some special method, exuding a soft light that flexibly floated about the battlefield, protecting Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er’s lives at critical moments several times.
Although this round moon-shaped artifact was incredibly powerful, Wei Gu Chang’s frequent use of it was consuming his strength rapidly. During the battle, he was constantly stuffing pills into his mouth in an attempt to restore his Saint Qi, but it was far from sufficient.
The five Origin Returning Realm masters who were besieging him and Dong Xuan’er were acting quite cautiously, not going for a decisive blow but instead keeping their distance while focusing on consuming their physical strength and Saint Qi, seemingly intent on capturing them alive.
Not far away, a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master stood with his hands behind his back, watching Wei Gu Chang with cold eyes while occasionally shouting, “Martial Nephew Wei, don’t be stubborn, hand over the Heavenly Moon Silver Mirror and Martial Uncle will give you a chance to live!”
“Ptui!” Wei Gu Chang spat. Although he was completely dishevelled, the look of contempt on his face was still clear, “Xie Chen, it is repulsive to think you once called yourself an Elder of Shadow Moon Hall. Not only are you a coward who covets life and fears death, stooping to colluding with those evil monsters to harm the Sect, but you’re even serving them like a whipped dog now, hahaha… if you want the Heavenly Moon Silver Mirror, come get it yourself!”
Wei Gu Chang was covered in blood, but that did not change his heroic character.
Xie Chen’s face went cold as his eyes filled with murderous intent.
Wei Gu Chang’s words undoubtedly hit his sore spot.
Taking a deep breath, however, he remained where he was and continued to call out, “Nephew Wei, you may be a rising star of the younger generation, but don’t you understand that wise birds choose the best roosts to live in? Today’s Shadowed Star has only one true ruler, the glory Shadow Moon Hall and all other big Sects once possessed is gone forever. Out of consideration for your youthful naivety, Martial Uncle will not make things difficult for you. If you hand over the Heavenly Moon Silver Mirror, you may leave. You are free to refuse, but… You may not care if you die, but what about Xuan’er? She is still just a young flower; do you not feel the slightest guilt about dragging her to death here with you?”
Wei Gu Chang’s expression changed slightly when he heard these words. Still immersed in this fierce battle, he could not help turning his gaze towards Dong Xuan’er, the hot-blooded ruthlessness on his face instantly being replaced with a touch of tenderness.
Xie Chen was extremely cunning, only needing a few words to shake Wei Gu Chang’s momentum.
Noticing his Wei Gu Chang’s gaze, Dong Xuan’er grit her teeth and shouted, “Senior Brother, don’t listen to his nonsense! He is no longer our Martial Uncle. Xuan’er being able to live and die together with Senior Brother is her greatest wish! No matter what, we cannot hand the Heavenly Moon Silver Mirror over to them!”
“Xuan’er…” Wei Gu Chang murmured.
At that moment, Xie Chen’s eyes flashed, and he swiftly condensed his Saint Qi as he pointed his finger towards Wei Gu Chang.
A black light burst from Xie Chen’s fingertip the moment Wei Gu Chang’s guard dropped and delivered a blow to the latter’s chest.
Wei Gu Chang was knocked back, seemingly taking a serious hit, coughing up a mouthful of blood as his momentum quickly weakened, only managing to stabilize himself after tumbling a few dozen meters through the air.
“Senior Brother!” Dong Xuan’er called out pitifully, her voice filled with a hint of profound sadness and distress.
A vicious look flashed across Xie Chen’s face as he cackled loudly, “Brat, this is the price for daring to fight with this old master! Now, let us see how you refuse to die. Kill him for me!”
“Despicable!” Wei Gu Chang grit his teeth and yelled as he saw his enemies madly charge towards him, releasing many artifact attacks and Secret Techniques. At this moment, Wei Gu Chang’s Saint Qi was in chaos and the silver moon artifact above his head had grown dim, so he was unable to put up any kind of defence.
Death was beckoning to him.
Strangely, Wei Gu Chang’s expression softened at this moment as he cast a glance towards Dong Xuan’er, his eyes filled with guilt and distress.
Behind Dong Xuan’er, two other Origin Realm cultivators launched violent attacks towards her.
Dong Xuan’er simply smiled back at him, as if everything else in the world had faded from her view.
Before death, the two did not need words, just a simple glance was enough to convey their satisfaction. They had not been born in the same year, the same month, or the same day, but they could die together, never to be separated again
Wei Gu Chang reached out his hand towards Dong Xuan’er, a gesture Dong Xuan’er returned.
Their two palms met mid-air, and it was as if their hearts and minds merged into one.
Pulling each other into a tight embrace, the pair closed their eyes and waited for the inevitable to come.
Screams filled the air in the next instant as violent energy fluctuations erupted and the sound of bones breaking rang out; however, the death Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er were expected never came…
Wei Gu Chang frowned and opened his eyes suspiciously only to see a familiar face not far away, smiling towards him.
Wei Gu Chang was instantly stunned as his eyes widened, unable to believe what he was seeing.
After rubbing his eyes vigorously to make sure he was not imagining things, Wei Gu Chang could not help crying out, “Brother Yang!”
The person standing next to him was none other than Yang Kai!
Wei Gu Chang’s heart jumped wildly.
Yang Kai had left Shadowed Star for a long voyage across the vast Star Field, something Wei Gu Chang was well aware of because he had heard Fei Zhi Tu mention it more than once, each time wearing a disgruntled and regretful expression.
If not for his cultivation having fallen that day, Fei Zhi Tu would have left Shadowed Star together with Yang Kai to experience the mysteries and excitement of the Star Field.
But at that last moment, fate played a cruel prank on him and his cultivation fell.
In the end, only Qian Tong left with Yang Kai from Shadow Moon Hall.
Yang Kai had left seven or eight years ago and there had been no news from him since then. No one knew whether he had safely made it to the Star Field or not.
But today, at this critical moment, Yang Kai had magically appeared and saved their Senior Brother Junior Sister pair!
[Since Yang Kai is back, what about Elder Qian?] Wei Gu Chang hurriedly turned his head to look around, but apart from discovering two shockingly beautiful women, there were no signs of Elder Qian.
Wei Gu Chang’s heart sank.
“Elder Qian is fine. Brother Wei doesn’t need to worry,” Yang Kai knew what he was thinking when he saw his look and quickly comforted him, “It’s been many years since we last met, but Brother Wei… en, it seems you’re doing quite well for yourself.”
Hearing Yang Kai’s joking tone, Wei Gu Chang grinned, blood dripping from the corner of his lips, giving him a wild and fierce look as he snickered, “Is Brother Yang making fun of this Wei?”
“I wouldn’t dare!”
“Senior Brother… let me go first,” Dong Xuan’er’s shy whisper entered Wei Gu Chang’s ears.
Startled, only now did he remember that he was still embracing Dong Xuan’er tightly.
Feeling the soft and tender body in his embrace heat up sharply while exhaling an orchid scent beside his ear aroused a certain sense of euphoria in Wei Gu Chang that made him extremely reluctant to let go.
Although the Senior Brother and Junior Sister pair had been in love with each other for many years, they had never truly been intimate. Only when they were facing death a moment ago had they tossed away all sense of shyness and embarrassment and broken this final barrier between them.
Gently letting go of Dong Xuan’er, Wei Gu Chang scratched his head, “I’ve shown Brother Yang something embarrassing.”
Dong Xuan’er stood aside with a blushing smile, her head down, keeping silent.
Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang looked at each other and smiled knowingly.
“Brother Wei and Sister Dong being able to express their true feelings in the face of adversity is something quite touching. How could this Yang laugh at such a display?” Yang Kai said seriously before immediately turning his eyes forward and asking indifferently, “What happened here? I was only gone for a few years but it seems something big has happened to Shadow Moon Hall.”
Hearing this, Wei Gu Chang’s face grew cold as he recalled, “Not just Shadow Moon Hall, all of Shadowed Star has been turned upside down. I won’t be able to explain everything in short order, but to be succinct, this dog here was once a high-level Elder of my Shadow Moon Hall, but he betrayed the Sect and helped a terrible enemy commit all kinds of heinous sins, including killing the older Hall Master and imprisoning City Lord Fei!”
“The old Hall Master was killed, and City Lord Fei was imprisoned?” Yang Kai was stunned.
“Exactly!”
“Little beast, it’s you!” On the opposite side, Xie Chen looked at Yang Kai gloomily, hatred flashing across his eyes, as if he held some kind of absolutely irreconcilable resentment with him. Smiling wildly, Xie Chen shouted, “You’ll really wear out iron shoes while seeking your feet! This old master has been searching for you for so many years, but I never expected you would actually deliver yourself to me today! Magnificent! Today this old master will kill you and avenge my clansmen’s deaths!”
“Do you know me?” Yang Kai looked at him suspiciously.
Xie Chen growled, “Do you remember Xie Li and Xie Hong Wen who died at your hands nearly ten years ago?”
“Xie Li, Xie Hong Wen?” Yang Kai frowned but quickly recalled, “You mean that Xie Family Young Master who led people to attack me in the Flowing Flame Sand Field and his father who later tried to seek revenge for him?”
“Indeed!”
“Who are you to them?” Yang Kai asked, still not certain about the other party’s identity.
“Xie Li is my Elder Brother and Xie Hong Wen is my nephew! Today, this old master will finally have his revenge! Little beast, do you have any last words to say?” Xie Chen ground his teeth and roared, his eyes turning red, like a wild beast.
Yang Kai sneered, “Xie Hong Wen and Xie Li died because of their own stupid decisions, they have no one to blame but themselves.”
“To think you dare still make such an audacious argument, you murderer!? Fine. If that is how you think, you dying today is no one’s fault but your own!” Xie Chen cried out hysterically.
Yang Kai sneered and shook his head, “Old dog, that’s where you’re wrong, you’re the one who’s going to die today.”
Xie Chen laughed, “Yellow-mouthed brat, you think this old master will listen to your nonsense?”
“It doesn’t matter whether you listen or not. Forget it, since this is Shadow Moon Hall’s business, I will not intervene. Elder Qian can clean up his Sect himself,” Yang Kai didn’t bother with Xie Chen anymore and instead used his Divine Sense to communicate with Qian Tong inside the Sealed World Bead
“Elder Qian…” Wei Gu Chang heard this, and a happy expression flashed across his face as he looked around, “Where is Elder Qian?”
“Is my Master here?” Dong Xuan’er also wore a look of pleasant surprise.
“En,” Yang Kai grinned, waving his hand as he condensed a mysterious power, forming a whirlpool mid in front of him.
Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er’s gazes were instantly drawn to this whirlpool and soon saw an elderly figure walk out from it.
Qian Tong!
“What is this!?” Xie Chen’s face changed slightly as he stared at the strange vortex, unable to figure out how Qian Tong came out from it. This vortex seemed to be connected to another world, but he was unable to draw any definitive conclusions about it.
Soon, however, Xie Chen’s gaze focused on Qian Tong, a look of dread spreading across his face.
As Shadow Moon Hall’s Great Elder, Qian Tong had a resounding reputation within Shadow Moon Hall for many years, and with the old Hall Master in retreat all year round, striving to comprehend the mysteries of the Origin King Realm, Qian Tong was all but in charge of Shadow Moon Hall.
Coupled with Qian Tong’s extremely high cultivation, Xie Chen had always been afraid of him.
Now that Qian Tong appeared before him suddenly, Xie Chen instinctively took a few steps back while looking a little panicked.
But soon, he stopped in place and his expression turned fierce.
Indeed, he would not have been Qian Tong’s opponent ten years ago; after all, his cultivation was a Minor Realm lower, but now…
As the deep-seated fear of Qian Tong in his heart abated, it was replaced with an eagerness to compete.
“Oh, we’re home?” Qian Tong walked out of the vortex, saw Heavenly Fate City nearby, and couldn’t help letting out a laugh, “We’re really home! This old master was getting quite bored staying in that isolated place.”
Although the Sealed World Bead was peaceful and rich in aura, it seemed to lack a certain something which made Qian Tong feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Now returning to his homeland and even arriving at Heavenly Fate City again, Qian Tong was naturally in a good mood.
“Good good good, Chang’er, Xuan’er, I haven’t seen you for many years but it seems your cultivations have not stopped improving. En, you will both likely break through to the Second-Order Origin Returning Rea… hm? Why are you injured?” Qian Tong’s face suddenly sank, and cold anger began filling it, “Who hurt you?”
He was not clear about the current situation.
Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er looked at Qian Tong in a daze, unable to return to their senses for a long time, but after a prolonged silence, the two of them dropped to their knees.
“Elder Qian, Disciple has failed in the task you entrusted him with. To protect Shadow Moon Hall, please deliver punishment, Elder Qian!” Wei Gu Chang pressed his forehead to the ground and shouted.
“Master, please also punish me!” Dong Xuan’er also kowtowed as she sobbed softly.
Even in the face of enemies several times more powerful than themselves, even in the face of death, the Senior Brother and Junior Sister had not shown the slightest weakness, but now that Qian Tong had appeared, the firm will supporting this pair finally collapsed like they were aggrieved children who had finally seen their parents again.
Qian Tong quickly realized that something was very wrong and swept his eyes around coldly, eventually focusing on Xie Chen and vaguely guessing something, but not immediately pursuing it. Reaching out, Qian Tong waved his hand and lifted Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er up, quickly saying, “Get up first and explain, what has happened to Shadow Moon Hall?”
Qian Tong’s face was calm, but like before an approaching storm, there was a heaviness to the atmosphere around him.
“Shadow Moon Hall… has fallen,” Wei Gu Chang replied sadly.
“Fallen?” Qian Tong’s face sank, “Who did it? Speak carefully.”
“Understood!” Wei Gu Chang nodded respectfully before explaining everything which had happened to Shadow Moon Hall.
Two years ago, Shadowed Star experienced a great upheaval. A new and powerful great force suddenly surfaced and rapidly began suppressing various Sects and families on Shadowed Star. Any who failed to submit were ruthlessly slaughtered. Shadowed Star experienced a reign of terror, with countless cities turning into ruins overnight and hundreds of millions perishing, leaving behind mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.
Soon, the claws of this mysterious great force stretched out towards Shadow Moon Hall. In the face of this seemingly unstoppable foe, the leaders of Shadow Moon Hall were at a loss about how to respond.
Shadow Moon Hall was originally divided into two factions, a truth which dated back to before Qian Tong had left Shadowed Star, and in the face of this crisis, this division only became more serious.
In the end, the faction led by Xie Chen won out.
Xie Chen and his supporters launched a sneak attack on the old Hall Master as well as some of the Sect’s core Elders, causing the Shadow Moon Hall to suffer heavy casualties and collapse.
Overnight, ownership of Shadow Moon Hall changed, with Xie Chen becoming the new Hall Master and surrendering to the new mysterious great force.
The senior cultivators who used to support and stand on Qian Tong’s side were almost all killed ruthlessly, while Fei Zhi Tu, who oversaw Heavenly Fate City, was also imprisoned.
Only a few elites from Shadow Moon Hall managed to escape. Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er were summoned by the old Hall Master, who realized what was about to occur just before it did, and entrusted them with the Heavenly Moon Silver Mirror before ordering them to escape from Shadow Moon Hall.
For the past two years, the two of them had hidden, running around while living under extremely difficult circumstances.
The reason why they had appeared so close to Heavenly Fate City today was to try to rescue Fei Zhi Tu.
Xie Chen had announced that Fei Zhi Tu, who had refused to submit to him, was to be beheaded in Heavenly Fate City today to serve as a warning, forcing Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er out of hiding.
Even if they knew it was a trap, the two had jumped into it without hesitation.
“Old Hall Master is dead? Old Fei was imprisoned?” Qian Tong’s face was covered in haze like a black cloud, and it was clear to anyone that his anger was soaring.
“What about High Heaven Sect?” Yang Kai asked in a deep voice, “With Shadow Moon Hall suffering such a disaster, did High Heaven Sect not send help?”
If High Heaven Sect had really stood by and done nothing, Yang Kai would be greatly disappointed.
When Yang Kai was in trouble, Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu had always offered their help. The reason why Fei Zhi Tu’s cultivation had fallen was also related to Yang Kai.
However, thinking about it carefully, with Ye Xi Yun in command of High Heaven Sect, it was impossible that she had not acted.
“High Heaven Sect sent aid. Many of the disciples who escaped from Shadow Moon Hall were sheltered by High Heaven Sect. Moreover, Great Elder Ye deployed several Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters to assist, but…”
“But what?”
“They were ultimately outmatched and they had no choice but to withdraw after a few died,” Wei Gu Chang reported sadly.
“What?” Yang Kai was thoroughly shocked.
Even Qian Tong wore a look of disbelief.
The Origin Realm masters dispatched by High Heaven Sect must have been masters from Star Emperor Mountain, so how could they be outmatched to the point where some of them even died?
Shadow Moon Hall couldn’t possess such powerful strength!
“The masters of the Corpse Spirit Religion are as numerous as clouds. It is even rumoured that they have four Origin Kings leading them. The masters from High Heaven Sect who died were killed by one of those Origin Kings,” Wei Gu Chang explained.
Corpse Spirit Religion was the title of the newly emerged great force.
“Impossible!” Qian Tong denied vehemently.
Yang Kai was also astonished.
An Origin King Realm master had risen on Shadowed Star? And four of them at once?
How was that possible?
There was a mysterious suppression from the World Principles on Shadowed Star which prevented an Origin King from rising for the past ten thousand years. If that wasn’t the case, Qian Tong and the others would not have so eagerly followed Yang Kai on his long-distance voyage.
But now, Wei Gu Chang was telling them that four Origin Kings had appeared on Shadowed Star; naturally, they found this fact difficult to accept.
“Disciple has only heard rumours, so he cannot say for sure whether they are true or not,” Wei Gu Chang added before suddenly thinking of something and saying. “Right, Great Elder Ye should know the truth.”
“Why do you say so?” Yang Kai brow rose.
“It was said that Great Elder Ye encountered two of those four Origin Kings and was seriously wounded, forcing her to return to High Heaven Sect to recover.”
Ye Xi Yun was seriously injured!
This was extremely bad news.
But Yang Kai and Qian Tong also exchanged a glance as this piece of news gave them some important information.
The rumours about there being four Origin Kings were likely false. If they were true, it would have been impossible for Ye Xi Yun to retreat when facing two of them. As long as one Origin King took action, they should have easily been able to kill Ye Xi Yun.
However, Ye Xi Yun was only seriously injured and managed to flee.
Unfortunately, this still meant the strength of the enemy could not be underestimated. Ye Xi Yun’s cultivation had reached the absolute limit of the Origin Returning Realm, and if not for her unwillingness to leave Shadowed Star, it was likely she would already be an Origin King. The enemy only needing two masters to seriously wound Ye Xi Yun indicated that they were at least on par with her, possibly even stronger.
The expressions of Yang Kai and Qian Tong were constantly changing as they quietly digested the information Wei Gu Chang gave them.
Unexpectedly, Shadowed Star had experienced a great change over the past seven or eight years. What exactly was this Corpse Spirit Religion? Why had they waited until now to reveal themselves?
“Brother Yang doesn’t have to worry about High Heaven Sect. Today’s High Heaven Sect can be regarded as the last piece of pure land on Shadowed Star. Although the periphery is heavily surrounded, no one can attack it,” Wei Gu Chang saw Yang Kai’s ugly expression and quickly comforted.
“I understand that,” Yang Kai nodded.
Yang Kai was not worried about the safety of High Heaven Sect. Outside High Heaven Sect were the Three Blazing Flame Rings, an Emperor Artifact that even an Origin King would be helpless before.
“Many people who didn’t want to submit escaped to High Heaven Sect, but…” Wei Gu Chang sighed.
He and Dong Xuan’er also wanted to enter High Heaven Sect at the beginning, but there were too many enemies between them so there was no chance to seek refuge there and they were instead forced to live in hiding outside.
“Are you finished with your little chat?” Suddenly, a cold voice called out from the side.
Xie Chen!
He had been watching indifferently the entire time, neither attacking nor preventing Wei Gu Chang from revealing anything, only now deciding to speak up.
Qian Tong turned his head and looked at him, his gaze as cold as a knife.
Xie Chen’s heart jumped, being stared at like this, but he quickly regained his calm and sneered, “Great Elder Qian, it’s been too long!”
“Xie Chen!” Qian Tong took a deep breath, “It seems this old master was indeed too kind back then. I thought that since we all belonged to Shadow Moon Hall, if I killed all of you, it would only result in damaging Shadow Moon Hall, which was why this old master let you go when the Xie Family rebelled in the past. Who would have ever thought that showing compassion in the past would result in such a tragedy today? Even if this Qian were hacked to death by a thousand blades, it would be impossible for him to atone!”
“Hahaha!” Xie Chen laughed madly, “Qian Tong, death has come for you, yet you still bother speaking such nonsense! What do you think you are? True, this old master feared you and you could kill me in the past, but since you failed to do so back then, you will no longer have such a chance! This old master has now reached the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm as well and is the Hall Master of Shadow Moon Hall. You are no longer my opponent! Qian Tong, out of consideration for your past contributions to Shadow Moon Hall, this Hall Master can give you a chance to survive. As long as you pledge allegiance to the Corpse Spirit Religion, this Hall Master will restore you to your position as Great Elder!”
Qian Tong simply stared at Xie Chen indifferently, as if he was looking at a pitiful ant, a thick meaning of sarcasm and contempt flashing across his eyes.
Yang Kai was also quite amused by Xie Chen’s pompous rhetoric.
Xie Chen only broke through to the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm a few years ago, yet he dared to challenge the current Qian Tong today. It seemed he really did not know how to spell the word ‘death’.
Seeing Qian Tong’s silence, Xie Chen thought he had been intimidated, so he became even more arrogant and savagely spat, “Qian Tong, a wise man will submit to the circumstances. Corpse Spirit Religion has four Origin Kings, and domination of Shadowed Star is just around the corner. Do not be stubborn, as long as you are willing to submit, this Hall Master can put in a few good words to you. With your cultivation, the treatment you’ll receive won’t be any worse than this Hall Master.”
Qian Tong suddenly sighed, and in a sullen tone steeped with coldness, he stared at Xie Chen and faintly said, “You said that there are four Origin Kings in this Corpse Spirit Religion?”
“Indeed!” Xie Chen grinned meaningfully and nodded.
“Do you even know what an Origin King is?”
“The Origin King Realm is…” Xie Chen froze for a moment, a trace of confusion flashing across his face. No Origin King had been seen on Shadowed Star for over ten thousand years, so the world only knew it was a realm higher than the Origin Returning Realm. Xie Chen wanted to speak, but he truly couldn’t say anything.
After all, he had never seen it either.
Becoming somewhat angry out of shame, he snapped back, “Do you know?”
Qian Tong stared at him indifferently, and without saying a word, he stretched out his hand towards Xie Chen and clenched his fist.
Xie Chen instinctively stepped back and pushed his Saint Qi to protect himself, thinking that some kind of attack was about to hit him, but even after waiting for a moment, nothing happened; in fact, he was unable to even notice any Saint Qi movement from Qian Tong.
“Qian Tong, you dare play tricks with this Hall Master?” Xie Chen was furious, his face going from blue to red, “I will have you dead! Since you and I both came from Shadow Moon Hall, I wanted to give you a chance, but since you don’t put this Hall Master in your eyes, no one can save you now! Kill him!”
As he barked this last sentence, he turned to his subordinates.
When Yang Kai rescued Wei Gu Chang just now, he immediately discovered that these people belonged to Shadow Moon Hall, so he had not immediately killed them as he was unaware of the current situation and simply forced them back from Wei Gu Chang.
These people did not have any serious injuries and had managed to stabilize themselves by now.
Hearing Xie Chen’s orders, however, the group of five Origin Realm cultivators all showed hesitation on their faces.
Even if Xie Chen did not fear Qian Tong, did they not? Although their strength had grown noticeably since joining the Corpse Spirit Religion, Qian Tong’s past majesty was still deeply rooted in their psyche, so they were undoubtedly quite reluctant to seek trouble with him now.
“Hm? Hall Master! You… you…” Suddenly, a middle-aged man seemed to have discovered something shocking and pointed at Xie Chen in horror while screaming.
The others all looked in the direction he was pointing then and could not help exclaiming. As horror filled their faces, all of them involuntarily retreated from Xie Chen, like they were avoiding a plague.
“What’s wrong?” Xie Chen was not a fool and realized something was wrong, quickly glancing down, only to have his complexion change drastically as he called out in shock, “What’s happening!?”
He suddenly noticed that the ends of his arms and legs were being slowly dissolved by some kind of energy which, while invisible to the naked eye, gave off now discernable fluctuations.
This silent energy was like a million tiny locusts, slowly eating away at Xie Chen’s limbs, inching its way towards his torso.
Even as he experienced this process, Xie Chen felt nothing, not even pain.
A sense of horror quickly overwhelmed Xie Chen as he felt a chill run up his spine, causing him to shiver uncontrollably.
*Peng peng peng…*
Four explosions suddenly sounded, and with great slashes of blood, Xie Chen’s arms and legs all exploded, leaving only his upper body which promptly fell to the ground, kicking up a big wave of dust.
Blood flowed out and stained the ground as Xie Chen’s expression fluctuated between shock disbelief.
The Shadow Moon Hall traitors also felt like they had been struck by lightning, their complexions going completely white, as if they had been suddenly thrown into a frigid blizzard.
“No! Impossible! This is absolutely impossible! This cannot be real!” Xie Chen roared like a wounded beast. Without his limbs, he appeared quite miserable, as if he had suffered some kind of vicious torture.
“This Hall Master is a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master! No one can do this to me except an Origin King! This Hall Master does not believe it!” Xie Chen had obviously taken a massive blow both physically and mentally and raved like a madman, but as soon as he spoke these words, he froze up in abject terror as he stared at Qian Tong blankly, fear covering his eyes as he stutteringly asked, “Origin King… you’re already an Origin King?”
If Qian Tong was not an Origin King, it would be absolutely impossible for him to do this to him with only a simple wave of his hand. If Qian Tong was not an Origin King, Xie Chen would definitely have the power to fight back.
“Seems you’ve not lost all of your intelligence!” Qian Tong said coldly.
“What? Great Elder is already an Origin King?” Wei Gu Chang was stunned.
Dong Xuan’er covered her mouth with her small hands and her beautiful eyes flashed with amazing brilliance, like a drowning woman who had managed to grab hold of a life-saving straw, her originally dim expression instantly brightening.
Origin King Realm!
The legendary realm that no one on Shadowed Star had managed to reach in ten thousand years?
If this was true, then Shadow Moon Hall could truly be saved! Dong Xuan’er’s tender body trembled lightly as tears overflowed from her eyes. At this moment, she could not help thinking of all the Junior Brothers and Sisters who had died in front of her.
Finally, their spirits in Heaven could rest in peace. Her Honoured Master had returned and was now an Origin King! [In just a few days, he would be able to avenge all of you and bring justice to all the murderers who betrayed you!]
*Putong…*
The traitorous Origin Realm masters from Shadow Moon Hall immediately knelt as they stared towards Qian Tong in panic while begging for mercy.
“Great Elder, Subordinate knows his wrongs. Please spare me, Great Elder!”
“Great Elder, Subordinate was forced to comply! Those evildoers took my wives and daughters hostage, and I had no choice but to obey them! Please understand, Great Elder!”
“Great Elder, please spare our lives! Give us a chance to repent!”
“Great Elder, mercy please!”
Qian Tong looked at them with disgust and hatred, took a light breath, and asked coldly, “Chang’er, Xuan’er, have they killed anyone from my Shadow Moon Hall?”
“Yes!” Wei Gu Chang replied with anger in his eyes.
The enemy using malicious methods was not worth hating, what was truly hateful were traitors who helped tyrants commit evil and oppress the innocent! Wei Gu Chang had seen more than once how these traitors had slaughtered their former compatriots.
“Good!” Qian Tong’s face remained calm in contrast to the dreadful anger which pulsed from his body, overwhelming the traitors before him as he delivered his judgement, “Since they’ve killed our brethren, nothing more needs to be said!”
As soon as he spoke these words, Qian Tong reached out his hand and pointed to the kneeling traitors.
Silently, all these kneeling traitors went stiff, as if they had been struck by lightning.
Everyone’s faces filled with pain, as if they were suffering some unbearable torture.
Then, a moment later, *Hong Hong Hong…*
With a series of loud bangs, all the traitors exploded and died, their Souls completely extinguished.
Only Xie Chen, who had lost all his limbs and whose meridians were completely shattered, crippling his cultivation permanently, remained.
“Kill me! Kill me!” Xie Chen shrieked.
As he was now, it would be far better to simply die. The cultivation he worked hundreds of years to obtain was wiped away by a single wrong decision as retribution for his misdeeds. Xie Chen now had nothing but regrets.
“A quick death is too good for you,” Qian Tong remained indifferent as he waved his hand and staunched the blood flowing from Xie Chen’s wound, reached out, and lifted him up before striding towards Heavenly Fate City.
“Chang’er, Xuan’er, come with this old master. We’re going to save your Martial Uncle Fei!”
Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er exchanged a glance before excitedly following.
They knew that Qian Tong had truly been enraged this time, otherwise, with his temperament, it would have been impossible for him to launch such a vicious attack. Brutally killing those traitors was not unexpected, but Qian Tong preserving Xie Chen’s life, prolonging his suffering and fear, torturing him in body and mind, proved Qian Tong was going to make a grand statement this time.
“We’ll also follow,” Yang Kai motioned to Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang, “City Lord Fei assisted me in the past as well.”
“Since he is Junior Brother’s benefactor, we must definitely save him,” The two women replied in unison.
…..
Defences were tight in Heavenly Fate City. Every three steps, there was a guard, every five, a watch. It was as if the entire city was on high alert.
At the central square, a dishevelled Fei Zhi Tu was chained and shackled atop a tall stage.
His appearance was terrible and no energy fluctuations were coming from his body. It was unclear whether his cultivation was sealed or crippled.
However, despite his downtrodden appearance, he still stood straight.
Around the square, countless residents of Heavenly Fate City had gathered.
All the people in the crowd looked up at Fei Zhi Tu with expressions of extreme sadness and anger.
Fei Zhi Tu had served as the City Lord of Heavenly Fate City for many years, and although he had not done a perfect job, many from the city appreciated him for protecting their peace and prosperity.
However, since Corpse Spirit Religion had taken over, Heavenly Fate City had been thrown into complete anarchy.
Countless young children had inexplicably disappeared while countless beautiful girls had also been taken. On top of that, any time anyone from Heavenly Fate City showed the slightest bit of resistance, they would be brutally punished.
Compared to when Fei Zhi Tu was City Lord, life was a living hell.
Everyone deeply missed those days!
Today, however, was the date scheduled for Fei Zhi Tu’s execution. Corpse Spirit Religion wanted to use this display as a warning to all of Shadowed Star, about what miserable fate awaited those who dared oppose them.
Not far from Fei Zhi Tu’s high platform, a few high-level leaders from Shadow Moon Hall were seated. In the past, these people all had some connection with Fei Zhi Tu, many of them even calling him brother, but now they had all gathered around a luxuriously dressed young man with clear looks of flattery on their faces.
This boy truly looked quite young, no older than seventeen or eighteen, but his face was abnormally pale and there was an unusually cold aura around him which made everyone quite uncomfortable.
If one got close to this young man, they would be able to smell a faint rancid scent coming from his body.
At this moment, he was sitting under the scorching sun, seemingly a bit irritated. From time to time, he would even look up at the sun in the sky and mutter curses under his breath.
One of the high-ranking traitors from Shadow Moon Hall who noticed this behaviour immediately waved his hand and shouted, “Bring the blood sacrifice!”
With these words, a Saint King Realm cultivator rushed from nearby with a child in his arms.
The child who was brought up was only two or three years old and still had his baby fat, making him look quite cute.
However, being treated so roughly, the child was naturally crying and kicking violently.
Among the crowd of onlookers below, a man who looked about thirty years old who, after hearing the child’s cry shook noticeably and he called out in a sad and shill voice, “My Son!”
A few days ago, his son had disappeared from home inexplicably and the man had no idea who had abducted his child.
Only now, did he realize that the one who had abducted his child was none other than Shadow Moon Hall.
Did that mean the rumours were true?
During this period, many children under the age of five, as well as many young beautiful girls had disappeared strangely from Heavenly Fate City. All of their families had searched frantically, but none had ever found anything. In private, everyone speculated that Shadow Moon Hall was behind this; after all, the only ones capable of committing such brazen acts and remaining anonymous was Shadow Moon Hall.
But guesses, in the end, were just guesses, and there was nothing they could do without any evidence, not to mention that the current Shadow Moon Hall was no longer the same as before. No one dared question Shadow Moon Hall and could only choke down their frustrations and suspicions while weeping silently.
Now, his child had suddenly appeared in front of him, so the middle-aged man was naturally quite excited and hurried forward.
His cultivation was not very high, only Third-Order Transcendent, not even reaching the Saint Realm.
Ordinarily, he would never dare act presumptuously in front of masters from Shadow Moon Hall but seeing the child he had lost appear before him, he could not be bothered with such considerations.
Leaping out from the crowd, he flew directly towards the high platform.
“Impudence!” A loud shout rang out and a stream of light flashed. The middle-aged man let out a scream mid-air as a bloody hole appeared in his chest. A moment later, a fresh corpse hit the ground below.
There was an immediate uproar as the crowd of onlookers stared, trembling in fear and horror.
“Daring to act presumptuously in front of Senior Fang, he deserved death! If there is another offender, one hundred will pay the same price!” The cultivator who acted just now shouted.
The residents of Heavenly Fate City wore expressions of grief and anger, but none dared raise their voices.
At this time, the three-year-old child had been brought before the boy surnamed Fang.
The teenage looking youth looked the child up and down with satisfaction before waving his hand gently.
Immediately, a glamorously dressed young woman wearing heavy makeup came out from behind him, her waist twisting like a water snake and a cold but coquettish smile adorning her lips.
“What are you trying to do?” Fei Zhi Tu suddenly asked.
Standing atop the high platform, although he could not use his strength, he still glared sharply at the boy.
The teenager grinned but did not answer, apparently thinking that a prisoner like Fei Zhi Tu was not qualified to talk to him.
Instead, a high-level traitor from Shadow Moon Hall grinned meaningfully and snickered, “Senior Brother Fei, you’d best hold your tongue. Just quietly enjoy the last moments of your life.”
After delivering this snide comment, the man stopped paying attention to Fei Zhi Tu.
The young woman came up to the child, stretched out her hand to grab his delicate little wrist, then stretched out her scarlet tongue and licked her lips seductively. Lightly opening her mouth, she then spoke, “En, this blood sacrifice is quite tender, it will definitely satisfy Senior’s taste.”
“Do it,” The boy surnamed Fang ordered faintly.
The young woman bowed lightly before flicking her wrist to summon a cold looking dagger into her hand. Gently, she then cut the child’s wrist, drawing fresh blood out from the wound.
In the young woman’s other hand, a glass cup appeared that she put under the child’s wrist to catch the flowing blood.
*Dida… dida…*
The sound of dripping blood and the sorrowful cries of the young child pierced everyone’s heart, and the crowd was instantly filled with righteous indignation, their eyes nearly spitting fire.
“You depraved monsters! You will die like dogs!” Fei Zhi Tu roared, struggling against his shackles as he tried to rush over and save the child, but before he could even take a step, he was knocked to the ground by a cultivator on the high platform and stomped on several times.
The young man surnamed Fang glanced over at Fei Zhi Tu coldly and said with a grin, “You’re just a defeated dog, what right do you have to speak to me? However, you can rest assured, this is just the beginning for you. After cutting off your head, this King will bestow you a new life!”
What he said seemed contradictory, and many in the crowd did not understand, but to Fei Zhi Tu these words were akin to the whispers of hell. From the ground where he was still being beaten, he shouted, “Fang Feng Qi, even if I die, I won’t let you off!”
The teenager simply sneered back, “When you become a member of my Corpse Spirit Race, you won’t think so; in fact, you will also come to know the joys of such blood meals!”
While talking, he took the glass full of blood from the young woman’s hand, put it under his nose, sniffed it lightly, then with an intoxicated look on his face, immediately raised his hand and drank the hot liquid down.
The onlookers were all shocked.
Countless pairs of eyes stared blankly as traces of blood leaked from the corner of Fang Feng Qi’s mouth. It was like all of them had been struck by lightning, their bodies freezing in place.
[He… drank blood? What is this Corpse Spirit Race he spoke of?]
The scene before them was beyond their realm of understanding, and at this moment, Fang Feng Qi was undoubtedly the incarnation of evil in their eyes, a frightful existence that many lost the courage to look towards.
Fei Zhi Tu struggled even harder as his eyes flashed with indescribable hatred, staring at Fang Feng Qi as if he wanted to tear him into ten thousand pieces.
“An excellent flavour!” Fang Feng Qi wiped the blood from his lips before stretching out his hand. In the next instant, the coquettish young woman knelt in front of him and stretched out her scarlet tongue to lick his fingers clean.
A seductive moan leaked from her lips as she performed this act.
As for the child whose blood had been drawn, he now looked languid, without the strength to even cry anymore, his face deathly pale. Immediately, the Saint King Realm cultivator who had brought him took him away.
Although this child was in no immediate danger of dying, after suffering such trauma at the mere age of three, a deep wound would be inflicted on his soul, one he would perhaps never be able to recover from.
“Good, the hour has come. Fei Zhi Tu, your new life awaits. This is a special gift to you from the Religion Master, you should be grateful!” Fang Feng Qi stood up and announced.
After drinking the glass of blood, his originally pale face showed an abnormal blush and his aura burgeoned unnaturally.
Fei Zhi Tu let out a wild laugh hearing this, “I, Fei Zhi Tu, swear here that even if I become an evil spirit in the future, I will kill all of you animals! Mark my words!”
As he said so, his gaze swept over the traitors from Shadow Moon Hall one by one with a vengeful expression.
“Well said!” An angry voice suddenly boomed, disrupting the desolate atmosphere of the square.
“Who!?” Fang Feng Qi’s expression changed drastically as he hastily looked towards the sky.
His instincts were warning him that this intruder’s strength was extremely high. What’s more, this newcomer had managed to approach so close without him noticing. Fang Feng Qi’s strength was already on par with a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters, so only someone at the very peak of the Third-Order Origin Realm could deceive his senses.
“That’s…” Fei Zhi Tu froze for a moment before a fierce grin formed on his face.
He was certain the one who spoke just now was Qian Tong!
Up in the sky, with a flicker, Qian Tong appeared.
“Great Elder!” The Shadow Moon Hall traitors shouted with horror on their faces.
“Hmph, you dare call me Great Elder still?” Qian Tong faintly swept his eyes across all these traitors, making them feel as if a great mountain was pressing down on them, nearly making it impossible for them to breathe.
Two streams of light quickly arrived after; naturally, it was Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er.
When they saw the terrible state Fei Zhi Tu was in, they immediately shouted, “Martial Uncle Fei!”
“Chang’er, Xuan’er!” Fei Zhi Tu looked at the two rising stars of Shadow Moon Halls and exclaimed. During this time, he had not been able to contact Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er, so he had no idea what their situation was. Now that he saw they were unscathed, he felt a weight lift from his heart.
“Go and rescue your Martial Uncle Fei,” Qian Tong ordered.
“Yes!” Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er flew down to the high platform without hesitation.
The cultivator who was in charge of guarding Fei Zhi Tu was a bit at a loss for a moment, not knowing how he was supposed to react. While he was hesitating, Wei Gu Chang kicked him flying, “Scram!”
“Bold! Wei Gu Chang, how dare you act with such impudence in front of Senior Fang!” Immediately, someone scolded him loudly.
Wei Gu Chang simply sneered while guarding Dong Xuan’er, who was freeing Fei Zhi Tu from his shackles, snapping back at the man who called out, “Yuan Qi, I, Wei Gu Chang always respected you, but all of that was in vain as you turned out to be nothing but a coward who covets life while fearing death! Not only did you degenerate into a dog for our hated enemies, you even betrayed and entrapped Martial Uncle Fei! Since I met you today, I will be sending you to your grave!”
The cultivator named Yuan Qi turned bright red after hearing Wei Gu Chang pronouncements as he snapped back, “What do you count for? You’d best keep such nonsense to yourself.”
Wei Gu Chang seemed to want to say something back, but Qian Tong indifferently cut in, “Don’t bother with them, there’s no need to speak with dead men.”
Wei Gu Chang thought about it seriously before nodding, “Great Elder is correct.”
Yuan Qi was annoyed and wanted to retort when something in Qian Tong’s hand suddenly caught his eye. After looking at it carefully, his expression changed drastically, “Hall Master?”
He hadn’t realized until this time that the thing Qian Tong was holding was actually Xie Chen!
Or rather, it was Xie Chen without any arms or legs!
What’s more, Xie Chen was clearly still alive, his expression filled with pain, as if he was being eaten alive by thousands of ants, a tragic sight to behold.
Hearing what he said, the others also finally reacted. Upon seeing Xie Chen’s miserable state, as if catching a glimpse of their own future, each of them couldn’t help feeling a chill and quietly moving closer to Fang Feng Qi, as if seeking some sense of security.
Qian Tong casually threw what remained of Xie Chen onto the high platform before commanding lightly, “This old master does not want to stain his hands with too much blood of his former comrades. I give you one chance, commit suicide and spare yourself some suffering!”
Everyone trembled.
“Old Ghost Qian, why are you blabbering on and on? We need to leave here quickly!” Fei Zhi Tu shouted nervously.
Qian Tong was truly strong, but there were too many enemies here, so he wasn’t confident Qian Tong could handle them all. If Qian Tong also fell here, it would be a real tragedy.
Not only did Fei Zhi Tu think so, the Shadow Moon Hall traitors who had aligned themselves with Corpse Spirit Religion also felt the same. One or two of them looked at Qian Tong with weird expressions, almost as if he was a naïve young man who didn’t know the immensity of Heaven and Earth.
Fang Feng Qi even laughed loudly, “Old thing, stop shamelessly boasting! With such a big tone, do you think you are an Origin King?”
Qian Tong remained indifferent, not showing any intention to answer, instead just focusing his gaze on the Shadow Moon Hall rebels.
To the side, Wei Gu Chang looked excited and opened his mouth as if he was trying to say something, but held back in the end.
He wanted to announce loudly that Great Elder had really reached the Origin King Realm so he could see just how these traitors would react.
It would surely be a wonderful sight to see, right?
However, since Great Elder did not intend to answer, how could he jump in and spoil the surprise? After they saw Great Elder’s heaven-defying methods, they would understand just how foolish they were.
Above the high platform, Qian Tong said with a low tone, “I will give you thirty breaths of time to consider! After thirty breaths of time, this old master will decide for you!”
“Stop your foolish posturing, Great Elder!”
“Old Ghost Qian, are you making fun of us?”
“So what if you were the Great Elder in the past? Even ants will struggle against death, so how could we kill ourselves here with nothing but some empty threats from you?”
“That’s right! Qian Tong, if you dare take action here, don’t blame us for being impolite.”
The traitors all called out vigorously because Qian Tong’s calm and relaxed attitude irritated them greatly.
Did he really think he was an Origin King? Did he think a few glib words were enough to make them commit suicide?
None of them knew where he had been secluded these past few years, but now it seemed he had made a mistake in his cultivation and lost his mind.
Qian Tong simply closed his eyes and ignored the noise.
As for Xie Chen, who had lost all his limbs, it seemed he truly had gone insane from the physical and mental torture and was now just laughing wildly, his creepy voice piercing into everyone’s ears.
“Silence!” Fang Feng Qi snorted coldly and waved his hand through the air.
A sword-like attack slashed from the high platform and directly cut Xie Chen’s body in half.
“You’re all going to die… All of you will die!” After Xie Chen roared twice, his aura disappeared.
Fang Feng Qi just glared towards Xie Chen’s lifeless corpse and coldly snorted, “If you can’t accomplish your mission, at least don’t screw everything else up in the process!”
Among the Shadow Moon Hall traitors, Xie Chen wasn’t the strongest, but he was the shrewdest, which was why Fang Feng Qi had supported him as Hall Master and even granted him a special technique from the Religion Master which allowed him to improve his cultivation and break through to the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm in short order.
But Fang Feng Qi never expected Xie Chen to be so useless in the end. Not only had Xie Chen failed to kill the two Shadow Moon Hall Juniors and snatch the Heavenly Moon Silver Mirror according to the plan, but he had even gotten his limbs cut off and been dragged back like a dog.
There was no use keeping such a person alive.
At this moment, a brilliance flashed above the high platform again, and Yang Kai appeared together with Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang.
Seeing Fei Zhi Tu’s miserable appearance, Yang Kai’s heart clenched as he flew down quickly and grabbed the other party’s wrist, using his Saint Qi to carefully examine him.
“Yang Kai, you’re here too,” Fei Zhi Tu grinned, a warm and happy expression on his face.
[It seems I had not lived life in vain.] At the most critical moment, not only had Old Ghost Qian returned together with his two Juniors to rescue him, even Yang Kai had arrived. Fei Zhi Tu, a man of iron will, could not help his eyes from becoming a little moist at the scene before him.
When Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang appeared together in the sky, the entire world seemed to become brighter.
Almost every traitor from Shadow Moon Hall focused their eyes on the two women as they unconsciously voiced their admiration, expressing their amazement that such perfect women existed in this world.
Fang Feng Qi was even less restrained as his eyes wandered all over Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang, a strong possessiveness flashing across their depths, as if he was seeing some kind of delicious meal. Sticking out his tongue and licking his lips, even his breathing becoming quick.
“Senior Fei, your wounds…” After Yang Kai performed an initial investigation, he frowned and muttered.
Fei Zhi Tu’s complexion changed and he became somewhat nervous.
“En, it shouldn’t be a big problem,” Yang Kai smiled lightly. “It’s just your Saint Qi being sealed and some physical suffering.”
“Brat, don’t scare me like that!” Fei Zhi Tu snapped before exhaling a long breath and pondering for a moment, “Good, they still needed my body for something, so they didn’t destroy my foundation.”
“Just some minor injuries, nothing Senior Fei needs to worry about. Little Senior Sister, what pills do you have that are suited to treat him now?” Yang Kai looked back at Xia Ning Chang.
Xia Ning Chang swiftly took out a jade bottle from her Space Ring and handed it to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai took it, opened the bottle, and poured out a dark red pill he handed to Fei Zhi Tu.
Fei Zhi Tu did not even glance at it before popping it into his mouth.
The next moment, however, his eyes bulged as he exclaimed, “This is…”
Without even finishing his thought, he immediately sat cross-legged on the high platform and circulated his Secret Art in order to dissolve the pill’s medicinal efficacies. Soon after, powerful energy fluctuations burst from Fei Zhi Tu’s body and his physical wounds began healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er looked at each other and were both secretly startled.
They could tell at a glance that the pill Xia Ning Chang just took out was definitely an Origin Grade pill, and most likely an Origin Grade High-Rank one at that. Only such a high grade pill would have such remarkable effects.
An Origin Grade High-Rank pill was a treasure Wei Gu Chang could not help being shocked at.
“Many thanks, sister-in-law!” Wei Gu Chang solemnly cupped his fists and thanked together with Dong Xuan’er.
Xia Ning Chang’s face blushed for a moment as she glanced towards Yang Kai and said quietly, “Senior Brother is too polite, Senior Fei is Junior Brother’s benefactor, so he is our benefactor as well. A trivial pill is nothing to worry about.”
“Brother Yang is truly blessed!” Wei Gu Chang winked at Yang Kai while feeling a little envious.
“Bring those two women here, they belong to this King!” Fang Feng Qi suddenly shouted.
Without even mentioning the beauty of Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang, just the pill Xia Ning Chang seemingly casually took out was enough for him to covet.
On Shadowed Star, Origin Grade High-Rank pills were all but impossible to come by.
As such, he could not wait to capture Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang. As long as he could get his hands on them, then everything in their Space Rings would belong to him too.
Yang Kai heard this and glanced over at him with icy eyes.
Fang Feng Qi’s heart jumped inexplicably, as if innately sensing that this young man could pose a life threat to his life.
“Thirty breaths are up!”
At that moment, Qian Tong suddenly opened his eyes and swept his gaze around coldly before declaring, “Since you are unwilling to commit suicide, this old master will send you to the afterlife personally!”
When these words came out, an astonishing might burst out, sending a ripple of force through the air that could not only be felt, but seen as well.
Domain!
The Domain of an Origin King!
The dozen or so traitors from Shadow Moon Hall were shocked and hurriedly pushed their Shi to resist, but like eggs smashing onto a rock, their Shi was shattered by Qian Tong’s Domain, instantly collapsing without playing any role at all.
In the blink of an eye, all the Origin Returning Realm traitors began leaking blood from their seven orifices, their faces pale and colourless.
The powerful Domain engulfed them tightly, as a violent wind began swirling about.
This wind was the unique attribute belonging to Qian Tong’s Domain!
As the wind condensed into sharp blades, it began slicing into the traitors.
From the screams that rang out, it was clear that the dozen Origin Returning Realm masters surrounded by Qian Tong’s Domain were suffering brutal torture, their bodies slowly being shaved away, turning them into bloody messes.
“An Origin King!” Everyone cried out in panic, with Fang Feng Qi’s eyes nearly popping out of their sockets as he stared towards the enraged Qian Tong, trembling in fear.
Originally, he was just making a joke; he never expected his casually spoken words to become prophetic, that Qian Tong was really an Origin King!
“Great Elder, spare me, I was wrong!”
“Great Elder, mercy!”
Just like the scene outside Heavenly Fate City before, when these traitors realized Qian Tong’s strength, they did not hesitate to beg for mercy. Throwing away all sense of shame, they knelt on the ground and kowtowed so hard their heads bled as they implored Qian Tong to spare them.
Qian Tong remained indifferent, with only a trace of sadness and disappointment flashing across his eyes.
Blood splashed and pieces of meat scattered as the Shadow Moon Hall traitors were shredded into a paste in just ten breaths of time, all of them suffering death by ten thousand cuts, their five organs, six viscera, even bones being ground down into dust.
“Good! Kill them!”
“Kill them all! Don’t let them run!”
“Justice for the women and children who died in Heavenly Fate City!”
“Send them all to their graves!”
The crowd of onlookers suddenly roared and swarmed up from all directions. Burning hatred appeared on all of their faces as their blood seemed to boil, their Qi surging up as they summoned their weapons and attacked towards the enemies which were still alive.
A three-hundred-meter radius around Fang Feng Qi’s location was instantly drowned in a dazzling explosion of light.
Even the glamorous young woman who was serving Fang Feng Qi before did not escape the angry mob’s fury. She was a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, but only managed to endure for three breaths before her Saint Qi protection was broken and she died tragically on the spot.
A stream of light soared into the sky in the next moment and cut a bloody path through the crowd before quickly fleeing.
Fang Feng Qi!
In the end, a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master was not so easy to kill.
Without looking back, he desperately pushed his strength, only wanting to escape. With Qian Tong suddenly becoming an Origin King, Fang Feng Qi remaining was equivalent to courting death. He had to bring this news to the four Protectors as well as the Religion Master.
Continuously checking, however, he sensed that Qian Tong wasn’t trying to pursue him, instead remaining where he was, motionless.
Although Fang Feng Qi could not tell whether the other party simply disdained to attack him or something else, Fang Feng Qi was still overjoyed thinking that he could escape.
Just as he was thinking so though, a flash appeared in front of him and his path was suddenly blocked by a young man.
“You!” Fang Feng Qi recognized the young man standing in front of him at a glance, he was the one standing on the high platform just now. Fang Feng Qi’s expression twisted in anger as he continued to rush forward, threw out a punch, and shouted, “Scram!”
He only wanted to escape as quickly as possible, so how could he bear getting entangled with Yang Kai here? As such, he did not hold back.
A peculiar force lingered on Fang Feng Qi’s fist, turning it from ordinary at first glance to one that seemed to be launched from a powerful artifact in an instant. Atop Fang Feng Qi’s arm, hundreds of dark red hair-like needles suddenly grew.
These needles looked extremely odd and gave off an aura that made even Yang Kai feel uncomfortable. Covered in these needles, Fang Feng Qi’s punch increased in power dramatically.
Yang Kai frowned as a trace of suspicion flashed across his face.
[What kind of Martial Skill was this?]
He had never encountered a Martial Skill that could transform one’s own body, but this was not the end. Looking up, Yang Kai was shocked when he took another glance at Fang Feng Qi.
He surprisingly discovered that Fang Feng Qi’s entire image had changed dramatically. Before, he looked like a cold, malicious youth, but now, using some kind of strange Secret Technique, his face had become extremely distorted, with sharp fangs growing from his mouth and a rich Death Qi swirling around his form.
Thinking of the name ‘Corpse Spirit Religion’ again, Yang Kai’s mind flashed and he quickly guessed the origins of this Fang Feng Qi.
With an attack incoming, Yang Kai did not dare to neglect, waving his hand to release a Golden Blood Thread that shot out and wound itself around Fang Feng Qi’s outstretched arm before rapidly tightening.
Clearly visible scars appeared on Fang Feng Qi’s arm, but even with the sharpness of Yang Kai’s Golden Blood Thread, Fang Feng Qi’s arm could not be severed. From the wound, however, green coloured blood oozed that was filled with a nauseous aura that could kill an ordinary person with its scent alone!
[Poison!] Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed.
This green blood was not only poisonous but also extremely corrosive. The Golden Blood Thread wrapped around Fang Feng Qi’s arm flashed wildly as a sizzling sound rang out from it.
Fang Feng Qi roared, opened his mouth, and spat out a mass of green mist towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai coldly snorted as his figure flickered, disappearing from the place he stood only to re-appear directly above Fang Feng Qi’s head, the Verdant Dragon Bone Sword in his hand swinging down violently.
“Fool!” Fang Feng Qi sneered. In his opinion, this bladeless sword couldn’t hurt a hair on him, so not only did he not try to dodge, he instead threw another punch towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai twisted slightly to the side, avoiding Fang Feng Qi’s blow, before bringing the Dragon Bone Sword down directly onto the crown of Fang Feng Qi’s head.
The seemingly dull long sword instantly burst with unimaginable power as a faint dragon roar sounded from it. Shattering Fang Feng Qi’s defences as easily as crushing dry weeds, the Dragon Bone Sword smashed his head into his chest.
Fang Feng Qi’s eyes widened instantly as a look of utter shock filled his face. Only now did he realize how terrifying the Dragon Bone Sword was and exclaimed, “An Origin King Grade artifact!”
After receiving such a blow, he surprisingly had not died and instead was struggling violently, trying to escape from Yang Kai’s control.
Space Force burst forth and innumerable tiny Void Cracks as thin as hairs formed around Fang Feng Qi before immediately wrapping around him and slicing him from all directions.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
Metallic scrapings sounds rang out endlessly as Fang Feng Qi’s physical body was extremely strong, somewhat able to withstand the cutting of these Void Cracks to a certain extent. Nevertheless, this was still not enough to resist Yang Kai’s violent offensive.
A series of scars quickly formed on him as his lost bits of physique were banished to The Void.
Green blood constantly flowed out from his wounds, seemingly contaminating the entire surrounding world.
“Don’t kill him yet!” Qian Tong’s voice suddenly came. He obviously also saw some problems, and standing atop the high platform, he stretched out his hand towards Fang Feng Qi, who was still struggling in vain, and completely suppressed him before dragging him over.
Yang Kai frowned at Fang Feng Qi as a trace of unease surged up in his heart.
At this moment, those onlookers also discovered the strangeness of Fang Feng Qi, and many with less courage turned their eyes away, not daring to look at him. Even those who were more mentally intrepid could not help showing looks of fear and panic as they observed Fang Feng Qi, unable to believe that such a strange person really existed in this world.
“Old dog, quickly release this King, otherwise, you will die without burial when the Religion Master learns of this!” Fang Feng Qi did not beg for mercy but instead chose to threaten Qian Tong.
Qian Tong scanned Fang Feng Qi’s body coldly with his eyes before immediately fixing his gaze on the latter’s abdomen. A moment later reaching out and slashing it open.
Even when Yang Kai used the Dragon Bone Sword to smash in his head, Fang Feng Qi didn’t show the slightest fear, but when Qian Tong did this, a terrified look filled his face and he exclaimed, “Old Dog, what are you trying to do?”
Qian Tong ignored him as he was completely focused on the wound on Fang Feng Qi’s abdomen.
There, he found a green bead about the size of that fingernail, but despite its small size, this green bead seemed to contain an amazing amount of energy.
“If this old master isn’t mistaken, destroying this little thing will result in your death, yes?” Qian Tong gave Fang Feng Qi a light look.
Fang Feng Qi’s face changed slightly as he grit his teeth without answering.
“Yang Kai, suppress him first, this old master has some questions to ask him,” Qian Tong said.
Yang Kai nodded, stretched out his hand, and removed the Dragon Bone Sword which was still lodged in Fang Feng Qi’s head before using a dozen Golden Blood Threads to firmly tie up his figure.
As the chaos ended, Qian Tong stood atop the high platform, looked around, and shouted, “Everyone, this old master has been in secluded retreat for many years and only exited today. I am deeply saddened to hear about the tragedy that has befallen Shadowed Star, but please rest assured, Heavenly Fate City is still under the jurisdiction of my Shadow Moon Hall and none shall dare invade it again now that I am here. Soon, this old master will visit this Corpse Spirit Religion to seek justice for the fallen as well as to open a brighter future for Shadowed Star!”
The crowd down below roared joyfully as they chanted Qian Tong’s name and swarmed around the platform.
Over the past two years, Heavenly Fate City had been under the control of Corpse Spirit Religion, and everyone had lived in constant fear, worried they would not see the sun tomorrow. However, everything was alright now, Qian Tong had returned and had reached the Origin King Realm. With him protecting Heavenly Fate City, Heavenly Fate City would never again have to experience these disasters.
“Elder Qian! I beg of you to uphold justice! My little girl disappeared a month ago, but someone claims to have seen her inside the City Lord’s Mansion. Please allow this old man to search the City Lord’s Mansion to see if she is still alive.”
“My child also disappeared three months ago, he must be in the City Lord’s Mansion!”
“My daughter as well!”
…..
Qian Tong’s eyes showed a pained light as he waved his hand to calm the cries of the crowd before solemnly saying, “Everyone, please wait a moment, this old master will have some people search the City Lord’s Mansion immediately. If your children are still alive, you will definitely be reunited.”
“Many thanks, Elder Qian!”
“I will never forget it Elder Qian’s great kindness!”
Qian Tong sighed slightly before turning to look at Wei Gu Chang.
“Disciple will investigate immediately,” Wei Gu Chang understood what he needed to do and hurriedly flew off towards the City Lord’s Mansion with Dong Xuan’er.
Yang Kai thought about it for a moment before saying, “I’ll go too.”
Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang followed close behind.
At the City Lord’s Mansion, some cultivators who had joined Corpse Spirit Religion came out to intercept these invaders, but they were no match for Yang Kai and the others. Rushing inside, Yang Kai’s group killed off several hundred people while capturing one of them to extract some information which led them to the underground dungeon.
The dungeon was dark and damp but held at least a few hundred people inside its cells.
All of these people were children under five years old, or young and beautiful women.
Whether it was a child or a woman, their vitalities were quite faint, as if they had been repeatedly tortured. On top of that, all of them had obvious wounds on their arms.
Remembering what Fang Feng Qi had done to the young child on stage earlier, how could Yang Kai’s group not know what happened to these people?
“Despicable!” Su Yan was furious and quickly broke open the cells together with Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er to release the prisoners inside.
Xia Ning Chang stood by the exit of the prison to check the physical condition of each of these people one by one and gave them appropriate pills to help stabilize their conditions.
Walking further inside, Yang Kai and the others wore heavy expressions.
Once they reached the deepest depths of the dungeon, and the looks on Yang Kai and others’ faces became truly unsightly.
At the bottom of the dungeon, there were no living humans, only piles of bones. Judging from the size and shape of these remains, they all undoubtedly belonged to children and women, but they had clearly suffered inhumane torture before they died as their physiques were literally shaved clean before their bones were discarded here.
There were at least a few thousand broken remains here, forming a tall mountain.
In just Heavenly Fate City, such a tragedy had occurred after only two years, so what kind of situation was the rest of Shadowed Star in?
“Hateful!” Wei Gu Chang grit his teeth and shouted; his face extremely grim.
…..
The upheaval in Heavenly Fate City lasted for two days before gradually subsiding.
The women and children released from the dungeon were all reunited with their families, but many more had perished in the dungeon. The chaos of the last two years brought indelible pain to countless people in Heavenly Fate City.
Inside the City Lord’s Mansion, Qian Tong and the others wore heavy expressions, each of them glaring angrily at the subdued Fang Feng Qi, their eyes nearly spitting flames.
“Great Elder, let me kill him!” Wei Gu Chang shouted in rage as he stood up.
Qian Tong waved his hand, signalling Wei Gu Chang to wait before turning his attention to Fang Feng Qi and asking, “If this old master is correct, you come from Grand Burial Valley, right?”
Hearing his question, Yang Kai’s eyes flashed with a hint of clarity, agreeing with this speculation!
After all, he had made such a conclusion as well.
Grand Burial Valley was an incredibly special place on Shadowed Star and was rumoured to have been the headquarters of a great force that existed two thousand years ago called the Ancient Yang Sect. Unfortunately, that force had offended Star Emperor Mountain and was wiped out overnight, its headquarters levelled in retaliation.
There were dangers inside Grand Burial Valley, including countless Spirit Arrays and an extremely vicious group of special creatures, corpses who should have perished long ago but had instead been reanimated.
When the Ancient Yang Sect was destroyed, nearly all of its members were killed, but some of them came back to life for an unknown reason, becoming animated corpses that could not only walk and fight but even cultivate and grow stronger.
On Shadowed Star, the younger generation may have been ignorant of the situation in the Grand Burial Valley, but Qian Tong wasn’t.
Yang Kai also knew about this as he and Yang Yan had gone to explore the Grand Burial Valley. During that expedition, Yang Kai acquired the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art as well as the Sun’s True Essence and Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal.
At that time, he also encountered several powerful Corpse Generals, and if not for his comprehension of the Dao of Space, he would not have been able to escape.
As soon as he fought against Fang Feng Qi, Yang Kai guessed that he was related to Grand Burial Valley, and Qian Tong’s question confirmed his speculations.
“Old dog, your eyes aren’t bad. This King is indeed from Grand Burial Valley. We are a noble family of corpses who dominate above all living things!” Fang Feng Qi didn’t show any fear as he announced proudly.
The Corpse Spirit Race! This was what the special creatures who comprised Corpse Spirit Religion called themselves, a piece of information Qian Tong had learned already from Fei Zhi Tu.
“You? Dominate above all living things?” Qian Tong’s expression remained indifferent, “You’re just a bunch of failures who should have remained dead, you have no such qualifications.”
“Heh heh,” Fang Feng Qi snickered, “Whether we are qualified or not is not up to you to decide. You will come to know just how ignorant you are soon! Old Dog, don’t waste your time, this King won’t tell you anything.”
“Really?” Qian Tong sneered, “Even if this old master destroys your Corpse Core, you won’t cooperate?”
The Corpse Core was the Corpse Qi-filled bead hidden in the lower abdomen of members of the Corpse Spirit Race like Fang Feng Qi. For the Corpse Spirit Race, this core was no different from a Monster Core of a Monster Beast. All of the strength a member of Corpse Spirit Race possessed was stored inside their Corpse Core.
Fei Zhi Tu had fought several members of the Corpse Spirit Race, so he knew this information.
Fang Feng Qi’s face changed slightly as he snapped, “Old Thing, you dare to threaten this King!?”
“Whether it’s a threat or not, you’ll know if you try,” Qian Tong said aggressively.
Fang Feng Qi seemed to understand Qian Tong’s decisiveness and his face became cold as he shouted, “Old Dog, you’ll never make this King talk! You’ve brought this upon yourself!”
As soon as he said so, a terrifying energy fluctuation erupted from his abdomen and a cracking sound rang out, as if something had just broken.
“Not good!” Fei Zhi Tu’s face changed drastically.
Everyone else also realized what was happening and Yang Kai hurriedly pushed his Saint Qi to protect Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang while Qian Tong waved his hand and protected Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er.
“One day soon, my Corpse Spirit Religion will unify Shadowed Star, and all of you will die, hahahaha!” Fang Feng Qi let out a peal of mad laughter before his body exploded with a loud crash.
A thick green cloud of Corpse Qi centred on Fang Feng Qi’s former position spread out. Wherever this Corpse Qi passed, the ground melted, and walls crumbled. In the blink of an eye, the entire City Lord’s Mansion shook violently and almost collapsed.
At the last moment, if it were not for Qian Tong using his Origin King Realm cultivation to support it, the City Lord’s Mansion would definitely have been destroyed.
This was not surprising though; the power of the self-destruction of a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master was not to be underestimated.
The only reason for keeping Fang Feng Qi alive was to extract some useful information from him about Corpse Spirit Religion, but instead of being useful, this only led to trouble, causing Qian Tong’s expression to turn ugly.
If all members of the Corpse Spirit Religion were so ruthless and decisive, dealing with them would surely be difficult.
Outside the hall, an Origin Returning Realm master hurriedly walked in and swept his eyes around, a look of shock filling his face as he was uncertain what had happened.
“What is it?” Qian Tong asked in a deep voice.
The man quickly cupped his fists and replied, “Great Elder, all Corpse Spirit Religion disciples hidden in Heavenly Fate City have been exterminated!”
“Good! Were there any casualties?”
“With the help of the Elders from High Heaven Sect, only a dozen people were killed or injured!”
“En, give all of them lavish funerals!”
“Yes!”
In Shadow Moon Hall, although many coveted life and feared death, choosing to submit to Corpse Spirit Religion, there were also many who stood firm and resisted. The latter had been imprisoned without exception and were rescued two days ago, now joined Qian Tong in his efforts.
In Heavenly Fate City, Fang Feng Qi was not the only Corpse Spirit Race member. Yang Kai, Wei Gu Chang, and the others encountered several others when they invaded the City Lord’s Mansion, all of which they promptly killed.
There were also many hiding in Heavenly Fate City, but they had been cleaned up over the past two days.
It could be said that only now had Heavenly Fate City been completely liberated and its internal worries eliminated.
Yang Xiu Zhu and the others soon walked in from outside as well.
“Everyone has worked hard!” Qian Tong quickly got up and cupped his fists gratefully.
Yang Xiu Zhu waved his hand, his expression still somewhat grim, “Dealing with some miscellaneous pawns was no trouble at all, but if Heavenly Fate City is like this, I really don’t know what the rest of Shadowed Star is like.”
Fei Zhi Tu sighed, “Over the past two years, Corpse Spirit Religion has developed extremely quickly. They seem to have a Secret Technique that can turn living people into members of their Corpse Spirit Race and force them to bend to the religion’s will. Corpse Spirit Religion only appeared two years ago, and at that time they only numbered a few thousand, but now they have swelled tens of thousands. Many of these masters were originally Origin Returning Realm masters from various major Sects and families, so they cannot be underestimated!”
Fang Feng Qi also planned to turn Fei Zhi Tu into a member of the Corpse Spirit Race, which was why he had not crippled his cultivation or destroyed his meridians.
As long as the meridians weren’t destroyed, even if Fei Zhi Tu were beheaded, Fang Feng Qi had a way to turn his corpse into a Corpse Spirit which had similar combat prowess to when he was alive.
“This is a grave tribulation for Shadowed Star!” Qian Tong sighed heavily. After going out for eight years, his return home had turned out like this, wiping away all the joy he felt from breaking through to the Origin King Realm and replacing it with deep sadness and concern.
“Everyone, I want to return to Clear Sky Sect,” To the side, Mo Yu suddenly spoke.
He had also been helping in Heavenly Fate City these past two days, but now that the situation had stabilized, he naturally wanted to head home.
“Brother Mo…” Qian Tong opened his mouth, naturally understanding how he felt.
They did not know the exact situation of Clear Sky Sect, but at least half of the great forces on Shadowed Star had already been wrapped up in this turmoil. Clear Sky Sect was one of the first-class forces on Shadowed Star, so it would obviously be a target for Corpse Spirit Religion, meaning its prospects weren’t promising.
Mo Yu wanting to return to Clear Sky Sect was only natural; after all, he was Clear Sky Sect’s Great Elder.
However, allowing him to return alone at this time was not something the rest of those gathered here felt comfortable with.
If possible, Qian Tong wanted to accompany him, but although Heavenly Fate City had been cleaned up already, the problem of Shadow Moon Hall’s headquarters was yet to be resolved.
With Shadow Moon Hall’s headquarters still in dire straits, it was of utmost importance that Qian Tong remain here to handle matters personally, rescuing those who were unwilling to submit to Corpse Spirit Religion while purging the traitors and heretics who betrayed and murdered them.
“This Mo is not an ordinary Third-Order Origin Returning Realm now. None of you need to worry, I will be careful,” Mo Yu smiled lightly.
Seeing that he had made up his mind, Qian Tong could not say anything more, instead just nodding, “In that case, I wish Brother Mo a safe journey.”
“Rest assured, on today’s Shadowed Star, there are few worthy to be my opponent,” Mo Yu nodded.
The former Mo Yu was one of Shadowed Star’s top Origin Returning Realm masters, and after experiencing the Blood Prison Trial, his overall combat power has increased significantly, even though he failed to break through to the Origin King Realm as Qian Tong did.
Even if the Corpse Spirit Religion had many powerful masters, as long as they did not really possess an Origin King, there was no one Mo Yu needed to truly fear.
“Senior Mo, how about delaying for one day so I can accompany you,” Yang Kai suddenly proposed.
“Yang Kai, do you want to return to High Heaven Sect?” Qian Tong asked.
“En, although there’s no need to worry about High Heaven Sect being breached, I am still worried about what happened to Elder Ye as well as the others. Senior Mo’s Clear Sky Sect happens to be on the way, so we might as well travel together.”
“Very well!”
Although he did not understand why Yang Kai wanted him to wait for a day, Mo Yu still agreed.
After everything was decided, Yang Kai immediately went to the location of Heavenly Fate City’s Space Array.
When Corpse Spirit Religion seized control of Heavenly Fate City, the Space Array was destroyed by Fei Zhi Tu, so now Yang Kai wanted to try and see if it could be repaired.
If possible, it would save them a good deal of travel time.
After all, it was not a short journey to High Heaven Sect!
Yang Kai had used Heavenly Fate City’s Space Array more than once, so he knew where it was located. Soon, he rushed over to the palace with Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang, the two women standing guard to prevent any accidents as Yang Kai walked over to the Space Array and began carefully studying it.
Being proficient in the Dao of Space did not mean he could arrange a Space Array, as this required a great deal of knowledge about Spirit Arrays. Yang Kai had never arranged a Space Array before, but he had seen Yang Yan arrange one, so he had some confidence.
Yang Kai spent the next two hours examining the Space Array, constantly using his Divine Sense to scan its internal structure and identify what was damaged.
Two hours later, Yang Kai flashed a happy smile.
Fortunately, although this Space Array was indeed destroyed, the damage done to it was not serious. There were still traces of various patterns and structures, so if he simply patched them up, Yang Kai was certain he could restore it to working order.
After carefully sorting out his thoughts, Yang Kai leapt up onto the Space Array.
Taking out all kinds of rare ores from his Space Ring, Yang Kai began smelting them with his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea before patching the destroyed parts of the Space Array.
As this was his first attempt at such work, Yang Kai was not extremely deft and made obvious mistakes several times, frustrating him somewhat.
However, as time passed, he became more and more familiar with the work.
Moreover, repairing this Space Array seemed to deepen his own comprehension of the Dao of Space.
This unexpected gain greatly satisfied Yang Kai.
It seemed he had found another way to cultivate the Dao of Space.
The Dao of Space had always been difficult to cultivate. Recently, Yang Kai had been cultivating by absorbing the energy of Space Spirit Crystals, but he had already used up his entire supply of Space Spirit Crystals, so now his primary way of cultivating Space Force was to expand the Sealed World Bead.
Now, he learned that arranging and fixing Space Arrays was also a viable cultivation method.