One day later, the Space Array was repaired.
Yang Kai called Mo Yu, Yang Xiu Zhu, and the others over before bidding farewell to Qian Tong.
Yang Kai was not worried about Shadow Moon Hall at all. Qian Tong was now an Origin King, so it was no exaggeration to say he was the strongest master from Shadowed Star in ten thousand years. If some crisis befell Shadow Moon Hall and he could not handle, then all of Shadowed Star would probably be doomed.
“Brother Yang, may good fortune be with you,” Wei Gu Chang cupped his fists in parting.
Yang Kai responded in kind.
“Yang Kai, where is this Space Array connected?” Mo Yu asked from the side.
“Uh… If I am not mistaken, it should connect to Demon Blood City!”
“What do you mean?” Mo Yu asked hesitantly.
Demon Blood City was very close to the Flowing Flame Sand Field and not far from Clear Sky Sect’s headquarters, so Yang Kai choosing to connect the Space Array to that location wasn’t a surprise, but the way he said it gave Mo Yu some pause.
Yang Kai simply smiled awkwardly and replied, “This is the first time I’ve repaired a Space Array, so I can’t guarantee that we will be directly teleported to Demon Blood City.”
Mo Yu was instantly dumbfounded while Yang Xiu Zhu and others also had speechless expressions.
“Relax,” Yang Kai saw the looks on their faces and knew what they were worried about, so he quickly reassured them, “Even if we aren’t sent directly to Demon Blood City, there will be no danger in this transmission, that much I can guarantee.”
Hearing this, everyone felt relieved.
Teleporting with a Space Array was an extremely delicate matter. If the slightest error was made, one could be banished to the endless Void, never to return. Shadowed Star had records of many such incidents occurring over the years, where a Space Array had some kind of problem with it and someone who was sent through it vanished without a trace as a result, or was spat out on the other side in a million pieces.
So, when everyone heard what Yang Kai said just now, they couldn’t help feeling a little nervous.
But since Yang Kai guaranteed that there would be no danger, they no longer had anything to concern themselves about.
Even if they were sent to the wrong place, it would not matter much.
“Time is short, we should leave immediately,” Yang Xiu Zhu and the others could not wait to return to High Heaven Sect to see how things were there.
Everyone nodded and mounted the Space Array together with Yang Kai standing in the centre and channelling his Saint Qi. In an instant, the Saint Crystals placed into the Space Array flashed a dazzling light and pumped out a massive amount of energy.
Powerful Space Force fluctuations emerged, and the group of people disappeared.
“Destroy this array to prevent others from teleporting in!” As soon as Yang Kai his group disappeared, Qian Tong waved his hand and commanded.
Wei Gu Chang nodded and sent a punch towards the Space Array Yang Kai had just patched, splitting it in half and completely disabling it.
Qian Tong’s eyes flashed then as he turned towards the distance and said in a low tone, “It’s time to return to Shadow Moon Hall!”
Fei Zhi Tu, Wei Gu Chang, and the others straightened their backs as they too turned to gaze in the direction of Shadow Moon Hall, all of them releasing a shocking level of murderous intent.
…..
After travelling through The Void, a light flashed, and Yang Kai and the others re-appeared.
Among the group, everyone felt slightly dizzy besides Yang Kai and it took them a moment to gradually adapt. Most long-distance teleportations were accompanied by such side effects. Only Yang Kai, who cultivated Space Force, was able to ignore these effects.
Fortunately, there was no danger where they appeared, otherwise, all of them would have been taken off guard.
Turning his head and looking around, Yang Xiu Zhu furrowed his brow slightly, “This isn’t Demon Blood City. Where are we?”
The place where everyone appeared was clearly a vast plain that stretched out as far as the eye could see, with no signs of a city anywhere nearby.
Sure enough, something went wrong in the transmission.
Yang Kai had warned this was a possibility beforehand so he naturally felt no need to apologize, simply saying, “We should be somewhere between Demon Blood City and Heavenly Fate City. Does anyone have any impression of this plain?”
Yang Xiu Zhu, Chu Han Yi, and Lin Yu Rao all shook their heads slowly, indicating that they did not recognize this place.
Although they were natives of Shadowed Star, they had spent most of their lives in secluded retreat atop Star Emperor Mountain, so they were not very familiar with the outside world’s geography. Even Yang Kai had a better grasp of Shadowed Star’s landmarks than them, so undoubtedly, it was a bit unrealistic to expect them to know where they were.
However, Mo Yu’s eyes lit up as a look of joy filled his face. After looking around a bit more, he flew up into the sky to get a broader view before returning excitedly.
“I know where we are! This is White Bone Plain, and Heaven Rift Gorge is nearby. We’re only a day away from Black Sea City.”
“Oh? Clear Sky Sect’s Black Sea City?” Yang Kai was surprised.
“Exactly!”
Yang Kai nodded lightly. It seemed that the transmission error was not too big, and for Mo Yu, it actually turned out to be a fortunate accident. Black Sea City was under the jurisdiction of Clear Sky Sect and was located close to its headquarters, sharing a similar relation to Heavenly Fate City and Shadow Moon Hall.
Arriving here was a coincidence, but it helped Mo Yu.
“In that case, we might as well go to Black Sea City first,” Yang Kai thought for a moment before proposing. He urgently needed to inquire about the surroundings of High Heaven Sect, and going to Black Sea City was undoubtedly the best choice.
Moreover, the situation of Black Sea City was unknown to them, so naturally, he wanted to travel together with Mo Yu to investigate and lend his aid if necessary.
After all, this was a minor detour at most.
“Many thanks,” Mo Yu quickly cupped his fists.
This was inside the territory of Clear Sky Sect, so Mo Yu was obviously quite familiar with the terrain and took the lead. Only a day later, everyone saw a towering city standing on a vast plain in the distance.
“That’s Black Sea City!” Mo Yu pointed to the front and introduced.
“There seems to be a fight,” Yang Kai noticed the light of Secret Techniques and artifacts flashing up ahead.
“It’s my Clear Sky Sect’s people!” Mo Yu’s face sank as he increased his speed.
There being a battle near Black Sea City was not necessarily bad news; at the very least it meant that Black Sea City had not been occupied by Corpse Spirit Religion as there were still people resisting. The only question now was how precarious the situation was.
Atop the high walls of Black Sea City, a beautiful woman with a pale face stood tall with a dozen Origin Returning Realm masters gathered around her; however, all of these Origin Realm masters had despondent looks on their faces and all of them were injured to varying degrees. The most seriously wounded of these masters had even lost his right arm. This injury seemed to be quite recent as his shoulder was still wrapped in gauze and fresh blood was oozing out slowly.
This cultivator remained standing though, enduring obvious pain with grit teeth, not uttering a word of complaint.
Below the city wall, several Corpse Spirit Race clansmen covered in white, green, and red hairs were fighting with some Human cultivators.
The situation was very chaotic, and the number of people involved in this battle reached at least thousands, but not all the Human cultivators were fighting for the same side. In fact, many Human cultivators were assisting the Corpse Spirit Race to kill their compatriots.
These people had obviously chosen to submit to Corpse Spirit Religion.
“City Lord, please order them to return! If we wait any longer, I’m afraid they’ll all die!” Atop the wall, someone cupped their fists and implored the beautiful woman with a sad look on his face.
This was a completely hopeless battle. There were ten times as many enemies as allies, with every Black Sea City cultivator being forced to deal with multiple opponents at once.
Six hundred people had rushed out to meet the enemy, but after less than a quarter of an hour, only two hundred remained, and these two hundred were on the verge of collapsing.
“Yes, City Lord, these are the last elites of my Clear Sky Sect. If we let all of them die here, how will we explain to our ancestors in the future?”
“They cannot retreat!” The beautiful woman declared firmly, “The Spirit Array barrier of Black Sea City is still being repaired, and if we have them withdraw now, Black Sea City will be defenceless when Corpse Spirit Religion’s army arrives and everyone here will perish.”
“We are well aware, but…” The person who spoke before argued weakly, his voice full of grief.
The six hundred elites that had charged out had done so just to buy time for the Array Masters to repair the city’s Defensive Spirit Array at the cost of their lives. Black Sea City being able to endure until now was thanks to the many protective barriers and powerful Spirit Arrays it possessed. Without these Spirit Arrays, Corpse Spirit Religion’s army would have razed it to the ground by now.
Now, everyone had reached their limit. Corpse Spirit Religion only needed to organize one last powerful attack and they would likely conquer the city.
Given Corpse Spirit Religion’s typical behaviour, if the city’s defences fell, the millions of residents of Black Sea City would probably be exterminated.
“Damn Gale Pavilion, Hundred Transformations Sect, and Traceless Sect! These traitors used to spend all day flattering my Clear Sky Sect, but now they have become willing dogs of Corpse Spirit Religion and slaughtered my Sect’s disciples. If this old master can survive this, he will definitely make them pay for this in blood!” Someone yelled angrily.
The expressions of the others also turned ugly hearing these words.
Gale Pavilion, Hundred Transformations Sect, and Traceless Sect, as well as many other smaller forces and families used to be attached to Clear Sky Sect, would constantly curry favour when the latter was powerful.
Clear Sky Sect had never abused these forces and even granted them some Secret Techniques to allow them to grow while also allowing a number of their elite disciples to enter Clear Sky Sect every year for cultivation and to seek masters to personally teach them.
However, after Shadowed Star’s great upheaval, these opportunistic forces took the initiative to submit to Corpse Spirit Religion, not only betraying Clear Sky Sect but even launching an unexpected sneak attack on Clear Sky Sect headquarters.
In that battle, Clear Sky Sect headquarters had been destroyed, with only a few people managing to escape, reducing the great force that once stood supreme over a ten thousand kilometres radius area to only Black Sea City!
The beautiful female City Lord said nothing, but the pain in her eyes was obvious.
How many people in this world could maintain just and moral stances in the face of such tyrannical evil? Understanding this, she wasn’t angry at those people who had chosen to live on dishonourably, because doing so meant they lost what made them human in the process.
“Where is Chen Shi Tao!” The beautiful woman suddenly shouted.
Not far away, a woman with peach-eyes and a graceful figure hurried forward, cupped her fists, and reported, “Elder Du, Disciple is here!”
In normal times, such a woman would be the centre of attention of all men, but at this moment, none had the mind to have such frivolous thoughts.
The beautiful woman said majestically, “Chen Shi Tao, this Elder commands you to select three hundred people from my Clear Sky Sect’s younger generation and lead them away from Black Sea City through the Space Array!”
Chen Shi Tao was dazed for a moment, but she was not just beautiful but also intelligent so she immediately understood what the purpose behind this command was, her pretty face turning white as she cried out in protest, “Elder Du!”
The beautiful woman just turned and smiled temperately towards her though, “My Clear Sky Sect’s headquarters has been destroyed, and the Sect Master was killed. Now, the last blood of my Clear Sky Sect is gathered here in Black Sea City. You must take those three hundred people away with you and find some way to survive. Only by living on will my Clear Sky Sect have hope for the future!”
Chen Shi Tao’s eyes immediately turned red, “But Elder, all of you…”
“Rest assured, we will buy you the time you need. Remember, you must find a way to reach High Heaven Sect! Only High Heaven Sect has the means to protect your safety! This task will be arduous, but you must find an opportunity to bring the disciples to High Heaven Sect!”
“Elder!” Chen Shi Tao kept shaking her head.
“Go! Now!” The beautiful woman’s expression turned fierce as she shouted angrily at Chen Shi Tao, “Do you want my Clear Sky Sect to forever disappear from Shadowed Star? Do you want us to all shame Clear Sky Sect’s countless generations of ancestors?”
Chen Shi Tao’s face grew dull as she found herself unable to speak.
Another Elder from Clear Sky Sect looked at Chen Shi Tao softly and smiled, “Remember, you must live on. Great Elder will return one day, and as long as you can reunite with him, there will be a chance to revive Clear Sky Sect.”
“Go!” The beautiful woman shouted.
Tears flowed down Chen Shi Tao’s face as her tender body trembled violently. Kneeling down on the ground, she respectfully kowtowed three times to her Elders before getting up abruptly and preparing to depart.
At that moment though…
The beautiful woman standing atop the city wall and the few remaining masters of Clear Sky Sect seemed to notice something incredible in the distance.
If they were not mistaken, the rear camp of Corpse Spirit Religion’s army had been thrown into chaos as shocking energy fluctuations exploded out. Brilliant flashes of light erupted as hundreds of Corpse Spirit Religion soldiers were killed every breath.
“Elder Du, someone is attacking from that side!”
“I can see that, but who could it be?” The beautiful woman gently nodded.
“There aren’t many of them, only seven or eight in total, but they’re all incredibly strong…” An Origin Realm master commented as he could vaguely see that with each flash of light, Corpse Spirit Religion cultivators were being cut down like straw, a shocking sight to behold.
“Hey, that’s… that’s… that’s the Azure Sun Chaos Pagoda! It’s Great Elder! Great Elder has returned!” Someone exclaimed in excitement.
Everyone’s eyes instantly focused on a pagoda-shaped artifact that was several dozen meters tall floating high up in the sky, emitting a brilliant azure light.
This pagoda-shaped artifact rotated rapidly as it floated, and each time it descended from the sky, it would smash countless Corpse Spirit Religion disciples into paste. At the same time, it continuously sent out blasts of cyan light from its apex which vaporized any Corpse Spirit Religion cultivator upon contact.
In but a moment, as many as two hundred Corpse Spirit Religion disciples died under this artifact.
“It really is the Azure Sun Chaos Pagoda!” The beautiful woman’s eyes burst with amazing brilliance, as if she had seen hope again, her expression turning excited.
The Azure Sun Chaos Pagoda was one of Clear Sky Sect’s core inheritances. It was an artifact which was ranked somewhere between Origin Grade and Origin King Grade, a kind of quasi-Origin King Grade artifact.
And this powerful artifact was exclusively controlled by Great Elder Mo Yu.
At this moment, the Azure Sun Chaos Pagoda appearing here could only be because Mo Yu was also here.
Even if they could not see Mo Yu’s figure, everyone could feel Mo Yu’s familiar energy fluctuations across this short distance.
“Great Elder has returned, we’re saved!”
“Haha, kill them, kill those Corpse Spirit Religion bastards!”
“Don’t let any of them escape!”
“Vengeance for our Sect Master! Vengeance for our dead brothers and sisters!”
In an instant, shouts rang out from the wall as everyone vented their righteous indignation. All of them were so excited that if it were not for the orders of the beautiful woman, all of them would likely have already rushed out to meet Great Elder Mo already.
Among the crowd, only the beautiful woman frowned deeply, a trace of anxiety filling her face.
She could not decide if Great Elder suddenly appearing at this time was a blessing or a curse!
Although Great Elder’s strength was unfathomable, and he had an incredible artifact like the Azure Sun Chaos Pagoda to assist him… there were still too many enemies. If Great Elder was besieged by the enemy and unable to escape, then Clear Sky Sect’s last hope would probably be annihilated.
“Relay my orders, all Clear Sky Sect disciples who still have the ability to fight are to follow this City Lord to assist the Great Elder!” The beautiful woman’s thoughts turned quickly, and she swiftly reached a decision.
“Yes!” Someone replied immediately, moving to execute the beautiful woman’s command.
Not long after, the remaining forces of Clear Sky Sect had assembled. The beautiful woman looked around at the slightly fewer than a thousand people before her and a deep sorrow appeared in the depths of her eyes.
Out of Clear Sky Sect’s original population, only these few people were left, and all of them were injured and had miscellaneous cultivations!
Although Black Sea City had millions of inhabitants, only these thousand or so belonged to Clear Sky Sect while most the rest were ordinary people who had never cultivated before or had such low strength they wouldn’t be able to serve any role in combat at all.
“Our objective this time is simple: We must join up with Great Elder and support him. Are all of you prepared?” The beautiful woman looked around and asked sharply.
The thousand people wore solemn expressions and shouted in unison, “Yes!”
“In the future, all of your names will be engraved on Clear Sky Sect’s Wall of Heroes. Follow me!” The beautiful woman did not make a grand speech, but her tone was no less resolute, and with a wave of her hand, she was the first to rush out of Black Sea City.
The others followed close behind, each of them wearing expressions filled with righteous fury and a determination to fight death itself!
When the thousand remaining members of Clear Sky Sect rushed out of the gates, countless others followed them.
These people were residents of Black Sea City or cultivators who had fled here earlier!
They all understood the truth that in an open nest, there were no hidden eggs. Seeing Clear Sky Sect gather its remaining strength and launch an all-out assault, these people immediately joined them to contribute their strength.
In front of Black Sea City, it was as if a mighty army came charging forward!
“That bitch Du Yan Ling has finally gone crazy, hahaha. She wants to break through my Corpse Spirit Religion’s blockage with that bunch of trash that hasn’t even reached the Saint Realm? Kill them all then bring Du Yan Ling to me!” In the middle of Corpse Spirit Religion’s army, a burly man stood atop a tall war-cart, waving his hands extravagantly as he issued orders.
Like Fang Feng Qi, he had a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation, but no heat or life aura was coming from his body, instead just a slightly rotten odour lingered about him.
Corpse Spirit Race!
And a top-level Corpse General at that!
As soon as his voice fell, however, an azure pagoda suddenly fell from the sky towards him. Noticing this, the burly man snorted coldly and swiftly dodged the incoming assault.
With a thunderous boom, the azure pagoda fell and pounded the war-cart flat, along with its eight powerful mounts, leaving behind little more than some broken scraps and bloodied paste.
“Who goes there!” Covered in red needle-like hairs, and with two sharp fangs hanging out of the corners of his mouth, the burly man turned towards a certain direction and roared.
A beautiful figure suddenly appeared beside him, like an immortal fairy descending to the earth, behind her, was a pair of crystal clear white wings seemingly carved from the purest of ice-jade. Her body exuded a bone-chilling chill that seemed capable of even freezing one’s soul.
In her hands was a long sword that radiated cold light.
As this long sword slashed, it left behind a flowing icy-light.
The burly Corpse General tried to defend himself, but his defences were instantly pierced by the overwhelming chill.
Only three moves later, the beautiful woman’s sword separated the Corpse General’s head from his body.
*Kacha…*
An icy field spread out swiftly, and despite the incredible power the burly Corpse General’s body possessed, it was instantly encased in ice, all traces of aura disappearing from it in the next instant.
Su Yan!
This was the first time she had taken action since she left Scarlet Wave Star, but the combat strength she displayed was nothing less than jaw-dropping. Seeing her in action, Mo Yu’s eyes bulged in shock.
Mo Yu clearly felt how powerful this Corpse General was and estimated that it would take him at least two or three hours to defeat this abomination. Even if he was confident he could win, he was certain that he would need to pay a certain price for that victory.
But this woman of Yang Kai’s actually managed to defeat this Corpse General in just a few moves.
Yang Kai is already extraordinary enough, but how could his woman also have such phenomenal strength? Mo Yu was stunned.
After killing this Corpse General, Su Yan did not pause for an instant. Holding Profound Frost, she used the Monster Transformation Secret Technique to mobilize the strength of her Ice Phoenix Source and charged into the Corpse Spirit Religion army. No one was able to impede her in the slightest.
As long as she struck, all the enemies before her became ice sculptures.
At the forefront of the battlefield, there was a small group of Clear Sky Sect disciples still engaged in a desperate battle. This group had rushed out long before Yang Kai and the others arrived to buy time to repair the Spirit Array barrier around Black Sea City.
Originally numbering six hundred, there were now just over a hundred of them left.
All of them were in dire straits at this moment, surrounded by countless enemies, with some of them falling every breath, their fresh blood staining the ground red.
Among this group, there was a young girl with long hair who was as quick as a rabbit, dashing left and right through the enemy lines, her body radiating a brilliant multi-coloured light. She appeared soft and delicate, but her small frame contained terrifying power, every time her small fist punched out, the air around her exploding from the force.
Any enemy she struck who was not an Origin Returning Realm master would instantly explode and die.
Even First-Order Origin Realm masters would have their bones crack and their muscles tear when they suffered a blow from this young girl, causing them to cry out in pain.
A flurry of attacks was launched towards her constantly, but she was able to dodge nearly all of them with extremely agile movements. Even when she occasionally suffered a hit, she would not suffer much damage and instead become even fiercer in her assault!
This young girl’s body seemed to contain an incomprehensible power.
Were it not for her protection, the remaining hundred people from Clear Sky Sect would have been wiped out long ago.
Each of the survivors present felt immense gratitude towards her.
Her actions soon attracted Yang Kai’s attention.
The multi-coloured radiance which surrounded her body gave Yang Kai an extremely familiar feeling. It was clearly Sword Qi from the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art!
Across a long distance, Yang Kai took a moment to observe this young girl carefully, and although she was covered in blood and it was impossible to tell her exact age, she did not look older than thirteen or fourteen, still in her budding years.
She possessed a figure that was not fully matured yet.
When her hair flew up at one point, a familiar face came into Yang Kai’s view.
“Could it be…” Yang Kai frowned before quickly wiping out the enemies in front of him and rushing over with interest towards the little girl, bringing Xia Ning Chang along with him.
Perceiving someone rapidly approaching her, the young girl turned her head rapidly while simultaneously sending out a punch.
Yang Kai raised his hand to block this punch.
*Hong…*
An extraordinary force erupted from this tiny fist, and even with Yang Kai’s great strength, he could not stop his body from shaking slightly. Fortunately, with his cultivation being significantly higher than this little girl, he did not embarrass himself on the spot, otherwise, he really wouldn’t have had any face left at all.
With her first blow failing to deal with this new opponent, the young girl reacted with lightning speed, instantly leaning back and delivering a high kick towards the enemy’s face, covering her foot in a golden gleaming light that gave off a sharp aura as she did.
Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art of Metal Sword Qi!
Her little foot seemed to instantly transform into the sharpest of swords as it swept towards Yang Kai’s head.
Yang Kai just smiled lightly and swiftly reached out his hand, grabbed the young girl’s ankle, and used his Saint Qi to perfectly offset her attack before holding her up like a doll.
The girl’s skirt fluttered, almost exposing a spring scenery, but fortunately, she reacted swiftly and managed to hold it down, preserving her dignity.
Just as she was filled with irritation, this young girl caught sight of Yang Kai’s smiling face.
“Ah… Uncle Sect Master!” The girl recognized Yang Kai at a glance and called out innocently, a pleasant surprise filling her cute smiling face.
“As expected, it’s you!” Yang Kai gently nodded and with a slight flick of his wrist flipped the young girl right-side up on the ground before he stared at her immature face, frowned, and asked, “Yun’er, why are you here?”
This girl was surprisingly the little girl Huang Juan adopted, Lin Yun’er!
When Yang Kai returned from the Emperor Garden and passed a small city on the Limitless Ocean’s coast, he had run into Huang Juan and brought her back to High Heaven Sect. At the same time, he also brought this little girl back with them.
Lin Yun’er was only five or six years old at the time, but she was already beginning to show amazing physical strength.
Yang Kai noticed the abnormality of her body and asked Ye Xi Yun to investigate it carefully. Later, Ye Xi Yun told Yang Kai that Lin Yun’er possessed the Tyrant Strength Body Special Constitution!
This was an exceedingly rare physique that perhaps had something to do with one of her ancestor’s bloodlines. After all, according to Huang Juan, Lin Yun’er’s mother had the blood of a Sea Monster Beast in her lineage.
Cultivators with this Special Constitution were born with an incredible innate strength that would only increase as their cultivation increased, eventually reaching a truly terrifying height.
Before leaving Shadowed Star, Yang Kai had given her the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art, and after eight years had passed, that little girl was now a young bud on the verge of blossoming.
Judging from the intensity of the five-coloured aura surrounding her body, it seemed Lin Yun’er had reached the minor accomplishment stage in the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art. In conjunction with her Tyrant Strength Body’s Special Constitution, the strength she could display was nothing less than astonishing.
Her cultivation was not actually that high, only Third-Order Saint Realm, according to Yang Kai’s investigation.
Even if High Heaven Sect did not lack financial resources, and Lin Yun’er had the personal guidance of masters such as Ye Xi Yun, being able to reach the Third-Order Saint Realm in just eight years proved she was an unparalleled genius.
This little girl would definitely become a bright new star in the Star Field!
When Yang Kai looked at her, he felt as if he was looking at a future supreme master.
Additionally, the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art seemed to be tailor-made for her. Coupled with the might of her Tyrant Strength Body, she was able to use a mere Third-Order Saint Realm cultivation to fight on par with First-Order Origin Returning Realm masters!
This kind of ability to fight across realms was vastly superior to Yang Kai’s.
Even when he was a Third-Order Saint, he was unable to resist the attacks of First-Order Origin Realm masters head-on.
However, although Lin Yun’er still possessed an intrepid aura, her strength was clearly waning and there were numerous wounds on her body, indicating she was little more than an arrow at the end of its flight.
Her spirit remained undaunted though.
“When chaos descended upon Shadowed Star, Yun’er followed the orders of Great Elder Ye to assist Clear Sky Sect. As a result, Yun’er was trapped outside and unable to return, so Yun’er could only stay here,” Lin Yun’er said in an aggrieved tone.
Two years ago, she was only eleven or twelve, so after drifting outside for so long, she naturally missed High Heaven Sect greatly. She missed Ye Xi Yun who taught her carefully, missed Huang Juan who took care of her like a mother, and missed High Heaven Sect’s scenery as well as her Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters.
She had always been very strong, which may be related to her losing her parents as a child, but after seeing Yang Kai at this moment, her big eyes couldn’t help tearing up as her lips pursed and trembled.
“So that’s how it is! But why are you here on this battlefield now?” Yang Kai frowned. He did not know who the City Lord of this Black Sea City was, but how could they have arranged for Lin Yun’er to come out and engage the enemy at this time?
Yang Kai could see that this group had come out to fight to buy time, and that all of them held the determination to die in order to achieve this objective. Lin Yun’er was a High Heaven Sect disciple though, and considering her extremely young age, this was certainly not an assignment she should have been given.
“I came out on my own, I wanted to do everything within my power to help,” Lin Yun’er sniffled.
“Alright!” Yang Kai nodded firmly as he rubbed Lin Yun’er’s head, thinking for a moment before taking out a healing pill from his Space Ring and handing it to Lin Yun’er, “Take this.”
“En,” Lin Yun’er had absolute trust in Yang Kai despite not having seen him for eight years, so she swallowed down the pill without any hesitation.
Yang Kai nodded once more before turning to Xia Ning Chang and saying, “Little Senior Sister, escort them back to the city!”
“Okay!” Xia Ning Chang responded, waving her hands to form a series of complicated seals.
The surrounding World Energy suddenly began to swirl, and under the guidance of Xia Ning Chang underwent some miraculous changes before streaming into the exhausted cultivators around her.
The next moment, each of the Clear Sky Sect survivors’ bodies shook as they felt their energy reserves rapidly recovering.
All of them turned looks of utter amazement towards Xia Ning Chang!
They had no idea how Xia Ning Chang had managed to directly refine the ambient World Energy and send it into their bodies to replenish their nearly empty dry meridians and dantians.
“Follow me!” Xia Ning Chang shouted as the small sapphire on her forehead exuded a dazzling brilliance, making her look like an ethereal fairy. Everywhere this brilliance passed, the enemy cultivators felt an inexplicable force enter their hearts, causing their fighting spirit to dampen significantly.
Xia Ning Chang then took the team of a hundred people and cut a bloody path through the enemy ranks to join up with Du Yan Ling and the others who had just emerged from the city
Yang Kai next flew up into the sky and spread out his Divine Sense, looking for the strongest enemies on the battlefield. With a wave his hand, Golden Blood Threads shot out, transforming into golden flashes of light which rapidly harvested the lives of Corpse Spirit Religion disciples!
Yang Xiu Zhu, Chu Han Yi, and Lin Yu Rao coordinated with one another to raise a storm in the enemy lines, leaving a swath of corpses in their path.
Under Mo Yu’s control, the Azure Sun Chaos Pagoda continuously released rays of brilliant blue light that vaporized all enemies around it.
This small group of seven people had swiftly thrown the entire Corpse Spirit Religion army into chaos.
Soon, some began to realize something was wrong. On the battlefield, the masters from Corpse Spirit Religion were no longer issuing orders as they were being rapidly killed, resulting in the entire army losing cohesion and becoming loose grains of sand unable to put up a united resistance.
This situation only became more serious when Du Yan Ling led the Clear Sky Sect remnants out to join the battle.
The Corpse Spirit Religion army was on the verge of collapse and many from its ranks began to panic and flee. The small Sects and families that had submitted to Corpse Spirit Religion also began to flee when they saw this.
Du Yan Ling and the others observed all this with bloodshot eyes and doggedly pursued these fleeing enemies across several tens of thousands of kilometres, slaughtering every Corpse Spirit Religion cultivator they could before returning to the city in victory.
Upon their return, the voices of Black Sea City’s millions of residents filled the air in jubilation.
Corpse Spirit Religion’s army had laid siege to Black Sea City for an entire year, and Clear Sky Sect’s strength had continuously waned during that time, so it was all but assured that the city would soon be destroyed; however, at the critical moment, powerful reinforcements had arrived, not only turning the tide of battle, saving Black Sea City from certain destruction, but also leading the surviving defenders to thoroughly route Corpse Spirit Religion’s forces, delivering them a devastating blow.
Everyone was curious about the origins of these reinforcements.
Soon, it became known that Clear Sky Sect’s Great Elder Mo Yu and High Heaven Sect’s Sect Master and Elders were the ones who had arrived to save them.
All understood at that moment why so few people possessed such astonishing strength, and why they were able to send Corpse Spirit Religion’s army running while crying for their fathers and screaming for their mothers!
In Black Sea City, the reputations of Clear Sky Sect and High Heaven Sect soared to unprecedented heights.
Inside the City Lord’s Mansion.
The few remaining high-level executives of Clear Sky Sect sat together with Yang Kai and his group.
Black Sea City’s City Lord, Du Yan Ling, who was also a high ranking Elder of Clear Sky Sect, gave a deep bow to Yang Kai and the others as she solemnly declared, “For this time’s graciousness, I offer my most sincere thanks to Sect Master Yang. If not for your timely arrival, I’m afraid Black Sea City would now be a barren wasteland devoid of life. On behalf of Black Sea City’s millions of residents, this Mistress offers her deepest gratitude to Sect Master Yang for his life-saving efforts.”
“City Lord Du is too polite, this Yang and Senior Mo are not strangers, so it is only we help one another!” Yang Kai smiled and waved.
His humility gave Du Yan Ling an excellent impression, and she couldn’t help giving Yang Kai a careful examination.
On Shadowed Star, Yang Kai was almost a legend.
Although he had only risen to fame recently, his deeds had been utterly earth-shaking.
The battle of Dragon Cave Mountain had revealed his brilliance to the world, after which he swiftly occupied one of Shadowed Star’s Three Great Forbidden Zones, the Flowing Flame Sand Field, established his own Sect, then proceeded to destroy Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect before conquering Star Emperor Mountain.
Yang Kai and High Heaven Sect were universally known existences on Shadowed Star!
Over the past two years, when tragedy befell Shadowed Star, High Heaven Sect had frequently dispatched powerful masters to assist the besieged Sects and cities, earning them the gratitude of the entire Human Race.
As High Heaven Sect’s Sect Master, Yang Kai was essentially considered to be Shadowed Star’s greatest master, a character who could shake Shadowed Star with the stomp of his foot.
This was actually Du Yan Ling’s first meeting with Yang Kai, so she was naturally curious about him.
However, even with her Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation, she was unable to see through Yang Kai’s depths, as if this young man before her was far stronger than her Sect’s Great Elder, or even her former Sect Master who had died in battle.
Du Yan Ling was thoroughly shocked!
“Junior Sister Du, if the situation in Black Sea City is already so bad, what about Clear Sky Sect’s headquarters?” Mo Yu asked nervously.
Du Yan Ling and the other Elders instantly wore grim expressions.
Mo Yu could not help having a bad premonition as he asked urgently, “Could it be that the Sect’s headquarters…”
Du Yan Ling nodded sadly, “The Sect’s headquarters were breached, and Sect Master… he fell during the battle!”
“What?” Mo Yu suddenly stood up in shock, seemingly unable to accept this reality.
Yang Kai also let out a long sigh.
He had met Clear Sky Sect’s Sect Master, Gu Zhen, and felt he was an amiable person, but even with his peak level Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation, it seemed he still couldn’t avoid such a tragic fate.
“Great Elder, please restrain your grief,” Du Yan Ling didn’t know what to say.
“How could headquarters have fallen? If it had, why has Black Sea City been able to persist until now?” Mo Yu’s complexion became gloomy.
Du Yan Ling replied sadly, “There were some people who secretly pledged allegiance to Corpse Spirit Religion and collaborated from the inside, causing headquarters to fall!”
“Who dares?” Mo Yu snapped.
“They’re all dead, Sect Master killed all of them before falling himself,” Du Yan Ling reported despondently.
Mo Yu was stunned for a long time before he seemed to lose all strength and fell back into his chair, unable to speak for quite some time.
After giving Mo Yu some time to digest this news, Yang Kai started to inquire about High Heaven Sect’s situation.
However, Du Yan Ling did not know much. Black Sea City had been under siege for a year now and thus been cut off from the outside world. Only when some cultivators occasionally escaped to Black Sea City would they bring some information with them.
According to those cultivators, High Heaven Sect seemed to be surrounded by the Corpse Spirit Religion’s army, and no one could get in or out. As for the internal situation of High Heaven Sect, no one knew.
A year ago, High Heaven Sect also frequently dispatched masters to assist those besieged Sects and great forces; however, after suffering the loss of several masters, High Heaven Sect had been forced to retreat and their ability to offer aid had greatly decreased.
In order to prevent High Heaven Sect masters from going out and causing trouble, Corpse Spirit Religion deployed a massive number of troops to surround the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
It could be said that although the current High Heaven Sect was unable to take the initiative to assist the rest of Shadowed Star, its mere existence restrained a great deal of Corpse Spirit Religion’s combat strength, improving the general situation silently.
If this weren’t the case, Black Sea City would not have been able to persist for such a long time without being overrun. One had to know that there were at least four Corpse Generals on the same level as Ye Xi Yun in Corpse Spirit Religion, not to mention the mysterious Religion Master that none had ever seen before.
After hearing this, Yang Kai nodded lightly and did not ask anything more.
The next day, Yang Kai gathered everyone from High Heaven, bid farewell to Mo Yu, and set out from Black Sea City.
Originally, Yang Kai wanted to bring the survivors of Clear Sky Sect with him to High Heaven Sect; after all, as long as they entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field, they would no longer need to worry about being killed by Corpse Spirit Religion’s forces.
However, after some careful consideration, Mo Yu declined Yang Kai’s proposal.
Clear Sky Sect truly had few remaining members, but Black Sea City still had millions of inhabitants.
If Clear Sky Sect followed Yang Kai, then the millions who resided in Black Sea City would certainly be slaughtered by Corpse Spirit Religion!
Many people had escaped here over the past two years, seeking shelter from Clear Sky Sect, so Mo Yu could not just abandon them.
This sentiment may be a bit pedantic, but it still won the unanimous approval of the rest of Clear Sky Sect’s leaders, all of them willingly pledging to protect the last bastion of Clear Sky Sect together with Great Elder Mo!
Yang Kai was impressed, but also at a loss.
“Yang Kai, don’t worry, although there aren’t many from my Clear Sky Sect left, Black Sea City is filled with able bodies, so it won’t be too difficult to supplement our fighting strength. As long as the cultivators here can unite, protecting this single city should not be a big problem,” Mo Hai said with a smile as he saw off Yang Kai.
Yang Kai could only nod, “In that case, I wish you good fortune, Senior Mo!”
After cupping his fists deeply, Yang Kai said goodbye to Du Yan Ling and the others before bringing Su Yan, Xia Ning Chang and the others out of Black Sea City and setting off for the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
After watching Yang Kai and the others depart, Mo Yu wore a solemn look and issued a command, “Inform all the cultivators above Saint Realm in Black Sea City that if they would like, they can temporarily join my Clear Sky Sect and help protect this city together with us!”
“Yes!” Du Yan Ling and the other Elders immediately set out to execute this order.
They had considered recruiting cultivators from Black Sea City before now, but the situation had been so hectic there was simply no time to deal with such matters. Before today, Corpse Spirit Religion’s army had been sieging the city and the independent cultivators in the city really did not have much fighting spirit, making it difficult for them to exert any real strength in battle.
Things were different now though. Corpse Spirit Religion had been repelled and suffered immense casualties, so the morale in Black Sea City was at an all-time high. It was undoubtedly the best time for Clear Sky Sect to bolster its ranks and strengthen its defences.
Black Sea City was still a fair distance from Flowing Flame Sand Field, and if one relied on Star Shuttle it would take at least seven or eight days to make the trip.
Yang Kai was quite eager to return to the Sect now, so he chose to use the Origin King Grade Starship.
Although the Starship was massive compared to a Star Shuttle, it was much faster while also being significantly safer. As long as one remained inside, they would essentially not need to concern themselves with outside threats.
Along the way, they encountered many scattered teams from Corpse Spirit Religion, some as small as a few dozen while others numbered up to a thousand, all of them under the lead of the Corpse Spirit Race, dealing damage to Shadowed Star.
A simple volley of the Starship’s Crystal Cannons, however, was enough to turn these enemies into dust, inflicting serious casualties if not wiping them out.
Yang Kai did not order any detours, immediately flying off after delivering a single round of attacks each time.
Only three days later, the number of enemies who died under the Starship’s Crystal Cannons reached the tens of thousands!
Only a few of these enemies belonged to the Corpse Spirit Race while most were Human cultivators who had submitted to Corpse Spirit Religion. Since they had chosen to follow Corpse Spirit Religion and commit all kinds of evil on their orders, there was no need to show any mercy.
The masters from the Three Clans who had been staying in the Sealed World Bead were also brought out by Yang Kai into the Starship to allow them to witness this intense slaughter.
Since they needed to gain a foothold on Shadowed Star, it was necessary for them to have more contact with this world.
Yang Kai wanted them to integrate into Shadowed Star as quickly as possible, as well as experience for themselves the level of the cultivators here for themselves.
Sure enough, after witnessing the strength of these enemies, Ling Tai Xu, Thunder Dragon, and Zhang Yuan were struck silent, but each of their eyes flashed with a thick desire to become stronger.
Lin Yun’er on the other hand behaved in a manner befitting her age. When she thought about how she would soon be returning to High Heaven Sect and seeing all the people she so dearly missed, she was so happy she could not stop twittering about, running circles around Yang Kai in excitement.
Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang liked this little girl very much as well, and after learning about her tragic childhood, their maternal instincts were greatly stimulated, even bringing them to tears, leaving Yang Kai speechless.
Three days later, the Origin King Grade Starship arrived at the periphery of the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
Standing on the Starship’s bridge, through the smooth, polished and transparent crystal glass, Yang Kai saw the densely packed figures surrounding the Flowing Flame Sand Field, extending out as far as the eye could see, numbering in the untold thousands.
“So many?” Yang Xiu Zhu was taken aback.
“It seems they take our High Heaven Sect quite seriously!” Chu Han Yi said coldly.
“According to City Lord Du, our High Heaven Sect has now become the last free paradise on Shadowed Star. Corpse Spirit Religion has not just deployed so many forces here because they are worried about us taking any kind of detrimental action towards them, but also because this place has now become a symbol. As long as High Heaven Sect still stands, Shadowed Star will not give up resisting. If I were Corpse Spirit Religion’s Religion Master, I would be doing everything in my power to destroy this place,” Lin Yu Rao said thoughtfully.
The others present nodded their heads in agreement.
“Sect Master, should we go around them?” A High Heaven Sect disciple, who was in charge of piloting the Starship, turned his head and asked.
“No, slaughter them!” Yang Kai declared coldly.
“Yes!” The High Heaven Sect disciple took the controls and began targeting the Starship’s Crystal Cannons with excitement.
Having his home surrounded by so many enemies naturally made everyone angry, so Yang Kai’s orders gave them the perfect opportunity to vent some frustration.
*Hong long long…*
A series of white beams of light lased from the Starship’s Crystal Cannons, vaporizing everything that stood in their path
This Origin King Grade Starship was refined personally by Yang Yan and had outstanding performance and combat strength. On top of that, the power of its Crystal Cannons relied on Saint Crystal Sources condensed by Stone Puppet Xiao Xiao and was phenomenal.
When the Crystal Cannons hit their mark, terrifying explosions rang out, as if the end of the world had come.
Each Crystal Cannon was able to sweep across a large area, cleaning it of any Corpse Spirit Race or Human cultivators in the blink of an eye.
The army down below was instantly thrown into chaos.
When the hundred-meter long pitch-black Starship had first appeared in the sky, it had brought an extremely oppressive atmosphere to the Corpse Spirit Race below, but when it opened fire, all of them couldn’t help showing looks of terror on their hideous faces.
Some of the Human cultivators who recognized the origins of this Starship began to flee as they shouted in panic.
The Starship ignored all of this and simply maintained its leisurely flight through the sky as it continued firing its Crystal Cannons.
The ground shook and massive craters were opened as billowing white smoke filled the air.
“Hm?” Inside the Starship, Yang Kai suddenly sensed something and turned his gaze towards a certain direction, sneering a moment later as he said, “There’s a big fish over there, I’ll go greet him!”
“Junior Brother, be careful!” Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang barely managed to call out before Yang Kai disappeared.
At the outer periphery of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, a seemingly newly built palace stood. This palace was not very large, only a few hundred square meters, but it had a clear magnificence to it that stood out greatly in this barren region.
Inside the palace, a man in white robes was reclining on a luxurious throne in a lazy posture, his chin resting on his hand as a wicked grin adorned his face. In front of them, a dozen gorgeous women were singing and dancing.
These women were from the great forces which had submitted to Corpse Spirit Religion and were here as tribute. Each of them was quite beautiful and had been rising stars from their respective Sects, but now, they had degenerated into playthings whose only purpose was to entertain this white-robed man.
All of them seemed to be very frightened of this white-robed man, and when they occasionally glanced over at him, they would hurriedly put their vision aside, each of them moving extremely carefully for fear of making any kind of mistake.
Suddenly, the earth shook, the palace trembled, and astonishing energy fluctuations accompanied by loud explosions appeared nearby. The white-robed man’s face sank when he sensed all this and sat up straight, sternly asking, “What happened?”
The dozen young girls who were singing and dancing below all stopped as they looked around blankly.
Immediately, someone rushed in from the outside and said in a panic, “Protector Kang, a black Starship suddenly appeared in the sky and is now massacring our Corpse Spirit Religion’s disciples!”
“Impudence! Who would dare?” The white-robed man stood up abruptly and an astonishing aura burst from his figure, causing the dozen dancing girls to go pale from fright.
“Subordinate… Subordinate does not know!” The cultivator who came in to report stuttered helplessly.
“Then what use are you?” The white-robed man snorted coldly as he stretched out his hand and grabbed towards the neck of the cultivator that appeared to deliver this report, his grasp seemingly crossing space to hold the poor man’s throat directly.
With just a slight twist, the cultivator’s neck was broken.
The dozen girls cried out in fear as the panic in their eyes became more and more intense.
“Hm? Interesting, even daring to come out on your own initiative!” The white-robed man suddenly raised his head and looked towards the sky, sending out a burst of Divine Sense to clash with Yang Kai’s at a position a dozen kilometres away.
*Hong…*
When these two Divine Senses clashed, space itself collapsed.
Inside the palace, the white-robed man was forced back a few steps, as if he was not this newcomer’s opponent at all.
The power of Yang Kai’s Divine Sense shocked the white-robed man, but after recoiling slightly, he became angry out of shame and let loose a great roar, his entire figure transforming into something inhuman the next instant.
Just like Fang Feng Qi who was captured by Yang Kai in Heavenly Fate City, this white-robed man’s body suddenly swelled up and white needle-like hairs protruded from his skin. Two sharp fangs grew from the corners of his mouth and a verdant coloured Corpse Qi burst from his body.
Leaping up, the white-robed man soared up into the sky like a shot, blowing open a hole in the small palace, his eyes flashing a fierce light. Pinpointing Yang Kai’s location, he then proceeded to wave his two claw-like hands repeatedly, sending a flurry of attacks towards Yang Kai.
“Shatter!” Yang Kai roared and without evading covered his fists in black flames and sent out a series of punches.
The flying claws broke under Yang Kai’s bombardment and the remnant attacks quickly landed on the white-robed man, pulling a grunt from his lips as they sent him crashing down to the ground.
A moment later, with a bang, a human-shaped pothole was smashed into the ground.
The white-robed man only became more enraged. After taking this blow from Yang Kai, he had not suffered much damage, so he quickly leapt from the pit, opened his mouth, and spat out a round bead. Gathering the thick green Corpse Qi from this bead, the white-robed man condensed several arrows which he then shot towards Yang Kai.
With a flick of his wrist, Yang Kai summoned the Verdant Dragon Bone Sword and after pouring his Saint Qi into it, accompanied by the loud dragon roar, the Dragon Bone Sword shook slightly and transformed into a giant dark green dragon which proceeded to dive towards the ground.
Yang Kai stood atop the dragon’s head, looking down at the white-robed man with disdain in his eyes.
The Corpse Qi, which was potent enough to kill an ordinary Origin Returning Realm master, had no effect on the giant dark green dragon. Corpse Qi was indeed poisonous, but so too was the giant dark green dragon, so the former had no way to damage the latter.
On the contrary, the giant dark green dragon simply opened its mouth wide and sucked in the green Corpse Qi which had originated from the white-robed man’s Corpse Core, causing him to fluster.
The distance between the two opponents quickly shortened.
Staring at the rapidly growing dragon head, with its giant maw, the white-robed man finally could not remain calm and let out a strange howl as he hurriedly dodged away.
The giant dark green dragon soared up into the air while Yang Kai leapt off it and stretched out his hand. The giant dark green dragon transformed back into the Dragon Bone Sword again and was caught by Yang Kai who proceeded to slash it out.
Suddenly, a terrifying aura burst from the bladeless long sword, one that seemed capable of cutting through the world itself.
The white-robed man was shocked and quickly raised his arm to defend himself from this blow.
Silently, green lights flashed, and a white-haired arm was cut off, falling to the ground.
This time, the white-robed man was truly shocked. He never thought that such a terrifying character existed on Shadowed Star. He had fought against Ye Xi Yun, the supposed first master of Shadowed Star, and felt that she was not anything special. However, this young man who had suddenly appeared before him was far stronger than Ye Xi Yun. He completely was not this young man’s opponent.
Seeing that the other party was about to strike with his sword again, the white-robed man couldn’t care about face anymore and tumbled to the side, swiftly grabbed his severed arm while avoiding the blow, and leapt backwards.
Only after opening a thousand-meter gap between him and Yang Kai did he stop, a lingering fear still gripping him as he lifted the severed arm towards his freshly wounded shoulder, a gloomy expression filling his face.
The severed arm that was cut down by Yang Kai’s Dragon Bone Sword quickly began squirming as it swiftly reattached itself.
As the white-robed man did all this, Yang Kai simply watched with cold eyes, not trying to stop him. Only when the arm was fully reattached did Yang Kai suddenly grin and ask, “Have we met before?”
Hearing this question, the white-robed man also frowned before suddenly pointing at Yang Kai and shouting in disbelief, “It’s you, it’s you!”
“Ah I see, we really have met!” Yang Kai smiled lightly, “It was back in that Corpse Cave. I remember you.”
When he first saw this white-robed man, Yang Kai thought he looked a little familiar, but now he finally remembered where he had seen him before. It was back when he and Yang Yan dove deep into the Corpse Cave below Grand Burial Valley where he once met this white-robed man. It was this white-robed man who had attacked him when he tried to escape.
At that time, the white-robed man was already a powerful Corpse General, an opponent Yang Kai had no choice but to flee from; however, after so many years, obviously Yang Kai’s strength had improved greatly.
“I also remember you!” The white-robed man grinned, “You snuck into the Corpse Cave and stole a lot of things, but this Protector must actually thank you for that!”
“Thank me for what?” Yang Kai frowned.
“Thank you for taking away that blasted Sun’s True Essence! If it were not for you, this Protector would not have his current achievement!” The white-robed man laughed loudly.
“What does any of this have to do with the Sun’s True Essence?” Yang Kai was puzzled.
“You wouldn’t understand!” The white-robed man sneered, “This Protector is Corpse Spirit Religion’s White-Robed Corpse General Kang Fei Rao. Boy, state your name!”
“White-Robed Corpse General…” Yang Kai raised his brow. “So there is also a Red-Robed Corpse General and Azure-Robed Corpse General or something?”
He remembered that inside the Corpse Cave, there were several other Corpse Generals dressed in different coloured robes.
“Indeed!” Kang Fei Rao did not attempt to deny it, “Boy, my Corpse Spirit Religion will soon unify Shadowed Star. You are young and have a powerful cultivation, so why not join us? This Protector will bring you to see the Religion Master who will surely make you a Deacon!”
“Not interested!” Yang Kai curled his lips.
“Brat, don’t refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit, this Protector may appreciate your talent but do you think that means he won’t kill you?”
“Can you?” Yang Kai snickered.
When these words fell, Kang Fei Rao’s face changed drastically because he suddenly discovered that Yang Kai, who had been a thousand meters away just a moment ago, was now standing right in front of him, his hand waving through the air, releasing a massive Void Crack that slashed towards him like a giant blade!
“Space Force!” Kang Fei Rao’s pale face became even paler. He finally recalled that the reason Yang Kai was able to escape from the Corpse Cave that day was that he was skilled in the Dao of Space.
Now seeing Yang Kai use such a card, it was obvious just how profound this boy’s attainments in the Dao of Space were.
A sense of crisis rose in Kang Fei Rao as he hurriedly backed away, just barely avoiding being swallowed by this Void Crack.
A trace of annoyance appeared on Yang Kai’s face, but soon, he showed a sly grin.
Kang Fei Rao instinctively noticed something was wrong, but he could not figure out what it was. Just as he fell into confusion, an overwhelming force impacted him from behind, like a giant mountain crashing into him. The sound of countless bones shattering immediately rang out from his body.
In response to this heavy blow, Kang Fei Rao opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of green blood, his entire aura rapidly weakening as he flew towards Yang Kai under the force of the impact.
As he was flying forward, the Kang Fei Rao tried his best to look back and see who it was that managed to approach him without his knowledge and deliver such a devastating blow.
Turning his head, however, Kang Fei Rao was dumbfounded.
The one who attacked him was actually a stone giant with a somewhat dim expression on its face and a giant black stick in its hands!
This stone giant had no life aura, so it was not surprising he didn’t notice it until it was too late.
“Now, let’s see how you escape!” Yang Kai grinned as he slashed his hand through the air, sending out a series of Void Cracks that swiftly formed an impenetrable net covering Kang Fei Rao, blocking all his paths of retreat!
Kang Fei Rao’s face changed drastically as he felt the terrifying emptiness coming from these Void Cracks, forcing himself to come to a halt suddenly.
In the next moment, his whole figure seemed to flicker and disappear as he dove into the ground!
He seemed to be able to merge with the earth itself!
The Void Crack net which had formed above his head did not play any role at all!
“Stop him!” Yang Kai’s face sank, knowing that Kang Fei Rao must not be allowed to escape into the earth, otherwise, he would never be able to catch him again.
Xiao Xiao received this order and swiftly dove into the ground as well.
Immediately afterwards, a great rumble resounded from below the surface and the earth heaved up in great waves that rapidly spread out.
Soon, accompanied by an angry roar, Kang Fei Rao shot out of the ground, his entire face twisted in frustration.
The Stone Puppet pursued him, Heaven Shaking Pillar in hand, swinging it around lightly as if it weighed nothing, forcing Kang Fei Rao to dodge repeatedly.
Trying to escape underground in front of the Stone Puppet was possibly the stupidest decision Kang Fei Rao could have made!
Burrowing through the earth was one of the Stone Puppet’s Divine Abilities.
Yang Kai arrived above Kang Fei Rao’s head mysteriously at some point, and with a wave of his hand, more than a dozen Golden Blood Threads shot out and wound towards Kang Fei Rao like snakes.
In an instant, Kang Fei Rao was tightly wrapped up.
Kang Fei Rao still tried to struggle, but the Stone Puppet’s Heaven Shaking Pillar swept over at that moment, and with a single swipe, Kang Fei Rao’s lower half was pounded into paste, the massive force of the blow sending what remained of his body tumbling through the air.
Things had not ended yet however as a massive Void Crack suddenly opened next to Kang Fei Rao and devoured a big chunk of his torso.
When Kang Fei Rao finally hit the ground, he was completely crippled, with little of his original body remaining.
If an ordinary human suffered such damage, they would definitely have died long ago.
However, the Corpse Spirit Race was originally born from dead people, and their physical forms were extremely tenacious, so such an injury didn’t immediately reap Kang Fei Rao’s life.
A potent energy fluctuation burst from his abdomen in the next moment, spreading to his limbs, causing his flesh to wriggle and slowly regenerate.
Yang Kai stepped forward, inserted his hand into Kang Fei Rao’s abdomen, and clenched his Corpse Core.
The creeping flesh finally stopped moving, and Kang Fei Rao froze up, looking at Yang Kai close up in a state of shock and horror.
His eyes were filled with hatred, but in the end, he compromised and sighed, “What is it you want to know? Tell me what I must do to get you to release me!”
“Are you trying to negotiate with me?” Yang Kai smiled contemptuously.
“Of course!”
“Do you think you’re qualified?” Yang Kai continued to sneer.
“Since you didn’t kill me immediately, you obviously want something from me, otherwise why bother keeping me alive?” Kang Fei Rao coldly snorted.
“Seems you’re not stupid,” Yang Kai nodded, “But you still have no right to negotiate terms with me. I can consign you to death just by clenching my fist!”
Kang Fei Rao’s face grew gloomy, but ultimately, he was unable to refute.
Kang Fei Rao could also see that even without the help of the strange stone giant, he was definitely not Yang Kai’s opponent. This young man had not used his full strength from the beginning!
[Since when was there such a powerful Origin Returning Realm cultivator on this star?] Kang Fei Rao thought he had reached the limit of what an Origin Returning Realm master could achieve, but today, he realized he was greatly mistaken.
“Tell me what the Sun’s True Essence has to do with any of this?” Yang Kai’s voice sounded, “Why do you say you want to thank me for your current achievements? I don’t remember doing anything for you.”
Kang Fei Rao glanced at him but did not answer immediately. Only when he felt a ruinous strength beginning to crush his Corpse Core did his expression change and he quickly said, “It was an accident! You probably didn’t even know about it.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai raised his brow.
“Do you think that Sun’s True Essence was just randomly placed there? If so, you’re gravely mistaken. The reason the Sun’s True Essence was sealed in that place was to suppress an Underworld Well Spring.”
“Underworld Well Spring?” Yang Kai’s expression changed slightly.
Kang Fei Rao grinned, “Yes, it connects this world to the Underworld, where a thick Yin, Corpse, and Death Qi spring forth from. The Yin, Corpse, and Death Qi are all useless to living creatures, harmful in fact, but to my Corpse Spirit Race, it is nothing less than the finest resource! With an unlimited supply of it, our strength can rapidly grow to the limit of the Origin Returning Realm… en, perhaps even beyond!”
Kang Fei Rao thought he was at the peak of the Origin Returning Realm, but after fighting with Yang Kai, he realized he was still far from it.
“There was actually such a thing beneath Grand Burial Valley?” Yang Kai frowned slightly.
Kang Fei Rao chuckled and said, “How do you think that Corpse Cave was formed? My Ancient Yang Sect’s ancestors discovered that Underworld Well Spring long ago and used that piece of Sun’s True Essence to suppress it. However, the entire reason my noble Corpse Spirit Race could be born was because of the rich Corpse Qi which leaked into the Corpse Cave from it! Previously, we could not access that Underworld Well Spring, but after you took away that Sun’s True Essence, everything changed! Now, do you understand why this Protector must thank you?”
Yang Kai’s expression instantly turned ugly, and he said in a gloomy tone, “So, Shadowed Star becoming like this was my fault?”
“Hahaha!” Kang Fei Rao cackled towards the Heavens as he snickered, “Indeed, you are responsible! So… what do you think would happen if the people of Shadowed Star learned of this? Would they direct all their hatred towards you?”
“Are you threatening me? If you think this is enough for me to let you go, you are greatly mistaken,” Yang Kai sneered.
Kang Fei Rao’s expression flickered but he decided not to further provoke Yang Kai in the end.
Now that his Corpse Core was literally in Yang Kai’s hand, his life and death no longer his to control, naturally he would not do something so foolish.
“Who is your Religion Master? Is he one of the Corpse Generals I saw that day?” Yang Kai asked.
Kang Fei Rao shook his head, “No!”
“Then who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Nonsense!” Yang Kai coldly snorted as he tightened his grip greatly, causing Kang Fei Rao’s Corpse Core to crack slightly, as if it was on the verge of being crushed.
Kang Fei Rao trembled as he grit his teeth and snarled, “I really don’t know. Religion Master is not one of our Corpse Spirit Race at all, he just suddenly appeared inside the Corpse Cave one day and taught us some profound Secret Arts related to our Corpse Qi cultivation, as well as a method to convert others into our clansmen. Without him, it would have been impossible for us to leave the Corpse Cave already, we would likely still be groping around for a way forward in that subterranean cave; after all, none of us has cultivated like this before.”
While Kang Fei Rao spoke, Yang Kai was constantly using his Divine Sense to monitor his expressions and Soul fluctuations, but he did not notice any flaws. There were only two explanations for this, one was that Kang Fei Rao wasn’t lying and really didn’t know the identity or background of this mysterious Religion Master, or two, Kang Fei Rao’s acting skills had reached an astonishing level that could deceive even Yang Kai’s senses.
Yang Kai was more inclined to believe the former possibility.
“Then how strong is he?” Yang Kai asked again.
Kang Fei Rao’s face contorted a few times before he grits his teeth and muttered, “If I said I don’t know what his cultivation is, would you believe it?”
“What do you think?” Yang Kai glared at him coldly.
Kang Fei Rao sighed, “But I really don’t know! He never took action in front of us.”
“Then how did he become your Corpse Spirit Religion’s Religion Master? Don’t tell me that just because he taught you some cultivation and conversion methods, you all willingly submitted to him.”
“How could that be?” Kang Fei Rao sneered, a trace of irritation appearing on his face, “The reason why we brothers surrendered to him was that he…”
Kang Fei Rao had not finished speaking yet when his face suddenly changed drastically, as if something terrifying was happening to him, his eyes bulging as they filled with shock before a look of extreme pain filled his face.
A violent and unstable aura quickly spread from his body.
Yang Kai’s complexion changed as he hurriedly pulled his hand back.
The next moment, Kang Fei Rao howled miserably as a destructive aura burst from his Corpse Core. This aura rapidly transformed into a green flame that seemed to be burning Kang Fei Rao from the inside out.
Kang Fei Rao’s mouth, nose, eyes, and ears all sprayed out green flames, giving him a terrifying appearance.
In less than ten breaths of time, this powerful peak level Corpse General who had fought evenly against Ye Xi Yun was burned down by these green flames, leaving behind only a pile of black ashes.
Yang Kai watched this scene from the beginning to the end, a chill gripping his heart when it was all over.
He did not know exactly what happened to Kang Fei Rao, but he guessed that the mysterious Religion Master of Corpse Spirit Religion had placed some kind of terrible seal on him. Once Kang Fei Rao tried to reveal some key information, this seal would immediately activate, detonate his Corpse Core, and produce this corpse flame that would swiftly kill Kang Fei Rao!
Although everything was just his guess, Yang Kai was confident in his assessment!
[Such vicious methods! Such meticulous scheming!]
It wasn’t even clear what kind of sensitive information Kang Fei Rao was about to reveal that triggered the seal in his body.
Yang Kai thought back to the words Kang Fei Rao spoke just before he died, and although the other party did not articulate anything in particular, Yang Kai was still able to infer some information from it.
This mysterious Religion Master possibly had some kind of method or artifact in his hand which enabled him to control the Corpse Spirit Race!
This was the most likely scenario.
Kang Fei Rao was dead now, so it was impossible to get anything more from it. Pausing for a moment, Yang Kai could not help feeling somewhat wary of this mysterious Religion Master.
Being able to place such a seal onto one’s own subordinates proved that this Religion Master would not be someone easy to deal with.
As for Kang Fei Rao’s statement that Shadowed Star’s current crisis was at least partially his fault, Yang Kai did not attempt to deny it. However, while it was true that him taking away the Sun’s True Essence suppressing the Underworld Well Spring allowed the Corpse Spirit Race to grow much more powerful in a short period of time, the primary reason for this upheaval was no doubt the mysterious Religion Master teaching them the proper method to cultivate as well as giving them the knowledge to successfully transform others into members of the Corpse Spirit Race!
If they did not possess such a method, Corpse Spirit Religion would never have been able to expand so rapidly.
After Yang Kai mulled over these thoughts for a moment, he decided to set the entire issue aside for the time being.
Looking up, the black Origin King Grade Starship was still wantonly bombarding Corpse Spirit Religion’s army. Each Crystal Cannon volley was able to harvest at least dozens from the Corpse Spirit Race as well as those Human cultivators who had submitted to them.
During his battle with Kang Fei Rao, the Flowing Flame Sand Field’s periphery had become filled with dead bodies and scattered remains.
Letting out a light sigh, Yang Kai flew up into the sky, pushed his Space Force, and returned to the Starship.
“Return to the Sect!” He shouted sharply.
After the campaign of extermination the Starship just executed, more than half of the Corpse Spirit Religion army which was besieging High Heaven Sect had been eliminated. Even the White-Robed Corpse General Kang Fei Rao had been killed by Yang Kai, so pursuing the rest of these remnants was not a high priority.
What was most important now was to return to the Sect.
The people Yang Kai brought with him from Tong Xuan Realm needed to be settled in; after all, they had been waiting inside the Sealed World Bead for several years now and it was best for them to contact and familiarize themselves with the World Principles here as soon as possible.
Moreover, Yang Kai also wanted to know how High Heaven Sect was fairing now. It was rumoured that High Heaven Sect had suffered several losses over the past two years and that Great Elder Ye Xi Yun was seriously injured, making Yang Kai wonder if she had recovered or not by now.
The Three Blazing Flame Rings which formed the Flowing Flame Sand Field were so powerful that even an ordinary Origin King Grade Starship would be burned to ashes the moment it tried to intrude.
However, High Heaven Sect’s Starship was personally refined by Yang Yan and had her aura branded into it, so the Three Blazing Flame Rings would not harm it and easily allowed it to pass.
It was not until the huge figure of the Starship disappeared that the Corpse Spirit Religion remnants who had been running and hiding breathed a sigh of relief, but the looks of lingering fear did not leave their faces.
Under the tyrannical might of the Starship, they were not even able to summon the courage to resist as they stood there waiting to be slaughtered!
Now that the Starship had left, they felt relieved.
Without receiving any orders to retreat, though, no one dared escape far. After a short time, the Corpse Spirit Religion cultivators gathered from all directions again and began waiting for instructions from Kang Fei Rao!
However, none of them were aware that Kang Fei Rao had already fallen.
It was not until an hour later, when Kang Fei Rao still didn’t show up, that some who had grown suspicious went to investigate the small palace, only to discover that the White-Robed Corpse General was dead.
The entire army instantly went into an uproar.
One of the four Protectors of Corpse Spirit Religion had fallen, and with the reappearance of High Heaven Sect’s Origin King Grade Starship, it was like an omen of things to come.
High Heaven Sect’s headquarters was located in the fourth layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
However, after Yang Yan took back the first of the Three Blazing Flame Rings that day, the Flowing Flame Sand Field no longer had six layers, instead only consisting of four. So strictly speaking, High Heaven Sect was located in the second layer while the first layer was formed by the second of the Three Blazing Flame Rings. There was another Flame Ring which then separated the second layer from the innermost sanctum where Yang Yan was currently sleeping.
After crossing the flame barrier, Yang Kai scanned the familiar scenery around him and could not help feeling a little excited.
Although Tong Xuan Realm was his native land, he had actually lived on Shadowed Star for longer since he entered the Star Field, and with High Heaven Sect being located here, Yang Kai held a strong affinity to this place.
After all, this was the Sect he created with his own hands, the place where High Heaven Pavilion’s legacy would be carried forward. There was no substitute for the kind of emotion one attached to their own creation.
No more than an hour later, High Heaven Sect, located amidst the rolling mountains, appeared before everyone’s eyes.
The mountain road paved in white jade was clearly visible.
At the top of the mountain road, there was a huge plaque emblazoned with the words ‘High Heaven Sect’!
“A truly beautiful place,” Standing inside the Starship, Ling Tai Xu looked down through the crystal glass and felt extremely satisfied with the environment of High Heaven Sect’s headquarters.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” Yang Kai stood to the side with a smile and explained to his Grand Master, “What you see now, can only be regarded as the entrance to High Heaven Sect. There are a total of eighty-one peaks in High Heaven Sect, nine main and seventy-two auxiliary. The scenery of each peak is unique; however, because the number of disciples until now has been quite small, we have only settled on this one. As for the other peaks, even I have not fully explored them. After we land, everyone will be able to find an appropriate peak to live on.”
“Amazing!” Chu Ling Xiao felt warmth in his old chest.
They had been a little worried about having enough space to live at their destination with Yang Kai bringing over ten thousand people from the Human, Monster, and Demon Races; after all, this was no small number and they would require a massive piece of land.
But looking around and seeing the lush, verdant mountains that towered up into the clouds, the myriad of elegant and palatial pavilions, and realizing this was but one of the eighty-one peaks, the masters from the Three Clans felt that fitting ten thousand people here would be a simple task, with plenty of space leftover when everything was said and done.
“We will live here in the future?” Thunder Dragon Great Senior looked out with excitement. This place was more than a hundred times better than Tong Xuan Realm’s Beast Sea Jungle.
Not only was the World Energy extremely rich, but the scenery was also first-class. Any Monster Race master who cultivated here would no doubt have great future achievements.
A headquarters was the foundation of a clan, and as a Monster Race Great Senior, Thunder Dragon understood the importance of a strong foundation.
“Yang Kai, my Demon Race owes you a great debt. In the future, whatever commands you may have of us, my Demon Race will do its utmost to fulfil.” Even someone as proud as Zhang Yuan felt grateful from the bottom of his heart, and even subtly indicated he wished for his companions and him to join High Heaven Sect immediately.
Yang Kai simply nodded.
Strictly speaking, bringing the Monster Race and Demon Race masters brought from Tong Xuan Realm was already a great favour to them; on the other hand, Li Rong and Han Fei of Ancient Demon Clan did not think so. Yang Kai was their Lord, and they had pledged to follow Yang Kai for life, so them being able to accompany him was simply their honour and duty.
As the masters from the Three Clans were immersed in shock and joy, Yang Kai commanded the Starship to land in the massive square below. At the same time, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense to scan the surroundings, hoping to glean what High Heaven Sect’s current status was.
A moment later, however, his brow could not help furrowing.
Yang Kai quickly discovered that there were about a thousand people gathered in High Heaven Sect at this moment, but none of them had familiar auras.
Ye Xi Yun, Wu Yi, Chang Qi, Hao An, Huang Juan, and the others seemed to be absent, and even the auras of the masters from Star Emperor Mountain had disappeared.
What’s more, the Starship’s descent was by no means a subtle event, yet no one from High Heaven Sect had come out to greet them.
On the contrary, from the pavilions near the square, countless unfamiliar Divine Senses extend out and scanned them.
This discovery made Yang Kai’s face sink and his expression turn unsightly.
Noticing something was off, Ling Tai Xu leaned closer and asked in a low voice, “Yang Kai, is there something wrong?”
Yang Kai sneered softly, “There is indeed something wrong. Grand Master, please wait aboard the Starship for a moment, I’ll go and sort this situation out!”
“Understood!” Ling Tai Xu responded.
Yang Kai gestured for the High Heaven Sect disciples to open the Starship’s hatch and he quickly walked out together with Yang Xiu Zhu, Chu Han Yi, and Lin Yu Rao.
Yang Xiu Zhu and the others apparently also noticed something was wrong and after exchanging a few glances amongst themselves, Yang Xiu Zhu circulated his Saint Qi and gave a loud shout, “Sect Master has returned to the Sect!”
This shout echoed across all eighty-one of High Heaven Sect’s peaks.
Still, no one came out to greet them.
Instead, the Divine Senses that had been probing the Starship before seemed to entangle with one another, engaging in a silent exchange.
The atmosphere in High Heaven Sect suddenly became tense.
A moment later, the various Divine Senses retracted, their owners apparently reaching some kind of consensus. Only after this did people begin flying out from the various palaces and lofts.
Yang Kai stood on the square, his expression as deep and tranquil as an ancient well, a cold aura radiating from his body as he waited silently.
*Shua Shua Shua…*
One figure after another landed nearby, gradually amassing into an extremely terrifying force.
All of the people who appeared were Origin Returning Realm masters, with several of them being Third-Orders; however, when these people saw Yang Kai, their eyes would shift, as if feeling guilty. No one dared to confront Yang Kai head-on, but a number were casting him cold glances, as if looking at some kind of enemy.
Yang Kai glanced around, and his eyes quickly fixed on an old woman with white hair and a dragon head walking stick.
Beside this old woman stood a delicate and beautiful young woman. This young woman was a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, a rising star of Shadowed Star.
Yang Kai’s gaze fixed on this old woman because he knew her!
She was none other than Old Woman Feng from Myriad Beast Mountain! During the battle of Dragon Cave Mountain, she had appeared at that climax to try to snatch the Emperor Jade.
Yang Kai didn’t have a good impression of this old woman, and although she had not gone as far as the Great Elder of Demon Blood Temple Jin Shi at that time, she clearly didn’t have any good intentions towards him.
As for the beautiful young woman with a shrewd light in her eyes, Yang Kai recalled that her name was Feng Yan! She was the granddaughter of Old Woman Feng.
At this moment, Feng Yan was looking Yang Kai over with a pair of curious eyes and a kind of eagerness that made it seem she wanted to compete with him and determine who was the stronger between them.
Yang Kai naturally had no interest in her; the other party was just a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, a weakling he could crush with a wave of his hand.
Continuing to scan the crowd, Yang Kai saw some familiar as well as unfamiliar faces, with the latter being more common. However, judging by the robes they wore, Yang Kai could tell that most of them came from first-class Sects or forces on Shadowed Star.
Yang Kai also spotted the current Sect Master of Coloured Glass Sect, Gong Ao Fu and her disciple Yin Su Die!
The previous Sect Master of Coloured Glass Sect, Gong Xing He, had fallen while exploring the Emperor Garden, so his daughter Gong Ao Fu had taken over as Sect Master.
Dai Yuan was nowhere to be seen though!
Yang Kai frowned when he noticed this. He did not know where that beautiful woman who insisted on disguising herself as an ugly one had gone. Strictly speaking, she was also a disciple of Coloured Glass Sect and should have been accompanying Gong Ao Fu.
Regarding Coloured Glass Sect, Yang Kai only had a favourable impression of Dai Yuan; after all, he had worked together with her several times.
Silence filled the square as Yang Kai looked around coldly, none of these outside Origin Returning Realm cultivators showing any intention to speak up.
After a long time, Yang Kai grinned and quipped, “Interesting, this Sect Master has just returned to the Sect yet none of the Elders or disciples have come out to greet him. Instead, all of you took the trouble to see me.”
As for why these people had appeared in High Heaven Sect, Yang Kai had a fairly good guess.
When he was in Black Sea City before, he learned from Du Yan Ling that High Heaven Sect had been extremely active during the past two years. Not only had it frequently sent out masters to rescue the elites of the Human race, but under Great Elder Ye Xi Yun’s orders, High Heaven Sect even opened its doors to shelter the cultivators who had nowhere else to flee.
These people should be the ones who had taken refuge in High Heaven Sect. This was not a surprise, of course, as High Heaven Sect was the last pure land on Shadowed Star. Protected by the Three Blazing Flame Rings, no matter how powerful the Corpse Spirit Religion was, there was no way they could reach it.
No one could criticize Ye Xi Yun’s decision, even Yang Kai.
If he was in High Heaven Sect at that time, Yang Kai would have done the same. Regarding the cultivators who fled here with such difficulty, Yang Kai would not be so hard-hearted to condemn them to death outside.
However, the current situation made him extremely angry.
Although he was not clear what happened here, or why Ye Xi Yun and the others hadn’t shown up, it was obvious that these people had somehow managed to usurp control here through some malicious means.
The Origin Returning Realm masters on the opposite side continued looking at each other before everyone’s eyes finally gathered on Old Woman Feng from Myriad Beast Mountain. Old Woman Feng did not pass on this responsibility and took a step forward while putting on a kind smile and saying, “Sect Master Yang is too serious. Now that Shadowed Star has fallen into chaos, High Heaven Sect has become the last bastion of my Human Race. It is only reasonable that we come out to greet you.”
“The last bastion of the Human Race?” Yang Kai looked at Old Woman Feng with a sneer, keenly grasping the key point she was trying to make, “Is Senior Feng trying to say that High Heaven Sect now belongs to the entire Human Race? How come I, the Sect Master, know nothing about this?”
Old Woman Feng’s complexion cramped for a moment as she did not know how to respond, apparently not having expected Yang Kai’s words to be so sharp.
A burly man suddenly stepped out and interjected, “Sect Master Yang, right? High Heaven Sect can rely on its natural defences to keep Corpse Spirit Religion’s army at bay, so naturally, this treasured land has become the last bastion for our Human Race. Now that the Corpse Spirit Race is rampaging around the world, no place is safe. High Heaven Sect should think of what is best for the Human Race and share this paradise freely, or does Sect Master Yang want to object for some reason?”
“You are…” Yang Kai squinted at him.
The burly man coldly snorted, “Floating Mist Palace’s Palace Lord, Tang Fu Shui!”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, he had heard Tang Fu Shui’s name before and knew he was a peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, comparable to Fei Zhi Tu or Qian Tong from before. Floating Mist Palace was after all one of Shadowed Star’s first-class Sects.
Tang Fu Shui continued, “If my Floating Mist Palace owned such a treasure, I would open the Sect’s gates wide to accept the elites of my Human Race as well as contribute our meagre strength to preserve that final hope. Sect Master Yang’s words just now, however, sound like he is trying to accuse us of some sin; could it be possible Sect Master Yang wants to drive all of us away?”
As soon as this statement was made, many people’s expressions changed drastically, anxiety filling their faces.
It had not been easy for them to escape here to High Heaven Sect, and if Yang Kai really drove them out, their good days would come to an end. In the future, they would likely have to face the constant chasing down and suppression of Corpse Spirit Religion with no one able to guarantee their own safety.
“When did I say anything like that?” Yang Kai sneered lightly as he looked around with sharp eyes, “What are you afraid of?”
No one dared meet eyes with him.
“What does this King have to feel guilty about?” Tang Fu Shui snapped back with a gloomy expression.
A peal of delightful laughter suddenly rang out as Feng Yan, who had been standing next to Old Woman Feng, stepped forward and elegantly bowed to Yang Kai, her beautiful eyes flashing slightly as she spoke, “Junior Sister greets Senior Brother Yang. Senior Brother Yang should be patient, you have not been back to High Heaven Sect for some time so you may not be aware of the situation and have some misunderstandings. Corpse Spirit Religion is currently causing chaos all across Shadowed Star and many have fled here to High Heaven Sect seeking shelter. Senior Brother Yang is indeed High Heaven Sect’s Sect Master, the master of this place, but please consider the overall situation first. If possible, we might as well sit down and discuss this matter calmly.”
Old Woman Feng nodded slightly, clearly feeling that what her granddaughter said was very appropriate.
Even Tang Fu Shui, who had lost his temper a moment ago, wore an appreciative look on his face.
“What the hell do you count for? Junior Sister? Don’t even try to put yourself on the same level as this Sect Master!” Yang Kai glanced at her indifferently, clearly not giving her the slightest face.
Old Woman Feng’s face sank.
Feng Yan was even more furious and beautiful face twitched as she ground her teeth and clenched her fists.
Her Myriad Beast Mountain was not weak, she was the granddaughter of Old Woman Feng, and her aptitude is also quite good. Although she wasn’t as famous as Wei Gu Chang and the other first-class talents, she was still among the rising stars of Shadowed Star.
Coupled with her beautiful looks and sharp mind, she had always been sought after by young men from Myriad Beast Mountain and regarded as the goddess in their hearts.
Even the young men from other great forces flattered and courted her wherever she went.
She had lost count of how many men were fascinated by her beauty!
As such, she never put any man in her eyes, thinking that all of them were fools who she could manipulate as she willed.
Yang Kai’s reaction just now, however, made her angry out of shame. From when she was a child until now, she had never received such insults, like a cold slap had been delivered straight to her face, what’s more, in front of such a massive crowd!
Just when she was about to snap back, Yang Kai turned away and blatantly ignored her.
To Yang Kai, she was truly not worthy of his attention.
This made Feng Yan even more annoyed and her pair of beautiful eyes sprayed with anger, glaring at Yang Kai fiercely as if she wanted to rip him to pieces.
“I’ll give you the time it takes to brew a cup of tea to explain the situation here clearly, after that time is up, if this Sect Master still does not have a satisfactory answer, all of you can scram out of my High Heaven Sect!” Yang Kai’s sharp eyes swept over the crowd as he declared coldly.
The crowd immediately went into an uproar and all of those who had been afraid to meet eyes with him now glared angrily towards him.
As for the masters who had originally been hostile to Yang Kai, the murderous intent in their eyes became obvious at this moment.
Yang Kai simply sneered as he stood straight like a spear, completely unmoved in the face of all this ill intent.
He had even fought against a character like Luo Hai, a Second-Order Origin King Star Master, so how could he possibly care about these people?
Although this group had many Origin Returning Realm masters, if Yang Kai really wanted to slaughter them, none would be able to escape from High Heaven Sect today.
Their ferocious eyes were as ridiculous as a blind man complimenting a woman for her looks.
After delivering his ultimatum, Yang Kai proceeded to ignore these people while instead spreading out his Divine Sense to look for High Heaven Sect’s disciples and elders, but after searching all eighty-one peaks he still couldn’t find any trace of them.
It was as if everyone from High Heaven Sect had simply vanished.
This discovery made Yang Kai’s expression more and more ugly.
He could vaguely guess what happened here.
One possibility was that everyone was killed by these guys, making it impossible for him to find them.
The second possibility was that High Heaven Sect’s members had withdrawn from the eighty-one peaks. As for where they went, Yang Kai had a guess.
The former scenario was highly unlikely. Although High Heaven Sect’s original numbers were small and their strengths were quite weak, after absorbing Star Emperor Mountain’s masters, High Heaven Sect’s strength had dramatically increased and was no longer a soft persimmon that could be crushed at will.
What’s more, these people weren’t able to kill Ye Xi Yun.
Then there was only the second possibility. Ye Xi Yun must have evacuated High Heaven Sect’s disciples to the deepest part of the Flowing Flame Sand Field! That was where Yang Yan slept, and with the innermost ring of the Three Blazing Flame Rings protecting it, no one could enter!
Yang Kai did not know why Ye Xi Yun had made this choice, but she had her own considerations.
Just as Yang Kai took back his Divine Sense and cleared up his thoughts, an old man with a sagely temperament suddenly appeared and cupped his fists in a dignified manner, “Sect Master Yang, this old master is Medicine Pill Sect’s Great Elder Li Jian Ming. Sect Master Yang has just returned from afar and must be tired. Why not take a rest first and then we can discuss this matter in detail?”
Medicine Pill Sect! This Sect was another great force with a famous reputation on Shadowed Star. The reason was simple, this Sect was focused entirely on Alchemy, similar to Medicine Pill Sect in the Great Han Dynasty, granting it a special status on this star.
Medicine Pill Sect had five Elders, all of whom were Origin Grade Low-Rank Alchemists. They represented an extremely valuable resource to Shadowed Star and even Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect, back when they existed, would have to treat these five with respect, not daring to offend them in the slightest.
Li Jian Ming, as Medicine Pill Sect’s Great Elder, was also a prominent master of Shadowed Star, on par with the Sect Masters of other first-class forces.
He was naturally qualified to stand up and speak up here.
When this old man spoke, he stroked his grey beard and looked at Yang Kai with a confident smile on his face, as if silently saying he deserved face…
Yang Kai simply glanced at him and snorted coldly, “Half a cup of tea’s time remains. If you want to wait in silence with this Sect Master, this Sect Master is happy to accompany you, but after a half a cup of tea’s time, this Sect Master makes no guarantees with you about what happens next.”
After speaking, Yang Kai grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth like a beast waiting to pounce.
Li Jian Ming’s face changed as he said in annoyance, “Isn’t Sect Master Yang being too unreasonable? We came out to greet you, yet Sect Master Yang doesn’t give us any face, even going so far as to ignore basic decency and righteousness. Aren’t you afraid you’ll invite trouble by having such an attitude?”
Yang Kai’s eyes flashed coldly, like a sharp blade as he stared towards Li Jian Ming.
Although this old man was an Origin Grade Alchemist, his cultivation was not that high, only First-Order Origin Returning Realm, so he was unable to withstand Yang Kai’s overbearing gaze and hastily retreated two steps.
Fortunately, Yang Kai had no intention to kill him, otherwise, Li Jian Ming would have suffered greatly just from this glare.
“Bold!” Tang Fu Shui suddenly yelled, a fierce light flashing across his eyes, “You dare take action against Elder Li? Boy, you need to be taught how to respect your Seniors! You may be a Sect Master but that does not give you the right to act however you please. Today this old master will teach you a lesson so you know how to behave in the future!”
As Tang Fu Shui shouted, he pushed his Saint Qi forcefully.
Possessing Fire Attribute Saint Qi, after Tang Fu Shui began pushing it, his entire body seemingly began to burn as flames surrounded his figure, making him look like a flame giant.
Stretching out his hand, he condensed a massive burning hammer before pounding it down towards Yang Kai.
An ordinary Origin Returning Realm master would likely not be able to handle this full-powered blow from Floating Mist Palace’s Palace Master.
Even Yang Xiu Zhu, Chu Han Yi, and Lin Yu Rao, who had been standing silently behind Yang Kai, showed solemn expressions, with Yang Xiu Zhu taking a step forward and preparing to respond.
Yang Kai, however, stretched out his hand to stop him and laughed, “Not bad, finally someone could not hold themselves back. Since you court death, this Sect Master will oblige!”
As soon as these words fell, Yang Kai leapt up and met this flame giant with a vicious expression.
Upon returning to High Heaven Sect expectantly, he suddenly discovered that the Sect he had built with such difficulty had been occupied by a group of completely unrelated people while his disciples and friends were all gone.
Yang Kai had a stomach full of grievances since the beginning.
But before he could figure out what was going on here, he had forced himself to hold back and communicate with these people.
Although unlikely, he wished that there was really some kind of misunderstanding here.
Now it seemed that his tolerance was regarded as weakness by these people and someone had stepped out to bring death to themself!
Yang Kai’s anger completely erupted.
“Courting death!” Tang Fu Shui sneered as he saw Yang Kai actually try to meet his attack with his bare hands and body. Not only did he not restrain his strength, but he instead increased his Saint Qi’s output.
In an instant, the flame giant expanded again, and its aura became stronger.
Everyone’s eyes flashed as they watched Yang Kai meet this hammer head-on with mixed thoughts.
The seemingly small figure finally collided with the huge flame hammer, and at that moment, Tang Fu Shui’s complexion changed drastically as he was knocked backwards, apparently suffering a heavy blow.
*Huala…*
The giant hammer, which was condensed from the pure Saint Qi of a peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, was instantly shattered and turned into countless fragments that scattered in all directions.
Yang Kai’s figure continued forward unabated, his murderous intent so thick it was tangible, transforming into a streak of light that rushed towards the tumbling Tang Fu Shui.
Before Tang Fu Shui’s stunned eyes, Yang Kai threw a clenched fist towards his face.
Tang Fu Shui’s reaction was remarkably quick. Facing such a punch, he desperately pushed his Saint Qi to form a protective barrier around his body while at the same time he spread out his Shi and tried to escape.
However, as soon as his Shi left his body, it was shattered, as if it had met its natural enemy, and his body froze in place, unable to even move.
Yang Kai’s fist quickly enlarged in his eyes.
No Saint Qi fluctuations were coming from this punch, but that did not decrease the aura of death Tang Fu Shui felt coming from it. Before this punch even arrived, Tang Fu Shui felt his protective Saint Qi crumble and his face begin to cave in.
“No!” Tang Fu Shui yelled in horror. At this moment, he no longer possessed any of the poise a Palace Master should have and instead wore a look filled with panic as he desperately looked for a way to survive.
*Hong…*
Yang Kai punched landed straight on his face.
None of these onlookers was weak, but even they couldn’t help jumping in fright when they saw Yang Kai’s punch directly shattered Tang Fu Shui’s head.
They were even clearly able to see the whole process of Tang Fu Shui’s head exploding, as if it had been slowed down countless times, creating a memory they would never be able to forget.
Everyone fell silent as the look they gave Yang Kai changed dramatically.
Originally, some held contempt for Yang Kai, who was simply an Origin Returning Realm cultivator like them, but now, only fear remained.
What kind of strength Tang Fu Shui had? All of them understood it was not something trivial. Among the Origin Returning Realm masters present, Tang Fu Shui could rank among the top three.
But even such a master had his head shattered by a single punch from Yang Kai, dying a miserable death. During the entire process, Yang Kai showed no signs of using his Saint Qi, seemingly relying solely on his physical strength to accomplish this feat.
No one was foolish enough to think that Tang Fu Shui had underestimated his opponent, leading to his demise. Tang Fu Shui, as the Palace Master of Floating Mist Palace, was a peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator who had fought countless battles throughout his life. With such rich experience, how could he make the mistake of underestimating his enemy?
Judging from the attack he launched, it was obvious Tang Fu Shui was also going all out.
But in the end, he was still killed in one blow.
This could only mean that Yang Kai’s strength far surpassed Tang Fu Shui’s, enough so that the latter could not even last one exchange in combat.
Tang Fu Shui was a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, so was Yang Kai an Origin King?
Thinking so, everyone gasped and felt their lungs fill with frigid air.
“Execute everyone from Floating Mist Palace!” Yang Kai commanded angrily, clearly unwilling to simply let the matter drop.
Yang Xiu Zhu, Chu Han Yi, and Lin Yu Rao had also been suppressing their anger for some time now, but without Yang Kai’s orders, they did not dare act on their own. At this moment though, having received Yang Kai’s command, they immediately dashed forward, pushing their Saint Qi furiously together with their Shi as they crashed into a group of a dozen people.
These dozen people had arrived together with Tang Fu Shui and were all wearing Floating Mist Palace’s robes, making them easy to identify.
Yang Kai obviously intended to act ruthlessly!
Like tigers descending the mountain, Yang Xiu Zhu and the others rushed into the Floating Mist Palace camp and after only ten breaths filled with cries for mercy, the dozen Origin Returning Realm masters from Floating Mist Palace had all been slaughtered, none of them even able to put up a decent struggle.
Strictly speaking, Floating Mist Palace was not a weak force, and other than the dead Tang Fu Shui, who was a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master, there was another Third-Order, three Second-Order, and eight First-Order masters present.
However, these masters had been terrified by Yang Kai’s overwhelming power, while Yang Xiu Zhu and the others were peak-level masters themselves who had survived the Blood Prison Trial, so how could these dozen or so cultivators possibly offer any noteworthy resistance?
After ten breaths, a dozen fresh corpses were lying on the square and a potent smell of blood filled the air!
Yang Xiu Zhu and the others did not say a word, simply returning to stand behind Yang Kai silently after completing this task.
The audience also remained silent, with the only audible sound being the violent heartbeats of the nervous crowd. Everyone stared at Yang Kai, Yang Xiu Zhu, and the others as if they were a group of reapers, their faces filled with shock and horror.
“You… you dare use such cruel methods!” Feng Yan’s tender body trembled as she pointed at Yang Kai and said in an incredulous tone, “These are the last high-end masters of my Shadowed Star’s Human Race. If you kill them, who will be left to fight against Corpse Spirit Religion’s army in the future? Are you trying to condemn my Shadowed Star’s Human Race to extinction?”
Listening to her self-righteous words, Yang Kai only sneered, “Oh? Since they have such great strength, why aren’t they out fighting the enemy instead of cowering inside my High Heaven Sect?”
Feng Yan was struck speechless for a moment, but just as she was about to retort, Old Woman Feng suddenly glared at her.
Only then did Feng Yan come back to her senses and realized what she had just done. She really did not know what insanity had come over her that led her to condemn Yang Kai’s actions. Having awoken thanks to Old Woman Feng’s glare, Feng Yan’s tender body could not help shivering as cold sweat began soaking her clothes.
“My patience is limited!” Yang Kai repeated.
Everyone’s complexion paled as they looked towards Yang Kai in dread, but none dared to speak.
They had been relying on their superior numbers to not take Yang Kai seriously, feeling that no matter how annoyed or angry Yang Kai was, he couldn’t tear face with them on the spot. They thought that Yang Kai had no choice but to compromise with them, but after witnessing his brutal methods and terrifying strength, they realized they were greatly mistaken.
This young High Heaven Sect’s Sect Master did not need to talk to them at all, he could simply kill all of them and be done with it.
In the face of absolute force, all schemes and plans were futile.
After a long silence, Old Woman Feng sighed heavily and spoke, “The talents from the younger generation will always surpass those from the previous, we acknowledge that punishment is deserved. Sect Master Yang, just tell us what you want to know!”
Yang Kai coldly snorted, “I only want to know one thing, what happened to my High Heaven Sect!”
Old Woman Feng turned her head and glanced around, but everyone avoided her eyes, obviously not daring to be the one to explain what happened to Yang Kai. Old Woman Feng wore a depressed look and said desolately, “Sect Master Yang, this is a long story, but just know we were forced into this situation!”
“It looks like you still want to test my patience!” Yang Kai smiled wickedly as he began pushing his Saint Qi.
Old Woman Feng’s face changed drastically, and she hurriedly assumed a defensive stance.
“I will explain what happened here in High Heaven Sect.”
At that moment, a new voice suddenly called out from afar. When Yang Kai heard this voice, he thought it sounded a little familiar, and after turning his head, he saw an old man with a black face walking over to the square.
By the side of this old man was a middle-aged man who appeared to be in his forties. When this middle-aged man saw the scattered corpses here, however, he could not help crying out in surprise.
Treasure Trove Pavilion’s Yan Pei and his Disciple!
Yang Kai had also dealt with this auctioneer known as Old Black Face and knew he had a good relationship with Qian Tong, so although he was still quite annoyed, he suppressed his anger and nodded, “So it is Senior Yan!”
“Sect Master Yang is too polite, this Yan will explain what transpired here,” Old Black Face Yan Pei cupped his fists before briefly summarizing what the situation was while Yang Kai listened solemnly.
Two years ago, when Corpse Spirit Religion first appeared, it began destroying great forces like a great snowball rolling down a hill, growing bigger and more unstoppable as time passed!
Many Sects and families were slaughtered ruthlessly down to their roots, and the more famous Sects were the ones Corpse Spirit Religion focused on first.
Facing this immense onslaught, no great force on Shadowed Star was able to resist.
Shadow Moon Hall, Floating Mist Palace, Coloured Glass Sect, Clear Sky Sect, Myriad Beast Mountain, Medicine Pill Sect… all of them were destroyed one after another, resulting in countless casualties.
Because of High Heaven Sect’s special geographic location, however, Corpse Spirit Religion had no way to attack them directly.
With Yang Kai away, Ye Xi Yun was in charge of High Heaven Sect, and did not just ignore Shadowed Star’s crisis. Stemming from her sense of morality and justice, she frequently dispatched High Heaven Sect’s masters to rescue the besieged Sects.
Ye Xi Yun even personally took action.
However, though High Heaven Sect was not weak, it was still unable to reverse the situation when facing a behemoth like Corpse Spirit Religion. Not only did High Heaven Sect suffer heavy losses in the process, but it also failed to obtain any kind of decisive victory.
Finally, High Heaven Sect opened its doors to accept the cultivators who had managed to flee as a last resort.
The thousand or so people Yang Kai sensed when he first returned to High Heaven Sect were these survivors.
Upon entering High Heaven Sect, these people felt like they had suddenly arrived in Heaven from Hell, the contrast making all of them feel ecstatic!
Outside, they had to worry about the pursuit of Corpse Spirit Religion and were unable to even heal their wounds as they needed to constantly remain on guard. But inside High Heaven Sect, all these worries disappeared with the Three Blazing Flame Rings protecting them. Living here was extremely comfortable, and even if the Heavens fell outside, it would not affect this place.
What’s more, the World Energy in High Heaven Sect was the richest on Shadowed Star. Even Star Emperor Mountain could not compare to even the lowest quality peak in High Heaven Sect.
Everyone fell in love with this place!
None of them knew what the inside of the Flowing Flame Sand Field was like before, but after Ye Xi Yun accepted them in as refugees, they discovered that this place was simply an unparalleled cultivation paradise!
Who would not covet such a treasured land?
Every cultivator from every Sect was envious of High Heaven Sect.
However, none of them was foolish enough to tear face with High Heaven Sect right after they had been saved by them.
When Ye Xi Yun wanted them to join High Heaven Sect’s efforts to rescue other great forces, however, the situation changed.
They had finally managed to reach a safe haven, so how could they be willing to go out again and live the life of constant fear!
As such, none of the great forces cooperated.
Still, by doing so, they worried that their attitudes and behaviour would anger Ye Xi Yun and she would drive them out.
In order to avoid such an outcome, several Sects began to conspire and launched a pre-emptive strike against High Heaven Sect.
Since High Heaven Sect had absorbed the masters from Star Emperor Mountain, its strength was definitely not weak, but after two years of constant battles, High Heaven Sect’s forces had suffered numerous losses and everyone who had managed to come back alive was injured. With such greatly reduced strength, how could they resist the combined forces of so many of Shadowed Star’s masters?
With no other choice, Ye Xi Yun had taken High Heaven Sect’s remaining members and retreated to the innermost depths of the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
This happened two months ago.
With Ye Xi Yun and the others having retreated, these people naturally took over High Heaven Sect’s headquarters.
Although they were also worried that Ye Xi Yun would launch a counterattack after she recovered, they were more afraid of Corpse Spirit Religion’s army which had gathered outside the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
Staying here, they knew they could at least survive, but if they were forced out of High Heaven Sect, only death awaited them.
So, despite living on in shame, they still occupied prime locations inside High Heaven Sect headquarters and bided their time.
“That is the entire story,” Old Black Face Yan Pei finished his explanation and fell silent.
His Disciple, Ren Tian Rui, known as Little Black Face, opened his mouth at this point and added, “My Treasure Trove Pavilion did not participate in this matter and neither did many other great forces!”
Yang Kai glanced over at him and sneered, “Even if you didn’t participate, you didn’t try to stop it, did you?”
Ren Tian Rui’s face turned pale, and he argued back weakly, “We warned Great Elder Ye in advance!”
“Ho, then this Sect Master must properly thank you!” Yang Kai stared at him indifferently.
Being mocked by Yang Kai, Ren Tian Rui opened his mouth to explain, but Yan Pei raised his hand to stop him, “There’s no need to say anything more as this was indeed our wrong. Sect Master Yang, rest assured, this old master will bring the people of Treasure Trove Pavilion and leave High Heaven Sect!”
Yang Kai took a deep look at him but did not say anything more, simply turning his head to Old Woman Feng and the others before snickering, “How great! Great Elder Ye showed both righteousness and compassion but ended up only saving a group of ungrateful wolves, this is simply the best!”
The Origin Returning Realm masters on the opposite side all wore guilty and embarrassed expressions.
Their behaviour was indeed shameful. The cultivators present were all leaders of great forces and possessed great combat strength. Although each of them was cunning like a vox and vicious as a wolf, their actions really were something they felt ashamed of.
As such, when faced with Yang Kai’s mockery, they could not refute.
On top of that, they were afraid of arousing Yang Kai’s anger and provoking him into massacring them, so everyone held their tongues.
Old Black Face Yang Pei stood to the side, and feeling the murderous intent coming from Yang Kai, his expression was extremely solemn, opening his mouth a few times to speak, but ultimately just sighing and choosing to remain silent.
“Who took the lead!?” Yang Kai shouted sharply, his eyes flashing with cold light as he scanned the crowd.
Feeling this terrible anger, everyone involuntarily stepped back a few steps, and in the next moment, many eyes glanced towards Old Woman Feng of Myriad Beast Mountain.
Feeling these gazes, Old Woman Feng’s face changed drastically as she glanced towards Yang Kai with dread.
Yang Kai grinned back at her viciously.
Old Woman Feng no longer dared to remain and with a shout, her withered body suddenly burst out with incredible strength and she turned into a stream of light that raced outwards.
“You want to leave now? Not with your life!” Yang Kai coldly snorted before stretching out his hand towards the fleeing Old Woman Feng and clenching his fist.
Old Woman Feng, who was already a thousand metres away, suddenly felt the space around her solidify and saw innumerable tiny Void Cracks open around her, surrounding her like the sharpest of blades.
“Sect Master Yang, please wait! This old woman admits her wrongs and is willing to offer compensation!” Old Woman Feng cried out. She did not dare to fight and could only push her Saint Qi to try to resist the suction force of the surrounding Void Cracks.
“Too late!” Yang Kai remained unmoved and pushed his Space Force.
The Void Cracks hummed as they seemingly transformed into real blades and sliced through Old Woman Feng.
The next moment, the aura of Old Woman Feng, a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master from Myriad Beast Mountain, disappeared and much of her figure was banished to The Void. What was left of her body fell to the ground in the next breath, leaving behind an eye-catching pile of hashed meat and bone.
Yang Kai next cast his gaze towards the others from Myriad Beast Mountain.
These high-level executives from Myriad Beast Mountain who had come together with Old Woman Feng turned pale and showed looks filled with terror and apprehension.
Some fell to their knees and begged for mercy while others let out desperate shouts as they tried to flee like Old Woman Feng. Others realized that there would be no escape and stood their ground. Their faces were ashen, but they were still pushing their Saint Qi, preparing to fight back.
Feng Yan only stood in place, her beautiful face filled with shock, as if she could not process what had just happened.
Yang Xiu Zhu and the others did not need to wait for Yang Kai’s orders this time and shot forward, knowing what needed to be done.
Ten breaths later, all the Elders from Myriad Beast Mountain were wiped out, leaving only Feng Yan still standing stupidly in place.
The surrounding blood and the tragic deaths of her Martial Uncles and Aunts finally sobered up Feng Yan. Her tender body trembling, her thoughts in chaos, she actually chose the most unexpected action at that moment and shot towards Yang Kai while shouting, “I’ll take you down!”
Yang Kai stared at her blankly, showing no intention to stop her or even move.
Lin Yu Rao, who was standing behind him, took a step forward and waved her hand lightly, sending out a flash of light from her fingertips. A moment later, Feng Yan’s beautiful eyes instantly widened and after rushing forward a few more metres, she came to a halt just five steps from Yang Kai as a thin red line of blood appeared around her neck.
And so, Myriad Beast Mountain’s final bloodline died, and this Sect was completely removed from Shadowed Star.
“You can’t kill me!” A panicked shout suddenly came from the crowd, “This old master is the top Alchemist of Shadowed Star, he had made great contributions to the Human Race, so you can’t kill me!”
Yang Kai turned to the source of the voice and found it was Great Elder Li Jian Ming from Medicine Pill Sect.
Li Jian Ming’s complexion became pale after he witnessed Yang Kai’s ruthless methods and his spirit could not help collapsing somewhat.
“It seems that this matter is also related to your Medicine Pill Sect?” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and his figure flickered, arriving in front of Li Jian Ming in the next instant as he stretched out a hand to grab him.
Although Li Jian Ming was the Great Elder of Medicine Pill Sect, he was only a First-Order Origin Returning Realm masters in the end. Having invested most of his life into the pursuit of Alchemy, Li Jian Ming had no spare energy to pursue the Martial Dao, resulting in his cultivation being quite low, and his combat experience being even lower.
When Yang Kai reached out towards him, Li Jian Ming did not even try to dodge and instead just continued to scream, “You can’t kill me!”
Yang Kai naturally did not pay him any mind and with a slap exploded his head.
“Stop!” A shout rang out too late, only reaching Yang Kai’s ears after Li Jian Ming’s head exploded.
Turning his head and looking around, Yang Kai saw several other senior members of Medicine Pill Sect glaring at him.
As soon as Yang Kai’s cold gaze landed upon them though, the senior executives of Medicine Pill Sect felt as if they had been thrown into a blizzard and could not help shivering.
The leader of this group, another Elder from Medicine Pill Sect, was just about to continue objecting, but seeing Yang Kai staring at him like this, his jaw clenched up and he hesitantly said, “Sect Master Yang… we are willing to pledge allegiance to High Heaven Sect, all we ask in return is that Sect Master Yang show mercy to us.”
Everyone could not help showing a look of shock.
Although Medicine Pill Sect had only a few members even before the chaos, it had always been an arrogant and aloof Sect.
When Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect were in their heydays, they naturally had ideas about annexing Medicine Pill Sect. They wanted to have these Alchemists work solely for their Sects, but Medicine Pill Sect refused to compromise so despite Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect’s annoyance, they had no choice but to back down.
Eventually, they formed a cooperative relationship with Medicine Pill Sect and in exchange for a massive amount of materials and resources, Medicine Pill Sect would refine several pills for them.
But now, these Elders from Medicine Pill Sect declared their willingness to submit to High Heaven Sect.
Although Great Elder Li Jian Ming was already dead, there were still four Origin Grade Low-Rank Alchemists in Medicine Pill Sect! There were also more than a dozen Saint King Grade Alchemists present, a treasure that any force would salivate over.
Any great force that could control this many high-rank Alchemists would surely see its strength grow rapidly in the future.
Although the atmosphere here and Yang Kai’s previous methods had caused great fear in everyone present, when the Elder of Medicine Pill Sect made this offer, the others present couldn’t help looking at Yang Kai with some envy.
“We are willing to submit to High Heaven Sect. Please spare our lives, Sect Master Yang!” Seeing that their leader had already compromised, how could the other Elders dare resist? All of them immediately lowered their arrogant heads one after another, expressing their willingness to surrender.
Yang Xiu Zhu and the others raised their brows as they looked towards Yang Kai with slightly expectant expressions, as if they wanted to suggest that he agree to Medicine Pill Sect’s request.
Yang Kai just snickered, however, and asked, “I just killed Li Jian Ming, do you not hold a grudge against me?”
The expressions of the people from Medicine Pill Sect changed slightly and the Elder who spoke first took the initiative and spoke up. “Wise birds choose the best tree to roost in, we are simply making the best choice we can.”
“Haha!” Yang Kai laughed lightly before his face sank and he commanded, “Kill them!”
Everyone from Medicine Pill Sect was stunned, and Yang Xiu Zhu and the others were shocked. They did not think that Yang Kai would issue such a ruthless order.
However, they also did not hesitate, rushed out, and executed his command.
The Elders from Medicine Pill Sect shouted, “Sect Master Yang, this old master and his companions are Origin Grade Alchemists, you…”
Before he could finish speaking, Chu Han Yi lopped off his head.
The people from Medicine Pill Sect did not have much fighting strength, so Yang Xiu Zhu’s trio didn’t need to exert much effort to send them all to the next life.
Unlike before though, there was some reluctance on their faces this time.
These people were all Alchemists capable of refining pills above Saint King Grade. Never had they been willing to submit to any great force, but now they were just corpses gradually growing cold on High Heaven Sect’s main square.
Yang Kai did not care in the slightest. If he were someone else, he might really have given these people a way out; after all, Origin Grade Alchemists were not easy to come across, especially in a place like Shadowed Star.
Every Alchemist above Saint King Grade was a precious resource.
However, Yang Kai himself was an Origin King Grade Alchemist while Little Senior Sister’s Alchemy skills were even better than his, so how could he care about a few trivial Origin Grade Low-Rank Alchemists?
Instead of wasting precious herbs on them, Yang Kai would rather kill them and do it himself.
After dealing with the two primary culprits, Myriad Beast Mountain and Medicine Pill Sect, the anger and murderous intent in Yang Kai’s heart finally calmed down somewhat, and under the terrified and anxious gazes of the rest of the crowd, he declared, “You now have two choices: Submit or die!”
Everyone here was an Origin Returning Realm cultivator and represented a powerful combat force.
While Yang Kai did have the ability to slaughter them all, considering his options, Yang Kai was more interested in subduing them.
Corpse Spirit Religion was a disaster for all of Shadowed Star, and High Heaven Sect’s original forces had suffered heavy casualties, so there was a lack of powerful masters who could be deployed in battle at this moment.
These people were more useful alive than dead.
Little Black Face Ren Tian Rui had also said that many great forces did not participate in the persecution of Ye Xi Yun and the others. Most of the great forces here probably just followed along with the flow of events.
So, after killing those responsible, Yang Kai did not intend to punish the others ruthlessly. Presumably, the blood of Myriad Beast Mountain and Medicine Pill Sect that he had spilt was enough to make these people understand their place.
After Yang Kai spoke, the square fell silent once more.
Everyone was exchanging glances, but compared to the anxious ones they were wearing just now, their expressions had eased greatly.
They had been afraid that Yang Kai’s murderous intentions would not be quelled until they were all dead, and with the strength he and Yang Xiu Zhu’s trio displayed, they knew they would not be able to resist.
No one was stupid enough to question Yang Kai’s overbearing command. Compared with his brutal tactics just now, being given a choice to submit was nothing less than a great benevolence, causing many to feel relieved but also somewhat complicated.
After a short silence, however, someone stepped forward. It was a man who appeared to be in his forties or fifties. After walking up to Yang Kai, this man cupped his fists with a solemn expression, “This one is Extreme Path Sect’s Sect Master Wang Tai Zhen, I am willing to submit to High Heaven Sect and obey Sect Master Yang’s dispatch in the future!”
“My Flame Shield Union is willing to obey Sect Master Yang’s commands.”
“Extreme Martial Pavilion is willing…”
…
Within moments, more than a dozen Sects of all sizes expressed their willingness and stepped forward to salute Yang Kai.
Yang Kai stood in place, his attitude was neither warm nor cold, appearing quite unreadable.
As time passed, more and more great forces submitted.
In the face of absolute strength, if they still did not recognize reality, it was no different than courting death! These people had finally escaped to High Heaven Sect and found refuge, so how could they be willing to die here?
Although Yang Kai’s approach was a little overbearing and his attitude also made them somewhat uncomfortable, in the end, this was what they needed to do to survive.
“Coloured Glass Sect is willing to join High Heaven Sect. From now on, there shall be no Coloured Glass Sect on Shadowed Star. Please show kindness and accept us into your ranks, Sect Master Yang!” A beautiful woman walked in front of Yang Kai and her eyes flashed with a determined and sincere light.
As soon as this statement came out, the masters who had expressed their allegiance just now all gawked towards the one who had spoken, disbelief covering their faces.
Yang Kai also finally showed a look of interest upon noticing that he knew this woman.
It was none other than the current Sect Master of Coloured Glass Sect, Gong Ao Fu!
Strictly speaking, she was Dai Yuan’s Honoured Master, but for some special reasons, Dai Yuan was not favoured by Gong Ao Fu. On the contrary, Yin Su Die was treated quite well by Gong Ao Fu, always accompanying her, and was cultivated vigorously.
Even now, the beautiful Yin Su Die stood beside Gong Ao Fu, even daringly casting a few gazes of admiration towards Yang Kai.
With a slight grin on his face, Yang Kai stared at Gong Ao Fu deeply before slowly asking, “Does Sect Master Gong understand what she is saying?”
Gong Ao Fu smiled lightly as she lifted her hand and brushed her long black hair back behind her ear and said lightly, “This Mistress is not a child, so she understands. Sect Master Yang need not worry, this Mistress can take full responsibility for her words.”
Submitting and joining had completely different meanings. The Sects that had chosen to submit to Yang Kai would from now on have to obey his orders, but they would not truly belong to High Heaven Sect, they would retain their Sect name and keep their statuses within it. One day, when they left High Heaven Sect, they would also return to their own headquarters and continue the operation of their Sect.
But Gong Ao Fu said she wished to join. Joining High Heaven Sect meant she would need to disband the current Coloured Glass Sect. In other words, Coloured Glass Sect’s history would end with her generation. If Yang Kai was willing to accept them, they would become disciples of High Heaven Sect.
At that point, Yang Kai would be in full control of their destinies. In the future, they would never be able to leave High Heaven Sect or revive Coloured Glass Sect without Yang Kai’s consent. Leaving without permission would be the same as betraying the Sect, an offence none could tolerate.
This was an extremely bold decision. The Origin Returning Realm masters in the square were shocked, and their expressions fluctuated greatly; but soon, many showed looks of admiration.
They naturally understood what Gong Ao Fu was thinking. Yang Kai had returned and displayed astonishing personal strength. On top of that, only High Heaven Sect remained safe on Shadowed Star. Joining High Heaven Sect at this time was undoubtedly the right choice as they would undoubtedly receive much greater attention and care.
But even understanding this, if they were really asked to give up their Sect and join High Heaven Sect instead, most would probably be unwilling.
Cultivators always regarded their origin and its inheritance very seriously! All of them proudly wore their Sect’s emblems, which represented centuries, if not millennia of history and tradition.
Even Yang Kai was no different in this regard.
This was why when he established his own Sect on Shadowed Star, he had named it High Heaven Sect, not Nine Heavens Holy Land or Soaring Heaven Sect! Although the latter two Sects had close ties to him, and he was the Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land, it was obvious how large his sentiments for High Heaven Pavilion were.
In the end, High Heaven Pavilion was his original home, and he carried a special affection towards it, one that Nine Heavens Holy Land and Soaring Heaven Sect could not replace.
Gong Ao Fu taking the initiative to disband Coloured Glass Sect and join High Heaven Sect showed that his beautiful woman had far greater vision that most people present, as well as firmer determination. If this were not the case, she would never have been able to make this decision which ran counter to all of her ancestral teachings.
Yang Kai looked at her directly, staring into her eyes, as if trying to see through to her heart.
Gong Ao Fu did not attempt to evade his gaze, seemingly not feeling the slightest guilt or fear, just continuing to meet Yang Kai eyes with clear and limpid vision.
“Does Sect Master Yang disdain my Coloured Glass Sect Shi for being too weak?”
Seeing that Yang Kai still hadn’t responded after some time, Gong Ao Fu couldn’t help feeling slightly anxious and said, “Coloured Glass Sect has suffered disaster and has very few disciples left. Those who followed this Mistress to High Heaven Sect only number fifty, but among them are ten Origin Realm masters, and the others have Saint King cultivations.”
“Being able to escape with fifty people, not bad at all,” Yang Kai casually complimented, but he still did not show any indication to accept or reject her.
Gong Ao Fu couldn’t help feeling a little awkward and continued, “This Mistress knows that there has been some unpleasantness between Coloured Glass Sect and Sect Master Yang before, but if Sect Master Yang is willing to forgive these transgressions and accept us, this Mistress will swear an oath that even if she dies the cruellest of deaths she will not betray Sect Master Yang’s trust!”
A woman needed incredible determination to make such a pledge as even most men would not have the courage to do so.
Having made this pledge, Gong Ao Fu called out suddenly, “Su Die, kneel down and apologize to Sect Master Yang! I know some of your actions in the past have angered Sect Master Yang.”
Yin Su Die’s tender body trembled when she heard this and she immediately directed a miserable look towards Yang Kai, one that could elicit pity from even the hardest of hearts; however, she did not dare disobey Gong Ao Fu’s command and really knelt in full view of this crowd before uttering in a weak voice, “Su Die was ignorant before and offended Sect Master Yang. Please do not take Su Die’s previous slights to heart, Sect Master Yang.”
She was now a First-Order Origin Returning Realm master, and if it were not for Gong Ao Fu’s order, it would have been absolutely impossible for her to humiliate herself like this.
Otherwise, once word of this spread, she would not be able to show her face in public in the future.
“Sect Master Yang, you…” Gong Ao Fu looked at Yang Kai tentatively.
Yang Kai pondered for a moment before narrowing his eyes towards Gong Ao Fu before speaking, “I want to know where Dai Yuan is. Sect Master Gong should be clear about her whereabouts, no?”
Dai Yuan was one of Yang Kai’s few friends on Shadowed Star, and although their friendship was not too deep, it was not shallow. However, since Yang Kai appeared here, he had been unable to sense any trace of Dai Yuan. Logically speaking, if Dai Yuan had managed to escape here to High Heaven Sect, she should have appeared at this time.
Yang Kai had not seen her yet though, annoying him somewhat and making him worried about whether something had happened to Dai Yuan.
Hearing Yang Kai’s question, Gong Ao Fu actually relaxed and said with a smile, “If Sect Master Yang is worried about the safety of this Mistress’ Disciple, this Mistress can guarantee that she is currently well.”
“Why do you say so?”
“Dai Yuan followed Great Elder Ye to the innermost depths of the Flowing Flame Sand Field, so she is naturally safe now.”
Yang Kai’s expression changed as he could not help feeling some surprise.
Yang Kai could guess why Dai Yuan had chosen to follow Ye Xi Yun into the deepest part of the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
It must have been because she did not want to associate herself with the people in this square, so she had chosen to abandon her Sect and side with Ye Xi Yun without hesitation. Yang Kai was also certain he was a driving force behind this decision.
If it were not for his friendship with Dai Yuan, she would never have taken such an action that could only be seen as a betrayal to her Sect.
Yang Kai could not help feeling moved.
While he did not have many friends on Shadowed Star, each one of them was a true companion he could trust whole-heartedly. There was no need to question Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er’s demeanours. To rescue Fei Zhi Tu, they had willingly thrown themselves into a trap, ignoring the life or death risk involved, and what Dai Yuan had done here was tantamount to treason to her Sect.
“I wonder if Sect Master Yang is satisfied with this Mistress’ answer?” Gong Ao Fu asked, but her face was already full of smiles. She had seen through Yang Kai’s thoughts, so she was no longer worried like before.
Yang Kai laughed loudly, stretched out his hand to help Yin Su Die up before nodding, “Since Sect Master Gong has such intentions, it would be too unkind if this Sect Master still refuses. From now on, Coloured Under Glass Sect’s survivors will be my High Heaven Sect’s disciples, sharing weal and woe together!”
Gong Ao Fu obtained the answer she wanted and immediately cupped her fists, “Many thanks, Sect Master. This Mistress greets Sect Master!”
She immediately changed how she addressed Yang Kai, narrowing the gap between them ever so slightly.
“Disciple greets Sect Master!” Yin Su Die also elegantly bowed, her pretty face blushing slightly, revealing a shy but enchanting light.
Yang Kai, however, knew her nature well and would not be deceived by this innocent act.
This woman cultivated Charm Techniques and it was an instinct for her to change her temperament to attract men’s attention.
She had not even tried to let go of Yang Kai’s hand, instead holding on to him tighter, like she was smitten with him.
Yang Kai’s brow twitched slightly as he glanced at her deeply before withdrawing his hand silently. Turning his focus, he then announced, “Sect Master Gong has great strength, and since you have now joined my High Heaven Sect, you will take up the position of Elder. En, the original disciples of Coloured Glass Sect will also be under your command.”
Gong Ao Fu’s delicate lips parted as a wave of emotion flashed across her beautiful eyes.
After joining High Heaven Sect, not only were they not pushed aside or oppressed, Yang Kai was even willing to let the original disciples Coloured Glass Sect remain under her control while also granting her the status of an Elder. Naturally, this greatly moved this beautiful woman.
“Also, if there is a chance in the future, and Elder Gong wishes to revive Coloured Glass Sect, this Sect Master will not object!” Yang Kai thought for a moment before throwing out another shocking commitment.
This time, Gong Ao Fu’s eyes became slightly moist as she bowed solemnly, “This Mistress offers her sincerest thanks to Sect Master. From this day forward, this Mistress will do her utmost to contribute to High Heaven Sect so as not to disappoint Sect Master’s expectations!”
She truly surrendered to Yang Kai this time.
Originally, joining High Heaven Sect was just a stopgap measure to protect the last remnants of Coloured Glass Sect, but it had already yielded such incredible returns, so how could Gong Ao Fu not feel immense gratitude?
At this moment, the other Sects present showed looks of regret.
None of them had expected Yang Kai to be so generous, even allowing Coloured Glass Sect to rebuild itself in the future. If they had known this, how could they have bothered debating such minor pros and cons in their hearts, they would have straight up asked to join High Heaven Sect as well.
Unfortunately, it was now too late for regrets. Although Yang Kai apparently possessed a forgiving and amiable personality, he was clearly no fool. After they had already seen the treatment Coloured Glass Sect received, how could he accept others coming up and wishing to join now?
Many people wore bitter looks, but they quickly set such stray thoughts aside and moved forward to congratulate Gong Ao Fu.
Gong Ao Fu was now considered an Elder of High Heaven Sect, so they needed to fawn upon her.
Gong Ao Fu also seemed to be in a jubilant mood because of Yang Kai’s words and responded to everyone who came up to her with a smile and appropriate words. After all, she had previously been a Sect Master herself, so dealing with these trivial pleasantries was not an issue for her.
Yang Kai glanced around until his eyes finally fixed on Yan Pei.
Yan Pei’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot, making it impossible for anyone to tell his thoughts from his expression, but seeing Yang Kai looking at him, he took the initiative to sigh and cup his fists, “Sect Master Yang please take care, this old master will take his leave!”
Yang Kai chuckled, “Where does Senior Yan plan to go?”
Yan Pei frowned as he replied, “I don’t know, we’ll just take one step at a time.”
The Corpse Spirit Religion army was everywhere outside, and although Treasure Trove Pavilion was not weak, it naturally couldn’t compete with the former. If this weren’t the case, Yan Pei would not have brought his people here to seek refuge inside High Heaven Sect. Now that he had to depart, he naturally felt the future was bleak.
“If Senior Yan does not object, he might as well remain here. Although my High Heaven Sect has nothing extraordinary about it, it has more than enough land to accommodate the people of your Treasure Trove Pavilion.”
Yan Pei’s body shook as his old black face glowed with a hint of excitement. Turning to Yang Kai gratefully, he lowered his head and said, “This old master is ashamed!”
When the masters from the various Sects were making trouble for High Heaven Sect previously, although the people from Treasure Trove Pavilion did not participate, they also did not stand up to stop them, only going so far as to warn Ye Xi Yun in advance.
Towards a benefactor who had saved their lives and given them asylum, this was undoubtedly ungrateful behaviour.
And now, Yang Kai was even willing to retain them, repaying ingratitude with mercy and making Yan Pei feel quite ashamed and embarrassed.
He knew that there was not much friendship between Yang Kai and Treasure Trove Pavilion, only a few business dealings related to mutual interests. The reason why Yang Kai offered to let them remain was mainly because of Qian Tong’s face.
The personal relationship between Yan Pei and Qian Tong was quite good after all.
“Senior Yan is too serious. After this catastrophe passes, this Yang’s High Heaven Sect will no doubt receive help from Treasure Trove Pavilion regarding certain matters. When the time comes, I hope Senior Yan will not refuse!” Yang Kai smiled slightly.
“Sect Master Yang need not worry about that. If High Heaven Sect has a use for my Treasure Trove Pavilion in the future, it only needs to say the word,” Yan Pei pledged solemnly.
Yang Kai smiled with satisfaction, thinking Old Black Face Yan Pei was someone who understood propriety.
While his taking the initiative to offer shelter to Yan Pei was truly related to Qian Tong, Yang Kai’s main reason for doing so was because Treasure Trove Pavilion could not be taken lightly. Perhaps their combat power was not worth mentioning in front of him, but Treasure Trove Pavilion had influence all across Shadowed Star and had developed many businesses and channels that High Heaven Sect simply did not have. If High Heaven Sect wanted to grow in the future, it would not be a bad idea to have such an ally.
Moreover, the culprits who forced Ye Xi Yun to withdraw from High Heaven Sect had all been punished, so the flames of anger in Yang Kai’s heart had been greatly extinguished. He was not interested in pursuing those who were left here for this crime.
It would be a huge loss for Shadowed Star to kill all the people present. Instead of dying by his hand, it would be better to have them redeem themselves by fighting Corpse Spirit Religion.
For a time, the square actually became quite lively; however, ninety-nine percent of the masters present were still acting cautiously towards Yang Kai, lest they upset him accidentally.
Only Gong Ao Fu and the former members of Coloured Glass Sect who had officially joined High Heaven Sect wore a more natural expression.
Yang Kai had not returned to High Heaven Sect for a long time, so he was quite concerned about the Sect’s affairs. He was also very concerned about Ye Xi Yun and the others, so he did not waste any more time than necessary chatting with these people. After sending them back to their respective residences, he summoned out the rest of the people aboard the Starship.
Yang Kai did not need to issue any orders to these people as Yang Xiu Zhu and the others were more than capable of organizing themselves.
Yang Kai then hurried towards the sixth layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
To Yang Kai’s surprise, however, before he could even leave High Heaven Sect’s perimeter, he saw a large cluster of lights flying towards him. At the head of this group, Yang Kai felt a familiar aura that belonged to Ye Xi Yun.
Yang Kai was stunned for a moment, but soon understood. Although he had only appeared in the square a short time ago, he had raised quite a ruckus, so it wasn’t a surprise that Ye Xi Yun had noticed and brought the original High Heaven Sect members out from the sixth layer.
Since they were returning on their own, Yang Kai simply stood in place and waited.
A moment later, a group of more than two hundred people, led by Ye Xi Yun, landed not far in front of Yang Kai.
Before Yang Kai could even examine Ye Xi Yun’s condition, he heard Great Elder Ye ask, “Finished processing everything?”
Yang Kai was startled for a moment but soon laughed, “Great Elder has such faith in me?”
Ye Xi Yun replied indifferently, “You are the Sect Master, who else can this Queen have faith in?”
Yang Kai sighed and nodded, “It has been handled.”
Ye Xi Yun turned in the direction of the square and asked lightly, “The smell of blood is quite strong, did many die?”
Yang Kai snickered, “Myriad Beast Mountain, Medicine Pill Sect, and Floating Mist Palace have been wiped out!”
Ye Xi Yun did not react much, but the people behind her all showed uplifted looks, knowing they had obtained justice.
It was these three forces which had incited the others to begin with, leading to those many masters opposing High Heaven Sect and forcing Ye Xi Yun to withdraw.
“Sect Master!” Chang Qi suddenly walked out from behind and saluted Yang Kai, “Please understand, Sect Master, Great Elder had us withdraw from the headquarters not because we weren’t those thieves’ opponents, but because Great Elder was worried about the weaker disciples of the Sect. Our High Heaven Sect’s numbers are still quite thin so we cannot afford to lose anyone.”
“I know,” Yang Kai smiled lightly.
Chang Qi was taken aback but soon retreated without saying anything more.
Yang Kai originally thought that the reason Ye Xi Yun had retreated to the depths of the Flowing Flame Sand Field was that they were greatly outnumbered, and after seeing this group and their current states, he immediately confirmed his speculations.
Although the number of people in front of him was far smaller than when he left High Heaven Sect, and almost all of them had suffered varying degrees of injuries, Ye Xi Yun did not seem to be greatly affected. With her means, even if Myriad Beast Mountain, Medicine Pill Sect, and Floating Mist Palace tried, how could they have possibly driven her away?
The reason she took the initiative to retreat was simply to take care of the others from the Sect.
She may have been able to defeat ten opponents by herself, but the others could not, especially the former disciples of the Hai Ke Family who were the first to follow Yang Kai. These disciples were currently all Saint Kings at best.
If Ye Xi Yun had not withdrawn, all these lower disciples would have died without complete corpses.
In other words, if Ye Xi Yun had chosen to fight to the bitter end, High Heaven Sect would certainly have suffered immensely while at least half of the people back at the square would have also died.
“Since Sect Master understands, this Queen won’t bother explaining anything more,” Ye Xi Yun nodded lightly, her expression as indifferent as ever.
“How are Great Elder’s injuries? I heard on the way back that you fought against two masters from Corpse Spirit Religion and suffered severe wounds.”
“En, I truly was not their opponent in a two on one, but my condition now is stable. After another month or so I should be fully recovered.
“That’s good, the Sect will soon be receiving a great many people so I will need Great Elder to help properly arrange them.”
Ye Xi Yun glanced over at Yang Kai and snorted, “You seem quite happy you can sit back and remain idle.”
Yang Kai laughed loudly, “This is not my strong point. Moreover, I have been away from the Sect for nearly eight years now, so I really don’t understand its current situation.”
“Forget it, when the time comes, I’ll make the necessary arrangements,” Ye Xi Yun waved her hand and accepted.
The group of two hundred or so then quickly returned to the Sect’s headquarters.
When Yang Kai let out the ten thousand people from the Three Clans from the Sealed World Bead, even the always composed Ye Xi Yun could not help changing continence slightly.
Although she had been informed by Yang Kai that he had brought a large number of people to High Heaven Sect, she had not expected for there to be this many.
Fortunately, these people were all brought back by Yang Kai from his homeland, so there was no need to worry about issues of loyalty.
In other words, in terms of the number of people alone, today’s High Heaven Sect had completely eclipsed any great force on Shadowed Star! Of course, this was with the exception of Corpse Spirit Religion. Now, more and more people were submitting to Corpse Spirit Religion, and almost half Shadowed Star had fallen into its clutches.
With ten thousand people from the Three Clans, arranging them was definitely a problem.
However, Yang Kai was not worried about this problem at all.
After summoning the top masters from the Three Clans, Ye Xi Yun asked them about their respective requirements before quickly assigning them to various peaks.
There were ready-made palaces and buildings on each of these peaks, so the Human, Monster, and Demon Race clansmen only needed to clean them up a bit before moving in.
As for the original disciples of High Heaven Sect, they all went back to their original residences.
In just one day, Ye Xi Yun had processed these matters to an acceptable degree.
High Heaven Sect had absorbed nearly ten thousand new recruits all at once, so it was conceivable that it would truly become the greatest Sect on Shadowed Star at some point in the future.
After this new blood was injected into High Heaven Sect, the utilization rate of the eighty-one peaks increased to a little less than one-fifth, which meant most of the peaks still remained unoccupied.
The other masters from the outside Sects who had come here to seek refuge could only stare at these peaks with envy, helpless to do anything about it.
Most of them had offended High Heaven Sect, so although Yang Kai showed no intent to pursue their crimes, they still had to live cautiously, lest they irritate him and suddenly be expelled.
Over the next few days, Yang Kai spent some time patrolling and inspecting the various peaks to make sure the Three Clans were settling in properly.
The results of his investigation satisfied him greatly. No one from the Three Clans showed any dissatisfaction. Compared with Tong Xuan Realm, Shadowed Star was simply a cultivated paradise, not to mention that High Heaven Sect occupied the best location on Shadowed Star.
After the situation in the Sect settled down, Yang Kai began to deal with other matters.
The first priority was naturally to heal Ye Xi Yun and the others. Among the original members of High Heaven Sect, Ye Xi Yun was not the only one injured; in fact, a vast majority of the Origin Returning Realm masters of the Sect were suffering from wounds.
These wounds were left behind from the battles with Corpse Spirit Religion. The wounds themselves had traces of Corpse Qi in them, making them difficult to heal. The insidious Corpse Qi was not only corrosive, but also had the effect of hindering Saint Qi circulation.
It required a targeted type of detoxification pill to cleanse.
Before the Corpse Qi was purged from their wounds, it would be impossible to fully recover; until now, these masters had used their powerful cultivations to suppress this Corpse Qi, then slowly used their Saint Qi to expel it from their bodies, but this process was a long and arduous one.
After Yang Kai returned, this situation changed dramatically.
Working together with Xia Ning Chang, Yang Kai refined a special pill to detoxify the Corpse Qi. After taking a single pill, the Corpse Qi was rapidly dissolved.
Without the Corpse Qi hindering their recovery, it wasn’t difficult for the High Heaven Sect masters to heal themselves with their powerful cultivations, especially since Yang Kai provided them with a large number of high-grade healing pills to use as auxiliaries.
As such, within ten days or so, the problems which had plagued High Heaven Sect’s masters for months were solved and its high-end combat power was completely restored.
During the most recent incident, because of Ye Xi Yun’s quick decisions, there was no loss of personnel from High Heaven Sect. In addition, she took away all of High Heaven Sect’s most precious treasures before she had withdrawn from the Sect, including the Red Candle Fruit piece, the Ten Thousand Year Incense, and the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree. Basically, High Heaven Sect’s headquarters had not suffered any losses besides being occupied by outsiders for a time.
After Ye Xi Yun returned, the Red Candle Fruit, Ten Thousand Year Incense, and Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree were returned to their original places.
The former was the key to refining a special Origin King Pill while the latter two provided massive boosts to those who were trying to break through. All these treasures had unimaginable value to the entire Sect.
And so, High Heaven Sect had completely settled down ten days later.
Inside the main hall, Yang Kai had summoned all High Heaven Sect’s Elders.
No one knew what he was going to do, but they had all gathered promptly.
To start the meeting, Yang Kai didn’t mention anything of great importance, simply expressing his gratitude to all of the Elders for their silent contributions over the years and also saying how he was looking forward to the bright future of High Heaven Sect.
Only after some time had passed did Yang Kai suddenly smile mysteriously and say, “During my expedition, I obtained some good things for everyone. Although these things may not be able to play a decisive role on Shadowed Star, it will still allow all of you to comprehend some of the mysteries of the Origin King Realm. I believe that as long as you accumulate enough strength, you will only need to escape from the suppression of Shadowed Star’s World Principles in the future before breaking through to the Origin King Realm!”
When these words fell, the entire hall went silent as everyone stared dumbfounded towards Yang Kai, somewhat unable to digest this fantastical news.
Even Ye Xi Yun was stunned and gave a curious look towards Yang Kai, wondering what he was talking about.
The Origin King Realm had always been an unreachable legend on Shadowed Star, with even a master like Ye Xi Yun unable to take that final step. Although she chose to remain on Shadowed Star instead of accompanying Yang Kai in his most recent journey, that did not mean she had no desire towards this realm.
On the contrary, her desire to reach the Origin King Realm was stronger than anyone else’s because she already possessed the qualifications to break through, her Shi having long ago reached the grand accomplishment stage!
The reason she chose to stay behind was simply that she wanted to protect Yang Yan, fearing that some accident might have happened if no one remained behind to command the Sect.
Hearing Yang Kai’s words, she naturally was extremely interested.
“Sect Master, what kind of treasure has such amazing effects?” Gong Ao Fu asked with a smile.
Although she had only just become an Elder of High Heaven Sect, she quickly integrated herself and had managed to win the approval of most of the others in less than half a month with her steadfast personality and upright character.
As such, she had some say in such discussions.
Everyone looked towards Yang Kai curiously, waiting expectantly for him to answer.
“This!” Yang Kai did not keep them in suspense and quickly took out a dull crystal from his Space Ring.
As soon as this crystal appeared, a gentle yet profound aura filled the hall, causing all of the Origin Returning Realm masters present to wear looks of shock, bewilderment, and curiosity. Although they couldn’t quite grasp what this power was, they could tell it was some kind of deeper, more profound form of Shi.
“Domain Stone!” Yang Xiu Zhu’s eyes flashed as he quickly revealed the origins of this crystal.
Chu Han Yi and Lin Yu Rao also recognized this treasure and exclaimed together with pleasant surprise adorning their faces.
“What is a Domain Stone?” Ye Xi Yun frowned slightly. Of everyone present, her cultivation was the strongest, so she realized how deep and profound the energy pulsing from this crystal was. She had only felt it briefly, but could already sense her soul being cleansed, so it was easy for her to imagine what kind of benefits she could obtain if she cultivated with this crystal for an extended period.
Yang Kai simply smiled and motioned to Yang Xiu Zhu to explain.
Yang Xiu Zhu did not refuse and immediately explained the origins and purpose of this Domain Stone.
When they heard that this thing was actually condensed from the Domains of fallen Origin King Realm masters, the eyes of everyone in the hall lit up brightly.
When next they heard that one could comprehend the mysteries of Domain by refining this Domain Stone, every Elder in the hall began breathing heavily, staring towards the Domain Stone in Yang Kai’s hands unblinkingly, as if they were a pack of feral beasts who had just found a luscious feast.
Everyone’s eyes flashed with naked desire.
“Domain Stones are a unique product formed in the Blood Prison on Green Mountains Star. Every piece is invaluable. Although this Yang also entered to explore the Blood Prison, he was not fortunate enough to obtain such a treasure. Elder Lin, on the other hand, managed to harvest a single piece,” Yang Xiu Zhu looked at Lin Yu Rao with envy.
Lin Yu Rao smiled and took out a Domain Stone from her Space Ring so that everyone could see.
Chu Han Yi wore a blank but clearly envious look as well.
When the three of them journeyed deeper into the Blood Prison, they had gone their separate ways, and although they did not encounter any calamities thanks to their tyrannical cultivations, they also did not gain many benefits. On the contrary, Qian Tong had managed to take a step further and after leaving the Blood Prison broke through to the Origin King Realm.
If they had enough Domain Stones, they could unscrupulously consume them to comprehend the mysteries of Domain, it was nothing short of the greatest treasure a peak Origin Returning Realm master could obtain.
“Elder Lin’s luck is truly amazing!” Chang Qi sighed.
However, Chang Qi, Hao An, Ning Xiang Chen, Huang Juan and many of the others present did not have the same feelings of envy as Yang Xiu Zhu and the other peak level masters as they had only reached the First-Order Origin Returning Realm. Even if they obtained a Domain Stone, it would not be of much use to them with their current cultivation. At most, they would be able to use a Domain Stone to help them comprehend the mysteries of Shi.
After all, Domain was the evolved form of Shi, so studying the mysteries of a Domain Stone would naturally be helpful to one’s Shi cultivation.
That being said, Domain Stones still held an undeniable attraction to any Origin Returning Realm master!
After Ye Xi Yun fell silent for a time, she suddenly declared, “Sect Master, if it is convenient, this Queen wants ten Domain Stones!”
Gasps sounded throughout the hall as Yang Xiu Zhu and the others turned their heads to look at Ye Xi Yun in confusion.
Others may not know the preciousness of Domain Stones, but Yang Xiu Zhu and the others who had joined Yang Kai did. All three of them had participated in the Blood Prison Trial, but only Lin Yu Rao managed to obtain a single piece. Now, however, Ye Xi Yun actually asked for ten all at once.
This was more than just asking for the lion’s share!
It was also completely incompatible with Great Elder’s normal style!
Was this really the always benevolent and generous Great Elder? Why did she suddenly seem no different from a marketplace thief?
Yang Xiu Zhu and the others could not help feeling dazed.
Ye Xi Yun just snorted lightly, “Do you think Sect Master only had this one piece? With Sect Master’s personality, if he did not have many in his possession, how could he make such a big show of it here? He’s not the type that likes to show off his wealth to others.”
Hearing this, Yang Xiu Zhu and the other Elders suddenly understood and immediately turned scorching eyes filled with hope and expectation towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter as he shook his head and said, “Great Elder truly understands people’s hearts, it seems I cannot hide anything from you.”
“Sect Master…” Yang Xiu Zhu gulped audibly, his lips feeling slightly dry.
“Indeed! I did gain a lot of Domain Stones during the Blood Prison Trial… en, many!” Yang Kai didn’t try to hide anything as he smiled at everyone.
“How many… is many?” Chu Han Yi asked with a trembling voice.
“Enough for each of you to have ten!” Yang Kai smiled slightly.
*Si…*
Yang Xiu Zhu and the others drew sharp breaths as they stared at Yang Kai in admiration.
There were not many people in the hall, only about fifteen in total, including Gong Ao Fu and Dai Yuan who had recently joined High Heaven Sect.
Gong Ao Fu knew that Yang Kai did not like Yin Su Die and instead cared deeply about Dai Yuan, so she had recently started bringing Dai Yuan to accompany her instead of Yin Su Die, who seemed to have fallen into a bit of disfavour.
“Hmm… It seems that this Queen underestimated Sect Master’s capabilities, I should have asked for more,” Ye Xi Yun frowned slightly, her expression a little annoyed.
Yang Kai simply laughed loudly, “If Great Elder wants more, I can naturally satisfy her, but with Great Elder’s cultivation and comprehension of Shi, I think that two or three would be more than enough. Any more and you would have no use for them.”
“Even if this Queen cannot use them, she can keep them for others,” Ye Xi Yun said lightly, “But forget it, ten it is.”
Yang Kai did not say anything more, simply waving his hand and sending ten Domain Stones over to Ye Xi Yun.
Without even moving, Ye Xi Yun’s Space Ring flashed, and the Domain Stones were pocketed by her.
She truly displayed the skill and composure of a true master.
“Sect Master…” Yang Xiu Zhu blushed slightly as he rubbed his hands and stared at Yang Kai eagerly.
He was not the kind of person to flatter others, maintaining his upright and honest personality from his many years of cultivation on Star Emperor Mountain even after entering High Heaven Sect, but he was determined not to lag behind anyone else this time.
Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters valued Domain Stones far more than others, and although Yang Xiu Zhu had failed to break through to the Origin King Realm this time, he was fully confident he could successfully advance the next time he left Shadowed Star as long as he had enough Domain Stones to use!
What’s more, High Heaven Sect could launch long-distance voyages, so he firmly believed that Yang Kai would take them away from Shadowed Star again in the future!
Yang Xiu Zhu, Chu Han Yi and Lin Yu Rao got ten Domain Stones each as they wished.
All of them believed that with so many Domain Stones, they would be able to comprehend the mysteries of Domain. Coupled with their experiences in the Blood Prison Trial, their chances of breaking through to the Origin King Realm would not be small when they left Shadowed Star next time.
The others in the hall were also given different numbers of Domain Stones according to their cultivation.
Yang Kai gave five to each Second-Order Origin Realm, and three to each First-Order.
As long as they could make good use of the gentle energy in these Domain Stones, it wouldn’t be a problem for them to condense their Shi to the grand accomplishment stage.
It was not that Yang Kai was being stingy or was unwilling to give them more, it was just that giving them more would be pointless. Although Domain Stones were consumable resources, they were very different from Saint Crystals as they could each be used for an extended time.
The Domain Stones given out by Yang Kai would be sufficient for their use for quite a while.
After distributing these Domain Stones, Yang Kai took out a large number of artifacts with different appearances and superior grades from his Space Ring.
These artifacts were all trophies Yang Kai obtained from his exploits, most of which he had taken from the Monster Race masters he had killed from Monster Emperor Star. All the artifacts he took out were Origin Grade, with no lack of those at the High-Rank.
With these artifacts, Yang Kai believed that the strength of everyone present would greatly improve, and their chances of survival in the coming battle with Corpse Spirit Religion would also increase. As for how to distribute these things, Yang Kai did not need to consider it, simply handing everything over to Ye Xi Yun to process.
There were also all kinds of pills and auxiliary resources.
Yang Kai’s Space Ring was a veritable treasure trove, and everything he took out shocked and moved the people in the hall.
After finishing this, Yang Kai brought Xia Ning Chang and Su Yan back to First Heavenly Palace.
Since establishing High Heaven Sect, Yang Kai had been living in First Heavenly Palace, and although the area of this palace was not too large, it was not small either, with many different rooms and courtyards available to use. In the past, only Yang Kai lived here, but now, Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang would naturally be accompanying him.
Although High Heaven Sect was perfectly safe and there was no need to worry about any kind of danger befalling them, Yang Kai still hoped to improve the strength of his dearest people.
There was no need to worry about Su Yan as she now possessed the power of the Ice Phoenix Source as well as Profound Frost. With her Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation, no one on Shadowed Star could be her opponent unless Qian Tong personally made a move.
And naturally, Qian Tong attacking Su Yan was impossible.
Xia Ning Chang had just recently broken through to the Second-Order Origin Returning Realm. Since becoming the Star Master of Tong Xuan Realm, her cultivation speed had become even faster than before. Over the years, she had immersed herself in Alchemy, and with her Special Constitution, her strength would continue to increase even if she did not deliberately cultivate.
However, Second-Order Origin Returning Realm was still too weak in the end.
Yang Kai took out a deep green coloured Artifact Armour and a wheel-shaped artifact before handing both to Xia Ning Chang, “Little Senior Sister, find some time to refine these two things, I believe they will be very helpful to you.”
“This Artifact Armour is quite beautiful,” Xia Ning Chang did not pay any attention to the wheel-shaped artifact at first and instead became engrossed with the green Artifact Armour.
Yang Kai chuckled, “Although I don’t know the specific grade of this Artifact Armour, it is definitely Origin King Grade. With it, few people in this world will be able to break your defences.”
Xia Ning Chang was not very proficient in combat, so this defensive Artifact Armour was undoubtedly best suited for her.
“Where did Junior Brother obtain this from? Isn’t it quite precious?” Xia Ning Chang held it and looked it over a few times, seemingly quite fond of it.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s precious or not, the important thing is whether it can protect you for me.”
Xia Ning Chang looked up at Yang Kai and smiled with a satisfied expression.
This Artifact Armour was something he obtained in the Blood Prison. When Yang Kai retrieved Mad Crocodile Monster King’s Origin Essence Crystal, he had also obtained his Space Ring along with its contents.
Mad Crocodile Monster King was a peak Third-Order Origin King before he died, so how could the items in his Space Ring possibly be ordinary?
It was not an exaggeration to say that most of the artifacts and pills that Yang Kai had distributed in the hall earlier came from Mad Crocodile Monster King’s Space Ring.
Compared with this Origin King Grade Artifact Armour, however, the rest of the wealth in that Space Ring was not worth mentioning. Of course, this wealth was not anything to scoff at either and would be enough to support the current High Heaven Sect for a few years at the very least.
“Take this one too,” Yang Kai pressed the wheel-shaped artifact into her hands again.
This wheel-like artifact was also an Origin King Grade artifact and originally belonged to Heaven Battling Union: the Sun and Moon Golden Wheel!
When Yang Kai fought with Heaven Battling Union Master Qu Zheng and killed him, this Sun and Moon Golden Wheel was the greatest trophy he obtained and he had been holding onto it since then.
As long as Little Senior Sister refined these two Origin King Grade artifacts, she would no longer need to fear any enemy below the Origin King Realm.
Xia Ning Chang did not raise any objections and obediently accepted the green Artifact Armour and Sun and Moon Golden Wheel from Yang Kai. Casting a quick, nervous glance over towards Su Yan, who had been sitting nearby, Little Senior Sister quickly arrived in front of Yang Kai and kissed him on the cheek before scamping away like a frightened rabbit.
She moved extremely fast, as if running away after doing something shameful.
Su Yan looked at Yang Kai with a smile and said meaningfully, “Ning Chang has become far more courageous, it must be your bad influence!”
Yang Kai could only let out a burst of hollow laughter.
He had nothing to give to Su Yan now as back in Ice Heart Valley, he had given her the most important Ice Phoenix Empress Inheritance. At the same time, Yang Kai had given her the Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal.
With the assistance of the Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal, Su Yan’s cultivation speed had greatly increased, and with Profound Frost, there was no point in giving her additional outside boosts.
Yang Kai suddenly remembered Shan Qing Luo, about how he had separated from her in the Blood Prison and given her two hundred Domain Stone as well as the Origin King Grade Thunder Fire Seven Birds Whip.
He could not help wondering how that enchantress was doing now and whether her cultivation was going well.
Yang Kai then thought about Yang Yan…
“Senior Sister, please cultivate first. I’ll be going out for a bit,” Yang Kai suddenly got up.
Su Yan nodded lightly, took out the Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal, sat cross-legged in front of it, held a Domain Stone in her palm, closed her eyes, and began to cultivate.
Yang Kai left First Heavenly Palace and flew straight towards the centre of the Flowing Flame Sand Field.
Although he had learned from Ye Xi Yun that Yang Yan was still in a state of deep sleep, her condition not having changed all these years, Yang Kai still wanted to see her with his own eyes.
On Shadowed Star, Yang Yan was no doubt his closest friend, and if there had been no accidents, that friendship would likely have lasted a lifetime.
However, the events surrounding Yang Yan’s life were much too grand for that to happen now, and it was impossible to say exactly who she would be after she truly awoke. Even Yang Kai was uncertain about the future.
The original sixth layer of the Flowing Flame Sand Field was not large, only a dozen kilometres or so in diameter.
Holding a Star Emperor Token in his hand, Yang Kai easily crossed the fifth-layer Flame Area and reached the small bamboo forest.
Yang Kai then landed and walked through the bamboo forest to the small loft at its centre.
The Flowing Flame Sand Field’s sixth layer had always been a restricted area of High Heaven Sect. Previously, only Great Elder Ye Xi Yun could set foot here, with no one else being allowed to enter. It was only after the upheaval in the Sect headquarters that Ye Xi Yun had no other choice but to bring the others to the sixth layer, finally allowing the rest of High Heaven Sect to learn of the existence of this place.
However, the central loft was still off-limits to everyone.
Yang Kai was the only exception!
Crossing the bamboo forest, Yang Kai soon arrived in front of the loft, and after sweeping it with his Divine Sense, he went straight inside and ascended to the second floor.
The second floor was quite sparse, only having a simple wooden bed and nothing else.
On the wooden bed was a black-robed woman with a slender waist and a stunning figure. It was Yang Yan, whom Yang Kai had not seen for many years. She did not appear physically different from his memories, but her temperament was somewhat different.
When Yang Kai approached to look, he felt a sense of oppression coming from her Yang Yan. Even in a deep sleep, a frightening aura radiated from her figure.
It was as if just looking at her was blasphemy towards an immortal fairy.
Yang Kai was startled for a moment before his face suddenly changed.
His vision clouded and Yang Yan’s face unexpectedly began to blur, making it impossible for Yang Kai to see her clearly. It was as if she had somehow become ethereal and illusory at this moment.
His own Divine Sense was also dragged into an abyss by an invisible force, spiralling down and out of his control.
Yang Kai hastily bit the tip of his tongue and gave a small shout, the pain which allowed his Soul to break free from this whirlpool and his vision to re-focus.
A cold sweat leaked out and began soaking his clothes.
“Emperor Pressure… truly frightening!” Yang Kai muttered in lingering fear.
Even in an unconscious state, the Emperor Pressure emanating from Yang Yan was able to warp Yang Kai’s Divine Sense, making him wonder just what would happen once she awoke.
However, he had only come here to check in on Yang Yan; after all, he had not seen her for many years. When he was still quite weak, Yang Yan had helped him immensely. Without Yang Yan, there would have been no Dragon Cave Mountain or High Heaven Sect.
Yang Kai was incredibly grateful to her.
Understanding that Yang Yan was fine, just sleeping still, Yang Kai nodded lightly and was about to turn around and leave.
However, at that moment, he noticed Yang Yan’s fingers move ever so slightly, causing his body to shake as he froze in place and stared towards the wooden bed breathlessly.
An invisible force emerged from Yang Yan’s body and like the giant maw of a beast engulfed Yang Kai, not giving him any time to react or resist.
Immediately afterwards, a flash of light blinded Yang Kai’s eyes and he found himself in a familiar-looking environment.
A sea of flames rolled down below, containing terrifying energy that seemed capable of destroying Heaven and Earth. In the sky, there were various balls of multi-coloured light inside of which different scenes flashed by at such rapid speed that even Yang Kai was unable to see them clearly.
“This is…” Yang Kai frowned, looked around, and quickly understood what exactly this place was.
“A Knowledge Sea?” Yang Kai exclaimed.
“Yes, this is my Knowledge Sea,” A voice came from the side.
Yang Kai turned his head and saw Yang Yan sitting cross-legged in the void, forming a series of strange seals with her hands, her face extremely solemn as various halos of light flashed around her, giving her an almost sacred aura.
She looked at him with a smile, no different from the Yang Yan in his memory.
“Is it you, or her?” Yang Kai frowned, uncertain of the answer.
Yang Yan pursed her lips, “Is there a difference?”
Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders, “It might not make a difference to you, but it does to me. I don’t want to be killed after angering the Starry Sky Great Emperor!”
“I am the Starry Sky Great Emperor!” Yang Yan snorted.
“Good, seems like it’s still you,” Yang Kai relaxed. As long as it wasn’t the legendary Great Emperor he was talking to, there wouldn’t be any problem. Having made this determination, he then asked, “Did you need something from me?”
“Not really,” Yang Yan shook her head slowly, “I just felt your aura and decided to bring you here.”
Yang Kai smiled bitterly.
Even he felt that he was no longer a weak Junior. His strength had grown rapidly over the years and he was now invincible below the Origin King Realm. Even if it was against an ordinary First-Order Origin King, Yang Kai was confident he could fight back.
But compared to Yang Yan, he was still nothing but an ant she could squash at will…
Yang Kai could not help feeling depressed.
Seemingly aware of what he was thinking, Yang Yan just giggled, “You don’t have to belittle yourself. To be honest, I have never met anyone with such rapid cultivation as you. Even in that place, you would be considered a peak genius. All you lack is the tempering of time. As long as you have enough time, you will be able to stand at the same height as me one day.”
“Are you trying to comfort me?” Yang Kai glanced at her, frowned, and asked, “Where is ‘that place’ you mentioned?”
Yang Yan laughed lightly without answering, appearing mysterious.
Seeing that she did not have any intention to explain, Yang Kai waved his hand, “Forget it, just pretend I didn’t ask.”
Yang Yan gently nodded before her expression suddenly became serious, “Although I have been sleeping, fusing my Embodiment and Soul, I am not completely ignorant of the outside world. I have felt that something big has happened to Shadowed Star in recent years, and just two months ago Ye Xi Yun even brought a number of people here. What happened? Is High Heaven Sect alright?”
“High Heaven Sect is fine, but Shadowed Star is in great trouble.” Yang Kai sighed and flew over to Yang Yan before sitting down cross-legged and telling her about Corpse Spirit Religion’s rise.
Yang Yan listened attentively, and after Yang Kai was finished, she nodded lightly, “It turns out that there was a suppressed Underworld Well Spring under Grand Burial Valley. This really is partially our fault then. If we had not taken that Sun’s True Essence away, that Underworld Well Spring would never have reappeared.”
“And that’s why I am troubled over this. If it was something else, I wouldn’t care as it did not involve High Heaven Sect. No matter what kind of chaos is raised outside, it has no way to affect High Heaven Sect’s headquarters, but in the end, this is related to me, so I cannot just feign un-involvement,” Yang Kai sighed.
Yang Yan agreed with Yang Kai’s point of view and after thinking for a moment asked, “Can you go confront that Corpse Spirit Religion Master?”
“Are you interested in him?” Yang Kai frowned.
“It’s not interest per-say, it’s just that I feel his methods of creating Corpse Spirits, and the methods he’s using to control Corpse Spirit Religion are quite similar to someone else I know.”
“Who?” Yang Kai was surprised.
“He called himself the Corpse Emperor, and he also controlled a race back then called the Corpse Spirit Race, which is why I asked.”
“Corpse Emperor…” Yang Kai drew a sharp breath, his expression fluctuating as he asked, “Is he on the same level as you?”
Yang Yan was the Starry Sky Great Emperor, and since this guy dared to call himself the Corpse Emperor, he was obviously a cultivator of the same rank as Yang Yan.
Yang Yan nodded gently.
Yang Kai’s complexion instantly became extremely ugly.
Yang Yan saw this and smiled, “You don’t need to be so anxious, the Corpse Emperor can’t come here, so there’s no way that Religion Master is the Corpse Emperor; instead, I suspect he is only somewhat connected to the Corpse Emperor, perhaps that one old acquaintance of mine as that fellow was also acquainted with the Corpse Emperor. Their friendship was quite good, so it wouldn’t be a surprise for him to know how to transform corpses!”
Yang Kai grit his teeth as he stared at Yang Yan, “Even if that person is not the Corpse Emperor, since he is your old acquaintance, he is not someone I can face. Wouldn’t rushing to confront him be courting death?”
“Of course, I’m not going to send you out there just to die!” Yang Yan glared at Yang Kai angrily, “If that person is really who I suspect he is, his strength will definitely not reach the Origin King Realm. At most, he will be a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator now. Shadowed Star has its own World Principles, so as long as he is stuck here, it is basically impossible for him to have broken through!”
Yang Kai’s expression instantly cleared up. If this mysterious Religion Master was truly just a Third-Order Origin Realm cultivator, then there was nothing to be afraid of.
However…
“What kind of story does that old acquaintance of yours possess that causes you such concern?” Yang Kai asked suspiciously.
Yang Yan went silent for a while before explaining, “You should know that the reason my true body fell into a long slumber was that it was severely injured in a great battle, forcing me to retreat to the Emperor Garden to recover. That old acquaintance… is the one who injured me!”
Yang Kai had to try extremely hard to maintain his composure as he asked, “Didn’t you say that in that battle that person died?”
Yang Kai also had some knowledge of these long-past events. The reason why the Starry Sky Great Emperor had fallen into a deep slumber was that the damage to her body was too great while her enemy had been exterminated.
But now, Yang Yan mentioned that her enemy might still be alive.
Yang Kai could not help feeling anxious.
Anyone who could harm Yang Yan was undoubtedly like her and the Corpse Emperor, a master on an incredible level.
“I destroyed his body and crushed his Soul, but that guy’s methods of escaping are first-class. Perhaps he found a way for a portion of his Soul to escape without me noticing. However, you can rest assured that his situation is quite different from mine. I was injured heavily, but as long as I had enough time and resources, I would be able to recover while his body was completely destroyed, so even if he wants to return to his peak, it won’t be that simple, especially on Shadowed Star.”
Yang Kai frowned and nodded, “If that’s the case, I can go look for him now, but even if it is like you said, and that Corpse Spirit Religion Religion Master is your old enemy, what do you plan to do about him?”
Yang Yan shook her head, “Not me, you! If that Corpse Spirit Religion Religion Master is really him, you must kill him in the shortest time possible, otherwise, the entire Star Field will suffer greatly once he manages to restore himself to a certain degree.”
“You are the Starry Sky Great Emperor, can’t you just wave your hand and consign him to oblivion?” Yang Kai looked at Yang Yan with a somewhat frustrated look.
Yang Yan shook her head, “I can’t act temporarily.”
Yang Kai suddenly felt like cursing, but after holding his tongue for a long time, he nodded fiercely and said, “Fine. I’ll go confront him.”
“Be careful. He is extremely cruel and specializes in controlling others to do his bidding. He rarely shows up in person, so if you find an opportunity, make sure you go for the kill!”
“I know!” Yang Kai answered casually.
“Then, return!” Yang Yan waved her hand and in the next moment, Yang Kai felt a repulsive force coming from the Knowledge Sea around him.
When he came back to his senses, Yang Kai found that he was still standing at the edge of the wooden bed while Yang Yan’s eyes were still closed tightly, sleeping in front of him.
Turning around, Yang Kai strode out of the loft.
Although he had promised Yang Yan to go confront the mysterious Religion Master as soon as possible, considering how secretive the other party was acting, even keeping the White-Robed Corpse General Yang Kai had killed in the dark about his true cultivation and face, finding and killing him would undoubtedly be a very difficult task.
Fortunately, Yang Kai did not intend to act alone.
After returning to High Heaven Sect, Yang Kai immediately sent someone to send a message to Qian Tong.
Now, Qian Tong was the undisputed strongest master on Shadowed Star with his Origin King Realm cultivation, so he would be able to play a critical role in this upcoming action.
Shadow Moon Hall should have stabilized by now, and if they wanted to solve the problems of Shadowed Star once and for all, eradicating Corpse Spirit Religion was an absolute necessity. Qian Tong should be more than willing to join hands with him to deal with the mysterious Religion Master.
Shadow Moon Hall was quite far from High Heaven Sect though, so even if Qian Tong were to come, it would take at least a month for him to arrive.
As such, Yang Kai decided to wait patiently while improving his strength.
In Ice Heart Valley, Yang Kai used the Star Emperor Token to fight Luo Hai, breaking through his own shackles and reaching the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, only one step away from the Origin King Realm.
On the way back, his cultivation had continued to consolidate and grow, gradually approaching the limits of his current realm, while his Shi had reached the grand accomplishment stage.
Also, thanks to the numerous Domain Stones in his possession and his experiences inside the Blood Prison Trial, Yang Kai also had a decent understanding of Domain.
In other words, if not for the current conditions not permitting it, Yang Kai could already begin breaking through to the Origin King Realm.
However, he was not in such a hurry. His Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation was the foundation upon which he would strive for the Origin King Realm, so the more he consolidated and strengthened it, the easier it would be for him to form his Domain after breaking through.
Yang Kai intended to wait until after Corpse Spirit Religion had been dealt with before leaving Shadowed Star again to break through, as well as deal with several outstanding issues he had in mind.
These few issues were crucial to improving his strength as well as his understanding of the mysteries of the Star Field.
Time passed day by day, with nothing of great surprise happening in High Heaven Sect. Almost everyone was immersed in cultivation.
Everyone understood that such peaceful days would not last long. Once the time was ripe, Yang Kai would launch a grand campaign against Corpse Spirit Religion. At that time, even if they wanted to cultivate, they would have no time.
It was for this reason that the masters of High Heaven Sect cherished the current calm and used every moment of it to increase their strength. The stronger they were, the better they could preserve their lives and the more enemies they could kill in the war to come.
One month later, Qian Tong rushed to High Heaven Sect and was immediately welcomed into the headquarters by the High Heaven Sect disciple posted outside.
Ever since Yang Kai beheaded White-Robed Corpse General Kang Fei Rao, the Corpse Spirit Religion army that was besieging High Heaven Sect had scattered. Now, High Heaven Sect had finally restored its connection with the outside world and begun gathering intelligence from all around the star. As a result, Qian Tong’s journey had gone without any incident.
After informing Qian Tong of his plan, Qian Tong immediately agreed.
Qian Tong also understood the principle of defeating one general to warn a thousand soldiers. Corpse Spirit Religion had been growing like a plague these past two years, expanding with ever-increasing speed. The number of masters transformed into Corpse Spirit Race clansmen and Human Race cultivators who had chosen to submit was simply countless. It was too difficult to kill all these people outright, so the better option was to decapitate Corpse Spirit Religion’s leadership by killing the mysterious Religion Master.
After Qian Tong assumed command of Shadow Moon Hall again, he had also been making investigations into Corpse Spirit Religion, and all the signs pointed to Grand Burial Valley being the root of everything; there was no doubt it was the place where Corpse Spirit Religion rose from!
Originally, he was still considering whether he should go to Grand Burial Valley to investigate the situation, but now that he received confirmation from Yang Kai, he had no reason to hesitate. Immediately, he and Yang Kai set off from High Heaven Sect and rushed to Grand Burial Valley.
This time, Yang Kai did not bring anyone else, only travelling together with Qian Tong. He even had Su Yan remain behind in High Heaven Sect.
Qian Tong was already an Origin King Realm master, so his speed was naturally incredibly fast, but although Yang Kai’s cultivation was not as high, his speed was actually noticeably faster because of his Dao of Space.
Less than ten days later, the pair arrived outside Grand Burial Valley.
When Yang Kai and Yang Yan came here last time, the Yin Qi which pervaded Grand Burial Valley was quite thick and could make any cultivator who entered feel uncomfortable, but it was still tolerable.
Now, when Yang Kai and Qian Tong arrived here and looked down from the sky, they could not help frowning.
Below, a thick haze enveloped all Grand Burial Valley, cloaking it in a veil so thick it was impossible to see through. This thick mist was clearly comprised of rich, frigid Yin Qi and poisonous Corpse Qi.
If a living person entered this place without sufficient strength, it would not be long before the omnipresent Corpse Qi invaded their body and transformed them into a member of the Corpse Spirit Race.
Under the perception of their Divine Senses, Yang Kai and Qian Tong noticed many dense Corpse Qi auras moving about.
Obviously, these were Corpse Spirit Race clansmen!
Just scanning the periphery revealed at least a thousand Corpse Spirits, so it wasn’t hard to imagine just how many of them were hidden deeper inside Grand Burial Valley.
“Let’s split up. Yang Kai, if you meet that Corpse Spirit Religion master, remember to send word to this old master immediately. This old master will go in first and thin these foul creatures out a bit,” Qian Tong exhorted before immediately turning into a stream of light and smashing down into Grand Burial Valley, kicking up a terrifying storm of wind and thunder wherever he went. Even the rich Corpse Qi which covered Grand Burial Valley was being dispersed by Qian Tong.
Qian Tong released his Domain and controlled all the wind within a ten-kilometre range around himself, pulling in the Corpse Spirits nearby and shredding them to pieces.
He did not intend to hide his whereabouts, simply charging about openly!
Yang Kai smiled slightly but didn’t care too much.
With Qian Tong’s current strength, no one on Shadowed Star was his opponent, so he was more than qualified to act this boldly.
And by doing so, Qian Tong was able to draw all the attention of Corpse Spirit Religion, creating an opportunity for Yang Kai to infiltrate and search this place more easily.
This was the plan they had agreed upon on the way here.
After only a brief moment, the thousand or so Corpse Spirits Yang Kai and Qian Tong had initially sensed were wiped out. An Origin King’s methods could not be underestimated! Qian Tong was not content to just stop here though, and immediately flew deeper into the valley, drawing in more Corpse Spirits and slaughtering them before they even knew what was happening.
Just as Qian Tong aggressively attacked and drew Corpse Spirit Religion’s attention, Yang Kai’s figure flickered and disappeared.
Following his memories from the last time he was here, Yang Kai swiftly proceeded towards the deepest depths of Grand Burial Valley.
The origin of Corpse Spirit Religion was no doubt the Underworld Well Spring in the lowest depths of the Corpse Cave. This was the foundation upon which Corpse Spirit Religion was built, so Yang Kai made it his first destination. If he could destroy this Underworld Well Spring, Corpse Spirit Religion would become a rootless tree, a river without a source. When that happened, it would be a simple matter to eradicate it. Otherwise, if the Underworld Well Spring was allowed to remain, no matter how many Corpse Spirits were killed, they could always create more.
Rumblings sounded in the distance as unfamiliar voices constantly cried out. Naturally, these were the voices of the Corpse Spirit Religion masters Qian Tong was fighting. Although he wasn’t able to observe this scene, Yang Kai knew that Qian Tong’s was engaging in a one-sided slaughter, forcing the Corpse Spirit Race to retreat in defeat again and again.
Only half a day later, Yang Kai reached the entrance of the Corpse Cave.
Along the way, Yang Kai ran into some Corpse Spirits, but these were all weaklings who could not impede him in any way. Yang Kai was able to kill all of them without even slowing his pace.
The entrance to the Corpse Cave had not changed and was not even hidden. Originally, it was hidden behind a powerful Spirit Array, but after Yang Yan cracked it last time, it no longer played any role.
From the mouth of the Corpse Cave, a thick Corpse Qi continued billowing out. The concentration and danger of the Corpse Qi in this location was far greater than anywhere else in Grand Burial Valley. Standing firm, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense to probe the situation slightly before diving in.
The Corpse Cave was as dark and damp as Yang Kai remembered, and a brief investigation revealed that many stone chambers now had traces of Corpse Spirit activities.
However, the chaos Qian Tong was stirring up outside was too great, so most of the Corpse Spirits inside were either rushing out or had already left to provide support to their besieged allies.
After Yang Kai entered, he immediately hid inside a nearby stone chamber to avoid a wave of Corpse Spirit Race reinforcements.
His task right now was to find the whereabouts of the mysterious Religion Master, so he did not want to expose his presence prematurely.
The Corpse Spirit Race clansmen passed by without noticing anything. After they left, Yang Kai walked out and scanned his surroundings.
This stone chamber was pitch black, with no source of light, but that did not hinder Yang Kai’s observation.
With just a glance, Yang Kai’s expression became gloomy.
He discovered that there were many complete corpses stored in this chamber, and each of them was being wrapped in a rich Corpse Qi, like a chrysalis. With the constant injection of Corpse Qi, these corpses were slowly undergoing some subtle changes, obviously transforming into members of the Corpse Spirit Race.
There were some corpses here that had already become more of a Corpse Spirit Race than a human! As long as they could completely absorb the chrysalis-like Corpse Qi outside their bodies, they would definitely become a part of the Corpse Spirit Race!
[So, this is how they transform!] Yang Kai nodded lightly.
He had speculated that this was the method Corpse Spirit Race members were created since Corpse Spirits couldn’t emerge from thin air. First, a suitable body was required, and the source of these bodies was the cultivators from great forces Corpse Spirit Religion had conquered.
These corpses were brought back to the Corpse Cave, where the rich Corpse Qi was used to transform them into members of the Corpse Spirit Race.
However, it appeared that this process was not perfect. Yang Kai found some semi-finished products without the slightest aura in this stone room as well, undoubtedly the results of previous failures.
The strength of a successfully transformed Corpse Spirit also seemed to be correlated to their cultivation before they died. The higher the cultivation a master possessed in life, the higher their initial strength would be after the transformation. This was no doubt why the Corpse Spirit Race clansmen named Fang Feng Qi wanted Fei Zhi Tu’s body in Heavenly Fate City.
After all, Fei Zhi Tu was one of Shadowed Star’s strongest masters.
The corpses stored in this stone chamber did not possess high cultivation, all of them below the Saint King Realm with most being Saints. There were also some Transcendent and Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivators mixed in.
These Corpse Spirits were undoubtedly meant to be used as pawns in Corpse Spirit Religion’s army, their only true advantage being superior numbers.
However, in this Corpse Cave, there were countless similar stone chambers, and if Yang Kai’s guess wasn’t wrong, the further down he went, the stronger the corpses would become.
Remaining silent, Yang Kai continued diving deeper.
Soon, he found that his guess was correct. The further down he went, the higher the cultivation of those corpses during their lifetime became, gradually changing from mostly Saints and Saint Kings to Origin Realm masters.
Of course, the total number of such corpses also grew smaller.
Yang Kai even saw a completely transformed Corpse Spirit Race man clawing his way out of his chrysalis. It seemed he had just been reborn. This Corpse Spirit Race man turned to the sky and roared, a putrid aura pulsing wildly from his body as two fangs extended out of the corners of his mouth and white needle-like hairs jetting out from his skin.
Having just finished his transformation, he obviously did not know how to control his power.
Yang Kai continued deeper without alerting any of the Corpse Spirits here, gradually reaching the position where he obtained the Sun’s True Essence that day.
This was originally the treasury of the Ancient Yang Sect and had a total of three rooms. The innermost room was where the Sun’s True Essence and Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade Pedestal had been placed.
Standing outside the treasury, Yang Kai frowned suddenly as he turned his gaze towards the inner depths for a moment before grinning lightly and striding inside.
The first and second rooms had Corpse Spirits lined up on either side, each of them possessing Origin Realm cultivation. But when Yang Kai walked in, none of them attacked immediately, instead just glaring at him fiercely. Watching Yang Kai, these Corpse Spirit masters hissing threateningly as he walked inside, only moving to block the entrance after he had passed through.
Yang Kai went straight to the third room of the treasury.
The third room had changed quite a lot. This place was now decorated magnificently and luxuriously, with many fist-sized light stones inlaid on the surrounding walls, exuding a soft light, making it seem like a magnificent palace.
At the very centre of this palace, there was a pool about three metres in radius inside of which a kind of yellow water was constantly tumbling and bubbling.
Yang Kai’s eyes fixed on this pool for a moment before he concluded that this was the legendary Underworld Well Spring! The yellow water in this pool was naturally not water but the embodiment of pure nether energy.
This kind of energy had no positive effect on living creatures, it was extremely harmful in fact, but it was of great use to the Corpse Spirit Race!
Yang Kai even felt some slight Space Force fluctuations coming from this Underworld Well Spring.
He had some speculations about what this meant, but he could not be too sure.
Shaking his head slightly, Yang Kai looked up towards a figure sitting on a throne up ahead.
The figure sitting on the chair was wearing ordinary clothes, but his entire image was being distorted by a strange energy barrier. Even when Yang Kai used his Divine Sense, he was unable to see this individual’s true face.
However, Yang Kai felt that the other party was somehow familiar, as if he had met him somewhere before.
This discovery made Yang Kai frown.
If his guess was right, this person should be the mysterious Religion Master of Corpse Spirit Religion.
But Yang Kai was unable to feel the slightest bit of Corpse Qi from him! In other words, he was not a member of the Corpse Spirit Race at all.
It might indeed be as Yang Yan had told him; this guy was the one she had fought against all those millennia ago and was skilled in the methods of creating Corpse Spirits as well as controlling them, allowing him to occupy such a position of power.
While Yang Kai was pondering these issues, the seated man suddenly laughed and spoke in an approving tone, “To think you really found this place, your courage isn’t small!”
Hearing the voice of this person, Yang Kai furrowed his brow as he stared straight at the blurred figure, as if trying to see through this haze and to his true face.
The other party did not even try to remain hidden though, slowly retracting the field around him and revealing a handsome face.
“Lu Ye?” Yang Kai called out in surprise.
It turned out to be Flowing Cloud Valley’s Young Master Lu Ye, the one who had tried to kill him multiple times before!
The first time Yang Kai confronted him was during the opening of the Flowing Flame Sand Field. When Yang Kai tried to obtain the Red Candle Stalk, Lu Ye had suddenly appeared and attempted to kill him. Yang Kai fought back and even managed to cut off one of his arms, but Lu Ye had still managed to escape.
Later, Lu Ye had used the Xie Family to attack him once more during the battle of Dragon Cave Mountain, instigating and controlling Xie Li and others to attack Dragon Cave Mountain.
Yang Kai didn’t even know why Lu Ye had such strong animosity towards him.
In the past, Yang Kai had thought Lu Ye merely held some kind of unreasonable grudge against him, but now… many thoughts connected suddenly, and Yang Kai arrived at a bold conjecture.
“Perhaps I shouldn’t call you Lu Ye, after all, you only seized that body for yourself!” Yang Kai’s lips curled upwards into a confident grin.
Lu Ye was stunned for a moment, apparently not expecting his secret to be revealed here. Staring at Yang Kai with some surprise, he nodded, “You are correct, this King has apparently looked down on you!”
“Is figuring that out really that difficult?” Yang Kai chuckled lightly, “The first time I met you was inside that pool of Soul Cleaning Divine Water in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. I obtained an Origin Essence Crystal from that pond if I recall, and after that, you never stopped targeting me. I assume that Origin Essence Crystal was yours, yes?”
Lu Ye’s originally handsome and serene expression suddenly twisted into a hideous one, with blue veins popping up all over his forehead as he shouted, “That’s right, that Origin Essence Crystal was this King’s! Where did you put it! Why can’t this King sense its aura?”
That incident was a nightmare that continued to haunt Lu Ye. If it weren’t for Yang Kai taking away his Origin Essence Crystal, he would only have needed to integrate his own Origin Essence Crystal after he seized this body and at least half of his original strength would have instantly been restored. Even if he was still suppressed by Shadowed Star’s World Principles and unable to break through to the Origin King Realm on the spot, becoming the strongest Origin Realm master on Shadowed Star would have been a given.
After that, he would only need to find a place to retreat for a few dozen years and restoring his original cultivation would not have been a dream. By then, the entire Star Field would bend to his will.
But everything had been ruined by Yang Kai!
He could not sense the existence of his own Origin Essence Crystal, let alone retrieve it, the crystallization and essence of his previous cultivation. Without that, wanting to restore his previous strength with the innate aptitude of Lu Ye’s body was more difficult than trying to ascend to the Heavens.
After so many years, he had only barely been able to reach the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, an unbearable reality for him!
“Sorry, I already absorbed that thing!” Yang Kai smiled and pointed his finger at his head.
“Impossible!” Lu Ye denied vehemently, looking at Yang Kai as contemptuously as if he were an ant and sneering, “With your strength, there is no way you could have refined this King’s Origin Essence Crystal!”
The Soul which had seized Lu Ye’s body was on the same level as the Starry Sky Great Emperor before his death, so the Origin Essence Crystal he left behind was naturally of extremely high grade. Even if an Origin King masters absorbed it, the slightest rashness would have led to their Soul being extinguished.
Yang Kai only had a Saint King cultivation at that time, so how could he have possibly absorbed it?
Lu Ye obviously would not believe such nonsense. He only thought that Yang Kai was lying and had hidden his Origin Essence Crystal by some special means, making it impossible for him to sense it.
“Believe what you want!” Yang Kai shrugged nonchalantly, certainly not willing to give a full explanation to Lu Ye. In the end, it was the Soul Warming Lotus which had refined the Origin Essence Crystal, having next to nothing to do with Yang Kai. In fact, it was not until recently that Yang Kai even realized that crystal back then was an Origin Essence Crystal.
“Enough nonsense, you’ve barged into my home uninvited today, so don’t think you can just walk away. As long as this King seizes you, he will naturally be able to retrieve his Origin Essence Crystal!” Lu Ye coldly snorted as the aura around his body filled with malevolence.
Yang Kai just laughed loudly, “You are at death’s door, yet you’re still shamelessly boasting!”
Hearing this, and seeing Yang Kai’s expression, Lu Ye could not help frowning slightly.
The next moment, the entire Corpse Cave suddenly shook violently, and an extremely powerful aura descended through it. This aura immediately surrounded Lu Ye, immobilizing him with an ugly expression on his face.
*Hong long long…*
The ground split apart suddenly and a hole opened up in the palace above where Yang Kai and Lu Ye were located, a figure leaping down and sending a palm towards Lu Ye in the next instant.
Lu Ye’s complexion changed drastically as he madly pushed his Shi to try to free himself.
But in front of this palm, everything he tried was futile.
His Shi easily shattered by this palm, Lu Ye only had enough time to let out one last roar before his body was ground into a pool of blood and flesh.
Qian Tong landed in the next instant, a slightly suspicious look on his face as he glanced over at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai also wore a stunned expression.
The two of them obviously hadn’t expected that Lu Ye would be patted to death like this!
“That was Corpse Spirit Religion’s Religion Master?” Qian Tong asked in astonishment.
Yang Kai nodded, “En, it was him!”
“This old master overestimated him,” Qian Tong snorted coldly. Although he hadn’t put this Religion Master in his eyes from the beginning, he also hadn’t thought the other party would be killed so easily, making Qian Tong feel like he had just punched cotton when he was expecting steel.
Yang Kai did not make a sound, however, as he still felt something was off. He felt that Lu Ye couldn’t die so easily; after all, this was a master that had even escaped from Yang Yan without her knowledge.
Even if Qian Tong was now an Origin King, how could he compare to Lu Ye in terms of methods and cunning?
Thinking so, Yang Kai quickly released his Divine Sense and began scanning the surrounding area.
Under his Divine Sense perception, the situation of the entire Grand Burial Valley could be understood in an instant.
Suddenly, he noticed that a vague aura fleeing outwards at an incredible speed. This aura was extremely well concealed, and if he had not been suspicious and deliberately searching for something similar, Yang Kai wouldn’t have been able to find it.
What’s more, this escaping aura had traces of Space Force fluctuations emanating from it.
“Elder Qian!” Yang Kai shouted before suddenly waving his hand through the air and tearing open a Void Crack.
Qian Tong frowned slightly, but although he did not understand why Yang Kai had done this, he chose to believe in him and without even asking anything follow Yang Kai into the Void Crack.
Outside Grand Burial Valley, a Corpse General wearing black robes sat in a meditative position, adjusting his breathing. He seemed to have been sitting here for a long time without moving.
Suddenly, the black-robed Corpse General trembled and his aura rapidly rose to the peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm, not much worse than Ye Xi Yun.
Slowly opening his eyes, a look of shock and hatred flashed across his pupils as he gritted his teeth and cursed, “An Origin King?! how could there be an Origin King here? Old dog, this King will remember you! This King will make you pay ten times over for this!”
“You won’t have that chance!” A familiar voice suddenly called out from behind.
The Black-Robed Corpse General was shocked and hurriedly turned around just in time to see a Void Crack open and Yang Kai and Qian Tong step out.
The Corpse General was shocked but roared and tried to escape without even pausing to think.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Qian Tong shouted angrily, expanding his Domain rapidly to engulf the black-robed Corpse General.
Yang Kai did not act, instead choosing to carefully observe the Corpse General while pushing his Divine Sense to its limit.
The Black-Robed Corpse General was a familiar figure to Yang Kai, one he had seen before together with the White-Robed Corpse General Kang Fei Rao, most likely his fellow Sect brother. However, at this moment, he had clearly been possessed by Lu Ye’s Soul, becoming a completely different person.
Although this Corpse General had a peak Origin Returning Realm cultivation, he was still nothing in front of Qian Tong.
The moment the Black-Robed Corpse General’s body was ground to dust and his Soul extinguished, Yang Kai noticed a hidden aura leap across space and travel several hundred kilometres away!
This was obviously the aura of Corpse Spirit Religion’s Religion Master. If it were not for Yang Kai being proficient in the Dao of Space, it would have been impossible for him to notice this flickering aura.
After Qian Tong killed the Black-Robed Corpse General, he turned his head and looked at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai did not say a word and simply tore space again, the next moment the pair appeared a few hundred kilometres away.
Just after emerging from the Void Crack, Yang Kai and Qian Tong saw a Corpse General wearing azure robes fleeing with all haste.
Without waiting for Qian Tong to do anything, Yang Kai summoned more than a dozen Golden Blood Threads, condensed them to form a golden arrow, and shot it out at astonishing speed, penetrating a hole in the belly of this Corpse General and shattering his Corpse Core.
The Golden Blood Threads turned around and flew back in the next instant, but Yang Kai didn’t show the slightest trace of joy on his face after killing this powerful foe. Instead, a gloomy frown filled his brow as he tore space for a third time.
Five days later, Yang Kai and Qian Tong stood above a fresh corpse in front of them with truly ugly expressions.
This corpse did not belong to the Corpse Spirit Race, but instead was a Human cultivator. This person’s cultivation was not that high either, only First-Order Origin Returning Realm.
But this was the twenty-seventh body the mysterious Religion Master had seized!
It seemed that he did not suffer any damage to his Soul when he seized another host and could continue this process infinitely.
This was completely contrary to the understanding that Yang Kai had. When the physical body of a powerful master was destroyed, if that master’s Soul survived somehow, it could attempt to find a suitable body and seize it, but Soul Seizing was a very dangerous process. It was highly likely that in the process the foreign Soul would be defeated and swallowed up by the person they target. As a result, even if a Soul Seizing was successful, it would consume a massive amount of Spiritual Energy.
It was essentially impossible for someone to attempt to seize a second host in short order!
However, the mysterious Religion Master had completely broken this rule. In just five days, he had seized twenty-seven different hosts, and although Yang Kai was able to follow his trail and catch up to him each time he did, even if he and Qian Tong killed this new host, the Religion Master would simply move on to a new body!
After five days of pursuit, having still failed to kill the Religion Master, Yang Kai and Qian Tong both realized how difficult an opponent they were facing.
However, their efforts were not completely in vain.
Over time, they discovered that the Religion Master could not simply seize anyone’s body, only those he had implanted with a Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect.
Yang Kai had contacted these Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insects before. The Xie Family’s Xie Li was controlled by a Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect when he attacked Dragon Cave Mountain, ultimately leading to him self-destructing in an attempt to kill Yang Kai.
This strange insect was a unique Secret Technique of the Religion Master. Once a Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect was implanted into someone, that individual would have no choice but to obey the Religion Master’s orders.
Clearly, he relied on this method to enslave unwilling subordinates, and now it seemed like they could also be used to perform Soul Seizing in an emergency!
As long as there was a Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect host within a certain distance, his Soul could instantly reach its location, regardless of the limitations of space, and seize it for himself.
In addition to this knowledge, Yang Kai and Qian Tong also noticed that the Religion Master was choosing weaker and weaker hosts to seize as time went by.
In the beginning, the body’s he possessed were all Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters or peak-level Corpse Generals, but after two days, he was forced to choose Second-Order Origin Realm cultivations, and now, he could only seize First-Orders!
Apparently, his Soul Seizing technique was not without flaws, possibly even dealing some damage to his Soul the more he used it. Even the Religion Master could not avoid such backlash entirely.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai and Qian Tong were exhausted from being run around in circles.
“Next! We cannot possibly do this forever! This old master does not believe he will be able to escape!” Qian Tong had a stomach full of grievances. He was now an Origin King, the undisputed strongest on Shadowed Star, but just as he had reached the proudest moment in his life, he was unable to slaughter this Religion Master, making him very angry.
Of course, Qian Tong was unaware that the Religion Master was a master who had reached far beyond the Origin King Realm.
“Have you found him yet?” Qian Tong turned his head and looked at Yang Kai.
After a few days of pursuit, Qian Tong also understood the strangeness of the Religion Master’s methods. In fact, if not for Yang Kai being here to track him, Qian Tong knew that he would not be able to kill this enemy to the last.
He was simply unable to trace the Religion Master’s Soul when it escaped.
Yang Kai closed his eyes to scan their surroundings. A moment later, his eyes shot open and he slashed his hand through the air to open a Void Crack.
In a dense jungle, a handsome but evil-looking young man fled hastily. This man seemed to only be around thirty years old and his body radiated the aura of a First-Order Origin Realm master; however, his expression was quite dishevelled and his eyes flashed with a bloodshot light.
As he fled, he did his best to conceal his aura while sweeping his surroundings with his Divine Sense.
There did not seem to be any signs of movement within thirty kilometres.
But this young man did not relax his vigilance because of this. On the contrary, he continued to flee as if something terrifying was chasing him.
His face was filled with cruel, unforgettable hatred and rage.
He was a famous character even in that place, with few daring to provoke him, but since arriving in this tiny Star Field and falling onto this Cultivation Star, his fortunes had only grown worse and worse for ten thousand years. First, his body was vaporized by Yang Yan, then he had to spend ten thousand years just to recover.
But now, just as he awoke once more, he found himself being hunted down by a mere Third-Order Origin Returning Realm trash.
In his heyday, he could rip such an opponent into ten thousand pieces with a simple glance, but now he had no choice but to flee.
The young man felt grief and anger, like a tiger being taunted by a dog after it left the mountain, or a dragon being toyed with by a shrimp in a shallow pond, making his blood boil and his breathing difficult.
His Soul escaping technique was unparalleled, and even an Origin King would not be able to discover any trace of it, but that damned brat named Yang Kai just so happened to cultivate the Dao of Space! If not for this, how could he have possibly been forced into such a desperate situation?
The Dao of Space was an esoteric field even in that place, with very few able to cultivate it. Even smashing his head on a rock couldn’t help him understand how there was someone in such a backwards place who had reached such a high level of comprehension in the Dao of Space that they could tear it and instantly cross thousands of kilometres.
Just as he was grumbling to himself, gnashing his teeth, a strange energy fluctuation suddenly appeared in front of him.
The young man’s face immediately turned grim and pale.
This situation had occurred several dozen times now, so he was no stranger to it, and he knew what was about to happen.
“Boy, you’ve forced my hand!” The young man’s eyes filled with sullenness, as if he had just made some kind of important decision, stopping in place, and waiting quietly.
The strange fluctuations became more and more obvious and soon, a pitch-black crack suddenly appeared, one filled with a swirling, chaotic nothingness.
Two figures immediately emerged from this tear in space, with Qian Tong at the lead and Yang Kai following close behind.
As soon as Qian Tong appeared, a powerful Divine Sense immediately locked onto the position of the handsome young man. Without even speaking any words, Qian Tong expanded his Domain and engulfed the young man, wrapping him in a field of wind blades that crashed towards him.
The cultivation of this young man was not high, only First-Order Origin Returning Realm, so Qian Tong didn’t even need to make a conscious attack as his Domain was enough to strangle him to death.
The young man, however, let out a fierce laugh as he shouted, “Humble ants, bear the supreme anger of this King!”
As these words fell, he opened his mouth and spat out a verdant coloured aura. This dark green aura twisted before condensing into a long sword emblazoned with complicated runes that made one dizzy just by staring at them.
This green long sword immediately and silently slashed through the air.
A shocking scene then appeared as Qian Tong’s Domain was directly smashed by this sword, shattering to pieces instantly.
At the same time, both Qian Tong and Yang Kai’s complexions changed dramatically. In their vision, the verdant long sword mysteriously vanished and broke through their Soul defences before directly entering their Knowledge Seas. Transforming back into the appearance of a sword, it slashed down like a bolt of lightning.
In an instant, both Yang Kai and Qian Tong felt their Knowledge Seas cut in half by this attack, raising a great storm in their minds.
The strength of their Spiritual Energy was instantly ground down.
Yang Kai and Qian Tong felt they had instantly lost more than a third of their Spiritual Energy.
Both of them cried out as their heads felt like they were being split in half, their vision blurring and almost passing out.
Both their complexions went pale as they had not expected their opponent to still have such a powerful card to play, hurriedly pushing their Saint Qi to defend themselves in anticipation of a follow-up attack.
After the young man released this attack, however, his face also turned white and his entire body trembled uncontrollably. He was about to take advantage of this opening to cut down Yang Kai and Qian Tong, but in the end, he was strong in will but weak in strength.
Fiercely cursing, the young man’s body suddenly exploded into dust and disappeared.
However, as it did, a Soul rushed out and wrapped around the green long sword before cutting open a Void Crack and fleeing into it.
Yang Kai stared in the direction this Soul fled, doing his best to try to track it, but a strange field had somehow blocked off the surrounding region, making it impossible for him to follow it.
Feeling the fierce, piercing pain in his head again, Yang Kai could not help crying out and quickly took out a jade bottle. Pouring out several pills, he gave half to Qian Tong before stuffing the remainder into his mouth, sitting down cross-legged, and meditating.
Upon seeing this, Qian Tong quickly stuffed these pills into his mouth and also closed his eyes to adjust his breathing.
After a full day, Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes, a trace of fear still lingering in the depths of his eyes.
He had the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, so even though his Soul was damaged, it did not matter much as given enough time it would be restored.
On the contrary, Qian Tong seemed to have suffered significant damage. Even though he was an Origin King, having suffered a blow like this, he would need at least half a year to heal himself.
As if sensing Yang Kai’s gaze, Qian Tong also opened his eyes, his face slightly pale, and paused for a moment before asking, “Did he get away?”
Yang Kai nodded silently.
Qian Tong sighed heavily, “A terrible opponent indeed. This old master thought he was already invincible on Shadowed Star after breaking through to the Origin King Realm but now I have suffered such a big loss at his hands. En, there are so many astonishing talents out there still. What kind of artifact was that? Why was it so powerful?”
Yang Kai pondered for a moment before replying, “It was probably an Emperor Artifact.”
“Emperor Artifact?” Qian Tong frowned before checking their surroundings thoughtfully and nodding, “That makes sense, there is indeed a faint Emperor Pressure lingering here, but why does it feel like this Emperor Pressure is different from the one emitted by the Emperor Garden?”
Yang Kai glanced at him as he mused to himself that there was more than one Great Emperor-level existence in this world, but he held his tongue.
It was this faint Emperor Pressure which had blocked Yang Kai’s tracing, allowing the Religion Master to escape.
After losing track of the Religion Master and considering the methods he used, finding him now would be quite difficult.
This time’s action could not be considered a success, but within a short time, the Religion Master should not be able to show himself; after all, he had also suffered heavy losses. The last attack he launched with that Emperor Artifact no doubt caused significant backlash for him. Otherwise, he would not have waited so long to use it.
Qian Tong obviously knew this, so he did not bother asking Yang Kai to continue this pursuit. After thinking about it for a moment, he proposed, “Although we let him escape, Corpse Spirit Religion still needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. We should first return to Grand Burial Valley and destroy that Corpse Cave. When this old master passed through it, he felt many Corpse Spirits sleeping inside.”
“En, I was thinking the same,” Yang Kai agreed with him.
After a brief discussion, the pair set off immediately in the direction of Grand Burial Valley.
Three days later, the two returned to Grand Burial Valley. The Corpse Spirits inside the valley had suffered serious losses thanks to Qian Tong’s earlier rampage, but they had not been completely wiped out. However, the remaining Corpse Spirits had seemingly escaped, leaving behind only the ones who had yet to fully transform inside the Corpse Cave.
Before Qian Tong destroyed the Corpse Cave, Yang Kai once again returned to the Underworld Well Spring to see if there was any way he could destroy it. This was the true source of the Corpse Spirit Race, so as long as it could be destroyed, the Corpse Spirit Race would no longer be able to increase their numbers, leaving only the remnants outside to clean up before Shadowed Star would once again have its peace restored.
However, to his disappointment, Yang Kai found it was impossible to destroy the Underworld Well Spring. It seemed this spring was connected to another world out of which Yin, Death, and Corpse Qi flowed continuously.
Rumour had it that the Underworld Well Spring connected to the netherworld!
The only way to destroy the bridge would be to enter it and sever the connection from the inside.
Yang Kai didn’t dare take such a risk though and could only take a step back, joining forces with Qian Tong to temporarily seal the Underworld Well Spring before collapsing the Corpse Cave, killing the incomplete Corpse Spirits inside in the process.
Ten days later, Yang Kai and Qian Tong returned to High Heaven Sect.
After briefly informing Ye Xi Yun and the other leaders about what had transpired, even Great Elder Ye was shocked, not having imagined there was such a strong method that allowed one continuously use Soul Seizing in this world.
The rest of the Elders also sighed.
“Sect Master, does that mean this Religion Master is immortal?” Ye Xi Yun frowned.
“That’s not the case. Although his seizing technique is profound and hard to be traced, it does some damage to him. This is obvious considering the targets he chose to possess. However, finding him again after he escaped this time will be exceedingly difficult,” Yang Kai sighed.
Ye Xi Yun nodded lightly, “Although the Religion Master was not beheaded this time, it is enough that the Underworld Well Spring has been sealed. Presumably, the Corpse Spirit Race will not be able to increase their numbers again, so it is time for us to begin our counterattack.”
Yang Kai glanced at her and smiled slightly, “What does Great Elder propose?”
“Take advantage of the victory!” Ye Xi Yun quickly said, “Shadowed Star’s situation has been deteriorating over the past two years was because the Corpse Spirit Race were a completely unfamiliar foe and they had the means to transform our own fallen into their comrades. Another reason is that the great forces of Shadowed Star all fought separately, allowing them to be defeated one by one. Now, however, things are different. With Sect Master’s return, along with our Origin King Grade Starship and Elder Qian’s breakthrough to the Origin King Realm, as long as you two stand up to take the lead, with the reputations and status of High Heaven Sect and Shadow Moon Hall, it should not be hard to unify Shadowed Star against the Corpse Spirit Races.”
“This old master has no objections. Shadowed Star is this old master’s homeland, so he is duty-bound to protect it,” Qian Tong said immediately.
Ye Xi Yun turned her sights to Yang Kai next.
“I’m also fine with it,” Yang Kai chuckled, “Great Elder and Elder Qian can take charge. The Sect’s resources and manpower are yours to deploy. I’ll contribute whatever I can.”
“Since Sect Master wants to loaf around, so be it. We’ll proceed as proposed,” Ye Xi Yun was a decisive woman and immediately made her decision.
Next came discussions about how exactly to go about uniting the remaining masters on Shadowed Star, how to establish a command structure which would be respected, and how to eliminate Corpse Spirit Religion…
In fact, things were quite simple. The prestige of High Heaven Sect was not low, and coupled with Qian Tong’s current identity as an Origin King, all that needed to be done was for the latter to raise his voice and others would surely rally.
With these two forces taking the lead, coupled with the Origin King Grade Starship, it would not be a difficult matter to gather up and rescue the masters and Sects who were besieged by Corpse Spirit Religion. As time passed, like a rolling snowball, they would be able to sweep across all of Shadowed Star and wipe out Corpse Spirit Religion!
Ye Xi Yun also prepared people to spread the word to all of Shadowed Star that the mysterious Religion Master of Corpse Spirit Religion had been killed by Yang Kai and Qian Tong!
Although this news was false, no one would doubt it, and right now, the Religion Master only wanted to conceal his whereabouts, so there was no chance of him showing himself to discredit them.
This news would greatly impact the morale of the Corpse Spirit Race and the Human cultivators who had submitted to Corpse Spirit Religion, making eliminating them all the easier.
Yang Kai did not participate in these discussions and instead went to visit Yang Yan again.
“It seems he really was the Insect Emperor!” Inside Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea, Yang Kai sat face to face with her and wore a thoughtful look on his face, “The Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect is one of the Ancient Insects he cultivated using a profound Secret Technique, and that Soul Splitting Saber is his artifact. Unexpectedly, he actually survived that battle; it seems I was negligent.”
“So his original title was Insect Emperor!” Yang Kai nodded.
“En, because the focus of his cultivation was on controlling different Ancient Exotic Insects. He is able to attach threads of his Soul to any insect he cultivates, allowing him to jump and take possession through them multiple times. The Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect is just one kind of Exotic Insect in his possession and is not actually that big of a deal. It can only be used to control others. He has other more powerful methods in his hands. With those methods, he could raise a reign of terror throughout the Star Field, leaving countless corpses in his wake!”
Yang Kai could not help trembling slightly as he realized Yang Yan was not talking about a single Cultivation Star, but rather the entire Star Field.
Yang Yan smiled lightly, however, “You don’t need to be so nervous. In order to control certain powerful Exotic Insects, he needs a correspondingly powerful cultivation. Right now, he is only a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, so how could he possibly control so many Exotic Insects? Even using the Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insect in such a reckless manner must have caused quite a backlash for him, so believe me when I say he won’t show himself again for a few years at least.”
“As long as he’s alive, he’s still a disaster waiting to happen!” Yang Kai frowned.
Yang Kai was very wary of the Insect Emperor as he was a character on the same level as Yang Yan, so who knows what he was capable of?
Yang Yan narrowed her eyes slightly as she spoke, “I have a way to help you kill him!”
“Oh? What way?” Yang Kai looked up at her.
Yang Yan did not speak and instead reached out to grab towards the void.
Inside Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea, a beautiful ball of multi-coloured light manifested atop her palm, after which she immediately pressed her hand against Yang Kai’s forehead.
She did not move quickly or slowly, seemingly just carelessly waving her hand, but Yang Kai was unable to react until the ball of light in Yang Yan’s hand had already entered his Soul Avatar and disappeared, shocking him as he asked, “What was that?”
Yang Yan smiled lightly and simply said, “You’ll know after refining it.”
The moment after Yang Yan spoke, Yang Kai felt a wild aura suddenly explode inside his Soul Avatar. This was a kind of strength he was unable to resist, and it forced his Soul Avatar to collapse directly and return to his main body.
The next moment, when he opened his eyes, what Yang Kai saw was not the inside of the small loft, but an empty and chaotic space, with absolutely nothing, not even light around him. He could not even sense his own existence.
Yang Kai was startled, not knowing where he was, but he was not someone unfamiliar with great storms, so he did not panic and instead began calmly examining his surroundings.
It was not long before traces of substance appeared inside the vast nothingness, and as this substance gathered together, it gradually grew larger and larger.
After some unmeasurable amount of time passed, a massive star appeared in Yang Kai’s field of vision. This star had no vitality, not even simple plants, a barren Dead Star by all accounts.
Staring at this massive star, however, Yang Kai felt it was a little familiar.
“Shadowed Star!” An epiphany struck Yang Kai as he observed Shadowed Star from the Starry Sky. It had the size and appearance of the current Shadowed Star, but none of the vitality.
“I understand now,” Yang Kai had not comprehended what Yang Yan had done to him until this moment, and feeling grateful in his heart, he quickly focused his attention to fully grasp this extremely rare and precious opportunity.
In his disembodied state, Yang Kai was unable to perceive the passage of time at all. It seemed that only a moment had gone by, while at the same time hundreds of millions of years had passed. Finally, traces of life began to appear on the dead Shadowed Star, the sea ebbed and flowed while plants and greenery began filling the land. Soon, flesh and blood creatures were also born.
One by one, different races rose, carving their mark into the long river of history before disappearing once more.
Many different civilizations rose and fell as Yang Kai looked on.
He felt auras from ancient and primordial times, and as he observed these epochs change, part of them seemed to integrate into his being, as if he had passed through all the aeons together with this star.
He witnessed its birth, development, peaks and troughs with his own eyes…
Gradually, Yang Kai began to have a peculiar feeling that he was this star, and the star was him!
A Star Master!
Only a Star Master would experience such a sensation.
When Xia Ning Chang refined the Star Source of Tong Xuan Realm, Yang Kai had accompanied and assisted her, granting him the opportunity to observe the evolution and development of Tong Xuan Realm, so now seeing such a similar scene again, how could he not understand?
This was clearly the process one needed to undertake when refining a Star Source and become a Star Master!
Yang Kai opened his eyes and a strange feeling filled his heart.
It was as if all of Shadowed Star had become a part of his body. He could feel any piece of land on Shadowed Star he wanted to, perceive the fertility or barrenness of any location on this Cultivation Star and discover any creature living upon it!
If he wanted to, he could easily reach any place on Shadowed Star without any restrictions, and if he so desired, he could cause the sky to fall, the earth to crack, or tsunamis to rise with but a single thought…
Clenching his fist lightly, Yang Kai felt the entire world’s aura shake slightly as a bell-like sound echoed across the sky.
At that moment, the trillions of lives on Shadowed Star shook as they looked up towards the Heavens, wondering what had just happened.
Shadowed Star underwent a very subtle change when Yang Kai became its Star Master. This change was indistinct and only a few masters were even aware of it, everyone else remaining completely ignorant.
From now on, Shadowed Star’s prosperity would be tied closely to Yang Kai’s, and with the improvement of his cultivation, the vitality of all of Shadowed Star would also burgeon more and more radiantly.
Yang Kai examined himself and found that inside his dantian there was now a tiny sphere which resembled Shadowed Star, only shrunk down hundreds of millions of times. It sat in place there, spinning at a subtle speed.
[Star Source Strength!]
If one wanted to become the Star Master of a Cultivation Star, they would first need to refine that Cultivation Star’s Star Source, and what Yang Yan had implanted into his body before was undoubtedly the Star Source of Shadowed Star.
From the miniature Shadowed Star, Yang Kai felt a subtle power nourish his body with every rotation it made, while at the same time drawing on his power to strengthen itself.
This was a mutually beneficial, symbiotic process.
While Yang Kai was extremely excited and happy, he also had many doubts.
Had he really just become the Star Master of Shadowed Star? The lord and ruler of this vast Cultivation Star?
He simply could not adapt to this new reality so quickly. Little Senior Sister becoming the Star Master of Tong Xuan Realm had much to do with luck. Tong Xuan Realm’s aura was barren, just like a dying old man struggling to live on, which was why Tong Xuan Realm’s Star Source had sought out Xia Ning Chang on its own and allowed her to refine it.
But Shadowed Star was different. Even if the World Principles here had a suppressive effect that made it impossible for cultivators to comprehend the mysteries of the Origin King Realm, it was still a vibrant Cultivation Star. If Tong Xuan Realm was akin to a dying old man, then Shadowed Star was a youth filled with vigour and vitality.
In order to refine the Star Source of such a Cultivation Star, one would usually need to be a Third-Order Origin King, otherwise, it would simply be impossible!
Luo Hai being able to become a Star Master while still just a Second-Order Origin King was a unique achievement across the entire Star Field.
As if understanding Yang Kai’s suspicions, Yang Yan’s voice suddenly echoed in his Knowledge Sea, “The Star Source of Shadowed Star was detained by me for over ten thousand years, but now I allowed it to be free of my control. Why wouldn’t it cooperate with you?”
Yang Kai was stunned.
Yang Yan giggled, “Rest assured, its temper was smoothed out many years ago. It wasn’t so docile back then, therefore, I imprisoned it to teach it a lesson.”
Yang Kai smiled bitterly as he now understood the reason behind his easy success. Anyone who had been imprisoned for ten thousand years would have become obedient. Although the Star Source was not intelligent, it understood instinctually that it was unable to resist Yang Yan’s means and could only compromise.
Obtaining the position of Star Master so easily and simply still baffled Yang Kai greatly.
Furrowing his brow, Yang Kai expanded his Divine Sense. A tidal wave of Divine Sense spread out from his position and within moments covered most of the Shadowed Star.
Yang Kai noticed many ongoing battles in various locations as if he was seeing them with his own eyes.
However, the Spiritual Energy in his Knowledge Sea was also being drained at an alarming rate.
After Yang Kai took back his Divine Sense, he was shocked to find that his Knowledge Sea had been drained by a third after just five breaths.
This meant he could only monitor Shadowed Star for fifteen breaths before his Knowledge Sea dried up completely, and that was not even a comprehensive monitoring! After realizing this, Yang Kai could not help feeling stunned. Although he only had a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation, his Soul’s strength was comparable to an ordinary Origin King’s. He also possessed a supreme treasure like the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, so generally speaking, it was impossible for his Knowledge Sea to be completely drained.
Apparently, even if he had become a Star Master, he still could not act as he pleased without the corresponding strength.
For now, though, it was enough.
“I need to go deal with some minor troubles. I’ll come see you later,” Yang Kai said, and before Yang Yan could reply, his figure flickered and disappeared.
Somewhere a hundred thousand kilometres away from High Heaven Sect, a group of Corpse Spirit Religion disciples were attacking a group of Human cultivators who were struggling to resist.
Ever since High Heaven Sect and Shadow Moon Hall jointly issued a call to arms, all of Shadowed Star had risen in revolt against Corpse Spirit Religion.
Under the leadership of Ye Xi Yun and Qian Tong, Corpse Spirit Religion’s armies were steadily forced back, and the Corpse Spirit Race suffered numerous casualties. The cultivators who had lost their homes and foundations spontaneously gathered and launched assaults on Corpse Spirit Religion’s strongholds and slowly re-took their homelands.
Without the Corpse Cave to transform new clansmen, every Corpse Spirit that was killed meant there would forever be one less of them. Additionally, rumours that the mysterious Religion Master was dead and all the senior leadership of the religion being slaughtered spread like wildfire, causing Corpse Spirit Religion’s will to resist to break.
The Human Race forces swept forth with unstoppable momentum, smashing Corpse Spirit Religion’s army wherever they went.
Over eighty percent of the Sects which had lost their headquarters had already retaken them! Everything was proceeding steadily. Leaving behind just enough manpower to protect their headquarters from any counterattack Corpse Spirit Religion launched, all other masters were deployed to the front lines.
Everyone took Corpse Spirit Religion extremely seriously, knowing that it would surely resurface in the future if they failed to eradicate it this time.
Most forces on Shadowed Star contributed to the fight to destroy Corpse Spirit Religion!
Now, a common sight on Shadowed Star was the remaining Corpse Spirit Race forces being exposed from their hiding places, causing thousands of Human Race cultivators to converge and besiege them.
Although the Corpse Spirit Race at this particular place numbered less than a thousand, like cornered beasts, they fought back fiercely, making the situation quite dangerous. What’s more, every member of the Corpse Spirit Race was originally transformed from a dead cultivator, so they did not fear pain and their physical bodies were incredibly strong, making them difficult to kill unless their Corpse Core was destroyed. In general, a human cultivator in the same realm as a Corpse Spirit was completely outmatched in combat.
Thousands of people had surrounded this group of Corpse Spirits in a small mountain valley, but did not dare to launch a comprehensive attack, instead choosing to maintain some distance and slowly whittle away at the enemy forces.
The Corpse Spirit Race clansmen clearly understood their enemy’s intentions, so how could they just sit still and accept their fate? Organizing themselves into multiple waves, they continuously tried to break out of the encirclement. Although they suffered many casualties, they also took a large number of lives in the process.
The two sides had been locked in a virtual stalemate for some time now, with the Corpse Spirit Race group knowing the end was near, causing them to become even fiercer than normal, while the Human Race cultivators became increasingly hesitant and scrupulous about their approach.
Just when the masters from the human side were feeling at a loss about how to proceed, a young man suddenly appeared strangely in the sky above the mountain valley.
His arrival was so sudden and without any prior signs that he was already standing mid-air by the time anyone discovered his existence.
The young man glanced down at the mountain valley below, raised his hand, and gently palmed forward.
This action seemed light and casual, as if he was swatting away a fly.
However, as he palmed, the World Energy in the surrounding region madly gathered towards him and condensed into a massive attack that covered the entire mountain valley.
This palm soon covered the entire sky and slammed down like a great thunderclap.
*Honglong…*
The ground shook violently, and the thousands of Human Race cultivators could barely stay on their feet.
At that next moment, everyone paled in shock.
They clearly witnessed that the nearly thousand Corpse Spirit Race clansmen whom they had been helpless to eliminate were almost all flattened into pools of hashed meat and bone under this giant palm.
Ninety-nine percent of the enemy died in an instant, with only a few who managed to survive by luck; however, even these survivors were heavily wounded and could barely stand on the spot, trembling as they stared up into the sky in horror.
The young man who stood there now looked like an ancient god who could control the world itself!
After delivering that palm, the young man’s figure flickered and disappeared, as if he had never been there at all.
However, the giant palm print which spanned the mountain valley down below, and the dead Corpse Spirit Race clansmen before them proved to all the Human Race cultivators that what they just witnessed wasn’t some kind of illusion.
“Who was that? How did he do that?”
“With the power of that palm, it must have been Hall Master Qian of Shadow Moon Hall, right? I heard that Hall Master Qian is already an Origin King. Or does Shadowed Star have a second Origin King now?”
“No, five months ago, this old master was fortunate enough to witness the terrifying methods of Hall Master Qian, but that palm just now was definitely stronger!”
“How could that be? Are you trying to say that there’s someone on Shadowed Star stronger than Hall Master Qian? I don’t believe it.”
“Haha, I know who that person is, he’s High Heaven Sect’s Sect Master Yang Kai! I met him once before, back when he still lived on Dragon Cave Mountain.”
“He’s High Heaven Sect’s Sect Master?”
Everyone suddenly understood and could not help feeling that the rumours they had heard were true. High Heaven Sect rising to become one of the most powerful Sects on Shadowed Star was not without reason. With such a powerful Sect Master, what worry was there the Sect would not rise?
“Enough idle chatter, there are still a few fish who slipped through the net. Sect Master Yang already solved our biggest problem for us, so we need to clean up the rest, or do you want to bother him to come back and deliver another palm for us?”
The group of masters who had assembled nodded in agreement before stepping towards the few surviving Corpse Spirit Race clansmen, clear malicious intent pulsing from their bodies!
As for the Corpse Spirit Race survivors, they all silently complained that they should have just been patted to death earlier and been done with it!
Looking around at all the enemies gathering towards them, the remaining Corpse Spirit Race clansmen felt despair…
Having experienced all the conveniences of being a Star Master, Yang Kai could not help feeling a little excited.
No wonder those Third-Order Origin King masters aimed to refine a Star Source and become a Star Master. Once one became a Star Master of a Cultivation Star, they could arrive anywhere on that star with a simple thought. This was much faster and more convenient than using a Space Array.
Moreover, after becoming a Star Master, there were many other benefits. Yang Kai had not had time to carefully explore all these though, so he wasn’t entirely clear on their full extent for the time being.
However, this alone was enough. Wherever he went, the Corpse Spirit Race had nowhere to escape. A casual palm was always sufficient to sweep away any group of Corpse Spirits.
Now that he was the master of Shadowed Star, who on the planet could resist him? Not even Qian Tong was qualified.
In just half a day, Yang Kai had crisscrossed half of Shadowed Star, killing all the Corpse Spirit Race’s forces he could find.
Many times, Yang Kai had already moved on before the nearby human cultivators had even figured out what was happening, leaving behind confused but jubilant people everywhere.
Beside the Limitless Ocean, a group of Human Race cultivators, who seemed to have been separated from the main army, were fleeing the pursuit of a dozen Corpse Spirits.
The Corpse Spirit Race had suffered greatly this past year. The powerful Corpse Generals were cut down by Qian Tong and the Elders of High Heaven Sect one by one. Rumours of the Religion Master’s demise also filled the air. Suppressed by the united Human Race front, the remaining Corpse Spirits were forced to retreat all the way to the Limitless Ocean, where they were now trying to escape into the vast sea and seek out a final chance to survive.
However, things did not go as they wanted. Qian Tong and Ye Xi Yun had been pursuing Corpse Spirit Religion doggedly this past year and had now surrounded them, cutting off their last avenue of retreat, making it impossible for them to enter the Limitless Ocean.
The current Corpse Spirit Religion was on its last leg, a mere shadow of its former glory.
The remaining Corpse Spirits could only look for those cultivators who were alone or in small groups to vent their anger on.
This group of eight Human Race cultivators was rather unlucky. After having just separated from the main army, they ran into this group of Corpse Spirits that both outnumbered them and exceeded them in strength. While suffering a few casualties, this group of Human Race cultivators had no choice but to flee towards the safety of the human army. At the head of this group was a charming and enchanting woman with a seductive figure that swayed greatly as she ran. Under the pursuit of these Corpse Spirits, her beautiful face had long ago gone pale though. While running away, she constantly poured her Divine Sense into a communication artifact in her hand, hoping to reach her Elders who could then come to their aid.
Another scream rang out from behind, causing the woman to look back and tremble at the scene she saw.
One of her companions had been overtaken by several Corpse Spirits and knocked to the ground. These cruel and vicious monsters did not kill this fallen man directly, swarming him and ripping apart his body with their sharp teeth instead.
The terrified cries for help this man let loose nearly caused the lead woman’s knees to buckle as she shivered violently.
Soon, this voice grew weak, and after the few Corpse Spirits finished their meal, they resumed their pursuit with even more fervour than before, pulling closer and closer with each passing moment.
Thinking how her tender flesh would soon enter the belly of one of these hideous Corpse Spirits just like her companion’s, leaving her as nothing but a pile of dry bones, the woman’s beautiful eyes filled with terror and helplessness.
This feeling of despair made her feet feel as heavy as lead and her Saint Qi unable to circulate smoothly, slowing her pace greatly.
As the Corpse Spirits got closer, she could even smell a strong scent of fresh blood.
The woman could not help calling out in alarm.
At that moment, a flash suddenly appeared in front of her and a hand stretched out towards her. Only feeling a light breeze brush past her cheek, the young woman was stunned as a young man before her and snapped his fingers, causing the dozen or so Corpse Spirits who had been pursuing her to explode into puffs of smoke.
The catastrophe which had best her was resolved in an instant.
The woman stared at the figure in front of her blankly as a feeling of disbelief after surviving certain death filled her heart.
“Yang Kai?”
Her voice was still trembling, and her face was still pale, obviously not having regained her composure yet.
Hearing this woman call this name, the other Human Race cultivators together with her were taken aback for a moment before they immediately directed excited looks towards Yang Kai.
They had naturally heard Yang Kai’s name before, but none of them had actually seen him up close before. Now, High Heaven Sect’s famous Sect Master had come to rescue them personally, so they felt immensely grateful.
“Yin Su Die?” Yang Kai returned the woman’s stare and frowned as he asked, “Why are you here? Where’s your Master?”
This young woman was none other than Yin Su Die of Coloured Glass Sect.
In Coloured Glass Sect, she had been considered the leader of the younger generation and few were able to resist the Beguiling Techniques she cultivated; however, facing the Corpse Spirit Race, her Beguiling Techniques played no role whatsoever, so even though she had a First-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivation, the strength she was able to display in combat against this strange race was limited.
If this was not the case, she wouldn’t have been in such a dire situation.
Yin Su Die smiled reluctantly and replied obediently, “Master is in Cape Town!”
Yang Kai released his Divine Sense and soon found a large number of cultivators gathered in a city a few tens of thousands of kilometres away. This should be the Cape Town Yin Su Die mentioned, a city close to the edge of the Limitless Ocean.
“Why aren’t you accompanying your Master? What did you run out here to do?” Yang Kai asked, somewhat displeased.
Although the Human Race occupied the winning side and the Corpse Spirit Race was completely suppressed on all sides, it was still perilous to act alone, especially at the boundary of the Limitless Ocean.
Yang Kai did not like Yin Su Die very much, but she was still considered a disciple of High Heaven Sect now, so it was his duty to reprimand her as the Sect Master.
Yin Su Die was suddenly struck speechless.
When Yang Kai was still an unknown character, she had taken some malicious actions against him, but now things were different. Yin Su Die knew better than anyone of the gap between Yang Kai and herself. If Yang Kai now stood atop the clouds, she was still stuck on the ground, only able to look up to him.
She deeply envied that ugly Senior Sister Dai Yuan of hers and often wondered just what kind of means she had used to win Yang Kai’s care.
It was also precisely because of Yang Kai’s attitude that Yin Su Die’s Honoured Master Gong Ao Fu now favoured her Senior Sister Dai Yuan more and more, and had gradually pushed her away over the past year.
“Forget it,” Yang Kai waved his hand, not interested in delving into this situation any further. Sweeping his eyes over the other cultivators present, Yang Kai found that they were all young men.
This group had obviously been enchanted by Yin Su Die’s beauty and willingly followed behind her.
Yang Kai was clear of Yin Su Die’s methods and even noticed some of these young men staring warily towards him.
“I’ll send you back to where Elder Gong is,” Yang Kai said as he waved his hand to wrap his Saint Qi around Yin Su Die.
What Yang Kai didn’t expect was that Yin Su Die would use this chance to leap into his chest and wrap her hands around his waist, like an innocent young girl, embracing him tightly without the slightest shame, her soft peaks pressing up against him, showcasing their amazing elasticity.
Yang Kai shook his head wryly but did not push her away immediately, simply wrapping the rest of the cultivators nearby in his Saint Qi before directly teleporting to Cape Town.
Upon arriving, Yang Kai gently tapped Yin Su Die on the shoulder and said, “We’re here.”
After saying so, not waiting for her to respond, Yang Kai simply vanished again.
Yin Su Die yelped slightly, but upon looking around, she discovered she really had returned to the familiar Cape Town.
Her hands now embracing nothing but air, Yin Su Die could not help feeling a little lost.
Cape Town was fairly large, but it was fully occupied at the moment. Yang Kai found Ye Xi Yun and Qian Tong in the city shortly after arriving and only after talking to them did he learn of the current situation.
Yang Kai had not felt time pass while refining the Star Source, but apparently, more than a year had gone by since he began.
Over the course of this year, High Heaven Sect and Shadow Moon Hall had united most of Shadowed Star and basically uprooted the Corpse Spirit Religion. The remaining Corpse Spirits wanted to escape into the Limitless Ocean, but were blocked on all sides, forcing them to retreat to a certain mountain range about thirty thousand kilometres away from Cape Town.
Qian Tong had ventured into that mountain range several times and killed many, but some Corpse Spirits had concealed themselves too deeply, so even he was unable to route them out to the last, causing him quite a headache.
Shadowed Star’s peace had basically been restored, with roughly eighty percent of the remaining Corpse Spirit Race forces hiding in this one mountain range. As long as these Corpse Spirits here were eliminated, the scattered remnants outside wouldn’t be worthy of fear. At that time, there would be no need for High Heaven Sect and Shadow Moon Hall to come forward, these scattered Corpse Spirits would be hunted down by the respective strength of the other Sects eventually.
“In that case…” Yang Kai grinned after understanding the situation. “I’ll go.”
“Do you have a way?” Qian Tong looked at him in surprise. When they met this time, Qian Tong instinctually felt something about Yang Kai had changed, but he could not say what that change was exactly. As far as he could tell, Yang Kai was still a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator, but he now gave off an extremely dangerous feeling.
Qian Tong felt that if he were to fight Yang Kai now, the one who would die would certainly be him.
Feeling so caused Qian Tong to become curious, as he was unable to figure out why.
“When the time comes, you’ll know,” Yang Kai smiled lightly, keeping Qian Tong in suspense.
“I’ll go with you,” Qian Tong quickly said.
Yang Kai nodded, stood up, and suddenly said to Ye Xi Yun, “Let the people gathered in Cape Town disperse. After these few years of turmoil, all of them will need time to rest and recuperate. There’s no need to waste any more time here.”
Ye Xi Yun was slightly taken aback, but quickly nodded in compliance.
Yang Kai stretched out his hand and grabbed Qian Tong’s arm next before the two disappeared so rapidly from Ye Xi Yun’s sight that even she was unable to detect any trace of how they moved.
Ye Xi Yun’s expression fluctuated a few times before she suddenly chuckled lightly and muttered, “So that’s how it is!”
Obviously, she realized something at that moment.
After composing herself, she took out her communication artifact, poured her Divine Sense into it, and issued the appropriate orders.
Shortly after, the human cultivators gathered in Cape Town received word from High Heaven Sect saying the remaining Corpse Spirits had been wiped out and they were free to return to their respective Sects to recover!
The cultivators of the various Sects who received this news began running around, trying to confirm whether it was true or not, and it was not long before the Elders of Shadow Moon Hall and High Heaven Sect came forward to authenticate the information.
Although no one was clear how the remaining Corpse Spirits had suddenly been wiped out, the Human Race cultivators still celebrated the fact that Shadowed Star’s crisis had been resolved. Choosing to trust High Heaven Sect and Shadow Moon Hall, these cultivators began dispersing and preparing for the difficult task of rebuilding their respective Sects.
Rebuilding a Sect was no easy task and may take several dozen or even hundreds of years of hard work. However, the top priority of all Sects and small family forces in the near future was to forge good relationships with High Heaven Sect and Shadow Moon Hall. In the future, these two forces would undoubtedly be the leaders of Shadowed Star.
During this catastrophe, High Heaven Sect and Shadow Moon Hall had quickly accumulated fame far surpassing that of Heaven Battling Union, Thunder Typhoon Sect, and even Star Emperor Mountain. The two great forces were now the most powerful and most prestigious on Shadowed Star.
It could be said that the Corpse Spirit Religion crisis was the catalyst for High Heaven Sect and Shadow Moon Hall’s rapid rise!
A light flashed in front of the Cape Mountain Range and Qian Tong and Yang Kai appeared side by side.
Qian Tong gawked at Yang Kai, almost speechless in shock.
He was now an Origin King, a realm higher than Yang Kai, but he still could not figure out how Yang Kai brought them here.
This definitely was not a pure Space Force Secret Technique!
After pondering for a moment, Qian Tong suddenly came up with a shocking speculation and asked, “Did you refine Shadowed Star’s Source and became its Star Master?”
Only by becoming a Star Master could Yang Kai have brought them from Cape Town in an instant without Qian Tong recognizing how. Coupled with the subtle changes Shadowed Star underwent only a day ago, Qian Tong was almost certain his guess was correct.
“Haha, Elder Qian is quite sharp. I have indeed refined Shadowed Star’s Source,” Yang Kai did not deny it. In any case, this kind of thing could not be concealed, and Qian Tong was not an outsider.
Qian Tong’s jaw dropped but soon he let out a sigh as a complicated expression filled his face, “Unexpectedly, you actually walked a step further than this old master already. One must truly respect the young!”
He was happy for Yang Kai, but also quite shocked.
“It was just luck,” Yang Kai did not reveal the slightest arrogance. Being able to refine the Star Source was entirely because of Yang Yan. Otherwise, Yang Kai would have had to reach at least the Third-Order Origin King Realm before attempting this feat. Shadowed Star’s Source had been imprisoned in Yang Yan’s Knowledge Sea for over ten thousand years, so when it was given a chance to leave by fusing with Yang Kai, it complied with great enthusiasm.
This was indeed a matter of luck.
“In that case, this old master will just sit back and watch,” Qian Tong chuckled, quickly composing himself and not even showing any jealousy or envy as he took a step back and relaxed.
Yang Kai didn’t bother with any nonsense either, expanding his Divine Sense rapidly to cover every part of the Cape Mountain Range in front of him and locating every Corpse Spirit Race clansman inside. After confirming the position of his targets, Yang Kai raised his hands slowly towards the sky.
As his hands rose, the entire Cape Mountain Range trembled, and a violent sound rang out from inside. It was like the beating of a thousand war drums that spread to every corner of the Cape Mountain Range.
Visible to the naked eye, the entire mountain range which stretched over a hundred thousand kilometres slowly began to rise.
Qian Tong sucked in a cool breath as he felt a deep sense of yearning in his heart.
This was the power of a Star Master. With a single thought, one could transform the world itself, moving mountains and seas…
Moreover, Yang Kai’s actions didn’t destroy this mountain range, otherwise, he could have just completely flattened it.
Even if Qian Tong exerted all of his strength, he could not recreate this scene.
The sudden change in Cape Mountain Rang clearly alarmed the Corpse Spirit Race clansmen hiding inside, and all of them rapidly tried to fly up to investigate the situation, but soon, they were shocked to discover that the entire mountain range was covered in a strange, invisible force that prevented them from flying or even escaping from their underground hiding places.
This place, which had been their last refuge, was now an inescapable cage.
The various Corpse Spirits cried out in panic, none of them understanding what was going on.
A few breaths later, once Cape Mountain Range had risen about ten metres, Yang Kai exhaled softly and pushed his palm down rapidly.
*Honglong…*
In that instant, the hundred-thousand-kilometre long mountain crashed to the ground.
The earth shook violently as a deafening impact sounded from the mountain range, alongside a myriad of explosions. At this moment, all the surrounding World Energy seemed to be turned into a giant hammer that pounded down on the Corpse Spirits trapped here.
*Peng peng peng peng…*
All of the Corpse Spirit Race clansmen exploded into dust and disappeared.
After the noise subsided, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense again and confirmed that there was no trace of the Corpse Spirit Race left in Cape Mountain Range. The thousands of Corpse Spirits who had fled here were all eliminated without exception.
Qian Tong stared in shock for a long while before finally letting out a long breath, “It seems this catastrophe has ended.”
“Only after killing Corpse Spirit Religion’s Religion Master can you feel completely relieved,” Yang Kai smiled lightly.
“I’ll let you handle that, as for this old master… En, after you kill him, this old master will tell you about it, there is no need to pay it any mind at this point.”
Qian Tong obviously wanted to say something, but since he did not want to bring it up now, Yang Kai naturally wouldn’t force him to.
The two separated right after, with Qian Tong heading back to Shadow Moon Hall to take charge of the reconstruction while Yang Kai flew out into the Limitless Ocean. He intended to track down the Insect Emperor and erase him completely from this world.
While he was dealing with the remnants of the Corpse Spirit Race, Yang Kai had constantly been searching for the aura of the Insect Emperor, but to his disappointment, he never found it.
As such, Yang Kai focused his attention on the Limitless Ocean, believing that his judgment was not wrong.
Shadowed Star was huge, and since the great forces stationed on land and the great forces established on the sea had little in common with one another, they seldom interacted. It was for this reason that, although Corpse Spirit Religion had raised a reign of terror on the inland Sects of Shadowed Star, causing massive amounts of destruction and death, the deep-sea Sects had basically remained unaffected.
This was also why the Corpse Spirit Race had wanted to flee into the Limitless Ocean to avoid the hunt of the inland Sects.
Yang Kai had been to the Limitless Ocean before. When he left the Emperor Garden, he had accidentally been dropped here, but he was eager to return to the Sect at that time and had left right away.
This trip was different. Yang Kai was here searching for the whereabouts of the Insect Emperor, so, as he sped along, he had an opportunity to experience the local customs, which differed greatly from those of the inland Sects.
The great forces of the Limitless Ocean were not to be underestimated. Many island Sects had powerful Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters presiding over them.
However, now that Yang Kai had become Shadowed Star’s Star Master, whether it was on land or sea, it made no difference to him, he could easily control everything around him.
Sunrise Island belonged to the most powerful Limitless Ocean Sect, Sea Temple.
Sea Temple was a famous existence here. While the residents of the Limitless Ocean may not know about High Heaven Sect or Star Emperor Mountain, they had all heard of Sea Temple.
Sea Temple’s history was no shorter than Heaven Battling Union or Thunder Typhoon Sect’s, and after the accumulation of countless years and thanks to the abundance of marine resources, Sea Temple had become a behemoth which occupied almost half of the Limitless Ocean’s domain.
On the Limitless Ocean, Sea Temple was the lord.
If it were not for the fact that most of their Secret Arts were based around Water or Ice Attributes, and their strength decreased noticeably once they fought on land, Shadowed Star may not have even had a Heaven Battling Union or Thunder Typhoon Sect. Sea Temple alone would have been able to unify all of Shadowed Star.
However, due to various constraints, Sea Temple was only able to exert its will in the Limitless Ocean and could not extend its reach inland.
On this day, Yang Kai arrived at Sunrise Island, which stretched nearly a thousand kilometres from one shore to the other.
Even considering the entire Limitless Ocean, this was not a small island, and among the islands under the direct control of Sea Temple, it could rank among the top ten. The waters around Sunrise Island were rich in ocean resources, and it would contribute massively to Sea Temple’s coffers every year. For obvious reasons, Sunrise Island was considered a vital strategic location by Sea Temple.
Yang Kai did not attempt to hide his approach, so when he landed on this island, he was immediately noticed by the Sea Temple disciples.
There were some obvious differences between the inland cultivators and those who lived on the sea, especially in terms of skin tone and attire, so when Yang Kai landed, he was immediately met by a patrol team of Sea Temple disciples that was responsible for dealing with security.
Sunrise Island was not a place that could be freely entered and exited by the public. Anyone who wanted to come here had to enter from a specific location, identify themselves, and pay a certain amount of Saint Crystals.
It was undoubtedly a direct provocation towards Sea Temple that Yang Kai simply flew in and landed here.
As such, all of the Sea Temple disciples wore gloomy looks on their faces, and although they sensed that Yang Kai was strong, they did not show any much fear.
Yang Kai had no intention to deal with these guards so he simply took a step forward and vanished from their sight.
“Where did that boy go?” The leader of the patrol team, who also had the highest cultivation, exclaimed as he swept his eyes around and was unable to find any trace of Yang Kai.
The others also scanned their surroundings hurriedly, feeling somewhat anxious.
Since their opponent had disappeared bizarrely without them even being able to detect how he moved, it proved they would be helpless if he had wanted their lives.
Realizing this, the team of Sea Temple disciples became somewhat frightened.
“Split up and look for him. I’ll report this to the Island Master!” The lead cultivator’s expression fluctuated a few times before quickly making a decision.
A powerful master suddenly appearing on Sunrise Island had to be reported to the Island Master regardless of what this newcomer’s intentions were.
The group of disciples nodded and immediately dispersed.
In front of a remote sea-facing wooden house on the island, Yang Kai casually appeared, looked out, and smiled lightly.
The scenery here was quite pretty, with the sea in front and the rest of Sunrise Island behind. At this time when the sun was setting, a rich red glow dyed Sunrise Island in a peaceful warmth. It was indeed a good place for recuperation.
Several lower strength cultivators were on guard outside the wooden house, but when they saw Yang Kai appearing so mysteriously, they were all stunned for a moment. In the next instant, however, they all seemed to receive some kind of instructions, pushed their Saint Qi madly, summoned their artifacts, and charged towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai frowned as he noticed that their actions were not taken willingly so instead of killing them ruthlessly, he simply stretched out his hand and grasped towards the void.
The surrounding World Energy condensed into firm ropes and immediately bound these weaker cultivators, immobilizing them.
The faces of these few cultivators turned ashen as they stared towards Yang Kai in horror.
“Since I’ve come, it’s meaningless for you to try to hide anymore. Show yourself!” Yang Kai yelled in the direction of the wooden house, standing on the spot with his hands crossed behind his back, waiting patiently.
After a brief silence, the sound of footsteps sounded from the wooden house. A moment later, a young man with delicate features walked out. This young man seemed to be only twenty years old and his cultivation was only Third-Order Saint King Realm. He stared at Yang Kai with hatred and dread, as well as incredulity, not understanding how he had been found so easily.
Looking at each other, Yang Kai wore a faint grin on his lips while the young man glared at him as if he was a dangerous predator.
“How did you find this King here?” The young man finally could not stand the silence and spoke. The current Yang Kai put a great deal of pressure on him, so he could no longer remain as calm as before, “This King is certain he left no clues that would give his presence away!”
“It really wasn’t easy to find you,” Yang Kai continued to smile lightly, “If it weren’t for your Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insects, I’m afraid I would never have found you.”
As he spoke, Yang Kai pointed his finger at the cultivators who had been imprisoned by him.
The young man’s expression turned gloomy as he glanced over at the subordinates he had implanted with Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insects to control, a look of annoyance flashing across his eyes.
He never anticipated that subduing a few temporary subordinates would actually lead to his demise.
He had already been extremely cautious this time, fleeing all the way to Sunrise Island to nurse his injuries. The strengths of the few people he subdued weren’t very high either, which should have made it impossible for anyone to notice or care about them, but Yang Kai had somehow managed to catch wind of him through them.
“Even so, if you want to kill this King, it will not be easy. You should understand that having already tried once. Why don’t we discuss terms?” The young man raised his chin slightly and proposed proudly.
“Not interested!” Yang Kai shook his head immediately.
The young man gawked as he asked, “If you don’t even listen to my proposal, how can you say you’re not interested? Aren’t you afraid you’ll regret it?”
“There is nothing to regret. Today, you must die!” Yang Kai sneered.
The young man snorted and laughed as he stared at Yang Kai sarcastically, “Little brat, you’d best not boast so shamelessly. Last time, this King was able to escape from you, and he can do it again today! However, if you swear to no longer interfere with this King’s business, this King can give you enough benefits to use for the rest of your life!”
“What can you, who only knows how to control Exotic Insects, give me?” Yang Kai snickered.
The young man’s face showed some surprise this time as his brow furrowed and he tentatively asked, “You know about this King’s background?”
“Whether I know or not doesn’t matter. Today, if I say you die, you must die!” Yang Kai snorted coldly and no longer bothered with any nonsense, reaching out his hand towards the young man.
“Bold!” The young man shouted as he did not even try to evade, instead choosing to rush straight at Yang Kai, pushing his Saint Qi wildly, seemingly intending to blow himself up.
He knew that he was not Yang Kai’s opponent at all with his current strength, so he never even considered keeping this body. Instead, he planned to self-destruct and disturb Yang Kai’s vision in hopes of finding an opportunity to escape.
Yang Kai just looked at him sarcastically. Without making any big movements, he just clenched his fist slowly.
World Energy quickly gathered around and imprisoned the young man. Suspended mid-air, unable to move, the young man found his Saint Qi had actually been suppressed and was unable to detonate.
The young man finally showed a look of fear in his eyes as he called out in horror, “What did you do?”
Just as he spat these words though, he seemed to think of something and his eyes bulged, screaming out at Yang Kai in the next instant, “You can manipulate the power of this star! Did you refine its Star Source?”
“Your Insect Emperor title is not undeserved; your vision is indeed sharp!” Yang Kai sneered as he clenched his fist tighter and tighter.
Accompanied by a dull explosion, the young man’s body burst into a cloud of blood fog, leaving behind only a distressed Soul which immediately tried to flee.
The last time Yang Kai and Qian Tong joined forces, they were unable to eliminate the Insect Emperor, but Yang Kai had since become the Star Master of Shadowed Star and prepared ahead of time, so how could the Insect Emperor escape death again?
With a single thought, Yang Kai sealed the surrounding hundred-metre space. No matter how the powerful Soul rushed about, it was unable to escape from the invisible barrier around him.
After a few failed attempts, the Insect Emperor realized his efforts were futile and so he stopped expending pointless effort. The Spiritual Energy condensed together and the Soul transformed from a glowing ball into a vague figure which floated in the air.
This figure glared at Yang Kai gloomily as his avatar fluctuated slightly, like a flickering flame, and quickly shouted, “This King admits his punishment is deserved, now tell me, what benefits do you want in order to set this King free!”
Yang Kai curled his lips and reached out to seize this Soul Avatar.
The Insect Emperor couldn’t avoid it at all, and his Soul was directly caught in the palm of Yang Kai’s hand.
Even struggling fiercely, he was unable to free himself from Yang Kai’s control, only able to curse loudly and yell hysterically.
Yang Kai clenched his hand tightly and with one last piercing scream, the Soul of the Insect Emperor exploded into nothingness and disappeared completely.
A verdant coloured sabre, which had been shrunk down countless times, and a small exquisite bracelet materialized then and fell into Yang Kai’s palm.
Both of these items exuded a malevolent Emperor Pressure. The bracelet at least appeared normal, but the tiny sabre artifact exuded a strange force that cut apart Yang Kai Divine Sense when he tried to probe it.
Emperor Artifacts!
Yang Kai raised his brow as he revealed a look of pleasant surprise.
He currently had no shortage of artifacts, even possessing two Emperor Artifacts: The offensive Annihilation Thunder Bead and the Sealed World Bead.
These two Emperor Artifacts were part of the core inheritance of Star Emperor Mountain.
Now, suddenly obtaining two more, Yang Kai was overjoyed.
No one disliked having more treasures, especially when those treasures were Emperor Artifacts!
This tiny deep green sabre that could cut through Spiritual Energy was naturally familiar to Yang Kai, as the Insect Emperor had used it last time to escape. Yang Yan had called it the Soul Splitting Saber, a fitting name.
As for the small bracelet, Yang Kai did not know what it was or what purpose it served.
Trying to examine it with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai found there was an invisible barrier around it, one that completely prevented his probing!
Realizing this, Yang Kai could only give up for now. However, he was not discouraged, after all, this bracelet was an artifact the Insect Emperor used, so the barrier protecting it would not be easily broken.
Although Yang Kai could not understand the function of this bracelet, he felt a fierce power pulsing from it, one that frightened him somewhat.
After fiddling with it for a while, Yang Kai put the Soul Splitting Saber and the strange bracelet away as he did not have time to refine these two things right now.
Just after finishing this, Yang Kai noticed a powerful aura rapidly approaching him from the centre of the island.
Obviously, the leaders in charge of Sunrise Island had noticed his aura fluctuations just now and were coming to investigate.
Yang Kai didn’t try to leave immediately, instead choosing to stand still and wait.
A short time later, a burly man fell from the sky. He was quite tall and had a wild-looking face that gave him a naturally imposing appearance. People would likely feel intimidated just by standing in front of him.
There was a long scar on the man’s face extending from his brow to his chin, adding to the ferocity of his looks.
After the man arrived and saw the blood on the ground, he could not help furiously shouting, “Bastard, how dare you act so impudently on my Sunrise Island!”
Saying so, he sent a palm towards Yang Kai.
This man was a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm comparable in strength to the old Qian Tong or Fei Zhi Tu. With his bulging muscles, the moment he sent out this palm, the space around his hand seemed to cave in and crack.
Even a cultivator in the same realm that was hit by the palm would have at least a dozen broken bones.
Yang Kai frowned seeing this, and although he was a little displeased with the other party not even trying to clarify the situation before attacking, he quickly recalled that he was an uninvited guest here, so he didn’t pay it too much mind. With a casual wave of his hand, Yang Kai neutralized the burly man’s palm and sent him flying backwards.
Experiencing this, the burly man gawked towards Yang Kai right up until the moment he hit the ground with a loud thud, no longer daring to act too arbitrarily.
He realized that Yang Kai had no intention to hurt him, otherwise, he would not have escaped unscathed just now. With the means Yang Kai just showed him, this man was confident this young man could kill him in the blink of an eye if he wanted to.
As this terrifying thought surged deep in his heart, the burly man took a deep breath and pressed down the dread he was feeling before calling out, “May I ask Your Excellency’s name!”
Yang Kai grinned, cupped his fists, and said, “High Heaven Sect, Yang Kai!”
“High Heaven Sect…” The man thought for a while before his body shook violently and he called out in alarm, “Are you High Heaven Sect’s Sect Master Yang Kai?”
Although he lived on the Limitless Ocean, this man had obviously heard the names High Heaven Sect and Yang Kai before.
However, he never expected that the strength of this High Heaven Sect’s Sect Master to be this outrageous.
“And you are…?” Yang Kai asked, looking at him.
The man frowned but still answered promptly, “Sunrise Island’s Island Master, Pang Zhen!”
“So it is Island Master Pang, a pleasure to meet you!” Yang Kai cupped his fists in greeting.
Pang Zhen’s expression calmed down as he recovered from his initial shock. Although he was not Yang Kai’s opponent, he could not lose face for Sea Temple so he quickly said, “Sect Master Yang may be the respect Lord of High Heaven Sect, but my Sea Temple has neither grievance nor grudge with High Heaven Sect, so this Pang must ask why Sect Master Yang has come here and killed my Sea Temple’s disciples!”
As an Island Master, it was natural for Pang Zhen to maintain the safety of the cultivators on the island, so now that someone had died on his watch, he could not just ignore the situation, or his reputation and authority would be greatly damaged.
Yang Kai pondered for a moment before replying, “Island Master Pang, forgive me, this Yang has not come here to kill indiscriminately. However, this man had to die. In truth, this Yang came here specifically to hunt him down!”
“Can Sect Master Yang explain more thoroughly?” Pang Zhen couldn’t help relaxing somewhat when he saw Yang Kai respond so politely.
“Naturally!” Yang Kai smiled slightly and began informing Pang Zhen about the situation.
Pang Zhen was shocked when he heard this explanation and somewhat could not believe what Yang Kai was saying, instinctually thinking that Yang Kai was just making up an excuse.
Knowing that he had doubts though, Yang Kai simply smiled and said, “Island Master Pang will understand after looking at these things.”
Saying so, Yang Kai stretched out his hand and pulled one of the cultivators he had previously imprisoned over to him.
These few cultivators were being controlled by the Insect Emperor via his Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insects. After Yang Kai arrived, he didn’t intend to kill these people since they were just victims, so he instead captured and suppressed them.
As Yang Kai waved his hand, all these captured cultivators trembled and their faces twisted, as if suffering immense pain. A moment later, all of them foamed at the mouth and collapsed to the ground; fortunately, they were still breathing, so their lives were not in immediate danger.
Pang Zhen stood to the side and observed closely, not daring to act recklessly like before.
Soon, accompanied by a few piercing squeaks, a stream of light shot out from the heads of all the collapsed cultivators.
Yang Kai stretched out his hand, grabbed these lights, and then motioned to Pang Zhen to observe.
In Yang Kai’s palm, there were a few oddly shaped, fingernail-sized black and red worms that were constantly struggling and resisting but seemed incapable of breaking free.
Pang Zhen stared for a long time in silence before gulping and asking, “These are the Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insects you mentioned?”
He had never seen an insect like this before, but he could still feel a trace of wild and ominous aura from them, as if they were extremely old. His instincts were also warning him these things were dangerous.
“En, if you are implanted with one of these Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insects, you will fall under the control of its master,” Yang Kai smiled lightly and confirmed.
“Can I have a closer look?” Pang Zhen felt curious and was somewhat interested in studying these Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insects. Although this thing was dangerous, if he could research it thoroughly and discover the method to control them, it would add a powerful Secret Technique to his arsenal.
Yang Kai looked at him with a faint smile and said, “If Island Master Pang is not afraid of them burrowing into his Knowledge Sea, I can give them to you.”
Pang Zhen paled, hesitated for a long time, then eventually shook his head, “Forget it. This Pang does not have the confidence to suppress them. I will have to trouble Sect Master Yang to dispose of these things.”
Yang Kai smiled lightly, flicked his wrist, and the several struggling Ten Thousand Poison Evil Insects were vaporized.
Understanding that the previous incident was indeed a misunderstanding, and Yang Kai was not here to kill innocent inhabitants of Sunrise Island, instead actually solving a huge future problem for him, Pang Zhen’s attitude towards Yang Kai became much friendlier.
Though, what he was more concerned about was Yang Kai’s strength.
No one in the entire Limitless Ocean could resist him.
Pang Zhen then strongly invited Yang Kai to his residence.
Yang Kai also intended to have some further discussions with him, so he did not decline.
Pang Zhen was the Island Master of Sunrise Island, so he lived in a palatial mansion built upon the best piece of land.
After entering the mansion, Pang Zhen immediately ordered a banquet prepared while having a dozen beautiful young women provide entertainment in the form of singing and dancing.
A group of Origin Returning Realm masters from the island also accompanied them.
The atmosphere was quite lively.
The chaos which had plagued the inland Sects was well known to Sea Temple’s leadership, but because it had never spread to the Limitless Ocean, Sea Temple was not completely clear about all the details.
The reason why Pang Zhen warmly invited Yang Kai was twofold. On the one hand, he was impressed with Yang Kai’s strength and wanted to make friends, while on the other, he wanted to use this opportunity to gain some information about the inland situation.
Yang Kai did not try to conceal anything.
When they learned that the Corpse Spirit Religion had been uprooted, everyone in Sea Temple exclaimed, and when they learned that Qian Tong had indeed broken through to the Origin King Realm, the faces of Pang Zhen and the others filled with worry.
An Origin King had not been born on Shadowed Star for more than ten thousand years and was more of a legend passed down from generation to generation than something real and tangible. This was an unattainable aspiration for all of Shadowed Star’s masters, so Pang Zhen and the others didn’t know how powerful an Origin King really was, but that did little to assuage their fears.
They were concerned Qian Tong would become ambitious and extend his clans towards the Limitless Ocean.
Although Sea Temple was a behemoth in the Limitless Ocean with massive influence, deep heritage, and numerous masters at its disposal, they were not confident they could withstand an Origin King.
Yang Kai naturally saw the anxiety in their faces and knew what they were worried about, but only felt it was something funny and did not offer them any kind of reassurance either way.
Forget about whether Qian Tong had such intentions, even if he did, he would not have the ability to subdue the Limitless Ocean. Shadow Moon Hall simply did not have such strength.
Pang Zhen and the other’s worries were superfluous.
“Island Master Pang, this Yang has a request to make, and I was hoping Island Master Pang could arrange it,” After drinking three rounds, Yang Kai suddenly said.
“Sect Master Yang, please,” Pang Zhen quickly raised his head and looked over.
“I want to meet with your Sea Temple’s Temple Masters,” Yang Kai smiled lightly as he took a sip of wine.
Pang Zhen was stunned and asked, “What does Sect Master Yang wish to discuss with the Temple Masters?”
Although Yang Kai naturally had the qualifications to meet the Temple Masters of Sea Temple, Pang Zhen still had to ask about his purpose.
The others also looked at Yang Kai curiously.
“It’s for a good cause.” Yang Kai smiled deeply, “This Sect Master wants to open up an exchange of materials between your Limitless Ocean Sect and those inland. Island Master Pang must know that many unique resources are produced both inland and here on the ocean due to their different environments. Cultivation materials that can be easily found here may be extremely precious inland, and vice-versa. If we can open a trade route to exchange the commodities we respectively need, it will bring great benefits to our respective forces!”
This was the primary reason Yang Kai had chosen to remain here, otherwise, he simply would have left after killing the Insect Emperor.
High Heaven Sect was not the same as before, with only a few hundred members. Originally, providing for these few disciples and Elders was a simple matter, but now, Yang Kai had brought over ten thousand of his friends and family from Tong Xuan Realm. An unimaginable amount of resources was being consumed every month, and even though he had accumulated much over the years, High Heaven Sect’s reserves would only last a few years if they weren’t constantly replenished.
However, during the war with Corpse Spirit Religion, all the inland Sects suffered heavy losses and were currently lacking all kinds of resources.
Yang Kai took a fancy to the difference between ocean and inland resources after spending some time on the Limitless Ocean, and if he could successfully establish a trade route between them, not only would it relieve his immediate worries, but he would also no longer need to worry about purchasing cultivation materials in the future, as wealth would simply pour in as time passed.
Although he was now the Star Master of Shadowed Star and could travel anywhere he wanted to at will, even force Sea Temple to submit to him by force, Yang Kai had no intention to do this.
Instead of waging war, he would rather allow the inland and ocean Sects to form a mutually beneficial relationship.
Now standing atop Shadowed Star as its Lord, he needed to consider the good of the entire Cultivation Star.
Hearing his proposal, Pang Zhen’s eyes lit up, but his enthusiasm soon dampened, “Sect Master Yang is not the first person to make such a proposal. Even some from my Sea Temple have mentioned this before, but because many resources require special preservation and transportation methods, and communication between the inland and ocean Sects is difficult, it has been logistically impossible to set up any significant trade between us except for in a few seaside cities.”
Seeing his demeanour, Yang Kai knew that the people of Sea Temple were interested in the inland materials as well, but establishing trade routes had proven too troublesome. If this weren’t the case, Yang Kai would not have been able to meddle in this matter, as it would have already been established long ago.
Another difficulty was finding an appropriate trading partner. With the size and scope of Sea Temple, there were very few inland Sects qualified to stand on equal footing, most great forces could only look up to them. As for the great forces capable of establishing trade, they held competitive relationships with Sea Temple, making them incompatible as business partners.
Yang Kai, however, just smiled and said, “And if I could solve those troubles?”
Pang Zhen’s expression shook, “Does Sect Master Yang really have a way?”
Yang Kai nodded sincerely; his expression completely serious.
Pang Zhen burst into hearty laughter and said, “If Sect Master Yang can do this, then this matter can be discussed! However, I cannot take responsibility for such a big endeavour and can only refer the matter to the Temple Masters for them to handle.”
“This Yang has long heard of Sea Temple’s reputation and knows that its Temple Masters are wise, so there should be no reason for them to refuse such a good thing,” Yang Kai laughed.
Pang Zhen was instantly put into a great mood and raised his glass again, “Then, a toast to the successful conclusion of this matter. When the time comes, this Pang will also have to ask Sect Master Yang to take care of me.”
If this matter could be negotiated successfully, then Pang Zhen would undoubtedly gain many benefits. If all went well, he might even be able to raise his position and status in Sea Temple, so he did not hesitate to become even friendlier with Yang Kai, treating him as the most honoured of guests.
In the middle of the night, after the banquet finally wound down, Pang Zhen arranged a luxurious courtyard for Yang Kai and ensured that a few beautiful young maidens were waiting for him when he got there.
Yang Kai immediately asked these young women to leave, of course, feeling quite awkward and embarrassed as they pouted resentfully while leaving.
Yang Kai thought that because the matter he proposed would be of great benefit to Sea Temple, they would be very enthusiastic to cooperate, but to his surprise, even after three days waiting on Sunrise Island, not even one of Sea Temple’s Temple Masters came to see him.
This reaction was quite confusing to Yang Kai.
It stood to reason that although Sea Temple’s territory was extremely vast, it should have Space Arrays on each of its main islands, so if one of Sea Temple’s Temple Masters wanted to, it should not have taken them more than half a day to arrive on Sunrise Island.
A delay of three days could only indicate that the other party did not believe what he said or was not interested in this matter in the first place.
But Yang Kai wasn’t in a hurry. Now that the hidden dangers of Corpse Spirit Religion had been thoroughly eliminated, High Heaven Sect did not need him around urgently to make decisions. With Ye Xi Yun overseeing things, it did not make much difference how long he was gone for.
As such, Yang Kai took this opportunity to savour the changes he had undergone after becoming a Star Master.
As the Lord of Shadowed Star, he could now travel anywhere on it in an instant. As long as he had enough Spiritual Energy and Saint Qi, he could cross hundreds of thousands or even millions of kilometres in an instant. However, the further and more frequently he travelled, the larger the burden he would experience, limiting him somewhat.
Nonetheless, crossing a few tens of thousands of kilometres in an instant was a simple matter.
This was just one of the small conveniences Yang Kai received after becoming a Star Master.
The biggest benefit Yang Kai found was his ability to cultivate more rapidly on Shadowed Star. World Energy here now flowed into his body freely, allowing his cultivation speed to soar to almost a hundred times what it had been before, something impossible for anyone else to achieve.
In battle, he could also mobilize Shadowed Star’s World Energy to effortlessly kill his enemies, a skill he had already tested and verified.
However, there was one thing that concerned Yang Kai quite a bit, and that was a vague, invisible power which seemed to engulf Shadowed Star. This power had the characteristics of a giant seal, like a series of shackles preventing Shadowed Star’s cultivators from comprehending the mysteries of higher realms
It was precisely because of the existence of this barrier that no Origin King had been born on Shadowed Star for over ten thousand years!
These invisible shackles were the World Principles of Shadowed Star, an ethereal and unpredictable force that even an Origin King could not grasp or comprehend fully. Although Yang Kai had now become a Star Master, he still had no way to affect these World Principles.
Yang Kai attempted to break these shackles or disperse them, but ultimately failed.
With a long sigh, Yang Kai took back his Divine Sense, no longer wasting his time. Although this barrier prevented anyone from reaching the Origin King Realm, it was not actually harmful, so he did not need to pay too much attention to it.
Another day passed yet there was still no news from Sea Temple!
Yang Kai finally began to feel a little impatient, but just as he was considering whether he should go to the Sea Temple’s headquarters himself, his brow suddenly furrowed, and he expanded his Divine Sense.
A few thousand kilometres away from Sunrise Island, there was a huge wave almost a thousand metres high, which was quickly closing in. This wave gave off a terrible roar and was being ridden by a large number of figures, at least a hundred in total.
Among these hundred or so people, there were both males and females. The men were quite burly and had clearly non-human features. Each one was several metres tall and had terrifying forms that could cause anyone who saw them to shudder. On the other hand, the women were all great beauties with flawless skin and features. Some appeared pure, others charming, still other seductive, arousing endless reverie.
What concerned Yang Kai though was that this group of individuals were all Origin Realm masters!
Yang Kai initially thought these people were masters from Sea Temple, but after taking a closer look, he found that this was not the case.
These people were not human!
Thinking carefully, Yang Kai suddenly recalled some information.
In the Limitless Ocean of Shadowed Star, not only did the Human Race thrive, but there was also a race called the Sea Clan!
‘Sea Clan’ was a general term that encompassed many different oceanic races. They were born with great affinity to Water Attribute Secret Arts and Martial Skill and lived below the seas, many of them not even having human-like forms.
However, the Sea Clan seldomly interacted with the Human Race, so cultivators from the inland of Shadowed Star would not necessarily see someone from the Sea Clan even once throughout their lifetime. Even human cultivators living on the Limitless Ocean would rarely interact with these people.
Yang Kai observed for a while and found that this Sea Clan group was comprised of about four or five different races. Some were covered with scales while others had long barb-like tails behind them. Still others had pincer-like hands and crab-like legs, making them appear quite strange.
This was also Yang Kai’s first time seeing members of the Sea Clan, so he couldn’t help feeling somewhat interested. He also did not know why they were so aggressively rushing towards Sunrise Island. After observing them for so long though, a burly Sea Clan male who was riding the very front of the giant wave noticed something and turned his eyes towards the sky, sweeping his gaze around as if trying to find whoever was hiding nearby spying on them.
Yang Kai smiled slightly when he saw this and withdrew his gaze.
For him, no one on Shadowed Star was worthy of his concern. These hundred Sea Clan Origin Returning Realm masters may be an extremely powerful combat force for Sea Temple, but they were nothing to the current Yang Kai.
Above the huge wave, the burly Sea Clan leader frowned as he continued to scan the skies with suspicion on his face.
“Shang Ao, did you discover something?” A woman with an astounding figure and very revealing clothes also glanced upwards and frowned.
Shang Ao shook his head slowly, “It felt like someone was watching us, but I can’t sense any nearby presences. Maybe it was just my imagination.”
The woman was stunned. She understood how strong Shang Ao was. As one of the leaders of the Sea Clan’s Sea God Palace, Shang Ao was one of the strongest masters on all of Shadowed Star, so it was quite odd for his senses to be wrong.
However, since Shang Ao had said so himself, the woman did not bother digging into it, simply frowning slightly as she quietly spoke, “This matter will likely be quite difficult to handle. The princess disappeared near Sunrise Island, and although it is highly likely that she was abducted by those humans. If they refuse to admit to it, what are we to do?”
Shang Ao coldly snorted, “If they dare not admit it, this General will raze Sunshine Island to the ground! Those damn humans should have been chased out of the Limitless Ocean long ago. This is my Sea Clan’s territory!”
“Ha…” The woman sighed deeply, her face full of worries as she stared in the direction of Sunrise Island, secretly praying that her princess had really been abducted by these humans. If she wasn’t, they wouldn’t even have any clues as to where to look next. This time, they had brought a great army to Sunrise Island with the mentality that giving a dead horse medicine can’t harm it, but this was really nothing but a desperation move. If the humans hadn’t, with the great power Sea Temple commanded, Sea God Palace would not dare to start the war lightly with them.
Nevertheless, Shang Ao seemed to have already determined that the princess was taken away by these humans, so it was likely going to be difficult for her to settle this situation peacefully. If the princess could be found, everything would be fine, but if she could not be found, the two titans of the Limitless Ocean may really be set on the path to war.
That massive wave travelled extremely quickly.
When the wave approached to within a thousand kilometres of Sunrise Island, Pang Zhen and the other Elders noticed an abnormality in the surrounding World Energy and quickly rushed out of their respective residences to look into the distance.
A moment later, Pang Zhen’s face changed drastically, “These arrogant Sea Clan bastards dare to attack my Sunrise Island? Quickly activate all the defensive Spirit Arrays!”
As soon as the order was given, a ringing sound spread across Sunrise Island and soon, the entire island was enveloped in a transparent energy barrier. All of the cultivators on the island also deployed around Pang Zhen, each of them wearing solemn expressions as they waited for the Sea Clan’s arrival.
Yang Kai did not know what was happening, so being curious, he also came over to Pang Zhen.
“Sect Master Yang, the Sea Clan seems to have come to stir up trouble. I hope Sect Master Yang can stand back,” Pang Zhen gently persuaded. Yang Kai’s previous proposal was of great interest to him and depending on whether he could push it forward or not, his position in Sea Temple might very well change. However, the key to this proposal was Yang Kai himself, so it was only natural for Pang Zhen to worry about his safety.
“Don’t worry, Island Master Pang can just handle things as he sees fit. I’m only here to observe,” Yang Kai chuckled.
Seeing him like this, Pang Zhen thought for a moment but did not try to persuade him further. After all, Yang Kai had already proved his great strength before.
“Why is the Sea Clan so angry? Did Sunrise Island or Sea Temple provoke them in some way?” Yang Kai asked casually.
Pang Zhen shook his head, “I don’t know, but there has never been a harmonious relationship between Sea Temple and the Sea Clan; after all, we are two different races who both inhabit the Limitless Ocean, so friction is inevitable. However, today’s situation is one this Pang has never seen before. My Sea Temple and the Sea Clan’s Sea God Palace even have some agreements between us, so neither side ever sends out so many masters to deal with the other party.”
Yang Kai’s eyes flickered a few times before he seemingly casually remarked, “The Sea Clan’s Sea God Palace should also be able to collect a lot of ocean cultivation resources.”
Pang Zhen’s focus was on why the Sea Clan had dispatched so many masters to Sunrise Island, so he did not think too much about Yang Kai’s comment and nodded, “They have an innate advantage in this regard actually and are able to collect resources from the deepest parts of the sea with ease, something our Sea Temple is incapable of.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Pang Zhen came to his senses and quickly glanced over at Yang Kai only to find him smiling happily. Realizing his gaff, Pang Zhen quickly said, “Sect Master Yang, they are of a different race. Also, the Sea Clan is not easy to deal with. If you want to trade cultivation resources with them, I am afraid it will be quite difficult. The Sea Clan always have eyes atop their heads and look down greatly on our Human Race. You have lived your life inland so you perhaps don’t understand just how far apart our two races are.”
“Many thanks for your reminder, Island Master Pang,” Yang Kai responded thoughtlessly.
Pang Zhen naturally understood what Yang Kai was thinking and why he thought so.
Yang Kai had been waiting here for several days already, yet no one from Sea Temple’s headquarters had come to discuss the exchange of resources he had proposed. Anyone who was ignored like this would feel displeased. Sea Temple was the undisputed leader of the Human forces on the Limitless Ocean though, so regardless of how they acted, Yang Kai had no other option but to deal with them, but with masters from Sea God Palace suddenly appearing, Pang Zhen knew that Yang Kai was now having ideas about trying to forge a cooperative relationship with them instead.
If he could negotiate a deal with Sea God Palace, Yang Kai would not need to bother with Sea Temple anymore.
Without this kind of merit to his name, Pang Zhen would likely never be promoted again and could only remain as the Island Master of Sunrise Island for the rest of his life. Although this was not an unpleasant position, it was still a fair distance from Sea Temple’s truly powerful centre.
Seeing Yang Kai not take his words to heart, Pang Zhen also became a bit angered. He was not angry with Yang Kai, of course, but rather with his own Sea Temple’s leadership.
But right now, he did not have time to deal with this matter, as the huge wave had already arrived just a few kilometres outside Sunrise Island in the short time he had been talking with Yang Kai, and it showed no signs of slowing down.
*Hong long long…*
The Island Defending Array around Sunrise Island shook as it was impacted by the wave but it remained unbroken.
It took quite some time for the massive wave to dissipate as it spread out around Sunrise Island and disappeared.
Pang Zhen looked up into the sky with an ugly expression and shouted, “Shang Ao, what is the meaning of this? Could it be that Sea God Palace wants to make war with my Sea Temple?”
“Pang Zhen, hand over my clansman you abducted. Otherwise, I will raze your Sunrise Island today and kill off every last chicken and dog on it!” Shang Ao roared, his voice booming like thunder, causing many people’s ears to ring.
Pang Zhen was stunned and immediately asked, “Hand over who?”
He did not know what Shang Ao was talking about and couldn’t help feeling a bit confused.
“Don’t play dumb with me! This General will give you a cup of tea’s time. If you can’t bring out the one this General wants to see by then, you can suffer death instead!” Although Shang Ao was strong, he was obviously bullheaded and did not even try to negotiate or explain, instead opting for directly issuing ultimatums.
He was certain that the one he was looking for was here on Sunrise Island.
Seeing Shang Ao act so arrogant and unreasonable, Pang Zhen became angered and smiled coldly, “This Island Master doesn’t know who you are talking about, but even if he did, this Island Master would not give whoever it is you want to you.”
Pang Zhen was a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master and the Island Master of Sunrise Island, so with Shang Ao coming here to cause trouble for no apparent reason, even daring to threaten him, he naturally could not show any weakness.
“Fine, since you admit your crimes, don’t blame this General for being ruthless,” Shang Ao’s face became stern and was just about to order his forces to attack when the woman next to him suddenly grabbed him and shouted. “Wait!”
Although Shang Ao looked very unhappy, he did not refuse, simply crossing his arms and standing tall while sweeping his gaze across the humans down below with clear contempt in his eyes.
He seemed to be looking down on everyone, not even putting Pang Zhen in his eyes, but when his gaze landed on Yang Kai, his eyes shrank slightly as a trace of doubt flashed across his face.
With a big smile on his face, Yang Kai looked harmless to humans and animals alike, but he still gave off an incredibly dangerous aura.
This made Shang Ao involuntarily focus on Yang Kai.