Soul Cleansing Divine Water, Immortal Source Liquid, and Life Revitalizing Jade Cream were the Three Great Divine Waters.
Among them, the formation of Soul Cleansing Divine Water was related mainly to coincidence. It required the fall of a Master whose Soul was incredibly powerful, at least reaching the Third-Order Origin King Realm, in a land where rich World Energy gathered. After many centuries, and with good luck, a pool of Soul Cleansing Divine Water would be produced. Although it was a rare and precious treasure, it could still be found every now and then.
The remaining two, however, were extremely hard to come by.
Life Revitalizing Jade Cream may exist in some hidden corner of the Star Boundary, but that itself was a mystery.
As for Immortal Source Liquid… it could not be found no matter how hard one looked for it.
Because Immortal Source Liquid was a by-product of the Immortal Tree! It was the congealed essence of the Immortal Tree!
A drop of Immortal Source Liquid was enough to bring a person at the gates of death back to life, an extraordinary, Heaven defying effect.
In this world, the only Immortal Tree was planted in Yang Kai’s small medicine garden, so there was no way for others to obtain Immortal Source Liquid.
He also had a drop of Immortal Source Liquid in his possession, which he had obtained from the Immortal Tree many years ago, but so far he had been unwilling to use it!
With such a Heaven-defying treasure, if Yang Kai brought it out to exchange for a Tribulation Fruit, no one would refuse.
However, Yang Kai had to worry about whether the appearance of a drop of Immortal Source Liquid would cause other troubles.
However, for the Tribulation Fruit, he couldn’t hesitate. If someone asked, he could simply play dumb. If he denied it, no one would think he possessed a supreme treasure like the Immortal Tree.
And so, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged and began to wait quietly.
There were still about five or six days left before the Four Seasons Realm closed, and the cultivators inside were obviously not in a rush to leave as there were still many opportunities to be sought, so the vicinity of the entrance was extremely quiet.
Time passed by, and one day later, the entrance was still empty, with just Yang Kai sitting around waiting.
At a certain point though, Yang Kai frowned as his eyes opened and turned in a certain direction.
At that moment, he actually felt a strange energy fluctuation, one that disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared!
But when he looked in the direction the fluctuations originated from, Yang Kai didn’t notice anything, which inevitably made him a little suspicious as he wondered if he had just imagined it.
Just as he was pondering, from a very far away position, a halo of light suddenly appeared.
This halo seemed tangible and spread outwards in all directions like ripples in a pond.
Yang Kai stood up suddenly and squinted his eyes.
In the direction he was gazing, about a hundred kilometres away, atop a hill, the light halo continued to flash. At first, this halo was only a single colour, but as time passed, more and more colours began to appear in it.
Not only that, but the ambient World Energy seemed to be surging as the sky above the mountain filled with multi-coloured clouds, making for a strange but dazzling scene.
“A Heavenly Manifestation!” Yang Kai whispered, “Is some precious treasure about to be born?”
Although he didn’t know exactly what was happening, from the current situation, Yang Kai judged that some kind of treasure was about to be born, and an extraordinary one at that, otherwise its birth would not have resulted in such an obvious phenomenon.
“Why… at this time…” Yang Kai frowned, his face turning extremely gloomy.
Right now, the exit to the Four Seasons Realm was open, but it would close in just four or five days, so all the disciples from the major Sects inside would undoubtedly be returning here soon.
The exit was only about a hundred kilometres from where the treasure was being born.
In other words, this Heavenly Manifestation resulting from the birth of a precious treasure was very likely to attract many people, and as time passed, more and more would come! At that time, it will inevitably cause a mad scramble which would result in rivers of blood flowing!
When that happened, Yang Kai’s plan to exchange the drop of Immortal Source Liquid for the Tribulation Fruit would definitely be disrupted.
So when he saw the Heavenly Manifestation, Yang Kai’s first thought was not excitement, but annoyance as the timing couldn’t be worse for him.
But even though he was cursing in his heart, the Heavenly Manifestation was so pronounced that his curiosity was still piqued!
Considering all this, Yang Kai directly summoned his flying boat, stepped onto it, and pushed his Source Qi, turning it into a stream that flew over.
The speed of the wooden boat was quite quick, arriving a hundred kilometres away at Yang Kai’s destination just ten breaths later. As he approached, Yang Kai actually smelled a strange fragrance in the air, one that was not just refreshing and relaxing, but even made him feel as if he was experiencing a kind of enlightenment…
“It must be some kind of rare herb…” Yang Kai muttered thoughtfully, immediately identifying whatever treasure was about to be born as a rare herb that would be of great help to a cultivator’s cultivation. He made this judgement so quickly because the moment the fragrance entered his nose, Yang Kai actually faintly felt that his bottleneck at the peak of First-Order Dao Source Realm had slightly loosened!
He had not broken through to the Dao Source Realm that long ago, and although he had spent his days fighting and cultivating assiduously, even obtaining some opportunities from the Flowing Time Steps, there should still be some time before he could break through to the Second-Order Dao Source Realm. But now, the distance he felt from his next breakthrough had shrunk noticeably, showing how Heaven-defying this miraculous medicine must be.
Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling excited as right now, in this place, there was no one else but him, so perhaps he would be able to monopolize this precious treasure!
It was a lucky coincidence stumbling across this kind of good fortune; after all, Yang Kai had rushed to the exit far ahead of time, intending to inquire about the whereabouts of the Tribulation Fruit, nothing more.
As these thoughts flashed across his mind, Yang Kai arrived atop the mountain and brought his wooden boat to a halt as he looked down.
At a certain spot atop the mountain, amidst some scattered stones, a single flower bud had quietly appeared.
From the looks of it, this flower was some kind of lotus, and even in its budding stage, its folded petals were white and spotless. A dazzling aura gently flowed from this lotus as a charming fragrance diffused around it. This lotus bud was so pristine that it almost didn’t look real but instead like an enchanting illusion.
Looking closer, Yang Kai made out some tiny, mysterious runes that flickered across the lotus’ petals. These flowing runes seemed to contain some kind of profound meaning that, if comprehended, would yield infinite benefits.
Yang Kai’s heart shook wildly as he couldn’t help gasping, “This is…”
As he spoke, he flipped his hand and took out a jade slip from his Space Ring, closing his eyes and immersing his mind into it to search for a certain record.
This jade slip was Gong Sun Mu’s inheritance, and Yang Kai had already memorized everything recorded in it, but the scene before him was so shocking that he needed to compare it with these written records in order to be certain of his judgement.
Soon after, Yang Kai found the record he was looking for in the jade slip and after going over it three times to confirm, he opened his eyes as a near-fanatical light flashed across them. Staring at the budding lotus in front of him, Yang Kai couldn’t help calling out in a joyous voice, “Extraordinary Treasure Lotus!”
There was a note in Gong Sun Mu’s jade slip about the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus’s birth strictly adhering to the Heavenly Way. This lotus would absorb only the purest essence of the Sun and Moon, and on the day it bloomed, it would be filled with an extraordinary Emperor Intent. If one could swallow and refine an Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, their chances of breaking through to the Emperor Realm in the future would be significantly improved, and if it could be refined into a pill, the effects would be even better!
In other words, this was a Heaven defying treasure that could increase the chances of one becoming an Emperor!
The Emperor Realm was the pinnacle of the Star Boundary’s cultivation hierarchy.
Besides a few nearly extinct treasures, there was nothing that could help a cultivator improve their chances of reaching this realm.
But the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus was one of them.
Moreover, the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus was completely different from ordinary spirit grasses and medicines as consuming it would fundamentally improve a cultivator’s ability to comprehend the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao and had an incomparable effect of increasing a cultivator’s ability to condense and manifest their own Emperor Intent.
The value of this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus could be imagined! If a master like Xia Sheng or Wu Chang obtained this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, they would be able to break through to the Emperor Realm within five years with absolutely no possibility of failure.
Emperors were the pillars that supported every large Sect and were an absolute measure of that Sect’s power. The rise of even a single Emperor was enough to significantly increase the strength of a Sect.
If one thought about it this way, the value of this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus simply couldn’t be measured…
Yang Kai’s blood began to boil, but soon, gloom covered his face.
Because the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus in front of him… had not fully bloomed yet, so he could not collect it. If he rashly tried to pick it now, its medicinal efficacies would all but disappear.
And even if it bloomed completely, it would either need to be swallowed immediately or refined into a pill within an extremely short time, otherwise, its medicinal efficacies would also pass away cleanly.
The Heavens were fair in all things, and every opportunity that existed came with appropriate drawbacks.
The Extraordinary Treasure Lotus had truly Heaven-defying effects, so there were reasons it was rarely seen in history.
Within just three hours after this flower blossomed, its efficacies would begin to pass and it would soon after wither away, leaving behind only its legendary reputation.
As a result, even if somewhere in the vast Star Boundary, an Extraordinary Treasure Lotus was born and blossomed, if no one found it within three hours, it would simply wither and cease to exist…
“I need to find a way to cover up this Heavenly Manifestation. From the looks of it… it probably won’t bloom for a while, and if this continues, it will only attract more and more people. This will be very difficult,” Yang Kai muttered to himself, but when he looked up at the enormous vision in the sky, he quickly felt powerless.
If he was proficient in arranging Spirit Arrays, he may have been able to do something about this, but Yang Kai’s understanding of Spirit Arrays was only on the level of breaking them with brute force, so that was not an option here.
It was also impossible to collect the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus into his Sealed World Bead as that would be the same as picking it prematurely, leading to it withering directly.
As an Alchemist, such an act was absolutely unconscionable to Yang Kai.
For a moment, he could only scratch his head awkwardly.
Just as he was feeling anxious, the sound of something cutting through the air reached his ears and Yang Kai saw several figures rush over from different directions to land nearby.
There were three men and one woman, among them, one man and the woman seemed to be companions with the other two men, having arrived individually.
As soon as these four appeared, all of their gazes fixed on the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus as looks of surprise and shock filled their faces.
Only the young woman spared Yang Kai a casual glance, but after discovering that he was just a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, she didn’t pay attention to him anymore.
These four people were obviously nearby and were attracted by the phenomena of the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus’ birth.
One of them has a burly figure with a cold, indifferent expression and a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation. The other lone man had short hair and thief-like eyes, like he was constantly scheming something. This man’s cultivation was neither high nor low, just Second-Order Dao Source Realm. The last two, a young man and woman, seemed to be companions. The woman was petite and delicate looking while the man appeared suave. At first glance, it was clear that this Senior Brother and Junior Sister had a close relationship. Both of them had Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivations.
At this moment, all four of them showed looks of surprise as they stared towards the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, greed quickly welling up in their eyes.
Seeing this situation, Yang Kai couldn’t help but sigh.
Although he had been mentally prepared for this to happen as he knew the Heavenly Manifestation triggered by the maturation of the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus would definitely attract many cultivators, he hadn’t expected someone to appear so soon.
And four of them at once…
It seemed that there was a small number of cultivators active nearby, otherwise, they wouldn’t have arrived here so quickly.
“Senior Brother He… what kind of herb is that?” After observing for a moment, the young woman asked the man next to her, because she didn’t recognize this strange spirit flower in front of her, only that it must be rare and precious.
Senior Brother He heard her question but slowly shook his head and replied, “I don’t know either.”
As he spoke, he unconsciously licked his dry lips with an expression that seemed like he was ready to pounce, but he remained where he was, likely out of fear of the burly man. This was only natural as the burly man had the highest cultivation here and was the biggest obstacle to snatching this spirit flower.
“Brother Cheng Tai, do you recognize what this spirit flower is?” At that moment, the shifty-eyed young man suddenly asked the burly man. Apparently, the two were familiar with one another.
“I don’t know,” The man called Cheng Tai replied curtly, glancing over at the thief-like young man and asking, “Does Brother Bao not recognize it?”
Bao Peng smiled and replied, “How could this Bao recognize something that even Brother Cheng Tai doesn’t recognize? You think too highly of me.”
“Hmph,” Cheng Tai snorted coldly before turning to the other man and woman and asking aloud. “You two from Flowing Shadow Sword Sect, do you recognize this thing?”
Senior Brother He frowned hearing this question and shook his head slowly, as did the young woman.
Cheng Tai turned his gaze to Yang Kai last and yelled, “Boy, you seem to have gotten here first, what is this spirit flower? Speak.”
“I… I don’t know,” Yang Kai spoke haltingly, putting on a bewildered look as he explained, “I was just attracted by this vision…”
“Wastes!” Cheng Tai couldn’t help cursing before Yang Kai even finished speaking, “You don’t even recognize what this is but you still ran over here?!”
With this sentence, he scolded everyone present.
Senior Brother He of Flowing Shadow Sword Sect and the young woman beside him heard this and frowned unhappily, while Bao Peng, who seemed familiar with Cheng Tai’s temper, didn’t seem to care.
Next, Cheng Tai shouted, “No matter what this spirit flower is, this Cheng wants it. If you want to live, scram quickly, otherwise, don’t blame this Cheng for being ruthless?”
Bao Peng heard this and his brow twitched, but he still managed to say with a smile, “Brother Cheng, this… is this appropriate?”
“Do you have an objection?” Cheng Tai looked at Bao Peng with a grim expression and coldly snorted, “If you have an objection, say it boldly at your own risk!”
The latter quickly raised his hands and after taking a few steps back, he followed up, “Brother Cheng Tai misunderstands, if you want this thing, how could this Bao have any objections? It’s just that these two from Flowing Shadow Sword Sect may not be so agreeable, yes? When a rare spirit flower appears, in the end, the one who seizes it is the one who owns it…”
Hearing what he said, Senior Brother He nodded and said, “Yes, treasures belong to those who can keep them, if Friend wants it, he needs to use his own ability to snatch it!”
Although Cheng Tai was a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, Senior Brother He was together with his Junior Sister, so he wasn’t afraid of the other party. What’s more, with a rare treasure appearing right before his eyes, how could he just give up on it without trying?
“You two want to oppose me?” Cheng Tai heard this and grinned maliciously, “I’ve heard that Flowing Shadow Sword Sect’s Flowing Shadow Sword Art is exquisite and unpredictable, I wonder if that’s true… Good, since there is an opportunity today, this Cheng will have to ask you two for a demonstration.”
Saying so, Cheng Tai’s Source Qi surged and his already burly figure seemed to bulk up further, causing a sense of coercion to suddenly spread.
Having prepared himself, he shouted, “You two, don’t disappoint this Cheng!”
Stamping the ground, Cheng Tai shot off and crashed towards the pair from Flowing Shadow Sword Sect like a falling meteor.
He actually attacked directly!
“Be careful!” Senior Brother He shouted as his figure flickered and he retreated backwards together with his Junior Sister several dozen meters.
*Ceng ceng…*
Two slicing sounds rang out as two cold lights flashed.
When the swords were drawn, a piercing murderous intent filled the air.
Senior Brother He and his Junior Sister both held their swords in one hand while they formed a series of seals with their other one, assuming a strange stance as their Sword Qi began surging outwards.
“There should be a limit to looking down on others!” Senior Brother He shouted. Chang Tai suddenly attacking had caused Senior Brother He to be quite angered and his eyes quickly filled with murderous intent as he shouted to the young woman beside him, “Junior Sister, begin. don’t show any mercy!”
“Rest assured, Junior Sister will let him feel the power of our Flowing Shadow Sword Art!” The young woman shouted in response as she swung her sword, releasing a dazzling sword light that slashed towards Cheng Tai.
At the same time, Senior Brother He used a similar skill to coordinate with his Junior Sister.
Cheng Tai was a Third-Order Dao Source Realm master, so facing this coordinated assault, he did not back down. Sending out a series of palms, he caused the surrounding World Energy to turn chaotic as he fought two against one without losing any ground.
In an instant, three people had become locked in a melee, fighting atop this mountain as Sword Qi and palm prints kicked up rock and sand on the turbulent battlefield.
Meanwhile, the initiator of all this, Bao Peng, stood quietly and watched, without any intention of intervening, from time to time showing a thoughtful look as if he was gaining some enlightenment from observing this battle.
“Ha…” Suddenly, Yang Kai sighed as he turned to look in a certain direction before saying, “This spirit flower doesn’t seem to be mature yet, so collecting it right now… is probably a bad idea as it may ruin it…”
The place he was looking towards oddly didn’t have anyone standing there.
The three people who were fighting heard Yang Kai and were all shocked, quickly withdrawing from their fight as they turned to stare at him suspiciously.
Cheng Tai also glanced over at Bao Peng who was standing not far away and frowned.
“I’ve just said it cannot be picked rashly… Does this friend not understand simple words?” Yang Kai shouted forcefully this time as he punched out.
As Yang Kai’s fist pressure flew out, a figure suddenly appeared where before there was none, showing a shocked look on his face. At this moment, he was only ten steps away from the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus and from his posture, it was clear he was attempting to steal it while everyone else was distracted.
“Bao Peng!” After seeing this person’s face, Cheng Tai couldn’t help snapping.
At that moment, the other Bao Peng, who had been standing in place watching the battle, suddenly turned into a speck of light and disappeared!
It was actually just a very lifelike afterimage…
The real Bao Peng had clearly used some kind of Secret Technique to secretly approach the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus.
“You…” Bao Peng was exposed by Yang Kai’s punch, ruining his good deed, so he was furious and viciously shouted, “Boy, you court death!”
In his opinion, if not for Yang Kai interfering, he would have snatched this strange spirit flower and escaped.
Annoyed, he flew into a rage!
“Sorry…” Yang Kai scratched his head helplessly, “If possible, I didn’t want to expose you, but your behaviour… it was simply too despicable!”
He spurned.
The others present might have taken this comment as an insult, but Yang Kai really had no other meaning, he was simply exasperated that this Bao Peng was about to ruin the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus.
The Extraordinary Treasure Lotus was still not mature, so how could Yang Kai allow it to be picked rashly? He had pretended to be ignorant and weak, hoping to buy some more time, but now it seemed that this plan would not work.
“Indeed!” Cheng Tai yelled loudly, “I haven’t seen you for a few years, Bao Peng, but it seems you’re as shameless as ever! Even though this Cheng had been paying attention all this time, he was still almost cheated by you!”
Although he had been fighting with the pair from Flowing Shadow Sword Sect before, Cheng Tai had not gone all out and had intentionally split his attention to monitor Bao Peng. However, from Cheng Tia’s perspective, Bao Peng had simply been standing there watching, so he was able to focus more on his fight.
Cheng Tai never thought that the Bao Peng standing there was just a mirage!
The faces of the two Flowing Shadow Sword Sect disciples were also quite ugly at the moment, but they also felt quite curious because of everyone present, no one had seen through Bao Peng’s trick except for the Yang Kai…
If they hadn’t clearly sensed that Yang Kai’s cultivation was only First-Order Dao Source Realm, all of them would have thought he was hiding something.
“Brother Cheng, calm down…” Bao Peng also cast a flattering look towards Cheng Tai at this time and said, “It’s not like I managed to succeed…”
“That’s only because your luck was bad!” Cheng Tai coldly snorted, “If your luck had been good enough, wouldn’t you have run off with this spirit flower already?”
“It’s not a question of luck…” Bao Peng stared at Yang Kai with deep gaze before saying coldly, “What this Bao just displayed is his Five Aggregate Sects’ Golden Cicada Shell Shedding, a masterpiece which should have no flaws in it. It is an excellent Secret Technique for preserving one’s life and escaping undetected…”
“So it was the Golden Cicada Shell Shedding Secret Technique!” Cheng Tai muttered, apparently familiar with this Secret Technique, his eyes narrowing slightly as he commented, “Unexpectedly, Sect Master Qin was willing to teach you this Secret Technique!”
“That’s not important right now,” Bao Peng stared straight at Yang Kai as he spoke coldly. “This Bao is more concerned about how a trivial First-Order Dao Source Realm trash was able to see through it…”
Since entering the Four Seasons Realm, Yang Kai had been called trash by others more than once…
This wasn’t surprising though as his robes were plain and lacked any kind of emblem identifying him as being part of any Sect. Most importantly though, his cultivation was only First-Order Dao Source Realm, so the elite disciples from major Sects and families naturally looked down on him!
A First-Order Dao Source Realm in the Four Seasons Realm was really the lowest level of existence! Unless it was someone who had extraordinary status like Lan Xun, no one would even bother casting such a weak individual a second glance.
Bao Peng naturally didn’t put Yang Kai in his eyes.
Facing his question, Yang Kai just tilted his head for a moment and said, “My luck… is good?”
“I said this isn’t a matter of luck. It seems you really are courting death!” Bao Peng grinned menacingly, his expression extremely unkind. His good deed had been disturbed by Yang Kai, so he had a stomach full of grievances at the moment and wanted to rip Yang Kai’s corpse into ten thousand pieces to solve the hatred in his heart.
“Handle your affairs by yourself, this Cheng will be taking away that spirit flower first!” At that moment, Cheng Tai suddenly shouted as he rushed towards the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus.
The two Flowing Shadow Sword Sect disciples were startled by this and immediately grit their teeth as they chased after Cheng Tai, trying to block him.
Bao Peng obviously didn’t want to waste his time with Yang Kai either so he too dashed towards the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus.
Everyone simply wanted to snatch this spirit flower as soon as possible.
A brilliant light flashed suddenly as Yang Kai’s figure mysteriously appeared in front of the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, blocking the four people’s way as he helplessly glanced around and said, “Everyone, this spirit flower has yet to mature, so it is not the best time to pick it. If you touch it rashly now, you may end up destroying it in vain. Why don’t we all just sit down and have a good chat and wait for this spirit flower to bloom first?”
“Huh? What kind of nonsense are you spewing, make way now!” Cheng Tai remained unmoved and shouted in a deep voice.
“Please cooperate!” Yang Kai looked at him sincerely.
“And if I refuse…”
By now, Cheng Tai had rushed close to where Yang Kai stood and swung his fist wrapped in a violent aura towards him. From his motions and posture, it was obvious Cheng Tai was not holding back and planned to kill Yang Kai in one blow.
Sneering disdainfully, he spat, “Since you don’t know how to measure your own weight, don’t blame me if you die!”
“Seems there’s really no other way…” Yang Kai muttered in a low voice, his peaceful and calm aura suddenly transforming into one filled with savagery as a malicious grin appeared on his lips. With a terrible pressure suddenly bursting from his form, Yang Kai sternly declared, “Since you refuse to listen to reason, I’ll just have to make you listen some other way.”
As he spoke, a light flashed from his palm and an Emperor Artifact appeared.
Emperor Pressure filled the air as Yang Kai swept his sword around and shouted, “Myriad Sword Arts, One Man As A Mountain!”
*Chi chi chi chi…*
Sword Qi flooded out with Yang Kai at its centre. This invincible Sword Qi quickly formed into a fan-shaped wave that was filled with terrifying pressure and deadly aura that seemed to keep everything before Yang Kai.
“What!” Cheng Tai’s face changed drastically as the disdainful look on his face abruptly changed to one filled with shock. His eyes bulged as he stared straight ahead.
“Emperor Pressure… this is Emperor Pressure… it’s an Emperor Artifact!” Bao Peng also called out in alarm as he quickly formed a seal and used his Five Aggregate Sect’s Golden Cicada Shell Shedding again, leaving behind a life-like afterimage as he rapidly withdrew, narrowly avoiding being hit.
The two Flowing Shadow Sword Sect disciples also couldn’t believe their eyes when the Myriads Sword Emperor Artifact appeared, but the Dao Source Grade swords they held in their hands trembling in fear and horror told them that what they were witnessing was undoubtedly real.
When Bao Peng’s words rang out, the faces of these two quickly turned pale…
However, the two of them belonged to the same Sect and had lived and fought together for many years, so their innate bond was strong. In a flash, they formed a set of seals with their free hands while slashing out with their Dao Source Grade Swords to dispel the terrible blow directed towards them.
*Xiu xiu xiu xiu…*
Sword Qi clashed mid-air as the surrounding World Energy churned.
After a brilliant flash, the four who had charged towards the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, trying to seize it, were forced back into their original three positions, all of them pale as a look of lingering fear filled with faces.
Bao Peng showed no signs of injury, but he could not hide the look of shock on his face.
As for the two Flowing Shadow Sword Sect disciples, they appeared unhurt, but the hands they used to hold their swords were clearly trembling.
Cheng Tai was not so lucky though as he was the closest at the time and thus bore the biggest impact. Even if he fought back desperately at the moment of crisis, he still failed to completely resolve the terrifying blow of the Emperor Artifact and at this moment, there were at least seven or eight wounds on his body that were leaking blood, making him look extremely miserable.
“Now… Can we talk?” Yang Kai shouldered the Myriads Sword as he swept his eyes around and grinned.
Cheng Tai and the others now had profound looks on their faces as they stared at Yang Kai in fear.
The one they thought was mere trash had suddenly taken out an Emperor Artifact that anyone would covet and displayed a terrifying skill that severely wounded the supposedly strongest cultivator present. If this kind of thing had not been witnessed with their own eyes, they would not have believed it possible.
“Who is… Your Excellency?” Cheng Tai tried to endure the pain he was feeling as he turned a solemn look towards Yang Kai and asked.
At this point, how could he not believe that Yang Kai had some kind of extraordinary background? If that wasn’t the case, how could a trivial First-Order Dao Source cultivator possess an Emperor Artifact? Just thinking so, Cheng Tai couldn’t help feeling extremely wary…
Before considering if he could defeat Yang Kai in battle now, even if he did win, he would have to worry about retaliation from the great force behind him. The Clouded Heavens Sect he belonged to was only comparable to Flying Saint Palace, so how could Cheng Tai dare provoke a genius from some superpower?
“Friend, this is all just a misunderstanding, I hope this friend… does not take offence!” Bao Peng suddenly showed a flattering expression and said with a smile.
“Since it is a misunderstanding, there’s no need to explain anything,” Yang Kai glanced over at him and said with a smile.
As if receiving amnesty, Bao Peng cupped his fists and said, “Many thanks, friend. This Bao has important matters to attend to so he will not bother you further. Farewell!”
Saying so, he actually turned around and left directly at an extremely fast pace.
Looking at his disappearing back, Yang Kai showed a thoughtful look as he secretly felt that as long as this person didn’t die prematurely, he would definitely become a big deal in the future. It could be seen from Bao Peng’s decisiveness alone that his instincts and ability to judge situations were top notch.
Since he felt that he would not gain any benefits if he stayed, and instead might provoke danger, he had left immediately.
Compared with Bao Peng, Cheng Tai and Flowing Shadow Sword Sect pair seemed a little indecisive.
Because after seeing Yang Kai’s methods, these three people still didn’t intend to leave. They seemed to be holding on to a faint hope that they could still snatch the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus.
Cheng Tai had already been hit hard and was extremely wary of the great force behind Yang Kai, so he was showing a posture of wanting to leave, but was still somewhat reluctant to go.
As for Senior Brother He of Flowing Shadow Sword Sect, his greed was showing clearly.
However… The target of his greed was not the blossoming spirit flower, but rather the Myriads Sword in Yang Kai’s hand!
After all, compared to the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus that he did not know anything about, the Myriads Sword was a genuine Emperor Artifact, and a sword-shaped Emperor Artifact at that!
Flowing Shadow Sword Sect was originally a Sect well-known for its swordsmanship, and all of its disciples cultivated the Sword Dao, so if he could obtain this Myriads Sword, Senior Brother He’s strength would greatly increase.
This made him inevitably have many thoughts about this situation…
“Well now… are you leaving or not?” Yang Kai looked at the others with a smile.
Cheng Tai pursed his parched lips as he stood there, not moving or showing any hostility, instead just silently pushing his Source Qi to suppress his injuries.
On the contrary, when the Senior Brother He heard this, he suddenly turned his head and glanced at the young woman beside him. A single glance was all these two needed to understand each other’s intent.
Suddenly, a strong aura permeated from each of these two, this aura blending and gathering together as their Second-Order Dao Source Realm fluctuations rapidly inflated.
Even with no wind, their black hair flew out and their robes fluttered, fighting intent seemingly pulsing from their forms.
Senior Brother He stretched out a hand and the young woman instantly took it.
The moment their two hands met, their already powerful auras climbed to new heights and a visible halo of energy shrouded their figures.
At that moment, the two no longer seemed like separate individuals, but rather like one person!
“Absolute Resonance Secret Art!” Seeing this scene, Cheng Tai suddenly shouted in a low voice, his face turning solemn.
Hearing what he said, Yang Kai immediately understood that this Absolute Resonance Secret Art was some kind of technique that Flowing Shadow Sword Sect possessed and was similar to a Dual Cultivation Art. After displaying it, it seemed to connect the aura of a man and women together, merging their strengths and greatly improving their combat capabilities for a short time!
After performing this Secret Technique, the temperament of Senior Brother He changed greatly, seemingly becoming extremely confident and arrogant.
Lifting his sword, he began drawing a half-circle in Yang Kai’s direction and coldly declared, “Hand over the Emperor Artifact and I’ll spare your life!”
As he spoke, his Junior Sister made the same gesture.
When the two swords finished drawing their semi-circles and merged as one, a flash of light occurred and a powerful Sword Qi manifested in place.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Yang Kai remained unmoved, just standing there staring at the pair calmly.
“Enough nonsense!” Senior Brother He gave an impatient cry.
“And what if I refuse?”
“Then you can die!” Senior Brother He snorted coldly before he pushed his sword forward slightly, his movements seemingly carefree and leisurely.
However, as he pushed his sword forward, the circle of Sword Qi which he had drawn together with his Junior Sister, shot out.
Halfway to its target, this Sword Qi circle was divided into two, then into four, then into eight…
Soon, circular blades of Sword Qi filled the sky, giving off an imposing aura that made it seem like evading was impossible.
The barrage of circular Sword Qi blades slashed towards Yang Kai’s position, slicing through the air with a sharp, whistling noise.
Cheng Tai’s face changed slightly…
Only now did he realize that this pair from Flowing Shadow Sword Sect had not been using their full strength when they fought with him before. If they had performed such a Secret Technique before, it would have been quite difficult for him to withstand them.
Seeing this blow, even though it was not directed at him, gave Cheng Tai a sense of fear and unease, as if the countless blades had all been pointed at him.
Widening his eyes, he wanted to see how Yang Kai would defend against this move.
At any rate, this unknown kid had an Emperor Artifact, so his origins should not be low and he should also know some extremely profound skills. Such a blow was indeed quite powerful, but it shouldn’t be able to take this kid’s life… Or at least, that was what Cheng Tai assumed.
However, what he saw before him was far beyond his expectation.
When the barrage of circular Sword Qi blades struck, Yang Kai simply stood in place stupidly, as if he was unable to respond, not even taking any defensive actions until the last moment.
But by then, it was too late…
*Chi chi chi chi…*
The muffled sound of something being cut rang out as Yang Kai’s whole figure was submerged in countless Sword Qi blades and cut into pieces.
“Huh?” Cheng Tai exclaimed as he stared forward with an incredulous expression, “Did he… die?”
This strange kid who seemed so unreadable and deadly was actually killed easily with a single blow. This scene was simply beyond Cheng Tai’s ability to accept!
But soon, he relaxed…
He secretly felt that the reason why Yang Kai’s blow just now had been so powerful was simply because of the Emperor Artifact, and that Yang Kai’s personal strength was only on par with an ordinary First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator. Thinking about it this way, everything made sense.
“Overconfidence!” Senior Brother He also sneered as he flicked his sword lightly, an extremely excited light flashing across his eyes as they turned towards the Myriads Sword in Yang Kai’s hand.
At that moment though, Yang Kai’s corpse, which had been cut into countless pieces, suddenly distorted and faded into nothing.
Senior Brother He’s expression went stiff as he called out, “An afterimage!”
It wasn’t until this time that he understood why he was still feeling anxious despite having won the fight. This kind of ominous feeling was something that could not be explained, but also could not be ignored.
The scene before him made everything clear. The body which had been shredded just now was obviously not a real one, but just a mirage.
“Senior Brother, look out!” The young woman suddenly called out as her beautiful face paled.
At that exact moment, a brilliant light flashed across Senior Brother He’s neck and passed clean through it.
Senior Brother He’s complexion changed drastically as he tried to turn around and see what just happened, but no matter how he tried, he was unable to rotate his head. Not only that, he felt a slight pain coming from his neck the harder he tried to move it. A moment later, his vision turned upside down as his view seemed to fall.
“I… died?” A strange thought flashed across Senior Brother He’s mind as his vision gradually filled with darkness. The last scene reflected in his eyes was Yang Kai holding the Myriads Sword and standing quietly not far behind him. On the broadsword, there was some fresh red blood running down the blade, dripping off it lightly.
*Pu…*
The death of Senior Brother He seemed to set off a chain reaction as his Junior Sister, who was connected to him at the moment, turned pale, and spat out blood, her vitality rapidly draining as her face aged countless years in an instant.
She seemed incapable of controlling her body and quickly fell from the sky, fluttering mid-air, unable to stabilize her figure.
A moment later, she hit the ground with a splat!
“Some kind of backlash?” Yang Kai frowned thoughtfully.
Although this Absolute Resonance Secret Art was extremely powerful, it seemed to have severe drawbacks as well… Yang Kai had just killed that Senior Brother He, but now it seemed that alone was enough to send this young woman to her death as well!
Suddenly, two radiances flew out from the bodies of Senior Brother He and his Junior Sister and soared up into the air.
Yang Kai moved swiftly and seized these two flowing lights.
The back of his hand went slightly hot as soon as he caught these two lights, and when Yang Kai looked down, he saw two more Star Seals had appeared!
These two Star Seals obviously belonged to the two disciples of the Flowing Shadow Sword Sect, but after their deaths, the Star Seals became ownerless and were easily claimed.
The grades of these two Star Seals weren’t very high, just triangular and diamond-shaped, like the Star Seal Yang Kai had obtained before!
Now, Yang Kai had collected three Star Seals from this Four Seasons Realm!
Star Seals seemed to be quite difficult to obtain. Yang Kai had stayed in this Sealed World for more than twenty days and apart from the one he obtained by coincidence, he hadn’t obtained another, showing how rare they were.
But right now, he actually obtained two more.
As Yang Kai observed his newly acquired Star Seals, Cheng Tai, who was watching from the side, shivered uncontrollably!
Everything had happened so fast that he had failed to even see how Yang Kai moved. What he did know was that the pair from Flowing Shadow Sword Sect had been cut down in one move, allowing Cheng Tai to realize he had seriously underestimated Yang Kai’s ability!
Although this kid looked like just a First-Order Dao Source cultivator, his true combat power could not be judged on that alone! This kid was definitely an elite among elite who could easily defeat others above his own realm!
Thinking so, how could Cheng Tai dare to remain? He was now secretly cursing himself for not leaving sooner as now he couldn’t even be sure he could leave.
But doing nothing was not an option, so Cheng Tai grit his teeth and cupped his fists, “This Cheng apologizes for his prior offence and hopes this friend will be forgiving! This Cheng will now take his leave…”
“Stand right there!” Yang Kai glanced at him coldly and faintly as he shouted.
“Friend… what advice do you have?” Cheng Tai’s face twitched as fright filled his heart, only wishing to be as far away from here as possible, but not daring to act rashly.
“Just wait a moment!” Yang Kai didn’t show any killing intent and instead flew down to the two fresh corpses of the Flowing Shadow Sword Sect disciples. Taking down their Space Rings, Yang Kai swept them with his Divine Sense as he seemed to search for something.
Even with Yang Kai’s back turned to him, Cheng Tai stood obediently in place. He knew that in his current state, he was not Yang Kai’s opponent at all, and if he angered this strange young man, there would soon be a third corpse on the ground!
“Nothing but junk!” Yang Kai muttered with some dissatisfaction after inspecting the two Space Rings.
Of course, this wasn’t the case.
The Senior Brother and Junior Sister pair were both Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivators so naturally there were many good things in their Space Rings. Whether it was Source Crystals, pills, or artifacts, the value of their property wasn’t bad, but they were lacking what Yang Kai was looking for.
After muttering so, Yang Kai turned to Cheng Tai and flew over before pondering for a moment and asking, “If it’s convenient, can Brother Cheng give me your Space Ring?”
Hearing this, Cheng Tai’s face turned pale, but people under the eaves had to bow their heads, so with a forced smile he nodded, “Naturally that’s not a problem.”
Saying so, he took off his Space Ring with a pained expression on his face before tossing it over to Yang Kai. Finished, he hurriedly asked, “If friend is satisfied, this Cheng will now leave and not disturb you…”
“What’s the hurry?” Yang Kai glanced at him, “You don’t want your Space Ring?”
“Huh?” Cheng Tai wore a stunned expression, really not understanding why Yang Kai would say this.
“Did you think I was trying to rob you?” Yang Kai curled his lips, “Do you think I would engage in such a despicable act?”
The expression on Cheng Tai’s face constantly fluctuated, really not knowing what to say.
“Haha… something useful!” At that moment, Yang Kai suddenly laughed and with a flick of his Divine Sense, he took out something from Cheng Tai’s Space Ring.
Cheng Tai glanced over and saw that the thing was a charcoal black spirit grass.
In all honesty, Cheng Tai didn’t know exactly what this spirit grass was or what its purpose was, he simply felt it was high-grade and valuable, so he collected it from the Realm of Autumn while he was exploring.
He didn’t expect Yang Kai would suddenly take this particular herb out at this moment.
Cheng Tai was completely at a loss…
He was obviously clearer about the content of his Space Ring than anyone, and knew that in terms of value, there were many other things far more precious than this spirit grass, but this strange boy had actually chosen this and nothing else.
While Cheng Tai was stunned, Yang Kai tossed his Space Ring back to him as he played with the spirit grass in his hand, a happy expression filling his face.
“This friend, do you really not want anything else…” Cheng Tai asked cautiously.
“I just said I’m not robbing you!” Yang Kai glanced at him sideways before shouting in a low tone, “Scram!”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Cheng Tai felt like was being pardoned, quickly grabbed his Space Ring, and fled, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
After Cheng Tai disappeared, Yang Kai landed leisurely next to the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus as he looked at the dark spirit grass in his hand and muttered to himself, “With this Black Dragon Grass, I only need three more ingredients to refine this lotus into the Extraordinary Treasure Pill… En, I have all the others but these last three will be somewhat difficult to find, I hope someone else will have them.”
As he spoke, Yang Kai glanced around and now began hoping more people would be attracted by the emergence of this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus so he could ‘borrow’ the necessary materials from them to refine the Spirit Pill he was hoping to.
With the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus as the main ingredient, a Heaven-defying Spirit Pill called the Extraordinary Treasure Pill could be refined. This Spirit Pill had an even more powerful effect than swallowing the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus raw.
One Extraordinary Treasure Pill would be enough to raise a cultivator’s chances of becoming an Emperor by ten percent!
If possible, Yang Kai hoped to refine this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus into pills when it matured! This way, not only could it be preserved for a long time, but it could also bring out the full efficacies of the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus. However… accomplishing this would not be easy, especially since he was currently lacking some of the necessary materials for the refinement.
Atop a certain mountain, with clouds swirling about in the surging winds, a grand vision filled the sky with a myriad of wondrous colours.
The Extraordinary Treasure Lotus was slowly blossoming into a flawless white flower, with traces of the Heavenly Way itself lightly dancing around it as a fragrance that refreshed and relaxed all who smelt it wafted outwards.
Yang Kai sat cross-legged not far from this spirit flower, his mind free of any distracting thoughts and his eyes closed, like a silent guardian, blocking all access to any who approached.
Three hundred kilometres away, a number of silhouettes quickly approached while looking up ahead in the direction of the mountain, the vast Heavenly Manifestation having caught their eyes some time ago, surprising them greatly and eliciting a great deal of curiosity.
However, this group of people seemed to belong to a variety of different great forces and were only travelling together by chance as they had apparently noticed this strange phenomenon at the same time.
The strength of this group was mixed, from First-Order Dao Source Realm to Third-Order Dao Source Realm.
As they flew, one man suddenly turned to the side and asked, “Brother Jing, can you tell what’s happening up ahead?”
The person he asked was Jing Li, a disciple of the Benevolent Martial Sect, and one of the people Yang Kai had met at the Flowing Time Temple. Although this person’s cultivation was also Third-Order Dao Source Realm, he had humbled himself when facing Wu Chang’s questioning, but at this moment, he seemed to have restored his previous confidence.
Hearing this question, Jing Li pondered for a moment before saying, “This Heavenly Manifestation is either related to the birth of some rare treasure or a precious spirit medicine reaching maturity… And judging from the fragrance in the air, it’s most likely the latter.”
“Oh?” The questioner’s eyes lit up as he said happily, “Brother Jing thinks so too?” He had apparently not been asking due to ignorance, but rather as a way of confirmation. “I don’t know if Brother Jing can see what type of spirit medicine is reaching maturity?”
“How should I know?” Jing Li rolled her eyes, “There are countless precious spirit medicines out there; however, anything that can cause such a big disturbance must be extraordinary.”
“Heh heh heh…” Suddenly, another man in the group let out a low laugh as he licked his lips, “Perhaps, the opportunity I’ve been waiting for has come.”
As soon as this remark came out, everyone paused.
Jing Li quickly followed up, “With the opportunity before us, the rest will be up to luck. If this opportunity is obtained by this Jing, you should not be too jealous, hahahahaha!”
He let out a long laugh, as if whatever treasure laid ahead was already in his grasp…
“Bah, you want to snatch up this opportunity too?” A spurning voice came from the crowd.
“Does Brother Zhou Huai have some kind of objection to this Jing?” Jing Li looked towards the speaker coldly as he put on a provocative expression. While Jing Li did not dare breathe loudly when facing Wu Chang, lest he incur Wu Chang’s notorious wrath, Jing Li was still a Third-Order Dao Source Realm master, so how could he not have any arrogance?
“I have no objection to anyone obtaining an opportunity except you!” Zhou Huai did not back down either. It seemed that there was some kind of grievance between these two, so they did not try to hide their bickering.
Jing Li’s expression sank, and when he was about to retort, when one of the group suddenly shouted, “Look, someone arrived before us.”
As soon as this remark came out, everyone’s heart sank as they looked forward and saw that atop the mountain there was a figure sitting cross-legged quietly next to a half-blossomed white flower that was exuding a dazzling light and a peculiar yet entrancing aura.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
Immediately, Jing Li’s group accelerated and in the blink of an eye, they arrived near the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, greed filling their faces as they stared at it.
Jing Li glanced at Yang Kai, secretly feeling that this person was somewhat familiar, like he had met him somewhere before, but upon noticing the other party’s cultivation, he couldn’t help grinning mockingly, “And I was wondering who it was… turns out it’s just a First-Order Dao Source Realm trash.”
After understanding this, he stopped paying attention to Yang Kai.
The same was true for the others.
Realizing that someone had reached this strange spirit flower first, all of them had been a little flustered, but when they saw that Yang Kai’s cultivation was so weak, they immediately relaxed.
After this group landed, their gazes crossed Yang Kai and fixed on the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus in anticipation.
Although they didn’t know what kind of spirit flower this was, since it had given rise to a Heavenly Manifestation upon its maturation, it was easy to imagine how precious it was!
“Brother Pang Hai, if this Jing recalls correctly, you’ve studied Alchemy quite extensively, yes?” Jing Li suddenly turned to look at a fat man in the crowd.
The fat man heard this and smiled lightly, “This Pang has dabbled in the Alchemic Dao, but his technique is lacking, only reaching the Origin King Grade, nothing worth mentioning!”
Although he spoke humble words, there was an extremely arrogant expression on his face, which seemed to say that this was anything but a trivial matter.
In truth, he had reason to be proud.
Alchemists were rare, and High-Grade Alchemists were even rarer. Alchemists also enjoyed a lofty status in the cultivation world, so a man like this Pang Hai, who was both a Dao Source Realm cultivator and an Origin King Grade Alchemist could be considered a rare talent.
Ordinary Alchemists focused all their efforts into Alchemy while their cultivation came second. These Alchemists would often not have enough time to cultivate while they improved their Alchemy skills, leading to most Alchemists having lower cultivation.
As such, most Origin King Grade Alchemists were either Origin Returning Realm cultivators or Origins.
But Pang Hai was already a Second-Order Dao Source Realm Master!
He had good attainments in both the Martial Dao and Alchemic Dao, standing amidst an elite few in both fields, so it was only natural for him to be proud of himself.
“Origin King Grade…” Jing Li was also a man who knew how to judge the value of a person, so hearing this, he exclaimed with sincere admiration, “Brother Pang Hai is truly amazing, this Jing is thoroughly impressed!”
Although the others did not speak, they all showed respectful expressions.
Pang Hai was obviously used to such scenes so with a smile on his chubby face he hypocritically waved his hand and said, “Brother Jing is too polite. In fact, if it weren’t for my pursuit of the Alchemic Dao delaying my cultivation, this Pang would have long ago broken through to the Third-Order Dao Source Realm!”
The implication he was making was that his aptitude in the Martial Dao was not worse than the others, but rather that he was distracted by Alchemy, as if without pursuing such a side-profession he would have the capital to compete with Xia Sheng, Wu Chang and the other young geniuses of the Southern Territory!
“Brother Pang Hai, since you are an Origin King Grade Alchemist, do you recognize this spirit flower?” Jing Li asked.
The others also looked at Pang Hai and waited anxiously for his answers.
Pang Hai heard this, took a moment to stare at the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, pondered for a moment after, then said, “If this Pang is not mistaken, this should be the legendary…”
He paused momentarily here to raise the tension.
Yang Kai also opened his eyes curiously, wondering what his fellow Alchemist would say.
Pang Hai boldly declared next, “Legendary Profound Frost Sacred Lotus!”
*Pu…*
In that instant, Yang Kai couldn’t stop himself from laughing, though he quickly suppressed his outburst.
Pang Hai immediately gave him a vicious look.
On the contrary, Jing Li and the others went wide-eyed and began asking in hushed voices, “Is this really the Profound Frost Sacred Lotus? The very Profound Frost Sacred Lotus that is rumoured to help one sublimate one’s Knowledge Sea and greatly enhance the power of their Divine Sense?”
Jing Li had obviously heard of the Profound Frost Sacred Lotus so his eyes couldn’t help shining brightly when he heard this unknown budding flower might just be it.
The reactions of the others were similar, and greed could practically be seen oozing from their expressions.
“Indeed!” Pang Hai nodded heavily, “This is definitely the Profound Frost Sacred Lotus!”
“I trust Brother Pang Hai!” Jing Li gulped.
“I too believe Brother Pang Hai, but from the way this boy reacted just now, it seems he has a slightly different opinion…” Zhou Huai turned to look at Yang Kai thoughtfully, “And he was the first to arrive here, so why don’t we ask him as well?”
Although he said so, he didn’t try to solicit the opinions of the others in his group and instead directly shouted at Yang Kai, “Boy, this Zhou has some questions to ask you, answer them all, otherwise… Hmph!”
He spoke with a threatening expression full of malice.
“En, go ahead,” Yang Kai nodded at him indifferently.
“How long have you been here?” Zhou Huai asked.
“About an hour,” Yang Kai replied.
“So, this Heavenly Manifestation began an hour ago?” Zhou Huai’s expression changed as he began looking around vigilantly before asking suspiciously, “Why hasn’t anyone else come here?”
Although he felt it strange, he didn’t delve too deeply into it, figuring that no one else was around to notice this Heavenly Manifestation, or that others were on their way and simply hadn’t made it here yet. Assuming so, he then asked, “When Brother Pang Hai said this was the Profound Frost Sacred Lotus, you seemed to disagree… Do you know what spirit flower this is?”
“I don’t!” Yang Kai shook his head into a rattle.
“Since you don’t know anything, why show such an expression? Laughable!” Pang Hai snorted coldly.
Yang Kai shook his head and said, “Although I don’t know what this is, I know it is not the Profound Frost Sacred Lotus!”
At this point, Yang Kai’s expression suddenly became solemn as he began to utter seriously, “The Profound Frost Sacred Lotus is only born in extremely cold environments. It has seven petals, deep roots, a long stem, and releases an enchanting fragrance that is quite similar to the spirit flower here. However, the most important thing is…” His tone suddenly became low as a grin appeared on his face and he said, “When the Profound Frost Sacred Lotus blooms, no one can approach within a hundred kilometres of it as its fragrance is potent enough to affect even Emperor Realm Masters, disrupting the Soul of any who come close and plunging them into an illusion they cannot extricate themselves from. Once that happens, if one is not rescued promptly, they will forever be trapped in a prison of their own mind!”
Spreading his hands, Yang Kai shrugged, “Since none of you are affected at all at this moment, nor are any of you seeing any kind of hallucination, how could this possibly be the Profound Frost Sacred Lotus?”
After he finished his explanation, everyone who was listening was stunned while Pang Hai blushed bright red…
He didn’t actually recognize what this spirit flower was, but he also didn’t expect anyone else to know either, so he had casually said it was the Profound Frost Sacred Lotus thinking no one would contradict him, giving him an edge and the initiative.
Once he seized the initiative, he could compile a tale that would be beneficial to him, which would facilitate his next actions.
But he didn’t expect that the moment he opened his mouth, Yang Kai would expose his lie, and… this boy’s words were so thorough and full of conviction that it was clear that everyone favoured his opinion, causing Pang Hai to become angry out of shame!
“What friend says… makes sense!” Zhou Huai’s eyes lit up as he turned to look at Pang Hai, “Brother Pang Hai, what do you think?”
[Your eighteen generations of Ancestors must have all been bastards…] Pang Hai cursed in his heart.
At this point, Pang Hai would never admit what Yang Kai said was true, otherwise, it would be equivalent to slapping his own face. In front of so many people, how could he just back down, so he instead doubled down and viciously shouted, “Boy, there should be a limit to how much nonsense you spew! This Pang is an Origin King Grade Alchemist, so if I say it is the Profound Frost Sacred Lotus, it is the Profound Frost Sacred Lotus!”
As soon as this statement came out, everyone else regained some confidence in Pang Hai; after all, they didn’t know Yang Kai so how could they judge whether his words were trustworthy or not.
Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, “I’m a Dao Source Grade Alchemist…”
He was telling the truth, but obviously, no one believed it.
“You see, this boy is just making up stories, you can’t believe him!” Pang Hai added insult to injury promptly.
Everyone nodded lightly.
“It’s fine!” Yang Kai suddenly stood up and patted his butt off, cracking his neck as he stretched his arms…
Everyone stared at him dumbfoundedly, wondering why it looked like he was suddenly preparing to fight.
“Enough idle chatter!” Yang Kai said while sweeping his eyes across the crowd, causing everyone he stared at to involuntarily shiver, as if they were being stared at by some terrifying beast. “Since you’re all here, do me a favour…” He grinned and quickly said, “Hand over your Space Rings!”
“What?”
Everyone was startled, as if they couldn’t believe what they had just heard.
But soon, a few people became furious.
“Bastard, what did you just say!?”
“You think you are above the Heavens? A trivial First-Order Dao Source Realm trash dares try to rob us? Haha, too laughable…”
“This kid is definitely crazy!”
“Since you’ve made such a good joke, you hand over your Space Ring and we’ll spare your life!”
Everyone in the group was angered and hurled ridicule or threats… In any case, none of them cared about Yang Kai’s words as none of them believed he had the ability to back them up. All of them felt this boy had simply lost his mind and was acting far beyond his station.
Yang Kai smiled and turned to Zhou Huai indifferently before saying, “Just now, this friend was wondering why after so long no one else came to investigate this Heavenly Manifestation, right? I’ll answer your question now… it’s not that no one came here to investigate, but that I drove all of them off!”
“You?” Zhou Huai couldn’t help but sneer, “Isn’t that too much even for a joke?”
Yang Kai shook his head and replied, “There were a few people who were overconfident in their abilities and tried to expel me, but they all ended up like that…”
Saying so, he lightly pointed towards a certain nearby spot. When Jing Li’s group turned their eyes in the direction Yang Kai pointed, they saw a headless corpse lying amidst the mountain rocks, fresh blood still wetting the group. Nearby, there was also a corpse of a woman that seemed to have fallen from a high altitude and broken to pieces.
“Those two… they’re from Flowing Shadow Sword Sect!” Jing Li observed for a moment before exclaiming suddenly.
“Yeah, they said they belonged to the Flowing Shadow Sword Sect,” Yang Kai nodded.
“You actually killed them?” Jing Li looked at Yang Kai in shock, “You were able to kill them?”
“No wonder there was a faint smell of blood in the air…” Zhou Huai frowned, “The smell was simply covered by this strange fragrance. Damn it, I almost didn’t notice!”
“Even if you killed these two people, so what?” Pang Hai suddenly pointed at Yang Kai coldly and declared solemnly, “Those two from Flowing Shadow Sword Sect weren’t very strong, and there were only two of them. Do you think you can do to us five what you did to them?”
When this statement came out, everyone came back to their senses and nodded, thinking that their opponent was a lone First-Order Dao Source Realm boy. Even if he had some strange methods, in the end, two fists could not block four palms.
“Haa…” Yang Kai sighed, “If possible, I didn’t want to get rough, I just wanted to find a few herbs! But if you don’t want to cooperate, then…”
As he spoke, Yang Kai’s figure suddenly flickered and he vanished from where he stood.
In that instant, the expressions of the five people changed drastically as they hurriedly released their Divine Senses trying to locate Yang Kai.
But despite spreading out their Divine Senses, none of them were able to discover any trace of Yang Kai, as if he had simply disappeared from existence.
This strange situation made all five of them pale as anxiety surged up deep in their hearts.
Suddenly, a hand lightly landed on Jing Li’s shoulder while at the same time, Yang Kai’s figure appeared strangely behind him and spoke calmly, “I should warn you now, don’t try to resist, otherwise I may accidentally kill you…”
Jing Li felt like he was struck by lightning and cold sweat instantly began to drip down his back as he stood stiffly on the spot, not daring to move.
He could feel that the hand resting on his shoulders contained an imposing and overbearing power that was constantly threatening to swallow him whole like a vast, raging ocean. It was a force he felt utterly powerless to resist.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
The other four people instantly scattered as they took distance from Jing Li, pushing their Source Qi madly as they stared at Yang Kai vigilantly and solemnly.
Before Yang Kai spoke, none of them even realized he had arrived behind Jing Li, so they couldn’t help asking themselves if it had been them in Jing Li’s place, could they have avoided being caught?
The answer was obviously no!
Thinking so, everyone broke out into a cold sweat…
“This friend…” Jing Li gulped as big drops of sweat slipped from his forehead and he spoke with difficulty, “There is no grievance or enmity between you and I, and this Jing has not treated you…”
“Relax,” Yang Kai interrupted him before he was finished and said, “I’m not going to take your life. Although it would be easy for me to do so, since there are no grievances between us as you say, I have no reason to kill!”
“Yes, yes!” Jing Li nodded repeatedly, squeezing out an ugly smile as he said, “What friend says is absolutely right.”
“En, like I said a moment ago, I’m simply searching for a few herbs!” Yang Kai reached out to grab Jing Li’s Space Ring as he spoke.
Effortlessly taking down his frozen opponent’s Space Ring, Yang Kai swept it with his Divine Sense quickly before frowning and handing it back to Jing Li.
“You can go now!” Yang Kai patted Jing Li’s shoulder with a smile and said.
Jing Li almost collapsed when he felt the hand leave his shoulder, but somehow, he managed to maintain his composure and stay on his feet. Holding down his fear, he swept his Space Ring with his Divine Sense and in the next moment let out a slight cry of surprise as he turned a strange look towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai frowned and said, “You don’t have what I want in your ring…”
“So that’s how it is!” Jing Li suddenly realized, cupped his fists ecstatically, and shouted, “Many thanks!”
Saying so, he hurriedly used his Movement Skill to escape into the distance.
Although he had received a fright, he was unharmed and had not lost anything, which was a result he could only have dreamed of a moment ago, so how could Jing Li dare be dissatisfied? Naturally, it was better to let bygones be bygones than try to seek revenge.
“Next!” Yang Kai looked at the remaining four people and grinned, “Don’t force me to act myself! You can all rest assured that if you don’t have what I need, I won’t take anything from you. If you do… well, you can only blame your bad luck.”
The other four looked at each other, their faces turning different shades of blue and red, but they didn’t dare to leave without permission.
Judging from the strange Movement Skill that Yang Kai just displayed, none of them had confidence they could escape. Likely, they would instantly be caught and subdued if they tried to run.
“This friend, what are you looking for? Please just speak and if this Zhou has it, he will certainly offer it to you!” Zhou Huai thought for a while before speaking.
The others also nodded fiercely and said, “Yes, if we have what this friend wants, we will hand it over willingly!”
Although from Jing Li’s reaction just now, Yang Kai really didn’t seem to have taken anything from his Space Ring, everyone had their own secrets which they kept in their Space Rings…
No one wanted to hang over their Space Ring for others to inspect!
“Don’t trouble yourselves, I’ll check for myself!” Yang Kai coldly snorted, “I’ll count to three. Those who don’t hand over their Space Ring will face the consequences!”
With clear murderous intent appearing on his face, Yang Kai really didn’t seem to be joking as he began counting.
“Haa…” Seeing this, Zhou Huai could only sigh as he gave up trying to avoid the inevitable. Reluctantly taking down his Space Ring from his hand, he tossed it over to Yang Kai with a wry smile and said, “I hope you keep your word!”
Yang Kai didn’t say a word, caught the Space Ring and checked it, a moment later tossing it back without taking anything.
Zhou Huai happily caught it and didn’t even bother to say anything before flying off.
Among the five people, the two strongest had already given in, so how could the remaining three have the courage to resist? After exchanging a few glances, they took down their Space Rings and handed them over to Yang Kai.
After some inspection, Yang Kai frowned.
Because he didn’t see anything he needed.
Whether it was the three remaining herbs he needed to refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pill, or the Tribulation Fruit…
If he couldn’t obtain the necessary ingredients, he wouldn’t even be able to attempt to refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pill! If that was the case, he could only swallow the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus when it matured.
Doing this would greatly waste its medicinal efficacies, so Yang Kai was naturally unwilling and only thought of doing so as a last resort.
After expelling the remaining three people, Yang Kai continued to sit cross-legged and wait for his next victim.
He had secretly decided that before any real Masters arrived he would collect as much as possible. Otherwise, once those Masters arrived, a fierce battle would be inevitable!
For the next two days, Yang Kai guarded the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus.
Many cultivators were attracted by the Heavenly Manifestation, but through some stroke of luck, no one Yang Kai needed to fear had appeared.
The fate of those who did appear was naturally the same as that of Jing Li and his group. All of them came in high spirits and were expelled with great embarrassment!
Those who knew their limits handed over their Space Rings obediently and Yang Kai let them leave safely after a quick inspection. As for those who refused to be persuaded peacefully, Yang Kai naturally suppressed them before snatching their Space Rings and inspecting them himself.
Although Yang Kai’s actions would obviously offend many people, he didn’t take any extreme measures like rashly killing and robbing, so his situation wasn’t too serious.
If he really snatched everything from everyone he met, his end would be unavoidable. Once he left the Four Seasons Realm, he would become the target of every major Sect…
At that time, unless he joined Azure Sun Temple or Gao Xue Ting was willing to protect him, he would inevitably be hunted down by the powerhouses of the Sects he had offended.
His current approach, however, guaranteed that people wouldn’t be too offended and also guaranteed him a good harvest.
Two days later, Yang Kai had already collected two of the three missing herbs, leaving just one left to find.
According to his observations though, the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus would fully mature within a day, so if the last auxiliary ingredient couldn’t be found by then, he could only swallow it.
Now, there were only two days before the exit to the Four Seasons Realm closed!
Yang Kai was growing anxious!
Because if he guessed right, the true Masters should soon be arriving.
As he was thinking so, Yang Kai’s expression suddenly changed as he turned to stare in a certain direction, a moment later a wry grin appeared on his lips as he muttered, “Seems they’ve come… a bit early!”
In the direction he was staring, dazzling light was rushing towards Yang Kai’s position. This light had several auras emanating from it, indicating that there was more than one individual approaching; however, one aura, in particular, gave Yang Kai an extraordinary feeling, as it was clearly far stronger than the others.
This aura obviously belonged to a Dao Source Master who was strong enough to give Yang Kai real trouble.
But since they were too far away still, Yang Kai didn’t know who it was.
The stream of light soon arrived at the top of the mountain and came to a stop some distance away from Yang Kai. When the glow faded, a number of figures appeared.
As soon as these people showed up, one of the men who looked roughly thirty years old pointed at Yang Kai and shouted, “Senior Brother Zhuang, it was that bastard who robbed me and Junior Sister Xu of our Space Rings!”
As he spoke, a beautiful, fair-skinned woman in the group nodded her head as she glared at Yang Kai with a deep and bitter look, as if she had some unforgivable hatred towards him.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes as he observed this man and woman, feeling they were a bit familiar and soon recognizing them as two of the ‘guests’ he had entertained yesterday…
However, the fate of these two people was the same as all the others who came here. They were both quickly subdued by Yang Kai before having their Space Rings snatched and inspected.
“Oh? It turns out these two friends were from Orthodoxy Temple… It seems I’ve been disrespectful!” Yang Kai smiled as he looked at the talking man and cupped his fists.
He hadn’t inquired about the origins of these two people before, but seeing them with Zhuang Bu Fan, Yang Kai naturally understood their background.
Orthodoxy Temple was one of the top Sects in the Southern Territory, so as elite disciples, so this man and woman naturally had high pride; as such, how could they possibly stomach being suppressed and then robbed? Most likely, after they were victimized yesterday, they had used some means to contact Zhuang Bu Fan, their Eldest Senior Brother, hoping he would seek recompense for them.
Of course, the most important factor in all of this was the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus! By calling Zhuang Bu Fan over, not only was there a chance this man and woman could get their revenge on Yang Kai, but they may also be able to obtain this strange spirit flower.
“Bah!” The man who was speaking heard Yang Kai’s words and let out a cold snort, “Brat, don’t think you can talk your way out of this! Quickly admit your mistakes, kneel down, kowtow a few times, and slap your face, then maybe Senior Brother Zhuang will forgive you! Senior Brother has always been kind and righteous, never killing the innocent or oppressing the weak, but if you insist on being unreasonable… hmph!”
The meaning behind his words was self-evident, far different from the timid words he left after being deterred by Yang Kai yesterday. Now that he had someone to support him, this man made no attempt to hide his arrogance.
“What friend means… I don’t understand,” Yang Kai casually responded.
“Don’t play dumb!” The man shouted angrily, “You know exactly what you’ve done!”
“Hehe…” Yang Kai chuckled as he turned his eyes to Zhuang Bu Fan and asked, “Brother Zhuang, what do you say?”
Since coming here, Zhuang Bu Fan had yet to speak as his eyes drifted back and forth between the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus and Yang Kai, the look of doubt on his face getting thicker and thicker.
He had two doubts…
One was about what this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus was. He was the strongest Dao Source Realm disciple in Orthodoxy Temple and had extraordinary knowledge and experience, so he had a vague idea about what this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus was, but he couldn’t be certain, leaving him somewhat suspicious.
The second doubt he had was about Yang Kai, because no matter how he looked, the opposite party was nothing but a First-Order Dao Source cultivator, yet with just this kind of cultivation, Yang Kai had somehow easily subdued his Junior Brother and Junior Sister. If his Junior Brother and Junior Sister hadn’t come to him and explained this matter personally, Zhuang Bu Fan would not have believed it.
At this moment, upon hearing Yang Kai’s question, Zhuang Bu Fan frowned, cupped his fists and said, “Dare I ask how to address this friend?”
Although he came here to avenge his Junior Brother and Junior Sister, he still showed a polite appearance and did not immediately act against Yang Kai, showing a great breadth of character.
“Yang Kai!” Yang Kai cupped his fists and replied.
“This Zhuang will remember your name… Brother Yang came together with Azure Sun Temple, correct?” Zhuang Bu Fan’s face became more confused, “But… Why have I never heard of anyone like Brother Yang belonging to Azure Sun Temple?”
Hearing this, Yang Kai raised his brow and praised, “Brother Zhuang’s powers of observation and memory are outstanding! I did indeed arrive together with Azure Sun Temple’s group.”
Zhuang Bu Fan was the first person Yang Kai had encountered who actually recalled him coming together with Azure Sun Temple. At that time, hundreds of people had gathered in the unnamed mountain valley so remembering Yang Kai’s face from amongst the crowd with just a brief glance was truly an impressive feat.
“The reason why Brother Zhuang has never heard of me is that this Yang is not an Azure Sun Temple disciple. It is only for certain reasons that I was able to accompany Elder Gao here!”
“So, that’s how it is!” Zhuang Bu Fan nodded lightly, not asking anymore. In his opinion, Yang Kai probably had some kind of relationship with a high-level Azure Sun Temple Elder, which was why Gao Xue Ting would bring him to the unnamed mountain valley and why he could enter the Four Seasons Realm.
After pondering for a moment, Zhuang Bu Fan continued, “Originally… this Zhuang’s Junior Brother and Junior Sisters suffering a small loss at Brother Yang’s hand could only be blamed on their inadequate skill and they should not have any grounds to complain, nor should this Zhuang have come seeking redress for them. Regarding this, I hope Brother Yang will be understanding!”
He didn’t show any disdain or disrespect towards Yang Kai just because the latter had a lower cultivation. Instead, he deliberately explained his position and even expressed embarrassment at his current conduct and the conduct of his Juniors, causing the man and the woman Yang Kai had expelled yesterday to turn red with shame.
“I understand!” Yang Kai chuckled, feeling in his heart that this Zhuang Bu Fan was an honourable character…
“However, since I am their Senior Brother, I must act like one!” Zhuang Bu Fan declared as he calmly but solemnly spoke, “Since my Junior Brother and Junior Sister have requested my aid, this Zhuang cannot feign ignorance. It is, after all, a Senior Brother’s duty to shelter his Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters…”
As soon as he said this, the few people gathered around him showed a touch of emotion on their faces as they stared towards his back, like they were gazing up at a tall mountain that could withstand any violent storm, keeping them safe and secure.
“Brother Yang, how do you suggest we solve this matter?” Zhuang Bu Fan looked at Yang Kai faintly and asked.
He seemed unwilling to bully the weak, so he handed the initiative directly to Yang Kai, his words demonstrating both magnanimity and incomparable self-confidence, as if no matter what Yang Kai decided, he would be able to handle it perfectly.
Yang Kai grinned hearing this and said, “Has Brother Zhuang… heard the whole story of what happened?”
Zhuang Bu Fan nodded, “Yes! They said very clearly that Brother Yang attacked and subdued them before robbing them!”
“Oh?” Yang Kai raised his brow and said, “I don’t deny subduing them, but regarding this talk of robbery… hehe, I’m afraid I must disagree!”
“What’s wrong?” Zhuang Bu Fan frowned, seemingly a little displeased, “Is Brother Yang willing to act but unwilling to admit?”
“Nothing of the sort, it’s just that if I haven’t done something, how could I admit to it? Wouldn’t that just be disgracing myself?” Yang Kai looked at the man and woman with an innocent expression and asked, “You two say I robbed you, yes? Then tell me, what exactly did you lose?”
“Uh…” The man heard this and went speechless.
He really hadn’t lost anything. Yang Kai had snatched their Space Rings, but he had returned them after simply checking, a fact he did not clearly explain to Zhuang Bu Fan…
Seeing his expression, Yang Kai immediately understood and laughed, “Brother Zhuang, it seems you really haven’t heard the whole story.”
Zhuang Bu Fan’s face went dark as he turned around and asked the now blushing man, “What happened?”
The man was unable to respond as his eyes darted about, not certain how he should explain.
Zhuang Bu Fan turned to the young woman and asked again, “Junior Sister Xu, were you robbed of anything?”
The woman surnamed Xu bit her red lip and shook her head reluctantly, “No, I was not…”
“And that’s that!” Yang Kai cut in quickly as he turned to Zhuang Bu Fan and said, “They didn’t lose anything, so how could they say I robbed them? As for attacking them… En, how can a cultivator go through life without conflict? Could it be that just because these two are disciples of Orthodoxy Temple, I am unable to make a move against them?” At this point, Yang Kai’s voice sank as his expression became stern as he said, “Furthermore, there is a reason why I had to subdue them.”
“Because of the spirit flower behind you?” Zhuang Bu Fan was a sharp individual so he immediately understood the situation.
“Indeed!” Yang Kai said in a serious tone, “With Brother Zhuang’s eyesight, he can probably see that this spirit flower has yet to mature. Picking it prematurely will greatly damage its medicinal properties, so I have been guarding this place to avoid some people who are unable to judge its value properly destroying it. Over the last few days, I have expelled several such individuals, and when your Junior Brother and Junior Sister came here yesterday…”
“En, you don’t need to say anything more, I can surmise what happened next,” Zhuang Bu Fan nodded lightly.
His Junior Brother and Junior Sister, depending on their identity as Orthodoxy Temple disciples, probably arrived here, saw how precious this spirit flower was and how low Yang Kai’s cultivation was, then immediately tried to drive him away, but had the tables turned on them. After being embarrassed, they had become angry out of shame and contacted Zhuang Bu Fan to avenge their grievance.
“It’s good that Brother Zhuang understands!” Yang Kai laughed when he saw Zhuang Bu Fan being so amenable.
“En, there’s no need to say anything more, Brother Yang, let us fight!” Zhuang Bu Fan suddenly turned and declared.
“Huh?” Yang Kai froze for a moment before shouting, “I just painstakingly explained everything… did Brother Zhuang still not understand?”
Zhuang Bu Fan shook his head, “I’ve understood the whole story, from beginning to end. This fight will not be for my Junior Brother and Junior Sister, nor for any kind of grievances, only for the spirit flower behind you!”
As he spoke, he pushed his Source Qi, causing his robes and black hair to flutter despite there being no wind, his momentum rising steadily.
He continued, “Although Brother Yang discovered this spirit flower first, and has been guarding it all this time, since it has not yet been picked, it does not belong to anyone! This treasure, this Zhuang does not want to miss it, so… there is only one option left!”
Yang Kai stared at him in a daze for quite some time before smiling bitterly, “Although I don’t want to admit it, Brother Zhuang is really a forthright man of great integrity, far better than those who casually speak flowered lies to hide their sinister intent. This Yang appreciates Brother Zhuang’s character, so he will ask once more. Is there no other option but for us to fight?”
“If Brother Yang feels he cannot win, he can leave now! This Zhuang actually does not want to bully the weak,” Zhuang Bu Fan frowned and replied.
“Alright then!” Yang Kai sighed helplessly, “If that is the case, there truly is nothing more to say!”
At this point, Yang Kai’s body shook as his Source Qi surged, causing a violent storm to swirl around him as he shot up into the sky.
Zhuang Bu Fan narrowed his eyes and shouted in a low voice, “Brother Yang is truly extraordinary, my Junior Brother and Junior Sister’s loss at your hands was not undeserved!”
“Haha, Brother Zhuang, please be careful not to wind up in a similarly embarrassing position!” Yang Kai laughed as he swung his fist, creating a great pressure that seemed capable of smashing the world as he swooped down towards Zhuang Bu Fan’s head from above like a great falling mountain
“All of you stand back and do not interfere!” Zhuang Bu Fan gave a command while at the same time sending out a palm that caused the surrounding wind to churn crazily, counterattacking Yang Kai while shouting, “Soaring Clouds Palm, Four Imperial Realms!”
An energy visible to the naked eye burst from his palm and transformed into a kind of Flood Dragon, shaking its head and wagging its tail as it rushed towards Yang Kai and devoured him whole.
“Hm?” Zhuang Bu Fan didn’t have the slightest joy after his apparent success, his brow simply furrowing as he stared forward.
Because he found that in the face of his attack, Yang Kai had not made any attempt to dodge and instead charged forward at an even faster speed.
“Brother Zhuang!” Yang Kai’s voice rang out, cracking somewhat from the rampaging energy he was emitting, “This Yang must force a quick end to this battle; after all, while you may only have one enemy, I have many! This Yang has no time or energy to spare on a drawn-out conflict with you!”
As his words fell, he rushed right up to Zhuang Bu Fan, turned his fist into a palm, and thrust it directly onto Zhuang Bu Fan’s palm.
*Hong…*
The moment the two palms touched, a huge burst of energy suddenly appeared, creating a halo of light that rapidly expanded in all directions.
Zhuang Bu Fan felt as if he had been struck by lightning as his body sank suddenly into the ground, creating a huge pit right below his feet as countless cracks began to spread out around him.
“A competition of Source Qi?” Zhuang Bu Fan’s face changed drastically as he instantly understood Yang Kai’s intentions.
This opponent, who was only a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, actually gave up all opportunities to fight using Secret Techniques and artifacts and instead chose the fiercest and most direct method of battle.
This was no doubt the fastest way to decide a victor because no one could dodge or retreat. Only the one who had stronger, more vigorous Source Qi would emerge the winner in such a head-on competition!
[But where is this boy getting such confidence from? With just a trivial First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation, does he really believe he can win in a competition of Source Qi against me?]
As these distracting thoughts flashed across Zhuang Bu Fan’s mind, a trace of anger appeared on his face as he felt he was being underestimated. While keeping his palm in contact with Yang Kai’s palms, Zhuang Bu Fan turned his body and threw out his other palm, “Inverting Sun and Moon!”
Although Zhuang Bu Fan was the strongest Dao Source Realm cultivator in Orthodoxy Temple, he was different from Xia Sheng and Wu Chang.
Although it had not been publicly confirmed, the disciples and Elders of all the big Sects were ninety-nine percent certain that Xia Sheng had some type of Special Constitution, but what exactly it was, none but the Elders of Azure Sun Temple knew.
Needless to say, Wu Chang possessed the Yin-Yang Dual Body, giving him a distinct advantage over other cultivators in the same realm since he was born.
However, Zhuang Bu Fan had no such advantage but still remained the pillar of his Sect’s Dao Source Realm cultivators!
His physique was ordinary, but his talent was good, good enough that he was able to achieve an equal standing with Xia Sheng and Wu Chang, and had even fought against Wu Chang several times without losing.
This was all thanks to his extremely solid foundation and vigorous Source Qi!
He was the type of person who simply worked harder than anyone else, cultivating extremely diligently all the time, putting in enough effort to make up for the innate differences between him and Wu Chang and Xia Sheng!
Orthodoxy Temple’s Master, Lei Gu, once said that if Zhuang Bu Fan possessed a Special Constitution like Wu Chang or Xia Sheng, his achievements would be even greater than those two now.
The words of a Third-Order Emperor Realm master had extremely high credibility and were also reflected in Zhuang Bu Fan’s hard work.
What Zhuang Bu Fan was most proud of was the purity and density of his Source Qi! His Source Qi, like his character and personality, was as calm and steady as an immovable mountain.
He felt that this was his greatest strength and it was the foundation which he used to stand shoulder to shoulder with Xia Sheng Wu Chang and other geniuses in his generation!
But now, there was someone who wanted to compete with him in this exact field, his speciality, and that person was just a First-Order Dao Source Realm.
Even if Zhuang Bu Fan had a calm temperament, he couldn’t help feeling a bit angry, and without even hesitating, he directly used his most powerful Secret Art, Inverting Sun and Moon!
[Since you want to fight this way, I will grant your wish, and with the strongest force I can muster!]
When the second palm was thrust towards him, Yang Kai’s eyes shrank.
Because what he saw approaching him was not a palm, but a vast ocean… a bottomless abyss which threatened to engulf him and tear him apart!
With a great roar, Yang Kai’s whole figure swelled up as a series of popping sounds echoed from his body…
Accompanied by these popping sounds, a dozen drops of pure Golden Blood were exploded by Yang Kai in his dantian, all transforming into pure Source Qi that filled his entire body with a dazzling golden radiance.
*Huhu…*
An explosion of wind erupted.
The Orthodoxy Temple disciples who had followed Zhuang Bu Fan here were all dumbfounded…
Under their stunned gazes, Yang Kai and Zhuang Bu Fan met palms with one another as they stood staring into each other’s eyes and literal sparks exploded between them.
The place where the two stood had become a mass of chaotic Source Qi, with one half filled with golden light while the other a white radiance, the two colours battering against one another, each one trying to overwhelm the other.
Time seemed to stand still at that moment…
“He can compete with Senior Brother Zhuang’s raw Source Qi?”
“Is he really a First-Order Dao Source Realm? Could he be some Third-Order Dao Source Realm playing the pig to eat a tiger?”
“Whatever the truth, it doesn’t matter. Senior Brother Zhuang will tidy him up soon enough!”
While the disciples from Orthodoxy Temple were dazzled, they did not forget to comment on the strange situation before them.
But things did not develop as any of them expected. Zhuang Bu Fan did not knock Yang Kai back in short order, and instead, the two remained anchored in place as they continued to madly push their Source Qi in an attempt to suppress one another.
As time passed, Zhuang Bu Fan’s expression became more and more serious while Yang Kai’s look became more and more ferocious.
Only now did Zhuang Bu Fan realize that the reason Yang Kai had bothered trying hard to explain. It was not because he was afraid of him, but rather, because he really didn’t want to fight if it could be avoided.
Just as Yang Kai had said, while Zhuang Bu Fan only had one enemy, he had many. As long as Yang Kai wanted to protect this immature spirit flower, he would need to face every master that came here coveting it, including the likes of Wu Chang, Xiao Chen, and Lan Xun…
It was for this reason Yang Kai had chosen a Source Qi competition to force the battle to quickly end!
By doing this, the outcome would quickly and definitively be decided. No Secret Techniques or artifacts could be used in this kind of confrontation, the only thing one could rely on was their own endurance and cultivation!
Looking into the eyes right in front of him that seemed to be filled with a kind of madness, Zhuang Bu Fan knew that, in a certain sense, he had already lost!
Because the one standing before him, competing with him in terms of raw Source Qi, was two Minor Realms lower than him in cultivation!
If Zhuang Bu Fan had suppressed his cultivation to the same level as this crazy kid, there wouldn’t even have been a point in fighting!
[To think… that there’s such a monster in this world…] Zhuang Bu Fan was thoroughly shocked.
At a certain moment, the delicate balance was suddenly broken and under the shocked gazes of the Orthodoxy Temple disciples, the golden glow began to advance and slowly overtake the white light!
“How can this be?”
“Senior Brother Zhuang is being suppressed?”
“Where did this boy come from!?”
“No, it must be that Senior Brother Zhuang is showing mercy. Senior Brother has always been benevolent and righteous, yes, that must be it!”
Even if they saw it with their own eyes, none of them could believe that Zhuang Bu Fan had fallen into a disadvantage in a battle of Source Qi. The impact of this scene caused great storms to set off in all of their hearts, making it impossible for them to recover their composure in short order.
But even so, none of them tried to step forward to help, all of them standing back and watching solemnly from afar.
Firstly, outsiders really could not interfere in this kind of competition as any outside disruption now would only result in both sides suffering serious losses. Secondly, Zhuang Bu Fan had already declared that none of them were to intervene.
The words of their Eldest Senior Brother carried immense weight and none of them dared to disobey them.
“Brother Zhuang, surrender!” Yang Kai’s voice suddenly called out, and accompanied by his words, the dazzling golden light bursting from his body grew stronger again, further suppressing the white light of Zhuang Bu Fan, “If you do not withdraw, you’ll only injure yourself!”
In the face of Yang Kai’s persuasion, Zhuang Bu Fan turned a deaf ear and his perpetually calm face took on a hint of madness as he roared, “In this Zhuang’s world, the word ‘surrender’ does not exist!”
“Fine then!” Yang Kai shouted as his golden light shone even brighter and at the same time, his figure shook and Source Qi erupted even more fiercely from his body, “Since that’s the case, I will respond in kind!”
*Hong…*
With a thunderous eruption, the golden light completely suppressed the white aura and swallowed it up, causing the already deep pit where Zhuang Bu Fan stood to enlarge rapidly, sending rock and earth flying along with an explosion of wind and light.
From this dazzling light, a figure suddenly shot out and stood steadily in the void, panting heavily, covered in blood.
The several Orthodoxy Temple disciples stared forward, their hearts filled with shock.
Although they couldn’t see who was standing mid-air, they were able to infer from this person’s posture and the residual Source Qi around them that it was Yang Kai.
Turning their gazes back to the giant crater, they next saw Zhuang Bu Fan kneeling on one knee, his clothes shredded and his hair a mess as blood dripped from all over his body, an extremely miserable sight to behold.
“Senior Brother Zhuang!” All of them shouted.
Zhuang Bu Fan seemed to not even have the strength to respond to them and simply held his stance, his body trembling unceasingly. Only after a long pause did he manage to stagger to his feet and lift his head towards Yang Kai, his gaze filled with many complicated emotions.
“It was an honour!” Yang Kai cupped his fists and quickly said.
Zhuang Bu Fan did not reply and instead sat down cross-legged directly before wiping his Space Ring and taking out a number of pills, stuffing them into his mouth, and entering a state of meditation to adjust his breathing.
Seeing this, the disciples of Orthodoxy Temple immediately shot flame-filled gazes towards Yang Kai, but in addition to anger, there was also a strong shock and even fear in their eyes!
Because just now, Yang Kai, a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, had defeated their Senior Brother Zhuang Bu Fan in a competition of Source Qi right in front of them. Even though the final outcome seemed to be a loss for both sides, victory was still victory!
Had this unknown young man really just done this? Had their Senior Brother Zhuang actually lost to him in the domain he was most proud of?
If it had been Xia Sheng or Wu Chang here instead, would they have been able to achieve such a result?
All kinds of thoughts flashed across the minds of these disciples but one thing remained consistent. None of them dared to underestimate Yang Kai now. In their eyes, Yang Kai was already an existence that could stand on par with Zhuang Bu Fan! In fact, this young man was even more terrifying than their Eldest Senior Brother, because right now… he was just in the First-Order Dao Source Realm. If this young man reached the Third-Order, in this world, would there be any Dao Source Realm cultivator who could be his opponent?
Perhaps this young man… would be a bright new star in the Star Boundary, one that would one day rise and become the most dazzling nova in the Star Boundary!
On the other side, Yang Kai also slowly landed and sat down cross-legged, taking a number of pills out of his Space Ring and stuffing them into his mouth.
Although his situation seemed to be much better than Zhuang Bu Fan’s in that he only needed to restore himself somewhat, after such an intense battle, he needed to quickly recover in order to cope with whatever troubles may arise next.
As for Zhuang Bu Fan, Yang Kai figured he would not try to fight with him anymore. This man was honest and upright, so since he had been defeated in a fair battle, he would definitely not covet the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus anymore. Regarding this point, Yang Kai was quite confident.
“Oh…” Suddenly, a cry sounded from nearby and a figure appeared. This newcomer swept their gaze around and laughed casually, “I was wondering who was raising so much ruckus, but it turns out to be you two!”
“Hm?” Hearing this voice, Yang Kai immediately opened his eyes and flashed a faint smile as he slowly called out, “So, the second one to arrive was you… Brother Xia!”
He didn’t need to look over to know that the one who had arrived was Xia Sheng.
At that moment, Yang Kai couldn’t help but relax slightly.
He was really afraid that Wu Chang would suddenly appear at this time because he still needed some time to recover. If Wu Chang really had come, things would have become a bit troublesome, but Xia Sheng was different. No matter the case, he at least knew Yang Kai so the situation wouldn’t become too messy.
“If it’s not me, who else could it be?” Xia Sheng smiled slightly and said, “Seeing that the exit is about to close, this Xia wanted to arrive first to wait for his Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters in order to go back together, but I didn’t expect to suddenly see a Heavenly Manifestation here as well as a big fight. I flew over to join the fun but…”
As he spoke, his eyes narrowed slightly as he quickly said, “It seems that the battle between the two is already over and was quite fierce…”
His tone was filled with undisguisable shock.
Because he hadn’t expected that Yang Kai’s strength was actually on par with Zhuang Bu Fan. Before, although he had thought highly of Yang Kai, Xia Sheng had still felt there was a big gap between Yang Kai and characters like himself. Only a few people could stand on par with him, but among those few, Zhuang Bu Fan was definitely one.
Yet now, it seemed Yang Kai had the ability to fight Zhuang Bu Fan on even terms, a shocking reality.
Although he didn’t know who had the upper hand in the battle just now, the aftermath he was observing was enough for him to infer Yang Kai’s strength, and it made him realize he had greatly underestimated him before.
As Xia Sheng spoke, his gaze turned to the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus and his eyes lit up as he thought aloud, “Huo… this must be something good. Xiao Bai, do you know what it is?”
His last words were obviously addressed to Xiao Bai Yi, who had followed behind immediately.
It was unclear when the two of them had met up, but clearly, they had at some point and now they appeared together with Murong Xiao Xiao.
“I don’t know, I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Xiao Bai Yi stood nearby and spoke concisely.
“I don’t know either!” Before Xia Sheng asked her, Murong Xiao Xiao took the initiative to answer.
Xia Sheng shrugged helplessly before his eyes glanced between Yang Kai and Zhuang Bu Fan, a sly grin appearing on his face as he said, “If nobody knows, then we can just swallow it and find out. En, which one of you discovered this thing first?”
Before Yang Kai could even speak, Zhuang Bu Fan, who had apparently recovered a bit of strength, said, “When this Zhuang came here, Brother Yang was already defending this place and it seems he expelled a number of others already.”
“Brother Yang found it first?” Xia Sheng raised his brow and muttered softly, “Then this is somewhat difficult. If Brother Zhuang found it first, it wouldn’t be a big deal to just snatch it… but since Brother Yang found it first… Ha… although Brother Yang is not the disciple of my Azure Sun Temple, we did come here together, if I just snatch it now, it would be a bit awkward…”
Yang Kai’s face went black as he snapped, “Brother Xia, I can hear everything you’re saying.”
Xia Sheng came back to himself at that moment and laughed, “It’s fine, it’s fine. I wasn’t trying to hide anything anyways. Brother Yang, how about we discuss this. Whatever this thing is, would asking to split it half and half be excessive?”
“It would!” Yang Kai replied solemnly.
“Then I’ll just have to snatch it,” Xia Sheng replied solemnly.
Yang Kai glanced at him before saying blankly, “Brother Xia is free to act!”
“Why you…!” Xia Sheng looked at him helplessly and smiled bitterly, “Why are you so sure I won’t just do that?”
Yang Kai grinned meaningfully and was about to answer when suddenly he frowned and turned his eyes towards the horizon as he muttered, “Why have so many people appeared already?”
At the edge of his perception, in all directions, many cultivators were approaching, obviously all attracted by the Heavenly Manifestation here.
With an awkward expression on his face, Yang Kai asked blankly, “Aren’t there two days before the entrance appears… With so much time left, why has everyone suddenly come back?”
“Right, you wouldn’t know about this,” Xia Sheng shook his head and explained, “There is an unwritten rule that every time the Four Seasons Realm opens, all the disciples from the various Sects will return to the exit two days before it closes in order to exchange information and treasures. Counting the days, it’s just about time for everyone to return.”
“There’s such a tradition?” Yang Kai looked surprised.
“Otherwise why do you think we came here so early?” Xiao Bai Yi glanced at Yang Kai faintly, “Seems your troubles just got bigger.”
Yang Kai had a bitter face as he nodded in agreement, “Indeed!”
He had thought that there were still two days before the exit closed, so even if the Heavenly Manifestation was quite eye-catching, it wouldn’t attract too many people, and when the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus matured tomorrow, the phenomena would naturally disappear. But it seemed like Yang Kai’s plans would not come to fruition…
Now that so many people were approaching, once a fight broke out, the situation would grow beyond his ability to control. Even though Yang Kai was confident in his strength, in the end, two fists can’t block four strikes…
In just a few breaths, accompanied by the sound of rushing wind, one cultivator after another appeared in the surroundings, and all of them stared towards the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus with surprise and greed.
But at this moment, Zhuang Bu Fan and Xia Sheng were standing closest to this treasure so no one dared to run up and try to snatch it. However, many were exchanging glances with their neighbours and allies, clearly forming their own plans.
Seeing this, Xiao Bai Yi snickered.
Suddenly, Xia Sheng’s brow furrowed as his expression turned serious and he quickly said, “Brother Yang, you’d best prepare yourself, a troublesome one is approaching…”
As soon as he spoke those words, from the horizon, a familiar roar reached Yang Kai’s ears.
“Don’t let me catch you, or I’ll make you taste the worlds most terrible torture!”
There was endless anger and murderous intent in this voice and when it sounded, all who heard it couldn’t help feeling a terrifying chill.
“Wu Chang!” Someone muttered as they recognized the owner of this voice. With just this one shout, many cultivators began to show fear and anxiety.
It could be seen that even amongst the Southern Territory’s countless young rising stars, Wu Chang’s presence had a particularly strong deterrent.
However, Wu Chang’s words were also quite puzzling and many wondered just who he was chasing. From the words he spoke and the anger with which he spoke them, it seemed Wu Chang had been pursuing whoever it was for some time now.
“Hahaha, idiot, you should just follow behind Father’s butt and eat his dust forever! With your rubbish ability, you won’t catch Father here even if you chase me for the rest of your life!” Another voice sounded, one that was extremely arrogant, not only calling himself ‘Father’ in front of Wu Chang, but even going so far as to mock the latter as well.
The group gathered atop the mountain were all shocked and turned their heads to stare in the direction the two were approaching from, watching as this pair rapidly drew closer.
“Gong Wen Shan!” Yang Kai saw at a glance who the escaping party was; it turned out to be the Array Master Gong Wen Shan.
In an instant, Yang Kai understood what the situation was.
In front of the Flowing Time Temple, Gong Wen Shan and Wu Chang had formed a slight grudge…
Because after Gong Wen Shan cracked the barrier around the Flowing Time Temple’s entrance, he had actually rigged it to prevent Wu Chang’s entry, denying him this opportunity.
Wu Chang had also acted extremely decisively at the time, immediately deciding to depart after he realized he could not enter the Flowing Time Temple.
Afterwards… Whether he had been waiting in the Two Seasons Mountain Range for Gong Wen Shan to come out, or had coincidentally come across him at some point, Wu Chang naturally was not planning to let Gong Wen Shan off and had obviously chased after him to settle their grievances.
However, it seemed that even with his great strength, Wu Chang was unable to take down Gong Wen Shan easily and had instead been chasing him all this time.
Just as Yang Kai’s thoughts churned, Gong Wen Shan passed over everyone’s heads and with a solemn expression took out a few slips of jade from his Space Ring, muttered something, and poured out his Source Qi, causing the pieces of jade to fly out and swiftly disappear.
At the same time, where Gong Wen Shan stood, a strange and threatening aura suddenly appeared, one that was invisible but could still clearly be felt.
“Array Plates!” Someone from the crowd shouted.
Although no one knew what kind of Array Plates Gong Wen Shan had set up just now, just seeing him deploy four of them at once without even batting an eye showed how rich his background was. This was only to be expected from the disciples of a family famed for its Spirit Arrays though; Gong Wen Shan clearly had access to treasures like Array Plates which ordinary cultivators could never get their hands on.
After arranging the Array Plates, Gong Wen Shan stood in place and gasped, taking out a few pills from his Space Ring and swallowing them.
Seeing him like this, it was clear that he had been pursued by Wu Chang for quite a few days and had consumed a lot of his strength. After arriving here though, he had taken out his Array Plates for protection and began restoring himself…
*Hong…*
Wu Chang followed close behind and landed a couple dozen metres in front of Gong Wen Shan, his eyes nearly spitting fire as his Source Qi pulsed madly from his body along with unparalleled violence and murderous intent, ensuring no one got close.
When the cultivators with lower cultivation felt this violent aura, they couldn’t help turning somewhat pale with fright.
“Come out!” Wu Chang was furious, but he was not a fool. With Gong Wen Shan summoning so many Array Plates in front of him and then just standing in place, it was obvious the latter had full confidence in his safety so Wu Chang didn’t dare to rush over and could only shout from close by.
“You come in!” Gong Wen Shan taunted mockingly as he gestured lightly towards Wu Chang, like someone inviting an old friend into their home.
“If you have any guts, come out and face me!” Wu Chang yelled.
“If you have any, come in!” Gong Wen Shan responded.
“You come out!”
“You come in!”
…..
“Waaarh!” Wu Chang let out a mad roar.
His enemy was right in front of him, but despite his great strength, he had no way to take him. What’s worse, this scene was actually taking place in front of so many people, so how could Wu Chang not feel humiliated?
As he roared, two beams of light, one red, one white, suddenly rose into the sky from his body and like two Flood Dragons, they entwined with one another as they broke through the clouds before spinning rapidly and falling down like a meteor towards where Gong Wen Shan stood.
He had obviously lost the patience to verbally spar with Gong Wen Shan and attacked in anger.
Seeing this, Gong Wen Shan’s expression remained unchanged as a light grin appeared on his face. With the wave of his hand, a thick and solid looking light curtain appeared ten metres in front of him.
*Hong long long…*
The red and white energy blast impacted the centre of the light curtain, causing it to bend slightly, but it quickly bounced back. Not only that, when it restored itself, the light curtain randomly scattered Wu Chang’s violent attack in all directions.
“Gong Wen Shan, you waste!”
“Bite me then!”
“You bastard!”
The group of onlookers who had been watching this strange confrontation saw the fierce energy attack fly towards them and cursed under their breaths as they scattered and dodged. None of them dared to scold Wu Chang, but Gong Wen Shan received plenty of hatred.
At the same time, Yang Kai also wore a cold expression as he could no longer afford to focus on healing himself, stood up, and stretched out his hand.
In that instant, in the space in front of him, a dark black hole appeared, one filled with chaotic nothingness, like the mouth of a great beast, swallowing up all the wandering energy blasts.
“Brother Gong, please have some discretion!” Yang Kai glared at Gong Wen Shan coldly.
If he hadn’t made a move just now, the scattered red and white energy blasts would definitely have struck the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, causing this precious treasure to instantly be destroyed.
He didn’t know whether Gong Wen Shan had done this intentionally or unintentionally, but his approach obviously made Yang Kai very unhappy.
“You dare interfere?!” Suddenly, Wu Chang shouted, turning his head coldly towards Yang Kai, a thick murderous intent flashing from his eyes.
Yang Kai frowned and snapped back, “Has Brother Wu Chang lost his mind? Did you not just see what happened?”
He didn’t know what Wu Chang was on about now. Perhaps because he had no way to take Gong Wen Shan he was planning to attack someone else to gain back some face, or perhaps he was just looking for someone to vent his frustration on…
Whatever the case, after everyone resisted the reflected energy attacks, they could tell there was something wrong with Wu Chang.
“I don’t care, whoever dares to interfere, I want them dead!” Wu Chang replied domineeringly, “If you don’t want to die, scram!”
As soon as this remark came out, some people actually began to distance themselves.
“Ha… Wu Chang!” Xia Sheng grinned suddenly as he shot him a sarcastic look, “If you want this spirit flower, just say it directly, why put on such an act? Do you think by making such threats you can scare off everyone else and give yourself an easier time when you try to snatch it later?”
Hearing this, Yang Kai’s face darkened, and when he looked at Wu Chang carefully, he suddenly found that although this guy’s face seemed full of rage, his eyes were actually extremely calm…
Perhaps, as Xia Sheng said, the reason why he was acting so unreasonable all of a sudden was because he had his eyes on the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus from the start!
This guy was quite the schemer!
Most likely, he had already turned his attention to the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus after arriving here; after all, revenge could be obtained at any point, but such a precious spirit flower was not something that could be missed.
Wu Chang’s angry expression became calm in an instant and he glanced at Xia Sheng lightly, “Do you think you’re so smart?”
Xia Sheng sneered, “Smarter than someone pretending to be crazy at least!”
“Hmph, since I was exposed by you, I don’t need to waste any more effort. I can just seize this spirit flower!” Saying so, Wu Chang’s body flickered as he tried to rush towards the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus.
But at that moment, a clear and sweet voice suddenly sounded, “Brother Wu Chang, please wait, you must not touch that spirit flower!”
After hearing this voice, Wu Chang stopped in place, and Yang Kai, who had been pushing his Source Qi, also relaxed slightly. He was prepared to fight Wu Chang, but if there was someone who could stop him from acting instead, Yang Kai wouldn’t have any objections.
Wu Chang was unruly and rebellious, so basically no one could make him obey their words. In fact, in the entire Four Seasons Realm, there was only one person he needed to give face to: the jewel of the Bright Moon Great Emperor, Princess Lan Xun!
So as soon as Lan Xun spoke, Wu Chang halted, turned his head, and stared in the direction her voice came from before he asked, “Your Highness, you’d best have a reasonable explanation!”
His implication was obviously that if her explanation couldn’t satisfy him, he wouldn’t give her any face.
“Hmph, you dare use that kind of tone with the Princess? You must court death!”
Where Lan Xun appeared, Xiao Chen would naturally follow, so this time was naturally no exception.
Along with this low shout, a man and a woman descended from the sky. The woman had bright eyes and a dazzling smile that adorned her enchanting face. The man had a majestic and noble appearance. Who else could they be besides the pair from Star Soul Palace?
Lan Xun was as beautiful as a bright moon, so even without mentioning her status, her appearance alone was enough to drive men to madness. Wherever she went, she would become the sole focus of the crowd.
It was the same even now, as the countless cultivators gathered all cast their eyes towards her in awe and wonder.
Lan Xun seemed to have become accustomed to such scenes and did not pay it any mind. On the other hand, Xiao Chen glared around at everyone while unleashing an oppressive aura to make the surrounding men withdraw their gazes…
“Brother Wu Chang wanting an explanation is only natural,” Lan Xun first glanced at the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus before turning to address Wu Chang.
“Speak!” Wu Chang said with a cold face.
Lan Xun didn’t mind his rudeness and simply smiled as she explained, “Is there an expert present who recognizes this spirit flower?”
Xia Sheng shrugged and said, “I don’t recognize it.”
Most people also shook their heads, giving complete deference to Lan Xun.
Zhuang Bu Fan, who was still adjusting his breathing, spoke lightly, “This Zhuang has a guess, but he is not certain. However, since the Princess has spoken so, she must know something about this spirit flower, so this Zhuang will not show off meagre skills before an expert and hopes her Highness can dispel our doubts!”
“Yes, yes, if your Highness knows something, please inform us.”
“That vastness of her Highness’ knowledge is truly admirable!”
“Her Highness is not only as beautiful as a flower, but is also extremely intelligent, possesses a gentle heart, and is not the slightest bit arrogant, it is truly a blessing for my Southern Territory!”
Lan Xun hadn’t even revealed the answer yet, but the flattery poured out from all around…
“All of you flatter me too much, I just happen to know a little something about this spirit flower, that is all,” Lan Xun responded modestly, without any arrogance or complacency after being showered with praise, her tone calm and steady. At this point, her beautiful eyes turned to the budding lotus flower and with a solemn expression, she quickly said, “If I am not mistaken, this spirit flower is… the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus!”
Hearing this, Yang Kai raised his brow and couldn’t help silently praising Lan Xun for her extraordinary breadth of knowledge.
If he hadn’t obtained Gong Sun Mu’s jade slip, it would have been impossible for him to recognize the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus. In this world, there weren’t many who could recognize this kind of spirit flower or know its effects.
“As I thought!” Zhuang Bu Fan gently nodded to the side. It seemed that he too had guessed this before, but was uncertain until after he heard confirmation from Lan Xun.
Among the crowd of onlookers, most still had blank expressions while only a few had drastic changes on their faces after hearing the words ‘Extraordinary Treasure Lotus’, apparently having at least some knowledge about it.
“Princess, what exactly is this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus good for? Can we eat it?” Xia Sheng suddenly asked with a smile on his face.
“You moron!” To the side, Xiao Bai Yi face-palmed as he shook his head, ashamed of Xia Sheng outburst as he muttered, “If you don’t know anything, don’t speak. The Temple’s face is always being completely lost by your shamelessness.”
Murong Xiao Xiao also blushed and nodded vigorously, seemingly trying to distance herself from Xia Sheng.
The performance of their Eldest Senior Brother really embarrassed the two of them.
“Xiao Bai, do you know something?” Xia Sheng immediately turned his head towards Xiao Bai Yi before clapping his hands, “Right, in the Temple, you would always read a lot of old books, so maybe you do know something! Quickly tell me about this… what was it… Extraordinary Treasure Lotus! Right, what kind of mythical effects does it have?”
Xiao Bai Yi stared at him fixedly before taking a deep breath to calm his mood and slowly speaking, “The Extraordinary Treasure Lotus is born from the pure essence of the Sun, Moon, and Earth, a supreme treasure that appears only randomly throughout history in all different kinds of environments. There are no specific conditions for its appearance or growth and it can appear anywhere, whether there is rich World Energy or none at all. However… in this world there will only ever be a single Extraordinary Treasure Lotus in existence at any one time. If one appears, another will not appear until the first disappears…”
Upon hearing this, Xia Sheng couldn’t help blowing a whistle as he said in surprise, “It’s really precious then…”
Xiao Bai Yi ignored him and continued, “As for its function, it has an astonishing benefit for cultivators like us. It can permanently increase the chances of one breaking through to the Emperor Realm without any side effects or drawbacks! In other words, if you, Wu Chang, or Brother Zhuang were to refine this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, you would be able to break through to the Emperor Realm in less than five years! As for someone like me… ten years would suffice!”
“I am here as well!” Xiao Chen was ignored by Xiao Bai Yi and clearly felt unpleasant.
Xia Sheng, however, just grinned and said, “Even without this thing, I can still break through to the Emperor Realm. It doesn’t seem that precious to me!”
“What do you know?” Xiao Bai Yi glanced at him coldly, “Throughout the ages, countless geniuses like you have tried to break through to the Emperor Realm, only to fail at the last moment or become stuck at the final hurdle, unable to cross it for the rest of their lives. Furthermore! In this world, no one dares to claim that they can absolutely break through to the Emperor Realm, and those who do often end up failing. Of course, there are others out there who have lesser aptitude and talent, but through pure hard work and effort manage to reach the Emperor Realm… But to all cultivators like us, the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus is akin to a guarantee of breaking through to the Emperor Realm!”
When Xia Sheng heard Xiao Bai Yi’s explanation, he couldn’t find anything to object about and immediately sank into contemplation.
All around, the cultivators who were watching and waiting heard Xiao Bai Yi’s explanation and showed fiery looks on their faces. They now looked at this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus not as some special spirit flower, but as a broad and clear path to the Emperor Realm!
The cultivators that entered the Four Seasons Realm were all in the Dao Source Realm, and many of them had reached the Third-Order. These cultivators were just a few steps away from the Emperor Realm, so with such a huge opportunity appearing before them, how could they not be tempted?
If it weren’t for the top Sect’s Masters all standing by acting as a deterrent, someone by now would not have been able to hold back and run up to snatch this lotus, leading to this mountain top turning into a chaotic battlefield filled with blood!
In front of such a precious spirit flower, no one would be able to keep their calm. Once greed took over, even fellow brothers from the same force would trample each other to obtain this prize!
“I understand the preciousness and purpose of this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus now, but… Princess has yet to explain why she prevented me from obtaining it just now,” Wu Chang suddenly said coldly, seemingly still hung up on the fact that Lan Xun had stopped him from touching it a moment ago and demanding a satisfactory explanation.
Lan Xun smiled slightly and said, “Brother Xiao Bai has already explained much, so Junior Sister will be succinct.”
On the other side, Xiao Bai Yi’s mouth twitched as he felt a deep sadness in his heart, thinking that the name ‘Xiao Bai’ could not be erased for a lifetime. Even someone as famous and respected as Princess Lan Xun was now calling him by that name, so it was basically set in stone. With tears forming at the corners of his eyes, Xiao Bai Yi lifted his head towards the Heavens and silently asked just what he had done to deserve such a cruel fate…
Meanwhile, Lan Xun continued to speak, “Although the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus is extremely precious, it is fundamentally still just a spirit flower, so it is quite delicate and fragile. Right now, this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus has yet to mature, so its medicinal efficacies have not yet fermented. If Brother Wu Chang had rashly picked it just now, its medicinal properties would definitely be greatly damaged and it would lose all of its Heaven-defying effects. I believe Brother Wu Chang would not want to see that happen, right?”
With her last sentence, she turned to Wu Chang with a smile and asked.
Wu Chang heard this and responded in a cold, flat tone, “Since your Highness has said so, I will wait… but I must ask, how long will it be until this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus fully matures?”
Lan Xun went silent for a while as she observed the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus before saying, “It should be a day or so!”
“Just before the exit closes…” Wu Chang muttered to himself before immediately shouting, “Fine, then I will wait until then. Before the time comes, if anyone dares have ideas about this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus idea, don’t blame this Wu for not showing mercy!”
As he spoke, he turned his gaze around, a strange red and white light flashing from his eyes, causing those who met them to shudder.
Hearing this, Yang Kai couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief…
Although Wu Chang wanted to take the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus for himself, his declaration just now had also calmed all the waves and guaranteed that before this spirit flower matured, no one would act recklessly. As for afterwards, everyone would need to rely on their own methods in the scramble for the prize.
“Junior Sister would also like to request everyone wait until after this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus matures before asking,” Lan Xun said sternly, “I should also inform everyone that… after this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus does mature, if it is not consumed within three hours, or refined into a pill, its medicinal efficacies will pass completely!”
“Is that true?” Wu Chang frowned.
“The Extraordinary Treasure Lotus is a Heaven defying treasure after all, so with such effects, the Heavenly Way puts appropriate constraints on its birth and life!” Lan Xun smiled slightly.
“Then it’s simple. When it matures, I just need to eat it!” Xia Sheng grinned.
Xiao Bai Yi turned his head, glanced at him coldly, and snapped, “Why is it all you can talk about today is eating!”
Xia Sheng scratched his cheek awkwardly.
Lan Xun suddenly sighed again and said, “If possible, it would be best to refine it into an Extraordinary Treasure Pill. There’s only one spirit flower, and in the scramble to follow, swords and fists have no eyes…”
She was the daughter of Bright Moon Great Emperor, so in many situations, she needed to consider things not just from her own perspective, but from the perspective of the entire Southern Territory, similar to when she took away the Pseudo Emperor Artifact from the Flowing Time Temple despite it being the least valuable treasure for her. At this moment, although she was delighted that an Extraordinary Treasure Lotus had appeared in the Four Seasons Realm, she was also wracked with worry about the battle which it would surely set off.
Everyone present here was an elite among the Southern Territory’s Dao Source Realm cultivators, and heavy casualties due to the fight for this spirit flower would definitely be a major loss for the Southern Territory…
“Princess must be joking. If you want to refine such a Heaven defying spirit flower into pills, surely it would require an Emperor Grade Alchemist! According to the Princess, this spirit flower must either be swallowed or used in Alchemy within three hours after it matures; how could that be enough time to find an appropriate Emperor Grade Alchemist?” Wu Chang coldly snorted.
Lan Xun shook her head though and said, “An Emperor Grade Alchemist is unnecessary, a Dao Source Grade one would be sufficient… But, we are all cultivators who have focused on the Martial Dao, so how could we have had time to delve into the Alchemic Dao? A Dao Source Grade Alchemist is still not easy to find… “
She shook her head and smiled bitterly, secretly feeling a little headache. She felt that the current crisis could not be resolved, and that a great opportunity was about to be missed. There was only one spirit flower, so only one person could take it, but if it could be refined into pills, it would be a completely different story.
At that moment, a voice suddenly sounded, “If your Highness is willing to trust me, how about letting me give it a try!”
As soon as these words came out, everyone looked startled and turned towards their source.
Lan Xun also hurriedly turned her eyes, but after seeing who the speaker was, she couldn’t help showing a surprised expression as she murmured, “Brother Yang…”
“You?” Xiao Chen also looked at Yang Kai with a shocked expression, one that soon turned into a sneer, “Do you know what you’re talking about? What the Princess said just now… did you not hear it clearly?”
“Naturally, I heard her clearly,” Yang Kai smiled slightly, still calm and relaxed under the attention of the crowd.
The cross-legged Zhuang Bu Fan also looked over at Yang Kai at this moment with a thoughtful look on his face.
Xia Sheng suddenly stretched out his hand to pull at the corner of Yang Kai’s clothes as he whispered in a low voice, “Brother Yang, I don’t think this is a good idea… If you really want to monopolize the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, you might as well think of another way. Pretending to be a Dao Source Grade Alchemist won’t help you in any way…”
He obviously thought that Yang Kai was lying in order to gain some kind of initiative in the coming battle, so he hurriedly whispered to persuade him, otherwise, he would not just lose face but would also become the target of public criticism. Once that happened, no one would be able to save him.
There is also Xiao Bai Lan… (in Chinese) Which means boy toy. But the main thing here is that the poor sap is being called an idiot…
On another note. Xiao Bai is probably the character everyone wrote in essays when they were children. Haha.
Not because it meant idiot to the children but because the name is so easy to write that teachers use it as their example, and kids just follow.
Although Xia Sheng’s words were light, everyone present was a Master so they could clearly hear what was said. For a time, everyone glared at Yang Kai, thinking that he was both despicable and shameful, even daring to use such open intrigue.
“I’m not simply bluffing!” Yang Kai smiled confidently and said proudly, “I am a Dao Source Grade Alchemist!”
As soon as these words came out, everyone stopped talking and stared at Yang Kai with even stranger expressions, the scene so quiet that even the light breeze could be heard.
“Hahaha…” After a long time, a burst of loud laughter rang out as Xiao Chen pointed to Yang Kai and said contemptuously, “You, a Dao Source Grade Alchemist? What do you think Alchemists are? Random people you can just grab off the street? Boy, you’d best think carefully before spewing such nonsense, or misfortune will befall you!”
Saying so, he did not even try to hide the contempt in his eyes, despising Yang Kai ferociously.
“Oh? It seems that Brother Xiao is quite familiar with me?” Yang Kai tilted his head and looked at Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen coldly snorted and said, “If it weren’t for our little meeting in this Four Seasons Realm, how could this Xiao possibly recognize some unknown person like you?”
He didn’t put Yang Kai in his eyes at all.
“Indeed,” Yang Kai smiled slightly and said, “Since Brother Xiao doesn’t know anything about me, why are you so confident that I am not a Dao Source Grade Alchemist? Your logic is so strange.”
“This…” Xiao Chen frowned as he didn’t have a good retort, but soon insisted, “In any case, someone like you can’t be a Dao Source Grade Alchemist. If you just want to fish in troubled waters, this Xiao advises you to dismiss such frivolous thoughts as soon as possible, otherwise… hmph!”
As soon as he finished speaking though, Zhuang Bu Fan suddenly opened his mouth and said, “Brother Yang, you have been guarding this place since the beginning, ensuring that no one approached this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus… Was that because you already knew what it was and what it was used for?”
Although he had just fought against Yang Kai, and even suffered a small loss at his hands, that did not lessen his good impression of Yang Kai.
Just as Yang Kai thought Zhuang Bu Fan was an upright character, Zhuang Bu Fan also thought highly of Yang Kai, so at this time he deliberately tried to assist him by saying a few words.
“Oh?” Hearing what Zhuang Bu Fan said, Lan Xun raised her delicate brow in surprise, “Brother Zhuang means that, Brother Yang had been guarding this place since before?”
“En, when I arrived, only Brother Yang was here. It seems that when this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus first appeared, he was the first to arrive,” Zhuang Bu Fan nodded lightly.
“Brother Yang, is what Brother Zhuang said…” Lan Xun looked at Yang Kai.
“Yes!” Yang Kai gently nodded, “When the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus first appeared, I was nearby and the first to arrive. I also knew what it was and what its purpose was, so I stood guard by it to ensure those who were unable to judge its true value would not ruin it. Originally, I had wanted to guard it and then pick it when it matured before anything was the wiser, but I had not anticipated so many would return early… And that’s what led to this situation.”
Having said so, Yang Kai gave a wry smile.
“Are you really an Alchemist?” Lan Xun’s eyes flashed lightly.
If he was not an Alchemist, how could Yang Kai have accurately identified such a rare spirit flower like the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus when even characters like Zhuang Bu Fan could only speculate about its identity? Only an extremely skilled and knowledgeable Alchemist would be able to quickly identify the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus.
If Lan Xun had the same thoughts as Xiao Chen, that Yang Kai was faking being an alchemist, she would have said so. However, she was confident that what Yang Kai said was true.
“Yes!” Yang Kai nodded sincerely.
“Are you really a Dao Source Grade Alchemist?” Lan Xun asked.
“I am, unfortunately, some people don’t believe me,” Yang Kai spread his hands while his gaze swept across Xiao Chen intentionally.
The latter couldn’t help feeling sullen as he spat, “Anyone can make outlandish claims. If this Xiao said he was an Emperor Grade Alchemist… would you believe it?”
Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders, looking helpless.
Lan Xun smiled and said, “In that case, we can simply verify the truth with our own eyes! As long as Brother Yang can refine a furnace of Dao Source Grade Spirit Pills here, all doubts can be resolved. There’s still enough time for Brother Yang to refine a furnace of pills now, but I don’t know what Brother Yang thinks…”
Before Yang Kai could respond, Xiao Chen cut in, “How could he have the courage? If he really agreed, wouldn’t his lies immediately be exposed?”
Lan Xun couldn’t help glaring at Xiao Chen, causing his mouth to snap shut.
Yang Kai frowned and said with a look of embarrassment, “Must we do this?”
Lan Xun smiled and said, “Is Brother Yang not confident in himself? Although I also believe Brother Yang is not one to speak such malicious lies, but… this matter is too important to leave to chance. If Brother Yang doesn’t have the ability to refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pill, it will be best to not even try, otherwise, it would simply be wasting Heaven’s precious gifts.”
“What her Highness says makes sense!” Zhuang Bu Fan agreed, “Although refining it into pills can increase the number of people who will benefit, if the spirit flower is ruined in the process, then the gains will not be worth the loss. In that case, it would be best to just wait until the spirit flower matures and then everyone will compete with their own means. Brother Yang, think carefully before you decide.”
He wanted to give Yang Kai an opportunity to back down, which was why he spoke up.
But to his surprise, after Yang Kai pondered for a moment, he nodded, “It’s not a problem to prove myself, after all, everyone here does not trust me…”
“You’re really a Dao Source Grade Alchemist!?” Xia Sheng was shocked as he stared at Yang Kai like he was some kind of monster.
As for Xiao Bai Yi and Zhuang Bu Fan, they wore completely dumbfounded expressions, like they had just been smacked on the head.
Only the two of them knew just how strong Yang Kai was. One of them had fought an all-out battle against Yang Kai, while the other had a Source Qi competition with him!
Yang Kai had defeated both of them with just his First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation.
With such cultivation, achieving such a feat was already incredibly astonishing. It was conceivable that Yang Kai had put in an enormous amount of effort into his cultivation, so how could he also have time to dabble in Alchemy? What’s more, becoming a Dao Source Grade Alchemist was not on the level of mere dabbling. Even if a person began cultivating in their mother’s womb, reaching such heights in both the Martial and Alchemic Dao at such an age should be impossible.
But from Yang Kai’s tone and demeanour, it was quite clear he was indeed a Dao Source Grade Alchemist! This shocked Xiao Bai Yi and Zhuang Bu Fan enormously.
“But… even if I prove that I am a Dao Source Grade Alchemist, I can’t refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pill!” Yang Kai frowned.
“What do you mean?” Lan Xun asked in surprise.
“Alchemy requires materials, does it not?” Yang Kai looked at her and said, “The Extraordinary Treasure Pill requires a total of nineteen kinds of herbs. I have been collecting the necessary materials for the past few days, but unfortunately, I have only managed to gather eighteen of them, one is still missing!”
“So, you were checking other people’s Space Rings for the materials to refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pill!?” A light went off in Zhuang Bu Fan’s mind as he suddenly understood why Yang Kai had been snatching other people’s Space Rings and searching for them.
Rather than robbing them, Yang Kai had simply checked the Space Rings of his Junior Brother and Junior Sister, but returned them afterwards without taking anything. If robbing them wasn’t his goal, then why bother acting this way in the first place?
Only now did Zhuang Bu Fan understand!
Realizing this, Zhuang Bu Fan no longer doubted Yang Kai’s claims of being a Dao Source Grade Alchemist.
If he wasn’t searching for the materials for the Extraordinary Treasure Pill, why would Yang Kai use such a detrimental method? He was probably forced to do this as he was trapped in the Four Seasons Realm and the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus was about to mature. This left him with no way to summon help and no way to leave its side. As such, he could only hope those who were attracted to the Heavenly Manifestation would have what he needed.
[This guy…] Zhuang Bu Fan was shocked, but through incredible self-control managed to not show anything on his face.
“In that case… what ingredient is Brother Yang still lacking? If you don’t mind, please inform us. With so many people present, perhaps someone will have what is necessary,” Lan Xun smiled and asked, but after speaking, she seemed to suddenly realize something and immediately added, “Wait a moment, this Alchemy material must be extremely precious, so even if someone has it, they may not be willing to contribute it.”
“Yeah, what Princess said is the crux of the matter.” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“If anyone dares to refuse, we can just snatch it,” Xiao Chen snorted coldly.
Wu Chang sneered hearing this and snapped, “Idiot, if others don’t say they have it, how are you planning on snatching it? Do you want to snatch everyone’s Space Ring and search them?”
“Why not?” Xiao Chen replied.
“Oh? So, if I want to check your Space Ring, would you hand it over to me?”
“If I have that material, I will definitely contribute, there’s no need to check!” Xiao Chen replied solemnly.
“That’s enough,” Lan Xun frowned, waving her hand to interrupt him before taking a moment to think and then saying in a serious tone, “I have a proposal, one that I believe will be able to resolve this matter… How about if someone has what Brother Yang needs, as long as they willingly contribute it, they will be entitled to take one of the Extraordinary Treasure Pills after they are refined!”
“Your Highness… is that really acceptable?” Yang Kai was shocked.
Everyone’s expressions also changed dramatically, not having expected Lan Xun’s suggestion to be so shocking!
After all, even if Yang Kai was really a Dao Source Grade Alchemist and the refining was successful, how many Spirit Pills could be refined from one furnace of pills? Setting aside one in advance would no doubt make everyone quite reluctant.
Lan Xun, however, just smiled lightly and said, “In front of great opportunities, everyone is equal. Don’t you men all like to gamble? Why are you shrinking back at this moment?” As she spoke, she swept her beautiful eyes over everyone one by one. “Brother Yang hasn’t even said what herb he still needs, so what are you all afraid of? Perhaps the necessary spirit medicine is in your Space Ring and all you need to do is contribute it to obtain an Extraordinary Treasure Pill! It’s nothing less than an incredible bargain!”
“There’s a chance you won’t get anything as well!” Xiao Bai Yi muttered.
If Yang Kai failed his refinement, then there really would be nothing to gain.
“But… this Zhuang still has a question!” Zhuang Bu Fan said.
“Brother Zhuang, please,” Lan Xun looked at him with a smile.
“If two or more people have the final material Brother Yang needs, how should we resolve this issue?”
“En, I had not thought about such a possibility, I was negligent,” Lan Xun heard this and was startled for a moment, but soon she smiled again and said, “It’s simple then, if that happens, the one with the higher medicinal age will be used!”
“Good idea!” Zhuang Bu Fan nodded, “The higher the medicinal age, the stronger the medicinal efficacies and the higher the chance for a successful refinement.”
“If everyone is alright with this suggestion, then…” Lan Xun smiled and looked around, waiting for a reply.
“I don’t have any objections. Since it’s a matter of luck, everyone has an equal chance!” Finally, someone expressed their opinion, and to everyone’s surprise, it was actually Wu Chang. He seemed to be quite interested in this proposal.
“Good, I like this proposal and don’t have any objections!” Xia Sheng shrugged.
“I agree with the Princess’s suggestion,” Zhuang Bu Fan also said.
With these three taking a stand, no one else would dare raise any objections. What’s more, Lan Xun was the one who made this proposal in the first place, so at this time, refusing to cooperate would be equivalent to slapping Lan Xun’s face… Her Highness was gentle and understanding, but Xiao Chen standing beside her was not so friendly.
Suddenly, everyone’s opinion was unified, and all of them clamoured on about how Lan Xun’s proposal was perfect.
“Many thanks!” Lan Xun saw that a consensus had been reached and turned a smile to Yang Kai, “Brother Yang, please tell us what the last herb you need is.”
As soon as these words came out, everyone fell silent and looked towards Yang Kai, many people showing expression of expectation and nervousness; after all, this was all a matter of luck. Once Yang Kai reported the herb he required, as long as everything went right, there was a chance they could obtain an Extraordinary Treasure Pill.
This was a Spirit Pill that basically guaranteed one could reach the Emperor Realm, who wouldn’t be anxious?
Many people even felt their heartbeats pound in their chests.
In front of everyone’s eyes, Yang Kai slowly and clearly announced, “I need a Jade Blood Mushroom that has a medicinal age of at least five thousand years!”
“A Jade Blood Mushroom… a rare herb,” Lan Xun heard this and smiled as she looked around, “Does anyone have what Brother Yang needs? If you can provide it, it will be equivalent to obtaining an Extraordinary Treasure Pill, a rare opportunity one cannot hope to come across!”
From her words, it seemed like she had great confidence in Yang Kai, as if all one needed to do was present the required herb and Yang Kai would surely be able to refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pill successfully.
It was unknown where her confidence came from.
As soon as her voice fell, many people immediately showed disappointed looks. Obviously, most knew they did not have anything like a Jade Blood Mushroom; however, a few cultivators quickly immersed their minds in their Space Rings…
“Hahahaha…” Suddenly, a loud laugh rang out.
Everyone turned to look and saw a man with a Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation excitedly laughing. Noticing everyone now staring at him though, this man quickly composed himself and simply smiled widely, still unable to hide his joy but at least not coming off as obnoxious.
“Does this friend possess what was requested?” Lan Xun looked at the man with a smile.
The man quickly jumped out from where he stood and forcefully suppressing the joy and excitement in his heart, he replied with a serious face, “Many thanks to her Highness, this one truly possesses a Jade Blood Mushroom!”
“Oh?” Lan Xun raised her brow and said happily, “Please take it out so we may have a look.”
The man hesitated at this moment, but Lan Xun quickly realized what he was worried about and immediately said, “You may rest assured, the words I spoke just now will not be taken back. If you really have the herb Brother Yang needs, one of the Extraordinary Treasure Pills will be yours!”
“Many thanks, Princess!” The man was waiting for this guarantee from Lan Xun, so after hearing what he needed to, he didn’t hesitate any more and immediately took out a large green and red mushroom from his Space Ring.
“It’s a Jade Blood Mushroom!” Yang Kai glanced over and knowing that the other party hadn’t produced a fake, he quickly said, “Please let me see it.”
The man held the Jade Blood Mushroom in both hands and couldn’t help trembling slightly. What he was holding was not just a simple spirit medicine, but rather his own good future, so he was extremely nervous about even slightly damaging it.
When he came to Yang Kai, he carefully handed over the Jade Blood Mushroom before standing back with an anxious look on his face.
“What dog shit luck!”
“Why couldn’t this opportunity have fallen into my hands?”
“The Heavens must be jealous! I am not convinced!”
…
Numerous voices filled with jealousy, anger, envy, and so on echoed about.
As for the man who had produced the Jade Blood Mushroom, these voices only sounded like sweet music to his ears and he could not stop a smug expression from filling his face.
“This is indeed a Jade Blood Mushroom…” Suddenly, Yang Kai frowned and said, “But its medicinal age is too low, only about three thousand years, far from sufficient.”
“What?” The man heard this and his complexion changed drastically, his eyes widening as he stared at Yang Kai incoherently before haltingly stuttering, “You… what did you… no… please take a clear look…”
“There’s no need to doubt,” Yang Kai gave the Jade Blood Mushroom back to the other party as he spoke confidently, “Every thousand years, the colour of the Jade Blood Mushroom will change slightly, becoming deeper and more pronounced. This friend, although your Jade Blood Mushroom can still be considered mature, and can be used to refine most Spirit Pills, it cannot be used in the Extraordinary Treasure Pill. I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
“Impossible!” The man cried out in grief.
The greater one’s hopes were, the more disappointed they were when they fell through. This man had thought that an Extraordinary Treasure Pill was within his grasp, but the plans of Heavens are beyond what men can control. How could this man stand seeing this opportunity just slip through his fingers?
“Take another look!” He stared at Yang Kai reluctantly.
Yang Kai simply shook his head, “If you can’t believe me, you might as well ask someone else for confirmation. I believe there should be others here who can distinguish this herb’s medicinal age.”
As he said so, Zhuang Bu Fan stepped forward, “This friend, this one is Orthodoxy Temple’s Zhuang Bu Fan, and although his knowledge of pharmacology is not on par with Brother Yang’s, he still has some experience in this field. If you trust this Zhuang, you might as well let him perform an examination.”
“Of course I trust you!” The man heard this and immediately rushed over to Zhuang Bu Fan and handed over his Jade Blood Mushroom.
Compared with Yang Kai, an unknown person, Zhuang Bu Fan’s name resounded like thunder across the Southern Territory, so his words carried great authority. As such, this man did not hesitate to place his hopes on Zhuang Bu Fan, hoping Zhuang Bu Fan would be able to overturn Yang Kai’s previous assessment.
As this man stood back, Zhuang Bu Fan began examining the Jade Blood Mushroom carefully. Not only did he perform a visual inspection, but he also sniffed it deeply and even took a fine scrape of it and tasted it.
His movements were methodical and extremely skilful, making it apparent he had performed such actions many times before.
After a while, Zhuang Bu Fan slowly shook his head and while returning the Jade Blood Mushroom to the other party, he said, “Brother Yang’s knowledge of herbs is indeed much deeper than this Zhuang, needing only a single look to tell its medicinal age, this Zhuang is most impressed… Friend, your Jade Blood Mushroom is really only three thousand years old.”
“How can… that be?” The man muttered to himself with a despondent look on his face.
He could somewhat dismiss Yang Kai saying his Jade Blood Mushroom only had a medicinal age of three thousand years, but if Zhuang Bu Fan was the one saying this, he had no choice but to accept.
The cultivators who had previously been feeling extreme envy towards this man now couldn’t help taking pleasure in his misfortune…
“There are so many people gathered here, is there no other friend who possesses a Jade Blood Mushroom?” Yang Kai turned his head to look around while shouting loudly.
No one responded!
Yang Kai sighed.
“Brother Yang, if you use this three-thousand-year-old Jade Blood Mushroom to refine…” Lan Xun frowned at him.
“That is not possible!” Yang Kai replied, “Princess, you must know that when refining extremely precious Spirit Pills, the demand on the adjuvant herbs is incredibly strict. Not to mention a difference of two thousand years, even if this Jade Blood Mushroom was only a hundred years too young it would not be usable.”
“Haa…” Lan Xun sighed slightly. It wasn’t that she didn’t know what Yang Kai was saying was true, it was just that she was hoping it wasn’t.
“That’s fate!” Xia Sheng suddenly shook his head and said, “The Jade Blood Mushroom is not a common spirit medicine, so it was already quite impressive that someone here possessed one. Since no one else has one, then it seems we can only fight it out for this lotus when the time comes!”
“Actually…” Lan Xun wore a slightly apologetic and helpless look, “I too have a Jade Blood Mushroom, and it should meet Brother Yang’s requirements.”
“Huh?” Xiao Chen was startled when he heard these words and said, “Why didn’t you take it out just now then, Your Highness?”
Yang Kai also looked towards Lan Xun in amazement, but quickly a thoughtful expression flashed across his face and he smiled before cupping his fists, “This Yang deeply admires the Princess’s magnanimity!”
At that moment, he understood why Lan Xun hadn’t taken out her own Jade Blood Mushroom until now.
It wasn’t that she was reluctant to share it…
She was the daughter of Bright Moon Great Emperor, so no matter how precious a spirit medicine was, could she really not bear to part with it? Her not stepping forward was all because she wanted to give this opportunity to someone else and had repeatedly asked if there was no other way just now.
In the end, though, she was forced to come forward.
She was also probably a bit embarrassed about the proposal she had made since she had the herb Yang Kai happened to need.
No one present was a fool, so after listening to Yang Kai’s words and a little thought, they realized what had happened and for a moment, all of them couldn’t help casting awe-filled and admiring gazes at Lan Xun.
Lan Xun’s cheeks went slightly red, making her look even more stunning.
“En, I can contribute the Jade Blood Mushroom, but as for the Extraordinary Treasure Pill… I don’t want it,” Lan Xun pursed his red lips and said.
“How can we accept that!?” Xiao Chen was the first to jump out and object.
“Silence!” Lan Xun frowned and snapped at him, “I have the right to deal with my own possessions!”
Xiao Chen opened his mouth but didn’t dare to speak anymore, feeling quite suffocated as his face turned blue from mixed emotions.
“Your Highness’s words are inappropriate here,” Xia Sheng smiled slightly and said, “Since everyone here reached an agreement before, Your Highness is more than entitled to this prize. If you were to reject this proposal now, it would be equivalent to everyone here owing Your Highness a heavy favour. Later, no one will know if the precious pill they received should have rightfully belonged to Your Highness. This kind of losing trade, this Xia does not want to participate in it!”
“Hmph, Xia Sheng, although your words sound cheap, I at least agree with your sentiment. This Wu Chang owes nothing to anyone, not even to Heaven!” Wu Chang also expressed his agreement.
Zhuang Bu Fan smiled, “Your Highness, you should boldly claim what is yours, there is no need to refuse!”
Lan Xun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry for a while.
Yang Kai wiped the cold sweat from his brow as he commented, “Listening to all of you, it’s as if the furnace of Extraordinary Treasure Pills will certainly succeed. If it does not, wouldn’t that disappoint all the Princess’ pains?”
“Why are you not confident?” Lan Xun raised her brow and asked.
“It’s not a matter of confidence,” Yang Kai smiled lightly, “It’s just… no Alchemist can guarantee that he will succeed a hundred percent of the time. Just in case, I should ask… if the refinement fails, what will happen?”
“We’ll kill you!” Wu Chang looked at him coldly.
“The pressure is big,” Yang Kai wiped his forehead again.
Lan Xun smiled and said, “Put your best into it.”
As she spoke, she flew over and handed over her own Jade Blood Mushroom to Yang Kai. Yang Kai accepted it and nodded after a brief inspection, “Princess is right, this Jade Blood Mushroom has a medicinal age of at least eight thousand years, plenty for this purpose. What’s more… from the slight traces on it, it appears it was not picked here in the Four Seasons Realm.”
“En, I found this a few years ago and it has been sitting in my Space Ring ever since,” Lan Xun replied.
“Alright then, now all the materials have been gathered,” Yang Kai quickly stored the Jade Blood Mushroom into his Space Ring before glancing around and asking, “Do you still want me to refine a furnace of Dao Source Grade Spirit Pills to prove my abilities?” Pausing here, he soon said, “I shall say this first, I have no problem proving myself, but as all of you know, Alchemy consumes a lot of energy. If I were to not be at my peak when the time comes to refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pill, and the refining fails as a result, I won’t take responsibility!”
After saying this, everyone frowned.
Because what Yang Kai said was indeed correct.
If everyone insisted on him proving himself, he would need to refine a furnace of Dao Source Grade Spirit Pills right now! But doing so would undoubtedly consume a lot of his Source Qi and Spiritual Energy. There was less than a day until the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus matured, at that point Yang Kai would need to refine another furnace of Dao Source Grade Spirit Pills. In other words, he would need to perform two very difficult refinements within a single day. This kind of high-intensity Alchemy would be quite taxing on any Dao Source Grade Alchemist.
If Yang Kai was already exhausted when the time came, it would definitely have an impact on refining the Extraordinary Treasure Pill.
“In my opinion, there’s no need for that anymore…” Lan Xun smiled lightly, “The reason for the prior proposal was simply because we could not be certain Brother Yang was really an Alchemist; but now, I believe that is no longer in doubt. If Brother Yang was not an Alchemist, how could you have known the pill recipe for the Extraordinary Treasure Pill or be able to distinguish the medicinal age of Jade Blood Mushrooms so quickly and accurately?”
“What her Highness says makes sense!” Zhuang Bu Fan nodded, “Just from the fact that Brother Yang had already begun preparing the appropriate Alchemy materials before we arrived, there should be no doubt he is a Dao Source Grade Alchemist. Brother Yang, take a good rest. When the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus matures tomorrow, act with a free hand!”
“Since you’ve said so, I will focus on adjusting my condition!” Yang Kai immediately took advantage of the situation and sat down, shutting his eyes tight!
Although there were still some suspicious people, with Lan Xun and Zhuang Bu Fan speaking up for Yang Kai, even if they had doubts in their hearts, they dared not speak them. Everyone could only wait for tomorrow to come, at which point everything would become clear.
The scene suddenly quieted down.
The cultivators who had gathered around looked for good spots before sitting down cross-legged to meditate while trying to restore their states to their peak.
Because everyone understood clearly that if Yang Kai failed in his Alchemy, he would be the only one to suffer everyone’s anger and disappointment, but if he succeeded, aside from the one which would be reserved for Lan Xun, the remaining Extraordinary Treasure Pills would need to be fought over!
In front of such a huge opportunity, even if characters like Wu Chang, Xia Sheng, Zhuang Bu Fan, and Xiao Chen were present, no one would shrink back!
If they missed this chance, many of them would never have an opportunity to break through to the Emperor Realm for the rest of their lives! However, if they could just snatch one of the Spirit Pills, their chances of breaking through would increase dramatically.
Therefore, everyone was resting and building up their strength. This caused the whole place to become oddly quiet. At the same time, a kind of blockade was set up all around Yang Kai and the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, preventing him from escaping.
Wu Chang was particularly vigilant as he didn’t even seem to rest, instead just sat cross-legged and staring straight at Yang Kai, making sure he could react immediately should Yang Kai try anything!
The invisible stalemate was the most important reason that everyone agreed to let Yang Kai refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pill instead of just trying to snatch the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus!
There was only one Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, and no one, not even Wu Chang, was confident they could obtain it.
Rather than fight a battle they weren’t certain they could win, it was better to let Yang Kai try to refine this lotus into pills, which if successful, would multiply the number of opportunities they had to gain something. As for Yang Kai with his pitiful First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation, under the gaze of so many people, he couldn’t run away after he finished his refinement.
In this regard, everyone was confident, so they settled in and waited for the arrival of tomorrow, when Yang Kai would refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pill!
“Senior Brother, this situation is not good,” after a break, Xiao Bai Yi suddenly sent a Divine Sense message to Xia Sheng.
“I know!” Xia Sheng responded calmly, “Don’t worry, I’ve made arrangements. When Brother Yang succeeds in his refinement tomorrow, we’ll cooperate with him to cut open an escape route. The rest of our Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters will assist us from the outside.”
“No wonder I didn’t see anyone else coming, are they all waiting at the exit?” Xiao Bai Yi asked without changing his expression.
Xia Sheng grinned and replied, “How can we allow a treasure like the Extraordinary Treasure Pills fall into the hands of other Sects? All we need to do now is get Brother Yang to cooperate.”
“And what if he doesn’t cooperate?” Xiao Bai Yi asked.
“Then knock him out and carry him off,” Xia Sheng replied.
Xiao Bai Yi’s face twitched as he lowered his head in shame, “I’m not his opponent!”
“Huh?” Xia Sheng turned his head and stared at Xiao Bai Yi in amazement, asking in surprise, “Xiao Bai, since when did you become so unconfident? Brother Yang has indeed beat Xue Yi, which is already quite amazing. Even if it was you or I, I doubt we would have been able to achieve the same with just his current cultivation, but right now, there should still be a big difference between us.”
“If I didn’t have a good reason, I wouldn’t have made such an embarrassing statement!” Xiao Bai Yi suddenly turned serious.
“Huh?”
“In the Flowing Time Temple, I fought him,” Xiao Bai Yi said, “And the result was… my defeat.”
“Are you cracking a joke with me?” Xia Sheng’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
“How can I make such a shameful joke now?” Xiao Bai Yi said with a solemn face, “Moreover, if I’m not mistaken, it’s not just me who is not his opponent, Zhuang Bu Fan also isn’t.”
“Huh… you mean!” After Xia Sheng asked, he immediately sent a thoughtful glance towards where Zhuang Bu Fan was and asked in amazement, “You mean… before we arrived here, when those two fought… Zhuang Bu Fan was the one who lost?”
“Exactly!”
“How could that be?”
Xiao Bai Yi sneered, “Nothing is impossible. Why else do you think Zhuang Bu Fan spoke up for Yang Kai so fervently?”
Xia Sheng frowned and said, “You mean, Yang Kai showed mercy in their battle, so Zhuang Bu Fan…”
“Could there be any other reason?” Xiao Bai Yi asked with a faint glance.
*Si…*
Xia Sheng finally couldn’t help drawing a sharp breath as he muttered, “I knew those two fought, but I thought it was Yang Kai who was defeated… He’s only a First-Order Dao Source Realm, how could he possibly be that strong?”
“How should I know? Would you have believed he was a Dao Source Grade Alchemist before? Do you even believe it now?”
Xia Sheng’s face twitched as he shut his mouth.
After a long silence, he focused his gaze and said, “It’s alright, I’ll negotiate with Brother Yang, and I believe he’ll cooperate. If he wants to survive, he shouldn’t have any other choice.”
“I hope…” Xiao Bai Yi responded, uncertain.
As the pair from Azure Sun Temple secretly communicated, most of the other cultivators gathered were having similar exchanges. People who knew one another here were secretly forming alliances, preparing to confront the many powerful enemies around them. As for how to divvy up the Extraordinary Treasure Pills after they succeeded, they could discuss that later.
For most cultivators, the most important matter to consider was how to obtain the Extraordinary Treasure Pills.
Time passed slowly.
Yang Kai focused on restoring himself.
Refining the Extraordinary Treasure Pill would be a real test for him, so regardless of anything else he wanted to be in peak condition. Even the slightest weakness may cause the refining to fail.
Once the refining failed, he would become the target of everyone’s anger, and even if he had great confidence in his abilities, escaping from such a siege would not be easy.
The movements around him, the Divine Sense messages being passed back and forth, even Wu Chang’s constant glares were unable to affect him though as his mood gradually calmed down and he entered a type of ethereal state.
Under such great pressure, he actually became unprecedentedly tranquil.
A rich medicinal fragrance filled the air as halos of light continued to blossom.
The Heavenly Manifestation became more and more apparent, filling the sky with colourful clouds that appeared and disappeared mysteriously.
As for the white petals of the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, they bloomed gradually…
At a certain moment, the world shook as the World Energy in the surrounding region trembled. The Heavenly Manifestation contracted fiercely, sucking in a vast and terrifying amount of energy before it poured down from the sky like a funnel cloud into the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus.
The seemingly fragile spirit flower not only survived this intense infusion unscathed, but it also became even more radiant and vibrant as it did.
Tiny runes suddenly appeared around the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, seemingly containing untold mysteries.
Between the Heavens and Earth, faint celestial music resounded like morning bells and evening drums, shocking everyone present. Next, under all of the gathered eyes, the petals of the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus finally bloom completely!
A far richer medicinal fragrance filled the air, making all who sniffed it refreshed. This enticing scent caused many people to grow restless as well, and many couldn’t wait to rush up and stuff this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus into their bellies!
As if their instincts were slowly consuming them, many cultivators showed greedy eyes as they stared towards the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, with a few even beginning to inch their way towards it!
“Anyone who dares to move, I will kill personally!” Wu Chang suddenly shouted as he flashed a fierce expression.
Murderous intent so thick it was tangible flared.
The few who were just about to move instantly froze! They could clearly feel that if they dared to act rashly, they would find themselves dead the next moment…
The aura of death was so stifling, it made their lips dry and their bodies turn cold…
At that moment, Yang Kai opened his eyes and waved his hand, “Come!”
As he spoke, the Black Jade Furnace appeared.
The Black Jade Furnace was a Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank Alchemy Furnace which Han Leng, the rogue disciple from Star Soul Palace, had won at an auction in Maplewood City, but in the end, Han Leng had died unexpectedly and this furnace had fallen into Yang Kai’s hands.
Such an Alchemy Furnace was a rare treasure, especially for Alchemist; after all, above it, only Emperor Grade Alchemy Furnaces were superior.
But how could it be so easy to acquire an Emperor Grade Alchemy Furnace? In general, Emperor Grade Alchemy Furnaces were even rarer and more precious than Emperor Artifacts.
When the Black Jade Furnace’s lid opened, a different fragrance from the one the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus gave off instantly spread.
Seeing this Alchemy Furnace and smelling the fragrance that wafted from it, many people’s expressions turned to shock while their confidence in Yang Kai immediately increased by leaps and bounds.
Because no ordinary Alchemist would be worthy of possessing such an Alchemy Furnace, only a Dao Source Grade Alchemist would be qualified to be its owner. What’s more, the strong pill fragrance which came from this Alchemy Furnace was proof it had been used to refine many herbs into pills.
This served as proof that Yang Kai was a Dao Source Grade Alchemist!
As soon as the Alchemy Furnace appeared, Yang Kai’s Divine Sense surged, and hot, invisible Conflagrated Spiritual Energy instantly poured into it, causing the Black Jade Furnace to hum lightly.
“Liu Yan!” Yang Kai whispered again and with a flick of his wrist, a stream of light shot out from his palm.
A loud chirping sound spread across the mountain-top as under everyone’s gaze, a strange-looking Firebird manifested in the sky before it plunged into the Alchemy Furnace.
“An Artifact Spirit!” Lan Xun’s beautiful eyes lit up as she couldn’t help calling out in surprise.
At that moment, although she had only caught a glimpse of Liu Yan, she instinctively sensed that this stream of red light was no small matter, and combined with the scene before her, she immediately deduced that it was a Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit!
A Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank Alchemy Furnace and a Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit…
Such a combination of treasures was something most Alchemists could only dream of. With the help of these two, an Alchemist could achieve twice the result with half the effort when refining any Spirit Pill.
Lan Xun couldn’t help but smile and say, “If there are no accidents, Brother Yang should really be able to refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pill. Everyone, please be patient and watch.”
Hearing what she said, many people’s expressions lifted as looks of expectation filled their faces.
At the centre of everyone’s attention, Yang Kai had already begun taking out the necessary herbs to refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pill one by one with a solemn expression.
Next, he methodically threw all kinds of rare herbs into the Alchemy Furnace as he formed different seals with his hands, his Conflagrated Spiritual Energy surging and rolling, portraying various Spirit Arrays inside the furnace.
As he acted, the heat in the Alchemy Furnace changed from time to time unpredictably.
Alchemy required first and foremost a calm mind, and any kind of carelessness could lead to failure. Next, one’s mastery of heat and the timing at which to add herbs was vital…
These were no skills one could acquire overnight. It took years of accumulated experience to master these steps.
Regarding the Alchemic Dao, Yang Kai never had a formal teacher.
However, he seemed to have an extraordinary aptitude and talent for this field. In his early years, he had used the True Alchemic Way left behind by Great Demon God to begin exploring the Alchemic Dao. Later, he obtained the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture from Yang Yan’s Emperor Garden, then the jade slip left by Gong Sun Mu after coming to the Star Boundary…
His Alchemy techniques were a combination of these three inheritances as well as his own insights and innovations.
He did not have a Special Constitution like Xia Ning Chang, who could perform Alchemy as easily as if it were eating or breathing, but Yang Kai had his own unique comprehension.
When to put in what kind of herb, what kind of heat to use, all these things had become so familiar to Yang Kai that he could almost perform them instinctually.
If one wanted to name one specific reason for his current level of skill, it would undoubtedly be the Grand Alchemic Dao Tone Yang Kai had triggered years ago!
The Grand Alchemic Dao Tone was a manifestation of the Heavenly Way.
The Heavenly Way had directly imparted its knowledge to him, allowing his Alchemy skills to obtain an unprecedented level of refinement.
But even so, Yang Kai would still put his best whenever performing Alchemy, not daring to show the slightest carelessness.
There was only one Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, and if this refining failed, there would be nothing left. If that happened, he would definitely have to bear the anger of everyone present…
He wasn’t afraid of that though, only that he would ruin this precious spirit flower in vain.
Under such tremendous pressure, his condition actually reached its peak.
*Gululu…*
As time passed, the sound of something boiling emerged from the Alchemy Furnace, which was obviously a sign of the medicinal liquids being condensed. A complex yet sweet fragrance filled the world, one that was both invigorating and refreshing.
Although Yang Kai’s movements weren’t particularly quick, there was a calmness to his gestures which made everyone feel confident in his abilities.
In particular, his ability to smoothly manipulate his Source Qi to control the heat with one hand, while portraying Spirit Arrays inside the furnace with the other, amazed everyone.
Laymen could only see the show, but experts were able to see the method.
Of the cultivators present, almost all had never refined Spirit Pills before, but even if one had never eaten pork, they would still know what a pig was.
Yang Kai’s practice of changing Spirit Arrays repeatedly caused many to be confused, but also elicited admiration.
Just his superb control over the various refinement elements was something no ordinary person could achieve and was obviously the result of a massive amount of talent and practice.
“Senior Brother, do you think Junior Brother Yang can succeed?” Murong Xiao Xiao asked Xiao Bai Yi softly.
“Before the results come out, no one would dare make an assertion,” Xiao Bai Yi replied, but after he said so, he glanced over and asked, “Why? Are you worried about what might happen if he fails?”
Murong Xiao Xiao nodded, “In this situation, if Junior Brother Yang really fails, I’m afraid it will be difficult for him to escape… Although he’s not a disciple of our Temple, he travelled together with us so I hope he does not have an accident.”
“He brought this upon himself,” Xiao Bai Yi snorted coldly, “I still haven’t figured out why he’s bringing so much trouble to himself.”
If Yang Kai had not taken the initiative to stand up and declare he was a Dao Source Grade Alchemist, no one would have guessed he was. However, he stood up and publicly acknowledged he was Dao Source Grade Alchemist and had taken on the task of refining the Extraordinary Treasure Pill.
Even if everything went well though, and the Extraordinary Treasure Pills were successfully refined, Yang Kai didn’t stand to gain any benefits. According to the current situation, once the Extraordinary Treasure Pills were refined, a great battle would surely result, and at that time, who would care about him being the one who refined the Spirit Pills? If he didn’t surrender them, being punched to death was entirely possible…
On the other hand, if things didn’t go well, there would only be one result, Yang Kai being chased to death by everyone!
Doing something so troublesome with no hope of gaining any benefits was the act of a fool.
So Xiao Bai Yi could not figure out why Yang Kai had done this.
Was it just because he was an Alchemist and couldn’t bear seeing a rare spirit flower go to waste? It was true that Alchemists were an eccentric group of people. Sometimes, people would come begging them for Alchemy services but would be ignored; however, if a rare spirit medicine that caught their interest was involved, sometimes they would actually chase after and volunteer their services for free as long as they could be the ones to refine it into a pill.
The Extraordinary Treasure Lotus was undoubtedly one of the most precious spirit flowers in the world due to its extreme rarity! Only one Extraordinary Treasure Lotus would ever appear in the world at any one time.
If Yang Kai wanted to refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pill for this reason, it would make sense.
But… No matter how Xiao Bai Yi looked at it, he couldn’t imagine Yang Kai being such a pedantic person, nor did he seem to be the type who would put himself into danger just for temporary interests.
[Perhaps… he has the confidence to escape under the eyes of all these Masters?]
After this thought flashed across his mind, Xiao Bai Yi couldn’t help but chuckle, secretly feeling that he was thinking too much.
It was undeniable that Yang Kai was strong, but in the end, he was just one person, so how could he escape under the watchful gazes of so many? Just Wu Chang alone would be enough to hold him down.
As the two talked, Yang Kai continued his efforts.
A total of nineteen auxiliary herbs were thrown into the Black Jade Furnace by him and condensed into medicinal liquids.
Finally, at this moment, he stood up, rushed over to the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus in a few steps, and gently sliced off the blossomed flower.
The mature spirit flower was harvested by Yang Kai in an instant.
All that remained was a delicate stem…
In that instant, everyone’s eyes locked onto this stem as greed filled their eyes.
Although they didn’t know why Yang Kai didn’t harvest the entire Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, this stem was undoubtedly an extremely precious treasure. Even if it was not refined into a pill, swallowing it might have some miraculous effects.
And in front of everyone’s eyes, the top of this stem oozed a milky white liquid, one that was pure and flawless, causing many to gulp.
Not only did the ordinary cultivators have their eyes on this stem, but even Masters like Wu Chang and Xia Sheng were focused on it. However, no one acted rashly and instead turned inquiring eyes towards Yang Kai, not knowing why he had acted this way.
Ignoring everyone, Yang Kai ran back to his Alchemy Furnace and carefully continued to control the fire. When it was time, he threw the freshly picked Extraordinary Treasure Lotus into the furnace.
These few simple actions, however, caused a lot of cold sweat to leak from his forehead, as if he had just faced down a terrifying enemy.
The moment the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus entered the furnace, Yang Kai began forming different seals in order to stabilize the situation inside.
Whistling sounds leaked out as the furnace shook, causing Yang Kai to secretly rejoice he had not hesitated to expose Liu Yan’s existence before beginning this refinement.
The difficulty of refining the Extraordinary Treasure Pill was beyond his expectations, and he knew that if it had not been for Liu Yan’s assistance, he might not have been able to last until the end!
Right now, even with Liu Yan’s help, whether this furnace of Extraordinary Treasure Pills could be refined successfully was debatable.
However, succeeding now would undoubtedly greatly improve Yang Kai’s comprehension of the Alchemic Dao.
After working frantically for some time, Yang Kai let out a long breath.
By now, all the herbs had been added to the pill furnace, and what remained was for him to control the heat by applying the appropriate Spirit Arrays, then complete the Pill Condensing.
Only now did Yang Kai take a moment to quickly shout, “I advise you not to have any ideas about that stem!”
Although he had been concentrating on Alchemy just now, Yang Kai had not stopped monitoring his surroundings.
He clearly saw that many people were interested in this stem, but they didn’t know if he needed it for some purpose so no one dared rush in to take it.
“Oh, why not?” Zhuang Bu Fan asked doubtfully upon hearing this.
Yang Kai’s expression turned solemn, “This stem is the source of the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, if it is left, perhaps within a hundred years another Extraordinary Treasure Lotus will be born in the Star Boundary, but if it is picked… Within ten thousand years, there will be no such spirit flower in this world. There’s no telling when it will be born again.”
“Is that true?” Lan Xun’s eyes flashed as she had never heard such information before.
“Believe what you will!” Yang Kai quickly said.
“That has nothing to do with me!” Wu Chang suddenly shouted, “What problems occur ten thousand years from now can be solved by the people of that time. Since you don’t need this stem, then I’m claiming it for myself!”
“You dare!” Yang Kai turned his head and glared at Wu Chang while simultaneously palming the top of the Black Jade Furnace.
This move caused the complexions of all cultivators present to change drastically, turning nervous as they worried about what Yang Kai was trying to do.
“If you dare to touch it, I’ll ruin this furnace of Spirit Pills!” Yang Kai shouted in a deep voice, his expression calm and determined.
“Hey…” Xia Sheng’s mouth twitched as he stared at Yang Kai in surprise, quickly coaxing, “Brother Yang, why act this way… it’s just a stem. If Brother Wu Chang wants it, just let him have it, it’s not necessary to threaten the Extraordinary Treasure Pills just to stop him.”
He didn’t know what kind of madness had possessed Yang Kai to go so far as to threaten Wu Chang with the Extraordinary Treasure Pills.
One had to know that this move was not just a blatant threat to Wu Chang, but to every cultivator present.
One wrong move and Yang Kai would become everyone’s enemy.
Yang Kai turned a deaf ear to him though. “If anyone dares to approach within ten meters, I will immediately destroy this medicinal liquid. Do not test me!”
When these words came out, Wu Chang really didn’t dare to move anymore.
Although the stem looked quite extraordinary, it was definitely not as valuable as the Extraordinary Treasure Pills. Offending Yang Kai over this was obviously not worth it.
“Wu Chang, don’t act hastily!” Xiao Chen was also taken aback and hurriedly called out to Wu Chang.
Wu Chang paused on the spot as he stared at Yang Kai with gloomy eyes and said coldly, “You dare to threaten me!”
“I’m not threatening you…” Yang Kai’s eyes flashed a strong light as he said calmly, “I simply wish to preserve hope for future generations.”
Lan Xun smiled hearing this and commented, “I’ve heard that when Alchemists collect rare spirit herbs, they will do their best to preserve the vitality of the original spirit’s medicine. On top of that, they will never collect spirit medicines that are not yet mature… I was a little sceptical about this at first, but now it seems such rumours are true.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Our predecessors planted trees, which allowed us, their descendants, to enjoy cool shade. Who can say for certain that encountering this Extraordinary Treasure Lotus today was not because a senior expert left behind a similar stem a hundred years ago? Others left hope for us, so we should not act to cut off hope for the future, otherwise, it will damage the cycle of the Heavenly Way.”
As soon as he said this, Lan Xun’s beautiful eyes lit up as she revealed a thoughtful look.
“Furthermore…” Yang Kai continued, “This stem does not have any of the magical effects of the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus. At most, it can help slightly temper one’s Source Qi and Spiritual Energy. All the essence of the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus is already inside the furnace. Brother Wu Chang, are you sure you want this root instead of the Extraordinary Treasure Pills?”
Wu Chang’s face turned ugly. In fact, when Yang Kai said that the stem was not very useful, he had already lost interest in it, but in front of everyone’s eyes, he had no way to back down without losing face, so he could only stand there gloomily and glare ruthlessly.
However, a moment later, the stem suddenly shook before bursting into a million specks of colourful light and disappearing from sight, as if it had never even existed.
“This…” Xiao Chen was dumbfounded.
Yang Kai smiled and said, “Good, now the root has left and no one will be able to find it again.” After a pause, he added, “By the way, if the spirit flower was picked before reaching maturity, the entire Extraordinary Treasure Lotus would have ended up this way.”
Hearing this, many people suddenly broke out into a cold sweat, secretly rejoicing that someone with the appropriate knowledge and foresight was here, otherwise, someone would have definitely picked this spirit flower before it matured and everyone would have lost.
Turning his head, Yang Kai continued to focus on controlling the heat and portraying appropriate Spirit Arrays.
Wu Chang stood awkwardly on the spot for a moment before letting out a cold snort and with a stern expression sat back down.
*Gululu…*
The Black Jade Furnace continued to percolate.
With time, more and more people grew anxious as their eyes darted about, the entire mountaintop gradually filling with a tense atmosphere.
It seemed that everyone was waiting for the moment when the Extraordinary Treasure Pills were completed, and once that happened, chaos would break loose.
Yang Kai knew this as well, but he maintained a state of absolute calm, focusing all his effort into his Alchemy.
At a certain moment, he wore a serious expression and began pouring his Source Qi into the Black Jade Furnace. At the same time, he stood up directly and began forming a complex series of hand seals, injecting a profound and mysterious flower of energy into the Alchemy Furnace.
“Pill Condensing!” It wasn’t clear who shouted these words, but once they did, everyone’s breathing became somewhat rapid as excitement and expectation filled the crowd’s faces.
This was the last step in Alchemy, and if it was executed well, it would lead to a successful refinement, but if it was not, all previous efforts would be in vain.
Yang Kai’s hands danced in a marvellous display, with a solemn expression on his face as big drops of sweat soaked his robes, his whole figure looking like he had been dunked in water as his face turned pale, seemingly exhausting an incredible amount of energy.
But even so, his movements were methodical and calm.
“Can a Pill Condensing method… be so amazing?” Lan Xun’s eyes showed a faint radiance as she stared at Yang Kai’s movements.
Although she was seeing the Nine Heavens Profound Pill Method for the first time, that did not prevent her from discovering how profound this Pill Condensing method was. This Pill Condensing method seemed to harmonize perfectly with the Heavenly Way, a dazzling and awe-inspiring sight to behold.
As if inspired by Yang Kai’s movements, a faint resonance of the Heavenly Way began to spread out and fill the air.
It was not surprising for Lan Xun to be entranced though as the Nine Heavens Profound Pill Method was a method granted to Yang Kai by the Grand Alchemic Dao Tone. It was an innate product of Heaven and Earth, and even contained elements of the world’s fundamental truths.
Lan Xun was able to realize the mysteries of this method with her First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation, so the Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivators present could as well.
None of them understood why, but as they observed Yang Kai execute his Pill Condensing method, many cultivators were involuntarily drawn into a kind of enlightened state, their tension and anticipation fading away as they unknowingly immersed in a state of comprehension.
At a certain moment, Yang Kai suddenly roared, “Solidify!”
Seemingly having exhausted all his strength, Yang Kai patted the furnace with both his palms as his body shook slightly.
Along with his movements, a ding-dong sound suddenly sounded from the Alchemy Furnace.
At the same time, rays of multi-coloured light burst from the Black Jade Furnace.
Success!
At that moment, everyone understood that the refinement of the Extraordinary Treasure Pills… had succeeded!
Everyone began pushing their Source Qi, wanting to rush towards the place where Yang Kai stood and snatch this peerless pill that could clear their path to the Emperor Realm.
It was then, though, that the world trembled and a muffled sound echoed in everyone’s head.
An astonishing pressure descended from above, causing everyone to go stiff as some even felt their breath catch in their chest.
Everyone turned their eyes up towards the sky where dark clouds had at some unknown point appeared. Lightning and thunder shuttled across these black clouds as a kind of vast aura filled the air and made all present feel a deep sense of insignificance.
“Pill Tribulation!” Lan Xun exclaimed as a look of panic appeared in her beautiful eyes for the first time.
“So, you’ve come!” Yang Kai mumbled lowly.
Even before he began refining the Extraordinary Treasure Pill, Yang Kai had faintly guessed that this refining might lead to a Pill Tribulation.
The effects of the Extraordinary Treasure Pill were too Heaven defying, to the point that its mere existence was intolerable to the Heavens. Once it successfully came into being, the omnipresent World Principles would naturally try to destroy it!
Looking at the ferocity of this Pill Tribulation, it would likely be even more ferocious than if a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator was trying to break through to the Emperor Realm. How could a trivial Spirit Pill withstand such destructive impetus? Likely a single blow would be all that is necessary to disintegrate these pills. Even if Yang Kai was at full strength right now and used everything he had to guard them, whether these newly refined Extraordinary Treasure Pills could survive this Pill Tribulation was doubtful.
Once that happened, all his efforts and everyone’s expectations would burst into nothingness.
At the critical moment, Yang Kai patted his Alchemy Furnace and at the same time moved his Divine Sense.
In the next moment, Liu Yan turned into a ray of flames, shot out from the Black Jade Furnace, and was directly collected by Yang Kai into the Small Sealed World.
Without anyone noticing, Liu Yan had swept away some of the Extraordinary Treasure Pills from the furnace.
At this moment, everyone’s attention had been drawn to the Pill Tribulation, so who would notice Liu Yan’s actions? Even if someone did see Yang Kai’s Artifact Spirit return, they would likely not have imagined that she had swept away some of the Extraordinary Treasure Pills as well.
Soon, something that surprised everyone happened.
High up in the sky, the Pill Tribulation which had just condensed began to dissipate, its frightening thunder and lightning fading away and disappearing.
After only ten breaths, calm had been restored, leaving only some lingering fear in everyone’s heart as they glanced around in confusion.
“Huh?” Wu Chang frowned as he stared up blankly.
He couldn’t understand why this Pill Tribulation had been like a storm with loud thunder, but no rain. A moment ago, it was raging and the pressure was almost unbearable, but in the next instant the clouds parted and everything was calm.
No one was able to understand.
“Scram!”
At the moment when everyone had been lost in confusion, Yang Kai’s shout rang out and an astonishing surge of Source Qi flared up.
*Peng peng peng peng…*
It seemed he was fighting someone!
Hearing this movement, everyone’s expressions changed as they quickly turned their attention back to where Yang Kai was standing.
There, Yang Kai stood in place, one hand still on his Alchemy Furnace, the other palming in all directions, creating a flurry of afterimages.
Around him, a figure moved at high speed, trying to approach closer to where Yang Kai stood. It seemed this person wanted to break through Yang Kai’s blockage and snatch the Spirit Pills which had just been refined!
However, no matter how hard this person tried, he was unable to get within three metres of Yang Kai without being forced back.
“Luo Yuan!” Lan Xun’s brow furrowed as she whispered under her breath.
Naturally, she recognized the man who was fighting with Yang Kai was Luo Yuan of Eight Paths Sect!
She didn’t know where he had been hiding before, but clearly, when everyone’s attention had been attracted by the Pill Tribulation, he had stealthily dove in and tried to snatch all the Extraordinary Treasure Pills. Unfortunately, Yang Kai blocked him at the last moment, causing his plan to fall short.
It seemed he had underestimated Yang Kai’s strength, thinking that a mere First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator who had just finished a difficult refinement process wouldn’t be his opponent.
Luo Yuan quickly realized he was wrong after he acted though.
Standing in place, Yang Kai seemed to be stuck in an extremely passive situation, but upon closer inspection, it was clear he still had a lot of leeway to act. What’s more, his Source Qi was extremely dense and pure, making it impossible for Luo Yuan to break through his defence in short order.
[I miscalculated!]
Luo Yuan cursed to himself, knowing he had missed this opportunity.
He originally intended to grab the Extraordinary Treasure Pills and flee, but now he had been blocked by Yang Kai. Everyone else had recovered now, and if he did not retreat, Luo Yuan knew he would face everyone else’s besiegement.
Understanding this, Luo Yuan made a feint before lightly withdrawing a hundred metres, glaring at Yang Kai with a gloomy look, as if blaming him for ruining his good deed.
Although Yang Kai’s face was slightly pale, he still grinned and teased, “Brother Luo Yuan’s plans are quite deep. How long have you been waiting to make your move?”
“Hmph!” Luo Yuan snorted coldly and did not answer Yang Kai’s question directly, instead just saying, “You’re not ordinary yourself…”
What he meant was probably that Yang Kai’s true strength was completely inconsistent with his cultivation.
Yang Kai just smiled lightly as he swept his gaze around the crowd. Seeing everyone staring at his Black Jade Furnace fiercely, looking like they were about to attack, he even shouted loudly, “Everyone, wait a moment!”
As soon as this statement came out, everyone actually stood still and didn’t move. Even Wu Chang didn’t rush to take Yang Kai at this moment.
Previously, when Yang Kai and Luo Yuan fought against each other, although it was just a brief exchange, anyone with a bit of vision could see that Yang Kai was not someone easy to deal with. No one present was confident they could defeat him instantly.
Once they were unable to completely and immediately subdue him, others would pounce and the situation would quickly devolve into a chaotic melee.
Such a result was not one anyone wanted to see.
“As you can see, this Yang has not disappointed everyone’s trust, the Extraordinary Treasure Pills… have been refined successfully!” As Yang Kai spoke, he even took out a Spirit Pill from his Space Ring and stuffed it into his mouth.
Everyone could clearly see that this Spirit Pill restored Source Qi.
“Now that you’ve finished it, your role here is over. Hand over the Spirit Pills!” Wu Chang said in a commanding tone.
“Heh… this Yang has thought about this matter quite a bit,” Yang Kai smiled, paused for a few breaths, then declared, “These Spirit Pills have indeed been refined, but… I won’t be handing any of them over!”
“What did you say?” Wu Chang’s face suddenly turned cold.
“Boy, you court death!”
“You want sole possession of such Heaven defying Spirit Pills Such arrogance!”
“Brat, I advise you to hand over those Spirit Pills obediently, otherwise we’ll all rip your corpse into ten thousand pieces. You’re all alone, there’s no way to resist the attack of so many people!”
As soon as Yang Kai spoke out, the crowd exploded into a flurry of curses, threats, and even enticements.
Yang Kai turned a deaf ear to all of this as his expression became cold. Glancing around, he snapped, “What kind of nonsense are you all spouting? This Extraordinary Treasure Lotus was first discovered by this Yang, and the Extraordinary Treasure Pills were also refined by this Yang alone! Even the vast majority of the adjuvant herbs for this Spirit Pill were provided by this Yang. All of you just stood there and watched the show, and now you want to obtain these Extraordinary Treasure Pills for nothing? All of you should stop dreaming and wake up!”
“Don’t get cocky, boy!”
“Heh heh, kid, it seems this kid is sleep-talking, daring to boast so shamelessly! I bet he won’t survive past today.”
“Why waste any time with him, let’s just kill him and snatch those Spirit Pills!”
Although Yang Kai had proved his strength just now, making many realize he was not an easy opponent to deal with, with so many of them against him alone, naturally they didn’t put Yang Kai in their eyes.
To everyone, Yang Kai’s current approach was nothing less than courting death! During the clamour, everyone’s eyes were still filled with greed and murderous intent as they stared at Yang Kai.
“It seems like… This was what you planned to do since the beginning, right?” Wu Chang looked at Yang Kai coldly and asked mockingly.
“Of course!” Yang Kai turned to look at him, “I didn’t plan to give these Extraordinary Treasure Pills to you people from the very beginning. Honestly… when I discovered the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, I could have just swallowed it… Even if that would be a waste of the Heavens’ precious gifts, it would still have some effect and it would be better than handing the benefits over to all of you.”
“Bold!” Wu Chang roared furiously, a grin appearing on his face as his momentum suddenly rose and he stepped towards Yang Kai. Every time he took a step, his imposing manner would increase in intensity, like an ancient beast that caused all around him to shudder. “Although your plan wasn’t bad, you need the corresponding strength to implement it. Do you think… you have such ability?”
“If I didn’t…” Yang Kai grinned at him and said, “I wouldn’t have tried!”
If he didn’t have enough confidence, how could he have acted this way? Not only had he exposed himself as a Dao Source Grade Alchemist in front of everyone’s eyes, he even put in the work to refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pills.
Of course, Yang Kai wouldn’t have done all this while only thinking he would lose the benefits to everyone else.
Everything he had done to refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pill, Yang Kai had done for this moment.
As he spoke, he lifted his hand and shouted, “Break!”
Accompanied by this loud shout, a cracking sound suddenly rang out.
At the same time, with Yang Kai as the centre, the space within a radius of three hundred metres shattered like a mirror, with numerous black cracks appearing and swirling about, each one giving off a fatal aura.
A strange power that seemed to communicate with the Heavens and Earth filled the air!
Wu Chang stopped abruptly as he stared at the space in front of him, his expression fluctuating as he examined this new phenomenon.
“Void Cracks!”
“Space Principles!”
Cries rang out one after another as the faces of everyone present filled with shock and amazement!
Space Principles…
The strange scene before them was definitely the result of someone manipulating Space Principles, there was no other explanation for affecting space so dramatically.
Anyone who wanted to enter this three hundred metre radius region of shattered space, would have to be prepared to risk being sliced apart by these Void Cracks.
“You actually… comprehended this esoteric Dao?” Wu Chang ground his teeth and roared, his expression full of unwillingness and anger, as if Yang Kai had just brutally insulted him.
The Dao of Space was one of the rarest and most difficult Daos to comprehend. Yang Kai being proficient in this esoteric Dao naturally made Wu Chang feel unwilling to accept.
“In this world, there is actually someone who can manipulate Space Principles to such an extent with such a low cultivation?” Lan Xun’s beautiful eyes were filled with shock and admiration as he gazed towards Yang Kai’s direction.
Because of the fluctuating Space Principles, it was hard for her to even pinpoint Yang Kai’s position, as he seemed both near and far at the same time.
Under the interference of this kind of field, it would be impossible for others to attack him.
“Maybe he’s just using some kind of artifact!” Xiao Chen said with dissatisfaction, “Didn’t he have an Emperor Artifact? It seems this kid has an unusual background. He must be using some kind of Space-type artifact!”
Lan Xun frowned and didn’t bother paying any attention to him.
Although it was indeed possible to achieve this kind of effect with a powerful artifact, there were no signs Yang Kai had used anything of the sort just now. Lan Xun had clearly seen him raise his hand and release his aura before the surrounding Space Principles distorted.
This was definitely his own strength.
“This kid…” On the other side, Xia Sheng, who has been on the edge the entire time, wryly smiled.
After Yang Kai refined the Extraordinary Treasure Pills, Xia Sheng had begun sending him covert messages, asking him to cooperate with them.
However, Yang Kai had ignored him completely and instead pulled off this stunt…
“It seems like he doesn’t need any help!” Xiao Bai Yi said thoughtfully.
“En,” Xia Sheng narrowed his gaze. “If he’s proficient in the Dao of Space, he can definitely do ‘that’… If he has such skill, he really doesn’t need to fear anyone here, but…”
“But what?” Xiao Bai Yi looked at Xia Sheng curiously.
“Why doesn’t he then?” Xia Sheng looked at Yang Kai in confusion, “Wouldn’t it be best for him to just run away with the Extraordinary Treasure Pills? Him staying here and taunting everyone doesn’t make any sense, does it?”
Hearing what he said, Xiao Bai Yi was also at a loss, completely unable to figure out Yang Kai’s intentions.
On the other side, Wu Chang’s face went from black to blue as he stared at Yang Kai silently for a moment before muttering, “Do you think you’re safe hiding behind that screen?”
Yang Kai smiled and said, “Does Brother Wu Chang want to try?”
“I was just about to!” Wu Chang exclaimed.
As Wu Chang’s anger boiled over, a figure suddenly shot out.
It was not Wu Chang that moved first, but Luo Yuan.
Using some kind of extremely profound Movement Skill, Luo Yuan approached the region affected by Space Principles and stood mid-air, looking down coldly as he lifted his hands up high, clenched them into a double hammer-fist, and smashed down.
Violent energy surged.
Behind Luo Yuan, a phantom image several dozen meters high suddenly appeared. This figure was humanoid in shape, but indistinct in features. Raising its two great hands, it mirrored Luo Yuan’s actions perfectly.
*Hong…*
After a breath, there was a loud noise as the huge phantom fists slammed into the shattered space.
Yang Kai’s face darkened.
The swirling Void Cracks around him were collapsing rapidly as the region of shattered space he had created was broken open at that moment.
Before he could react, Wu Chang leapt out from a blind spot in Yang Kai’s field of vision behind Luo Yuan. In Wu Chang’s hands were two swords, one flawlessly white, one fiery red.
The swords crossed and created a brilliant radiance.
Just as Wu Chang crossed his sword, a surge of Sword Qi burst forth and he shouted, “Sword Prison, Sealing Four Poles!”
*Chi chi chi chi…*
A sword wave visible to the naked eye flooded out, forming an invisible field that sealed off the surrounding space.
Everyone was shocked and awed.
Wu Chang and Luo Yuan were two of the Southern Territory’s top elites and the little interaction they had before had only resulted in friction between them, but at this moment, they were working together flawlessly. As the first to move, Luo Yuan had broken through Yang Kai’s Space Principles, after which Wu Chang followed up by sealing Yang Kai’s actions.
In this way, even if Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space, he would be reduced to a turtle hiding in its shell.
The two had executed their techniques with near-perfect timing. Even blood brothers who had lived their entire lives together may not have been able to achieve such a level of coordination.
But these two cultivators from different backgrounds did just that with only their innate judgments and fighting instincts.
“This is bad!” Xia Sheng’s expression changed as he shouted.
On the other side, Wu Chang sneered, “Now you die!”
As he spoke, the swords in his hands trembled as a storm of red and white sword light shot towards Yang Kai.
He didn’t show any mercy, obviously planning to kill Yang Kai in one strike.
In front of everyone’s eyes, the storm swallowed Yang Kai directly and shattered his body. Even the Black Jade Furnace beside him was shattered…
“What!?” Just as everyone was lost in amazement, they saw this terrible scene and couldn’t help letting out pained cries.
Although Yang Kai’s death had nothing to do with them and they didn’t care one bit about it, if the Extraordinary Treasure Pills were destroyed in the process, it was a result no one could accept. Now, Wu Chang would become the greatest sinner rather than Yang Kai!
As for Wu Chang though, he didn’t show the slightest joy after his strike went well and instead just stood there frowning.
Luo Yuan was the same as he raised his eyes and looked around as if he was searching for something. The phantom giant behind him also gradually faded away.
“My patience is limited…” a voice suddenly came from the side.
After hearing this voice, everyone turned to see Yang Kai standing mid-air a short distance away, completely unharmed, holding the Alchemy Furnace in his hands. Sweeping a gloomy glare around, Yang Kai shouted loudly, “Just now, I’ll consider your actions a test of whether I am qualified to discuss terms with all of you. Now that the results are clear though, if someone still doesn’t know their limitations and dares to attack me… I’ll eat all the Extraordinary Treasure Pills in this furnace!”
“Madman, madman!”
“This guy is insane!”
“Brother Yang, aren’t you afraid eating so many pills will be bad for you? Why not give one to me so I can share your burden?”
Wu Chang frowned as he muttered in a low voice, “Like I thought, he can teleport!”
He had already guessed earlier that since Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space, he could leap across space and teleport, which was why he tried to seal the region around him in order to catch him.
He had coordinated with Luo Yuan flawlessly to achieve this, but they still weren’t able to trap Yang Kai.
In fact, Wu Chang didn’t even notice when Yang Kai had teleported away.
From this point alone, he knew that no one here could capture Yang Kai.
It seemed the rumours about cultivators who were proficient in the Dao of Space being unrivalled when it came to escaping and tracking were true!
If someone wanted to kill or capture Yang Kai, only three methods were valid. Either invite a cultivator with a huge enough advantage in strength over Yang Kai that they could crush him in one blow instantly to act, so there was no chance the latter could use teleport away, lure Yang Kai into an independent space that he could not escape from, or set up a barrier to seal space to trap him inside.
In the Four Seasons Realm, no one could do this.
In here, Yang Kai could come and go as he pleased!
“So Brother Yang’s intentions are… to negotiate with us?” Lan Xun raised her brow as she read between the lines of Yang Kai’s words just now.
“Princess is correct!” Yang Kai grinned, “Or at least, half-correct.”
“Please elaborate!” Lan Xun smiled.
“The ones I need to negotiate with are them, not with you, Princess.” As Yang Kai spoke, he reached into his Alchemy Furnace and took out a round, longan sized, pure white Spirit Pill.
A refreshing aroma immediately diffused.
“An Extraordinary Treasure Pill!” A cry of excitement came from the crowd as everyone stared at this Spirit Pill fiercely, all of them identifying it as the legendary pill which could help them reach the Emperor Realm!
“One of the key herbs used to refine these Extraordinary Treasure Pills was provided by Her Highness, so this Yang will deliver one to her in accordance with our previous agreement. Please accept it!” Yang Kai held the Spirit Pill out towards Lan Xun.
“Oh? Brother Yang is willing to fulfil that agreement?” Lan Xun looked at him with some surprise. She thought Yang Kai would renege on this promise, but now it appeared things were a little different from her expectations.
Yang Kai said in a serious tone, “This is only natural. These Extraordinary Treasure Pills could only be successfully refined thanks to the Jade Blood Mushroom provided by Princess. Without that Jade Blood Mushroom, there would be no Extraordinary Treasure Pills at this moment, so naturally giving one to Princess is appropriate… As for the others, without contributing anything or putting in any effort, they want to swallow these pills?” Snorting disdainfully, “They must be dreaming.”
“Brother Yang’s reasoning is fair,” Lan Xun nodded lightly before saying seriously. “If that is the case, then Little Sister will accept.”
Saying so, she lightly stepped towards Yang Kai.
Not long after, she arrived in front of Yang Kai, took the Spirit Pill in hand, and quietly whispered, “Many thanks!”
“Princess is too polite,” Yang Kai responded with a smile. “It would be best if Princess can take this Spirit Pill immediately. The Extraordinary Treasure Pill is different from ordinary Spirit Pills in that its effects are permanent and cumulative. The sooner one takes it, the better its efficacy will be. When Princess attempts to break through to the Emperor Realm, the Extraordinary Treasure Pill will still provide the maximum benefits!”
“Then… I’ll eat it now!” Lan Xun said and popped the Extraordinary Treasure Pill into her delicate mouth before swallowing it down.
*Gudong…*
The gulping sound did not come from Lan Xun, but from the onlookers below. Everyone watched Lan Xun take this Spirit Pill and unconsciously swallowed their saliva.
“Princess is extremely talented, so with the help of this Spirit Pill, reaching the Emperor Realm is surely just around the corner. This Yang wishes Princess prosperity and a swift ascension to the peak of the Martial Dao!”
“I’ll accept your kind words,” Lan Xun smiled lightly.
“Are you finished with your flattery?” Wu Chang suddenly interrupted the conversation between the two with an unhappy expression, glaring at Yang Kai coldly as he said, “I understand what you’re doing now.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai raised his brow and looked at Wu Chang, “Let’s hear what Brother Wu Chang’s guess is then.”
“Hmph!” Wu Chang coldly snorted, “The Extraordinary Treasure Pills have been refined, and you are proficient in the Dao of Space, so you could leave here at any time, but you didn’t. Instead, you stayed here and chattered on endlessly; you even deliberately took out an Extraordinary Treasure Pill to seduce everyone. Obviously, you want to exchange these Extraordinary Treasure Pills for something from the people here…”
After a short pause, he continued, “You’re quite shrewd too. You know that even if you leave the Four Seasons Realm with the Extraordinary Treasure Pills, you may not be able to protect yourself. As long as the cultivators here bring this news back to their forces, the Emperor Realm Masters outside won’t let you leave easily. They may not go so far as to use their strength and status to snatch things from you, but they will surely make you hand over the Extraordinary Treasure Pills while giving you some meagre compensation…”
“However, instead of passively accepting whatever compensation they offer, it would be better to take the initiative and seize as many benefits as you can here!” He finally concluded.
“Am I right?”
Yang Kai looked at Wu Chang in amazement, seemingly dumbfounded.
After a while, he applauded loudly and nodded, “I really didn’t think Brother Wu Chang was such a sharp-minded person.”
His remarks undoubtedly acknowledged what Wu Chang said.
In fact, this was precisely Yang Kai’s plan.
The Extraordinary Treasure Pills were extremely precious, and if it were possible, Yang Kai would have preferred keeping them all for himself. In the future, he might be able to use them to exchange for some precious items he needed. Yang Kai was certain that once they heard the three words ‘Extraordinary Treasure Pill’, no individual or Sect would refuse to trade with him, not even Star Soul Palace.
However… Just as Wu Chang said, even if he brought the Extraordinary Treasure Pills out from the Four Seasons Realm, it would be absolutely impossible to bring them away with him. The Emperor Realm Masters waiting outside the exit, would certainly not let him just leave.
The best-case scenario would be the Emperors dividing up his Extraordinary Treasure Pills and then paying him a few Source Crystals or treasures as compensation.
This was not what Yang Kai wanted to see.
He would settle things on his own terms. Even if it meant suffering a slight loss, he wouldn’t let others interfere.
“So he was planning this all along!” Xia Sheng showed a sudden look of realization.
Before now, he had been puzzled by Yang Kai’s seemingly trouble-seeking actions, but now it turned out everything was intentional. The reason he had wanted to refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pills, and then try to swallow up everything on his own, was simply to create this situation where he could bargain with everyone for benefits.
This must have been his intent from the start.
The conditions to successfully implement this plan were quite harsh…
First, Yang Kai needed strong confidence in his own Alchemy skills to simply refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pills. If he had failed at this step, everything else would have fallen apart.
Second, he needed absolute confidence in his own strength, not only so he could fend off anyone who tried to attack him, but also so he could successfully escape.
But now, it seemed that Yang Kai had met both of these conditions, and the end result was him being able to pull off this daring plot perfectly!
He had the ability to refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pills, and he had the ability to come and go as he pleased right in front of all these Masters’ eyes…
The initiative had always laid with Yang Kai, and everyone else who had been dreaming about the Extraordinary Treasure Pills had been played by him.
When everyone had been watching Yang Kai perform Alchemy, there must have been no one who thought things would turn out to be like this, right? If they knew what they knew now, likely, no one would have waited for Yang Kai to try refining the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus into pills and instead would have just tried to snatch it from him.
This fellow… had a real talent for exceeding expectations and annoying others!
However, that did not diminish people’s admiration for his guts and courage.
This kind of action was equivalent to making enemies of everyone present, and the slightest mistake would have resulted in death. Without extreme boldness and courage, who could accomplish such a feat?
Considering all this. Xia Sheng’s expression changed again as he secretly re-evaluated Yang Kai as a cunning bastard.
After he succeeded in refining the Extraordinary Treasure Pills, Yang Kai had given the first one to Lan Xun. The supposed reason for this was because Lan Xun had provided the necessary Jade Blood Mushroom, which followed the agreement made before, but in fact… Yang Kai probably didn’t want to become enemies with Lan Xun.
After all, Lan Xun’s identity was unique. No one wanted to find themselves at odds with her.
Even if it weren’t for her providing the Jade Blood Mushroom at that time, Yang Kai would likely have found some other way to make Lan Xun accept this Spirit Pill. For instance, he could ask her to testify to the efficacy of the Extraordinary Treasure Pills. After Lan Xun accepted such a proposal, it would be impossible for her to embarrass him. On the contrary, after exiting the Four Seasons Realm, she would likely put in a good word for him!
This was tantamount to securing himself a safety net.
For a time, words like ‘crafty’, ‘sly’, ‘cunning’, etc. flashed across Xia Sheng’s mind…
“Enough idle talk!” Wu Chang snapped, “What do you want in exchange?”
“What do I want in exchange for these, heh heh heh…” Yang Kai smiled without saying a word, his aloof expression causing many to feel an impulse to rush up and beat him up.
“I have a matter I am curious about…” Zhuang Bu Fan seemed to have recovered from his Source Qi’s competition with Yang Kai already and stood up with a ruddy face. Looking at Yang Kai, he asked, “Brother Yang, the Extraordinary Treasure Pills… how many are there?”
When this statement came out, Xiao Chen couldn’t help shouting, “Yes, this Xiao was also wondering just how many Extraordinary Treasure Pills there are.”
A single furnace of Spirit Pills could only produce a limited number of pills. Even if the greatest Emperor Grade Alchemist used the Star Boundary’s most profound Alchemy techniques, the maximum number of pills they could refine from a single set of ingredients was nine!
In other words, this furnace could at most contain nine Extraordinary Treasure Pills.
In reality, depending on the level of Alchemist, their condition during the refinement, the profundity of their Pill Condensing Technique, and the quality of the herbs they used, the number of Spirit Pills they refined would vary.
No matter how good an Alchemist was, or how ideal the circumstances were, refining a full nine pills was a rare occurrence.
The grade of the Extraordinary Treasure Pill was not low, and Yang Kai’s achievements as an Alchemist weren’t too high, so it was impossible for there to be nine Extraordinary Treasure Pills. The most likely scenario was three or four. Even two was a possibility…
Before exchanging with Yang Kai, at the very least, people wanted to inquire about how many chances there were. This was a basic principle of bargaining.
However, to everyone’s surprise, when Yang Kai heard this, he simply smiled again and said, “There’s a few of them… heh heh heh…”
Zhuang Bu Fan’s brow furrowed as he called out, “Brother Yang, please stop making trouble… We’re trying to discuss business with you.”
Yang Kai glanced at him before casually saying, “Then I’ll count.”
“Please do, Brother Yang!” Zhuang Bu Fan nodded.
In front of everyone’s eyes, Yang Kai really opened the Alchemy Furnace and looked inside.
The moment he opened the lid, countless Divine Senses shrouded Yang Kai from all directions, wanting to get a glimpse!
But before these people could see clearly what the situation was, Yang Kai covered the Alchemy Furnace, glanced around with a displeased expression, and coldly snorted, “Originally, I was going to tell you how many Spirit Pills there were; after all, it’s not a big deal either way… but this Yang is getting tired of everyone using such rude and voyeuristic methods, so this Yang has decided…”
He paused, whipping up everyone’s appetites.
“To not tell you!” Yang Kai said loudly.
“Bastard!”
“Boy, are you messing with us?”
“I didn’t try to peep just now! Brother Yang, quietly tell me please!”
Yang Kai scanned the surroundings with cold eyes, pointed in several directions, and said, “The people who just cursed at me can scram. No matter what kind of price you offer, I won’t give you an Extraordinary Treasure Pill.”
As soon as he said this, a number of cultivators wore ugly expressions as they hurriedly begged for forgiveness.
Yang Kai snorted loudly and then, under everyone’s shocked gaze, did something astonishing.
Reaching his hand into the Alchemy Furnace, Yang Kai snatched and brought out an Extraordinary Treasure Pill identical to the one he had given Lan Xun just now.
Then… he opened his mouth and threw this Extraordinary Treasure Pill directly into his mouth.
*Gabeng gabeng…*
With a loud crunching sound, Yang Kai chomped on the Extraordinary Treasure Pill like it was a piece of candy as he put an expression of supreme bliss onto his face, turning his eyes up towards the Heavens as if he was immersed in a joyful sensation he simply could not describe in words.
Everyone was shocked, everyone was stunned.
*Gudong…*
After a moment, along with the sound of swallowing, Yang Kai belched and patted his belly with a satisfied expression, “Tasty!”
Only then did he turn his attention back to the crowd and grin subtly, “No matter how many Extraordinary Treasure Pills there were before, now there is one less. There aren’t many left! If any of these friends wants an Extraordinary Treasure Pills, they’d best act quickly. Come forward and offer up a price to this Yang, first come, first served, if you don’t hurry there’ll be none left…”
His demeanour and tone completely changed to that of a market hawker, spouting wondrous and colourful descriptions of his wares.
As he spoke, Yang Kai added, “As for what I will exchange them for… En, just show me whatever you obtained in the Four Seasons Realm. If this Yang takes a liking to it, he’ll trade for it, if not, I won’t. Good. All sales are voluntary, please step right up!”
Saying so, Yang Kai stretched out his hand and patted his Alchemy Furnace before slowing landing and once again agitating the surrounding Space Principles to create another shattered space around himself like before.
Void Cracks swam back and forth, forming a deadly cage that moved and behaved erratically.
Any cultivator that attempted to break into this shattered space would be cut down by the wandering Space Principles!
Of course, this technique could also be forcibly broken like how Luo Yuan did before, but doing so would definitely result in Yang Kai escaping.
Having learned their lesson already, no one was interested in challenging Yang Kai anymore.
“I’ll come, I’ll come!”
“Damn, let me come first, whoever dares to cut in front of me, I’ll kill their whole family!”
“Who touched this Mistress’ butt just now!? Stand up, name yourself, and admit your crimes and this Mistress swears she won’t harm you… much.”
In that instant, a chaotic scene erupted as everyone swarmed up, pushing and shoving one another in a lively fashion.
As for the Masters who had some fame to their names, out of self-respect they stood quietly in place and did not join in the excitement. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to exchange for the Extraordinary Treasure Pills with Yang Kai, but if they were to act so uncouthly at this moment, it would be too big a loss of face…
However, just by looking at their expressions, it was clear they were anxious as well.
After all, no one knew how many Extraordinary Treasure Pills Yang Kai had, and they also didn’t know what Yang Kai wanted to exchange them for, so if they were too late, they’d end up with nothing.
“Enough! Enter one by one, anyone who dares try to break in, don’t blame this Yang for being ruthless,” Yang Kai sat down in the middle of his shattered space and snorted coldly.
After these words fell, the wandering Void Cracks seemed to recede along a certain path just big enough for a single person to pass through.
Seeing this, a cultivator standing nearby swiftly charged inside.
After he entered, the opening was immediately closed again, blocking others out.
The noise suddenly died down as everyone looked at the first cultivator who entered with scorching eyes and anxiety on their brows.
After this person entered the shattered space, he couldn’t help pausing to observe the erratic Void Cracks, wondering if they would soon descend on him and slice him apart, but seeing that he was still safe, he quickly brushed off his clothes and strode towards Yang Kai.
As he approached, he squeezed out a smile on his face, cupped his fists, and said, “This one is Chang…”
“I’m not interested in where you’re from or what your name is,” Yang Kai interrupted him with no trace of politeness and said flatly, “Take out your harvest from the Four Seasons Realm and let me see if there is anything that catches my eye!”
“Yes, yes!” The man surnamed Chang nodded repeatedly, not paying any mind to Yang Kai’s rudeness. Swiftly, he took out a few things from his Space Ring and presented them in front of Yang Kai before falling silent and waiting nervously.
Yang Kai took a look, then looked up at this man and asked, “Is this everything you gained inside?”
A man surnamed Chang nodded, “Yes, this is everything!”
“Okay, then you can pack your things and get out!” Yang Kai waved at him.
“Ah…” The man surnamed Chang’s face changed as he cried out, “Brother Yang, please take another…”
“Out, out!” Yang Kai waved his hand again, stirring the Space Principles to directly teleport this person outside before he shouted, “Next!”
After the man came back to his senses, he found that he was already standing far away from Yang Kai and couldn’t help feeling annoyed. Stomping his foot, he cursed himself for failing to grasp this great opportunity, and also Yang Kai for being so ruthless…
On the contrary, the others around him were clearly taking pleasure in his misfortune…
However, Wu Chang, Xiao Chen, and the other Masters wore solemn expressions at this moment.
Because they saw what Yang Kai had just done and could tell that his proficiency in the Dao of Space was at an astonishing level!
Not only could he teleport himself, but he could even teleport others away!
Of course, the premise was surely that the other person was inside the special shattered space Yang Kai had created, but even so, it was still a shocking display of skill.
How could a trivial First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator possibly comprehend the esoteric Dao of Space to such an extent?
With such ability, who in the Dao Source Realm could kill him?
Just as everyone’s expressions fluctuated, another person passed through the gap and walked up to Yang Kai.
It was a woman this time and she wore no markings to identify which force she belonged to, but that did nothing to hide her enchanting looks and glamorous dress. A deep cut on her robes exposed a large amount of snow-white skin and each step she took caused her great peaks to ripple intoxicatingly, dizzying and dazzling those who saw…
She walked up to Yang Kai and smiled charmingly, not hurrying to bring out her treasures to exchange with Yang Kai and instead softly whispering, “Little Brother, Big Sister didn’t have many gains in this place, what should she do to move you?”
Yang Kai looked up at her, his eyes fixing on her chest as he grinned meaningfully, “What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know, so I asked you…” She whispered in response, slowly squatting down while ‘accidentally’ exposing more of her spring scenery.
“Girl, are you trying to seduce me…” Yang Kai took a deep breath and reached out to hold the woman’s delicate, silky hand.
“Nonsense!” The woman glared at Yang Kai angrily, but she didn’t rush to take her hand back. Instead, she showed a shy expression that could tickle the hearts of any man.
At the same time, a faint scent wafted from this woman’s tender body, one that was quite weak but seemed to have some kind of magical effect, causing the blood of men around her to boil and their minds to numb.
“Shameless!” Lan Xun spurned from a long distance away.
“Utterly shameless!” Murong Xiao Xiao nodded in agreement.
“How improper!” Xia Sheng gritted his teeth, his eyes glowing with red light as he stared at Yang Kai and spat indignantly, “It’s… too enviable!”
“Little Brother…” The woman seemed to want to use her unique charms to gain some advantage, but as soon as these words were spoken, her face changed drastically and she jumped back from Yang Kai, a vigilant and angry look on her face.
Yang Kai on the other hand was now holding a Space Ring in his hand, releasing his Divine Sense to check its content.
As soon as the woman lowered her head, her pretty face became even uglier as she found that the Space Ring she had been wearing had disappeared at some point. Obviously, she hadn’t even noticed when Yang Kai had snatched it from her.
“As I thought, there’s nothing good!” After Yang Kai muttered, he threw the Space Ring back to the woman.
The woman caught it as her chest heaved up and down, gritting her teeth as she snapped, “You…”
“Hmm, you have quite some unique undergarments inside though. They’re quite fascinating all on their own, but… perhaps we should find some time to sit down together and study them…” Yang Kai looked at the woman and said with a smile.
“Who would want to study anything with you, you bastard! Bastard, bastard, bastard!” The woman blushed, stomped her foot, turned around, and rushed out. Feeling the ridiculing eyes of everyone fixed on her, she didn’t want to remain even a moment longer and hurriedly flew towards the exit.
Yang Kai scratched his nose and muttered lightly, “It’s fine if you don’t want to discuss things, but there’s no need to curse me like that.”
He had an innocent expression on his face, but soon he cracked his neck and shouted, “Next!”
Immediately another person rushed in.
Time flew by, and half an hour soon passed…
The number of people who had already tried to exchange with Yang Kai for an Extraordinary Treasure Pill had surpassed thirty, but even until this moment, no one had succeeded.
At first, everyone was worried about being too late to obtain any benefits, but now it seemed those worries were superfluous because whatever Yang Kai wanted was surely extremely rare. Otherwise, there would have been at least someone by now who had won him over.
After realizing this, the rest of the cultivators weren’t so hurried.
Everyone was now just secretly calculating what they should take out to satisfy Yang Kai’s appetite in exchange for an Extraordinary Treasure Pill.
Although Yang Kai had said before that he wanted something they had harvested from the Four Seasons Realm, everyone present was a Dao Source Realm Master, so how could their Space Rings be lacking good things? Yang Kai shouldn’t be able to tell where those things came from.
As such, the later cultivators not only took out all their gains from the Four Seasons Realm but also selectively took out precious items from their Space Rings, hoping to catch Yang Kai’s eye.
The value of these items was not low, and some of them even made Yang Kai’s eyes shine, but he still resisted the urge to trade for them.
Because the number of Extraordinary Treasure Pills he possessed was truly small, and he needed them to exchange for what he needed most!
The Tribulation Fruit!
Since deciding to keep all the Extraordinary Treasure Pills for himself, Yang Kai was prepared to exchange them first and foremost for the Tribulation Fruit, otherwise, he would not have made such a strange request to have everyone bring out their harvests from the Four Seasons Realm!
Earlier, although he found the Tribulation Fruit’s tree in the Realm of Winter, the spirit fruit itself had already been picked.
The cultivators that had entered the Four Seasons Realm were all basically gathered here now, so if nothing unexpected happened, the Tribulation Fruit would be in the hands of someone here!
In order to obtain an Extraordinary Treasure Pill from Yang Kai, no one would conceal the treasures they had acquired…
In other words, the Tribulation Fruit would appear in front of Yang Kai sooner or later, he just needed to wait patiently!
“Brother Yang, please look at these things and see if there is anything you want.”
While Yang Kai was lost in thought, a woman walked up to him and brought out a number of items from her Space Ring for him to see.
Yang Kai collected himself and scanned the items.
He had done this many times, and always ended up disappointed, but this time…
“Hm?” Yang Kai raised his brow as he stared straight at a certain item.
It was not the Tribulation Fruit, but rather something else he was quite concerned about.
After seeing this thing, one of his previous guesses had partially been confirmed.
Yang Kai was deeply surprised inside, but he maintained an indifferent expression on his face and quickly turned his gaze away to examine the other objects the woman had taken out.
There were a dozen spirit medicines that although rare, weren’t too precious. There were also eight Monster Beast Cores of good quality, but their grade wasn’t very high. Lastly, there was a bright red stone with strange patterns on its surface that if one used their Divine Sense to investigate, they would feel a strong heat hidden inside of.
Yang Kai immediately had an idea and as he looked at the red stone, exclaimed, “A Fire Spirit Stone!”
The woman was taken aback as she involuntarily stepped back several steps before stabilizing her figure and looking at Yang Kai with joy, “Do you need this?”
She didn’t have much hope when she came here to trade with Yang Kai; after all, before her, more than thirty people had come and gone without succeeding.
Without knowing what Yang Kai was looking for, the initiative for this kind of transaction lay completely in his hands. Whether other people could exchange for an Extraordinary Treasure Pill, they could only count on their luck.
But what she didn’t expect was that Yang Kai showed great interest in the strange stone she had picked up by chance, giving her a glimmering of hope!
If things went well, she would have a chance to obtain an Extraordinary Treasure Pill!
Outside, the onlookers couldn’t help looking shocked.
This wasn’t a surprise though as this was the first time Yang Kai had shown any interest. The people who had gone in to exchange with him before only evoked looks of disappointment and impatience.
For a moment, everyone was curious and wanted to see what the woman had taken out which could arouse Yang Kai’s interest.
But no one was able to see anything…
Under the influence of the swirling Space Principles, the region around Yang Kai was filled with innumerable Void Cracks, making it impossible for anyone to send their Divine Sense in to probe what was happening…
Yang Kai looked up at the woman and found that she was quite sweet and lovely, with a round flushed face and a petite, exquisite figure. Her cultivation wasn’t too high, only Second-Order Dao Source Realm, and it was unclear which Sect she belonged to.
Perhaps because of Yang Kai’s shameless interaction with the other woman before, this round-faced woman couldn’t help feeling a little nervous and wary when she saw him staring at her.
She hurriedly explained, “This is something I found accidentally in the Realm of Summer…”
“This is a good thing!” Yang Kai nodded repeatedly, “I do have some interest.”
“Really?” The round-faced woman showed a look of pleasant surprise, “Then can we…”
“No!” Yang Kai shook his head.
“Ah…” The round-faced woman immediately showed a disappointed expression.
“Yang Kai, know your limits!” For some reason, Luo Yuan suddenly shouted from outside, seemingly very dissatisfied with Yang Kai’s attitude.
“Shut up!” Yang Kai gave him a blank look, “don’t call out for no reason, just mind your own damn business!”
After snapping at Luo Yuan, Yang Kai turned back to the round-faced woman and asked seriously, “You know what the effects of the Extraordinary Treasure Pill are, right?”
The woman nodded, “I know.”
“Then how precious it is, you must also understand.”
The woman nodded again.
Yang Kai smiled and said, “Then do you think this trivial Fire Spirit Stone can be exchanged for an Extraordinary Treasure Pill?”
A trace of embarrassment appeared on the woman’s face as she pursed her red lips and replied quietly and honestly, “No…”
“That’s right. The value of these two treasures is nowhere near equivalent. Although I am interested in your Fire Spirit Stone, trading for it would obviously be a big loss for me…” Yang Kai chattered on before finally saying, “Only a fool would accept such a deal, right?”
“Then do you want something else? I can give you anything I have,” the round-faced woman said anxiously. She was no fool and could naturally understand what Yang Kai was implying. Yang Kai just said that this exchange would be a loss for him, not that he wouldn’t trade with her. Hearing this, she immediately knew that Yang Kai wanted something more from her, so she gritted her teeth and said, “I can give you all of these items!”
“Oh?” Yang Kai raised his brows, revealing a pensive expression, as if debating whether to accept.
In all fairness, the value of these things taken out by this round-faced woman wasn’t low, but it was still a bit lacking to exchange for an Extraordinary Treasure Pill, but… if the thing that Yang Kai was eying now really had the effect he thought it did, that alone would be enough to exchange for an Extraordinary Treasure Pill.
“Is this still not enough?” The woman seemed very eager to obtain this Extraordinary Treasure Pill, so seeing Yang Kai’s hesitant expression, she couldn’t help feeling uneasy.
“If you can come up with some Source Crystals as well, then this deal can…”
Before Yang Kai finished speaking, the round-faced woman stretched out her hand and touched her Space Ring. The next moment, a large pile of Source Crystals appeared in front of Yang Kai. A rough count put the number at a hundred thousand.
“This is every last Source Crystal I have,” the woman said.
“Alright then!” Seeing this, Yang Kai smiled immediately and said, “Since Sister is so sincere, I will trade you an Extraordinary Treasure Pill for all of these!”
“Really?” The woman’s voice trembled as she almost cried out with joy, staring at Yang Kai with gratitude and pleasant surprise, as if she couldn’t believe she had actually succeeded.
After all, there were so many people who failed before her. She had not been expecting to successfully conclude a deal here and had previously come with a mentality of trying her luck. But now, it appeared she had stumbled upon great fortune so she was naturally quite joyful. Unable to control her emotions, she covered her mouth with her delicate hands as her eyes became somewhat wet.
Yang Kai reached into his Alchemy Furnace, took out an Extraordinary Treasure Pill, and handed it to the woman as he said, “Since I said I would exchange with you, I will certainly keep my word!”
The woman then stretched out a pair of small hands and tremblingly took the pure white Spirit Pill, holding it extremely delicately as if she was afraid it would break, carefully examining it with her eyes.
Yang Kai started to pack the various treasures and Source Crystals the young woman had taken out into his Space Ring, but when he picked up a certain unremarkable yellow bead, he quietly poured his Source Qi and Divine Sense into it and found it gave no response at all…
At that moment, Yang Kai felt ecstatic and hurriedly put the bead away.
At the same time, the cultivators outside were in an uproar.
Almost everyone’s eyes were now glaring hotly at the back of the round-faced woman.
Although they didn’t see exactly what the woman took out and reached a deal with Yang Kai, at this moment, they knew the woman had an Extraordinary Treasure Pill in her hands.
Extraordinary Treasure Pills in Yang Kai’s hands, they didn’t dare have any ideas about, but this young woman was nothing more than a Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, so she became the target of ulterior motives.
Soon, Yang Kai finished packing up.
He glanced at the cultivators outside before turning to the round-faced woman and sighing lightly, “Sister!”
“En, what else does this Elder Brother wish to discuss?” The round-faced woman seemed to have recovered from her initial joy and asked politely.
“I only want to tell you a simple truth!” Yang Kai smiled lightly.
“What?”
“An ordinary man is innocent, but treasures make one guilty!” Yang Kai said sternly.
The woman was taken aback for a moment, but she quickly understood and nodded gratefully towards Yang Kai, “Many thanks for reminding me.”
Yang Kai nodded and said, “Since you understand, I advise you to take this Extraordinary Treasure Pill now. As I said earlier, this Extraordinary Treasure Pill does not need to be taken at the moment of breakthrough, but rather the sooner one takes it, the better its effects will be when the time comes. Right now, you are still just a Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator so it is the perfect time to take this. If Sister is comfortable, this Yang can stand guard for you for a moment while you take it. In any case, it won’t cause much of a delay.”
“No no no!” The round-faced woman waved her hands quickly and whispered, “I have… another use for this Extraordinary Treasure Pill!”
A light flashed across Yang Kai’s eyes before he nodded lightly, “Then Sister should do as she pleases!”
“Many thanks for exchanging for this Spirit Pill with me. En, you’re a good person!” The round-faced woman smiled sweetly at Yang Kai before turning around and directly walking out.
Looking at her back, Yang Kai sighed helplessly.
He had said what should be said, but the other party refused to accept his advice and insisted on taking the Extraordinary Treasure Pill away. Obviously, this would cause some trouble. In fact… the best way to handle the Extraordinary Treasure Pill was to take it directly which would result in others losing interest in snatching it.
The only other viable option was to have strength on par with Wu Chang or Xiao Chen’s, enough to deter others from having unnecessary ideas.
Yang Kai could easily predict the trouble this round-faced woman would soon encounter…
Sure enough, things turned out just as he expected. Even before this young woman walked out of the shattered space, a number of people flew at her from all directions with unkind intentions.
Although in front of everyone’s eyes, acting so disgracefully was truly disgusting, since it was related to an Extraordinary Treasure Pill which represented the hope of reaching the Emperor Realm, these favoured Sons and Daughters of Heaven, from major Sects and families set aside their face in order to rob this round-faced woman.
The round-faced woman seemed to have also realized the predicament she was in and, smelling the scent of death approaching, she flicked her hand and summoned a ribbon-like artifact. Walking forward, she called out softly, “Fellow Brothers and Sister, Junior Sister does not wish to become enemies with any of you. If you can find it in your hearts, please do not create difficulties for me!”
She spoke sincerely and with great dignity.
There were indeed a few people who were affected by her speech and showed looks of reluctance, but most simply stared indifferently at her.
Within the few breaths, it took her to say these words, the young woman had already walked out of the area enveloped by Yang Kai’s Space Principles.
Suddenly, a burst of shouts rang out one after another.
“Hand over the Extraordinary Treasure Pill.”
“Hand over the Spirit Pill and we’ll spare your life!”
“Girl, cooperate with me obediently and you won’t have to suffer! Refuse and you cannot blame us for not showing mercy!”
With the sound of these voices, at least a dozen cultivators rushed towards her. The moment these people acted, they summoned their artifacts and used Secret Techniques in all different directions, intending to block their competitors while also closing in on the round-faced woman at an extremely fast speed.
A hint of panic flashed on the pretty face of this young woman, but at the critical moment, she managed to push her Source Qi violently and the ribbon in her hand flashed, creating a five-coloured barrier around her body after which she shot up into the sky and rushed outwards.
She obviously didn’t plan to fight with these people and just wanted to leave here as quickly as possible.
This was undoubtedly the correct approach.
But she was obviously too naïve. How could she alone resist the assault of so many people?
*Hong Hong Hong…*
After a muffled explosion, the figure of the round-faced woman was directly revealed and her petite body was sent falling to the ground like a meteorite.
Immediately afterwards, a dozen figures flew down after her, greed and excitement covering their faces.
The round-faced woman suddenly showed a look of despair.
Soon, she hit the ground, and although she was not severely injured, she was obviously not alright either. After struggling a few times, she finally managed to stand up, but it was too late…
Several of her faster pursuers had already approached her, the fastest of which held a sharp sword that he slashed fiercely at her right hand!
This man was ruthless and showed no pity, seemingly only wanting to quickly cut off the hand of the round-faced woman that was holding the Spirit Pill…
With no way out, the woman screamed, her face pale and bloodless.
With her Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation, she couldn’t avoid this strike and it was inevitable she would lose her arm.
As for the man, he wore a victorious smirk on his face, as if the Extraordinary Treasure Pill was already in his hands!
As long as he could obtain the Extraordinary Treasure Pill, he would eat it immediately, eliminating the hope others had of snatching it.
Yang Kai’s complexion became gloomy as he secretly began pushing his Space Force, preparing to save the woman at the last moment!
But before Yang Kai could act, a figure mysteriously appeared in front of the round-faced woman. This figure was broad and heroic, like a tall mountain that could resist violent storms and rain, making the round-faced woman hiding behind it feel a sense of peace and comfort she had never felt before…
“Hm?” Yang Kai raised his brow as he observed this figure, a look of surprise filling his face.
He didn’t expect that at this critical moment, this person would actually make a move! [Could it be… he is also trying to snatch the Extraordinary Treasure Pill?]
Just as this thought flashed across Yang Kai’s mind, this newcomer suddenly pushed his hand out…
His movements weren’t fast, but they gave off a profound feeling, causing the sword-wielding man’s expression to change drastically, as if he was being enveloped by the grasp of death…
He wanted to avoid this palm, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t escape.
From an outside perspective, it was as if this man had slammed himself into his opponent’s attack.
After a short while, the big hand directly pinched the neck of the sword-holding cultivator. Under the horrified gaze of this man, the owner of the hand holding his throat smiled grimly as he began condensing his Source Qi fiercely.
*Kacha…*
With a crisp sound, the neck of the sword-wielding cultivator was directly crushed and his head drooped softly.
*Si…*
Gasps sounded as all the cultivators rushing towards the round-faced woman stopped in amazement, staring at the Master of the big hand in horror, with shock on their faces.
They were all Dao Source Realm cultivators, but the owner of this large hand had just casually reached out and killed one of them. This brutal and violent way of killing, crushing another with overwhelming strength, was naturally shocking.
“Luo Yuan!” Someone shouted loudly.
It was none other than Luo Yuan of Eight Paths Sect, a previously unknown figure before the opening of the Four Seasons Realm. Over just a few dozen days though, this young man’s prestige and fame had risen enough for him to be ranked amongst the top rising stars of the Southern Territory.
And he had the strength and capital to warrant such a reputation!
To a certain extent, Luo Yuan and Wu Chang were similar, both of them ferocious and brutal, people no one wanted to provoke.
At this moment though, Luo Yuan was actually standing in front of the round-faced woman and had even killed a man. How could the remaining cultivators dare to move? The Extraordinary Treasure Pill was indeed precious, but one needed their life first to enjoy it.
“Luo Yuan, do you want to snatch this Extraordinary Treasure Pill too?”
This was the question on everyone’s mind. If it was true, Luo Yuan would become the greatest enemy of everyone here for if he was not dealt with, no one would be able to obtain the Extraordinary Treasure Pill.
This was also quite possible as a treasure as precious as the Extraordinary Treasure Pill would be coveted by anyone, so Luo Yuan coming to snatch it was understandable.
Xiao Chen, Wu Chang, Xia Sheng, and the other peak-level characters did not take action so far. On the one hand, they were concerned about their Sect’s and their own face, while on the other hand, they probably disdained to act this way, but Luo Yuan was different. His Eight Paths Sect was only a medium-sized Sect, so he had no such scruples. He was not well-known before now and could act however he pleased without worrying about his reputation.
For a time, everyone’s expressions turned gloomy as they secretly grumbled to themselves.
However…
What happened next surprised everyone.
“Luo… Senior Brother Luo…” A weak voice called out from behind Luo Yuan. Naturally, it was the round-faced woman.
“Senior Brother?”
“Could it be that…”
“No way!”
At that moment, all the cultivators who had previously attacked the round-faced woman began sweating and turning pale. A few of the more timid ones even began to shiver.
Judging by the way the round-faced woman addressed Luo Yuan, everyone vaguely realized that these two belonged to the same Sect. That is to say… This round-faced woman was also a disciple of Eight Paths Sect!
Bullying Luo Yuan’s Junior Sister right in front of his face… how could he just let such an offence go?
However, this way, everyone also understood why Luo Yuan had taken action just now, not only that, but why he had been ruthless enough to kill someone directly…
For a time, the dozen or so cultivators wore anxious looks as they glanced around at each other worriedly.
“Brother Luo, this one was unaware that this Sister was from your noble Sect and has accidentally offended her, please forgive me!” One person stepped forward with a forced smile on his face, cupped his fists, and spoke to Luo Yuan.
“Brother Luo. This is all just a misunderstanding, a big misunderstanding…”
“Yes yes, if I had known that this Sister was related to Brother Luo, I would not have dared to act so aggressively.”
The group of people all began apologizing profusely, lest Luo Yuan decide to settle accounts with them here and now.
Luo Yuan swept his eyes across the crowd coldly before he shouted, “A group of trash! Scram!”
Although these words weren’t pleasing to hear, everyone scurried away as if they had just been granted amnesty.
“Senior Brother Luo…” On the contrary, it was the round-faced woman who did not feel any joy after being rescued, instead just staring towards Luo Yuan’s back with anxiety as she called out softly.
“What did I tell you?” Luo Yuan turned around and glared at her coldly, “After entering the Four Seasons Realm, I am me, you are you, don’t make trouble for me. Have you forgotten?”
“No… no!” The round-faced woman waved her hands quickly, as if she wanted to explain something, but when she met Luo Yuan’s frigid eyes, she couldn’t help lowering her head and biting her lip, “I’m sorry!”
“Next time, you’re on your own!” Luo Yuan snorted coldly.
“I understand,” the round-faced woman kept her head down as she gripped her clothes tightly, like a child who had done something wrong.
“Hmph, put your best into it!” Luo Yuan snorted coldly and turned to leave.
“Wait!” The round-faced woman quickly reached out and grabbed Luo Yuan’s sleeve.
“What?” Luo Yuan frowned as he snapped impatiently.
“This… is for you!” The round-faced woman raised her head, squeezed out a smile, and held the Extraordinary Treasure Pill she had just obtained from Yang Kai out to Luo Yuan.
Luo Yuan’s expression turned to one of shock as he stared at the round-faced woman in a daze.
A breeze blew past as the crowd atop the mountain fell completely silent.
“So, she planned to gift it…” Yang Kai looked at this scene and muttered to himself, “And to Luo Yuan at that…”
When the woman exchanged for the Extraordinary Treasure Pill with him earlier, she said that she had another use for this Spirit Pill. Yang Kai didn’t know what she was planning at the time, but now everything was clear.
She hadn’t tried to obtain the Extraordinary Treasure Pill for herself, but for Luo Yuan.
And from beginning to the end, she had not revealed her intentions, even when she was being besieged by many people, she did not ask Luo Yuan for help. Only after she was safe did she willingly try to offer up this Spirit Pill, which all Dao Source Realm cultivators coveted, to Luo Yuan.
Everyone could see that this young woman was looking at Luo Yuan with soft eyes filled with clear love and worship. Her expression and demeanour told everyone that she was willing to offer her everything for Luo Yuan, so what did a mere Extraordinary Treasure Pill count for?
At this moment, the round-faced woman seemed to shine dazzlingly, and Luo Yuan, who was pierced by this light, couldn’t help having his face twitch as he had difficulty looking straight ahead.
“Ah… Another woman who lost herself in love. No one can save her now…” Xia Sheng said with emotion.
Murong Xiao Xiao, who was standing next to him, was already greatly moved, tears crystallizing at the corners of her beautiful eyes, no one able to tell what she was thinking.
“Haa… what a terrible farce, and everyone else making so much fuss over it!” Xiao Bai Yi said coldly.
“Senior Brother!” Murong Xiao Xiao glared at him.
“Hehe…” On the other side, Lan Xun also seemed to have some feelings about this as she pursed her lips and smiled, “I really didn’t expect… someone would adore Luo Yuan like this.”
“Some cheap, disgraceful tricks!” Xiao Chen said sourly from the side, looking at the round-faced woman with a tinge of pity, “Unfortunately, she fell in love with someone like Luo Yuan, this woman must be blind.”
“What’s wrong?” Lan Xun turned his head and glanced at him, “You believe this kind of display is somehow disgraceful?”
“I didn’t mean that, please don’t misunderstand, Princess,” Xiao Chen quickly adjusted his expression, turning a tender look to Lan Xun as he declared solemnly, “If I had obtained an Extraordinary Treasure Pill, I would definitely…”
“I’ve already taken one,” Lan Xun interrupted him impatiently before he could finish his cheap words.
Xiao Chen murmured, “I just wanted to express that…”
“You… what are your intentions here?” In front of everyone’s eyes though, Luo Yuan, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly shouted.
“I… I don’t have any other meaning,” the round-faced woman didn’t know why Luo Yuan looked angry and she couldn’t help but panic as she tried to explain, “I just wanted to give Senior Brother this Extraordinary Treasure Pill…”
“To give it to me?” Luo Yuan sneered.
The round-faced woman nodded heavily.
“Nonsense!” Luo Yuan didn’t show the slightest appreciation and instead laughed, “What? You thought you could make me feel indebted to you by giving me this Extraordinary Treasure Pill?” At this point, his face turned harsh as he shouted, “Listen well! This Luo Yuan will not be bound by anything or anyone! Not by you, not by Eight Paths Sect, not by Heaven itself! I, Luo Yuan, will eventually stand at the pinnacle of this world, rule supreme, and look down upon all the world’s heroes!”
“I… I didn’t…” the round-faced woman turned anxious as tears began forming in her eyes. Anxiously, she tried to call out, “I just…”
“Save your breath! I have no interest in this Extraordinary Treasure Pill. Even without this Spirit Pill, I will still break through to the Emperor Realm!” Luo Yuan snorted coldly, “You’d best discard any wicked ideas you might have or don’t blame me for disregarding our status as fellow disciples!”
Hearing this, the round-faced woman finally burst into tears. Falling silent, two lines of tears fell down her cheeks, like broken pearls, her beautiful eyes filled with innocence and heartache.
“That bastard!” Xia Sheng looked at this scene and couldn’t help cursing.
The sacrifice this round-faced woman was making was simply amazing; after all, as a Dao Source Realm cultivator, the Extraordinary Treasure Pill was extremely useful to her and if she were to take it now, her hopes of breaking through to the Emperor Realm would definitely increase dramatically. This was a major event that was related to her very future.
But she disregarded all of that without hesitation and only thought about gifting this Extraordinary Treasure Pill to Luo Yuan!
Even just now, in order to not cause trouble for Luo Yuan, even though she was facing grave danger, she didn’t cry out for help…
Putting herself in such a position simply for the sake of another, this woman’s love for Luo Yuan could not be any more obvious.
Any normal man would have been greatly moved by this kind of devotion… even the most stoic and ignorant of men would have shown some tenderness.
However, Luo Yuan only reacted with fierce hostility, which naturally caused Xia Sheng to be extremely dissatisfied.
Even if Luo Yuan didn’t want to accept this Extraordinary Treasure Pill, he didn’t need to act so cruelly.
“Waste!” Murong Xiao Xiao cast a contemptuous look towards Luo Yuan without the slightest hesitation.
“A terrible farce indeed…” Xiao Chen smiled lightly, his true thoughts difficult to read.
Luo Yuan did not stop, however, and shouted once more, “Let’s end this nonsense now. This Spirit Pill… you eat it!”
As he spoke, his figure flickered and he moved right in front of the round-faced woman, stretched out his hand to pinch her cheeks, then snatched the Extraordinary Treasure Pill with his free hand and threw it into her mouth.
“Cough cough cough…”
The round-faced woman felt the Spirit Pill enter her belly and couldn’t help but back up a few steps. She coughed and beat her chest constantly, as if she wanted to vomit up the Spirit Pill.
But that was futile. After the Spirit Pill entered her stomach, it directly melted and began flowing into her abdomen.
She tried hard to stop all this for a while, but ultimately failed and raised her head in despair.
However, when she lifted her eyes, Luo Yuan was gone.
“He left,” Lan Xun looked at the round-faced woman and sighed slightly, “He is headed towards the exit.”
The round-faced woman heard this, turned her head, and saw a stream of light flying off towards the exit.
Luo Yuan actually didn’t even bother trying to trade with Yang Kai. It seemed that in order to prove his words about his aptitude, and that he could break through to the Emperor Realm on his own, he intended to give up this opportunity to obtain an Extraordinary Treasure Pill!
“Senior Brother Luo!” The round-faced woman called out, grit her teeth, stomped her foot, and chased after Luo Yuan.
Watching this, no one tried to embarrass her further. Firstly, she was a disciple of the Eight Paths Sect, and she had a Senior Brother Junior Sister relationship with Luo Yuan, who had already killed one man who had acted against her. Secondly… the Extraordinary Treasure Pill had already been taken by her, so what point was there to embarrass this woman? Would it be possible to force her to spit up that Spirit Pill?
And so, this brief episode came to an end.
“It’s like he said, not wanting to be bound by a favour from others… or snatching an opportunity that belongs to others…” Yang Kai sat in place, stroking his chin thoughtfully…
With so many people present, perhaps everyone only saw Luo Yuan’s ruthlessness and ferocity, but Yang Kai saw something else.
When he was dealing with the round-faced woman earlier, before the trade was even concluded, Luo Yuan had actually yelled at him from a distance, telling him to not go too far!
Yang Kai didn’t understand why Luo Yuan did that at the time, but now it was obvious he had been trying to help that round-faced woman.
If Luo Yuan really had no interest in her, then there would have been no need for him to say those words. While she was trying to strike a deal with Yang Kai, Luo Yuan only needed to sit on the sidelines…
What’s more, how could someone as proud and arrogant as Luo Yuan accept gifts from others? Especially when the gift was from his Junior Sister, one that clearly loves and admires him…
Yang Kai felt that if he was in Luo Yuan’s position, it would be impossible to accept that Extraordinary Treasure Pill.
A true man should hold such convictions.
Although he disapproved of Luo Yuan’s rotten method of handling his Junior Sister, Yang Kai actually appreciated his decisive approach.
After thinking for a while, Yang Kai shook his head as a frown came to his brow and he secretly thought, [Why am I allowing someone else’s affairs to trouble me?]
Thinking so, he shouted, “Next!”
Maybe because the round-faced woman’s success made the remaining cultivators see hope, as soon as Yang Kai called out, cultivators swarmed towards him.
But under the influence of the twisted Space Principles, only one person was allowed to enter at a time.
Unfortunately for this man, the result was disappointing as Yang Kai swiftly checked what he took out before shooing him away.
The next dozen people had similar experiences!
When Yang Kai took a leisurely look around, he found that there were not many people left.
This secretly made him anxious, because the Tribulation Fruit he wanted hadn’t appeared so far. It wasn’t clear whether someone hadn’t taken it out to trade, or if the one who had the Tribulation Fruit hadn’t come to begin with.
If Yang Kai failed to obtain the Tribulation Fruit on this excursion to the Four Seasons Realm, he really didn’t know how he could explain it to Qin Zhao Yang. Qin Yu’s life depended on him acquiring the Tribulation Fruit, without it, that little girl would only have a few months left to live.
[Should I just directly request to exchange the Tribulation Fruit for an Extraordinary Treasure Pill?]
Yang Kai hesitated. If he really made such a request, and if the person who had the Tribulation Fruit was present, that person would definitely not refuse, but if that person wasn’t here and news spread out, it would definitely cause many troubles from him.
After thinking about it carefully, Yang Kai suppressed this idea and continued to trade with other people calmly.
After an hour, Yang Kai’s face became gloomy.
Because almost every cultivator present had come to trade with him, but he had yet to see a trace of the Tribulation Fruit…
His ill premonition had come true!
The only people that were left were the ones from Azure Sun Temple and the few famous Masters who had been waiting and watching up until now.
Having reached this point, Yang Kai didn’t want to delay any more and shouted, “Who will come first? I won’t conceal it from you, the total number of Extraordinary Treasure Pills that were refined was four. In other words… this Yang only has one left.”
One of them was taken by him, one was given to Lan Xun, and one was given to the round-faced woman, so with only four being refined, only one remained.
As he made this announcement, Yang Kai picked up his Black Jade Furnace and shook it slightly.
From the Black Jade Furnace, a rolling, clinking sound rang out.
Inferring from the sound, there was indeed only one pill inside!
After the refinement succeeded, all of Yang Kai’s actions had been witnessed by everyone’s eyes, so he had no opportunity or time to hide any of the Spirit Pills, leading everyone to trust this statement.
“Since there is only one pill left, then this Xiao will come,” Xiao Chen, who had held back for a long time, at this moment finally took his turn. Leaping out swiftly, he strode towards Yang Kai with a confident smile, seemingly confident he would obtain this last Spirit Pill.
Not long after, he arrived in front of Yang Kai.
Yang Kai looked at him with a smile and said, “Brother Xiao, please!”
Xiao Chen sneered and while taking out something from his Space Ring, he whispered in a low voice, “Little Brat, I advise you to accept this immediately and then hand over that Extraordinary Treasure Pill to this Xiao, that way everyone can remain friendly.”
Yang Kai heard this and looked up at him.
Xiao Chen continued with a smile on his face, “The things that this Xiao took out are not items just anyone can see, there should be something that satisfies you.”
Despite the insufferable arrogance with which he spoke, Xiao Chen had the capital to say such words things; after all, he not only came from the Southern Territory’s overlord, Star Soul Palace, he was an elite disciple of that Sect and also the son of Silver Star Envoy, Xiao Yu Yang.
The things he took out were indeed rare treasures! Whether they were artifacts or herbs, treasures, or even Secret Arts…
It was a dazzling and varied array.
Yang Kai, however, didn’t even glance at those things and simply asked, “Brother Xiao, did you enter the Realm of Winter during this opening of the Four Seasons Realm?”
Xiao Chen heard this and furrowed his brow, not knowing why Yang Kai had asked such a question. Replying impatiently, he spat, “No, this Xiao has always been accompanying her Highness. Princess said that the environment in the Realm of Winter was too barren…”
“If so, you can pack up your things and go!” Yang Kai waved his hand as he cut off Xiao Chen.
“What did you just say?” Xiao Chen’s face suddenly became gloomy as he glared at Yang Kai fiercely, the threatening tone in his voice more than evident.
“Did you not hear me clearly?” Yang Kai grinned, cracking his neck before leaning towards Xiao Chen and shouting, “Brother Xiao can go!”
After this shout, he leaned back and smiled slightly, “If you still couldn’t hear me, there’s nothing more I can do.”
Xiao Chen’s expression turned ugly as it went from red to white before he shouted in a low tone, “Boy, have you considered the consequences of your actions clearly?”
In front of everyone’s eyes, he was humiliated by Yang Kai like this. What was worse though was that everyone now knew he didn’t have what Yang Kai wanted, so continuing to entangle himself would only lead everyone to believe he was trying to bully Yang Kai…
However, Yang Kai wasn’t going to give him any face.
“Scram!” Yang Kai spat disdainfully, without a trace of politeness, and pushed the surrounding Space Principles towards Xiao Chen, wanting to throw him out of this shattered space forcefully.
Although Yang Kai had used this trick to directly send out a Dao Source Realm cultivator before, when it came to Xiao Chen, things did not go so smoothly. There was an inexplicable Principle Strength that lingered around Xiao Chen, clashing with the surrounding Space Principles, causing his figure to flicker slightly while remaining in place.
This situation lasted for ten breaths before Xiao Chen took the initiative to withdraw.
If he continued to linger, he would be forced to fight with Yang Kai, and in that strange shattered space, Xiao Chen also felt the threat of death, so he did not dare to remain.
After escaping three hundred meters, Xiao Chen glared at Yang Kai with a gloomy face, gnashing his teeth for a while.
“Haa…” Seeing this scene, Lan Xun only felt a headache coming on, and after sighing, she turned around and flew off towards the exit.
When Xiao Chen saw this, his face twitched before he turned and shouted at Yang Kai, “Boy, I’ll remember you. You’d best pray you don’t fall into my hands one day.”
Leaving this threat, he chased after Lan Xun.
Yang Kai turned a deaf ear to these words and turned to Xia Sheng and the others with a smile, “Brother Xia, there’s really just one Spirit Pill left, don’t you want to come and see it?”
If possible, he would like to trade with Xia Sheng for this Spirit Pill.
Yang Kai knew he couldn’t bring this Spirit Pill out of the Four Seasons Realm as the only result would be the Emperors outside snatching it from him while giving him some paltry compensation.
As for giving it away…
Yang Kai had never considered it. For one thing, he and Xia Sheng weren’t actually that close, and there was no friendship between them. What’s more, with the Extraordinary Treasure Pill being so precious, even if Yang Kai offered it to Xia Sheng for free, the latter would not be willing to accept it.
If Xia Sheng took this Extraordinary Treasure Pill without offering proper compensation, it would mean owing Yang Kai a huge favour.
Hearing this call, Xia Sheng smiled and said, “We… don’t need it.”
Yang Kai was shocked and asked curiously, “What do you mean?”
Xia Sheng said, “Brother Yang, you want to trade for that spirit fruit, right?”
What he was referring to was, naturally, the Tribulation Fruit. Yang Kai had entered the Four Seasons Realm to find the Tribulation Fruit was no secret in Azure Sun Temple, because before leaving, Gao Xue Ting had told everyone that if any of them found the Tribulation Fruit, they should collect it to exchange with Yang Kai.
With Gao Xue Ting’s reminder, plus Yang Kai’s emphasis on letting everyone take out their harvest from the Four Seasons Realm before the transaction, Xia Sheng naturally knew what he was looking for.
Unfortunately, judging from the current situation, Yang Kai had not managed to achieve his goal.
“Yeah!” Yang Kai did not deny and nodded lightly.
“None of us have it, so we won’t join in the fun,” Xia Sheng smiled, “Besides, if we really offered to exchange it with you, it would likely be impossible for you to refuse no matter what else we offered, which would leave a bad taste… It’s fine, Brother Yang, you should ask Wu Chang if he has it.”
Apart from Xia Sheng and the others from Azure Sun Temple, only Wu Chang remained here.
Hearing this, Wu Chang also took the initiative to stand up and ask Yang Kai, “What spirit fruit do you want?”
Yang Kai groaned slightly but decided to tell the truth, “The Tribulation Fruit!”
Wu Chang frowned and said, “Never seen it.”
“Even you don’t have it…” Yang Kai couldn’t help showing a disappointed look. He didn’t know when the Tribulation Fruit from the Realm of Winter was picked, who had it, or where it was, so it looked like his primary objective for coming to the Four Seasons Realm could no longer be achieved.
Yang Kai suddenly had a deep feeling of regret.
“Although I don’t have what you want, I still want to make a deal with you!” Wu Chang quickly said, “You can’t take that Extraordinary Treasure Pill out, can you?”
“Naturally not!” Yang Kai composed himself and said, “Brother Wu Chang wanting to make a trade is fine, but… I wonder what you’re willing to take out?”
“This!” Wu Chang took out a jade bottle and threw it towards Yang Kai.
He didn’t seem worried at all that Yang Kai would try to steal this treasure and run away, trusting him to the point where he directly handed over what he wanted to trade.
Yang Kai was startled when he saw this and quickly dispersed the Space Principles which had been lingering about him. Catching the jade bottle in his hand, Yang Kai glanced suspiciously at Wu Chang.
“If you open it and take a look, you’ll know what it is!” Wu Chang said lightly.
Yang Kai opened the bottle and peered inside, his face changing slightly in the next instant as he commented, “Brother Wu Chang is quite bold!”
Wu Chang sneered, “I will break through to the Emperor Realm soon, so this thing is not necessary to me, but you… you’re only a First-Order Dao Source Realm now and won’t reach the Emperor Realm any time soon. This thing will be of great use to you, possibly even saving your life at a critical moment.”
“It is as Brother Wu Chang says,” Yang Kai had already capped the jade bottle as he spoke.
Xia Sheng and the others looked confused, wondering what Wu Chang had handed over to Yang Kai to move him so greatly.
Murong Xiao Xiao, however, suddenly seemed to be thinking of something and muttered, “Could it be that…”
“What?” Xia Sheng, who was always curious, asked Murong Xiao Xiao in a low voice.
Xiao Bai Yi also showed a look of interest as he perked up his ears.
Murong Xiao Xiao whispered, “An Emperor Authority Bead!”
*Si…*
Xia Sheng drew a sharp breath, “That bastard Wu Chang had such a thing?” As he spoke, a look of fear flashed across his face as cold sweat dripped down on his forehead, “If that guy had summoned his Emperor Authority Bead at that time, wouldn’t I be dead…”
A Third-Order Emperor’s full-powered strike was sealed in an Emperor Authority Bead, so although Xia Sheng was a genius in his own right, he had no confidence he could survive such a blow. Death or serious injury were the only possible outcomes, with the former being much more likely.
After thinking about this though, Xia Sheng’s brow furrowed as he said with a puzzled look, “Wait, Xiao Xiao, how do you know that Wu Chang had an Emperor Authority Bead in his hands?”
Before Murong Xiao Xiao spoke, Xiao Bai Yi inferred, “Because when Wu Chang obtained that Emperor Authority Bead, Xiao Xiao was there!”
Xia Sheng heard this and his face slightly changed, calling out in a low voice, “Could it be that… this Emperor Authority Bead was obtained by Wu Chang in the Four Seasons Realm?”
“Yeah,” Murong Xiao Xiao nodded, “He got it from a trade with Luo Yuan. Didn’t I tell you before that I entered the Flowing Time Temple with Senior Brother Xiao? It was there, in the final room. That’s where Luo Yuan obtained the Emperor Authority Bead…”
“Were there any other treasures there?” Xia Sheng asked with interest, “What did you obtain?”
“I got a drop of Supreme Divine Water…” Murong Xiao Xiao smiled, “Even that was thanks to Junior Brother Yang, if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to obtain anything. As for the others… Princess Lan Xun took one away, a Pseudo Emperor Artifact, while Gong Wen Shan obtained an Emperor Aura!”
“The Heavens must be jealous!” Xia Sheng looked up to the sky in grief and indignation, “Why didn’t I meet such an opportunity!”
Xiao Bai Yi squinted at him and said, “Hmph, you were the one who insisted on exploring the Realm of Spring saying it was sunny and beautiful there!”
“Seems like I made a mistake,” Xia Sheng bowed his head, looking downcast, but immediately he recovered and asked, “Wait, you said Yang Kai helped you obtain that drop of Supreme Divine Water, then what about him… did he also get something?”
“Junior Brother Yang, he… he obtained some kind of red bead.” Murong Xiao Xiao replied, “But I don’t know what the bead is for, even Princess Lan Xun couldn’t tell what it was.”
“A red bead!” Xia Sheng frowned after hearing this.
As the few of them were talking, Wu Chang was impatiently urging, “Are you satisfied with this thing?”
Yang Kai held the jade bottle containing the Emperor Authority Bead and grinned, “Admittedly, this thing is truly precious, a life-saving treasure. It is quite tempting!”
This was an Emperor Authority Bead. Although Yang Kai’s strength was decent, and he was proficient in the Dao of Space, his cultivation was still low. In the Star Boundary, where Masters floated about like clouds and danger lay around every corner, there would likely be many situations where his ability was lacking. At such times, an Emperor Authority Bead would offer a layer of safety, so how could Yang Kai not be interested?
This thing was probably one of the most valuable items in the entire Four Seasons Realm. Even the Emperor Aura that Gong Wen Shan obtained was not comparable. An Emperor Aura could be used to refine an Emperor Artifact, but Yang Kai already had several Emperor Artifacts in his hand, so an Emperor Aura had almost no attraction to him.
“You want something more?” Wu Chang frowned as he read the meaning behind Yang Kai’s words, “Let’s hear it, if it’s not too much, I can accept it.”
“Brother Wu Chang, it is refreshing to speak with you!” Yang Kai laughed out loud. People like Wu Chang and Luo Yuan, regardless of their hot tempers, were actually the easiest to cooperate with, because they did not try to hide their intentions or motivations at all. If they thought something, they would speak it boldly rather than trying to deceive you.
Yang Kai followed up, “This thing is indeed precious, but Brother Wu Chang should also know that it is a consumable item, once it is used, it is gone forever…”
“Enough, I know its advantages and disadvantages, just tell me what you want!” Wu Chang interrupted Yang Kai before he finished speaking, directly telling him to name a price.
Yang Kai hesitantly touched his nose…
“Brother Yang, if you don’t mind, this Xia has a suggestion!” Xia Sheng suddenly interjected.
“What do you want?” Wu Chang looked at him irritably.
Xia Sheng said innocently, “I just want to make a suggestion to Brother Yang. It’s up to him if he wants to listen or not, what’s wrong with that?”
Yang Kai smiled lightly and said, “If Brother Xia has a suggestion, please feel free to speak it.”
“En,” Xia Sheng nodded before he turned to Wu Chang and said meaningfully, “Brother Wu Chang seems to have obtained a lot of Star Seals in the Four Seasons Realm this time, so perhaps Brother Yang can…”
Hearing this, Yang Kai raised his brow, immediately understanding what Xia Sheng wanted to say.
Wu Chang frowned.
Xia Sheng continued, “Before coming here, Elder Gao once said that all the disciples who obtained extra Star Seals could receive rewards from the Sect after turning them over, and the more one turns over, the greater the reward! Brother Yang is not a disciple of my temple, but this deal also applies to you. If you can obtain more Star Seals, you can make a bigger request from the temple, like for instance, asking the Sect Master and Elders to help you find that Tribulation Fruit!”
Hearing this, Yang Kai’s eyes lit up as he felt this was a good idea!
He had been unable to complete the task he came to the Four Seasons Realm to achieve, which made him quite embarrassed about returning to Maplewood City to deal with Qin Zhao Yang. If he could ask the leaders of Azure Sun Temple to help him though, obtaining the Tribulation Fruit may still be possible.
In short, Yang Kai was quite interested in this proposal.
“Hmph!” Wu Chang snorted coldly, “What is this? You want to use this method to reduce the quotas my Orthodoxy Temple has to enter the Shattered Star Sea? Does Brother Xia have so little confidence in his own Sect?”
“Not at all!” Xia Sheng smiled and said, “I’m just thinking about what’s best for Brother Yang, nothing like what you said!”
“I don’t care either way! Whether others from Orthodoxy Temple can enter the Shattered Star Sea or not is none of my concern, as long as I can enter myself!”
“Oh?” Xia Sheng raised his brows and said, “Brother Wu Chang means that as long as you have a single Star Seal, you can discard the rest?”
“That depends on his intentions!” Wu Chang turned his gaze to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai replied, “Let me ask first, Brother Wu Chang, how many Star Seals do you have?”
“Five!”
“Quite a lot!” Yang Kai exclaimed before nodding, “Good, since Brother Wu Chang is so sincere, then this Yang is willing to make this deal with you, but I still have one question.”
“Ask!” Wu Chang said concisely.
“How are you going to give me those Star Seals?”
“I can transfer them to you with a certain Secret Technique!” Wu Chang answered naturally.
Yang Kai’s face went black when he heard this and asked, “Then when I saw you outside the Flowing Time Temple earlier, why did you insist on cutting off my arm?”
“Do you know the necessary Secret Technique?” Wu Chang asked disdainfully.
“I don’t,” Yang Kai answered honestly.
“Then cutting off your arm is the only way!” Wu Chang coldly snorted.
“Makes sense!” Yang Kai said lightly.
“Enough nonsense, let’s complete the transaction first!”
Saying so, Wu Chang’s figure flickered and he rushed over to Yang Kai directly, his hands forming a set of seals as he pushed his Source Qi.
The scene in the nameless mountain valley remained desolate as the oval light door hung midair. Cultivators continued exiting from the light door, some with big smiles, making it obvious that they had gained a great harvest in the Four Seasons Realm, while others had their heads lowered in depression, seeming like they weren’t very satisfied with their gains.
No matter what their expressions were previously like, their expressions all instantly changed when they exited the door of light as chills shot up their spines and they broke out into a cold sweat.
This couldn’t be helped, because at this moment, six Emperor Realm Masters were standing together in a line, watching the exit with fierce gazes. Whenever someone walked out of the door, six Emperor Realm Divine Senses would simultaneously cover that person.
Who would be able to withstand such pressure?
Luckily, the six Emperors had no malicious intent and were simply probing, so the pressure would disappear as fast as it came.
Most didn’t know what these six Masters were trying to do here, so they would hurriedly flee after leaving the exit, but some intelligent people had already guessed why these Emperors were guarding the exit in such a manner.
Just like this, the six Emperor Realm Masters kept a vigilant watch over the exit for half a day.
Suddenly, a certain figure appeared from the door of light that had remained silent for quite a while.
The six Emperors immediately focused their attention on this figure.
The figure didn’t expect this, but his reaction was incredibly quick, immediately circulating his Source Qi and Spiritual Energy to resist the tremendous pressure he faced. However, he then started furrowing his brow in confusion because he discovered that the pressure coming from his front actually came from the various major Sects’ Elders…
“Good, good, good!” Chen Wen Hao kept muttering the word ‘good’ with a smile as he watched Wu Chang emerge from the Four Seasons Realm before stating, “Wu Chang, you can go over to the side.”
Wu Chang had a contemplative expression flash through his eyes when he heard this before he obediently walked over to the side and stood there.
Three figures immediately followed after Wu Chang. They were Xia Sheng’s group of three from Azure Sun Temple.
Xia Sheng immediately started sweating when he appeared, “Seniors… what’s going on? Could it be… you’re here to welcome me? How could this Junior possibly deserve such…”
“This King will toss you back in if you keep blabbering!” Xiao Yu Yang coldly snorted.
Xia Sheng shrank his neck and didn’t dare to make a sound, hurriedly taking Xiao Bai Yi and Murong Xiao Xiao over to the side.
After these three came out, Yang Kai finally appeared from the exit.
Gao Xue Ting couldn’t help but lightly sigh as she muttered in a low voice, “He finally came out.”
“This little brat is the one?” Xiao Yu Yang turned to ask Gao Xue Ting.
Gao Xue Ting gently nodded.
“Very good!” Xiao Yu Yang laughed loudly, “Making this King wait for so long, I really want to see if this boy has three heads and six arms!”
As he spoke, he opened his hand and immediately opened his palm towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai hadn’t even gotten his bearings after exiting the portal before he felt a tremendous pressure descending from above. The force was so powerful that it was impossible for him to even think of resisting and right after, he was actually pulled over in front of Xiao Yu Yang.
“What’s going on?” Yang Kai exclaimed loudly with an expression of astonishment.
His first thought was that someone had ambushed him!
But when he looked around, he saw the six Emperor Realm Masters all staring at him with heated expressions, almost like six perverts feasting their eyes on a naked beauty.
Even Gao Xue Ting had the same expression.
Yang Kai surprisingly recognized all six. Naturally, there was no need to mention Gao Xue Ting and Xiao Yu Yang, but even the other four were familiar to him as he had seen them in Maplewood City before.
After some slight contemplation, Yang Kai basically understood what was currently going on.
Although he had mentally prepared himself before, he still felt rather helpless now that it actually happened …
“What’s the meaning of this! What are you doing!?” Yang Kai began to shout and struggle.
“Don’t be afraid. We won’t hurt you.” Gao Xue Ting tried to console him.
“Let’s talk things out if you have something to say! Gentlemen should use words, not fists, it’s always better to make friends than enemies! Who knows who will rise up to become strong in the future? You shouldn’t bully someone while they’re young and weak!” Yang Kai kept chattering endlessly!
“Little brat, you talk too much!” Xiao Yu Yang coldly snorted as he grabbed Yang Kai.
Yang Kai wasn’t even able to react as Xiao Yu Yang snatched the Space Ring from his hand.
“You’re robbing me?” Yang Kai was astonished as he glared at Xiao Yu Yang and exclaimed, “Bullying the weak when you’re strong, bullying a Junior as a Senior, is this the law of this land?”
“Hm?” Xiao Yu Yang’s Divine Sense was currently sweeping Yang Kai’s Space Ring, but that didn’t interfere with his ability to think, so hearing this, he snorted condescendingly and coldly chuckled, “The law of this land? This King is the law here! Do you have any objections?”
“If that is what Senior thinks…” Yang Kai shrugged helplessly and said, “Then I can’t do anything.”
“As long as you understand!” Xiao Yu Yang then ignored Yang Kai and instead focused on investigating the ring.
Moments later, he furrowed his brow and tossed the ring over to Chen Wen Hao who was next to him.
Chen Wen Hao took the ring and also started investigating it …
At this moment, Xiao Yu Yang focused on Yang Kai again with an inscrutable gaze that seemed as deep as an abyss. This was a gaze that made chills run down the spine and would cause one to lack the courage to face him. It seemed as if he wanted to see deep inside Yang Kai’s heart and unearth the secrets hidden within.
Yang Kai felt uncomfortable all over from Xiao Yu Yang’s stare, as if millions of ants had entered his body and were nipping at his flesh…
Still, Yang Kai had been lucky enough to have previously experienced the aura of a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master and had even fought against three First-Order Emperor Realm Masters before, so Xiao Yu Yang was actually a bit overconfident to think that he could suppress Yang Kai’s will with just a sharp gaze.
Of course, this wasn’t Xiao Yu Yang’s fault, as no ordinary First-Order Dao Source Realm Junior would possibly be able to think about anything when being stared at by him. Such an individual’s consciousness would be thrown into chaos already and they would answer anything that they were asked; however, it just so happened that Yang Kai had been through even greater storms before.
“Little brat, this King can see that you’re a smart person, so you should already know why we are waiting here?” Xiao Yu Yang took the direct approach with his words.
“I can guess…” Yang Kai couldn’t act like a fool in this situation, so he could only say this, turning a frightened look towards Xiao Yu Yang as he asked, “Is it for the Extraordinary Treasure Pills?”
“It’s good that you already know!” Xiao Yu Yang spoke solemnly.
Naturally, the Masters were waiting here because of the Extraordinary Treasure Pills.
The cultivators who first emerged from the Four Seasons Realm had spread the news of how an Extraordinary Treasure Lotus appeared in the Four Seasons Realm, along with how Yang Kai had successfully refined it into pills.
Xiao Yu Yang and the others were naturally incredibly astonished to learn of this news.
The Extraordinary Treasure Pill was a Heaven defying spirit pill that if used well, could create a new Emperor Realm Master.
The Emperors present would of course pay close attention to this with how important it was. If it wasn’t for being afraid that they would cause the entrance to collapse, they would have long ago rushed into the Four Seasons Realm instead of giving Yang Kai time to trade away such precious pills.
They had waited here all this time just to meet Yang Kai in person, so of course, they were going to demand a detailed explanation.
“Where are the extra Extraordinary Treasure Pills? Hand them over!” Xiao Yu Yang immediately reached his hand out towards Yang Kai.
“What extras? They’re all gone.” Yang Kai shouted with an innocent expression on his face.
“Hm?” Xiao Yu Yang once again adopted an authoritative posture as he spoke in a cold tone, “You should know that with your strength, this King can easily discern if you’re lying or not, yes?”
“I’m telling the truth, if you don’t believe me, you can ask Brother Wu Chang and Brother Xia!” Yang Kai pointed in their direction.
Wu Chang and Xia Sheng’s faces couldn’t help but twitch slightly.
Although they were rising stars in the Dao Source Realm, and they were both confident they would become Emperors in the future, there was still a huge gap between them and a veteran Emperor Realm Master like Xiao Yu Yang. It was obvious that the two of them would feel severely pressured by Yang Kai drawing troublesome attention to them.
“Good,” Xiao Yu Yang quickly said. “This King will ask you once more, and you will answer honestly. If you dare try to deceive this King, he will send you back into the Four Seasons Realm and make you stay there for all eternity!”
As he spoke, he pointed at the light door which had yet to close.
After that, he changed his tone and showed a pleasant and friendly expression as he smiled, “Of course, if you’re honest and cooperative, you’ll receive a rich reward…”
Yang Kai wiped away some cold sweat on his forehead and commented, “Is this a carrot and stick? … haha, please ask anything that you like, Senior Xiao. This Junior will tell you everything he knows.”
“En.” Xiao Yu Yang had a satisfied expression as he asked, “In that case, the Extraordinary Treasure Pills… you really managed to refine them?”
“How could I possibly fake something that everyone witnessed?” Yang Kai stated proudly, “If you don’t believe me, you can ask Princess Lan Xun and she can testify on my behalf.”
“I already asked her, but this King still doesn’t dare to believe that you’re actually a Dao Source Grade Alchemist…” Xiao Yu Yang stated with some disbelief as he paused for a moment before saying, “Forget it, I won’t think about this matter for the time being. How many Extraordinary Treasure Pills were you able to refine?”
“Four!”
“Where have they gone?”
“Princess Lan Xun ate one, a female disciple from the Eight Paths Sect ate one, I ate one… and I gave the final pill to Wu Chang.”
“Oh?” Chen Wen Hao arched his eyebrow with an expression of surprise and turned to look at Wu Chang when he heard this.
Wu Chang nodded lightly towards him.
Chen Wen Hao immediately smiled so much that it was difficult to make out his eyes or nose. He chucked and exclaimed, “Senior Xiao, it was Wu Chang’s opportunity to receive an Extraordinary Treasure Pill. Senior Xiao, please spare him, heh heh heh…”
Xiao Yu Yang glanced over at Chen Wen Hao before ignoring him and asking Yang Kai, “According to what you say, there’s not a single Extraordinary Treasure Pill left?”
Yang Kai sweated as he answered, “Senior Xiao, it was incredibly difficult for me to craft that one furnace of Extraordinary Treasure Pills and I almost failed in the process. It was already Heaven’s blessings that I was able to refine four in the end, what more do you want?” He fell silent for a moment before continuing, “After I refined them, the Spirit Pills remained in my Alchemy Furnace and all of them were traded away in front of everyone’s eyes. All of the Spirit Pills were definitely used up. Senior Xiao has also inspected my Space Ring, and you obviously didn’t find anything, right?”
Xiao Yu Yang gently nodded, “Indeed, it is an impressive feat to refine four pills at your current level. When it comes to Extraordinary Treasure Pills, even an Emperor Grade Alchemist would not guarantee how many they could refine. Since the Spirit Pills’ whereabouts are already accounted for, then… this matter will end here.”