Yang Kai’s expression eased significantly after hearing this.
Xiao Yu Yang added with a serious expression, “Just so you know, this King did not wait here just to try to steal your Spirit Pills! It’s just… an ordinary man is innocent, but treasures make one guilty, you should understand my meaning. With your cultivation level, if you secretly retained any Extraordinary Treasure Pills, you’d only be attracting endless trouble to yourself.”
Yang Kai nodded and answered, “Junior understands. Many thanks for considering my situation, Senior Xiao.”
He knew that even though Xiao Yu Yang was offering up a pleasant-sounding excuse, his true objective was still to steal his Extraordinary Treasure Pills. Well, perhaps ‘steal’ wasn’t the best word to use, as Xiao Yu Yang would definitely compensate him.
But even so… Xiao Yu Yang was correct. Since if Yang Kai really did have extra Extraordinary Treasure Pills in his possession, his future days would be extremely dark and dangerous. He didn’t need to fear Dao Source Realm cultivators, but what about Emperors?
Although it was true that Emperor Realm Masters couldn’t use these Extraordinary Treasure Pills personally, which Emperor didn’t have disciples or relatives? An Extraordinary Treasure Pill would still be extremely attractive to them.
At that time, countless Emperor Realm Masters would definitely hear the news and swarm him to try to rob him…
But now, it was proven that all of Yang Kai’s Extraordinary Treasure Pills had been used up, and Xiao Yu Yang and five other Emperor Realm Masters were present to serve as witnesses to this.
It was likely that nobody would try to make trouble for Yang Kai in order to rob Extraordinary Treasure Pills from him in the future.
In a sense, Yang Kai should actually be thanking Xiao Yu Yang for this.
At this moment, Yang Kai’s Space Ring had reached Gao Xue Ting’s hands while the other five had finished their own inspection, not finding much of use. As such, Gao Xue Ting didn’t even bother searching his Space Ring and simply tossed it back to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai put on his ring again before looking at Xiao Yu Yang and saying, “If Senior Xiao has nothing else to say… then this Junior will take his leave first.”
“Good!” Xiao Yu Yang gently nodded, but in the next moment his expression changed as he commented, “This King has some advice for you, if you’re willing to hear it?”
“It would be Junior’s honour to receive advice from Senior Xiao!” Yang Kai hurriedly adopted a serious expression.
Xiao Yu Yang’s expression became much warmer when he saw how accepting Yang Kai was as he quickly said, “You won’t be able to swallow everything if you try to eat too much!”
Yang Kai arched his brow as a contemplative expression appeared on his face before he cupped his fists and said, “Many thanks, Senior Xiao, for the reminder, this Junior will take this lesson to heart.”
“That would be best. Good, you may leave,” Xiao Yu Yang waved his hand.
Only then did Yang Kai head towards where the Azure Sun Temple’s disciples were gathered as he found a place to sit down.
Currently, many cultivators were gathered together in groups, mainly with their respective Sects and families, as they rested in the nameless mountain valley.
But when counting the people here, they had decreased in number by more than a third compared to thirty-three days ago. The cultivators who weren’t here now had obviously met some bad end in the Four Seasons Realm.
In this land, every Sealed World and every trial ground would have risks along with opportunities, and every cultivator’s path of growth would wander between life and death…
This was a fate that every cultivator had to face, one that was absolutely inescapable!
Cultivation was about survival of the fittest, and only the strongest would remain after the filtering out by an unforgiving world.
As Yang Kai rested, Bian Yu Qing and Kou Wu came to say their goodbyes to him.
They were the only two from Blue Feather Sect who came to the Four Seasons Realm this time and could be considered lucky as despite not obtaining many opportunities or reaping too big a harvest, they had at least both managed to return safely.
Since the Four Seasons Realm was about to close, the two of them would naturally return to Blue Feather Sect.
Yang Kai chatted with them for a while and then watched them leave.
He didn’t waste his energy on telling Bian Yu Qing to not tell Wu Meng Shan about him, because he knew that Bian Yu Qing would definitely go back and tell everything about her experience to Wu Meng Shan, meaning that Wu Meng Shan would learn about his information.
Yang Kai was still rather wary of Wu Meng Shan.
But for now, he could only resolve to absolutely not meet that old bat until he became strong enough, otherwise, he might fall prey to Wu Meng Shan’s tricks.
About one hour later, the Heavens and Earth shook as the nameless mountain valley’s light door suddenly vanished. The Four Seasons Realm had completely closed itself off now, and only the Heavens knew when it would open again.
The Four Seasons Realm experience was completely over now and many cultivators from various Sects and families began to leave. Gao Xue Ting talked to Xiao Yu Yang for a while longer before she summoned her ship that took the Azure Sun Temple’s disciples back.
The Azure Sun Temple didn’t suffer many losses. Apart from the outsider Yang Kai, nineteen disciples had come this time, and only four were missing now.
This amount of loss was far less than the average, so it was acceptable to Gao Xue Ting.
Regardless, some of them had still died, so the disciples were in low spirits on the way back. Most simply sat in silence as they took inventory of their harvest from the Four Seasons Realm.
Suddenly, Yang Kai heard Gao Xue Ting calling out to him. Hurriedly opening his eyes, he saw that Elder Gao of the Azure Sun Temple had her back to him as she stood at the bow of the ship. Elder Gao’s long hair and sleeves fluttered in the wind as she seemed to be gazing at the distant scenery, her elegant posture adding a hint of noble beauty to this place.
Yang Kai didn’t dare to be rude as he hurriedly walked towards her.
He stood not far behind her, cupped his fists, and asked, “Elder Gao, do you have some instruction for me?”
Gao Xue Ting stayed silent for a time before suddenly saying, “Do you understand the meaning of Senior Xiao’s last words to you?”
Yang Kai fell silent for a moment before replying, “What Senior Xiao meant was that I should choose one between the Martial Dao and Alchemic Dao to focus on.”
“Indeed!” Gao Xue Ting nodded lightly before she turned her beautiful face towards him, her eyes flashing as she stared at Yang Kai before she opened her red lips slightly to say, “You have extraordinary aptitude for both the Martial Dao and Alchemic Dao, and in time you will definitely become tremendously successful in one of these two domains. Perhaps you’ll even reach a height that I am unable to, but… one’s time and strength are always limited. If you choose to pursue the peak of the Martial Dao, you will have to abandon the Alchemic Dao, and vice versa, it is impossible for you to concentrate on both of these domains. Senior Xiao spoke, thinking for your sake.”
“Junior understands,” Yang Kai nodded with a serious expression.
“It’s good that you understand… There’s nothing else I need to say.”
“Then Junior shall take his leave,” Yang Kai bowed slightly.
He was rather surprised that Gao Xue Ting had called for him just for this.
However, he was rather touched, as Gao Xue Ting showed care for him despite him not being a disciple of Azure Sun Temple. It would have been impossible for her to tell him all this if she didn’t care.
Yang Kai had just turned around when he suddenly heard her speaking from behind, “Those Extraordinary Treasure Pills… are there really none left?”
Yang Kai hurriedly turned around again, but saw that Gao Xue Ting had her back to him and wasn’t moving at all, as if she wasn’t the one who said those words.
Yang Kai stood where he was and furrowed his brow as he thought. Not daring to say another word, he could only return to his spot and sit down cross-legged again.
[Has this woman realized something? A woman’s intuition is truly frightening…]
Several days slowly passed by…
On this day, a beautiful ship arrived at the Azure Sun Mountain Range, and all the Dao Source Realm cultivators standing onboard had recovered from the gloom of losing their companions by now. Everyone stood up as they stared out at the familiar scenery below them.
“Wahahaha… I, Xia Sheng, have returned!” Xia Sheng had his hands on his hips as he laughed loudly, as if wanting to make sure everyone knew he had returned, his voice echoing above the mountains as the ship proceeded forward.
His voice was so loud that the Azure Sun Temple disciples moving around below all immediately raised their heads.
“Can you not act more mature?” Xiao Bai Yi coldly glared at him with an expression of disdain.
“Xiao Bai, you should be happy to return home, so here, come shout together with your Senior Brother…” Xia Sheng walked over to Xiao Bai Yi’s side and grasped the latter’s shoulder as he spoke.
“Who would want to shout with you…?” A vein started bulging on Xiao Bai Yi’s forehead.
“So embarrassing!” Murong Xiao Xiao’s face reddened.
“Hmph!” Xiao Bai Yi coldly snorted as he gave Xia Sheng a sidelong glance while saying, “Look at other Sects’ Eldest Senior Brothers like Wu Chang and Luo Yuan! All of them are cold and calm, giving their Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters a sense of reliability, but what about you? You act like a clown every day! How did someone like you actually become the Eldest Senior Brother?”
“So you wanted a cold and cool Senior Brother?” Xia Sheng suddenly adopted a serious expression as a chill emanated from his eyes, his smiling expression instantly being replaced with a domineering glare that seemed to say that none below Heaven were his equal.
At this moment, Xia Sheng’s aura changed tremendously.
“Other Senior Brothers can do it, so this Senior Brother… can naturally do it as well!” He quickly said while acting all serious.
Murong Xiao Xiao was stunned at the sight. Her small mouth formed a circle as she covered her mouth with her small hand as her beautiful eyes trembled.
“Do you feel like I’m reliable now…” Xia Sheng looked directly at her while asking in a deep and masculine voice, “Do you want to abandon everything without care and jump into this Senior Brother’s wide chest and solid arms?”
Murong Xiao Xiao pursed her red lips and cautiously answered, “Senior Brother, your killing intent… is leaking…”
“Stop messing around!” Gao Xue Ting gave Xia Sheng a sidelong glance while lightly stating, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! Stop learning from our Temple Master, otherwise, you won’t be able to find a woman in the future.”
“Really?” Xia Sheng seemed as if he had suddenly been struck by lightning, taking major damage and breaking out into a cold sweat as he muttered, “En… other Sect Masters all have wives and countless concubines, but our Temple Master is still old and single…”
His face paled as if he had seen something incredibly frightening before raising his head to Gao Xue Ting and saying, “Elder Gao, Temple Master is so pitiful, so have you ever considered… ahh, again!?”
Before he could finish, Gao Xue Ting suddenly swung her sleeve and immediately tossed him off the ship. As the ship flew off, Xia Sheng’s pitiful wails could be heard from the distance.
“Don’t do, won’t die!” Xiao Bai Yi didn’t sympathize with him one bit, even coldly snorting at the sight.
Murong Xiao Xiao was actually worried and turned around while intending to beg for mercy for Xia Sheng, but when she saw Gao Xue Ting’s terrifying expression, she instantly swallowed her words back down.
The ship descended to Azure Sun Temple’s Main Peak, Myriad Saints Peak, causing a tremendous gust as it approached.
Below were Temple Master Wen Zi Shan, Vice Temple Master Qiu Ran, Elder Chen Qian, and the other senior leaders who were waiting with serious expressions.
Before the ship landed, several Emperor Realm Divine Senses scanned the ship, and the Masters present instantly gained a precise understanding of how many disciples had been lost on this trip.
Although a few elite disciples had been lost, luckily, the ones they placed the greatest expectations upon had all safely returned, so everyone couldn’t help heaving sighs of relief as their serious expressions became slightly less tense.
The ship landed moments later.
All the disciples leapt down while Gao Xue Ting waved her hand and stowed away the ship.
“Hahaha, Little Xue Ting, I really missed you after not seeing you for so many days! Here, give Uncle a hug!” Wen Zi Shan laughed loudly while opening up his arms as he took large steps towards Gao Xue Ting.
*Shing…*
Sword Qi flashed as killing intent erupted.
Wen Zi Shan broke out into a cold sweat as he stopped a meter in front of Gao Xue Ting, a cherry blossom longsword pressed against his neck while Gao Xue Ting wore an icy expression. Gripping her sword tightly, she coldly snapped, “I’ll kill you if you dare to take one more step forward!”
Wen Zi Shan didn’t dare to move…
“Sigh.” Qiu Ran held his forehead and sighed with a helpless expression. “Temple Master, please behave with some dignity!”
“It was just a joke…” Wen Zi Shan chuckled before jumping back and landing at his original position. The next moment, his expression turned serious as he stated, “In any case… this Temple Master congratulates everyone for returning safely, all of you are future pillars of our noble temple. All of you have worked hard to pass this trial.”
The disciples didn’t say anything as they simply watched him in silence. Gao Xue Ting also slowly put away her sword.
“This Temple Master shall remember all of your accomplishments and your fellow Brothers and Sisters deaths shall also not be in vain. Now… those among you who received extra Star Seals, come with this Temple Master. The others are dismissed.”
“Yes!” At his command, everyone responded in a loud voice.
There were almost twenty disciples gathered, but most dispersed at this point, leaving only four behind.
Yang Kai turned around and saw that apart from himself, only Xiao Bai Yi, Murong Xiao Xiao, and another Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator youth, whose name he didn’t know, remained.
Although this cultivator was also a disciple of Azure Sun Temple, and had entered the Four Seasons Realm, Yang Kai had barely interacted with this youth, so he knew nothing about him.
Still, when judging the youth’s aura and disposition, he didn’t seem like someone that was difficult to get along with.
“Where’s that little brat Xia Sheng?” Moments later, Wen Zi Shan turned to Gao Xue Ting and asked curiously as he was surprised to not see Xia Sheng here. With a slightly dark expression, Wen Zi Shan began to worry if something had happened to Xia Sheng in the Four Seasons Realm.
Even Qiu Ran thought the same thing and his face couldn’t help going white as he exclaimed, “Elder Gao, could it be that Xia Sheng…”
Gao Xue Ting replied calmly, “No, he’ll be here soon!”
As she spoke, a figure flew over from the horizon, shouting all the way, “Wait for me!”
Moments later, Xia Sheng landed in front of everyone as he looked towards Gao Xue Ting with a face full of complaints, shouting out pitifully, “Elder Gao, next time you should notify this disciple before you make a move… this disciple wasn’t mentally prepared!”
“Little brat, just what did you do!?” Wen Zi Shan reached out and knocked Xia Sheng’s head, causing Xia Sheng’s neck to shrink.
“Temple Master, what are you doing!?” Xia Sheng felt really aggrieved as he held his head.
Wen Zi Shan coldly snorted, “It’s obvious to see that you made Elder Gao angry, is this Temple Master not allowed to teach you a lesson?”
Xia Sheng blinked as his expression became speechless…
“Alright, since you’re here, then all of you should follow this Temple Master.” Wen Zi Shan also glanced at Yang Kai as he spoke. “You come as well!”
A short time later, all the higher-ups of Azure Sun Temple arrived at the large main hall on Myriad Saints Peak, with the disciples and Yang Kai standing in the centre of the floor.
Wen Zi Shan sat on his seat above and glanced down as he spoke, “Elder Gao, you were the leader of the team that went to the Four Seasons Realm this time, so you should understand the situation in detail. Please tell us how many Star Seals each of these people obtained.”
Upon hearing this, Gao Xue Ting answered calmly, “Although I didn’t compare with the other Sects, judging from the number of Star Seals that these disciples obtained, their harvest should have been pretty good.”
After saying this, she turned her pretty face and added, “Xia Sheng obtained four Star Seals, Xiao Bai Yi obtained two, Murong Xiao Xiao two, and Chen Mu Ji got two…”
After hearing this, Yang Kai finally learned that the Second-Order Dao Source Realm youth’s name was Chen Mu Ji.
Gao Xue Ting paused for a moment here before continuing, “There were three other disciples who obtained one each, but they are not here right now.”
Wen Zi Shan nodded lightly in understanding.
Before heading out on this journey, Azure Sun Temple had announced that any disciple who obtained a Star Seal in the Four Seasons Realm would obtain the right to enter the Shattered Star Sea. Thus, the three disciples who obtained one Star Seal apiece had all kept their Star Seals without needing to hand them over.
Those who had come here were the ones who had obtained extra Star Seals.
“What about this little brat?” Wen Zi Shan glanced at Yang Kai.
“He…” Gao Xue Ting’s expression became slightly complex, remaining silent for a time before she finally muttered, “He obtained seven!”
“What?”
“Did I hear incorrectly?”
“That many?”
The higher-ups were all Emperor Realm Masters with extraordinary mental discipline; however, they still couldn’t hide their astonishment when they heard that Yang Kai actually obtained seven Star Seals all by himself. They all glanced at him inquisitively with looks of astonishment, as if they were reassessing him.
The temple’s top disciple, Xia Sheng, had only obtained four, even with his powerful Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation. On the other hand, Yang Kai only had First-Order cultivation, so how had he obtained seven?
[Isn’t this brat’s luck a little too outrageous?] Everyone was thinking this as they secretly felt that Yang Kai must possess Heaven defying luck. If that wasn’t the case, how else could he have obtained so many Star Seals?
Yang Kai remained calm in front of everyone’s eyes.
Seven was indeed the total number of Star Seals that he obtained in the Four Seasons Realm.
The first one was the diamond-shaped Star Seal that he obtained in the Two Seasons Mountain Range. At the time, Wu Chang and the others had been chasing a Monster Beast which had unfortunately run into Yang Kai as it was fleeing and wound up dying at the latter’s hands.
Yang Kai didn’t get any opportunities to receive a Star Seal after that.
Only when he was guarding the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus and killed two cultivators had he obtained two more.
In the end, he made a trade with Wu Chang and obtained four more.
Although luck certainly played a part in being able to obtain so many, strength was also a necessary requirement.
Star Seals weren’t actually that easy to obtain, because there weren’t very many of them, and if it wasn’t for Yang Kai killing two cultivators and making a trade with Wu Chang, perhaps when the Four Seasons Realm closed, he would have only obtained the first one he got by luck.
“There were some reasons involved that I will explain to you afterwards; however, he indeed obtained seven Star Seals by himself!” Gao Xue Ting spoke up. The reason she spoke of was naturally about the Extraordinary Treasure Pill.
Wen Zi Shan nodded lightly and made a sound of affirmation before a smile covered his face as he stated, “Very good, in that case, nineteen people from the temple can enter the Shattered Star Sea when it opens. That’s wonderful news.”
If the trial in the Four Seasons Realm was considered a small event at the level of simple life experience, then the Shattered Star Sea was a place where one could seek enlightenment of their own Martial Dao. Such a place wasn’t one where anyone could just enter.
First, a Star Seal was required as an entry ticket. Second, one would have to possess the strength necessary to pass through the entrance of the Shattered Star Sea. Both were necessary in order to go through.
In other words, even if someone possessed a Star Seal, they would still be unable to enter the Shattered Star Sea unless they were strong enough.
Azure Sun Temple had nineteen quotas for entering, but it was unknown how many could actually enter in the end.
Still, this amount was much larger than that of most other Sects and great forces.
Wen Zi Shan was naturally overjoyed.
“This is a sign of great fortune for our temple!” Qiu Ran uttered happily, stroking his snow-white beard in happiness and satisfaction.
“Let’s not waste time. Little Qian, gather their extra Star Seals.” Wen Zi Shan gestured with his eyes towards Chen Qian.
Chen Qian nodded and got up. With a wave of her hand, an artifact that resembled an incense burner appeared in her grip. It was unknown what this artifact was ordinarily used for, but it seemed to be of decent grade. Various runes appeared on the incense burner artifact’s surface, making it seem rather mysterious.
Slowly, she walked over to the waiting disciples, then starting with Chen Mu Ji, she said in a gentle tone, “Just relax!”
“Yes!” Chen Mu Ji answered and took a deep breath, causing his expression to immediately become calm.
Seeing that he was prepared, Chen Qian held the incense burner with one hand and made a seal with her other hand before poking several points on Chen Mu Ji’s arm.
Chen Mu Ji suddenly retreated a few steps with a muffled cough, his expression turning a little pale, as if his foundation had suffered some damage.
At the same time, a beam of light suddenly shot out from his body.
Chen Qian was quite swift and accurate in her movements as she waved towards the beam of light. An invisible force immediately bound the beam of light and dragged it into the incense burner.
Yang Kai was quite astonished as he watched.
Back in the Four Seasons Realm, when he was trading with Wu Chang, the latter had used a Secret Technique to force out the extra Star Seals from himself so that Yang Kai could obtain them. But now, it seemed that apart from that method, it was also possible to retrieve Star Seals from another as well.
After realizing this, Yang Kai felt that he needed to be more careful when travelling the Star Boundary in the future; otherwise, someone with ulterior motives might target his Star Seals and bring more trouble upon him.
After that, Chen Qian did the same to extract the extra star seals from Xia Sheng, Murong Xiao Xiao, and Xiao Bai Yi.
Yang Kai witnessed quite clearly that no matter the cultivation or strength of the person, they all seemed to take some damage after having the Star Seal stripped from their body. Even Xia Sheng couldn’t help shaking a bit as his face went slightly pale.
It seemed that this forceful extraction method had its disadvantages.
It didn’t take long for Chen Qian to move in front of Yang Kai.
This Elder Chen was rather petite, and when she stood in front of Yang Kai, she was actually shorter than him by a head.
She raised her head to glance at Yang Kai as she said in a light tone, “If you’re prepared, I’ll begin.”
“Wait a moment!” Yang Kai suddenly spoke up.
“What’s wrong?” Upon hearing this, Chen Qian furrowed her delicate brow and tilted her head at Yang Kai, not knowing what he wanted to do.
Everyone else also glanced in his direction.
Yang Kai had a calm expression as he glanced towards Wen Zi Shan, cupped his fists, and said, “Junior is willing to turn over all his extra Star Seals, since this was what was agreed upon beforehand and all I need is one for myself; however, before that, Junior would like to ask Temple Master Wen a question.”
“Oh?” Wen Zi Shan smiled upon hearing this and nodded as he answered, “Say it, what do you need from this Temple Master?”
Yang Kai replied, “As Elder Gao previously mentioned, all extra Star Seals must be turned over to the temple, and this Junior was only able to enter the Four Seasons Realm thanks to the quota provided by Azure Sun Temple, so naturally I have no objections in giving my six star seals to the temple,” he paused for a moment before saying, “Elder Gao also mentioned before that after turning over the additional Star Seals, the temple would give an appropriate reward…”
“So, it’s about this matter!” Wen Zi Shan chuckled. “You can rest assured about this matter. Although you’re not a disciple of my divine temple, we won’t bully you, and we’ll give you the appropriate reward that you deserve…”
“May I make a request then?” Yang Kai inquired.
“What’s your request? Let’s hear it.” Wen Zi Shan looked at him with some interest.
“Temple Master Wen should still remember this Junior’s original goal in entering the Four Seasons Realm, yes?” Yang Kai replied with a question instead of answering.
Wen Zi Shan thought for a moment before nodding, “For the Tribulation Fruit? Right, I still haven’t asked you yet, did you manage to obtain it during this trip?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “No, but I did discover a Tribulation Fruit Tree in the Realm of Winter; unfortunately, it seems someone got there first and picked the fruit…”
“That’s truly unfortunate,” Wen Zi Shan also had an expression of pity.
“Junior would like to request the temple’s assistance in finding that spirit fruit! If Temple Master Wen can agree, I’ll gladly hand over all six of my Star Seals!” Yang Kai quickly said.
After Yang Kai said this, the Emperor Realm Masters in the temple couldn’t help furrowing their brows.
It wasn’t that Yang Kai was asking for too much with his request, but rather… This was truly difficult to do.
Countless Sects and families from almost the entire Southern Territory had entered the Four Seasons Realm, and nobody had seen who obtained the Tribulation Fruit from the Realm of Winter. If Azure Sun Temple tried to search for that person, they would have to invest a tremendous amount of manpower and effort.
What’s more, even if they found who obtained the fruit, it still might not be possible to obtain it. The other party would definitely ask for something in exchange. In other words, Azure Sun Temple would have to pay a certain amount before being able to obtain the Tribulation Fruit.
It would be fine if some small Sect or a disciple from some small family had obtained the Tribulation Fruit, as Azure Sun Temple would simply need to apply some pressure for the other party to submit.
However, it would be worrisome if a disciple from Orthodoxy Temple, Heavenly Martial Holy Land, or even Star Soul Palace had obtained the fruit. At that time, it would no longer be just about a single spirit fruit, but rather an issue between two top-level Sects. If it wasn’t dealt with properly, then a tremendous favour might be owed in the end.
Yang Kai might not know all the complex relationships between the top Sects of the Southern Territory, but the Azure Sun Temple’s leaders did.
That was why everyone fell silent after Yang Kai made this request.
Upon seeing them like this, Yang Kai simply remained quiet and waited instead of urging them to answer.
Wen Zi Shan finally spoke up after a long time, “If I recall correctly, that Tribulation Fruit wasn’t something you needed for yourself, but was for someone else, correct?”
“Indeed!” Yang Kai nodded.
“Since you weren’t able to obtain it in the Four Seasons Realm, you’ve already put forward your best effort, so why continue pursuing the issue? You could instead ask for something beneficial to yourself, for instance…” At this point, Wen Zi Shan suddenly took on a dangerous aura as his words became filled with extremely strong temptation, his voice turned low as he continued, “This Temple Master could help stimulate your potential and greatly increase your cultivation.”
Yang Kai furrowed his brow as he answered, “I made a promise, and promises should be kept. Temple Master, why test me like this?”
“Haha…” Wen Zi Shan didn’t feel awkward at all about being seen through, instead smiling as he heartily declared, “Good, this Temple Master will agree to your request. The temple shall help you to search for the Tribulation Fruit.”
“It must be found within three months!” Yang Kai quickly said. “If it takes any longer than that, I’m afraid… the one who needs it won’t be able to endure any longer.”
“Three months is more than enough!” Wen Zi Shan smiled slightly as he turned to look at Qiu Ran, “Vice Temple Master, you shall be in charge of this matter. You must deliver the Tribulation Fruit to this little brat surnamed Yang within three months.”
Qiu Ran stood up, cupped his fists, and answered, “Subordinate understands. I will absolutely live up to the Temple Master’s expectations!”
After saying this, he actually immediately left the hall, seemingly preparing to deploy some people to search for the Tribulation Fruit right away.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief seeing this.
With a powerful Sect like Azure Sun Temple helping to search for the spirit fruit, it would definitely greatly increase the chance of success. If even Azure Sun Temple was unable to find it now, then Yang Kai really wouldn’t be able to do anything and would have to return to Maplewood City and inform Qin Zhao Yang of what happened.
“Will this suffice?” Wen Zi Shan smiled and looked at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai gently nodded, turned to look at Chen Qian, and continued “Please go ahead, Elder Chen!”
Chen Qian didn’t say a word as she scanned Yang Kai with her Divine Sense. She then used one hand to hold the incense burner while her other hand made a seal before she poked Yang Kai several times.
The next instant, Yang Kai felt a warm energy reverberate inside his body and a flow of heat appeared on his arm. It felt as if something had shot forth, and at the same time, an indescribable feeling of discomfort arose in his heart.
He couldn’t help groaning slightly when this happened.
“Eh…?” Wen Zi Shan had a look of astonishment in his eyes when he witnessed this.
That was because everyone before Yang Kai had differing degrees of discomfort when their extra Star Seals were stripped from their bodies. Murong Xiao Xiao, Xiao Bai Yi, and Chen Mu Ji had taken several steps backward, and although Xia Sheng hadn’t retreated, his face had still paled.
Although Yang Kai’s reaction was similar to Xia Sheng’s, Yang Kai had six Star Seals stripped from him! Yet, he still stood right where he was despite only having a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation.
This was really shocking.
The others noticed this as well and couldn’t help showing interest in him.
*Shua Shua Shua…*
Six beams of light flew into the air, but Chen Qian immediately bound and dragged them into the incense burner.
After Chen Qian finished, she finally spoke to Yang Kai in a gentle tone, “I left a five-pointed Star Seal for you, use it well if you really enter the Shattered Star Sea.”
“Many thanks, Elder Chen!” Yang Kai took a deep breath in order to calm the roiling vitality in his chest.
Of the seven Star Seals that he obtained, the highest-level one was a five-pointed Star Seal, which he obtained from trading with Wu Chang. As for the six-pointed, seven-pointed, or eight-pointed Star Seals that Lan Xun had previously mentioned, Yang Kai had not seen any such thing, so he was clueless about whether they truly existed in this world or not.
Overall, Yang Kai was quite satisfied with the final result. Chen Qian had also been considerate of him and left him the highest-level Star Seal rather than leaving him a random one.
Yang Kai still didn’t know what difference there was between the Star Seals’ different levels, but now wasn’t the time to ask. Regardless, he was going to stay in Azure Sun Temple for some time, so he intended to find someone to ask later when he had the chance.
“All of you have worked hard, you may go and rest now.” Wen Zi Shan waved his hand at the Dao Source Realm disciples before adding, “As for the temple’s reward for you… we’ll discuss it and inform you later.”
“Yes!” Xia Sheng and the others responded before bowing and exiting the hall.
After they left, Elder Di Rong finally muttered, “Such a good seedling!”
Although he didn’t refer to anyone with his words, everyone present knew who he was talking about. Naturally, it was Yang Kai.
“It seems you all have noticed as well,” Wen Zi Shan smiled slightly, “This little brat surnamed Yang… he’s a bit different from others. I think that Elder Gao and Elder Chen should understand better than anyone else, since the two of them watched the entire fight between Yang Kai and Xue Yi back on Soaring Swallow Peak.”
Chen Qian nodded and confirmed, “That’s right, Xue Yi wasn’t even a match for him!”
“He’s not just a ‘bit different’ from others, he’s a one in a billion genius!” Gao Xue Ting quickly said.
“Oh? Elder Gao has such a high assessment of him? Isn’t that a bit much…?” Di Rong turned to look at Gao Xue Ting and exclaimed in disbelief.
“You wouldn’t think that if you knew what he did in the Four Seasons Realm,” Gao Xue Ting replied in a light tone.
Wen Zi Shan smiled as he asked, “Since you say that, did he do something incredible in the Four Seasons Realm?”
“Does successfully refining a batch of Extraordinary Treasure Pills count as something amazing?” Gao Xue Ting turned to look at him.
Everyone’s expressions changed dramatically after hearing this.
“Extraordinary Treasure Pills!?” Di Rong shouted, “The legendary pill that can permanently increase a person’s chance of breaking through to the Emperor Realm after taking it?”
“I don’t know if the legends are true or not, but he indeed refined Extraordinary Treasure Pills!”
“In that case, an Extraordinary Treasure Lotus appeared in the Four Seasons Realm this time?” Wen Zi Shan arched his eyebrows.
“Indeed,” Gao Xue Ting nodded as she explained everything that she knew. She also explained just why Yang Kai came to possess so many Star Seals.
After hearing this, the Emperors present all fell silent.
“Although this boy is just a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, not only does he possess astonishing strength, he’s actually a Dao Source Grade Alchemist as well?” Di Rong’s expression was quite animated as he muttered this.
“He’s also no ordinary Dao Source Grade Alchemist!” Chen Qian answered in a low voice, “He successfully refined four pills in a single batch of that grade. He has to be at least a Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank or even High-Rank Alchemist in order to accomplish this. No newly promoted Dao Source Grade Alchemist could possibly do such a thing!”
“When Elder Gao said that he was one in a billion… it seems she was not exaggerating,” Wen Zi Shan quickly said. “Out of all the rising stars in Dao Source Realm, you probably can’t find anyone in the entire Star Field that could accomplish what he did apart from a disciple of a Wondrous Pill Great Emperor, right?”
“Perhaps there are those with more aptitude than him in the Martial Dao, and perhaps there are also those with more talent than him in the Alchemic Dao, but there’s probably none who are as skilled as him in both simultaneously!”
“Temple Master, have you considered recruiting such an excellent seedling into our Sect? This boy doesn’t seem to belong to any other force, right?” Di Rong had an eager expression as he made this recommendation.
Wen Zi Shan smiled upon hearing this and remarked, “Of course it would be great if such a good seedling joined the temple. Still, it depends on his own opinion, but… we could certainly try.”
After saying that, he then turned to look at Gao Xue Ting, “Elder Gao, among all of us, you know him the best, so you should take charge of this matter.”
“I don’t understand him that well,” Gao Xue Ting replied with a calm expression. “But since Temple Master has given the command, subordinate shall try.”
Wen Zi Shan nodded lightly and then changed the topic, “In that case, let us discuss what reward shall be appropriate for those disciples…”
…
Yang Kai returned to the Azure Sun Temple’s Soaring Swallow Peak.
The palace that had been wrecked last time during his fight with Xue Yi had already been repaired, and after Yang Kai entered, he opened the various barriers and rested for half a day before he began taking inventory of his harvest from the Four Seasons Realm.
Although he didn’t get the Tribulation Fruit he was searching for on this trip to the Four Seasons Realm, he still gained quite a significant harvest.
Without mentioning the Monster Beast Cores of various grades and amounts, just the spirit herbs, most of which were of the Ice Attribute, that he transplanted into the Small Sealed World’s medicine garden was already a great harvest.
Yang Kai had stayed in the Realm of Winter the longest, and with the little snowflake to lead the way for him, it could be said that at least ten percent of all the treasures in the Realm of Winter had landed in his possession.
Yang Kai had harvested the spirit herbs and immediately transplanted them into his medicine garden at the time. The Sealed World Bead’s medicine garden had a special environment that was highly suitable for growing herbs, and with the Immortal Tree providing a shocking amount of vitality, there was no need to worry that these herbs would wither. In fact, these herbs would instead have their growth greatly accelerated.
All these herbs’ medicinal ages would increase a hundred times faster than in the outside world.
Apart from these, there was also a Flowing Time Fruit that Yang Kai had obtained from the Flowing Time Temple. Although this item wasn’t very useful for Martial Dao cultivation, it had a certain special effect if you managed to refine it into a Flowing Time Pill. This effect was something that countless cultivators would definitely desire.
Taking one pill would cause a person’s body’s condition to return back to how it was several dozen, hundreds, or even thousands of years ago. This was something that would tremendously attract a cultivator whose lifespan was almost up.
This was even more so for women of all ages; after all, which woman wouldn’t want to become younger?
Although the Flowing Time Pill’s effect wasn’t as strong as the legendary Everlasting Face Pill which could make one appear young forever, the two pills had different effects, so it was quite difficult to compare which was actually superior.
If an old woman with a face covered in wrinkles had to choose, she would definitely choose the Flowing Time Pill instead of the Everlasting Face Pill because the Everlasting Face Pill would no longer have any effect on her face, while the Flowing Time Pill would allow her to rejuvenate herself.
But if a young and beautiful woman had to choose, the Everlasting Face Pill would definitely be more attractive.
Yang Kai secretly planned to find a chance to gather some herbs after he left Azure Sun Temple to refine the Flowing Time Pill. Perhaps the pill would have a miraculous effect at some critical moment.
Apart from these, there was also a random assortment of items.
These items included the treasures Yang Kai obtained from killing others, as well as the Spirit Energy Hearts he obtained in the Flowing Time Temple from destroying the guardian puppets. These were basically useless to Yang Kai though, so he planned to exchange them for Source Crystals.
A jade bottle appeared in Yang Kai’s hand a moment later, and after opening it, he immediately saw a Spirit Pill-like object.
Emperor Authority Bead!
It was the Emperor Authority Bead that he had obtained from Wu Chang.
An Emperor Authority Bead had an Emperor Realm Master’s full force attack sealed within. It would be difficult to imagine how powerful it was, and it was also similarly difficult to create. This was a consumable item that only a Second-Order or stronger Emperor Realm Master was capable of refining and was usually given to one’s descendants for the sake of protecting their lives.
Whenever an Emperor Realm Master created an Emperor Authority Bead, they would be weakened for quite a long period of time, which meant that Emperor Realm Masters weren’t willing to craft these unless it was absolutely necessary. Even if they crafted one, it would only be on a rare occasion, and they wouldn’t craft many.
Thus, Emperor Authority Beads were considered a rare treasure even throughout the entire Star Boundary.
This Emperor Authority Bead had come from the Flowing Time Temple and was something left behind by the Flowing Time Great Emperor. Although Yang Kai didn’t know when Flowing Time Great Emperor had refined this bead, its value and level already far surpassed that of an ordinary Emperor Authority Bead.
Perhaps it had a Great Emperor level attack sealed inside, or maybe a Third-Order Emperor Realm level attack.
At any rate, this was a life-saving item that Yang Kai could use at a critical moment. Even if he was surrounded by thousands of troops or masters, he could still overturn the dangerous situation with this.
Yang Kai put the bead away with extreme caution in a location where he could easily retrieve it from his Space Ring before finally focusing on the other three beads in front of him.
These three beads were identical in shape and size. The only thing different about them was their colour.
One was fiery red. Yang Kai obtained it in the Flowing Time Temple.
The temple had contained many treasures back then, and Lan Xun had basically identified them all. The only unidentifiable item was this red bead, and in fact, Lan Xun didn’t even know what this bead’s purpose was.
Yang Kai remembered the words that Qiong Qi had told him through Zhang Ruo Xi, ‘If he could enter the deepest part of the temple, then he must take the item that appeared to be the most useless’.
At the time, this red bead seemed to be the most useless one among all the treasures. No matter if it was the Pseudo Emperor Artifact, Supreme Divine Water, Emperor Aura, or Emperor Authority Bead, they were all rare treasures that were hardly ever seen in the outside world.
That was why Yang Kai had directly targeted this bead…
Nobody else had tried to fight with him for this bead, so he had gotten it quite easily.
The second bead was green. Yang Kai had obtained it in the Realm of Winter’s lake.
The third bead was the one he had obtained from trading with the round-faced woman from Eight Paths Sect.
Yang Kai never would have traded away an Extraordinary Treasure Pill with this round-faced woman if it weren’t for this bead! This third bead was faint yellow, like a withered leaf, making one think of how flowers and leaves would start to die in autumn.
These three beads of three different colours all had no reaction whatsoever when Yang Kai tried to inject his Source Qi or Divine Sense into them.
Aside from being different colours, they were impossible to tell apart.
Thinking that these beads came from the Four Seasons Realm though, it was quite easy to associate them with spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
The green bead obviously represented spring, which was filled with vitality, the red summer, and the bleak yellow, autumn!
There was one missing season. Only the Bead of Winter’s whereabouts were unknown.
Yang Kai secretly felt that he might be able to figure out the secret hidden inside these four beads if he could find the final Bead of Winter; however, the Four Seasons Realm had already closed, so it was impossible to look for it even if he had wanted to.
Yang Kai looked at the beads for a while and then sighed. He then put away the ‘Four Seasons Beads’ as he decided to name them.
If fate permitted, perhaps he would be able to find the final bead, but if it was not meant to be, perhaps he would never see the final bead in his lifetime. The Star Boundary was immensely vast, so it would be incredibly difficult to find a single Bead of Winter.
Overall though, Yang Kai’s harvest this time was not small.
There was also no need to mention the benefits he gained from the Flowing Time Force through the Flowing Time Steps, or the Emperor Artifact Pink Clouds Phoenix Robe that Zhang Ruo Xi obtained.
Yang Kai organized his spoils and tossed all the random items that he couldn’t use at all into the Small Sealed World, giving them to his Embodiment.
These items included the Spirit Pills found in others’ Space Rings, various ores, and even some artifacts.
Regardless, the Embodiment was cultivating the Heaven Devouring Battle Law and had the Stone Puppet Clan’s innate Divine Ability, so it could devour anything in the world that possessed Qi…
Yang Kai calculated that the current Embodiment was even capable of devouring an Emperor Artifact and absorbing it as a foundation to become even stronger.
Moments later, Yang Kai made a seal with his hands as his body flashed straight into the Small Sealed World.
He used his Divine Sense to scan and imprint every single blade of grass in the Small Sealed World into his mind.
The Embodiment was cultivating right now. Stone Puppets did not know fatigue, so Yang Kai’s Embodiment was capable of cultivating without rest.
Meanwhile, the two living people in the Small Sealed World, Zhang Ruo Xi and Hua Qing Si, were both sitting cross-legged in their own buildings.
Perhaps because the Sealed World Bead had devoured a large amount of Spirit Qi from the Spirit Qi Sea, Yang Kai felt that this place’s cultivation environment was obviously better than before.
Judging from this, it seemed he should have the Sealed World Bead absorb some more World Energy from the outside world if he had a chance, at least when he encountered another area with extremely dense World Energy like last time.
Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to gather the World Energy in the Small Sealed World towards the houses so Zhang Ruo Xi and Hua Qing Si would be able to cultivate more efficiently.
Zhang Ruo Si had previously risen to the First-Order Origin Returning Realm in the Four Seasons Realm Spirit Qi Sea, and then again to the Second-Order on the Flowing Time Steps, so right now she was busy consolidating her cultivation.
However… Yang Kai did not dare to underestimate her because of her weak cultivation.
Yang Kai had witnessed many inconceivable things when he brought Zhang Ruo Xi into the Four Seasons Realm this time.
He clearly remembered that when Zhang Ruo Xi was breaking through to the next Great Realm, the Origin Returning Realm, a gigantic female phantom had suddenly appeared behind her. This woman was like a giant version of a more mature Zhang Ruo Xi, and when this phantom opened her mouth, she sucked in the entire World Energy Baptism meant for Zhang Ruo Xi, allowing the latter to break through in an instant without any difficulties.
Afterwards, inside the Flowing Time Temple, right when Zhang Ruo Xi was no longer able to bear the rising Flowing Time Force from the Flowing Time Steps, the Divine Spirit Qiong Qi had acted to save her life, and even gifted her the Pink Clouds Phoenix Robe…
Yang Kai refused to believe that Zhang Ruo Xi didn’t have some sort of secret.
Qiong Qi was a vicious beast that was a famous existence even in ancient times. Any cultivator that met him would barely have a chance of remaining alive, yet such a Divine Spirit willingly saved a young girl like Zhang Ruo Xi.
Qiong Qi had seen something in Zhang Ruo Xi that Yang Kai didn’t know about…
There was also the Space Spirit Jade. Why had it only reacted to Zhang Ruo Xi? And what was the scene that had flashed before his eyes back when the jade activated?
Zhang Ruo Xi didn’t know about her situation either, so Yang Kai couldn’t find out by asking her.
How could he possibly underestimate someone filled with such profound secrets that even Qiong Qi was willing to save and protect her?
Yang Kai could only hope that Zhang Ruo Xi’s strength would quickly rise. Perhaps she would figure her secrets out on her own once she became strong enough.
Since Zhang Ruo Xi was cultivating, Yang Kai didn’t disturb her. Instead, he flashed straight over to Hua Qing Si’s building.
He didn’t make a sound when he appeared, but it seemed like Hua Qing Si sensed something and slightly furrowed her dainty brow. Opening her beautiful eyes, she couldn’t help glaring at Yang Kai slightly while saying, “You should say something when you arrive. You almost scared me to death.”
“I didn’t know that you were such a scaredy-cat,” Yang Kai smiled widely.
“The Four Seasons Realm… has it closed?” Hua Qing Si asked contemplatively.
“En.” Yang Kai nodded.
“How was your harvest?”
“Okay.”
Hua Qing Si couldn’t help but spit disdainfully as she spoke, “It’s obvious that you’re not telling the truth. Did you get something good?”
Yang Kai smiled, “En, something.”
As he spoke, he took out a round, white, and flawless Spirit Pill and held it between two fingers.
“That’s…” Hua Qing Si focused with her pretty eyes upon the Spirit Pill with a blank look of confusion.
Although she didn’t recognize the Spirit Pill or what it was used for, she instinctively felt that something was amazing about it and that it was highly likely to be an incredibly rare item.
“Do you want it?” Yang Kai’s mouth arched upwards in a subtle grin as he spoke.
“With our current relationship, and the condition where you can kill me at any time, plus with this Spirit Pill’s colour and scent, I don’t think that it’s poison or that it’s anything bad for me because there’s no need for you to do such a thing. In that case, this Spirit Pill must really be useful for me, right?” Hua Qing Si began to carefully analyze the situation instead of immediately answering Yang Kai’s question, “I’m already a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, which is only a step away from the Emperor Realm. There are very few Spirit Pills in the world that will be highly useful to me, and… I’ve never seen or even heard of this type of Spirit Pill in your hand right now…”
Hua Qing Si’s beautiful eyes gradually lit up as she spoke, “The only explanation then is that this Spirit Pill is the type that only exists in legend…” She couldn’t help but begin to breathe rapidly, “I want it! I want it, hurry and give it to me!”
However, Yang Kai didn’t immediately give it to her, instead just looking over her with a teasing expression before muttering aloud, “Is it really good for a woman to say such words?”
“Go to hell!” Hua Qing Si’s face became red from the teasing as she glared at Yang Kai while gritting her teeth, “Are you giving it to me or not?”
Yang Kai smiled slightly and refrained from teasing her further before tossing the Spirit Pill over.
Hua Qing Si happily caught the pill. She first put it right in front of her eyes to carefully observe it, but she still couldn’t tell anything about it, so then she went up to sniff it and even used her pink tongue to gently lick it…
“Is there a need for this…?” Yang Kai had dark lines appearing on his forehead as he watched, “Can’t you just directly eat it?”
“Just what kind of Spirit Pill is this?” Hua Qing Si raised her head and asked.
“Extraordinary Treasure Pill!”
Hua Qing Si immediately froze upon hearing this as her beautiful eyes began to violently tremble while she stared at Yang Kai in disbelief.
“You know what it is?” Yang Kai was rather surprised as he looked at her.
Back in the Four Seasons Realm, many cultivators hadn’t known about the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus and Extraordinary Treasure Pill. It was only thanks to Lan Xun’s explanation that everyone realized how precious they were.
However, it was obvious from Hua Qing Si’s reaction that she knew what it was.
“Of course I know about it…” Hua Qing Si answered as if it was natural while her voice trembled slightly, “This is the extremely famous… Extraordinary Treasure Pill, which might not appear even once in ten thousand years!”
She wasn’t exaggerating about this.
Although the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus might appear every once in a while, it was extremely difficult to get an Extraordinary Treasure Pill, because the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus’s medicinal effects would disappear unless it was eaten or made into a pill within three hours.
Two conditions must be met in order for an Extraordinary Treasure Pill to be created.
The appearance of an Extraordinary Treasure Lotus!
At the same time, a highly skilled Alchemist must also be nearby!
It was highly difficult for both conditions to be met simultaneously, to the extent where it wouldn’t happen even once in ten thousand years. Even if it happened, the Alchemist present still needed to have the necessary adjuvants on hand and not fail in the refinement.
Such mishaps had indeed happened in history before. An Alchemist had been under too much pressure when creating the Extraordinary Treasure Pill, which then led to a failure in refinement.
It could thus be seen that Extraordinary Treasure Pills were both precious and difficult to obtain.
“You really are quite knowledgeable,” Yang Kai smiled widely.
“Where did you obtain this? The Flowing Time Temple actually had something like this?” Hua Qing Si was still truly shocked and was unable to restore her emotions to normal for quite some time.
“I refined it myself,” Yang Kai replied casually.
“You’re also an alchemist?” Hua Qing Si’s expression instantly became rather strange.
“What? I can’t be?” Yang Kai answered with some displeasure before urging her, “Why are you still holding it? Hurry up and eat it. You’re currently at the Third-Order Dao Source Realm, so perhaps you can break through to the Emperor Realm soon after swallowing it.”
“You’re really giving this to me?” Although Hua Qing Si was asking this, her hand clenched really tightly to the Extraordinary Treasure Pill.
“Why would I take this out if I wasn’t giving it to you?” Yang Kai laughed at her silly question before thinking about it a bit and deciding to explain, “Let me put it this way, you gave me your Soul Brand and now I don’t need to fear you betraying me or exposing my secrets. That means the stronger you are, the more useful you are to me, so I also want you to reach the Emperor Realm as quickly as possible so that later, when I travel around the world, if someone I don’t like appears, I can let you out to bite them.”
“Am I a dog…?” At first, Hua Qing Si’s pretty face showed her gratitude, but the more she listened, the colder her expression became, almost to the point that it frosted over.
“Stop wasting time and just eat it already!” Yang Kai coldly snorted.
“I finally understand what kind of person you are!” Hua Qing Si gave him a sidelong glance as she chuckled meaningfully, “You have a sharp tongue but a soft heart. You want to apologize for all the terrible things you’ve done to me, but you’re afraid your image will break down and you’ll lose your dominant status if you just come out and say so, so you spout vicious lines to disguise your intent instead.”
“Keep talking and I’ll strip you naked and toss you outside!” Yang Kai snapped at her threateningly, as he became angry out of embarrassment.
“Go ahead!” A faint red blush appeared on Hua Qing Si’s face, but she refused to act weak and even stuck out her chest and talked back to Yang Kai, “If you dare to do that, then I’ll announce to the whole world that I’m your woman, and watch just how much of a cuckold you become!”
“So vicious?” Yang Kai went pale with astonishment.
“Hehehe!” Hua Qing Si laughed happily, “If you’re afraid, then obediently call me Elder Sister, and I might magnanimously show mercy and spare you!”
“Fine, you win!” Yang Kai retorted angrily before clenching his teeth and exiting the Sealed World Bead.
He was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to take it anymore if he had to keep dealing with this crazy woman.
“Don’t go, I’m not done talking yet!” Hua Qing Si hurriedly called out to him, but there was no reaction.
Quite a while later, she finally licked her red lips and glanced at the Extraordinary Treasure Pill in her hand as she mumbled to herself, “Now that I look back, if it wasn’t for me witnessing a few of his secrets back then, I wouldn’t have fallen to this current situation… but, it was also because of falling here that I managed to get this Extraordinary Treasure Pill. Fortune and misfortune really do go hand in hand. Forget it, for this one Spirit Pill alone, what does it matter if he imprisons me here for a hundred years?”
She suddenly smiled slightly as she said this.
Although she was now a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, she had no confidence she would be able to break through to the Emperor Realm any time soon. Cultivation completely relied on solid accumulation over time that came from gradual improvement.
But, until now, she had never managed to grasp the method to break through her bottleneck and touch the Emperor Realm’s secrets. Back at Star Soul Palace, she had also taken the chance to ask some of the Masters in the palace, but none of them were able to give her a satisfactory answer or guide her down a well-lit path.
She secretly felt that if she didn’t receive any special opportunity in this lifetime, it would be impossible for her to reach the Emperor Realm.
But now, this incredibly rare chance had suddenly dropped onto her lap.
It was natural for Hua Qing Si to feel excited inside.
She knew of the Extraordinary Treasure Pill precisely because she felt there was no hope for her to reach the Emperor Realm on her own, leading her to study many ancient books in Star Soul Palace while hoping to find some method to help herself.
All of the ancient books she studied, however, had mentioned the ‘Extraordinary Treasure Pill‘!
According to those ancient books, this was a Spirit Pill that could all but guarantee one broke through to the Emperor Realm as long their aptitude and effort weren’t too lacking.
What cultivator would possibly lack aptitude after cultivating to Third-Order Dao Source Realm though, so saying it was a certainty wasn’t an exaggeration.
For instance, someone like Xia Sheng or Wu Chang might rise to Emperor Realm within five, or even two to three years after eating this pill. Someone with slightly worse aptitude might take ten or twenty years… but what did it matter even if it took a hundred years?
It was worth waiting any amount of time as long as one could reach the Emperor Realm.
This was a tremendous gift.
Hua Qing Si thought she would be a lowly servant to Yang Kai for life after being forced to surrender her Soul Brand, never having expected that he would give her such a precious Spirit Pill like this.
His generosity and openness were beyond her expectations.
After some thought, Hua Qing Si no longer hesitated as immediately stuffed the Extraordinary Treasure Pill into her mouth.
Since she already knew about the Extraordinary Treasure Pill, she naturally knew that the sooner one ate it, the better.
After she ate the Spirit Pill, she immediately sat down cross-legged and silently began to cultivate to refine the medicinal efficacies.
At the same time, Yang Kai appeared with a wretched look on his face in the palace on Soaring Swallow Peak, grumbling and cursing under his breath in frustration.
Back when he refined that furnace of Extraordinary Treasure Pills, unlike what he told the crowd, he hadn’t refined just four pills, but five!
Back during the Pill Tribulation, Liu Yan had taken all the Extraordinary Treasure Pills and hid them inside the Sealed World Bead. After the Pill Tribulation was dispersed, and before everyone regained their senses, Yang Kai had secretly put four pills back without anyone noticing.
With Yang Kai’s current cultivation and Alchemy skills, it was largely thanks to luck that he had refined five Extraordinary Pills in one furnace.
He originally thought he would only be able to create three pills, so the results had given him a pleasant surprise.
The only part that Yang Kai felt was a pity was that not a single pill with Pill Veins had appeared amongst the five Spirit Pills. This was understandable though as Extraordinary Treasure Pills were difficult to refine in the first place, and it would truly be too heaven-defying if Pill Veins had also been formed.
Over the next few days, Yang Kai remained on Soaring Swallow Peak and calmly focused on cultivation while patiently waiting for news from the Azure Sun Temple.
Searching for the Tribulation Fruit wasn’t something that could be done in one or two days. Yang Kai had given the three-month time limit entirely out of consideration for Qin Yu, as any longer and she would not be able to survive.
Azure Sun Temple was her and Yang Kai’s only hope.
Soaring Swallow Peak was in a remote location in Azure Sun Mountain Range, so it was quite quiet and nobody came to bother Yang Kai.
However, Yang Kai didn’t expect that a surprising guest would come to visit him a few days later.
The visitor was actually Gao Xue Ting.
He was surprised, but he did not neglect courtesy and performed the duties of a host by inviting Gao Xue Ting in and attending to her politely.
He originally thought that Gao Xue Ting had some business with him, but it didn’t happen the way that he expected. This icy Emperor Realm Master spent more than half a day with Yang Kai, but she simply acted like a Senior inquiring about her Junior’s cultivation while also asking Yang Kai some questions about his own Martial Dao.
Yang Kai carefully thought things over as he answered each question, having no idea from Gao Xue Ting’s unchanging expression if she was satisfied with the answers or not.
It was rare to have a chance to be so close to an Emperor, so Yang Kai also took the opportunity to ask some things that he didn’t understand. Gao Xue Ting didn’t hold back any knowledge she had and did her best to explain everything in an easily understandable manner.
Yang Kai learned a lot.
Before she left, Gao Xue Ting mentioned that she wanted to test how strong Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was.
Although Yang Kai didn’t understand why, he didn’t refuse, gathering his Divine Sense before sending it out towards Gao Xue Ting.
She naturally received it without any difficulty; however, she did send a meaningful glance towards him, as if she could tell that he hadn’t used his full strength.
In the end, Gao Xue Ting gave Yang Kai a gift before she left.
After Yang Kai saw off Gao Xue Ting, he still felt confused about why she had come to visit him. Judging from his interaction with her back at the Four Seasons Realm, Gao Xue Ting wasn’t the type who actively tried to get along with others.
It wasn’t that she had a violent temper or a bad personality, rather it was just her innate icy nature and the cold look she kept on her face that seemed to tell strangers that they should remain a thousand kilometres away from her.
Yang Kai could actually sense that Gao Xue Ting wasn’t a bad person.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow slightly as he glanced at the item in his hand while muttering to himself, “This doesn’t make sense at all. What was she doing?”
He was holding the gift that Gao Xue Ting gave him before she left, a small shield the size of a palm. Light swirled around this shield, giving it a mystical appearance, and the aura fluctuations it gave off were definitely not weak. Gao Xue Ting had called this artifact the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield!
This was actually a Dao Source Grade Low-Rank artifact!
Not only that, it was a Soul-type artifact, something quite out of the ordinary!
Soul-type artifacts were typically created from rather special materials, and they could only be driven by a cultivator’s Divine Sense. Source Qi was completely useless on these artifacts.
They were also several times rarer and more expensive than ordinary artifacts.
So, even though this shield was only Dao Source Grade Low-Rank, its true value wasn’t any less than a Dao Source Grade High-Rank artifact, and in fact, it might even be more valuable than the latter.
This small shield was obviously a defensive artifact, and if one could refine it in their body, they would be able to use it to protect their Knowledge Sea and Soul from foreign threats.
Yang Kai actually didn’t have any Soul-type artifacts. Back when he was still quite weak, he did have an offensive Soul-type short sword artifact, but he had long since stopped using it as his strength improved.
He had also learned the Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique, and its offensive prowess far exceeded that of the majority of Soul-type artifacts, which was why he had never considered finding such an artifact before.
Gao Xue Ting’s gift indeed compensated for one of his shortcomings…
With this artifact protecting his Knowledge Sea, and with Yang Kai’s already strong Soul, it would be quite difficult for someone to injure him with a Divine Sense attack.
There was a saying that one shouldn’t refuse gifts from an Elder, so although Yang Kai wasn’t a disciple of Azure Sun Temple, Gao Xue Ting was still an Emperor Realm Master and technically his Elder. That was why Yang Kai had simply thanked her and accepted the gift without even thinking about it when she gave him this artifact.
After looking it over, he figured it wouldn’t take too long to refine.
Since he had nothing to do apart from waiting for news on the Tribulation Fruit, Yang Kai decided to start refining it right away.
Yang Kai no longer hesitated, sat down cross-legged, and sent his Spiritual Energy towards the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield.
More than ten days passed by slowly.
Over these ten-plus days, Yang Kai remained sitting in his room without moving, working diligently to refine the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield.
Thanks to his persistence during this time, he had completed about a third of the refinement process and was now barely able to activate some of this artifact’s power.
However, completely refining it would require more accumulation over time.
As expected of a Dao Source Grade Low-Rank Soul-type artifact, this Purple Sun Profound Light Shield seemed to possess impressively strong abilities. Even in its current state of refinement, it was able to form a purple light barrier that covered the outside of Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea, adding a powerful layer of protection.
Anyone who wanted to harm Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea would first have to break through this purple shield.
Since Yang Kai hadn’t finished refining it yet, he didn’t know if it had other abilities. Still, just this alone was more than enough for him to look forward to.
On this day, Yang Kai suddenly sensed something, so he hurriedly opened his eyes and looked outside. Right when he opened his eyes, someone spoke up in a loud voice, “Brother Yang, I’m here to see you.”
Upon hearing this voice, Yang Kai knew that the one who came to see him was Xia Sheng.
Right when Xia Sheng spoke, he immediately pushed the door open and entered.
Someone else spoke up right after, “Senior Brother, he hasn’t invited you in yet, what if you disturbed his cultivation by doing this?”
This person was Xiao Bai Yi.
“En en, perhaps Junior Brother Yang was studying some Secret Technique. Senior Brother, don’t be so reckless!” Murong Xiao Xiao’s voice also chimed in, conveying some worry with it.
“Ah…” Upon hearing this, Xia Sheng couldn’t help showing an embarrassed look, like he was caught between a rock and a hard place, muttering in a low voice, “What should I do then? I already shouted…”
“It’s alright, please enter!” Yang Kai responded.
Xia Sheng’s expression immediately eased up as he laughed loudly while entering.
“Pardon the intrusion!” Xiao Bai Yi muttered as he walked in as well.
Soon, several people appeared in front of Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was surprised that, in addition to Xia Sheng, Xiao Bai Yi, and Murong Xiao Xiao, Chen Mu Ji was actually present as well.
Chen Mu Ji and Yang Kai didn’t know each other and had basically only greeted each other a few times, never sharing a real conversation.
Xia Sheng warmly introduced the two of them to each other.
The guest room here was rather simple, so Yang Kai simply invited them in and asked them to make themselves comfortable. Next, turning to Xia Sheng, he asked, “Do you have something to tell me since you all came here together?”
Xia Sheng nodded lightly and smiled mysteriously as he said, “The Temple Master is summoning us!”
“Me as well?” Yang Kai raised his brow.
The ones present were all elites of Azure Sun Temple, so it was only normal that they would be summoned; however, Xia Sheng seemed to mean that Yang Kai had been summoned as well, confusing him greatly.
“Of course!” Xia Sheng nodded with a serious expression as he explained, “Temple Master especially had us come here to bring Brother Yang to see him.”
“Do you know what this is about?” Yang Kai inquired.
“Something good!” Xia Sheng smiled and chuckled.
Xiao Bai Yi added from the side, “Last time we left, didn’t the Temple Master mention an additional reward? I believe it’s about that.”
“A reward…” Yang Kai’s expression seemed incredibly strange, “But, I already made a request of Temple Master Wen, what else would he reward me with?”
Xia Sheng smiled and continued, “How could that small request possibly make up for your contribution of six extra Star Seals? Temple Master has always been the type to give fair rewards and punishments. Brother Yang, since you’ve made such a major contribution to the temple this time, it won’t be balanced out by a small request.”
“Indeed!” Xiao Bai also nodded, “You’ve noticed already that Temple Master only summoned us this time, yes? We were the only ones who obtained extra Star Seals. I, Xiao Xiao, and Junior Brother Chen were all able to get rewards just by giving a single extra Star Seal, not to mention you who brought back six all at once.”
“Let’s stop chatting and leave already, I’m really eager to know just what the Temple Master will reward me with,” Xia Sheng said with an impatient expression.
“In that case… I’ll be troubling you all to lead the way,” Yang Kai said politely.
The five of them then each used their own Movement Skills to fly towards Azure Sun Temple’s Main Peak.
It didn’t take long for them to arrive at Myriad Saints Peak where they landed and walked into the main temple.
However, Yang Kai’s expression suddenly changed just before he crossed the threshold. At that moment, he sensed a mystical power engulf him and before he could react, he felt a weightless sensation overcome him.
When the others passed the temple’s threshold, they noticed that Yang Kai had suddenly vanished.
“Where’s Brother Yang?” Xia Sheng’s expression changed greatly as he exclaimed in astonishment.
Xiao Bai Yi, Murong Xiao Xiao, and Chen Mu Ji also wore serious and shocked expressions.
“Don’t worry, the Temple Master called him for a private discussion,” Someone suddenly spoke from in front of the group. Turning around, they discovered it was Gao Xue Ting who spoke. At this moment, Elder Gao seemed like a silently standing, blooming white lotus flower that was clear yet distant.
The group of Juniors all exchanged a glance, not knowing why Wen Zi Shan had taken Yang Kai away by himself, but they also didn’t worry about it further and instead spoke in unison, “Greetings, Elder Gao!”
At the same time, Yang Kai mysteriously appeared in a secluded room on Myriad Saints Peak.
Yang Kai regained control over his own body and immediately took a defensive posture as he looked around him.
However, he quickly saw Wen Zi Shan sitting lazily nearby, smiling while looking at him.
“Ah… Greetings, Temple Master Wen!” Yang Kai wore a serious expression and cupped his fists.
Wen Zi Shan nodded and replied, “No need for pleasantries.”
He then stood up and slowly walked over to the table, picked up a wine bottle, then poured himself a glass.
The room instantly filled with a fragrant aroma.
He took a small sip and made an expression as if he really enjoyed it.
The corner of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched slightly when he saw Wen Zi Shan acting like this, but he simply remained silent and waited instead of interrupting.
After a long while, it seemed as if Wen Zi Shan finally regained his senses from that pleasant sensation of his drink as he spoke up with an expression of satisfaction, “You should know why I called you here, yes?”
Yang Kai remained silent for a moment before he nodded, “I heard some guesses from Brother Xia.”
“Haha,” Wen Zi Shan chuckled, “You’re such a cautious little brat! En… indeed, I called you over to give you a reward. Although you made a request of this King some days ago, that request isn’t enough to balance the contribution you made to the temple. However, you’re also not a disciple of my temple, making you technically an outsider, so what reward to offer you took this King quite some time to think of …”
“Junior doesn’t want much,” Yang Kai smiled slightly.
Wen Zi Shan replied, “Then what reward would you like? I might as well ask you. If it is possible, this King will satisfy your request!”
He handed the right to choose over to Yang Kai.
This sounded really generous, but Yang Kai knew quite well what was actually happening.
It was because he was merely a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, while Wen Zi Shan was Third-Order Emperor Realm as well as a Sect Master!
Thus, anything that seemed precious and rare to Yang Kai would likely be quite ordinary in Wen Zi Shan’s eyes. It was highly likely that Wen Zi Shan would be able to easily give Yang Kai anything that he would dare to request.
Yang Kai would never make the foolish mistake of letting this rare opportunity pass him by.
He simply stated, “What reward can Temple Master Wen give this Junior?”
Hearing this, Wen Zi Shan wore an expression of praise as the two of them exchanged glances, understanding each other’s motives.
After a moment of silence, Wen Zi Shan spoke up, “When considering the number of Star Seals that you gave, this King can take responsibility and open the temple’s Treasury and allow you to choose any three items from within to keep!”
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up instantly.
Wen Zi Shan was talking about Azure Sun Temple’s Treasury, rather than his personal one. Azure Sun Temple was one of the top Sects in the Southern Territory, so its Treasury would be filled with countless rare items. If Yang Kai really was allowed to enter and take any three items he pleased, it was likely that his power level would improve by leaps and bounds.
But just as he was feeling moved, Wen Zi Shan added more as if trying to incite him, “There are countless artifacts within the vault, and there are even two Emperor Artifacts, but as for what the Emperor Artifacts are, and where they’re located, you must find them for yourself, I won’t be telling you. Apart from those, there are also rare elixirs that are impossible to find in the outside world, Secret Arts and Secret Books that are never shown to outsiders, and so on. With your current cultivation, obtaining any one of these treasures will be a great opportunity for you. Additionally, there are also records left behind by many Emperors of their cultivation experiences you could learn from…”
Yang Kai’s breathing gradually became faster as he never expected that Wen Zi Shan would be so generous to him.
No matter what, Yang Kai was still an outsider, yet Wen Zi Shan was actually willing to open up the Sect’s Treasury to him. Just this alone was more than enough to make Yang Kai incredibly grateful.
However… Although the items Wen Zi Shan mentioned were indeed precious and hard to obtain, Yang Kai was still unable to immediately make up his mind. He didn’t care about Emperor Artifacts, and he was capable of refining his own Spirit Pills, so he didn’t need those. As for Secret Arts and Secret Books, he could also ignore those since even if he took them, he wouldn’t have that much time to cultivate them. Yang Kai was instead slightly tempted by the Emperor Realm Masters’ written cultivation experiences.
Those books might help him save a lot of time by avoiding wrong paths in his cultivation.
Wen Zi Shan was rather surprised to see the changes in Yang Kai’s expression as he asked, “What’s wrong? Are none of these of interest to you?”
Yang Kai took a deep breath and replied, “Please forgive me, Temple Master Wen, I just… don’t know how to decide.”
Wen Zi Shan smiled and said, “This King understands. En, if you don’t like any of these things, how about this King personally teaches you a Secret Technique?”
Yang Kai raised his head and glanced at him while quickly saying, “Temple Master Wen, can I ask what reward Brother Xia and the others obtained this time? Are they also able to enter your noble temple’s Treasury and choose three items as they like?”
At this moment, Wen Zi Shan’s smile seemed to become more meaningful as he pointed at Yang Kai and exclaimed, “Kid, you really understand well.”
“It seems that… Brother Xia and the others were able to receive a reward that was different from mine.” Yang Kai understood.
“En, their reward is indeed different, since they are Disciples of the temple while you aren’t,” Wen Zi Shan directly admitted. He wasn’t worried that Yang Kai would be displeased since it was an obvious fact that people would always favour their own more.
“However…” Wen Zi Shan changed the topic and said, “You also have a chance to obtain the same reward as them, although it will depend on if you’re willing or not.”
“I’m willing to hear the details!” Yang Kai adopted a serious expression.
Although he didn’t know what reward Xia Sheng and the others were able to receive, since Wen Zi Shan openly admitted that the reward was different, this meant that Xia Sheng and the others were receiving a better reward.
Since there was an opportunity, Yang Kai would naturally want to try for himself.
Still, he was quite curious just what reward was actually better than choosing any three items from the Sect’s vault.
This time, Wen Zi Shan didn’t answer him immediately and instead asked, “Do you know why this King created Azure Sun Temple here?”
Yang Kai thought to himself that the temple’s founding was several hundred or even several thousand years ago, so how was he supposed to know? Although he thought this in his mind, he acted as if he really wanted to learn as he answered, “I do not know.”
“Of course it is because there’s something special here!” Wen Zi Shan replied, a trace of nostalgia flashing across his eyes as he spoke, “Eight hundred years ago, this King happened to pass by Azure Sun Mountain Range and discovered an item with miraculous uses and mysterious abilities. At that time, this King was already a Third-Order Emperor Realm and wanted to obtain that item, but unfortunately, he didn’t succeed. This King could only temporarily put down roots here, and as time passed, this place gradually started resembling a Sect, so this King decided he might as well found Azure Sun Temple.”
“Azure Sun Temple has a shorter inheritance compared to the other top-level Sects in the Southern Territory, yet why do we have the ability to compete with them on even ground?”
Yang Kai’s brow rose as he guessed. “Could it be due to that item?”
Wen Zi Shan immediately wore an appreciative expression as he nodded to Yang Kai, “That’s right. Although this King is a Third-Order Emperor Realm, and my power isn’t any weaker than other Sect Masters or Temple Masters, a Sect’s strength or weakness isn’t about just one person. A Sect requires many reliable pillars to hold its form, and it was thanks to that item that Azure Sun Temple was able to develop to today’s extent.”
“May I ask… just what that item is?” Yang Kai also became quite curious as he listened, really wondering just what kind of item would be able to make a Sect flourish to such a degree.
Wen Zi Shan glanced at Yang Kai with a serious expression as he explained, “The Divine Ascension Mirror! It is a mystical object that has existed since the birth of the Heavens and Earth. Inside of it is a self-contained world, but one that is very different from the one we live in. As for how it is different, this King won’t explain to you, since you’ll naturally learn for yourself if you have the opportunity to enter it. Any cultivator who enters it to train will be able to greatly increase their strength though. Back in the day, this King explored the inside of this mirror but was still unable to figure out all its mysteries. For the past several hundred years, most of the elite disciples of the temple have entered this mirror, and all who managed to leave it alive became much stronger.”
“Star Soul Palace has the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, Orthodoxy Temple has the Outer Astral Wind, and Heavenly Martial Holy Land has its Martial Intent Temple. These are the foundations of their respective Sects, and the reason why these Sects have stood the test of time,” Wen Zi Shan had a proud expression as he added, “Meanwhile, my Azure Sun Temple has the Divine Ascension Mirror! As long as the Divine Ascension Mirror isn’t broken, my temple can continue passing on its inheritance and remain standing!”
“Can Junior enter as well?” Yang Kai asked with fervour.
Wen Zi Shan smiled, “Originally, this King would have found it impossible to allow an outsider like you to enter it; after all, the Divine Ascension Mirror is a secret of my temple that only those who have entered know about. Ordinary disciples have never even heard of it, so of course, the other Sects naturally know nothing about it. However… this time, you contributed a great deal to the temple, so it would be wrong for this King to refuse you entry. But even so, allowing you to enter would be breaking the Sect rules…”
Upon hearing this, Yang Kai suddenly spoke up, “Temple Master Wen, do you recall that you said if I won the fight against Xue Yi, you would agree to one of my requests as long as it wasn’t excessive?”
Wen Zi Shan paused momentarily in surprise as he looked at Yang Kai and asked, “Why? Do you want to use that request here?”
“Of course!” Yang Kai nodded, “Plus, since I’ve contributed six Star Seals to the temple as a major achievement, there should be no problem now?”
“Aye, there are no problems…” Wen Zi Shan thought for a moment, “You’re already saying so much, but are you certain that you want to do this? You don’t even know what the Divine Ascension Mirror can do for you…”
Yang Kai smiled and said, “Since Brother Xia and the others obtained this reward, that means it is the best reward possible, and since it’s the best reward, why should I hesitate?”
“Good!” Wen Zi Shan declared in a serious voice, “Since that’s the case, then this King shall permit you to enter. However, you must swear an oath that you will never expose the secret of the Divine Ascension Mirror to anyone else, otherwise…”
“Junior understands!” Yang Kai nodded and immediately swore a solemn oath in front of Wen Zi Shan.
Those that understand can already make an educated guess of what the mirror improves upon.
Half a day later, Yang Kai left Wen Zi Shan’s side and returned to Soaring Swallow Peak.
For this half a day, Wen Zi Shan explained in detail to Yang Kai about the secrets of the Divine Ascension Mirror. The more that Yang Kai learned about the Divine Ascension Mirror, the more astonished he became that such a miraculous treasure had been born in this world, and how such a mysterious world could exist.
Wen Zi Shan was correct. Anyone who was able to enter the Divine Ascension Mirror and come out alive would see a great increase in their strength. This improvement was more than just an increase in raw power though and was rather an improvement to a person’s foundation, a genuine boon to any cultivator.
Now, Yang Kai finally understood why Gao Xue Ting had suddenly visited him a few days ago and given him the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield before she left. She must have already known about this beforehand, or she must have planned ahead, which was why she specifically gave him a Soul-type defensive artifact, all so Yang Kai could have some extra layer of safety after entering the Divine Ascension Mirror.
After realizing this, Yang Kai froze for a moment as he realized something and smiled wryly, muttering in a low voice, “Aged ginger really is spicier than young ginger!”
He said this because he had realized that Wen Zi Shan and the others had probably already discussed and agreed upon him entering the Divine Ascension Mirror more than ten days ago.
However, Temple Master Wen had intentionally made things difficult for him today and kept hinting many times that Xia Sheng and the others had received a different reward from Yang Kai, all in order to lure Yang Kai into using up the promise he had previously given him.
In other words, even if Yang Kai didn’t use up Wen Zi Shan’s promise, that he could make a request that wasn’t excessive, he likely would have been able to enter the Divine Ascension Mirror.
However, there was no use in crying over spilt milk. Yang Kai felt that he should actually thank Wen Zi Shan instead. Temple Master Wen had been willing to reveal such a major secret of Azure Sun Temple to an outsider like Yang Kai and even allowed him to enter the Divine Ascension Mirror, so what did it matter if he used up that promise in the process?
Yang Kai was going to enter that Divine Ascension Mirror tomorrow, so he no longer rushed to refine the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield when he returned to Soaring Swallow Peak. Half a day’s refinement wouldn’t amount to anything, no matter how hard he tried, so Yang Kai didn’t make a futile effort.
Instead, he simply sat cross-legged in silence and adjusted his condition to its best.
The next day in the morning, Yang Kai opened his eyes with a flash. It was evident that he had rested well.
He then immediately headed for a certain place deep in the Azure Sun Mountain Range.
Yang Kai landed at the foot of a tall peak approximately one hour later.
Four figures were already standing there on the empty ground. Yang Kai looked around and saw that these four were Xia Sheng, Xiao Bai Yi, Murong Xiao Xiao, and Chen Mu Ji.
“Ha. I knew that Brother Yang would definitely come as well,” Xia Sheng smiled widely and glanced over at Yang Kai when he saw him.
Xiao Bai Yi instead had an expression of astonishment. He had thought that the Divine Ascension Mirror was a top-secret for the Sect and it should have been impossible for an outsider like Yang Kai to enter no matter how great his contributions were. He hadn’t thought that Temple Master Wen would be so generous.
“Junior Brother Yang!” Murong Xiao Xiao flashed a smile at Yang Kai and nodded in greeting.
“Brother Yang!” Chen Mu Ji also cupped his fists. Although he still didn’t know Yang Kai very well, they had at least spoken a few words to each other by now and all of them were going to enter the Divine Ascension Mirror together and would be relying on each other’s help, so there was no harm in trying to have a better relationship with each other.
Yang Kai also cupped his fists in response and greeted everyone while chatting a little. Only after time did he change the topic and ask, “Is it only us entering this time? Is there no Elder leading us?”
Xia Sheng smiled and answered, “Of course there is an Elder. The Divine Ascension Mirror’s interior is said to be quite dangerous, so the temple naturally wouldn’t feel confident about just letting us Dao Source Realm Juniors enter by ourselves. They should be sending an Emperor Realm Elder to assist us.”
“We just don’t know who it will be,” Chen Mu Ji said with a smile.
Xia Sheng’s face immediately darkened as he muttered, “It absolutely must not be Elder Gao…”
Last time, when travelling to the Four Seasons Realm, Gao Xue Ting had tossed him off the ship both on the way there and on the way back, so he was rather afraid of Gao Xue Ting.
After Xia Sheng said this, he then turned around with suspicion while looking at Murong Xiao Xiao as he asked in confusion, “Xiao Xiao, did you not rest well last night? Why are your eyes constantly twitching?”
“No…” Murong Xiao Xiao answered in a tiny voice with an anxious expression.
“Hmph!” Xiao Bai Yi coldly snorted and looked elsewhere. Meanwhile, Chen Mu Ji and Yang Kai were respectively gazing at the sky and looking down at the ground…
Xia Sheng suddenly seemed to realize something as he shivered involuntarily.
He felt a chill from his back, as if the reaper of death was standing behind him.
“Haha…” He suddenly chuckled dryly, “What did I say just now…”
Before he finished speaking, he felt tremendous pain on his head as someone viciously hit him. He then completely collapsed on the ground, all splayed out, unmoving …
“All of you, follow this Queen!” Gao Xue Ting said in a light tone as she turned and flew upwards.
“Yes!” Everyone responded in agreement as they followed closely after Gao Xue Ting.
As Murong Xiao Xiao left, she glanced towards Xia Sheng with an expression filled with sympathy; however, she didn’t have the courage to pull him up, so she could only offer silent prayers for her Senior Brother in her heart.
Along the way, Gao Xue Ting didn’t say a single word, which gave the disciples an immense amount of pressure. For some unknown reason, when they were with Gao Xue Ting, the disciples all couldn’t help but become silent and stop smiling, as if they were all awed by her icy aura.
It didn’t take long for the group to reach the peak.
On this peak was a cliff that faced an abyss. The cliff was completely flat and smooth.
Gao Xue Ting stopped in midair in front of the cliff.
Yang Kai and the others all stood about ten metres away from Gao Xue Ting as they glanced at this place with curiosity.
It was normal that Yang Kai would be curious since he wasn’t a disciple of Azure Sun Temple; he was unfamiliar with everything here. However, it was different for Xiao Bai Yi and the others. They had lived in Azure Sun Temple for many years while studying under the Masters and learning here. They had also passed by this location many times, but none of them had ever paid any attention to this place, all of them thinking it was just an ordinary mountain. None of them had suspected that such a big secret was concealed here.
“After we enter, don’t look at what you shouldn’t, and don’t say anything you shouldn’t…” Gao Xue Ting warned before turning to a certain someone and saying pointedly, “Especially you!”
As she said this final sentence, her strict gaze focused right on Xia Sheng, who was attempting to hide behind Murong Xiao Xiao.
It was unknown when he had caught up…
“This disciple will become mute right now!” When Xia Sheng heard this, he immediately drew a line across his mouth, as if he was sewing his mouth shut with an invisible thread.
Only then did Gao Xue Ting turn around and face the flat cliff as she called out, “Grandma You, are you present? Xue Ting is here at the command of the Sect Master to bring several disciples into the Divine Ascension Mirror. Grandma You, please open the barrier!”
Her tone was incredibly polite. She wasn’t ever this polite when facing Wen Zi Shan and Qiu Ran.
It was fine with Wen Zi Shan, as it seemed that Wen Zi Shan had personally raised Gao Xue Ting, so the two of them had a really close relationship. Wen Zi Shan also often did things that made Gao Xue Ting angry, so of course, Gao Xue Ting wouldn’t respect him; however, Qiu Ran was the Vice Temple Master of Azure Sun Temple, and also a Second-Order Emperor, yet he had never received such polite treatment from Gao Xue Ting before.
Not only that… Yang Kai faintly sensed that apart from politeness, Gao Xue Ting’s attitude also portrayed some nervousness and tension.
On top of that, the way she referred to herself made her sound like a Junior, so Yang Kai immediately extrapolated that this Grandma You who guarded this Restricted Area must be someone on the level of a Supreme Elder, and one that had an extremely bad temper!
Yang Kai was slightly surprised by his own inference, because he hadn’t expected that there would be someone like this within Azure Sun Temple.
Gao Xue Ting kept waiting after she had called out.
At least half an hour passed before a flash of light suddenly appeared on the cliff in front. Right after that, a cave suddenly appeared on the cliff which had been completely smooth before.
Upon seeing this, Gao Xue Ting called to everyone in a low voice, “Follow me!”
Only then did she fly towards the cave with everyone else following close behind.
After they entered the cave, everyone felt a cold aura envelop them. Even though everyone present was at the Dao Source Realm at the minimum, they still couldn’t help shivering slightly.
The cave was quiet and had weak lighting. Gao Xue Ting led in the front while everyone followed closely while watching their footing.
Nobody spoke. In fact, they all suppressed their breathing as much as they possibly could. The only sound came from slight heartbeats that added to the eerie atmosphere.
The cave path continued to twist and wind in confusing ways as Gao Xue Ting led everyone deeper into the mountain.
They walked for quite a long time before a bright light suddenly appeared in front of them.
Moments later, they arrived in a large and spacious stone cavern.
When looking around, this stone cavern’s inside was clean and simple, with nothing at all in terms of decoration. In the centre of the cavern was something that resembled a mirror, which kept flashing with light and seemed to be the size of a table.
Everyone’s expression flickered involuntarily as they immediately understood that this was the legendary Divine Ascension Mirror, all of them looking over, seemingly wanting to get a better view.
However, when they focused on the mirror, they found that the Divine Ascension Mirror was so mystical that the originally flat surface suddenly transformed into a huge whirlpool that emitted an unimaginable suction force. Right after that, everyone’s Knowledge Sea began to roil as their Souls became unsettled, as if they were about to be sucked away.
Everyone panicked and hurriedly averted their gazes, none of them daring to stare at this abnormal treasure again as they all broke out into cold sweats.
“Youngsters always need to suffer some before learning just how insignificant they are, hmph!”
A grating and ear-piercing voice suddenly spoke up and echoed in the spacious stone cavern. This voice felt as if a hundred claws were scratching at the heart and made one feel incredibly uncomfortable.
If one really had to describe it, the voice resembled the sound of two pieces of metal scraping together with great force… Yang Kai and the others all felt like their heads were going numb when they heard it.
As the voice spoke, a figure suddenly mysteriously appeared in front of everyone.
Nobody noticed just when she had appeared and even Gao Xue Ting’s reflexively reacted, but in the next moment, she managed to compose herself again.
“Greetings, Grandma You!” Gao Xue Ting wore a serious expression as she cupped her fists towards the newly appeared figure.
Yang Kai and the others also hurriedly turned towards this newcomer and quickly discovered that Grandma You was surprisingly short, only reaching about the height of Yang Kai’s chest, and had a crooked back while she supported herself with a staff. She appeared to be really weak and doddering.
Meanwhile, the word ugly wouldn’t do Grandma You’s face any justice. Her entire face was filled with pits and blemishes. The invasion of time had left countless wrinkles upon her face, and there were even many age spots on her face, making it seem like she didn’t have long left to live.
Only her green eyes shone with energy. Everyone felt like their hair stood on end when they met her eyes.
The first word that everyone thought of was the word ‘vicious’ to describe such eyes and appearance…
Murong Xiao Xiao’s pretty face was already paling slightly as she didn’t have as much courage as the others, but even the men present wore expressions of discomfort.
However, none of them dared be impolite since Grandma You was right in front of them, all of them cupping their fists, “Greetings, Senior.”
Grandma You nodded lightly without indicating much else, simply glancing around while using an almost suffocating Divine Sense to scan their bodies.
Yang Kai was truly shocked as he stared at this old lady in front of him.
This was because he discovered that her Divine Sense was actually inconceivably strong. Even Aunt Feng, whom he met before, couldn’t compare to Grandma You.
Aunt Feng was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, someone on par with Wen Zi Shan.
However, this Grandma You’s aura was nowhere near the Third-Order Emperor Realm. According to Yang Kai’s experience, he estimated that she was just a First-Order Emperor!
In other words, even though this old lady was only at the First-Order Emperor Realm, her Divine Sense was as powerful as a Third-Order Emperor. It was unknown whether this was due to her own natural talent, or if it was related to how she constantly guarded the Divine Ascension Mirror.
Yang Kai secretly felt that the latter possibility was more likely, since according to Wen Zi Shan, the greatest use of the Divine Ascension Mirror was to strengthen a cultivator’s Soul.
Since Grandma You always stayed here in order to guard the Divine Ascension Mirror, she must have obtained tremendous benefits from this miraculous treasure as well.
“Oh,” Grandma You actually focused her gaze on Yang Kai after scanning everyone, as if she had noticed something, cackling strangely as she exclaimed, “An interesting little guy appeared…”
Gao Xue Ting glanced at Yang Kai and furrowed her brow slightly, but didn’t say anything in the end.
As for Grandma You, she didn’t say anything else about Yang Kai and instead just stated in her piercing voice, “The others are just passable!”
Gao Xue Ting cupped her fists and said, “I’ll be troubling Grandma to take them into the Divine Ascension Mirror.”
“Hmph, that little bastard Wen Zi Shan, he only knows how to order this old lady around!” Grandma You suddenly shouted angrily after hearing this.
Yang Kai and the others were truly stunned as they stared in disbelief at the old lady in front of them.
No matter what, Wen Zi Shan was still the Temple Master of Azure Sun Temple. Since this Grandma You had taken the job of guarding this Restricted Area, then she was obviously someone from the temple as well. A cultivator from the temple actually dared to be so rude and call the Temple Master a ‘little bastard’ right in front of so many people…
This seemed off no matter how everyone thought about it.
However, after Grandma You finished cursing Wen Zi Shan, she turned her head and used her sharp gaze to stare at everyone as she viciously exclaimed, “What’s wrong? That bastard trapped me here yet I’m not even allowed to curse at him? Do you have any objections?
Everyone hurriedly shook their heads in unison, feeling that this sentence contained a lot of information…
Meanwhile, Gao Xue Ting arched her brow and mentioned, “Grandma, you’re here simply because of a bet between you and the Temple Master, so why…”
“What do you know!?” Grandma You’s temper was as bad as Yang Kai had expected. After she finished cursing Wen Zi Shan, she got angry at Gao Xue Ting as her expression became warped, “Back then, you were nothing more than a little brat, so what would you know? That bastard Wen Zi Shan, if it wasn’t for me not being able to beat him, I long would have ripped his corpse into ten thousand pieces already…”
She seemed to recall a really unpleasant memory, causing her to constantly curse as she kept banging her staff on the ground, causing the entire stone cavern to echo loudly.
Yang Kai and the others stood where they were as their hearts trembled in fear, worried this old lady would go crazy and attack them.
With her powerful Divine Sense that was on par if not stronger than a Third-Order Emperor’s, if she did attack without warning, Gao Xue Ting might not be able to protect them.
Luckily, even though Grandma You was incredibly furious, she hadn’t reached the point of losing logic and reason, so she suddenly stopped speaking after she cursed for a while, stood in place, and panted loudly, as if she had become tired.
Gao Xue Ting also wore a difficult expression as she forced herself to be patient, not daring to interrupt Grandma You’s ranting. Only once the latter seemed to finish cursing did Gao Xue Ting speak again, “Grandma, we should first send them in.”
“I know!” Grandma You responded impatiently as she turned to look at Gao Xue Ting, “Are you also entering this time?”
Gao Xue Ting answered, “I am.”
“En, then each of you go find a stone room!” Grandma You then suddenly pointed to the front with her staff.
Yang Kai and the others looked where she was pointing and only then noticed that all around the mystical Divine Ascension Mirror were man-made stone rooms, each one with a door and a token hanging upon it.
At a rough count, there were approximately ten or so stone rooms that enveloped the Divine Ascension Mirror in a semicircular formation.
Gao Xue Ting spoke up to explain, “I think that you should all know how to enter the Divine Ascension Mirror already. It’s a place where only one’s Soul Avatar can enter, so our physical bodies will be unable to move later. Temple Master personally created these stone rooms, so while your Soul Avatars are exploring the Divine Ascension Mirror, your safety will be ensured as long as the barriers on these stone rooms are activated. Without the barrier token, or the Temple Master personally acting, no one can destroy those stone rooms or damage your physical bodies.”
Everyone nodded in understanding after hearing this.
“All this to guard against me!” Grandma You coldly snorted in dissatisfaction and chuckled wickedly, “Since he can’t relax with me here, why didn’t he just kill me back then? Why did he instead force me to guard this Restricted Area…”
She kept talking to herself, but everyone ignored her.
However, Yang Kai and the others knew that she was telling the truth.
Wen Zi Shan had specially created these stone rooms in order to protect the disciples whose Soul Avatars had entered the Divine Ascension Mirror against Grandma You.
Grandma You was someone who seemed very dangerous; after all, no one could tell just what she might do. What if she damaged their physical bodies while everyone was in the Divine Ascension Mirror? It was likely that everyone would then be stuck in the Divine Ascension Mirror for all eternity.
As Grandma You spoke, everyone found a stone room for themselves, took the token hanging on the door, and entered.
Gao Xue Ting didn’t rush to find a room for herself, however, and instead just stood where she was and explained to everyone about how to use the token.
Everyone soon learned the method to use their token and entered their own stone room, closing the door behind them and opening all the appropriate barriers.
After everyone finished, Gao Xue Ting finally chose an empty stone room and entered. Before she closed the door, she added, “We’ll be troubling you, Grandma!”
“No need for you to waste your breath!” was Grandma You’s response.
Gao Xue Ting didn’t say anything else as she also activated the barrier around her room and waited quietly.
A moment later, Grandma You supported herself on her staff as she went over to the Divine Ascension Mirror. Suddenly, she tossed her staff aside and opened up her arms. At the same time, a torrential amount of Spiritual Energy poured out of her forehead and was injected into the Divine Ascension Mirror.
She kept muttering something that sounded like an incantation, but upon listening more carefully, it didn’t sound like anything sensible at all.
As she made her movements, the Divine Ascension Mirror’s original faint flashes suddenly exploded with brilliant divine light.
Simultaneously, Yang Kai and the others who were sitting cross-legged in the stone rooms all became covered in the brilliant light. All of them felt something really discomforting in the light, as if their Souls were about to be sucked out of their bodies by it, a somewhat panic-inducing sensation.
However, none of them tried to resist, because this was an expected phenomenon. Every cultivator who entered the Divine Ascension Mirror would experience the same thing.
*Weng…..*
The Divine Ascension Mirror suddenly began flashing rapidly as a vortex appeared from it, covering everything in the surrounding cave. Sand and stones were kicked up and smashed into the stone rooms and cavern walls, causing many loud bangs.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
Six beams of light flew forth from six different stone rooms in the next instant and entered the Divine Ascension Mirror before vanishing.
At the same time, Yang Kai and the others’ figures flashed like lightning past the surface of the Divine Ascension Mirror.
“En?” Grandma You’s eyes suddenly lit up as she was channelling her Spiritual Energy. It seemed like she noticed something as she stared at the Divine Ascension Mirror and soon exclaimed, “Impossible! That’s impossible! One of those brats actually possesses such a precious treasure? Did I see incorrectly?”
She then clasped her hands and viciously slapped out.
The flashing Divine Ascension Mirror immediately stabilized itself and resumed its original appearance.
However, Grandma You’s face was quite pale and her forehead was dripping with sweat. Her originally short body seemed even shorter now, as if this activation had used up a tremendous amount of her energy.
“Damn it, damn it all! Wen Zi Shan, you left me alive only because activating the Divine Ascension Mirror requires the Divine Sense of a Third-Order Emperor! Don’t think that I don’t know about your evil intentions! This old lady will make you pay the price sooner or later!”
After saying this, she hurriedly sat down cross-legged and shakily took out some Spirit Pills from her Space Ring and popped them into her mouth as if they were candy.
“No matter if I saw wrongly or not, I must go in and check for myself! If that really is the item I saw, Wen Zi Shan, this is your end! Haha… hahahaha…” She began to laugh out loud in a crazed manner after speaking like a madman to herself.
At the same moment, Wen Zi Shan was looking into the distance from Myriad Saints Peak.
Chen Qian was by his side.
Once the Third-Order Emperor Realm Spiritual Energy fluctuations died down, Chen Qian muttered, “It seems that Sister Gao and the others have entered now.”
“En,” Wen Zi Shan nodded, “Everything was successful.”
“Temple Master!” Chen Qian suddenly turned to look at Wen Zi Shan, “This subordinate doesn’t understand something.”
“Oh? There’s even something that Little Qian doesn’t know? I thought that you were so crafty despite your size, and that you knew everything,” Wen Zi Shan commented with a wide smile.
Chen Qian just glared at him, “Temple Master, you personally raised Sister Gao, so it’s fine for you to talk to her with such a tone, but I’m different… if you keep acting so flippantly and dim, I’m worried that you really will be single for the rest of your life!”
Wen Zi Shan immediately broke out into a cold sweat with an awkward expression, “Ahem, let’s set this aside. What did you want to ask just now?”
“Back then… why didn’t you… kill Grandma You?” Chen Qian quickly said with a serious expression.
Wen Zi Shan’s expression also became serious as he fell into silence for a moment before answering, “It’s not that I didn’t want to, but rather that I couldn’t kill her!”
Chen Qian replied with confusion, “This subordinate does not understand.”
Wen Zi Shan answered, “Back when I first came to Azure Sun Mountain Range, I decided to stay here precisely because I discovered the Divine Ascension Mirror. At that time, that old thing was already guarding the Divine Ascension Mirror, and it seemed as if she had been doing so for more than two thousand years. Of course, my desire was stimulated upon seeing that treasure for the first time and I was quite eager to study it, but you already know about that old thing’s temper. She wouldn’t agree no matter what, so in the end, this King was forced into a fight with her…”
“The end result was that you won and Grandma You lost?”
“En,” Wen Zi Shan nodded, “Although our Divine Senses were at about the same level, she only had First-Order Emperor, so this King was stronger overall. At that time, I discovered that old thing wasn’t anything good, with a violent temperament and a cruel heart. I never would have shown her mercy if I didn’t have to; however, since she had been together with the Divine Ascension Mirror for so long, it seemed as if she gained some understanding of its mysteries, and although she was unable to use it against her enemies, she could still use special methods to seal and ruin it! If she was really forced to the brink, she could simply destroy that treasure and then no one would ever be able to use it!”
Chen Qian understood much more after she heard this, “So, Temple Master had such worries…”
“Indeed!” Wen Zi Shan replied, “Thus, I made an agreement with her that this King wouldn’t kill her, nor would I take the Divine Ascension Mirror away from her; however, she would need to cooperate whenever I needed to use the Divine Ascension Mirror.”
Chen Qian now had an expression of understanding, “No wonder… back when I went to train in the Divine Ascension Mirror, Grandma You’s expression was filled with unwillingness, yet she still activated the mirror for me. So there was such a reason.”
“Not only you…” Wen Zi Shan chuckled, “That old thing always behaves like this every time that she has to activate the Divine Ascension Mirror. She’s always treated the Divine Ascension Mirror as her personal belonging, so she can’t stand others touching it!”
Wen Zi Shan then coldly snorted, “After all these years, although she has cooperated on the surface, she’s probably secretly used so many schemes to kill countless elites of my temple!”
Chen Qian’s pretty face changed upon hearing this as she stared at Wen Zi Shan in astonishment, “Temple Master, you mean…”
Wen Zi Shan kept chuckling coldly, “She thinks that she did it without anyone knowing, but this King actually knew all along. However… she didn’t go too overboard, so this King can’t be bothered to expose her.”
“But the dead disciples…” Chen Qian had a pained expression.
Wen Zi Shan sighed deeply, “This also counts as a type of trial. If one passes, they will naturally become stronger, and if they fail, they die. Everyone’s fate is different, that’s all!”
Chen Qian was now afraid after the fact as she patted her chest, “Luckily, I managed to pass back them,” she paused for a moment and then asked, “Temple Master, why were you willing to let an outsider into the Divine Ascension Mirror? That is the temple’s greatest secret; even most disciples of the temple don’t know about it.”
“There’s no particular reason, I just wanted to test his mettle!” Wen Zi Shan smiled slightly.
Chen Qian responded, “Is it because of Bustling World Great Emperor? That boy brought the Bustling World Great Emperor’s token with him, and I heard that the Bustling World Great Emperor raised you, Temple Master…”
“Nothing could be further from the truth!” Wen Zi Shan suddenly glared at Chen Qian and acted panicky, “This King grew up as an ordinary person, and has not the slightest connection to that old Bustling World fellow…”
“Oh? You trying to hide it makes it more obvious…” Chen Qian covered her mouth and smiled.
“Lies and slander!”
“The more you deny it, the more certain it sounds…”
“Little Qian Qian…” Wen Zi Shan suddenly took a soft tone and called her name in a deeply romantic manner.
Chen Qian’s pretty face suddenly changed as she hurriedly said, “Temple Master, this subordinate just remembered that I have something else to do, I’ll be leaving now!”
She instantly flashed away, as if she was trying to escape from Wen Zi Shan’s sight.
Her past experiences told her that whenever Wen Zi Shan changed the topic and used such a tone with her, it would be best for her to escape immediately. Otherwise… she would definitely be tortured until she wanted to die!
“Hmph, she’s too naïve, daring to challenge this old master? Nothing but overconfidence, wahahaha!” Wen Zi Shan proudly revealed an attitude of an undefeatable champion, laughed loudly in an aloof manner.
…
Six vague figures appeared one after another in a strange space.
Gradually, these figures congealed, the entire process quite wondrous. As the six figures solidified, they all groaned in pain, as if they were all experiencing great discomfort.
However, everyone soon recovered.
They looked all around and at each other.
“This is the world of the Divine Ascension Mirror?” Xia Sheng exclaimed with astonishment.
“My body feels somewhat different!” Murong Xiao Xiao furrowed her brow slightly.
“This should be because we are in the form of our Soul Avatars,” Xiao Bai Yi added.
“This is so hard to get used to!” Chen Mu Ji also commented.
Yang Kai didn’t say anything and just gently clenched his fist, experiencing for himself how different his body was from usual.
If it was only physical appearance, everyone still appeared the same as before, right down to their clothes; however, if one looked closer, they would discover that everyone here had no physical body. In other words, everyone here consisted of pure Spiritual Energy. Although their forms appeared to be corporeal, they were actually not!
“It’s just as I told you before,” Gao Xue Ting got accustomed quite quickly, most likely because she had come here before, or perhaps because her realm was that much higher. “Only our Soul Avatars have entered the Divine Ascension Mirror, while our physical bodies are still in the stone rooms back in the stone cave. Everything in the Divine Ascension Mirror’s world is made of Spiritual Energy, which is why this place is highly effective at increasing the strength of our Souls. If a cultivator has a powerful Soul, their ability to comprehend Secret Arts and cultivate Secret Techniques will greatly increase as well. There are also countless other benefits. The Soul is the most important foundation for a cultivator, apart from their physical body, that is why this is a rare opportunity for all of you. If you can strengthen your Souls to a certain level here, it will also become easier for you all to rise to the Emperor Realm in the future.”
“Disciple understands,” Xiao Bai Yi and the others cupped their fists as they responded.
“The Spiritual Energy in the Divine Ascension Mirror World is different from the World Energy outside. When we cultivate outside, the World Energy we absorb is transformed into Qi to increase our cultivation; however, if you cultivate here, the Spiritual Energy you absorb will instead strengthen your Soul. I think that you all should have noticed this already,” Gao Xue Ting explained.
Everyone nodded slightly.
Yang Kai had indeed sensed that the energy in this strange world was quite different from energy in the outside world.
He was absorbing the energy all around him, which strengthened his Soul Avatar and made his Soul more durable and powerful.
“If you want to strengthen your Soul here, apart from cultivating normally, you can also strengthen yourself by slaying the living beings here!”
“There are other living beings here?” Xiao Bai Yi’s expression changed slightly.
Gao Xue Ting glanced at him, “This is a complete world, why wouldn’t there be other living beings here?”
Xiao Bai Yi was instantly rendered speechless.
Gao Xue Ting continued, “According to the Temple Master, the Divine Ascension Mirror is a mystical treasure that was born alongside the Heavens and Earth. The mirror’s interior is its own independent world that, while even smaller than the Southern Territory, has given birth to its own unique lifeforms. There are people and Monster Beasts here… so this world has everything that the Star Boundary does! However, every living creature here is condensed from pure Spiritual Energy. Of course, none of these creatures realize this and believe that this is how the world should be. They have never experienced having physical bodies before. Also, I must remind you to avoid having any contact with the natives here. There are many powerful existences in the Divine Ascension Mirror you can’t afford to antagonize.”
“However, if you’re capable of killing living beings that have evil intentions towards you, you’ll be able to absorb their energy. The energy here is extremely pure, and most of it can be absorbed by our Soul Avatars to strengthen our Souls directly!”
Everyone’s eyes lit up upon hearing this.
“You might not understand too well just from my explanation. In that case, we can try it out right now so that you can understand.” Gao Xue Ting closed her beautiful eyes as she spoke before releasing her powerful First-Order Emperor Realm Divine Sense.
A moment later, she opened her eyes and declared, “Everyone, come with me.”
As she spoke, she began moving at a speed that everyone could follow after.
This was a plain with long grass and many birds flying overhead, a scenery as beautiful and refreshing as a spring day. Even though there was no sun in the sky, the light in this world was quite plentiful, it was just unknown how this light was generated.
Everyone followed Gao Xue Ting for more than a dozen kilometres before something resembling a Monster Beast suddenly appeared before them.
Everyone looked over to see that the Monster Beast was a type that they had never seen before. It seemed like an ordinary wild animal, but its body was as gigantic as a building and its two curved tusks gave it a vicious appearance.
The Dao Source Realm cultivators present instantly sent out their Divine Senses to scan this beast and soon discovered that it was at the peak of the Tenth-Order. In other words, it was a Monster Beast which was equivalent to a peak Origin King.
None of them would have any trouble dealing with such a Monster Beast, so it was perfect for experimenting on to clarify Gao Xue Ting’s earlier explanation.
It seemed that Gao Xue Ting had chosen this beast intentionally.
As everyone scanned with their Divine Sense, the Monster Beast, which appeared like a wild pig, also noticed them and instantly turned around to glare at them with its scarlet eyes.
The pig then immediately used its four hooves to propel its gigantic body so swiftly that a wild gust was whipped up. Filled with killing intent, the beast charged at the group.
“Xia Sheng, I’ll leave this Scarlet-Eyed Evil Pig to you,” Gao Xue Ting announced in a calm tone.
“Then… this disciple shall go!” Xia Sheng also adopted a serious expression upon hearing this, kicking off the ground and charging towards the Scarlet-Eyed Evil Pig.
He understood that Gao Xue Ting wanted him to have a fight against this Monster Beast so that she could explain in more detail, so he didn’t refuse.
The human and beast instantly drew within a hundred metres of each other.
However, Xia Sheng suddenly stopped and lowered his waist slightly as he stood where he was in a solid stance. With one hand in front of his chest, he palmed forward and shouted, “Chaos Origin Palm!”
Xia Sheng didn’t know if the Monster Beasts in this world had the same combat strength as those in the outside world, which was why he used a Secret Technique right from the start. He didn’t underestimate the Scarlet-Eyed Evil Pig one bit just because it was only peak Tenth-Order.
“En, because we entered this world with only our Soul Avatars, a majority of the Secret Techniques and Secret Arts that we usually cultivate have no effect here!” Gao Xue Ting’s words suddenly rang in everyone’s ears.
Everyone nodded lightly in understanding.
Meanwhile, Xia Sheng’s expression changed slightly because when he used his Secret Technique, nothing happened at all apart from him making a pose for nothing.
When he heard Gao Xue Ting’s words, he instantly realized that he had made a major mistake. In just the blink of an eye, the Scarlet-Eyed Evil Pig had closed to within ten metres of Xia Sheng.
Still, Xia Sheng didn’t panic from the danger and instead stretched out his hand to summon his artifact while shouting, “Don’t be so arrogant, you beast! Die!”
Gao Xue Ting once again spoke up at this moment, “Artifacts are also unusable because normal artifacts require Source Qi and a physical body to utilize.”
Right as she finished saying this, Xia Sheng shouted, “Oh crap…”
As he shouted, he instantly started running towards Gao Xue Ting while shouting in a panic, “Elder Gao, save me!”
Gao Xue Ting glanced at him coldly and chuckled in a cold tone, “You’re going too far with your acting. Although this Queen knows that you’re doing this because you want the others to better understand the wonders of this world… are you trying to insult your own intelligence or your Junior Brothers and Junior Sister’s intelligence? Hurry and kill it already!”
“As you command!” When Xia Sheng heard this he immediately turned around, waving his hand as he summoned a longsword artifact into it. This artifact emanated a strong Spiritual Energy fluctuation and was clearly a Soul-type artifact!
Xia Sheng poured his Spiritual Energy into the artifact before slicing at the Scarlet-Eyed Evil Pig.
He didn’t use any extravagant technique or assume some elegant posture, he simply used his strength for a simple and direct hit.
His sword flashed as a howl of pain arose.
Energy furiously shot in all directions.
The Scarlet-Eyed Evil Pig was directly sliced in half by the sword. Due to the momentum, the pig’s gigantic body still charged forward for a short distance before it suddenly collapsed on the ground.
Xia Sheng put away his sword and stood straight with an icy and cool expression upon his face.
There was no blood, nor was there any smell or gore. The Scarlet-Eyed Evil Pig simply laid there quietly on the ground as its body gradually vanished in front of everyone’s eyes. It seemed that it was transforming into energy that was vanishing into this land.
Meanwhile, at the location where half of its corpse had already vanished was a slightly yellow ball of light that was about the size of a pea.
Everyone couldn’t help but stare with astonishment. When they scanned with their Divine Senses, Yang Kai and the others’ expressions all couldn’t help but flicker.
That was because they discovered that this pea-sized yellow ball of light actually contained extremely pure Spiritual Energy which didn’t seem to possess any taint at all. It was almost unimaginably pure.
“This is a Soul Source!” Gao Xue Ting explained, “In this world, every living being has its own Soul Source, and if they are killed, their Soul Source will remain, allowing us to easily absorb it and strengthen our Souls.”
As she spoke, Xia Sheng was already dashing over as fast as he could towards the Soul Source as he then reached out for it.
It seemed rather strange, but when he held the Soul Source, it actually melded into his hand and merged with his body.
Xia Sheng immediately closed his eyes and showed an expression of great comfort. Sometime later, he opened his eyes again and shouted, “That was great!”
Gao Xue Ting calmly continued, “According to my calculations, a Soul Source like that is probably worth seven to eight days of cultivation in the outside world for all of you.”
Yang Kai and the others’ eyes all lit up upon hearing this!
A peak of Tenth-Order Monster Beast’s Soul Source dropped from its death was already so beneficial for them, so if it was an Eleventh-Order Monster Beast’s Soul Source… wouldn’t that be equivalent to a month or two worth of dedicated cultivation?
If one Soul Source helped so much, then ten would be equal to a year’s worth of effort, and one hundred Soul Sources would be equal to a hundred years’ worth!
One hundred years’ worth of hard work cultivating and increasing the strength of one’s Soul only required the Soul Sources of one hundred Eleventh-Order Monster Beasts? This seemed almost unimaginable.
“Don’t get too excited!” Gao Xue Ting poured some cold water on everyone at this moment. “Although these living beings will leave behind extremely pure Soul Sources after death, and these Soul Sources are easy for us to absorb, they’re still a type of foreign power rather than what you would gain from personal cultivation. This means that if you feel anything off in your own body, you must stop absorbing more, otherwise, your consciousness might become chaotic with unimaginable consequences!”
Everyone’s expressions calmed down as they realized that this type of absorption wasn’t limitless, it simply hadn’t been obvious.
“Of course, if you can find a Soul Jade, things will be different,” Gao Xue Ting spoke up once again.
“Soul Jade?” Yang Kai looked at her with an expression saying that he didn’t understand. The others all had similar expressions.
“That’s an object only produced in this world that is formed from the purest Spiritual Energy, and its appearance is similar to a type of jade. A Soul Jade can truly be absorbed without any worry! No problems will occur no matter how many of these you absorb!” Gao Xue Ting explained. “This Queen has entered this world a total of four times, but even up until now, I’ve only obtained one Mid-Rank Soul Jade. Even in this world, Soul Jades are extremely rare.”
After they heard this, everyone instantly understood that finding a Soul Jade depended more on luck than hard work.
“Apart from that, there’s also something called Soul Crystals in this world. Although Soul Crystals sound similar in name to Soul Jades, they’re completely different things.” Gao Xue Ting did her best to explain in as much detail as possible so that the newcomers to this world would have a better understanding. “You can think of Soul Crystals as the equivalent of Source Crystals on our side… Soul Crystals are the currency of this world and although they can also be used to cultivate, their efficiency isn’t very good!”
“Disciple understands,” Xia Sheng and the others nodded with serious expressions.
“This wondrous world has countless mysterious products, the majority of which are tremendously helpful for the Soul. You’ll naturally understand if you have the opportunity to encounter them,” Gao Xue Ting looked around and spoke in a calm tone, “Also, thanks to Xia Sheng’s fight just now, you should be able to tell that only Soul-type artifacts and Soul Secret Techniques can be used here! When entering the Divine Ascension Mirror, it is impossible to bring most of the items on our physical bodies; however, anything related to the Soul can pass through without a problem. All of you should check your belongings and ascertain what you have that you can use, so that you’re not caught unprepared by a powerful enemy!”
Everyone immediately started to check themselves after she spoke.
Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to scan himself and immediately found the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield that Gao Xue Ting had previously given him.
This was a Soul-type artifact, so it was only natural that it could enter the Divine Ascension Mirror World. Yang Kai only had to use a thought to activate it, causing a solid seeming layer of purple light to appear around his current body.
However, apart from this Soul-type artifact that could obviously be brought along with him, Yang Kai actually discovered some items that he never would have expected.
“The Soul Warming Lotus…” Yang Kai had a speechless expression as he looked over a certain part within his body where a seven coloured lotus bloomed. He thought to himself, [Although the Soul Warming Lotus isn’t an artifact, it’s related to the Soul, and it’s always been in my Knowledge Sea, so it’s natural that it was brought along, but…]
[Why did these guys also come along?]
Yang Kai was referring to the Soul Devouring Insects that he obtained long ago in Tong Xuan Realm.
He had obtained these Soul Devouring Insects many years ago, and due to his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea’s special attribute, he wasn’t afraid of these Exotic Ancient Insects and had even borrowed the Soul Warming Lotus’s effect to tame them and make them fight for him.
The Soul Devouring Insects had been kept in the Soul Warming Lotus’s illusionary seven-coloured island over all these years and they had become even stronger thanks to the Soul Warming Lotus’s nourishment.
Most critically, last time, outside Maplewood City, when Yang Kai underwent his Demon Transformation, the Soul Devouring Insects had rampaged once and at that time madly devoured the ancient demon’s Demon Qi in Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea. The insects’ appearance changed greatly back then, becoming pitch-black, all of them giving off a feeling of wickedness and violence. It was obvious that they wouldn’t be good to antagonize.
At this moment, these countless Soul Devouring Insects had also come here together with the Soul Warming Lotus and were residing atop the Soul Warming Lotus as they were nourished within Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar.
Yang Kai’s face couldn’t help but darken when he found the Soul Devouring Insects.
This couldn’t be helped…
If these guys were exposed, Gao Xue Ting would likely soon connect them to the ancient demon, because Yang Kai had fought against Gao Xue Ting while in his demon form outside of Maplewood City. An Emperor like Gao Xue Ting would of course remember such a unique power.
It might even be that Gao Xue Ting would recognize Yang Kai as the demon from that day! Yang Kai really wouldn’t be able to explain himself if that happened…
After thinking of this, Yang Kai secretly resolved that no matter what, he couldn’t allow these Soul Devouring Insects to appear in front of Gao Xue Ting. Otherwise, the consequences would be dire!
After he finished checking the Soul Warming Lotus and Soul Devouring Insects, Yang Kai then saw something else in his Soul Avatar – something that he never expected to see.
“This thing… is also a Soul-type artifact? I never knew!”
Yang Kai was referring to a sword, a certain blade that he hadn’t finished refining, and in fact, hadn’t even used.
He never expected that it would enter the Divine Ascension Mirror and follow his Soul Avatar here!
This discovery shocked Yang Kai as well as gave him a pleasant surprise since he had possessed this blade for many years already. Now that he had this blade at his side, perhaps it would have some miraculous effect in a time of danger.
Although Yang Kai was thinking many things in his mind, his expression remained calm.
Gao Xue Ting glanced at him and inspected the defensive prowess of his Purple Sun Profound Light Shield, nodding slightly at what she saw.
She had given this artifact to Yang Kai not long ago, so it was already quite something that he had refined it to the point where he could control it as he pleased in such a short period of time.
After a while, Gao Xue Ting saw that everyone was just about finished with their self-inspections, so she mentioned, “Now I will be taking you all to a certain place. It’s the norm for the temple’s disciples to train at this place every time we enter this world. You all must obediently stay there and train. You absolutely cannot run around!”
“Yes!” Everyone responded in unison.
However, Xia Sheng acutely noticed something as he looked at Gao Xue Ting with suspicion, “Elder Gao, you’re not coming with us?”
Her words made it sound like Gao Xue Ting was only in charge of bringing everyone there, and that she wouldn’t actually stay with them.
Gao Xue Ting shook her head, “I have something else to do; however, you guys can rest assured that the training location isn’t too dangerous. As long as you guys behave, there won’t be any major problems.”
“Understood,” Xia Sheng nodded with a serious expression, “Elder Gao, please rest assured as well, as long as Disciple is here, he will ensure everyone’s safety.”
Gao Xue Ting glanced at him with a look of some praise and waved her pretty hand, “Let’s go!”
As she spoke, she flew off towards a certain direction.
Everyone hurried to follow her.
As they travelled, they would occasionally meet some Monster Beasts blocking the way. Whenever this happened, Gao Xue Ting would have one member of the disciples go down to fight and get accustomed to their own condition as well as the special traits of the living beings here.
The Dao Source Realm disciples were all elites among elites and could naturally adapt quite easily. One day later, everyone had almost completely lost their original sense of discomfort and were able to fight freely.
In general, their Soul Avatars could not display as much power as when they were in their physical bodies and they also had far fewer techniques they could use against their enemies.
This couldn’t be helped as they were currently lacking physical bodies and their normal artifacts. They were also unable to use most of their Secret Techniques when they fought and could only rely on Soul-type artifacts or pure Spiritual Energy attacks.
Thus, most fights in the Divine Ascension Mirror were simple and direct, without any overly fancy or complex techniques.
Yang Kai’s unusualness really showed itself here.
When outside, others would only pay attention to his cultivation, and to experts, a First-Order Dao Source Realm wasn’t even worth mentioning.
However, Yang Kai seemed to be rather different from everyone else in this world that Soul Avatars reigned over.
His Soul Avatar’s strength even faintly surpassed that of Xia Sheng’s, not to mention Xiao Bai Yi, Murong Xiao Xiao, and Chen Mu Ji.
Yang Kai was originally the one with the lowest cultivation level amongst them, but upon entering the Divine Ascension Mirror, he actually became the strongest and… it was impossible for him to conceal this fact.
This obvious contrast really astonished the others and they all became quite curious about just how he had cultivated his Spiritual Energy and how he managed to cultivate his own Soul to such a degree.
However, since they weren’t from the same Sect, they couldn’t really ask something like this as it was treading upon his personal secrets.
Even Gao Xue Ting couldn’t help but show some astonishment.
One day later, everyone saw a wide mountain range that extended beyond the horizon.
Gao Xue Ting had everyone stop at the foot of the mountains.
“These are the Heavenly Monster Mountains of the Divine Ascension Mirror World. There are countless Monster Beasts inside here, and you can feel free to hunt them once you enter and obtain Soul Sources to improve your Souls. However, this Queen must remind you all that there are some Monster Beasts within the Heavenly Monster Mountains that even this Queen cannot afford to antagonize. Thus, you shouldn’t enter too deeply into the mountains. As long as you remain in the outskirts… roughly 20,000 kilometres or so from here, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”
Everyone’s expressions couldn’t help but become serious as they nodded to show that they understood what she meant.
“The Heavenly Monster Mountains doesn’t only have Monster Beasts, there are also some cultivators from the Divine Ascension Mirror within. If you see them… try not to interact with them; however, if you do come into contact, don’t reveal any information about the outside world. This is very important! Of course, apart from these, there are also the Soul Jades, Soul Crystals, and so on that I mentioned to you before… The Mid-Rank Soul Jade that this Queen obtained before was from the Heavenly Monster Mountains.”
Upon hearing this, everyone’s eyes lit up as they all began to roll up their sleeves.
“Also, our Soul Avatar cannot leave our physical bodies for too long, otherwise some unforeseeable consequences might occur. That is why you are limited to training here for only one month! One month from now, the stone room tokens will automatically activate the seal which will forcibly drag your Soul Avatar back to our world. That’s why you must properly make use of this time.”
“Elder…” Murong Xiao Xiao suddenly spoke up, “If we meet some danger that’s difficult for us to deal with… what should we do?”
“Escape!” Gao Xue Ting’s words were simple and direct. “If you can’t escape, then stall for time, stall until the one-month time limit.” She then glanced over at everyone with her beautiful eyes, “This is a trial. If you can’t surpass it…”
She furrowed her delicate brow slightly and didn’t say any more, but everyone knew what she meant.
Cultivators would always encounter all kinds of danger on their path, so everyone was already accustomed to this type of situation and didn’t have anything to complain about.
“Very good. This Queen has led you all here, and now the rest is up to yourselves. Go in,” Gao Xue Ting waved her hand at everyone after she said this.
Xia Sheng and the others exchanged glances before nodding and entering the Heavenly Monster Mountains.
Gao Xue Ting stood where she was until everyone’s figures disappeared from her line of sight. Only then did she flash away and fly in a different direction.
When she entered the Divine Ascension Mirror this time, not only was she responsible for leading the way for Xia Sheng and the others and explaining some common knowledge about this world to them, she also had a personal matter to attend to: refining one of her own Soul-type artifacts.
This Soul-type artifact had been with her for many years as she warmed it with her Emperor Intent and nourished it with her Emperor Qi. As such, it was now close to evolving into an Emperor Artifact.
An Emperor grade Soul-type artifact was a very rare treasure, with few in existence throughout the entire Star Boundary.
An ordinary Emperor Realm Master might have one or two Emperor Artifacts that they spent a great deal of effort on refining, but as for Soul Emperor Artifacts… the vast majority of Emperors would not possess such a thing.
If things succeeded this time, then Gao Xue Ting would possess a Soul-type Emperor Artifact, allowing her to fully focus on offence when fighting an enemy as she would no longer need to defend the gaps in her Knowledge Sea.
This would be a great boon to her.
The last time that she entered the Divine Ascension Mirror World, she happened to save the life of a local cultivator who was also at the Emperor Realm. At the time, that cultivator had been severely injured and was being hunted by a vicious Monster Beast.
When Gao Xue Ting saw this, she went up to help without any hesitation, and the two of them together managed to kill that Monster Beast.
That cultivator was extremely grateful for Gao Xue Ting’s kindness and invited her back to his Sect.
Gao Xue Ting also wanted to find out more about all sorts of information regarding the Divine Ascension Mirror World, so she agreed.
When Gao Xue Ting went to the Sect named Soul Grasping Sect, she learned then that the person she saved was actually the Sect Master.
The Sect Master of Soul Grasping Sect wasn’t a wicked person and treated Gao Xue Ting as an honoured guest since she had saved his life. Elder Gao was powerful and beautiful, so apart from having a cold aura, just about everything else about her was perfect.
This Sect Master thus treated Gao Xue Ting very politely and kept trying to flatter her in an attempt to win her heart.
Gao Xue Ting learned last time through idle chatter that there was a mystical place called Soul Gathering Lake within the Soul Grasping Sect and that this place was capable of helping her refine her Soul-type artifact.
Now, Gao Xue Ting was heading for the Soul Grasping Sect, because she wanted to ask the Sect Master to let her borrow the Soul Gathering Lake!
In Gao Xue Ting’s opinion, since she had saved that Sect Master’s life previously, there shouldn’t be any problems with this request.
…..
At the same time, in a certain location within the Divine Ascension Mirror World, there was a giant city that stretched several tens of thousands of kilometres in every direction, an incomparably large area. The city walls were several tens of metres tall and encircled the city like a well-armed fortress.
From a distance, a majestic aura seemed to overflow from this place.
The city was filled with bustling people to the point where many walked shoulder-to-shoulder along the busy streets.
Although this was a city within the Divine Ascension Mirror, it looked identical to cities in the outside world. There were streetside vendors, forests, wide streets, intersections, and an assortment of buildings.
This was the capital of Divine Ascension Country, Divine Ascension City!
Unlike the outside world where there were countless Sects and families, with each force managing their own territory, in the Divine Ascension Mirror World, it was the Divine Ascension Country that was in charge of everything.
All Sects and families were under the management of the Divine Ascension Country. Here, the Divine Ascension Country had unlimited authority and power over everything!
It was said that long, long ago, there was no Divine Ascension Country here and that this world’s structure was identical to the outside world, with Sects and families each having their own territory and ruling like kings.
But ever since the current ruler of the Divine Ascension Country appeared, all forces were united by them and the Divine Ascension Country came to be. Now, no one dared go against their command.
The current ruler was an astonishing genius with the ability to split the Heavens and shatter the Earth. There were also a large number of experts who swore fealty to this ruler and their achievements had all become the stuff of legend, stories all mothers taught to their children.
Under their rule, the entire Divine Ascension Country’s power rose daily, leading to a bright future!
Although this entire world was basically under this one person’s rule now, the appearance of the Divine Ascension Country had indeed managed to help people avoid lots of unnecessary slaughter and conflict, which was a wonderful achievement already.
At this moment, in the palace of Divine Ascension City, the Great General Zhou Dian, guardian of the Divine Ascension Kingdom, was busy fondling two beautiful women on his left and right as he enjoyed wine and a rowdy party.
Zhou Dian was someone who had a tough and sturdy build, a vicious appearance, and was nearly two metres tall, a full size larger than ordinary people.
He had followed the ruler of Divine Ascension Country in the early days and fought across the world, helping to establish the country with his blade. That was why Zhou Dian was rewarded as he deserved after the Divine Ascension Country was established and given the title of Guardian of the Country, meaning that he was beneath one person and above all others.
Currently, the Divine Ascension Mirror World had been at complete peace for the past hundred years and had no major wars for the past thousand years. As the guardian of the country, Zhou Dian was so bored that he was growing mold.
He was a master at the Third-Order Emperor Realm already, so he felt that continuing to cultivate didn’t have much meaning; as such, he started indulging himself in a life of debauchery.
Normally, he would stay in his palace and collect beautiful women from everywhere as he lived his life freely as he pleased.
Currently, a group of young women were singing and dancing beneath the throne, wearing revealing clothing as they danced, causing their beautiful figures to be faintly exposed. These women were really seductive as they sent flirtatious gazes and had expressions filled with desire. They all showed their most beautiful side to Zhou Dian in an effort to attract his attention.
Zhou Dian was holding various beauties of different types in his left and right hands as he drank delicious wine and ate spirit fruits… his expression was one of satisfaction and delight.
The Divine Ascension Mirror World had countless special products that couldn’t be found in the outside world. For instance, the spirit fruits laid out before Zhou Dian were a local specialty of the Divine Ascension Mirror World. Eating these would be greatly beneficial to the Soul so they were extremely precious and expensive, yet Zhou Dian was treating them as a regular fruit that he could feast on. It was quite a wasteful extravagance.
The sound of laughter, the sounds of seduction, the sounds of flirtation, and Zhou Dian’s loud laughter filled this palace.
Suddenly though, all the noise abruptly stopped.
All sounds seemed to suddenly be cut off by an invisible force.
An unimaginable pressure descended from the sky as a figure came in from outside.
Even without seeing that figure, the singing and dancing women beneath the throne could sense that a giant shadow had appeared behind them. This shadow seemed capable of devouring all of their light as they trembled in fear.
Zhou Dian also widened his mouth and stared at the figure with shock as it came in. A spirit fruit that resembled a grape fell out of his mouth, but he didn’t even notice.
The shadow seemed to be walking slowly, but it instantly entered the palace
Upon a glance, this figure was draped in a large pitch-black robe that enveloped it completely. It was also wearing a demon mask that looked vicious and terrifying!
It was impossible to tell if this person was male or female just from their physical appearance.
In fact, if this person walked around in the palace, at least ninety percent of people wouldn’t recognize them.
But Zhou Dian was different!
The moment that this person appeared, Zhou Dian immediately wiped his mouth as his body shook. Tossing away the two women that had been in his embrace, he hurried forward over ten metres to stand before this person. He then bowed with a serious expression and kneeled on one knee as he declared in a low voice, “The guardian of the country, Great General Zhou Dian, greets the Lord King!”
All of the dancing women wore expressions of astonishment upon hearing this.
Although they knew that the ruler was in this palace, not a single one of the women had ever seen him ever since they entered.
Normally, while messing around with Zhou Dian, they had also joked before to Zhou Dian that he should take them to meet the ruler so that they could see the astounding Master who almost single-handedly established the Divine Ascension Country.
But whenever this was mentioned, Zhou Dian would always change the topic and never agree.
But today, this legendary figure had suddenly appeared before them.
They were truly shocked and surprised by this.
Along with their shock and surprise, they also looked at this person with curiosity.
However, they couldn’t see any characteristics about their king at all. The ruler’s large black cape and demon mask obscured their face and figure completely. There wasn’t even a bit of skin exposed from this image.
It was also impossible to determine this person’s gender from their body shape.
In fact, looking for too long caused the women in the hall to feel dizziness and headaches, scaring them into hurriedly averting their gazes.
“Rise!” The person before Zhou Dian spoke in a light tone.
This was a raspy voice that sounded rather neutral, once again making it impossible to determine if they were male or female.
“Yes, Lord King!” Zhou Dian replied in a low voice as he stood up while continuing to bow slightly, looking at his Master with some wonder, “Lord King, what matter have you come to find this subordinate for?”
Ever since the ruler created the Divine Ascension Country, they had basically not asked Zhou Dian to do anything at all. Zhou Dian never expected that the Lord King would come to find him of their own volition and could faintly sense that something major was likely going to occur.
Zhou Dian quietly waited for the answer after he asked this.
However, the Lord King didn’t speak for a long time. Only much later did the raspy voice finally answer, “The Star of Calamity has appeared in the Heavenly Monster Mountains and has shaken the country’s fate. Great chaos is about to arrive!”
“What?” Zhou Dian’s expression changed as he called out in alarm, “Such a thing actually happened?”
He fiercely viciously gnashed his teeth while the cruelty that he usually kept concealed suddenly exposed itself as he grinned viciously, “Lord King, rest assured. Subordinate shall send someone immediately…”
“You go. Personally!” The Lord King interrupted him.
Zhou Dian was astonished to hear this, but he soon nodded, “Subordinate understands. I will definitely live up to the Lord King’s expectations!”
“Good!” The Lord King said lightly before turning around and leaving.
A moment later, they were gone.
A sentence wafted over from the distance at the same time, “Capture them alive!”
Zhou Dian cupped his fists towards the voice’s direction, “Understood!”
After that, he actually began to laugh out loud as he muttered in a cold voice, “Finally… I have something to do. I hope that this trip won’t make this General too bored!”
“Could you take me with you? I’d also like to see Sir’s amazing countenance in battle.”
“I want to go as well.”
“Me too! Me too!”
The women gathered around and kept chattering endlessly.
Zhou Dian laughed viciously as he looked around him. Suddenly, he coldly snorted as an invisible force spread out and knocked all the women away.
The beauties all fell down and started screaming in pain. Unstable lights flashed on their bodies, indicating that their Souls had been damaged severely.
“When men are working, women should stay put!” Zhou Dian declared as he strode out of the palace with large steps.
He was playing around intimately with these women just earlier, yet he actually treated them like this and cast them aside in the next. It could be seen that he was subject to shifting moods and had a cruel personality.
Not long after, Zhou Dian gathered his army and left the palace with great force as he headed towards Heavenly Monster Mountains.
…..
Currently in a valley of the Heavenly Monster Mountains, a peak Eleventh-Order Earth Tortoise was struggling in battle as several figures weaved around it.
Xia Sheng sliced with his sword, using it to send out blades of Spiritual Energy that cut into the weak spots of the Earth Tortoise’s neck. The Monster Beast instantly roared in pain from the strike and tried to withdraw.
Xiao Bai Yi’s Soul-Type artifact was similar to the artifacts that he used with his physical body, since they were all sword artifacts. Here, he was even using his Spiritual Energy to use the Secret Techniques that he normally used. Although it seemed a bit strange, the power was still significant.
The Spiritual Energy sword waves sliced over to block the Earth Tortoise’s path of retreat.
Murong Xiao Xiao had a serious expression as she skillfully wielded a long whip. The whip left many afterimages as all the attacks surrounded the Monster Beast and stopped it from moving. However, even though her whip seemed beautiful in its movements, it lacked murderous intent.
Meanwhile, Chen Mu Ji’s Soul-Type artifact was a flying sword. As he threw it with his Divine Sense injected in it, it stirred up astonishing winds as it kept whittling down the Monster Beast’s stamina.
Yang Kai wore the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield as he engaged in melee combat with the Earth Tortoise, his fists pounding as he unleashed a flurry of punches.
The five Dao Source Realm cultivators surrounded and attacked a Monster Beast at the peak of Dao Source Realm, yet they were actually unable to defeat it despite how long they’d been fighting.
This wasn’t Yang Kai and the others’ fault though, it was simply that the Monster Beast’s defences were too astonishing. The thick tortoiseshell seemed to be harder than metal and any time a truly threatening attack came, it would retract its four limbs and its head into its shell.
When the attacks slowed down, the tortoise would poke its head out and spit something that resembled a spray of energy balls. These energy balls formed a dense bombardment and were quite difficult for Yang Kai and the others to deal with.
Of the five people present, Yang Kai was the only one who possessed a defensive artifact that allowed him to engage the tortoise in melee combat. The other four didn’t dare to get too close, as they might die if they weren’t careful enough and got pelted by an attack.
If it wasn’t for the fact that the tortoise was extremely slow, Yang Kai and the others wouldn’t have bothered to fight it.
Still, such a Monster Beast helped everyone to soon understand their limits and weaknesses.
After a long fight, the Earth Tortoise’s surface flickered, seeming to indicate that it was reaching its limits. Xia Sheng shouted loudly as he and his sword attacked together from the sky, descending with the force of a meteor.
Xiao Bai Yi and the others also used their techniques on the Monster Beast together.
Upon seeing this, Yang Kai feinted and then retreated so that he wouldn’t get caught in friendly fire from everyone’s attacks.
“Hong hong hong…”
There was the sound of energy explosions that wouldn’t stop for quite a long time.
When the dust finally settled, the Earth Tortoise collapsed quietly on the ground and wasn’t moving anymore. In front of everyone’s eyes, its body gradually vanished and dissipated into this land, leaving only a small bean-sized ball of light.
The ball of light’s colour, brightness, and size were all incomparable to the one everyone saw from the previous Monster Beast.
This one was at the peak of the Eleventh-Order, after all!
However, even though the victory loot was right before them, nobody was in a hurry to take it. Instead, everyone stood where they were with furrowed eyebrows and contemplative expressions. Everyone seemed to gain something as their expressions flickered.
“In this place, our past combat experience… doesn’t seem to be very useful.” Xia Sheng was the first to speak.
“En.” Xiao Bai Yi nodded. “I think everyone’s noticed now that it’s difficult to fight because it feels like you’re being restrained!”
“Is it because we’re in our Soul Avatars…?” Murong Xiao Xiao considered it as she answered.
“Probably,” Chen Mu Ji nodded in agreement.
Since they were in their Soul Avatars, they were unable to use many skills and Secret Techniques that they were accustomed to using. They were also unable to use their typical artifacts, which naturally meant that everyone would feel uncomfortable during battle.
Additionally, these types of Soul battles were typically avoided by all cultivators as much as possible.
Normally, if the two cultivators were at about the same power level, they wouldn’t choose to fight with their Divine Senses because such a fight was far too dangerous. A moment of carelessness would be enough to lead to the loss of one’s consciousness or becoming an idiot.
However, they didn’t have the choice of being able to fight in other ways in this Divine Ascension Mirror World. In that case, many problems that they had never considered or happened upon, would now appear.
For instance, when they were attacked in the outside world, they could instantly cancel out the attack, or even counter it, by meeting it head-on with their own strength.
However, in this place, when a strong attack was launched at them, everyone’s first reaction was to dodge… so that their Souls wouldn’t get injured.
“It seems that there’s still much room for us to grow,” Xia Sheng wryly smiled as he added. “Let’s not think about it for the time being. This Soul Source…” He glanced at everyone before he stopped at Chen Mu Ji, “Junior Brother Chen, you take this one.” He then looked at Yang Kai and inquired, “Brother Yang, you don’t have any objections, right?”
“I have none!” Yang Kai shook his head.
Xia Sheng nodded.
Chen Mu Ji didn’t refuse. He thanked Xia Sheng and immediately took the Soul Source as he began to cultivate and absorb it.
Not long after, he finished absorbing the Soul Source.
Although it wasn’t too evident, Chen Mu Ji’s Soul’s strength had indeed increased slightly. It could be seen by the look of delight on his face.
It was a peak Eleventh-Order Monster Beast, after all. The person absorbing the Soul Source would be able to feel their own increase in Spiritual Energy.
“Let’s continue…” Xia Sheng said as he led the way forward in search of prey.
Two days passed by in the blink of an eye.
In these two days, Yang Kai and the others supported each other in the Heavenly Monster Mountains. They met many Monster Beasts, but they were able to safely kill these enemies each time. Under Xia Sheng’s leadership, the spoils of battle, Soul Sources, were divided up relatively evenly.
Yang Kai absorbed a total of nine Ninth-Order Monster Beasts, five Tenth-Orders, and two Eleventh-Order Monster Beast Soul Sources…
His Spiritual Energy was evidently stronger than when he first entered this place.
The others had also obtained good harvests.
For instance, Chen Mu Ji had the weakest Spiritual Energy among them, but his growth was evident for all to see.
There really were countless Monster Beasts in the Heavenly Monster Mountain. The beasts mostly roamed freely, so there was no need for the group to intentionally search for them as they were easy to find.
The group had no intentions of killing Monster Beasts that were too weak, since they wouldn’t gain much even if they did kill such beasts, and basically only targeted existences that were Ninth-Order and above.
Maybe it was because they were still only on the outskirts of the mountains, but they hadn’t met any Twelfth-Order beasts as of yet.
Of course, if they actually did meet a Twelfth-Order Monster Beast, they would only be able to run away.
As the group fought difficult battles over the past two days, their conditions also improved greatly. It was evident that they had acclimated significantly to this new world and if the five of them were to meet an Earth Tortoise again similar to the one they first encountered again, with their current strength and experience, they would likely only need half a cup of tea’s time to kill it.
In other words, everyone had become completely accustomed to this place and their Soul Bodies, along with the way of fighting required here.
As the group rested, Xia Sheng suddenly spoke up, “Everyone, I have a suggestion, but I don’t know if I should say it or not.”
“Is it to act separately?” Xiao Bai Yi had an expression of ‘I know exactly what you’re thinking.’
Xia Sheng smiled, “Xiao Bai really understands me best! Although it’s definitely safer for the five of us to work together, acting as a group like this is rather inefficient. Elder Gao said before that we only have one month in this world, and that the token’s seal will activate after that time and forcibly take us back to our world. It may be a long time before we are able to enter the Divine Ascension Mirror again, so we must properly take advantage of this great opportunity in order to treat ourselves!”
“Rather than acting together for safety, this Senior Brother prefers to act separately. Although there will be a certain amount of danger, our potential… isn’t it always forced out when we’re in danger?” His eyes shone with mysterious confidence and excitement, “If we keep growing up in a safe environment, it will be too late if we meet with actual danger in the future.”
“Actually…” Xiao Bai Yi suddenly spoke up with a slow tone, “I agree.”
His implicit meaning was that he had some worries about saying this idea out loud before.
“Separate?” Murong Xiao Xiao hesitated slightly, but she soon resolved herself and nodded, “Good.”
Xia Sheng saw that even she agreed, so he turned to look at Chen Mu Ji.
Chen Mu Ji smiled and said, “Senior Brothers and Senior Sister don’t need to worry about me. Although I have the lowest Soul cultivation here, I will do what I can based on my own strength. I’m still a disciple of the temple after all!”
“Very good!” Xia Sheng looked at him with satisfaction before turning to look at Yang Kai and grinning, “Brother Yang definitely has no objections here.”
“I’m fine with anything!” Yang Kai replied calmly.
It was a coincidental opportunity that he could enter the Divine Ascension Mirror to begin with, which was why he didn’t raise any objections or make any requests. If Xia Sheng and the others insisted on acting together, Yang Kai would cooperate, but since they were going to separate, he was happy to comply.
Of course, if he had to choose, he would prefer to separate.
There were many techniques that he didn’t dare to use when travelling together with Xia Sheng and the others, so the feeling of being restricted was quite bothersome to him.
“In that case, Senior Brother wishes everyone good luck…” Xia Sheng glanced at everyone with a serious expression, “Stay safe and return alive!”
“I’ll be leaving first,” Xiao Bai Yi was quite decisive, immediately setting off after it was decided that they would separate.
“Senior Brother, stay safe!” Murong Xiao Xiao then glanced at Yang Kai and Chen Mu Ji, “You two stay safe as well.”
“Sister Murong, you must also be careful!” Yang Kai smiled in response.
Murong Xiao Xiao nodded, her tender body flickering as she shot off in a different direction.
“I’ll be leaving as well then.” As Chen Mu Ji spoke, he stood up, nodded slightly at Xia Sheng and Yang Kai, then disappeared using his Movement Skill.
Soon, only Xia Sheng and Yang Kai remained.
Xia Sheng smiled as he looked at Yang Kai and asked, ‘Brother Yang, what direction are you going to choose?”
“That way!” Yang Kai pointed in a different direction from the others.
Xia Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly as he exclaimed, “You’re going deeper into the mountains… Brother Yang, you need to be careful. Elder Gao mentioned that there are many existences that even she doesn’t dare to antagonize in these Heavenly Monster Mountains.”
“I will also judge based on my strength. I won’t get greedy.” Yang Kai smiled.
“That’s for the best,” Xia Sheng nodded. “Then… this Xia shall take his leave. See you again when we leave this world!”
As Xia Sheng said this, he rose into the air and flew in a certain direction. His direction was also deeper into the Heavenly Monster Mountains, but different from where Yang Kai had pointed.
Xia Sheng’s figure soon disappeared.
Only then did Yang Kai slowly stand up, turn to the depths of the Heavenly Monster Mountain, and mutter in a low voice, “It’s time to let myself loose and do something big.”
…
At the same time, at the foot of the Heavenly Monster Mountains, a group of several hundred people arrived in grand fashion and stopped at an empty clearing.
This group was obviously a well trained military squadron, since even with several hundred people together, their formation wasn’t messy at all. They moved in an orderly fashion, and the several hundred people actually stood there without a sound. There was only a chilly aura that encircled them, like that of a hidden dragon that had just come out into the world to sit above the scattered clouds in the sky…
There was a large flag fluttering in the wind at the head of this squadron.
On the back of the flag was a vivid tiger descending the mountain. It showed fangs and a fierce aura that seemed like it was about to pounce out of the flag.
On the front of the flag was a large ‘Zhou’ character. The character was written with great energy that made it seem like a flying dragon.
This was the elite army of the Guardian of Divine Ascension Country, Zhou Dian’s subordinates.
At this moment, Zhou Dian was riding on a snow-white Nine Horned Dragon Beast. He wasn’t wearing any armour as he simply wore his regular clothes, but the murderous aura around him was still quite chilling.
Zhou Dian chuckled coldly as he looked at the nearby Heavenly Monster Mountains, “How nostalgic… the last time I came here was more than two thousand years ago. I never thought that I would return here again in my lifetime!”
As he talked to himself, not a single one of his subordinates dared to utter a sound.
A moment later, Zhou Dian suddenly shouted, “Lian Yan, Ban Qing, Yu Man, Yuan Qing!”
Four people stepped out together and cupped their fists in unison, “Subordinate is present.”
These four all possessed powerful First-Order Emperor Realm cultivations and were the four strongest warriors under Zhou Dian’s command. Zhou Dian had naturally brought them along since he was here on the King’s orders to capture the Star of Calamity in the Heavenly Monster Mountains.
There were three men and one woman.
Lian Yan had red hair that reached his waist. He looked rather ostentatious, and judging from the faint red light glowing on his body, his Spiritual Energy had some special attribute.
Ban Qing was short and had an ordinary appearance; however, he was highly skilled at assassination. Ban Qing was capable of getting close to even someone as strong as Zhou Dian for an attack if the latter wasn’t on guard.
Yu Man appeared to be about thirty years old and had a curvaceous figure. As she moved, a mature atmosphere seemed to waft from her. She had a high nose bridge that accentuated her elegant features and her alluring red lips caused people to have endless fantasies.
The last one, Yuan Qing, had cultivated some unknown Secret Technique or Secret Art that gave him a soft and shadowy feeling, and coupled with his feminine appearance, he was so beautiful that even most women couldn’t compare to him.
These four had greatly contributed to the establishment of the Divine Ascension Country. They had followed Zhou Dian to conquer the world since early on, and had rarely met any opponents throughout the land.
Even in all of the Divine Ascension Mirror World, they were considered famous Masters.
However, their strength was overwhelmed by Zhou Dian’s sharpness when they were in front of him.
“Go in four separate directions and search the mountains. You must find the Star of Calamity as quickly as possible, capture them alive, and bring them before the Lord King!” Zhou Dian pointed while announcing in a low voice.
“Yes!” The four of them accepted in unison as they immediately split the soldiers into four groups and swiftly disappeared into the Heavenly Monster Mountains.
Zhou Dian remained where he was by himself.
A cold wind blew past and caused Zhou Dian’s hair to flow in the wind. A long time later, he finally urged the Nine Horned Dragon Beast under him to go forward.
The Monster Beast he rode was Twelfth-Order. Even though it was in its early stages, it was still the equivalent of a First-Order Emperor in terms of strength. Even so, this beast could only obediently let Zhou Dian ride it.
Back in the day, Zhou Dian had spent a significant amount of effort and time in order to finally tame this Monster Beast.
Zhou Dian’s eyes mysteriously flashed with the desire to do battle as he looked deep into the Heavenly Monster Mountains. It was as if there was an opponent he was highly interested in who was waiting for him within the forested mountain.
…..
Yang Kai and the others naturally had no idea of what was happening outside as they trained in the mountains. None of them expected that a simple training session would cause such a massive commotion.
At this moment, Yang Kai was fighting against a Thunder Cyan Wolf in the Heavenly Monster Mountains.
This Monster Beast was only peak Tenth-Order, equivalent to the first Monster Beast that everyone met when they first entered the Divine Ascension Mirror World, but Yang Kai still wore a serious expression.
This couldn’t be helped, as it seemed this Monster Beast was somewhat different from others. It actually possessed the ability to control thunder.
The arcs of lightning flashing on its body had tremendous power that worried Yang Kai somewhat.
He was currently here in his Soul Avatar, rather than his physical body, so he wouldn’t heal that quickly if he received any injuries. Even though he had the Soul Warming Lotus, Yang Kai still didn’t dare to simply come into contact with such powerful lightning.
Luckily, he didn’t have any intentions of fighting personally.
When acting together with Xia Sheng and the others, there were many techniques that he couldn’t show, so he was quite limited in battle and felt quite awkward as he fought.
But now he was by himself, so he naturally had nothing else to worry about.
The Thunder Cyan Wolf also noticed that Yang Kai wasn’t easy to deal with. Still, due to its concern about the difference in power level, it only stayed a distance from Yang Kai while constantly baring its fangs and roaring in an effort to scare Yang Kai away.
Of course, Yang Kai wouldn’t do as it wished…
“Come out!” Yang Kai suddenly shouted.
As he shouted, his body shook slightly as he waved his sleeve. A patch of dense black dots suddenly emerged mysteriously.
The black dots weren’t numerous at first, but then they became uncountable in the blink of an eye. They gathered into a black cloud with astonishing speed.
The black cloud was the size of a table. Upon closer look, one could see quite clearly that this black cloud consisted of tiny insects that were almost impossible to see with the naked eye.
Soul Devouring Insects…
No, they should be renamed Soul Devouring Demon Insects.
Ever since they devoured a large amount of pure Demon Qi in Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea last time, the Soul Devouring Insects had all become pitch-black. If the insects were individually magnified, they would all have terrifying appearances with threatening malevolent auras.
The insect cloud arrived with the sound of buzzing.
The Thunder Cyan Wolf obviously didn’t know what this black cloud was, but its natural instinct made it feel something was amiss. The wolf actually opened its mouth when it saw the insect cloud charging at it and shot out a bolt of lightning into the swarm.
The insect cloud was instantly shattered…
But soon, it reformed itself.
Meanwhile, the Thunder Cyan Wolf actually turned and ran after releasing that one attack. It had no intention of staying here.
“Go!” Yang Kai uttered a single word. In fact, there was no need for him to issue such a command, as the Soul Devouring Demon Insects’ instinct would already make them chase after their prey.
The insect cloud acted like maggots on rotting bones as it enveloped the Thunder Cyan Wolf. Even though the wolf wasn’t slow at all, the insect cloud caught up in an extremely short time. The insect cloud simply descended upon and completely enveloped the Monster Beast.
Pitiful howls instantly arose as sounds of pain kept echoing. The sounds were rather frightening to behold.
The insect cloud roiled and wriggled like a living being…
Yang Kai silently stood where he was and observed everything.
The Thunder Cyan Wolf’s aura was weakening at a rate that wasn’t fast or slow.
“The power is still a bit lacking…” Yang Kai mulled things over.
Although the Soul Devouring Insects had a special trait that countless living beings would be afraid of, Yang Kai’s Soul Devouring Insects had been raised from a very low level, and over the years he hadn’t invested a lot of effort into them. All he did was to place them in the Soul Warming Lotus’s illusionary treasure island and let them freely live and evolve by themselves.
Even though quite some time had passed and they had grown significantly, they still didn’t live up to Yang Kai’s requirements for the current level of battle.
A Tenth-Order Monster Beast was only at the level of an Origin King.
In the outside world, if Yang Kai personally attacked, he could win against such an opponent with a wave of his hand; however, when using the Soul Devouring Demon Insects, it actually required some time and effort to win.
However… this Divine Ascension Mirror World seemed to be a paradise for the Soul Devouring Insects to grow stronger in. If Yang Kai used this place well, perhaps the Soul Devouring Demon Insects would change massively in this one month.
At that time, Yang Kai would then possess another trump card, one that would be almost impossible to be on guard against!
Thus, Yang Kai made up his mind to use the special composition of this world and his remaining time here to properly raise the Soul Devouring Demon Insects!
While he was thinking so, the insect cloud started moving about at an even faster speed, while the Thunder Cyan Wolf’s howls gradually weakened and died down. Some time later, the wolf finally stopped moving.
Yang Kai saw things quite clearly. He discovered that the Soul Devouring Demon Insects were rapidly devouring the Thunder Cyan Wolf’s body…
All living beings here were Soul Avatars, after all, so they did not possess physical bodies. This meant they were the Soul Devouring Demon Insects’ favourite food.
If Yang Kai personally killed the wolf, then the wolf would lose most of its Spiritual Energy after its death, and that energy would return to this world, leaving only the Soul Source behind.
However, things were different if the Soul Devouring Demon Insects devoured the wolf instead. The energy that should have originally dissipated instead entered the Soul Devouring Demon Insects’ bodies and became a resource for them to become stronger.
The only thing that Yang Kai worried about was that he couldn’t afford to let the Soul Devouring Demon Insects also devour the Monster Beast’s Soul Source.
If that happened, then he really wouldn’t gain anything at all…
That wasn’t what he wanted. Strengthening himself was the most important thing on this training opportunity while having the Soul Devouring Demon Insects become stronger was only a secondary concern. Yang Kai knew quite clearly what was more important.
Thus, Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to issue a command to the insect cloud after some time.
The insect cloud was quite obedient. Perhaps it was due to staying in Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea for many years that they now carried out his orders obediently.
Once the insect cloud received the message, it immediately left the Thunder Cyan Wolf’s corpse and flew back into Yang Kai’s sleeve.
When he looked over, the Thunder Cyan Wolf had been almost completely devoured, leaving only a pea-sized faint yellow ball of light behind.
Yang Kai nodded in satisfaction as he walked over and absorbed the ball of light into his body.
Not long after, he set out again and proceeded forward.
As he travelled, he didn’t meet any Monster Beasts that were too strong. Every single Monster Beast became food for his insect cloud. Yang Kai simply needed to stand quietly by the side and obtain the Soul Sources left from the deaths of the Monster Beasts.
This was unimaginably easy!
This was another benefit of him acting alone. He didn’t need to spend too much effort in order to make gains. If he was instead together with Xia Sheng and the others, he never would have released these Soul Devouring Demon Insects.
And as time passed, Yang Kai gradually discovered something that he was interested in.
Basically, the Soul Devouring Demon Insects seemed capable of absorbing the strange energy of this world while staying in his sleeve in order to constantly strengthen themselves.
When he thought about it more carefully, this seemed natural.
The World Energy of this world was completely different from the World Energy of the outside world.
The outside world’s World Energy could be absorbed by a cultivator’s physical body so their cultivator could gradually become stronger.
However, the World Energy here could be absorbed by all living beings’ Soul Avatars in order to strengthen their Souls.
The Soul Devouring Demon Insects were naturally no exception. The World Energy that was present everywhere here was the most delicious food that they desired.
[This place is an absolute treasure!] Yang Kai was filled with excitement.
He gained tremendous benefits as he travelled.
In just two days’ time, Yang Kai managed to use the Soul Devouring Demon Insects to kill at least seventy to eighty Monster Beasts, which were all completely devoured by his insects. Of course, Yang Kai picked up all the remnant Soul Sources for free.
This helped his Divine Sense to become ever stronger and more solid, when he was already near Third-Order Dao Source Realm Divine Sense level. In fact, it even faintly seemed like it was reaching Emperor Realm Divine Sense level.
Not only was Yang Kai’s Divine Sense gradually improving, even the Soul Devouring Demon Insects’ growth was rather evident.
At first, the Soul Devouring Insects needed a cup of tea’s time to kill a Tenth-Order Thunder Cyan Wolf, but now the time required had been shortened by more than half.
The insects’ growth was even more obvious than Yang Kai’s.
Yang Kai was absolutely delighted by such a tremendous harvest. He felt more certain that it had been a wise decision for him to act separately from Xia Sheng and the others.
According to what Gao Xue Ting said, absorbing a single Tenth-Order Monster Beast’s Soul Source was the equivalent of cultivating hard for seven to eight days outside. Meanwhile, absorbing an Eleventh-Order Monster Beast’s Soul Source was the equivalent of cultivating hard for twenty days.
In just two short days, Yang Kai had benefited so much that it was the equivalent of him cultivating for three to four years.
Not to mention, he would have needed to use special Soul cultivation Secret Arts in order to obtain such results.
If he had stayed with Xia Sheng and the others, he never would have gained so much.
Still, he was the only one who could accomplish this.
This was because he had the Soul Devouring Demon Insects. He only needed to watch from the sidelines for every battle, and then he would scoop up the victory loot…
He didn’t need to use any energy at all, which meant he didn’t need to rest.
One day later, Yang Kai’s body suddenly shook slightly after he absorbed the Soul Source left behind from the death of an Eleventh-Order Monster Beast.
He couldn’t help but furrow his brow.
In that instant, he actually sensed some slight discomfort. This sense of discomfort had an unknown cause, but it was quite clear that he felt uncomfortable all over his entire body.
“Am I at my limit now…?” Yang Kai didn’t panic. He figured out the reason with just a little thought.
Gao Xue Ting had previously said that even though absorbing Soul Sources left behind from living beings here could swiftly strengthen one’s Soul, it also had its downsides.
When one absorbs to a certain extent, he would reach a state of saturation.
Once that happened, it would be impossible to absorb any more Soul Sources, as something negative might happen to his body.
Yang Kai had definitely reached that point.
He thought about it and felt that it was only natural. In less than three days, he had already used the Soul Devouring Demon Insects to kill more than one hundred Monster Beasts and absorbed all those Soul Sources for himself. Some of the Monster Beasts had even been Eleventh-Order. This number and speed were quite astonishing.
Yang Kai estimated that it was impossible for Xia Sheng and the others to even have a fifth of his harvest because he hadn’t needed to rest at all as he travelled. He simply needed to use his Soul Devouring Insects whenever he discovered some prey.
Meanwhile, Xia Sheng and the others would need to rest for a while after every single fight, so they would have much lower efficiency.
“It’s such a pity…” Yang Kai muttered to himself.
He originally had wanted to continue like this and have his Spiritual Energy reach the Emperor Realm. Once his Soul reached such a level, it would become much easier for him to cultivate in the future.
But since he was already at his limit in absorption, it couldn’t be helped. He could only slowly wait for his Soul Avatar to completely digest the Soul Sources that he absorbed over the past few days…
Nonetheless, Yang Kai didn’t slow down at all and continued forward at his original speed.
Although he was unable to absorb any more Soul Sources for himself, his Soul Devouring Demon Insects were still capable of growing, so it wasn’t a waste.
The deeper that Yang Kai went into the mountains, the more he noticed that the average Monster Beasts he met had stronger cultivations.
At first, when he had just separated from Xia Sheng and the others, he would still find some Eighth-Order, Seventh-Order, or even weaker Monster Beasts. He was naturally not interested in these Monster Beasts and ignored them all.
But as time passed, these weak Monster Beasts disappeared and were replaced by more powerful existences.
At Yang Kai’s current location, he no longer saw any Ninth-Order or below Monster Beasts. All Monster Beasts were Tenth-Order at the minimum!
According to Yang Kai’s calculations, if he went deeper into the mountains, it was likely that even Tenth-Order Monster Beasts would stop appearing before him.
At this moment, just as he was searching around for prey, a gust suddenly whipped up in the forest and caused the trees to shake. An usual pressure rapidly approached from the distance, while a strange sound entered Yang Kai’s ears.
He couldn’t help but adopt a serious expression as he focused on that direction.
*Hualala…*
It sounded like something was using tremendous force to smash the trees in this forest, causing them to topple in large numbers.
A moment later, a flash of purple light suddenly shot from the front with incredible speed.
“Hmm?” Yang Kai was caught by surprise because he discovered that the purple light object charging towards him was actually a small Monster Beast only about as big as his arm.
Although a Monster Beast’s strength couldn’t be assessed from its size alone, when Yang Kai scanned it with his Divine Sense, he clearly sensed that this Purple Squirrel’s level was only Ninth-Order!
Since travelling here, it had been quite some time since he discovered a Ninth-Order Monster Beast, because a Ninth-Order’s strength was no longer suitable to survive in this current environment.
Thus, Yang Kai was somewhat surprised to see this Purple Squirrel appear before him. He didn’t know how such a weak Monster Beast could survive safely in this region.
Still, its speed was truly quick. Yang Kai had discovered the Purple Squirrel and scanned its level in just an instant, but before Yang Kai could do anything about it, the Purple Squirrel actually darted behind Yang Kai with a whoosh.
As the human and beast passed each other by, Yang Kai saw quite clearly that the Purple Squirrel had a look of wonder flashing in its eyes as it kept looking at him. It was as if the Purple Squirrel had discovered something new and curious.
This was obviously a sign of the Monster Beast possessing sentience. The Monster Beasts that Yang Kai met before hadn’t possessed such intelligence, as those Monster Beasts simply carried out their own instinctive desire to feed and slaughter. Whenever a Monster Beast met Yang Kai, it would automatically attack him even if he didn’t attack first.
On the other hand, this little Purple Squirrel was obviously different from other Monster Beasts.
However, Yang Kai didn’t have the time to focus on the Purple Squirrel as he had to focus forward with a serious expression.
After all, there was something vicious pursuing this Purple Squirrel…
*Hualala…*
There were more loud crashing sounds of trees falling over, and right after, a large flat head suddenly emerged from the front. Sharp scales covered the top of this head and the scarlet patterns on its face gave it quite the vicious look. Its eyes were the size of washbasins and its vertical green pupils sent chills down the spine of anyone who saw them. This beat’s gigantic open mouth had a red tongue that kept flickering in and out as it hissed.
This was a gigantic python Monster Beast!
For some unknown reason, it had been chasing the Purple Squirrel all the way to Yang Kai’s location.
When it appeared, the python’s vertical pupils immediately focused on Yang Kai. After that, its body gradually revealed itself to be as thick as a human was tall. Raising its head up high, it kept spitting its tongue and glaring at Yang Kai with hostile intentions.
“You really know how to bring trouble to others…” Yang Kai turned around and gave a dark look towards the Purple Squirrel who was peeking out with its tiny head from behind a tree nearby.
When the Purple Squirrel saw him looking at it, it couldn’t help but retract its neck; however, it soon started sneaking peeks again. It seemed to want to see if Yang Kai was capable of chasing away the python.
“I’ll deal with you after I finish dealing with him,” Yang Kai chuckled as he turned around again to focus on the python.
He had no reason to give up on prey that had come to him, so he was prepared to fight.
The python seemed to sense that Yang Kai wasn’t easy to deal with, so it actually didn’t immediately attack upon appearing and instead glared down at him from above, its eyes flashed with an incredibly dangerous light.
Yang Kai scanned the python with his Divine Sense, causing his expression to become ever more serious.
He discovered that this python was the strongest Monster Beast he had met so far, its aura fluctuations comparable to his own. In other words, the python had also reached the peak of the Eleventh-Order. If the python had some more time, it would definitely rise to the Twelfth-Order, becoming equivalent to an Emperor Realm Master!
In this mirror world, strengthening the Soul was the only cultivation route since there were no physical bodies. Thus, as long as one’s Soul strength met requirements, then one could easily rise to the next cultivation level.
This python here had doubtlessly reached the threshold of the Emperor Realm.
After the stalemate lasted for a while, the python lost its patience first as its instinct to slaughter took over its movements.
The next instant, a green light flashed in its eyes as an invisible force shot towards Yang Kai.
A purple light instantly exploded from Yang Kai’s body as the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield appeared.
The light screen rippled fiercely under some kind of significant invisible force.
Soul Impact!
This was a Soul Technique that every Monster Beast here, no, every living being here knew how to use. By using one’s own Spiritual Energy as the foundation, one could send a strong shockwave out towards an enemy.
It was quite simple and direct, but also very powerful.
This attack would often immediately determine the victor of a battle, especially when there was a big difference in raw strength.
Yang Kai had met over a hundred Monster Beasts on the way here so far, and almost every single time, the Monster Beast would try to fight with this technique, so he had long since gotten accustomed to it.
The Purple Sun Profound Light Shield was at least a Dao Source Grade Soul-type artifact, so even though Yang Kai had yet to finish refining it and couldn’t use its full power, it still had good defensive strength.
Not a single Monster Beast had been able to break through this artifact’s defences.
However…
The python’s soul attack caused light to flash furiously upon the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield, almost shattering it. Yang Kai also staggered backwards for several steps as his expression darkened slightly.
As expected of a Monster Beast at the peak of the Eleventh-Order, even its opening attack was quite something.
Meanwhile, at the same time that the python released its soul attack, it also sent its steel whip-like tail straight at Yang Kai, kicking up a torrential gust of wind in the process.
All trees blocking the way were all snapped instantly, so it was clear just how powerful this tail strike was.
Yang Kai’s expression became serious when he saw this and naturally didn’t dare to take this attack head-on.
With a flicker, his body disappeared from where he stood.
*Kacha…*
Countless trees were snapped with a tremendous sound. However, the python’s attack did nothing. Not only that, it even lost track of Yang Kai’s whereabouts.
The python’s combat instincts made it somewhat uneasy as it kept spitting out its tongue at an obviously faster speed. Perhaps it sensed something as it suddenly raised its head and looked midair.
By the time it looked up though, Yang Kai was already descending towards its head as he shouted with anger, “You damn beast, take one from me as well!”
As he spoke, he also unleashed a similar Soul Impact as he gathered his own Divine Sense and transformed it into an invisible sword that sliced at the python’s eyes.
*Clang clang…*
There were two loud sounds that seemed like metal clashing against metal as sparks flew from the python’s eyelids.
When Yang Kai’s attack was about to connect, the python instinctually closed its eyes and caused the strike to fail.
However, buzzing sounds arose in the very next instant.
Yang Kai had already released the Soul Devouring Demon Insects in the moment that the python closed its eyes.
The black cloud surrounded by Demon Qi appeared and covered the sky.
The demonic insects swarmed with an unstoppable might.
When the Soul Devouring Demon Insects appeared, the python’s eyes actually contained a type of anthropomorphic panic similar to that of humans. It seemed to be really afraid of the demonic insects.
Meanwhile, the Purple Squirrel that was still hiding behind a tree behind Yang Kai was now trembling to the point where its eyes rolled back and it fell unconscious where it was.
It seemed that these Soul Devouring Demon Insects brought tremendous pressure to these two Monster Beasts.
This was only natural. Soul Devouring Insects were the bane of all Spiritual Energy. Apart from being afraid of certain types of energy like Yang Kai’s Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, it was rare to find something that could kill them.
Although Yang Kai’s Soul Devouring Insects originally had some weaknesses, those weaknesses had long since disappeared as the insects grew.
If someone wanted to kill these Soul Devouring Insects, they would need to have a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea to counter them like Yang Kai did. Apart from this, other methods weren’t very useful.
In fact, Yang Kai didn’t know if even his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea would still be effective against them or not.
He was still able to control the Soul Devouring Insects mostly because of the Soul Warming Lotus.
Of course, the python and the Purple Squirrel would be afraid of something as abnormal as these insects.
When the black cloud descended, the python actually panicked and opened its mouth to spit out a verdant coloured mist that engulfed the swarm. At the same time, a terrible stench instantly spread everywhere.
“Poison Spiritual Energy!” Yang Kai was truly surprised as he watched this.
Whether the python obtained some sort of opportunity or was born like this, it was actually capable of turning its own Spiritual Energy into a powerful venomous mist. The python obviously wanted to use its special Spiritual Energy to deal with the Soul Devouring Demon Insects.
Not only that, the python had no intentions of staying here. After it spat out that venom cloud, it actually turned and ran while ignoring Yang Kai and the Purple Squirrel!
However, the python had obviously underestimated how abnormal the Soul Devouring Demon Insects were.
The pitch-black insect cloud came into contact and clashed against the verdant mist and actually began devouring it at a speed visible to the naked eye! In just three breaths of time, only the pitch-black insect cloud remained.
It seemed as if the entire venomous cloud had been swallowed by the Soul Devouring Demon Insects.
The poison mist was also made from Spiritual Energy, so it was delicious food to the Soul Devouring Demon Insects.
After the Soul Devouring Demon Insects had this snack, they didn’t linger and instead headed directly for the python. In just the blink of an eye, the insects swarmed the python’s head.
The python’s vision was completely blocked by the insect cloud and it began thrashing about violently like a headless flea.
Yang Kai silently watched for a while and couldn’t help but furrow his brow.
This was because he discovered that the always victorious Soul Devouring Demon Insects were rather ineffective against this python.
The python was covered all over in dense scales, and even beings as tiny as the Soul Devouring Demon Insects were unable to break through the scales to devour the python’s body.
At this rate, it seemed that the Soul Devouring Demon Insects really wouldn’t be able to win unless they were able to break through the python’s defences.
Yang Kai suddenly had a flash of inspiration as he immediately issued a command to the Soul Devouring Demon Insects.
Controlling the Soul Devouring Demon Insects wasn’t as simple as controlling Stone Puppet Xiao Xiao, since the insects didn’t even have any sentience. Although Xiao Xiao’s sentience wasn’t very high, at least he could understand Yang Kai’s orders.
In comparison, it would obviously take a lot more energy and concentration to control these insects.
Still, at least the insect cloud was rather obedient, so Yang Kai only had to spend a little bit of effort to have them enter the python’s body through its nose and mouth.
Several dozen breaths later, the pitch-black insect cloud had completely disappeared. All that remained was the sound of buzzing that came from the python’s stomach.
The python seemed to be suffering unbearable torment and pain as it kept rolling around and thrashing on the ground, knocking over countless trees in the process.
However, there was no way for the python to deal with such an attack that came from within its own body, all it could do was wait for its own death!
As the python struggled, it seemed unwilling to simply accept its own death so it sent out Soul attacks into the nearby ground indiscriminately. Yang Kai had no choice but to withdraw slightly so as to not get caught up in this violent storm.
As time passed, the python’s body flickered between light and dark and its struggles gradually weakened.
Finally, the python raised its head straight up before collapsing listlessly, the light from its body also going completely dim.
Yang Kai calmly stood where he was and waited quietly.
A moment later, a hole suddenly appeared in the python’s body out of which countless Soul Devouring Demon Insects swarmed and flew back towards Yang Kai to return to his sleeve.
Only then did Yang Kai walk up and crouch over to look at the remaining python skin. This layer of python skin was as thin as a cicada’s wings, and the scales upon the snakeskin were composed of some unknown substance. Not only were the scales incomparably sturdy, even the Soul Devouring Demon Insects had no interest in them.
That was why the Soul Devouring insects flew out after they devoured the entire essence of the python.
If Yang Kai could take these scales with him, perhaps he would be able to craft some amazing Soul defensive artifact…
Yang Kai thought this as he reached out to collect the python skin; however, what he never expected was that the python skin actually broke apart like withered wood and completely shattered.
Yang Kai was truly surprised by this result.
After a moment, he reasoned that the python’s defensive power had been so amazing because of some special power of its own rather than its scales.
Since the python skin was now useless, Yang Kai naturally no longer needed to worry about how to take it out with him. Besides, he had no idea how he could take items from this world back to the outside world, unless it was a special item that he could absorb into his own Soul Avatar, such as a Soul-type artifact.
However, it wasn’t even known if there were Soul-type artifacts in this world, since everything here was created from a type of special Spiritual Energy. Even the mountains, land, and trees were made of this Spiritual Energy, so there were none of the precious ores that were required to refine artifacts.
Yang Kai turned back and returned to the Purple Squirrel’s location.
He was astonished to find that the supposedly unconscious Purple Squirrel had vanished at some unknown point.
This really surprised him.
It seemed that this Ninth-Order Purple Squirrel was alive because of more than luck.
However… Yang Kai scanned with his Divine Sense and immediately locked onto the Purple Squirrel’s current location.
The Purple Squirrel was hiding on the branch of a large tree, its small eyes shining with a kind of spirituality as it vigilantly glanced down below.
Just as it was focused on observing though, Yang Kai suddenly disappeared from its sight.
The Purple Squirrel’s hairs all instinctually stood on end at that moment.
“Heh heh, you thought that I wouldn’t be able to find you because you were hiding?” Yang Kai’s cold chuckle came from behind it, and before the Purple Squirrel could react, Yang Kai already reached out and pinched its neck to bring it before him.
The Purple Squirrel instantly began to tremble as its eyes were filled with fear and fright, timidly gaze up at Yang Kai.
“It seems that you don’t have any abilities apart from some speed and sentience,” Yang Kai said contemplatively while examining the squirrel. The squirrel should have used its other abilities if it had any already; however, it didn’t react even when being held so pitifully by the neck, so it obviously had nothing it could do.
But as Yang Kai was speaking, the Purple Squirrel seemed to suddenly think of something as it hurriedly stretched out with its paw to its stomach.
Yang Kai looked where it was pointing and saw something that really surprised him.
He discovered that this Purple Squirrel’s stomach had a pouch that seemed like it was formed naturally.
He was surprised yet again.
At this moment, the Purple Squirrel brought something out from this pouch. It was a spirit fruit that resembled a grape, one that was a deep purple and gave off a wondrous scent.
Yang Kai inhaled the scent and instantly felt refreshed. In fact, the discomfort that he felt from absorbing too many Soul Sources even seemed to lessen slightly.
His eyes lit up as he focused on the purple spirit fruit.
After the Purple Squirrel brought out this spirit fruit, it raised the fruit with both paws and extended its paws right in front of Yang Kai. Its expression seemed like it was saying ‘Sir, please accept this spirit fruit and spare my life…’ as it pitifully looked at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai could tell that this squirrel had even more intelligence than he had expected.
It was quite obvious that the squirrel wanted to use this spirit fruit to obtain his favour so that he wouldn’t attack it.
Yang Kai was instantly amused by this and smiled at the Purple Squirrel, no longer giving it a difficult time as he set it down.
The Purple Squirrel heaved a sigh of relief as it landed back on the branch. Still, it continued to hold the spirit fruit as it stood up and brought it before Yang Kai.
“Since you insist, I’ll accept this.” Yang Kai lightly coughed as he took the spirit fruit from the squirrel.
To be honest, he was quite curious about the spirit fruit. Although Gao Xue Ting mentioned previously that this world had many miraculous products with a lot of wondrous effects, Yang Kai had never thought before that this place would actually be capable of giving birth to spirit fruits.
This spirit fruit was something obviously greatly beneficial to the Soul.
Since he couldn’t take it out with him anyways, Yang Kai naturally gave up on that idea and simply tossed it into his mouth after a brief examination.
A few chews later, Yang Kai swallowed the fruit, instantly causing his spirit to perk up.
He could sense quite clearly that when this spirit fruit entered his stomach, it released a mellow energy that not only strengthened his Soul but also greatly eased the sense of discomfort he was feeling.
Yang Kai estimated that if he had another three or four of these spirit fruits, he could completely get rid of his body’s sensation of discomfort.
“This thing… do you have any more?” Yang Kai looked at the Purple Squirrel and used hand gestures to try and communicate with the little Monster Beast.
He didn’t expect that the Purple Squirrel actually understood him and quickly pointed one of its small paws towards where the dead python once was. It then pointed deep into the Heavenly Monster Mountains as it made chattering sounds.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before asking, “What you mean to say is… this python was guarding the spirit fruit, and it chased you all the way here because you stole one? On top of that, there are even more spirit fruits where the python used to live?
The Purple Squirrel nodded energetically upon hearing this.
“Then what are you waiting for? Lead the way!” Yang Kai waved his hand as he called out in a low voice with excitement.
The discomfort in his Soul not only prevented him from continuing to absorb Soul Sources, but it also affected his personal condition. It would obviously be a great help if he could get rid of this condition as soon as possible.
That was why Yang Kai was in such a hurry to find more of the purple spirit fruits.
One man and one beast flew quickly through the forests of the Heavenly Monster Mountain.
The Purple Squirrel led the way as Yang Kai followed closely after.
After the Purple Squirrel interacted with Yang Kai for a while and ascertained that he had no malicious intentions towards it, the squirrel no longer seemed to be afraid of him. In fact, the squirrel didn’t even try to escape, stopping along the way as it led him forward to ensure Yang Kai didn’t get lost.
It was obvious that the Purple Squirrel was going down a specific path as, along the way, they didn’t encounter any other Monster Beasts. It was unknown what type of ability the Purple Squirrel was using to avoid them.
An hour later, the man and beast arrived at a mountain valley.
The mountain valley was surrounded by tall peaks on all four sides and would be very difficult to find without being familiar with the area.
The Purple Squirrel arrived at a place near the entrance of the mountain valley before it suddenly stopped going forward. It waited for Yang Kai to arrive and then used its paw to point at the mountain valley before grasping its own neck with its paws as it acted as if it had trouble breathing and rolled its eyes before it collapsed on the ground.
“Hmm?” Yang Kai furrowed his eyebrows. “You mean to say that there’s something to watch out for in that mountain valley…”
The Purple Squirrel jumped back up again and nodded at Yang Kai.
“Let me see!” As Yang Kai spoke, he glanced towards the mountain valley for only a moment before he instantly understood what danger the Purple Squirrel was referring to.
This mountain valley was actually filled with dense green poisonous mist. This mist was identical in colour and form to the mist the large python had sprayed out earlier. However, the venomous clouds here took up far too big of an area, to the point where they covered everything in the mountain valley. It was impossible to see what was inside.
“I’m really curious…” Yang Kai smiled as he glanced at the Purple Squirrel, “Just what method did you use before to steal a spirit fruit from here…”
Since this mountain valley was covered in poison fog at all times, with the Purple Squirrel’s strength only being at the Ninth-Order, it should have been impossible for it to even enter, not to mention steal a spirit fruit.
However, the fact of the matter was that the Purple Squirrel stole a spirit fruit which caused the python to keep chasing it all the way until it reached Yang Kai.
Yet, the Purple Squirrel blinked and looked at him in confusion in response to Yang Kai’s question.
This time, it seemed that it didn’t understand…
“Stop acting ignorant!” Yang Kai coldly snorted, but he didn’t pry. Instead, he waved his sleeve and sent the Soul Devouring Demon Insects into the mountain valley.
The Purple Squirrel waited with an expectant look when it saw this.
It had witnessed quite clearly from the sidelines before how these Soul Devouring Demon Insects had devoured the poison fog before, so it knew that the green clouds in the mountain valley here would pose no problem.
As long as the venomous clouds were dispelled, it would be easy to obtain the spirit fruits inside!
What happened next was just as the squirrel expected. Everywhere that the pitch-black insect cloud passed by, the dense venomous clouds disappeared at a rate that was visible to the naked eye. The Soul Devouring Demon Insects swallowed all of Poisonous Spiritual Energy and used it to strengthen themselves.
In just one hour, all of the poison mist in the mountain valley was completely eliminated.
The Soul Devouring Demon Insects also seemed to benefit significantly from consuming this large amount of poison and happily buzzed as they returned to Yang Kai’s sleeve.
“Let’s go!” Yang Kai told the Purple Squirrel as he stepped into the mountain valley like it was his own backyard.
The Purple Squirrel also acted all grand and tough thanks to Yang Kai as it sauntered arrogantly into the mountain valley with its small legs…
“That must be the spirit fruit tree…” Yang Kai went directly to the central part of the mountain valley and soon found a lush fruit tree that was about as tall as a regular man.
Yang Kai had already noticed this fruit tree when he was observing from the mountain valley’s entrance, but he hadn’t dared to enter because the insect cloud hadn’t finished clearing away the poison yet.
The fruit tree shone with an unusual halo and there were also traces of a large being moving around the tree, which had likely been left behind by the dead python.
Yang Kai’s eyes instantly lit up when he scanned the fruit tree.
He discovered that there were five spirit fruits identical to the one that the Purple Squirrel gave him earlier on this tree.
As a Dao Source Grade Alchemist who had also obtained the inheritance of Gong Sun Mu, an Emperor Grade Alchemist, Yang Kai was even able to recognize the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus, yet he was completely clueless as to the identify these spirit fruits.
He could only conclude that this spirit fruit was a unique product of the Divine Ascension Mirror World, and that the outside world had never seen such a thing before.
Still, the spirit fruit’s effect was incredibly strong and was especially suitable for a cultivator like Yang Kai who was training here from the outside world.
He didn’t waste any time as he immediately took a fruit from the fruit tree and tossed it into his mouth and chewed.
Not only did his body’s discomfort significantly diminish, it also felt like his Spiritual Energy improved somewhat.
“Not bad at all!” Yang Kai took another spirit fruit and gobbled it up.
*Gudong…*
A sound came from the side.
Yang Kai glanced over diagonally and saw the Purple Squirrel half kneeling by his foot. Its eyes were round as it pitifully looked at Yang Kai. It was obviously the squirrel who had made the gulping sound just now.
“Even if you look at me with such sincerity…” Yang Kai tossed a third spirit fruit into his mouth as he spoke unclearly with his mouth full, “I don’t have any extra to give to you!”
The Purple Squirrel’s eyes instantly darkened as it lowered its head in a depressed manner.
“Ai…” Yang Kai sighed deeply, “Fine, I’ll give you one.”
As he spoke, he took the last two fruits from the tree and ate one before handing the other to the Purple Squirrel.
The Purple Squirrel instantly became energetic as its eyes lit up. It stood up straight and raised its paws to accept the fruit before carefully sniffing it a few times. It had a happy and satisfied expression as it then stuffed it into its stomach pouch and hid it like a treasure.
Yang Kai just ate four spirit fruits plus the one from the Purple Squirrel, so the discomfort in his body had disappeared completely. He even had a mysterious feeling as if he had just been reborn.
He glanced at the Purple Squirrel and chuckled, “Heh heh.”
The Purple Squirrel immediately covered its pouch with its paws as it vigilantly looked at Yang Kai, as if it was afraid that he would go back on his word.
“What type of person do you take me for?” Yang Kai coldly snorted with a serious expression, “Don’t look down on me little brat, how could I possibly take back something that I have already given away?”
The Purple Squirrel glanced at him, seeming to understand yet also not.
“Little guy…” Yang Kai was all smiles again as he looked at the squirrel, “Are you familiar with this territory?”
The Purple Squirrel fell silent after hearing this before it nodded.
“Then you lead the way. If we find something good again, let’s do like before and I’ll split some with you, okay?” Yang Kai had a friendly expression as he spoke alluringly. He even used an attitude of incitement as he patted the Purple Squirrel’s stomach pouch. “As long as you cooperate with me, I’ll fill up your pouch sooner or later.”
The Purple Squirrel’s eyes lit up after it heard this and instantly became excited, chattering away while nodding its head like a chicken pecking at rice.
Before Yang Kai could even issue any commands, the squirrel voluntarily ran forth and led the way.
Yang Kai arched his brow and followed closely after.
The Purple Squirrel was indeed quite familiar with the Heavenly Monster Mountains and seemed to know what places had good things hidden away; unfortunately, most of those treasures were being guarded by some powerful Monster Beasts just like with the python. The Purple Squirrel couldn’t possibly afford to antagonize these beasts, so it could only helplessly look at the treasures from a distance.
But with the powerful Yang Kai as its protector, it didn’t have to worry anymore.
It simply needed to take Yang Kai to the treasure’s location and let Yang Kai fight and kill the Monster Beast guarding the treasure. After that was the fun part of dividing the spoils…
Yang Kai meant what he said, and every time he obtained something good, he would give a portion to the Purple Squirrel. As for how much he gave, that varied from moment to moment.
In just two short days, Yang Kai and the Purple Squirrel swept countless Monster Beast nests within a ten thousand kilometre radius. Yang Kai obtained countless spirit fruits and Monster Beast Soul Sources, reaping tremendous benefits.
The spirit fruits that grew in the Divine Ascension Mirror World were basically all items that were useful for cultivating Spiritual Energy.
However, some were also harmful. Yang Kai accidentally ate one and ended up feeling quite dizzy. It took him some time to recover from his shock and if it wasn’t for him having a precious treasure like the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus in his body, that one spirit fruit alone likely would have killed him.
After all this, Yang Kai absorbed a lot of Soul Sources and his Soul Avatar once again started to feel discomfort.
This condition didn’t affect him too much, but it did mean that Yang Kai was no longer able to continue absorbing Soul Sources.
Compared to Yang Kai, the Soul Devouring Demon Insects had grown more as they devoured vast amounts of Spiritual Energy. Ever since they entered the Divine Ascension Mirror World less than ten days ago, the Soul Devouring Demon Insects had almost doubled in strength.
Yang Kai also faintly sensed that his Soul Devouring Demon Insects seemed to be evolving in some unknown direction. He could sense quite clearly that the Soul Devouring Demon Insects had become ever more vicious, cruel, and rebellious, sometimes even ignoring his orders.
He didn’t know if this was a good or bad thing.
Meanwhile, the Purple Squirrel’s stomach pouch was basically completely full.
The little guy was quite strange. Even though it obtained many good things, it never ate them, seemingly more interested in adding to its collection as it kept stuffing the spirit fruits Yang Kai gave it into its pouch.
Finally… its pouch became completely full.
The squirrel wasn’t large to begin with, so how large could its pouch possibly be?
Yang Kai finally had a great reason to take all the gains for himself.
The Purple Squirrel didn’t seem to mind as it continued to work hard and lead the way. It helped Yang Kai to sweep through the Heavenly Monster Mountains without missing anything.
Two days later, Yang Kai silently stood in front of the entrance to a cave as the Purple Squirrel crouched on his shoulder.
After being together for these two days, the Purple Squirrel no longer feared Yang Kai and even became somewhat friendly with him.
Currently, the man and beast had focused expressions as they listened intently to the sounds from this cave.
Pitiful screams kept transmitting from inside the cave. There were also occasional sounds of a giant creature crashing against the cave walls, which caused loud banging sounds as shattered stones poured down like rain.
“How violent!” Yang Kai exclaimed.
The Purple Squirrel nodded next to him.
Moments later, the movements from inside the cave started to die down and finally disappeared.
The Soul Devouring Demon Insects had evidently killed the Monster Beast within!
In this Divine Ascension Mirror World, any prey that was targeted by the Soul Devouring Demon Insects wouldn’t have a good ending.
Yang Kai confirmed that everything was safe before he entered the cave.
The cave was dimly lit, but that didn’t affect Yang Kai’s vision as he was currently a Soul Avatar. He etched everything in the cave into his brain after scanning it with his Divine Sense.
This cave wasn’t large or deep, but traces of a desperate struggle were left behind everywhere in the cave. It was evident that the master of this cave had been viciously tortured by the Soul Devouring Demon Insects and suffered greatly before its death.
Yang Kai actually didn’t even know what type of Monster Beast lived inside this cave, because by the time that he arrived, the Soul Devouring Demon Insects had completely finished devouring the Monster Beast without leaving even a speck of flesh behind.
Yang Kai’s current condition meant that he was no longer able to absorb Soul Sources, which was why he didn’t have the Soul Devouring Demon Insects leave anything behind.
After he took back the Soul Devouring Demon Insects, Yang Kai began to scan the cave’s interior.
After he scanned with his Divine Sense, he actually discovered nothing!
This cave didn’t have any spirit fruits or any other such treasures. It seemed to only be the resting spot for a Monster Beast.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but be slightly disappointed, but he didn’t pay it too much mind.
Not every powerful Monster Beast would be guarding a treasure, after all…
But just as he was preparing to leave, he suddenly paused and looked at a certain place inside the cave.
A strange item there had attracted his attention.
Yang Kai glanced at it for a moment and then walked over and bent down to pick it up.
Right when he touched it, his body suddenly trembled as his eyes flashed with a sharp light. At the same time, he took in a cold breath.
His unusual reaction really scared the Purple Squirrel, to the point where all its hairs stood up on end. It darted away from Yang Kai’s side as if trying to escape.
“This is…” Yang Kai kept touching the item in his hand as he used his Divine Sense to examine it.
Soon, he realized what this item was.
This item was shaped like a plate and was about the size of one too. Its body was pure white like jade and had no flaws.
Earlier, when Yang Kai scanned it with his Divine Sense, he didn’t notice anything about it apart from feeling that it had a strange shape. That was why he was interested enough to pick it up for a closer look.
However, he hadn’t expected that when he touched it, his Soul would react so strongly to it, even causing his Soul Avatar to tremble slightly.
At the same time, the white jade plate released a burst of pure Spiritual Energy that flowed into Yang Kai’s body, giving him a comfortable sensation like he was soaking in warm water.
This sensation made him feel incredibly relaxed all over.
If he had to describe it more specifically, this feeling resembled what he felt back when he combined Souls with Su Yan all those years ago.
“Soul Jade!”
Yang Kai exclaimed in astonishment as various random thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning.
Although he had never seen a Soul Jade before, nor did he know what one looked like, he was a hundred percent certain that this was the treasure he had heard Gao Xue Ting speak about a few days ago.
According to what Gao Xue Ting said, even in this Divine Ascension Mirror World, Soul Jades were rare treasures that one could only encounter by chance. She had entered this world four times already and had only obtained a single Mid-Rank Soul Jade so far, but even that Mid-Rank Soul Jade had benefited her tremendously.
Yang Kai didn’t know how to differentiate Soul Jade ranks, but he felt that the one in his hands was definitely better than Mid-Rank. It might be High-Rank or even better!
Soul Jades were the purest crystallization of Spiritual Energy in the Divine Ascension Mirror World and cultivators could easily absorb them to increase the power of their Soul without fear of any consequences whatsoever.
However, Gao Xue Ting had made them sound so rare that Yang Kai didn’t think he would be lucky enough to find one.
He never thought one would appear here!
“It’s so large…” Yang Kai was so excited that he couldn’t close his mouth while his face filled with some slight frustration. “Just how long will I have to absorb this?”
As he spoke, he was already trying to absorb the energy within the Soul Jade, wanting to try and see if it was as mystical as Gao Xue Ting had described.
A sliver of pure energy was extracted from the Soul Jade and flowed into Yang Kai’s body through his arms, instantly causing him to feel warm all over as his face flushed slightly.
As this energy poured into him, Yang Kai discovered that Gao Xue Ting had been correct in saying that absorbing energy from Soul Jades wouldn’t cause any harm to the body at all.
Currently, his Soul Avatar was in a satiated state and was unable to absorb any more Soul Sources left behind by Monster Beasts.
However, there was no obstruction at all in absorbing energy from the Soul Jade.
Yang Kai could clearly sense a terrifying amount of energy contained within the Soul Jade.
He couldn’t help but want to retreat here and absorb the Soul Jade energy until the one-month time limit was up.
If he really did that, Yang Kai calculated that by the time he left this place, his Soul would definitely reach the Emperor Realm! He might not even finish absorbing the Soul Jade’s energy by then, so he could definitely have the Soul Devouring Insects join in as well.
He had plenty of time and he could gain the most from absorbing this energy here!
However…
Just before he could do so, another force suddenly welled up within Yang Kai’s body. A seven coloured radiance suddenly illuminated the dim mountain cave with blinding light.
The rainbow light kept glowing and with a twist, Yang Kai suddenly felt his hand become lighter.
The Soul Jade… disappeared.
Yang Kai was caught off guard by this astonishing event, and with a shocked expression, he hurriedly scanned himself.
Soon, he located the Soul Jade in a certain part of his body.
The Soul Jade was actually enveloped by the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus as it quietly laid in the lotus flower’s centre.
But when Yang Kai saw it, he saw something inconceivable. The Soul Jade was swiftly melting like a snowflake under the sun and disappeared entirely soon after.
The Soul Warming Lotus absorbed every bit of energy from the Soul Jade without leaving even a little bit behind.
After it absorbed the Soul Jade’s energy, the Soul Warming Lotus’s colour seemed to get brighter.
Simultaneously, a gentle but seemingly endless power began spreading out from the Soul Warming Lotus, gradually injecting itself into Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar…
“This… just what is going on!?” Yang Kai was completely stunned and stupefied.
He had just discovered a High-Rank or even better Soul Jade, yet the Soul Warming Lotus had absorbed it without letting him have anything, only to then slowly return the energy to his Soul Avatar.
[Was this a good thing… or a bad thing?]
Yang Kai had no idea.
He lost the Soul Jade, which was obviously a loss for him, but the Soul Warming Lotus had absorbed it, rather than someone else stealing the Soul Jade. Right after that, the Soul Warming Lotus even slowly returned the energy to his body…
After thinking about it for a while, Yang Kai felt that this was likely a good thing.
This way, it would be beneficial for both himself and the Soul Warming Lotus, and… even though the flow of energy from the Soul Warming Lotus was much slower, it was orderly and gradual so that he could slowly absorb and refine it to strengthen his Soul.
If he personally absorbed the Soul Jade’s energy, he might not be able to finish absorbing it in the remaining time, and if he tried to do so, he definitely wouldn’t be able to do anything else but hide in this cave.
But now, he no longer needed to consider the Soul Jade’s matter and could focus on his own affairs.
“This arrangement should be more beneficial!” Yang Kai announced with confidence.
After saying that, he turned to look all around him and found that the Purple Squirrel was staring at him with fear in a corner of the cave.
The Purple Squirrel hadn’t understood the strange situation just now, so it had immediately run away from Yang Kai. Now that it saw he was safe and even waving at it in a friendly manner, it slowly went over to him.
After it confirmed that there weren’t any problems with Yang Kai, it went up on his shoulder once again.
But for some unknown reason, it actually sniffed Yang Kai gently a few times and then had a look of confusion. It seemed to think that Yang Kai’s current scent was somewhat different from before.
After that, Yang Kai went around the cave again and carefully checked to make sure that he didn’t miss anything before he finally left.
He still had plenty of time, and wouldn’t waste it.
Right when he exited the cave, a whoosh sound came from not far away.
This was followed by a figure that suddenly landed before him.
Yang Kai was astonished and he instinctively used his Spiritual Energy to summon the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield. At the same time, he leapt backwards to open some distance with this newcomer.
He never expected that he would meet anyone else here.
The other person also obviously thought the same thing. When he saw Yang Kai, he also condensed his Spiritual Energy and looked over vigilantly.
The two men exchanged glances, with the unknown stranger furrowing his brow as he stared curiously at the purple glow on Yang Kai’s body.
Just as Yang Kai had expected, cultivators of this world didn’t have artifacts that they could use! That was because they lacked resources that could be crafted into artifacts.
Battles between cultivators here were all about competing with the strength of one’s Soul. They relied on Soul Secret Techniques and weapons crafted purely from Spiritual Energy!
Soul-type artifacts were incredibly rare to cultivators in this world, possibly not even existing at all!
After Yang Kai summoned the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield, it formed a layer of purple light around his body, and although it appeared similar to some kind of defensive Secret Technique, it was still fundamentally different.
This cultivator who suddenly appeared was a Third-Order Dao Source Realm Cultivator, not weak at all!
The other person was also on guard against Yang Kai as he checked him out.
Yang Kai identified the other man’s Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation quite easily by scanning with his Divine Sense. The other man appeared to be middle-aged, around forty years old, and had a steady and solid appearance, but currently, his eyes contained panic and fear.
Yang Kai was certain that the other party wasn’t hostile.
However… This was the first time that Yang Kai had met a cultivator from the Divine Ascension Mirror World, so he was naturally quite curious. Upon closer observation, Yang Kai discovered that the other man’s body was just like his Soul Avatar, a body made of pure Spiritual Energy.
[There really are so many wondrous things in the vast world!] Yang Kai couldn’t help but mentally exclaim.
“If you don’t want to die, then run away immediately!” The other man suddenly called out to him with a serious expression and a low voice.
“What?” Yang Kai furrowed his brow. The other man’s words were impossible for him to understand with no context.
However, the other man obviously was in no state of mind to explain, simply using his strength to rush towards a certain direction as he shouted again, “You won’t be able to escape if you don’t hurry.”
Yang Kai instantly felt an ominous premonition after he heard this and faintly realized that perhaps there was a powerful existence that was currently chasing this person, and that existence was obviously incredibly dangerous and vicious.
Considering all this, Yang Kai decided to immediately leave this dangerous location.
He was only here because Gao Xue Ting had brought him into this world for some training, so he had no interest in getting involved with this world’s great forces, cultivators, and the grudges between them. He was only going to stay here for one month, after all.
Yang Kai immediately started to take action as he thought of this.
However, something suddenly happened at that time.
A powerful pressure belonging to an Emperor appeared and descended from the sky. The pressure seemed almost tangible, to the point where one couldn’t help but mistakenly feel that the sky was crushing them.
Yang Kai’s body immediately became shorter and his expression turned extremely unpleasant.
At the same time, he saw from the corner of his eye a ghostly figure appear to the side of that other cultivator.
This figure wasn’t very tall. In fact, it was even rather short. Yet, Yang Kai hadn’t noticed this person at all before he appeared, as if he was originally there already but no one had detected him yet.
When this Emperor Realm Master of unknown origins appeared, a light flashed in his hand as a dagger-like weapon suddenly appeared.
This weapon was composed of Spiritual Energy, rather than being a Soul-type artifact.
The dagger shone with a chilly light as the Emperor Realm Master stabbed out before the fleeing middle-aged man could react.
Yang Kai felt his head going numb as he heard the soft sound of metal being inserted into flesh.
The Third-Order Dao Source Realm middle-aged man, who was trying to escape, had no time to react or defend himself as he was stabbed right through the chest.
In the outside world, this absolutely would have been a fatal injury since the injury was right through the heart. No matter how strong a cultivator was, he would likely die instantly if he suffered a blow like this, unless that cultivator had cultivated some type of Heaven defying Secret Art, or he used his powerful cultivation to suppress his injury. Only then would the cultivator barely manage to survive.
But in the Divine Ascension Mirror World, since the living beings didn’t have physical bodies, this injury wasn’t fatal even though it seemed to be serious.
The Emperor Realm Master immediately stopped moving after he succeeded with one strike. He coldly glanced at the middle-aged man with no emotion in his eyes, as if he was looking at a piece of wood.
Meanwhile, the middle-aged man screamed in pain as he stiffly stood where he was.
Yang Kai glanced over and saw that the dagger still remained in the middle-aged man’s chest. Spreading from the injury was a strange energy that radiated in all directions as it gathered into a complex image that resembled a mysterious and powerful seal.
This strange power restricted the middle-aged man’s movements and prevented him from moving even one inch.
Strands of Spiritual Energy were leaking out from his injury, and it was evident that he was losing his strength. If this injury remained untreated, the middle-aged man would definitely lose all his Spiritual Energy.
He would then obviously die.
“Are you the Star of Calamity?” The Emperor Realm Master asked calmly after he succeeded in capturing the middle-aged man.
“Sir… what do you mean?” Although the middle-aged man was seriously injured from an ambush, he didn’t dare to get angry. He could only look at the Emperor Realm Master with a pleading expression as he asked in obvious confusion.
“Forget it!” When the short Emperor Realm Master heard this, he replied in a bored tone, “No matter if you are or aren’t, I’ll know once I take you to the palace for interrogation.”
After that, he decided to ignore the middle-aged man.
“Palace!?” However, the middle-aged man heard some unusual information from the Emperor Realm Master’s words. The middle-aged man widened his eyes as he stared at this Master, his expression fluctuating several times as he asked with difficulty, “May I ask… might Your Excellency be Senior Ban Qing?”
“Oh?” Ban Qing was surprised this time as he looked at the middle-aged man. “You recognize me?”
The middle-aged man couldn’t help but smile bitterly when he saw that Ban Qing didn’t deny it, “The four subordinates of Great General Zhou Dian, Guardian of the Country. Who wouldn’t know the four Vice Generals’ names?”
“Since there are four people, why are you certain that I am Ban Qing? Couldn’t I be someone else?” Ban Qing seemed to be in no hurry to deal with Yang Kai as he casually chatted with interest with his prey.
The middle-aged man answered, “Vice General Lian Yan has the obvious trait of having red hair. Vice General Yu Man is a woman. As for Vice General Yuan Qing… rumours say that Vice Commander Yuan is as beautiful as a flower with a countenance like white jade, and that ordinary women seem less beautiful than him… Since Your Excellency is from the palace and has such cultivation, I can’t think of anyone you could be apart from Senior Ban Qing.”
“Hahahaha!” Ban Qing suddenly laughed out loud, “As beautiful as a flower? So, that’s how people talk about Yuan Qing? I wonder what he’ll think if he hears this… En, your analysis is correct. This King is indeed Ban Qing!”
The middle-aged man gave up completely upon seeing Ban Qing finally admit it. He seemed to wither as he exclaimed, “Rumours never match up with the real thing. Senior Ban’s concealment and assassination techniques are truly outstanding!”
“Hmph!” Ban Qing coldly snorted with disdain, not caring about the middle-aged man’s flattery.
“However… Senior Ban, I have no grudge at all with you, so why…” Although the middle-aged man was unable to move, he still wanted to plead with Ban Qing to release him.
However, Ban Qing obviously didn’t intend to give him such a chance. Ban Qing had entered the Heavenly Monster Mountains under the command of Zhou Qian to capture the Star of Calamity that had appeared, so although he couldn’t kill people for no reason, it was no problem to seriously injure someone.
That was why Ban Qing reached out with his hand and clenched it in front of the middle-aged man before he finished speaking.
The dagger inserted in the middle-aged man’s chest suddenly released a flash of light, causing the seal which was suppressing the man to suddenly become stronger.
The middle-aged man reacted as if he was struck by lightning, his body shaking as he stiffly fell over, unconscious.
Although he wasn’t dead, he had fainted. Even if he woke up again, it was likely that he wouldn’t be able to restore himself to peak condition. Ban Qing’s blow just now had already damaged his foundation.
Ban Qing drew the dagger back into his hand having finished his task. He then turned around and coldly looked Yang Kai over.
Yang Kai was also thinking at a high speed at the moment…
Previously, he didn’t really understand what had happened, but now he could faintly figure out what was going on thanks to listening to the conversation between the two.
He even had some of his own guesses about the overall situation in this place.
The two of them had mentioned a palace in their conversation. This meant that the Divine Ascension Mirror World likely had a ruler at the very top.
Under the ruler was apparently this ‘Guardian of the Country’ whose name was Zhou Dian.
Under Zhou Dian were then four Emperor Realm Masters like the one in front of him!
Currently, these Masters should have all entered the Heavenly Monster Mountain to capture that so-called Star of Calamity…
The middle-aged man was either the capture target or an unlucky bystander. Yang Kai surmised that he was the latter, since judging by the middle-aged man’s words, he had no idea what that Star of Calamity was.
It was the same for Yang Kai!
Ban Qing and the others didn’t have any idea who they were trying to capture, so they simply spread out in a wide area to capture as many as possible. Anyone that they ran into definitely wouldn’t be able to escape.
‘I’m so damn unlucky!’ Yang Kai mentally cursed.
It was a rare opportunity to train in this world, yet he came across a conflict between the local cultivators here, and an Emperor Realm Master was the first to show up… Yang Kai really wanted to complain about his luck.
“Not bad, boy!” Ban Qing suddenly smiled and nodded with a friendly expression after looking at Yang Kai for a while.
“What are you trying to say?” Yang Kai asked in a heavy tone.
“This King was trying to say… Since you’ve already realized that you can’t beat this King, you decided not to flee. En, you’re an obedient one, so this King can allow you to suffer less,” Ban Qing then changed his tone to a much chillier one, “But if you don’t know what’s good for you, you’ll suffer the same fate as him!”
He pointed at the middle-aged man on the ground as he spoke.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but furrow his brow, remaining silent for a moment before saying, “This Sir…”
“Don’t talk to this King about being innocent or whatnot!” Ban Qing seemed to know what Yang Kai wanted to say, so he interrupted the latter and spoke impatiently, “This King is under orders, so if you really are the Star of Calamity, then just admit that you’re unfortunate. If you’re not the Star of Calamity, you’ll naturally be safe… mostly.”
As he said this, he stared at Yang Kai and asked, “Are you going to surrender yourself without a fight, or are you going to make this King act? Let me tell you beforehand that if you choose the second option, this King won’t guarantee that you’ll still be in one piece afterwards!”
“I see…” Yang Kai sighed helplessly due to the failure to negotiate successfully. He had a heavy expression as he asked, “Junior just has one question he would like to ask.”
“Say it!” Ban Qing responded in a cold and aloof tone.
“Earlier, I heard Sir and this… Brother’s discussion. Apparently, there are three other such existences as yourself, so I was wondering about those three…”
“They are leading teams to search in other locations right now. At this moment, the entire Heavenly Monster Mountains have been sealed off, so don’t even think about escaping. It will be meaningless.”
Yang Kai’s heart instantly felt icy when he heard this.
“Then Senior, your subordinates…” Yang Kai inquired again.
“They’ll be here soon!” Ban Qing frowned impatiently, “This King prefers to act alone…” He then looked Yang Kai over with suspicion, “Why are you asking these things?”
“It’s nothing,” Yang Kai took a deep breath and slowly stated, “Junior only wishes… for your understanding!”
As he spoke, he transformed into a beam of light that charged directly at Ban Qing.
Yang Kai had thought things through quite well. Since the Heavenly Monster Mountains were already sealed, and there were three other Emperor Realm Masters apart from Ban Qing searching elsewhere, and Ban Qing’s subordinates had yet to arrive, now was the best opportunity to fight.
Running wasn’t realistic. Ban Qing was skilled at concealment and assassination to begin with, so it was likely that he had exquisite Movement Skills which would prevent Yang Kai from escaping. Even if Yang Kai managed to escape, where would he run to in these gigantic Heavenly Monster Mountains that he wasn’t familiar with? He might be unlucky enough to run into someone else, and there would be no hope at all anymore if he was caught in a pincer attack.
As such, Yang Kai figured it would be best to fight it out with Ban Qing while the latter was still alone. He could still try to run if he couldn’t win, and if he could win… then there would be no need to escape.
“Hmm?” Ban Qing arched his eyebrows, not having expected that Yang Kai would be so daring. But, it also didn’t seem to be pure recklessness as this boy even had the power to move freely under Ban Qing’s pressure.
Previously, Ban Qing hadn’t thought anything of Yang Kai because there was a natural gap in their strength. Under the suppression of an Emperor, no Dao Source Realm cultivator should be able to move.
The middle-aged man collapsed on the ground right now was the best evidence of that.
In Ban Qing’s eyes, Yang Kai’s cultivation level was similar to the middle-aged man, Third-Order Dao Source Realm, although Yang Kai’s Soul was slightly stronger and bordered on the Emperor Realm.
However, this still didn’t have too much meaning, since as long as Yang Kai didn’t cross the threshold of Emperor Realm, there would still forever be a difference like Heaven and Earth.
Ban Qing thought that Yang Kai couldn’t move a finger under his pressure.
However, when Yang Kai actually moved, he was as fast as the wind, as if he was completely unaffected by Ban Qing’s aura.
Ban Qing was surprised by this discovery, and then he became somewhat angry out of shame.
Coldly snorting, he stood where he was without moving. Rather than move, he released his pressure at full force so that it enveloped Yang Kai.
“Agh…” Yang Kai moaned while he was midair and his body suddenly froze for an instant, as if the air around him had become solid and his movements were greatly restrained!
“You’re quite brave, but… utterly foolish!” Ban Qing coldly glanced at Yang Kai with eyes filled with disdain.
“Senior… aren’t you looking down on others too much?” Yang Kai roared as his Spiritual Energy exploded and engulfed his figure in flames.
The powerful flames burned and jumped, making Yang Kai appear like he was on fire, and the temperature in the area also seemed to increase significantly as green trees instantly withered and the ground baked.
“Conflagrated Aura!” Ban Qing’s eyes dilated as he exclaimed in astonishment.
Mutated Knowledge Seas were incredibly rare, but couldn’t be denied that they had great power, especially a Fire Attribute Knowledge Sea which was renowned for being domineering and having great destructive force.
*Kacha…*
Dense crackling sounds began to sound in midair. Of course, this was the sound of Ban Qing’s Emperor Realm pressure being shattered.
When Yang Kai used his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, this greatly decreased the pressure on him as he transformed into a flame that leapt in front of Ban Qing. Clenching his fist, Yang Kai sent a vicious flame-covered punch out.
“No wonder you were so arrogant, it seems you do have some skill.” Ban Qing didn’t panic at all when faced with this terrifying attack and instead calmly assessed Yang Kai before tapping his foot and leaping backwards.
As he withdrew, he seemed to cross over space and when he appeared again, he was already a hundred metres away from Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s vicious punch hit nothing but air.
“If it is someone in the same realm, it’s likely that there are extremely few in the world who can defeat you, but…” Ban Qing chuckled coldly, “This King is an Emperor, you know? Have you not woken up yet? Hmm?”
He roared the final word, causing the originally heavy pressure to become even heavier.
The flames on Yang Kai’s body kept flickering unsteadily and he seemed like he was being crushed under a large mountain as his body sank.
Yang Kai roared against the tremendous pressure causing great pain all over his body. Stamping his feet hard, Yang Kai once again charged in front of Ban Qing despite the restraining pressure.
“Little brat, do you have a death wish?” Ban Qing appeared serious for the first time as he spoke in a low voice.
This was because Yang Kai was forcing himself to break through Ban Qing’s pressure without any regard for his body. This would actually be highly damaging to one’s own body, and it was even possible to destroy one’s Soul by doing this.
However, it seemed as if Yang Kai didn’t even care or worry about such a consequence. He acted like he wanted to trade his life for Ban Qing’s life!
Ban Qing had never met such a person before. The most suitable word to describe such a person was ‘madman’!
“Since you can’t see reality for yourself, then this King will help you!” Ban Qing became angry as he pushed out his hand. A powerful force erupted from his palm and whipped up an energy wave that enveloped Yang Kai.
*Deng deng deng…*
Yang Kai explosively flew backwards as he kept coughed out in pain, the fires surrounding his figure dimming significantly.
Yang Kai had obviously been injured by this blow!
Even a casual blow from an Emperor Realm Master was not to be underestimated.
However, Yang Kai didn’t worry too much because of his Soul Warming Lotus’ protection. Anyone else who suffered such an injury likely would have started wanting to retreat already and focus on healing themselves.
Yet, Yang Kai didn’t need to, because as long as his Soul wasn’t shattered or destroyed, the Soul Warming Lotus would fix everything like it was new if given enough time.
Yang Kai had the ability to act like a madman.
Yang Kai stumbled and his expression went dark. Ban Qing then suddenly disappeared from where he stood before Yang Kai recovered his balance.
Right after that, he spoke from beside Yang Kai in a calm yet distant tone, “Now… I think you should understand?”
It had to be said that Ban Qing was indeed highly skilled at concealment and assassination. His actions weren’t hinted at whatsoever, making them difficult to defend against. There was also no time lag at all between when he disappeared and reappeared to attack.
His hand still held onto the Spiritual Energy dagger from before, and his attack aimed directly for the centre of Yang Kai’s heart.
He used the exact same technique as he had against the middle-aged man.
But at this moment, Yang Kai’s mouth arched upwards in a slightly strange and subtle angle.
The next instant, a purple light flashed as a layer of light mysteriously appeared on Yang Kai’s body and formed a barrier around him.
*Ding…*
A crisp sound echoed.
Ban Qing’s attack hit the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield. The defensive Soul-type artifact of Dao Source Grade Low-Rank was actually unable to block this terrifying attack with its light barrier, so it shattered in the next instant.
Ban Qing’s one casual attack managed to break the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield’s defence!
The Soul-type artifact also suffered heavy damage to its spirituality, so Yang Kai would need a lot of time and Spiritual Energy to continuously nourish it in order to use it again.
But, this was already sufficient…
“What the hell was that?” Ban Qing had a look of astonishment.
Although he was one of the four Vice Generals of the Divine Ascension Country, he had never seen a Soul-type artifact in his life before. That was why his first reaction was that something was off when he destroyed Yang Kai’s Purple Profound Light Shield.
Before he could figure out what had happened, a buzzing sound suddenly filled his ears.
Ban Qing mysteriously felt like his Soul was trembling as the buzzing became louder, and an instinctive chill filled his body, as if he was facing incredible danger.
Ban Qing couldn’t help but widen his eyes as he looked towards Yang Kai’s hand.
He discovered that a sword had actually appeared at some unknown time.
This sword appeared quite ordinary and didn’t have any flashy or exaggerated features. It seemed like a common sword that could be found anywhere; however, Ban Qing felt an instinctual fear towards it. The sword made a buzzing sound that seemed to draw in his Soul and make Ban Qing feel extreme fear after hearing it. The light swirling on the weapon also seemed capable of devouring his soul and making him fall into the abyss forever.
Ban Qing instantly felt that things were bad as he hurriedly tried to retreat.
However, he was already too late.
The space around him suddenly solidified.
It was the power of Space Principles!
Yang Kai was only here with his Soul Avatar, not his physical body, so he was unable to use normal artifacts and Secret Techniques. However, he could still use his understanding and control over Principles.
Unfortunately, he would be unable to use Secret Techniques like Moon Blade and Exile because using these Secret Techniques required the support of both Source Qi and Spiritual Energy. Lacking one would render the technique unable to be used.
Yang Kai had already experimented with this when he was previously fighting against Monster Beasts.
His Secret Techniques needed his physical body as the foundation and source of strength in addition to his ability to manipulate Principles.
Even an Emperor Realm master like Ban Qing could be temporarily frozen through the use of Space Principles though.
At this instant, Yang Kai was already smiling viciously as he chopped down with his sword.
“I wonder if you’ve noticed, Senior. You have a habit of attacking from your opponent’s right side and targeting their heart… is this a habit, or does Senior like to show off just how strong you are?”
Yang Kai’s words were filled with a teasing tone as they echoed in Ban Qing’s ears.
Of course, Ban Qing was in no mood to care about that right now. When the sword sliced down on him, he actually felt like death itself was approaching.
“Profound Dragon Seal!” Ban Qing shouted loudly as the Spiritual Energy in his body suddenly activated. The next instant, a thick light barrier appeared before him.
This was quite a powerful Soul Secret Technique.
Since Divine Ascension Mirror World cultivators didn’t have artifacts or physical bodies, they could only strengthen their own Souls and cultivate Soul Secret Techniques in order to raise their strength.
It was also because of this that the cultivators of this world were outstanding in their understanding of Soul Secret Techniques. Cultivators from the Star Boundary couldn’t even compare.
Profound Dragon Seal was a defensive Secret Technique that was the crystallization of Ban Qing’s cultivation, a self-devised skill he had perfected over many long years.
He had only ever used this Secret Technique three times since he reached the Emperor Realm, and every time that he used it, his opponent had also been an Emperor Realm Master.
However, he was forced to use this Secret Technique in front of a Dao Source Realm cultivator like Yang Kai.
He could sense that he would certainly die unless he used this Secret Technique!
He had no basis for his feelings, but he deeply trusted his senses.
A dragon shadow appeared and twirled itself around his body, and in just the blink of an eye, a light barrier that resembled a shield appeared. On the shield were some faint Dragon drawings that seemed like they were alive.
After Ban Qing used this technique, he felt slightly reassured as the panic in his heart receded quite a bit.
However…
The sword sliced past with a simple movement that carried no extravagance. The Profound Dragon Seal, which was capable of defending against an Emperor Realm master’s full force attack, seemed as soft as tofu in front of Yang Kai. Without a sound, the solid defence was sliced in half as the sword continued towards Ban Qing’s chest without being slowed one bit.
If it landed a solid hit, with how abnormal this sword appeared to be, it was likely that even someone as strong as Ban Qing would be sliced in half.
Ban Qing’s expression suddenly changed as he no longer dared to hesitate. Pushing his Spiritual Energy madly, he used the explosive force to retreat with all his strength.
*Chi…*
There was a soft sound as Ban Qing forcibly broke free from the restraint of the Space Principles and barely managed to dodge a deadly blow from the blade strike.
However, a wound that spanned the entire length of his chest, from his shoulder to his stomach, appeared, nearly taking off one of his arms in the process.
There was no blood coming out of the injury, nor was there any sign of his physique being damaged. In fact, there wasn’t even any sign of bones. Yet, pure Spiritual Energy was pouring out of the injury as it continuously vanished into thin air.
“Such a pity!” Yang Kai couldn’t help but exclaim as he looked at Ban Qing. Previously, Yang Kai had rashly charged in front of Ban Qing twice in order to lure Ban Qing into letting down his guard so that he could find a chance to deliver a fatal blow.
Still, Yang Kai’s plan had somewhat succeeded. His two rash actions earlier had obviously caused Ban Qing to underestimate him, resulting in the latter directly closing in to strike Yang Kai. This gave Yang Kai the chance to use a Heaven-destroying counterattack; however, an Emperor was still an Emperor. When Ban Qing’s life was in danger, his reaction speed was incredibly quick and he actually managed to dodge such a sudden attack from such a close distance.
Not far away, Ban Qing had been seriously injured as his eyes shook violently and his expression changed several times. He stared at the sword in Yang Kai’s hands while roaring, “What the hell is that!?”
“The Soul Splitting Sabre!” Yang Kai had a wicked smile as he waved the sword in his hands and used it to point at Ban Qing in the distance, “It doesn’t hurt flesh, it only cuts Souls!”
When entering the Divine Ascension Mirror World, Yang Kai had only brought three things with him along with his Soul Avatar.
The first was the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield that Gao Xue Ting had given him, the second was the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus in his Knowledge Sea, and the third was this Soul Splitting Sabre.
The sabre was an item he obtained from the Insect Emperor.
Back on Shadowed Star, the Insect Emperor had caused great trouble everywhere, but when Yang Kai slew him, he had obtained the Insect Enslavement Bracelet and Soul Splitting Sabre, two Emperor Artifacts.
That Insect Enslavement Bracelet had the special effect of suppressing various types of insects. Yang Kai had escaped death several times thanks to the Insect Enslavement Bracelet. As for the Soul Splitting Sabre, he had hardly ever used it before and had not yet fully refined it.
That was why Yang Kai had been really astonished when he first entered this world and discovered the Soul Splitting Sabre was available to him.
Even though he had never refined this Emperor Artifact before, it was undeniable that it possessed strong attack power against Souls. With this sabre in hand, Yang Kai had managed to seriously injure a master like Ban Qing in just one hit. If he had slightly refined the sabre, then it definitely would have been quite easy for him to kill Ban Qing in a special world like this Divine Ascension Mirror World.
Yang Kai had learned his lesson. He secretly resolved that when he returned to his world, he would definitely find a chance to properly refine the Emperor Artifacts in his possession.
Before, he hadn’t refined them because he wasn’t powerful enough, but now, he was already a Dao Source Realm cultivator, and his Soul was comparable to that of a peak Dao Source Master, so refining these Emperor Artifacts shouldn’t be a problem anymore.
No matter if it was the Soul Splitting Sabre or the Insect Enslavement Bracelet, they would be really useful in certain special circumstances.
“Damn it!” Ban Qing gritted his teeth and shouted in a low voice. Although he didn’t understand what Yang Kai meant by ‘doesn’t hurt flesh’, he clearly recognized that this sabre was a serious threat to him on a fatal level due to the previous attack.
He was now seriously injured, yet Yang Kai was completely uninjured. Additionally, it seemed like Yang Kai knew some rather strange abilities, so Ban Qing was already thinking of retreating.
Although it would be truly embarrassing if word spread that an Emperor Realm cultivator like him ran away from a Dao Source Realm Junior, Ban Qing no longer cared at this time. His life was the most important thing, while face and everything else was only secondary!
Not only that, Ban Qing’s cultivated Secret Techniques were all the type to assist in covert assassination. Normally speaking, someone who cultivated these types of Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities could be called cautious if one wanted to be nice, cowardly if they were to be blunt. Such people would always instantly run for a thousand kilometres if they failed on the first attack. They would never stay for long battles with the enemy, as their fighting abilities would be seriously diminished in a direct confrontation.
If a master like Lian Yan had been before Yang Kai right now, he would never have immediately retreated even if he was caught off guard and injured by Yang Kai.
An injury would never possibly make up for an absolute gap in strength between different realms.
Regardless, after Ban Qing said that, his figure flashed as he wanted to retreat first and formulate a plan.
But at that moment, he suddenly lost track of Yang Kai from his vision. Just one moment ago, the Dao Source Realm brat had been standing not far in front of him, yet now he had actually vanished in the blink of an eye.
“What?” Ban Qing was astonished. He was already a master who was highly skilled at concealment, yet he discovered that there were always people out there who were more skilled than him.
Yang Kai’s sudden disappearance was obviously a far better technique than his own, and Yang Kai could clearly use Space Principles, which allowed him to truly ignore the limitations of space.
Ban Qing hurriedly released his Divine Sense to try and determine Yang Kai’s position; however, he immediately sensed a chilly wind coming from behind his head. This chill seemed as if it blew from the depths of hell and could freeze a person’s Soul.
Ban Qing widened his eyes as he had already sensed his enemy’s position. He didn’t dare to react slowly as he hurriedly turned around while simultaneously sending out a blast of pure Spiritual Energy visible to the naked eye.
*Hong…*
Violent energy clashed and sent Yang Kai flying backwards from the impact. Light flashed furiously and unsteadily on his body in midair, while Ban Qing didn’t even budge.
There was still an absolute difference between their realms, so even though Yang Kai had teleported to launch an ambush, it still didn’t achieve the desired effect.
It now seemed that if it wasn’t for Ban Qing being overconfident and not understanding the existence of Soul-type artifacts, he wouldn’t have been injured by Yang Kai’s sabre. As long as he had a slight understanding of the Soul Splitting Sabre’s threat and was slightly on guard, Yang Kai never would have succeeded in wounding him.
“Hmph!” Yang Kai landed and made a muffled sound of pain as his expression flickered slightly. This clashing between Souls wasn’t something that humans could usually bear. This pain was far more difficult to withstand than any type of physical pain.
He felt as if his Soul was being torn apart, and there was no way to suppress this pain at all. Apart from bearing with it, there was no second option.
However, Yang Kai was still smiling faintly…
Because his trick had succeeded yet again.
*Weng weng…*
A strange buzzing sound could be heard as Ban Qing paused in surprise. However, he soon realized just where this sound was coming from.
He hurriedly lowered his head and saw that the injury on his body was actually covered with a dense layer of small pitch-black dots. Upon closer inspection, Ban Qing immediately felt his head go numb.
That was because those pitch-black dots were actually tiny insects, numerous enough that they were all but uncountable.
Anyone would likely find it difficult to withstand their body being covered in insects, but what truly terrified Ban Qing was that these tiny insects actually pierced into his wound, and nearly half of them had entered his body in just the blink of an eye.
Ban Qing’s face became incredibly pale.
With his Emperor Realm cultivation, he could naturally sense that these insects were actually beginning to take ravenous bites off him as they fed on his essence.
Ban Qing was constantly losing strength!
“What are these!?” Ban Qing couldn’t help but stagger back several steps as he lowered his head and looked at his own body, shouting loudly in fear, “Just what is this!?”
He had asked this question several times already, ever since he met Yang Kai.
For a cultivator like Ban Qing, who had been born and raised in the Divine Ascension Mirror World, many of the techniques and items that Yang Kai showed to him today were beyond his understanding.
Most critically of all, even if Ban Qing didn’t recognize the Soul Devouring Demon Insects, he felt an instinctive fear when he saw them. This type of fear came from the depths of his soul and was completely innate, like when a frog met a snake, or if a rabbit met an eagle…
As Ban Qing angrily roared, he also shook his body and formed an invisible aura that wrapped around himself.
The Soul Devouring Demon Insects which hadn’t managed to enter his body were all sent flying outside by the impact.
However, pure Spiritual Energy was still pouring out from Ban Qing’s injury. Such Spiritual Energy was the most delicious food of all for the Soul Devouring Demon Insects, so they would never let this go.
The insects didn’t even wait for Yang Kai’s command as they gathered together again into a cloud and enveloped Ban Qing.
Ban Qing witnessed a despairing scene.
His Emperor Realm defensive aura actually didn’t even obstruct these insects as they could literally chew through it. In just a short while, they gnawed open a hole through his defences and once again pounced onto his body to invade him through his injury.
“Demon Insects!” Ban Qing seemed to suddenly realize something as his expression greatly changed while he roared in panic, “These are Demon Insects!”
His eyes contained a rather pitiful expression as he shouted.
He hadn’t been so helpless even when he faced the Soul Splitting Sabre, yet this Emperor Realm master was showing despair when he faced the Soul Devouring Demon Insects.
There exists an ancient legend in this world about a type of special insects, insects that are the nemesis of all things living. No matter how strong or how high one’s cultivation is, they would be no match for these insects. Moreover, these insects could not be killed in any way and would continue devouring the bodies of the living to grow and multiply.
These insects were known as the Demon Insects by the inhabitants of this world!
Demon Insects initially appeared without warning, so no one really knew where they came from, nor did anyone pay attention to them at first because they were still small and weak back then.
But as time passed, and they continued to devour and grow, the horror of these Demon Insects gradually became known.
Wherever they went, all life disappeared; where they nested, no one dared come within a hundred thousand kilometres.
In ancient times, where the legends about these insects originated, the number of masters in this world far exceeded today. There were even many Third-Order Emperors!
When the Demon Insects grew to become a calamity, the masters of the world could no longer sit idly by, and thus they joined forces and prepared to do their utmost to destroy the Demon Insects that plagued this world.
Nobody knows what happened in that battle.
But after that, all the masters of the world disappeared, and so did the Demon Insects that were so feared and talked about.
Some speculated that the Masters died alongside the Demon Insects, otherwise, how could the final result be explained? There were also speculations that the Masters had secluded themselves from the world after defeating the Demon Insects, living apart from the trappings of society. Some even speculated that the Demon Insects devoured the masters and were now slumbering in some unknown place, evolving into a more terrifying form and would one day return to end the world!
But these were only rumours. No one ever believed them and no person had ever seen what these so-called Demon Insects, let alone knew what they actually looked like.
Barely anyone believed that these Demon Insects really existed.
But right now, right here, Ban Qing understood that the rumours were not fabricated. There really did exist bone-chilling Demon Insects in this world, and these tiny insects were just as the rumours said, feeding on the energy of living beings, unable to be killed or destroyed. One could only sit back and watch them grow, and then lay waste to the entire world.
When he thought about these ancient rumours, Ban Qing completely lost all will to fight Yang Kai.
He could not understand how Yang Kai could spur a group of Demon Insects to fight for him as a mere Dao-Source Realm cultivator. Did he not worry that these Demon Insects would devour him too?
Howls of misery emerged as Ban Qing writhed in pain, seemingly falling into an abyss of destruction. It was an unbearable torture as Ban Qing experienced the fear and despair of his Soul being devoured slowly by the rampaging Soul Devouring Insects.
He was like a madman, throwing out his energy desperately. All sorts of wonderful and amazing Soul Secret Techniques that Yang Kai had never seen before were released from Ban Qing’s hands as he continued to struggle.
The space around them became unstable under this thrashing.
Yang Kai hurriedly moved away and observed Ban Qing from afar.
Even he did not expect that this Emperor Realm Master would become so crazy after shouting out that short name.
[Demon Insects…Why would he call them that? Are the Soul Devouring Insects related to this world in some way?] Yang Kai pondered with a frown. He couldn’t figure it out, but it was without a doubt that the scene before him was exactly what he wanted to see.
First, he launched a sneak attack with the Soul Splitting Saber, then he used Ban Qing’s blind spot to infest him with Soul Devouring Insects to finish the job. Even though both his moves were successful, Yang Kai really had no way to stop him if this Emperor Realm Master was determined to escape.
His ability to manipulate Space Principles was not strong enough to really bind an Emperor Realm cultivator.
If Ban Qing escaped and revealed his information to his comrades, Yang Kai would lose his advantage.
Ban Qing seemed to be in a state of madness though, losing himself in despair, and from the looks of it, he might even be reaching the end of his life, which was a welcome sight for Yang Kai.
In the end, Ban Qing was still an Emperor Realm Master, so despite going mad and acting in an uncontrolled manner, the Soul Devouring Insects weren’t able to completely devour him in short order.
Yang Kai did not try to prod him either, choosing to watch from afar instead, waiting for an opportunity to act…
And, as time passed, the aura coming from Ban Qing’s body became weaker and weaker. From the Emperor Realm, he regressed to the Dao Source Realm, then the Origin King Realm, then the Origin Returning Realm…
After an hour had passed, Ban Qing’s body suddenly froze, and he stood in place, unmoving.
Immediately afterwards, Ban Qing’s body burst open with a *bang*, transforming into a million points of light before they too dissipated into the world.
At the location where he disappeared, a cloud of insects was squirming and tossing about.
After devouring the energy of an Emperor Realm Master, the Soul Devouring Insects seemed to have gained considerable growth, and Yang Kai could see that their aura had gotten significantly stronger.
Yang Kai was also troubled at this moment though.
Even though the Soul Devouring Insects had not been of the greatest use to him these recent years, they would undoubtedly grow much stronger after this visit to the Divine Ascension Mirror World and become a killer weapon for him, but if he lost control of the Soul Devouring Insects at this time, he could lose a means to use against his enemies in the future.
Moreover, if he were to allow the Soul Devouring Insects to act without restraint in this World, Yang Kai dared not even imagine what heights they would grow to.
There may be other ways to deal with Soul Devouring Insects in the outside world, but here, all living beings were made of Spiritual Energy, so they were little more than food for the Soul Devouring Insects.
These insects would constantly grow stronger and stronger until they devoured this entire world.
So, no matter what, Yang Kai did not dare to leave the Soul Devouring Insects here.
He had already noticed that these Soul Devouring Insects were showing signs of resistance towards his orders, and this was becoming more and more obvious as they grew. Now, they were straight out ignoring him!
Naturally, Yang Kai was flustered.
He kept actively sending orders with his Divine Sense to the Soul Devouring Insects, but it was to no avail.
In the end, Yang Kai had no choice but to stimulate the Soul Warming Lotus in his body. All of a sudden, a seven-coloured glow burst out, radiating in all directions.
Perhaps because the Soul Devouring Insects felt the Soul Warming Lotus was their home after living there for such a long time, when they sensed the seven-coloured glow, they swiftly returned to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, and with a wave of his sleeve, he put them inside.
Standing in place, Yang Kai’s brows furrowed as he silently sensed the movements of the Soul Devouring Insects.
Strangely enough, the Soul Devouring Insects turned docile as soon as he took them back, not displaying the unruly behaviour from just now anymore.
But this caused Yang Kai to realize a problem — he had to refine the Insect Enslavement Bracelet as soon as possible, otherwise, he would lose the means to enslave the Soul Devouring Insects if they grew more powerful.
The Insect Enslavement Bracelet was an artifact of the Insect Emperor, who used it to subdue all sorts of Exotic Insects, so it was the best tool to control the Soul Devouring Insects.
Though the fight just now was dangerous, it did not actually affect Yang Kai’s growth that much due to how easily he won in the end. This was all thanks to his Emperor Artifact and the Soul Devouring Insects. Yang Kai himself did not actually exert much effort.
However, Ban Qing could be considered the first Emperor Realm Master Yang Kai had killed. Even if it was an Emperor Realm master without a physical body, only a Soul, he was still not easily killed.
In the outside world, Yang Kai would never have been able to accomplish this.
Thinking back, Yang Kai couldn’t help but feel giddy. If Ban Qing had used his most proficient assassination Divine Ability from the very start, then he would not even have had the chance to resist. Fortunately, Ban Qing had received orders to capture him alive, which gave Yang Kai such an opportunity.
He sighed and frowned for a moment, wondering where he should go now…
According to what Ban Qing had said, Heavenly Monster Mountain had been sealed off, and many cultivators under Zhou Dian’s leadership were searching for the so-called ‘Star of Calamity’, so it was definitely impossible for Yang Kai to leave the Heavenly Monster Mountain now. Staying here was not an option either, so it seemed he could only continue going deeper inside and hope to be able to evade disaster.
Considering all this, Yang Kai made up his mind.
Looking around him, Yang Kai eyed the middle-aged man who had fainted on the ground. Who knows what Ban Qing did to knock this guy out, but he showed no signs of waking up even now.
That man had nothing to do with Yang Kai, so the latter could not even bother to deal with him, choosing to leave him there to fend for himself.
Yang Kai continued scanning his surroundings and soon his eyes settled in a certain direction. Grinning, he waved towards that spot.
Behind a tree was the Purple Squirrel, looking curiously around, its eyes filled with vigour. After making sure it was safe, it crept out and, slowly, came in front of Yang Kai, staring up at him with concern, as if asking if he was hurt.
Yang Kai smiled, leaned over, and reached out, picking up the little squirrel and placing it on his shoulder. After adjusting his bearings, Yang Kai then headed deeper into the Heavenly Monster Mountain.
…..
Some tens of thousands of kilometres away from the Heavenly Monster Mountain, there was a valley surrounded by mountains on all sides.
This mountain valley was filled with fog, and the people living nearby all referred to it as Misty Valley.
The fog permeated the valley and did not dissipate throughout the year. It was so dense that one could hardly see one step in front of themselves and. This place was extremely odd, and even though this fog was harmless to living beings, one would always lose their sense of direction once they entered it.
From time to time, daring inhabitants of the nearby regions would come to try to explore the Misty Valley and figure out what secrets were hidden within, but regardless of their cultivation, they would lose their sense of direction and get lost inside soon after entering.
Nobody ever found out what was hidden inside.
However, nobody had ever been completely trapped inside the fog either.
That was because, when these people were trapped to the point of despair, an invisible force would inevitably appear to send them outside.
No one knew what the nature of that force was, simply that when it arrived, the people trapped inside Misty Valley would find themselves outside of it.
Some speculated that a hidden expert was secluded inside Misty Valley, and that the dense fog over the mountain valley was this senior expert’s creation so as to not be disturbed by other people.
And, even though the cultivation level of this senior expert was beyond compare, he was a kind person and would help those who were trapped in Misty Valley instead of killing them.
Of course, this is only the speculation of those living nearby. As to what truly existed inside Misty Valley, no one could say.
There was a piece of land covering around one square kilometre at the centre of Misty Valley that was not covered by fog, however, and it was the only place inside Misty Valley like it.
Within this one square kilometre of land, there were twenty or so big and small burial mounds.
These mounds seemed to be scattered all around the land, each with a wooden marker erected at its head, engraved with a different name.
Judging from the technique and writing, it was clear that these ‘headstones’ stemmed from the same person.
Within this world, any living being would transform into pure Spiritual Energy after their death and dissipate into the air, so no bodies could be left behind. Naturally, these graves were empty. Still, a memorial was erected here, so obviously it was to pay tribute and remembrance to the fallen.
If one looked closely at the names on these headstones though, they would find that each of them was a well-known, legendary Master.
Of course, these names all belonged to the distant past.
Currently, these experts had long disappeared without a trace, and nobody knew whether they were alive or dead, but never would anyone have thought that they were all long gone from this world.
If the general populace were to learn that these experts were all gathered here, the news would surely shake the world.
It was quiet within Misty Valley, as if there was nothing else here other than the graves of the dead.
A simple wooden house was the only structure in this place, built about a hundred metres away from these graves. Inside this house, a man with a snow-white beard sat cross-legged on the floor. He looked quite old, but his complexion was bright, giving him an immortal temperament with extraordinary bearing.
On the surface, this old man didn’t seem to have a trace of cultivation, nor any energy fluctuations coming from his body. He was just like an ordinary old man. However, every time he breathed, it was as if the surrounding world breathed with him.
This person’s cultivation had obviously reached an extraordinary peak, allowing him to achieve a kind of unity with the world itself.
Suddenly, the old man opened his eyes which overflowed with divine light. Traces of the sun, moon, and stars could be seen within them, and the spirits of ten thousand beasts flitted past in a flash.
His body did not seem to move, but with a flash, he suddenly disappeared.
By the time he reappeared, the old man had already arrived at a certain spot in Misty Valley. He waved his sleeve and a gale blew up all of a sudden, blowing away the dense fog in front of him.
A bizarre and inexplicably formed black altar suddenly appeared before the old man.
Staring at the altar with an imposing look, the old man listened intently.
*Weng weng…*
A small, almost imperceptible sound suddenly emerged from inside the altar.
The old man’s face suddenly changed as a look of disbelief filled his expression. Quickly, he verified that what he heard was not his imagination, but to his dismay, the result was the same.
His face suddenly turned ugly, as a hint of sadness was concealed within it.
“It has been so many years… Have you awakened once more?” He suddenly murmured as he watched the altar, as if speaking to a familiar old friend.
“What power wakes you?” As the old man spoke, he turned his head to a certain direction, and after gazing there for a moment, his body flickered and disappeared.
A short while later, a stream of light broke through the sky out of Misty Valley, and headed towards the direction of Heavenly Monster Mountain.
…..
Deep inside Heavenly Monster Mountain, Yang Kai stood firmly in place, eyes glancing coldly from side to side.
He left the place where he fought Ban Qing and travelled deeper into the Heavenly Monster Mountains, hoping to find a safe place to hide.
Yet, he did not get what he wanted. It did not take long for someone to find him. These men may not be as strong as Ban Qing, and they posed no threat to Yang Kai who could clean them all up with his Soul Devouring Insects and Soul Splitting Saber, but this annoying situation still put him on full alert.
He thought he was being cautious enough, yet his tracks were still exposed, as if these people knew exactly where he was.
This made him wonder whether something on his body had been tampered with, and that was why they kept coming after him.
But when he checked, he found nothing.
What’s more, other than Ban Qing whom he had met first among these people who had this ability, the others couldn’t do this. If it really was Ban Qing’s doing, then when did he do it?
Thinking back, Yang Kai could only assume that Ban Qing had done something to him while they were fighting him.
And, whatever mark he left was somehow attracting these people.
With this in mind, Yang Kai no longer cared about the danger and went deeper into the Heavenly Monster Mountains.
Unexpectedly, half a day later, he was stopped by two Monster Beasts.
These two Monster Beasts were not ordinary, and upon releasing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai could tell that they were both Twelfth-Order. In other words, these two Monster Beasts had power equivalent to Emperor Realm cultivators!
One Ban Qing was enough to give him a lot of trouble, but now there were two Monster Beasts with power similar to him. Yang Kai could not help but groan.
Gao Xue Ting said that there were many existences in the Heavenly Monster Mountains that even she did not dare to provoke, and that statement was clearly no exaggeration. It was true that there really were many high-level existences in the Heavenly Monster Mountain, it was just that Yang Kai had not encountered them since he had been moving about near the outer periphery.
The two Monster Beasts were extraordinary in their own right. The one on the left was shaped like an ape with wide shoulders like an iron wall, extraordinarily long arms, and thick hair over its body like steel needles. Its glaring eyes were even larger than a man’s fist and as it stared at Yang Kai, it flared its nostrils and huffed out hot air, appearing quite hostile.
The one on the right had a flawless white body. A sacred deer that looked as if it was carved right out of white jade. Not a single trace of any other colour covered its body, it was an amazing sight. There was even a faint halo enveloping the surface of its body which gave its viewers a bedazzling feeling and two short antlers on its forehead, adding a beautiful finishing touch like dotting eyes on a dragon painting.
These two Monster Beasts were clearly of different species, yet they stood together peacefully. At once, they leapt in front of Yang Kai, blocking his way, as well as locking his retreat on the left and right. It was astonishing, yet similarly stressful for Yang Kai.
Being Twelfth-Order Monster Beasts, there was a high chance that these beasts had gained sentience. In other words, Monster Beasts who could arrive at this level could already control their primal instincts and were able to think and act just as humans do.
Of course, there also existed special Monster Beasts that were strong yet still maintain their beast-like instincts instead of gaining sentience.
Yang Kai had no idea whether these two were sentient, but he hoped they were, otherwise he could only look for an opportunity to escape.
When these two Monster Beasts appeared, the Purple Squirrel was terrified and scurried to hide behind Yang Kai’s back.
It was only a Ninth-Order Monster Beast, so when faced with strong existences like these Twelfth-Order Monster Beasts, it would naturally feel oppressed.
When confronted, the ape-like Monster Beast suddenly snorted from its nostrils, accompanied by a gust of hot air visible to the naked eye. In a short amount of time, within a radius of several dozen kilometres, the temperature rose sharply. Yang Kai’s heart dropped and he began circulating his strength on instinct.
“Had enough fun yet?” The ape suddenly spoke human words.
Yang Kai’s face changed slightly, immediately understanding that the Monster Beast in front of him had already gained sentience. Moreover… it was exceedingly intelligent.
With this, it meant he had the opportunity to try and negotiate with the other side.
Considering all this, he quickly cupped his fists and spoke, “This… Senior…”
The other party was a Monster Beast, so it seemed a little inappropriate to call it Senior; however, Yang Kai could not think of anything else to call it so he had to settle for that.
But before he could finish his sentence, the ape glared coldly at him and Emperor Realm level pressure pressed down on him as it snapped sharply, “Silence!”
“Ugh…” Yang Kai had no idea what to say, nor did he understand what it meant. What’s more, the question it had asked just now was also quite strange.
At this moment, the Sacred Deer on the right suddenly made a move.
A different, soft power emanated from the Sacred Deer, dispersing the pressure that the ape had put on Yang Kai.
At the same time, the body of the sacred Deer suddenly burst into a bright glow. After a brief moment, this mass of light transformed into a tall and beautiful woman with snow-white skin in a long white dress.
The woman the Sacred Deer transformed into looked to be in her early twenties, and her beauty was not enchanting, charming, nor decorous, but holy, as if she did not belong to the mortal world.
Free of earthly contaminations, not disrupted by the mundane, she was like an immortal fairy who descended from the sky.
“Be careful, Yuan Fei, what if you hurt the Young Master?” After transforming into her human form, the Sacred Deer glared at the ape and rebuked it.
“Hmph! If he gets hurt, he deserves it!” The Monster Beast ape called Yuan Fei grunted as he responded, his thick hair standing on end defensively.
A moment later, in another burst of light, the giant ape transformed into a middle-aged man that looked about forty, his face covered with a malevolent aura and his body covered in crude clothes.
Compared to the Sacred Deer, the human form he took lacked the slightest beauty, but there was no denying it was rugged and boasted great power, making it both a simple and practical form.
Yang Kai wasn’t too shocked when the two Monster Beasts assume human forms, rather, he could only glance at them suspiciously and ask, “Young Master?”
In the next instant though, he seemed to understand something.
The woman transformed from the Sacred Deer looked at Yang Kai and said with slightly parted lips, “Young Master, it’s time to return home.”
Yang Kai did not move nor did he reply, understanding that the other party was not speaking to him.
The fidgeting Purple Squirrel on his back peeked out its small head and looked at the woman as it hung off Yang Kai’s shoulder.
The woman smiled and said, “Please don’t be afraid. Sir may be very angry this time, but he says that as long as Young Master returns with us obediently, then he will let you go without punishment.”
The Purple Squirrel opened its mouth and squeaked a few times, the meaning unclear so Yang Kai did not understand.
“You dare try to bargain with us?” Upon hearing what it said though, Yuan Fei glared and rolled up his sleeves as if he was ready to attack, shouting loudly, “Don’t you stop me this time, Bai Lu! I have to teach him a good lesson!”
As he said that, he really did seem like he was going to rush over and beat down the Purple Squirrel.
The Purple Squirrel was so scared that it quickly shrunk its head back, latching onto Yang Kai’s back with its two paws, trembling.
Now, Yang Kai understood completely what was going on.
The Purple Squirrel that he encountered by chance was clearly a big figure since there were actually two Emperor Realm Monster Race dispatched to look for it. And, from how they were addressing the Purple Squirrel, it seemed to be the son of some Master of this Heavenly Monster Mountain.
And this Master… was most likely the Ruler of Heavenly Monster Mountain!
Yang Kai’s heart was completely shaken.
On the other hand, Bai Lu and Yuan Fei were very well matched in their roles, one coaxing, one threatening. It was clearly not the first time these two were doing this as they had already completely cornered the Purple Squirrel.
Seeing that Yuan Fei really was about to rush over, Bai Lu quickly said, “Come to me quickly, Young Master! Elder Sister will protect you!”
As soon as those words left her mouth, Yang Kai felt the weight on his back disappear.
The Purple Squirrel shot out like a purple light and rushed into Bai Lu’s embrace, shrinking into her arms and only daring to peek his head out to eye Yuan Fei warily.
“He actually fell for that…?” Yang Kai was speechless.
Yuan Fei also stopped and glared at the Purple Squirrel and snorted, “Don’t let me catch you, or I’ll peel your skin off!”
As soon as those words came out, the Purple Squirrel didn’t dare to leave Bai Lu’s arms anymore and its body tensed up even further; despite that though, it still stuck out its tongue mischievously at Yuan Fei.
“This is the eleventh time!” Bai Lu looked at the Purple Squirrel with a helpless face and said, “Young Master, please don’t do this again; after all, it’s very dangerous outside…”
After she said that, she eyed Yang Kai, whether intentionally or otherwise, and went on, “Sir has also said that he will allow you to go out when you grow a little more, so just wait a bit longer.”
Naturally, the Purple Squirrel nodded its head like a little chick pecking at the warm embrace and words of the beauty, looking meek and obedient.
“You should apologize to Sir when we return, otherwise, no one can save you!” Bai Lu added.
Naturally, the Purple Squirrel listened.
The two Twelfth-Order Monster Race Masters looked at each other, silently communicating with their eyes.
“All right, we’ve settled Young Master’s matters, so…” Yuan Fei glanced coldly at Yang Kai as he spoke, bellowing, “Little brat, who gave you the guts to come into the depths of Heavenly Monster Mountain!”
Yang Kai’s face paled and he quickly cupped his fists, “Reporting to Senior, Junior is currently being pursued and had no other recourse but to travel deeper into your territory. If I have offended Senior, then I hope that…”
“Enough!” Yuan Fei did not want to listen to Yang Kai’s explanation at all, waving his arms as he shouted angrily, “It seems you humans have already forgotten the Heavenly Monster Accord from all those years ago!”
“Heavenly Monster Accord?” Yang Kai frowned.
He was merely a cultivator born and raised in the outside world who had come to this mirror world for life experience, so how would Yang Kai have known about this Heavenly Monster Accord? He had never even heard of it before now.
“You really forgot!” When he saw this, Yuan Fei’s face turned cold and he became extremely angry, “As I thought, humans cannot be trusted! Since that’s the case, I will send you off personally!”
With these words, he pushed out the power in his body, causing a rich pressure to spread out in an instant.
The pressure Yuan Fei released was very different from Ban Qing’s. The latter’s pressure was cold and piercing, while the former was fierce and domineering, giving Yang Kai a feeling that it was unavoidable and unstoppable, as if he would be ground to dust by it.
*Zhi zhi…*
Right at that moment, the Purple Squirrel hiding in Bai Lu’s arms suddenly shouted anxiously, gesturing at Yuan Fei with its two little paws and looking nervous.
“Huh?” Upon hearing this, Yuan Fei could not help but pause his actions. A moment later, much of his anger dissipated and he looked Yang Kai up and down, asking suspiciously, “You saved our Young Master?”
Yang Kai understood in an instant that the Purple Squirrel probably told him what had happened earlier and without hesitation, he nodded, “It was a coincidence of sorts.”
Yuan Fei couldn’t help but frown, showing a troubled expression.
To him, if a human wandered into the depths of Heavenly Monster Mountain, that human had to die. If two humans came, two humans had to die. It was completely reasonable to him because humans were the ones who broke the Heavenly Monster Accord in the first place.
But this human had apparently saved the life of his Young Master, making things difficult.
It would be against his will not to kill him, but killing him would put the Young Master in an awkward situation, and if the Lord were to hear of this later, Yuan Fei would definitely be scolded.
Immediately, he scratched his head and turned his eyes to Bai Lu to ask for help.
Bai Lu was also frowning slightly. After mulling over it for a moment, she said, “You have done us a great service for saving our Young Master; however… young man, I see many traces of Monster Beast Sources on your body. You must have killed many Monster Beasts on your journey, yes?”
Yang Kai was flustered, having no idea how she could tell; but obviously lying now was not a good idea, so he could only nod and say, “Yes!”
“The Monster Beasts that you killed are the children of our Heavenly Monster Mountain, so slaughtering them is a great insult to us, and you should be held accountable for this!”
“Then I will kill him!” Yuan Fei’s murderous intent rose up instantly.
Bai Lu raised her hand, stopping him, “He has merits and demerits. As for how he will be dealt with… we will let the Lord decide!”
“Good!” Yuan Fei nodded at her words.
While speaking, he reached a hand out towards Yang Kai without delay and drew him over.
Yang Kai immediately felt a strong force wrap around him, but he did not try to resist and simply surrendered obediently without a fight, allowing Yuan Fei to grab him.
If he raised a fuss in front of these two Twelfth-Order Masters in this situation, it would definitely do more harm than good. Not mentioning whether Yang Kai could even escape under the noses of these two, even if he did, where would he go?
And from the behaviour of that woman called Bai Lu, she did not seem unreasonable. With the good he did saving the Purple Squirrel’s life, he believed there should not be any danger to his life.
At most, he may be held in Heavenly Monster Mountain and would only have to wait sometime before he was released back to the world outside.
When he was captured, Yang Kai did not forget to say, “Junior has something to inform two Seniors about!”
“Spit it out then!” Yuan Fei shouted coldly.
“As far as Junior knows, there is someone named Zhou Dian in Heavenly Monster Mountain who brought many Masters with him to search for…”
“Zhou Dian?” Yuan Fei and Bai Lu’s faces instantly changed as they gasped in shock, as if this person’s name was an extremely scary existence to them.
Yuan Fei even pulled Yang Kai before himself and glared at him, asking, “Are you sure that Zhou Dian is here?”
“I haven’t seen him before, but… I bumped into someone called Ban Qing. I heard about Zhou Dian from him.”
“You met that bastard Ban Qing?” Yuan Fei’s eyes widened.
Bai Lu quickly said, “If Ban Qing is already here, then Zhou Dian must be here as well. I’m afraid the other three have definitely come as well… What are they looking for?”
The last question was directed at Yang Kai.
“They seemed to be looking for something called the ‘Star of Calamity’, as for what that is, Junior is also at a loss,” Yang Kai told them truthfully.
“Star of Calamity?” Bai Lu’s eyebrows furrowed.
Yuan Fei, however, looked at Yang Kai in astonishment and said, “If you met Ban Qing, how are you still alive?”
“This little brat is… good at escaping!” Yang Kai smiled awkwardly.
Yuan Fei swept his eyes over him, not knowing whether he should believe him or not. On the other hand, the eyes of the Purple Squirrel in Bai Lu’s arms were flitting around, looking at Yang Kai with a knowing light, but clearly not trying to expose him.
“Regardless of whether what you say is true or not, we must report this matter to our lord. Yuan Fei, bring him with us and let us return!” Bai Lu called out and immediately turned around, speeding off towards a certain direction.
Carrying Yang Kai, Yuan Fei followed closely behind.
“Senior… Junior can walk by himself,” Yang Kai felt uncomfortable being carried by Yuan Fei this way, so he hastily suggested this.
Yuan Fei looked at him and did not say much, but he did release him.
Yang Kai had no intention of running away either. Instead, he pushed his strength to keep up with the two Monster Race Masters.
The two masters seem to be trying to test if Yang Kai really was good at ‘escaping’, so they gradually increased their speed, making no attempts to accommodate him at all.
Yang Kai also tried his best to follow them and actually did not lag behind too much, surprising the two.
…..
Somewhere in Heavenly Monster Mountain, Zhou Dian was still riding majestically on his Nine Horned Dragon Beast, his profound gaze staring towards a certain place in Heavenly Monster Mountain. A thick fighting intent was flowing out from his body, almost dense enough to materialize.
There were five other Masters scattered in the vicinity around him.
These Masters gathered in a round open space, and there were many people with troubled looks on their faces sitting on the ground within that circle.
Even though these people sitting on the ground did not have their movements restricted, the energy fluctuations coming from their bodies were incredibly weak and there were seal marks on each of their bodies, clearly suppressing their strength.
All of them were cultivators captured by Zhou Dian’s subordinates while from the Heavenly Monster Mountain.
Xiao Bai Yi, Murong Xiao Xiao, and Chen Mu Ji were among them.
The three of them did not dare to say anything to each other either, but their eyes would drift from time to time, passing on some unknown messages.
They felt very wronged as they had come to this Divine Ascension Mirror World to train, yet now they were inexplicably captured. Since going their separate ways, the three of them have been hunting Monster Beasts in Heavenly Monster Mountain, absorbing their Soul Sources to strengthen their own Souls.
But all of a sudden, several Emperor Realm Masters suddenly appeared and attacked them without a word, eventually capturing them, sealing their strength, and dragging them to this place.