The stone cavern was very large and there were some other things besides the magma pool.
Before Yang Kai could take a careful look, Liu Yan’s voice suddenly rang in his ear, “Master!”
Having heard her shout, he promptly let Liu Yan out with a thought.
Liu Yan didn’t take the human form but maintained her Firebird form, quietly hovering before Yang Kai. Her eyes were completely glued on the magma pool in front. There was actually a sliver of longing in her gaze.
“Is there something down there that’s useful to you?” Yang Kai immediately asked, noticing this.
Liu Yan promptly voiced out her desire, “There seems to be something there, and it’s not small. I will go check it out.”
As she spoke, she spread her wings and flew straight to the magma pool and plunged inside.
“Be careful,” Yang Kai in the back hurriedly exhorted, but Liu Yan had already disappeared.
He couldn’t help but shake his head. Only then did he finally begin looking around.
The stone cavern might be big but it was empty. So, the surrounding situation was clear at a glance.
Very soon, Yang Kai’s attention was drawn to a certain place.
There, a humanoid figure seemed to be sitting cross-legged. Yang Kai furrowed his brow and immediately spread his Divine Sense. After a bit of scanning, he finally confirmed that the humanoid figure was just a skeleton. It had not even a bit of vitality and aura. Obviously, it should have died a long time ago.
[If I’m right, this should be Gong Sun Mu’s corpse.]
[An Alchemy Grandmaster of his generation, the third disciple of one of Ten Great Emperors, Wondrous Pill Great Emperor. He was supposed to be an outstanding master who had everyone in the Star Boundary at his beck and call. But then, he had met a tragic end in an insignificant place like the Yuan Furnace Mountain.] Yang Kai couldn’t help but sigh again and again. He had no idea how Gong Sun Mu offended the Wondrous Pill Great Emperor so much that the Wondrous Pill Great Emperor expelled him. His end was so bleak and lonesome that he had no one to even collect his body.
Having set his mind, Yang Kai walked to the skeleton and cupped his fists and bowed slightly.
In any case, Gong Sun Mu was an elder, and most important of all, an Alchemy Grandmaster. Even if he died here, he deserved this bow from Yang Kai.
After standing straight, Yang Kai’s gaze was immediately attracted by what was in front of Gong Sun Mu.
Gong Sun Mu must have stayed here until he died. There was a small pot-like object not too far from him. This small pot looked like a wok used by ordinary people for cooking but it was much smaller in size. And underneath the small pot was the Earth Fire which was burning below the pot. It was drawn using an Array.
What Yang Kai cared about wasn’t this pot but the thing inside the pot.
Surprisingly, a pot of thick medicinal soup was boiling in this pot. There wasn’t much of it; it was only about a bowl, covering just the bottom of the pot.
From time to time, a bubble would appear in the medicinal soup. And whenever it burst, it would emit a colourful glow. At the same time, a strange fragrance would permeate the cave.
Yang Kai’s expression changed as he smelled this fragrance.
He was very familiar with this fragrance because it happened to be the very same fragrance he smelled outside the Yuan Furnace Mountain.
Back then, outside the Yuan Furnace Mountain, many cultivators were lured over by the appearance of a phenomenon. Whether the sudden colourful glow and the wonderful fragrance filling the world, everything was very similar to the scene before him.
A pondering look immediately appeared on Yang Kai’s face.
[In that case, the phenomenon of the Yuan Furnace Mountain isn’t because some precious treasure is about to mature but because of this pot of medicinal soup.]
Yang Kai immediately became interested in this pot of medicinal soup. Even though he was eighty percent sure that this thick medicinal soup was not poisonous and could even bring great benefits to the cultivator, he did not dare to take it rashly before he properly understood the thing.
He looked around and soon found a jade slip before Gong Sun Mu’s skeleton.
The jade slip seemed to have been placed by Gong Sun Mu himself before he died. From one glance, it was extremely clear that he had prepared it for the later generations to read.
Yang Kai first checked it with his Divine Sense. Only after he was sure that there was no danger, did he finally reach out to pick the jade slip.
The moment he grabbed the jade slip, things suddenly changed.
Gong Sun Mu, who should have been dead for years and had been reduced to nothing but a skeleton, suddenly moved. Immediately after, his eye sockets flickered with a pair of green glowing orbs that suddenly flew out and gathered into a ball of light that shot straight at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was taken aback. He quickly jumped back, and at the same time, circulated the energy in his body to defend himself.
But what horrified him was that the ball of light actually ignored his defensive energy and went straight into his chest, disappearing in a flash.
In an instant, Yang Kai was frightened out of his senses and he broke into a cold sweat. He quickly scanned his body with his Divine Sense, but strangely found that he hadn’t suffered any injuries. There seemed to be nothing wrong with his body.
And after doing this, Gong Sun Mu’s skeleton crumbled down on the ground, as if it had exhausted its last strength. The bones were incomparably fragile, many of them broke apart.
After a short while, everything returned to normal. Yang Kai, holding the jade slip in his hand, stood rooted in his place with an ugly look on his face.
Just now, he had definitely triggered some kind of seal laid by Gong Sun Mu. And since he couldn’t detect it with his Divine Sense, so this seal was obviously very well hidden. He couldn’t dispel it either.
After pondering for a long time, Yang Kai, gritting his teeth, sat down and poured his Divine Sense into the jade slip, reading it carefully.
He felt that since Gong Sun Mu had intentionally left this jade slip, he must have left some clues that might help him know what happened just now.
As his Divine Sense scanned through the jade slip, the content of the jade slip immediately became clear to him.
“I, Gong Sun Mu, the third disciple of the Wondrous Pill Great Emperor, met the Great Emperor in my young and ignorant days, when I used to beg for a living. The Great Emperor didn’t look down upon me and even took me as his disciple, teaching me the Alchemic Dao…”
As expected, the jade slip was really left by Gong Sun Mu, so this cave mansion indeed belonged to him. The information in the jade slip was very complicated. At first, it just had a memory of Gong Sun Mu. He was a very unfortunate person. When he was young, he tasted the cold bitterness of the world, almost starving to death. At the same time, he was also a very lucky guy. He actually caught the notice of the Wondrous Pill Great Emperor. He was then taken as a Low-Ranked Disciple, staying by the Great Emperor’s side while cultivating and learning Alchemy skills.
“My aptitude was far better than my two Senior Brothers and the Great Emperor loved it very much. He taught me everything without hiding anything. My Alchemy skills quickly surpassed the two Senior Brothers, and as I rose to fame at a young age, I grew proud and arrogant. I was out of control. When my Senior Brothers tried to mediate, I ridiculed them, creating discord between brothers…”
“At the age of three hundred, I advanced to the Emperor Realm and became an Emperor Grade Alchemist as well. I became renowned in the Star Boundary, but that wasn’t enough for me. I want to surpass the Honored Master in Alchemic Dao. So, I started researching the way of the Human Pill, eventually hurting my life and Heaven… First Senior Brother informed the Honored Master, and he was furious. He stopped me from researching it, but I couldn’t accept it. I agreed on the surface but continued as before in private. I was beyond control…”
“At the age of three hundred fifty, my secret was exposed by the First Senior Brother again. I attacked Senior Brother in my anger, heavily injuring him. The Honored Master couldn’t take it anymore and expelled me from his tutelage. I then found Yuan Furnace Mountain and lived here in seclusion…”
Almost all of Gong Sun Mu’s life was recorded in the jade slip. According to his own statement, his aptitude was almost comparable to the Wondrous Pill Great Emperor. Unfortunately, he seemed to be a little eager for success. In order to surpass the Wondrous Pill Great Emperor, he studied the way of the Human Pill.
As for what the way of the Human Pill was, Gong Sun Mu didn’t say. But judging by the meaning in between the lines, Yang Kai felt that it should be a very cruel Alchemy technique.
Obviously, the reason why he was kicked out of the tutelage had a lot to do with the way of the Human Pill. Of course, a part of the reason was that he attacked his Senior Brother, even severely injuring him.
After he was kicked out, Gong Sun Mu settled down in Yuan Furnace Mountain. After this life-changing experience, his temperament seemed to have changed a little, and he realized his mistake.
He wanted to return to the Wondrous Pill Great Emperor many times but he never met the Wondrous Pill Great Emperor. Finally, he died alone in this cave mansion.
Apart from this, the jade slip also had Gong Sun Mu’s own understanding of the Alchemic Way. It could be said that this jade slip itself was Gong Sun Mu’s notes of Alchemy, which was of great value to any Alchemist.
It had all kinds of pill recipes, Spirit Arrays used during refining pills, Pill Condensing Techniques… it had all kinds of stuff. Every Alchemist would go crazy for its contents.
However, Gong Sun Mu also stated in the jade slip that everything was the crystallization of his own life’s wisdom. It had nothing to do with anything taught by the Wondrous Pill Great Emperor.
Without the permission of the Wondrous Pill Great Emperor, he didn’t dare to leave that knowledge in the jade slip.
“I don’t know who you are, but since you have passed many of my tests and got this jade slip, it means that you are an Alchemist as well. Now, you can be considered as my successor. And since the jade slip is in your hands, it means that you should have also been hit by my Withered Soul Seal. The Withered Soul Seal will not harm you within the next hundred years, but after a hundred years, it will swallow your Soul. There are only two ways to remove this seal: One is to have cultivation better than mine, and the other is to find my Honored Master and ask him to take action. I hope that you can meet my Honored Master in a hundred years, hand him this jade slip, and ask him to take me back under his tutelage!”
“As compensation, you can take the Ten Thousand Medicinal Treasures Soup for which I have worked so hard on for the rest of my life. You will realize its many benefits in the future!”
After this, there was nothing more mentioned in the jade slip.
After having read it completely, Yang Kai heaved a long and deep sigh, squeezing the jade slip. He was finally free from the worries.
At the very least, he now knew exactly what he was just hit with.
Obviously, the Withered Soul Seal should be a seal laid by Gong Sun Mu before his death. As long as anyone took the jade slip, the Withered Soul Seal would be activated, penetrating into the body of the person who took the jade slip.
This seal was harmless for a hundred years but it would swallow the Soul after that.
A century wasn’t a short period, so Yang Kai wasn’t worried about anything for the time being.
As long as his cultivation exceeded Gong Sun Mu’s within a century, he could remove this Withered Soul Seal. Although Yang Kai had no idea about Gong Sun Mu’s cultivation before his death, he should be in the Emperor Realm for sure.
Yang Kai was confident in reaching the Emperor Realm in a century. What he was afraid of was that Gong Sun Mu might be a Third-Order Emperor. In that case, he would need to become a Great Emperor, and only then could he remove the Withered Soul Seal on his own.
After thinking for a while, Yang Kai solemnly put away the jade slip.
He had a free and easy disposition. So, knowing that it would be useless to mess around with the Withered Soul Seal, he stopped paying attention to it.
He turned his gaze back to the little pot of thick medicinal soup.
According to the information left in the jade slip, the small pot of medicinal soul was the Ten Thousand Medicinal Treasures Soup that Gong Sun Mu spent the remaining half of his life brewing. What ingredients were used to brew this Ten Thousand Medicinal Treasures Soup and what its miraculous effects were, Yang Kai had no idea.
But since it was compensation for the Withered Soul Seal, obviously, it would be quite beneficial to take it.
Furthermore, Gong Sun Mu’s cave mansion had existed for a couple millennia and it had been a very long time since he was alive. In other words, this pot of medicinal soup had been brewing for one or two millennia at the very least!
It was thanks to the Earth Fire drawn by the Array that it could continue to boil. Or else, it would have been reduced to nothing but a waste a long time ago.
The Yuan Furnace Mountain had always been incomparably desolate. No cultivator paid attention to it, which should be Gong Sun Mu’s handiwork. It wasn’t difficult for an Emperor Realm master to cause the people to misunderstand it as a barren mountain with a bit of disguise and some tricks to prevent the Yuan Furnace Mountain’s World Energy from leaking.
The cultivators were finally drawn to this place because of the sudden appearance of intermittent colourful glow and the strange fragrance.
And that phenomenon was obviously caused by this pot of soup.
When a Heaven-defying precious treasure was about to mature, or an extremely high-level artifact or pill was about to be refined, it would trigger a Heavenly Manifestation!
The manifestation at the Yuan Furnace Mountain was obviously due to the successful brewing of this medicinal soup.
Now that it had successfully brewed and was of great benefit to him, Yang Kai had no reason to let it go.
He sat cross-legged before the small pot and used a bit of his energy to cut off the supply of Earth Fire drawn by the Array. Immediately after, he reached out and picked up the small pot, bringing the pot of Ten Thousand Medicinal Treasures Soup before himself.
Observing it this closely, Yang Kai found that the medicinal soup was extremely thick and yet crystal clear; it didn’t have the slightest bit of impurities. He could clearly see the bottom of the pot. Meanwhile, colourful bubbles continued to rise from the bottom, making for quite the magical sight.
As the strong aroma entered his nose, Yang Kai felt refreshed.
He had no words to describe the scent at the tip of his nose. Even the charming fragrance of the purest and holiest virgin body couldn’t match this scent and Yang Kai had never smelled anything that could leave such a lasting pleasant flavour.
Along his journey to the Third-Order Origin King Realm, Yang Kai had not had a desire to taste something for a long while. And with his strength and physique, he didn’t need to eat anything. But after this aroma entered his nose, his rare appetite was stirred, as if he hadn’t eaten for many days. He couldn’t wait to swallow this pot of soup.
Gritting his teeth, Yang Kai brought the small pot to his mouth and started drinking.
Strangely enough, the pot of Ten Thousand Medicinal Treasures Soul seemed incomparably hot, but when it entered the mouth, it wasn’t. On the contrary, its temperature was just perfect. Furthermore, its fragrance filled his entire mouth and it was far more delicious than anything Yang Kai had ever eaten.
There was only one bowl of Ten Thousand Medicinal Treasures Soup. As such, he raised his head up and downed it in one go, not leaving a single drop behind.
After a while, Yang Kai let out a loud burp, spurting a colourful glow.
Before he could relish the taste of the Ten Thousands Medicinal Treasure Soup, his stomach suddenly became extremely hot as streams of heat quickly flowed through his limbs and bones like it was tangible, giving rise to an itching sensation.
Yang Kai’s face immediately changed. He hurriedly threw that small pot into the Space Ring and closed his eyes, regulating his breathing while silently circulating his cultivation technique.
And after just ten breaths of Yang Kai taking the small pot of Ten Thousand Medicinal Treasures Soup from its place, the entire Yuan Furnace Mountain suddenly started quaking with deafening rumbles. The ground started shaking, rocks rolled down the mountain, and the peak fell to one side as the entire Yuan Furnace Mountain suddenly split into countless pieces and quickly sank down.
Inside the mountain, in the countless identical stone rooms, all the cultivators who were still alive had a change in their expression.
Just when they were wondering what the Hell was going on, all the Transmission Arrays in the stone room were activated. In an instant, all the surviving cultivators disappeared from their positions.
In the next moment, figures mysteriously appeared one after another about a dozen kilometres away from the Yuan Furnace Mountain. Everyone looked confused.
“Brother Lian, you were sent out too?” hurriedly shouted Raging Fire Temple Vice Temple Master Zong Qing as he looked around and noticed a frowning Lian Yu Ming.
Hearing the shout, Lian Yu Ming immediately turned his head to look at Zong Qing. He was surprised to find Zong Qing too. He nodded and replied, “Yes! It seems that you were also teleported out!?”
“That’s right!” Zong Qing solemnly looked at the shaking Yuan Furnace Mountain and doubtfully asked, “What happened there? Why is everyone teleported out?”
Lian Yu Ming thought for a while before asking, “Brother Zong, did you come across stone rooms after you entered?”
“Yes! And all kinds of weird tests as well. They seemed to be related to Alchemy. By the way, Brother Lian, you are proficient in Alchemy, those tests shouldn’t be difficult for you.”
Lian Yu Ming slowly shook his head in response and replied, “This old master had only passed the fifth stone room. I have no idea what we would gain after passing all the tests, but judging by the tests, this cave mansion should belong to an Alchemist.”
Hearing this, Zong Qing pondered for a moment and agreed, nodding, “Brother Lian has a point. If that’s the case, you can ask the other disciples if they have gained anything or not.”
While talking, Zong Qing looked around. And when he noticed that only a half of his elite disciples were left, his expression finally changed.
Right then, he focused his gaze on a nearby figure and asked in surprise, “It’s you!?”
Not too far away, a helpless look appeared on Kang Si Ran’s face.
He too was sent out when the commotion of the Yuan Furnace Mountain started. And now, he happened to be caught in the middle of many Raging Fire Temple disciples. He didn’t dare to act rashly so as to prevent other people from misunderstanding. At this moment, he was noticed by Zong Qing. He was left with no choice but to cup his first and introduce himself, “Maplewood City Spirit Pill Plaza, Shopkeeper Kang Si Ran greets the two Vice Temple Masters.”
“Spirit Pill Plaza!?” Lian Yu Ming’s pupil constricted after hearing this. “Violet Source Chamber of Commerce’s Spirit Pill Plaza!?”
“That’s right,” Kang Si Ran nodded and at the same time, he was finally relieved. He was really helpless this time and had no choice but to reveal his identity and origin. After all, his fists weren’t bigger than the opposite party. All he could do was use the awe and prestige of Violet Source Chamber of Commerce to deter the opposite party.
As expected, after having come to know Kang Si Ran’s background, Zong Qing and Lian Yu gazed at each other before withdrawing their previous hostility. The former then said, “This Zong has heard of Spirit Pill Plaza. So Your Excellency is Spirit Pill Plaza’s Shopkeeper Kang. I’m sorry for not recognizing you.”
“Vice Temple Master Zong, you are being too polite,” Kang Si Ran replied calmly.
“Shopkeeper Kang, do you know what happened inside the Yuan Furnace Mountain?” Zong Qing asked in a deep voice.
Kang Si Ran shook his head and replied, “This Kang is at a loss too.”
“If I remember it correctly, Shopkeeper Kang had a friend with him. Where is he now?” Lian Yu Ming asked, immersed in his thoughts.
Hearing this, Kang Si Ran’s expression darkened. He glanced in the direction of the Yuan Furnace Mountain and sighed, “Since Brother Yang has failed to appear here, he has obviously encountered something unexpected inside. I see that your noble Temple seems to be short of many disciples, this Yuan Furnace Mountain’s tests aren’t that simple.”
He really believed that Yang Kai had fallen inside the Yuan Furnace Mountain. After all, even two Dao Source Realm masters like Zong Qing and Lian Yu Ming were teleported out. It was natural to imagine the fate of those who were not teleported out like this.
For a moment, Kang Si Ran could help but feel a little sad. On the one hand, it was because he couldn’t find the much needed Dao Source Pill in the Yuan Furnace Mountain, and on the other, it was because of Yang Kai’s death.
Zong Qing and Lian Yu Ming gazed at each other before lightly nodding their acknowledgement.
As they didn’t notice any pretence in Kang Si Ran’s expression, they have no intention of pestering him. Zong Qin said, “In that case, please restrain your grief, Shopkeeper Kang. Please go back. In any case, the Yuan Furnace Mountain is within the domain of my Raging Fire Temple. We will be doing another search.”
How could Kang Si Ran not notice such an obvious order to leave? After a long sigh, he cupped his fists to Zong Qing and Lian Yu Ming before turning around and flying in the direction of Maplewood City.
After a while, the entire Yuan Furnace Mountain completely collapsed with an earth-shattering crash.
After everything returned to calm, Zong Qing and Lian Yu Ming led the remaining Raging Fire Temple disciples to search the ruins of the Yuan Furnace Mountain. But unfortunately, even after flipping the entire collapsed mountain for two months, they couldn’t find anything.
All they found were the corpses of a few disciples that had died tragically!
Two months later, the Raging Fire Temple disciples had no choice but to leave.
…
Heaven knows how many feet deep underground, Yang Kai was continuously roaring like a wounded beast in the stone cavern. If anyone heard his screams, they might immediately flee in fright.
The efficacy of the Ten Thousand Medicinal Treasures Soup was extremely strong and continuous. After he drank it, it transformed into streams of pure energy that surged to every nook and cranny of Yang Kai’s body.
After his meridians and physique were eroded by its efficacy, they continuously grew tougher and stronger. The meridians widened and the physique remoulded. Yang Kai’s entire body was violently shaking. Every inch of his body, his skin, and even his internal organs and marrow, was stinging, as if tens of thousands of ants were gnawing his body. He was feeling as if he was suffering the most painful torture in the world!
Bit by bit, his skin began to crack as Golden Blood flowed out, which slowly solidified into a blood clot.
The outer surface of the blood clot was covered by the Golden Blood that flowed out again.
Gradually, Yang Kai’s entire figure was covered in a golden blood cocoon. His figure couldn’t be seen from outside. Only his strong heartbeat, which sounded much like war drums, could be heard.
Heaven knows how long this lasted. One second, it seemed countless years, but then it seemed just a moment in another.
And with the passage of time, Yang Kai’s roars coming from the blood cocoon gradually weakened before disappearing altogether, as if he had grown accustomed to this painful transformation.
In a flash, half a year had gone by…
The stone cavern remained calm and uneventful over this half-year, and not a single sound was made.
Today, cracking noises started coming from the blood cocoon around Yang Kai all of a sudden. It sounded much like the popping of bones. They were extremely crisp and numerous. Followed by these sounds, a crack suddenly appeared in the blood cocoon.
Immediately afterwards, more and more cracks started to appear on the blood cocoon, giving it a shattered-mirror-kind of look.
Finally, the blood cocoon burst apart into countless pieces with a loud bang as Yang Kai’s stalwart figure emerged in the centre. His upper body was naked and his black hair was flying along with the wind. His white skin was so white and tender that it was better than a newborn’s.
Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes. The gleam in his eyes might be withdrawn but there was a radiant look on his face.
He tilted his head as a weird expression appeared on his face.
At this moment, he was having a very different and strange feeling. He felt that he had gained a new life.
He lowered his head to take a look at his body and was immediately shocked.
He had been running about over the years, going through winds and rains. He went through all kinds of hardships that not only created his staunch character, but also forged him into an outstanding figure. But now, just a pot of Ten Thousand Treasure Soup had made his skin whiter and more tender than a woman’s. He was rather surprised by this.
He got up and exercised a bit, feeling lighter and stronger than before. When he slightly clenched his fist, endless strength continuously gushed out from his body.
He made a simple jab but it immediately resulted in a sonic boom, causing ripples in the air that were visible to the naked eyes.
Yang Kai beamed with joy at the sight of this. He immediately knew that his physical body had gained a significant upgrade. As he scanned himself with Divine Sense, he suddenly realized that his five viscera and six organs had actually changed. They looked like they had been carved from jade and gold while giving an unbreakable feeling.
[It wasn’t like this before.]
Obviously, all of this was because of the Ten Thousand Treasures Soup! The Ten Thousand Treasures Soup seemed to be able to develop the physical potential of the cultivator and temper the cultivator’s physical quality, supplementing his already powerful body. His strength had grown to a whole new level and had become even more outstanding.
But things didn’t just stop there. Yang Kai could clearly feel a large amount of Ten Thousand Medicinal Treasures Soup’s efficacy still remaining in his bones and physique. It was stored inside his body to silently transform his body over time.
Yang Kai was very satisfied with this. [So this is the effect of a medicine soup that had been brewed for over one or two millennia. It is far more effective than taking any pill.]
[With my current physique, it’s definitely possible to refine the Dragon Artifact.]
Yang Kai thought as he checked his own strength again.
This check immediately gave him a big surprise.
He found that all the Saint Qi in his body had been transformed into Source Qi. He couldn’t find even the slightest bit of Saint Qi!
Source Qi was a higher-grade energy than Saint Qi. It was the very foundation of Dao Source Realm cultivators to communicate with the World Principles and mobilize the power of Heaven and Earth. It was basically impossible for a cultivator to advance to the Dao Source Realm without the Source Qi.
Yang Kai’s perception of Principles was already good enough. The reason why he couldn’t advance to the Dao Source Realm was that the Saint Qi in his body had not been completely transformed.
According to his previous calculations, it would have taken him one or two years to convert all his Saint Qi into Source Qi, even if he continued taking Source Condensing Pills. But now, these conditions have been fulfilled in advance.
Naturally, all the credit went to the Ten Thousand Medicinal Treasures Soup.
Yang Kai was inevitably a little ecstatic by this discovery. He was now ready to advance to the Dao Source Realm anytime.
However, advancing to the Dao Source Realm was a very important thing, and this place wasn’t suitable for World Energy baptism. So, Yang Kai had no plans to advance here. He still needed to find a suitable location.
Having thought of this, Yang Kai decided to leave.
He looked around a bit but there was nothing worthy of his attention in the stone cavern. However, Liu Yan had still not returned after she charged into the magma pool. He had no idea about the advantages she might have gained underneath.
As he came to the side of the magma pool and checked, he surprisingly discovered that the temperature of the magma pool seemed to have significantly dropped. It seemed as if someone had sucked away all the internal heat.
Yang Kai tried to communicate with Liu Yan but he didn’t get any response.
However, this only made Yang Kai relieved and joyful. He knew that the reason why Liu Yan couldn’t sense his summon was definitely because she had found her own opportunity.
Considering all this, he simply stopped paying attention to Liu Yan and started looking for an exit.
The stone cavern wasn’t that big, and there was only one passage connected to it. He quickly found a Transmission Array at the other end of the passage. After activating the Spirit Array, he instantly disappeared from the stone cavern.
In a barren ridge somewhere around a hundred miles away from the Yuan Furnace Mountain, Yang Kai’s figure emerged out of thin air.
He promptly spread his Divine Sense, and after making sure that the surroundings were safe, he looked around to get his bearing before his figure shot toward the horizon, leaving a streak of light.
Yang Kai wasn’t planning on returning to Maplewood City. Currently, the most important thing for him was to advance to the Dao Source Realm. Thus, he needed to find a quiet and solitary place.
A few days later, he landed on a barren mountain. After looking around at the surroundings, he lightly nodded, extremely satisfied.
Although it was barren, and the World Energy was also scarce here, it was spacious and deserted; very few people would visit this place.
Unlike other cultivators, who had friends, relatives, and Sects to back them up, he didn’t have anyone to guard him during his advancement. Thus, he had no choice but to use such a place.
The lack of World Energy was nothing. One only needed to place some Source Crystals around himself to get the World Energy needed for advancement.
However, just in case, he still spent two days carefully scouting the area of two thousand kilometres. He beheaded some Monster Beasts that had settled here before finally returning.
Advancing by a Great Realm was very important to any cultivator. It was different from when one broke through by a small realm. Once one failed to advance, they could very likely damage their Martial Dao foundation; the cultivator might never recover from it. In severe cases, he or she might get killed under the World Energy baptism.
Naturally, Yang Kai would be careful.
Afterwards, he let the two Blood Beasts, the Queen Monster Insect and Blue Flame Thunder Wolf, out, ordering them to keep a close watch in two opposite directions. [I think with two Blood Beasts keeping guard, there should not be any major problems.]
After doing all this, he finally started to calm himself.
He didn’t try to immediately attack the bottleneck of the Dao Source Realm. Rather, he took out the Black Jade Furnace and the jade slip left behind by Gong Sun Mu. On one side, he was refining the Black Jade Furnace, leaving his Soul and life Brand in it, and on the other, he was going through the Alchemy knowledge in the jade slip.
A long time ago, Yang Kai had tried to stabilize his mind and prepare to break through using Alchemy. This method had been tried and tested time and time again. So, it would still come true this time as well.
Time slowly passed and Yang Kai seemed to have completely forgotten his original intention of coming here. He was completely absorbed in the world of Alchemy knowledge.
The Alchemy information left in the jade slip might be incomprehensible to others, but as someone who once triggered the Grand Alchemic Dao Tone and had seen a glimpse of Alchemic Dao ultimate knowledge, it was very easy for Yang Kai to understand.
He had memorized various pill recipes and the names of herbs in one month.
In addition, the Black Jade Furnace was successfully refined, succeeding the Purple Origin Furnace as Yang Kai’s Alchemy Furnace.
Today, Yang Kai suddenly placed the Black Jade Furnace before him and poured the Conflagrated Knowledge Sea into the furnace.
Suddenly, a scorching heatwave spread from the furnace.
The next moment, a bunch of high-quality herbs flew out from his Space Ring with a flick of his finger, flying into the Black Jade Furnace in an orderly manner. Under the scorching heat of his pure Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, they were slowly reduced into medicinal liquid before congealing into a ball.
After a while, he put in new herbs.
The temperature inside the Black Jade Furnace kept on changing. From time to time, a bit of medicinal fragrance would leak out of it.
Yang Kai looked as calm as an old dried-up well; he wasn’t the slightest bit nervous or impatient. Even his actions when dropping the herbs were slow and steady, but the change in temperature of the furnace was instant. One by one, the Spirit Arrays required for refining the pills rose and fell inside the Black Jade Furnace as he engraved them with his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, producing a magical effect on the medicinal liquid.
Three hours later, a wooden box appeared in Yang Kai’s palm with a flip of his wrist.
Under the push from his Source Qi, the wooden box opened by itself, revealing a longan sized spirit fruit.
Amazingly, it was the Dao Source Fruit that the Zhang Family patriarch had given him back then!
In this world, only one kind of pill could be refined from the Dao Source Fruit: The Dao Source Pill that could make all the Third-Order Origin King cultivator lust over it!
If the Origin King Realm masters knew that Yang Kai was rashly trying to refine the Dao Source Fruit as an Origin King Grade Alchemist, perhaps all of them would want to kill him. The Dao Source Pill wasn’t an ordinary pill. Its main ingredient was extremely rare. Out of the entire Southern Territory and Heavenly Martial Holy Land, there were only a handful of trees that could bear the Dao Source Fruit. Furthermore, the Heavenly Martial Holy Land used it for themselves. They would not sell them outside. So, one could imagine the rarity of this pill.
And all the Alchemists who dared to refine the Dao Source Fruit into Dao Source Pills were all Dao Source Grade Alchemists! No Origin King Grade Alchemist would ever dare to play with this kind of spirit fruit.
But Yang Kai did.
If he succeeded, he would definitely be able to break through his Alchemy bottleneck and advance to the Dao Source Grade in one fell swoop. If he failed, the priceless Dao Source Fruit would be reduced to ashes.
As he took out the Dao Source Fruit, Yang Kai’s face that had been maintaining an indifferent expression finally turned a little solemn. But he still threw the Dao Source Fruit into the Black Jade Furnace without a moment of hesitation.
Immediately afterwards, he shut the furnace lid tightly and started making hand seals with a solemn look on his face.
As he kept changing the hand seals, the medicinal liquid in the Black Jade Furnace kept tossing and turning amidst gurgling sounds.
Meanwhile, invisible Spirit Arrays rose and shattered in the Black Jade Furnace, one after another, continuously.
Beads of sweat started to appear on Yang Kai’s forehead as if refining the pill this time was extremely hard for him.
This situation lasted for a whole five hours. Having been concentrating for this long, Yang Kai had expended a lot of his mental energy. He looked slightly haggard and pale.
After five hours, he finally made the last hand seal and took a long, deep breath. He then quickly took out a few recovery-type pills and threw them into his mouth.
The pill furnace was still humming as several different types of medicinal liquids merged inside and incredible changes were taking place.
At a certain moment, a strange sound rang from inside the Black Jade Furnace, followed by a strong medicinal fragrance that permeated into the surroundings.
As a bit of fragrance drifted into Yang Kai’s nose and made its way into Yang Kai’s body, his Martial Dao bottleneck that had reached a critical juncture showed a slight sign of loosening. The calm Source Qi in his body madly started flowing.
Right then, Yang Kai opened his eyes and smacked the Black Jade Furnace, causing its lid to instantly fly up.
Immediately after, he quickly displayed the Nine Heavens Profound Pill Method that he had developed from the Grand Alchemic Dao Tone. His hands kept forming seals in succession as he continuously poured his energy into the Black Jade Furnace.
After a short while, the noises coming from the furnace became more and more obvious. It sounded like something was rolling inside the furnace.
Later, as Yang Kai withdrew his Pill Condensing Technique, streaks of light suddenly shot out of the Black Jade Furnace.
Yang Kai had been waiting for this moment. He immediately reached out, catching the several streaking things in his palm.
He didn’t have time to take a closer look at the result of his Alchemy. All he knew was that there were a total of six pills.
He promptly placed the newly-refined Dao Source Pills into the jade bottle that he had prepared in advance. Immediately after, he waved his hand as a large number of Source Crystals flew out of his Space Ring and fell on the ground, piling up in circles around him.
Some time ago, Yang Kai had killed many powerful enemies. He had gained no less than ten million Source Crystals from them, but for the sake of his own advancement, he threw out all ten million of them.
After all, the World Energy here was pretty scarce, and to meet the necessary requirement for his own advancement, he could only use these Source Crystals.
As soon as the Source Crystals appeared, a muffled thunder-like sound resounded above Yang Kai’s head. Suddenly, the World Energy became turbulent as the power of Principles started to circle around Yang Kai.
After a short while, a large black cloud appeared over Yang Kai’s head. The cloud started slowly rotating and taking a funnel shape.
Sand and rocks started to fly around everywhere as the sky went dark.
Seemingly under the effect of some mysterious force, the Source Crystals thrown around Yang Kai suddenly burst apart with crackling explosions. They instantly transformed into streams of pure energy that filled the surroundings before converging in the sky.
On the top of Yang Kai’s head, the black funnel vortex was growing at a speed visible to the naked eyes. It was quite a shocking sight.
The originally scarce World Energy in the surrounding grew extremely dense after being supplemented by the Source Crystals. And the place where Yang Kai was sitting was soon shrouded by a white mist. The white mist wasn’t real mist but a scene caused by the dense World Energy.
Yang Kai didn’t seem to be aware of this. He was still sitting cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed. He looked extremely calm and at peace.
He was communicating with his Origin Essence Crystal in his consciousness and feeling the Heavenly Way Martial Dao. Meanwhile, the Star Source of Shadowed Star in his body happened to be regularly pulsating at this moment, as if it was being affected by something. With the blessing of this Star Source, Yang Kai could feel the power of the World Principles around him even more clearly.
He had absorbed many shattered Principle Fragments on the third level of the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda, and at this moment, they were getting incisively sublimated so that Yang Kai could brand his own perception and sublimate his realm.
With time, the black funnel in the sky grew larger and larger, almost covering the entire sky.
Even though Yang Kai had chosen a desolate land for his advancement and had even spent a few days clearing the Monster Beasts within a range of a thousand kilometres, some accidents were bound to happen.
His advancement had caused such a huge commotion that he could still be noticed from a few thousand kilometres away.
When the black funnel that had covered a small part of the sky took shape, many cultivators in the distance had noticed this scene. Naturally, their curiosity was piqued and they rushed to the place where Yang Kai was advancing to check what was going on.
After these cultivators figured out that someone was advancing by a Great Realm and was about to welcome the World Energy baptism, most of the cultivators stopped, spectating from a few hundred kilometres away.
The cultivation of these cultivators wasn’t that high. After all, the overall strength of the cultivators in the vicinity of Maplewood City wasn’t that good. Most of them were Origin King or Origin Returning Realm masters, while there were even weaker ones as well.
Sensing how strong and violent the energy in the sky was, how would they dare step forward? After having come to join in the fun, they gathered around and started discussing, pointing in Yang Kai’s direction.
Among the crowd, there was a weak little girl in her twenties. She was only in the Second-Order Origin Returning Realm. Furthermore, she seemed to be suffering from some chronic disease and she was wearing a lot of clothes despite the warm weather. There were several Origin King Realm cultivators around her, guarding her. While the girl’s pretty eyes were focused into the distance, she suddenly started coughing.
The Origin King Realm masters around her immediately looked at her with concern but everyone seemed to be accustomed to this scene. So, they didn’t look too panicked. After the girl’s breath stabilized, they finally withdrew their gazes.
After a short while, a First-Order Origin King cultivator hastily flew over from the distance and arrived before the girl in a few flickers.
“Young Lady, I am back,” the cultivator quickly said.
“Did you find out who is advancing?” the girl asked in a gentle voice, parting her lips.
The cultivator shook his head and reported, “I’m sorry Young Lady. The World Energy there is too violent, and as that person is at a critical juncture of his advancement, I didn’t dare to get too close. So, I couldn’t see who it was. But according to my observation, this person should be breaking through to the Dao Source Realm!”
“As I’ve expected, he is indeed breaking through to the Dao Source Realm!” The girl in purple seemed to have expected it. She gently nodded. Her eyes suddenly lit up as she spoke, “Since that person decided to break through to the Dao Source Realm here, it means that he or she doesn’t have friends or relatives, or a Sect to back him. Obviously, that person is a lone master. He or she can be roped in!”
The Origin King Realm cultivators around the girl in purple slightly nodded in agreement after hearing this.
If one had the backing of a Sect or had friends or relatives, who would be willing to break through a Great Realm in this wilderness? Only a lone wolf would be forced to do this.
“That being said, Young Lady, with all due respect, this person might not be able to successfully break through,” another solemn-looking middle-aged man looked toward them and said with a serious look on his face.
“Why do you think so?” The girl in purple turned her gaze at him.
The middle-aged man wryly smiled. “The movement caused by him is just too great. It’s not something a peak Origin King Realm cultivator can bear. I should not say this, but if he is unable to bear the baptism of the World Energy, he simply has no hope of surviving. He will die for sure!”
All the other Origin King Realm repeatedly nodded their agreement after hearing this. They looked at the enormous black funnel in the sky with a look of fear. Obviously, if they were to take the baptism of such energy, it was absolutely impossible for them to succeed.
The girl in purple furrowed her black brows. “So to say, this person has very little hope of succeeding?”
The middle-aged man said, “Of course, that’s just my opinion. If, and only if, he really survived this catastrophe and crossed this juncture, his future achievements will be probably beyond our imagination.”
The girl in purple nodded after hearing this. She pondered for a while and said, “Anyway, let’s just protect him first. If he really advances, he will definitely remember our favour. At that time, we can try to recruit him. Now that the geniuses of my Qin Family are declining, we can only rely on just Old Ancestor’s support. We are hitting rock bottom, but if we can get this person’s help, my Qin Family can finally take a breath.”
Hearing this, the Origin King Realm cultivators nodded together and said, “If that’s what Young Lady wants, then Young Lady’s wish is our command.”
Just as this group of people were about to disperse and protect Yang Kai, the previous middle-aged man furrowed his brow and he suspiciously gazed toward a direction and shouted, “Dammit, someone is going to interfere with him!”
“Who is it?” The girl in purple was taken aback when she heard this. She looked along with the middle-aged man’s gaze and saw a streak of light shooting toward Yang Kai’s location. Not only were they not hiding their figures, but also had no intentions of hiding their goal. Each and every one was displaying an aggressive stance and malicious intention.
By a rough count, there were at least a dozen people in that streak of light. And the leading figure in that light was particularly bright.
The girl in purple hesitated for a while before she stomped her feet and said, “Come with me, let’s see if we can negotiate with them or not!”
While speaking, her tender figure flew toward that side with a jolt.
The middle-aged man was greatly shocked. He hurriedly chased after her with others.
Not far away, among the group of cultivators rushing toward Yang Kai, someone soon discovered the Qin Family group’s movement. They immediately shouted to the front, “Honored Master, someone is coming toward us.”
At the forefront, an almost bald old man with a short and fat stature suddenly stopped after hearing this. His pair of triangular eyes focused into the distance before quickly locking on to the Qin Family group. He then let out a cold snort and rebuked, “Several Origin King Realm cubs want to ruin this old master’s good deed? I have to hand it to their courage!”
“Honored Master, do you want us to…” the man made a gesture of beheading while he spoke this.
A grim smile immediately appeared on the old man’s face as he said, “Let’s see what they want to say first. Since they dare to come here, they probably have something to rely on. This old master wants to see what is making them this courageous.”
“Honored Master is wise!” that middle-aged man immediately flattered.
After a short while, the Qin Family group, led by the girl in the purple, arrived before the old man and the others.
The girl seemed to have expended a lot of her energy for this rush. She immediately broke into a fit of cough and couldn’t speak a word.
The middle-aged man and the others, who were closely following after her, gathered around the girl like the stars around the moon. And when the middle-aged man noticed the leading short and fat old man and his iconic bald head, he cried in shock as his face turned pale as if he was facing an enemy, “Ghost Hand Shen Tu!”
As soon as he shouted ‘Ghost Hand Shen Tu,’ the Qin Family cultivators turned pale. They unconsciously tried to explain themselves while they started mobilizing the energy in their body to be ready to make a move at a moment’s notice.
A trace of panic also appeared in the pretty eyes of the girl in purple as well.
She might be young but she was extremely knowledgeable and experienced. Not to mention, every cultivator in the vicinity of Maplewood City was aware of Ghost Hand Shen Tu.
Ghost Hand Shen Tu was a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator. Heaven knows what evil arts he was cultivating, but he was extremely vicious and committed outrageous crimes around Maplewood City all year round. Relying on his powerful Dao Source Realm cultivation, he robbed and killed the weaker cultivators.
For many cultivators, the four words ‘Ghost Hand Shen Tu’ were tantamount to a disaster. Once they encountered this guy, it meant that their death wasn’t far from them.
Furthermore, this guy was not alone. Heaven knows where he got a bunch of powerful subordinates but each and every one of them was an Origin King Realm master. Most weren’t their match; all they could do was stretch their necks out to be beheaded.
And this guy wasn’t just vicious but was also extremely clever. The City Lord’s Mansion had sent a team of masters, led by City Lord Duan Yuan Shan, to encircle and catch this guy many times, but it was all in vain; they couldn’t catch him. They could only inflict serious injuries to him but ultimately let him escape.
Since then, Ghost Hand Shen Tu seemed to have become honest and law-abiding for a while. But well-informed people knew that he was far from being law-abiding. However, he was no longer as unscrupulous as before. Now, his targets were people with no background and support. He no longer antagonized the members of families in Maplewood City and the disciples of the nearby Sects.
So to say, the masters of those families and sects were too lazy to care about him, and City Lord’s Mansion couldn’t focus their forces on Ghost Hand Shen Tu forever. Besides, he was as cunning as a fox. All these reasons helped him run scot-free up until now.
It was just a coincidence that Yang Kai’s choice of location for his advancement wasn’t too far from Shen Tu and his men’s turf. So, just as Yang Kai’s advancement caused the commotion, they immediately came to check.
So after figuring out that Yang Kai was a cultivator with no backing and was on the verge of breaking through, how could this group sit still? Naturally, they immediately moved out, preparing for a big fight.
But here, they ran into a group of people from the Qin Family.
Hearing the shocked cry of that middle-aged man, the bald old man sneered. “So, you know all about this old master, and yet you dare to come here. Are you looking to die?”
Just as he said this, the Origin King Realm cultivators by his side stared at the Qin Family’s group with a malicious gaze. By the looks of their stances, it looked as if they would promptly attack them with just an order from Ghost Hand Shen Tu.
The middle-aged man’s expression changed slightly. He gulped loud in terror. He had no idea how to answer for a while.
The girl in purple seemed to have regained her energy after catching her breath for a while. She smiled and spoke in a gentle voice, “So, it is the famous Senior Shen Tu. Junior had eyes but failed to see and rushed to Senior. I hope that Senior will not blame us!”
“Oh!?” Shen Tu narrowed his triangular eyes, glancing at the girl in purple. He let out a burst of weird laughter as he said, “Wow, you can still remain so calm in front of this old master, I have to hand it to your courage. Which family are you from?”
Shen Tu had been wandering around Maplewood City all year round. Naturally, he could tell at a glance that the girl in purple was someone with a background, otherwise, she would not have such etiquette. Had it not for this reason, why would he talk to the girl in purple? With his personality, he would have already killed her.
“Junior’s surname is Qin!” the purple-robed girl gently replied.
“Qin!” Shen Tu curled his lips as he indifferently continued, “This old master had heard that there is a little girl in Maplewood City’s Qin Family who is young and ill, but is very clever and quick-witted. Even Qin Zhao Yang, that old fart dotes upon her. For this reason, he even went to the depths of the Black Blood Swamp to find a Pure Yang Fruit to extend her life. Could that be you?”
The girl in purple coughed a little before nodding. “Senior is quite knowledgeable and experienced. This Junior is indeed Qin Yu, who could only survive thanks to Old Ancestor’s pity.”
“Haha…” Shen Tu broke into a peal of weird laughter, “Little Girl, you are really outstanding. You can face this old master with no change in your expression. No wonder that old fart, Qin Zhao Yang dotes upon you. But little girl, what can this old master do for you?”
Qin Yu furrowed her black brow and pondered for a moment before replying, “Senior, since you have asked, this Junior will be honest with you. Senior, are you going to bother that person?”
Shen Tu narrowed his eyes and said in neither rude nor polite manner, “So what?”
Qin Yu asked, “Senior, can you let that person go?”
Shen Tu pursed his lips and said, “Give me a reason.”
“That person is my Qin Family’s Honored Guest. So…” Qin Yu replied in a low voice, “So, I hope that Senior can show mercy. My Qin Family will definitely thank you for this someday.”
“Your Qin Family’s Honored Guest!?” Shen Tu pursed his lips into a playful smile as he said, “Little girl, you might be smart but don’t treat others as fools! If this person was really the Honored Guest of your Qin Family, why would he choose to break through here? If he really is your Qin Family Honored Guest, wouldn’t that old fart, Qin Zhao Yang, be personally protecting him? Do you really think this old master is such a fool?”
Even after having been exposed to her face, Qin Yu still didn’t look even the slightest bit embarrassed. Rather, she smiled and said, “Senior’s eyes are as bright as a torch. Junior’s little trick can’t fool you. However… Although that person isn’t my Qin Family’s Honored Guest now, it doesn’t mean that he will not be in the future. Can I beg Senior to raise his high hand in mercy…”
Before Qin Yu could finish herself, Shen Tu interrupted her by raising his hand.
Shen Tu looked at her coldly. His triangular eyes radiated a chilling aura as he said, “Little Girl, this old master will not haggle over this because of Qin Zhao Yang’s face. But if you dare to pester again, don’t blame this old master for not showing mercy.”
While speaking, he reached out as he shot a large amount of energy straight at Qin Yu.
Qin Yu’s expression changed as she hurriedly retreated.
Seeing this, the vigilant Origin King Realm masters gathered around her and rushed forward to block the wave of energy for her. They immediately let out muffled groans as several people backed away a fair distance before they could regain their footing.
When they finally turned their gazes ahead, Shen Tu had already flown away with his group of men.
Fear could still be seen lingering on the middle-aged man’s and others’ faces. The middle-aged man looked back at Qin Yu and said, “Young Lady, you didn’t get hurt, did you?”
Qin Yu shook his head and said, “Thanks to everyone’s protection, I am alright. But unfortunately, that person…”
She gazed into the distance with a gloomy look on her face.
The middle-aged man immediately tried to comfort her, “In fact, you don’t need to feel sorry for him. That person might not be able to survive the World Energy baptism. There is no difference between dying a bit earlier or dying a bit later. Young Lady has tried her best. Next time, it would be best if you don’t try to provoke the Ghost Hand Shen Tu. He let us go because of our Old Ancestor, but we might not be lucky next time.”
“I see! I have caused everyone trouble,” Qin Yu gently nodded.
In the distance, Yang Kai appeared to be completely oblivious to this. He was still immersed in comprehending his own Martial Dao Heavenly Way, immersed in his attempt to break through the barrier of the Dao Source Realm.
*Swish Swish Swish…*
A series of swishing sounds rang as Shen Tun, leading a dozen or so Origin King Realm, appeared next to Yang Kai.
When he sensed the violent energy fluctuations and looked up at the huge black funnel in the sky, Shen Tu’s expression couldn’t help but slightly change.
He too had gone through this before. But back when he was advancing to the Dao Source Realm, even if he had caused such a big commotion, it couldn’t even be compared to one-tenth of this! Even if he was asked to go through this level of World Energy baptism now, he wasn’t that sure that he would be able to safely go through with it.
“Honored Master, it’s very terrifying here. Let’s just do it and get out of here.” A nearby Origin King Realm cultivator seemed to have been overwhelmed by the mighty pressure of Heaven and Earth. He was trembling and his forehead was drenched in a cold sweat.
The others also didn’t look relaxed. When they stepped in here, they felt that something was wrong here. The Principles lingering around here were so dense and chaotic that they were finding it difficult to circulate their energy.
Shen Tu nodded his agreement and immediately rushed to the cross-legged Yang Kai on the ground and said, “Kid, if you want to assign blame, blame your bad luck, why do you have to choose this kind of place for your advancement? Be careful in your next life.”
After having said his piece, he raised his hand and fiercely smacked it down.
Seeing him making a move, the other Origin King Realm cultivation immediately displayed their Martial Skills one after another, launching their attacks at Yang Kai.
But before their aura from their attacks could even touch Yang Kai, a dazzling light suddenly appeared about ten metres away from Yang Kai’s body. The light seemed to be oval-shaped and enveloped Yang Kai’s entire figure.
*Bang Bang Bang…’
All the attacks fell on this light screen, creating ripples after ripples. But all of these attacks couldn’t crack this shield.
Everyone was stunned at the sight of this.
Right then, Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes and indifferently gazed at everyone before saying, “Why do some people always think that they have lived too long and are eager to die? Why?”
Every Origin King Realm cultivator, who was being stared at by him, had their hearts gripped with a chill. They felt as if something bad was about to happen.
Just as everyone was in a daze, Yang Kai raised his hand.
Suddenly, Moon Blades flew out in succession, swishing through the air.
“Dammit, quickly hide!” someone shouted.
But the Moon Blades were so fast that they didn’t give these people the time to react and struck them.
Although some cultivators instinctively activated their defensive skills, these defensive skills couldn’t even stand the power of the paper-thin Moon Blade.
The pitch-black Moon Blades instantly cut through the cultivators as they let out muffled groans.
Surprisingly, no blood splattered, but when the cultivators looked around, their faces turned pale in horror.
Because they saw crescent-shaped holes in different places of the bodies of the companion next to them. The wounds were completely flat. Heaven knows where the parts of their bodies that should have been there went. They couldn’t find any pieces of flesh or broken bones anywhere. It seemed as if everything had been exiled into the void.
And through these wounds, the squirming internal organs left a horrifying image in their eyes.
The intense visual impact caused the several cultivators to scream in horror.
*Squish Squish Squish…*
Finally, the blood squished out of their wounds. In an instant, several cultivators around Yang Kai fell down on the ground with a look of incredulity on their faces. The gushing blood was mixed in with broken internal organs. The sight was too ghastly and bloody to look at.
Shen Tu and the others barged in with an aggressive bearing. They believed that Yang Kai would be powerless to fight back, owing to his advancement, but how could they have known that more than half of the Origin King Realm cultivators would die when they finally went against the opposite party? This kind of accident had naturally made the remaining people lose their wits.
But Yang Kai wasn’t done yet. Immediately after the Moon Blades, a large number of five-coloured lights shot over. Just the fearsome Qi emanating from the oncoming attacks had already sent chills down the spine of the surviving cultivators as they broke into a cold sweat.
“Sword Qi!” Shen Tu’s expression changed. At a glance, he could immediately tell that these colourful streaking glows were hiding extremely sharp Sword Qi inside them. Furthermore, they were actually filled with the five elements. Under the mutual restraint and promotion of five elements, metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, they seemed to be harmonizing with each other, strengthening each other’s might.
His expression suddenly became solemn. He promptly let out a war cry as his short and fat figure grew bigger all of a sudden. Immediately after, a dark aura suddenly started to spread from his fat body, enveloping him inside.
Countless black tentacles grew out of his body, waving around him. He was counterattacking the oncoming Sword Qis with his own attacks.
A series of shock waves spread into the surrounding area as the tentacles extending from Shen Tu’s body were torn apart by countless Sword Qis. At the same time, those fierce Sword Qis were also blocked by him and couldn’t kill anyone.
All the Origin King Realm masters who had been saved gratefully looked at him. One of them even tried to kiss Shen Tu’s ass even when his heart was pounding in fear.
“Kid, you actually dare to attack this old master when you are advancing. I think you have grown tired of living. If that’s the case, let me take your life,” Shen Tu screamed as a small shield with a ghost head suddenly appeared in his hand. The small shield didn’t look that big but the ghost head on it was quite vivid and lifelike. It had fangs and its face was blue. It was extremely hideous and terrifying.
He then poured his Source Qi into the ghastly shield. Suddenly, the small shield transformed into a real ghost head and grew into the size of a house all of a sudden, flying straight at Yang Kai.
While rushing at Yang Kai, the ghost head opened and closed its mouth, shooting balls of silver ghost fire, one after another. The balls of fire shot straight at Yang Kai like arrows. They seemed extremely powerful.
Yang Kai’s pupils involuntarily shrank at the sight of this but he still remained cross-legged.
In the blink of an eye, the silver balls of ghost fire were already upon Yang Kai. In the next moment, they landed right on Yang Kai’s body, wreaking havoc at Yang Kai’s position.
“Hm!?” Shen Tu was taken aback. His eyes were filled with surprise. He hadn’t expected Yang Kai to be killed this easily. He had a pretty good idea of how powerful his artifact was. From the get-go, its attacks were very strong and mysterious, and coupled with the Secret Technique he was cultivating, not to mention an Origin King Realm master, even a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator would be burned by the ghost fire, and would have a layer of his or her skin and flesh burn if not end up dead.
However, Yang Kai was just a Third-Order Origin King and was just on the cusp of breaking through. How could he still be alive after having suffered so many ghost fire attacks?
Having thought like this, Shen Tu lightly nodded, believing that he had succeeded.
And seeing Yang Kai swallowed by the ghost fire, the surviving Origin King Realm experts let out a series of sneers, seemingly mocking Yang Kai’s overconfidence.
But their laughter hadn’t even stopped before a figure appeared out of thin air right where Yang Kai was.
It was none other than Yang Kai!
By the looks of his appearance and state, he didn’t seem to have been burnt by the Ghost Fire at all, and he hadn’t even moved an inch from his position.
No one knew how he avoided those Ghost Fire attacks.
Everyone’s laughter abruptly stopped.
Shen Tu’s eyes bulged in shock as a look of incredulity took over his face.
Right then, Yang Kai’s left eye suddenly flickered with a golden speck of light as the Demon Eye of Annihilation slowly emerged. The golden speck of light seemed tangible. It quickly took the shape of a lotus flower in Yang Kai’s left eye.
Shen Tu’s heart was suddenly gripped with a chill at the sight of this lotus flower. He instinctively knew that something was wrong, but somehow or other, he was unable to look away. The lotus flower seemed to have a mysterious allure, which drew in his complete attention.
The lotus slightly trembled before it disappeared from Yang Kai’s left eye. Instead, a budding lotus was slowly blooming in Shen Tu’s Knowledge Sea. The nutrient for this bloom was his Soul energy.
Shen Tu let out a miserable scream. He felt like his mind was being pierced by tens of thousands of needles. This pain went deep into the soul, and he was almost unable to stand it.
When Shen Tu started screaming, the remaining Origin King Realm masters jumped back in fright. They immediately focused their gazes at Shen Tu to see what was going on.
And right then, sounds of something ripping through space rang as untold Moon Blades, thicker than before, shot straight at them.
They might have learned the lesson from the actions of those people before, but how could they still not be clear about how fearsome the Moon Blades were. Immediately, a series of miserable screams rang. But just as they were about to scatter…
“Solidify!” Yang Kai shouted aloud. Immediately after, the power of Principles suddenly started undulating as the space within a thousand metres of him seemed to have heard some kind of order, it instantly surrendered to him and turned extremely solid in the next moment.
Those Origin King Realm masters became as slow as turtles all of a sudden.
*Pu Pu Pu…*
The Moon Blades easily went through their bodies, dividing them into halves. Everyone had a crescent-shaped gap in their bodies, and the parts they were missing were exiled into the endless void.
The mutilated corpses slid down on the ground. Everyone’s eyes were bulging as they died dissatisfied.
“So these are Space Principles?” After everything went smoothly, Yang Kai seemed to be immersed in thoughts. He forgot that there was still a powerful enemy he had not dealt with and fell straight into a kind of mystical epiphany. His mind was filled with inspiration as the true meaning of Space Principles poured into his mind in a flash.
His figure jolted. He was momentarily stunned. His eyes were gleaming brightly. Various ideas flashed in his mind at lightning-fast speed as he comprehended the Space Principles.
*Kacha…*
One after another, the spatial cracks started to appear and disappear around him as they continued to improve under the supplement of World Principles…
Where he was sitting, the space seemed no longer stable and vision had already started to distort…
“Ahhh~!” A wailing scream suddenly rang nearby. It was Shen Tu, whose tossing and turning after having been struck by the Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique started to slow down.
As expected from a Dao Source Realm master. Although he was struck by Yang Kai’s Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique and his Soul’s energy was mostly drained, he woke up at the last minute, avoiding a tragic death.
Even so, his foundation was severely damaged.
So much of his Soul energy had been drained that his Soul was damaged. Such an injury could not be restored with ordinary elixirs. Shen Tu would need to find some top-grade pill that could repair the Soul, or cultivate some special Secret Art. Even then, it would take him several dozen to over a hundred years before he could finally recover from the damage to his Soul.
Somehow enduring the pain in his mind, he immediately looked around, but his heart involuntarily started pounding in the next moment.
He found that all the Origin King Realm cultivators he had brought were completely dead. Not a single cultivator was alive.
And the murderer was still sitting cross-legged in his original place. His eyes were gleaming with a radiant glow as if he had caught in some epiphany. Some incredible changes were taking place in the space around him. Spatial cracks were slithering around like snakes, covering an area of several dozen feet around Yang Kai.
“Dao of Space!” Shen Tu’s pupils shrank as he cried out in horror.
This might probably be the best moment for him to make a sneak attack because Yang Kai was already immersed in his epiphany. He couldn’t react! But Shen Tu wasn’t sure that he could rush through that strange space. Each of those space cracks was sharper than the best blade in the world. They weren’t something he could block with his physique, so if he really launched a sneak attack, he might be cut into pieces by the countless space cracks around Yang Kai.
“It’s actually the Dao of Space! This kid…” At this moment, Shen Tu finally understood what kind of enemy he had provoked. Beads of cold sweat trickled down his forehead. He cast a final glare of hatred at Yang Kai before he turned around and flew toward the outside, wanting to escape from here.
He didn’t want to stay here any longer. He just wanted to escape as far as possible.
But before he could even reach thirty metres away, crystal snowflakes suddenly appeared in the sky. The snowflakes strangely appeared beautiful. They were completely white and flawless.
The surrounding temperature started to plummet.
Shen Tu started shivering for no reason as an aura of death blew on his face.
As a veteran in battle, Shen Tun instantly realized that things were far from good. He promptly let out a war cry as thick black Qi gushed out of his body again, wrapping him and resisting the chill invading his body.
After doing all this, Shen Tu finally got a clear sight of the initiator of all this. It was a huge Monster Insect that was two feet tall and whose entire body was white and crystal clear.
Shen Tu had no idea when this Monster Insect appeared in front of him. It seemed to have been here all the while, but he somehow failed to notice it.
The Monster Insect was exuding a daunting ice-cold aura.
The strangest thing about this beast was that there were actually two long swords on the two pincers on the front of this Monster Insect, one blue and one purple. They were crossed horizontally in front of the Monster Insect, posing an extremely strange posture. It gave the appearance of a mighty human swordsman, the bearing of a master.
“What the heck is this?” Shen Tu couldn’t help but cry in shock. His eyes were bulging wide.
What he had seen today had gone beyond everything he had seen and known his entire life.
First, he encountered an Origin King Realm who was proficient in Dao of Space. Well, that was still fine and okay. Although it was difficult to cultivate the Dao of Space, some people in the Star Boundary had succeeded in doing so. Only, they weren’t as horrifying as that kid.
And now, a powerful insect had appeared in front of his eyes. What Shen Tu found it harder to accept was that the Monster Insect also knew how to use artifacts. And it was a twin-sword-type artifact!
[That artifact should be of High-Rank Origin King Grade!?]
Shen Tu was completely shocked.
While he was reeling from the shock, the Monster Insect in front of him suddenly started rotating the two long swords on its pliers.
Purple and blue lights flickered as the surrounding temperature started to drop. The snowflakes in the sky grew even larger.
With a flash of white light, an icy-cold Domain suddenly spread through the surroundings.
At this moment, Queen Monster Insect disappeared in front of Shen Tu and appeared directly behind him, still maintaining that weird posture as if it had never moved.
Shen Tu stood there in a daze. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t.
Right then, a piece of snowflake fell on the top of his head.
Next, Shen Tu’s body, with the point where the snowflake fell as the centre, suddenly split into two with a soft pop. Red blood immediately gushed out from his split body as his internal organs fell on the ground.
Ghost Hand Shen Tu, who had been terrorizing Maplewood City for so many years, had died in such a mysterious way.
And in the next moment, Queen Monster Insect’s disappeared into thin air with a slight jolt of its figure. No one knew where it went or where it was hidden!
All the snow falling from the sky melted away as the ice-cold Domain covering the surroundings disappeared into a puff of smoke.
The crowd of onlookers in the distance broke into an uproar at the sight of this.
Everyone’s eyes were bulging wide with shock after witnessing everything from the distance.
Even though they were unable to make out the details clearly and couldn’t tell what exactly happened, they had clearly seen the death of dozens of Origin King Realm cultivators and Shen Tu’s fall.
Such a strong visual impact gave them the feeling of seeing a ghost in broad daylight. No one could believe what they had seen. Some people kept rubbing their eyes as if they wanted to see more clearly.
“Shen Tu… is dead!?”
After a long time, someone murmured this sentence. It sounded like he wasn’t sure.
“Shen Tu really died, killed by that man.”
“No no no, Shen Tu wasn’t killed by that man but by another master.”
“That’s right. A strong Master seems to be protecting him.”
“Fortunately, I didn’t go attack that man, or else…”
Many onlooking cultivators secretly rejoiced. They felt like they had escaped a disaster.
After realizing that Yang Kai wasn’t advancing here alone but was secretly guarded by a master, how could these onlooking cultivators dare to stay there? After discussing for a while, they all retreated by several dozen kilometres, watching everything from a farther distance, fearing that they would annoy the master who was secretly guarding.
On the other side, the Qin Family group was also dumbfounded.
When Shen Tu and the others passed by with an aggressive momentum, no one had ever thought that their entire team would be wiped out at the end.
“Did you see who killed Shen Tu?” Qin Yu asked, a little excited. Her beautiful eyes bloomed with a strange glow as she focused her gaze in the direction where Queen Monster Insect disappeared.
Shen Tu was a First-Order Dao Source Realm master. Anyone who could kill him after just one encounter should at least be a Second-Order Dao Source Realm.
If she could draw this person into the Qin Family, the Qin Family’s strength could instantly rise to the level of the City Lord’s Mansion. In the future, the Qin Family would have a powerful protector.
But unfortunately, Queen Monster Insect was too fast in her attack and even faster in her disappearance. Qin Yu didn’t get the time to see it clearly.
Hearing her question, the Qin Family cultivators looked at each other before they all shook their heads.
The middle-aged man said, “Young Lady, although I didn’t see it clearly, that person seemed to be using twin sword artifacts. Is there a master in the vicinity of Maplewood City using this kind of artifact?”
“Twin swords!” Qin Yu appeared to be immersed in her thoughts before she shook her head and said, “I have never heard of anyone using twin swords. It’s extremely difficult to use them, and if there is a master proficient in twin swords near Maplewood City, I would have definitely heard of him. It seems that this person should be from outside.”
After hearing this, the Qin Family cultivators secretly nodded in agreement.
“It’s not just the protector who is powerful, but the person advancing is definitely extraordinary,” Qin Yu pursed her red lips. Her pretty eyes shone with brilliance as she gazed in Yang Kai’s direction; she seemed to want to see it clearly. Unfortunately, she couldn’t see Yang Kai’s appearance clearly owing to the dense World Energy surrounding him.
The middle-aged man nodded and said after hearing this, “Yeah! This person was able to kill more than a dozen Origin King Realms at a critical juncture of his breakthrough. Obviously, he is quite extraordinary. Moreover… the thing that’s puzzling me the most is why Shen Tu suddenly ran away.”
Qin Yu’s expression changed as she said, “Shen Tu is cruel and ruthless. He would only escape if he had suffered a great loss at that person’s hand!”
“Young Lady, that’s not possible, right? This person is only a Third-Order Origin King, he still hasn’t advanced to the Dao Source Realm, while Shen Tu is a Dao Source Realm master!” The middle-aged man looked shocked.
“Then have you seen any Third-Order Origin King cause such a big commotion while breaking through by a Great Realm? Look there, even space looks like it’s collapsing a little.” Qin Yu pointed in a direction.
The middle-aged man laughed in embarrassment. “I am only a Third-Order Origin King, how would I get the chance to see anyone break through to the Dao Source Realm? But, even without seeing, I don’t think anyone would be able to cause such a huge scene.”
“That’s right. The stronger one is, the greater the baptism created!” Qin Yu’s eyes rolled as she chuckled and said, “I am getting more and more interested in this person. If I can recruit him..”
The middle-aged man, seeing his Young Lady excited, knew that she was really interested in soliciting him. He then reminded, “Then we will have to wait for him to be finished with his breakthrough..”
Qin Yu gently nodded, muttering to herself, “He should succeed.”
At this moment, a clap of thunder suddenly resounded in the sky. It was extremely loud and deafening as if the entire world was about to split apart.
The next moment, the black funnel spinning in the sky suddenly started to come down as if it was attracted by some power.
And the centre of the black funnel happened to be pointed at the place where Yang Kai was.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
The sky shook and the earth quaked as the huge black hole quickly connected with Yang Kai. The next moment, an unimaginable amount of energy of Heaven and Earth flowed down the funnel, crazily pouring into Yang Kai’s body.
“Impossible!” Qin Yu’s pretty face turned pale at the sight of this.
The expressions of the Origin King Realm cultivators gathered around her also changed.
The middle-aged man shook his head with disappointment as he stated, “How Heaven-defying is this guy to make the Heavenly Way do this much to stop him? It seems that he won’t survive.”
When cultivators break through a Great Realm, they would trigger the World Energy baptism. However, every cultivator’s baptism had a regular pattern, which gave the cultivator room to breathe and restore. Never had there been anyone like Yang Kai, who would have the World Energy directly connected to their bodies when he or she advanced.
This way, the funnel-shaped Heaven and Earth energy would be continuously poured into Yang Kai’s body. It would be impossible for him to have a chance to breathe!
How could a Third-Order Origin King take this?
This was not baptism but pure destruction!
Even if a Dao Source Realm tried this, he too might be crushed into nothing in face of this.
The earth seemed to quake more and more severely. Even the cultivators, who were watching from afar, could feel how violent World Energy was. It was not something a human could resist. Each and everyone’s face turned pale.
Suddenly, fierce gales started to blow over from a distance. In an instant, the area within a hundred kilometres had dust and pieces of rocks flying everywhere, covering the entire sky.
Qin Family cultivators surrounded Qin Yu and mobilized their defensive skills to protect against the oncoming pieces of rocks and wood.
Suddenly, someone’s roar resounded amidst the howling winds in the distance. It sounded much like the howl of a wounded beast. Everyone was startled by this.
Naturally, this howl belonged to Yang Kai who was in the middle of that berserk energy.
The moment Heaven and Earth energy baptism fell on his body, Yang Kai realized that he was in big trouble this time.
His clothes were destroyed in the blink of an eye as untold amounts of energy poured on the top of his head, into his body from the acupuncture points, and flowed into every nook and cranny of his body.
His firm and strong body only persisted for less than ten breaths before his skin cracked. His meridians swelled and started aching. He felt as if his entire body would blow up any moment.
The Golden Blood spread around his body, making his entire body shine.
It immediately displayed its strong restorative properties. The cracked skin and torn muscles started to repair themselves but they would often crack again just as they were repaired.
Just when he wanted to burn his pure Golden Blood to maintain his blood and vitality, he suddenly felt a gentle energy emerging from his flesh, blood, and meridians. As soon as this energy appeared, it quickly started repairing his broken body as well. At the same time, his unstable vitality suddenly started rising.
The pressure was greatly reduced!
Yang Kai smiled happily. He hurriedly held on to the slightest bit of clarity he had regained as he opened his mind and body to accept the berserk World Energy while also checking the condition of his body.
The situation of his body was much better than he had imagined. All this was due to the gentle energy that had appeared out of nowhere.
Soon, Yang Kai figured out what this energy was.
Surprisingly, it was the leftover efficacy of the Ten Thousand Medicinal Treasures Soup that he had taken before!
He might have entered a retreat for half a year in the stone cavern after taking the Ten Thousand Medicinal Treasures Soul and focused all his time and effort on absorbing the medicinal efficacy, making his physique have a qualitative change, but the medicinal efficacy of the Ten Thousand Medicinal Treasures Soup was just too much for him, so he was not able to absorb it completely. The remaining medicinal efficacy was stored in his flesh and bones.
Only now did it emerge autonomously, becoming one of Yang Kai’s assets to help him in advancement.
After getting the gist of the matter, Yang Kai finally calmed down.
When the medicinal efficacy of the Ten Thousand Medicinal Treasures Soup continuously emerged from his flesh and bones, Yang Kai didn’t find the pressure that big anymore. His body was no longer hurting, his meridians were no longer aching, and his bones were no longer creaking. Now, filled with joy, he carefully circulated his own strength as he attacked the Dao Source Realm bottleneck.
Over time, under the World Energy baptism, whether it was his physical body or the energy in his body, it seemed to have gone through a peculiar sublimation, becoming stronger and purer.
Especially the Source Qi in his body, it had grown a lot purer. It would have taken him a fair number of years in bitter cultivation to achieve this.
This pleasant surprise made him ecstatic!
Half a day later, there was a cracking sound from the depths of his Soul, as if some barrier in his body had collapsed. Yang Kai suddenly opened his mouth and let out a long cry. The roar was loud and reverberating as thunder; immediately resounding throughout the sky.
And during this roar, the bottleneck that had been stopping Yang Kai from advancing seemed to have been broken through, allowing Yang Kai’s already strong aura to suddenly rise to another level!
He had smoothly broken through to the Dao Source Realm!
A cry suddenly spread across the wild from the top of the barren hill.
Everyone could make out the joy and excitement from this cry.
The middle-aged man of the Qin Family stood rooted on the spot for a long time, confused and shocked. Finally, he murmured with difficulty, “He actually succeeded!?”
He simply couldn’t believe his eyes.
After all, the turmoil caused by the person who was advancing was simply too much. It wasn’t something a Third-Order Origin King Realm cultivation could bear. But at this moment, that person really succeeded and broke through to the Dao Source Realm.
The shock the middle-aged man experienced was far greater than he would feel if he suddenly broke through to the Dao Source Realm.
The nearby Qin Yu was also shocked. Although she faintly felt that the person would not fail that easily, when the other party’s advancement really went smoothly, she found it a little hard to accept. Her pretty eyes narrowed slightly as if she wanted to pierce through the barriers of space and see the appearance of the person advancing.
In the distance, Yang Kai quickly suppressed the joy he was feeling after having successfully advanced and continued to receive the World Energy baptism.
The baptism a cultivator would go through when he or she broke through by a Great Realm was very rare. Besides cleansing a cultivator’s body and Soul, it could also help the cultivator’s body and Soul reach a higher level. What’s more, the energy had the charm of Heavenly Way Martial Dao in it. If the cultivator could glimpse one or two things from it, he or she would have gained a lifetime of benefits.
Furthermore, the realm Yang Kai broke through to was the Dao Source Realm. He might have the opportunity to catch a glimpse at the Principles from the baptism.
Naturally, Yang Kai wanted to glimpse at Space Principles.
He had already mastered it. What he needed was to comprehend these Principles even more thoroughly.
As Yang Kai stopped howling, the World Energy continued to madly pour into him. Yang Kai continued sitting cross-legged in his place. His face was as tranquil as a dried-up ancient well.
Unimaginable amounts of World Energy poured into his body, solidifying the foundation of his Dao Source Realm while also tempering his body and Source Qi. Taking advantage of the sliver of mystique Martial Dao attached to the energy, Yang Kai was soon immersed in comprehending the Space Principles.
Time slowly trickled down…
After half a day, the black funnel in the sky finally disappeared and the dark, hazy sky was clear again.
Even so, many cultivators spectating from the distance still couldn’t catch a glimpse of Yang Kai’s face as the Space within a range of a couple thousand metres of him was extremely distorted. It seemed to have been disturbed by some force.
Those cultivators believed it to be because of the huge movements caused by his breakthrough. All of them were tongue-tied.
However, after realizing that there was nothing more to watch, and nothing to gain, they left one after another.
But the Qin Family group remained as they continued to watch from a distance.
In a flash, more than ten days had passed. Yang Kai, who had been sitting cross-legged all the while, finally opened his eyes, which flickered with an electric glow from the huge harvest he gained.
Immediately after, he flicked his hand as his eyes regained their clarity.
Suddenly, the chaotic space within several thousand metres of him calmed down; nothing strange could be found.
Yang Kai pursed his lips into a smile at the sight of this.
At the same time, the face of Qin Yu, who had been paying rapt attention to this side all the while, suddenly grew solemn. She opened and closed her pretty eyes as her pupils instantly turned purple. Incomprehensible purple rhymes flowed in her eyes as if she was casting some Secret Technique.
Her purple pupils added a touch of coquettishness to her slender figure.
As she stared into the distance, faint purple beams suddenly shot out from her eyes, shuttling through the void.
Yang Kai, in the distance, seemed to have sensed something. He turned his head and looked in Qin Yu’s direction. Suddenly, the Demon Eye of Annihilation appeared in his left eye and a golden beam filled with endless majesty shot out.
The two gazes clashed with each other in the air and Yang Kai couldn’t help but let out a soft exclamation. He instantly retracted the Demon Eye of Annihilation as his eyes became peaceful again.
On the other side, Qin Yu screamed in shock. Her tender body uncontrollably retreated several steps back as her face suddenly grew pale.
“Young Lady!” The Qin Family’s middle-aged man was struck with panic. He immediately flashed to Qin Yu’s side and reached out to support her. He then asked, concerned, “Young Lady, are you okay?”
He hadn’t noticed Qin Yu’s movements just now, all he thought was that her old illness had relapsed.
Qin Yu’s forehead was drenched in a cold sweat. Meanwhile, her purple pupils slowly disappeared. She shook her head and replied, “I’m alright.”
She continued to gaze in Yang Kai’s direction, but she was surprised to find that no one was there.
Heaven knows when Yang Kai had disappeared.
“It’s him!?” Qin Yu murmured to herself. Apparently, when she had just used the Secret Technique, she had caught sight of Yang Kai’s appearance.
Suddenly, she recalled that she had met with this man on the first floor of the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda. Furthermore, she had also told him how to find the entrance to the second floor.
“Who!?” the middle-aged man asked, astounded.
Qin Yu, on the other hand, smiled before she shook her head and said, “It’s nothing.”
After a pause, she said again, “Let’s go back.”
The middle-aged man furrowed his brow. He vaguely found his Young Lady’s behaviour a little weird, but he couldn’t ask too many questions. All he could do was escort Qin Yu back to Maplewood City with the others.
A hundred kilometres away from the barren hill where Yang Kai had advanced, Yang Kai’s figure blurred into existence.
He stood there quietly, waiting for a while. Soon, the Queen Monster Insect and the Blue Flame Thunder Wolf caught up to him from behind. Yang Kai glanced at them before he put them away. Then, he determined his bearing and disappeared from this place.
Only a sliver of faint Space Force fluctuation remained where he stood.
After two days, Yang Kai returned to the Yuan Furnace Mountain.
The current Yuan Furnace Mountain was in ruins. The mountain had collapsed and its rubble was lying everywhere. Furthermore, there were signs of someone digging.
[This should be the handiwork of Raging Fire Temple disciples.] Yang Kai didn’t care about this. He hovered in the sky and silently sensed for a moment.
He could sense that Liu Yan was still lying in a peculiar slumber somewhere underground, Heaven knows how deep. She seemed to be absorbing the scorching power in the underground magma pool
Compared to before, Liu Yan’s current aura was a lot stronger. She was even showing faint signs of being on the verge of breaking through to the Dao Source Realm.
Yang Kai looked happy after sensing this and immediately withdrew his Divine Sense, lest he disturbed Liu Yan.
He then looked around for a while before he found a secluded location and sat down cross-legged.
He was waiting for Liu Yan. After all, Liu Yan had been in the magma pool for a long time. She might return anytime.
After pondering for a bit, he summoned the Sealed World Bead and entered it with a flash.
Just as he stepped into the Small Sealed World, Yang Kai felt a little out of place.
This out of place feeling wasn’t from a change in the Small Sealed World but in himself.
Before he wasn’t strong enough and was unable to touch the Principles, so he didn’t notice it. But now that he had advanced to the Dao Source Realm and could mobilize the World Principles for his own use, Yang Kai immediately noticed that the Small Sealed World’s Principles were short of something.
He sensed it for a long time but was unable to find any clue and could only give up in light of this.
With a flash, he arrived next to his Embodiment.
Since coming to Maplewood City and teaching his Embodiment the Heaven Devouring Battle Law, Yang Kai had not paid attention to it anymore.
When he checked it out now, Yang Kai couldn’t help but be taken aback.
Because the original behemoth had shrunk several dozen times. The place where the Embodiment sat was filled with broken pieces of rocks and dust. Obviously, its enormous body had been significantly tempered through cultivating the Heaven Devouring Battle Law.
Although it had grown smaller, it was more solid and firm.
The Heaven Devouring Battle Law could devour the World Energy from everything in Heaven and Earth and use it to strengthen one’s own body, which perfectly complemented the inherent Divine Ability of the Stone Puppet Family.
The current Embodiment was only a few stories tall. And even then, it was still pretty big.
The various ores that Yang Kai had given it before had been devoured clean by it, eliminating all the waste and transforming the rest into a part of its strength.
Because it wasn’t a body of flesh and blood, Yang Kai was unable to sense the vitality of the Embodiment. He had no idea how much strength it could bring out. However… Yang Kai could tell that it would not be too weak.
While he was thinking this, the Embodiment seemed to have sensed it. It opened his eyes as a smile appeared on its silly face. It then asked in a muffled voice, “Want to give it a try?”
“Alright!” Yang Kai tilted his head as he beckoned to Embodiment.
The Embodiment gave a strange smile before it slowly got up.
As it stood up, many pieces of rocks and dust accumulated over its body fell down.
Because the Embodiment was a product of Yang Kai integrating his Soul Clone into the Stone Puppet, Yang Kai could clearly understand its thoughts and control its actions.
The Embodiment wasn’t just an individual, but also Yang Kai’s Soul Clone.
With a flash of thought, Yang Kai let the Embodiment freely make its move.
The next moment, the Embodiment strode forward, creating deafening rumbles. It quickly arrived before Yang Kai, bent its waist and suddenly sent a left uppercut completely parallel to the ground.
The punch hadn’t even made contact, but the wind from it made Yang Kai’s robe flap continuously.
In addition, the Fist Energy shooting out from the fist actually left a deep arc-shaped gully on the ground.
Yang Kai’s pupils shrunk at the sight of this. At first, he was only planning to use about 60% of his strength. But he immediately raised his strength to 100% as he also threw a punch to greet the oncoming punch.
*BOOM…*
The enormous and the small fists clashed with each other with a Heaven-shaking explosion.
A burst of energy suddenly spread outward with the point of contact of the two fists as the centre, like a round sharp blade, cutting the space in half.
The Embodiment grinned as a strange smile appeared on its face.
Yang Kai’s face, on the other hand, sank. The next moment, he felt an unmatched power coming from his right side. He immediately let out a muffled groan as he was sent flying. His figure disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Yang Kai completely lost in a competition of pure strength.
The Embodiment finally stood up, put his hand on his forehead as if he was looking into the distance, and frivolously whistled.
Suddenly, Yang Kai’s figure appeared with a flash.
He grimaced in pain, shaking his right fist. His right fist was completely mangled, even his bones were showing.
“How was it?” The Embodiment asked, laughing.
“Why are you asking when you already know the answer!?” Yang Kai couldn’t help but roll his eyes at it.
The birth of the Embodiment was a coincidence, and its strength was also an extremely lucky encounter.
Had the second puppet been born with sentience, he would not have thought of putting his Soul Clone into it, turning it into his own Embodiment, and had it not been for opportunity on the floating continent, his Embodiment would not have grown so quickly.
Because it had refined the entire floating continent, it could grow to this terrifying level in such a short time.
That one punch from Embodiment was equal to the power of a world.
Even though Yang Kai had a strong and robust physical body, how could he withstand the bombardment of a continent with a body of flesh and blood?
It wasn’t surprising to be sent flying and even get injured.
“You should find me a stick like Xiao Xiao’s!” The Embodiment pursed its lips into a smile.
If it had a Heaven Shaking Pillar-like artifact in its hands, the Embodiment could take ten enemies alone without using much of its strength! Furthermore, he could do it better than Xiao Xiao.
“Sure, if there is a chance!” After nodding his agreement, Yang Kai’s figure suddenly blurred as he arrived above the Embodiment and whipped a kick down with a turn of his body.
His leg was wrapped in extremely berserk Source Qi. Obviously, Yang Kai wasn’t showing any mercy.
The Embodiment didn’t panic or anything at the sight of this. It just horizontally raised its hand, defending from the above, while it used the other enormous hand to grab toward Yang Kai, through under its armpit.
Yang Kai’s pupils immediately shrunk as he shouted aloud, “Solidify!”
Just as his voice fell, the surrounding space came under the effect of the Principles with a hum, solidifying immediately.
The Embodiement’s movement slowed down a little as its vast body was suffering quite a bit of hindrance. Its enormous hands reaching out to Yang Kai was no longer as fast as before.
Its body sank as it let out a cry, “Break!”
Its giant-like body erupted with an explosive Qi.
*Crack…*
With a crisp cracking sound, the solidified space suddenly became loose.
It forcefully broke through the Space Principles suppression using brute force before it continued to grab at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai didn’t dare to go forward anymore. He pushed his feet as a deafening clap rang from underneath his feet. His figure instantly shot toward the back like an arrow fired from a bow. Immediately after, he brought his hands together as an enormous Moon Blade suddenly appeared, which he then fired straight at the embodiment without any scruples.
A pitch-black, machete-like, enormous Moon Blade cut straight toward the Embodiment’s arm.
The Embodiment’s pupil immediately shrank. It promptly switched from grabbing to punching, with the ferocity of a tiger.
Immediately, explosive fist energy flew out of the punch, crashing into the Moon Blade in the air before it could even land on the Embodiment’s fist. The next moment, a deafening clap rang as the Moon Blade disappeared, and so did the fist energy.
Before Yang Kai could regain his wits, the Embodiment stamped his feet as a pillar of soil shot out from the ground. The Embodiment reached out and as it grabbed it, the pillar of loose soil turning into a stick as hard as iron with a glimmer.
The Embodiment, grabbing the tens of meters long stick, hurled it straight toward Yang Kai. The stick cut through the air with a sharp boom. It gave the impression that it would pierce through space.
Yang Kai’s expression drastically changed. He didn’t dare to remain in his position. Space Force fluctuations emerged around him as he teleported to one side, causing the stick to hit the air.
“Heh heh heh!” The Embodiment seemed to have expected this already. There was no panic on its face, rather it broke into a peal of strange laughter as it bent down and placed its enormous hand on the ground. The next moment, the ground started rumbling and quaking.
Suddenly, Earth Dragons wagging their tails emerged just below Yang Kai, one after another. Each and every Earth Dragon was extremely vivid and life-like. Baring their fangs and claws, they swarmed at Yang Kai. By rough count, there were at least a dozen or so Earth Dragons. They had sealed Yang Kai’s all routes of escape.
“Dragon Transformation!” Yang Kai shouted as he prompted the Golden Divine Dragon Source in his body. His right arm suddenly doubled in size, covered in Dragon scales made from energy. His right hand resembled a Dragon’s claw.
He then turned around and charged straight into the thunder of Earth Dragons.
Very soon, deafening roars and explosions rang as the Earth Dragons collapsed, one after another. Soon after, Yang Kai’s figure shot from the dust-filled sky like a god descending from Heaven.
His body was surrounded by a colourful halo as Five Elements Sword Qis shot towards the Embodiment.
The Embodiment just curled its lips and stomped its foot on the ground at the sight of this. Suddenly, a wall of soil popped up from before him. Just like the stick before, a glimmer spread across the wall of soil before it became extremely hard.
*Chi chi chi…*
The Sword Qis struck the wall of soil, but they were unable to break through its defence and were blocked.
When the Sword Qi was finally exhausted, the Embodiment waved its hand as the wall of soil before him collapsed.
But before he could make any more moves, a strange smile suddenly appeared on Yang Kai’s face as his left eye glimmered with a golden glow.
“Dammit!” the Embodiment blurted out. It hurriedly tried to look away but it was too late. When it saw that golden light, his attention was sucked in right away by it. It was unable to think and it’s eyes lost their lustre.
After a short while, the golden light dissipated as the Embodiment finally regained its wits.
Yang Kai was standing before it with a depressed look on his face. The moment the pair of small and big eyes looked at each other, they couldn’t help but break into laughter.
After a long time, their laughter slowly stopped.
“Not a word about this to anyone,” Yang Kai solemnly exhorted.
The Embodiment nodded earnestly with an identical look on its face.
If the word got out that he was ultimately forced to use the Demon Eye of Annihilation to gain the upper hand against himself after having tried every possible means and ability, everyone would laugh at him.
But this way, Yang Kai was able to judge the Embodiment’s strength a little.
With his current means, he had no good way to deal with the Embodiment apart from using the Divine Sense to suppress it. The Embodiment’s Divine Sense was inferior to his, which it was a matter of course. It was originally his Soul Clone, so how could it compare with the main Soul?
Using the Soul to suppress it was tantamount to cheating…
He might as well order it to lie on the ground and let him beat it.
Yang Kai felt ashamed as these thoughts crossed his mind.
“Do you have any extra artifacts?” the Embodiment suddenly asked.
“I do.” Yang Kai nodded as he doubtfully looked at it. However, a notion flashed his mind as he understood why the Embodiment wanted the artifact. He immediately asked in surprise, “Can Heaven Devouring Battle Law also devour artifacts?”
The Embodiment replied, “I’m just guessing. Whether it can or not, I will know it after giving it a try.”
Yang Kai nodded after hearing this. He then searched through the Space Ring, found a few artifacts before throwing them at it.
These artifacts belonged to Shen Tu and his team. All the previous loot had been exchanged for Source Crystals at the black market of Maplewood City.
After receiving the artifacts, the Embodiment immediately sat down on the ground with the artifacts in its palm. Right then, he reported in a muffled voice, “The seed you had planted seems to have sprouted.”
Yang Kai was stunned, but he soon understood what the Embodiment was talking about and a joyous look appeared on his face before his figure disappeared from his place.
And when he reappeared again, he was in the vicinity of the medicine garden.
There were only two things in the entire medicine garden. One was the Immortal Tree that Yang Kai had obtained in his home Star Field in the past, and the other was the gold and silver-coloured Wood Spirit Seed that Yang Kai planted in the corner that day.
Yang Kai had tried to refine the Immortal Tree but ultimately failed. Finally, all he could do was plant it in the Small Sealed World’s medicine garden.
However, the Small Sealed World had gained a lot of vitality because of the Immortal Tree.
In the past, Yang Kai had asked Yang Yan about how to refine the Immortal Tree and gain the immortal and indestructible body.
However, Yang Yan didn’t tell him clearly. This made him very helpless.
Later, he acquired the Wood Spirit Seed after killing the Wood Spirit. Because this seed was so peculiar that even Liu Yan couldn’t burn it, Yang Kai had decided to keep it.
It had only been about a year since he killed the Wood Spirit. And to his surprise, the Wood Spirit Seed had already taken the root in the medicine garden and had grown into a three-centimetre-tall seedling.
Just like the seed, the seedling had both silver and gold colour, each occupying half. It looked very strange. It was completely different from the Wood Spirit’s original body. Yang Kai had no idea why this was the case.
Yang Kai stared at the three-centimetre-tall seedling in a daze.
He didn’t recognize it, so he had never even heard or read about it. But he could feel a strange energy in the seedling that was still very weak, but if the seedling continued to grow, it would definitely become stronger.
This three-centimetre-tall seedling should not be underestimated.
Even after being planted in the medicine garden of the Small Sealed World for nearly a year, it had only grown by this much.
The medicine garden in the Small Sealed World had Heavy Earth, five Earth Vein Crystals and the vitality brought by the Immortal Tree. Being planted in here for a day was equivalent to a hundred days outside.
In other words, if it was planted elsewhere, even if the Wood Spirit Seed could survive, it would take at least a hundred years to grow three centimetres tall.
Having thought this, Yang Kai became even more interested in the gold and silver seedling.
The harder it was for it to grow, the higher its value would be. Just take the Immortal Tree, for instance. It had survived countless eras but was only three meters tall.
After confirming that the Wood Spirit Seed was still alive, Yang Kai didn’t pay much attention to it. Yang Kai would have to observe and investigate what its uses were later.
Next, he refined the long sword artifact used by Han Leng and the Flying Saint Palace’s ship in the Small Sealed World.
The long sword artifact was a Low-Rank Dao Source Grade artifact. It just so happened that it was perfect for him at the moment. It could increase his strength a bit. And if supplemented by the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Qi, it could even turn into his ace in the hole. As for the ship, it was naturally a means of transportation.
In a flash, over a month had gone by.
Yang Kai left the Small Sealed World and checked Liu Yan’s situation again, but discovered that she was still in deep slumber. He had no idea what time she would wake up.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow. After thinking for a moment, he summoned the ship and flew toward Maplewood City.
He was unable to determine when Liu Yan would come out and it would be a waste of time if he continued to wait here.
In any case, Liu Yan knew that he was in Maplewood City. After exiting, she could join him in Maplewood City. Now, he needed to rush back to the cave mansion in Maplewood City to prepare to refine the Dragon Bone Sword into his body.
Yang Kai was finally back at Maplewood City after a few days.
Yang Kai didn’t have the time to go and inform Kang Si Ran about his safety after entering the city gate. Rather, he hurried back to the cave mansion he had rented before.
Yang Kai took out the token and poured his Source Qi into it, trying to deactivate the cave mansion’s barrier.
But what left him in a great shock was that the cave mansion’s barrier didn’t respond at all. It was as if his token was useless.
This made him furrow his brow, but very soon, he recalled a matter.
When he arrived at Maplewood City, he had rented the cave mansion for about a year, and counting the days, this one-year period seemed to have been over two months ago already.
Once the deadline passed, the right to use the cave mansion would naturally be withdrawn.
Yang Kai’s heart started pounding as he realized that something was wrong.
He didn’t care about the ending of the cave mansion’s lease. It wasn’t a big deal as he could go to the City Lord’s Mansion to register and rent another one, it was just a matter of Source Crystals.
He also hadn’t kept anything valuable in the cave mansion, so he wasn’t worried too much about it either.
However, before he left, the little girl of the Zhang Family was still in the cave mansion.
Back when he left with Kang Si Ran for the Yuan Furnace Mountain to explore Gong Sun Mu’s cave mansion, such a long delay had never crossed his mind. He believed that they would return relatively quickly. He didn’t even explain anything to Zhang Ruo Xi before leaving. He only told her that he was going out on a trip and left her here alone.
Now, the lease of the cave mansion had already expired. His right to use the cave mansion had been withdrawn. But what about Zhang Ruo Xi?
Yang Kai looked left and right, but he couldn’t find that delicate figure. He couldn’t help but be anxious.
When he left, Zhang Ruo Xi was only a First-Order Saint King. In Maplewood City, where snakes and vipers crept among the dragons, she had no power to protect herself. If she was targeted by someone with malicious intentions, the consequences would be disastrous.
“She could have gone back to the Zhang Family herself!?” Yang Kai murmured to himself.
If he was in Zhang Ruo Xi’s place, he would have returned to the Zhang Family first if the right to use the cave mansion was withdrawn and he was expelled from the cave mansion. In that case, he wouldn’t be worried about anything. The Zhang Family might not be strong, but they still had two Origin King Realm masters.
Just when Yang Kai was in a hopeless tangle, the barrier next to him suddenly fluctuated.
Yang Kai was stunned. He turned his head to look and discovered that the cave mansion’s door had actually opened as a pretty young woman came out. The young woman seemed to be in her thirties. She suspiciously asked, looking at Yang Kai with extreme vigilance, “Who are you?”
Yang Kai hastily cupped his fists and introduced himself, “This one’s Yang Kai. This cave mansion’s previous owner.”
The young woman furrowed her brow and stated, “I am renting this cave mansion now. There was nothing inside when I came in.”
“I know. I’m not here to find something.” Yang Kai smiled. He tried his best to be gentle.
“You are not here for anything?” The young woman, on the other hand, grew even more suspicious at the sight of this. “Then what are you doing here?”
“I’m looking for someone, a young girl to be exact,” Yang Kai hurriedly explained himself. “She should have been here but I can’t find her. Madam, have you seen her?”
Hearing that Yang Kai was looking for someone, the young woman furrowed her black brow. Her expression changed ever so slightly, but she hurriedly shook her head and replied, “I have not seen her.”
While speaking, she retracted her head and closed the door at the same time.
“Wait!” Seeing this, Yang Kai immediately understood that she must know something. Or else, why would she retreat like this? He immediately reached out and blocked the door.
The young woman’s expression worsened drastically. She screamed, “What do you want? Don’t forget, this is Maplewood City!”
Yang Kai let out a cold snort as he teleported into the cave mansion right away before closing the doors. He then stared at her coldly as a fearsome aura suddenly erupted from him, pressing down on the young woman right away.
“Dao Source Realm!” Sensing Yang Kai’s fearsome aura, the young woman’s face suddenly turned pale as she blurted out in despair. The look in her eyes when she was looking at Yang Kai finally changed.
The level of cultivators in Maplewood City wasn’t generally that high. There weren’t that many Dao Source Realm masters, but they all had a great background that ordinary cultivators could never provoke.
So, as soon as she noticed Yang Kai’s cultivation realm, the young woman was a little flustered.
She was only a First-Order Origin King, that’s all. How could she resist the pressure of a Dao Source Realm master? She might be somehow holding on but her body softened all of a sudden. She could only stop herself from falling after taking the support of the wall next to her.
She nibbled on her red lips and begged, looking at Yang Kai pleadingly, “Little Brother, you and I have no grievances. I have never offended you. Please don’t make it difficult for me…”
“I’m not making it difficult for you.” Yang Kai, maintaining a cold look, indifferently stated, “I only have a few questions. You have to answer them truthfully. If you dare to deceive me, I will make things so hard for you that you will beg me to kill you! You should know that I can indeed make it happen!”
The young woman nibbled her lips and gently nodded after hearing this.
“Very well. Then tell me, have you seen that little girl?” Yang Kai focused his pair of eyes on the opposite party, making sure that he wouldn’t miss the slightest change in her expression.
The young woman pondered for a moment before she nodded with difficulty. “I don’t know if that little girl I saw is the one you are looking for, but I have indeed seen a little girl at the cave mansion’s door…”
“Tell me, what was her age, cultivation, and characteristic features?” Yang Kai hurriedly asked.
“She was sixteen or seventeen years old. As for her cultivation, she was at the peak of the Second-Order Saint King Realm and was on the verge of breaking through to the Third-Order Saint King Realm. She looked a little weak. She was slender and spoke very softly. Her hair was black and straight…”
“Yes, that’s her.” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up immediately. He was sure that the girl this young woman had seen was Zhang Ruo Xi. What he didn’t expect was Zhang Ruo Xi’s cultivation to advance from the First-Order Saint King Realm to the peak of the Second-Order Saint King, just on the cusp of breaking through to the Third-Order, in just a year.
[I guess, her aptitude isn’t that bad. Of course, some part of the credit definitely belongs to the Marrow Washing Pill.]
“You said that you saw her at the gates of the cave mansion? What was she doing at the gates?” Yang Kai asked again, frowning.
The young woman replied, “She was standing at the entrance…”
“Standing!?” Yang Kai was confused.
“That’s right. She was just standing there. When I rented this cave mansion two months ago, I found her at the entrance of the cave mansion. I didn’t care much about it. Later, when I found her standing all the time there, I became curious. I asked her and she told me that she was waiting for Sir Yang… Little Brother, you wouldn’t happen to be that Sir Yang?”
While asking, the young woman timidly looked up at Yang Kai. And she was shocked to find Yang Kai dumbstruck.
At this moment, Yang Kai’s heart was crazily pounding.
He couldn’t help but imagine the scene where a sixteen, seventeen-year-old girl was standing quietly by the entrance of this cave mansion in Maplewood-like bustling city. She stood still there, withstanding the sun and winds, gazing left and right at the passing by figures but never found the familiar figure she was waiting for…
In a bustling city, she was like an abandoned kid, lonely, hesitant, and at a loss.
When the night fell and the cold wind blew, she would curl on the ground, shivering…
And when the sun rose again, she would open her eyes and continue to wait.
An inexplicable heaviness burdened Yang Kai’s heart.
“I found her pitiful. I even invited her to come in and sit down but she didn’t agree. She told me that she would stand there and wait… Sir Yang, Little Brother, I really didn’t do anything to her. Don’t make it harder for me.” The young woman looked at Yang Kai with trepidation. She was afraid that Yang Kai would vent his anger on her.
“Since you haven’t done anything to her, why didn’t you tell me the truth in the first place? You wanted to seal the cave mansion instead when you heard me asking about her whereabouts! Obviously, you have a guilty conscience!” Yang Kai coldly gazed at the young woman as his eyes flickered with intense murderous intent.
The young woman seemed to have sensed it. She was struck with panic. She hurriedly waved her hands and justified herself, “No, no, no, it’s not what you think… I really haven’t harmed her.”
“So tell me, where is she now? By the look on your face, you seem to know something,” Yang Kai’s voice grew colder.
The young woman shook her head.
Yang Kai let out a chuckle. “I guess you are afraid of something!”
“Little Brother, please don’t force me. Please let me go. As long as you don’t force me to do anything, I will do anything you want me to do,” the young woman begged for forgiveness. While speaking, her expression turned a little coquettish as her pair of pretty eyes suddenly turned shiny.
Yang Kai remained indifferent and unmoved. A strange power suddenly lingered around his fingertips as he asked with impatience in his voice, “Speak or die!”
While speaking, he slowly poked towards the young woman’s forehead.
Realizing Yang Kai to be iron-hearted, the young woman finally panicked and promptly answered, “Go to Jiang Family… perhaps you can find her there!”
“Jiang Family!?” Yang Kai’s fingers stopped just three centimetres away from the young woman’s forehead as the energy around the fingertips suddenly dissipated. He looked at the young woman and asked as if he was thinking something, “No wonder you were so afraid. So, it’s the Jiang Family! However… what does the Jiang Family want with her?”
“I don’t know!” The young woman shook her head. “One month ago, several men came and talked to her. Then, she left with those men. I was curious, so I secretly followed after them. I discovered them going into the Jiang Family, but I don’t know anything else. Even if you kill me, it will be useless!”
“She went with them on her own?” Yang Kai furrowed his brow.
“Yes!” The young woman nodded.
“Alright, madam, thank you for telling me everything. Goodbye.” Yang Kai cupped his fist and rushed out with a flash.
After Yang Kai left, the young woman finally slumped on the ground like a puddle of mud. Her clothes were completely drenched in sweat.
She wasn’t from any Sect or family and was only able to cultivate the First-Order Origin King Realm by her own efforts and various opportunities. She had never come in contact with a Dao Source Realm master, so after having been threatened at such close quarters by Yang Kai, she was frightened to death.
Fortunately, Yang Kai was reasonable. He really hadn’t done anything to her. If he had, she would be absolutely powerless to resist.
After a long time, the young woman finally regained her wits. She fiercely stood up and hurriedly rushed into the cave mansion and started packing up her things.
After a short while, the young woman left the cave mansion, made a beeline to the city gates, and very soon, left Maplewood City.
She didn’t dare to remain in Maplewood City anymore. If the Jiang Family men tracked her down, she would be in big trouble. [As far as I know, the Jiang Family men weren’t as reasonable as that Sir Yang.]
Yang Kai hadn’t had any dealings with the Jiang Family of Maplewood City. But he had heard of them many times. He knew that they were quite powerful in Maplewood City. Apparently, the Jiang Family had a Dao Source Realm Old Ancestor.
There were many families in Maplewood City. However, there were only a few families with Dao Source Realm masters. The Jiang Family had one, the Qin Family also had one…
Yang Kai had seen Jiang Chue He at the Soaring Dragon Altar on the first floor of the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda. He was the leader of the new generation of the Jiang Family and was a Third-Order Origin King. As long as he encountered an adequate opportunity, he could advance to the Dao Source Realm.
The Jiang Family had been in Maplewood City for hundreds of thousands of years, so their relationship with the various families, and even the City Lord’s Mansion, was very complicated.
Yang Kai might not have an idea why Jiang Family’s men took Zhou Ruo Xi away but a Saint King Realm girl was definitely little to no use to the Jiang Family. [I’m afraid some playboy of the Jiang Family may have taken a liking to Zhang Ruo Xi’s beauty and wanted to do something indecent to her. If that’s the case, I’m afraid it will be too late.]
After all, it had already been a month since the Jiang Family men took Zhang Ruo Xi away. Anything could happen during this one month.
But Yang Kai was more concerned about why Zhang Ruo Xi left with the Jiang Family members on her own, without any resistance. However, upon giving it a second thought, he realized that Zhang Ruo Xi was young and had never left the Zhang Family. She had a simple mind and might have been deceived.
Just a few coaxing words might be sufficient to deal with a little girl like her. It was quite easy to make her obey.
While feeling secretly anxious, Yang Kai was also a little frustrated with himself for not even being able to take care of a little girl.
[Since I am going to the Jiang Family to find Zhang Ruo Xi, I can’t go in an open and aboveboard manner. If I touched any nerve of the Jiang Family and they decided to silence Zhang Ruo Xi, it would be too late to regret.]
So, Yang Kai decided to scout the Jiang Family first.
If Zhang Ruo Xi was really at the Jiang Family, he should somehow be able to find her with his powerful Divine Sense.
After having come to a decision, Yang Kai didn’t have the time to wait until dark. He rushed straight toward the Jiang Family’s location.
To the east of Maplewood City was a huge residential area covering an area of about several dozen acres. It was surrounded by tall red walls with blue tiles. People who had been in Maplewood City all year round knew that this was the base of the Jiang Family in Maplewood City.
Generally, important members of the Jiang Family lived here.
Yang Kai arrived next to the outer walls and spread his Divine Sense. He sensed for a moment and was surprised to find that the outer walls were full of restrictions and traps.
However, these kinds of restrictions were nothing for him. Since they had been discovered by him, naturally, he won’t trigger them.
Just as Yang Kai was preparing to jump over the wall to sneak in, his expression slightly changed all of sudden. He promptly turned around and used the Nihility Secret Technique to hide at one side.
After a while, a graceful figure suddenly rushed over from not too far away and landed right where Yang Kai was standing before. She looked around for a while before she scratched her head and muttered to herself, confused, “It should be here, where did it go? That’s strange!”
Yang Kai was dumbstruck after hearing this. He couldn’t help but take a closer look at the figure. Immediately, he blurted out in surprise, “Xiao Qi!?”
To his surprise, the person who discovered him was the mysterious Mo Xiao Qi!
The two had not seen each other for over a year since they parted in the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda. Now, just when Yang Kai had returned to Maplewood City, he was discovered by her.
Since it was an acquaintance, Yang Kat naturally didn’t need to hide. He dispersed the Nihility Secret Technique and reappeared. Mo Xiao Qi immediately spotted him. She walked over with a smile and happily said, “Brother Yang, it’s really you. I thought I was mistaken! Where have you been over these six months? Why were you not in Maplewood City?”
She showered him with a lot of questions, not even giving Yang Kai a chance to answer.
Yang Kai gave a wry smile and replied, “I went out for something a little while ago. I just returned today.”
“Oh!” Mo Xiao Qi nodded upon hearing this. A smile immediately appeared on her lips as she stated, “I thought that Big Brother Yang left without saying goodbye. I felt hurt for a long time.”
Yang Kai smiled and said, “I will tell you if I’m going to leave. By the way, how did you find me?”
Mo Xiao Qi stuck her fragrant tongue out as she answered, a little embarrassed, “Do you remember that Sound Bead I gave you… I had put a tracking Brand on it. As long as it’s not too far away, I can find it.”
Realization suddenly dawned upon Yang Kai. He took out that bead from the Space Ring, checked it. And after having failed to find anything important, he put it back.
Suddenly, Mo Xiao Qi looked around and lowered her voice, “This is the Jiang Family’s base. Big Brother Yang, are you planning to sneak in?”
Yang Kai nodded his agreement.
Mo Xiao Qi’s pretty eyes lit up as she asked in a suppressed voice, “Why do you want to sneak in? Has someone in the Jiang Family offended you? Would you like me to help?”
She looked pretty excited as if she had found something extremely interesting.
Yang Kai heaved a sigh and briefly explained to her about Zhang Ruo Xi. Mo Xiao Qi was filled with righteous indignation after hearing this. She immediately proclaimed, “Jiang Family members’ reputation has never been good. And this time, they actually laid their hands on Sister Ruo Xi. How disgusting!”
“Currently, I’m not sure why the Jiang Family took Ruo Xi away.” Yang Kai tightly frowned. “Therefore, I have to secretly check them out.”
“I’ll help you! But Big Brother Yang, you should have told me that there was still someone in your cave mansion. If you had told me earlier, I would have taken Sister Ruo Xi with me.” Mo Xiao Qi glared at Yang Kai. She was blaming him a little.
Yang Kai forced a cough and explained himself, embarrassed, “I didn’t know that I would be away for so long! Hai, let’s not talk about this. Let me tell you what Ruo Xi looks like. After going in, you should pay attention to it.”
Mo Xiao Qi nodded repeatedly. She listened with rapt attention, memorizing Zhang Ruo Xi’s appearance.
A sixteen, seventeen-year-old girl at the peak of Second-Order Saint King Realm were pretty obvious features. If Zhang Ruo Xi was really in the Jiang Family, it should not be that hard to find her.
“Be careful, the Jiang Family has a Dao Source Realm master presiding over the base. You can’t let yourself be discovered by him,” exhorted Yang Kai.
Mo Xiao Qi immediately smiled and said, “Don’t worry. The Old Ancestor of the Jiang Family doesn’t live in Maplewood City. He retreats in a manor outside year-round.”
Yang Kai was assured after hearing this.
As long as the Jiang Family didn’t have their Dao Source Realm master, it should be impossible for anyone to find him and Mo Xiao Qi. Even though Mo Xiao Qi was just a Third-Order Origin King, she acted very secretly and her concealing Secret Technique was also outstanding. So, he wasn’t worried about her getting discovered.
Afterwards, they agreed on a meeting time before splitting up.
Since it was confirmed by Mo Xiao Qi that the Jiang Family Old Ancestor wasn’t here, Yang Kai acted more boldly. After sneaking into the Jiang Family, he let his Divine Sense lose, scanning every nook and corner of the Jiang Family’s base.
However, Yang Kai’s expression became more solemn with the passage of time.
He had failed to find any sign of Zhang Ruo Xi.
After two hours, when the sky turned dark, Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi met again in a small alley not far away from the Jiang Family’s wall.
When he glanced at Mo Xiao Qi, Mo Xiao Qi slowly shook her head.
Yang Kai’s face darkened as a deep furrow appeared on his brow.
“Big Brother Yang, what should we do now? Sister Ruo Xi will be alright, right?” Mo Xiao Qi also started to worry. Now, they had neither seen Ruo Xi alive nor her corpse. This was the worst situation. Although she had never met Zhang Ruo Xi, he was worried because of her natural kindness.
“I sure hope so.” The gloomy look on Yang Kai’s face was a little scary. Next, he pondered for a moment before proposing, “Since this didn’t work out, we can only do a frontal investigation. I hope that the Jiang Family will not do anything to bring their own destruction!”
Mo Xiao Qi deeply glanced at Yang Kai after hearing this. She then nodded and said, “I will come with you.”
Yang Kai had no objection.
After a while, the two came to the front gate of the Jiang Family together.
The two Jiang Family guards at the entrance were about to stop them when one of them noticed Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi’s deep cultivation. He didn’t dare to be neglectful. He politely cupped his fist and asked, “May I ask the two why you have come to our Jiang Family at such late hours?”
Yang Kai returned the courtesy and answered, “May I trouble you to report to Patriarch Jiang that Spirit Pill Plaza Alchemist Yang Kai is asking to meet him.”
“An Alchemist from the Spirit Pill Plaza!?” That guard was surprised after hearing this. He swept his eyes over at Yang Kai and finally said with a serious look on his face, “Please wait a minute, I will go and inform the Patriarch!”
The Spirit Pill Plaza was well-known in Maplewood City. After all, it was set up here by the Violet Source Chamber of Commerce, and the Alchemists who could work for the Spirit Pill Plaza and refine pill were at least of Origin King Grade.
How could a gate guard be neglectful when such a figure had suddenly visited the Jiang Family? He immediately rushed in. Obviously, to report the Jiang Family Patriarch.
Yang Kai had no choice but to borrow the fame of Spirig Pill Plaza Alchemist.
After all, his name was worth nothing in Maplewood City. Only by using Alchemist identity could he make the Jiang Family take him seriously and be a little afraid of him. Which in turn would allow him to inquire about Rou Xi’s whereabouts safely and easily.
Mo Xiao Qi and he only had to wait outside for half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Suddenly, a burst of laughter resounded from the Jiang Family Manor. His voice could be heard even before he had arrived, “Spirit Pill Plaza’s Alchemist Yang has graced my Jiang Family with his presence. You have brought light to my Jiang Family. This old master, Jiang Lin welcomes Alchemist Yang!”
Just as the last word fell, a fifty-year-old or so elderly man with a ruddy complexion walked out and cupped his fists, greeting with an amiable look on his face.
Naturally, this man was the current patriarch of the Jiang Family, Jiang Lin. Jiang Lin was wearing a cyan robe and had an air of majesty around him. The gleam in his eyes converged, making him less conspicuous.
But the Source Qi in his body was extremely pure. Yang Kai secretly nodded in acknowledgement and realized that the rumours about Jiang Family Patriarch being on the verge of advancing to the Dao Source Realm were true.
There were some other Third-Order Origin King cultivators following behind Jiang Lin. All of them were old. Obviously, they should be the elder-level figures of the Jiang Family. Surprisingly, Jiang Chu He’s figure was also among the crowd.
When Jiang Chu He noticed Yang Kai, he couldn’t help but freeze for a moment as a look of astonishment took over his face.
Obviously, he had never expected that Yang Kai would be the
Spirit Pill Plaza Alchemist.
After all, he had met Yang Kai at the Soaring Dragon Altar in the past.
Jiang Family Patriarch, Jiang Lin and many Elders came to greet Yang Kai, giving Yang Kai enough face. Yang Kai cupped his fists and stated in neither humble or pushy manner, “I’m really sorry for visiting and disturbing Patriarch Jiang and everyone at this late hour. I hope that you won’t blame me.”
“What are you saying!? Alchemist Yang, you are more than welcome to my Jiang Family. It’s a blessing to my Jiang Family, You haven’t disturbed us!” Jiang Lin was so overly enthusiastic he broke into laughter while speaking. He then leaned closer to Yang Kai and proposed, gesturing, “Alchemist Yang, let’s talk inside.”
Yang Kai gently nodded. He then winked at Mo Xiao Qi before heading straight to the inner region of Jiang Family, led by Jiang Lin.
After a short while, everyone came to the Jiang Family’s guest hall, where the guests and the host took their seats. The servants had long been notified to prepare tea, which was presented to them.
Under Jiang Lin’s warm reception, Yang Kai took a few sips of tea and absent-mindedly gave a few praises.
Jiang Lin seemed unaware. He chuckled and stated, “I have long heard of renowned Spirit Pill Plaza’s Alchemist Yang, but never had the chance to meet. I never thought that Alchemist Yang would come to my Jiang Family in person. This Jiang is really taken aback and pleasantly surprised.”
A sliver of amazement appeared on Yang Kai’s face as he asked, “Patriarch Jiang has heard of me?”
He thought that Jiang Lin was doing lip service before. He had never expected for Jiang Lin to actually know him.
Jiang Lin smiled and explained, “Everyone with a little status in Maplewood City already knows about Alchemist Yang. Let me tell you, my Jiang Family had purchased a lot of Source Condensing Pill that you refined. Many of our disciples had benefited from this. And I have also heard about Alchemist Yang using his own power to save the Spirit Pill Plaza from closing down.”
Yang Kai was struck with realization after hearing this.
Even though Yang Kai hadn’t shown his face much during his time in the Spirit Pill Plaza, some things that happened in the Spirit Pill Plaza couldn’t be hidden from these local snakes. So, it wasn’t surprising for them to know about Yang Kai.
“Maplewood City doesn’t have many Alchemists, and the Alchemists who can refine the Source Condensing Pill are even fewer. Even if Alchemist Yang doesn’t want to be famous, someone has already spread your name,” Jiang Lin laughter. Suddenly, he changed the topic and inquired, “However, I heard that Alchemist Yang has now left the Spirit Pill Place, and is no longer refining pills for the Spirit Pill Plaza! I wonder if it’s true or false…”
Yang Kai had no intention of hiding it. He nodded, agreeing, “Yes! I had an agreement with Shopkeeper Kang, that I would only refine pills for the Spirit Pill Plaza for two months. Now, that agreement is already over.”
“Really!?” Jiang Lin was overjoyed.
Not only Jiang Lin was overjoyed, but even the Jiang Family elders sitting by the side also had a change in their expression. Each and every one of them looked at Yang Kai with an ardent gaze as if they were looking at some peerless beauty. They couldn’t wait to swallow him in one bite.
Seeing this, Yang Kai furrowed his brow and said, “Alchemy has never been my prime focus and I have no intention of pursuing it further.”
“So it’s like that…” How could someone as experienced as Jiang Lin not tell what Yang Kai was implying? He lamented, a little disappointed, “If that’s Alchemist Yang’s wish, it would really be a pity. Hmm, I wonder why Alchemist Yang has come to my Jiang Family? If my Jiang Family can help you in any way, I will definitely not refuse.”
Even though Yang Kai had proclaimed that, Yang Kai was still an Origin King Grade Alchemist, after all. It wasn’t bad for the Jiang Family to be in the good graces of someone like him, so how could Jiang Lin miss such a good opportunity? And he knew that since Yang Kai was here at Jiang Family, there had to be something he needed from Jiang Family.
Yang Kai pondered for a moment and answered, “Since Patriarch Jiang had mentioned this, I’ll get straight to the point. I have come to your noble family mainly because I’m looking for someone.”
“Looking for someone!?” Jiang Lin furrowed his brow. The other Elders looked confused as well. They could not help but wonder who Yang Kai was looking for in the Jiang Family.
Jiang Lin asked, “I wonder who Alchemist Yang is looking for?”
“A sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl. She should be at the peak of the Second-Order Saint King Realm…” Yang Kai briefly described Ruo Xi’s appearance and some distinguishing features.
When he was talking, a ruddy ole man sitting on the left side suddenly had his eyelids twitch before returning to normal the next moment.
Yang Kai’s Divine Sense had instantly caught this minute detail. His brow instantly twitched as he glanced at him thoughtfully. That Elder immediately lowered his eyes; his expression remained unchanged.
After hearing Yang Kai’s details, Jiang Lin inquisitively looked at Everyone and asked, “Is there someone like her in our Jiang Family?”
An old man sitting under Jiang Lin immediately got up, cupped his fists, and answered, “Reporting to Patriarch, our Jiang Family may have a girl like her but I don’t know if it’s the same person Alchemist Yang is looking for.”
“Okay! Bring that girl here for Alchemist Yang to take a look. If it’s the girl Alchemist Yang is looking for, my Jiang Family naturally will not be able to keep her,” Jiang Lin happily spoke.
“No need,” Before Yang Kai could say anything, Mo Xiao Qi, who had been quietly sitting all the while, waved off her hand and stated. “The girl we are looking for isn’t here.”
Jiang Lin couldn’t help but furrow his brow. He looked at Mo Xiao Qi and then at Yang Kai before suspiciously asking, “Alchemist Yang, what’s the meaning of this? Since you have come to my Jiang Family to find someone, and yet now, you are saying she isn’t in my Jiang Family? This Jiang is really confused.”
A Jiang Family Elder’s expression changed as if he seemed to have thought of something. The next moment, he shouted in a deep voice. “Could it be that you are so sure because you have secretly investigated my Jiang Family?”
Everyone’s face darkened after hearing this. They looked at Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi, looking a little displeased.
Yang Kai, on the other hand, remained calm and at peace as he justified, “Everyone, please don’t misunderstand. I have placed a restriction on that girl. As long as she isn’t too far away from me, I can sense that restriction. That’s why we are so sure.”
“So that’s how it is!” Jiang Lin nodded as realization dawned upon him. He immediately asked again, “Since that’s that case, why has Alchemist Yang come to my Jiang Family to look for her.”
“It’s like this…” Yang Kai took a deep breath as he straightened his words. “Someone has seen that girl enter your Jiang Family’s compound, enter the Jiang Family Manor. Therefore, this Yang had taken the liberty to come and disturb everyone, but I don’t know why she isn’t here. If anyone knows about her whereabouts, please tell me if possible. This Yang will be grateful!”
“Someone saw her? Who was it?” The Jiang Family Elder, who had spoken before, furiously asked back.
“I really can’t answer this!” Yang Kai shook his head. He was unable to tell them about the young woman. [And if I’m right, she might have already left Maplewood City.]
“That’s pure slander!” That Jiang Family Elder angrily flung his sleeve, “If my Jiang Family really had her, why would we hide her? My Jiang Family won’t do anything shameful.”
“No one said that you want to do something shameful,” Mo Xiao Qi curled her lips upon hearing this.
“You…” that Jiang Family immediately blew his top.
“Alright!” Jiang Lin too furrowed his brow. He waved off his hand and glared at that Elder. Then, he turned to Yang Kai and asked, “Alchemist Yang, why are you taking it seriously when you haven’t seen that girl enter my Jiang Family without your own eyes? Isn’t that just hearsay? Besides, you even have the restriction on that girl. So, you should know better than anyone whether she is in Jiang Family Manor or not.”
Yang Kai nodded, “I know. This matter might have offended everyone a little but that little girl is very important to me.”
“So be it, Alchemist Yang! Anyway, since this matter has already involved my Jiang Family, this Jiang can’t sit idly by. My Jiang Family has some power in Maplewood City. We can investigate a little for you. It would naturally be best if we can find that little girl and clear our name. What does Alchemist Yang think?”
Having said this, Jiang Lin gazed at Yang Kai with shine in his eyes.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes for a while before lightly nodding and agreed, “Then I shall trouble Patriarch Jiang. If Jiang Family can bring that little girl to this Yang safe and sound, this Yang promises to refine pills for Jiang Family for an entire month! Hmm, I forgot to tell Patriarch Jiang that this Yang is now a High-Rank Origin King Grade Alchemist. If I’m lucky, it won’t be difficult to refine a Dao Source Grade pill.”
After having refined the Dao Source Pill that day, Yang Kai became a Dao Source Grade Alchemist.
However, even in the Star Boundary, Dao Source Grade Alchemists were extremely rare. Of course, Yang Kai won’t tell just anyone about being a High-Rank Origin King Grade Alchemist.
As expected, all the Jiang Family members looked at him with excitement just as he reported this.
“High-Rank Origin King Grade Alchemist!?”
“Refine pills for one month!?”
Even Jiang Lin’s gaze started to grow hotter. Even though he knew that all the Alchemists working for Spirit Pill Plaza were at least an Origin King Grade Alchemist, he had never imagined Yang Kai to actually be a High-Rank Origin King Grade Alchemist!
Such an Alchemist was extremely attractive to any family. And if he could enter his good graces and tie a friendship, it would be greatly beneficial to the future development of any family.
And if he advanced to Dao Source Grade, Jiang Family wouldn’t be able to afford him.
In a flash, Jiang Ling and many of the Jiang Family Elder’s breathing became rapid.
“But if that girl is harmed in any way, heh heh heh… Whoever has laid hands on her, I will make it so difficult for his family that even fowls and dogs would not be at peace!”
When these words fell, the expression of all the Jiang Family members suddenly turned cold and stern.
Jiang Lin’s face twitched a few times before he finally smiled and assured, “If the person who took that little girl came to know that she has such a relationship with Alchemist Yang, he will definitely not dare to be impolite to her and would treat her as his guest of honour.”
“I hope so!” Yang Kai nodded lightly. After having said this, he stood up, cupped his fists, and took his leave, “This Yang apologizes for disturbing everyone. This Yang will take his leave, everyone doesn’t need to send me off!”
After bidding his goodbye, he signalled Mo Xiao Qi before the two quickly left under the watchful eyes of the Jiang Family group.
The next moment, the atmosphere inside the guest hall became a bit solemn. No one uttered a single word for a long time after Yang Kai left. All the high-level figures of the Jiang Family were hesitatingly looking at each other. As their eyes met, some unknown messages were exchanged through the air.
After a long time, someone angrily shouted, “He is too arrogant. How dare he come to my Jiang Family and act wantonly!?” The speaker was none other than Jiang Chu He, the leader of the new generation.
When he met Yang Kai at the Soaring Dragon Altar on the first floor of the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda in the past, both of them were cultivators who had come in for experience and toughening. He had never expected that, when they met again today, the opposite party would have turned into an Alchemy Grandmaster whom even Patriarch and Elders dared not neglect.
He couldn’t partake in the discussion just now. The difference in their status made him very uncomfortable!
Furthermore, when the opposite party came to the Jiang Family, he had not even spared a glance at him from the beginning to the end. Clearly, the opposite party was despising him!
“That’s right! In the end, he even dared to threaten us. That was really hateful,” the Elder who had spoken earlier spoke with a gloomy look on his face.
Jiang Lin let out a cold snort and indifferently ordered, “This is not the right place to talk. All of you, follow me.”
After saying this, he stood up and left right away.
Others also hurriedly followed after him.
After a while, everyone was gathered in a secret room of the Jiang Family. Jiang Lin glanced at everyone and asked, “Elders, is the girl Alchemist Yang looking for is in that place?”
Hearing this, one of them sighed and said, “Since she is at the peak of Second-Order Saint King, she is most likely there. Patriarch, you should also know that the people we have been searching for recently are mainly at that level of cultivation. Alchemist Yang’s friend must have been taken there.”
Another Elder stood up and confirmed, cupping his fists, “I have some impressions of that little girl…”
“Huh!?” Hearing this, Jiang Lin glanced at that Elder and asked, “So she has really been sent there!?”
“Yes,” That Elder gently nodded. “Two of our disciples found that little girl all alone in the city. She had been standing somewhere for an entire month. So, it was concluded that she had no friends or relatives. After a little inquiry, we indeed confirmed that she had no background or backing in Maplewood City. She was then brought to the Jiang Family, and this old master sent her into the mine along with others.”
After a pause, the Elder continued, having a headache, “It never occurred to this old master that the girl would be an acquaintance of Alchemist Yang. Now, it seems that the person she had been waiting for all the while should be Alchemist Yang. If I had known this, I would have never sent her to the mine.”
“Since she is indeed with us, what should we do now?” Some people were very dissatisfied.
“It’s impossible for us to hand her over. The ore produced by that mine is very rare and unique. That mine is the only hope of our Jiang Family’s rise. Any word about the mine cannot be leaked. If you really brought her back, the news about the mine will no longer be hidden, and if the City Lord’s Mansion got the word of it… our Jiang Family will be in danger!”
“Since we can’t bring her back, we can only…” another person suggested in a cold voice.
Everyone turned their gaze toward Jiang Lin!
Jiang Lin was also having a terrible headache. After all, Yang Kai had proclaimed that if the Jiang Family could send Zhang Ruo Xi back safely, he would refine pills for the Jiang Family for an entire month!
Now that he had to give up on such a good deal, Jiang Lin was also feeling extremely distressed.
“Patriarch, don’t hesitate. Yang Kai himself has stated that he had placed a restriction on the girl. As long as the girl is not too far away from him, he can sense it. If Yang Kai came to sense that girl’s location, the mine’s secret would be exposed. Compared to the mine, a High-Rank Origin King Grade Alchemist refining pills for one month is nothing. Not to mention, this matter is related to the interests of the City Lord’s Mansion. If the City Lord’s Mansion really came to know about it, our Jiang Family have no place to stand in Maplewood City!”
“That’s right, Patriarch! You can’t hesitate anymore!”
Against everyone’s persuasion, Jiang Lin could only sigh in resignation. Obviously, he had made his decision. He turned his gaze to another Elder and ordered, “Fifth Elder, I will leave this matter to you. Finish it cleanly!”
Fifth Elder promptly cupped his fists and said, “When I do things, you don’t need to worry about anything!”
“All of you can go now,” Jiang Lin waved his hand. “No one can go anywhere near the mine for now, and tell everyone there to be careful too, lest they are noticed by Yang Kai!”
“Yes!” Everyone promptly agreed.
…
After leaving the Jiang Family, Yang Kai had a deep and profound look on his face.
Mo Xiao Qi said, “I think that there was something wrong with the Jiang Family members. Sister Ruo Xi might really be with them.”
“You might be right,” Yang Kai recalled the change in the expression of one of the Jiang Family Elders during the conversation. He had already come to a conclusion. “However, the problem is that she is not in the Jiang Family. Where is she? Why are the Jiang Family members hiding her?”
Yang Kai was really confused.
While he was thinking, Mo Xiao Qi suddenly clapped her hands as if she had thought of something. She suddenly asked, “By the way, Big Brother Yang, do you have anything that has been used by Sister Ruo Xi?”
“Something used by her?” Yang Kai furrowed his brow. “What do you want to do?”
“If you have something used by her, I may have a way to track her whereabouts.”
“Really!?” Yang Kai looked overjoyed.
“Yeah, but I need something with her aura. It would be best if it’s something used by her once, such as clothes or a piece of her hair.” Mo Xiao Qi tilted her head and said.
“I don’t have anything like that, but…”
“But what!?”
“I know a place which should have something,” Yang Kai raised the corner of his lips as beckoned to her. “Come with me!”
Just as he finished speaking, Source Qi wrapped around Mo Xiao Qi as they shot toward a certain direction as swiftly as wind.
Just as Yang Kai used his Source Qi to move, Mo Xiao Qi was immediately able to sense it a little. She looked at Yang Kai in shock and asked, “Big Brother Yang, have you advanced to the Dao Source Realm?”
She hadn’t paid attention to Yang Kai’s change before. Besides, Yang Kai had deliberately hidden his aura, so Mo Xiao Qi didn’t realize that Yang Kai had advanced.
Yang Kai answered with a nod, “I encountered some opportunity when I went out a while ago and was lucky enough to break through.”
“Big Brother Yang, you are so damn cool!” Mo Xiao Qi exclaimed with sincere admiration.
Yang Kai shook his head and stated, “Dao Source Realm is nothing. You will be able to break through soon.”
Mo Xiao Qi chuckled upon hearing this. She seemed pretty confident.
After a short while, Yang Kai brought Mo Xiao Qi to a manor three hundred kilometres away from Maplewood City.
Surprisingly, it was the Zhang Family’s residence.
Yang Kai didn’t have anything used by Zhang Ruo Xi but the Zhang Family definitely had it.
He asked Mo Xiao Qi to wait outside as he sneaked into the Zhang Mansion alone.
He didn’t alarm the old woman and that beautiful woman of the Zhang Family. After all, it involved Zhang Ruo Xi. Yang Kai didn’t want them to worry.
He spread his Divine Sense and found that the Zhang Family was completely peaceful. Although there were many restrictions and Arrays laid in the manor, how could the means of a small family as the Zhang Family block Yang Kai? Besides, his Divine Sense was a lot stronger than before advancing to the Dao Source Realm.
He easily avoided many restrictions and arrived at Zhang Ruo Xi’s boudoir.
He looked around a bit and noticed that the boudoir was spotless. It was as clean as new. Obviously, it was because someone must have been cleaning it frequently.
And lying on the fragrant bed was a pile of neatly folded clothes.
[These should be worn by Zhang Ruo Xi before.]
Yang Kai didn’t take a closer look and just casually grabbed them and stuffed it into his Space Ring. Afterwards, he quickly left the Zhang Family residence.
After a short while, he went back outside, handed the clothes he had just taken to Mo Xiao Qi, and asked, “Is this okay?”
Mo Xiao Qi took them and picked up the one at the top, spreading it apart with a flick of her hand.
The next moment, Mo Xiao Qi’s pretty face couldn’t help but turn red all over as she glared at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai too had a dumbfounded look on his face. He immediately withdrew his gaze from that piece of cloth and explained himself, embarrassed, “I just took it without looking.”
Only now did he realize that it was a piece of tight-fitting corsage. It was pink, small, and exquisite. Looking at the other clothes in Mo Xiao Qi’s hands, they were all undergarments.
For a moment, Yang Kai’s face too couldn’t help but turn red, feeling awkward.
Mo Xiao Qi shyly stomped her feet and put away the rest of the clothes. She then turned around, facing her back at Yang Kai, and patted a cloth bag on her waist.
The next moment, the Heaven Escaping Bat, Xiao Fu, that Yang Kai had seen before suddenly appeared followed by strange squeaks.
The small bat circled around Mo Xiao Qi before standing stably on Mo Xiao Qi’s shoulder.
Mo Xiao Qi, on the other hand, had a serious look on her face. She formed a few hand seals and mumbled something. Heaven knows what she was mumbling.
After a while, she bit the tip of her finger, drew a weird Spirit Array on Zhang Ruo Xi’s corsage before she put the blood-stained finger on Xiao Fu’s forehead.
*Chi Chi!*
Suddenly, the Spirit Array on the corsage streaked across the air, flying straight into the Heaven Escaping Bat’s forehead, disappearing into nothing instantly.
The next moment, the Heaven Escaping Bat started sniffing. It then spread its wings and flew into the air, dexterously danced in the air before it flew straight toward a certain direction.
“Follow it!” Mo Xiao Qi tenderly shouted. She put away that little corsage and hurriedly chased after it.
Seeing this, Yang Kai hurriedly followed after them without a moment of hesitation.
There was a barren mountain about two thousand kilometres away from Maplewood City.
The barren mountain looked extremely desolate. Not even a single grass was growing on it. Furthermore, the World Energy here was extremely thin.
It wasn’t inhabited by any cultivator. There was only a small village here. All the people living in this small village were ordinary people who couldn’t cultivate.
However, because of the desolation of the barren mountain, there were no wild beasts or Monster Beasts here. Furthermore, it was close to Maplewood City. So, even ordinary people could live and work here.
In some hidden cave on the barren mountain, two First-Order King cultivators happened to be sitting in a meditative state.
Suddenly, one of the men in white robes appeared to have sensed something. He hurriedly opened his eyes as a communication artifact appeared in his palm with a flick of his hand. He promptly poured his Divine Sense into and couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise after reading the message.
“What are the orders from the family!?” the other person also opened his eyes and asked.
The man in the white robe answered as a weird look appeared on his face, “Fifth Elder has sent a message. He wants us to deal with the little girl who was brought a month ago.”
“Little girl!?” The other man frowned and doubtfully asked, “Why did the family transmit this kind of order? Was there anything weird about that little girl?”
“I have no idea, and the Fifth Elder didn’t say anything.” The man in white shook his head.
“Since it’s Fifth Elder’s command, then you should go and finish it as soon as possible. I will keep watch here for the time being,” the other man exhorted.
After a brief discussion, the man in white immediately went inside the cave and stood on an Array. Then, he took out a few Source Crystals and placed them inside the grooves around the Array before forming a hand seal, starting up the Array.
The next moment, the man in white soon disappeared followed by a thrum and faint Space Force fluctuations.
Seeing this, the other Jiang Family cultivator, who was guarding this place, withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes again, meditating.
After about the time it takes for an incense to burn, a small beast suddenly landed on a small mound three kilometres away from the cave. And hot on its tail, Mo Xiao Qi and Yang Kai’s figures appeared.
The little beast lightly sniffed toward the front and immediately after, started squeaking.
Mo Xiao Qi furrowed her black brow before she turned to Yang Kai and said with some hesitation, “Big Brother Yang, Xiao Fu said that Ruo Xi’a aura has disappeared in that cave.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai’s face turned cold. He promptly spread his Divine Sense to that side.
After a short white, he cried in surprise, “Space Array!?”
“There is a Space Array in there?” Mo Xiao Qi looked at Yang Kai in surprise, hearing this.
Yang Kai nodded and answered, “There is! Furthermore, it seems to have been used just recently. There are some Space Force fluctuations lingering around it. Also, there is a First-Order Origin King cultivator on the lookout inside the cave… I guess we are at the right place.”
“So, shall we break in?” Mo Xiao Qi inquired.
“Of course!” Yang Kai nodded his agreement. But right then, his expression suddenly changed as he shouted, “Dammit, Ruo Xi might be in danger!”
It suddenly struck him that he had just inquired with the Jiang Family about Ruo Qi. And someone here has used the Space Array. It was quite likely that it had something to do with the Jiang Family. Perhaps the upper echelon of the Jiang Family had sent a message to silence Zhang Ruo Xi.
Thinking of this, Yang Kai suddenly became anxious. He didn’t care about hiding anymore. With a jolt, his figure instantly shot towards the cave.
The Jiang Family cultivator inside the cave was extremely sensitive. The moment Yang Kai made a move, he sensed it and opened his eyes, and when he saw a streak of light shooting over at an astonishing speed, his expression couldn’t help but drastically change.
He promptly circulated his Saint Qi and stood up, looking ahead with an ugly look on his face.
And when Yang Kai’s aura came bearing down on him, the Jiang Family cultivator’s face immediately turned pale. He cried in horror, “Dao Source Realm!”
He was just a First-Order Origin King cultivator who had just formed his own Domain. How could he stand against a Dao Source Realm master?
Just as he cried out, Yang Kai had already arrived before him and lightly smacked his palm on his chest. The man suddenly felt a tremendous force assailing him as he was sent flying, spewing blood. By the time he crashed on the ground, he was already unconscious!
Yang Kai hadn’t killed him. After all, he still had to figure out the connection between Zhang Ruo Xi and the Jiang Family so he couldn’t bear to kill someone rashly.
However, the opposite party would remain unconscious for several days under his palm strike, which would be enough for him to find out everything clearly.
After landing, Yang Kai immediately cast his gaze on the Space Array inside the cave.
Mo Xiao Qi had also arrived by now.
After a while, Yang Kai couldn’t help exclaim in surprise.
“Big Brother, what did you find?” asked Mo Xiao Qi.
“This Array wasn’t set up by the Jiang Family, and neither was it arranged recently. It seemed to be quite old.” Yang Kai furrowed his brow.
The Space Array inside the cave was old and blotched. Obviously, it was laid a long time ago. However, as it was hidden inside this barren mountain’s cave, it was unlikely to be discovered.
Heaven knows how the Jiang Family came to learn about this place and where it led to.
“Is there any secret here?” Mo Xiao Qi immediately became interested. Her pair of beautiful eyes glimmered with a strange gleam as she kept looking at the Array.
“Let’s check it out later.” Yang Kai was worried about Zhang Ruo Xi’s safety and had no intention of careful investigation. Next, he arrived on the Array with a flicker as Mo Xiao Qi nodded and stepped on it as well.
Yang Kai immediately prompted the Space Force in his body and poured it into the Array.
In the next moment, the Array started humming as the two disappeared with a flash of light.
Suddenly, Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi appeared in a dark and humid area deep under the ground; how deep, no one knew.
However, before they could check their surroundings, they heard someone shouting, “Who are you? You actually dared to break into my Jiang Family’s secret land!”
Immediately after the shout, two violent attacks flew toward Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi from left and right, without any explanation. And judging by the fluctuations caused when they attacked, these two were actually Third-Order Origin King cultivators!
Yang Kai’s gaze turned colder as he shouted aloud, without even looking at the oncoming attacks, “Solidify!”
The next moment, the Space Principles fluctuated as the surrounding space suddenly solidified as if it had received some kind of order.
The next moment, the two attacks that were just about to strike Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi strangely disappeared into thin air as two figures appeared, left and right.
The two seemed to have never expected their attacks to be dealt with in such an unbelievable way. Both of them were stupefied for a while.
However, the man on the left immediately reacted as he cried in shock, “Principles! Dao Source Realm master!”
While speaking, his feet kicked the ground as his figure flew toward the rear. Surprisingly, he immediately thought of fleeing after seeing things turn bad.
But how could Yang Kai let his wish come true? Immediately, a Golden Blood Thread flew out from his fingertip with the flick of his wrist, directly tying up that man.
That man started sweating buckets, sensing the sharp aura emanating from the Golden Blood Thread. How could he dare to make any strange movements? He was more afraid of inadvertently getting cut into several pieces. He stood straight and looked at Yang Kai in horror.
The other man also stood in his place with a dumbfounded look on his face.
After all, Mo Xiao Qi was standing before him with a sharp dagger in her hand. The dagger was radiating a cold glow and happened to be pointed at his chest.
Obviously, in the momentary lapse in the man’s concentration, Mo Xiao Qi had already subdued him with lightning-fast means!
Yang Kai glanced over the two with a cold look on his face.
The man on the left asked in a trembling voice, “Who are you? Why do you break into my Jiang Family’s private land and attack us!”
“You don’t need to know who I am! And I’m here to find someone. If you obediently cooperate, perhaps I will let you live!” Yang Kai’s tone turned colder, staring at him.
“To find someone!” That man immediately furrowed his brow after hearing this. He nervously looked at Yang Kai and asked with difficulty as a drop of sweat trickled down his forehead, “I wonder who is Your Excellency looking for?”
“Is there a girl named Zhang Ruo Xi here?” asked Yang Kai.
The two Origin King Realm cultivators of the Jiang Family looked at each other before the man who had spoken earlier, justified himself with a bitter smile, “We are just ordered to guard the entrance. We have no idea about the name of those people…”
“Big Brother Yang, you don’t need to ask anything. Xiao Fu has smelled Sister Ruo Xi’s aura, she is here!” Suddenly, Mo Xiao Qi interrupted in excitement.
Yang Kai quickly looked over and noticed the Heaven Escaping Bat squeaking around toward a direction with glittering eyes, as if it had really found something.
“I’ll leave the things here to you, let me borrow Xiao Fu!” Having finished speaking, Yang Kai poked a few times toward the two Third-Order Origin King cultivators, pouring his Source Qi into their bodies. Immediately, the two let out a muffled groan as blood trickled down the corner of their lips.
Having done this, Yang Kai beckoned to the bat as the little beast immediately flew ahead.
“Big Brother Yan, be careful. There is something strange about this place!” Mo Xiao Qi exhorted from behind.
Yang Kai nodded his acknowledgement but he didn’t slow down.
While flying along the way, Yang Kai had the time to carefully inspect the surroundings.
He was inside an underground mine. The mine had numerous branches and forked roads. From time to time, he could hear clanking noises coming from the other end of the fork. Apparently, someone appeared to be mining something.
However, the places Yang Kai passed by had been mined already, leaving only pieces of rocks behind.
Following the little beast, Yang Kai soon entered a forked road.
Yang Kai immediately sensed the aura of many living beings inside that forked road.
After a short while, Yang Kai saw many people knocking on the walls of the dimly lit mine tunnel as broken pieces of rocks fell on the ground.
What surprised Yang Kai was the fact that everyone in here had the cultivation of Saint King Realm or lower. There wasn’t a single Origin Returning Realm Master.
All of them had their hands and feet cuffed with special bracelets and anklets, which would rattle every time they moved. They were simply unable to hide their whereabouts.
Perhaps they noticed something, all the people mining the ore turned their heads together, looking at Yang Kai.
A desolate feeling gripped Yang Kai’s heart, noticing their listless gazes. Heaven knows how long they have been kept here, let alone how long they had been mining here. Each of these cultivators appeared extremely exhausted and haggard. Only a few among them retained a little of their spirits.
There were even a few decomposing corpses lying on the ground nearby, filling the air of an already poorly circulated mine with a foul smell.
Yang Kai promptly halted his footsteps and asked, looking around, “Which one of you is the leader? Stand out and speak up!”
All those cultivators hesitatingly looked at each other after hearing this. A look of fear appeared in the eyes of most of them. They seemed to be afraid of standing out.
After a long time, a young-looking cultivator stood up. He appeared to be no older than thirty years. His tattered clothes were unable to hide his robust body. Although his aura seemed a little weaker, it was a lot better than the others.
The man, standing not too far away from Yang Kai, cupped his fists and introduced himself, “This one is Zhou Kang. May I ask what instruction Senior has for me!”
Yang Kai seemed to be about the same age as him, but his cultivation was much higher than him. So naturally, he believed Yang Kai to be an old monster, who had lived for hundreds of years. He didn’t think that there was anything wrong in addressing Yang Kai as a Senior.
“Who are you guys, why are you all here?” Yang Kai asked in a deep voice.
Zhou Kang couldn’t help but gaze at Yang Kai in surprise after hearing this. Suddenly, he appeared to have thought of something as he exclaimed in excitement, “Senior isn’t a member of the Jiang Family?”
“Jiang Family!?” Yang Kai coldly snorted. “No, I came here to find someone.”
“Senior is really not a member of the Jiang Family!?” Zhou Kang’s voice suddenly rose a little as if he couldn’t believe it. All of a sudden, the other cultivators turned their gazes at Yang Kai as their faces beamed with joy. Their dull and listless eyes immediately started shining brightly as if they saw hope in the darkness.
“What would I get for deceiving you?” Yang Kai impatiently shouted.
“I believe you, Senior!” Zhou Land didn’t dare to suspect anymore and shouted, “Senior, since you aren’t a Jiang Family member, I beg Senior to save us from this sea of suffering.”
“Senior, please save us!”
“Free us, please!”
Suddenly, cries of help rang everywhere. All the handcuffed people pleadingly looked at Yang Kai.
Zhou Kang explained, “To tell Senior the truth, most of us are loose cultivators with no friends or families. People related to some small families have also been caught by the Jiang Family and brought here for mining. We would be punished if we resisted even a bit. Some of my brothers have even died. We can’t take it anymore. It’s really unbearable!”
“What are you mining here?” Yang Kai furrowed his brow.
“It’s this. Senior, please take a look!” Zhou Kan hurriedly took out something from the nearby basket and respectfully handed it to Yang Kai.
As Yang Kai took it and checked it out, he immediately cried in surprise, “Pure Heart Jade!?”
He recognized it at once. It was an extremely rare jade that could help the cultivator cleanse his heart and Soul. It had a special effect. If a cultivator in retreat was cultivating the Secret Art or was about to break through, and was wearing a piece of this jade, it had a great chance of offsetting the danger of the heart demon.
And if it was worn year-round, it had some hidden benefits as well.
Because of these reasons, this jade was very expensive. Just a thumbnail-sized piece cost 2000 – 3000 Source Crystals. And the piece Zhou Kang had picked up had the size of a palm. It was at least worth 10,000 Source Crystals!
Not to mention that the basket was filled with more Pure Heart Jade!
[This is actually a Pure Heart Jade mine!]
[No wonder the Jiang Family were trying to be so secretive and didn’t want to be discovered. If the other great forces came to learn about this, the Jiang Family alone would not be able to block them. As for the City Lord’s Mansion, they would certainly intervene to have a share!]
However, some labour was definitely needed to mine this kind of thing, and the Jiang Family didn’t have enough, so they could only target others!
And these cultivators of Saint King Realm and lower realms, with no friends and families, or backing, were the best candidates.
Even though Maplewood City couldn’t be considered big in the entire Southern Territory and the overall realm of the cultivators wasn’t that high, many people come and go every day, like carps moving down the stream. No one would notice a few Saint King and lower realm cultivators going missing from time to time.
People like Zhou Kang were captured as labour for mining.
Obviously, the same was true for Zhang Ruo Xi!
Yang Kai understood the crux of the matter in a short time. He finally realized why the Jiang Family didn’t want to disclose the whereabouts of Zhang Ruo Xi, instead pretending to be ignorant and remaining unmoved even when he gave them the right conditions.
[So, they were afraid of exposing the secret of this mine!]
Having understood this, Yang Kai’s eyes flickered with a cold gleam.
“Senior…” Zhou Kang gingerly looked at Yang Kai. He had no idea what was going on in Yang Kai’s mind.
“Leave the things and go.” Yang Kai waved his hand.
“Huh!?” Zhou Kang was taken aback, a little confused.
Right then, Yang Kai raised his hand as golden light flickered in the mine. One after another, Golden Blood Threats shot out Yang Kai’s fingertips, cutting the handcuffs and anklets binding the hands and feet of Zhou Kang and the others into two.
“I said you can leave, or do you want to stay here?” Yang Kai glanced at Zhou Kang. Not waiting for any response from him, he collected all the mined Pure Heart Jade on the ground into his Space Ring before flying toward the front right away.
Suddenly, cheers of joy and excitement rang not long after Yang Kai left. Seeing the cuffs on their wrists and ankles cut off, why would those cultivators doubt Yang Kai? The impatient prisoners were already running toward the exit.
“By the way, Senior, don’t go too deep. There is something weird about the innermost region!” Zhou Kang was also overjoyed. But he suddenly shouted a warning at Yang Kai as if he had thought of something.
But Yang Kai could not be found. Heaven knows how deep he had already gone!
“Senior should have heard it, right?” Zhou Kang tilted his head, thinking. But soon, he threw it to the back of his mind. It had already been two years since he was captured by the Jiang Family. He originally believed that he would be unable to escape this place in his life and would ultimately die here. Thankfully, a noble man had come out of nowhere today to help them and he could see the sun again.
An excited Zhou Kang dashed straight toward the exit, shouting in joy all the while.
In a short while, the entire mine was seething. Countless cultivators who had been brought here to mine rushed out in desperation, venting their joy of regaining freedom.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai followed the little bat to the depth of the mine. Along the way, he freed all the miners he encountered and took all the mined Pure Heart Jade into his Space Ring at the same time.
At the same time, somewhere in the depths of the mine, a delicate figure was rushing inward.
Clattering noises could be heard every time she moved, which happened to be the sound made by the clashing of cuffs on her wrists and ankles.
Her small figure was dressed in miserable rags and tatters while her hair was a mess and even her face covered in black dust, making it hard to discern her original appearance. However, from her panicking eyes and face that kept looking back, a bit of Zhang Ruo Xi’s image could still be discerned.
Surviving in the mine had not been easy. For the month since she was brought to this mine, Zhang Ruo Xi had been exposed to darkness and fear that she had never experienced in her teenage life.
Not to mention the harsh requirements set by the Jiang Family; she was required to mine a certain amount every day, or else she would be punished. What’s more, every miner here wasn’t that good to provoke. Having been captured and tortured here, these miners’ temperament had completely changed. When they saw a weak and lonely little girl, many would naturally be interested in her.
Fortunately, Zhang Ruo Xi’s cultivation had reached the peak of the Second-Order Saint King Realm. Otherwise, it would be impossible for her to gain a foothold here. If that was not the case, she might have been gnawed to the point that not even a single bone remained.
After she had given a beating to a few ignorant fools who were coveting her beauty and wanted to take advantage of her, no one dared to cause trouble for her anymore.
And in order to avoid similar trouble, she had deliberately made herself unsightly. As expected, no one was interested in her anymore. She had gained peace for a while.
However, the daily mining was extremely difficult. The Pure Heart Jade was embedded deep in the rocks and it took a lot of effort to mine it.
In just one month, her hands and feet had lost a few layers of skin. Her figure, which was already lean, had grown thinner, and after every day of tiresome mining, she would go to sleep in tears and pain before waking up again to continue enduring the painful life.
Since childhood, she had been spoiled in the Zhang Family. She was the apple of Zhang Family Matriarch’s eye. How could Zhang Ruo Xi have ever thought that she would have to live in such a dark place?
She missed her great grandmother, her grandmother, and everyone in the Zhang Family.
Every now and then, another face would flash before her eyes.
Naturally, it was her Sir Yang, who had the grace of giving a new lease to her Zhang Family and had not returned since he left half a year ago!
She didn’t have much contact with Sir. Although she had been with him for a while, Sir had never asked her for anything; hadn’t even asked her to serve him. All she was asked was to stay in the cave mansion and focus on cultivation. Sir even gifted her a precious pill.
She could tell that Sir was a good man and cared for her a lot.
Therefore, she did her best to cultivate and never slacked off, because Sir had said that he might need her help in the future. She wanted to improve her cultivation as much as possible to repay Sir’s kindness.
But now…
“Sir… where are you?” Zhang Ruo Xi cried in her heart as she staggered around in the mine tunnels. She was using her familiarity with the mine to escape from her pursuer.
At the most dangerous juncture of her life, there was only one person in her mind. She was hoping that he would descend before her like a god and shelter her from the oncoming storm, providing her with absolute safety.
But she knew that it was impossible. The mine was so hidden that no one would be able to discover it.
“You are so dead! Escape! Just try to escape! Once I catch you, you will taste a world of torture!” a devil-like roar came from behind.
Zhang Ruo Xi’s tender body fiercely trembled. Her heart was gripped with panic. She found her feet a little harder to move as if they were cast from lead.
Her shoes had already been lost during the escape. She just kept running through the cold and wet mine, even when her feet started bleeding from the sharp rocks. Her feet had already gone numb to the pain. Zhang Ruo Xi mechanically moved her feet toward a nearby tunnel.
When she tumbled and got up again, her eyes suddenly blurred; she almost passed out.
She immediately bit the tip of her tongue and the sharp pain jolted Zhang Ruo Xi’s mind awake. After instantly determining her bearing, she grit her teeth as she rushed toward a direction.
All the miners dared not go deeper in that direction.
Several miners had once run in that direction but they never came back. Since then, no one dared to step there.
Unfortunately, that dead zone had become her only hope of escape.
Zhang Ruo Xi’s rapid breathing could be heard loud and clear in the silent mine tunnel. She could even hear her pounding heart. Her heart was pounding like a drum as if it would break out of her body.
After escaping for a long time, Zhang Ruo Xi’s figure suddenly came to a stop as she stared forward in a daze. A sliver of despair could be found on her face.
To her dismay, she had come to a dead end. There was no way ahead!
And at this time, sounds of footsteps also came from behind.
Every step sounded like the whispers of the God of Death. Zhang Ruo Xi turned pale, and her pretty eyes seemed to have been blocked by darkness. They were full of despair. She was unable to see even a ray of light.
Under Zhang Ruo Xi’s horrified gaze, the figure of the Jiang Family’s man in white slowly emerged from the darkness.
But at this moment, the face of this First-Order Origin King looked a little hideous.
Anyone in his place would not be in a good mood after someone had evaded him this long and almost been able to escape from him despite the great disparity in their strength.
When he saw the dead-end ahead, the man in white let out a weird laugh. He suddenly became happy and wasn’t as anxious as before. Instead, he approached Zhang Ruo Xi in neither a slow nor fast manner, step by step, and spoke, “Cheap slut, go on! Run, let me see where you can run off to now!”
Zhang Ruo Xi’s figure was pressing dead against the cave wall, her eyes filled with terror. Watching the man in white’s figure approaching bit by bit, she was constantly trembling and shaking her head.
Not only had her delicate appearance failed to receive any pity from him, it had also stimulated the unknown dark side of the man in white. He suddenly looked excited and couldn’t help but lick his lips as if a delicacy was served before him.
The man in white’s sharp gaze travelled along Zhang Ruo Xi’s petite yet growing figure. His eyes flickered with an obscene gleam as he let out an even creepier and perverted laugh.
“Don’t… don’t come closer!” Zhang Ruo Xi vigorously shook her head as she curled into a ball and begged bitterly.
But the man in white remained unmoved. He quickly closed in the short distance of some hundred meters.
And when he arrived before her, the man in white reached out and grabbed toward Zhang Ruo Xi.
Right at this moment, the weak and pleading look in Zhang Ruo Xi’s eyes disappeared in a flash, replaced with determination and courage instead. Saint Qi fluctuations spread from her body as she poured her energy into a dagger-like weapon she had taken out at some unknown point. She then lifted her hand and plunged it straight toward the man in white’s chest.
If their strength had been on the same level, Zhang Ruo Xi’s attack might have had more than 50% chance of succeeding.
But the gap in their cultivation was simply too big. Even if Zhang Ruo Xi’s timing was completely perfect, the moment Saint Qi fluctuations emerged from her body, the man in white had promptly activated his Domain.
And the might of Domain wasn’t something a Second-Order Saint King girl could resist.
So, that dagger was completely imprisoned by an invisible force after reaching three centimetres away from the man in white’s chest. No matter how much Zhang Ruo Xi pushed, she couldn’t push it even a centimetre forward.
Zhang Ruo Xi was really desperate right now. She raised her head and looked at the approaching face.
At this moment, the face that should have been handsome had a devil-like hideous and mocking look on it.
Immediately, the man in white grabbed Zhang Ruo Xi by her hair and slammed her head against the cave wall.
*BAM…*
Zhang Ruo Xi felt her brain completely shaken up. Her head was in a tremendous amount of pain. Stars were circling around her eyes.
“Cheap slut, you really have guts! To think you actually dare to attack me!” the man in white hideously smiled, “Very well, I was originally planning to give you quick death, but now, don’t blame this King for being ruthless.”
While speaking, he reached out and grabbed Zhang Ruo Xi by her neck. He directly lifted her up in the air and slowly started squeezing.
Zhang Ruo Xi groaned and gasped for breath as she wildly thrashed her feet, struggling hard. But she couldn’t get free from the man in white’s grip no matter what she did. Slowly, her breathing became difficult, her long eyelashes quickly blinked as her vision slowly started to fade.
Through her fading vision, Zhang Ruo Xi thought saw a figure rushing toward her from a distance. With the help of the dim light in the mine tunnel, she identified it as Sir Yang that she had been thinking about all the while!
[Sir looks anxious, but why are his facial features distorted? He looks extremely terrifying as if he is extremely angry.]
[Great Grandma once said that a person would sometimes hallucinate before they die. It seems this is my own hallucination.]
Thinking like this, her body quickly lost strength as Zhang Ruo Xi slowly closed her eyes.
But right then, a dazzling golden beam suddenly shot over from the distance, instantly dispelling the darkness in the mine.
The next moment, the big hand squeezing her neck suddenly loosened with a muffled groan and Zhang Ruo Xi immediately fell toward the ground.
And before her feet even touched the ground, Zhang Ruo Xi clenched the dagger hard and actually fiercely thrust it forward. Even she had no idea where she got the strength to do it.
To her surprise, the dagger in her hand actually went into the man in white’s chest very smoothly. After she pulled the dagger out, blood immediately splashed all over her face. The warmth and the stickiness of the blood immediately made her hair stand on end.
She was stupefied for a moment but suppressed the fear in her heart and raised the dagger again before stabbing it into the man in white, again and again.
*Squish Squish Squish…*
Every time, she pushed the dagger all the way to the hilt and the blood splashing from the wounds soon turned into a bloody figure.
Zhang Ruo Xi only regained her wits when the man in white fell back on the ground with bulging eyes and a look of disbelief on his face. She kept staring at his corpse in a daze. She didn’t recover from the shock for a long time.
What she couldn’t figure out was how she could stab someone so strong to death…
“Ruo Xi…” an echoing shout came from not too far away.
Zhang Ruo Xi’s figure immediately shook. She looked up and found Yang Kai standing ten meters away from her, quietly staring at her with a guilty look on his face.
“Sir!?” Zhang Ruo Xi involuntarily cried in a tender voice. She could hardly believe her eyes.
Fearing that the figure in front of her was an illusion, she hurriedly rubbed her eyes. However, she forgot the fact that her hands were dyed in blood. When she rubbed her eyes, her entire vision turned red as blood, which was extremely horrifying.
Only at this moment did she seem to finally regain her wits. She looked down at her bloody hands and threw the dagger away. Her tender body started violently shuddering; her emotions in turmoil.
Seeing this, Yang Kai arrived before Zhang Ruo Xi and grabbed her by her wrist and asked in a low voice, “Ruo Xi, are you alright?”
Zhang Ruo Xi slowly raised her head. Her pretty eyes that used to be pure and clear were covered in blood at this moment. After confirming that the person standing before her was indeed Yang Kai and not a hallucination before death, tears kept pouring out of her eyes, falling down on the ground like the pearls from a broken necklace.
All her grievances immediately broke out. Her shoulders shook as she choked up on her own voice, “Mis…ter, Ruo Xi killed… killed someone… I killed… someone… Sir, save me!”
Yang Kai quietly gazed at her, slightly furrowing his brow.
He could naturally tell that Zhang Ruo Xi seemed to have suffered a huge shock at this moment.
And this shock didn’t come from being chased by the man in white, and neither was it because of escaping from the clutches of death, but rather because someone had died in her hands!
Even if that person wasn’t anyone decent, and even wanted to take her life, Zhang Ruo Xi still couldn’t bear it when she stabbed this man to death.
After giving it a bit of thought, everything became clear to Yang Kai.
Zhang Ruo Xi was just a sixteen, seventeen-year-old girl. She was just a budding teenager, and had been spoiled by the Zhang Family since childhood. Even though she cultivated, she had never fought a real life-and-death battle, much less killed anyone with her own hands.
To a young girl like her, everyone’s life was extremely precious.
And today, a life was lost under her dagger. Naturally, she couldn’t take it in a short time.
Yang Kai recalled the first time he killed someone. He felt extremely uncomfortable that time. That restlessness and panic lasted for a long time before it slowly disappeared, and when he killed more people over the years, he didn’t feel anything at all.
But Zhang Ruo Xi was different. This man in white should be the first person she killed!
Considering all this, Yang Kai heaved a sigh before hugging Zhang Ruo Xi. He lightly patted her back and comforted, “You didn’t kill that guy. He died by my hands. He had already stopped breathing by the time you stabbed him.”
Zhang Ruo Xi’s trembling body finally calmed down a little after hearing this. She raised her head and timidly asked, “Really!?”
“Really, look.” As Yang Kai spoke, he stretched out his hand as a Golden Blood Threat shot out of the corpse on the ground and circled around his fingertip. “This is what killed him.”
“I didn’t kill him!?” Zhang Ruo Xi blankly stared at the Golden Blood Thread. The panic in her beautiful eyes finally dissipated. She looked as if a heavy burden had been lifted off her shoulders.
“You didn’t kill him. Take a good rest now, and by the time you wake up, everything will be over.” While gently comforting her, Yang Kai pushed his Source Qi into Zhang Ruo Xi’s body, calming her chaotic Saint Qi.
Perhaps it was because she finally put down the burden in her heart or maybe because she was just too tired, Zhang Ruo Xi really fell asleep in Yang Kai’s arms. She closed her pretty eyes as a gentle snoring sound came from her nose.
After seeing that she was really asleep, Yang Kai finally heaved a sigh of relief and carried her up like a princess.
*Swish…*
Suddenly, the sound of something or someone travelling at high speed came from nearby. Yang Kai narrowed his eyes as he released his Divine Sense to check. After discovering that it was Mo Xiao Qi, he calmly stood in his place.
After a short while, Mo Xiao Qi appeared not too far away from Yang Kai while the Heaven Escaping Bat let out squeaks as it rested on Mo Xiao Qi’s shoulder.
Mo Xiao Qi looked at Yang Kai, then looked at the bloody corpse on the ground, before finally focusing her gaze on Zhang Ruo Xi, who was held in Yang Kai’s arms, and asking, “Is this Sister Ruo Xi?”
“Mhmm.” Yang Kai nodded.
“Is she okay?”
“I just arrived at the nick of time. Nothing happened, she was just tired and fell asleep.”
“That’s good to hear,” Mo Xiao Qi patted her well-rounded chest as she sighed in relief. But soon, she ground her teeth, “These Jiang Family men are really hateful. Big Brother Yang, I’ve already found out what’s going on here. They actually captured and forced the loose cultivators to mine for them. They are simply assholes!”
“I have a rough idea about it too!” Yang Kai’s eyes flickered with a cold gleam. His face turned colder as he let out a foreboding laugh, “Jiang Family, you actually tried to silence the witness. You just wait.”
Zhang Ruo Xi’s horrendous experience made Yang Kai really angry out of shame.
He was a Dao Source Realm master, but because of momentary negligence, he had failed to take care of a little girl, which in turn led to her capture, where she was forced to mine here.
When he had gone to the Jiang Family to inquire about her, the upper echelons of the Jiang Family lied right to his face.
And if things ended just there, everything would have been fine, but the Jiang Family actually tried to silence the witness.
How could Yang Kai tolerate this? He had already made a decision to go to the Jiang Family and flip their whole estate after leaving this place. He would not even let their fowls and dogs be in peace!
“What about the Jiang Family members guarding the entrance?” Yang Kai asked in a deep voice as a cold gleam flickered in his eyes.
“They are still over there,” replied Mo Xiao Qi. “Furthermore, there aren’t just two. I ran across a few more Jiang Family members along the way. I knocked them all out. As for the people caught by them, they have already been sent out through the Space Array.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly. “After they escaped, the Jiang Family would not be able to keep this matter under wraps. It would be just perfect for me to go to the Jiang Family and raise a fuss. This way, even City Lord’s Mansion would not easily be able to intervene.”
“Then, shall we go back?” asked Mo Xiao Qi.
Yang Kai nodded his agreement.
After properly deliberating over the matter, the two were ready to return to Maplewood City, but right then, things suddenly changed.
They suddenly felt a tremor from the ground underneath their feet, causing Mo Xiao Qi and Yang Kai’s expression to change.
At the same time, a cracking sound came not too far away from them.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow, gazing along in the direction of the source of the sound. Suddenly, he noticed that the wall in front was covered in red lines. These lines looked extremely complicated and mysterious. They gave the impression of some kind of a seal.
The lines kept squirming. And along with their squirms, more and more bloody red was being sucked in.
Only now did Yang Kai notice that this red was actually the colour of blood, and the source of it was the corpse of the white-robed Jiang Family man lying on the ground!
At this moment, the seal pattern on the wall was madly sucking the blood flowing out of the man in white. And as the blood continued to pour in, the bloody red seal pattern squirmed faster and faster.
“What’s this!?” Yang Kai’s expression drastically changed as he doubtfully gazed at the front.
Mo Xiao Qi’s expression too grew solemn. She tightly furrowed her black brow, staring straight at that seal. She was unable to recognize what kind of seal it was for a while.
But at this moment, the seal seemed as if it had swallowed enough blood. In a flash, the lines converged at the centre of the wall into a hideous and terrifying human face.
The face’s mouth was wide open as a jet black aura suddenly spurted out from inside the wall.
Yang Kai’s pupil immediately constricted. His instincts were ringing warning signs. He hurriedly pulled Mo Xiao Qi, backing away with her.
The pitch-black aura kept pouring out of the seal, and very soon, it had flooded the mine tunnel. Yang Kai could clearly feel the violent and bloody aura in that black Qi.
More importantly, the black Qi also gave him a familiar feeling.
The next moment, the black Qi divided into untold wisps of black Qi, continuously wandering around like a swarm of pitch-black snakes.
One of the wisps of black Qi drilled into the mouth and nose of the long-dead man in white lying on the ground, disappearing soon after.
But the next moment, something happened that left Yang Kai dumbfounded.
The man in white, whose upper body was riddled with holes, suddenly opened his eyes. But at this moment, his eyes weren’t black and white but showed a peculiar pitch-black colour. It looked extremely terrifying.
At the same time, dark lines suddenly appeared on the man in white’s face, arms, and on the exposed part of his body.
“Demon Crests!?” Yang Kai blurted out in surprise.
He was way too familiar with these lines. Back on Tong Xuan Realm, he had saved the clansmen of the Ancient Demon Clan. He had also once cultivated this kind of Secret Technique; it could brand Demon Crests of all kinds of shapes and sizes on its user body.
When he had used the Demon Transformation Secret Technique back in the past, his own transformation was remarkably similar to the one before his eyes.
“Demon Qi!?” Mo Xiao Qi also seemed to have felt it the same time Yang Kai said it.
Just as the two spoke, the man in white abruptly stood up. His dark eyes swept around before finally locking on to Yang Kai. Immediately, it let out a fierce scream as it lunged at Yang Kai with a ferocious look on his face; he didn’t appear to be afraid of death.
Yang Kai let out a cold snort. Immediately after, while holding Zhang Ruo Xi with one arm, he flicked his fingers of the other at the oncoming man in white, shooting Golden Blood Threads at him.
The sharp Golden Blood Threads immediately pierced through the man in white. And with another wave of Yang Kai’s hand, they cut his body into several pieces, leaving gory pieces of flesh lying on the ground. But strangely, no blood flowed out of these pieces.
However, Yang Kai didn’t look the slightest bit happy after having done this. On the contrary, there was a deep frown on his brow.
Because he sensed that after the man in white had been demonized, he had actually grown a lot stronger. He might have been able to easily deal with him, it remained true that he was much stronger than when he was alive.
*Chi Chi Chi…*
At this moment, the pitch-black Qi flooding the mine tunnels had been completely divided into black snakes. And were now madly shooting straight at Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi, like a cat that had smelled the fish.
“Dammit, let’s quickly get out of here!” Yang Kai’s expression worsened as he promptly shouted. At the same time, he stretched his hand toward the front and shouted, “Exile!”
Under the influence of the Space Principles, a black hole about the size of a round table suddenly emerged out of thin air. There was only chaos and Nihility inside the black hole. The pitch-black snakes rushed straight inside before disappearing into nothing.
But many more black snakes continued to take their places.
Not to mention, more pitch-black Qi continued to gush out of the mouth on the wall.
The Space Secret Technique only lasted for three breaths before it shattered into pieces. The pitch-black, snake-like things broke through Yang Kai’s blockade and quickly chased after him at an astonishing speed.
Yang Kai didn’t need to look back to know that the situation was far from good. He didn’t even have the time to deal with these weird things. He pushed his Source Qi before wrapping it around Mo Xiao Qi and desperately rushing toward the exit.
After backtracking, the two quickly arrived at the location where they were previously teleported to.
The two pale Jiang Family Origin King Realm cultivators, who were lying on the ground, helplessly watched Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi step on the Space Array. One of them opened his mouth as if he had something to say, but he couldn’t speak a single word.
Heaven knows what method Mo Xiao Qi had used to keep them in their places.
“Big Brother Yang, it’s almost here!” Mo Xiao Qi looked back and saw that the countless jet-black snake-like things were less than three hundred metres from them. Her pretty face immediately turned pale.
Yang Kai, on the other hand, kept a straight face as he quickly poured his Space Force into the Array.
The next moment, the Array hummed and flashed with a bright light. And when the light finally dissipated, the two had already disappeared.
The jet-black snake-like things arrived at the Array but only hit the air!
But the two Origin King Realm cultivators of the Jiang Family were wrapped in those weird things as they swept by.
Immediately, extremely tragic wails came from inside the black Qi. They sounded beyond tragic, as if they were suffering inhumane torture inside.
After a while, the screams abruptly stopped as the two stood back up together. Although there had been no change in their appearances, their auras were completely different from before. They were exuding an extremely dark and violent aura. After having been wrapped by the black energy, Demon Crests appeared on their cheeks and arms in succession as their eyeballs turned pitch black…
The two looked at each other before pursing their lips into hideous smiles. One of them raised his head and let out a howl toward the sky. His howl was filled with endless joy and excitement, as if he had gotten free after tens of thousands of years of imprisonment.
These two were not the only cultivators who encountered this incident.
Many Jiang Family cultivators in the mine, who had been knocked out by Mo Xiao Qi, had also encountered the same thing. Also, there were some miners who hadn’t had the time to escape. Everyone’s aura completely changed in a very short time after being wrapped in the black Qi. All of them seemed to have lost their original sentience.
Soon, the entire mine was flooded with that pitch-black aura…
A bright flash of light lit up the cave of the barren mountain as Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi appeared on the Space Array; fear was clearly visible on their faces.
However, the Jiang Family cultivator, who was knocked out by Yang Kai and should have been lying by the Array, was strangely nowhere to be found.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but furrow his brow after noticing this. He promptly scanned with his Divine Sense as a look of surprise appeared on his face.
“Big Brother Yang, what’s wrong?” Mo Xiao Qi doubtfully looked at him.
“Many people are waiting outside to welcome us.” Yang Kai coldly smiled.
Mo Xiao Qi furrowed her black brow and released her Divine Sense after hearing this. She was immediately struck with a realization.
“Let’s go out and take a look.” Yang Kai beckoned her before flying out of the cave and hovering in the air without a trace of fear.
He gazed around and found himself surrounded with very familiar faces; all of them were the members of the Jiang Family he had met not too long ago.
He could only guess how word got out so soon. The Jiang Family had dispatched all its experts here.
Just ahead, Jiang Family Patriarch, Jiang Lin, and various other high-level members of the Jiang Family were coldly glaring at Yang Kai.
More importantly, there was an old man in black standing before Jiang Lin, carrying his hands behind his back. Not even a little bit of aura could be felt from him. He seemed like an ordinary man but he was surrounded by an inexplicable majesty.
Some of the Jiang Family cultivators kept looking at the old man. Their gazes were filled with awe and worship.
Even Jiang Lin, who was standing behind the old man, appeared extremely respectful.
Yang Kai’s expression immediately changed. He took a careful look at the old man. He immediately knew that he must be the Dao Source Realm master of the Jiang Family, the Old Ancestor of the Jiang Family, Jiang Tai Sheng.
After all, there were only that many Dao Source Realm masters in Maplewood City. All the cultivators of Maplewood City knew about every Dao Source Realm master living in the city.
At this moment, Jiang Tai Sheng indifferently looked at Yang Kai, then turned his gaze at Zhang Ruo Xi in Yang Kai’s arm before withdrawing his gaze the next moment.
As far as he was concerned, no one deserved his attention.
Seeing this, Yang Kai let out playful chuckles.
“Alchemist Yang!” Jiang Lin suddenly stepped forward, coldly glaring at Yang Kai. His tone was awful. “This Jiang has to hand it to you, you actually found this place. I’ve underestimated you.”
Yang Kai let out a cold snort, “If you didn’t want anyone to know, then don’t do it in the first place.”
Jiang Lin’s eyes flickered with a cold gleam. He looked pretty angry. He took a look at Jiang Tai Sheng, and seeing him having the same stoic expression, he immediately took a deep breath and shouted, “Alchemist Yang, this Jiang still thinks of you as a genius and doesn’t want to ruthlessly kill you. If you sign this Soul Contract in front of my Jiang Family members here, we might not need to take your life!”
While speaking, he suddenly took out an ancient beast skin parchment.
As Yang Kai focused his gaze on it, he found that it was surprisingly similar to the one taken out by Kang Si Ran back in the past. Not just in shape and size, even the aura it was emanating was almost exactly the same.
Yang Kai immediately understood that this was the real Soul Contract. It came straight from the Serene Soul Palace.
A Soul Contract was something created by one of the Ten Great Emperors, Serene Soul Great Emperor. It had always been manufactured by the disciples of the Serene Soul Palace. Once a cultivator brands his or her Soul Imprint on the Soul Contract, the Soul Contract will impose a miraculous effect on the cultivator. It would force the cultivator to fulfill the agreement on the contract. If one violated it, he or she would suffer a Soul-crushing pain. It might be to the point that even their Soul might be destroyed.
In the past, Kang Si Ran was forced to use a Soul Contract to prevent Yang Kai from divulging the Soul Condensing Pill recipe, and it had left him in quite a bit of distress for many days. After all, this thing was extremely precious; each one was extremely valuable.
Yang Kai didn’t know where the Jiang Family got it from but they had actually taken such a treasure out now.
“Soul Contract!?” A shadow of a smile appeared on Yang Kai’s face. “Patriarch Jiang, I’ll have to hand it to you for this. But this is a very precious treasure, wouldn’t it be wasteful to use it on this Yang!?”
Jiang Lin answered, maintaining a straight face, “What’s a Soul Contract worth before Alchemist Yang!?”
Yang Kai looked at him in a calm and composed manner and asked, “But what I want to know is what’s written on this Soul Contract.”
“Wouldn’t Alchemist Yang be clear what’s written on it?” Jiang Lin slightly smiled. “I just hope that Alchemist Yang will become a part of my Jiang Family and refine pills for my Jiang Family, that’s all.”
“I’m afraid I can’t agree to this!” Yang Kai slowly shook his head.
Jiang Lin’s face sank as he shouted in a fierce voice, “Yang Kai, you wouldn’t want to drink a loss after refusing a toast, would you? Today, you have to sign this Soul Contract. You will have to agree even if you don’t want to, you have no say in it!”
An Origin King Grade Alchemist was extremely valuable to a family like the Jiang Family. If the Jiang Family didn’t want to capture Yang Kai alive, why would the Jiang Family disturb a Dao Source Realm master like Jiang Tai Sheng? Furthermore, almost all of the Jiang Family’s elites have been mobilized just to force Yang Kai to leave his Soul Imprint on the Soul Contract.
As long as Yang Kai was controlled, the Jiang Family would not only gain an Origin King Grade Alchemist but they would not have to worry about him revealing the secret of the mine.
Listening to Jiang Lin brag without any shame, Yang Kai couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “What a joke! It’s my body, I can do whatever I want to. Your Jiang Family can’t stop me!”
Jiang Lin was immediately infuriated!
Just as he was about to say something, the stoic and silent Jiang Tai Sheng suddenly opened his eyes, calmly looking at Yang Kai. The next moment, he raised his hand, stopping Jiang Lin’s attempt to speak.
Next, he calmly stated, “Young Man, you might be a little capable, but you have no idea how high the sky is and how deep the earth goes! Today, this old master has given you a lot of face by coming here personally. I heard that you are an Origin King Grade Alchemist and can even refine Source Condensing Pills of extraordinary quality. This old master loves geniuses, so don’t force this old master’s hand. Just obediently leave your Soul Imprint on this Soul Contract, and this old master will treat what happened today like it never happened. As for the little girl in your arms and the one next to you, this old master can spare them but the premise is that they have to marry into my Jiang Family as concubines!”
“What!? You want me to marry into your Jiang Family as concubines!?” Before Yang Kai could say anything, Mo Xiao Qi, who had been standing indifferently by his side all the while as if she was watching a good show, suddenly stepped forward. She angrily glared at Jiang Tai Sheng and tenderly shouted, “You dirty old thing, how can you speak such shameless words!”
“Impudence!”
“How bold!”
The group of Jiang Family cultivators yelled at Mo Xiao Qi, one after another. They looked enraged as if Mo Xiao Qi had said something that shouldn’t be said.
Yang Kai chuckled as he held Zhang Ruo Xi in his embrace with one arm while he put the other on his ear as if he was trying to hear something. He then tilted his head and asked Mo Xiao Qi, “Xiao Qi, why am I hearing some mad dogs barking?”
“Um…” Hearing this, Mo Xiao Qi glanced at him first before solemnly nodding her head and adding, “Yeah! And they’re barking is really loud.”
Jiang Tai Sheng immediately narrowed his eyes after hearing this. His eyes flickered with a cold gleam as he quickly said, “Very well, you two juniors are really courageous. This old master hasn’t heard anyone talk to me like this in many years. You were given a path to the Heavens but you refused to take it…”
“What’s the point of putting on airs and playing cheap tricks!” Yang Kai impatiently interrupted him before he could finish, “Is being a Dao Source Realm master something to be proud of?”
As he said this, Yang Kai’s figure suddenly became blurry.
Before Jiang Family members could react to it, Yang Kai had mysteriously appeared not too far away from Jiang Lin.
“Ah!?” Jiang Lin was horrified. His body involuntarily retreated, but before he could do anything else, Yang Kai had already stretched out his hand towards him.
Jiang Lin was struck with panic. He instinctively circulated his Source Qi and fiercely punched forward.
The energy in the void immediately gathered around as a tiger roar rang out. In the next moment, an enormous tiger phantom emerged out of nowhere, opening its bloody mouth and biting toward the front.
However, this attack only struck the air. Yang Kai, who should have been in the front, had already disappeared from where he stood.
A surprised Jiang Lin looked around before he finally realized that Yang Kai had already returned to his previous position as if he had never moved.
In a flash, drops of cold sweat trickled down Jiang Lin’s forehead. The other members of the Jiang Family had also turned pale.
“Xiao Qi, check if this is real or not!?” Yang Kai handed something to Mo Xiao Qi, who took it and started carefully inspecting it.
“Ah!? My Soul Contract!” Only now did Jiang Lin finally realize that the Soul Contract in his hand had been snatched by Yang Kai at some point. He stared at his empty hands in amazement. He then looked up ahead not far away from him and his heart immediately hit rock bottom…
“Dao Source Realm!?” Jiang Tai Sheng’s pupils immediately shrank as he shouted.
Yang Kai hadn’t used any energy, and Jiang Tai Sheng hadn’t bothered to investigate Yang Kai’s exact strength. He thought that Yang Kai was just in the Origin King Realm, but when Yang Kai just made a move, Jiang Tai Sheng finally realized.
After discovering this, Jiang Tai Sheng’s face couldn’t help but turn ugly.
After all, he was just a First-Order Dao Source Realm master. If Yang Kai’s cultivation was equal to his, he would not have any advantage at all.
This was completely different from what he had thought. He thought that he would be going to easily capture two juniors, and he had never placed any importance on Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi.
Only now did he finally realize that he couldn’t be farther from the truth!
As another First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, Yang Kai had every right to talk with him on equal terms.
Furthermore, judging by Yang Kai’s speed, if he wanted to kill the other members of the Jiang Family, he could have done it with ease.
“Yeah, this is indeed the Soul Contract from the Serene Soul Place, Big Brother Yang. This is a treasure that you should keep it safe. It might come in handy in the future,” Mo Xiao Qi returned the Soul Contract to Yang Kai after having checked it.
Yang Kai took it back and stuffed it into his Space Ring, maintaining a straight face.
“This old master was disrespectful. So Your Excellency is also a Dao Source Realm cultivator. No wonder you have so much confidence!” Jiang Tai Sheng no longer looked as at ease as he was before. Rather he had a slightly serious look on his face and the corner of his lips were twitching.
Yang Kai immediately sneered and rebuked, “Wow, you’re changing your tune pretty fast.”
“How shameless!” Mo Xiao Qi also spat in disgust.
Jiang Tai Sheng’s previous and current behaviour was completely different. It really made Mo Xiao Qi look down on him.
Jiang Tai Sheng let out a cold snort and stated, “But Your Excellency, even if you are a Dao Source Realm master, you will have to give this old master an explanation for today, otherwise Your Excellency can forget leaving this place unscathed.”
“Explanation!?” Yang Kai’s face and voice turned colder as he rebuked, “It should be your Jiang Family that should give me an explanation, not the other way around! This Yang’s friend was caught by your Jiang Family to mine here for no reason, and was tortured as well. This Yang even went to your Jiang Family to inquire about her. If your Jiang Family had just tried to keep it under wraps, it would have been alright, but you actually tried to silence her. If I had not arrived on time, my friend would not have survived! And you still want an explanation!?”
“This…” Jiang Tai Sheng was rendered speechless after hearing this. He hadn’t expected Yang Kai’s words to be so sharp; he didn’t know how to respond to this for a while.
“Alchemist Yang!” As the Patriarch of the Jiang Family, Jiang Lin couldn’t stand back. He cupped his fist and tried to justify himself, “Alchemist Yang, please calm down. It… it was just a misunderstanding!”
He was already pressured to this extent by Yang Kai alone. How could he dare to belittle Yang Kai anymore? He didn’t dare to talk disrespectfully as he had before. Rather he wryly spoke bearing smiles, “It’s really a misunderstanding!”
“Misunderstanding!?” Yang Kai glared at him as a smile appeared on his lips. He might look like he was smiling but his smile carried no smiling intention. On the contrary, it gave everyone the chills. “You captured my friend and now you say that it was just a misunderstanding!? Patriarch Jiang, do you think I am a three-year-old kid?”
Jiang Lin looked troubled as he quickly justified himself, “Alchemist Yang, we had no idea that this little girl was your friend. If we had known this, we would have treated her as our most revered guest. We would have never taken her to the mine. But she could be considered to be safe now. Can’t we let the matter rest in light of this? That Soul Contract can be regarded as my Jiang Family’s apology… Hmm, besides this, my Jiang Family will send another gift to Alchemist Yang’s mansion after a few days.”
“Ha, if you can’t do it the hard way, you want to buy me!?” Yang Kai sneered. “Can you stoop any lower?”
Jiang Lin’s face turned stiff. He was extremely infuriated, but he didn’t dare to truly show his anger because of the gap in their cultivation.
Jiang Tai Sheng, on the other hand, blew his top. He immediately lashed out in anger, “Junior, my Jiang Family has already given you enough face, don’t go too far in bullying others!”
“What if I’m going too far!? Come and bite me then!” Yang Kai disdainfully looked at him.
“I’ll admit, you are really irritating me!” Jiang Tai Sheng felt the blood in his chest in turmoil. He almost coughed a mouthful of blood in anger. He viciously looked at Yang Kai and shouted, “Kid, even if you are First-Order Dao Source Realm, this old master would like to learn a bit from you!”
“If you want to fight, just say so, why do you need to beautify it!?” Yang Kai lashed out in anger as the Source Qi in his body started madly moving.
“This old master advanced to the Dao Source Realm more than a century ago, why would this old master be placed in the same category as an ignorant little brat like you!?” Jiang Tian Sheng self-complacently shouted.
“Old Thing, isn’t your aptitude horrendous? You haven’t been able to break through after a century!” Yang Kai was filled with disdain.
Jiang Tai Sheng blew his top. The Source Qi in his body also started rising. He didn’t want to reason with Yang Kai anymore, lest he was angered to death. In the next moment, he tapped the ground just a bit before he suddenly disappeared from his place as a soft puff rang from where he stood just before.
Obviously, the air exploded because of his extremely fast speed.
The next moment, he suddenly appeared before Yang Kai out of thin air and shouted with a dark and gloomy look on his face, “This old master will let you experience the strength of a master who has been in the Dao Source Realm for over a century!”
As he spoke, he pushed his palm toward Yang Kai in a very light and easy manner.
The palm was surrounded by Principles. Jiang Tai Sheng hadn’t even finished his move, yet Yang Kai was already surrounded by a violent storm.
Mo Xiao Qi, who was standing not far from Yang Kai, turned pale. Her chest heaved up and down; she was having trouble breathing.
Although Mo Xiao Qi’s origins were mysterious and extraordinary, and she was pretty strong, at the end of the day, she hadn’t reached the Dao Source Realm. She was having a difficult time bearing the pressure of Jiang Tai Sheng’s Principles.
However, she had also seen the world. She wasn’t someone whose hands and feet could be tied by simple Principles. She let out a tender cry as she pushed the energy in her body, forcefully breaking free from the oppression of the Principles and escaping into the distance with a flicker of her body.
And right at this moment, an enormous and transparent palm of energy suddenly appeared before Jiang Tai Sheng’s palm, pushing toward Yang Kai with an unstoppable momentum.
An intense gale blew on Yang Kai’s face, causing his clothes to continuously flap and Zhang Ruo Xi’s hair, who was in his arm, to dance in the air…
“You dare to show paltry tricks before me!” Yang Kai let out a cold snort. Before his opponent’s Principles could press down on him, he similarly mobilized the Space Principles, forming a strong invisible shield around his body and blocking the suppression of the opposite party’s Principles.
Then, he raised his hand as a similar enormous palm of energy formed before him, greeting Jiang Tai Sheng’s palm.
The two enormous palms of energy crashed into each other after a breath.
A deafening explosion echoed as the World Energy suddenly became chaotic and the fragments of Principles flew in every direction…
A faint mocking smile hung on Yang Kai’s face, whereas Jiang Tai Sheng’s pupils constricted and a look of horror appeared on his old face as he mumbled to himself, “How is this possible!?”
Just as his voice fell, his energy palm fell apart all of a sudden, while Yang Kai’s palm kept pressing on, with no reduction in its momentum.
Jiang Tai Sheng’s expression drastically changed. He knew that this could only be possible if the opposite party’s Source Qi was purer and more vigorous than his.
After all, this move was formed by directly mobilizing the Source Qi in one’s body. It was a pure confrontation of quality and quantity of the Source Qi!
Judging by Yang Kai’s young age and thinking that Yang Kai had advanced to the Dao Source Realm not too long ago, he thought that Yang Kai’s realm could not be as stable as his own. Yang Kai could never be his opponent, a veteran master who had been in Dao Source Realm for over a century. However, he found that he was wrong after this confrontation.
Seeing the oncoming giant palm, how could Jiang Tai Sheng dare to stand still in his position. He hurriedly twisted his body and dodged, escaping several dozen metres away. There was an unsightly look on his face as he looked at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai, on the other hand, didn’t take this opportunity to chase after him. Rather, he stood in place, looking at Jiang Tai Sheng with mockery. That mocking sneer pierced straight into Jiang Tai Sheng’s heart like a sharp knife, making him feel uncomfortable.
“Dammit!” Jiang Tai Sheng shouted. Having shown such unsightly performance under the gazes of so many members of the Jiang Family, his old face couldn’t take it. He grit his teeth and stretched his hand out, grasping in the void. Suddenly, a broadsword with a tiger head on the hilt suddenly appeared in his hand.
Impressively, that broadsword was a Dao Source Grade artifact. Its blade was thick and had many complicated patterns engraved on it. The tiger head on the hilt was extremely vivid and lifelike. It appeared extraordinary.
Obviously, since he couldn’t beat Yang Kai in Source Qi, his next hope was to rely on the artifact.
This artifact was the founding treasure of the Jiang Family, a Dao Source Grade artifact that only he could use, and has always been by his side.
The next moment, he madly poured the Source Qi into the broadsword. He stared at Yang Kai with a hideous look on his face like he wanted to kill Yang Kai as soon as possible.
With an earth-shattering roar, a phantom of a tiger suddenly flew out of the sword. And as Jiang Tai Sheng kept pouring his Source Qi, the phantom of the tiger grew more and more tangible. After a moment, it looked like a real Monster Beast.
Surprisingly, it was exuding the aura of an Eleventh-Order Monster Beast!
The giant tiger was 5-6 metre tall. It raised its head and roared at the sky. It was exuding an extraordinary momentum. Right then, Jiang Tai Sheng raised the artifact in his hand high and fiercely swung it down as he shouted, “Go!”
The giant tiger immediately pounced straight at Yang Kai as swiftly and fiercely as a bolt of lightning. Its scarlet pupils were staring straight at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai let out a cold snort at the sight of this. Surprisingly, he didn’t avoid or even think of taking out his artifact. He charged straight at the oncoming giant tiger head-on.
“Overconfident!” At the sight of this, Jiang Tai Sheng fiercely shouted as he closely followed behind the giant tiger with the broadsword. His body, wrapped in sabre aura, left a dazzling streak of light.
After a moment, the giant tiger arrived before Yang Kai and bit at him. Even its fangs and teeth were distinctly visible.
Yang Kai tightened his hold on Zhang Ruo Xi while he punched with his free hand. His hand left turned blurry as it left untold afterimages, raining punches on the giant tiger.
*Bang Bang Bang…*
A strong and rhythmic sound rang as the giant tiger whimpered and wailed like a living creature before its figure distorted. In just three breaths, its figure collapsed all of a sudden.
The faces of the Jiang Family members, who were paying close attention to this battle of Dao Source Realm masters, suddenly turned gloomy.
But the next moment, Jiang Tai Sheng, who was surrounded by saber aura, arrived before Yang Kai. Suddenly, the saber aura around Jiang Tai Sheng grew bigger as it transformed into a 20 metres long blade, slashing down on Yang Kai.
Yang Kai immediately avoided this terrifying blow with a twist of his body.
The sabre of light left a five-metre or so deep gully on the ground as sand and pieces of rock flew into the air.
Before Jiang Tai Sheng could make any other move, Yang Kai fiercely punched straight at the saber of light.
Immediately, a crisp clang and muffled grunt followed as Jiang Tai Sheng’s figure appeared several tens of metres away. However, Jiang Tai Sheng’s facial features were extremely distorted at this moment and he was holding the broadsword horizontally before him.
What’s more, a vague depression had appeared on the broadsword. Judging by its shape, it appeared as if it was left by a punch.
“Your physique…” Jiang Tai Sheng looked at Yang Kai with a look of incredulity. His eyeballs were violently shaking in horror.
To his surprise, the opposite party had left his Dao Source Grade artifact in such a shape with just a punch. Its spirituality appeared to have been a little damaged. [What a terrifying physical body!]
[Is this guy even human?]
Taking advantage of his momentary loss of wits, Yang Kai fiercely flicked his five fingers at him, raining jet-black Moon Blades at him, one after another.
Jiang Tai Sheng’s face turned pale as he shouted in horror, “Space Force!?”
After seeing the jet-black Moon Blades formed from pure Space Force shooting over, how could he dare to remain still? He hurriedly escaped using every means possible.
But those Moon Blades followed closely behind him like maggots on rotting bones. Furthermore, they were so fast that he felt a little tired and exhausted from running.
“Hahaha, Jiang Family old dog, where are you running? You think you can escape!? Today, I won’t rest until I have flipped your entire Jiang Family!” Yang Kai broke into laughter and shouted. He looked extremely at ease.
At the sight of this, the faces of the Jiang Family members on the sideline started to change.
The Old Ancestor, whom they had been relying on, was fleeing like a stray dog after just two bouts with Yang Kai. Worse yet, their Old Ancestor was left with no room to retaliate! They immediately realized that they were in really big trouble this time.
“Patriarch!” an Elder of the Jiang Family quickly said, “We have to attack as well and help Old Ancestor!”
“Yes!” the others also agreed, “The Old Ancestor doesn’t seem to be this guy’s opponent.”
Jiang Lin’s face sank. He scanned the battlefield before suddenly focusing his gaze on the other side. He then proposed in a cold voice, “Rather than risking our lives to help Old Ancestor, it’s better to deal with her!”
Everyone was stunned. They immediately followed Jiang Lin’s gaze and saw an idly standing Mo Xiao Qi. She was leisurely watching the battle as if she wasn’t worried about Yang Kai’s safety at all.
“Yes! Yang Kai came with that girl, so they must have a close relationship. As long as we catch her, we will have him in our grasp!” Jiang Chu He’s eyes lit up. His gaze traveled along Mo Xiao Qi’s beautiful figure. However, when his gaze fell on the crescent-shaped birthmark on Mo Xiao Qi’s face, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh filled with emotions.
The gazes of Jiang Family members gathered together as they suddenly rushed toward Mo Xiao Qi.
In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen Origin King Realm masters had surrounded Mo Xiao Qi, leaving no room for escape.
“What do you want!?” Mo Xiao Qi furrowed her brow and looked around unhappily.
“Heh heh heh!” Jiang Chu He let out a sinister laughter. “Girl, do you really have no idea what we want to do? Be wise and obediently cooperate. Don’t force us to make a move, or you might get injured.”
Mo Xiao Qi, hearing this, was suddenly stunned. She contemptuously looked at the Jiang Family members and asked, “Do you want to bully with numbers?”
Jiang Lin’s old face was filled with embarrassment. He lightly coughed, “We have no other choice. Don’t blame us, Little Girl!”
“Patriarch, is there a point in talking with her, let’s just attack. If she dares to resist, she should not blame us,” a Jiang Family Elder fiercely shouted.
“You guys are too shameless. I am just a little girl,” Mo Xiao Qi tenderly shouted as a resentful look appeared on her face.
“There are no girls or women on the battlefield. If you want to blame someone, blame Yang Kai!” Jiang Chu He seemed to have a lot of resentments toward Yang Kai. So much so that his distorted thoughts had been transferred to Mo Xiao Qi, thereby leading to showing no trace of politeness to Mo Xiao Qi.
“Do you really want to make a move on me?” Mo Xiao Qi looked furious. She looked at Jiang Chu He, nibbling her lips.
“Ha, you think that this Young Master is joking with you?” Jiang Chu He coldly laughed.
Right then, he flipped his wrist as an Origin King Grade long sword appeared in his hand. The sword shook as he thrust it toward Mo Xiao Qi.
In an instant, as the sword swished through the air, Sword Qi shot out from the tip of the sword straight at Mo Xiao Qi, almost covering the entirety of her.
A playful expression appeared on Mo Xiao Qi’s pretty face. Surprisingly, she stood in her place with no intention of dodging. Instead, she glared at Jiang Chu He as she summoned something in neither a hurried nor slow manner and poured her Source Qi into it.
With a puff sound, the summoned artifact suddenly grew in size and directly enveloped Mo Xiao Qi inside, leaving not even the slightest gap.
This artifact was spherical in shape and was pale blue in colour. Its surface was shimmering like a water screen and was as transparent as a cicada’s wings.
From the outside, Mo Xiao Qi seemed to be inside a water ball.
This artifact was none other than the Weak Water Bead that Mo Xiao Qi had once used on the Clear Jade Mountain!
Just the fact that the Weak Water Body could even imprison a Luan Feng youngling was proof of its strength, and at this moment, Mo Xiao Qi was using it dynamically. The Weak Water Bead that was used to imprison had turned into a defensive artifact in her hand.
Obviously, it was quite effective as well.
Jiang Lin’s pupils shrank the moment this artifact appeared. He fiercely shouted, “a Dao Source Grade artifact!”
The moment he said this, the gazes of the Jiang Family Elders and Deacons turned hot.
“Clang…” The tip of Jiang Chu He’s long sword struck the water screen but to everyone’s surprise, this attack did not have the slightest effect. The water screen sunk bit by bit, giving the impression that the sword would pierce through any moment. But the next moment, it instantly bounced the sword back.
But that was not all. Even Jiang Chu He suffered from the recoil.
The leader of the Jiang Family’s next generation was caught off guard. To his and everyone’s surprise, he was completely unable to resolve it, and an involuntary cry of surprise escaped his mouth as he backed away a few steps. His face had gone a little pale before a look of shock appeared on it.
Fortunately, he hadn’t used his full strength. Otherwise, he would have been the one hurt instead.
“I’m afraid the origins of this little girl are extraordinary. Everyone, don’t hold back anymore and quickly end this!” Jiang Lin exhorted everyone with a low shout.
If she was an ordinary Origin King Realm master, how would she be able to summon a Dao Source Grade artifact at a moment’s notice? Furthermore, it was a defensive artifact. It should be brought to notice that of so many Origin King Realm masters of the Jiang Family, none of them had a Dao Source Grade artifact.
Only those with an extraordinary background and prospective futures could get one or two Dao Source Grade artifacts as a gift from their elders.
Before Jiang Chu He had made a move, Jiang Lin was still conscious about his status. He didn’t want to attack together, lest others say that he was bullying weak cultivators. But seeing that things weren’t looking good, how could he hesitate anymore?
Having said this, he formed hand seals with one hand and pointed the other forward.
Immediately, a streak of light shot out from the tip of his finger with a soft swish, striking the water screen of the Weak Water Bread in the blink of an eye.
At the same time, other Elder and Deacons of the Jiang Family also attacked, one after another.
In a flash, all kinds of Martial Skill and artifacts emerged, striking toward Mo Xiao Qi.
Unfortunately…
All the attacks failed and were bounced back. The Weak Water Bead enveloping Mo Xiao Qi continuously deformed, resolving those attacks one by one, and surprisingly bouncing them back.
The crowd of Jiang Family Origin King Realm cultivators immediately turned pale as they hurriedly dodged left and right.
Mo Xiao Qi’s pretty face, who was hiding inside the water screen of the Weak Water Bead, turned cold in anger as she tenderly shouted, “So you like to bully others with numbers, huh!? How shameless! I will take you all on!”
Sister Xiao Qi looked like a kid who had been bullied. As soon as she said this, she reached out and patted the small bags hanging around her waist.
No one had any idea about what was inside these bulging bags. Even when the Jiang Family members had noticed them before, they had not cared about it.
But at this moment, everyone’s eyes almost popped out in shock at the sight of what was happening.
Followed by Mo Xiao Qi’s actions, Monster Beasts of all shapes and sizes jumped out of the bags like gods descending from the Heavens. The first one to appear was a roughly seven-metre long, aloof Silver Maned Liger.
As soon as it appeared, it majestically roared at the sky before baring its fangs at the Jiang Family members. The horrified Jiang Family members immediately backed away.
At a glance, the sovereignty of a peak Tenth-Order Monster Beast was evident to everyone!
After that, a Heaven Escaping Bat appeared, followed by a Fire Qilin. Very soon, another several tens of metres long figure with two horns on its forehead appeared. It was a giant, pitch-black flood dragon that somewhat resembled a real Dragon.
The giant flood dragon coiled around Mo Xiao Qi with its head and chest raised straight. It then opened its mouth and hissed its red tongue. The colour of this black flood dragon’s pupils happened to be light blue. It was extremely weird.
“Blue Eyes Black Scale Flood Dragon!?” Immediately, some knowledgeable Jiang Family Elder cried in panic.
*Deng Deng Deng Deng…* The crowd of Jiang Family cultivators immediately backed away. Everyone looked at each other in shock before staring at the incomparably powerful and rare Monster Beasts before their eyes with incredulity!
Not to mention the small Heaven Escaping Bat, even the Silver Maned Liger, Red Fire Qilin and Blue Eyes Black Scale Flood Dragon had appeared before them. All of these Monster Beasts were almost extinct! It was basically impossible for an ordinary cultivator to see them outside.
The reason why these Monster Beasts were about to go extinct was that they all carried the bloodline of some Ancient Variant Beast! These bloodlines were extremely difficult to inherit, and with the passage of time, these Monster Beast with the Ancient Variant Beast bloodlines became rarer and rarer with every generation. Finally, they were on the verge of extinction.
And the reason why the Jiang Family Elder recognized the Blue Eyes Black Scale Flood Dragon was because he wanted to cultivate a Secret Technique that required the Blood Essence of a Black Flood Dragon in the past. Therefore, he had inquired about them many times. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find the trace of the Black Flood Dragon even after spending over a decade searching. Finally, he had to give up on cultivating that Secret Technique.
He had never expected that a Blue Eyes Black Scale Flood Dragon would suddenly appear before him after so many years!
And each of these Monster Beasts was extremely difficult to provoke because of the bloodlines of the Ancient Variant Beasts. More often than not, they were able to display strength beyond their realm, and if they resorted to the natural Divine Ability they inherited, fighting someone more than one realm stronger than them was a piece of cake for them.
In other words, the true strength of these Monster Beasts should be taken as a level higher to judge it accurately.
Moreover…
“The peak of Tenth-Order!? All of them are peak Tenth-Order Monster Beasts!?”
“What Monster Beasts are these!?”
“Where did they pop out from?”
“Who the hell is this little girl?”
The Jiang Family cultivators cried in shock. The soles of their feet were almost cramped.
Originally, they thought that Mo Xiao Qi was alone and they believed her to be an easy target because of her Origin King Realm Cultivation. They were planning on taking her down to restrict Yang Kai, but how could they have known that they would poke a hornet’s nest!
Jiang Lin’s face had gone even paler. As the current Patriarch of the Jiang Family, he clearly knew that he had provoked someone he shouldn’t have this time.
Originally, he knew that Mo Xiao Qi had some background, but when he saw her summon four peak Tenth-Order Monster Beasts with a wave of her hand, he immediately understood that Mo Xiao Qi didn’t have just some background, but an extremely strong one! And it wasn’t something that a small family like the Jiang Family could provoke.
As the Patriarch, he was naturally more worried than the others.
Furthermore, looking at the small bags hanging on Mo Xiao Qi’s waist, he vaguely recalled something but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
While the Jiang Family cultivators were still in shock, Mo Xiao Qi harrumphed and ground her teeth in anger as she ordered, “Xiao Yin, Xiao Hong, Xiao Hei, teach these shameless people a good lesson. They actually dared to bully me!”
[Xiao Yin, Xiao Hong, Xiao Hei…]
All the Jiang Family members were shocked after hearing this. Beads of cold sweat immediately trickled down their foreheads.
Much to their shock and dismay, three peak Tenth-Order Monster Beasts carrying the Ancient Variant Beasts’ bloodline were actually given such simple and ridiculous names…
*Roar…*
*Huhu…*
*Si Si…*
The three Monster Beasts appeared to have understood Mo Xiao Qi’s instructions and thereby responded with strange noises.
The Silver Maner Liger roared as it leapt into the crowd of Jiang Family cultivators; its several tens of metres long humongous body showed extraordinary agility. It then lifted its front paws and made a powerful horizontal sweep.
This sweep immediately gave rise to a powerful gale, almost causing Heaven and Earth to lose their colour.
How dare the Jiang Family members take it head-on!? They cried in shock and promptly dodged, one after another.
Meanwhile, the Red Fire Qilin opened its mouth and shot red-hot balls of fire toward them like a storm. Every fireball was the size of a plate and carried extremely heat.
When these fireballs hit the ground, they caused it to melt.
The Jiang Family members were struck with terror at the sight of this. They immediately backed away into the distance, extremely afraid of letting the flames make the slightest bit of contact with their bodies.
Next, the Blue Eyes Black Scale Flood Dragon also attacked. A pitch-black aura spread over the surface of its body before it transformed into a mass of black clouds and shot straight toward the battlefield, covering three Jiang Family Origin King Realm cultivators in it.
The next moment, sounds of fighting and strange hisses came from inside the black cloud.
Mo Xiao Qi, on the other hand, calmly stood inside the water screen of the Weak Water Bead, holding the little bat in her arms and slowly caressing its hair. Looking at the chaotic battlefield, she murmured to herself, “It seems we don’t have the upper hand… Should I summon Xiao Bai, Xiao Huang, Xiao Qing, Xiao Lu, and the others?”
Jiang Family cultivators, “…”
Though the three peak Tenth-Order Monster Beasts were extraordinary, the number of Jiang Family Origin King Realm masters was also great. Many of them were Third-Order Origin Kings, so the two sides were evenly matched.
After hearing Mo Xiao Qi’s remark, Jiang Family cultivators’ hearts skipped a beat. They couldn’t help but look at each other, and some even had their eyes tear up.
Just three Monster Beasts had tied their hands and feet. If Xiao Bai, Xiao Huang, Xiao Qing, Xiao Lu, or whatever made an appearance too, the Jiang Family would have no power to fight back.
Right then, Jiang Lin seemed to have suddenly remembered something. While dodging the Red Fire Qilin’s attack, he looked at the small cloth bags hanging by Mo Xiao Qi’s waist in amazement and cried in shock, “Spirit Beast Pouch! You are from the Spirit Beast Island!?”
Only now did he finally remember the origin of those small cloth bags.
One should not underestimate these small bags even a little. They were unique products of the Spirit Beast Island! Only the masters of the Spirit Beast Island could create this equipment that could house Monster Beasts through a secret method.
Furthermore, these Spirit Beast Pouches were never sold to outsiders, so others couldn’t get even one of them. On the other hand, Mo Xiao had a lot of them hanging on her waist. If she had nothing to do with the Spirit Beast Island, how could she have that many Spirit Beast Pouches?
And the Spirit Beast Island was famous in the entire Star Boundary. It might not be as huge as the Star Soul Palace or Serene Soul Palace, or have many disciples, but it too was one of the great forces to be reckoned with!
How could it not be? The Spirit Beast Island’s owner, Island Master to be precise, was one of the Ten Great Emperors who were hidden dragons that showed only their tails and not their face: The Martial Beast Great Emperor.
Rumour had it that there were many Monster Beasts on the Spirit Beast Island that were rarely found in the outside world. Even Ancient Divine Spirits had settled there, along with countless birds and beasts.
That meant, even though the Spirit Beast Island was just an island and the Martial Beast Great Emperor didn’t publicly recruit disciples, Spirit Beast Island’s deterrence in the Star Boundary wasn’t in any way inferior to the Star Soul Palace, which also had one of the Ten Great Emperors presiding.
However, the Spirit Beast Island was located in the boundless sea of the distant Eastern Territory. It was hundreds of millions of kilometres away from the Southern Territory, which was why Jiang Lin didn’t connect Mo Xiao Qi to Spirit Beast Island at first.
But as the Patriarch, after seeing so many mystical means shown by Mo Xiao Qi, how could he not guess correctly?
“Miss, how are you related to the Martial Beast Great Emperor?” Jiang Lin, making some breathing room while in the midst of heated combat, asked when he didn’t get a reply from Mo Xiao Qi.
After all, as far as he knew, the Spirit Beast Island didn’t take disciples. Everyone leaving on the Spirit Beast Island had some relation one way or another with the Martial Beast Great Emperor. If Mo Xiao Qi really came from the Spirit Beast Island, she must be related to Martial Beast Great Emperor or one of his few disciples.
How could the Jiang Family provoke someone like that? They could only serve her like she was their aunt.
Mo Xiao Qi, on the other hand, just stood inside the water screen of the Weak Water Bead, hugging Xiao Fu with one hand and caressing it with the other. Hearing this, she just raised her eyes, looking at the sky with indifference.
Meanwhile, the Jiang Family members turned pale after hearing this, a chill running down everyone’s spine. How could they have any thoughts of dealing with the attacks of those Monster Beasts?
The balance was immediately broken because of this.
First, one of the Jiang Family Elders was hit by the Red Fire Qilin’s fireball in his momentary loss of his senses. He let out a miserable scream before he melted into nothing the next moment. Then, a Jiang Family Deacon was flattened into nothing by a smack of Silver Maned Liger. The ground was immediately dyed red. It was too ghastly to even look at.
And the next moment, another figure flew out of the dark clouds that the Black Eyes Black Scale Flood Dragon had transformed into.
Before the figure even touched the ground, it was already devoid of any aura. And when it crashed on the ground, its head lifelessly tilted to one side as it lay there on the ground forever.
In the blink of an eye, three Jiang Family Origin Kings had lost their lives!
Seeing this, Jiang Lin’s eyes turned red. He immediately cast away all the fear and worry in his heart and angrily shouted, “Girl, no matter what your relationship with the Martial Beast Great Emperor is, since we have already fallen out, then it’s either you die or we die!”
Once he said this, the rest of the Jiang Family members were shocked.
Everyone knew that they were left with no choice but to do this out of desperation. Not to mention that a bloody feud had already been forged, a background like that of Mo Xiao Qi wasn’t something they could provoke. If they couldn’t kill Mo Xiao Qi right here, the Jiang Family could forget about making a foothold in the entire Star Boundary after today.
Mo Xiao Qi didn’t even need to personally make a move. She just had to let the word get out, and from then on, countless masters would fight to bring the Jiang Family members’ heads to her.
After all, there weren’t that many opportunities to curry favour with the Spirit Beast Island!
After stabilizing their mood, the Jiang Family members regrouped and retreated, having lost the momentum!
But at this point, the battle of the Dao Source Realm master seemed to have reached an end.
Followed by a painful scream, Jiang Tai Sheng and Yang Kai separated from each other in the air.
Yang Kai looked completely at ease, whereas Jiang Tai Sheng’s face had lost all its blood. A sliver of blood trickled down the corner of his mouth as if he had suffered a serious injury!
He was a century-old Dao Source Realm master, but after fighting Yang Kai for just the time it takes to finish half a cup of tea, he had already fallen leeward.
He stared at Yang Kai with extreme hatred and incredulity. It never occurred to him that he wouldn’t be an opponent of Yang Kai.
And when he looked back, Jiang Tai Sheng’s face immediately sank!
How could he not tell that his descendants were in trouble and he couldn’t count on them?
[I’m afraid the Jiang Family’s hundreds of years of foundation will be ruined today!]
As this thought flashed in his head, Jiang Tai Sheng’s face immediately turned ashen. He angrily glared at Yang Kai and fiercely shouted, “Junior, even if this old master dies today, I will take you down with me!”
Having said this, he immediately pushed the Source Qi in his body as his pale old face regained its complexion. At the same time, he bit the tip of his tongue and spewed a mouthful of Blood Essence!
Yang Kai’s face immediately sank. He realized that the opposite party was really planning on putting his life on the line.
Although he was confident that he could kill Jiang Tai Shen, his opponent was still a Dao Source Realm master. If he really decided to put his life on the line, he really could not be underestimated. Not to mention, his one arm was preoccupied with holding Zhang Ruo Xi. So, Yang Kai promptly took a defensive stance, lest the old guy really used to some technique that could very well kill him.
But the next moment, a blood mist enveloped Jiang Tai Sheng; not even a bit of his figure could be seen.
Immediately afterwards, the bloody mist flickered as it disappeared from its place. It transformed into a rainbow streak as it quickly fled away from Yang Kai in the opposite direction!
“What…” Yang Kai was left gawking, dumbstruck. He was even stunned for a while.
He had never thought that all of it was just Jiang Tai Sheng’s bluff and bluster. All his proclamation of dragging Yang Kai with him was just a front to cover his escape.
“That wily old fox!” Yang Kai cursed angrily. His eyes were filled with disdain. At the same time, he hurriedly prompted his Space Force, mobilizing the Space Principles, as he directed it at the distant streak of light covered blood and shouted, “Bind!”
That streaking rainbow stopped for a moment before it broke through the lock of Principles the next moment, fleeing toward the distance even faster.
After all, Jiang Tai Sheng too was a Dao Source Realm master. How could Yang Kai’s Principles trap him for long?
After getting rid of the Space Principles’ binding, he plunged straight toward the barren mountain cave and soon disappeared.
“That old thing!” Yang Kai immediately understood Jiang Tai Sheng. It was apparent to Jiang Tai Sheng that he wasn’t Yang Kai’s opponent. Besides, he had also suffered some injuries. Therefore, he didn’t plan on relying on speed to escape. If he really did so, he would not be able to escape from Yang Kai’s pursuit for sure.
Yang Kai understood the Dao of Space. He held an absolute advantage in tracking and escaping.
Therefore, Jiang Tai Sheng put his hopes on the Space Array in the cave. As long as he teleported away from here, Yang Kai would not be able to catch him no matter how great his skill was.
Jiang Tai Sheng’s plan was pretty good and he even succeeded in it. After he entered the cave, his aura had disappeared the next moment. Only faint Space Force fluctuations were left.
These fluctuations were naturally due to Jiang Tai Sheng using the Space Array.
On another note, the Jiang Family members were devastated at the sight of this.
They tried their best in this battle of life and death. Because they wanted to help their Old Ancestor, three of them had even lost their lives.
But to their dismay, their Old Ancestor had abandoned them at this critical juncture without a moment of hesitation. He ran away without giving so much as a warning.
They didn’t have much confidence in defeating Mo Xiao Qi. Not to mention, there was no one to stop Yang Kai, a Dao Source Realm master. If the Jiang Family members remained here, they would undoubtedly be seeking their own doom.
Therefore, Jiang Lin decisively shouted, “Let’s go!”
Everyone hurriedly withdrew, madly fleeing toward the cave on the barren mountain!
They had the same plan as Jiang Tai Sheng. Since they couldn’t escape from Yang Kai, they could only rely on the Space Array. As long as they could escape from this place, they could survive this calamity.
And to their surprise, Yang Kai didn’t appear to have any intention of stopping them. He hovered in the air with a calm look on his face, watching them flee.
However, there was a playful smile on his face, ringing warning bells in Jiang Lin’s mind.
However, the other Jiang Family members were overjoyed. They rushed to the small cave, pushing their way in.
A Jiang Family Elder quickly threw the Source Crystals into the grooves around the Space Array. After having arranged everything in order, he immediately mobilized his energy, trying to activate the Array.
However…
Nothing happened!
The Jiang Family members burned with anxiety as they waited. But the Space Array that should have been up and running remained still. It didn’t make so much as a hum, let alone transmit everyone.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Chu He asked, pale and terrified.
“The Array… isn’t responding!” that Elder replied as the blood drained from his face.
“How could it not respond? Let me try!” Jiang Chu He took the matter in his hand. He immediately poured his energy into the Array just like that Elder.
But the result was still the same. The Space Array seemed to have stopped working.
Suddenly, a figure appeared at the entrance of the cave, weirdly laughing as it made its way in, step by step.
The Jiang Family members immediately turned pale. They turned their heads, looking at Yang Kai, who was slowly approaching like the God of Death. Goosebumps exploded all over their bodies.
Everyone suddenly realized that they had made a wrong choice, causing them to be caught in a jar like a turtle.
“Great, great, since everyone is stuck here, it saves me the trouble of chasing you.” Yang Kai stood not too far away from the Jiang Family members, looking at everyone with a shadow of a smile on his face, completely calm and composed contrary to the situation at hand. He then said, “Your Old Ancestor doesn’t seem to be very kind.”
The moment he said this, Jiang Lin felt as if he was struck by an invisible hammer right in the chest. His face flushed red as he opened his mouth and spurted an arrow of blood. He immediately looked at the sky and cried out, “I hate…”
Other Jiang Family members’ faces turned ashen as well. A complex and embarrassed look blanketed everyone’s face.
At this point, how could everyone not understand that the reason that the Space Array wasn’t working was that their Old Ancestor had destroyed the Space Array on the other side?
The Array in the cave and the mine were connected with each other. It was only when both were intact that one could be transmitted to the other side.
But as soon as Jiang Tai Sheng teleported to the other side, a problem occurred with the Array on the other side. Obviously, he had done something.
It wasn’t difficult to understand why he would do this: It was because he wanted to hinder Yang Kai from pursuing him. But by doing this, he had ruined the rest of the Jiang Family members’ escape route.
How could everyone not be devastated when their Old Ancestor fled for his life, ignoring the lives of his clansmen?
Desperate, Jiang Lin looked at Yang Kai dispiritedly and said, “Alchemist Yang, since things have already reached this point, if you want to kill us, then do so. Do as you please!”
He still could be considered to have some backbone. He didn’t seem to have the intention of begging for mercy. On the contrary, he was requesting to be killed. It might be that his heart was already broken by his Old Ancestor’s conduct. He had already given up on continuing to live.
He might have such thoughts, but not the rest of the Jiang Family members.
After hearing Jiang Ling speak, the expression of a few Jiang Family Elders couldn’t help but momentarily change. The new generation leader of the Jiang Family, Jiang Chu He looked even more terrified. He hurriedly stepped forward and anxiously pleaded, gazing at Yang Kai with a flattering look on his face, “Alchemist Yang, this Jiang had eyes but failed to see and has offended Alchemist Yang. I ask Sir Alchemist Yang to be magnanimous and not care about someone like me. This Jiang has already seen his errors and repented. From now on, this Jiang will correct his ways. I would like to follow Alchemist Yang and serve him like a dog!”
“Oh!?” Yang Kai raised his brow, appearing to be a little interested.
“You filthy swine…” Jiang Lin, who had already suffered a mental blow, became dejected and dispirited again. After having been annoyed by Jiang Chu He again, his mood had grown even worse. He almost fainted. But he forcefully roused his spirit and angrily lashed out, tremblingly pointing at Jiang Chu He’s back, “You cowardly rat, you are a disgrace to Jiang Family!”
Jiang Chu He immediately turned back and lashed back, “Old fart, shut your trap! Even though the Old Ancestor has abandoned us, I don’t want to seek my own doom! I, Jiang Chu He, am still very young and have a prospective future. I don’t want to die without rhyme or reason! If you are still sensible, quickly offer yourself to Alchemist Yang. Alchemist Yang is kind and magnamious, he might just spare your lives.”
“Well said!” Yang Kai smiled lightly and, approvingly looking at Jiang Chu He, stated, “A wise man will submit to the circumstances, not bad!”
Jiang Chu He hurriedly turned around, and putting on a flattering look on his face, slightly bowed and responded with a flattering smile, “Alchemist Yang, you flatter me!”
“However, I really hate people who cling to life and fear death!” Yang Kai’s face grew colder all of a sudden.
Jiang Chu He’s smile immediately turned stiff.
“Okay, enough with this nonsense. I hadn’t planned on killing all of you, down to the last man. I just wanted to punish the culprit. But now that a blood feud has already been forged… all of you go in peace!” While speaking, Yang Kai’s face gradually grew colder as a killing intent swept everyone. He slowly stretched his hand out, pushing it toward the Jiang Family members.
The Jiang Family Origin Kings immediately turned pale. They instinctively wanted to resist but they suddenly realized they were completely unable to move no matter how hard they tried; the space around them seemed to have been frozen at some point. And not only that, but the energy in their meridians was also moving sluggishly. They were unable to circulate it.
[Principles!]
Everyone’s face instantly turned ashen as they helplessly watched Yang Kai’s palm move ever closer to closing. An aura of death swept over everyone.
But right then, something strange happened!
The ground started violently rumbling and quaking all of a sudden. After a few moments, cracking sounds came from everywhere. They were extremely loud; it sounded as if the world was about to end.
Yang Kai’s expression immediately changed. He promptly spread his Divine Sense and when he noticed the changes around him, his figure instantly disappeared from where he stood, appearing by Mo Xiao Qi’s side the next moment. He didn’t even have the time to deal with the Jiang Family members.
Xiao Qi had already taken her Monster Beasts back in the Spirit Beast Pouches and happened to be floating in the air with a serious look on her face.
After seeing Yang Kai appear, she anxiously cried, “Big Brother Yang, it seems that…”
“I know, let’s go!” Yang Kai cut her off, pushed his Source Qi, wrapping her in and quickly fleeing into the distance.
Meanwhile, the Jiang Family members inside the cave were a little taken aback after having barely escaped with their lives.
Someone shouted something was wrong and everyone fled from the cave, one after another.
And when they arrived outside, each and everyone was dumbstruck by the sight before them.
The ground within a thousand kilometres of them was violently rising and falling like waves, as if something was erupting from underground. And along with the violent ups and downs of the ground, a series of sharp ravines suddenly appeared before everyone, spanning endlessly.
More importantly, pitch-black auras were slowly rising from these ravines.
Soon after, these further branched into black snakes-like things, wafting in every direction.
The world was quickly flooded by these.
In their momentary loss of wits, the Jiang Family members were surrounded by this pitch-black aura.
“What is this!?” a Jiang Family Elder cried in shock. He was getting a disturbing feeling from this black aura. That feeling seemed to provoke all kinds of negative emotions buried deep in his heart. In the blink of an eye, his eyes turned red as his breathing became short.
“Demon Qi!”
“Dammit!”
“Run!”
The Jiang Family members screamed. They promptly circulated their energy, trying to cast every escaping technique in their arsenal. However, it was already too late! Those black snake-like things immediately swarmed toward them, like they were alive, tightly surrounding everyone at once.
The defensive Source Qi of the Jiang Family cultivators couldn’t stop the erosion of these black auras. In just a short while, it was riddled with holes as black auras made their way in, seeping into their bodies through their mouths, noses, eyes, and ears.
In just a short while, heart-rending screams drowned every sound. The Jiang Family members seemed to be suffering unimaginable torture and pain.
But after a while, these screams abruptly stopped.
In the world shrouded in black Qi, the Jiang Family cultivators stood back up. But at this moment, their aura was completely different from before. Everyone was surrounded by black mist and had an inexplicable evil smile hanging on their faces, their eyes reddish black. It looked extremely horrifying.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
At a certain place, the ground suddenly blew up by a violent force as a huge hole appeared on the ground. The next moment, a vigorous figure jumped out of that hole.
The figure landed on the ground and exercised its hands and feet a little as crisp, popping noises rang from it. The figure cracked its neck again as it broke into a peal of evil laughter.
If Yang Kai was still here, he would have surely recognized this figure as it was none other than the Jiang Family Old Ancestor, Jiang Tai Sheng, who had just fled like a stray dog.
However, in this short period, Jiang Tai Sheng’s injuries seemed to have healed. Not only that, the aura radiating from him was stronger than before, as if he had made huge advancement.
And this wasn’t just limited to him. It was the same for all the Jiang Family members.
After everyone had been infected by the black Qi, they had changed. Their aura and strength had made tremendous progress.
Jiang Tai Sheng stood for a while before swooshing sounds suddenly came from behind him. One after another, figures jumped out of the hole and neatly stood behind him. They didn’t utter a single word. It was extremely strange and eerie.
All of these figures were Jiang Family cultivators and mine slaves who had been demonized in the mine earlier.
Jiang Tai Sheng looked around as an extremely satisfied look appeared on his face. The next moment, he looked up and howled.
His howl went straight to the sky. Meanwhile, the pitch-black Demon Qi appeared to be summoned in some way as it gathered and formed a black tornado, rising toward the sky as if it would pierce through the sky.
In the distance, Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi, who were fleeing at full speed, looked back after hearing this howl. Their expressions couldn’t help but change.
“Dammit!” Yang Kai cried in shock. “Who knows what the Jiang Family has done this time. I’m afraid Maplewood City is going to be destroyed!”
“If my guess is right, it should be the Demon Qi of an Ancient Great Demon!” Mo Xiao Qi replied.
“Ancient Great Demon!?” Yang Kai furrowed his brow.
“Mhmm. In Ancient Times, humans, monsters, demons, and other races were all prosperous. They all ruled the Star Boundary, but with the change of times, races were replaced, one after another. Finally, our human race became the ruler of the Star Boundary and has ruled it to this day because of our huge population and many masters, suppressing other races. However, that doesn’t mean that the other races have been destroyed. They have been living in some hidden places in the Star Boundary, thriving in their own territory, but they rarely show up. Today’s Demon Race is one of them, but they are completely different from the Ancient Great Demons. Only the pure Demon Qi of an Ancient Great Demon can demonize other living beings and transform them into members of the Demon Race!”
“There is something like this in the world!?” Yang Kai asked in surprise.
“An Ancient Great Demon’s Demon Qi or an Ancient Great Demon’s body was sealed in that mine… Ahh! How did the Jiang Family discover this place? And even broke the seal!?” Mo Xiao Qi’s pretty face distorted in anger.
“I guess that the Pure Heart Jade in the mine didn’t naturally come into being, but was there because of the seal!” Yang Kai was absorbed in his thoughts.
The greatest effect of the Pure Heart Jade was to purify the heart, so it was a natural bane to the evil Demon Qi. Perhaps… a long, long time ago, some ancient master might have used a huge amount of Pure Heart Jade to lay a seal underground. Unfortunately, years of mining by the people sent by the Jiang Family must have broken this seal, finally liberating the Demon Qi.
“I hope it’s the former. If it’s the latter…” Mo Xiao Qi stopped talking.
“What will happen?” asked Yang Kai.
Mo Xiao Qi looked at him with a grave look in her eyes and replied, “It would mean that the Ancient Great Demon has a good chance of resurrecting. If that’s the case, I’m afraid that the Ten Great Emperors would have to personally make a move. Only they would be able to eradicate it.”
Yang Kai’s face suddenly turned gloomy after hearing this.
“The Demon Qi has dispersed!” Mo Xiao Qi seemed to have noticed something at the moment and tenderly shouted.
Yang Kai calmly took a look back and noticed that it was indeed as Mo Xiao Qi had said. The vast Demon Qi covering thousands of kilometres of area disappeared in all directions as if it was controlled by someone. The billowing Demon Qi scattered away with unstoppable momentum, scattered about in a mess.
There was a village at the foot of the barren mountain near the mine.
But as the Demon Qi swept by it, painful screams were heard coming from the village, one after another.
And when the Demon Qi disappeared, figures wrapped in black aura stood up from every corner of the village, one after another.
Immediately after, all of them stared at the fleeing Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi before pursuing after them.
These ordinary people, who had never cultivated, sported physical strength that wasn’t in any way inferior to wild beasts. Although they might not be able to catch up with Yang Kai, they still showed no signs of letting up.
“Sir…” Right then, a weak cry came from Zhang Ruo Xi, who was in Yang Kai’s arms.
“Are you awake!?” Yang Kai looked down and saw Zhang Ruo Xi looking right at him. After her rest, her pretty face that was previously pale seemed to have regained a little of its complexion. Yang Kai hurriedly pushed his Source Qi, coursing it through her body. After confirming that she was in no serious trouble, he was finally relieved.
“Sir, please save my Zhang Family,” begged Zhang Ruo Xi. “They don’t know anything about the situation here, and if they aren’t informed…”
Yang Kai furrowed his brow after hearing this. But soon, he agreed with a nod, “Alright, I will take a trip to the Zhang Family!”
“Thank you, Sir!” Zhang Ruo Xi gratefully thanked Yang Kai.
“Big Brother Zhang, I think it will be better if we move separately!” Mo Xiao Qi suddenly proposed. “You go to that Zhang Family, while I go to Maplewood City to inform Sir City Lord to take precautions. Otherwise, when the Demon Qi invades Maplewood City, it will be too late.”
“I guess you are right.” Yang Kai nodded his agreement. He was thinking the same. And now that Mo Xiao Qi herself had proposed it, it couldn’t be any better. “You better be careful. I will rush back to Maplewood City as soon as possible. Then, we will get far away from here!”
“Mhmm,” Mo Xiao Qi repeatedly nodded before she circulated her energy as she shot straight toward Maplewood City, leaving a long trail behind her.
Yang Kai immediately sped up after she left.
After the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, Yang Kai had arrived at the Zhang Family manor.
At this moment, the sun had just started rising. However, the orphans and widows of the Zhang Family were already up. Signs of activity could be seen in the manor.
When Yank Kai arrived, the only two men of the Zhang Family, the fat and thin cultivators, happened to be sparring in an open space. Both of them had similar cultivation, they were on par with each other. While they were locked in a heated battle, a flash of light blinded their eyes as a figure suddenly appeared.
The fat and thin cultivators were greatly taken aback. They immediately stepped back and shouted, “Who are you?”
But the next moment, a happy look appeared on the fat cultivator’s face. He looked pleasantly surprised as he stated, “Well, it’s our saviour!”
“And Ruo Xi too!” The thin cultivator seeing Zhang Ruo Xi, who was being gently put down by Yang Kai, greeted with enthusiasm.
Since Yang Kai saved the Zhang Family from extermination, the Zhang Family had been grateful to Yang Kai. And seeing him here, they were naturally filled with joy.
“Second Brother, Third Brother…” Zhang Ruo Xi’s pretty face flushed red. She seemed a little apologetic and hurriedly greeted them.
“You can chat with each other first, I will go talk to your grandmother!” After dropping this sentence, his figure flickered before he disappeared all of sudden.
“He seems to be in a hurry. What’s up?” The fat cultivator instinctively noticed something wrong. He worriedly looked at Zhang Ruo Xi and asked, “Is there something wrong?”
“It’s like this.” Zhang Ruo Xi also knew that it wasn’t time to reminisce. So, she quickly recounted the things about the mine.
The fat and thin cultivator turned pale after hearing this.
At this moment, they heard the Zhang Family’s Matriarch’s voice and their expression turned grave. After excusing themselves, they hurried toward the manor.
After the time it takes to enjoy half the cup of tea, a beautiful boat suddenly rose from the Zhang Family manor and shot toward Maplewood City.
The Zhang Family was few in number. They only had a dozen or so people, that’s all. Except for the fat and thin cultivators, everyone else was a woman. Moreover, their cultivation realms were completely different. In order to speed things up, Yang Kai could only summon the boat artifact and flew them toward Maplewood City together.
Fortunately, there weren’t that many of them. Otherwise, things would have taken longer. Furthermore, it was great that the Zhang Family’s Matriarch did not doubt Yang Kai either. After learning about the seriousness of the matter, she decisively followed Yang Kai and left Zhang Family’s centuries-old home without a moment of hesitation.
The old woman already had one foot in the grave. Naturally, she knew that as long as her family could live, they would always have the chance to make a comeback, but if no one was left alive, their family would really be over.
As long as her family was safe and sound, who cared about a centuries-old home?
The distance of three hundred kilometres was covered in a moment.
At the city gate, the expression of the cultivators guarding the gate suddenly changed when they saw a ship flying over. One of the First-Order Origin Kings took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his voice, “Who is it? Any use of flight-type artifacts in Maplewood City is banned. Please disembark as soon as possible!”
But they didn’t get any response from the ship.
Seeing the ship coming closer and closer, a serious look appeared on all the guards’ faces. Just when they were preparing to attack the ship to defend Maplewood City, an overwhelming pressure suddenly came from the ship.
“Dao Source Realm!” The First-Order Origin King was shocked and his knees almost touched the ground. As for the others, their cultivation was far worse than his, so they fared even worse.
In their momentary lapse in concentration, the ship had rushed straight into Maplewood City at an extremely fast speed.
“Who is so bold that he actually dares to use a flight-type artifact in the city so imposingly!”
“Are they tired of living?”
“Where are the people of the City Lord’s Mansion? Why don’t they teach him a lesson?”
“What a joke!? There is a Dao Source Realm master on the ship. Apart from the two Vice City Lord and Sir City Lord, who can stop him?”
For a moment, the cultivators in the city began to whisper with each other, looking at the sky.
In normal times, Yang Kai would not be so ostentatious. But now they were pressed for time. And he had the orphans and widows of the Zhang Family with him. He had no choice.
Bad news travels fast. Soon, the news about someone ignoring the rules of Maplewood City and driving a flight-type artifact straight into the city reached the ears of every major family in the city. Everyone was amazed by this.
At this moment, Yang Kai had already flown the ship to the Spirit Pill Plaza.
Naturally, he came here to inform Kang Si Ran.
In the entire Maplewood City, he was only close to Kang Si Ran and Mo Xiao Qi. Now that Maplewood City was facing a disaster, it was natural to notify the other party.
“Just stay here and don’t move. I have already turned on the ship’s defences. I will be back in a second.” After having talked with the Zhang Family, he hurriedly got out of the ship.
Meanwhile, Kang Si Ran also happened to have noticed the movements outside and walked out of the Spirit Pill Plaza.
The moment he saw Yang Kai, Kang Si Ran’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He pointed at Yang Kai and cried in surprise, “Brother… Brother Yang, you…”
He thought that he was seeing a ghost!
After all, when the Yuan Furnace Mountain collapsed, there was no sign of Yang Kai. Later, he also inquired about Yang Kai’s whereabouts. He knew that the Raging Fire Temple had searched the collapsed Yuan Furnace Mountain for two months, but they found nothing.
And he still hadn’t heard of Yang Kai even after six months.
Kang Si Ran took it as Yang Kai having died at the Yuan Furnace Mountain.
But now, Yang Kai had magically appeared in front of him. How could Kang Si Ran not be surprised!
But soon, a relieved expression appeared on Kang Si Ran’s face as if his heart was free from some burden. He walked up to Yang Kai in hurried steps, tightly grabbed his arm with one hand and ruthlessly patted Yang Kai’s shoulder with the other. Meanwhile, he sized up Yang Kai from top to bottom as he spoke, “Good! Good! Heaven is really just. It helps the good. Brother Yang, now I can finally rest easy!”
Speaking of which, Kang Si Ran was feeling quite guilty these days because he took Yang Kai to the Yuan Furnace Mountain. But after the accident at the Yuan Furnace Mountain, he returned safe and sound while Yang Kai died there.
During these six months, Kang Si Ran was riddled with guilt whenever he recalled it. He felt that he had harmed Yang Kai and often couldn’t sleep and couldn’t cultivate in peace either.
But now, the source of his nightmares and guilt that had been troubling him all day had come back unscathed. He naturally felt lighter.
Yang Kai brow twitched. He immediately understood the change in Kang Si Ran’s psyche. But he couldn’t explain much either.
“Brother Yang, you…” Kang Si Ran looked askance at the exquisite ship floating above the Spirit Pill Plaza. He had no idea why Yang Kai was causing trouble like this.
“Brother Kang, we are in big trouble,” Yang Kai stated in a low voice and with a grim look on his face.
“What’s happened?” Kang Si Ran’s face immediately changed. He had caught a clue from Yang Kai’s grim look and asked anxiously.
“It’s like this…” Yang Kai quickly explained what happened in the mine, and added, “Brother Kang, quickly pack your things and leave Maplewood City with me!”
“How is this possible? How can there be an Ancient Great Demon’s pure Demon Qi in the vicinity of Maplewood City?” Kang Si Ran lost his wits. He simply couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Had it not been Yang Kai, he would have taken it as nothing more than a joke and laughed it off. But this news came straight from Yang Kai. He couldn’t help but give it a thought.
“We don’t have the time to think.” Yang Kai worriedly looked back, gazing at the sky outside the city. As if he sensed it, his expression slightly changed as he hurriedly shouted, “Brother Kan, I’ll take a trip to the City Lord’s Mansion. I will be back soon, and we will leave at once!”
Immediately after, he utilized his Space Force and teleported inside the city.
As Kang Si Ran was beside himself, he didn’t think much about it. He immediately turned around and rushed straight into the Spirit Pill Plaza.
The next moment, the entire Spirit Pill Plaza broke into hysteria.
The City Lord’s Mansion was located right at the centre of Maplewood City. Yang Kai had gone in there with Kang Si Ran to participate in the auction last time, so he was familiar with the path.
He was going to the City Lord’s Mansion not to inform anyone, but to find Mo Xiao Qi.
Judging by the amount of time that passed, Mo Xiao Qi should have already explained the situation to the people of City Lord’s Mansion. But she was still nowhere to be found.
Yang Kai had no choice but to go there himself and bring Mo Xiao Qi with him.
Along the way, he took out the Sound Bead given to him by Mo Xiao Qi before, and pouring his Divine Sense into it, sent a message.
Unfortunately, Mo Xiao Qi wasn’t responding.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow. He put away the Sound Bead and increased his speed.
After a short while, he arrived at the City Lord’s Mansion. He unscrupulously swept the entire compound with his Divine Sense and found Mo Xiao Qi’s whereabouts at once.
Mo Xiao Qi happened to be in a side hall of the City Lord’s Mansion. There seemed to be a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator with her. However, Yang Kai was not familiar with his aura. He had no idea who it was.
The Space Force fluctuated around Yang Kai and he appeared in the side hall straight away.
Yang Kai looked around and immediately noticed an old man with grey-white skin standing before Mo Xiao Qi. She was reporting something in an agitated manner. But the old man just stood there with his hands behind his back. He appeared indifferent to it.
The old man instantly noticed Yang Kai as soon as he appeared and quickly looked at him. Two beams suddenly shot out from his dull eyes and fell on Yang Kai. The next moment, he looked surprised.
Because the old man realized that Yang Kai was actually a Dao Source Realm master completely unfamiliar to him!
This was rare in Maplewood City.
“Big Brother Yang!” Mo Xiao Qi, on the other hand, was overjoyed and immediately greeted as if she had found a saviour.
“Are you done?” Yang Kai hurriedly asked.
Mo Xiao Qi looked infuriated after hearing this. She pointed at the grey-skinned old man and stated, stamping her feet, “Vice City Lord Zhuang didn’t believe what I said at all. I’m arguing with him.”
“He doesn’t believe you!?” Yang Kai frowned.
But hearing what Mo Xiao Qi said, Yang Kai also came to know who this grey-skinned old man was.
Maplewood City Vice Lord, Zhuang Pan! He too was in the First-Order Dao Source Realm.
Maplewood City had a City Lord and two Vice City Lords. The City Lord was naturally Duan Yuan Shan, who was in the Second-Order Dao Source Realm. And of the two Vice City Lords, one of them hosted the auction, the Drunkard. He was unreasonable and had a strange temper. And the other one was Zhuang Pan before him.
Even though he and Drunkard were only in the First-Order Dao Source Realm, he had been immersed in the same realm for many years. And it was very possible that he would make a breakthrough anytime.
Today, he might’ve been on duty in the City Lord’s Mansion. So, after Mo Xiao Qi came here, she didn’t have to spend much effort to meet him. Unfortunately, Zhuang Pan didn’t believe Mo Xiao Qi. No matter what Mo Xiao Qi said and how severe the situation she described it to be, he remained completely indifferent! Instead, he looked askance at Mo Xiao Qi, suspecting if she was planning something.
This was really making Mo Xiao Qi worried.
She voluntarily came to the City Lord’s Mansion to inform about the leaking Demon Qi out of kindness. She couldn’t bear to see so many cultivators in Maplewood City to be infected by the Demon Qi. She didn’t have any selfish intentions but Zhuang Pan’s attitude had made her cheek a little hot. She felt wronged.
“Friend, how should I call you? I haven’t seen you before!” Against Yang Kai, Zhuang Pan’s expression finally became more solemn. After all, Yang Kai’s cultivation wasn’t something he could ignore.
“Yang Kai, greetings Vice City Lord Zhuang!” Yang Kai cupped his fist at him. And before he could say anything, Yang Kai continued, “What my friend just said wasn’t a lie, she is speaking the truth. I have seen it with my own eyes. The City Lord’s Mansion needs to make preparations. I ask Vice City Lord Zhuang to quickly discuss it with Sir City Lord about countermeasures. If you delay, I’m afraid it will be too late. I have already said everything. Let’s go!”
Having finished his piece, Yang Kai, without giving any face to Zhuang Pan, pulled Mo Xiao Qi to leave.
Seeing this, Zhuang Pan’s face immediately fell. He looked very displeased.
And right then, a First-Order Origin King suddenly ran in. He appeared to be in panic. He immediately shouted the moment he came in, “Reporting to Sir Vice City Lord, a ship just now ignored the city’s rule of no flying and forced their way in. A Dao Source Realm master was aboard, so we were unable to stop it. I ask Sir Vice City Lord to take charge!”
“Ship!? Dao Source Realm!?” Zhuang Pan’s pupils involuntarily shrank after hearing this. He immediately turned his gaze at the departing back of Yang Kai and fiercely shouted, “Friend, wait a moment!?”
Just as he said this, he vigorously circulated his Source Qi and arrived behind Yang Kai like a ghost with a flicker. Immediately after, he reached out to smack Yang Kai’s shoulder.
Sensing the movement behind him, Yang Kai promptly pushed away Mo Xiao Qi, and turning around, stretched his hand out to receive Zhuang Pan’s oncoming palm.
*BANG…* Followed by a deafening bang, the World Energy undulated as a violent gale of wind ravaged the hall.
Yang Kai stood still as a mountain but Zhuang Pan, on the other hand, was forced to take a step back. His face looked gloomier than before.
“What do you want to do?” Yang Kai straightened his body and angrily glared at Zhuang Pan. His eyes flickered with a cold gleam.
Zhuang Pan was agitated. Nonetheless, he was a Dao Source Realm master. He took a deep breath and calmed himself before he quickly replied, “Friend, as the Vice City Lord of Maplewood City, this Zhuang has the right to govern the affairs of the city. I think you have heard what this guard just reported. This Zhuang would like to know…”
“That ship indeed belongs to me,” Yang Kai didn’t wait for him to finish and promptly replied.
“Friend, you sure have guts!” Zhuang Pan blew his top after hearing this. “No flying is allowed inside Maplewood City, or any flight-type artifact, for that matter. Nobody can break this rule. Friend, since you have ignored the City Lord’s Mansion’s directive, this Zhuang Pan has no choice but to ask you to give me an explanation.”
Before Yang Kai could respond, the nearby Mo Xiao Qi angrily stamped her foot and rebuked, “You are really interesting. The leaking Demon Qi is about to reach Maplewood City but you want to look at Big Brother Yang’s ship? Do you really not care about millions of lives in Maplewood City?”
Zhuang Pan narrowed his eyes as he coldly snorted and countered, “Whether this matter is true or false remains to be seen. How can this Zhuang believe you just because you say so? But this friend has indeed broken the rules of Maplewood City. I’m afraid he can’t leave just like this? If you want to leave, you have to get this Zhuang’s permission first.”
“Who cares about the rules in the face of impending doom?” Yang Kai angrily laughed. “Xiao Qi, you don’t need to waste your words on him. We have already given them the news. It’s their choice to believe it or not. When the residents of Maplewood City are annihilated, he would be haunted by millions of ghosts day and night. Let’s go!”
Mo Xiao Qi nodded. She glared at Zhuang Pan before chasing after Yang Kai.
“This King said, if Your Excellency wants to leave, you will have to get this King’s permission first!” Zhuang Pan angrily shouted. Suddenly, a small pagoda-like artifact appeared in his hand. He immediately poured his Source Qi into it as the pagoda slowly started rotating and flew toward Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi.
While flying, the pagoda suddenly grew bigger, reaching the height of several hundred meters all of a sudden. Its bottom, which was completely dark and surrounded by Principles, instantly pressed down on Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi.
Judging by its momentum, it seemed that they were going to be completely suppressed by this pagoda.
“Dao Source Grade artifact!” Yang Kai’s pupils, sensing the powerful energy radiating from the pagoda, involuntarily shrunk. He immediately blew his top.
He grit his teeth and took out a light blue ball before pouring his Source Qi into it.
That light blue ball wasn’t that big, just the size of a longan. But as Yang Kai poured his Source Qi into it, a flickering electric arc suddenly appeared inside the ball, causing the hairs to stand at their roots’ end.
Mo Xiao Qi suddenly started at the ball in astonishment. A soft cry of surprise even escaped from her mouth. She seemed to have been extremely surprised.
At this time, that pulsating electric arc in the ball shot outside, swimming like a fish. It shot straight toward the pressing tall pagoda, leaving crackling noises.
Zhuang Pan couldn’t help but sneer at the sight of this. His eyes were filled with disdain and contempt. He immediately formed a few hand seals as that big and tall pagoda grew bigger the next moment.
*Kacha…*
The electric arc struck the tall pagoda and disappeared into it in the next moment. The tall pagoda didn’t launch any counters!
Zhuang Pan broke into laughter and teased, “Friend, your move has really… opened my eyes!”
However, Yang Kai stood calmly in his place, responding with just a sneer.
Seeing his weird reaction, Zhuang Pan’s heart suddenly started pounding. A bad feeling rose in his heart.
Before he could grasp what just Yang Kai did, crackling noises suddenly came from inside the pressing tall pagoda. The next moment, the tall pagoda was surrounded by dancing dense and dazzling lightning arcs. Meanwhile, the glow emanating from the pagoda had dimmed.
The moment that lightning arc flashed, Zhuang Pan looked as if he was struck by lightning. He instantly turned pale as he spurted a mouthful of blood and his aura took a huge dive while he blurted out in shock, “How is this possible?”
At that moment, Zhuang Pan realized that his pagoda’s spirituality was greatly damaged!
His pagoda was a Low-Rank Dao Source Grade artifact. He had nurtured it for many years with his blood, sweat and tears, even weaving his Divine Sense to make use of his secret technique to apply to the artifact. In other words, it was closely connected to him. Although refining it with that secret method could greatly enhance the power of the pagoda, correspondingly, once the pagoda was damaged, the master would also receive different degrees of backlash!
And at this moment, he had received a huge backlash…
His Source Qi was in turmoil and out of his control. He was unable to suppress it and spurted a mouthful of blood.
*Kacha…*
The lightning was still lingering around the pagoda. And it took a long time for it to slowly dissipate.
The pagoda didn’t seem to have suffered any damage on the surface, but its spirituality had fallen greatly. Zhuang Pan could sense that the pagoda had suffered a lot of internal damage and its inside was riddled with cracks. If he wanted to repair it, he would need some special materials and a lot of time too.
Due to this, Zhuang Pan’s blood and energy was in turmoil again. Blood kept flowing out of his mouth.
“Sir Vice City Lord!” The guard, who had come in to report before, shouted in shock after seeing this.
Zhuang Pan placed his hands on his chest. His face was extremely pale. His aura was unstable. He looked at the nearby Yang Kai with an ugly look on his face, his eyes were filled with horror and disbelief.
He really couldn’t figure out what the grade of that bead-like artifact was. To his surprise, it could shoot such a powerful attack that even his Dao Source Grade artifact couldn’t take!
[If I was struck by that bolt, would I still be alive?!]
If he knew that the bead was an Emperor Artifact, he would be shocked speechless.
In any case, Zhuang Pan was a Dao Source Realm master and Yang Kai didn’t want to waste time on him. Therefore, he took the Annihilation Thunder Bead and attacked right away.
In the past, when he got the Annihilation Thunder Bead, Yang Kai was just an Origin Returning Realm master. Although he could activate the Annihilation Thunder Bead, he couldn’t bring out its full power because of his insufficient cultivation.
Since then, he had used it many times, and every time he used it the power of the Annihilation Thunder Bead he could bring out increased along with the increase in his cultivation.
Now, he was a Dao Source Realm master and was able to mobilize World Principles. Even if he couldn’t bring out the full power of the Emperor Artifact, it wasn’t something that the Dao Source Grade Artifact could contend against.
In just one clash, it was clear which was stronger and which was weaker.
“Vice City Lord Zhuang, please behave yourself! If you dare to stop me again, don’t blame this Yang for being merciless!” Yang Kai glared at Zhuang Pan and angrily shouted.
Zhuang Pan’s face turned ashen. His lips parted but he dared not even say a word.
Naturally, he could tell that Yang Kai wasn’t bluffing, but he would really act out on it. In other words, if he stopped him, he might really lose his life here.
“Hahaha, dear Friend, why are you so angry?” Suddenly, a loud laugh came from outside. Following this, a fat and thin cultivator suddenly came in.
At the same time, a strong aroma of wine permeated through the hall.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but furrow his brow. He took a side glance at the visitors.
He recognized both of them. The short and fat man was the Vice City Lord with horrendous conduct, Drunkard. As soon as he entered the hall, he took a quick look around before his pupils shrank.
But soon, he calmed down. He took the huge battle gourd from his waist and took a swig as if he was taking it to calm his nerves.
The thinner cultivator was the City Lord of Maplewood City, Duan Yuan Shan!
He was also the only Second-Order Dao Source Realm master in Maplewood City.
Yang Kai had seen Duan Yuan Shan many times. Naturally, he was no stranger to him.
At this moment, Duan Yuan Shan was intently looking at Yang Kai with interest. He broke into a laugh and asked, “When did my Maplewood City have another Dao Source Realm cultivator? What a pleasant surprise!”
He didn’t appear to be looking to pursue Yang Kai’s case of hurting Zhuang Pan at all. Rather he looked very happy.
It wasn’t difficult to understand why the two of them would suddenly appear here. After all, this was still the City Lord’s Mansion. Duan Yuan Shan and Drunkard usually lived here. The clash between Yang Kai and Zhuang Pan’s artifact generated powerful energy fluctuations. How could they not notice these fluctuations?
So, they both rushed in here.
“Greeting Sir City Lord, Sir Vice City Lord!” Yang Kai frowned and cupped his fists to the two.
Drunkard pursed his lips as he wiped the wine trickling down the corner of his mouth. He casually cupped his fist in return but didn’t say anything. Instead, he found a place next to a pillar in the hall and lazily sat down, swigging from the bottle gourd.
Duan Yuan Shan, on the other hand, chuckled. “Dear Friend, how polite of you. Hmm, I wonder how to call you my dear Friend?”
“This one’s Yang Kai!”
“So it’s Brother Yang!” Duan Yuan Shan looked askance. “From what this City Lord remembers, there isn’t any major family surname Yang in Maplewood City!”
“I’m just a loose cultivator, that’s all. I came to Maplewood City more than a year ago!”
“So that’s how it is!” Duan Yuan Shan looked a little surprised. He immediately asked, “I wonder why Brother Yang and Brother Zhuang were fighting!? Everyone is Dao Source Realm master. How about we sit down and talk it out. There is no point in being so agitated?”
“City Lord, this person is really arrogant. He ignored the city rules and flew a ship straight into the city. This Zhuang just wanted to ask but he didn’t want to cooperate. I ask the City Lord to investigate it!” Before Yang Kai could answer, Zhuang Pan stole the initiative to answer. Everything he said was in line with the truth, he didn’t slander or embellish the facts.
“Is that right!?” Duan Yuan Shan furrowed his brow before turning his gaze at Yang Kai.
“Yes, that is indeed right!” Yang Kai nodded his agreement.
Zhuang Pan immediately sneered. “Sir City Lord, Maplewood City’s rules are set by you personally. This guy has no respect for the rules and wantonly breaking them. May I ask how to deal with this!”
He had just suffered a loss in Yang Kai’s hands. Even the pagoda’s spirituality had fallen, so he naturally hated Yang Kai very much. And now, since Duan Yuan Shan and Drunkard were here, if he could really pin the crime on him, Yang Kai would truly suffer the consequence of going against him.
That was what he would like to see!
“If Sir City Lord still wants to punish this Yang after learning why, then this Yang Kai would not object!” Before Duan Yuan Shan could deliver any judgement, Yang Kai threw a sentence with a sneer.
“What happened!?” Duan Yuan Shan immediately became a little suspicious after seeing his serious expression.
“About 2 thousand kilometres from here, the seal of an Ancient Great Demon broke and pure Demon Qi has started leaking. I’m afraid it won’t be long before it reaches Maplewood City,” Yang Kai promptly replied.
“What!?” Duan Yuan Shan blurted out in surprise after hearing this. “Ancient Great Demon’s seal is broken!? The leaking of pure Demon Qi!?”
The nearby Drunkard, who had been leaning on the stone pillar, drinking, and looked completely drunk, was also stunned by this news. He immediately became sober and stared, wide-eyed at Yang Kai. Wine was spilling from the corner of his mouth but he didn’t seem to care.
“What a load of crap!” Zhuang Pan immediately shouted angrily. “Sir City Lord, don’t believe in his nonsense, he…”
Duan Yuan Shan raised his hand to stop him from speaking. He looked straight at Yang Kai and asked with a serious look on his face, “Is that really true? Where did Brother Yang get this news? And what’s the proof?”
“I saw it with my own eyes! I fled all the way back to Maplewood City,” Yang Kai glanced at Zhuang Pan and sneered. He pointed at Mo Xiao Qi and continued, “My friend was concerned about the safety of the few millions of souls residing in Maplewood City and wanted to warn the City Lord’s Mansion so that everyone can prepare, but Vice City Lord Zhuang remained unmoved. He didn’t even want to send anyone to verify it, and because of this one’s ship hurriedly flying into Maplewood City, breaking some goddamn rules, he kept arguing and even fought. Heh heh, as for proof… you can go and check it out yourself! 2,000 kilometres isn’t that far!”
“I’ll go check it out!” The nearby Drunkard didn’t dare to drag on after hearing this. He hung the bottle gourd on his waist and stood right up before flying out, leaving a long trail.
“I have said everything I have to say. Sir City Lord, this one will take his leave now.” Having finished his piece, Yang Kai signalled Mo Xiao Qi with his eyes. Mo Xiao Qi instantly understood his intention and hurriedly walked toward the exit.
“You can’t leave! We still haven’t verified…” Zhuang Pan tried to act strong and shouted aloud.
“If you dare to stop me, I will kill you!” Yang Kai immediately threw this sentence without even turning back. The next moment, he and Mo Xiao Qi disappeared from the hall.
“Sir City Lord, this person is simply too arrogant and domineering!” Zhuang Pan didn’t dare to stop Yang Kai. So, he could only pin his hopes on Duan Yuan Shan. He was expecting him to stop Yang Kai.
The latter immediately glanced at him and indifferently stated, “If what this guy said is true… Maplewood City will be in grave danger!”
Zhuang Pan was struck by a lightning bolt after hearing this. He couldn’t speak anymore.
Even though Duan Yuan Dhan didn’t say anything, he could see the dissatisfaction and blame in Sir City Lord’s eyes. He knew that he was extremely angry and anxious at this moment.
[But… how can you even think that the news about the breaking of an Ancient Great Demon seal and the leaking of pure Demon Qi to be real!?]
After a while, Duan Yuan Shan suddenly took out a communication artifact and poured his Divine Sense into it. Obviously, Drunkard had sent a message back!
Zhuang Pan’s face was filled with expectation. He was secretly praying that Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi were making things up. If that’s the case, he would have a legitimate reason to find trouble with Yang Kai.
And Duan Yuan Shan would definitely not let Yang Kai go after having been lied to like this.
However…
Under Zhuang Pan’s nervous and expectant gaze, Duan Yuan Shan’s face suddenly turned pale and slightly trembled.
“Sir City Lord…” Zhuang Pan nervously shouted.
“Relay my order, activate all the defensive Arrays at any cost. And we must increase the power of the Spirit Array to maximum!” Duan Yuan Shan suddenly shouted as his voice spread throughout the City Lord’s Mansion!
“Impossible!?” Zhuan Pan immediately turned pale and slumped down on the ground.
Duan Yuan Shan angrily glared at him. With a shake of his figure, his figure disappeared from the hall. After a while, countless instructions were orderly transmitted from his communication artifact, passing it to those under him.
After a while, a humming sound came from the walls of Maplewood City as various defensive Arrays that had not been activated for many years activated today, one after another.