Wen Zi Shan asked, “Elder Gao, wasn’t that a pick-up line usually used by a man to a woman? Especially in a particular ambience and environment, with an ulterior motive. This King would understand if this was said by this little brother to you, but coming from you… this just doesn’t seem right!”
“Shut up!” Gao Xue Ting bellowed.
Yang Kai was frozen on the spot at the sudden outburst.
Qin Zhao Yang was also dumbfounded. He looked towards Gao Xue Ting with an odd expression.
Gao Xue Ting was the First-Order Emperor Realm Master, but she was only an Elder in the Azure Sun Temple, while the one seated above was Wen Zi Shan, the Temple Master!
How dare she, just an Elder, ask the Temple Master to shut up?
Was this not treachery?
More shocking to Yang Kai and Qin Zhao Yang was that Wen Zi Shan really did shut up!
They looked around, but the others did not seem to be surprised by what happened and had no hint of blame for Gao Xue Ting’s insubordination. In fact, some of them threw Wen Zi Shan a look of contempt.
Yang Kai was at a loss.
His first thought was [The Wen Zi Shan sitting up there must be an impostor, for Gao Xue Ting to be able to act rude to him, while the others even threw him dirty looks.]
[On second thought, maybe not.] Yang Kai felt the fluctuation of the power in his body clearly when Wen Zi Shan waved his hand earlier.
This guy was definitely a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master!
He was the only Third-Order Emperor Realm in the whole Azure Sun Temple. Who else could be Wen Zi Shan, if he was not?
Yang Kai was perplexed and found the bunch of Azure Sun Temple executives really strange.
“You still have not replied to me. Have I seen you somewhere before?” Gao Xue Ting turned to Yang Kai and asked relentlessly.
Yang Kai muttered to himself, then said: “I am from Maplewood City, there was once when Elder Gao visited to assist Sir Xiao Yu Yang in activating the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda. I was also present at that time and entered the trial… maybe that is why Elder Gao recognized me.”
“I see…” Gao Xue Ting figured that he made sense, nodded. “That could be it!”
She stopped paying attention to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was immediately relieved.
If Gao Xue Ting had recognized him as the Demon she fought against before, he would have a terrible fate.
The crowd waited silently in the hall for a while. Chen Qian’s communication artifact suddenly fluctuated with Divine Sense.
After confirming the information given through the communication artifact, she looked up and shook her head at Wen Zi Shan and said, “Temple Master, there is no such thing as a Tribulation Fruit in our vault!”
“That makes this King very disappointed…” Wen Zi Shan spoke in a low voice.
A look of disappointment etched on Qin Zhao Yang’s face.
It would be best if the Tribulation Fruit was readily available, and there would be no need for Yang Kai to venture into the Four Seasons Realm. There was no telling what decision the Emperor Realm would make since there was none in Azure Sun Temple.
“Since there are none available here…” Wen Zi Shan said, “You may go in and search for it yourself, but what happens next is out of our hands.”
Wen Zi Shan was referring to Qin Zhao Yang when he said that.
Qin Zhao Yang was delighted at his words.
Gao Xue Ting frowned slightly. It seemed that she had something to say, but it was too late to interject after Wen Zi Shan had already spoken.
“Many thanks, Temple Master Wen.” Qin Zhao Yang bowed to the ground, “However… this Qin has one more request!”
Wen Zi Shan smiled slightly: “If it’s not too much, let’s hear it.”
Qin Zhao Yang said, “This Qin requests Sir Temple Master to give the slot for entering the Four Seasons Realm to Brother Yang!”
As he spoke, he extended his arm and gestured towards Yang Kai, looking embarrassed, “I’m sure you Sirs are able to tell that this Qin is old in age. Even though I possess the cultivation of the First-Order Dao Source Realm, I know my own strength. Just as Elder Gao had said, I may not be able to return alive with the current level of my strength. The cost of my life is a small matter, but if I fail to obtain the Tribulation Fruit…”
“Do you mean that he will be able to survive?” Wen Zhi Shan asked with great interest.
Qin Zhao Yang replied, “Brother Yang is much stronger than this Qin.”
“At least you are aware of your own condition!” Wen Zi Shan smiled gently, “Since you have such a request… this King will allow it! That Sir said to give you a slot but did not specify to whom it will be given to, so you can decide it yourself!”
“Many thanks to Temple Master Wen!” Qin Zhao Yang thanked him with great joy.
Wen Zi Shan turned to Yang Kai and said: “This King doesn’t know what kind of relationship you have with this old man, but this King has to remind you that the Four Seasons Realm is not a safe place… although you are considered an elite with a body that is rich in Source Qi, who else but elites would be permitted to enter the Four Seasons Realm? Be careful!”
Yang Kai grinned, “I would like to meet the elite disciples of the great Sects!”
“This young man is too proud and arrogant!”
“He is so naïve!”
“The First-Order Dao Source Realm is only at the bottom of the list of Elites!”
The Emperor Realm Masters present in the temples started discussing.
Wen Zi Shan laughed, “That’s the spirit! Well, I hope you will keep it up when you get inside. The both of you shall leave, someone will come for you on the day of departure.”
As he spoke, he waved his hand once more. Before Yang Kai and Qin Zhao Yang could react to it, they were teleported outside of the temple.
They stared at each other for a few moments. Suddenly, a stream of light appeared from afar, and when it got closer to them, they saw that it was Tao Ming, Deacon Tao that they had met before!
The current Tao Ming no longer possessed the aggressive aura he had before. He rushed towards them, flustered and covered in sweat, beckoned them with his hand, and said: “The two of you, please come with me!”
He then led the way with Yang Kai and Qin Zhao Yang following closely behind.
Inside the temple. After Wen Zi Shan sent away Yang Kai and Qin Zhao Yang, he turned to the side and asked, “Little Xue Ting, is there anything else you want to say?”
Gao Xue Ting frowned, “Temple Master, you are making this very difficult for me.”
Wen Zi Shan laughed and replied: “It’s just a slot, just make space for one.”
Gao Xue Ting snorted coldly and said: “Sure, I will send an order saying that the Temple Master wants to revoke someone’s slot, and it has nothing to do with me!”
“Okay!” Wen Zi Shan nodded, and said, “If anyone has any objections, they can feel free to come see me!”
Gao Xue Ting was stunned by his bluntness.
Chen Qian spoke up: “Honestly, I don’t think it’s necessary to give them that slot. We could ask the disciples with slots to search for the Tribulation Fruit when they enter inside. If that does not work, Sister Gao can stay at the exit of the Sealed World and buy one from anyone who comes out of the Realm. You know, there are others, other than disciples from the Azure Sun Temple who can enter the Four Seasons Realm, maybe they possess that type of spirit fruit.”
Wen Zi Shan replied “Although what Little Qian said makes sense, this is the Sir’s request. This King cannot refuse. Let us put an end to this matter, and give them a slot…” He smiled wickedly. “It depends on them as to whether they can survive. If they are unable to even keep the slot, they might as well not go, they would be sending themselves to death anyway! And this King will not be considered to have gone against the wishes of that Sir as well.”
Hearing this, Gao Xue Ting’s eyes lit and nodded, “Subordinate knows what to do now.”
Wen Zi Shan nodded lightly and disappeared with a sway of his body.
The crowd gradually dismissed until there was only Chen Qian and Gao Xue Ting left in the hall.
“Sister Gao, who do you have in mind to make a move?” Chen Qian asked.
Gao Xue Ting thought about it and said “What do you think about Xue Yi?”
“Xue Yi?” Chen Qian was not familiar with this person. She thought about it for a while and said: “He is a Second-Order Dao Source Realm. Can Yang Kai.. handle it?”
“Among the twenty people, Xue Yi’s abilities are considered to be below average. If Yang Kai can’t even handle Xue Yi, there’s no point in entering the Four Seasons Realm. That place is not to be taken lightly, and it’s not easy to obtain the Tribulation Fruit. It’s for his own good.”
“Sister Gao… has a point!” Chen Qian nodded, but still sensed that something was wrong.
…
Tao Ming brought Yang Kai and Qin Zhao Yang and left them at a palace on a solitary peak that was at least 600 miles away from the temple earlier.
Yang Kai explored around for a little and found that there was no one else on the solitary peak. In other words, Yang Kai and Qin Zhao Yang were the only people there.
It was quite tranquil.
They chatted for a while, then searched for a room for themselves.
Qin Zhao Yang wanted to regain his strength and return to Maplewood City after such a stressful and frightening journey.
Yang Kai, on the other hand, wanted to grasp this opportunity to refine the flying treasure Aunty Feng gave him, as well as the Emperor Artifact Myriads Sword.
The Myriads Sword was of an extremely high grade, it was not necessary to refine it thoroughly, he could only slightly strengthen his connection to the sword. Fortunately, he had inherited the Qin Family’s ancestral secrets of refining, it was much easier for him.
There was not much time. According to Gao Xue Ting, the Four Seasons Realm would open in a month. Including the time needed for travelling, Yang Kai estimated that he would have to depart in two weeks.
He was racing against time.
Qin Zhao Yang recovered after a speedy five days.
After giving Yang Kai some final advice, he said goodbye and departed.
Since he had already decided to let Yang Kai enter the Four Seasons Realm, there was no purpose for him to continue his stay.
Yang Kai was all alone in the palace.
On that day, while he was isolating himself in his room, he felt two strong auras from afar, charging towards him.
The intruders had no intention of concealing themselves. One of them was emitting the aura of the Third-Order Dao Source Realm, and the other was Second-Order Dao Source Realm.
“Are we departing now?” Yang Kai frowned and muttered to himself, thinking that it was a summon from Azure Sun Temple to gather for departure. He got up immediately and went out of the palace to greet the visitors.
Two beams of light came in a flash, falling nearby in front of Yang Kai, and two figures came out of it.
The one on the left was in clothes as white as snow, his eyes glowed with vigour and his eyebrows were sharp. He had an extraordinary sharp aura exuding all over his body, like a sharp sword pulled out of its sheath.
This man had impressive cultivation at the Third-Order Dao Source Realm that captured Yang Kai’s eyes.
The aura of this man made him feel pressured, as if that ferocious aura could cut his skin through thin air, which frightened him a bit.
Yang Kai thought to himself that an elite disciple of a big Sect was no joke. Just by looking at the aura that he emitted, whether it was intentional or not, it was not what an ordinary Third-Order Dao Source Realm could have done.
On the right was a man with a wide mouth and nose, a burly figure, and was wearing a short shirt and shorts. Dark hair could be visibly seen on his thick calf, as well as on his arms.
At first glance, this man looked like a standing gorilla, giving out a strong visual impact!
He possessed a cultivation of Second-Order Dao Source Realm.
When they landed, they set their sights on Yang Kai.
“Greetings. I am Yang Kai from Maplewood City!” Yang Kang cupped his fist, “How should I address the both of you?”
The man in white was cold as ice, looking indifferent, as if he was not listening. On the contrary, the burly gorilla-man suddenly bellowed, “Hey, are you the Yang Kai we are looking for?”
Yang Kai’s heart skipped a beat, but still nodded solemnly, “If no one else shares the same name, it would be me.”
“Very well!” After seeing him, the burly man grinned and scanned Yang Kai thoroughly as though he was prey. He yelled, “You little brat! You stole my slot to the Sealed World! It seems like you can’t wait to go to hell!?”
From his words, Yang Kai realized that these two men were not messengers to inform him of his departure to Sealed Word. They were probably here to cause trouble.
Yang Kai frowned and explained, “My friend, there must be some misunderstanding. It’s complicated for me to explain. Why don’t you ask Elder Gao? I believe she will give you a satisfying answer.”
“Humph. There’s no need for that,” The burly man snorted coldly, “Elder Gao has already told me that she revoked my slot because of you. Bullshit! I earned it through a bloody battle in the Sect’s martial arts challenge. How could you just take it away like this?”
“Sect’s martial arts challenge?” Yang Kai frowned.
The quiet man in white had suddenly spoke, “Three months ago, a Sect’s internal competition was held for the disciples of our temple. Only the top twenty disciples in the competition were qualified to enter Four Seasons Realm. Xue Yi was… ranked fifteenth!”
“Oh, it’s Brother Xue!” Yang Kai just learnt the burly man’s name, then curiously looked at the man in white, “How do I address Your Excellency?
“This is Xiao Bai Yi, Senior Brother Xiao!” Xue Yi coldly snorted.
“I’m a little curious, I believe Brother Xiao’s ranking in that Sect’s martial art practice was…” Yang Kai tempted him for an answer.
“Senior Brother Xiao was ranked second!” Xue Yi replied with a smug face. He was stunned for a second after speaking and immediately regained his consciousness again, yelling, “Don’t try to change the topic, you little brat! Today, I came with Senior Brother Xiao to warn you. Don’t you dare to take the slot away from me without my permission! Do you really think that you can do whatever you want because Elder Gao has your back? Don’t be stupid, or I will crush your head!”
He opened his large hand while speaking, clenched his fist and moved it towards Yang Kai to threaten him.
Yang Kai smiled, “Then what should I do to persuade Brother Xue to give up his slot?”
“Very simple!” Xiao Bai Yi said lightly, “Our slots were all obtained through Sect’s martial arts challenge. In other words, the strongest wins. If you can kill Junior Brother Xue, then your slot will be well deserved, and none will complain about it.”
“Indeed!” Xue Yi nodded with excitement, “Kill… or be killed, the one who remains alive wins the spot!”
“Well, that isn’t something I can do….” Yang Kai hesitated.
This bloody ‘killed or be killed’ suggestion made him feel uneasy. It was just death after all if he got killed, but he was worried that he might get into trouble if he really killed Xue Yi.
“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Xiao Bai Yi cold as usual. “Unless… you’re scared?”
“Why does Brother Xiao have to provoke me?” Yang Kai expressed a wry smile.
“Heh heh, if you are scared, it’s better for you to leave Azure Sun Mountain Range now. Given your weak cultivation of First-Order Dao Source Realm, I’m worried that I would accidentally kill you!” Xue Yi laughed arrogantly.
“Haiz!” Yang Kai sighed, “I understand your intention.”
He did not expect that a slot in the Four Seasons Realm could cause such drama. If he had a choice, he would prefer not to fight with the cultivator of Azure Sun Temple.
But since Xue Yi was being so aggressive, he realized that forbearance was not the way out of this.
After all, getting into the Four Seasons Realm was a must, since he had promised Qin Zhao Yang and he had also used the Jade Beauty Beggar Token from the Senior Expert.
“Since you two are so enthusiastic… then it would be impolite if this Yang refused. Brother Xiao, please be our witness!”
“Of course,” Xiao Bai Yi was surprised that Yang Kai accepted their challenge. He was expecting Yang Kai to be scared shitless and run for his life when he appeared along with Xue Yi. However, it did not go as he expected.
He said lightly, “The purpose of me coming here with Junior Brother Xue is just to be a witness. No matter who wins or who is in danger, I will not interfere.”
“Brother Xiao seems like someone who can be trusted,” Yang Kai grinned. “Then I shall rely on you.”
“You better look out for yourself and not give up your life easily. Otherwise, it will give a bad reputation to our temple if this rumour spreads out.” Xiao Bai Yi narrowed his eyes.
…
In the void, two beautiful shadows were hiding aside, quietly looking downwards.
Chen Qian said, “This Yang Kai is quite courageous. He didn’t even flinch when facing a person who is one Order higher than him.”
“Courage has nothing to do with strength!” Gao Xue Ting said lightly.
She lifted her head and spotted something in the void while speaking. She got annoyed and said angrily, “How improper for you to be here for such a small thing! Go mind your own business!”
Chen Qian turned after hearing this and smiled, “Sir Temple Master, are you bored?”
At this moment, the voice of Wen Zi Shan reached their ears. “Two beautiful ladies, are you interested in having a drink with this Temple Master? This Temple Master has specially prepared…”
“Not interested!”
“Not joining!”
The two ladies did not wait for him to finish his sentence and ruthlessly rejected him, leaving no room for negotiation.
Wen Zi Shan was stunned for a while, then sighed with a heartbroken face, “Life is meaningless if there is wine without company…”
“Behave yourself, or I will flip your table!” Gao Xue Ting looked there coldly.
Wen Zi Shan slapped his face, and cried in despair, “How did I raise you into such a cold-hearted person… unlike me at all!”
Gao Xue Ting spoke furiously, “Are you my father or what? Why do I have to be like you?”
Wen Zi Shan was speechless.
The corner of Gao Xue Ting’s mouth curved, revealing a smile that she was trying to hide.
…
“Senior Brother Xiao, is he going to fight me?” Xue Yi asked.
“Yes!” Xiao Bai Yi nodded.
“Then, shall I start?” Xue Yi asked again.
He did not even wait for Xiao Bai Yi’s answer. Right after his words, he rushed at Yang Kai and swung a punch at him.
Even though Yang Kai had a fast reaction, he did not expect that this simple-minded gorilla-man to be so cunning. In the blink of an eye, his punch already reached in front of his face.
There was a raging wind following the punch, a strong destructive force surrounded at the top of his fist, gathered at one point and gleamed.
In shock, Yang Kai could only retreat a few steps with his unsteady feet.
Despite having a huge body, Xue Yi was unimaginably agile. He kept an extremely close distance with Yang Kai, like maggots on rotting bones, and smiled with a smug face, “Little brat, if you can still survive after this, better be good to yourself!”
The punch landed straight on Yang Kai’s face.
A loud explosion and an unleashed raging power followed closely right after the hit. Yang Kai lost his ground and was thrown into the temple wall, smashing a big hole in the strong wall.
*Hong long long…*
A series of sounds came out from the temple. It seemed that several walls had been destroyed due to the impact. The breaking sounds gradually stopped after a long while.
“So boring!” Xue Yi shook his big pot fist and coldly snorted. Without even looking in Yang Kai’s direction, he said, “Senior Brother Xiao, let’s go!”
Xiao Bai Yi did not move. He looked forward with his squinted eyes, and his gaze seemed to be able to penetrate the void.
Suddenly, his expression changed. He bellowed, “It’s not over yet…”
“Huh?” Xue Yi turned around after hearing it.
A man slowly came out from the hole in the wall. He shook both his arms, and bared his teeth in a grimace, seeming to be telling everyone that he was in pain.
“Luckily he blocked it in the nick of time!” Wen Zi Shan was looking downwards with his squinted eyes, and praised, “Good reflexes!”
In that instance, Wen Zi Shan clearly saw that Yang Kai crossed his arms hastily in front of him and blocked the punch.
The devastating blow from Xue Yi did not hit his head, but his arms. Otherwise, with his brutal force, Yang Kai would have passed out even if his head was not blown up.
“He is physically strong… This little brat!” Gao Xue Ting squinted her beautiful eyes too.
Chen Qian said, “I remember Xue Yi cultivated the Golden Monarch Body before, right?”
Gao Xue Ting nodded, “He started to cultivate it when he was at the Origin King Realm. If I’m not mistaken, he cultivated it to the Sixth stage. Talking about physical strength, among all of the Dao Source Realm disciples, except for that man, he is the best.”
“Seems like he was unscathed by taking a direct blow from Xue Yi. I suppose Yang Kai has cultivated the Body Tempering Secret Art!” Chen Qian thought deeply.
“Little Xue Ting, why don’t we make a bet?” Wen Zi Shan turned his attention to her.
“What bet?” Gao Xue Ting looked over.
“A bet on who wins!” Wen Zi Shan smiled, pointing downwards.
“What will we be betting?” Gao Xue Ting asked coldly.
“Hm, let me think…” Wen Zi Shan thought deeply. “Ah, Little Xue Ting, didn’t you always want to see what it is like in the Life or Death Door? This King shall allow you to enter if you win.”
“Really?” Gao Xue Ting exclaimed as her eyes focused.
Standing in a corner, Chen Qian’s expression changed at those words “Life or Death Door”.
“When has this King ever lied to you?” Wen Zi Shan had a harmless smile as he spoke.
Gao Xue Ting’s eyes bored into Wen Zi Shan, trying to figure out his true intention, but he merely maintained a gentle smile. After a while, Gao Xue Ting finally removed her gaze, said “It is true that as a Sect Master, you have never behaved like one. You are always fooling around and never did any honest work…”
Wen Zi Shan’s face turned dark, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, “This King feels so useless after hearing that!”
Gao Xue Ting changed the direction of the topic and said, “But you have never lied to anyone!”
“Does this King only have this one good virtue?” Wen Zi Shan looked dejected.
“Then, what do you want if you win?” Gao Xue Ting asked coldly.
Wen Zi Shan laughed whimsically, his bright eyes swept across Gao Xue Ting from top to bottom a few times.
She blushed, feeling extremely uncomfortable and said, “Stop any of your dirty thoughts or I’ll dig your eyes out.”
“What were you thinking?” Wen Zi Shan laughed, “Well, how about this: If I win, you will owe me a small favour that will not violate your principles and will not be a demanding request!”
“Small favour? What kind of favour?” Gao Xue Ting asked carefully.
“Well… I haven’t thought about it. I’ll let you know when I have thought of one.” Wen Zi Shan laughed.
“Sister Gao, don’t be fooled! Who knows what he’s plotting to do?” Chen Qian warned her, lest Gao Xue Ting fall into Wen Zi Shan’s trap.
“I know!” Gao Xue Ting agreed, she turned her attention downwards as she spoke “But he has to win the bet first, otherwise, there’s no meaning to anything he said.”
She turned to Wen Zi Shan and agreed, “Okay, it’s a deal.”
“That’s a promise!” Wen Zi Shan chuckled, “No regrets.”
“You should start preparing the permit for me to enter the Life or Death door!”
Chen Qian sighed, looking helpless. Although she did not believe that Yang Kai would be able to defeat Xue Yi, who was ranked fifteenth in the entire Azure Sun Temple’s Dao Source Realm hierarchy, she could not help but have a bad hunch – Sir Temple Master was always unpredictable, but he was always very reliable during critical times.
Chen Qian was doubtful that Wen Zi Shan would allow Gao Xue Ting to enter the Life or Death Door. He must be very confident that he would win.
Considering all of this, she quickly looked down.
Below them, Xue Yi was startled by Yang Kai, who was walking towards him. “You should have stayed down. Why did you get up? You are seeking your own death!”
“Friend, you sure are vicious. Thanks for the lesson!!” Yang Kai snorted.
A voice suddenly spoke into his ear, “Little brat, do well and beat your opponent to the ground. This King promises to grant you any request that is not too excessive!”
Yang Kai was stunned by the voice.
It was undeniably the voice of the Temple Master of Azure Sun Temple, Wen Zi Shan!
Yang Kai had only met this man a few days ago, therefore, he was still very familiar with his voice. Besides, not a single person in the Azure Sun Temple headquarters would dare to impersonate Wen Zi Shan.
In other words, the person who whispered in his ear was none other than Wen Zi Shan.
“What the…?” Yang Kai frowned. He released his Divine Sense, scanned the surrounding area but found no trace of Wen Zi Shan.
If it had not happened to Yang Kai himself, he would have never believed that the Master of a Sect had sent a secret message to an outsider to defeat an elite disciple of his own Sect.
On top of that, Wen Zi Shan actually promised to grant him a favour?
[What is the meaning of this?]
Even the intelligent Yang Kai could not fathom.
Just when he was lost in his thoughts, a fierce blow came his way.
“What are you thinking about? How dare you get distracted in front of your enemy? Are you underestimating me?” He finished his sentence with another attack, just as aggressive as the previous one, a force enveloping his fist, preparing to destroy anything in its way.
“Enemy?” Yang Kai raised his head abruptly, pierced Xue Yi with his ice-cold gaze. Without flinching, he returned Xue Yi’s attack with a punch just as vicious.
*Hong…*
There was a loud commotion, and the sky trembled.
The ground on which both Yang Kai and Xue Yi were standing began to crumble apart in a spider web pattern and collapsed into a large round pit.
*Chi chi chi…*
An ear-splitting sound emitted from their fists when their Source Qi clashed with each other.
The surrounding rubble and soil floated into the air weightlessly, and space within a thousand-metre radius was distorted.
“Not too bad!” Xue Yi raised his thick eyebrows slightly, surprised by the Yang Kai who was inches in front of him. Although Yang Kai was one Minor Realm beneath him, he was a tough opponent.
Xiao Bai Yi was astonished, his face changed ever so slightly.
“You’re not too bad yourself…” Yang Kai returned, the corners of his lips curved and sneered, “At talking!”
With a swing of his arm, Yang Kai sent another punch towards Xue Yi’s face.
Xue Yi did not falter. With a cold snort, he blocked the attack with his arms. He then immediately released his arms and took advantage of Yang Kai’s attack to launch a counterattack.
Yang Kai responded quickly by unclenching his fist and positioned it in front of his neck. He waited for Xue Yi’s attack to land and grabbed his punch tightly as though he was trying to crush it into pieces.
“How naïve!” Xue Yi grinned. He tilted his body backwards slightly, his feet rebounded from the ground like a cannonball, propelling him towards Yang Kai’s abdomen.
Yang Kai lowered his elbows ferociously, and he dissolved the attack before it arrived!
Fighting in close combat, their probing, attacks and counter-attacks were speedy, like flashes of light.
Each of their movements was as smooth as floating clouds and flowing water, free of any routine, fully captivating their audience.
There was a trace of solemnity in Xiao Bai Yi’s eyes.
Although he was ranked second in the Sect’s martial arts challenge, he would definitely be overthrown in close combat with Xue Yi. However, Yang Kai was on par with Xue Yi.
In other words, he was on the same level as Xue Yi in aspects of close combat.
What baffled Xiao Bai Yi even more was that Yang Kai only had the level of First-Order Dao Source Realm! He was one level lower than Xue Yi, two levels lower than him.
[Where on Earth does this guy come from?] He and Xue Yi are the elites of Azure Sun Temple!
*Peng peng peng…*
In front of the palace, the two figures crisscrossed, going back and forth in front without using any artifacts or secret techniques, only the collision of the bodies and Source Qi. The raging battle bloomed in wild beauty, dazzling anyone who watched it.
One large pit after another appeared on the ground, the void was battered by the violent forces, and the battlefield shifted from one place to another. The entire solitary peak was chaotic!
“Sister Gao…” Chen Qian was dumbfounded. She was shocked by Yang Kai’s abilities, but she was even more worried about the bet between Gao Xue Ting and the unscrupulous Temple Master. In the case of Yang Kai winning, who knew what this tasteless Sir Temple Master would request of Gao Xue Ting.
“Damn, I got it wrong!” Gao Xue Ting gritted her teeth and glared fiercely at Wen Zi Shan. He was still sipping wine and eating spirit fruit with a triumphant look etched on his face, aggravating the already frustrated Gao Xue Ting.
“Don’t be so confident.” Gao Xue Ting spoke coldly, “If that is the case, don’t blame me for summoning my trump card!”
As she finished, she stared down again with a slight change in Divine Sense.
Below, Xue Yi, who was in mid-battle with Yang Kai suddenly yelled in horror, “No!”
He seemed to have received a great shock, his face filled with terror.
Yang Kai ignored whatever that was happening to him and threw a direct punch at his face.
Xue Yi let out a strange cry. Like a kite with a broken string, he floated high above the ground, blood spurting out of his nostrils, then fell heavily to the ground.
“Huh?” Xiao Bai Yi gasped at the scene in astonishment, unable to fathom how Xue Yi could have received a direct hit when both parties were evenly matched.
“It seems like your help was wasted!” In the void, Wen Zi Shan smiled at Gao Xue Ting, fully taking pleasure in her misfortune.
Gao Xue Ting snorted coldly, said: “Save your nonsense, just wait and see!”
Wen Zi Shan was unaffected by this embarrassment, after all, he had always been thick-skinned…
On the other side, Xue Yi slowly got up from the ground, rubbed beneath his nose and snickered, “Of course I don’t want to be confined for half a year… Ancient Dark Peak, that damn place is not meant for the living!”
“What nonsense are you talking about? Have you been beaten stupid?” Yang Kai squinted at him.
“I’m saying… you’re dead meat!” An extremely dangerous beam of light shot out of Xue Yi’s eyes, and his body was glowing. “I wanted to just teach you a lesson, but now… I might just kill you by accident!”
The light emitted by his body suddenly exploded, accompanied by a shocking roar, his skin and body glowed with a metallic lustre like steel.
Meanwhile, the momentum of Xue Yi’s body was rising steadily. He was only a Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, but was able to unleash a domineering aura, comparable to one with Third-Order Dao Source Realm!
Yang Kai examined the transformed Xue Yi with his eyes squinted, and smiled faintly, “Body Tempering Technique!”
While speaking, he flicked two beams of Source Qi towards Xue Yi.
It was just a probing, Xue Yi clearly noticed it too, and he did not bother to dodge it.
*Dong Dong…*
Two sounds popped from the attack that hit on Xue Yi’s body, resulting in crisp sounds like stones striking steel, and also causing some sparks.
“It’s useless. Your attack is nothing against my Golden Monarch Body!” Xue Yi proudly said with his head held high, looking downwards at Yang Kai.
“You will know soon if it’s useless or not!” Yang Kai did not try to argue with him and disappeared in a flash.
Xue Yi narrowed his eyes and frowned.
At that moment, he lost sight of Yang Kai. The speed of his opponent was beyond his imagination.
But as an elite disciple of Azure Sun Temple, he did not fluster and panic. He stretched his large fan-like hand and reached behind him.
As he had predicted, Yang Kai appeared right behind him and into Xue Yi’s large hand, as if walking right into a trap.
Xue Yi smirked and stomped his big foot.
In an instant, the Earth quaked and the mountains trembled.
Followed by a dull roar, an Earth Dragon suddenly surfaced from the ground, then performed a killing charge towards Yang Kai in a serpentine motion.
There was the might of Principles lingering above the Earth Dragon. It was obviously a certain kind of Secret Technique cultivated by Xue Yi.
The Earth Dragon moved like lightning and rushed at Yang Kai’s face in the blink of an eye. At this moment, it was too late for Yang Kai, who was in the air and attempted to backstab Xue Yi earlier, to escape. The Earth Dragon opened its mouth and bit Yang Kai. Followed by a munch, Yang Kai’s body was broken in two.
“Huh?” Xue Yi did not feel glad or relieved when he got him, but looked startled instead.
In that instance, he did not receive the sensation of triumph. He looked at, unsurprisingly, the broken body disappearing into blue smoke. It was actually just an afterimage.
“Shit!” Xue Yi bellowed and immediately looked forward.
Yang Kai had emerged in front of him. He lowered his body, aimed closely to his abdomen, and swung both of his fists, which then turned into countless afterimages…
*Peng peng peng…*
Xue Yi’s burly physique kept retreating while receiving such heavy blows. Haloes of forces consistently erupted from the blows on his stomach, resulting in blasting noises.
“Golden… Barrier!” Xue Yi abruptly roared. A layer of earthy yellow halo emerged around him, like a cylinder enveloping him in it. After performing this defensive Secret Technique, he held his fists together and smashed down fiercely.
*Hong…*
Dust was everywhere. An enormous deep pit was formed on the ground, but Yang Kai was nowhere to be seen.
Yang Kai was standing still several tens of metres away, with a deeply thoughtful face.
“After I refined the blood, bones and bead of an actual Dragon, my strength and reflexes seem to have grown a lot. Perhaps, it might also be due to the effect of continuous refining and absorption of the Ten Thousand Medicinal Treasures Soup. When I drank it that time, it hadn’t been fully refined yet, only stored inside my physique,” He secretly pondered.
Some time ago, he would not be able to deal damage to an enemy like Xue Yi with this move. But now…
Opposite of him, Xue Yi seemed to be unscathed, but his aura was a little disordered, and there was even a trace of blood on the corner of his mouth.
“How can this be?” Xiao Bai Yi’s insides were in a stormy state of shock. In the Sect’s martial arts challenge three months ago, he fought Xue Yi head-on once, and he learnt how powerful his Golden Monarch Body was.
The defence was solid as a rock, it was not easy to break through even for him. That battle was still fresh in his memory, which had taken a full hour for him to defeat Xue Yi, even with his best effort.
But now, he witnessed that Yang Kai had injured Xue Yi with only his physical strength.
[Now that I notice, did he actually keep his true potential hidden during the last battle?]
This thought flowed out of Xiao Bai Yi’s mind, making him a mess.
[This man must not be as simple as he looked! He either concealed his real cultivation, or he was born extraordinary!] Xiao Bai Yi secretly guessed.
“Not bad, Brother Xue! You have trained yourself well to put up a fight!” Yang Kai stood not far away, smiling at Xue Yi.
Xue Yi had long lost the arrogance he had before. Since his injury, he had sensed that something was wrong. His Golden Monarch Body had been cultivated to the Sixth Stage, and even the Emperor Realms in the Sect had praised him for his physical strength. Still, he was now being wounded by an anonymous First-Order Dao Source Realm.
If someone told him about this earlier, he would probably just laugh.
However, the truth was right in front of him.
“But…” Yang Kai said with the look of an eagle in his eyes, “You will only be beaten… because there is no way for you to beat me!”
“Keep all your shameless boasting to yourself!” Xue Yi became angry out of shame. The corner of his eyes twitched furiously. He got triggered and turned ferocious, yelling, “Don’t blame me for killing you later!”
After speaking, he fiercely performed a mudra with both hands.
A mysterious power exploded out of his body, and his already burly figure suddenly grew even larger. The metallic lustre from the stacked muscles in his body became more and more dazzling, shining in a bright white light.
He kicked his feet, and a light flashed across his fists. He summoned a brass knuckles artifact, exuding an extremely dangerous aura, and pounced at Yang Kai.
Suddenly, the white light on his body burst radiantly and lingered around the mountain peak, making the whole world misty white.
“This is not good! He is ready to fight to the death!” Wen Zi Shan looked down with his squinted eyes, secretly prepared to interfere if the situation turned bad. After all, Xue Yi was an elite disciple of Sect while Yang Kai was an important guest, so he did not wish for either of them to die.
“It’s unexpected that this little brat is capable of forcing Xue Yi into this situation!” Chen Qian was slightly surprised, “This man seems to have talent. I wonder if Sir Temple Master plans to invite him into Sect?”
“It’s fine to invite him into Sect, but…”
“But what?”
“But I feel like I have seen this little brat somewhere, and… it’s dangerous!”
Chen Qian looked at Gao Xue Ting in wonder. She did not understand what she was talking about.
At this moment, colourful skyglow burst out in the white world. The skyglow was so bright that it could hurt the eyes and cut out a path in the white world like a heavenly blade.
“The Power of Five Elements?” Gao Xue Ting raised her eyebrow. Her face was full of surprise.
She felt the Power of Five Elements from the colourful skyglow, which are mutually restraining, endless cycling, continuously flowing…
It seemed like the colourful skyglow and the white light were the only things left in the whole world, battling each other.
The path opened by the skyglow was widening, coming from there were Xue Yi’s roar with dissatisfaction and Yang Kai’s continuous low mumbles. They were clearly fighting in the heat of the battle.
Xiao Bai Yi, who was watching from below, had no choice but to perform a Secret Technique in order to withstand the impact of terrifying power.
“He got to this level in just three months?” Xiao Bai Yi was terrified, “It seems that Xue Yi has worked very hard too!”
He was sure that the Xue Yi today was so much more powerful than three months ago. If he had the strength at that time, he would have gotten into the top ten!
But even so… it was unbelievable that the little brat named Yang Kai could compete with him!
Suddenly, a low voice was heard, “Myriads Sword Light, Radiant Moon Swallows the Wolf!”
When the words fell, countless dazzling sword lights shot down from the sky. All of them showed colourful lights and were full of the Power of Five Elements, unstoppable!
At the same time, a wave of extraordinary energy slowly drifted away.
*Chi chi chi…*
The white world was instantly shattered, leaving a group of colourful lights, silently in the mid-air.
Xue Yi was full of wounds and fell from the sky with a look of unwillingness and helplessness. His face was extremely pale and his metallic body had lost its previous lustre.
The brass knuckles artifacts on both his fists lost their shine too.
Seeing that Xue Yi was about to fall heavily on the ground, Xiao Bai Yi moved swiftly under him with a sway of his body and caught him in his arms.
He examined Xue Yi’s injuries and felt relieved after finding that he was not in serious trouble, but had just overly consumed his energy.
Lifting his head again, Xiao Bai Yi coldly stared at Yang Kai, who was still in mid-air. He then fixed his sight on the long broadsword in Yang Kai’s hand and coldly snorted, “Emperor Artifact?”
Yang Kai grinned.
“Do you still call yourself a man for relying on the suppressive power of Emperor Artifact?” Xiao Bai Yi despised.
Yang Kai wondered, “If he can use artifacts, why can’t I?”
“If you have guts, you should fight fairly with Junior Brother Xue!” Xiao Bai Yi looked even more contemptuous.
To him, the reason why Yang Kai was able to win all of a sudden was only because of the power of Emperor Artifact. If he just depended solely on his own abilities, he may not be able to beat Xue Yi.
“If you can, find him an Emperor Artifact and have him fight me again!” Yang Kai did not feel ashamed of himself.
“Very well!” Xiao Bai Yi seemed to be annoyed and coldly stared at Yang Kai, “You have won this battle. I hope you can return from the Four Seasons Realm alive!”
After speaking, he ignored Yang Kai, carried Xue Yi on his back and flew away.
After they left, Yang Kai looked up at the void and asked, “Is this good enough?”
A shadow flashed in the void and Wen Zi Shan appeared. He gazed at the Myriads Sword in Yang Kai’s hand and asked, “Hey little boy, where did you get this Emperor Artifact? This is not something that you can simply find on the street.”
“None of your business!”
Wen Zi Shan was choked by his words, and could not help but to roll his eyes. Soon enough, He regained his expression and said solemnly, “I can see your good intentions. You knew that the longer Xue Yi continued his behaviour, the more dangerous it would be for him, and he might just end up losing his mind. That’s why you used Emperor Artifact to make a quick fight, but too bad… You have been misunderstood.”
“I was just having fun with the suppressive power of Emperor Artifact,” Yang Kai coldly snorted.
“Heh heh, Xiao Bai Yi is not as easy to deal with as Xue Yi. The words he left behind are very concerning. Perhaps, he is going to lay his hands on you in the Four Season Realm. Do you need this King to talk to him?”
“No need!” Yang Kai pouted.
Wen Zi Shan did not get angry but smiled. He thought for a while then said, “Then… do you want this King to help you in refining this Emperor Artifact? I noticed that you have low compatibility with this Emperor Artifact, you can’t even unleash a small portion of its power. You don’t have much time left, if you accept the help from this King, you can be assured that you can unleash ten percent of its power in the Four Seasons Realm and be invincible in the Sealed World. Interested?”
Wen Zi Shan seemed to be sincere in offering Yang Kai help.
However, Yang Kai shook his head and teased, “Temple Master Wen, are you that desperate for me to make a request?”
The corner of Wen Zi Shan’s mouth twitched after hearing this, and he whispered, “Damn it… he saw through me!”
Yang Kai burst into laughter, “This little brat will cautiously think of a request. When the time comes, I will come and ask from Temple Master Wen!”
He understood that Wen Zi Shan was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master and also an Azure Sun Temple’s Temple Master. Even though this person seemed to be unreliable sometimes, Masters like him always kept their promises.
Wen Zi Shan had promised him he would fulfil a request that was not too excessive if he beat Xue Yi.
Yang Kai could not think of any favour that he wanted at that time, so it was better for him to keep his chip now. Maybe he would need some great help at a certain critical moment in the future.
“This little brat is too cunning!” Wen Zi Shan bitterly said. Soon after, his face turned indifferent and shrugged, “Fine, you deserve to make the call. Come and gather at Fallen Flower Peak in seven days. There will be someone guiding your departure at that time.”
“Yes!” Yang Kai nodded, cupped his fist and bowed, “Goodbye, Temple Master Wen!”
Wen Zi Shan smiled faintly. His body started to fade gradually and completely disappeared a few breaths later.
After his departure, Yang Kai frowned and glanced at the void on the other side with a bewildered expression.
He had felt that some people were hiding there, but he could not find them. However, if they were Emperor Realms, everything would make sense.
Since they did not take the initiative to reveal themselves, they were probably just here to watch the show and Yang Kai certainly would not try to cause himself any troubles.
He turned towards the ruined temple and left.
“This little brat seems to have noticed us!” Chen Qian was surprised, staring at Yang Kai’s back and spoke softly.
“I think he is just suspicious of us,” Gao Xue Ting said. “But even so, his senses are extraordinarily keen, this person is very interesting!”
“Sister Gao, do you think he was from… there?”
Gao Xue Ting turned and took a glance at her.
Chen Qian said, “If he wasn’t from there, how could he have such strength? What’s more, he has an Emperor Artifact with him! He is only just a First-Order Dao Source Realm!”
Gao Xue Ting shook his head, “If he really came from there, we would know. Still… the rising stars of this generation are really coming out more and more!”
Chen Qian nodded after hearing this, “Yeah… Princess Lan perfectly inherited the Bright Moon Ethereal Body of the Bright Moon Great Emperor and I heard that she was promoted to Dao Source Realm one year ago. She will definitely go to Four Seasons Realm this time. As for Heavenly Martial Holy Land, they seem to have someone who possesses a Yin-Yang Dual Body there. The Zhuang Bu Fan from Orthodoxy Temple doesn’t have a special physique, but he is bright and talented. Since the beginning of his cultivation, he has been challenging the stronger cultivators like they were a piece of cake and made a big name for himself at his young age. Right now, he is already a Third-Order Dao Source Realm. Although the two major chambers of commerce are mainly businessmen, they have recruited many talented people in recent years… I suddenly feel like this Southern Territory already belongs to them. Damn, I’m old…”
Gao Xue Ting was quiet. Obviously, she felt the same.
…
Yang Kai returned to his room and stepped up his efforts in refining the Emperor Artifact.
Wen Zi Shan had made it clear: After seven days, he would have to proceed to gather at Fallen Flower Peak, and there was not much time left for him.
While comprehending the knowledge and experiences that passed down by the ancestor of Qin’s Family, he was also strengthening his connection between Myriads Sword at the same time.
Wen Zi Shan was right about him not being able to unleash even a small portion of Myriads Sword’s power yet. He could severely injure Xue Yi with one move mostly due to his own strength, and only used a tiny bit of power from the Emperor Artifact.
Time flew and a few days passed.
On this day, Yang Kai was cultivating in isolation.
All of a sudden, his expression changed and he opened his eyes.
An unusual tidal force surged between the Heavens and Earth. This force was extremely mighty and mysterious, it was unpredictable.
When he listened attentively, there was a vague noise coming out of it.
Yang Kai looked solemn. He went outside of the temple with a sway of his body.
The sky was dim and the earth was hazy. There was a tremendous shadow covering the sky, and it seemed like a huge monster was flying over from above.
Yang Kai gazed with his head up and was stunned by it right on the spot.
It was a gigantic white bird flying in the sky. The white bird looked very normal, like a pigeon being magnified many times, but the pressure that came out from its body was as high as a mountain.
“What is this? A Divine Spirit?” Yang Kai was surprised and puzzled.
Looking at the flying direction of the giant pigeon, it seemed to be flying towards the Main Peak of the Azure Sun Mountain Range.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
Many figures emerged from all directions. Apparently, they were all alarmed by this.
While on top of the Main Peak, Wen Zi Shan appeared strangely in a flash. He stared at the giant pigeon, and his usual playful face had turned serious.
After a short while, the giant pigeon flew above Wen Zi Shan.
In a flash of brilliance, the giant pigeon turned instantly into a normal-sized pigeon. The astonishing pressure and force also disappeared.
The white pigeon did not stop and sped straight at Wen Zi Shan. Wen Zi Shan did not block or dodge it, and he just stood still in place.
When the white pigeon was only about ten feet away from Wen Zi Shan, it immediately exploded into fluorescent snow. The fluorescent snow wrapped Wen Zi Shan’s whole body and immersed into his skin, then gradually disappeared.
*Whoosh whoosh whoosh…*
The crowd who followed the white pigeon closely emerged beside Wen Zi Shan one after another. They were the Emperor Realm Masters of Azure Sun Temple.
Qiu Ran frowned and stared silently at the change of Wen Zi Shan’s expression.
Chen Qian and Gao Xue Ting were standing side by side. They both seemed to know about something and quietly waited.
Among them, a middle-aged man beside Gao Xue Ting, whispered to her with a frowning face, “Elder Gao, about that thing just now… was it a messenger from that Sir?”
Gao Xue Ting nodded, “It should be, but I have only heard about it, I have never really seen it with my own eyes.”
The middle-aged man was astonished, “I can’t believe that Sir actually sent a message, does it mean that something big is about to happen?”
The crowd stayed in silence, feeling apprehensive. Everyone here was in the Emperor Realm, they would not be worried and anxious if it was just a casual matter. However, the situation changed, a messenger from that Sir had appeared in Azure Sun Temple, that Sir would never make a scene like this, if it was not for something big.
And now, Wen Zi Shan, who received the message, was the only one who learnt about the matter.
Therefore, all of them looked at Wen Zi Shan, in hope of knowing what happened.
But they could not figure out any clues from the change of Wen Zi Shan’s expression, which made them feel nervous and helpless.
After a long while, Wen Zi Shan gave out a soft breath and spoke lightly, “Who would have thought of such a thing!?”
“Sir Temple Master!” Qiu Ran was the first one who stepped forward and broke the silence of the crowd. Just when he was about to ask about it, Wen Zi Shan interrupted him and explained, “A message from Sir Heaven’s Revelations regarding the Four Seasons Realm. This time, things have changed!”
“Heaven’s Revelations Great Emperor!” the middle-aged man who spoke previously, shouted in excitement, “Is this truly from Heaven’s Revelation Great Emperor!?”
Among the Ten Great Emperors, except for a few who built the great forces of Sects and seated in the headquarters, the rest were like a hidden dragon who showed their tail but never their face. For instance, Bustling World Great Emperor, he incarnated into various forms and fooled around the world. Perhaps, a pitiful beggar who was seen along the street in the cold weather, was actually a disguised Bustling World Great Emperor.
If someone was being kind enough to give him a hand, he or she would receive a great blessing from him in return.
Heaven’s Revelation Great Emperor was equally unpredictable.
Since he was titled the name of Heaven’s Revelations, he had the ability that none of the Great Emperors could possess. Heaven’s Revelations Great Emperor had the ability to see through time, he could see the past and foresee the future! It was the most mysterious Divine Ability of all Great Emperors.
Although most of the people knew that he lived in the Valley of Heaven’s Secret, no one knew where this place was, not even a clue of which part of the Star Boundary it was at!
“Four Seasons Realm… Why would it bother Sir Heaven’s Revelations to take action?” Qiu Ran was bewildered.
Four Seasons Realm, this particular Sealed World was relatively renowned in Southern Territory, but it did not involve the entire Star Field. According to the character of Heaven’s Revelations Great Emperor, he would not bother to lay his hand on matters in such a middle class Sealed World.
“That’s why I said, the situation changed!” Wen Zi Shan said with a frowny face, “Four Seasons Realm this time… has a connection with the Shattered Star Sea!”
“What?” Qiu Ran exclaimed.
“Shattered Star Sea?” the pretty face of Gao Xue Ting slightly changed.
Shattered Star Sea was a place kept secret, only a few people, including masters of Emperor Realm knew exactly where it was. Shattered Star Sea can be found in The Void Crack of the Star Boundary, but it did not have a fixed location.
And Shattered Star Sea was the place where the well-known Heaven Devouring Great Emperor was buried.
It could even be said that Shattered Star Sea was born due to the death of the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor.
Rumor had it that the Shattered Star Sea possessed the mystery of becoming a Great Emperor, also the secrets and power of the Divine Ability of the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor.
Such a place was astonishingly attractive to the Emperor Realm experts.
Unfortunately, the cultivators with the level of Emperor Realm could never enter Shattered Star Sea. It seemed that the masters of the Emperor Realm were being repelled by the Power of Law, while only the cultivators with the level of the Dao Source Realm were able to enter.
Every time the Shattered Star Sea opened, the entire Star Boundary would become excited.
All of the huge Sects would send their disciples into it, attempting to search for the mystery and legacy of the Great Emperor, desiring to accomplish an achievement that could be written in history.
Shattered Star Sea, a place much more earthshaking than the Four Seasons Realm!
When Wen Zi Shan said this, everyone immediately understood why a matter as trivial as the opening of the Four Seasons Realm could shock the Heaven’s Revelations Great Emperor.
The Heaven’s Revelations Great Emperor was involved when the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor was overthrown. They were able to track the whereabouts of the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor and saw his end with Heaven’s Revelations Great Emperor’s Divine Ability.
Otherwise, who would have dared to act rashly in front of the strongest master in the Star Boundary back then?
He would have been seeking his own death.
“What did Sir Heaven’s Revelations say?” Gao Xue Ting asked nervously.
Wen Zi Shan said, “It is not that serious, but it is quite unexpected for the Star Seal to appear in the Four Seasons Realm!”
“Star Seal?” Qiu Ran’s eyebrow jumped, “The ticket to enter the Shattered Star Sea?”
“Yes.”
“But…”
“I know what you want to say.” Wen Zi Shan waved his hand. “Over the years, the Star Seal has always appeared immediately prior to the opening of the Shattered Star Sea. It was unusual for the Star Seal to appear in one of the Sealed Worlds, but I assume it is probably a coincidence that this is happening at the same time as the opening of the Four Seasons Realm. Anyway, since it happened so suddenly, and we have been informed by Sir Heaven’s Revelation, we shall inform the disciples to work hard in searching for it. The number of Star Seals is related to the number of slots to enter the Shattered Star Sea, we absolutely cannot be careless about this.”
“What Sir Temple Master says does make sense,” Qiu Ran thought, nodded and said. “If that’s the case, I shall pass the order to the disciples to work hard. By the way, Sir Temple Master, since Azure Sun Temple received a message from Sir Heaven’s Revelations, the other great forces…”
“Anyone with a little bit of ability will definitely receive it.” Wen Zi Shan said.
“If that’s the case, the venture in the Four Seasons Realm will be many times more dangerous than before.” Qiu Ran could not help but reveal a worried look.
Wen Zi Shan smiled and said, “The seedlings must go through some rough patches, they can’t grow up if we’re always protecting them.”
“Sir Temple Master is right!” Qiu Ran said respectfully.
“Okay. Now that the situation has changed, we should depart earlier! Pass the order, gather everyone for departure tomorrow morning!” Wen Zi Shan said to Gao Xue Ting.
“Understood!” Gao Xue Ting replied.
Wen Zi Shan grinned and said, “Elder Gao, don’t forget what you have promised me…”
Gao Xue Ting’s pretty face changed slightly. She grit her teeth and said, “Does it have to be that way?”
Wen Zi Shan laughed sinisterly and said, “What’s wrong? You have to keep your word if you want to be a respectable person…”
Gao Xue Ting said bitterly, “Subordinate understands and will not disappoint Sir Temple Master!”
She finished her sentence with her jaw clenched, her beautiful eyes filled with bloody and tearful accusations!
“I’m looking forward to it!” Wen Zi Shan laughed loudly, he seemed to be in a good mood. In a blink of an eye, he disappeared.
Everyone cast curious looks at Gao Xue Ting, wondering what had happened between her and the Temple Master.
“Sister Gao…” Chen Qian said worriedly.
“There’s no need to speak, you’ll know tomorrow.” Gao Xue Ting was in an extremely bad mood, her emotions abnormal. Her chest inexplicably puffed violently as if she was in fury.
“Okay…!”
It was night when Yang Kai received the news for his departure to the Fallen Flower Peak the next morning.
To his surprise, it was Xiao Bai Yi who brought him the news.
He had no intention of any interaction and just left after passing on the message coldly.
It did not bother Yang Kai at all, but he secretly guessed that the advanced departure could have been related to what had happened during the day.
The next day, Yang Kai got up early and headed straight towards Fallen Flower Peak.
After a short while, he arrived at the square on top of the mountain.
Many people were already gathered there, some were Dao Source Realms, some were Emperor Realms, including Qiu Ran and Chen Qian whom he had met before, but they paid no attention to him after glancing at him.
However, the Dao Source Realm disciples were looking at him curiously.
It seems that the news of the battle between him and Xue Yi had spread among them, and everyone was very interested in him even as a stranger. Several people paled at the information that he was only a First-Order Dao Source Realm.
Xiao Bai Yi was among them but he did not even look at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai did not know anyone there and was not interested in making friends either, so he just waited quietly in a corner.
This was his first time witnessing disciples gathered in a big Sect ever since arriving in Star Boundary, but he was confident in his own abilities and did not feel intimidated.
As he waited quietly, someone approached him.
He turned his head to see an ordinary-looking young man in his twenties smiling at him.
The young man dressed very casually as well and did not possess any charisma. Such a person would not stand out in a crowd.
However, when he made his way towards Yang Kai, the few groups of disciples who were gathered stopped their chattering and turned their attention toward them.
Even a few Emperor Realm Masters noticed, including the young girl named Chen Qian, who had a look of worry on her face.
The young man stopped a short distance in front of Yang Kai, swept his eyes over him and broke into a bright and gentle smile, saying, “Are you the outsider who defeated Xue Yi?”
“I’m Yang Kai!” Yang Kai introduced himself while squinting at the man, giving him a sweep of his Divine Sense.
What changed Yang Kai’s indifferent expression was that he could not identify the level of the young man’s cultivation. It was as if he was non-existent after being scanned with Divine Sense. If Yang Kai did not see him with his own eyes, he would assume there was no one in front of him.
[This guy… is definitely not as ordinary as he looks!]
Combining the reactions of the surrounding disciples and Emperor Realms, Yang Kai privately deduced.
The young man smiled slightly and said, “So this is Brother Yang, I am Xia Sheng!”
“How can I help you, Brother Xia?” Yang Kai skipped the greeting and went straight to the point, maintaining vigilance.
“Nothing, I just want to chat,” Xia Sheng retained his bright smile and said. “I heard that Xue Yi was defeated by you, so I’m just a little curious.”
Yang Kai raised his brows, “Is Brother Xia planning to seek revenge for your fellow disciple?”
“Haha…” Xia Sheng laughed aloud, he waved his hand and said as if there was no one watching, “Don’t think like that, Brother Yang, I have no such intention. It’s just that… Although Xue Yi is crappy, considering that he was defeated by someone who has a cultivation a minor stage below him, Brother Yang’s abilities are not to be underestimated.”
At this point, Xia Sheng’s expression hardened. There was an enormous change in aura and demeanour, and he said in an arrogant and confident tone, “People like us are destined to dominate and become the overlords of the world, all of these old guys can kiss my foot…”
Yang Kai was speechless, trying hard to keep a straight face. The corners of his mouth twitched, feeling like something terrible was going to happen. As he had expected, a loud yell came from the side…
“Bastard!” Qiu Ran was furious and shouted at Xia Sheng, “I will tear your mouth open if you dare to speak such nonsense again!”
“Sir Deputy Temple Master…” Xia Sheng returned to his ordinary appearance again and said in a panic, “Disciple wasn’t referring to you, and I didn’t mean that… Please calm your nerves!”
Qiu Ran seemed to be familiar with Xia Sheng’s actions and did not really mean to teach him a lesson, but he did look extremely hurt by Xia Sheng’s words and sighed, “Subordinates imitate their superiors’ vices…”
But no one knew who was the superior he mentioned.
Xia Sheng looked at Yang Kai again, laughed, “Let me introduce myself again. Hello Brother Yang, I am Xia Sheng, ranked first place in the Sect’s martial arts challenge!”
“I had more or less guessed it.” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
Xia Sheng gave a stronger aura than Xiao Bai Yi, who ranked second place in the Sect’s challenge, so it was no question that he would rank first.
“We will definitely meet again, so… let’s work hard together!” Xia Sheng said.
“Okay! Let’s hope Brother Xia won’t be too far behind.” Yang Kai smiled sinisterly.
The smile on Xia Sheng’s face slightly stiffened, but quickly recovered and grinned, “Interesting, interesting! Brother Yang is indeed fascinating, much more than Little Bai.”
Xiao Bai Yi, who was standing nearby spoke in anger, “Who are you calling Little Bai? I will challenge you to a fight now!”
Xia Sheng shrugged his shoulders, looking helpless.
A streak of violet light gleamed across the crowd.
Wen Zi Shan appeared.
He swept across the room wondering, “Isn’t Elder Gao leading the group? Why isn’t she here?”
Chen Qian stepped forward and replied, “Sister Gao should be here soon.”
“Women… so troublesome!” Wen Zi Shan muttered to himself. He looked upwards to the sky and smiled, “There she is.”
For some reason, he had a look of extreme anticipation that his eyes had a slight glow.
The crowd followed the direction of his gaze. Sure enough, a bright white light was zooming towards them at an incredible speed.
The white light descended and faded in front of everyone, revealing the alluring figure of Gao Xue Ting.
“Elder Gao, all the disciples have assembled. Do you…” Qiu Ran rushed toward Gao Xue Ting. After all, she was in charge of the expedition to the Four Seasons Realm Sealed World, she was also the one to lead the disciples to the entrance. However, due to unexpected reasons, there was still something that everyone needed to be informed of before departing, especially regarding the Sealed Star!
Before Qiu Ran could finish, he gaped at Gao Xue Ting with huge eyes as if he had seen a ghost, exclaiming inside, “This woman is NOT Elder Gao!”
The visual impact was so shocking that he almost blurted out, “Who the hell are you and how dare you impersonate the Elder Gao of our temple? Reveal yourself now!”
He swallowed his words before they came out, but the look on his face said it all.
Not just Qiu Ran, Chen Qian also opened her pair of beautiful eyes wide and covered her red lips with a small hand, staring appallingly at Gao Xue Ting.
It was the same for all of the Emperor Realms, they were dumbfounded.
Even the Emperor Realms who usually kept their face straight were affected by this scene, so there is no doubt that those disciples were naturally more shocked.
Everyone gaped at Gao Xue Ting in astonishment, as if their eyes were popping out.
“Everyone… Why are you looking at me like this? Is there something on my face?” Gao Xue Ting asked faintly. The corner of her mouth curved slightly, revealing a charming smile, but her beautiful eyes were filled with intimidation.
An inexplicable chill struck them, making everyone shiver like they were in an igloo.
*Dong Dong…*
The sound of gulpings could be heard.
“Did I see it wrongly? Elder Gao is actually… smiling?” a voice came in suddenly.
“She really smiled! Oh my god, for several dozen years, since this disciple came to this temple, never have I seen Elder Gao reveal her smile. Now that I have seen it, I have no more regrets.”
“This is not real, this is not real, this is not real… It’s my imagination, it’s my imagination, it’s my imagination…”
A bunch of Dao Source Realm disciples were baffled, they could not believe their eyes. And the reason for it was Gao Xue Ting’s smile.
“You guys seem to have a lot of opinions about this Queen!” Gao Xue Ting turned to the disciples after hearing their discussions. She still continued smiling, but her expression became even stiffer.
None of the disciples dared to have eye contact with her. All of them turned their eyes away, afraid of getting caught by her.
“Sister Gao…” Chen Qian stepped forward and asked in worry, “Are you okay?”
“What’s not okay about me?” Gao Xue Ting slightly smiled and grit her teeth, staring at Wen Zi Shan as she spoke. “I’m okay!”
“Oh…” Chen Qian did not know what to say, confused.
Aside from those Dao Source Realm disciples, even her, a Sect Elder who was often together with Gao Xue Ting, had never seen Gao Xue Ting smiling, not to mention that she was smiling for so long. This made her feel strange and scared, and she could not help but shiver.
“Gao… Elder Gao!” Qiu Ran could not stand it anymore. Even though it was gratifying to finally see Gao Xue Ting smiling, her smile was more frightening than her usual cold expression. As a Deputy Temple Master, he thought that it was his duty to give her advice, “Stop forcing yourself!”
Gao Xue Ting turned to him, still smiling, and said, “Forcing myself? I’m not… Why? Does Senior Qiu find the smile of this Queen to be ugly?”
“No such thing!” Qiu Ran was shocked, immediately denying and changing the topic, “The disciples are all assembled. Elder Gao, do you have anything to tell them?”
“What else is there to say?” Gao Xue Ting’s eyes swept across the twenty Dao Source Realm cultivators and said crisply, “I’ll tell them during the journey, so now… Let’s depart!”
While speaking, she opened her mouth and spit out a miniature ship. With both her hands clenched together while chanting an incantation, the ship enlarged suddenly, reaching a length of several tens of meters, then it gradually stopped.
The design of the ship was slick and exquisite, with dragons and phoenixes carved on it, much better than the ship that Yang Kai got before.
After all, it was an artifact that belonged to an Emperor Realm, a flight type artifact of Dao Source Grade High-Rank!
“Get on board!” Gao Xue Ting said.
The Dao Source Realm cultivators did not dare to hesitate, they performed their movement skills and boarded the ship. Yang Kai followed the crowd, casually found a spot after he got onto the ship and sat down with his legs crossed.
Gao Xue Ting waited for everyone to settle down, then started to move towards the deck.
After that, she turned around slowly, with a ghastly grin on her face, staring at Wen Zi Shan, who had been hiding the whole time in the crowd, and said through her gritted teeth, “Wait for me… I will deal with you later!”
She looked like she had suffered from a shameful humiliation, which made her feel like killing him.
“Bon… voyage!” Wen Zi Shan waved his hand, with his body shaking lightly.
“Humph!” Gao Xue Ting coldly snorted, with a surge of Source Qi, the ship instantly speeded up and flew out of Azure Sun Mountain Range.
Unstoppable laughter burst out when the ship got out of everyone’s sight.
Wen Zi Shan laughed until his tears were about to flow out, hugging his own stomach and almost needed to roll on the floor to relieve himself. He spoke while continuing laughing, “Did you… did you see Little Xue Ting’s… face? HAHAHAHA, it was so funny…”
“Haiz… How improper!” Qiu Ran looked speechless, shook his head in sorrow, flicked his sleeves and walked away.
“Sir Temple Master, please behave yourself!” another Emperor Realm could not stand it anymore either, and he felt ashamed of this person.
“You are so dead!” Chen Qian looked at Wen Zi Shan in disdain, “Wait until Sister Gao comes back from the Four Seasons Realm, and see how she will deal with you!”
When the conversations ended, the people started to leave one by one, leaving Wen Zi Shan alone.
After a while, he got tired of laughing too. He straightened up with a solemn look and sadly mumbled to himself, “It seems that I haven’t seen Little Xue Ting’s smile for many years. I really miss it… She was such a playful and clingy girl during her younger days, why did she become so cold these days? Well, no wonder there is a saying: A girl changes quickly from childhood to womanhood!”
…
Everyone was quiet on the ship.
All twenty Dao Source Realms were silently cycling their Source Qi in order to resist the chill from the front.
Gao Xue Ting had been standing in front of the deck the whole time. From the time they departed until now, she had exuded a kind of bone-chilling sensation, which seemed to be able to freeze one’s soul.
From time to time, Gao Xue Ting chuckled like a crazy person, which made everyone feel creeped out.
In this situation, who would dare trigger Gao Xue Ting? Therefore, no one dared to make a noise, not even a whisper. Everyone was just giving each other uncomfortable looks.
Azure Sun Temple had twenty slots for entering the Four Seasons Realm. Initially, the slots were owned by the top twenty Dao Source Realm disciples in the Sect’s martial art challenge, but since Xue Yi was defeated by Yang Kai, Yang Kai had become the only outsider here.
Among the twenty people, seven were women and the rest were men.
Yang Kai only knew Xiao Bai Yi and Xia Sheng among them. He did not even know the names of the others.
However, he did not bother to inquire. His main purpose of this Four Seasons Realm journey was the Tribulation Fruit. As long as he could find this spirit fruit, he would not let Qin Zhao Yang down.
The ship was indeed a Dao Source Grade High-Rank artifact, it was remarkably fast.
There were no obstacles along the flying trip.
After all, an Emperor Realm master was guarding, an extremely foul mood Emperor Realm. The stormy murderous intent released by her put all of the cultivators in fear, and they were not foolish enough to cause a disaster.
This situation lasted for three days!
Three days later, Gao Xue Ting, who had been standing in front of the deck with her back to the people, suddenly turned around.
Sensing this, everyone’s expressions turned solemn, immediately opened their eyes and looked at her, feeling a great deal of apprehension.
But after seeing Gao Xue Ting’s face clearly, everyone breathed out a sigh of relief simultaneously.
Because Gao Xue Ting at this moment had finally regained her indifferent and cold expression, replacing the strange and scary smile on her face.
Yang Kai heard a lot of them secretly sighing.
“Elder Gao’s face indeed looks a lot more comfortable like this,” Xia Sheng said with a lingering fear while patting his chest. “Before this, Elder Gao looked like a completely different person, her face really scared me to death!”
As soon as he said this, Xiao Bai Yi sensed the incoming danger and quickly slapped Xia Sheng in the face.
Xia Sheng was stunned by the slap, and glared fiercely at Xiao Bai Yi, “Xiao Bai, did you just backstab me? How despicable and shameless of you! Believe it or not…”
Before he finished his sentence, Xia Sheng shivered involuntarily. He slowly lifted his head and looked at the spooky appearance in front of him. It was Gao Xue Ting staring down at him. With his mouth twitching, he weakly asked, “Elder Gao, did this disciple… say something wrong?”
“No such thing!” Gao Xue Ting replied faintly. Soon, she suddenly smiled and said, “Is this the face… that scared you to death!?”
The face of Xia Sheng turned green.
Gao Xue Ting stretched out her hand, catching him off guard, and lifted Xia Sheng before tossing him out of the ship like a piece of rubbish. Her moves were smooth as silk and fast as lightning.
“Elder Gao…” Xia Sheng’s shout came from afar, but he was just a little dot from the view on the ship.
“Great! The unpleasant guy is gone!” Gao Xue Ting clapped her hands and swept across the crowd with her eyes.
Those disciples who were seen by her during the process lowered their head and avoided contact with her eyes.
“That idiot!” Xiao Bai Yi cursed secretly in his heart. At the same time, he glanced at his back and saw that Xia Sheng was trying hard to catch up. As the top in Sect’s martial art challenge, he was undoubtedly strong and had hastily caught up with the ship.
However, there was a fluorescent curtain acting as a barrier on the ship. If Gao Xue Ting did not open the barrier, Xia Sheng would not be able to get on the ship, so he could only stick to the fluorescent curtain and kept crying for mercy.
Gao Xue Ting turned a deaf ear to his crying, and when she got irritated, she just isolated his voice with a wave of her hand.
Many of them looked at Xia Sheng with sympathy, feeling sorrow for his misfortune.
“I have one thing to tell you.” Gao Xue Ting spoke suddenly.
Everyone held their breath and looked at her intently.
“The Four Seasons Realm this time is a little different from previous years!” Gao Xue Ting continued, “You should have obtained the information of the Four Seasons Realm before you departed. I don’t need to say anything more about this, but this time, a Star Seal will appear in the Four Seasons Realm!”
“Star Seal?” Xiao Bai Yi’s face shifted, as if he thought of something. He questioned in astonishment, “The Star Seal that is related to the Shattered Star Sea?”
Gao Xue Ting glanced at him approvingly, and said, “Yes, it’s those Star Seals that are related to the Shattered Star Sea! The Star Seal is a certificate pass to enter the Shattered Star Sea, so those who obtain it may enter the Shattered Star Sea when it’s opened! As such, this Queen needs you to work hard in the Four Seasons Realm. Finding Star Seals will be your primary objective, and it is also your only objective!”
“However, because of the emergence of the Star Seal, the Four Seasons Realm will be much more dangerous than the previous years, so in addition to the search for the Star Seal, it is more important for you to ensure your own safety! You are all the Sect’s future. Any deaths will be a loss for the Sect, so this Queen wants each and every one of you to put in your best effort!”
“Yes, many thanks to Elder Gao!” The disciples replied in unison.
“Elder Gao, what exactly does the Star Seal look like?” Xiao Bai Yi asked.
“The Star Seal is formless, and you will be branded with a pattern on your body when you obtain it. If you really do have the opportunity to obtain it, you will naturally know it.”
“Disciple understands!” Xiao Bai Yi nodded.
“Also, the Star Seal can be transferred. If any of you obtains the Star Seal, it can be transferred to the Sect. Of course, in return for getting the Star Seal, you will be eligible to enter the Shattered Star Sea in the future!”
Everyone was breathing in excitement.
“Then… what happens if a disciple gets two or more?” Xiao Bai Yi asked again.
Gao Xue Ting said, “Keep one for yourself, and give the rest to the Sect, and the Sect will reward you correspondingly!”
She turned her head towards Yang Kai at this point, said, “Same goes for you!”
“Me?” Yang Kai looked alarmed.
“Of course!” Gao Xue Ting nodded gently, “Although you’re not a disciple of the Azure Sun Temple, you are going into the Four Seasons Realm using one of our slots, so you would have to abide by the rules.”
“Okay then,” Yang Kai obeyed helplessly, as there was no way he could defy her anyway. The officials of Azure Sun Temple would most likely fully examine him when he exited the Four Seasons Realm to ensure he did not keep any extra Star Seals on his own.
“This is the only extra instruction I have for you, there’s nothing else. You’re dismissed.” Gao Xue Ting finished and returned to the front of the ship with her back facing everyone, as still as a statue.
Outside of the ship, Xia Sheng managed to catch up to them, maintaining a parallel level with the ship. He had a pitiful expression, mouthing at them soundlessly. It seems like he was begging for mercy.
Gao Xue Ting did not even glance at him.
Xia Sheng looked at Xiao Bai Yi in exasperation, begging for him for help.
Xiao Bai Yi decisively turned his head in the opposite direction.
On the boat, Yang Kai frowned, pondering.
He was considering whether he should request some information about the Four Seasons Realm from Gao Xue Ting.
However, her mood seemed to be very unstable due to the previous incident, so Yang Kai did not want to have any contact with her in case she found out anything.
Just when he was hesitating, someone poked him quietly.
He looked around and found a woman with red lips looking at him.
She looked about twenty years old, but her actual age was far greater than that. She had a tall and slender figure, with fair skin and delicate features, her long hair moved with the breeze.
“How can I help you, miss?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
“I don’t think you have this. Here!” The woman handed him a jade slip as she spoke.
Yang Kai raised his brows and reached out to take it. He scanned the object with Divine Sense, and was delighted when he found out the content recorded in the jade slip, “This is…”
The contents recorded in the jade slip was the information of the Four Seasons Realm.
Azure Sun Temple was very familiar with the internal situation of the Four Seasons Realm as it would dispatch disciples into the Four Seasons Realm every time it opened. The information recorded in the jade slip included not only the locations of dangerous barriers but also detailed information of various Monster Beasts in the Four Seasons Realm.
Yang Kai did not expect someone to give him just what he needed while he was hesitating to ask Gao Xue Ting for it.
His favour towards this woman had greatly increased, as she had given him just what he needed most. It was a gift better than anything else he could have wanted.
She probably guessed that he did not have such a thing, and decided to give him one.
It was easy to tell that she was very kind-hearted.
“Many thanks, miss, how should I address you?” Yang Kai thanked her sincerely, and it was only polite to ask for her name in return for such a kind gesture.
“Murong Xiao Xiao!”
Yang Kai nodded, and when he was about to speak again, Xiao Bai Yi suddenly said, “Xiao Xiao, don’t waste your time with an outsider.”
Murong Xiao Xiao stuck her tongue out at Yang Kai, but did not speak further so as not to disobey Xiao Bai Yi.
Yang Kai said, “This Yang will remember your kindness, miss.”
“It’s nothing,” Murong Xiao Xiao smiled slightly, not caring.
“Brother Xiao Bai!” Yang Kai turned towards Xiao Bai Yi.
“Who are you calling!” Xiao Bai Yi turned cold.
“Brother Xiao…” Yang Kai corrected. “Although I’m not a disciple of the Azure Sun Temple, we’re considered companions now that we’re going to the Four Seasons Realm together…”
“Who wants to be your companion?” Xiao Bai Yi said dismissively, “You will soon pay for taking away Xue Yi’s slot!”
“Brother Xiao, do you really have to…?” Yang Kai shook his head and sighed, “You’ll never know if there will be a time in the Four Seasons Realm that you will need my help.”
“You?” Xiao Bai Yi snorted coldly, “You won’t be able to provide any help if ever there is something that this Xiao can’t handle.”
“I have nothing to say if you insist.” Yang Kai smiled bitterly and shook his head.
By the looks of it, Xiao Bai Yi had added him to his hate list, so Yang Kai assumed that he and Xue Yi must have had a good relationship, and as a Senior Brother to Xue Yi, he would not be giving Yang Kai a good time.
It would be extremely odd if he was on good terms with Yang Kai.
It was only understandable.
Gao Xue Ting did not involve herself in the clashes between the Dao Source Realms but continued to navigate the ship on her usual spot.
Five days passed.
That day, a giant mountain valley appeared ahead of the ship.
The silhouettes of a large crowd could be seen on the mountain valley, gathered in groups waiting for something.
From this distance, they could sense the aura of a few Emperor Realm Masters.
Upon perceiving this, Yang Kai was shocked that they had arrived at their destination.
The information provided by Qin Zhao Yang and the jade slip given by Murong Xiao Xiao regarding the entrance to the Four Seasons Realm was similar; it was in an unnamed, inconspicuous mountain valley. The mountain valley was ordinary and had no reason for anyone to stop by. However, there would be a congregation of strong auras before the opening of the Four Seasons Realm. After the level of the aura had reached a certain level, the entrance of the Sealed World would open and last for thirty-three days.
The entrance would be sealed after thirty-three days, and no one would be able to exit the Four Seasons Realm after that.
Those cultivators residing in the mountain valley should be cultivators who had arrived in advance.
The Azure Sun Temple group seemed to be relatively late because all the places on the mountain valley with good landscape and strong aura were already occupied by others.
The cultivators on the mountain valley looked up and stiffened at the sight of the ship that was slowly moving towards the mountain valley.
Azure Sun Temple was, after all, the top Sect in the Southern Territory, and the ship alone exhibited authority with its identity.
From the information recorded in the jade slip, Yang Kai learned that top Sects such as Azure Sun Temple, Heavenly Martial Holy Land, Orthodoxy Temple, Violet Source Chamber of Commerce and Seven Glories Chamber of Commerce, each had twenty slots to enter the Four Seasons Realm. Whereas Star Soul Palace, the Southern Territory strongest Sect has forty slots, which was twice as much as Azure Sun Temple.
The other lower rank Sects had approximately ten slots.
Some Sects only had a few slots.
As for how these slots were distributed, Yang Kai was not sure, but surely it had been carefully calculated and coordinated.
Judging from the four to five hundred bodies gathered below, the Southern Territory consisted of many Sects.
Gao Xue Ting merely looked down for a while and found a spot to anchor the ship.
She put the ship away when all the disciples had disembarked.
“Rest here and don’t cause any trouble. This Queen needs to discuss something with the other Sirs.” She left without waiting.
Everyone seemed to have looked forward to this a long time ago, so they were well prepared in advance. They pulled out their tents from their Space Ring and began setting up.
“Huh…” Someone gasped, and suddenly a person landed from the sky, and crashed into the ground, creating a big crater like a meteorite.
Yang Kai fixed his eyes on the crash site and found that it was Xia Sheng who had been deliberately ignored by Gao Xue Ting during the whole journey.
It was indeed quite admirable that he kept up with everyone by relying on his Source Qi alone for five days, and reached this place at the same time as everyone.
He was panting, but there was no sign of exhaustion.
“I… made it!” Xia Sheng, looking faint and weak, stared at Xiao Bai Yi sadly and said, “Xiao Bai, you’re too heartless!”
A vein on Xiao Bai Yi’s forehead jumped, but he made the clever decision to not respond to him.
“Brother Yang, you didn’t help me either! I had to fly all the way here on my own!” Xia Sheng put his hands on his knees, rolled his eyes at Yang Kai, and said “How are we supposed to conquer and dominate the world together if you’re so cold to me?”
Yang Kai said helplessly, “I’m just an outsider, it’s none of my business!”
“Forget it, forget it, you guys are all unreliable!” Xia Sheng sighed, waved his hand and sat on the ground, feeling rejuvenated, like a dying fish that had returned to the water.
Yang Kai gave him a last look, ignored him, looked for a quiet place and sat down crossed leg.
It was clear that there was still a little time before the opening of the Four Seasons Realm. There were many masters here, and Yang Kai did not feel like wandering around to cause any trouble, so he decided to rest together with the rest of the Azure Sun Temple disciples.
Time passed slowly, and smaller groups of cultivators from somewhere else gradually arrived at the place.
They were not many in number and were obviously the cultivators from small Sects or families from far away.
After they arrived, they were clever enough to find an empty spot to settle down. The cultivators who knew each other would gather together, prepared to join forces in the Four Seasons Realm in case a big fight broke out.
Those who could enter the Four Seasons Realm were cultivators of the Dao Source Realm level. Origin King Realm cultivators did not qualify for the Four Seasons Realm at all, because they would only be seeking their own death.
But this did not mean that Emperor Realm Masters could not enter the Four Seasons Realm too.
In fact, Emperor Realm cultivators could also enter, but every entry of an Emperor Realm expert would cause some unstable turbulence to the entrance, and once more than three Emperor Realm cultivators entered, the entrance would shut down.
As a result, the few slots for Emperor Realm cultivators could not be distributed at all, so under the proposal of Star Soul Palace, cultivators of Emperor Realm level were forbidden from entering the Four Seasons Realm to avoid the early closing of the entrance.
Yang Kai learned this information from the jade slip that was given by Murong Xiao Xiao.
While Yang Kai was recalling the data recorded in the jade slip, trying to memorize all of it, he was also strengthening the connection between him and Myriads Sword.
Even though this Emperor Artifact had to be returned to the Qin Family in the end, he believed that it might be useful to him in the Four Seasons Realm.
“What are you doing!?”
All of a sudden, a woman’s angry shout reached his ears, while in that instance, an extremely strong force burst out in a certain place.
The woman who yelled immediately gave a loud exclamation, then started to groan like she had suffered from a heavy blow.
Yang Kai opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the sound source with a frown.
Because he recognized the voice was Murong Xiao Xiao, who gave him the information about the Four Seasons Realm.
He found it strange, Murong Xiao Xiao was an elite disciple of Azure Sun Temple and her cultivation level was not low, so who would dare to trouble her in such a place?
Looking there, Murong Xiao Xiao was biting her red lips and looking in one direction with fear and anger. Beside her, was another Azure Sun Temple female disciple supporting her by her arms, and she nervously asked, “Xiao Xiao, are you alright?”
Murong Xiao Xiao nodded, indicating that she was fine.
However, in perceiving her slightly disordered aura, it was obvious that she had experienced a dangerous encounter just now.
Her sight was set on a group of Dao Source Realm, and there was one man among these cultivators who looked exceptionally weird.
It was a man, but there was an invisible demarcation line on the centre of his body that split him into left and right. The skin and hair of the left side were fiery red, but the right side of the body was snowy white. The two contrasting colours appearing on the same person created a strong visual impact, portraying Yang, the masculinity, on the right side, whilst Yin, the femininity, on the left.
The person Murong Xiao Xiao glared at was this man!
The hand that he raised high also indicated that he was the culprit, and there was still a trace of undissipated power at his fingertips.
A figure flashed past and stood in front of Murong Xiao Xiao, guarding her while staring quietly at the monstrous cultivator.
It was Xia Sheng!
Xia Sheng did not really have a tall figure, but when he stood in front of Murong Xiao Xiao, he was as dependable as a huge mountain.
Yang Kai frowned, stood up and walked towards that side unhurriedly.
“Xiao Xiao, what happened?” Xia Seng asked calmly.
Murong Xiao Xiao replied, “I have no idea, this person just suddenly attacked me!”
“Oh?” Xia Sheng squinted his eyes and said faintly, “Interesting. Someone just challenged us, the Azure Sun Temple disciples. It’s impossible to let this go!”
As he spoke, there was a dangerous light in his eyes.
The odd-looking cultivator on the opposite side also cast his eyes on Xia Sheng. The two gazes collided in the void, as if there were sparks in it.
The atmosphere immediately turned intense.
Both the disciples of Azure Sun Temple and the cultivators who had gathered opposite looked stern and secretly urged their Source Qi.
It seemed that a clash was about to happen.
The scene alarmed the rest of the cultivators who were waiting there too, like a stone thrown into a calm lake, and the ripple from it was rapidly noticed by everyone. All of them surrounded and watched with curiosity.
“Xia Sheng?” the odd-looking cultivator lifted the corner of his mouth and asked with a sinister smile. It seemed that he knew the name Xia Sheng, but this was just the first time they met.
“Wu Chang?” Xia Sheng’s eyebrows raised.
Yang Kai frowned when he heard it. He had never heard the name Wu Chang before, but judging from Xia Sheng’s expression as if he was facing a formidable enemy, he knew that this man was certainly not easy to deal with.
Given his strange body, this man most likely possessed a special kind of physique!
“Is he the Xia Sheng from Azure Sun Temple? It is said that he won first place in the last Sect’s martial arts challenge!”
Someone among the crowd of cultivators exclaimed. Xia Sheng appeared to be having quite a high reputation.
“Wu Chang? Isn’t he the rising star of Heavenly Martial Holy Land? Yes, it must be him because rumour has it that Wu Chang has a Yin-Yang Dual Body. So that’s what it looks like, it is really an eye-opener for me!”
“Shhhh… Keep your voice down. I heard that Wu Chang is bipolar and cruel, it would be bad if he heard you.”
“What are you afraid of? There are so many people here, how can he hear…”
He suddenly held his tongue before finishing his sentence, because he realized the Wu Chang, who was facing Xia Sheng over there, turned his head suddenly and stared at him coldly.
A mysterious power radiated from Wu Chang’s heterochromatic pupils, which then manifested in front of him, turning into a massive red and white vortex. The vortex spun towards the person, with an exaggerated noise of strangling power coming from it.
The man shouted in shock and wanted to back off hurriedly.
But what horrified him, was that his body had been stiffened instantly, and became immobilized. He could only stand still with his pale face and trembling eyes, as he watched the vortex continue to spin and shroud him in it.
“Ah!”
*Peng…*
With a deafening bang, the head of the person burst into pieces, like a watermelon that was smashed by someone, splashing the blood and brain all around. Seeing this, the cultivators beside him quickly retreated in fear.
The headless corpse slowly fell and hit the ground, raising a cloud of dust and painting the ground with blood. The scene was horrible to watch.
The other cultivator who previously spoke to this person witnessed the whole tragic incident. Instead of avenging his companion’s death, he was utterly dumbfounded in fear and fell to the ground like he had lost his soul. He could not speak a word, the only sound that could be heard from him was the clicks from the grinding of his teeth.
No one knew which small Sect and family the two of them were from. It was not easy for them to finally obtain slots in the Four Seasons Realm, and it was unfortunate that one of them suffered from a catastrophe just because of his own blunder.
In the place where the Orthodoxy Temple was stationed, a handsome man in green stood and watched this horrible scene. He could not help but snort coldly, then said to his Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters beside him, “Remember, if you bump into Wu Chang in the Four Seasons Realm, run as far as you can and never confront him head-on!”
“Yes, Senior Brother Zhuang!” Everyone responded with sorrow.
None of them thought of contesting Wu Chang after seeing his sadistic killing method. In their minds, Zhuan Bu Fan, the Eldest Senior, was the only one who could stand a chance in fighting Wu Chang.
“Is that Wu Chang from Heavenly Martial Holy Land?”
In the station of Star Soul Palace, Lan Xun, who looked like an elf dressed in blue, hovered in mid-air with an attractive fair-skinned youngster guarding closely on her left.
Lan Xun frowned slightly at the moment and asked, upset.
She was a woman after all and she felt uncomfortable and downhearted by witnessing what just happened.
“Yes,” The fair-skinned man nodded. While speaking, his eyes never left her charming face and he was undoubtedly madly in love with her. He said, “I have fought against this guy several times before, and he’s difficult to deal with.”
“Even Brother Xiao can’t deal with him?” Lan Xun was surprised.
Xiao Chen continued, “I can beat him if I use the Emperor Artifact bestowed by Lord Father, but the cost of it is too great!”
“I see…” Lan Xun was unimpressed. Although Xiao Chen was the son of Xiao Yu Yang and possessed the Emperor Artifact bestowed by him, Wu Chang might have an Emperor Artifact too.
The Heavenly Martial Holy Land he was born in was not an ordinary great force. As the first of Heavenly Martial Holy Land rising stars, having an Emperor Artifact in his hand to defend himself was only natural.
“Princess doesn’t believe me?” Xiao Chen vaguely sensed something and raised his eyebrows, “If Princess wants to see it, I will go now.”
“No need!” Lan Xun waved her hand and frowned, “I did not mean that.”
Xiao Chen said, “But Wu Chang really did not have any respect for the Star Soul Palace by killing someone in public. After all, the Southern Territory is not a place for their Heavenly Martial Holy Land to do whatever they want!”
Lan Xun did not express an opinion. While she was looking around, she suddenly shouted and looked at a figure in the distance with her beautiful eyes filled with surprise.
“It’s you!” Lan Xun secretly whispered in her heart.
She still remembered that during the last time she was breaking through the Dao Source Realm Level, in the Third Stage of the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda, he sneaked into the Third Stage too and robbed a lot of shattered Principle Fragments from her.
However, it was fortunate for her that he showed up too. Otherwise, judging from the situation during that time, even if she could successfully clear the stage, she would still have gotten hurt, or maybe worse, it could have severely damaged her foundation.
Lan Xun was very interested in this man and wanted to know the method he used to sneak into the Third Stage like a shadow when it was supposed to be closed. She also wondered what kind of Divine Ability tricks he had performed, resulting in snatching so much of her shattered Principle Fragments!
It was just that after she came out of the Five Colored Treasure Pagoda, she was too eager to consolidate her cultivation in isolation, so she didn’t think much about this man.
But she did not expect to see him again in this mountain valley, and this time, he was also promoted to Dao Source Realm.
“Is he a disciple of the Azure Sun Temple?” Lan Xun saw Yang Kai standing together with a group of disciples from Azure Sun Temple.
“What did you say, Princess?” Xiao Chen asked.
“Nothing,” Lan Xun shook her head.
Xiao Chen frowned slightly. Although he was a little upset at Lan Xun’s lack of communication, she was the daughter of the Bright Moon Great Emperor, holding a noble status, and it was inappropriate to keep asking. He followed her eyes and saw Yang Kai, and snorted coldly inside, “How could such a trivial person like him interest the Princess?”
On the other side, after killing the disciple from a small family, Wu Chang was calm and relaxed, as if he had only killed a cockroach, and continued to look at Xia Sheng with his head turned.
Xia Sheng said, “Brother Wu Chang is so strong!”
Wu Chang smiled coldly, without saying a word.
“I don’t care about the life or death of others, but will Bother Wu Chang give me a reasonable explanation for attacking my Junior Sister?” Xia Sheng squinted ahead of him.
Wu Shang said, “Brother Xia wants an explanation? Sure. My explanation is that no one can fly over my head, except if they’re dead!”
Xia Sheng froze. He did not expect that Murong Xiao Xiao had been attacked for such an absurd reason.
Murong Xiao Xiao came back to her senses, pursed her lips and said, “I just wanted to go to the Star Soul Palace.”
She had an acquaintance at the Star Soul Palace that she had not seen for a long time and wanted to meet, but she got attacked by Wu Chang just as she started to fly and fell from shock.
Wu Chang said, “Brother Xia should be thankful that she is from Azure Sun Temple, otherwise…”
“Otherwise?”
“Otherwise, she would be dead!”
“I see,” Xia Sheng grinned. Suddenly, he made an unexpected move.
He leapt, as swiftly as the wind towards and over Wu Chang’s head, and with a twist of his body, he flew back and leapt across Wu Chang’s head again.
While flying, he shouted, “I flew here, I flew back, then I flew here again, and I flew back again. Hit me if you can.”
He flew several times back and forth, then landed right above Wu Chang, with his hands on his hips and looked down, “Do you believe that I will pee on your head?”
As he spoke, he pulled up his pants, preparing to do what he had just said.
Murong Xiao Xiao and a few other female disciples of the Azure Sun Temple blushed.
Xiao Bai Yi and the others were speechless, turned their heads and pretended to not know this person.
“Hahaha!” The audience laughed at Xia Sheng’s extremely crude behaviour, which was extremely inappropriate for a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator.
“Xia… Sheng!”
Wu Change was also subjected to shifting moods. With such a violent and perverse personality, he would not allow others to be provocative and presumptuous in front of him. He let out a low growl as Xia Sheng lifted his pants, and his arms shook violently. A tornado-like force rushed straight into the sky in an attempt to swallow Xia Sheng.
“Paltry tricks!” Xia Sheng snorted coldly, opened his palms and pressed downwards.
With a surge of Source Qi, the World Principles became chaotic, and a gigantic palm took shape and fell from the sky like a huge mountain. It had not landed, but gave everyone a destructive oppression.
*Hong…*
The giant palm collided with the tornado, and the World Energy raged in all directions.
At the same moment, Wu Chang leapt with his red and snow-white palms together, and two completely different auras were released with mysterious runes appearing around him.
He charged towards Xia Sheng like lightning.
Xia Sheng’s face was replaced by a solemn expression. With a change of his hands, clanging sounds of metals were transmitted from the void, and immediately many weapons, blades of every shape and design, appeared by his side. These weapons were formed by World Energy.
He stretched out his hand, and countless swords and blades charged downwards as ordered.
*Hong hong hong…*
The intense sound shook the air, a dazzling light burst out and swallowed both Xia Sheng and Wu Chang. For a while, no one could see the battle between the two, only the sounds of explosive kicks and punches could be heard from the void.
Yang Kai stared with his eyes narrowed, dazzled by the battle above.
It was the contest between the top rising stars from the top two Sects of the Southern Territory. In other words, it was the highest level battle of the Southern Territory. Such battles were rare for him.
Not only could he compare his own shortcomings from the fight between the two, but he could also collect more information.
“Is Senior Brother Xia going to be okay?” Murong Xiao Xiao asked, feeling responsible for what was happening. If she had not accidentally flown over Wu Chang’s head, she would not have caused such trouble.
“How could anything happen to him!?” Xiao Bai Yi snorted coldly, completely unworried for Xia Sheng’s safety, then continued, “He has a good chance to escape death if a normal Emperor Realm fights against him, how bad can it be if it’s just a Wu Chang?”
Yang Kai’s interest perked as he listened to Xiao Bai Yi.
Xiao Bai Yi obviously knew Xia Sheng well, but he did not elaborate, and Yang Kai did not ask.
Judging from the battle, it seemed that Xia Sheng did not reveal his true strength, and of course, Wu Chang was not at his full strength either.
“Childish!” In a remote area on the mountain valley, where a certain Sect named Eight Paths Sect had stationed, a cross-legged youth who was meditating and watching the battle in the air, had commented disdainfully.
Eight Paths Sect was not a top tier Sect in the Southern Territory, but it was not weak. It was on the same level as the Flying Saint Palace, and there was an Emperor Realm Master in the Sect.
Eight Paths Sect was fortunate enough to have seven slots to enter the Four Seasons Realm this time.
The cultivation levels among the seven were not equal, some were Third-Order Dao Source Realm, and some Second-Order and First-Order.
The youngster who spoke was only Second-Order Dao Source Realm, but judging from the reactions of the others, he was the leader among them.
The only Third-Order Dao Source Realm was a middle-aged man in his forties. He smiled and said, “You can’t stand battles like this, Junior Brother Luo Yuan?”
Luo Yuan replied, “They are just testing each other, nothing interesting.”
“You call this testing?” Another Second-Order Dao Source Realm woman exclaimed, “Why do I feel like they’re about to kill each other?”
“That’s because your cultivation is not high enough.” Luo Yuan replied bluntly, not caring if he had embarrassed his fellow disciple.
The woman choked for a moment, then chuckled dryly.
The middle-aged man said, “Junior Brother Luo Yuan indeed has sharp eyes. We’re counting on you in the Four Seasons Realm this time.”
Luo Yuan frowned, “Rest assured, after this expedition to the Four Seasons Realm, I will make Eight Paths Sect a renown Sect in the Southern Territory, but I’m not planning to take a bunch of trash with me, so don’t follow me when we go in, otherwise, don’t blame me for being impolite!”
No one dared to speak up to his arrogance, only fearing him quietly.
The middle-aged man said, “Of course we will be a hindrance to Junior Brother. You can do as you like.”
“Hmph!” Luo Yuan snorted coldly, closed his eyes, and said no more.
The others looked at each other gloomily.
It was quite unacceptable for them to be called ‘trash’, as they were all Dao Source Realm cultivators with equitable strength. However, knowing Luo Yuan’s temper and character, they did not refute.
The battle in the void continued.
Xia Sheng and Wu Chang were at a tie, none could overpower the other, the only result from the battle was the collapse of the void and the disorder of the World Principles.
“Enough!”
The majestic, furious bellow struck Xia Shang and Wu Chang like lightning, and they both froze mid-air, faces pale, and cold sweat dripping down their foreheads.
Two streaks of light flashed below them, and two people appeared.
Immediately, the light dispersed into spider webs. In a blink of an eye, it transformed into two cages, confining Xia Sheng and Wu Chang in mid-air.
The same voice echoed, “Xia Sheng of Azure Sun Temple, and Wu Chang of Heavenly Martial Holy Land, this King will confine you until the opening of the Sealed World for instigating a fight. I hope you will take this as a warning!”
Xia Sheng’s face turned green and quickly responded, “Sir Xiao, this disciple is innocent!”
He had recognized the owner of the voice and quickly begged for mercy. It was the voice of Xiao Yu Yang, the Silver Star Envoy of Star Soul Palace.
Xiao Yu Yang deliberately ignored him.
Wu Chang, who was also confined in the other cage, gave him a cold look and snorted, “Coward!”
“It’s none of your business!” Xia Sheng rolled his eyes at him and continued pleading, “Sir Xiao, please understand! This disciple has always abided by the rules! Unless someone provoked me, I would never do this kind of thing, Sir Xiao please let me go.”
He pleaded for a while before deciding that it was useless, then he changed his tone, “Sir Xiao, please at least confine me on the ground? It’s too embarrassing to be locked up in the air.”
“Will you shut up?” Wu Chang was initially not affected by the confinement. After all, it was a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master who confined him, so it was only natural that he could not resist. However, what Xia Sheng had said was true, it was indeed quite embarrassing, and he became angry out of shame.
Xia Sheng narrowed his eyes at him, “What’s wrong? Did I disturb you?”
“Noisy!” Wu Chang snorted coldly.
“How dare you say that!” Xia Sheng was angry, he pulled up his pants, said, “Would you believe that I will pee right in your face all the way from here? The breeze is blowing towards you!”
The corners of Wu Chang’s mouth twitched. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
He did not want to be shameless like the other party.
He only left a cruel remark, saying “Let’s settle this when we enter the Sealed World!”
A battle between dragons and tigers ended due to the intervention of an Emperor Realm Master.
“Is this all right now?” Xiao Yu Yang, who was at the station of Star Soul Palace, looked at Gao Xue Ting and Chen Wen Hao and asked.
Gao Xue Ting replied, “Thank you, Senior Xiao!”
Chen Wen Hao also nodded lightly.
Even though the rising stars of the two Sects did not have a pleasant encounter, it did not affect the relationship between the Emperor Realms of both Sects. To them, it was just some youngsters being competitive with each other.
Who had not been through this phase before?
“It’s okay, but these two kids are really hyperactive.” Xiao Yu Yang chuckled.
“Elder Gao has Xia Sheng under her while Brother Chen has Wu Chang under him, I envy them so much!” Feng Ming suddenly spoke bitterly from the side.
Gao Xue Ting glanced at him and asked, “Isn’t there a Zhuang Bu Fan in your Orthodoxy Temple?”
Feng Ming smiled, “Although Bu Fan’s name means extraordinary, he has only an ordinary physique. How can he be compared with these two kids?”
“Didn’t Brother Feng already pass down the Reverse Heaven and Earth Phantom Trick of your noble Temple?” Chen Wen Hao looked at Feng Ming and said, “Why so humble? Too much humility is hypocrisy.”
“Heh heh…” Feng Ming grinned and responded with a smiley face.
“It’s enough, will you stop testing each other?” Xiao Yu Yang could not help but roll his eyes, “It’s a good thing that the little kids are being active, but remember, the elders better just observe and not interfere. We are all from the Southern Territory, so I don’t wish for infighting!”
“What Senior Xiao said is right!” Everyone nodded together.
“Oh yeah, Senior Xiao…” Gao Xue Ting suddenly said, “Regarding the matter that the three of us asked when we went to the Star Soul Palace last time… is there any response?”
Hearing this, the faces of Feng Ming and Chen Wen Hao turned solemn and focused on listening.
Xiao Yu Yang frowned. After pondering for a while, he said, “About that Ancient Great Demon… The Great Emperor said that the demon hasn’t perished yet, but is only hibernating. However, the Great Emperor has no idea of its exact location.”
“Even the Great Emperor doesn’t know?” Feng Ming’s expression changed.
“The Great Emperor only told me eight words!” Xiao Yu Yang quickly said.
“What eight words?” Gao Xue Ting wondered.
“Seems dead but alive, alive but seems dead!”
“What does this mean?” Feng Ming was puzzled by the words.
Xiao Yu Yang shrugged his hands, “I don’t understand either. But relax, the Ancient Great Demon has been sealed for so many years, so its Divine Ability is no longer like in the past. If he dares to show up and do evil in the future, this King will slay it with his own hands.”
“With the words of Senior Xiao, we are not worried.” Chen Wen gave out a sigh of relief and nodded.
Last time, Feng Ming, Gao Xue Ting and he teamed up against the Ancient Great Demon. Unfortunately, they had failed at the last minute, as the Ancient Great Demon performed a terrifying Divine Ability and trapped them in a dark and boundless world. By the time they escaped it, the demon was long gone. In desperation, they went to the Star Soul Palace to request a meeting with the Bright Moon Great Emperor in hopes of receiving some guidance from the Great Emperor.
Regrettably, the three of them went to the Star Soul Palace but did not manage to meet the Great Emperor. In the end, they could only tell Xiao Yu Yang and let him pass on the message for them.
That was why the first thing that Gao Xue Ting did was to find Xiao Yu Yang as soon as she got here, in order to find out about the demon.
“Okay, let’s not think about the matter of the demon for now. Let’s talk about the Four Seasons Realm this time.” Xiao Yu Yang said.
When everyone heard it, they knew that he was going to talk about the matter of the Star Seal, and their faces immediately turned serious.
…
At the station of the Azure Sun Temple, Yang Kai, who was meditating crossed leg and recuperating, had his expression changed suddenly, opened his eyes and looked in a certain direction.
He frowned, pondering for a while, then he stood up and walked in that direction.
“Junior Brother Yang,” Murong Xiao Xiao hurriedly shouted when she saw him, “where are you going?”
She was like a burnt child that dreaded fire. She initially just wanted to hang out with her friends at the side of Star Soul Palace, but did not expect to trigger a storm and caused Xia Sheng to get detained. She was secretly blaming herself.
At this moment, seeing that Yang Kai was about to leave the station, she asked with concern.
“Just walking around!” Yang Kai smiled faintly.
“Then, you have to be careful,” Murong Xiao Xiao exhorted but did not stop him.
Yang Kai nodded lightly and continued to walk forward.
“Why do you care about the outsider’s life?” Xiao Bai Yi unpleasantly snorted beside her.
Murong Xiao Xiao responded, “Junior Brother Yang came with us after all.”
“You still call him Junior Brother?” Xiao Bai Yi glared at Murong Xiao Xiao, “He is not our temple’s disciple!”
Murong Xiao Xiao stuck out his tongue and said, “Senior Brother Xiao, do you particularly dislike him?”
“It’s not that I dislike him.” Xiao Bai Yi coldly snorted, “Just that he is not pleasing to my eyes!”
Murong Xiao Xiao shook her head slowly without saying much.
On the other side, Yang Kai kept going until he walked out of the mountain valley and came to a dense forest before stopping.
The breeze was whispering and the leaves rustled.
Yang Kai sighed and asked, “Since you called me over, why don’t you show up yourself?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a chuckle. A pretty figure appeared on top of a tree, looking down at him with a pair of beautiful eyes filled with curiosity.
She stared at Yang Kai, clicked her tongue and said, “I did not expect you to be promoted to Dao Source Realm in such a short time. A master from a low-level Star Field indeed has an extraordinary aptitude!”
Yang Kai looked at her with his head lifted, and chuckled, “Protector Bian, it’s been a long time!”
The woman who quietly transmitted her voice to him previously and told him to meet here was astonishingly one of the four guardians of the Blue Feather Sect, Bian Yu Qing!
It was this woman who took him into the Blue Feather Sect at that time.
And the Blue Feather Sect was also Yang Kai’s first stop in Star Boundary!
Bian Yu Qing knew some of his details and understood that he was a cultivator from a low-level Star Field. It was precisely for this reason, Bian Yu Qing accepted him into the Sect. Otherwise, with Yang Kai’s cultivation only being a Second-Order Origin King at that time, Bian Yu Qing would not be interested in him at all.
This woman had the cultivation of the Third-Order Dao Source Realm!
Meeting Bian Yu Qing again reminded Yang Kai about Liu Xian Yun who was with him at that time. This girl was like him, coming from a low-level Star Field, a place named Grand Desolation Star Field, and was also taken into the Blue Feather Sect by Bian Yu Qing.
Unfortunately, Yang Kai and Liu Xian Yun were separated when they fled from a calamity.
After such a long time, Yang Kai had no idea about how Liu Xian Yun had been.
“It’s remarkable that you still remember this Queen, which makes this Queen very gratified.” While he was still pondering, Bian Yu Qing smiled. With a slight effort of her feet, she gradually landed in front of Yang Kai, like a goddess descending from the sky.
“The great grace of Protector Bian was carved on this little brat’s heart, how can it be forgotten?” Yang Kai smiled faintly.
Although Bian Yu Qing took him in the Blue Feather Sect with an ulterior motive, this woman did not abuse him or treat him harshly. Of course, she did not deliberately care for him either, so Yang Kai just treated her with an indifferent attitude. Even though he sounded grateful, he did not mean it at all.
Bian Yu Qing looked at him, “You are good at lying through your teeth! If you really remember the kindness of this Queen, why did you come over so reluctantly?
“That’s not true!” Yang Kai showed an innocent face, “It’s just that I didn’t expect to meet Protector Bian here.” After a pause, he spoke, “Protector Bian is not alone, right?”
He glanced at the side while speaking.
Bian Yu Qing raised her eyebrow and said unexpectedly, “You, little brat, are sharp.”
She waved to her side, “Don’t hide anymore, come out.”
After her words, the laughter from a man was heard, “Haha, Junior Brother Yang. After a long time, you still look great!”
Yang Kai looked aside with a smile, and cupped his fist, “Senior Brother Kou!”
Surprisingly, that person was Kou Wu, a confidant of Bian Yu Qing. Kou Wu was the first Dao Source Realm Master that Yang Kai saw after coming to the Star Boundary and also the guy who caught him and Liu Xian Yun and sent them to Bian Yu Qing.
But unlike Bian Yu Qing who was apathetic, Kou Wu still took a little care of Yang Kai during that period, so Yang Kai had a good impression of him.
“This Kou is surprised that Junior Brother Yang is already in the Dao Source Realm,” Kou Wu scanned Yang Kai up and down with an amazed expression.
When he first met Yang Kai, Yang Kai was just a Second-Order Origin King, who knew nothing about Star Boundary. He did not understand how Yang Kai could get to the same level as him in just a short time.
No wonder it was said that the cultivators from the low-level Star Fields have outstanding aptitude and extraordinary potential. He did not believe it much before, but after seeing Yang Kai, he started to believe it.
“It’s just a fluke.” Yang Kai answered casually.
“What amazed this Queen even more is that you have become the disciple of Azure Sun Temple? It seems that Azure Sun Temple has put in a lot of effort into you!” Bian Yu Qing smiled faintly.
Previously, when she was watching the show between Xia Sheng and Wu Chang, she accidentally saw Yang Kai’s presence, so she privately transmitted a voice message to him, to meet her outside.
Yang Kai was resting at the station of Azure Sun Temple, and she naturally thought that Yang Kai had joined Azure Sun Temple. If so, it would make sense to her that he could swiftly be promoted to Dao Source Realm.
Blue Feather Sect, a small Sect that didn’t even have one Emperor Realm, was incomparable to a well-resourced Sect like Azure Sun Temple.
“Protector Bian had misunderstood,” Yang Kai shook his head. “I’m not from Azure Sun Temple.”
“Do you think this Queen is blind?” Bian Yu Qing glared at Yang Kai ferociously.
Yang Kai said, “I just came here together with the people from Azure Sun Temple for some reasons, believe it or not.”
“Really?” Bian Yu Qing was stunned at his words. She was astonished, but she felt that Yang Kai did not have any reason to deceive her on this matter, so she stopped asking anymore.
“As for me, I’m really curious about which great force are Protector Bian and Senior Brother representing here?” Yang Kai looked at the two of them suspiciously.
Kou Wu answered, “Of course it’s Blue Feather Sect!”
“Both of you are still in the Blue Feather Sect?” Yang Kai’s expression changed and he immediately thought of the Sect Master of Blue Feather Sect, Wu Meng Chuan.
This guy was the descendant of the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor. When he was being released from Bone Prison by Yang Kai during the last time, he turned the entire Blue Feather Sect upside down. Miao Qi, Tong Chong and Zhu Jun Shan, the three great guardians of the Sect were no match against him and were slain on the spot.
Luckily Bian Yu Qing was out of the Sect during that time, and she was the only one who escaped this calamity.
Kou Wu had travelled outside the Sect with Bian Yu Qing and had also escaped from the disaster. Otherwise, with Wu Meng Chuan’s temperament at that time, no doubt that he would have killed all of them.
“Seems like you figured something out!” Bian Yu Qing suddenly sneered, gritted his teeth and said, “Little brat, if it weren’t for you, this guardian wouldn’t fall into such a situation, and now my life is still being controlled by another!”
Yang Kai’s face turned slightly, and he acted dumb, “I don’t understand what Protector Bian is saying.”
Kou Wu sighed, “Junior Brother Yang, Sect Master was released by you, right?”
There was no way for Yang Kai to deny it, so he nodded, “Yeah!”
After that, he followed by explaining, “It’s because I had no choice. When I was being locked in Bone Prison, Senior Brother Kou and Protect Bian weren’t in the Sect. Desperate times call for desperate measures, I could only make a deal with Wu Meng Chuan at that time.”
Bian Yu Qing snorted, “As a result, the Sect Master carried out a massacre after he was released, and the almost entire Blue Feather Sect was slaughtered, leaving only a few of them who were quick-witted and surrendered to the Sect Master.”
Yang Kai chuckled, “So, Protector Bian is also one of them?”
“This Queen?” Bian Yu Qing coldly snorted, “This Queen was just lucky. Kou Wu and this Queen only returned to the Sect a month after that incident. We didn’t know about his release and it was too late for us to run away when we realized it. However, the Sect Master did not take my life, maybe because he thought that killing everyone and leaving him alone was not a good idea. Indeed, he spared my life, but…” At this point, she showed hatred on her face, “He cast a seal on this Queen, so from now on, I could only be a slave to him.”
“So that’s how it is!” Yang Kai understood now.
“You, little brat, were the cause of this incident. Speak! How should this Queen punish you in order to dissolve her hatred?!” Bian Yu Qing glared at Yang Kai spookily and considered punishing him heavily.
Yang Kai smiled, “Protector Bian, since you guys have been dealing with Wu Meng Chuan for all these years, you should have understood what kind of person he is. For such a person, either you pluck out the evil by the roots, or you just don’t provoke him. Not only did you provoke, but you also imprisoned and tortured him. Did you not expect retribution?”
Bian Yu Qing frowned and stared at Yang Kai, “What do you mean?”
Yang Kai replied, “What I mean is, even without me, Wu Meng Chuan would still get out of trouble, so your tragedy has nothing to do with me.”
“Bullshit!” Bian Yu Qing was infuriated.
Yang Kai shrugged his hands, “Besides, isn’t Protector Bian in good condition now? Even though Protector Bian had a seal cast on her by Wu Meng Chuan, who is the descendant of that person, he will definitely be successful in the future and you will be blessed with fortunes. It’s just a temporary hardship for now, can’t Protector Bian wait for it?”
Bian Yu Qing looked at him coldly and snorted, “How come it sounds like this Queen has won a grand prize? Should this Queen thank you for it?”
“You don’t have to,” Yang Kai waved his hand.
Bian Yu Qing said helplessly, “Anyway, what’s done is done. Kou Wu and this Queen can only take one step at a time now.”
Seeing that she did not really have the means to take revenge, Yang Kai finally felt relieved after a time of worry.
Kou Wu smiled, “Protector Bian and I were being ordered by the Sect Master to represent the Blue Feather Sect in the Four Seasons Realm this time. We saw you on the Azure Sun Temple’s side, so we decided to call you over to ask you about something.”
The Blue Feather Sect was just a small Sect. Although they lacked an Emperor Realm Master, originally there were still a few of Third-Order Dao Source Realm with them. As such, there were two slots for them to enter the Four Seasons Realm.
After the massacre by Wu Meng Chuan, it caused a massive shortage of manpower in the Blue Feather Sect, so Bian Yu Qing and Kou Wu were the only two left who could carry this responsibility.
“Information about the Four Seasons Realm?” Yang Kai raised his eyebrows.
“Yes.” Bian Yu Qing nodded, “Don’t tell me you know nothing. Since you are with the Azure Sun Temple, you must know more than us, right?”
Yang Kai frowned, and spoke after pondering for a while, “I do have the information, but I can’t disclose the information that is confidential to the other Sect.”
Bian Yu Qing smiled faintly, “No one will know if we keep it a secret.”
Yang Kai shook his head.
Bian Yu Qing’s face turned red, just when she was about to say something more, Yang Kai said, “I can only tell you about this… Star Seals will appear in the Four Seasons Realm this time.”
“Star Seals?” Kou Wu frowned, obviously he had no idea what they were.
On the contrary, Bian Yu Qing vaguely recalled something. After a while of pondering, she exclaimed, “You mean the ticket to enter the Shattered Star Sea?”
“Precisely!” Yang Kai nodded.
“Shattered Star Sea?” Kou Wu finally reacted to it and let out a low voice in shock.
Yang Kai smiled, “All the best to both of you. If we meet in the Four Seasons Realm, maybe we will still have a chance to cooperate with each other!”
After speaking, Yang Kai left them without turning back.
Neither Bian Yu Qing nor Kou Wu was his close friend. The information that he provided to them just now was fair enough to pay off the little favour that he owed them in the Blue Feather Sect last time.
He no longer owed either of them any favours. Nothing would happen if neither stepped on his toes. However, if one did anything malignant towards him, they should not blame him for his cruelty. After all, they were now under Wu Meng Chuan.
Yang Kai was very afraid of the descendant of the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor.
At that time, Wu Meng Chuan had actually passed on to him a complete set of Heaven Devouring Battle Law, which was the Secret Art of the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor. It was because of this Secret Art that the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor became the number one of Star Boundary at that time.
Yang Kai would have never believed Wu Meng Chuan did not have some sort of nefarious plan. It was just that he really did not understand what his intention was by passing on the Heaven Devouring Battle Law to him.
Yang Kai did not cultivate the Secret Art but gave it to the Embodiment. During the period of cultivation, the Embodiment had strengthened a lot. Yang Kai had also discovered the Heaven defying effects of this Secret Art.
If it were not for his own concern, he would have been tempted to cultivate it himself.
Occupied by his own thoughts, Yang Kai soon returned to the Azure Sun Temple.
Everyone was quietly meditating, taking advantage of the little time they had left to restore to their perfect condition.
Only Xiao Bai Yi opened his eyes and glanced at him, but he did not say anything.
Days flew by.
As time passed, the density of World Energy in the nameless mountain valley increased gradually to a level of where Spirit Qi Mist was formed.
Looking down from above, the entire mountain valley was enveloped in a white mist. The mist was not the regular mist but was a sign of the condensation of World Energy.
The cultivating environment had reached an incredible level.
Anyone who could cultivate in such a place for a long period of time would be able to increase in strength at an extraordinary speed.
Unfortunately, the condensation of World Energy was only a sign before the opening of the Sealed World. Even a Sect like Star Soul Palace did not have such a jaw-dropping cultivating area.
Finally, at a certain moment on the fourth day after everyone arrived on this nameless mountain valley, everyone heard a faint, strange noise coming from the void.
Immediately afterwards, the World Energy suddenly trembled, and the mist rolled over madly towards a certain location – the centre of the entire mountain valley, the only empty area.
It seemed that all of the Sects knew that the entrance to Sealed World was here as there was no great force stationed here.
At this moment, all the cultivators opened their eyes together to look over.
“It’s started!” At the Star Soul Palace station, Xiao Yu Yang shouted in a low voice. All the disciples stirred up and secretly rolled up their sleeves!
“The entrance is about to open!” At the Azure Sun Temple station, Gao Xue Ting looked at the twenty people in front of her and said, “This Elder hopes that you stay together for as long as possible after you enter to avoid the situation of being alone. If someone insists on going their own way, you may ignore what this Elder said.”
After a pause, she continued, “Best wishes to all of you, and return safely!”
Xia Sheng grinned and said, “Don’t worry Elder Gao, this disciple will take good care of them.”
Gao Xue Ting nodded and said no more, then turned her attention to the place where World Energy was converging.
At this moment, the World Energy between Heaven and Earth was swarming over there, arousing the whistling of the wind that sent the sand and rocks in the mountain valley flying, but did not affect anyone’s vision.
Suddenly, all the World Energy that had converged there disappeared, as if it had fallen into a black hole, and the space suddenly became unstable at the same time.
The more World Energy poured into the void, the more unstable it became.
At a certain moment, the void opened, and a gap was visible to the naked eye.
Auras continued to pour in, and the gap was getting bigger and bigger. Looking above, it seemed as if a mighty man had opened a window in the sky. Through that window, some scenery on the opposite side could be vaguely seen, ethereal and unmarked, twisting and changing.
This lasted for half an hour.
Half an hour later, the World Energy in the mountain valley that had been condensed into mist had all poured into the void gap.
The entire mountain valley, absent of any World Energy at this moment, had restored to its depressing state.
And the gap had become more than ten feet long and five feet high.
“The entrance is open!” Some exclaimed.
“Go!” People could not wait. They activated their Movement Skills and passed over everyone’s heads and rushed directly to the narrow entrance.
A man and a woman, probably cultivators from a small Sect like Blue Feather Sect with only two slots, had used what seemed to be a Secret Technique. They transformed into a stream of light and zapped towards the entrance as quick as lightning, ahead of everyone else.
They seemed to think that getting in earlier would give them some advantages.
It was a pity that it was unlike what they had hoped for.
Several Emperor Realms from the big Sects just looked at them coldly and silently, with no intention of stopping them.
“Aw!” Gao Xue Ting sighed, “There’s always someone desperate!”
Two screams radiated from the void just as she finished.
The male and female cultivators, who no one knew where they hailed from, crashed into an invisible barrier protecting the entrance of the Four Seasons Realm, forcing them to be unable to enter.
Not only that, the barrier that blocked the two of them contained an extremely brutal killing power, directly wringing the two into a mass of flesh and blood, exploding in the air.
The two of them died unexplainably!
“What?”
“What is going on?”
Below, many cultivators screamed, their faces turned pale.
[If the entrance of the Four Seasons Realm was so dangerous, how can we get in? I’m afraid that most of the people present can’t pass through the entrance at all, and all will die here.]
However, many Dao Source Realms’ faces stayed unmoved, as if they had long expected this.
Yang Kai sighed.
He got the jade slip from Azure Sun Temple, and he knew that the two’s behaviour was reckless. If he wanted to enter the Four Seasons Realm, he couldn’t force it. No matter how high one’s cultivation was, he would end up just like those two people.
If you wanted to enter the Four Seasons Realm, you could only wait for a mysterious force.
This was the benefit of information.
If Yang Kai went alone, if he was ignorant, he could just break in and cause some unpredictable consequences.
A transparent energy ball emerged from the crack. The energy ball was like a bubble, suspended in the air.
When the energy ball appeared, the disciples of Star Soul Palace moved into action.
Ten of the forty disciples rushed into the bubble one after another. It was twisted and deformed but never burst. It looked amazing.
The bubble seemed to have just enough space for ten people to stand. After ten Dao Source Realm cultivators got inside, there was not much space left. The bubble contracted very quickly and swiftly drifted towards the entrance.
Those that got on went into the entrance and disappeared.
The cultivators who came to participate in the Four Seasons Realm Sealed World for the first time now understood what was going on.
The bubble was the key to entering Four Seasons Realm.
Another bubble emerged, and once again, ten disciples jumped into action…
After the process repeated four times, the disciples of Star Soul Palace were all gone.
Star Soul Palace was the overlord of the Southern Territory. The first batch to enter Four Seasons Realm was of course going to be them. Meanwhile, for the other positions, no one really knew how the Emperor Realms negotiated the order. After Star Soul Palace, it would be the 20 disciples from Heavenly Martial Holy Land who would be divided into two groups. One group entering the Four Seasons Realm after the other.
The Azure Sun Temple came in as the third batch.
When it was Azure Sun Temple’s turn, Xia Sheng took the lead and pointed out nine people to follow him and they took the mysterious bubble to enter the Sealed World.
Yang Kai was with the remaining nine people.
The bubbles looked amazing. Yang Kai felt no obstacles when he got inside. Instead, they seemed to have fallen into the water. The surrounding area was soft, but there was no suffocating feeling.
While wrapped in the bubble and passing through the crack, there was no danger at all.
When he opened his eyes, he was somewhere else. In front of him was a flower.
The ten were still wrapped in a bubble, suspended in the air. As the bubble began to burst, everyone hurriedly circulated their Qi and suspended themselves in the air.
From the information recorded in the jade slip, Yang Kai learned that every batch of cultivators that were introduced into the Four Seasons Realm by the bubble appeared in the same area, but it was difficult to guess where in that area they would actually land.
At that moment, the ten were still together, looking around. There were no other cultivators around, and those present did not know where the dozens of people who entered the Four Seasons Realm before had been teleported to.
Azure Sun Temple’s second batch of ten was a team headed by Xiao Bai Yi. After all, in the Sect rankings, Xiao Bai Yi ranked second only to Xia Sheng.
This was also negotiated in advance, and he and Xia Sheng would each lead a team.
The moment the bubble burst, Xiao Bai Yi took out a communication artifact from his Space Ring and poured his Divine Sense into it, as if he wanted to see whether Xia Sheng was nearby or not.
After waiting for a while, there was no response. Xiao Bai Yi had no choice but to put away the communication artifact.
“This should be the Realm of Summer, right?” Murong Xiao Xiao, who had been exploring the surroundings, suddenly asked.
The sun was scorching where they appeared, and the air contained extremely abundant Fire Attribute spiritual power. The ground was dry and cracked, and there was little vegetation. This location was known as the Realm of Summer.
“It should be,” Xiao Bai Yi said with a gentle nod, when he was about to speak again, his expression hardened and he turned and looked in one direction.
At the same time, Yang Kai’s expression sank, and he shouted in a low voice, “Something is coming!”
Xiao Bai Yi glanced at him in amazement, shocked by Yang Kai’s keen sense.
“What do you mean?” Murong Xiao Xiao questioned.
There was no need for Yang Kai to explain anything. As soon as her voice fell, there was a bang from far away, as if some behemoth was rushing towards them, shaking the earth with each step.
Everyone was startled, and they all quickly urged their Source Qi to be on guard.
The sound was getting closer and louder, and the shaking of the earth became more apparent.
Less than ten breaths after Yang Kai spoke, several streams of light suddenly appeared in front of him.
The lead was reddish-white, extremely dazzling, and exuded an aura that made everyone feel familiar and jealous.
“Wu Chang!” Xiao Bai Yi’s face sank. He never thought that he would encounter the evil star of Heavenly Martial Holy Land when entered the Four Seasons Realm.
He had seen the battle between Wu Chang and Xia Sheng before and secretly felt that this person was a powerful foe. If he met him alone, his chances of winning would be slim. At that moment, Wu Chang and some elites of Heavenly Martial Holy Land were headed towards him. This caused Xiao Bai Yi’s nerves to suddenly constrict.
Because of Xia Sheng’s previous fight with him, Wu Chang could already be said to be an enemy of Azure Sun Temple. If he wanted to kill this time around, Xiao Bai Yi had no confidence to stop him.
As he gritted his teeth and cursed, Yang Kai changed his expression and shouted, “They are not chasing after us! Something is chasing after them!”
“Wu Chang is being chased?”
The face of a male cultivator in the team changed abruptly.
Wu Chang was already the cultivator of Third-Order Dao Source Realm, and he was also the top rising star of Heavenly Martial Holy Land. To force him to escape like a madman, it had to be an existence at the Emperor Realm.
The Four Seasons Realm was not without such beings. Over the years, many people who had entered the Four Seasons Realm had died at the hands of such powerful beings who they had no power to oppose.
While talking, the thing that chased Wu Chang and others was printed in everyone’s eyes. Behind Wu Chang, at a distance, a monster that was tens of metres tall was wrapped in flames and had red eyes. The monster moved its limbs and ran across the ground, dragging a long red light behind it.
Every time it leapt, it seemed to ignore the barriers of space, and the earth shook under it.
“Flame Beast!” Xiao Bai Yi’s face turned pale and they called out in alarm, “This is the locale of the Flame Beast!”
In the information recorded in the jade slip of Azure Sun Temple, there were mentions of the Flame Beast from the Realm of Summer. It was a genuine Twelfth-Order Monster Beast, capable of exerting a powerful force equivalent to a Master in the Emperor Realm.
The place where Flame Beast was located, was also listed as a Restricted Area in the jade slip, and disciples were not allowed to visit it.
No one expected that their luck would be so bad that they would appear in Flame Beast’s territory as soon as they arrived.
However, it seemed that Wu Chang and the others had worse luck. They probably appeared near the Flame Beast habitat, which led to the hunt.
“Roar…” The Flame Beast, who had been chasing Wu Chang and the others, couldn’t catch them, and roared in rage. Along with the roar, a fiery red light suddenly appeared from its mouth.
The space was penetrated, and the fiery red light, with unimaginable lethality, ran through the north and south, stretching more than a dozen kilometres.
Wu Chang reacted swiftly. After detecting the murderous intent behind him, he quickly rushed upwards. He avoided the killer move, but the others were not so lucky.
One of the disciples of Heavenly Martial Holy Land couldn’t avoid it, and was directly hit by the fiery red light, turning to ashes without even screaming.
Another disciple’s arm was nicked, and it melted away, as the disciple let out an earth-shattering cry.
“Hurry up!” Yang Kai took the lead in summoning the Dao Source Grade High-Rank ship. Stepping on it and urging his Source Qi, the ship flew in the opposite direction as swiftly as lightning.
The nine people who had been watching Azure Sun Temple finally recovered and summoned their flight type artifacts, turning them into streamers of various colours, and fleeing from Flame Beast.
It was not that they were not strong enough. It was mainly because that person in Heavenly Martial Holy Land suddenly died.
That was the elite disciple of Heavenly Martial Holy Land, not an average fish from some small sect. The dead cultivator is of the same level as them.
And yet, he suddenly evaporated.
If anyone were to encounter such a scene, they would run as well.
Immediately after, Yang Kai and the nine others tried their best to escape without stopping to fight with Flame Beast. Even with the strength of everyone present, there was no way to fight such a terrifying existence. The result of retaliation would certainly be death.
The remaining people of Heavenly Martial Holy Land flew close behind.
However, they were smart. They saw that someone was carrying the pot so they quickly scattered and went off in other directions.
After all, to the Flame Beast, no matter which sect they belonged to, anyone who trespassed in their territory had to die, so it simply chased.
“Wu Chang, you bastard, it seems you are not going to die a peaceful death!” Xiao Bai Yi saw Wu Chang on the left, flee. Meanwhile, the Flame Beast was chasing him and the others, releasing a deafening roar.
Wu Chang said nothing and gave him a look of mockery as he fled at an extremely fast speed.
“Roar…”
The earth-shattering roar came out again, producing a powerful shockwave, catching many off guard. The red flaming laser that followed was even more horrifying. It was a move capable of disintegrating their bones and all.
Fortunately, everyone had seen the Flame Beast use this before, so as soon as they heard the roar, they hurriedly changed direction and avoided the deadly attack.
“Split up. Fate will decide our life and death today!” Xiao Bai Yi yelled, and while speaking, he was the first to change where he was headed. He hurriedly turned to attack the Flame Beast.
That was how he was. He was obviously trying to divert the Flame Beast away so that the others had time to escape.
As the leader of the team, Xiao Bai Yi’s decision was appropriate.
It was a pity that the attack didn’t hurt. Before it hit the Flame Beast, it was completely destroyed by the scorching fire on its body.
The Flame Beast didn’t pay any attention to him, and carried on chasing the others.
After Xiao Bai Yi said his piece, the others scattered, turning into streamers of various colours, and fleeing in different directions.
“No way. Is my luck this amazing?” Yang Kai looked back in a hurry, but saw that the Flame Beast was chasing him, ignoring other people.
“Your dog eyes must be blind. Just staring at me and not chasing the others. But this is also good,” he said to himself. Although facing such a terrifying being, he did not have the capabilities to fight with it. Even Yang Kai had a little confidence he could escape from it.
And as long as the Flame Beast kept chasing him, the others were safe.
Although Yang Kai didn’t have much friendship with members from the Azure Sun Temple, entering the Four Seasons Realm could be considered as occupying one of their places, and doing this was within his acceptable range of contributing back to them.
Seeing the Flame Beast chasing after him, he slowed down and kept a certain distance between himself and the Beast. He still left himself some room to evade attacks, as he led it to the depths of the Four Seasons Realm.
Gradually, Yang Kai could no longer see the others. The Flame Beast was persistent; it kept chasing after him, and from time to time, it spouted the scorching energy attack from its mouth.
In terms of strength, it was certainly strong. But still, it was only a Monster Beast. The long-range attack was linear and did not cover that much of an area, so Yang Kai did not bother to avoid it. As long as he prepared in advance, he did not have to worry about being hit.
After half an hour. Yang Kai estimated that it was almost done, and then, he suddenly urged his Source Qi to increase speed.
The canoe Aunty Feng gave him was of Dao Source Grade High-Rank. Except for Emperor Artifacts, it was the best flight-type artifact. Furthermore, it was very small in size, extremely suitable for solo flight. With little effort on his part, the Flame Beast could only follow his ass and eat ash.
After a while, from a very distant location, the Flame Beast let loose an unwilling roar, but it had long since disappeared from Yang Kai’s sight. Obviously, it did not know how far Yang Kai flew off.
But Yang Kai still did not let up. He continued to release Divine Sense to explore the surroundings while continuing to fly further.
After another half hour, he waited until he was sure that he was safe before he landed.
He was still in the Realm of Summer, where the environment was scorching hot. The place where Yang Kai landed was a dry plain. Looking around, an area of several thousand kilometers could be seen clearly at a glance.
He took out the jade slip, checked the map of the Four Seasons Realm, and compared the places he had passed before to recognize where he was.
After a while, he summoned the canoe again and flew away.
His main purpose for entering the Four Seasons Realm was to find the Tribulation Fruit.
The Tribulation Fruit only grew in the cold environment, so it could not be in the Realm of Summer. He had to rush to the Realm of Winter as soon as possible to hope to find the spirit fruit.
In this Sealed World, he didn’t dare to fly too high and had to remain vigilant at all times. This was quite draining on his Divine Senses.
After an hour, Yang Kai flew over a cracked canyon.
But he flew back to it again, suspended in the air, looking into the canyon.
[I don’t know if this gorge was naturally generated or not. It’s not bottomless. But looking from above, everything inside is dark. I even hear the roaring winds from inside as well.]
The reason he flew back was that he had noticed something unique.
He took a closer look, he couldn’t help but brighten up his eyes and whispered, “Could it be…”
He rushed towards the bottom of the canyon.
It could be said that the Realm of Summer was hot everywhere, but the inside of this canyon was not affected by that. After entering it, Yang Kai felt a hint of cold. The further down he went, the less heat he felt.
That made him feel that his observation was not wrong.
The canyon was at least a few thousand metres deep, and when Yang Kai fell to two thousand metres, he could see some mist covering the area.
“Haha, it really is a Spirit Qi Sea!” he laughed.
From the information in the jade slip, he learned that there were places of extremely abundant World Energy in the Four Seasons Realm, like a sea of clouds and mist – the Spirit Qi Sea.
The World Energy contained in the Spirit Qi Sea was rich and extremely pure. It was most suitable for a cultivator’s cultivation.
However, because each Four Seasons Realm was only open for 33 days, even if cultivators encountered the Spirit Qi Sea, they could not stay for too long. At most, they would look for the Spirit Qi Sea and see if they could find any precious treasure.
The chances of a precious treasure being born in such a place with abundant World Energy were not small.
Some people found Emperor Grade spirit medicines from a Spirit Qi Sea, and their value was immeasurable, but others even encountered accidents in a Spirit Qi Sea.
Monster Beasts also enjoyed places with strong World Energy, so there was a strong possibility that there were some powerful Monster Beasts below.
The Spirit Qi Sea below the gorge was comparable to the situation where the World Energy converged when the Four Seasons Realm was opened. The more Yang Kai went down, the denser the World Energy got.
Being in such a place, even if he was not cultivating, the omnipresent World Energy penetrated his pores and restored the power he had consumed.
It took a full quarter of an hour before Yang Kai reached the bottom of the canyon. The ground seemed to be made of a material similar to gravel and was a little messy, but it did not seem to be dangerous. After Yang Kai released his Divine Sense, he did not notice any signs of living beings.
However, he did not relax his vigilance and walked around to check. After confirming that this area was safe, he returned to where he originally was.
He then took out the Sealed World Bead and injected some Qi into it.
In the next moment, three beautiful shadows appeared together.
One sat down cross-legged, as if cultivating, one stood silently, with an expressionless face, and the last was lying on the ground with a bored look, eyes empty and lacklustre.
Yang Kai glanced at the figure lying on the ground and could not help but sneer.
“Sir!” Zhang Ruo Xi, who was cross-legged meditating, heard a sound, opened her eyes and saw that Yang Kai appeared in front of her, and quickly got up.
Liu Yan, who appeared at the same time, also gently nodded to Yang Kai, and then looked around with her beautiful eyes to check the surroundings.
And Hua Qing Si, who was lying on the ground with a lazy look, was taken by surprise. Still a little groggy, she jumped up from the ground, urging Source Qi in her body. Looking at Yang Kai, and spoke up, “You bastard, what are you playing at?”
She had been imprisoned by Yang Kai in the Small Sealed World.
In that damned place, she was left alone, without anyone to speak to. She was about to be tortured to death.
She was lying on the ground and did not want to be summoned by Yang Kai directly. After all, such a scene caused her image to worsen. As a woman who wanted face, she naturally became angry out of shame.
While she was talking, her beautiful eyes burst into flames, her silver teeth rattled, her beautiful eyes looked left and right, and she suddenly fixated on Zhang Ruo Xi.
Yang Kai smiled and said, “Before you take any action, I have to warn you. If you dare to attack her, or try to capture her to threaten me, the consequences will be very serious. Other than that, I advise you to stay quiet!”
Hua Qing Si’s expression could not help but change slightly, and a hint of hesitation flashed across her face.
She really wanted to take down Zhang Ruo Xi, who was the weakest. Although she did not know what the relationship between Zhang Ruo Xi and Yang Kai was, she still had some guesses. After all, she did hear the little girl address him as ‘Sir’.
As long as Zhang Ruo Xi could be captured, she should obtain some leverage to negotiate with Yang Kai.
Her expression changed, and Yang Kai said again, “The idea of going for me is even dumber. Since I dared to let you out, I can throw you back in again! If you do not want to suffer, just stay still.”
Hua Qing Si grit her teeth and replied, “You devil, I curse you to die without a corpse!”
“Words don’t hurt me so they are worth nothing!” Yang Kai curled his lips. After speaking, he turned to Zhang Ruo Xi. “The World Energy here is very rich. You should cultivate here, and Liu Yan will stand guard for you.”
“Yes.” Zhang Ruo Xi did not ask any further questions and obeyed Yang Kai’s orders. She continued to sit cross-legged, closed her eyes and cultivated.
“But I cannot give you too much time. Two days at most,” Yang Kai added.
After speaking, he stretched out his hand and patted the Sealed World Bead. A ray of light flashed. Then, World Energy started to get sucked in. The force of attraction was so strong that it seemed all of the surrounding World energy was crashing into it.
On the surface of the Sealed World Bead, a small tornado of World Energy appeared, visible to the naked eye.
The average cultivator who encounters the Spirit Qi Sea can only sigh in disbelief. After all, they cannot waste their precious time stopping here to cultivate with the abundant World Energy of this place.
Yang Kai would not do so either.
But he had the Sealed World Bead!
The World Energy in the Sealed World Bead could not be considered to be thin, but there was still a huge difference when compared to this place. If he could use the Sealed World Bead to absorb all the World Energy here, the cultivation environment inside the Small Sealed World would undoubtedly improve.
Yang Kai got this great idea because last time, in the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, his Sealed World Bead had absorbed a large amount of broken World Principles. If even the World Principles could be absorbed, there was no reason why World Energy could not be absorbed.
And his attempt was successful.
A huge tornado formed on the surface of the Sealed World Bead and, as it rotated and pulled, all the World Energy around it was devoured into the Emperor Artifact, filling the Small Sealed World.
Seeing this, Yang Kai was overjoyed.
The success of this experiment meant that he could upgrade the cultivation environment of the Small Sealed World. It could even become as rich as the environments of the cultivation paradises in the Star Boundary! Of course, that was if he could find more areas with Spirit Qi Sea.
He handed the Sealed World Bead to Liu Yan and asked Liu Yan to hold the Emperor Artifact while looking after Zhang Ruo Xi.
Liu Yan took it without saying a word, then withdrew a short distance away so as not to disturb Zhang Ruo Xi’s cultivation with the noise from the Sealed World Bead.
Only then did Yang Kai tilt his head at Hua Qing Si, signalling her to move closer to talk.
Hua Qing Si said angrily, “Am I your pet? Do you take me for a pet that I will do whatever you want?”
Yang Kai replied, “If you don’t want to, then I can just send you back there.”
“Good! Great! Excellent! You have guts! You truly have guts!!!” Hua Qing Si’s rage seemed to cause steam to be produced from her ears. Her whole body was ready to pounce, but she knew she had to temporarily put up with this humiliation.
Hua Qing Si obeyed and moved. After confirming that Zhang Ruo Xi would not be disturbed, Yang Kai spoke while checking around, “Have you considered what I told you before?”
“What?” Hua Qing Si carelessly responded to Yang Kai while looking for an opportunity to make a sneak attack.
But what she didn’t know was that Yang Kai was in the First-Order Dao Source Realm, and kept his back towards her on purpose. He was intentionally showing a posture that was full of openings. With how haughty he was acting and how vulnerable he currently was, Hua Qing Si was having a difficult time deciding the benefits and drawbacks of her actions.
She didn’t know what would happen to her if she attacked!
But, she also had enough of being locked up in the Small Sealed World, and if she were to be locked up again, she would go crazy.
“Playing dumb?” Yang Kai stopped walking and turned around to look back at her.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hua Qing Si expressionlessly replied.
Yang Kai grinned and continued, “Let me explain it to you then, I just think it’s a bit inhumane to keep you in there all the time. After all, you and I have no enmity nor grudge ……”
“Were you always this sensible?” Hua Qing Si’s beautiful eyes lit up. She looked eagerly at Yang Kai and said, “If that’s the case, then ……”
“Stop dreaming first!” Yang Kai coldly snorted, turned around, and continued to walk forward, “You know of my biggest secret, so if there is no means to restrain you, I do not feel at ease to let you run about freely. This time is just an exception. You probably won’t have a next time. If you really do not wish to pass me your Soul Imprint, then be prepared to be locked up inside for the rest of your life.”
Hua Qing Si’s pretty face changed slightly. After a moment of silence, she said, “Would you give your Soul Imprint to someone you don’t know? Who would basically wield your life, and your death, out of your control?”
“Of course not!” Yang Kai shook his head.
“Then why would I do that if you wouldn’t?”
“Because I’m better than you!” Yang Kai replied straightforwardly.
Hua Qing Si’s mouth twitched and she continued, “A trivial First-Order Dao Source Realm dares to say such things in front of me! Just where do you get that level of confidence from?”
“There is no need for you to try to test my strength. If you really thought you could beat me, you would have done it already. Why would you still bother with words?” Yang Kai gave a cold laugh as he turned around again. With cold, emotionless eyes, he looked at Hua Qing Si and continued, “My patience is limited, you must give me an answer now. I will not give you another chance again in your lifetime!”
Seeing how serious he looked, Hua Qing Si’s heart sank and she realized that she could no longer muddle through in the face of Yang Kai’s ultimatum.
She grit her teeth and opened her lips slightly, as if she wanted to say something. But, in the end, she did not know where to start.
Yang Kai continued, “The reason why I did not force you last time was because I wanted to give you a little bit of time to ponder this. You should have already made a decision long ago. In the end, it is just a simple choice, is it so difficult?”
“Of course I have considered it thoroughly!” Hua Qing Si pursed his lips and replied.
“Oh? Then your answer?” Yang Kai looked at her with great interest.
Hua Qing Si grit her teeth, “If I offer you my Soul Imprint… damn it! Can you stop smiling like that? It makes me feel like I am being cheated and taken for a fool!”
“Just keep talking!” Yang Kai replied in a serious manner, relaxing the expression on his face.
“Will you ask me to do something life-threatening?” Hua Qing Si asked in a sharp tone.
“I have always been generous to my own people. If something is really dangerous, I will do it myself!”
While Yang Kai was answering, Hua Qing Si’s beautiful eyes kept staring into his, as if to see if there were any traces of lies. But to her surprise, what she saw were a pair of calm and clear eyes.
Hua Qing Si nodded, “I need to have my own privacy, so you must not pry into my secrets, and you must not order me to do anything against my will and conscience!”
“No problems!” Yang Kai agreed readily, causing Hua Qing Si to freeze, seemingly not expecting him to agree so easily.
“Will you treat me well in the future?” Hua Qing Si asked again.
Yang Kai’s entire face turned odd, “Are you going to marry me? Why are you asking such a humiliating question…”
Hua Qing Si became angry out of shame and barked back, “You think too much! Shameless!”
Yang Kai smiled, “Well, my answer would be… it would be like owning a dog…”
Before he finished his sentence, Hua Qing Si sent out a fist towards his face, Yang Kai raised his hand to block, and then continued: “I will be good to you, and I won’t forget that you are still a human!”
Hua Qing Si clenched teeth to the point it produced a gritting sound, and suddenly leapt back a few steps. Her Source Qi suddenly surged as she shouted: “The last question: Since you want me to offer my Soul Imprint, you must have the strength! Although I do not think I can beat you, I must at least try!”
Once she said her piece, she raised her hand, summoning her own ribbon artifact. Ribbons rose, fluttering about and they all stretched out. They started to intertwine and suddenly formed a rainbow bridge. It quickly rushed forward towards Yang Kai, filled with enough power to destroy.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Yang Kai stood still without moving, and said coldly: “After seeing what I can do, you won’t have any more reason to refuse!”
Hua Qing Si did not speak anymore. Her hand shifted, and the rainbow bridge made of coloured ribbons suddenly condensed, and split apart, forming into ropes, and in the blink of an eye, Yang Kai was wrapped into a dumpling, to the point even his mouth and nose could no longer be seen.
“Huh?” Hua Qing Si looked stunned, not expecting Yang Kai to be so easy to deal with.
[If that is the case…]
Before the joy in her heart had finally erupted, she heard Yang Kai coldly snort, “It looks like you’re mentally prepared!”
At this point, Yang Kai’s figure actually became illusory. As though he had not formed and he disappeared from this space. The ribbons that were tightly strung around him had suddenly loosened.
Space Secret Technique, Nihility!
Once this technique was used, Yang Kai would disappear into the Void, allowing him to avoid lethal attacks, in addition, he could also use the Nihility Secret Technique to hide his body and aura, so as to spy.
“How?” Hua Qing Si’s pretty face changed.
“Never seen a Space Attribute Secret Technique before?” Yang Kai’s voice suddenly came from the side.
Hua Qing Si’s face changed again, and she turned her head to see Yang Kai hovering above, unharmed, looking at her playfully.
“A Space Attribute Secret Technique!” Hua Qing Si shouted, her beautiful eyes shone with disbelief.
“Moon Blade!” Yang Kai raised his hand and dozens of Void Cracks, as black as space, took the shape of crescent moons and flew towards Hua Qing Si.
Sensing the terrifying power hidden in this mysterious attack, Hua Qing Si did not dare to be slow and shouted: “Fluttering Butterfly Dance!”
She started to turn, and a colourful light suddenly burst forth. Each ray of light quickly formed into a colourful butterfly, facing Yang Kai.
Hong Hong Hong…
The Moon Blade clashed with the countless butterflies, emitting an array of sound. This space quickly started to become unstable.
“Star Chaser Arrow!” Hua Qing Si immediately used another move, Star Soul Palace’s Secret Technique.
After all, she hailed from Star Soul Palace, the Southern Territory’s strongest Sect, and with the powerful cultivation of a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, Hua Qing Si was not an ordinary woman. She could be considered first-class in terms of combat experience, strength and adaptability.
Once the Secret Technique was launched, starlight started to leak out of Hua Qing Si’s body. The starlight coalesced and turned into a giant arrow. Trembling as it moved forward, it pierced through the void and headed directly towards Yang Kai, trying to pierce him through the skull.
“Paltry tricks!” Yang Kai coldly snorted. With the power of Principle, he grabbed onto the Star Chaser Arrow, and with power, crushed it into dust.
Hua Qing Si’s heart started to beat violently, as if Yang Kai had shattered her heart instead of the Star Chaser Arrow. She could only speak in terror, “How is that possible?”
Yang Kai grinned, “Three thousand paths, thousands of Secret Techniques that make use of the combination between World Energy and World Principles. Your Secret Technique is only making use of World Principles, so as long as I understand the Principles used for it to form, it is easy to unravel.”
Hua Qing Si’s forehead was drenched with cold sweat.
She was already a Third-Order Dao Source Realm, only one step away from the Emperor Realm, and the Star Soul Palace she came from was not a small sect, but she had never heard of such an unbelievable idea as she had just heard.
But it was the absurdity of this statement that had touched and inspired her.
She furrowed her eyebrows and stood still with clenched hands, deep in thought.
Hua Qing Si did not move, and Yang Kai did not counterattack, just standing there and waiting.
It was only after a while that Hua Qing Si sighed and looked up, towards Yang Kai.
She still had cards to play and she had only used half of her strength in that attack just now.
It was just a test, and she knew in her heart that Yang Kai hadn’t used his full strength.
Even if she could try her best to defeat this man as he is right now, how could she beat him in his demonized form?
Last time, she was subdued by this demon in a single move. This scene was still fresh in her mind and made Hua Qing Si shudder whenever she thought of it. Naturally, it was the type of absolute strength that crushes her, without a single way to resist.
Therefore, Hua Qing Si had no desire to carry on. The other party was a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, yet he was calm and relaxed in the face of her attacks. This was enough to illustrate how powerful and how Heaven-defying his aptitude was.
Furthermore, he was proficient in the Dao of Space and had an Emperor Artifact like the Sealed World Bead in his hand!
“Have you resigned to your fate?” Yang Kai smiled faintly after reading the haziness in her eyes.
Hua Qing Si pursed her red lips and did not say a word.
“There is no need to show such a condescending expression, it makes me feel like I’m evil!” Yang Kai laughed and continued, “You can be assured that in a few years, you will look back on today, knowing the wise decision you’ve made! If you miss this opportunity, I will never take you in even if you cry out to join me in the future.”
“Shameless boasting! That’s the only thing you are first-class at!” Hua Qing Si replied.
“Let’s just wait and see.” Yang Kai smiled, “Come, don’t waste time. I still have work to do; just be obedient and offer your Soul Imprint!”
Hua Qing Si sighed, sat down cross-legged, closed her beautiful eyes, and silently started manipulating her Divine Senses.
Seeing her in position, Yang Kai’s expression became solemn as he floated down. When he landed, he was just a few steps in front of her.
A short while later, Hua Qing Si’s body suddenly trembled and her features turned grim, as if she was suffering from a great deal of pain.
Her Soul Imprint suddenly burst out from within her Knowledge Sea and shot straight towards Yang Kai.
Sensing this, Yang Kai hastily opened her Knowledge Sea defences to receive it.
He closed his eyes and a Soul Avatar manifested in his Knowledge Sea. What he found there was an unfamiliar soul fluctuation inside his Knowledge Sea, which lingered in the shape of a brand, hovering quietly in mid-air.
Contained within this brand was Hua Qing Si’s Soul!
Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar formed different shapes. Following each of his moves, his Knowledge Sea tumbled. It gathered into a huge wave, which opened its mouth and devoured the Brand like a ferocious beast.
—
Deeper underground, Hua Qing Si suddenly shivered.
She opened her beautiful eyes and found Yang Kai looking at her with a smile on his face, so she asked, “What are you looking at?”
Yang Kai said, “You have quite the temper.”
“Hmph!” Hua Qing Si coldly snorted with discontent and spoke with an uncomfortable face, “It feels weird.”
It was the first time she offered her Soul Imprint to someone, and although doing this had little to no effect on her, there was still a subconscious feeling of discomfort.
It was as if something precious to her had been taken away.
“You just need to get used to it. Now that we are considered a group, then we are no longer outsiders. I do hope we can get along well in the future!”
“Don’t think for a second that saying that makes me have a better impression of you. I’m just being oppressed and enslaved by you,” Hua Qing Si coldly snapped.
“Think what you like,” Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders.
“I was just going to ask…” Hua Qing Si digressed and looked around, “What is this place? Why is it covered in a Spirit Qi Sea?”
“Seems like you are aware of Spirit Qi Seas.” Yang Kai smiled faintly.
“Although it is rare to encounter a Spirit Qi Sea, there are still some in Star Boundary. There is one located in my Star Soul Palace.” Hua Qing Si gave Yang Kai a contemptuous look.
“We are in the Four Seasons Realm!”
Hua Qing Si was stunned, then called out in alarm. “Huh? Did you just say Four Seasons Realm?”
“Of course!”
Hua Qing Si frowned, but soon, as if she thought of something, she concluded, “Yes, by this date, the Four Seasons Realm should indeed be open! But… how is it that you managed to gain the qualification to enter this place? If I remember correctly, Maplewood City didn’t have a spot.”
“I was lucky with the opportunity. I came in with the Azure Sun Temple.” Yang Kai replied.
“Why would someone from Azure Sun Temple bring you in?” Hua Qing Si was puzzled, “Every single slot is extremely valuable.”
“I don’t really want to go into too much detail. Anyways, just know that I took one of their spots.” Yang Kai waved his hand.
“Stole…” Hua Qing Si’s expression seemed to have turned strange.
While they were talking, a fork appeared, Yang Kai signalled them to stop, “Let’s split up. The chances of precious treasures being born here are pretty good, it would be a pity to miss them.”
“Then let me say this first. If I find…” Hua Qing Si was quick to adapt. After the initial state of depression, she was now able to bargain with Yang Kai.
“It’s yours, I won’t steal it from you.” Yang Kai readily replied.
“Those were the words I was waiting for.” Hua Qing Si smiled and took the left fork.
“Two days. In two days, we come back and meet here!” Yang Kai shouted as she moved even deeper, unsure if she heard him.
But that did not matter. After all, now that he had control of Hua Qing Si’s Soul Imprint, Yang Kai could sense her location as long as they were not too far apart.
Soon, she was completely out of sight and Yang Kai took a step into the right fork.
This was far from where Zhang Ruo Xi was located, but the World Energy here was still condensed to the point it became foggy. However, it was clearing up at a considerable rate thanks to the Sealed World Bead.
[A place that produces a Spirit Qi Sea has a high probability of producing precious treasures.]
Yang Kai had only recently entered the right fork when he found a Vampire Orchid growing on the stone wall. Although this Spirit Grass was only at Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank grade, it was still an extremely rare Spirit Grass. It could be used as the main ingredient to refining many different types of Spirit Pills, so it was worth quite a lot.
Yang Kai carefully harvested them and placed them into a jade box. This was to preserve them, ready to transplant them to the medicine garden of Small Sealed World when he returned.
This was the only way the medicinal properties of the Vampire Orchid could be preserved. Once he planted them into his medicine garden, there was a good chance the efficacies of the Orchid would improve.
Over the next few hours, he made a lot of more discoveries. With how abundant the World Energy was, there were many rare Spirit Grass ready to be harvested. This was essentially a treasure trove for an Alchemist like Yang Kai.
In such a short time, he managed to obtain seven or eight different types of herbs. Each of different grades, which could be considered a bountiful harvest.
However, he felt a tinge of disappointment as he had not found any precious Spirit Grasses of the Emperor Grade, only Dao Source Grade.
Dao Source Grade and Emperor Grade Spirit Grasses were only one grade apart, but their potency was worlds apart. Each Emperor Grade Spirit Grass contained World Principles. Even if consumed directly, it allowed cultivators to understand the power of Principles, which made it extremely useful for cultivators.
The canyon seemed to be endless. Yang Kai was not in a rush because he was prioritising his search for treasures, but after a few hours of travel, which was a few hundred kilometres, there was still no end in sight.
Just when he was ready to continue to go deeper, he felt a sudden wave of uneasiness. His heart raced, without knowing why.
He frowned, looked back in the direction from whence he came and the next moment, his face changed. He let out a low bellow, “You are courting death!”
After his words fell, he summoned out his ship artifact. He went inside and quickly sped back.
At the same time, somewhere inside the canyon, Zhang Ruo Xi sat cross-legged as the World Energy around her constantly rushed into her body, her Qi increasing at a rapid pace. She was previously only a Second-Order Saint King but during this very short period, she had managed to become Third-Order Saint King and there was no sign of stopping! Her strength would continue to climb, and would soon approach the threshold of Origin Returning Realm.
Not far from her, Liu Yan was holding the Sealed World Bead as she looked ahead with a cold expression.
Several tens of metres away, three men were standing. They were all dressed similarly. Those that knew of the different Southern Territory Sects could tell by the pattern on their vest, that these three were from a Sect called Evil Moon Valley.
Evil Moon Valley and Blue Feather Sect were similar. Both could be considered to be great forces within the Southern Territory. So, when the Four Seasons Realm opened, these sects had also got three slots.
These three were selected to enter Four Seasons Realm, and they happened to land near the canyon.
Among the three, there was an elderly man and two middle-aged men. The elderly man was in the Third-Order Dao Source Realm, while the other two were in the Second-Order Dao Source Realm.
They had no intention to explore the canyon, after all, from above, the canyon seemed completely devoid of anything, too dark to see what was inside. They were also unaware of any potential danger that lurked here. Though the three cultivators were far from weak, their strength was still slightly lacking when compared to disciples from the bigger Sects.
Since they were aware of their own strength, they did not want to actively take risks.
However, as they were flying by, the canyon gave off some unusual energy fluctuations.
Since the Sealed World Bead was absorbing the Spirit Qi Sea’s World Energy at a terrifying pace, it naturally caused obvious energy fluctuations.
Curious, the three put their fears aside and flew down, deeper into the canyon. They wanted to find the source of this disturbance. After all, opportunities were hard to come by and who knew? This might lead them to a treasure that would change their lives.
But after finding out that there were two women at the bottom of the canyon, the three of them were terrified.
Liu Yan was alright. Although she seemed like a flesh and blood being, she still had a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation level. That would align with those that could enter the Four Seasons Realm.
But the other girl was simply outrageous.
She was just a trivial Third-Order Saint King! No one would have thought that someone of her level would actually appear in the Four Seasons Realm! Even if they had seen her with their own eyes, the three were afraid that they were caught in a dream.
Furthermore, on closer inspection, this little girl seemed to be using the rich World Energy here to cultivate!
[What is going on?] The three men blinked multiple times, obviously confused.
“Senior Brother Hua Gu…” One of the middle-aged men looked for a while and asked the elderly man in a low voice with a suspicious expression. “How is it possible that a Saint King Realm cultivator has entered the Four Seasons Realm?”
“Damn it! She must be a disciple of those Great Sects!” Another middle-aged man suddenly voiced out, indignant with gritted teeth, “To think Evil Moon Valley was only allowed to take up three spots! For just three spots, even the Orthodoxy Temple had to pay a considerable amount to obtain them! But these bigger Sects… To think they could so recklessly squander such an opportunity. To think they would even allow a disciple in the Saint King Realm to occupy one of them. This is simply too much!”
After hearing him say his piece, the elder one, called Hua Gu, also nodded. “Junior Brother Zhou An has a point, these two women should hail from one of the Great Sects. It only makes sense that their origins are as such. Otherwise, it is impossible for a Saint King Realm cultivator to enter this place. Just look at her. She seems to have just broken through and is already at the threshold of Origin Returning Realm!”
As he spoke, Hua Gu displayed hints of envy and jealousy.
When he cultivated, he had to risk his life for the few cultivation resources available, but for these disciples from Great Sects, it was different.
They could easily enter the Sealed World, where others could only enter with great effort. Furthermore, with such an opportunity, they could easily advance.
When he compared the difference in both situations, his mind started to fume.
The middle-aged man who spoke earlier showed some fear and said hesitantly, “Since they are from one of the Great Sects, we’d better go first, in case we cause a misunderstanding. That would be horrendous.”
“Xiong Ning, what are you afraid of?” The middle-aged man named Zhou An gave the Xiong Ning a sidelong glance and coldly snorted, “Even if they are disciples of a Great Sect, they are only at First-Order Dao Source Realm and Third-Order Saint King Realm. Even if they are the disciples from a Great Sect, with their strength, even if there was a misunderstanding, what could they possibly do to us?”
“Who says I’m afraid?” Xiong Ning became angry out of shame and roared, “I just don’t want to invite trouble for nothing!”
“Humph, gutless rat!” Zhou An coldly snorted with a look of contempt. He disdained his fellow disciple a fair bit.
“The bead in that woman’s hand… that should be an amazing artifact!” Hua Gu suddenly whispered, his eyes staring straight at the Sealed World Bead held in Liu Yan’s hand.
Zhou An’s eyes twinkled and he asked in a low voice, ” Senior Brother Hua Gu, what are you trying to say?”
Xiong Ning obviously also realized something was up and his expression slightly changed.
Hua Gu faintly smiled. “We are currently deep underground. There is no one here and hardly anyone would pass by. What’s more, the other party’s strength is low and they are holding suich great treasures.”
Zhou An, after hearing this, understood and smiled, “I have long seen how these Great Sect disciples act and have been displeased with them for a long time now. Always flaunting their might and believing themselves to be unbeatable just because they have a good backer. So, what? Senior Brother Hua Gu, tell me what you plan to do. This Junior Brother will follow you to the end!”
“So, it comes to this…” Xiong Ning could feel his limbs tremble, as his stomach churn. He incoherently warned, “If their Sect ever finds out what happened to them, not only will we be finished, Evil Moon Valley will not be spared.”
Zhou An shot Xiong Ning a cold glare. “If you are afraid then get lost. We do not need to have someone who will just blow wind in our face and dare not do anything. But let me be clear. If you back out now, you will not obtain any portion of the artifacts and Source Crystals obtained. Since these two women are from a Great Sect, I expect a lot of prized possession to be on them!”
When Xiong Ning heard that, he gulped, and a greedy expression appeared on his fearful face.
He was silent for a few breaths before he finally gritted his teeth and agreed. “Fine. I will accompany the two Senior Brothers to advance and retreat together!”
“That’s more like it!” Zhou An couldn’t help but smile when he saw Xiong Ning agree.
“You three pieces of trash!” Not far from the other side. Liu Yan suddenly spoke up coldly, and her first sentence made the three Evil Moon Valley members’ eyebrows jump. “What the hell are you muttering about?”
Hua Gu forced himself to hold back the displeasure in his heart. “The three of us fellow brothers noticed a strange energy fluctuation deep within this canyon. So, we came to check it out. But to think what we found were two girls here, who caused it. “
“That’s all?” Liu Yan replied, still as cold as ice.
“That’s all!” Hua Gu replied.
“Since you’re done with your investigation, why don’t you get lost?” Liu Yan’s words were sharp, without the slightest intention to give face to the other party. This made the men from Evil Moon Valley further convinced that Liu Yan must be from one of the Great Sects. After all, only the disciples of these Great Sects would be so arrogant and domineering, even in the face of someone more powerful.
A deep-seated explosion was occurring within Hua Gu, but he still placed a smile on his face as he asked, “May I ask which Sect do you hail from?”
“What does it have to do with you!?” Liu Yan coldly snorted.
“Let’s be nice.” Hua Gu smiled faintly, “From my point of view, you can only hail from a select number of Sects. I am from Evil Moon Valley, and we have had many exchanges with other Great Sects. We have quite the harmonious relationship with them. Although I must admit that we have interrupted you two, since we have met, let’s consider it to be a sign from fate.”
He paused for a moment, his gaze turned to Zhang Ruo Xi as he spoke. “I see that this girl seems to be on the verge of breaking through a Great Realm. But I guess that is to be expected. After all, this place is extremely rich in World Energy. However, we do not know if there are any fierce Monster Beasts around. With the energy fluctuation, it would not be strange for you two to attract a Monster Beast. I am afraid with your current level of strength, it would be difficult to cope with any Monster Beast from this place.” He spoke, acting righteous. To hit the hammer while it was still hot, he suggested, “We might not be the best but we would like to stand guard for the two of you.”
Zhou An nodded vigorously at the side and continued, “Exactly. We would like to stand guard for you, even if a Monster Beast were to come, you do not have to be afraid.”
Meanwhile, Xiong Ning stayed silent.
Liu Yan laughed coldly, “Just the three of you trash? If a Monster Beast appears, I’m afraid the three of you won’t be able to fight it!”
“Your words are too hurtful!” Hua Gu’s heart was about to explode and leave his chest. He bared it and spoke with a sullen face, “We only have good intentions. Even if you don’t want to accept them, there is no need to belittle us to that extent!”
“That’s right, although Evil Moon Valley is not a Great Sect like yours, it is not something that can simply be insulted by anyone!” Zhou An shouted righteously. Though, those who were listening carefully, would not know how he connected Liu Yan’s words with ‘insulting’ Evil Moon Valley.
“What’s the point of all this farce? Just spit it out. Are you targeting me or this artifact?“ Liu Yan said, lightly tossing up the Sealed World Bead in her hand. “If you want it, try and grab it. Why beat around the bush?”
As this statement was made, Hua Gu’s and others’ faces changed.
“Senior Brother….” Zhou An turned his head and looked at Hua Gu.
Hua Gu pondered for a moment and replied in a low voice, “It doesn’t look like she has other fellow disciples around. We have been circling around them for so long and yet, we do not sense anyone else.”
“Then, is this really a heaven-sent opportunity!?” Zhou An had an excited expression as he licked his lips. He was completely eager and did not bother to hide anything. He turned to look back at Liu Yan with a ferocious expression, and said in a cold voice. “Little girl, when I beat you to the ground and strip you of your clothes, you better not cry for mercy! “
He originally never had such evil intent against Liu Yan, however, her words had created a lingering trace of hatred that could only be quelled with such an act.
Once his emotions erupted, he immediately wanted to rob the artifact, and her dignity!
The thought of having the opportunity to ravish and defile a beautiful woman from a Great Sect, who he would never dare to even glance at in the past, made Zhou An’s blood boil.
“Do it!” Hua Gu bellowed.
In an instant, the three from Evil Moon Valley’s Source Qi started to surge. Although they were facing a woman who had a lower cultivation than them, the three were not the slightest bit sloppy or careless. They were giving their all.
The old man opened his mouth and spat out a huge bell. The body of the bell was densely engraved with countless small and complicated characters, Source Qi poured into it and the bell swelled up even bigger, a growth rate visible to the naked eye. Once it was done, it looked like a golden fortress.
This bell was clearly a defensive artifact.
Though Hua Gu summoned this artifact, not to defend himself, but to capture Zhang Ruo Xi.
He had a clear objective. After all, no matter how strong Liu Yan was, Zhang Ruo Xi was only a Third-Order Saint King. With such a cultivation, she was too weak to struggle against him. As long as he could capture Zhang Ruo Xi first, he knew Liu Yan had to concede.
So when he struck, his target was Zhang Ruo Xi.
But when the bell was about to envelop Zhang Ruo Xi, Liu Yan suddenly let out a cold snort. “In your dreams!”
She raised her hand and a black feather, about three metres long, shot out and flew to Zhang Ruo Xi’s side, turning into a burning barrier that wrapped Zhang Ruo Xi’s entire body.
The moment the feather became a barrier, a pressure that did not seem to belong to this world suddenly descended. This scared the three from Evil Moon Valley as their bodies trembled with fear.
It was as if, in the feather, there was an extremely strong will that was hidden within, leering at the three of them. This caused the three of them to instantly break out in a cold sweat, soaking their clothes.
“What is this!?” Hua Gu’s eyes widened as he stared at the pitch-black flame barrier wrapping around Zhang Ruo Xi. The terrifying scorching power spread out, as if it desired to burn all of existence.
Zhang Ruo Xi, who was sitting within the barrier, remained motionless. As if she was not affected at all.
The bell-like artifact, however, which was glowing due to the terrifying heat from the flames, had its small complicated word engravings melted away one by one. Worse, as soon as the bell came into contact with the black flame barrier, it was tainted with a trace of this black flame. This flame did not go out and continued to burn the spirituality of the artifact.
“Divine Spirit’s aura!” Hua Gu shouted in horror.
He was a Third-Order Dao Source Realm Cultivator. Even if he had never seen a Divine Spirit before, he could still deduce with his experience. This frightening pressure, which seemed to be able to burn all of existence. This all indicated to him that they were up against one of the most terrifying beings that ever existed. A Divine Spirit!
Naturally, his guess was not far from the truth. This dark feather was none other than a feather from a Divine Spirit, Luan Feng.
Yang Kai gave the Luan Feng feather he found to Liu Yan, and after spending so much time, Liu Yan finally completed her refining of it. She even managed to obtain a trace amount of Divine Spirit power from it.
Even if this Divine Spirit power was weak, it was not something that a Dao Source Realm cultivator could compete against.
That was why Liu Yan did not fear these three.
The moment the Evil Moon Valley trio made their move, Liu Yan had already decided her course of action: Summon the Divine Spirit’s feather to guard Zhang Ruo Xi first, so that she could go all out.
Twiii…
A loud bird-like cry rang out and the three of them looked up and saw a strange-looking Firebird tens of metres in length, clad in red flames flying about.
The outer layer of this strange bird’s body was a flickering of lightning, indicating that two primary attributes were contained within it.
“She’s not human!” Zhou An shouted after noticing this fact.
When he saw Liu Yan in her original body, he finally understood why he felt there was something off about her. When he first saw Liu Yan, he felt that this woman was different from ordinary people, it seemed like she a little ethereal. Now that he saw her true form, he concluded that Liu Yan was a living spirit.
“She is an Artifact Spirit!” Hua Gu shouted. Fear from his eyes was quickly replaced with greed. He could not help but laugh loudly, “Hahahahaha! The Heavens have presented me with such a gift! This Old Master was worried about my Flame Club being unupgradable. Never would I have imagined that I would have the luck to encounter an Artifact Spirit here! “
As he spoke, he bellowed to the other two, “Junior Brother, Senior Brother, I only want this Artifact Spirit. After I get her, you can have the rest. Is that fine with you?”
After Zhou An and Xiong Ning heard this, they looked at each other and nodded, “We will abide by Senior’s decision!”
“Good!” Hua Gu nodded and eerily stared at Liu Yan. “Looking at your form and how you act, it seems that you already attained some level of consciousness. It’s not easy to cultivate to this point. Don’t worry. This old master is kind enough to let you live. So long as you enter my Flame Club obediently, I promise not to destroy your Divine Sense. How’s that?”
After he spoke, he summoned out a club artifact. This artifact had a rich aura to it. Filled with power. Obviously, it was a Dao Source High-Rank Grade artifact!
Such an artifact could be considered to be an extremely rare treasure. If an Artifact Spirit such as Liu Yan were to combine with it, and was refined by Hua Gu, the Flame Club might be promoted to an Emperor Artifact!
Furthermore, with an Emperor Artifact, Hua Gu, being in the Third-Order Dao Source Realm, had the opportunity to peek into the mysteries of the Emperor Realm!
Therefore, even knowing that the Sealed World Bead was worth a lot, he would be willing to give it up just to subdue Liu Yan. After all, one’s cultivation was the most fundamental when it came to one’s power.
After Hua Gu spoke, he was faced with Liu Yan’s pillar of fire!
The flames came down from the sky, as if they were going to melt the earth. They produced an enormous level of power.
The Evil Moon Valley trio hurriedly avoided it!
Hua Gu continued to persist and shouted, “You should not refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! If you had just accepted the deal, this Old Master would no longer act and it would be that thing against the two of them! But now that you have refused, do you think it can hold up against all three of us?”
He was naturally referring to the Luan Feng’s dark feather.
To him, Liu Yan using the most powerful artifact in her possession to protect Zhang Ruo Xi was the dumbest move she could make! After all, though she managed to protect Zhang Ruo Xi, she was no match against the three of them, especially with her artifact gone. Furthermore, once they are done with her, they would move on to Zhang Ruo Xi. For someone in the Saint King Realm, how could she possibly even resist them?
In his mind, the best option was to ignore Zhang Ruo Xi and leave her to die. Meanwhile, she would use that feather to attack the three of them.
Fuuu…
Another pillar of fire fell down from the sky.
“Playing with fire in front of this Old Master!” Hua Gu coldly snorted and threw the Flame Club, which spun around. The pillar of fire created by Liu Yan made contact with the club. Once they made contact, Hua Gu spoke, assured of his victory. “It seems that your consciousness is still lacking.”
Pfff!
Liu Yan opened her mouth and a ball of fire the size of a table came crashing down.
“I told you it’s futile!” Hua Gu shouted impatiently, and Flame Club made contact with the attack once again.
Hong Hong Hong…
A loud explosion rang out, and World Energy around them became chaotic.
“What!?” Hua Gu’s face suddenly changed. He hurriedly withdrew his Flame Club and tightly clenched it in his hand. When he looked down to check on it, he found that his Dao Source Grade High-Rank artifact was now wrapped with pulsating lightning arcs, causing his hand to feel numb.
“Yes, the power of Lightning is no doubt powerful!” The greed and desire in Hua Gu’s eyes became more and more obvious. Such an Artifact Spirit could rarely be found even in a million years! It seemed that once he merged his weapon with Liu Yan, not only would he be able to upgrade it to be an Emperor Artifact, it would also obtain the power to use Lightning.
“Senior Brother, don’t bother talking to her. Since she doesn’t want to submit, we just have to force her to!” Zhou An dodged the attack again and spoke with impatience.
“Fine, but be careful. Don’t hurt her spirituality!” Hua Gu nodded and did not forget to give a warning.
Zhou An coldly snorted, “Junior Brother is not the best at controlling his strength. If my attacks really hurt her, it’s her own fault.”
Once he said his piece, Zhou An shook his wrist. In his hand, a long spear emerged and flashed forward, charging at Liu Yan.
The silent Xiong Ning also acted. He placed his hands together and stimulated his Source Qi which ferociously shot forth.
“Primordial Divine Spear!”
“Burning Sun’s Phantom Hand!”
The two Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivators attacked with the power of World Principles. By utilizing the power of Heaven and Earth, the majestic and ferocious attack headed towards Liu Yan.
Liu Yan’s body swayed as she wrapped her body in a layer of fire, which acted as a barrier to resist the attacks from both sides.
Boom!
Liu Yan let out a pained cry. The flame barrier which surrounded her was instantly shattered. Although it managed to absorb most of the damage there was still the residual attack that slammed onto her body. It was powerful enough to cause her to shift and made her lose control of her current form.
After the barrier disappeared, Hua Gu’s figure mysteriously appeared close, in front of Liu Yan. His face solemn as he shouted, “Look into this Old Master’s eyes!”
With those words, a magical power blossomed from his eyes, turning into two vortexes that kept spinning, as if to pull Liu Yan’s Soul out from her body.
This was a Soul Secret Technique, which Hua Gu only made use of at the most opportune time. He timed it such that Liu Yan simply could not avoid it and was instantly struck.
Although Liu Yan had only recently advanced to the level of Dao Source Realm, her combat ability could be considered to be decent. However, she was outnumbered and each of them had a much higher cultivation than her. So, she was unable to deliver a decent fight when the three of them joined forces.
After being hit by the Soul Secret Technique, Liu Yan’s body was suddenly frozen in mid-air. Each flap of her wings slowed down. Her mind was in chaos, seemingly unable to resist.
Seeing this scene, Hua Gu was overjoyed, secretly feeling that things were going surprisingly well. He could already imagine the wondrous scene of subduing this Firebird Artifact Spirit, merging it into his Flame Club, and allowing his artifact to be promoted to an Emperor Artifact.
A beautiful picture of the future seemed to be unfolding in front of him.
“Senior Brother! Look out!” Zhou An suddenly shouted.
“What’s wrong?” Hua Gu was shocked, but soon, his eyes widened. He saw, within the Firebird’s pupils, that there was another type of flame that was burning. This flame was different, it seemed to be able to burn one’s Soul. As soon as someone made contact with it, it would cause his Knowledge Sea to tumble, and result in an unimaginable headache.
Sun’s True Fire!
Liu Yan had followed Yang Kai for so long, and even she was not clear on how much Sun’s True Fire she had devoured. Furthermore, her body had integrated with two kinds of precious and powerful flames. If not for consuming all of these, Liu Yan would never have been able to take on a solid form as an Artifact Spirit, much less obtain her level of sentience as an Artifact Spirit. So, it could be said that Liu Yan’s body was extremely complicated, housing many rare and valuable flames.
Hua Gu tried to use the Soul Secret Technique against Liu Yan again, but obviously, it did not work.
In a flash, Hua Gu cried out and retreated. He covered his head, and roared at Liu Yan. “Are you this unwilling to submit to this Old Master?”
He roared hysterically, “Since you won’t submit, this Old Master will destroy your consciousness!”
Once he completed his sentence, he clasped both his hands together and formed a seal. The Flame Club suddenly became bigger and burned even brighter. Up in the air, it started to tremble and shot towards Liu Yan like an arrow that left its string.
At the same time, Zhou An and Xiong Ning both attacked again.
Liu Yan’s eyes finally showed a hint of panic. Her body swerved around as countless lightning strikes and fireballs flew out, with some mixed in blue ice flames, trying to resist this onslaught.
She managed to block off Zhou An and Xiong Ning’s attack, but the Flame Club still shot straight at Liu Yan with hardly any decrease in strength.
At this rate, the Flame Club was bound to go through Liu Yan’s body and inflict heavy damage to her.
“You asked for it!” After all, only an Artifact Spirit with its own consciousness that was obedient had its uses. Meanwhile, a chaotic and ignorant Artifact Spirit that resisted at every turn, would only hurt him. Since the other party was unwilling to give in, he was left with no choice but to kill her.
But at that moment, an unusual fluctuation could be felt. A brave and heroic figure mysteriously appeared in front of Liu Yan. He stretched out a hand, lightly slapped forward and whispered, “Exile!”
A Void Crack opened up, and something like a black hole took shape.
And… the Flame Club headed into the black hole…
“No!” Hua Gu’s face changed dramatically as he gathered up his Source Qi in a panic. He only had one thing on his mind, which is to recall his artifact before the black hole closed up.
Seeing the black hole quickly closing up, Hua Gu’s forehead was drenched with cold sweat.
Although he had never seen such a Secret Technique before, he knew that if he did not recall in time, his artifact would be lost forever.
“Who!?” Zhou An could not help but shout with a ruthless expression.
Xiong Ning also narrowed his eyes and looked ahead.
In the sky, a young man stood quietly in front of the Firebird, his gaze coldly sweeping them. He was fuming with rage.
Yang Kai is naturally in a horrendous mood. Originally, he checked around the canyon in advance and found no signs of Monster Beasts around, so he felt that the bottom of this canyon was safe. Therefore, he decided to leave Zhang Ruo Xi and Liu Yan here, even placing the Sealed World Bead and other important treasures here as well.
But, never would he have thought that after just a short time, trouble would arise, causing him to have to rush back.
“Master!” Liu Yan saw that Yang Kai had finally arrived and couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief. Her huge body flashed as she transformed back into her human form and respectfully stood behind Yang Kai.
Yang Kai glanced over at Zhang Ruo Xi and saw that she was wrapped in a black flame barrier, one that emitted a familiar aura that made even him tremble slightly. He immediately understood that Liu Yan had used her strongest powers to protect Zhang Ruo Xi. If that weren’t the case, even if Liu Yan wasn’t strong enough to defeat these three, she wouldn’t have had so much difficulty.
“Good job, you’ve worked hard.” Yang Kai nodded at her.
“I only did what I should,” Liu Yan faintly replied.
Yang Kai turned his head and coldly swept his eyes across the three below.
“Who is Your Excellency?” Hua Gu almost suffered a big loss at Yang Kai’s hands just now, so he did nothing to conceal his anger, “Why are you interfering in my business?”
Yang Kai raised the corners of his mouth and asked, “Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear what she called me just now?”
Hua Gu frowned and asked, “So, you are the master of this Artifact Spirit?”
“At least you’re not a total fool!” Yang Kai sneered.
“Impudence!” Hua Gu yelled as he spat fiercely, “A trivial First-Order Dao Source Realm trash dares possess such an Artifact Spirit? Little brat, this old master advises you to obediently offer this Artifact Spirit to me and this old master may still spare your life, if not…”
“If not?”
“Today, this will be your burial place!” Hua Gu yelled sharply.
“Hahaha!” Yang Kai couldn’t help letting out a laugh filled with arrogance, as if he didn’t put Hua Gu in his eyes at all. A moment later, he smiled and declared, “Since you dare to say so then I’ll have to bury you instead!”
When his words fell, Yang Kai suddenly waved his hand.
Along with his movements, a strange pressure suddenly descended from the sky, and the canyon, which was already gloomy, suddenly became darker, as if something was blocking all light from above.
Hua Gu and the others looked up in amazement, and the next moment, they all exclaimed.
“What the hell is that!”
“This is…”
“Not good, run!”
The three all yelled as they scattered.
*Hong…*
The canyon shook as a behemoth suddenly fell from the air and hit the ground, shattering the surface around it. This behemoth looked like a fifty meter tall beast with jagged edges and rocky features.
Hua Gu and others were dumbfounded.
Even with all of their experiences, none of these three could tell what this thing was. At first glance, it looked a bit similar to the legendary Stone Beast, but after careful observation, they determined it couldn’t be.
Because a Stone Beast couldn’t grow this big!
“Oh? Finally willing to let me out?” As soon as the Embodiment appeared, he cracked his arms and neck, looking around with great interest, as if he had not seen the outside world in many years.
In fact, this was the truth.
After the Embodiment absorbed the floating continent, besides when Yang Kai brought it out to deal with Purple Star, it had remained inside the Sealed World Bead. Since then, for so many years, the Embodiment had not seen the outside world.
The reason was simple, after fusing with the floating continent, it was simply too big to freely take out.
If Yang Kai wanted to summon his Embodiment from the Small Sealed World, he would have to expend a huge amount of Spiritual Energy. How could Yang Kai spare so much energy to summon his Embodiment in the middle of a battle? As a result, the Embodiment remained inside the Sealed World Bead until now.
As time passed, the innate abilities of the Stone Puppet Clan slowly manifested, allowing the Embodiment to slowly temper its body and eliminate unnecessary impurities, causing its massive body to slowly become smaller.
But that had not been enough to reduce its size to a manageable level.
It was only when Yang Kai obtained the Heaven Devouring Battle Law that a turning point came. This Secret Art could be described as tailor-made for the Embodiment. Since cultivating the Heaven Devouring Battle Law, coupled with the innate abilities of the Stone Puppet clan, the Embodiment had managed to rapidly increase the rate at which it tempered itself.
Even so, the Embodiment was still a huge monster compared to ordinary humans, and Yang Kai felt a third of his Spiritual Energy had been drained just to bring it out a moment ago.
The visual impact of such a huge body was undoubtedly shocking, especially since it seemed to appear out of nowhere. This caught the trio from Evil Moon Valley off guard and left them stunned for a while, as if they were lost in some kind of illusion, unable to believe their eyes.
Bits of gravel continued to fall from the Embodiment as it stretched itself out.
There was no need for Yang Kai to explain anything. As soon as the Embodiment appeared, it immediately understood the situation and recognized Hua Gu and his companions as enemies.
Grinning towards Hua Gu, the Embodiment grinned and spoke in a grating voice, “A Third-Order Dao Source Realm. En, as the first to die by my hand after so many years, it’s not a bad choice!”
“Good, I’ll leave it to you, I’m interested in seeing just how much ability you have now!” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“Then you’re in for a pleasant surprise!” The Embodiment smiled and lowered its stance before punching at Hua Gu.
The fist didn’t seem to carry any trace of energy, like it was only done using pure physical force, but even so, strong pressure and wind blew from this fist as it pounded towards Hua Gu like a falling meteor.
Hua Gu was shocked and exclaimed, “This can’t be real!”
He didn’t dare to test that notion though and hurriedly leapt up into the air.
Although his cultivation at the Third-Order Dao Source Realm was not weak, how could he dare to take such a blow head-on?
The Embodiment’s massive body made turning and moving somewhat awkward; however, seemingly having expected Hua Gu’s reaction long ago, the Embodiment shot out a fist towards the spot where Hua Gu tried to flee.
Hua Gu screamed again and hurriedly dodged.
Soon, Hua Gu managed to adjust, though.
After avoiding the Embodiment’s initial attacks, Hua Gu determined that, although the huge stone man seemed quite powerful and intimidating, its attacks were monotonous and simple, so they were easy to avoid.
Just as this thought passed through his head, the Embodiment suddenly let out a cold snort and snapped, “Jumping around like a flea, if you’re a real man, fight me head-on!”
Hua Gu exclaimed, “You think this old master is some kind of idiot? Do you think such childish provocation will work on me?”
“Hey…” the Embodiment grinned, “Whether it works or not, there’s no harm trying. Since that’s the case, let’s try this instead…”
As it spoke, it stretched out its hand and slapped its palms down, causing a strange force to surge out and draw in the earth and ground below. Rock and earth quickly flew up into the Embodiment’s palms and in the blink of an eye, a spear-like object had condensed.
This spear was purely composed of gravel and dirt from the canyon floor, but it still looked extremely strong and powerful. Obviously, it was being solidified somehow by the Embodiment.
With this spear in hand, and its massive body, the Embodiment was the very picture of might.
Gripping the spear tightly, it mercilessly hurled it towards Hua Gu.
*Xiu…*
A sharp whistle rang out as the air in the canyon split apart. A huge vortex appeared as space tore from the residual force of this spear which seemed to ignore distance and appeared directly in front of Hua Gu.
Hua Gu’s eyes widened in horror as the spear rapidly enlarged in his eyes. With a shout, he summoned a shield-like artifact that turned into a light curtain, protecting his front.
*Hong…*
The rock spear hit the light curtain and instantly shattered it into tiny points of light before continuing on and impacting the canyon floor.
With a loud bang, rubble flew out and a huge circular pit opened up where the spear had landed.
Hua Gu was drenched in cold sweat as he stood to the side, pale, fear gripping his heart tightly.
If he hadn’t dodged fast enough just now, this terrifying attack would have been enough to turn him into a blood mist.
The shield he just summoned was a Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank defensive artifact, one that had protected him for countless years already. It was powerful enough to even resist Dao Source Grade High-Rank offensive artifacts without much difficulty.
But today, it was crushed by a strange stone giant in one blow.
A Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank defensive artifact was no different from paper in front of this tyrannical force.
Even scarier though was the fact that the spear was composed entirely of condensed soil and rock, a fact Hua Gu had witnessed personally.
The opponent’s attack strength was so ridiculous, how was he even supposed to fight such a monstrosity?
At this moment, Hua Gu couldn’t help but think about retreating, and at the same time, he was extremely annoyed.
He should have realized even before Yang Kai appeared that fighting with disciples from the big Sects would not be beneficial at all. Even if these disciples had lower cultivations, they would definitely be bestowed with incredible artifacts and treasures from their Elders. None of these elites could be taken lightly.
Unfortunately, he had been blinded by his own greed and looked down on Yang Kai’s First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation. But even if he regretted his actions now, it was too late.
“Why is your face so pale? Where did all the courage you showed just now disappear to?” A voice ladened with ridicule reached Hua Gu’s ear, and when he glanced back, his entire body clenched in fear.
Hua Gu saw the Embodiment pressing its hands down again, causing the rock and soil beneath it to swirl upwards and quickly condensing into two spears exactly like the one from before…
At the same time, Liu Yan and Xiong Ning had already concluded their fight.
Liu Yan, who had been besieged earlier by three enemies, had been at a distinct disadvantage and had built up quite a bit of resentment, so when the Embodiment attacked Hua Gu, she quickly found Xiong Ning to seek some redress.
Even if Xiong Ning’s cultivation was a little higher than hers, Liu Yan still fought equally with him, and soon even gained the upper hand.
This time, Liu Yan did not reveal her true body and chose to fight solely in her human form!
In this form, Liu Yan could only exert eighty percent of her strength, so it was obvious that if she transformed into her Firebird form, she would easily be able to suppress Xiong Ning.
Liu Yan had swallowed so many strange flames, and as an Artifact Spirit, increasing her strength was extremely difficult, far more so than a human cultivator’s breakthroughs. As a result, Liu Yan’s strength was far more tempered, allowing her to fight enemies above her own cultivation with ease.
It was only natural that Xiong Ning would not be her opponent.
In the depths of the canyon, two battlefields raged.
As for Yang Kai, he didn’t move, and neither did Zhou An.
Yang Kai didn’t move because he wanted to see what kind of pleasant surprise his Embodiment would give him while at the same time he had to guard Zhang Ruo Xi. He had to make sure that Embodiment did not cause too much commotion here and interfere with this little girl’s cultivation.
Zhou An didn’t move because Yang Kai didn’t move.
At this moment, Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was locked onto him, hanging over his head like a sharp blade. It was causing him to have the horrible illusion that even the slightest movement would result in him turning into a fresh corpse.
This made him pale, and panic deep in his heart.
He could perceive that Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was as powerful as a Third-Order Dao Source Realm’s, far surpassing his own. Fighting such a person would definitely not benefit him.
Observing the other battlefields, both Hua Gu and Xiong Ning seemed to be at a disadvantage.
Zhou An felt bitter in his heart, knowing that this time, they had really kicked an iron plate.
He quietly took a look at Yang Kai and found that the other party was not paying attention to him, so Zhou An gathered his courage, squeezed out a smile, cupped his fists, and said, “This friend…”
Yang Kai heard him, turned his head, and lightly asked, “Do you have any last words?”
Zhou An’s brow twitched as he replied, “This friend misunderstands, I just wanted to say that I don’t know these two people, we only met by chance and came here together!”
Yang Kai looked at him indifferently, still unmoved.
On the contrary, when the other two heard his remarks, they were shocked.
Xiong Ning glared at Zhou An incredulously as he avoided Liu Yan’s attack and shouted, “Senior Brother Zhou, what are you talking about!?”
Hua Gu was also furious and angrily shouted, “Zhou An, you dare claim you have nothing to do with this when you were the first one to act?!”
“That man called you Senior Brother…” Yang Kai pointed at Xiong Ning.
Zhou An sternly said, “He must have problems with his head, this friend should not listen to any of his nonsense.”
As he spoke, he put on a flattering smile, “Friend, this one really had no ill intentions towards you and was simply dragged along by them to investigate this place where we encountered your Artifact Spirit by accident. Fortunately, this friend’s Artifact Spirit suffered no damage, so I hope this friend can let this small matter go.”
After spouting this shameless remark, before Yang Kai even had a chance to reply, Hua Gu on the other side turned red with anger and coughed up a mouthful of blood, all his veins puffing out as he roared furiously, “Shameless! Do you not have any face?!”
“Shut up!” Zhou An shouted angrily, “This Zhou, from now on, has nothing to do with you villains!”
“Wayaya…”
Hua Gu was infuriated and let loose an odd roar from his lips, almost as if he had gone insane. At that moment, he was caught by the Embodiment when it stomped the ground hard and shouted, “Earth Prison!”
A peculiar power gushed out from the Embodiment’s huge body and poured into the ground, causing it to liquefy and form a number of long hands which flew up into the air like giant whips.
Hua Gu was caught off guard and directly entangled by these long whip-like hands.
“Not good!” Hua Gu exclaimed as he tried desperately to break free, but soon he was dragged down to the ground by an irresistible force. Soon, his body was pulled underground until only his head remained exposed.
Strangely, the moment Hua Gu sank into the ground, the liquified ground was restored to its original state. The ground then solidified to the point where no matter how hard Hua Gu struggled, he couldn’t break free.
He was like a man who had fallen into quicksand and was unable to escape.
The Embodiment’s massive body stood in front of him like a mountain, casting a huge shadow over him.
“Oh? Is that a new ability?” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up as he looked on in interest.
He could not recall the Embodiment using such a technique before and did not know if it was an innate ability of the Stone Puppet Clan, or if it was something it comprehended after cultivating the Heaven Devouring Battle Law.
On the other side, Zhou An trembled.
Seeing Hua Gu, a Third-Order Dao Source Realm master, lose so quickly, how could he dare to remain?
Quickly cupping his fists, he shouted, “This friend, I wish you good fortune, this one will take his leave!”
As he spoke, he tried to fly up and escape.
“Did I let you leave?” Yang Kai waved his hand, sending out a Moon Blade to cut off Zhou An’s path.
Zhou An paused, looked back, and asked haltingly, “What other advice does Friend have to give?”
Although Zhou An put on a humble attitude, there was still a vigilant light in the depths of his eyes. Yang Kai had no doubt that if he attacked first, Zhou An would surely counterattack.
This man was willing to betray his fellow Sect brothers, so he probably wouldn’t believe anyone.
“I have no advice for you…” Yang Kai said lightly, “But… since you say that you are not with them, don’t you think you should prove yourself?”
“Prove myself…” Zhou An’s eyes flickered, but soon, he nodded and said, “This one understands, please observe well, friend!”
Saying so, he summoned his spear artifact and poured his Source Qi into it. Then he jumped out and rushed towards the battle between Liu Yan and Xiong Ning. With his spear trembling, Principle Strength began to swirl around it and condense at the tip in a brilliant display of light.
“Primordial Divine Spear!”
As he shouted, his eyes filled with murderous intent, as he directed his attack at Xiong Ning!
Xiong Ning was shocked.
Liu Yan alone was enough to suppress him, and after losing his composure as a result of Zhou An’s shameless behaviour just now, he was already at a serious disadvantage in this battle. Now, Zhou An had actually attacked him, causing Xiong Ning to feel the aura of death grip him.
After hurriedly blocking Liu Yan’s blow, Xiong Ning shouted, “Senior Brother Zhou, are you crazy!?”
Zhou An coldly snorted without replying, instead pouring more power into his spear before throwing it out with full force.
The terrifying attack flew within a hair’s breadth of Xiong Ning before it shot towards Liu Yan.
“I knew you would do this from the beginning!” Liu Yan was neither panicked nor flustered as she coldly snorted and blew out a pillar of flame and lightning towards the approaching spear.
*Hong…*
The huge explosion occurred, drowning the figures of the three on the battlefield.
At the same time, Yang Kai raised the corner of his mouth into a sneer.
He had clearly seen Zhou An use this attack as a feint to create a scenario where he could burn his Blood Essence in order to display a Secret Technique that caused a blood-red glow to cover his body, dramatically increasing his speed as he fled into the canyon.
“Shrewd and crafty, an exemplary scum!” Yang Kai ‘praised’.
If he had been in Zhou An’s position, he would not have been able to come up with a better method of escape in order to survive.
However, his feint not only distracted Liu Yan, but also Xiong Ning. Xiong Ning, who was deceived, was stunned stupid after this attack as he believed he was about to die just now. But before he could recover from his shock, Liu Yan pounced on him again.
Forcefully composing himself, Xiong Ning continued his battle.
Deep in the canyon, Zhou An was fleeing madly.
After seeing Hua Gu being imprisoned, he knew that he would definitely die if he didn’t flee. Without even mentioning the strange stone giant, just that strange First-Order Dao Source Realm youth was not an opponent he could deal with by himself.
Zhou An had never seen such a monster before, with a Divine Sense on par with a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator while only having First-Order cultivation!
Believing in the expression, ‘A wise man will submit to the circumstances’, Zhou An had always been a flexible individual who understood the circumstances and adapted accordingly. In the Sect, he had a wide range of contacts and was well known for managing complex interpersonal relationships.
This Secret Technique that burned his Essence Blood consumed a lot of his strength, but it could dramatically increase his speed for a short period of time, so Zhou An was confident that even if Yang Kai was unusually strong, he would not be caught.
Unfortunately…
Just as he was thinking he had escaped, Zhou An saw the space in front of him ripple oddly.
Zhou An was taken aback and hurriedly came to a stop as he stared forward suspiciously.
The next moment though, he saw a figure slowly walk out from these ripples and smile at him playfully.
“You…” Zhou An’s eyes bulged as he stared at Yang Kai in disbelief, calling out in alarm, “How?”
However, Zhou An had a wide range of experiences, so it only took him a moment to think of something and exclaim, “Space Principles!”
This scene in front of him was exactly the same as the legendary teleportation Secret Technique those who cultivated the Dao of Space could use. Zhou An could not think of another explanation!
Although some special artifacts could allow one to teleport short distances, and they truly had similar effects to what he just witnessed, Zhou An was certain he did not see Yang Kai use any such artifact.
He immediately understood that the youth in front of him was someone who had cultivated the Dao of Space to an extremely high level!
After realizing this, Zhou An’s face turned ashen.
Everyone with half a brain knew that trying to flee from an enemy that was proficient in the Dao of Space was a futile endeavour!
At this moment, Zhou An’s mouth was filled with bitterness, as if he had eaten a sour bug. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but…
Yang Kai interrupted him directly, “Whatever you have to say, I will treat it as a fart!”
As he finished speaking, Yang Kai waved his hand and sent out a dozen Moon Blades.
Zhou An’s heart sank as he summoned his spear and assumed a defensive stance.
A ringing noise sounded out as the Moon Blades were cut down by Zhou An’s spear as he was pushed back again and again.
Before he could stabilize his figure, Yang Kai suddenly disappeared from his view.
Zhou An was shocked and quickly released his Divine Sense, but couldn’t find any trace of Yang Kai.
He instinctively flipped his spear and stabbed behind himself, but hit only empty space.
A voice that horrified Zhou An, like that of the reaper of death, called out from beside him at that moment, “Myriad Sword Arts, Radiant Moon Swallows the Wolf!”
An astonishing Sword Qi swept out at that moment and washed towards Zhou An, filling the gloomy canyon with a light a thousand times brighter than the moon in an instant!
In that moment, Zhou An felt an odd sense of clarity.
With an intense roar, he poured all of his Source Qi into his spear and unleashed his complete strength and skill, sending out thousands of spear shadows to form a dazzling, multi-coloured wave of force!
The spears smashed out and caused a violent explosion, after which hot blood splashed about.
After the dazzling white light dissipated, Yang Kai held the Myriads Sword quietly. Not far in front of him, Zhou An stood covered in blood with innumerable big and small wounds covering his body. His physique had been thrashed and his bones were exposed in many places. His clothes were shattered and the red glow that had radiated from his form had completely vanished. At this moment, his aura was so weak it was almost imperceptible.
With great difficulty, he lifted his gaze towards the Myriads Sword in Yang Kai’s hand and the corners of his lips curved into a bitter grin, “Emperor… Artifact, this Zhou’s death was not undeserved!”
With these words, he fell from the air into the canyon, his eyes quickly losing their lustre before he even hit the ground.
When Yang Kai rushed back, the battle between Liu Yan and Xiong Ning had also concluded with Liu Yan winning as expected.
However, she had not killed Xiong Ning and instead just maimed him and thrown him to the ground. Xiong Ning’s aura was very feeble and he was groaning continuously, looking very miserable.
On the other side, Hua Gu was still imprisoned by the Earth Prison, his head still exposed, with the Embodiment sitting cross-legged in front of him with its huge hands spread out like two giant claws and grabbing the void at the place where Hua Gu was.
A type of mysterious energy was flowing from those two giant hands.
Under this power, the Source Qi and even Hua Gu’s physique were quickly transforming into a stream of pure energy that was pouring into the Embodiment’s body and being completely absorbed.
Seeing this scene, Yang Kai’s eyes shrank slightly.
“Master…” Liu Yan walked over, her beautiful eyes filled with shock as she asked in a low voice, “What is this Secret Art?”
She was also stunned by the actions of the Embodiment. Although Hua Gu and his companions’ methods were despicable, and their deaths weren’t worth pitying, what the Embodiment was doing at this moment seemed to be extracting Hua Gu’s vitality and essence. It was literally refining him into its own strength.
Hua Gu’s body rapidly shrivelled up under the Embodiment’s actions, his skin cracking and his complexion turning sallow, like all the water was being drained from his body. His Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation was also rapidly regressing.
This kind of death, where one experienced the despair and torture of losing everything they had ever cultivated to achieve, was far more frightening than simply having one’s corpse shredded into ten thousand pieces.
“The Heaven Devouring Battle Law!” Yang Kai replied in a low voice.
He was also surprised because he hadn’t expected his Embodiment to have cultivated the Heaven Devouring Battle Law to such an extent already.
As for the scene before him, it was actually quite familiar.
When Yang Kai released Wu Meng Chuan from Blue Feather Sect’s Bone Prison, the latter had used the Heaven Devouring Battle Law to kill and devour all the other cultivators in the prison, restoring himself to his peak state in a very short period of time.
The Embodiment obviously hadn’t reached the same level as Wu Meng Chuan, but the essence of the technique it was using was the same, drawing out the energy of others to strengthen oneself!
The Heaven Devouring Battle Law could swallow everything which contained any form of energy in this world, allowing one to cultivate at an extraordinary pace. This Secret Art was extremely overbearing and evil, which was precisely why the creator of this Heaven defying Secret Arts, Heaven Devouring Great Emperor, had provoked public anger and ultimately doomed himself.
“This Secret Art is too wicked and domineering!” Liu Yan frowned, seemingly unhappy.
Yang Kai nodded lightly, agreeing with her sentiment, especially after seeing the scene in front of him. He had to admit that this was an extremely evil Secret Art.
As the two conversed, Hua Gu’s vitality finally dried up and he died, his whole body now nothing but skin and bones with most of his physique having been sucked away. As for the Embodiment, it showed an unsatisfied appearance as it stretched out its hand to draw over the half-dead Xiong Ning, intending for him to suffer the same fate as Hua Gu.
A tragic cry reverberated in the canyon for some time.
A while later, Xiong Ning also became a mummified corpse.
The Embodiment finally exhaled contentedly.
Yang Kai also clearly felt that after using the Heaven Devouring Battle Law and swallowing the essences of these two Dao Source cultivators, the Embodiment had grown noticeably stronger. What’s more, there was a kind of strange glow apparent in its eyes now.
Through their Soul connection, Yang Kai faintly felt that his Soul Clone, which inhabited his Embodiment, was a bit different now and had a strange aura about it.
“This Secret Art… it’s a good thing you didn’t cultivate it. It was really a wise decision!” The Embodiment spoke in his rough voice.
“Why do you say that?” Yang Kai raised his brows.
The Embodiment answered, “Before now, I had only absorbed energy from ores and inanimate objects, so I didn’t notice anything in particular, only that this Secret Art was extremely powerful and allowed me to improve my strength at an astonishing rate, but now… there is something which is affecting my Soul, like a lingering bloodthirst, making me want to slaughter and devour more!”
As he spoke, his eyes flashed with a faint red light.
“Could it be some kind of addiction…” Yang Kai touched his chin and muttered to himself.
The Embodiment shook his head and said, “Perhaps, but that’s not the point, the point is that while using this Secret Art to devour other living creatures, it also absorbs some of their intentions, affecting my Soul!”
“I understand,” Yang Kai nodded and asked, “Then you are now…”
“I’m fine!” The Embodiment waved his giant hand, “I speculate that the other things that were absorbed were the remnant thoughts and resentments of these cultivators. If those kinds of things were absorbed by you, they would be extremely difficult to purge, but I’m different…” At this point, the Embodiment grinned and patted his body, proudly saying, “This Stone Puppet body is innately able to purge impurities, so I think… as long as I spend some time resting, the situation will resolve itself.”
“Then we shouldn’t delay, go back and rest first!” Yang Kai said, taking the Sealed World Bead from Liu Yan and using his Divine Sense to move his Embodiment back inside.
“Will that big guy… be alright?” Liu Yan asked worriedly.
“Of course, the physique of the Stone Puppet Clan is specialized in this kind of thing, but he probably won’t be able to use the Heaven Devouring Battle Law to devour anything until he has completely purified those remnants,” Yang Kai replied.
After this incident, Yang Kai gained a faint understanding of why Heaven Devouring Great Emperor was killed in the past. It seemed that it was not just his act of wantonly devouring everything that caused others to resent him, but also due to changes in his mental state.
For instance, if such a powerful cultivator only thought about devouring this and devouring that all day, no one would have a sense of security. Furthermore, at Heaven Devouring Great Emperor’s cultivation, he wouldn’t be interested in devouring ordinary treasures or cultivators, only other Great Emperors would be able to satisfy him…
Even if just to protect themselves, the other Great Emperors would have to join forces to get rid of him!
“Hm?” As Yang Kai was lost in thought, he suddenly turned his head to the side and muttered in surprise, “Is she going to break through?”
He suddenly discovered that there was an unusual energy fluctuation coming from Zhang Ruo Xi, one that was consistent with signs of a breakthrough!
Without waiting for his command, Liu Yan took the Luan Feng feather back.
“This little girl’s physique is a bit strange!” Liu Yan looked at her and whispered, “She seems to be able to swallow World Energy directly, not even needing to refine it before she can add it to her own strength!”
“A Special Constitution?” Yang Kai frowned and shook his head, “There shouldn’t be anything special about her physique, I checked that very carefully long ago, but… her Bloodline Power is somewhat unusual.”
The Space Spirit Jade only reacted to Zhang Ruo Xi because of some kind of inherited Bloodline Power; however, Yang Kai didn’t know what kind of Bloodline this was, let alone what kind of connection there was between the Space Spirit Jade and her.
Regardless of the reason, Zhang Ruo Xi’s cultivation speed was simply astonishing.
She didn’t have a good cultivation environment before, but she had still managed to perform fairly well. Although her cultivation pace wasn’t slow before, it had improved after Yang Kai gifted her the Marrow Washing Pill. With this pill, any cultivator below the Origin King Realm would be able to cultivate significantly faster than their original aptitude would allow.
However, once said cultivator reached the Origin King Realm, the effects of the pill would disappear.
But just looking at this Spirit Qi Sea, it was as if some kind of certain restriction inside her body was released, allowing her to madly swallow the surrounding World Energy, leading to a breakthrough to the level of the Third-Order Saint King Realm in a very short period of time. Things didn’t end there, and after just a short time she was on the verge of another breakthrough to the Origin Returning Realm!
After one broke through from the Saint King Realm to the Origin Returning Realm, one needed to condense their Shi!
Yang Kai had also experienced this process, so he naturally knew about its difficulty.
As such, he quickly prepared to send a message to Zhang Ruo Xi to give her some advice.
With his current cultivation, he was qualified to give pointers.
But before he could even speak, a shocking scene appeared before him.
An invisible aura suddenly burst from Zhang Ruo Xi’s body, one that was condensed of her Saint Qi and Spiritual Energy and extended about ten meters from her figure. Inside of this ten-metre radius, she could clearly see and feel every pebble and blade of grass.
[Shi!]
Yang Kai’s expression turned extremely weird.
Zhang Ruo Xi had unexpectedly condensed her Shi instantly, without the slightest difficulty or need for advice. Furthermore, she had not even broken through to the Origin Returning Realm yet…
Yang Kai had never heard of such an astonishing feat.
Liu Yan’s beautiful eyes also flickered with surprise.
Up in the sky, dark clouds began to gather and winds began to swirl inside the depths of the canyon.
After Zhang Ruo Xi had condensed her own Shi, her World Energy Baptism soon followed!
World Energy gathered before forming a column that descended towards Zhang Ruo Xi’s delicate body like a bolt of lightning.
With a muffled snort, Zhang Ruo Xi’s face showed a faint pained expression.
Yang Kai and Liu Yan retreated immediately to observe from afar!
Their current cultivations were too high; if they rushed to assist Zhang Ruo Xi’s, they would only stimulate the World Energy Baptism, leading to unpredictable consequences.
Zhang Ruo Xi’s breakthrough could only be passed by her.
This little girl always looked so weak and delicate that Yang Kai couldn’t help secretly worrying about whether she would succeed.
Before he could worry for long though, his eyes suddenly bulged as he stared behind Zhang Ruo Xi.
Behind this little girl, a blurry phantom suddenly appeared. This phantom was ethereal and looked almost illusionary, but it soon condensed into a giant that was several dozen meters tall.
“That’s…” Yang Kai couldn’t help but whisper in shock.
Liu Yan’s face also paled. She didn’t know why, but she felt a fatal threat from this phantom and panic from the bottom of her heart, making her want to flee.
At this moment, the true appearance of the phantom was revealed. It looked like a giant woman wearing armour with a long cloak and holding a giant sword, her hair flying wildly in the air.
The woman’s figure was rough and heroic.
This figure was still somewhat blurry, and even its outline was a bit unstable; however, it did bear a certain resemblance to Zhang Ruo Xi. It was like looking at an older version of this little girl in shining white armour.
As this huge phantom manifested, it slowly raised its head and glanced up at the surging World Energy that had gathered in the sky.
Suddenly, this female figure opened her mouth and inhaled sharply.
A staggering scene unfolded before Yang Kai’s eyes in the next instant. As this phantom inhaled, all the World Energy which was supposed to fall upon Zhang Ruo Xi as her baptism was sucked into the phantom figure’s mouth and disappeared!
After finishing this, the phantom woman lowered her head, transformed into a stream of light, and sank back into Zhang Ruo Xi’s body, like she had never even existed.
But before this phantom left, Yang Kai faintly felt that she had glanced over at him.
Even if their eyes hadn’t met though, and it only lasted for a moment, Yang Kai was terribly frightened by the humble feeling which overcame him.
“What…” Liu Yan’s voice trembled a little. Although the frightening phantom woman had disappeared, the fear left in her heart did not abate, making her tremble all over.
Yang Kai shook his head dumbly.
*Hong…*
A halo of energy suddenly exploded from Zhang Ruo Xi’s body and rushed out into the surroundings.
After the phantom was retracted into her body, Zhang Ruo Xi actually broke through directly to the Origin Returning Realm without any obstruction, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Yang Kai was completely dumbfounded.
Whether it was Zhang Ruo Xi who directly condensed her own Shi before her breakthrough, or the appearance of the strange phantom woman, or her sudden breakthrough, everything he just witnessed was far beyond his ability to comprehend.
It was as if he just witnessed a fantastical dream!
At this moment, only one thought lingered in his mind though, [Just what kind of Bloodline Power did Zhang Ruo Xi inherit? Was that massive female phantom a projection of the Zhang Family’s Ancestor?]
“Master, I want to return first,” Liu Yan suddenly said.
Yang Kai glanced at her and found that her condition was a bit unsteady and nodded, bringing her back into the Sealed World Bead.
As for Zhang Ruo Xi, who was now an Origin Returning Realm cultivator, she showed no signs of stopping her cultivation as she continued to madly devour the surrounding World Energy, her delicate body acting like a bottomless pit that was able to absorb an infinite amount of energy.
The Sealed World Bead also continued its absorption of the surrounding World Energy, and soon the Spirit Qi Sea at the bottom of the canyon became thin.
One day later, the canyon which had originally been filled with a fog of World Energy was completely clear. The Spirit Qi Sea had disappeared and the canyon had become the same as the rest of the Four Seasons Realm.
Only now did Zhang Ruo Xi let out a light breath and slowly open her eyes.
She seemed to be ignorant of the changes that had taken place to her and slightly frowned after opening her eyes, spreading her hands out in front of herself as she lightly stretched.
After a while, she recovered and realized that someone was staring at her, so she looked up only to meet Yang Kai’s eyes.
“Sir!” Zhang Ruo Xi stood up and exclaimed softly.
“Congratulations, you have successfully made a breakthrough to the Origin Returning Realm,” Yang Kai smiled lightly.
Zhang Ruo Xi pursed her lips and muttered, “I don’t know what happened, it was like I just fell asleep and suddenly became like this.”
“Fell asleep?” Yang Kai raised his brow, “So, you don’t recall anything about what happened just now?”
Zhang Ruo Xi looked around and asked in amazement, “What happened?”
She turned her head to the side and looked around and quickly discovered two shrivelled corpses, causing her to pale and let out a cry of fright, “Did someone attack us?”
Yang Kai smiled bitterly and shook his head, not knowing how to explain the unusual scenes he had witnessed and instead choosing to say, “It was just a few blind fools who came here courting death.”
But Zhang Ruo Xi reacting like this made him have some guesses.
There were rumours that some powerful Monster Beasts, especially Divine Spirits and their descendants, had incredible strength from birth, and that their strength would grow even if they did not put in much work as long as they had enough accumulation over a long period of time. This was primarily because their Bloodlines would slowly awaken, allowing them to ultimately stand at the top of the world.
Zhang Ruo Xi’s situation must be somewhat similar to those Monster Beasts and Divine Spirits, otherwise, there was no way to explain why her strength improved so dramatically in just two short days without her even noticing how.
Considering all this, Yang Kai asked, “Ruo Xi, did someone explain to you how to break through to the Origin Returning Realm and how to condense your Shi?”
“No,” Zhang Ruo Xi shook her head, “When Ruo Xi was still living at home, Ruo Xi’s strength was still very low and Old Ancestor said that he would explain everything once Ruo Xi became a Third-Order Saint King…”
Yang Kai nodded when he heard these words, remembering that he too had never told Zhang Ruo Xi about these things.
The breakthrough to the Origin Returning Realm wasn’t too critical a junction, so even if no one explained anything, a cultivator would slowly be able to figure things out for themselves.
However, condensing one’s Shi was not something that could be understood or completed in short order, but Zhang Ruo Xi had actually done so in an instant!
In other words, the method to condense her Shi had long ago been rooted in her sub-conscience, probably an inheritance of her Bloodline.
“Sir, is there something wrong with Ruo Xi’s cultivation?” Zhang Ruo Xi asked anxiously.
“There is not,” Yang Kai shook his head quickly to prevent her from misunderstanding. After thinking for a moment, he added, “You’ve just experienced a breakthrough, so what is most important now is to consolidate your cultivation, go back to the Sealed World Bead for now.”
“Yes!” Zhang Ruo Xi nodded meekly and relaxed, allowing Yang Kai to send her back into the Sealed World Bead.
Standing there, Yang Kai was immersed in his thoughts and confusion for a while. He hadn’t asked Zhang Ruo Xi about the situation with the giant female phantom because she probably didn’t know anything about it either.
A few moments later, he turned his head to look to the side where a stream of light was quickly approaching.
Shortly, Hua Qing Si appeared in front of him with a happy disposition, obviously having had a good harvest.
“What happened?” Hua Qing Si asked in shock when she saw the two mummified corpses on the ground.
“Someone came courting death,” Yang Kai curtly replied without explaining much. He did not ask what she had gained; after all, he had already promised that anything she picked up would belong to her. Instead, he simply said, “You can go back first, I still have to rush to the Realm of Winter.”
“Wait a moment!”
“What?”
Hua Qing Si smiled and said, “I suddenly remembered something on the way back.”
Yang Kai didn’t reply but motioned with his eyes for her to continue.
“There is a hidden spot in the Two Seasons Mountain Range, are you interested in exploring it?” Hua Qing Si asked with a smile.
“How do you know?” Yang Kai asked in surprise.
Hua Qing Si answered, “I am a disciple of Star Soul Palace! If nothing had happened, I would have had one of the forty slots the palace obtained for myself! I made preparations for the Four Seasons Realm a long time ago, so what’s so strange about my knowing a secret or two?”
“The Two Seasons Mountain Range?” Yang Kai showed a contemplative expression.
“Rest assured, although I don’t know what you have to do in the Realm of Winter, you’ll have to cross the mountain range first, so it won’t take much time.”
“Do you have an exact location?” Yang Kai asked.
Hua Qing Si couldn’t help rolling her eyes and retort, “I found out about this hidden location from clues leftover in my Sect’s ancient books. Although I have a map of sorts, the exact directions aren’t very clear. At best I have a rough understanding of where this place might be. If you really want to explore it, you’ll have to find it yourself.”
“So, you don’t even know what’s inside?” Yang Kai asked.
Hua Qing Si showed a stunned expression before she pursed her lips into a grin and said, “It looks like you don’t know much about this Four Seasons Realm!”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai frowned.
Hua Qing Si chuckled and asked, “You know this is the Four Seasons Realm, but do you know who made it?”
“Do you know?” Yang Kai frowned.
Hua Qing Si proudly said, “If I said I don’t know, what could you do?”
Yang Kai suddenly grinned and said, “Tell me!”
Seeing him jump straight to threatening her, Hua Qing Si couldn’t help pouting as she snorted, “Flowing Time Great Emperor, have you heard of him?”
Yang Kai shook his head.
Hua Qing Si’s expression became haughty as she continued, “Since ancient times, those who have been eligible to be called Great Emperor were all top masters in this world, but even among the top, there are still some who stand out! From all the historical records I have read, there have been several dozen Great Emperors who have fallen in the past, and the Flowing Time Great Emperor is one of them. The Flowing Time Great Emperor cultivated a Divine Ability called the Time Flies Seal. Once this Divine Ability is used, it can cause a thousand years to pass by in a moment, causing anything and anyone caught in it to wither and die!
“How did such a powerful Great Emperor die? No one knows, but there are rumours… This Four Seasons Realm was his secluded realm, and it was constructed by the Flowing Time Great Emperor using his miraculous abilities. There are also rumours that somewhere in the Four Seasons Realm, there is a majestic temple called the Flowing Time Temple, which was left behind by the Flowing Time Great Emperor and was originally his secluded home. There are infinite benefits to be found inside such a secluded home and if one can obtain even just one or two things from it, their future progress will be smooth and unimpeded. Such rumours are widely known among the great forces, but unfortunately, no one has been able to confirm them so far. There are only some vague records that indicate that the secret location I told you about is related to the Flowing Time Temple!”
As she narrated triumphantly, it really aroused Yang Kai’s interest.
“But if you find it too bothersome to search, then just pretend you didn’t hear anything,” Hua Qing Si intentionally teased Yang Kai’s desires.
Yang Kai decisively held out a hand to her.
“What do you want?” Hua Qing Si asked vigilantly.
“Bring out the map!”
Hua Qing Si immediately covered her Space Ring and jumped back a few steps before gritting her teeth and vigilantly glaring, “I warn you, if you dare try to force me, I’ll…”
“What will you do?” Yang Kai approached her with a wicked grin and said, “There’s no one here, so even if you shout your lungs out, no one will come to save you. Besides… all I need is a thought and you would obediently offer that map to me!”
“Shameless! Beast! Don’t come near… come here and I’ll scream… good, good, I’ll just give it to you,” Hua Qing Si took out a piece of animal skin from her Space Ring and threw it to Yang Kai before angrily cursing, “Are you having fun? A big man bullying me, a weak woman, have you no shame?”
Yang Kai ignored her and just looked at the crudely drawn map on the animal skin, finding it just as Hua Qing Si had said, lacking in clues or exact directions.
The entire Four Seasons Realm was divided into four domains, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. With such drastically divergent environments, when two met, their border would naturally become extremely strange.
The Two Seasons Mountain Range was that very border and it extended throughout the entire Four Seasons Realm. This mountain range was like a giant cross that divided the four domains equally.
This information was contained in the jade slip from before, so when Hua Qing Si mentioned the Two Seasons Mountain Range, Yang Kai was not too surprised.
However, judging from the information revealed by Hua Qing Si, the Azure Sun Temple was still concealing some things from him. At least the information about the Flowing Time Temple was not shared with him.
This was also obvious though; after all, he was an outsider.
Murong Xiao Xiao had given him the jade slip that recorded most of the Four Seasons Realm’s information, but Yang Kai knew he had acquired it only because Gao Xue Ting had allowed him to. Anything that was not recorded was obviously treated as secret information within the Sect.
However, Yang Kai was also certain that those from Azure Sun Temple knew whether the Flowing Time Temple really existed or not!
On the map that Hua Qing Si had given to Yang Kai, the location of the temple was recorded as somewhere between the Realm of Summer and the Realm of Winter, so for Yang Kai, this trip was really just a quick stop along the way.
Storing away the map and returning Hua Qing Si to the Sealed World Bead, Yang Kai summoned his ship and began flying in the direction of the Realm of Winter as quick as lightning.
After hurrying along for a day, an unimaginably long mountain range appeared before Yang Kai. Even from a distance, Yang Kai could tell that this mountain range was lush, with deep valleys and extensive forests. The side which Yang Kai stood on was scorching hot, but the tops of the mountains he was staring at were covered with silvery-white snow.
On the other side of the mountain range that Yang Kai couldn’t see yet, it should be extremely cold.
This was obviously the Two Seasons Mountain Range.
While releasing his Divine Sense to monitor his surroundings, Yang Kai didn’t hesitate as he flew straight into the mountain range.
In the forest, the climate was hot and humid, but for cultivators like Yang Kai, this did not affect him much.
Recalling the information recorded on the map in his mind, and as far as possible trying not to deviate from his destination of the Realm of Winter, Yang Kai began searching for the existence of the Flowing Time Temple.
His thoughts were quite simple; since the existence of the Flowing Time Temple was elusive, and no one had found it since the Four Seasons Realm had first appeared, Yang Kai naturally wouldn’t hold too much hope of finding it either and was not planning to expend much energy in his search.
For him, it would be good to find it, but it didn’t matter if he couldn’t. After spending a brief time here, he would cross the Two Seasons Mountain Range and enter the Realm of Winter.
The Tribulation Fruit was his biggest goal on this trip.
With such a mentality, Yang Kai relaxed while using the wooden ship to fly at a low altitude.
In this mountain forest, there seemed to be some traces of Monster Beast activity, but their strength shouldn’t be too great. Yang Kai didn’t even bother to find trouble with these Monster Beasts and was content to just ignore them. Occasionally, one or two rare herbs could be found, which were carefully collected by Yang Kai and transplanted to the medicine garden in his Sealed World Bead.
In the blink of an eye, half a day passed and although no traces of the Flowing Time Temple were found, it was not without gains.
At a certain moment, just as Yang Kai was flying forward leisurely and surveying his surroundings, his expression changed as he suddenly looked up in a certain direction.
From that direction, two entities were swiftly approaching, one closer, one further. It seemed that something was fleeing, while something was pursuing, but because of the obstruction of the jungle, Yang Kai was unable to see anything clearly.
Releasing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai immediately noticed an aura on par with a Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator approaching him.
At this moment, the owner of this aura seemed to have been severely injured and their energy fluctuations were extremely unstable.
Just as Yang Kai was investigating, a Monster Beast suddenly jumped out of the jungle before him.
This Monster Beast was like a giant lizard, with a forked tongue and a long body. It had two fiery red wings on its back as well as a diamond-shaped mark on its head, like a brand, which seemed quite strange and out of place.
Yang Kai did not know who it fought against, a cultivator or another Monster Beast, but at this moment, one of its wings was cut and its tail was missing. Blood leaked from all of its wounds.
As it leapt into the air, it panicked as it obviously didn’t expect Yang Kai to appear in its way; however, in the blink of an eye, the giant lizard pounced towards Yang Kai with its red eyes and mouth wide open.
Yang Kai only saw a scarlet light shoot out towards him in the next instant.
Clearly, the giant lizard had used its long scarlet tongue like a spear to pierce towards him.
Swiftly, Yang Kai’s figure flashed and he moved aside, causing the long tongue attack to hit empty space. At the same time, Yang Kai flicked his wrist and sent out dozens of Moon Blades towards the giant lizard.
The giant lizard was mid-air and could not avoid the attack of these Moon Blades and was directly hit.
The giant lizard’s body seemed quite robust, so the Moon Blades that Yang Kai hurriedly shot out did not kill it immediately, instead just causing some of its skin to flay, resulting in minor injuries.
However, the force from the Moon Blades made it fall straight down.
Yang Kai’s expression looked grim as he shot downwards like a meteor, following after the giant lizard as he aimed for the top of its head.
As he fell, Yang Kai used his Dragon Transformation Secret Technique, transforming his right fist into a thick dragon claw which he slammed down on the giant lizard’s head.
*Hong…*
With a loud bang, accompanied by the sound of bones breaking, the giant lizard’s body folded awkwardly at its neck and its scarlet tongue spat out. Its eyes went bloodshot as it convulsed and struggled momentarily before going stiff.
With a thud, the corpse of the giant lizard fell to the ground, and Yang Kai lightly landed by its side.
This giant lizard was an Eleventh-Order Monster Beast, comparable to a cultivator at the Second-Order Dao Source Realm. If it hadn’t already been seriously injured, Yang Kai wouldn’t have been able to kill it in such a short time.
It didn’t look like a valuable Monster Beast, but because of its high level, its Monster Core should be worth a lot.
Thinking so, Yang Kai bent down and prepared to extract its Core.
But at that moment, a sudden change occurred as the diamond-shaped brand on the giant lizard’s forehead suddenly lit up, like it had a life of its own. Transforming into a stream of light, it shot out and rushed towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was shocked as he backed away in a hurry.
He thought the giant lizard was already dead, so he wasn’t expecting it to use such a strange method. An Eleventh-Order Monster Beast would have a high degree of sentience, so it could have had a few tricks to use.
Yang Kai’s movements were fast, but the stream of light was faster, so he couldn’t avoid it. Instantly, the stream of light broke through his defensive Source Qi and landed on the back of his hand.
“What is this!” Yang Kai looked horrified as he exclaimed.
The moment that the stream of light landed, he felt a scorching pain from the back of his hand, as if a soldering iron was branding him, causing him to further back off.
But soon, he found that he was thinking too much.
The pain lasted for only a moment before it was replaced with a cold, pleasant sensation.
When he looked down, Yang Kai found that there was now a diamond-shaped mark on the back of his right hand, exactly the same as the one he saw on the giant lizard’s forehead.
*Xiu…*
In the next moment, several figures suddenly appeared not far from Yang Kai. When these people appeared, they all cast their eyes on the giant lizard’s corpse that was lying on the ground before turning to Yang Kai with grim faces.
Yang Kai was surprised by this whole situation. When he noticed that the giant lizard was severely injured, he vaguely guessed that someone was chasing after it, but having been disturbed by this diamond-shaped mark, he had forgotten that others were approaching him.
Now he found that it was too late to react.
“It’s you!”
“It’s you?”
Looking at Yang Kai, there were two exclamations at once, but their tones were very different.
Yang Kai looked up and felt a headache coming on.
Because he discovered that the situation in front of him was slightly complicated.
The cultivators chasing the giant lizard were not all from a great force, but rather belonged to four different groups.
Among the four groups of people, he knew half of them.
On the left side, there were two people, Xiao Bai Yi and Murong Xiao Xiao from Azure Sun Temple. Yang Kai didn’t know if they had been travelling together from the start or if they had met up sometime later. When they were being chased by the Flame Beast in the Realm of Summer, the two should have separated, but now they had appeared together in the Two Seasons Mountain Range.
At this moment, Xiao Bai Yi was looking at Yang Kai without much enthusiasm, and even some coldness, while Murong Xiao Xiao smiled sweetly at him.
Next to these two people was Heavenly Martial Holy Land’s Wu Chang with his Yin-Yang Dual Body!
Regarding this guy, Yang Kai had a vivid memory. After seeing the fight between him and Xia Sheng, Yang Kai secretly decided not to have any disputes with this person unless absolutely necessary; not because he was afraid of him, but because he would definitely be difficult to deal with and Yang Kai figured he would need to pay a high price to beat him. Yang Kai believed that even if he used all of his trump cards, he may not be able to kill Wu Chang.
From Heavenly Martial Holy Land, only Wu Chang was present.
This was not surprising though; Wu Chang had a violent and off-putting personality even towards his fellow brothers, so getting along with him was definitely not an easy task. The disciples of Heavenly Martial Holy Land probably didn’t want to be with him any more than Wu Chang wanted to be with them. To him, everyone was a burden!
The third group consisted of two people, a man and a woman. The man was handsome, and the woman was beautiful, the former possessing a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation while the latter was only First-Order.
Yang Kai didn’t know who these two were, but what made him feel strange was that when the man looked at him, his eyes were a little gloomy, meanwhile, the woman just smiled lightly at him.
Judging from the emblems on their robes, this man and the woman were likely disciples of Star Soul Palace, so neither of them was to be underestimated.
Lastly, like Wu Chang, there was another lone man.
Yang Kai took a look at him and found that this man did not seem to be from a big Sect. The emblem on his clothes was unfamiliar, so he probably came from some medium or small-sized force.
But this guy, even when he was facing the elites of three major Sects, was undaunted, his expression extremely calm, a surprising display.
“Does this Sister know me?” Yang Kai wondered as he glanced towards the young woman from Star Soul Palace.
Of the two voices that had called out just now, one of them was Xiao Bai Yi, while the other was actually this woman.
[Why would she shout something like that if she did not know me?]
But what Yang Kai didn’t expect was that the female disciple just smiled slightly, shook her head, and said, “I mistook you for someone else.”
Lan Xun said this because although she remembered Yang Kai’s appearance, he naturally would not recognize her.
That time in the third layer of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, Lan Xun was using her False Face Bead to change her appearance, so what Yang Kai had seen was not her true appearance.
“Uh…” Yang Kai was speechless, but quickly composed himself and turned to Xiao Bai Yi, “Xiao Bai, you’re here as well, huh? The world is really too small!”
Blue veins bulged on Xiao Bai Yi’s forehead as he snapped, “Do you want to die?”
Murong Xiao Xiao pursed her lips, smiled, and slightly nodded at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai said, “Why are you acting so indifferently? It’s rare for everyone to meet here. Ah, it must be destiny!”
Xiao Bai Yi coldly snorted, “Who wants to share destiny with you? But it is unexpected and somewhat impressive that you could escape the pursuit of the Flame Beast.”
Although he had given a compliment, it was filled with ridicule and sarcasm.
At that time, the Flame Beast from the Realm of Summer had been hopping mad, and despite there being so many people fleeing from it, it had chosen to focus on Yang Kai, so many had thought Yang Kai was doomed to die; even Xiao Bai Yi thought so.
After all, even Wu Chang had been forced to flee from this Monster Beast, so how could Yang Kai, a First-Order Dao Source Realm, survive?
But now, Yang Kai appeared unscathed in the Two Seasons Mountain Range, a true surprise.
Hearing the words ‘Flame Beast’, the expressions of the man and a woman from Star Soul Palace also changed slightly. Obviously, from their Sect’s records, they knew about the existence of this Monster Beast which was comparable to an Emperor Realm cultivator.
Wu Chang also raised his brows, revealing a look of surprise.
He couldn’t understand how such a weak cultivator could escape from the pursuit of the Flame Beast! During the previous incident, if the group from Azure Sun Temple had not attracted the Flame Beast’s attention, he would have been in big trouble.
“It’s nothing much!” Yang Kai put on a humble look, “Fleeing just happens to be my strong point!”
When he spoke these words, rather than looking ashamed, he instead appeared rather proud of himself, causing Xiao Bai Yi to stare at him for some time.
“Enough nonsense,” At that moment, the unknown young man wearing dark robes from an unknown Sect interrupted with a shout before coldly shouted at Yang Kai, “Hand over that Star Seal or die!”
From his tone, he ‘kindly’ wanted to let Yang Kai leave as long as Yang Kai cooperated. Facing such an arrogant and domineering request, which was made so naturally, Yang Kai couldn’t help turning and staring.
The other party just stared back at him coldly, without the slightest intention of avoiding his gaze.
The pair from Star Soul Palace didn’t interfere, and although the handsome man frowned somewhat unhappily, the young woman’s beautiful eyes lit up with interest, as if waiting to watch a good show.
“Although it’s a bit late now, I still want to ask… how should I address Your Excellency?” Yang Kai looked at the youth with a smile, not showing any anger on the surface.
While speaking, he had already sent a message into the Small Sealed World to ask Hua Qing Si to help him identify the man and woman from Star Soul Palace. After all, Star Soul Palace was her Sect, so she should recognize these two people.
The dark-clothed youth coldly snorted and replied, “Eight Paths Sect, Luo Yuan!”
“So, it was Brother Luo, I’ve long heard of and admired you. It seems I’ve been quite disrespectful!” Yang Kai put on a look of surprise, as if he had really heard of him before when in fact, he hadn’t even heard of Eight Paths Sect.
The contempt and disdain on Xiao Bai Yi’s face grew markedly as he snorted, “Fortunately you’re not one of my Azure Sun Temple’s disciples, otherwise I would have already taken action to clean up the Sect!”
“Hehe…” Yang Kai laughed before his expression suddenly twitched slightly.
At that moment, he obtained an answer from Hua Qing Si from his Embodiment. Unexpectedly, this pair from Star Soul Palace had incredible backgrounds.
That man was the son of Xiao Yu Yang, Xiao Chen!
Xiao Yu Yang had a powerful Second-Order Emperor Realm cultivation and held the post of a Star Soul Palace Silver Star Envoy, making him famous across the entire Southern Territory. It could be said that a tiger father begets no dogs. Xiao Yu Yang was powerful and respected, so his son naturally was not mediocre. He, Wu Chang, Xia Sheng, Zhuang Bu Fan, and a few others were considered the top rising stars of the Southern Territory.
Xiao Chen’s background was powerful and impressive, but the young woman’s background was far scarier.
She was actually the one and only gem of the Bright Moon Great Emperor, Princess Lan Xun!
She was the most sought after woman for young bachelors in the entire Southern Territory, possibly even the entire Star Boundary. If such a woman were to marry into one’s house, that house would undoubtedly prosper for a thousand years!
With the Bright Moon Great Emperor as a father-in-law, a man could walk sideways across the entire Star Boundary. Who would dare to despise or provoke such an existence?
But… Although Princess Lan Xun’s status was unrivalled, she rarely appeared outside, hence ordinary cultivators would never get a chance to see her. Yang Kai hadn’t expected that with her identity and status, Lan Xun would come to the Four Seasons Realm for life experience, much less with a cultivation only equal to his own.
[Is the Bright Moon Great Emperor not afraid of what might happen to his precious daughter in the Four Seasons Realm?]
Thinking up to here, Yang Kai glanced at Xiao Chen again. With this flower protector present, any danger would have to get past him first before it touched Lan Xun.
These thoughts flashed across Yang Kai’s mind and while everyone caught his expression change slightly, none of them knew what he was thinking about. They only thought that he was frightened by Xiao Bai Yi’s words, causing them to further despise him.
Yang Kai lowered his gaze to the diamond-shaped brand on the back of his hand and muttered to himself, “So this thing really is a Star Seal…”
Just now, he had some faint speculations that this thing was an entry pass to the Shattered Star Sea, but Wu Chang and the others had appeared before he could sort out his thoughts or verify it in any way.
Fortunately, Luo Yuan’s words confirmed his guess for him.
The Star Seal had actually appeared on the forehead of a Monster Beast, so after it was killed by Yang Kai, it had been transferred to his hand and in such an obvious position… It was unlikely that Yang Kai could avoid trouble in this situation.
Adjusting himself, he suddenly called out to Wu Chang, “Brother Wu Chang, you and the others are future leaders of the Southern Territory, are you really going to let some unknown little man from a small Sect act so arrogant and presumptuous in front of you? If word of this were to spread out, what face would Brother Wu Chang have left?”
Wu Chang looked at Yang Kai indifferently and remained unmoved. Although he had a short temper and a violent personality, he had cultivated to the Third-Order Dao Source Realm so he was no fool. How could he not see that Yang Kai was trying to sow discord to alleviate his own situation?
Wu Chang just coldly snorted and replied, “Although I don’t like this guy’s arrogance, I agree with his sentiment! Hand over the Star Seal, otherwise… I’ll take it myself.”
Yang Kai heard this, scratched his head involuntarily and said, “So, what the two of you are saying is that… you are going to rob me?”
At this point, he looked over at Lan Xun and Xiao Chen, and asked, “Is your Star Soul Palace also going to participate in this affair?”
Lan Xun smiled slightly and said, “I’m afraid I can’t do anything to help you, but I can at least guarantee that I won’t rob you!”
Xiao Chen didn’t speak and just coldly snorted. The contempt in his eyes grew even stronger as he couldn’t understand why Princess Lan Xun seemed to care about this unknown man. Moreover, the words that Yang Kai spoke just now made him aware of some problems as well.
With Lan Xun making her position clear, Yang Kai could only sigh helplessly and say, “If it were possible, I would be happy to hand over this Star Seal, but… I don’t know how to get it off the back of my hand. Do you two have any suggestions?”
“It’s simple!” Wu Chang answered immediately in a calm tone, “Cut off your hand.”
“Good!” Luo Yuan nodded, “Your hand or your life? Choose!”
Yang Kai paled in fright as he shouted, “I… I want both! Is there any other way that’s… safer?”
Luo Yuan coldly snorted, “How could there be such a cheap bargain in this world? It seems that you don’t want either. Good, then I’ll make the decision for you!”
Saying so, he pushed his Source Qi, took a step forward, and rapidly closed in on Yang Kay. A golden light condensed on his palm as he slammed it towards Yang Kai’s chest.
As soon as Luo Yan made a move, Wu Chang also moved. Now that the Star Seal was on the back of Yang Kai’s hand, whoever killed him first would obtain it.
With Wu Chang’s arrogant and proud temperament, how could he tolerate Luo Yuan seizing the advantage?
So, he suddenly appeared behind Yang Kai, his hand turning pure white and exuding an extreme chill as he punched towards Yang Kai’s back.
The two Third-Order Dao Source Realm masters were merciless in their attacks, both wanting to swiftly kill their prey, not even caring about how they appeared in front of the others present.
After all, the Star Seal would transfer to whoever killed the current carrier, so they needed to act fast.
“Junior Brother Yang!” Murong Xiao Xiao’s pretty face paled as she exclaimed, “Quickly run!”
Xiao Bai Yi also frowned. He hadn’t expected Wu Chang and Luo Yuan to act so decisively and ruthlessly, attacking with full intent to kill.
Although he didn’t like Yang Kai, and he even said that he would teach him a lesson in the Four Seasons Realm, it was still true that Yang Kai had entered the Four Seasons Realm together with Azure Sun Temple. Since he had occupied one of Azure Sun Temple’s entry quotas, any extra Star Seals Yang Kai obtained would be handed over to the temple.
If for no other reason than this, Xiao Bai Yi couldn’t sit back and watch Yang Kai be killed in front of him! Otherwise, once an investigation occurred, he wouldn’t be able to feign ignorance or remain uninvolved. Although Yang Kai’s death was of no importance to him, whether he lived or died would affect the Sect’s interests.
Unfortunately… by the time Xiao Bai Yi reacted, it was too late to intervene!
On the other hand, Lan Xun’s pretty face also changed slightly, showing a slightly disappointed look. In her opinion, Yang Kai would definitely die, and she couldn’t save him, otherwise, she would be deeply offending Wu Chang.
“Overconfidence!” Xiao Chen just let out a cold snort as he watched from the side.
*Hong…*
With a loud bang, Wu Chang and Luo Yuan, who had sandwiched Yang Kai with their attacks from the front and back, both showed stunned expressions. The two felt a huge impact force at the same time and were both involuntarily forced back a couple dozen metres before they managed to stabilize themselves.
Somewhere in the Two Seasons Mountain Range, a strange tension hung in the air.
Both Luo Yuan and Wu Chang wore shocked expressions at this moment.
Xiao Bai Yi and Murong Xiao Xiao were also staring dumbfounded at the scene before them.
Nearby, Lan Xun was also surprised as her eyes flashed brightly, while even Xiao Chen muttered in confusion, “What’s going on?”
Two rising stars, Luo Yuan and Wu Chang, had attacked Yang Kai at the same time, causing everyone to believe that Yang Kai would die. Wu Chang alone was not an ordinary Dao Source Realm cultivator, and regardless of whether Luo Yan was all bark and no bite, or he really had the strength to back up his arrogance, he was still a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator. Wu Chang also had a fierce reputation as a violent individual, so there was no one who met a good end when they were targeted by him.
And now, these two had attacked Yang Kai simultaneously without warning, leaving no way for him to avoid them at all.
Everyone was certain they would be witnessing the miserable scene of Yang Kai’s death…
But instead, it was Luo Yuan and Wu Chang, the sneak attackers, who were sent flying while Yang Kai showed no signs of injury.
[How did he do it?]
Recalling that moment, Yang Kai seemed to have just stood still without moving. Now though, his face had gone pale, and his expression was flustered as if he was quite frightened, his body trembling slightly and his forehead covered in sweat.
Although he looked a little embarrassed, he was completely unscathed.
“Little brat… what did you just do?” Xiao Chen couldn’t understand.
It was impossible for Luo Yuan and Wu Chang to be repelled for no reason. The only explanation was that Yang Kai had secretly used some amazing method to save himself, but no one had seen clearly what that method was.
Xiao Chen’s brow was furrowed tightly as he secretly felt that something was off about Yang Kai.
“Interesting…” Lan Xun’s beautiful eyes shined brightly as she stared at Yang Kai somewhat cheerfully.
Although she was only a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator herself, she was the Bright Moon Great Emperor’s precious gem and she had inherited his Special Constitution. Since she was a child, she had been fascinated with the strength of her father, so in terms of experience, insight, and vision, she stood above everyone else present.
Although she didn’t see too clearly what happened, she still had some understanding of what transpired.
Just now, when Luo Yuan and Wu Chang attacked and were about to hit Yang Kai, Lan Xun clearly saw his body turn illusory for a moment, like he had disappeared from this world.
At the same time, Wu Chang and Luo Yuan’s attacks lost their target.
Losing their target, the two attacks naturally collided with each other.
In other words, it was Wu Chang’s attack that pushed back Luo Yuan, and it was Luo Yuan’s attack that pushed back Wu Chang…
It was as if the two had fought each other!
[What a strange Secret Technique!] Lan Xun’s beautiful eyes lit up as she glanced over at Luo Yuan, silently thinking to herself, [He’s also a bit unusual, able to match Wu Chang in a single exchange. Since when did such a monster appear in the Eight Paths Sect? It seems that what Lord Father told me was right; never underestimate anyone. Even people from humble backgrounds could have a bright and lofty future. This Luo Yuan is the most obvious example… and now there’s also this strange guy. He is definitely not as cowardly as he makes himself look to be. Even his previous cowardly display must have been a pretence. Only these smelly men with muscles for brains could have really believed that this was his true personality… Ah right, what was his name again?]
All sorts of distracting thoughts flashed through Lan Xun’s mind. Believing that Yang Kai was pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger, she couldn’t help but cast an interested look at Yang Kai, who was still shivering midair, a playful expression soon appearing on her face as if she had already seen through him.
Finally, Wu Chang recovered from his shock and took a glance at Yang Kai before turning to Luo Yan and threatening, “Are you courting death?”
Even though he hadn’t clearly understood how Yang Kai had avoided his attack, after just a bit of thought, he was able to roughly figure out what had happened.
With his arrogant personality, which looked down on everyone else, he naturally blamed Luo Yuan for what just transpired! It was as though Luo Yuan had interfered with his good deed and allowed Yang Kai to use his Secret Technique to resolve his crisis.
“Me?” Yang Kai looked panicked and pointed at himself as he hurriedly asked, “Are you talking about me? I don’t want to die, please don’t kill me…”
While he was talking, he turned towards Xiao Bai Yi and called out, “Xiao Bai, please reason with Brother Wu Chang! Have him spare me, okay?”
Xiao Bai Yi glared at him and grit his teeth as he snapped, “I really want to rush over and kill you myself.”
Fortunately, Yang Kai was not a disciple of Azure Sun Temple, otherwise, Xiao Bai Yi really would find himself in an embarrassing position. It was nothing less than shameful for a Sect to have such a snivelling disciple. Xiao Bai Yi secretly hated that he hadn’t seen through Yang Kai’s true nature before, otherwise, he would never have agreed to give Xue Yi’s entry quota to Yang Kai.
Even Murong Xiao Xiao, who was standing next to him, cast a disapproving look at Yang Kai.
“Do you want to fight? I will give you a fight!” Luo Yuan’s gaze also crossed through Yang Kai and landed on Wu Chang, his voice filled with a faint eagerness, clearly indicating he was not afraid of Wu Chang. Actually, deep in his heart, he couldn’t wait to fight Wu Chang and prove his strength.
And so, oddly enough they both began to ignore Yang Kai entirely.
“Bold!” Wu Chang grinned, a look that could almost be described as happy appearing on his face, “It’s been a long time since I met an interesting guy like you!”
As he spoke, he actually licked his lips, like a hungry predator or a pervert that had suddenly encountered a naked beauty…
The eyes of the two met mid-air and sparks seemed to fly, causing the atmosphere to become tense.
Yang Kai was standing between the two of them, and although he was being ignored, he still had to bear the pressure from both of them, turning his face paler by the moment.
*Huhuhu…*
Even the swirling wind seemed to be contaminated with murderous intent, sending chills up the spines of the onlookers.
“Enough!”
Seeing that Luo Yuan and Wu Chang were about to fight, Lan Xun really couldn’t stand it anymore and after calling out lightly, she stepped forward and said, “Both of you are geniuses from my Southern Territory. In the future, you should not become so agitated over such minor matters. Before entering this Sealed World, Uncle Xiao had said he hoped everyone would put the overall situation first. Our opponents are not each other, but rather those from the other territories. Please give me some face and exchange weapons of war for gifts of jade and silk.”
Hearing this, Wu Chang and Luo Yuan frowned at the same time. They didn’t expect that Princess Lan Xun would come forward to mediate at this moment.
Although they were a little unhappy in their hearts, the two of them didn’t dare refuse Princess Lan Xun. It might be fine in the short term to offend Lan Xun here, but once the Four Seasons Realm closed and rumours began to spread, even their own Sects wouldn’t dare to shelter them from reprisals.
“Since the Princess has said so… the two of you should stop, otherwise this Xiao will become your enemy!” Xiao Chen also stood forward, fulfilling his role as the Princess’ protector.
“Lucky you!”
Wu Chang and Luo Yuan uttered these words at the same time before they withdrew their fighting intent.
Wu Chang glanced at Luo Yuan briefly before he spoke to Lan Xun, “Your Highness, this time, this Wu will give you face and not care about him, but if there is a next time… even if the Great Emperor himself was here, I will still kill this waste that does not know the immensity of Heaven and Earth!”
In his eyes, besides a few exceptions, everyone was a waste!
He didn’t even put the elite disciples of Azure Sun Temple or Orthodoxy Temple in his eyes, so how could he care about Luo Yuan from Eight Paths Sect? If it weren’t for Lan Xun’s interference, he wouldn’t have endured being provoked by such a nobody.
“I’ve heard about Heavenly Martial Holy Land’s Wu Chang for a long time now, but it seems all that’s strong about him is his tongue,” Luo Yuan was not someone who would take such provocation quietly, so he immediately levelled an insult of his own.
“Good, good,” Lan Xun also secretly felt a headache coming on. “If you really were fighting over some rare and precious treasure, I would not bother to stop you, but for a mere Star Seal… it’s not worth it. There are many more such Star Seals in the Four Seasons Realm, and there is plenty of time before this Sealed World closes, so everyone will have many opportunities to acquire them.”
While speaking, she also glanced at the back of Yang Kai’s hand and commented, “What’s more… this is just a trivial diamond Star Seal, it’s not worth fighting over.”
“What? Do Star Seals have different ranks?” Yang Kai immediately latched onto some information Lan Xun’s words revealed and asked in surprise.
“Why are you still running your mouth?” Xiao Chen glanced at him indifferently and sarcastically said, “You’ve just managed to survive a brush with death, so you should hurry up and run away with your tail tucked between your legs. What are you still doing here? Waiting for death?”
“Hehe…” The corners of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched in response as he wore an embarrassed expression.
He turned his gaze to Xiao Bai Yi as he wanted to ask about the specific situation of the Star Seals, but he couldn’t as Xiao Bai Yi directly turned his gaze away, refusing to communicate with him.
Yang Kai suddenly felt depressed.
But looking at Xiao Bai Yi acting like this, it was obvious he knew something; however, this information was probably of the same level of importance as the existence of the Flowing Time Temple, a secret of the Sect, so it wouldn’t be convenient for Xiao Bai Yi to reveal it.
To the side, Murong Xiao Xiao showed an apologetic expression to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai understood and did not ask anything more.
“Good, now that this Star Seal has a master, please put its existence aside and no longer think about it,” Lan Xun’s words concluded this minor event, which could also be regarded as her covertly helping Yang Kai.
With these words said, as long as anyone cared about Lan Xun’s face and identity, they would no longer try to snatch Yang Kai’s Star Seal.
Although Wu Chang and Luo Yuan were warlike and rebellious, they still needed to give her face.
After her words were finished, Wu Chang and Luo Yuan glanced at each other across the air, their eyes meeting and conveying the same, silent message, [Don’t let me run into you again, or you will regret it!]
Immediately, the two snorted coldly before turning their backs to one another and preparing to leave.
But at that moment, a sudden change occurred.
From the depths of the Two Seasons Mountain Range, a strange shockwave erupted, bringing with it the sound of muffled thunder while shaking the earth below everyone’s feet.
Everyone’s complexion changed as they turned and looked around suspiciously, completely befuddled.
Things did not end there though and soon, an exclamation sounded out, “Look over there, up in the sky!”