This unexpected disaster made Xiao Bai Yi and the three feel both helpless and worried at the same time.
They had no idea how Yang Kai and Xia Sheng were, or whether they ended up in any fatal danger.
While the three of them were communicating silently, a stalwart figure suddenly appeared a short distance away. It was a majestic figure sporting flaming red hair, carrying a cultivator in his arms as he walked.
Xiao Bai Yi and the other two fixed their eyes in that direction and their faces could not help but change.
And that was because they realized that the person being carried was Xia Sheng, and the guy who caught him was probably the Lian Yan that they heard of before.
Facing an Emperor Realm Master, despite Xia Sheng’s strength being extraordinary for his realm, he was obviously unable to escape and had wound up caught.
From his appearance and current state, he had undoubtedly resisted a lot earlier and he seemed to have suffered a lot of injuries.
There, Lian Yan carried Xia Sheng over, tossed him directly into the crowd, and told his subordinate to keep an eye on them before walking straight towards Zhou Dian, standing behind him and waiting silently.
Murong Xiao Xiao and the others wanted to ask Xia Sheng about his condition, but when they saw Xia Sheng slowly shaking his head at them, they quickly stopped.
It would be better for them not to reveal that they knew each other at this moment. If they concealed this, then they may be able to take advantage of that when the enemy was unprepared to do something…
The fresh breeze was pleasant, but Lian Yan, who was standing behind Zhou Dian, was filled with tension and worry.
And the reason for that was because he could feel the nearly tangible fighting intent flowing out from Zhou Dian’s body. Naturally, this was a Master’s instinctive thirst for battle.
Lian Yan knew what Zhou Dian was thirsting for…
Since the creation of this Divine Country, the entire world had been unified and wars had ended. As a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, Zhou Dian had very few opponents.
And among those few, there was at least one here in Heavenly Monster Mountain.
Zhou Dian, whose desire for slaughter had been silent for two thousand years, had awakened again.
Lian Yan knew how terrifying Zhou Dian was at this moment, so as his subordinate, he did not dare to disturb him in the slightest, or the consequences would be unthinkable.
With time, his fighting intent also continued to rise.
Until a certain moment, that dense murderous intent suddenly retracted, no longer appearing in the slightest.
Lian Yan could not help but breathe a sigh of relief as he felt like he was about to fall over.
“How is the situation?” Zhou Dian asked without turning back.
“Reporting to Sir, everything is mostly good,” Lian Yan bowed and responded.
“Mostly?” Zhou Dian turned his body and glanced over at Lian Yan from the corner of his eye.
This look and this tone of voice caused Lian Yan’s complexion to change in an instant, and he quickly cupped his fists, saying, “It is Ban Qing… We lost contact with him.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Dian raised a brow and asked, “How did this happen?”
“Subordinate does not know,” Lian Yan showed a bewildered look. “Ban Qing had still been sending messages from time to time prior to this, but after a certain point, he suddenly disappeared. Perhaps he is currently pursuing someone powerful.”
Zhou Dian nodded and said, “Hm, Ban Qing’s concealment ability is unparalleled, so anyone who can make him so cautious is most likely an extraordinary character. Very well, this King has been resting for a long time, and since I was ordered by the Lord King himself, I may have to take a trip there myself!”
As he spoke, he urged the Nine Horned Dragon Beast beneath him and they marched towards the depths of Heavenly Monster Mountain.
“Sir!” Upon seeing this, Lian Yan shouted.
“What’s wrong?” Zhou Dian looked back at him with impatience.
Lian Yan said, “Further ahead will be reaching into the range of the Heavenly Monster Accord… If we invade that region, the Monster Race…”
“Why would this King fear the Monster Race?” Zhou Dian scoffed and mocked Lian Yan. “Lian Yan, you’ve lost your guts.”
Lian Yan’s face changed several times before he gritted his teeth and said, “Allow this subordinate to accompany Sir.”
Zhou Dian watched him deeply and nodded with satisfaction, “Good, keep up!”
After saying so, he continued moving forward. The Nine Horned Dragon Beast’s movements may seem very slow, but its speed was getting faster and faster and soon after, it had already turned into a stream of light, dashing ahead towards the horizon.
…..
Deep in the depths of Heavenly Monster Mountain, in Heavenly Monster Valley.
This was the core of Heavenly Monster Mountain, as well as the residence of Heavenly Monster Mountain’s Lord.
The architecture of this place adhered to the Monster Race’s rough and wild nature. All the buildings were big and showy, very different from how the houses in the human world were structured.
Outside the valley, a group of Blood Wolves at peak Eleventh-Order were on guard to prevent anyone from entering the valley.
Yuan Fei and Bai Lu were unhindered as they brought Yang Kai all the way here. After all, these two were well-known existences in Heavenly Monster Mountain, and as the subordinates of the Monster King, who would be blind enough to dare stop them?
On the other hand, many of the Masters of the Monster Race showed looks of curiosity and disgust towards Yang Kai whom they brought with them. They had come a long way, but each member of the Monster Race they encountered was glaring at Yang Kai, baring their fangs at him. If he did not follow the two Twelfth-Order Masters here, then he would likely have been torn to pieces.
Not long after, the group arrived at the centre of Heavenly Monster Valley.
A gigantic tree that grew up into the sky could be seen here. The roots of the gigantic tree were so wide that they could fill up several halls. Yang Kai looked up, but he couldn’t see the top of the tree at all as its canopy seemed to stretch dozens of kilometres in diameter.
Yang Kai could not help but feel surprised at this magnificent sight.
After arriving here, Yang Kai could clearly feel that the World Energy in the vicinity had grown much denser, sending a pleasing sensation through his Soul Avatar.
He understood immediately that this humongous tree was some kind of divine object.
And, a door could be seen somewhere on the roots of this giant tree. The wooden door was currently closed shut, and when they arrived here, Yuan Fei turned his head and said fiercely to Yang Kai, “Boy, wait here and don’t move unless you’re told, otherwise, don’t blame me if you lose your life!”
Yang Kai nodded his head quietly and calmly.
*Zhi zhi zhi…*
The Purple Squirrel called out to Yang Kai, probably trying to tell him something.
Yang Kai smiled and nodded, “Don’t worry about me, just take care of yourself.”
“Let’s go!” Bai Lu said as she reached out to open the door, walking into the tree cave.
In a few moments, Yang Kai was the only one left in place.
He looked up at the giant tree, eyes filled with wonder. The Monster Race around him gradually gathered as well, each with a fierce glint in their eyes, not bearing kind intentions.
In only ten breaths of time, Yang Kai was surrounded by three layers of Monster Race Masters and even on the tree branches overhead were occupied with those observing him.
Some of these Monster Race Masters had assumed human form, maintaining the appearance of a person, but some maintained their beast forms and pulsed ferocious intent from their bodies.
But no matter who it was, they only stared at Yang Kai and would only show obvious malice, none really tried to do anything to him.
No matter what, Yang Kai had been brought here by Yuan Fei and Bai Lu, so before these two Masters said so, the other monsters present wouldn’t dare move without permission.
The division of hierarchy was more obvious in the Monster Race than the Human Race, and the strong had absolute dominance over the weak, with only rare exceptions like the Purple Squirrel, who had an extremely powerful background.
The scene before him brought back some memories for Yang Kai.
He found that no matter where he went, there seemed to be an irreconcilable conflict between the Human Race and the Monster Race. Different races had different customs, and the fact that you were seen as an outsider if you were of a different race was commonplace everywhere.
Even though he was surrounded by countless Monster Race Masters though, Yang Kai still did not show the slightest sign of fear; however, the Soul Devouring Insects inside of his sleeve were clearly growing restless for some reason. They may be excited at how so many Masters with powerful Souls were nearby, so they were beginning to show signs of escaping Yang Kai’s control.
Noticing this, Yang Kai’s face paled as he hurriedly activated his Spiritual Energy to suppress them.
As soon as the Soul Devouring Insects began to riot, all the surrounding Monster Race Masters couldn’t help feeling a chill all over their bodies, as if they had fallen into an ice cellar. This feeling had come so inexplicably and yet so clearly that the Monster Race Masters were certain it was no illusion. The presence of something that posed a threat to their lives was truly present.
This discovery caused the faces of many Monster Race Masters to darken as they eyed Yang Kai vigilantly and suspiciously, as if trying to reassess him.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was trying his hardest to suppress the Soul Devouring Insects. He could not use the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus with so many eyes on him, so he couldn’t help but feel the need to groan.
It was at that moment that a surging pressure like a great ocean wave suddenly descended from the sky, enveloping Yang Kai.
This pressure came so abruptly that Yang Kai was suppressed on the spot before he could even react.
But soon, he found that this pressure did not hurt him while instead the Soul Devouring Insects were calmed.
The owner of that pressure seemed to have helped him intentionally.
[Peak Twelfth-Order!] Yang Kai was astonished.
Even though he had already guessed that the power of the Heavenly Monster Mountain’s Lord was not low, he was still shocked to learn the true level of this Master.
This Divine Ascension Mirror World was a bizarre realm where living beings had no physical bodies, only Souls; however, even without a physical body, a master of this level had appeared.
Yang Kai could not help but feel a little lost in thought, wondering if perhaps a Great Emperor level character had ever been born here?
If one had, then how much would they know about his situation?
And, just as these thoughts flashed through his mind, a silhouette appeared in front of him. It was Bai Lu.
Bai Lu’s beautiful eyes swept around the place before she said to Yang Kai, “Follow me. The Lord wants to see you.”
Bai Lu said nothing more and turned to lead the way.
Following behind her, Yang Kai entered the tree cave.
Only then did he realize that the interior of this tree cave was actually a completely furnished cave mansion.
The lowest floor seemed to be something akin to a large hall, but it was empty without a single Soul at this moment. And, in the corner of the hall, there was a spiral staircase that led up. Yang Kai had no idea how far up this staircase went, but at least from where he stood, he could not see its top.
Yang Kai followed Bai Lu up the flight of winding stairs.
After walking for about a quarter of an hour, they finally reached the end of the stairs where a large hall was presented in front of them. The side door of the hall opened along the trunk of the tree with light shining in from the outside.
Yang Kai took a glance at the outside and found that this place was already a few thousand metres from the ground. Everything at the bottom was hazy and hard to get a clear view of.
And, after walking to this place, he felt an almost palpable gaze locked onto his body.
Yang Kai instantly became alert and turned his head over just to see a middle-aged man dressed in simple clothes. This man had a plain appearance with black hair and was standing with his hands behind his back, looking at him, smiling.
Yuan Fei who arrived before them was standing by his side respectfully with a restrained expression.
[The Lord of Heavenly Monster Mountain!] This thought popped into Yang Kai’s mind inexplicably. Though he could not see anything from this middle-aged man that catched his eyes, Yang Kai was sure despite this man looking just like any ordinary man from a crowd that he was a peak Twelfth-Order Monster Race, equivalent to a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, the very one who made a move earlier to assist him! This man was the Lord of Heavenly Monster Mountain, and similarly, the father of the Purple Squirrel!
Composing himself, Yang Kai bowed and cupped his fists, saying, “Junior Yang Kai greets Senior!”
Hearing this, the middle-aged man nodded lightly, but did not speak, instead just slowly raising his hand and pointing it towards Yang Kai from a distance.
Before Yang Kai could understand what he meant, his face suddenly changed and he hurried to circulate his Spiritual Energy, creating an invisible barrier in front of himself.
There was a soft thud as a strong force impacted him, easily breaking Yang Kai’s defences.
Yang Kai was taken by surprise and staggered backwards.
But very soon, he was able to steady himself. That was because the move he received was not anything substantial and only broke his defence. In other words, it posed no threat to him at all, almost as if it was just to probe him…
“Senior, what do you mean by this?” Yang Kai asked with a frown. His opponent was a peak Twelfth-Order Master, so what was the point in testing him? This man could obviously tell Yang Kai’s strength at a glance.
“Hm?” The middle-aged man raised a brow and looked a little suspiciously at Yang Kai as he asked, “Why didn’t you use your Soul-type Artifact?”
Yang Kai responded, “I met with a strong enemy prior to this, so that artifact was destroyed and is no longer…”
Before he finished his sentence, Yang Kai suddenly widened his eyes and stared at the middle-aged man in astonishment. “Senior, you…”
At this moment, he suddenly came back to his senses. [He actually mentioned Soul-type artifact!]
This was not a word that cultivators of this Divine Ascension Mirror World should know. Soul-type artifacts were only used by cultivators from the outside world. Due to the lack of materials to refine such artifacts, it was impossible for such things to exist here, let alone for knowledge of them to spread.
But this middle-aged man actually spoke about an existence he should not have known about.
How could Yang Kai not be shocked at this?
“What’s wrong?” The middle-aged man smiled, “Do you think that this King knows nothing?”
Though he spoke vaguely, Yang Kai understood exactly what he meant and was instantly shocked in place, not even knowing how he should respond.
“It seems…” The middle-aged man nodded lightly, “You really aren’t a person of this world.”
Yang Kai drew a sharp breath and cupped his fists, “Senior has good eyes. Only… How did Senior…”
The middle-aged man smiled and, as he raised his hand, a longsword suddenly appeared in it. Light flowed from this longsword and its energy fluctuations appeared truly extraordinary.
This longsword was not a coalescence of his Spiritual Energy, in other words, it was a physical object…
“A Soul-type Artifact?” Yang Kai’s eyes were almost bulging out of their sockets as he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
To think a cultivator could bring out a Soul-type artifact in this world, and a very high-grade one at that. From the energy flowing out from the longsword, this sword had already reached the level of an Emperor Artifact as Emperor Pressure and Emperor Intent which complimented well with the middle-aged man’s own aura were present.
To the side, Yuan Fei and Bai Lu were also staring, dazed at the longsword.
As the subordinates of Heavenly Monster Mountain’s Lord, they naturally knew that their Lord had such a valuable treasure; however, even with their qualifications, it was still rare for them to see it.
In the past few hundred years, they had only seen it twice, so counting today it would be three times.
Yuan Fei and Bai Lu had no idea what this treasure was and where it came from, but they knew that it was incomparably sharp and powerful, much stronger than the weapons formed out of their Spiritual Energy.
They could not understand why their Lord had shown this treasure to a mere human like Yang Kai, whom they met today for the first time.
Moreover, what did their Lord mean when he said he wasn’t ‘a person of this world’?
They exchanged glances, both seeing confusion in each other’s eyes.
“Correct, this is a Soul-type artifact,” the middle-aged man nodded at his words. Then, he gently rubbed his finger on the blade. Under the resonance of energy, the blade of the sword trembled incessantly as if it had its own spirit.
“Eight hundred years ago, I won this from a guy called Wen Zi Shan,” The middle-aged man smiled and watched Yang Kai’s demeanour closely as he spoke to explain, “I wonder if you know him as well.”
“So, it was Temple Master Wen…” Yang Kai’s mouth twitched, suddenly understanding everything.
According to Wen Zi Shan, it was he who came to the Azure Sun Mountain Range eight hundred years ago and discovered the Divine Ascension Mirror, deciding to stay then and found Azure Sun Temple.
During that time, Wen Zi Shan likely entered the Divine Ascension Mirror as well and travelled here, bumping into this middle-aged man. As for how this artifact ended up in the hands of this man, Yang Kai did not know.
“He was an interesting guy…” The middle-aged man spoke with a hint of nostalgia on his face, “It felt like we were old friends the moment we met. We got along very well, and this King won this longsword from him through a bet. However, according to how you would describe it, this artifact was only Dao Source Grade High-Rank back then. It took several hundred years of refinement and nurturing for it to be promoted to an Emperor Artifact.”
Yang Kai said, thoughtfully, “It seems like Senior knows a lot about the outside world.”
The middle-aged man laughed happily, “This King casually poured a few jars of Monkey God Wine for that Wen Zi Shan and he spat out everything, almost revealing the colour of his underwear! How much do you think this King would know?”
At that comment, Yang Kai’s face twitched, but it also allowed him to ease his tension and no longer worry about his own safety. This man did not seem to hold any malice towards him and also knew Temple Master Wen and the world outside. This alone made it impossible for him to do anything to him.
“May Junior ask how to address Senior?” Yang Kai cupped his fists together and asked with a serious face.
“This King is called Yi Quan!” When the middle-aged man responded, he had already put away the artifact. He went on, “I heard from Yuan Fei that you saved my son’s life outside?”
“It was merely a coincidence,” Yang Kai said truthfully.
“Still, you saved his life.” As he said this, Yi Quan reached behind his back and urged a small figure over.
Yang Kai looked over and found it to be a young child about two years old, wearing short sleeves and short shorts. This child had a pink and chubby face as well as small and short exposed hands and legs with fair and tender white skin.
This was a little boy with his hair tied up in a sky-shooting braid. He looked extremely cute.
“Little Purple Squirrel?” Yang Kai looked at the boy and raised his brows.
The little guy seemed a little shy, and after glancing at Yang Kai, he quickly hid behind Yi Quan, grabbing at the corner of his father’s clothes with his little hands, looking around curiously.
As soon as he saw this, Yang Kai was sure he was the Purple Squirrel.
However, he seemed too nervous to be as close with Yang Kai as before.
“What did father tell you?” When Yi Quan saw this, he gave little Purple Squirrel a tap on the back of his head, causing him to stumble out from behind.
When Bai Lu saw this, she immediately had a hurt look on her face.
The little guy was pouting, seeming as if he was about to cry.
“Hm?” Yi Quan gave a soft hum.
This scared Purple Squirrel so much that he quickly stopped his tears and sniffled. Looking at Yang Kai, he tried to stutter a few words.
“No need to thank me, you helped me a lot too, so really I should be the one thanking you,” said Yang Kai gently as he looked at the little guy.
“A life-saving grace will be remembered for the rest of our lives!” Yi Quan said while stroking the little guy’s head, saying in a serious voice, “Remember that!”
Purple Squirrel quickly nodded.
“Bai Lu,” Yi Quan called out again.
“Subordinate is here,” Bai Lu quickly stepped forward.
“Bring the Young Master out to play. Watch over him carefully, don’t let him run off again. I have… some things to talk about with this young man,” Yi Quan said.
“Yes!” Bai Lu answered before waving at the little one.
This time, he was very well-behaved and trotted obediently in front of Bai Lu, reaching out his hand so she could hold it. Before leaving, he turned back to take another look at Yang Kai as Yuan Fei followed them out.
After leaving the hall, Yuan Fei asked Bai Lu in a whisper, “Did you understand what Sir said?”
Bai Lu shook her head and looked at him, asking, “Did you?”
Dark lines appeared on Yuan Fei’s face as he muttered, “If you didn’t, how do you think I would? However… I vaguely remember eight hundred years ago that a human came here. He had a long talk with Sir for three days and three nights before leaving.”
“Yes, I remember that as well. That man was very strong, no worse than Sir at all,” Bai Lu also nodded lightly.
“Strange, what is a Soul-type artifact? Why does Sir seem to be implying that that human brat has one too? But why don’t Masters like us understand it?”
“What are you worried about? If it is something we should know, then Sir would have told us,” Bai Lu glared at him.
“That’s true.” Yuan Fei nodded.
*Yayaya*… The little guy who was being pulled along by Bai Lu suddenly interjected at this time.
Hearing this, Bai Lu said, surprised, “Young Master, you mean to say that this Yang Kai boy used a Soul-type artifact previously in a battle?”
*Yayaya!* The little guy nodded his head vigorously.
“What does it look like? Tell us!” Yuan Fei instantly felt excited and asked a bunch of questions.
But who knew that the little one would only look at him and coldly snort. He turned his head to the side, looking like he didn’t want to talk to him at all.
At the hall in the centre of the tree cave, Yi Quan invited Yang Kai to take a seat.
Yi Quan was very enthusiastic and Yang Kai did not stand on ceremony either. Even though there was such a large gap between their cultivations, Yi Quan had never been the type to care about petty things, so he did not mind.
Then, he pulled out a jar of wine like it was a magic trick as well as two cups, pouring one for Yang Kai and himself.
“Is this the Monkey God Wine that Senior mentioned before?” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up, taking a deep breath to feel the wonderful aroma washing over him. The fragrance of wine that permeated through the air also seemed to have a great effect on his Soul. It actually made him feel incredibly good when the aroma blended into his body.
“It is indeed!” Yi Quan smiled and picked up the cup in front of him, taking a sip before saying proudly, “The things we produce here are very different from those on your side, but they have their own special characteristics. The Spirit Monkeys in my Heavenly Monster Mountain spent a great deal of time and effort to brew this Monkey God Wine, it is very beneficial to one’s Soul.”
“The glass is not full, Senior…” Yang Kai looked at Yi Quan a little apologetically as he motioned to the cup in front of him.
That is because Yi Quan only gave him half a cup when he poured the wine.
“Haha!” Yi Quan laughed as he looked at Yang Kai. He said, “Speak after you drink this half-cup. If you can drink more, then this King will not be stingy.”
When he heard this, Yang Kai understood immediately that this Monkey God Wine was probably going to be strong, not something an ordinary cultivator could withstand. In Yi Quan’s opinion, as a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, Yang Kai should only be able to handle half a cup.
When he thought of this, Yang Kai did not say anything more. Picking up the cup in front of him, he began to drink slowly.
The Spirit Wine was sweet as dew, yet it rushed to his head like ice when he swallowed it down. A cold feeling gushed up from his throat to the top of his head, and Yang Kai could not help but shake spiritedly. Yet, when the wine entered his belly, it brought about a burning force that travelled through his limbs and bones.
Even after it circulated through his body a few more times, the wine continued going strong.
Yang Kai muffled a soft grunt and felt the changes inside himself carefully.
He discovered that his Soul Avatar, which had sustained some damage from his earlier fight with Ban Qing, was restoring itself at a speed visible to the naked eye.
This discovery lifted Yang Kai’s spirits, and he drank the rest in a large gulp without hesitation.
“Slow down!” Seeing this, Yi Quen quickly shouted lest Yang Kai drink too fast out of greed and cause some harm to himself.
But before he finished speaking, Yang Kai had already put his cup down and did not say anything, just sitting in place, his eyes closed as a look of reminiscence appeared on his face.
“Ai…” Yi Quan sighed and said to himself, “I still wanted to talk to you more about the outside world, but it looks like I’ll have to wait a few days.”
He figured that with Yang Kai’s meagre cultivation, downing half a cup of Monkey God Wine would knock him out for at least a couple of days before he sobered up, which made him laugh bitterly. He had taken out the Monkey God Wine with good intentions because he could see that Yang Kai had been in a big fight and his Soul Avatar had some slight damage to it, but he didn’t want to miss this opportunity to talk either.
“What does Senior wish to talk about?” Yang Kai suddenly opened his eyes and the light in them was perfectly clear, without the slightest hint of looking drunk.
“Huh?” Yi Quan was stunned, looking strangely at Yang Kai as he asked suspiciously, “You’re fine?”
“Do I not look fine, Senior?” Yang Kai smiled. While speaking, he had already reached out without any trace of politeness and grabbed the jar of Monkey God Wine in front of Yi Quan, poured himself a full cup, and drained it down while praising, “Good wine!”
With one and a half cups in his belly, his Soul Avatar had already recovered completely. Not only that, but his Soul had also been tempered thoroughly. As for the excess energy contained in the Monkey God Wine, it all poured into the Seven-Coloured Soul Warming Lotus.
Just as it absorbed the precious Soul Jade, the Soul Warming Lotus absorbed the energy contained in the Monkey God Wine and fed it back to Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar in a temperate manner so that he could continue to benefit from it.
“This…” Yi Quan was completely dumbfounded and was staring at him slack-jawed.
At his level of power, few things could surprise him, but Yang Kai’s actions still left him puzzled. He could not understand how Yang Kai did not get drunk.
After all, even Wen Zi Shan who came here for the first time did not dare to drink the fine wine of the Heavenly Monster Mountain in this way. No one could withstand such wanton consumption, but Yang Kai had done so and appeared as if nothing had happened.
“It seems like… you really are different from the rest!” Yi Quan quickly understood and smiled, “I don’t think all the people from the outside are like you, right?”
“Naturally not,” Yang Kai laughed, “Junior is…” He hesitated for a moment, not knowing how he should explain it, only able to say after a while, “I have my own tricks to digest it.”
Yi Quan nodded and did not continue questioning him. Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, he saw Yang Kai grabbing the jar with both hands, “Junior gives his thanks to Senior for this gift!”
As soon as he said that, he had already begun drinking from the bottle in large gulps.
Watching him chug down the wine, Yi Quan could not help his mouth from twitching.
In a dozen breaths, Yang Kai had already finished the bottle of Monkey God Wine without leaving a single drop behind. Wiping his mouth impatiently and looking eagerly at Yi Quan, he then asked, “This wine… Is there any more of it?”
“You still want more?” Yi Quan glared at him and said, “You little brat, what do you take this for? Each bottle of Monkey God Wine takes the entire Spirit Monkey clan a hundred years of work to brew! What you’ve drunk already cost them a hundred years of effort!”
Even the good-tempered Yi Quan was angered by Yang Kai’s shameless demands.
If he had known this was the case, then why would he have brought out such a treasure to entertain Yang Kai? He was simply turning blue with regret in his guts.
“Ahem…” Yang Kai lightly coughed. With a bit of alcohol still in his system, he said, “Senior is such a great man, there’s no need to be so stingy…”
He only dared to speak such words since he saw that Yi Quan did not hold any malice towards himself. Otherwise, speaking to any other peak Twelfth-Order Master would have gotten him into deep trouble.
“Stingy…” Yi Quan’s eyes almost popped out as he fell speechless. After pondering for a moment though, he grinned and said, “Good, if you can tell me more about the outside world, then this King will reward you with another bottle. How about it?”
“Truly? You mean what you say, Senior?” Yang Kai was instantly energized and asked, “May I ask what Senior would like to hear about?”
“Anything!” Yi Quan was not too demanding, “The last time Wen Zi Shan was here, he told this King a bit about the outside world, but unfortunately that guy had gotten drunk and yammered on like a madman. It was unbearable!”
“Then let’s start with Temple Master Wen…” Yang Kai smiled and lightly coughed, assuming the manner of a storyteller as he began to regale Yi Quan with stories.
The Star Boundary was vast, and it had not been long since Yang Kai arrived there as well, so he didn’t know too much, not even knowing the names of all Ten Great Emperors yet, but even so, the information he had was still beyond Yi Quan’s reach.
And, as Yi Quan was keen to know this information from the outside world, he naturally listened in with great interest.
Azure Sun Temple, Heavenly Martial Holy land, Orthodoxy Temple, Star Soul Palace, and even the entire Southern Territory, Yang Kai told him all he knew.
The people, the places, all sorts of strange stories, the Sealed Worlds used for tempering oneself, both big and small, as well as the ancient legends passed down through word of mouth. There was no order to what he spoke of as Yang Kai basically just rambled on about whatever came to mind.
Yi Quan just listened quietly, only interrupting him at special times to ask a few questions before gesturing for him to go on.
Everything about the outside world seemed to make the Lord of Heavenly Monster Mountain curious and eager.
The wonders of a body of flesh, the mysteries of all sorts of Secret Techniques and Artifacts, these were all new and fresh to beings of this world who had no idea what such sensations would be like.
Like that, their conversation lasted a whole day and night.
Yang Kai’s mouth was dry from all the talking, so he naturally sought an opportunity to ask for another bottle of Monkey God Wine from Yi Quan to moisten his throat.
Yi Quan was also listening with great attention and all the information that he had never been exposed to before fascinated him.
The Divine Ascension Mirror World was too small, so the world outside was undoubtedly more exciting.
Moreover, Yi Qian was already a master at the peak of the Twelfth-Order. Beyond that was the realm of Great Emperors.
Such a height could not be reached through hard work alone, it also required incredible opportunities.
When trying to reach such a height, anything new you could see and experience may become a critical breakthrough point.
The opportunities that Yi Quan needed were not available in this world, but they might be present in the outside world, so he was incredibly interested in travelling there. Perhaps, in a world that he had never seen before, he may be able to find his path towards becoming a Great Emperor!
Unfortunately, he was only a Soul without a physical body, so there was no way he could survive for long in the outside world. Once he left this place, he would be rejected by the outside World Principles and quickly die.
“When Wen Zi Shan came here, he told this King that if he could create a body that could integrate perfectly with this King’s Soul, then this King may have a chance to escape from this prison. This King wonders how much you know about this?” At a certain moment, Yi Quan suddenly interrupted Yang Kai and asked.
“The Flesh Incarnation Pill?” Yang Kai raised his brows and casually answered.
“What is this ‘Flesh Incarnation Pill’?” Yi Quan’s eyes suddenly lit up and he hurried to ask.
“Uh…” Yang Kai thought for a moment and continued, “It is a type of Spirit Pill. Due to the special situation here, Spirit Pills do not seem to exist.”
“And what are Spirit Pills exactly?” Yi Quan was completely baffled.
“Let’s put it this way. There is a special group of people called Alchemists in the outside world who use special tools and techniques to fuse certain types of herbs, removing their impurities, and enhancing their essences before condensing the latter into pills. These pills are called Spirit Pills and they generally have far stronger effects than their raw materials.”
“Then is the Flesh Incarnation Pill a type of Spirit Pill?” Yi Quan asked with glowing eyes.
“That’s right. Supposedly, if a being like Senior were to ingest it, then Senior could grow a body for yourself.”
“Supposedly?” Yi Quan raised a brow.
Yang Kai laughed. “Because this Spirit Pill is only rumoured to exist. No one has ever made it.”
“Why!?” Yi Quan was suddenly furious, “Those Alchemists can’t all be useless, can they?”
Yang Kai said helplessly, “As they say, even the cleverest woman cannot cook a meal without rice… The primary ingredient, Flesh Incarnation Fruit, for the Flesh Incarnation Pill has already gone extinct, so how could Alchemists refine the Flesh Incarnation Pill?”
“How could that be?” Yi Quan found it hard to accept Yang Kai’s explanation, “Isn’t the outside world vast and rich?!”
Yang Kai laughed, “That is what they say, but some things are left to fate.”
Yi Quan looked disappointed and was out of it for a while, but soon, as if he thought of something, he looked spiritedly at Yang Kai and said, “Since you know so much about the Flesh Incarnation Pill, you wouldn’t happen to be one of those Alchemists, would you?”
“Well… Sort of,” Yang Kai nodded and also understood what Yi Quan was trying to hint at, so he continued without needing him to say anything, “But Senior should know that Alchemists are divided into different levels as well, just like cultivators. Different grades of Alchemists can refine different grades of pills, and the Flesh Incarnation Pill is an Emperor Grade Pill, so it will require an Emperor Grade Alchemist to refine. Right now, Junior is… just a Dao Source Grade Alchemist!”
“So?” Yi Quan raised his voice, “This King can see that your cultivation is already extraordinary at such a young age. With time, it’s not impossible for you to reach the Emperor Realm. Hm… Why don’t you refine a Flesh Incarnation Pill for this King when that time comes?”
Yang Kai laughed bitterly and said, “I would still need the materials!”
“Then go find them!” Yi Quan said matter-of-factly, “This King is not afraid to wait, and I can afford to do so! You can refine the Flesh Incarnation Pill whenever you find the Flesh Incarnation Fruit. This King only needs you to agree to do this for now.”
Seeing him like this, Yang Kai’s face could not help but turn serious. After a moment of silence, he said, “Since Senior has said so, then Junior will do his best, but Senior may have to wait for a long time, and it may turn out impossible in the end.”
“No problem!” Yi Quan waved his hand and said, “It’s fine as long as you have the intention.”
As he spoke, he seemed to already be able to see a glimmer of hope and called out, “Good! I’ll gift you another bottle of wine!”
With those words, he placed another jar of Monkey God Wine in front of Yang Kai.
Yang Kai grinned and did not hesitate to down it.
Three bottles of Monkey God Wine went into his belly in just a short amount of time, so even though Yang Kai had the Seven-Coloured Soul Warming Lotus to pad his stomach, he still could not avoid feeling a little drunk.
Yi Quan looked at him with a gaze that had become more cordial and he was just about to wave his hand to call someone over to bring Yang Kai down to rest when suddenly his expression turned cold and he gazed towards a certain direction.
Yang Kai noticed the change in Yi Quan’s expression and could not help but look at him in confusion.
Yi Quan did not move and only watched quietly for a while before he shouted in a cold voice, “How dare he!”
“Senior, what happened?” Yang Kai asked.
But before Yi Quan answered, he saw a Monster Race Master suddenly fly in from outside, cupping his fists and quickly reporting, “Sir, a human Master has invaded! The Blood Wolf Guard are currently obstructing him, but the invader is strong. He seems to be…”
“This King knows,” Yi Quan nodded coldly and ordered. “Tell the Blood Wolves to withdraw, they… won’t be able to stop him. Let him in.”
The Monster Race Master did not hesitate to accept his order and immediately retreated.
Yang Kai also came back to his senses at this moment and said with an ugly expression, “Could it be… Zhou Dian came here personally?”
Yi Quan’s cultivation was amazing, so a human Master who could warrant his attention couldn’t be anyone but Zhou Dian.
And his guess was correct. Yi Quan nodded at his words, “That’s right, it’s him. I can’t believe he insists on breaking into my Heavenly Monster Valley even if it means going against the Heavenly Monster Accord… Could it be that he’s coming for you?”
“Me?” Yang Kai pointed at his own nose. Having mostly sobered up, he laughed nervously, “I don’t think that’s likely… Junior only arrived here ten days ago and I didn’t even know Zhou Dian existed before that. Why would he come for me?”
“This King does not know either, but…” While speaking, Yi Quan’s figure suddenly shook and he appeared before Yang Kai, patting him on the shoulder.
Yang Kai was slightly taken aback but he knew that Yi Quan would not do anything to harm himself, so he did not show any intention to resist.
A gentle force came in through his shoulder and travelled through his limbs.
A short while later, Yi Quan said with an ugly look on his face, “As expected, you were marked. It was this King’s negligence.”
At that moment, Yi Quan’s hand suddenly shook.
At the same time, Yang Kai grunted; however, he could clearly hear a strange noise coming from inside of him. Following that, his whole body inexplicably relaxed as if breaking free from some shackle.
“My son told me that you had an encounter with Ban Qing but managed to kill him somehow. Ban Qing is not only proficient in concealment and assassination but also tracking. During your encounter, he seems to have left a mark on you, and Zhou Dian has been following that mark…”
Hearing this, Yang Kai’s face sank.
He had suspected that Ban Qing had done something to him, but he was unable to find out what he did with his ability. But now it seemed that it was no fluke that those cultivators were able to track him.
Only… From what Yi Quan said just now, he seems to have found out about the secret in his body a long time ago but never pointed it out.
“I’m sorry for the trouble I caused you, Senior,” Yang Kai said somewhat apologetically.
Yi Quan waved his hand and said, “No need to be. You are my son’s benefactor so this King will treat you well. As for Zhou Dian… hmph! He’s an arrogant man who cares nothing for rules in the first place!”
After saying that, he went on, “As for how you killed Ban Qing… this King can only say those insects you possess must never be left here no matter what. If you happen to enter this place again, then do not bring them here unless you can fully control them. This place was once nearly destroyed because of those insects…”
Yang Kai was shocked. “Soul Devouring Insects existed here?”
“You call them Soul Devouring Insects?” Yi Quan wore an apprehensive look, “No matter what they’re called, they are a scourge to this world. The insects you have right now are not that strong, so this King can help you suppress them a little, but that is as much as I can do. If they really grow to their full potential, then even this King will become nothing but food to them!”
“Junior understands,” Yang Kai nodded seriously.
“You’d best remember well!” Yi Quan warned.
“Yi Quan!”
At that moment, an earth-shaking voice suddenly came from outside. The voice was not very loud, but it contained a deafening pressure like muffled thunder. The sound set off a storm that swept through the surroundings and reached the ears of every Monster Race in Heavenly Monster Valley, even causing the ears of some weaker Monster Race to bleed.
“Hmph!” Yi Quan turned his head angrily towards the source of the noise. Sharpening his Spiritual Energy, he transformed it into a piercing strike as he shouted, “Zhou Dian! Who gave you the guts to raise your voice in my Heavenly Monster Valley?”
“Hahahaha, hahahaha!” The sound of Zhou Dian’s laughter flowed over. Initially, it was calm, but as Zhou Dian’s emotions fluctuated, it turned into maniacal laughter filled with madness.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
A loud blast came from outside, shaking the entire world.
Yang Kai stood in place with an ugly look on his face. His Soul Avatar felt extremely unstable and the light at the surface of his body was flickering, worrying him so much that he quickly moved his strength to protect himself.
Only then did he feel a little better.
When he came back to his senses, Yi Quan was no longer there.
Quickly rushing out of the hall, Yang Kai floated mid-air and scanned his surroundings.
Very quickly, he spotted Yi Quan and Zhou Dian.
At about fifty kilometres from where he was, Yi Quan, the supreme leader of the Monster Race stood there quietly, motionless, his aura restrained, making him seem as deep as the abyss.
Not far in front of Yi Quan was a stalwart figure riding an extremely powerful Monster Beast, looking down at Yi Quan from above.
[Zhou Dian!]
Even though Yang Kai had never met this person, he knew exactly who he was.
Moreover, Zhou Dian was the only person who would garner such caution from Yi Quan.
Behind Zhou Dian, an equally tall red-haired Emperor Realm Master stood behind him. His fiery red hair was so distinctive that Yang Kai understood immediately that he must be Lian Yan.
The two human masters were surrounded by countless Monster Race Masters, each of which was looking at the two men with fierce, unconcealed hostility.
But none of the Monster Race dared to make a move.
Zhou Dian was calm as can be and even Lian Yan did not appear the least bit nervous, just smiling disdainfully as he looked around, occasionally meeting the eyes of the Monster Race Masters and shooting provocations at them.
“Very good! Yi Quan, you’re still looking healthy after all these years. This General is very pleased!” Zhou Dian was the first to speak, smiling as if the one standing before him was not his life nemesis, but rather a friend whom he had not seen for a long time.
Yi Quan sneered, “This King has been quite well since the last time we met, but I wonder, Zhou Dian… has your injury healed?”
As soon as he said that, the smile on Zhou Dian’s face suddenly disappeared and a piercing icy coldness descended from the sky as if it wanted to freeze everything in this world.
He took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes, and when opened them again, Zhou Dian had restored his calm.
Seeing this, Yi Quan could not help but raise a brow.
“Yi Quan, if it were possible, this General would not have come to your Heavenly Monster Mountain, but this time it was the Lord King’s order, so I had no choice but to come!” Zhou Dian said.
“The order of your Master is none of this King’s concern. The Heavenly Monster Accord states that no Human may enter more than thirty thousand kilometres into Heavenly Monster Mountain. This is what was agreed upon between our races, but today, you have personally broken that agreement. Is the word of you humans really worth nothing?” Yi Quan bellowed furiously.
Zhou Dian grinned and replied, “This General has only come for one person today. Hand him over and this General will leave immediately. This General will not make things hard for your Heavenly Monster Valley. You should have seen it as well. This General did not kill a single member of your Heavenly Monster Valley. This should be enough to show the sincerity of this General.”
“Is the Heavenly Monster Valley a place for you to come and go as you please?” Yi Quan raised a brow, “This King knows who you are really here for. However… he is an esteemed guest of this King. Want to take him away? First, ask this King if he agrees!”
“Honoured guest?” Zhou Dian raised his brow at those words and looked derisively at Yi Quan, saying, “Are you joking?”
He thought that Yi Quan was just spouting nonsense; after all, he could clearly see Yang Kai from fifty kilometres away and measure his cultivation. How could a human brat like him be worthy of becoming Yi Quan’s honoured guest?
“This King is in no mood to joke with you,” Yi Quan coldly snorted, “Hurry and get out of my Heavenly Monster Valley, or don’t blame this King for not being polite with you.”
“It seems like… you won’t be handing him over!” Zhou Dian’s eyes deepened slightly and he stared at Yi Quan coldly.
Yi Quan scoffed and did not say anything more. Spiritual Energy was slowly releasing from his body.
At this point, both Masters knew that it was useless to rely on words. The only way they could settle this was with their strength.
Everything in the world seemed to freeze in that instant as Third-Order Emperor Realm pressure and peak Twelfth-Order pressure clashed, invisible sparks flashing across both Masters’ eyes.
Many Monster Race Masters could see that things were turning for the worst and used their Movement Skills to scatter in different directions without even looking back.
Lian Yan did the same as well. His entire body turned into a red flash that retreated several dozen kilometres away.
Endless fighting intent and incredible pressure filled the air, causing space to tremble and the earth to crack…
Even from fifty kilometres away, Yang Kai could still feel chills all over his body. If not for the fact that he did not have a physical body right now, it might have been hard for him to even breathe.
Two figures flashed over. Yuan Fei and Bai Lu, the two Monster Race Masters, appearing on his right side and nodding lightly.
The two were not as hostile or disdainful to him as before. Their only purpose here was to protect Yang Kai.
“What about Purple Squirrel?” Yang Kai asked.
“Young Master has already been taken to somewhere safe,” Bai Lu answered in a gentle voice. “Please do not worry, Young Master Yang.”
She even changed the way she addressed Yang Kai, quite clearly due to how Yi Quan had called him his honoured guest earlier.
Yang Kai nodded lightly and turned to look towards the distance.
This was a battle between Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters, so just observing it would be of great benefit to him. That is why he did not want to miss the slightest thing.
And, at that moment, Zhou Dian moved.
Leaping up from his mount, he rushed high into the air before releasing a burst of light from his body. When this light dissipated, a double-crescent halberd appeared in his hands. The halberd was more than ten metres long and was as thick as a man’s arm, extremely powerful and heavy while the aura it released was enough to shake the world around it.
Once the halberd came out, the aura around Zhou Dian’s body increased dramatically. The energy surrounding his body rippled incessantly like boiling water.
This was not a Soul-type artifact, but a weapon coalesced from Zhou Dian’s own Spiritual Energy. This halberd had followed Zhou Dian for many years, during which he had nourished it with his own essence, as well as that of others. Even though it was not a Soul-type artifact, it had many wonderful uses and was in no way inferior to an ordinary Soul-type Artifact.
Holding the halberd in his hand, Zhou Dian laughed maniacally as his entire body turned into a stream of light and he swooped down towards Yi Quan, the sound of wind roaring as he descended.
“Yi Quan, let this General see whether you’ve improved over the years!”
This attack was like a meteor, causing every cultivator who witnessed it to feel a stabbing pain in their eyes, regardless of their cultivation, as if its radiance would blind them if they continued to stare. At the same time, coldness spread through their whole bodies.
Yang Kai was astonished.
Even though he had seen a few Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters during his time, he had never witnessed a full-blown fight between such Masters. At this moment, he finally understood how powerful Third-Order Emperor Realm cultivators truly were.
Naturally, they were almost invincible existences in this world.
And, in the face of this amazing attack, Yi Quan stood his ground, not moving at all. Gazing forward, his eyes filled with contempt, as if Zhou Dian wasn’t even worth his care.
*Chi chi…*
A thick column of energy visible to the naked eye gushed out from the point of the double-crescent halberd, transforming into the shape of a dragon and letting out a dragon roar, brandishing its teeth and claws towards Yi Quan.
“Seems like…” Yi Quan said indifferently, “You’ve forgotten the pain of your wounds after the scars have healed… Have you forgotten that battle from two thousand years ago?”
As he said this, Yi Quan flicked his wrist.
A simple strike was Yi Quan’s response to the approaching dragon.
The difference between the two attacks was obvious, giving one the impression of an ant trying to shake a tree.
However…
When the simple slash greeted the dragon, it exploded into a dazzling light that covered everything in the world, swallowing up the latter.
The dragon howled and hissed while Zhou Dian’s face took a sudden turn.
Yi Quan’s body flashed and disappeared.
*Ding…*
A light noise rang out, and when the crowd regained their vision, they were shocked to find that Yi Quan was already in front of Zhou Dian, a longsword in his hands stabbed through the pole of Zhou Dian’s double-crescent halberd, creating a spark.
Zhou Dian looked confused at the sight of the longsword.
Two thousand years ago, he fought with Yi Quan, but at that time his opponent did not use such a weapon. What’s more, this longsword did not look like it was made of condensed Spiritual Energy at all. Zhou Dian was at a loss about what sort of treasure this was supposed to be.
But his bewilderment lasted only an instant. Any hint of hesitation in a battle between Masters of this level could cost one their life, so Zhou Dian quickly composed himself and flicked his halberd to open some distance from Yi Quan.
At the same time, a blast of pure Spiritual Energy shot towards Yi Quan, clearly some kind of Soul Secret Technique.
Yi Quan’s face turned serious as he pushed the Spiritual Energy inside his own body to condense his own Soul Secret Technique.
Both were Third-Order Emperor level Masters, and even though there was a slight difference in their strengths, it wasn’t big, so everyone watching couldn’t tell who had the upper hand right now, only that these two were risking their lives facing one another.
An unfinished rivalry spanning two thousand years finally erupted in the clash today, leading to this dazzling sight.
When their Souls clashed, the halo around the bodies of the two people flickered, but their hands never idled. When the longsword and halberd clashed, loud metallic bangs rang out.
Thrusting, slashing, chopping, and parrying met with sweeping, cleaving, and hacking. The long sword and halberd of the two Masters clashed with such ferocity it seemed the entire world was shaking from the blows.
In a flash, they clashed hundreds of times.
Figures flickered back and forth as metal meeting metal produced a series of incessant rings.
The sword was quick and flexible, like a shooting star that could appear from all directions, overwhelming a person.
The halberd was fierce and domineering, releasing great waves that threatened to drown its opponent.
The two figures met in battle and intertwined to create a dazzling and brilliant scene.
All the cultivators watching this battle were mesmerized.
Outside the battlefield, everything fell silent. Sometimes, the clash seemed slow and methodical, at others it was as quick as lightning. The visual contrast seemed to have an invisible impact that shook the heart and soul of each viewer.
“Wu…”
Eventually, some Monster Race Masters couldn’t stand watching anymore, turning their faces away as they staggered backwards, holding their chests as if they had suffered some kind of injury before slowly closing their eyes, not daring to observe any longer.
And, as time passed, more and more people entered such a state.
At first, it was only the early Eleventh-Order Masters, then it was the mid-level, finally the high level…
After a stick worth of incense, even Twelfth-Order Masters like Yuan Fei and Bai Lu had to push their internal strength to ease the discomfort they were feeling so that they could continue spectating this match.
They would naturally not miss this amazing battle for anything.
Suddenly, Yuan Fei seemed to catch something from the corner of his eye and hurriedly turned to look at Yang Kai.
The next moment, Yuan Fei’s jaw suddenly dropped.
Because he realized that Yang Kai had his eyes wide open and was still watching the scene without so much as a blink, his clear eyes reflecting the battling figures of the two Masters several dozen kilometres away as if he was completely unaffected by everything.
Not only that, there were times when Yang Kai would reveal a thoughtful expression on his face.
This stunned Yuan Fei and he could not help but give Bai Lu a quiet jab.
“What?” Bai Lu was paying close attention to the battle when Yuan Fei interrupted her, so she shot him a look of displeasure.
Yuan Fei nudged his head to the side.
Bai Lu looked over and also revealed a look of astonishment.
“This little brat… he’s a bit strange,” Yuan Fei whispered to Bai Lu.
Even at their level, they more or less felt some discomfort watching such a battle for longer than a few moments, so how could someone like Yang Kai, who was weaker than them, watch in such a relaxed fashion?
“As expected of someone Sir had his eyes on. He really is something special!” Bai Lu gently nodded.
As the two of them talked, a pure Spiritual Energy diffused from Yang Kai’s body, enveloping him completely. From that Spiritual Energy, an indescribable flavour gradually came out of it.
Mysterious changes seemed to be happening quietly inside of Yang Kai’s body.
“Emperor Intent!” Yuan Fei exclaimed, “He can actually use Emperor Intent?”
In that instant, Yuan Fei seemed to have discovered something shocking and shouted in surprise.
Bai Lu’s beautiful eyes also lit up as she stared at Yang Kai and nodded after a good while. “Indeed! Even though it is still very shallow, it is without a doubt Emperor Intent. He isn’t going to advance to the Emperor Realm here, is he?”
The sudden thought gave Bai Lu a shock.
Breaking through in this Divine Ascension Mirror World was not easy, and each time one did, they had to cross a life-threatening ordeal. One mistake could lead to one’s soul being extinguished. Since the beings here did not have physical bodies and could not rely on a powerful flesh body to resist the World Energy Baptism, they had to depend entirely on the strength of their own Soul, a far more dangerous prospect than those from the outside
Yi Quan was still fighting at this moment, but if something happened to Yang Kai during his breakthrough, the two of them wouldn’t be able to explain themselves.
For a moment, Bai Lu couldn’t help but feel on edge.
She was obviously overthinking things, however.
Yang Kai was not a native of this world, so even though he entered this place using his Soul Avatar, he still had his own physical body. Even if he was influenced by the Emperor Intent from the battle of the two Masters, even if he could allow his Soul to forcefully break through to an existence comparable to Emperor Realm, it was impossible for him to actually reach that level before his physical strength had improved to a certain extent.
Dao Source Realm, Emperor Realm. A hurdle existed between the two Great Realms.
If one described the Spiritual Energy of a Dao Source Realm Cultivator as a wooden stick, then the Emperor Realm’s would be an iron stick, the latter naturally better in terms of both strength and sturdiness.
The difference between First-Order Dao Source Realm, Second-Order and Third-Order was only the length and thickness of each wooden stick.
If you want to transform your wooden stick into an iron stick, then you would have to cross a severe hurdle.
Yang Kai was now stuck somewhere in the middle of that hurdle and had not fully crossed it yet, but because he was able to produce Emperor Intent, it was as if his wooden stick had been plated with a layer of iron, receiving some capital available only to Emperor Realm cultivators, yet his strength was very different from that of a true Emperor.
However, this was enough.
Apart from him, who else in this world had managed to release Emperor Intent as only a First-Order Dao Source Realm? Even the renowned Ten Great Emperors of the Star Boundary had not managed such a feat.
Being able to produce Emperor Intent will naturally be of great benefit to his future growth.
Yang Kai was still watching the battle fixedly. The scene was unbearable to the others who received great impact on both their vision and Souls, but for him, it was just like a breeze that he didn’t need to pay too much attention to.
As soon as the impact reached his Soul Avatar, it would be resolved by the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus and had no negative effect on him at all.
Time passed slowly.
Yang Kai’s harvest grew bigger and bigger as the battle between the two Masters seemed to have reached a fever pitch with Zhou Dian letting out raging howls from time to time in unbridled anger. Yi Quan’s face had also turned grave and was not as relaxed as before. Brandishing his sword, he unleashed his Secret Techniques while fighting all out with Zhou Dian.
With Yang Kai’s cultivation, his eyes were simply incapable of telling who was the stronger one in the fight or who had the upper hand, only feeling that the two of them were fighting on equal ground.
However… From Zhou Dian’s increasingly agitated voice, it seemed things were starting to look bad for him.
But this was only to be expected. From what he heard earlier, Yang Kai deduced that Zhou Dian and Yi Quan had once fought two thousand years ago, and at the time, Zhou Dian should have been injured while Yi Quan came out the victor.
Now, two thousand years later, while both of them must have grown, Yi Quan had obtained an Emperor Grade Soul-type artifact, so he had an even greater advantage than before.
It was only logical that he could overpower Zhou Dian.
But… it was difficult to tell who would be victorious!
Yang Kai estimated that this fight may last for half a month to a whole month.
But he was quite happy to see this situation because he would have plenty of time to continue watching and learning.
Right at that moment, however, Yang Kai furrowed his brows. He could keenly sense an irregular fluctuation of energy in the air.
His face sank, but when he turned to look at Bai Lu and Yuan Fei, he discovered that both of them were unresponsive.
At first, he thought it was just his own imagination, but when he was about to continue focusing on watching the fight, Yang Kai suddenly realized something. With a sudden change in his expression, he shouted to the front, “Senior, watch out!”
Before he could finish shouting, another figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the fierce battlefield.
It was a tall and mysterious figure wrapped completely in a black cloak, making it impossible to distinguish their body type. And, the person was wearing a strange mask that looked extremely terrifying.
The person appeared without warning, and even Yi Quan and Zhou Dian had not detected traces of this Master’s arrival. If not for Yang Kai having cultivated the Dao of Space and reaching a high proficiency in it, he too may not have detected the intruder.
Even though the other party was acting secretly, Yang Kai was still able to keenly catch the traces of spatial fluctuations from when this Master arrived.
But his warning came too late.
As soon as the masked person appeared, they arrived at Yi Quan’s side and launched their palm towards him.
Yi Quan’s face changed dramatically and he retracted his longsword, stabbing it to the side in an attempt to parry the attack.
He had already inserted his full strength into this attack.
Above the blade, energy surged like a tsunami that could seemingly swallow both heaven and earth.
The masked person’s blow was immediately blocked.
But Zhou Dian took this opportunity to attack. With one thrust of his halberd, he broke through Yi Quan’s defences and stabbed a hole right through his shoulder.
“Wu…” Yi Quan grunted as he shot backwards. Regaining his footing, he reached out to hold his shoulder in an attempt to relieve his injury.
But how could he instantly diffuse the full force of a blow from Zhou Dian so easily? The shock clearly injured Yi Quan quite severely and his Spiritual Energy was escaping from the wound, flowing out into the world.
“Sir!” The faces of Bai Lu, Yuan Fei, and the other Monster Race Masters changed dramatically as they all cried out in alarm, their figures flickering as they wanted to go up to him and help.
But Yi Quan raised his hand to stop them. With a slightly dark gaze, he eyed the masked intruder who had just appeared, his expression fluctuating.
Zhou Dian did not seem to have expected this masked person to appear here either and took advantage of Yi Quan’s surprise to launch a sneak attack. If this person had not interfered, then it would have been simply impossible for him to hurt Yi Quan like this.
Zhou Dian was not happy about this, as he felt as if his fight had been tainted. Even so, Zhou Dian did not dare to show any disrespect and cupped his fists, “Lord King, why have you come?”
“To assist you!” The masked man responded in a slow and hoarse voice like scraping metal which was hard to listen to.
“But subordinate…” Zhou Dian seemed like he still wanted to argue.
The masked man interrupted him directly though, “No need to say more. Take him back to the palace, I’ll take over from here!”
He had no choice but to obey the Lord King’s order, so Zhou Dian grit his teeth and shout, “Yes!”
With that, he glanced helplessly at Yi Quan before speeding towards Yang Kai.
Yi Quan turned his head slightly and looked at Yang Kai, only making a single, simple remark, “Run!”
Yang Kai also reacted quickly. Even though the changes in the scene before him were extremely abrupt, he had already vaguely understood everything in a short amount of time.
This masked man was undoubtedly Zhou Dian’s master, and also the person who issued the order to capture him.
If this person could order Zhou Dian to do his bidding, then he would obviously be a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master as well, and from the appearance of this person and the methods he used to sneak attack Yi Quan, his strength was probably a notch higher than Yi Quan’s.
With this person holding Yi Quan back, Zhou Dian would have no more opponents.
How could Yang Kai hesitate? When Yi Quan told him to run, he teleported a thousand metres away in a flash.
At this moment, he had no choice but to expose his cards.
In front of a Third-Order Emperor Realm like Zhou Dian, Yang Kai could not think of any other way to escape other than using Space Principles.
And, while Yang Kai was fleeing, Bai Lu and Yuan Fei stood side by side to block Zhou Dian’s advance.
When they saw their enemy approach, both Masters let out a deep cry and revealed their true forms in a flash of light.
Roaring, Yuan Fei took the initiative to meet Zhou Dian head-on and block him.
Bai Lu, on the other hand, radiated a white light. It was not known what sort of mysterious Secret Technique she was using, but she was somehow able to envelop a thirty-kilometre radius in pure white light, making it impossible to distinguish between north and south.
“Anyone who blocks my path shall die!” Zhou Dian shouted furiously as he brandished his halberd.
*Chi chi chi…*
A sound cut through the void. Yuan Fei had not even come close to Zhou Dian when a stray attack knocked him far away, his life or death unknown.
The difference in strength between the two was too great. Yuan Fei was simply no match for Zhou Dian.
And, two cracks later, the white world also shattered.
Bai Lu’s body reappeared, but the light surrounding her body had become extremely dim.
Zhou Dian turned into a stream of lights, crossing over both their heads and pursuing Yang Kai without even shooting them a glance.
“He’s fast!” Zhou Dian was surprised at how far away the figure in front of him was.
He originally thought that a Master like himself would be able to capture Yang Kai with ease, but only now did he realize that this First-Order Dao Source Realm brat had some kind of extremely profound Movement Skill. Once his Movement Skill was used, this boy seemed capable of ignoring space and instantly moving from one place to the next. Yuan Fei and Bai Lu were also able to buy him a little time, which allowed Yang Kai to almost escape the range of his Divine Sense.
“Interesting!” Zhou Dian coldly snorted, increasing his already lightning-quick speed further.
On the other hand, Lian Yan, who had arrived with Zhou Dian, had also quietly escaped from Heavenly Monster Valley when he noticed things turning for the worse while everyone was still recovering from the shock.
…..
In Heavenly Monster Mountain, Yang Kai fled desperately using his Space Secret Techniques every so often in order to expand the distance and conceal his aura. He did not dare to go in a straight line either and constantly changed directions in an attempt to shake off Zhou Dian.
But it was all in vain. No matter how he moved, there was constantly a strong Divine Sense locked onto him.
He could feel it on his skin without even turning around. Yang Kai understood now just how terrifying a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master was.
The huge gap between Zhou Dian’s cultivation and his own was not at all something he could offset by his mastery of Space Principles.
The distance between them grew shorter and shorter, and for the first time, Yang Kai experienced what despair was!
If he could not get rid of him even with his Space Divine Ability, then he had no idea how else to flee from this crisis.
The Soul Devouring Insects probably wouldn’t be effective in this situation because Yi Quan had told him that they weren’t strong enough yet. Yi Quan had even proved that by suppressing them earlier.
Zhou Dian was a Master at the same level as Yi Quan, so whatever Yi Quan could accomplish, Zhou Dian must be able to as well!
He may have a little bit of hope with the Soul Splitting Saber, but it wasn’t much; after all, Yang Kai had not refined it yet and could not unleash its full power. His previous success in attacking Ban Qing was due to Ban Qing’s lack of strength, and also the fact that Yang Kai was able to catch him off guard.
Yang Kai realized with some thought that he had no countermeasures left. It seemed like he could only surrender without a fight!
And, while his mind was racing, Zhou Dian, who was pursuing him, managed to close the gap to just thirty kilometres. At this moment, Yang Kai suddenly felt a powerful force breaking through the air behind him.
Looking back in a hurry, his face instantly turned blue.
Because he discovered that Zhou Dian had thrown his halberd towards him. Even though he had no idea what kind of mysteries could be hidden behind this attack, Yang Kai did not wait to find out and did his best to dodge it.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
Yang Kai’s figure flickered from side to side. With the addition of his teleportation ability, he was literally randomly appearing and disappearing.
But he still couldn’t shake off the halberd that was hurled towards him.
The halberd rapidly approached Yang Kai.
At this critical moment, Yang Kai had no choice but to use his Spiritual Energy to furiously attack the halberd in an attempt to block it.
*Hong…*
A loud bang erupted as Yang Kai’s body shook and his face instantly darkened. However, the double-crescent halberd was completely unmoved and continued flying towards him.
Yang Kai’s desperate full-force attack was unable to even slow it down.
In the next moment, the double-crescent halberd landed not far away from Yang Kai’s body, digging itself halfway down into the earth. At the same time it landed, a shockwave exploded with it as its centre.
In just one breath, a ten-kilometre radius was filled with an invisible pressure that was so strong and domineering that Yang Kai could not help but feel a sense of despair as he was unable to resist it.
He wanted to teleport away again but was helpless to do so under this mysterious pressure. At the time, even his thoughts seemed to become slower.
In his field of view, Zhou Dian’s stalwart and tall figure walked over slowly, face as cold as ice.
In just a few moments, he arrived before Yang Kai and looked down at him contemptuously, coldly snorting, “Little brat, you’ve got some skills, but… that’s all you have!”
With that, he flicked his wrist and a bolt of energy shot out from his fingertips into Yang Kai’s body.
Yang Kai’s body stiffened. Instantly it felt as if his power was completely sealed and he was unable to move in the slightest.
This was it!
Yang Kai’s face turned ashen. Even though he knew he may not be able to escape under this Third-Order Emperor Realm Master’s pursuit, it was only now that he finally realized how insignificant he was when he was really caught.
If not for his teleportation ability, he would have been captured almost immediately.
A Third-Order Emperor was not something he could fight against right now.
With a flick of Zhou Dian’s hand, his halberd that was stuck into the ground flew back and was absorbed into his body.
This general of the Divine Ascension Country turned his head again and looked towards the direction of Heavenly Monster Valley, his expression fluctuating a few times before he heaved a sigh with endless regret. Hoisting up Yang Kai, he sped off towards the edge of Heavenly Monster Mountain.
He understood that since his Lord King decided to act personally, Yi Quan would have no chance.
The terror of his Lord King was something that even he, as someone who had followed him for so many years, was unable to comprehend.
If possible, Zhou Dian hoped that he would be the one to defeat Yi Quan, but he obviously would not get what he wanted this time.
But… What intrigued him even more was what secret Yang Kai held that drew his Lord King to leave the palace and take care of things personally. No matter how he looked at it, Yang Kai was nothing more than a Third-Order Dao Source Realm Junior with nothing out of the ordinary about him. If he had to say something, then this little brat’s escaping Secret Techniques were quite impressive.
If he hadn’t come after him himself and instead tasked Lian Yan with it, this brat would undoubtedly have slipped away already.
“Boy… Do you know what Lord King wants from you?” Zhou Dian suddenly asked.
Yang Kai was still feeling gloomy and answered in a frustrated tone, “I should be the one asking you that, right?”
But before he could finish speaking, his body stiffened and he revealed a painful look on his face. That was because Zhou Dian actually made a move in secret and shocked him, causing him soul-rending pain.
Realizing that he was currently under the eaves, Yang Kai didn’t dare to act too arrogantly either and could only say, “This Senior, have you got the wrong person? I heard you were looking for some Star of Calamity, but take a good look at me. Do I look like it?”
“This General is only in charge of catching people, everything else has nothing to do with me!” Zhou Dian responded coldly, after a while adding, “Let me ask you, where is Ban Qing? You encountered him previously, didn’t you? Why did he suddenly disappear?”
“Ban Qing? You’re talking about that short, sneaky guy?” Yang Kai pretended to play dumb and randomly blurted, “He was killed by a Monster Race Master.”
Upon hearing this, a cold light flashed in Zhou Dian’s eyes as near tangible murderous intent leaked from his body, causing Yang Kai to shiver.
But very soon, he retracted the murderous aura and coldly snorted, “This debt will be settled sooner or later!”
He did not ask Yang Kai too much, nor did he suspect that Ban Qing had died at Yang Kai’s hands as he felt that was simply impossible.
Only the Monster Race Masters here would be capable of killing Ban Qing.
An hour later, Zhou Dian took Yang Kai back to the place where he had set up camp.
At this moment, the Masters who followed Zhou Dian into Heavenly Monster Mountain had almost all gathered here. Yu Man, Yuan Qing, and even Lian Yan who had escaped from Heavenly Monster Valley earlier were present. Only Ban Qing was missing.
And, right next to these people, was a group of helpless and dispirited-looking people who had been captured and gathered here.
When they saw Zhou Dian return, all of them quickly saluted him.
“Take everyone and head back to the palace!” Zhou Dian gave an order and they gave a resounding response. When he said this, he casually tossed Yang Kai into the group of captured people.
Chen Mu Ji secretly gave Yang Kai a hand so that he wouldn’t fall to the ground, then he nodded lightly at him.
Yang Kai looked around and immediately saw his other ‘Brothers’ and ‘Sister’ in turmoil. When they met each other’s eyes, neither of them could help but laugh bitterly.
None of them had expected to be caught by the local cultivators here after just one month of entering the Divine Ascension Mirror World.
The group moved quickly, and within ten breaths of Zhou Dian’s order, they were already on their way to Divine Ascension City.
Along the way, Yang Kai did not dare to exchange information with the others and could only keep silent.
Even now he had no idea why he and the others were captured, and what that Star of Calamity that Ban Qing mentioned was…
But he could see that this was a very big matter, otherwise, there would be no need to send so many Masters. Even Zhou Dian’s masked Lord King had to come out himself.
Yang Kai vaguely felt as if he had dropped into a huge whirlpool and would not be able to get out on his own.
…..
A day later.
Heavenly Monster Valley.
Yi Quan sat cross-legged and adjusted his breathing, his face twitching slightly. Many Monster Race Masters were looking at him with worried faces, all scattered around on high alert.
Yesterday, Yi Quan fought with Zhou Dian first before getting sneak attacked by the strange masked man, consuming much of his strength.
In addition, he was also wounded by Zhou Dian during the masked man’s sudden appearance and ended up receiving many injuries from the battle after that.
If the masked man was strong enough to crush Yi Quan, then Heavenly Monster Mountain would have lost its Lord and would no longer exist!
Fortunately, it seemed as if the masked man’s only purpose was to capture Yang Kai and had no intentions of eradicating Heavenly Monster Valley, so he only fought Yi Quan for a short while before retreating. Even so, the wounds Yi Quan sustained were not something that could be healed overnight.
While he was silently adjusting his breathing, Bai Lu’s shout suddenly entered his ears, “Who goes there!”
Yi Quan opened his eyes in a flash and gazed straight ahead.
There, a white-bearded old man with absolutely no energy fluctuations around his body stood, appearing just like a mortal who had never cultivated.
Yi Quan had no idea where this old man came from, but upon his arrival, he immediately headed towards him.
The Monster Race Masters naturally did not stand idly by. Yi Quan was currently in a critical moment of recovery and could not be disturbed. Whether this old man was friend or foe, they could not let him approach any closer.
So, after shouting those words, Bai Lu’s body shifted and rushed towards the old man in a stream of white light.
But what shocked her was that despite clearly intending to rush in front of and block this old man, when she came to a stop where she intended to, she actually found herself inexplicably just out of arm’s reach of him.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
Countless Monster Race Masters also moved to intercept this old man.
But none of them succeeded.
All the Masters who rushed towards the old man appeared not where they expected to, their eyes bulging wide as if they had seen something extremely terrifying in that brief moment.
None of them saw any signs of this old man doing anything, but all of them had failed to even stand in his way.
The old man seemed to be strolling casually, but in the blink of an eye, he had already arrived before Yi Quan and was gazing down at him.
“You…” Yi Quan frowned and muttered, observing the man seriously, a bewildered look appearing on his face, but a moment later, his eyes flashed a brilliant light as if he had recalled something and he called out in astonishment, “You are…”
The old man raised his hand slightly to stop Yi Quan before placing it lightly on Yi Quan’s shoulder.
A stream of pure energy slowly poured into Yi Quan’s body.
Even a person as strong as Yi Quan could not help but reveal a look of comfort as the heavy injuries on his body were being relieved under the nourishment of this power.
A short while later, the old man removed his hand.
Yi Quan was shocked to find that the injuries to his body were mostly healed, all he needed now was some time to condition himself and there would be absolutely no dark injuries left.
Rising to his feet, he cupped his fists respectfully to the old man in front of him and lowered his head, “Junior Yi Quan greets Senior, many thanks to Senior for his assistance!”
Once these words came out, the entire Heavenly Monster Valley turned dead silent.
Countless Monster Race Masters stared at Yi Quan in shock, unable to believe what they had just heard.
Yi Quan was undoubtedly one of the strongest Masters in this world, and also one of the highest-ranking; however, he had just called himself ‘Junior’ in front of this old human man.
Since that was the case, just what kind of seniority did this old man possess? Just who was he?
The Monster Race Masters were completely dumbfounded.
“If you recognize this old Master, then you should know why I am here,” The old man finally spoke and looked seriously at Yi Quan, “Where is he?”
Yi Quan wore a look of shame and responded, “He was taken away!”
The old man raised his brow slightly, “Who took him away, and to where?”
“To Divine Ascension Country’s palace!”
The old man nodded lightly and said, “It seems like I was still a step too late, but so be it, this old Master will just have to take another short trip!”
As soon as he said that, his body suddenly blurred and then faded away, completely disappearing three breaths later.
Yi Quan stood still in the same place with a look of awe on his face, but soon, he couldn’t help letting out a loud laugh like roaring thunder, spreading throughout Heavenly Monster Valley, drawing the attention of countless Monster Race and Monster Beasts.
None of the Monster Race Masters knew why Yi Quan was laughing so merrily.
Finally, unable to help herself, Bai Lu went up to him and asked in a soft voice, “Sir, who… was that old man?”
Of course, she could tell that the old man was an extraordinary person, but how could she not be aware of such an astonishing figure in this world?
Yi Quan looked in one direction and slowly said, “He is a survivor from the Holy War from ten thousand years ago!”
“The Holy War!” Bai Lu’s tender body shook, her beautiful eyes filling with astonishment as she asked, “You mean to say, he is…”
Yi Quan nodded lightly, “With his protection, Yang Boy will be safe and sound.” But when he said this, he frowned again, as if worrying about a different matter altogether.
…
Divine Ascension City, inside the royal palace.
Three thousand metres below ground was the Divine Prison, and the environment inside was harsh enough that it was unbearable for people.
Although this was a place for prisoners, it was not used much because no one dared to break the law in the Divine Ascension Country. And, if they did, they would be killed on the spot, so there was simply no need to use this place.
Therefore, the Divine Prison was only a symbolic existence. Many people didn’t even know whether it was just a myth or not.
And right at this moment, Yang Kai and several other people were confined in this Divine Prison, looking through the bars.
All around were voices of the other captured cultivators shouting their grievances.
But none of the guards cared.
Taking this opportunity, Yang Kai and the others quietly exchanged the information they had.
In fact, there was not much information to begin with, only that Zhou Dian had led his men into Heavenly Monster Mountain in order to catch the Star of Calamity, which basically meant catching all the cultivators training in Heavenly Monster Mountain. Naturally, Yang Kai and the others were not able to escape that disaster.
They all felt as if they were fish caught in a pond.
Since it had come to this, they could only put their hopes on Gao Xue Ting.
This time, it was Gao Xue Ting who led the team into the Divine Ascension World, but she left alone after sending everyone into Heavenly Monster Mountain. No one knew what she went off to do afterwards.
If she got the news, then she would definitely find a way to rescue them.
But with her strength as a First-Order Emperor Realm cultivator, she may not be able to succeed. Yang Kai could only hope that she was able to contact Wen Zi Shan outside. If Temple Master Wen entered the Divine Ascension World himself, then they might have some hope.
While he was thinking so, footsteps suddenly sounded from outside the cell. At the same time, an Emperor Realm pressure descended on them.
In an instant, everyone turned silent.
The footsteps kept advancing inwards, and when they reached a certain position, a man stopped and pointed his hand at the cultivators being held in the cell, “Lord King has given the order, bring him out.”
From the voice, it seemed to be General Yu Man.
“Yes!” The guards following behind him hurried to open the cell door.
Yang Kai and the others all paled in unison.
This couldn’t be helped as the person who Yu Man was referring to was the chief disciple of Azure Sun Temple, Xia Sheng.
Very soon, Xia Sheng’s voice rang out as he seemed to be struggling, but after being taught a lesson from the guard, he behaved and resigned himself to fate.
A short while later, Yu Man took Xia Sheng away.
Yang Kai and the rest were unable to do anything even if they wanted to help him, so they could only pray for his safety now.
While they were waiting patiently, a quarter of an hour passed when footsteps emerged again.
Yang Kai quickly looked over, and what he saw caused his expression to sink.
He saw Xia Sheng with blank eyes, body shaking and spasming as if he had received great injuries. Under the lead of the guard, he returned to his own cell just like a walking corpse.
No one knew what he experienced, but everyone naturally felt sad to see him like this. Murong Xiao Xiao had even cried in grief.
She did not dare to call out to Xia Sheng either and just cried in silence.
Then, Yu Man returned again. This time, he stood in a certain spot and looked around for a while before pointing his hand and saying, “This one!”
Xiao Bai Yi paled.
Because the person Yu Man pointed at turned out to be him.
The guard opened the cell door again and took Xiao Bai Yi away.
After they left, Yang Kai hurriedly looked at Xia Sheng and called out to him quietly, but Xia Sheng was completely unresponsive as if he had lost his soul.
“Junior Brother Yang… Could something be wrong with Senior Brother Xia?” Murong Xiao Xiao asked in worry.
Yang Kai shook his head, “I have no idea, but from how he looks, Brother Xia seems to have endured some serious torture, or perhaps his Soul has become unstable. He should be fine after resting for a while though.”
But what piqued his interest even more was what Xia Sheng had experienced that put him in this state.
If the power in his body had not been restricted, then he could have let out his Divine Sense to investigate, and he might get some clues. Unfortunately, he couldn’t use any of his strength now and could only rely on his own observations and speculations.
He casually comforted Murong Xiao Xiao with a few words but deep inside, he was anxious too.
Looking around, no one seemed to be paying attention to this side, so Yang Kai quickly moved to a dark corner and sat down.
The seal inside his body was set by Zhou Dian himself, so he couldn’t unlock it on his own. It would require a Master like Zhou Dian to help him.
However… Yang Kai had his Soul Devouring Insects. The power of the seal was also a type of Spiritual Energy, so it could still be fed upon by the Soul Devouring Insects.
As long as he could mobilize his Soul Devouring Insects, he would have hope of breaking the seal and restoring his strength.
As for what to do next, he could only take things one step at a time.
Time slowly passed by.
And, while Yang Kai was attempting to break the seal with his Soul Devouring Insects, Chen Mu Ji and Murong Xiao Xiao were taken away one after the other.
Without exception, they ended up just like Xia Sheng and Xiao Bai Yi before them. Yang Kai had no idea what they experienced, but they were all listless and the look in their eyes was hollow after they returned. They wouldn’t respond even when people called out to them and it was clear they received a great impact on their Souls and were unable to stay conscious.
Yang Kai gradually realized that something wasn’t quite right.
The number of cultivators that Zhou Dian and the others captured in Heavenly Monster Mountain was somewhere between seventy and eighty.
And, there were differing levels of strength among these cultivators, but the others were all safe. Only the ones from Azure Sun Temple were picked out.
This clearly wasn’t some kind of coincidence! They were being targeted!
Was there some kind of noticeable difference between cultivators like them who entered the Divine Ascension Mirror World from the outside and the natives? Yang Kai could not help but wonder about this. If this wasn’t the case, how could the fact that everyone else remained safe be explained? Why was it that only Xia Sheng and the others had to suffer?
But he couldn’t figure it out even if he thought about it.
And, just as he was about to break the seal, Yu Man suddenly came to his cell and pointed at him, grinning, “Take him away!”
Just as before, the guard opened the cell and grabbed Yang Kai before walking out of the prison behind Yu Man.
Yang Kai was silent the whole way through but he was constantly looking around.
This place should be the royal palace of Divine Ascension Country. The palace was very luxuriously decorated but appeared very quiet. Not many people seemed to be living here.
Yu Man led Yang Kai around some turns in the palace and they quickly arrived before a large hall.
Once they arrived here, Yu Man stopped and turned to look at Yang Kai with cold eyes, “Go in yourself, the Lord King is waiting.”
Yang Kai nodded and did not resist. After taking a few steps forward, he suddenly turned back to Yu Man and asked, “This Elder Sister…”
“Who are you calling Elder Sister?” Yu Man smiled charmingly. The guard next to her did not even dare to look at her, as if afraid his soul would be taken away if he did.
A look of fascination appeared on Yang Kai’s face and there was astonishment in his eyes.
It wasn’t that he did it on purpose, but his power was being restricted and he had fallen under the influence of Yu Man’s Charm Technique.
But Yu Man did not dare to go on with this either. The Lord King was waiting inside and she would not be able to bear the consequences if she were to delay things.
In the next moment, Yu Man withdrew her charm.
Yang Kai’s body jolted and he came back to his senses. Deep inside, he was cursing incessantly.
If his strength had not been sealed, then he would not have fallen to her temptation.
He went on, “This Little Brother wishes to ask, why did Elder Sister pick out all those people here? Is there anything different about them?”
Yu Man curled her lip, “I was just following orders.”
“The Lord King’s orders?” Yang Kai raised his brows.
“Know your place, little brat!” Yu Man’s face suddenly turned cold, changing faster than the flip of a book.
Yang Kai said with nervous laughter, “I was just asking.”
“Hurry and get inside!” Yu Man bellowed.
“Yes, yes!” Yang Kai answered repeatedly and stepped forward again.
In a short time, he arrived in front of the hall and entered through the door.
As soon as he entered the hall, Yang Kai could smell something fragrant enter his nose that caused his whole body to feel light and floaty as if he were walking on clouds.
And, looking up, Yang Kai could not help but feel surprised.
Because this hall looked no different than a woman’s boudoir. The entire place was decorated effeminately with pink drapery, light red carpets, and gave off an elegant and noble aura.
As soon as he entered the hall, a pair of bright eyes looked towards him.
Yang Kai turned his head and looked towards that person.
There he saw, a dozen paces away from himself, a pink gauze curtain which vaguely revealed a lazy figure lounging behind it. The bright gaze had come from this person.
A powerful Divine Scene swept through Yang kai as if it wanted to pass through his Soul Avatar and dig through the secrets hidden deep within.
Yang Kai raised his brows, frowning, and thought for a moment before blurting out, “The masked man?”
He suddenly realized that the power fluctuations emanating from the person behind the curtain were exactly the same as that of the masked man’s he sensed in Heavenly Monster Valley.
[This person is the Master who launched that sneak attack on Yi Quan?]
Yang Kai would never have thought that it would end up being a woman.
Even though he could not see her face, it certainly couldn’t be bad with such an enchanting figure. Not to mention, her strength was also astounding.
“Masked man, huh…”
While Yang Kai was still shocked, a soft and pleasant voice came from behind the pink drapery which seemed to be able to penetrate his mind and soul, setting off invisible ripples that made Yang Kai’s head feel jittery for a long time.
He took several deep breaths and concentrated to calm himself down once more.
“For you to call this Queen in such a way… is not unacceptable,” the woman behind the curtain continued in an unhurried tone.
“Could Senior be the Lord… Queen of this Divine Ascension Country?” Yang Kai’s brow furrowed.
“Indeed!” The other party admitted frankly, “But no one knows the true face of this Queen. Even Zhou Dian has never seen it.”
Yang Kai was stunned at this, but very soon, he felt a bad feeling inside of him.
Even though her words did not reveal any important information, it gave Yang Kai an ominous premonition, as if she had just revealed a big secret in front of him, one he would need to pay a heavy price for.
Yang Kai could not help but laugh awkwardly, “Junior is honoured, but Junior wonders, why is Senior treating me so well?”
As he spoke, his mind raced, but he couldn’t understand any of the critical points here.
“Because… this Queen must,” The lazy figure lounging on the bed slowly sat up straight and beckoned to Yang Kai through the curtain, “Come closer!”
Yang Kai frowned, his eyes filled with iciness as he said dully, “Junior has no right to refuse, right?”
“You can try!”
Yang Kai sighed and could only approach her slowly.
And, as he walked forwards, he could clearly perceive a momentary unstable fluctuation in the woman’s Soul, as if she was expecting, even longing for something.
The anticipation and longing were palpable enough to even destabilize the Soul of a Master of her level.
But Yang Kai was not naive enough to think that the other party had taken a fancy to him. If that was really the case, then she did not have to go to such lengths. With the strength she showed before, she could easily make him behave however she wanted.
If her eyes weren’t on him, then it had to be something he possessed.
When he thought of this, Yang Kai’s heart clenched.
When he reached the curtain, Yang Kai took a deep breath and lifted it up, looking inside.
There, a short distance away, the image of the woman’s face was instantly imprinted into his eyes.
Yang Kai could not help but feel a little dizzy as the other party was indeed a country destroying beauty. It was a flawless face that seemed so perfect it should not exit beneath the Heavens.
But… the moment Yang Kai saw this face, he had a strange feeling that he had seen it somewhere before.
He carefully recalled the faces of all the Emperor Realm Masters he encountered, but Yang Kai found none that matched, making him feel quite puzzled.
When their eyes met, the woman’s beautiful eyes burst with oppressive light that seemed to envelop Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s body froze in place and he felt as if he was about to fall into an abyss that would never end.
Horrified, he quickly exclaimed, “Senior…”
But the woman did not pay him any heed to his protest and muttered excitedly, “You are the last one, so that thing must be inside your body. If I can obtain that treasure, then this Queen will be able to refine this world and truly become its Master! Be obedient and cooperate, and this Queen may spare your life, even ensure you a lifetime of glory and wealth, but if you dare resist, then this Queen will make you beg for death!”
At the last sentence, the woman’s originally beautiful face became extremely hideous and her tone became ghastly, as if she was on the verge of going mad.
On the other hand, Yang Kai listened to her with a bewildered feeling.
[The last person, a treasure to refine this world…] He had no idea what she was talking about at all.
He had the intention to resist, but under the influence of the other party’s Soul pressure, even thinking was starting to become difficult, much less moving his body.
The woman rose up, her tender body swaying as she moved in front of Yang Kai. Raising a jade finger, she pressed it directly onto Yang Kai’s forehead.
In the next instant, pure Spiritual Energy flowed into Yang Kai’s body through that finger.
Yang Kai’s body trembled and his eyes became dull. It felt as if his entire body had just been subjected to unbearable torture, endlessly shaking and spasming.
A heavy consciousness and confused thoughts were all normal reactions when one’s Soul was disturbed.
Yang Kai finally understood why Xia Sheng and the others would end up as they did.
They clearly went through the same thing. How could a Dao Source Realm cultivator be able to withstand the assault of a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master’s Soul? The fact that their Souls had not been completely extinguished was already a testament to their strength.
The woman went on, seemingly searching for something inside of Yang Kai, her expression ever-changing whilst Yang Kai’s mind was hazy, seemingly only half awake.
While in a trance, he heard the woman praise, “What pure Spiritual Energy. You really are special, boy. Even with just a First-Order Dao Source Realm Cultivation, you possess such immense Spiritual Energy. In time, you will become a great weapon!”
A short while later, the woman suddenly burst into a mad bout of laughter, “I found it! Hahahahaha, sure enough, it is the Soul Warming Lotus! The Soul Warming Lotus! This Queen did not see wrongly! And it has already reached the seven-coloured grade, fully capable of bearing the weight of the Mirror Soul… Wen Zi Shan, once this Queen has finished refining this world, this Queen will not let you off easy!”
As her words fell, a look of extreme ruthlessness blossomed in her beautiful eyes, her tender body transforming into a stream of light that shot straight into Yang Kai’s brows, entering his Soul Avatar as if she had turned immaterial.
If anyone saw this scene, they would definitely be shocked, because such a practice was filled with dangers. Two different Souls could not be fused easily and the slightest mistake when attempting to do so could lead to the destruction of both Souls. Unless one had incredible control, even if they succeeded, they may still be contaminated by the other’s mind and lose their sense of self.
But this woman obviously has extremely strong control and was not worried about Yang Kai’s mind contaminating her Soul.
Shooting into Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar, she headed straight for the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, landing at the centre of it in just an instant.
The pure energy enveloped her, and the gentle feeling of it could not help but make her moan.
The Soul Warming Lotus was a precious treasure that nourished the Soul, a unique existence in the entire Star Boundary.
The Soul Warming Lotus had been recorded in ancient texts, but it had only really appeared two or three times throughout all of recorded history.
If not for this coincidental opportunity, then it was simply impossible for the woman to know that Yang Kai had a Soul Warming Lotus inside his body.
Laughing with great pleasure, it seemed as if she was able to see a prosperous path ahead already stretched out in front of her.
However…
Just as she was about to refine the Soul Warming Lotus, a seven-coloured glow suddenly blossomed from the precious treasure, which turned into a seven coloured halo.
The halo seemed to have unstoppable force, and the impact on the woman’s Soul Avatar caused her face to pale.
Her face changed and she cried out, resisting the rejection of the Soul Warming Lotus.
But before she could do anything, a loud buzzing noise suddenly reached her ears.
Stunned, the woman looked up, only to see a dense cloud of tiny insects in front of her, converging on her like locusts onto a field.
“Soul Devouring Insects!” The woman’s face turned ashen as she shrieked, “How can there be Soul Devouring Insects here?”
In the next instant, she suddenly understood and hissed in disbelief, “That little brat was raising these Soul Devouring Insects in the Soul Warming Lotus? He must be insane! Insane!”
*Hong hong…*
As she finished speaking, the seven-coloured halo of the Soul Warming Lotus gushed at her again, and even with her strength, she was forced to retreat. She could not fight it at all, because this was the rejection of the precious treasure itself, an aura of rejection towards anyone but its Master.
The light on the woman’s body dimmed a little. Seeing that the light was only growing more intense and the cloud of Soul Devouring Insects were becoming wilder by the moment, she shouted furiously and had no choice but to retreat.
A light flashed in the room and the woman’s body reappeared; however, compared to her earlier calm, she now looked a little dishevelled.
Before she could regain her footing though, a sharp chill descended from the sky and struck her head-on.
This chill was so strong that it actually made her feel threatened.
Under the woman’s shock, her tender body was shaken by an invisible force that struck her head-on.
With a muffled grunt, Yang Kai’s body flew backwards.
*Weng weng weng…*
The cloud of Soul Devouring Insects flew out from Yang Kai’s body and flew straight at the woman, enveloping her instantly.
To these Soul Devouring Insects, a Soul as powerful as this woman’s was the most delicious meal in this world.
So, even without Yang Kai’s intention, the Soul Devouring Insects began swarming the woman like crazy, wrapping her up in layers without any leaks in no time.
The woman did not dare to dally in this situation either. With a shake of her body, a barrier formed around her and stopped the Soul Devouring Insects from injuring her Soul.
Soul Devouring Insects were the bane of all Souls, so even with her powerful cultivation, this woman was unable to kill them. At most, she could suppress and prevent these Soul Devouring Insects from attacking her.
But this was not a long-term solution as even the barrier she formed to protect herself was made of Spiritual Energy. As the Soul Devouring Insects gnawed on it, its protection would grow weaker and weaker.
The woman had to constantly release her energy to maintain the barrier.
She turned her head again and looked gloomily at Yang Kai, her beautiful eyes fixing on the long blade in his hand. Suddenly, she shouted with horror, “Emperor Artifact! A Soul-type Emperor Artifact!”
The sharp, cold threat she felt just now had clearly come from this Emperor Artifact. It was only an artifact of this calibre that could cause such a reaction.
She could not help but sneer as she looked at Yang Kai, “You have some skills, brat, and plenty of strange treasures to help as well. You actually unlocked the seal right under this Queen’s nose! That is enough to impress this Queen!”
“Heh heh heh…” Yang Kai struggled to stand and pointed his Soul Splitting Saber at the woman, the corners of his lips raising subtly, “Junior is honoured to receive such praise from Grandma!”
The woman’s face changed slightly upon hearing this and she called out in a cold voice, “What did you say?”
Looking smug, Yang Kai said with a derisive look on his face, “Still playing dumb even now? Does this Junior have to point out your identity… Grandma You!”
Once the words ‘Grandma You’ came out, the woman’s expression suddenly turned as cold as ice.
Yang Kai continued, “This Junior was also puzzled at first, finding your appearance somewhat familiar, but unable to figure out just where he had met you…”
“Then when did you realize it?” The woman did not seem to deny Yang Kai’s speculation and instead asked with interest, even ignoring the Soul Devouring Insects gathered around her body’s barrier.
“Things just fell into place,” Yang Kai grinned. “Of all the people imprisoned in the Divine Prison, why did you only pick out the cultivators from Azure Sun Temple? There was clearly some special reason. You either knew all of them or there was something different about the cultivators themselves. Since everyone here is only a Soul Avatar, there should naturally not be any differences between foreigners and natives. In other words, the reason you chose to see us was only because you knew we weren’t from this world, and you were probably trying to find something on us… En, as for what you are looking for, it was most likely the Soul Warming Lotus.”
“Earlier you also mentioned Temple Master Wen’s name and even put on a look of absolute irreconcilable hatred. The hideous look you wore at that moment…” Yang Kai smiled, “Was quite distinctive.”
It was only when he heard Wen Zi Shan’s name through his hazy consciousness that Yang Kai suddenly understood.
The woman in front of him was Grandma You, who was guarding the Divine Ascension Mirror. That was why he felt a bit of familiarity when he first saw her. Since Grandma You guarded the Divine Ascension Mirror year-round, she could naturally freely enter and exit it.
It’s just that Grandma You was supposed to be old and decrepit, while the woman in front of him was young and beautiful, so Yang Kai did not initially associate the two of them together.
“And so you recognized this Queen?”
Yang Kai jeered, “An old granny coming here and putting on the appearance of a beautiful woman is one thing, but you even have the nerve to call yourself ‘this Queen’?”
Grandma You laughed coldly, “Are you trying to provoke me? If so, your tactics are too childish.”
Yang Kai couldn’t help smiling wryly when he realized his intentions were seen through.
Yang Kai knew very well that when facing a Master like Grandma You, there was no hope of winning or even escaping unless he could somehow enrage her and cause her to expose some fatal flaw. While he might have some hope in the outside world, in the Divine Ascension World, Grandma You’s strength was at its peak. As such, he jeered and taunted her, but he did not expect her to see through his plan so easily.
“Little brat, you’re quite sinister,” Grandma You nodded lightly at Yang Kai, praising him. “If my guess is correct, you used these Soul Devouring Insects to break the seal, correct?”
“So what if I did?” Yang Kai’s attitude suddenly became aggressive, waving his Soul Splitting Saber at Grandma You as he snapped, “You’d better choose wisely, Grandma. If you recognize these Soul Devouring Insects, then you should know how powerful they are. You’d best be sensible and let me out. Otherwise, I’ll definitely order them to devour you until even your bones are gone!”
The way he said it really sounded as if he was going to kill Grandma You right here.
“Hmph, if they had another hundred years to grow, perhaps this Queen would really have to worry, but now?” Grandma You sneered. With a wave of her hand, she shook off all the Soul Devouring Insects surrounding her.
Many of the Soul Devouring Insects were dazed from being shaken off like this and buzzed around like headless flies, but they soon recovered and wrapped around Grandma You again.
“Since we’ve come to this, then this Queen will get straight to the point,” Grandma You ignored the Soul Devouring Insects on her body and said to Yang Kai, “Be a good boy and erase your mark on the Soul Warming Lotus, give it to this Queen, and this Queen will surely not treat you badly.”
“Why should I?” Yang Kai snorted.
“What do you think?” Grandma You sneered.
Yang Kai looked helpless and dawdled for a long time before saying, “Let’s put that aside for now. Before that, I want to ask something.”
“What?”
“Grandma, how did you know I had the Soul Warming Lotus? It’s something I hid very well, something nobody has ever discovered before.”
Grandma You frowned, “It won’t hurt to tell you that this Queen has been guarding the Divine Ascension Mirror for more than two thousand years. Even though I am unable to make this treasure recognize this Queen as its Master, this Queen has still studied it greatly. When your Soul Avatar passed through the Divine Ascension Mirror into this world, this Queen was able to get a glimpse of the situation inside your body, and it was during that glimpse that this Queen discovered…”
“But you couldn’t confirm it, right? So, you didn’t even know if what you saw was real or not, much less whose body the Soul Warming Lotus was in. You did, however, know that after we entered the Divine Ascension Mirror, we would head into Heavenly Monster Mountain to train, so you ordered Zhou Dian to bring his men there and capture the so-called Stars of Calamity! And, after catching and bringing us here, you checked us one by one…” Yang Kai read out his speculations.
“That’s right! But this Queen thought that the Soul Warming Lotus would be on that brat Xia Sheng’s body, or at the very least, Xiao Bai Yi. I never expected it to be in the hands of you, the least powerful one. That was unexpected.”
Yang Kai nodded, expressing his understanding.
He understood why Xia Sheng and the others were the only ones brought out of the prison despite so many people being locked in there, and what Grandma You meant by him being ‘the last one’.
After checking Xia Sheng and the others and finding no traces of what she was looking for, he was no doubt ‘the last one’ to be searched.
“One more question,” Yang Kai suddenly said.
“Brat, you better not reach out for a yard after taking an inch!” Grandma You’s face went cold.
Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, “Grandma, if you don’t want to see me destroying the Soul Warming Lotus, then you better not speak to me like that. Also… You’re getting old, so it’ll do you well not to rage so much, it’s bad for the body!”
He put on a very concerned look which sent Grandma You’s anger soaring, but she couldn’t do anything about it.
Glaring at Yang Kai, Grandma You said grimly, “You better know your place, boy!”
“I know it very well!” Yang Kai gritted his teeth. “I hope Grandma can cooperate with me too, or I’ll really destroy it. In any case, my life will certainly be miserable if it falls into your hands, so I might as well make you suffer as well!”
With his constant threats, Grandma You really didn’t dare to do anything to him.
The Soul Warming Lotus was an extremely precious treasure that would only appear maybe once every hundred thousand years, and even then it would only come by chance to a very lucky person.
If the owner of the Soul Warming Lotus died, the Soul Warming Lotus would not disappear either and would instead absorb all the Spiritual Energy of its owner, remaining in the world and awaiting the next lucky person.
When Yang Kai received the Soul Warming Lotus, it was only in its five-coloured form and it had retained the Spiritual Energy of its previous owner, which benefited Yang Kai greatly.
Even though the Soul Warming Lotus would not disappear because of the demise of its owner, using special means like Soul Self-Explosion, a cultivator could destroy their Soul and wipe it from existence.
Grandma You’s strength far surpassed Yang Kai, even with the Soul Splitting Saber and the help of the Soul Devouring Insects, so how could Yang Kai escape if Grandma You really intended to capture him?
The reason why she did not make a move was that she was worried Yang Kai would self-destruct and take the Soul Warming Lotus with him out of desperation.
Previously, Yang Kai’s power had been sealed and his Soul had suffered a shock from her technique. He was defenceless then and could only let her do what she wanted; however, Yang Kai had now regained his freedom and had the opportunity to self-destruct.
Grandma You stared deeply at Yang Kai for a while before she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm herself, then reopening them.
“This is the last question, little brat. You better know your limits.”
“Of course!” Yang Kai grinned. “If Grandma cooperates with me, then this Junior will certainly not mess around.”
“That’s for the best!” Grandma You nodded.
Yang Kai suddenly looked grave as he solemnly asked, “Grandma… What are you planning to do with the Soul Warming Lotus?”
Hearing this, Grandma You frowned, face cold as frost, silently glaring.
Yang Kai said, “Surely it’s not just so you can nurture your Soul. From what Grandma said earlier, it seems you would be able to do something about Temple Master Wen if you had the Soul Warming Lotus, but how? Junior will put it another way…” In that instant, Yang Kai’s eyes became sharp, staring straight into Grandma You’s eyes as he muttered, “What is this so-called ‘Mirror Soul’? Why do you need the Soul Warming Lotus to refine it?”
The moment these words came out, a ferocious look immediately emerged from Grandma You’s pretty face as murderous intent faintly diffused.
“Grandma, we had a deal, are you going back on your word? If you’re going to do this, then Junior will also go back on his word. You can’t blame me for being unjust. Don’t cry after I destroy the Soul Warming Lotus!” Seeing her remain silent for such a long time, Yang Kai immediately pressed her.
Grandma You cackled in rage, “Do you really dare to? You can try it if you dare, this Queen will stand by and watch!”
She suddenly put on a look as if she was there to watch a good show. Yang Kai couldn’t help but scratch his nose and shook his head, “In any case, you shouldn’t force me, Grandma. I’ll really destroy it if I’m left with no choice!”
“Hmph! Puny little brat!” Grandma You cursed at him, upset.
Naturally, she wasn’t in a good mood as a Master being threatened by Yang Kai in such a way.
After a moment of silence, she gritted her teeth and said, “Little brat, you should know that between this Heaven and Earth, some artifacts can only appear by pure coincidence. Through days and years, they will form their own consciousness, eventually evolving into Artifact Spirits!”
Hearing her explanation, Yang Kai immediately perked up and listened intently, nodding, “I know about this.”
Liu Yan was one of those Artifact Spirits, so Yang Kai was familiar with this theory.
“The birth of Artifact Spirits has much more to do with fate and coincidence than with the grade of the artifact itself. Of course, some say that the higher the grade of the artifact, the higher the chance of an Artifact Spirit emerging from it. Perhaps it is true; after all, it takes a long time for an Artifact Spirit to appear, possibly even tens of thousands of years, so if an artifact’s grade is too low, it cannot survive that long…” Yang Kai did not say a word as Grandma You went on, listening intently.
“And, this Divine Ascension Mirror… possesses its own Artifact Spirit!” When she said this, Grandma You stared deeply at Yang Kai.
“Is that the Mirror Soul that you speak of, Granny?” Yang Kai raised a brow.
“Indeed!” Grandma You nodded lightly, “This Queen has been studying the Divine Ascension Mirror for thousands of years since discovering it, but this Queen has never been able to refine it and use it for herself. But once, long ago, I chanced upon the will of this world, the Mirror Soul! Without subduing the Mirror Soul, it is simply impossible to refine this world, but how easy can it be to subdue such an entity? Even this Queen with her Soul Avatar cultivated to this level is unable to achieve such a feat. Forcibly collecting this Mirror Soul will only destroy my own Soul since the strength of the Mirror Soul… is something that even a Great Emperor level cultivator might not be able to accommodate.”
Yang Kai couldn’t help but feel roused and said, surprised, “So, you thought of using something else to carry the will of this world?”
Grandma You coldly snorted, “Is there any other way? But the requirements for this idea are also too harsh. Just how many divine objects are able to achieve this?” Speaking up to here, she suddenly gazed hotly at Yang Kai and said, “The Soul Warming Lotus you possess, however, is one such item.”
“So, that’s how it is!” Yang Kai nodded his head, enlightened.
“As long as this Queen can obtain the Soul Warming Lotus, this Queen will be able to use it as a carrier for this precious treasure. Together with the Mirror Soul of this Divine Ascension Mirror, this Queen can completely refine this world, and when that time comes, this Queen’s Soul will be able to soar up to the level of a Great Emperor. As for a petty little Wen Zi Shan…” She grinned from ear to ear and shrieked, “He would be worth nothing!”
“Grandma You, you have… quite a deep resentment towards Temple Master Wen,” Yang Kai said, exasperated.
“Don’t mention that bastard to me!” Grandma You suddenly burst out into a rage, “If it weren’t for him, this Queen would have been able to study this Divine Ascension Mirror quietly, and then this divine treasure would be mine in the end! But eight hundred years ago, he suddenly came to Azure Sun Mountain Range, beat this Queen, then demanded I hand over this treasure! This Queen couldn’t stand it!”
“Is that so…” Yang Kai said casually.
Grandma You glanced at him, gradually restraining the fury on her face. Her tone also began to soften as she said, “Boy, this Queen has told you everything you need to know, so the time has come for you to pass the Soul Warming Lotus to this Queen. Rest assured, this Queen only wishes to deal with Wen Zi Shan. After this wish is fulfilled, you may do whatever you wish.”
“Many thanks, Grandma You,” Yang Kai smirked before saying, “But this… is quite a difficult situation.”
Grandma You’s face turned cold as she watched Yang Kai grimly, gloomily snapping, “You mean to go back on your word, boy?”
“No no no…” Yang Kai denied immediately, “Only, even if I agree to this… Temple Master Wen would not. Isn’t that right, Temple Master Wen!”
At the last sentence, he suddenly turned his eyes towards a certain spot in the corner.
“What?” When Grandma You heard this, her face changed and shouted while looking around her, “Wen Zi Shan is here?”
She was like a mouse that had seen a cat, seemingly terrified of meeting Wen Zi Shan.
But in the next instant, she realized she had fallen for Yang Kai’s trick. There was no Wen Zi Shan standing anywhere and instead, Yang Kai had darted out while she was caught in a moment of panic.
“You damned brat!” Grandma You was furious, her pretty face turning ferocious and with a flicker of her body, she rushed out to pursue Yang Kai.
Even though Yang Kai used his teleportation ability, he was still unable to escape from Grandma You’s pursuit. Grandma You had already caught up with him as soon as he left the palace and blocked his path.
Grandma You pointed a finger at Yang Kai and a vortex of energy surged at her fingertip, seemingly containing a vast amount of power.
Yang Kai was horrified and his face changed.
But without thinking, he shouted, “Blossoming Lotus!”
With these words, a white lotus suddenly blossomed around his body.
Unlike the Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique he performed in the outside world, when he displayed this unparalleled Soul technique directly with his Soul Avatar, the lotus bud was directly exposed, allowing Grandma You to see it clearly.
“The Soul Warming Lotus!” Grandma You smiled happily when she saw this and her hands moved slightly.
Right at that moment though, the lotus flower bud shook slightly and then suddenly disappeared, turning into a stream of light that shot directly into Grandma You’s body.
“Nn!” Even someone as strong as Grandma You couldn’t help letting out a stifled grunt as her body shook.
In the next moment, her beautiful face lost its colour.
Because she could feel her strength being sapped rapidly, as if something inside her was eating away at it. And, following the dissipation of her Spiritual Energy, a flower bud blossomed around her, giving off an intoxicating fragrance.
Yang Kai was able to catch her off guard with this attack and did not dare delay in the slightest. Wielding his Soul Splitting Saber, he slashed it straight towards Grandma You.
Even though his opponent was slightly affected by the Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique, she was not defenceless, blowing a sudden gust of wind towards Yang Kai and forcing him back with a slight lift of her hand.
The difference in strength between them was too great, so despite using all the tricks up his sleeve, Yang Kai was still not Grandma You’s opponent.
He cursed and dared not stay any longer. Teleporting away, Yang Kai instantly moved a few thousand metres and escaped straight out of the palace.
The sound of Grandma You’s angry roar came from behind him.
Everyone was shocked silent in the palace. Zhou Dian, Yu Man, and Yuan Qing were all looking towards the source of the noise with shocked faces.
A few moments later, outside the palace, Yang Kai’s body shot out like a shooting star.
He had no idea what he was going to do now, but he knew that if Grandma You caught him again, he wouldn’t be as lucky as he was just now. When that time came, Grandma You would definitely suppress him with absolute strength and forcibly extract the Soul Warming Lotus from his body.
Now though, he could only take things one step at a time.
In the middle of these thoughts, an amazing pressure suddenly appeared from behind him and pressed down on his body like a mountain.
Yang Kai stumbled and almost fell down, and when he looked back, he saw Grandma You several dozen kilometres behind him, chasing after him at incredible speed as she hurled threats, “Little brat, this Queen will make you beg for a quick death!”
But how could Yang Kai pay her any attention? Pushing the Space Principles around him to his limit and running for his life was all he cared about right now.
But the difference in power was too great so his efforts were merely delaying the inevitable.
Even Zhou Dian was able to capture him, let alone Grandma You herself.
Even though both were Third-Order Emperors, Grandma You had been studying the Divine Ascension Mirror for thousands of years, so even if she was unable to refine it, she could still borrow some of its powers to enhance herself.
It was no more than three breaths of time before Grandma You’s figure caught up to him.
From a short distance away, she laughed at him, locking onto him with her Divine Sense while using her Spiritual Energy to blockade the space around Yang Kai’s body, making it impossible for him to teleport away.
This time, she obviously had no intentions of beating around the bush with Yang Kai and flew straight towards him, reaching out her hand to capture and suppress him.
Yang Kai’s face turned black as he tried to think of some way out of this situation, but he was unable to come up with a way to resolve the crisis before his eyes.
The Soul Warming Lotus probably wouldn’t be able to stop Grandma You, and it was also his last resort, so Yang Kai really did not dare to use it until the true critical moment arrived.
Seeing that he was about to be captured, Yang Kai prepared himself to fight Grandma You to the death.
But at that moment, there was a sudden change.
From the west, a stream of light arrived in a flash in front of Yang Kai.
A beautiful figure emerged and radiated cold murderous intent.
A peerless beauty with bitingly cold Sword Qi.
Looking at this person’s beautiful back, Yang Kai’s eyes lit up and he called out softly to her, “Elder Gao!”
This person was Gao Xue Ting who separated from them shortly after their arrival in this world!
For some reason, she suddenly arrived and stood in front of Yang Kai at the critical moment.
Yang Kai noticed that she was carrying a longsword that had a sharp blade and a staggering energy fluctuation.
It was an Emperor grade Soul-type artifact!
But from the appearance of this Emperor Artifact, it seemed to have just finished being refined…
But soon, Yang Kai realized that something was wrong and shouted, “Elder Gao, you are not her opponent, quickly run!”
Gao Xue Ting was only a cultivator at the First-Order Emperor Realm, so even though she had entered the Divine Ascension Mirror World four times, and her Spiritual Energy’s cultivation was slightly stronger than that of her physical body, she was still no match for Grandma You. Her coming here would not help at all.
Faced with Yang Kai’s shout, Gao Xue Ting was unmoved, simply standing before him calmly as she indifferently said, “Don’t worry.”
On the other hand, Grandma You obviously recognized Gao Xue Ting as well, her expression fluctuating a few times before she stopped and shouted, “Get out of the way!”
She seemed to be afraid to lay a hand on Gao Xue Ting, her expression twisted into knots.
But Gao Xue Ting ignored her and instead turned to Yang Kai and asked with concern, “Are you injured?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “I’m fine.”
“Where are Xia Sheng and the others?”
“They’re being held in the Divine Prison, but Brother Xia and the others are suffering from some shock to their Souls right now. Fortunately, they are not in any life-threatening danger.”
“Good!” Gao Xue Ting was visibly relieved.
“Elder Gao, why did you come?” Yang Kai looked at her, surprised.
“I went to Heavenly Monster Mountain earlier, thinking I would check up on your training in secret, but on the way there I learned some unsavoury news and rushed back. Luckily I arrived just in time.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai showed a look of understanding.
Gao Xue Ting really did arrive just in the nick of time. If she had been just a step too late, Grandma You would have caught him.
Outside the palace, above a certain empty plain, Gao Xue Ting faced off against the Third-Order Emperor Realm Grandma You with just her First-Order Emperor Realm cultivation, yet she showed no fear.
Brushing her hair back behind her ear, Gao Xue Ting spoke calmly, “Grandma, how about we end matters here?”
Grandma You was slightly taken aback by her words, but she soon burst out laughing and shouted, “Little girl, who do you think you’re talking to?”
“You, of course, Grandma,” Gao Xue Ting remained as indifferent as before, “If you promise to end matters here, then the Temple Master may show some leniency and not give you any trouble, but if you insist on continuing this… Grandma, you and I have known each other for hundreds of years, and even if you never officially joined the temple, you still showed some affection towards us, so I do not wish to use ruthless measures.”
“Are you threatening me?” Grandma You’s face turned fierce and her voice became sharp.
Gao Xue Ting shook her head, “Grandma is my Senior, Xue Ting does not dare to threaten you, but Xue Ting has received orders from the Temple Master to bring these disciples into the Divine Ascension Mirror to train, so she must keep them safe. I will allow no one to hurt them, not even you… Grandma!”
“Hehehe…” Grandma You began to laugh, “Little girl, your strength isn’t much but your words certainly are big! What do you think you can do to this Queen with your puny abilities? If not for how well-behaved you’d been all these years, you think this Queen would even bother talking to you like this?”
“Grandma, do you still remember when Xue Ting would secretly bring you food when Xue Ting was small?” Gao Xue Ting suddenly brought up the past.
Grandma You’s face turned cold and she said in a cold voice, “What are you bringing that up for?”
A hint of nostalgia could not help but flash past her eyes, and her fierce expression softened slightly for a moment.
“Xue Ting sincerely hopes that Grandma can stop things here!” Gao Xue Ting sighed.
“Impossible!” The coldness reappeared in Grandma You’s eyes and she yelled, “This Queen has waited so many years and finally found a trace of hope. You want this Queen to give up with just a few words? That’s foolish nonsense!”
Gao Xue Ting frowned, “I don’t know what you’re waiting for, or what you’re hoping for, Grandma, but… Must you do this? It’s been eight hundred years, and even though you never did so formally, Gao Xue Ting has long taken you as a member of the temple, and also Xue Ting’s Senior. Xue Ting really… does not want to raise her hand against you!”
“Enough nonsense!” Grandma You’s patience had also run out and she raised her voice, “You either stand aside now, or this Queen will kill you right here and now. It’s your choice.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai’s face could not help but tense up.
Even though Gao Xue Ting was also considered a Master, he knew she was not the opponent to someone at Grandma You’s level. If he ended up dragging Gao Xue Ting into danger, it would definitely wrack him with guilt.
“Haa…” Gao Xue Ting suddenly sighed deeply and looked at Grandma You, saying, “Grandma, the Temple Master knew all along you were harbouring a grudge against him because of that battle back then. Even so, he still had me lead the team into this Divine Ascension Mirror at ease, not worried that you would bring them any harm at all. Why do you think that is?”
At these words, Grandma You’s face changed slightly and she thought about it with a frown.
Gao Xue Ting continued, “Over the years, many disciples who entered the Divine Ascension Mirror to train were killed by you, yet the Temple Master never held you responsible and instead accepted it naturally as a kind of tempering test for the disciples. One part of this is because you did not act personally. Even if you sent your subordinates out for them, you would only send cultivators at similar strengths to them, which can indeed be considered a type of test. Secondly, the Temple Master felt that he owed you; after all, you were the one who discovered the Divine Ascension Mirror. Even though he did take it by force, he did treat it as the most precious capital of the temple, repeatedly allowing his disciples to enter this place and train.”
“Wen Zi Shan feels that he owes this Queen?” Grandma You suddenly sneered. “He really feels that way despite having fed his conscience to the dogs? That’s simply laughable!”
Gao Xue Ting said, unmoved, “That is why the Temple Master has instructed us not to use this last resort unless there is no other choice! Because he sincerely hoped that you would guard the Divine Ascension Mirror.”
“What last resort?” Grandma You’s face suddenly tensed up as she stared at Gao Xue Ting with glaring eyes.
But Gao Xue Ting did not answer her, instead just forming a series of seals with her hands and saying, “Rest assured, Grandma. I have already informed the Temple Master of this matter through a Secret Technique. He should be waiting in the stone cavern at this moment. You can speak with him in detail when your Soul returns.”
With that, she pushed her palms forward and a light circle blossomed from them, gently shooting out straight towards Grandma You.
This light was clearly not some kind of attack and carried no threat with it, but Grandma You’s face changed drastically the instant she saw it and she shrieked in terror, “No!”
As she screamed, she even turned around and ran, trying to flee.
But though she may be fast, the circle of light was even faster, and in an instant, it hit her and melted into her Soul.
The next moment, an inexplicable force rose up, and a strange vortex appeared above Grandma You’s head, emitting a strong suction force as it sucked her away.
Naturally, Grandma You wasn’t going to just stand there and take this, so in a fury, she let out a hysterical roar and released a surge of pure Spiritual Energy that shot towards Gao Xue Ting.
Gao Xue Ting’s face changed.
Grandma You’s desperate attack was clearly made with her full strength and not something she could take on with her power. She could only try to dodge it.
But just as she was about to move, a figure suddenly appeared in mid-air before her. It was an old man with an immortal temperament and an all-white beard. His entire being was inconspicuous, and if he did not take the initiative to show himself, no one present would have noticed him.
As soon as the old man appeared, he lightly waved his sleeve.
A soft power spread out, neutralizing the impact of Grandma You with ease.
“You…” Grandma You’s eyes widened as she stared at the old man with a look of disbelief, as if she had seen a ghost.
But right at that moment, she could no longer resist the power from the vortex above her and her body was sucked into it amidst her unresigned roars. Immediately after, the vortex disappeared without a trace along with Grandma You’s figure.
As Yang Kai watched this scene, thoughts were churning deep in his mind.
Wen Zi Shan must have left some kind of seal on Grandma You’s body and had taught Gao Xue Ting how to activate it.
Once this Seal was activated, Grandma You’s physical body would draw her Soul Back.
And that is what led to this scene. After being hit by the Secret Technique, the Third-Order Emperor Realm Grandma You was simply unable to remain in the Divine Ascension World.
Even though this was only Yang Kai’s guess, it couldn’t be far off; after all, the physical body and the Soul are inextricably linked. The only thing that could draw Grandma You’s Soul out of this world so forcefully would be her true body.
While Yang Kai was speculating, Gao Xue Ting was staring at the old man who suddenly appeared before her with a look of suspicion on her face.
She released her Divine Sense to probe this old man, but when it came in contact with him, she was shocked to find that as far as she could tell, he didn’t exist! In other words, her Divine Sense was unable to detect any traces of him.
This discovery caused Gao Xue Ting’s face to turn serious in an instant.
Even against Masters like Grandma You and Wen Zi Shan, she would be able to detect a trace of her opponent’s presence with her Divine Sense, so the situation here with this old man was a first for her.
There was only one explanation for this strange phenomenon… the cultivation of this old man must be even higher than Grandma You and Wen Zi Shan’s!
Since those two were already Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters, the only existence which was higher than them had a special name in both worlds, Great Emperor!
There was actually a Great Emperor within the world of the Divine Ascension Mirror!
Wen Zi Shan had never told her such a thing, so perhaps even he was unaware of this fact.
Gao Xue Ting stood in awe and quickly bowed, “Junior Gao Xue Ting greets Senior!”
“En!” The old man nodded lightly.
“Senior… Are you perhaps partners with Grandma?” Gao Xue Ting asked.
Yang Kai looked at Gao Xue Ting with a bewildered face and suddenly realized that the icy cold Elder Gao actually had such a cute side to her too.
If he was with Grandma You, then he wouldn’t have needed to help her just now. He would have subdued her a long time ago. Why would he give her the chance to perform the Secret Technique?
“No,” the old man shook his head slowly.
“Junior offers her sincere thanks for Senior’s life-saving grace. I just don’t know if Senior…” Gao Xue Ting asked tentatively. Even though she did not feel the slightest hostility from this old man, his astonishing cultivation made it so she did not dare to show the least bit of carelessness, lest she accidentally anger or upset him.
If she did, then even Wen Zi Shan would not be able to save her.
“This old master came here…” As the old man spoke, he turned his gaze towards Yang Kai and said solemnly, “For him!”
“For me?” Yang Kai had a stunned look on his face.
Gao Xue Ting was also slightly taken aback, turning unconsciously towards Yang Kai, wondering what was so special about him that a Great Emperor had personally come to find him.
As far as she knew, Yang Kai was entering the Divine Ascension Mirror for the first time and did not even know about its existence before then. So, it was unlikely that these two had met each other before.
After settling her thoughts, Gao Xue Ting asked, “May I ask Senior what he needs from him?”
The old man smiled amiably and said, “Rest assured, this old master will not trouble him in any way. I simply need a few days of his time to help this old master with a certain matter. I will send him out from here after it is done.”
Gao Xue Ting raised her brows in surprise, “Out from here… Senior, what do you know?”
Clearly, the fact that the old man mentioned getting out from this place revealed some extraordinary information.
The old man smiled and said, “This old master can take a slight peep at the outside world, so I also know about you and the other outlanders!”
Yang Kai was shocked at his words!
Yi Quan knew about the Divine Ascension World because of Wen Zi Shan’s drunken ramblings; however, this old man was able to spy on the outside world with his own ability.
That confirmed that the strength of this old man had already reached the Great Emperor Realm. It was only with this kind of strength that one’s Divine Sense would be able to break free of the bonds of the world and see beyond its borders.
“You need not worry about his safety, this old master will not hurt him. I simply wish to borrow his power,” The old man patiently explained to Gao Xue Ting. After that, he looked towards the palace and continued, “Your disciples are still inside. Though their Souls are not too damaged, they have still suffered from some shock. It would be best to bring them out of here as soon as possible so they may recuperate.”
“Many thanks to Senior for the reminder!” Gao Xue Ting hurriedly said.
“En,” The old man nodded lightly. Then, he turned his gaze to Yang Kai and said in a kind voice, “Little Friend, come with me!”
Then, with a wave of his hand, Yang Kai immediately felt a soft power wrapping around him and he flew involuntarily to the old man’s side before he quickly sped off with him in one direction.
Gao Xue Ting opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but there were already no traces of Yang Kai and the old man. They had already disappeared in a breath’s time.
Gazing at the direction in which they disappeared, Gao Xue Ting faintly wrinkled her brow.
She knew that the old man had no need to lie to her with his exceptional cultivation and strength, and if he really did have any hostile intentions, he could have crushed her to dust with just a finger. However, he had taken away Yang Kai so inexplicably that Gao Xue Ting still couldn’t help but worry. She had no idea what sort of power Yang Kai had that this old man needed to borrow, or what he wanted to accomplish by doing so.
After thinking about it for a while, she knew she was powerless to solve the matter, and she didn’t even have any way to track down the old man’s whereabouts, so she could only head to the palace first and save Xia Sheng and the others, deciding to send Wen Zi Shan a message with a Secret Technique and have him find a way to retrieve their Soul Avatars from the outside.
…..
Travelling along at lightning speeds, the wind from the outside blew past as the ground seemed to recede at a blinding pace.
Yang Kai looked astonished.
This old man beside him was indeed a Great Emperor level Master! Before now, Yang Kai had only heard of the existence of Great Emperors but had never seen one himself.
[Of course… Yang Yan might be a Great Emperor, maybe…]
But even if Yang Yan was a Great Emperor, her strength was not very high during the time they spent together. It was only after she returned to the Star Boundary that her cultivation would gradually restore itself.
He had never really seen a Great Emperor’s true strength before.
But today, his long-awaited wish was fulfilled.
Grandma You’s Third-Order Emperor Realm desperation attack was little more than a gentle breeze before this old man. Simply not worth mentioning.
And at this moment, while bringing Yang Kai along with him, they were actually moving several dozen times faster than Yang Kai could, even when using Space Principles…
Yang Kai could not even see the scenery where they passed.
He was deeply shocked to realize just how high above the understanding of ordinary cultivators a Great Emperor’s power was.
On the way, Yang Kai kept silent and did not ask the old man what he planned to do. That was because it was meaningless even if he asked him that now. He would naturally know when the time came
As the other party was not hostile, he had no need to think about running away, instead just silently trying to feel the Emperor Intent and Emperor Pressure permeating from the body of the old man so as to quench his own will.
He did not speak, and it seemed the old man did not take the initiative to do so either, only busying himself with hurrying along, even revealing a somewhat relaxed expression as he flew.
After a long day, the old man brought Yang Kai to a certain mountain valley.
It was only after arriving here that the old man finally slowed down.
Yang Kai looked around and found that this mountain valley was covered by a fog so dense that you would not be able to see your fingers in front of you. And, this fog was clearly no ordinary fog as it felt as if he was tossing a stone into an ocean when he released his Divine Sense into it.
A few moments later, the two landed on a flat piece of land in the middle of the mountain valley.
The soft power that had been wrapped around Yang Kai slowly dissipated.
After Yang Kai regained his freedom, he began looking around himself.
Soon, he realized that this was seemingly the only place in the mountain valley not covered by the thick fog. The area wasn’t very large, and the only thing he could see was a simple wooden house with around thirty or so burial mounds in front of it, a wooden headstone erected on each one of them with a name inscribed onto it.
Yang Kai was stunned.
Even though he knew that there must be no corpses buried beneath these mounds, he still had the inexplicable feeling that many powerful Masters were lying here.
He swept his eyes over each of the names one by one, but he didn’t recognize a single one of them.
The names were written in characters that resembled flying dragons and soaring phoenixes, each stroke containing a kind of power that he couldn’t help but feel moved at the sight of.
“Little Friend, what should I call you?” The old man suddenly spoke while gazing amiably at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai quickly cupped his fists and introduced himself.
“So, it is Little Friend Yang! A pleasure meeting you,” The old man nodded lightly.
Yang Kai said solemnly, “May I ask for this Senior’s name?”
The old man was silent for a moment before he said, “This 0ld master is called Tian Yan!”
Yang Kai saluted him once more.
After Tian Yan answered him, he pointed to the graves in front of him and said, “Little Friend Yang, do you know who these people are?”
Yang Kai said with a solemn expression, “Even though Junior does not recognize any of their names, Junior knows that these Seniors must have history shaking achievements that bring glory to the present, Masters with amazing cultivation and skills.”
“Heh…” Tian Yan smiled. “You are not wrong, but do you know… how they died?”
Yang Kai shook his head blankly.
In fact, he was also wondering about that. Tian Yan was such an amazing Master and he seemed to be guarding this place. That simple wooden house was quite clearly the place where Tian Yan rested and meditated.
To have a Great Emperor level existence like Tian Yan guarding their graves, these departed Masters must be legendary figures.
But… If that was the case, then who was it that managed to kill them? Could it be that Tian Yan did it himself? Yang Kai did not think the old man looked like a bloodthirsty person.
Tian Yan said, “Long ago, this world’s Martial Dao was far more prosperous than it is today. Third-Order Emperors were constantly emerging and many prosperous Sects contended with one another…”
Tian Yan did not answer the question from before and instead suddenly recalled the past.
Yang Kai did not dare to interrupt him either and instead quickly put on a focused mood and listened attentively.
“During that time, this old master was also just a Third-Order Emperor, the same as the woman you met today,” Tian You went on. Yang Kai knew that he was referring to Grandma You.
“This world is very different from the outside world, but since it exists, it will also have its own Principles. Many Masters sought ways to become even stronger by controlling these Principles. Some sought common ground while others fought for different ideals. Those were joyous days…” A look of reminiscence emerged in Tian Yan’s eyes.
When he heard this, Yang Kai suddenly had a bad feeling, as if there was going to be a big twist or something.
As he had expected, Tian Yan went on, “But when it suddenly appeared, the world changed immensely!”
“What was it?” Yang Kai asked in surprise. He couldn’t imagine what on earth could cause this entire world to change and result in the deaths of the Masters who were buried here.
In other words, whatever had appeared had the power to destroy a world!
Tian Yan shot him a thoughtful glance and said, “A swarm of insects!”
Yang Kai’s face changed and he suddenly recalled what Yi Quan told him previously, asking solemnly, “Soul Devouring Insects?”
Back when he was still in Heavenly Monster Mountain, Yi Quan told Yang Kai that the Divine Ascension Mirror’s world was once nearly destroyed by Soul Devouring Insects, and warned him that should he have the chance to enter the Divine Ascension World again, he should under no circumstances bring his Soul Devouring Insects with him unless he could fully control them. He couldn’t leave them behind when he left, either.
Yang Kai clearly remembered Yi Quan’s serious expression and solemn tone when he said those words.
Combined with Yi Quan’s words, Yang Kai realized what the old man was talking about.
“Indeed!” Tian Yan nodded. “No one knows where those insects came from, but they were so weak in the beginning that nobody paid them any mind; however, due to their special characteristics which greatly restrained those of this world, they continued to kill and devour while rapidly growing stronger. Wherever they passed, life was extinguished and wails of despair could be heard throughout the land. All living beings were mere prey to them, and none could resist…”
“Families were destroyed one by one, cities swallowed up, and in less than a dozen years, they had grown to an almost unmanageable degree.” When Tian Yan spoke of this past, a haziness filled his eyes. “By the time the Masters of this world realized how dangerous the situation had become, that swarm of insects had already grown to a level that no one could suppress!”
Yang Kai’s face changed slightly.
As the owner of the Soul Devouring Insects, he had such a special group of insects with him. Yang Kai understood better than anyone else how these Soul Devouring Insects could harm this world.
He himself once envisioned that if the Soul Devouring Insects were given a certain amount of time, then they could definitely grow to dominate everything in this world.
But… that was just a prediction. Yang Kai had no idea if it would really work. However, from what Tian Yan told him just now, Yang Kai learned that this did in fact happen in the past.
Even without experiencing that scene, Yang Kai could almost imagine what a tragedy it was. The only thing left behind where the Soul Devouring Insects passed would be silence and death.
“They were too powerful, and their ability to suppress those of this world was too obvious. They continuously devoured the souls of Masters to grow stronger and stronger.” Tian Yan took a deep breath and continued. “So, in a last-ditch effort, all of the world’s Masters banded together to launch a decisive battle against the Soul Devouring Insects, both for themselves and for this world!”
Yang Kai could feel the blood in his body race. Even though Tian Yan did not describe the scene of that battle, it almost felt as if he could see dozens of Emperor Realm Masters bravely attacking the clouds of Soul Devouring Insects with their divine abilities.
That battle must have caused the colour to fade from Heaven and Earth.
That battle must have dimmed the Sun and the Moon.
That battle must have been… destined to be forgotten by the world.
Because after that battle… the Masters who fought it all died, leaving only their names recorded on their graves!
After more than ten thousand years, their names had already been lost to history. The people living and working peacefully in this world had no idea that such a thrilling battle once took place all those years ago.
Only a single old man guarded their uncrowned graves silently. Only these graves recorded the great achievements that they had made, and only here would their dedication to this world be recalled.
“I trust that you are able to envision the results of that battle.” A look of sadness emerged on Tian Yan’s face as he pointed to the graves.
Yang Kai stood in awe and bowed deeply to the graves.
Standing up straight, he then asked, “Then what about the Soul Devouring Insects? Were they able to be killed?”
Tian Yan shook his head slowly and said gloomily, “It is a shame, but though we had to pay such a great price, those Soul Devouring Insects… really could not be exterminated by the beings of this world.”
Yang Kai’s face changed greatly and he said, shocked, “Senior means that… those Soul Devouring Insects are still alive?”
Tian Yan nodded.
“How can that be?” Yang Kai suddenly felt sad. So many Masters here died in order to exterminate those Soul Devouring Insects, paying the ultimate price in the process, yet they were still unsuccessful in the end. Did that mean that even that sacrifice was not enough?
Thinking about that, Yang Kai was horrified and asked, “Then, where are the Soul Devouring Insects now?”
“Come with me!” As he spoke, the old man wrapped his power around Yang Kai again, and in a flash, they arrived in front of a dark altar. He waved his hand to disperse the fog here to reveal the altar and pointed to it with a sad look on his face, “The insects that plagued this world back then are all sealed here!”
There was no need for him to say this as Yang Kai could already tell.
Because when he first appeared here, the Soul Devouring Insects laying in his Soul Warming Lotus had already begun squirming uncontrollably, as if they wanted to break free from Yang Kai and fly out from his body.
At the same time, a buzzing sound came from the altar, forming a strange resonance with the Soul Devouring Insects in the Soul Warming Lotus.
Yang Kai’s face changed.
“You really do possess Soul Devouring Insects,” The old man looked at him with a complicated gaze. “It is also because of the commotion that this old master became aware of it. That is the reason I searched for you in Heavenly Monster Mountain, yet this old master did not expect that when he rushed there, you were already gone. However… this old master has been guarding this place for over ten thousand years and cannot be more familiar with the aura of the Soul Devouring Insects. When I felt their unique aura in the Heavenly Monster Mountain and asked the Monster King for answers, I swiftly pursued you to Divine Ascension City.”
“Rest assured, Senior. These Soul Devouring Insects of mine are not powerful and will not cause any harm to this world. And… I will definitely take them away when I leave,” Yang Kai hurriedly said.
Yang Kai thought that Tian Yan brought him here because he wanted him to leave the Soul Devouring Insects here, and that was why he hurried to explain.
“Little Friend Yang, you misunderstand me,” Tian Yan slowly shook his head. “This old master does not want your Soul Devouring Insects. This world was nearly destroyed because of them, how could this old master want to leave more of these behind? I brought you here to ask you a favour.”
“What favour?” Yang Kai was confused.
“This old master hopes that you can… take them away as well!” As he said that, Tian Yan pointed at the dark altar.
The corners of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched and he said dryly, “Senior must be joking, these Soul Devouring Insects of mine are still quite weak, and given that I have had them for a long time, this Junior can still control them somewhat, but the Soul Devouring Insects that are sealed here… are beyond Junior’s control.”
The Soul Devouring Insects sealed here had even devoured several dozen Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters, how could Yang Kai dare to touch them? If he really put them into the Soul Warming Lotus, he would be dead without a burial in no time.
“They are not as strong today as they used to be,” Tian Yan said. “They have been sealed for ten thousand years without receiving any nourishment, so they have become quite weak. Little Friend Yang, since you are able to control your Soul Devouring Insects, then can’t you control these as well?”
Yang Kai laughed bitterly, “You evaluate me too highly, Senior… I could still control my Soul Devouring Insects in the beginning, but less than twenty days after entering this place, my insects have already begun to disobey my orders. After I leave this place, I will still have to find a way to…”
When he spoke up to this point, Yang Kai suddenly paused and fell deep into thought.
Seeing him like this, Tian Yan also could not help but be shaken and looked at him expectantly.
He had been guarding this place for ten thousand years, never once leaving Misty Valley, both to guard the graves of his departed friends as well as the Soul Devouring Insects.
But the Soul Devouring Insects have always remained a hidden danger to this world. If they could be sent out of here and dealt with once and for all, that would be something Tian Yan hoped for earnestly.
So, when he noticed the Soul Devouring Insects in the altar awakening, he immediately searched for the reason and found Yang Kai, thus bringing up this request.
After a long time, Yang Kai looked up with a glimmer in his eyes and asked, “May I ask Senior how powerful the Soul Devouring Insects sealed in here are today?”
Hearing this, Tian Yan answered cautiously. “According to this Old Master’s estimation, they are a little stronger than your Soul Devouring Insects, but not that much stronger.”
“Only that?” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up when he heard this, “If that’s the case, then maybe there is still a chance.”
“What do you mean by that?” Tian Yan asked, puzzled.
Yang Kai told him with a serious face, “Senior must also know that the world outside is very different from here. Even though the Soul Devouring Insects are completely lawless here, there are many ways to restrict them in the outside world. Junior has a treasure with him that is the bane of all sorts of Exotic Insects, such as these…”
“Such a thing exists?” Tian Yan was shaken.
“En,” Yang Kai nodded, “Junior had originally planned to use that treasure to subdue my Soul Devouring Insects after leaving here so that they will be obedient to my orders in the future. If the Soul Devouring Insects sealed here are not too strong, then it may not be impossible for Junior to subdue them as well.”
The treasure he mentioned was naturally the Insect Enslavement Bracelet left behind by the Insect Emperor.
This thing had a significant suppressive effect on Exotic Insects, so the Soul Devouring Insects would definitely be unable to resist its power. Of course, that is only provided that the insects themselves were not too strong. If they were strong enough to the point where they could even devour an Emperor Realm Master, then Yang Kai wouldn’t dare to be reckless either.
But after receiving Tian Yan’s answer, Yang Kai suddenly became somewhat eager to try.
“With the help of this treasure, we can indeed make an attempt,” Tian Yan had a cheerful expression. “This old master just wonders how sure Little Friend Yang is about this? It was merely an attempt for this old master to bring you here and bring you this request. If it is too dangerous, then let it be. It is no big deal for this old master to guard this place for another ten thousand years.”
Yang Kai smiled and said, “Junior is quite sure that this can work, but Junior will still need Senior’s help for this.”
Tian Yan said, “If there is anything you need, just tell me.”
Yang Kai said, “My own Soul Devouring Insects are fine. They are acting a bit unruly now, but they will bring no harm to me in the immediate future; however, if I am to take these Soul Devouring Insects here with me, then they will have to enter my Soul Avatar. Junior would like to ask Senior to please seal them a little in case Junior can’t suppress them.”
That was exactly the thing that worried him.
To take the Soul Devouring Insects away, he first had to take them inside him.
How could Yang Kai defend against them if they were to get riled up? What’s more, he still had to refine the Insect Enslavement Bracelet after he got out and could not be disturbed too much. If he wound up constantly struggling to suppress the new Soul Devouring Insects, then he wouldn’t be able to refine that Emperor Artifact at all.
But unexpectedly, Tian Yan suddenly showed a difficult expression when Yang Kai made that request.
Yang Kai asked, curious, “Is this matter difficult for Senior?”
Tian Yan looked at him and nodded lightly.
Yang Kai was surprised, “How come? Based on what Senior said, these Soul Devouring Insects have already become incredibly weak, and your cultivation is so strong…”
“With this old master’s strength, it is easy to deter them for a while, but… this Old Master can’t leave this world with you. Without following you, this old master will definitely not be able to restrict these Soul Devouring Insects.”
Yang Kai’s eyes went wide and he looked at Tian Yan in astonishment. He pointed to the altar and said, “But Senior, how did you seal them back then?”
The Soul Devouring Insects back then had to be ten thousand times more powerful than now, so if they could be sealed back then, why couldn’t they be sealed now?
Yang Kai couldn’t understand it.
Tian Yan said, “It is embarrassing to admit, but this seal is not the work of this old master.”
Yang Kai raised his brows and said in surprise, “You mean to say… it was a combination of the efforts of all the people at that time?”
“You could say so.” Tian Yan nodded lightly, “But there was another force included, otherwise, how could this seal have lasted for such a long time?”
“What force?” Yang Kai asked.
Tian Yan did not say anything but instead reached up and pointed towards the sky.
Yang Kai was confused at first, but then when he realized what he meant, he was shocked. “The Will of the World!? The Mirror Soul helped?”
Tian Yan said, “This world has its own will and its own laws. The Soul Devouring Insects brought great harm to this world and killed its inhabitants, which was intolerable to the World, so it used its own Principles to aid us, allowing us to seal the Soul Devouring Insects! After all, no matter how powerful we were, we were just food for the Soul Devouring Insects. Only with the help of the World itself, creating a layer of protection around us were we able to stop the Soul Devouring Insects from devouring us too.”
When he explained it this way, Yang Kai immediately understood.
This seal was probably divided into two layers. The first layer was the Mirror Soul’s will, which is also the Will of the World. The other was the combined power of many Masters. With the two powers combined, they were able to seal the Soul Devouring Insects for ten thousand years, and replicating such a feat would be impossible if either one was missing.
“Senior, could you help this Junior to communicate with the Will of this World?” Yang Kai asked with sparkling eyes.
Because he suddenly thought of Grandma You’s plan at this moment.
The greatest reason that she wanted to snatch away his Soul Warming Lotus was so she could use it as a carrier to hold the Mirror Soul and refine this world.
If Yang Kai could communicate with the Mirror Soul, then he may be able to achieve that.
Once he succeeded, he would become the master of the Divine Ascension Mirror and would be able to enter it and train his Soul at any time in the future.
But that was just a minor benefit. The key point was there were many Masters in the Divine Ascension Mirror, like Yi Quan, Bai Lu, Yuan Fei, Zhou Dian, Yuan Qing, Lian Yan… and even the Great Emperor in front of him, Tian Yan.
If he could refine a Flesh Incarnation Pill in the future, then Yang Kai would be able to summon a force that could sweep through the Star Boundary whenever he wanted!
Just the thought of it was enough to get Yang Kai’s blood pumping!
Tian Yan kept silent, but there was a meaningful smile on his face.
When Yang Kai saw his expression, he understood that he must have overheard his conversation with Grandma You and knew that he possessed the Soul Warming Lotus and what he was thinking about right now when he mentioned communicating with the Will of this World.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but feel awkward for a while.
After a short while, Tian Yan said, “It is not that this old master is unwilling to help you, but… your cultivation is too low. Unless this world takes the initiative to communicate with you, you will not be able to perceive it. It is impossible even if this old master tries to help you bridge the gap.”
“Does it require the power of an Emperor, the power to communicate with Principles directly?” Yang Kai pondered.
Even though a Dao Source Realm cultivator had insights into Principle Strength, they were at best able to invoke or borrow this power to assist them. On the other hand, an Emperor Realm Master was able to exert direct control over Principles. As for the World Force that was controlled by the Mirror Soul, that was the highest Principle in this world, so to communicate with it, one needed to have the corresponding cultivation.
“That’s right,” Tian Yan nodded his head.
“Then… That’s a shame.” Yang Kai sighed a long sigh.
Tian Yan said, “You have the Seven-Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, so you may still have a chance. However… your own strength must grow a bit more. If you can really subdue the Mirror Soul like that woman said and refine this world, then it may be a good thing for the inhabitants of this realm. This old master will wait in anticipation for such a day to come.”
Yang Kai raised his brows and cupped his fists, “Junior will definitely do his best!”
Tian Yan continued approvingly, “That day will come, but now, the first priority is to deal with these Soul Devouring Insects.”
“But Senior…” Yang Kai looked troubled, “If Senior can’t seal these Soul Devouring Insects, then Junior doesn’t dare to take them away!”
Tian Yan laughed, “Naturally, it is not possible with this old master’s power alone; however, if we can borrow the power of this world… It will naturally be fine to recreate the events of the past.”
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up when he heard this and said eagerly, “Then let’s not dally. Junior will leave it up to Senior.”
Tian Yan nodded lightly before suddenly sitting down cross-legged and entering a meditative state.
Yang Kai waited quietly in place. He knew that Tian Yan was trying to communicate with the Will of this World, the Divine Ascension Mirror’s Mirror Soul.
Tian Yan was a Great Emperor, so there should be a good chance of him achieving this.
In a flash, a Divine Sense as vast as an ocean spread out in all directions, flowing into the void, weaving in and out of the world itself.
Yang Kai felt as small as an ant before this pure and powerful Divine Sense and revealed a look of fascination as he stared in wonder.
This scene lasted for two whole hours.
Just when Yang Kai was starting to feel uncertain, Tian Yan suddenly opened his eyes with a flash of light and spoke, “Little Friend Yang, are you ready?”
At these words, Yang Kai livened up. He understood that Tian Yan had successfully borrowed the power of the World and quickly nodded, “Junior is prepared!”
Tian Yan followed up, “Since you have the Soul Warming Lotus, this Old Master will use it as the foundation to form a seal for these Soul Devouring Insects. But remember, though this Old Master has borrowed the World’s Strength and is supporting it with his own Spiritual Energy, this seal will only last for a short time once you leave this world. Before the deadline comes, you must deal with the Soul Devouring Insects properly, otherwise, the consequences will be unthinkable!”
“Junior will remember this!” Yang Kai nodded seriously.
The seal at the altar had remained indestructible for tens of thousands of years because it had been inside the Divine Ascension Mirror World this whole time, allowing the Mirror Soul to nourish and reinforce it with the World Force it controlled.
But if Yang Kai left here, the sealing power he took with him would be like a tree without roots, a river without a source. It was simply impossible for it to last long.
He had to subdue the Soul Devouring Insects before the seal was broken, or find a way to dispose of them!
Yang Kai made up his mind that if he ultimately could not succeed, he would exile these Soul Devouring Insects into the Void. With his mastery of the Dao of Space, creating a tear to the Void was a simple matter.
“Relax your mind!” Tian Yan shouted.
Yang Kai quickly sat upright and held his breath, concentrating.
In the next moment, he saw the dark altar suddenly melting away before his eyes and at the same time, a sharp buzzing sound emerged. As far as the eye could see, countless Soul Devouring Insects flew out from where the altar once stood.
Looking closely, these Soul Devouring Insects seemed even more violent and unruly than the ones Yang Kai possessed, and the aura they emitted was incomparably ferocious.
After all, these Soul Devouring Insects were once incredibly powerful. They had only become weakened after being sealed for ten thousand years. Even so, they were still much stronger than the ones Yang Kai himself possessed.
Yang Kai had no idea why, but once they were free, they all flew towards him as if something about him attracted them greatly.
Naturally, this scene caused Yang Kai’s scalp to tingle.
He was currently in his Soul Avatar form, so faced with this group of Soul Devouring Insects that were beyond his ability to control, there was no doubt he would be devoured in no time if he were to be surrounded by them.
Even his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea may not be able to restrain them.
But even though he was nervous, he didn’t avoid them.
At the critical moment, Tian Yan made his move.
Great Emperor level Spiritual Energy poured out, and at the same time, a bridge of light suddenly manifested, one end connecting to the distant unknown, and one end connecting to Tian Yan’s body.
The aura emanating from this bridge of light was so great and majestic that it seemed to be able to control everything between the Heavens and Earth.
And, as soon as this bridge appeared, the Soul Devouring Insects went silent for a moment, as if they were extremely afraid.
Tian Yan did not pause, his hands forming a series of seals as he merged his own strength with that coming from the light bridge, condensing a ball of light that slowly wrapped around the Soul Devouring Insects.
In less than ten breaths of time, only that ball of light remained in front of Yang Kai’s eyes.
And, once this was all over, the light around Tian Yan’s body had also grown a little dimmer, as if communicating with the Will of the World had been extremely draining to him.
But he remained indifferent with a solemn face, reaching out to Yang Kai.
In response to that motion, the ball of light flew towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai did not dodge, opening his mind to accept it.
A moment later, the ball of light melted into Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar, and it was brought into the Soul Warming Lotus under his guidance, where it stabilized.
Yang Kai looked inside himself and soon found the ball of light inside the Soul Warming Lotus’s petals contained countless Soul Devouring Insects sealed inside of it.
Even though they were sealed like this, Yang Kai could still sense a great threat from them, and he knew better than anyone that once the ball of light was broken, these Soul Devouring Insects would emerge and eat him from the inside out.
If that were to happen, no one would be able to save him.
“I’ll teach you a set of techniques now, familiarize yourself with them and strengthen the seal!” Tian Yan’s voice came after that.
Yang Kai nodded seriously.
Then, Tian Yan began teaching Yang Kai a sealing art in great detail.
Yang Kai learned it very quickly and mastered it in just under an hour, much to Tian Yan’s praise.
After strengthening the seal with this method, Yang Kai suddenly had a strange look on his face and looked up in a certain direction.
A few tens of thousands of kilometres from Misty Valley in the direction Yang Kai was looking was a small city with a small population.
When Yang Kai looked over, a little boy who looked only about seven or eight with a delicate, chubby, and silly-looking face also turned his head abruptly towards Misty Valley.
A short while later, the little boy’s face became very ugly as he muttered, “What a loss… Tian Yan, that old bastard, he really dragged this Little Master down with him this time. I shouldn’t have responded to him, what a terrible loss…”
He muttered like that for a while but no one paid him any attention.
At that time, a girl with two pigtails suddenly came up to him and yelled fiercely, “Little Fatty, what are you doing? Hurry up and go out of town with this Young Lady! If we go any later, we won’t be able to leave.”
This little girl was also about seven or eight and had a kind of innocent look to her face which quite contrasted with her arrogant way of speaking.
“You actually called me… Little Fatty!” The little boy was fuming and clenched his fair and tender fist as he barked back, “You little girl! Do you have any idea who this Little Master…”
*Peng…*
Before he could finish his sentence, the little girl had jumped up and sent a fist right down onto his head, causing his neck to shrink down and eyes to go red.
“Stop that!” He shouted.
In response, he got an angry dragon fist to the face…
A short while later, the little girl strutted towards the city gate, dragging the Little Fatty along by the hand as he wore a resentful expression on his face. If one saw his face, they would notice two black and blue eyes…
Back in Misty Valley, Tian Yan looked cheerfully at Yang Kai and said, “Little Friend Yang, have you noticed something?”
Only then did Yang Kai come back to his senses and looked in surprise at Tian Yan, “Senior, you knew all along?”
Tian Yan smiled, “Little Friend Yang possesses an astonishing treasure like the Soul Warming Lotus, and the seal from before contained a trace of this world’s power. With the help of the Soul Warming Lotus, Little Friend Yang will naturally be able to easily detect the location of that person!”
When he heard this, Yang Kai quickly cupped his fists and said, “Many thanks, Senior!”
Tian Yan waved his hand and said, “This is all I can do to help. If you really wish to become the Master of this world, you will need to work hard. That person… is not so easy to talk to.”
“Junior understands. If the opportunity comes, Junior will definitely give it a try!”
“This old master also wishes for that day to come. When that time arrives, perhaps this Old Master will also be able to break through the constraints here and go out to the outside world to have a look,” Tian Yan showed a longing expression.
He and Yi Quan basically had the same idea; that they wanted to see the outside world with their own eyes.
Only Yi Quan was interested in it in order to seek out a higher Martial Dao, while Tian Yan wished to achieve it purely out of interest.
Three days later, in a stone cavern inside Azure Sun Temple’s Restricted Area, Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes in one of the stone rooms.
His Soul Avatar had returned to his physical body, and this moment felt so amazing that he could not help but have the illusion that he was being reborn.
After moving his arms and legs a little, he fully adapted. Even though he spent nearly a month in this stone room, Yang Kai’s cultivation did not suffer any damage, of course. On the contrary, due to his experiences in the Divine Ascension World, his Soul had grown significantly stronger.
He did not hurry to leave and instead checked on his own situation.
Looking inside himself, his Knowledge Sea was calm, but the waters had become much stronger than a month ago.
Before entering the Divine Ascension Mirror World, Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was strong enough to compete with a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator’s. After absorbing so many Soul Sources in the Divine Ascension Mirror World though, it had grown noticeably.
What’s more, he also received a fine piece of Soul Jade, only that Soul Jade’s power was unable to be manifested in such a short amount of time. He would have to slowly absorb the benefits as his Soul Warming Lotus fed them to his Soul over time.
Right now, it was not too much to say that his Soul was only slightly weaker than an Emperor’s. He only had to wait for his physical body’s cultivation to catch up and then he could smoothly make a breakthrough.
The ball of light inside the Soul Warming Lotus with the sealed Soul Devouring Insects was still peaceful, without any abnormalities.
But Yang Kai knew he had to deal with it as soon as possible because this thing in his Knowledge Sea was a hidden danger that may suddenly explode.
There was also a Soul-type artifact in his Knowledge Sea that was dim and dull at this moment. It was the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield gifted to him by Gao Xue Ting. This Soul-type artifact could no longer be used after being wrecked by Ban Qing during their fight.
Yang Kai sorted out what he needed to do in his mind. With his plans set, he took out the seal token given to him by Gao Xue Ting and opened the stone room before walking out.
Looking around, the other stone rooms were empty just as he expected.
Obviously, during the time when he was with Tian Yan, Xia Sheng and the others had already been led back by Wen Zi Shan and should have been brought away to recover.
The Divine Ascension Mirror, however, was still erected at the centre of the stone cavern, rotating slowly as it emitted a faint light.
Yang Kai’s brow twitched as he stared at this unique treasure.
At this moment, he was able to feel a slight connection between himself and the Divine Ascension Mirror.
This type of connection came from the seal inside the Soul Warming Lotus as it was formed with the power of the Mirror Soul.
“You’re out!” A voice suddenly sounded in the darkness.
Yang Kai was stunned for a moment before he cupped his fists at the source of the sound, “Elder Gao!”
Gao Xue Ting was undoubtedly waiting here for Yang Kai and nodded lightly upon seeing him return safely, “There was a slight mishap during this training, and it was this Queen failing to take care of you all that almost led you to disaster.”
As an Emperor Realm Master, her frankly admitting her mistake in front of Yang Kai without the slightest intention of shirking her responsibility touched him greatly.
Yang Kai asked, “This is not Elder Gao’s fault, but Grandma You’s trickery. By the way, how is Grandma You now?”
Gao Xue Ting responded, “Temple Master has his own ways of dealing with Grandma, so you don’t need to worry.”
“What about Brother Xia and the others?” Yang Kai asked.
“Xia Sheng and the others have suffered some damage to their Souls, but it is nothing major. They only need to rest and recover for several months.”
“That’s good then!” Yang Kai let out a small sigh of relief. Even though he figured that Xia Sheng and the others would be fine, and that Grandma You hadn’t done anything fatal to them during her search for the Soul Warming Lotus, he couldn’t really put his mind at ease until now.
“Now that this matter is over, come with me. The Temple Master wishes to see you.” As she said that, Gao Xue Ting led Yang Kai out, but she did not forget to advise him before leaving, “The Divine Ascension Mirror is the greatest secret of the temple. It is already bending the rules to allow an outsider like you to enter it. You must never disclose its existence to the public.”
“Yes!” Yang Kai answered seriously.
Gao Xue Ting was silent on the way and only rushed over towards Myriad Saints Peak with Yang Kai in tow.
But Yang Kai noticed that there were several times where she seemed to want to ask something, but she never did so in the end.
Yang Kai figured that she probably wanted to ask about Tian Yan.
The reason Wen Zi Shan wanted to see him as soon as he returned was also because of Tian Yan.
The existence of a Great Emperor in the Divine Ascension World was simply too shocking. Even Wen Zi Shan may not have expected such a thing.
After a while, the two of them arrived at Myriad Saints Peak where Gao Xue Ting stopped outside the temple and said to Yang Kai, “You should go in by yourself, the Temple Master is right inside.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly and walked into the main hall.
Inside the main hall, Wen Zi Shan sat alone with his legs crossed and a heavy look on his face.
When he saw Yang Kai enter, he couldn’t help but brighten up and smile, “Boy, you’re finally back.”
Yang Kai went forward and cupped his fists, “Greeting Temple Master Wen. Some things happened and delayed my return for a few days.”
“En, it’s good that you’re back safely!” Wen Zi Shan beckoned Yang Kai over, “Come, have a cup of wine to settle down.”
As he spoke, he waved his hand, and a chair and wine bottle appeared in front of him.
Yang Kai was stunned but he did not refuse him. He strode forward and took a seat in front of Wen Zi Shan.
“This King has a few things to ask you.” Wen Zi Shan poured himself a cup of wine before pouring one for Yang Kai, not being punctilious at all while he said, “If you think you can answer this King, then speak freely. If it is not possible, then this King will not force you to do so. Just pretend I never asked, all right?”
He showed a very friendly attitude, so Yang Kai responded with, “Many thanks for your consideration, Temple Master Wen.”
“En!” Wen Zi Shan nodded and did not say anything else, as if he was thinking about what to ask first.
Yang Kai picked up his cup of wine and took a sip, but after waiting for a while, yet still seeing Wen Zi Shan hesitate to speak, he couldn’t help commenting, “Temple Master Wen, this wine can’t be compared to Monkey God Wine.”
Upon hearing this, Wen Zi Shan stared at Yang kai in surprise, “You met with Yi Quan?”
Yang Kai nodded and said, “Yes, Senior Yi Quan also told Junior some interesting stories about you back then.”
“Did that old thing tell you how many jars of Monkey God Wine he used to get me drunk?” Wen Zi Shan said while curling his lip.
Yang Kai laughed, “Of course.”
“Hmph!” Wen Zi Shan coldly snorted, “If this King had not acted like I was unable to take alcohol, then how would that old thing be willing to give me so much to drink? Everything is within this King’s plans!”
Yang Kai was stunned, unable to tell just which of these two Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters living in two different worlds won in that battle of wits.
“Senior Yi Quan still fondly remembers Temple Master Wen and even told Junior that you never showing up again to visit after several hundred years saddened him. He had also prepared a lot of Monkey God Wine in anticipation of Temple Master Wen’s next visit.”
“Hahaha!” Wen Zi Shan laughed, “At least he still has some conscience! En… This King did not return after all these years because this King was worried that the old granny would overthink it and try to lock this King up inside. The Divine Ascension Mirror is not something that this King can just enter as he pleases. However, this King really wonders whether Yi Quan has enough Monkey God Wine for him to drink to his fill.”
After he said that, he suddenly turned solemn and quickly said, “This King heard Little Xue Ting say that a Great Emperor suddenly appeared outside the Divine Movement Country and took you away. Is that true?”
“Yes!” Yang Kai nodded with a straight face.
“Are you sure that the other party was a Great Emperor?” Wen Zi Shan looked extremely serious.
Yang Kai pondered for a moment and said, “Though Junior’s cultivation is low and is unable to judge the other party’s true realm and strength, please excuse this Junior for saying something that may offend Temple Master Wen…”
“Go ahead!”
“That person is much, much stronger than you, Temple Master Wen!”
Wen Zi Shan’s expression turned serious.
“Temple Master Wen has entered the Divine Ascension Mirror and also knows Senior Yi Quan, so naturally Temple Master Wen should also know Zhou Dian. Grandma You’s Soul Avatar had also reached the Third-Order Emperor Realm. But in comparison, that Senior greatly surpassed any and all of you.”
“Then there is no doubt he is a Great Emperor!” Wen Zi Shan took a deep breath and said with a look of disbelief, “It’s unbelievable that a Great Emperor could be born in that place! If word spreads, it would probably shake the entire Star Boundary. By the way, what is the name of that Senior?”
“He calls himself Tian Yan!” Yang Kai replied.
“Great Emperor Tian Yan!” Wen Zi Shan murmured before turning back to Yang Kai and asking, “So, what did Sir Tian Yan take you away for?”
In this world, all Great Emperors were recognized and respected by the world, so even though Wen Zi Shan had never met Tian Yan, he still addressed him as Sir.
This was not only respect for a Master’s strength, but also for that Master’s achievements in the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao.
“For the Soul Devouring Insects,” Yang Kai answered, feeling he had no need to hide this matter. Of course, it was only limited to Wen Zi Shan. Despite this Temple Master Wen’s unusual character and usual lack of decorum, Yang Kai could sense that he was a very reliable and just Senior when it mattered.
Otherwise, he would not have taken the initiative to reveal information about the Divine Ascension Mirror to Yang Kai and arranged for him to enter it for training.
As a reward for the Star Seals, Wen Zi Shan even offered Yang Kai the chance to enter the Sect Treasury to pick out three treasures.
Just from Wen Zi Shan revealing the Sect’s top secret, the Divine Ascension Mirror, Yang Kai felt that there was no need to hide this from him.
“Soul Devouring Insects?” Wen Zi Shan raised his brows, but soon seemed to think of something and said, “I heard from Yi Quan in the past that a battle called the Holy War once broke out in that world, and the source of that conflict was a swarm of ‘Demon Insects’. Could it be…”
“En, it was none other than a swarm of Soul Devouring Insects. Senior Tian Yan asked Junior to bring the group of Soul Devouring Insects out of that world, which resulted in the slight delay in my return.”
“Soul Devouring Insects are the nemesis of all Souls! Even though I have no idea what sort of amazing methods you have used to restrain them, or what methods Sir Tian Yan used to help you, even if you have a precious treasure like the Soul Warming Lotus, you cannot act carelessly!” Wen Zi Shan warned him with a grave expression.
Hearing him say this, Yang Kai instantly understood that he must have had a detailed talk with Grandma You and learned from her about the existence of the Soul Warming Lotus.
“Junior has his own plans for the Soul Devouring Insects,” Yang Kai told him with a serious face.
“Alright then,” Wen Zi Shan looked at him and said. “You don’t look like the type of person who would play around with his life. If there is anything you need, then just tell this King.”
“Many thanks, Temple Master Wen.”
For the next four hours, Wen Zi Shan asked him in detail about the many things that happened in the Divine Ascension Mirror World. Yang Kai told him everything without hiding too much either.
After four hours, Yang Kai stepped out of the main hall.
Gao Xue Ting seemed to have been waiting outside the whole time. When she saw him walk out, she glanced at him and said, “The Temple Master informed me that you require a secret room?”
Yang Kai nodded and said, “Yes.”
Before coming out from Wen Zi Shan’s place, Yang Kai did in fact request this from him. That is because he wanted to refine the Insect Enslavement Bracelet, so he needed a safe cultivation room to do so.
Wen Zi Shan naturally agreed to such a trifling request and told him to just ask Gao Xue Ting about it.
“Come with me.” As she said that, Gao Xue Ting turned around and flew out.
Yang Kai followed closely behind her.
After an hour, Gao Xue Ting landed on top of a mountain peak that was neither too tall nor too short. It wasn’t a very imposing mountain in the whole Azure Sun Mountain Range and looked rather ordinary, but this peak was obviously enriched by some Spirit Arrays, so the World Energy aura was much denser here than in other places.
There were no traces of any buildings on this peak, but there was a large forest of purple bamboo, adding a touch of exuberant colour that made the place look extremely elegant.
Gao Xue Ting led Yang Kai directly to a secluded cave mansion halfway up the mountain and opened the seal there with both hands, saying, “This Purple Bamboo Peak is where I live. I usually stay in the cave mansion at the top, so if there’s anything you need, just call me and I’ll be able to rush over in just a moment.”
Hearing her say so, Yang Kai felt a little flattered and cupped his fists, “Many thanks, Elder Gao.”
He had originally just wanted to ask Wen Zi Shan for a quiet, safe, and secluded place, but he didn’t expect Gao Xue Ting to bring him to the Purple Bamboo Peak where she lived and even arrange for him to live in the cave mansion next door.
This was obviously to take care of him.
Gao Xue Ting nodded lightly and tossed Yang Kai an access token, saying, “Head in by yourself.”
Yang Kai accepted the token and scanned it over with his Divine Sense before thanking Gao Xue Ting once more and heading into the cave mansion.
Looking around, this cave mansion was neither big nor small and had several secret rooms available. Even though no one had lived in it for a long time, it looked neat as if it were new. Obviously, this cave mansion must be where Gao Xue Ting used to live, but he had no idea why she moved.
Naturally, Yang Kai felt at ease with a Master like Gao Xue Ting nearby, so he didn’t have to worry about anything while refining the Insect Enslavement Bracelet.
Time was tight and Yang Kai did not delay. First, he familiarized himself with the token before opening all the barriers around the cave mansion. Only then did he sit cross-legged in a secret room and adjust his mind.
Refining an Emperor Artifact was not a simple task.
Emperor Artifacts were different from ordinary artifacts. Each Emperor Artifact contained Emperor Intent and Emperor Aura. If one’s cultivation was not high enough during the refinement process, then there was a chance that they may suffer a backlash from the Emperor Artifact.
So, when a cultivator without high enough cultivation tried to refine an Emperor Artifact, they needed to adjust their condition to the best they could.
After three days, Yang Kai felt that his Spiritual Essence had reached its peak state, so he heaved a small breath and took out the Insect Enslavement Bracelet which had been left in a corner of the Sealed World Bead and forgotten for a long time.
This thing had worked wonders during two dangerous incidents.
Once, when he and Xue Yue encountered a group of strange butterflies in the Severed World, the Insect Enslavement Bracelet managed to suppress them and allow them to escape. The other time was when Yang Kai encountered the Monster Insect Queen under the ice cliff in Blue Feather Sect. During that time, if not for the Insect Enslavement Bracelet stunning the Monster Insect Queen, Yang Kai would not have been able to subdue it.
Both times, Yang Kai’s life was saved thanks to the Insect Enslavement Bracelet.
Right now, even though his cultivation was only at the First-Order Dao Source Realm, his Soul had taken a half-step into the Emperor Realm, so it shouldn’t be a big problem for him to refine this Insect Enslavement Bracelet.
With that in mind, he placed the Emperor Artifact that looked similar to a palm-sized bracelet on his hand and covered it with his free palm before he began circulating his Spiritual Energy and Source Qi at the same time, pouring them into the bracelet.
There was no response. The Insect Enslavement Bracelet was just like a block of wood that did not accept any of his power.
But Yang Kai was in no hurry. This was only to be expected.
He slowly released his power, constantly pouring it into the Insect Enslavement Bracelet, trying to get the Emperor Artifact to open up a gap so that he could carve his Soul Imprint into it.
…
At a dark underground chamber several dozen kilometres away from Myriad Saints Peak, Grandma You was currently acting like a madwoman inside. Even though an invisible power was imprisoning her cultivation, she was still yelling curses incessantly.
“Wen Zi Shan, you bastard! You’ll die a dog’s death! I won’t forgive you even if you turn into an evil spirit!”
She seemed to have been cursing for a while as her voice had become extremely hoarse, making her already unpleasant sound even more terrible.
A person’s voice suddenly sounded in this dark space.
“Grandma, you’ve been cursing the same thing over and over again, no creativity at all. I’m already sick of hearing the same insult again and again.”
Grandma You’s cursing voice suddenly stopped for a moment, but soon, she roared hysterically, “Wen Zi Shan!”
“Hah!” Temple Master Wen let out a laugh and snapped his fingers. Suddenly a light appeared in the space, illuminating the darkness with its dim glow. Grandma You’s hair was a mess and she looked like an evil ghost. It was a terrible sight.
But it was as if Wen Zi Shan didn’t see that at all as he just stared at Grandma You lightly and said, “Grandma, why don’t you take a rest if you’re tired from cursing? I’ll bring you something to eat and drink to moisten your throat with!”
While speaking, he actually took out a plate of delicious and fragrant spirit fruits from his Space Ring. With a slight flick from his wrist, the plate of spirit fruit flew right in front of Grandma You.
The latter was glaring fiercely at him, her eyes bloodshot and filled with endless hatred.
Perhaps she really needed to moisten her throat though, so after a moment of silence, Grandma You reached out to the spirit fruit and began eating it in big bites.
But her poisonous gaze never left Wen Zi Shan for a moment during the process. From her loud chewing and actions, it almost seemed as if what she was eating was not spirit fruit, but rather Wen Zi Shan’s heart.
In just a quarter of an hour, the plate of spirit fruit had been cleaned off by Grandma You.
“You actually didn’t poison the fruit, you little bastard?” Grandma You wiped the corners of her mouth and said to Wen Zi Shan with a mocking look on her face.
Temple Master Wen looked hurt and replied, “Grandma You, we’ve known each other for hundreds of years, do you still have to judge me with such malice?”
“Hmph! It is because we have known each other for hundreds of years that I can see through your heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys!” Grandma You said coldly.
Wen Zi Shan laughed bitterly, “It seems that you still harbour a lot of ill feelings for me, Grandma.”
“Ill feelings?” Grandma You laughed coldly, “That is the greatest understatement I have ever heard! You think it’s just ill feelings between you and me? I would want nothing more than to drink your blood, eat your flesh, and gnaw on your bones!”
“I can see that.” Wen Zi Shan looked helpless, “No need to put it so bluntly…”
Grandma You suddenly changed the topic and sneered, “How is that Yang Boy doing right now?”
Wen Zi Shan looked at her in amazement and said, “Grandma, you’re in a difficult position to protect yourself right now, yet you still have the effort to spare to care about someone else? I didn’t know you had such a caring heart.”
“Of course!” Grandma You raised her voice, “I’m sure you’ve already killed that boy, have you not?”
“Why would I kill him?” Wen Zi Shan sneered.
“For the Soul Warming Lotus, of course!” Grandma You said, “If you could obtain the Soul Warming Lotus…”
“So what if I obtain the Soul Warming Lotus?” This time, Wen Zi Shan interrupted her before she could finish, “I am already a Third-Order Emperor. Above that, there is only the Great Emperor realm. Do you think you can rely on the Soul Warming Lotus alone to achieve that realm? Or do you think I should take his Soul Warming Lotus and do the same thing you plan to do?”
Grandma You looked coldly at Wen Zi Shan and said, “Seems you’ve already talked to Yang Boy and found out what I need the Soul Warming Lotus for.”
Wen Zi Shan nodded and said bluntly, “I hate to admit it, but I have to say, you had come up with an excellent idea, Grandma. The Soul Warming Lotus is a precious treasure and is indeed capable of carrying the Divine Ascension Mirror’s Mirror Soul. If you use it as a foundation, it may really be possible to refine that world!”
“Hmph!”
“But Grandma…” Wen Zi Shan’s expression suddenly became serious and he said, “Have you ever wondered what would happen if the Mirror Soul does not respond to you once you obtain the Soul Warming Lotus? How would you refine it then?”
“Why would the Mirror Soul not respond to me?” Grandma You screamed. “I have been guarding the Divine Ascension Mirror for two thousand years! I understand it more than any of you do. As long as I can get my hands on the Soul Warming Lotus, then I have full confidence that I can fuse the Mirror Soul into it!”
“Are you sure?” Wen Zi Shan gazed at her meaningfully, “Are you sure it’s going to be that simple?” He paused for a moment and his tone became sharp, “Or are you just deceiving yourself, Grandma? Isn’t this just part of your obsession to defeat me?”
Grandma You suddenly froze.
Wen Zi Shan continued, “Grandma, do you know why your cultivation has stagnated at the First-Order Emperor Realm for two thousand years? What have you done in the past two thousand years? And what have you seen?”
Grandma You’s face gradually changed, her bloodshot eyes that were filled with hatred gradually became shaken, hollow, then confused.
Wen Zi Shan’s words seemed to have touched something buried deep inside her heart.
“You know very well that you may not be able to subdue the Mirror Soul even if you obtained the Soul Warming Lotus,” Wen Zi Shan sighed faintly.
“Bullshit!” Grandma You cursed.
“Then let me ask you. If it was so easy to subdue the Mirror Soul, then why didn’t that Great Emperor who took Yang Boy away do it? He should have that power.”
When he said this, Grandma You became speechless.
“Let go of your obsession, Grandma. If you don’t let go, then you’ll be stuck where you are for the rest of your life,” Wen Zi Shan advised her earnestly. “Cultivators like us, we can only forge ahead when our goals are clear. Grandma, you are still immersed in the defeat of a past battle and blinded by hatred. How can you rise up to a higher Martial Dao if you are so intent on wanting me dead?”
“Are you lecturing me, brat?” Grandma You glared at Wen Zi Shan.
The latter shrugged his shoulders and said, “I’m just speaking the truth, and it’s not like you don’t understand it either, Grandma. You just don’t want to admit it.”
He sighed and went on, “Yang Boy and Little Xue Ting may think that this face of yours is your true appearance, and that the beautiful woman you appeared as inside the Divine Ascension Mirror is just an illusion you created, but only you and I know that… your appearance inside the Divine Ascension Mirror is your true appearance. The current you is just a twisted form brought about by your hatred. Grandma is also a woman, so why make things so difficult for yourself?”
“What are you saying all this for?” Grandma You’s tone of voice had calmed down a lot for some reason.
“I just want to say, Grandma, that your aptitude may not be lower than mine. If you can overcome your Heart Demon, then you may be able to become a Great Emperor one day.”
At these words, Grandma You shuddered and looked sharply at Wen Zi Shan, growling, “Are you speaking from your heart?”
Wen Zi Shan smiled and said, “To be honest, I’m not the one who said this.”
“Then who said it?”
“Just a casual and carefree old man,” Wen Zi Shan seemed extremely reluctant to mention that person’s name.
Even though he did not say the person’s name, Grandma You’s eyes were brightly lit as if she understood something.
“I can’t hold up Azure Sun Temple alone, Grandma. Would you be willing to help me?” Wen Zi Shan looked earnestly at Grandma You and asked.
Grandma You stared at him for a moment and suddenly burst out laughing, sneering as she did, “This Old Lady killed so many of your elite disciples already, do you not hold any grudges towards this Old Lady at all?”
“The Heavenly Way is constant, but destiny is impermanent. If they could not cross that hurdle, then that means their cultivation was not enough!”
Grandma You’s face changed and she went silent. After a while, she suddenly bellowed, “Scram! Get out of here!”
Wen Zi Shan smiled and said, “Think about it, Grandma.”
With these words, he gradually disappeared from the space as if he had never appeared there before.
Grandma You was left alone with a cold and fluctuating expression.
…..
Since Yang Kai arrived at the cave mansion in Gao Xue Ting’s Purple Bamboo Peak, a month had passed.
During this time, he had remained indoors, refining the Insect Enslavement Bracelet.
In the beginning, the Insect Enslavement Bracelet was unresponsive, but Yang Kai was patient and kept using his power to attack the Insect Enslavement Bracelet’s barrier. And, as time passed, the Emperor Artifact gradually changed.
It slowly began to accept Yang Kai’s Spiritual Energy and Source Qi.
The refinement process was like reeling silk from cocoons. Yang Kai put in a lot of hard work, but only when all the obstructing forces were eliminated would Yang Kai have a chance to refine the Insect Enslavement Bracelet and engrave his own Soul Imprint inside.
On this day, Yang Kai continued as usual.
At a certain moment, a strange buzzing sound came, followed by a slight burst of air in the room. At the same time, Yang Kai felt heat from his hands, as if the Insect Enslavement Bracelet was burning.
Yang Kai was not shocked when he felt this, but happy. He knew that this was a sign that his refining had successfully broken the protective barrier. Immediately, he spared no effort to circulate his energy, pouring it madly into the Insect Enslavement Bracelet.
The burning sensation on his hands grew clearer and clearer as the Insect Enslavement bracelet seemed to have come to life again, constantly bouncing around in Yang Kai’s grasp, wanting to escape from his control.
But Yang Kai was not about to let it achieve this, grabbing hold of it for dear life.
Slowly, the burning sensation changed, and it now felt like Yang Kai’s palm was being gnawed on by a million ants. The tingling sensation spread from his palm down into each part of his body before reaching deep into his Soul, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.
The tingling gradually turned into pain, not only on his body but his Soul as well, like it was being sheared by thousands of dull knives.
Yang Kai could not help but hiss in agony.
Gritting his teeth, he endured the unimaginable torment as he pushed his Spiritual Energy and Source Qi even more ferociously.
After two days of this, Yang Kai’s body suddenly felt lighter, and all the abnormal sensations disappeared in a flash.
At the same time, a light suddenly burst forth from the Insect Enslavement Bracelet. Tiny flickering runes appeared on the small bracelet’s surface like fireflies, lighting up the entire room in a beautiful display.
The runes were extremely complicated and mysterious, seemingly having a life of their own, constantly evolving and changing.
The ordinary-looking Insect Enslavement Bracelet was also releasing an obvious Emperor Aura and Emperor Intent now.
Yang Kai was not the least bit pleased with this situation, however, and instead, his face turned grave.
A short while later, the complicated runes converged into the Insect Enslavement Bracelet and Yang Kai could hear a crack, as if something had broken. Then, his Spiritual Energy and Source Qi drove straight in, pouring into the Insect Enslavement Bracelet without obstruction.
That sound from his mind was undoubtedly the sound of him breaking through the final barrier of the Insect Enslavement Bracelet.
This also meant that the refinement process was mostly complete.
However… Since the Insect Enslavement Bracelet was not a new artifact and had a previous owner, the biggest test began now.
As he poured his Spiritual Energy in, Yang Kai soon sensed a pure force from inside the Insect Enslavement Bracelet fighting back against him.
This force was not powerful per se, but it was extremely pure and intense.
This was the Soul Imprint left inside the Insect Enslavement Bracelet by the Insect Emperor!
Only when this Imprint was completely erased would Yang Kai be able to leave his own Imprint.
The true cultivation of the Insect Emperor was at least Third-Order Emperor Realm, but unfortunately, he was defeated and killed during his fight with Yang Yan and had no choice but to preserve his Soul through some special method, then rely on seizing another’s body to be reborn.
As for his past glory and cultivation, almost all of it had been lost.
After some ten thousand years, the Soul Imprint in the Insect Enslavement Bracelet had long weakened beyond recognition.
If not for this, Yang Kai would never have had the chance to refine the Insect Enslavement Bracelet, that is, unless Wen Zi Shan helped him remove this Imprint.
But now, despite its purity, this Imprint was only barely as strong as a First-Order Emperor’s, which was basically the same strength as Yang Kai’s Soul.
This Imprint was fighting him head-on, wanting to stop Yang Kai’s next move, but Yang Kai would not back down. He was undaunted and mobilized his Spiritual Energy to meet it directly.
*Hong…*
A noise erupted as Yang Kai’s body swayed slightly and he felt a little dizzy.
This was a direct clash of Souls, one where only strength and endurance mattered.
During this clash, neither Yang Kai nor the original Imprint had the upper hand. They were on par with each other.
After taking a moment to catch his breath, Yang Kai mobilized his Spiritual Energy once more and crashed into the Insect Enslavement Bracelet.
With another bang, Yang Kai’s face turned slightly pale as blood spilled from his nose and mouth.
However, during this collision, Yang Kai’s Spiritual Energy clearly gained the upper hand while the Insect Emperor’s Imprint had been weakened considerably.
Yang Kai did not stop there, however, mobilizing his Spiritual Energy for a third assault.
*Hong…*
There was a flash of light from the Insect Enslavement Bracelet, as if something had been broken and opened up.
Yang Kai’s Spiritual Energy passed into it now without any obstruction.
At this point, the Insect Emperor’s Imprint had been completely destroyed.
Yang Kai poured his Spiritual Energy into it, enduring the discomfort in his head to quickly engrave his own Soul Imprint into the Insect Enslavement Bracelet.
Only after he was done did he grin and collapse to the ground, not even wanting to move another inch.
Right now, the Insect Enslavement Bracelet was an Emperor Artifact under his possession. Only, the uses of the Insect Enslavement Bracelet were still something that he had to test and develop later.
This silent fight drained a lot of Yang Kai’s mental and physical strength. He also had to give credit to his Soul Warming Lotus, since he would never have dared to use such a violent and direct method to erase the Insect Emperor’s Imprint without it.
But with the Soul Warming Lotus’s nourishment and protection, Yang Kai was not worried about having any fundamental damage done to his Soul. He had the capital to use such brute force methods in this regard.
After resting for half a day, Yang Kai sat up again, feeling much better than before, and began taking a closer look at this Insect Enslavement Bracelet in front of him.
After being refined, the Insect Enslavement Bracelet did not change, other than the fact that it could be put away and taken out of his body at will now.
Yang Kai’s Divine Sense surged and poured into the Insect Enslavement Bracelet, trying to find out what wonders lay inside this artifact and how he could use it to restrain the Soul Devouring Insects.
But something unexpected occurred.
As soon as he poured his Divine Sense into the Insect Enslavement Bracelet, Yang Kai actually discovered that there was a strange space inside the bracelet.
This space was unlike the Sealed World Bead’s internal space, which was not freely accessible.
Instead, it was similar to the spaces inside Space Rings, but with a few subtle differences.
Yang Kai could feel a strange energy surging inside this space that was neither beneficial nor harmful to the Soul. He had no idea what it was for.
Yang Kai’s eyes were soon drawn to the differently-sized and shaped jars inside the space.
Under his curiosity, Yang Kai swept his Divine Sense over them to inspect them.
But soon, he paled and he forcefully withdrew his Divine Sense from these jars.
Because he perceived that many of these jars were full. Only a few were empty. As for what things were inside there, he had no idea. He could only hear some writhing and buzzing noises from inside, though some were silent.
But each of the things contained in these jars gave off a dangerous feeling to Yang Kai.
Even though he was now the owner of the Insect Enslavement Bracelet, he did not dare to open the jars casually to find out what lay inside.
Amidst his uncertainty, he discovered that words had suddenly appeared on the surface of those jars, and he quickly adjusted his eyes to see them.
Blood Aphids, Two-Legged Silkworm, Steel Ants, Silver-Striped Six Horn Spider, Tyrant Bee…
Names of Exotic Insects were written on each of the jars, practically all of which Yang Kai had never heard of, save for a few.
But the few he heard of were all terrifying creatures that caused cultivators to shiver in fear at their mention.
Yang Kai was shaken and vaguely had a bold guess.
At that moment, a flash of light suddenly appeared in the Insect Enslavement Bracelet’s space. In that flash of light, something that looked like an ancient book slowly emerged in Yang Kai’s Divine Sense.
Curious, he investigated it with his Divine Sense.
There he saw on the cover of the ancient book, the characters for ‘Exotic Insect Record’!
[A Divine Sense Book!] Yang Kai exclaimed in his mind.
There were some extremely special Secret Arts and Secret Techniques in this world that did not exist in physical form, but instead existed in ways that could not be observed by the naked eye. They were recorded in hidden places.
Recording information this way could prevent some precious secrets from being easily accessed, so it was a common tactic used by many Masters in the past.
This Divine Sense Book was one of them.
This Divine Sense Book inside of the Insect Enslavement Bracelet was probably written by the Insect Emperor, because Yang Kai was able to detect his aura from the Exotic Insect Record. Even though it was so many years ago, Yang Kai could still remember this familiar aura.
Yang Kai moved his Divine Sense once more and opened the Exotic Insect Record, reading it carefully.
This Exotic Insect Record was in fact written by the Insect Emperor, because a preface written by the Insect Emperor in first person was written on the first page of this book. Yang Kai was not so interested in this and just skimmed through it before flipping to the next page.
[Exotic Insect List!]
Yang Kai saw the three large words in an instant, which made it so he could not help but look carefully at it.
This Exotic Insect List was divided by the Insect Emperor into two parts. Any Exotic Insects that could enter this list were extremely rare and difficult to deal with.
There were 36 in the Heaven List and 72 from the Earth List, making up a total of 108 species of Exotic Insects, each with a detailed description and ranking.
Very soon, Yang Kai found the descriptions of the Exotic Ancient Insects inside the jars.
Blood Aphids, Earth List No.13: Moves towards the smell of blood. Weak and immaterial creatures that are very difficult to detect, but victims will have all their blood sucked dry from their bodies.
Two-Legged Silkworm, Earth List No.27: All-white bipedal creatures, have unparalleled Ice Attribute venom with no cure.
Steel Ants, Earth List No. 36: Colonial insects. Devour steel, nemesis of all artifacts.
Silver-Striped Six Horn Spider, Heaven List No. 19: Has a silver pattern on its back, intensely strong venom, even Emperor Realm Masters cannot ward them off.
Tyrant Bee, Heaven List No. 21: Extremely strong venom in its tail stinger, ranked highest among the world’s top ten poisonous insects, extinct.
…
The lists went on and on.
On the Heaven List, Yang Kai saw the description and introduction of Soul Devouring Insects.
Soul Devouring Insects, Heaven List No.11: Specializes in devouring Spiritual Energy, the bane of all Souls. When young and weak, can be exterminated with Conflagrated Spiritual Energy or suppressed by extraordinarily powerful Divine Sense, but as they grow, they become extremely difficult to subdue, even for Emperor Realm cultivators.
In this Exotic Insect List, Soul Devouring Insects were ranked eleventh in the Heaven List, which was already very high up. Yang Kai had never even heard of the ten Exotic Ancient Insects ranked above Soul Devouring Insects.
In the Insect Emperor’s notes, the ten strongest Exotic Ancient Insects had already become extinct and no longer existed in this world.
Of course, this was only his personal opinion. Whether they were truly extinct or not, no one knew.
Yang Kai had the vague thought that the reason why these Soul Devouring Insects were able to rank so high up was related to their immense ability for growth.
As the Insect Emperor noted, Soul Devouring Insects were actually not difficult to deal with when they were still weak. They could be killed with Conflagrated Spiritual Energy or subdued with a strong Divine Sense; however, they would become an immense problem when they matured.
Yang Kai could not help but get excited when he suddenly got his hands on a book like this and read it with great interest. Since the Insect Emperor dared give himself such a title, it must mean that his research on the Dao of Exotic Insects was unparalleled; practically no one could surpass him. He was likely to be the only person with this knowledge in the entire Star Boundary. Once Yang Kai mastered this information, if he ever encountered any of the Exotic Ancient Insects in this book in the future, he would be able to apply the right countermeasures to deal with them.
After the Heaven and Earth Lists in the Exotic Insect Record, the habits, breeding methods, and restraining methods of each of the Exotic Ancient Insects were written in detail.
Most of the Exotic Insects had their particular restraining methods. For example, Earth List No.13, Blood Aphids. Even though they moved towards the smell of blood and were extremely small, even invisible to the naked eye and undetectable with Divine Sense, they were incredibly weak to fire. Any Fire Attribute Secret Technique would be enough to force them to retreat.
And also, there was Earth List No.36, Steel Ants. Even though they were the nemesis of artifacts, they were afraid of a strange type of stone called Moonstone. If the Steel Ants ingest this Moonstone, then they would melt into a thick puddle of water in a few moments, dying a clean death.
The key point is that Moonstones weren’t a precious material. They were mostly used for illumination and did not have much use as an artifact refining material, so it was quite easy to acquire in the Star Boundary.
Yang Kai deliberately searched for a method to restrain the Soul Devouring Insects.
The Insect Emperor only provided two methods. One was to kill them using Conflagrated Spiritual Energy when they were very weak, and the second was to suppress them. Since they will no longer be afraid of Conflagrated Knowledge Seas after they grew to a certain extent, they were basically unkillable. Besides suppressing them, there was no other way to deal with them.
After going through the book, Yang Kai gained a lot of information and now had some ideas on how he was going to deal with the Soul Devouring Insects he had.
Half a day later, Yang Kai closed the Exotic Insect Record.
Just like when it first appeared, it disappeared without warning. In a flash of light, it was no longer in this space.
But Yang Kai was now the owner of the Insect Enslavement Bracelet, so whenever he wanted to read the Exotic Insect Record again, he could call it out at any time.
Then, Yang Kai withdrew his Divine Sense and focused his mind. While unleashing the power of the Insect Enslavement Bracelet, he dragged out the Soul Devouring Insects inside the Soul Warming Lotus in an attempt to transfer them into the Insect Enslavement Bracelet.
The Soul Devouring Insects he had before were not a problem for him. Even though they were unruly in the Divine Ascension World, these Soul Devouring Insects were now obedient under the suppression of the Insect Enslavement Bracelet’s aura and were quite easily transferred into the space of the Insect Enslavement Bracelet by Yang Kai.
It was the sealed Soul Devouring Insects that worried Yang Kai.
Even though the sealed light ball had the double insurance of a Great Emperor’s power as well as the World Force of the Divine Ascension Mirror’s Mirror Soul, Yang Kai still didn’t dare to take this task lightly.
It took a lot of effort for him to safely transfer them to the space inside the Insect Enslavement Bracelet.
Only then did he let out a sigh of relief.
Now that there were no more Soul Devouring Insects inside his body, he didn’t have anything to worry about anymore.
The two batches of Soul Devouring Insects were transferred in by Yang Kai and placed into an unused jar.
These jars were vessels made by the Insect Emperor from some extremely precious materials and were specifically designed to rear Exotic Insects.
The dangerous aura that Yang Kai perceived from the other jars were all from the Exotic Insects left behind by the Insect Emperor back then. Even though ten thousand years had passed, being nurtured by the special power present inside the bracelet, these Exotic Insects did not get weaker and instead grew even more powerful than before.
Yang Kai did not dare to release them.
These Exotic Insects were not raised by him, so Yang Kai did not have the confidence that he could control them. If they did not obey his orders after they were released, it would be like dropping a stone he tried to move on his foot.
He could only wait for his strength to improve in the future before gradually giving it a try.
Right now, the most critical matter was to deal with the Soul Devouring Insects.
The two batches of Soul Devouring Insects were placed into one jar, and Yang Kai sealed the jar properly before circulating his Divine Sense. Forming seals with both hands, Yang Kai unlocked the seal on these insects using the technique Tian Yan taught him.
The next moment, a buzzing sound came out from the jar.
Yang Kai listened to it for a moment and he could not help but pale slightly.
He could clearly sense the two groups of Soul Devouring Insects were like two armies at this moment, slaughtering each other in a world-shaking fight.
However, since the difference in strength between the two groups was not very big, the fight was particularly fierce and bloody. There seemed to be a reign of terror inside this jar.
But Yang Kai was not worried about this.
The Exotic Insect Record also stated that this was one method the Soul Devouring Insects used to survive and evolve.
They do not think, but move based on their instincts.
Just like Poison Arts, the Poison Refiner will place some venomous creatures in one space and have them kill each other. The one that survives at the end would be the most powerful one.
The evolutionary growth of the Soul Devouring Insects was exactly the same. They were driven by instincts and could not be restrained by any means.
However, this evolutionary process could also be stimulated by an external force.
Considering all this, Yang Kai withdrew his Divine Sense from the Insect Enslavement Bracelet and opened the barriers around the cave mansion with a wave of the token in his hand, flying out.
A short while later, he arrived at the peak of Purple Bamboo Peak. Looking around, he quickly found Gao Xue Ting’s cave mansion.
Flying over, Yang Kai stood outside the cave mansion and just as he was about to shout for her, Gao Xue Ting’s voice suddenly came from inside. “Come in!”
Yang Kai was stunned, but a slightly touched expression emerged on his face.
Gao Xue Ting was able to detect his presence so quickly, firstly because of how powerful her cultivation was, and secondly because she must have been monitoring his movements all this time.
This wasn’t surveillance, however, but a form of protection.
She likely heard some news from Wen Zi Shan, and that was why her attention never slacked during this time.
Yang Kai did not say anything and flew straight into her cave mansion.
After going through several turns in the cave, Yang Kai soon arrived at a stone room.
This was likely the place where Gao Xue Ting lived and rested.
Looking around, Yang Kai was surprised to find that the cave mansion’s interior was very simple with hardly any furnishings. There was only a cultivation mat and a bamboo bed. Nothing else could be seen besides that.
Gao Xue Ting was currently sitting atop her bamboo bed, looking indifferently at him.
“Elder Gao!” Yang Kai cupped his fists in salute.
Gao Xue Ting gently nodded, and said with concern, “How did your retreat go?”
“Thanks to Elder Gao’s blessings, it was successful.”
“Glib-tongued flattery!” Gao Xue Ting glared at him, “Your retreat had nothing to do with me.”
“Uh…” Yang Kai did not expect Gao Xue Ting to be so blunt about his thoughtless flattery, and could not help feeling a little embarrassed.
“Tell me, why are you looking for me?” Gao Xue Ting restored her look of indifference.
“Oh, it’s like this,” moving on to the main reason he was there, Yang Kai quickly got up and continued. “I want to ask Elder Gao if there is any Facetless Profound Grass in Azure Sun Temple?”
“Facetless Profound Grass?” Gao Xue Ting’s brow wrinkled.
“It’s a kind of Dao Source Grade Mid-Rank spirit grass, it’s not a rare thing.” Yang Kai was an Alchemist himself, and he was deeply knowledgeable with spiritual flowers and exotic herbs.
“What do you want this for?” Gao Xue Ting asked curiously.
“Alchemy,” Yang Kai said insincerely, looking away, and continued. “Elder Gao, you know that I am an Alchemist, and I obviously want spirit grass for Alchemy…”
The corners of Gao Xue Ting’s lips raised slightly, her smile barely noticeable, but did not further question Yang Kai’s clumsy denial. She took out her communication artifact, transmitted Divine Sense into it, and said indifferently, “Let me ask. We should have it in the storehouse if this spirit grass is not a rare thing.”
“Many thanks, Elder Gao.” Yang Kai quickly thanked her.
There was a long period of silence.
Yang Kai felt extremely ill at ease standing in the secluded cave mansion. He wanted to break the silence by starting a topic with Gao Xue Ting, but worried that she might prefer him keeping his mouth shut, therefore decided to continue the awkward silence.
Gao Xue Ting did not engage in a conversation. She just closed her eyes and meditated, completely unaffected by Yang Kai’s presence, as if he did not exist.
After a while, the communication artifact in Gao Xue Ting’s hand started to hum.
She opened her beautiful eyes, transmitted information with the communication artifact, and said to Yang Kai, “There is Facetless Profound Grass in the storehouse, a lot of it. How much do you want?”
“The more, the better!” Yang Kai was pleased.
“It looks like you’re planning to refine a lot of pills,” Gao Xue Ting snorted.
Yang Kai laughed shyly.
“What are you going to exchange for them?”
“Huh?” Yang Kai was stunned.
Gao Xue Ting said, “The Facetless Profound Grass belongs to the temple, it can’t be given to you for free, can it? What are you going to exchange for them?”
“Is Elder Gao doing business with me?” Yang Kai was surprised. He had never thought Gao Xue Ting had such a side of her.
“You can say so.” Gao Xue Ting nodded, “Were you planning to take them for free?”
Yang Kai said quickly, “How is that possible?! I was planning to buy them.” After a pause, he asked timidly, “Will you accept Source Crystals?”
“We’re not short of Source Crystals.” Gao Xue Ting replied without expression.
Speechless, Yang Kai said, “What do you use, if not Source Crystals, in business deals?”
“Hmph!” Gao Xue Ting sneered, giving him a thoughtful look before saying, “Forget it, I’ll ask Junior Sister Chen for their price.”
“Many thanks…” Yang Kai wiped the sweat on his forehead.
For some reason, he was always under great pressure whenever he was with Gao Xue Ting, a phenomenon that never happened even when he was with Wen Zi Shan, and he had no idea why.
A moment later, Gao Xue Ting looked at Yang Kai again, “Junior Sister Chen informed me that the Facetless Profound Grass cost a thousand Source Crystals a piece.”
“It’s a reasonable price,” Yang Kai was overjoyed.
“High-Rank Source Crystals!” Gao Xue Ting added.
Yang Kai was stunned for a moment, then jumped up and said, “Are you trying to rob me?”
Gao Xue Ting was indifferent, “Junior Sister Chen is responsible for the temple storehouse, and she decides everything for the storehouse. If she said it’s a thousand High-Rank Source Crystals, then a thousand High-Rank Source Crystals it is.”
Then she said, “What’s wrong? Are you too poor?”
“Not really,” sweat was beading and dripping down Yang Kai’s forehead as his face twitched slightly, “It’s just that… the price is not right. Elder Gao, have you made it clear to Elder Chen that Facetless Profound Grass is a Mid-rank Dao Source Grade spirit grass, and it’s not some rare spirit grass? It can be easily cultivated by any big Sect, so how could it cost so many Source Crystals?”
“Who do you think this Queen is? Your messenger? If you want to know, ask her yourself,” Gao Xue Ting’s already cold face became colder.
Yang Kai was embarrassed by her sudden outburst, he did not know what she was angry about, and was helpless.
“But…” Gao Xue Ting changed her tone. She kept her eyes on Yang Kai, making him shiver. He thought to himself, [Elder Gao looks cold as ice on the surface, but in fact, could she be as hot as fire on the inside?]
That idea scared him, making him anxious.
“Junior Sister Chen said that if you don’t have the money to buy it, you can… pay with your body,” Gao Xue Ting said meaningfully.
*Gudong… *
Yang Kai could not help gulping as cold sweat dripped down his cheeks.
“Don’t misunderstand,” Gao Xue Ting explained. “Junior Sister Chen meant that if you join the temple and become a disciple, you can enjoy a big discount, you can even have those Facetless Profound Grass for free, and you can refine as many pills as you wish”
“Become a disciple of the temple?” Yang Kai looked at her in amazement.
“Are you not willing?” Gao Xue Ting looked over coldly, her voice dropping a few degrees, “Are you looking down on the temple? Is it not good enough for you?”
“No, absolutely not,” Yang Kai waved his hands frantically. “It’s just that Azure Sun Temple is such a big Sect. Is it really okay to recruit someone without any procedures?”
Gao Xue Ting snorted, “Normally you’d have to pass all kinds of examinations and tests to become a disciple. To put it bluntly, the temple only recruits new disciples once every ten years. At that time, several hundred thousand people participate in the trials in Azure Sun Mountain Range and no more than three hundred are ever accepted. Even among these three hundred disciples, only half will become true disciples while the others will remain outer disciples who never have an opportunity to enter the Inner Sect, but you…” she slanted her eyes towards Yang Kai, “We might be able to make an exception.”
She looked at Yang Kai as if she just offered him a great deal, and it would be a great loss if he were to refuse.
“Hehe…” Yang Kai laughed dryly. “Then many thanks to Elder Gao and Elder Chen for their good intentions.”
“So, what is your decision?” Gao Xue Ting questioned further, not giving Yang Kai time to think at all.
Yang Kai cleared his throat, fully aware of the seriousness of this question. He appeared to be calm, but his mind was spinning.
Soon, he replied, “Elder Gao should know that Junior is used to wandering freely and has never joined any Sect before…”
“What about the Blue Feather Sect?” Gao Xue Ting interrupted him directly.
Yang Kai stared at Gao Xue Ting and asked, “Elder Gao, did you secretly investigate me?”
Gao Xue Ting said lightly, “We performed a casual check, and this information wasn’t hard to obtain. As you said, our Sect is a great Sect and has many connections, it’s not a difficult task at all to investigate a few people.”
The corners of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched and said, “Then how much does Elder Gao know about this Junior?”
Gao Xue Ting said, “Apart from the colour of your underwear, this Queen knows everything, including that you’re not a native of the Star Boundary.”
Yang Kai was sweating profusely as he wiped his forehead, “Elder Gao is really well-informed.”
On the inside, he was cursing out Bian Yu Qing. If he was not mistaken, Gao Xue Ting’s source of information was definitely her.
Bian Yu Qing was just a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator. If Gao Xue Ting really wanted information from her, there was no way Bian Yu Qing could refuse.
Yang Kai just wondered when Gao Xue Ting had done this.
“Since Elder Gao knows about Junior’s past with Blue Feather Sect, Elder Gao must also know why I joined and what happened after,” Yang Kai knew he could not hide it any longer and could only tell the truth.
“En,” Gao Xue Ting nodded.
“I was quite unhappy during those months in Blue Feather Sect!” Yang Kai said seriously.
“Oh, don’t worry, the temple is different from those small Sects like Blue Feather Sect. You will feel at home here. If you want, this Queen can even take you as her Disciple and teach you how to cultivate,” Hearing this, Yang Kai gaped at Gao Xue Ting in surprise.
Her making such a proposal showed that Gao Xue Ting really wanted to recruit him into Azure Sun Temple.
However, even from an objective standpoint, Yang Kai did have such potential.
He was young and had good cultivation, an obvious target for all major Sects to compete for.
Moreover, he was a Dao Source Grade Alchemist and also a cultivator from the Lower Star Fields. He was strong and had a strong foundation, having also taken an Extraordinary Treasure Pill. In other words, it was only a matter of time before he broke through to the Emperor Realm.
Azure Sun Temple did not want to let go of a potential Emperor. His qualifications were enough for Gao Xue Ting to want to recruit him.
Of course, with Gao Xue Ting’s aloof personality, this was not a task she would normally take up unless someone had directed her, and who other than Wen Zi Shan could be the person behind that?
Yang Kai figured everything out very quickly and was honestly quite tempted.
Gao Xue Ting’s proposal was not very shrewd, but it was very sincere. During this period, Yang Kai also felt the sincerity and concern of the few Azure Sun Temple Elders and he got along well with Xia Sheng and the other disciples.
It was not a bad idea to be a disciple of Azure Sun Temple.
There would be all kinds of advantages to joining a great force like Azure Sun Temple and few would ever dare to challenge such a disciple.
However, Yang Kai had his own concerns.
His biggest concern was the Demon Spirit sealed in his body.
When he was possessed by the Demon Spirit and was reduced to a Demon that day, he had battled against Gao Xue Ting. If he really joined the temple, in the case that this information was disclosed, he was unsure what Gao Xue Ting would do to him.
The Demon Spirit of the Ancient Great Demon was not something that could be ignored.
Yang Kai hesitated for a moment, unable to decide if he should join Azure Sun Temple and enjoy the cool shade under this big tree, or if he should continue to stay independent and free.
“Go back and consider it for a few days, then give me an answer once you have made your mind,” Gao Xue Ting seemed to notice his dilemma, and instead of pushing him, she took the initiative to step back.
Yang Kai immediately breathed out a sigh of relief, “Many thanks, Elder Gao, regarding the matter of Facetless Profound Grass…”
“The price remains the same and we’ll keep an account of it. I’ve ordered someone to send you a thousand pieces for now,” Gao Xue Ting said lightly, “This account will be settled when you decide to become a disciple of our temple.”
“Al… right.” The corner of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched, thinking that the Azure Sun Temple really valued him if they were willing to use such a method to keep him with them.
Then, there was a long period of silence again.
At a certain moment, Gao Xue Ting opened her beautiful eyes once again, “You may go. The person who will deliver the Facetless Profound Grass is already waiting outside, just talk to him yourself.”
“Many thanks, Elder Gao!” Yang Kai turned and left after giving thanks to Gao Xue Ting.
When he was outside of the secluded cave mansion, Yang Kai saw a middle-aged man waiting for him.
This man looked about forty years old, but his cultivation was only at the First-Order Dao Source Realm. This level of cultivation may be satisfying in some places such as Maplewood City, since all the Old Ancestors in the various major families were just at this level.
However, this was quite lacking in Azure Sun Temple, so obviously this middle-aged man’s aptitude wasn’t the best.
Ever since Yang Kai came out from Maplewood City and stepped into this journey of his, he had seen countless rising stars and young talents, so his vision and experience were much broader than before.
As soon as the middle-aged man saw Yang Kai walking out of Gao Xue Ting’s cave mansion, he hurriedly put a smiley face on and cupped his fists, “This one has brought a thousand pieces of Facetless Profound Grass by the order of Elder Chen. I wonder if your excellency is Senior Brother Yang Kai?”
“En!” Yang Kai nodded.
The man’s eyes lit up and he praised, “I’ve heard about Brother Yang for a long time. Seeing you today, you really live up to your name.”
“What? Am I famous in Azure Sun Temple?” Yang Kai touched his nose.
The middle-aged man said with a smile, “I’m afraid Brother Yang has been training hard in isolation these days, so he has yet to hear the news from outside. The name of Brother Yang is not just widely spread in Azure Sun Temple, but also across the entire Southern Territory.”
“Is there such a thing?” Yang Kai’s face turned solemn as he suddenly had a bad premonition…
The man did not realize the change in Yang Kai’s expression as he continued to bootlick, “The news about Brother Yang refining the Extraordinary Treasure Pill in the Four Seasons Realm and overwhelming Wu Chang from the Heavenly Martial Holy Land has shocked the whole world. Brother Yang is extremely famous now…”
When he got to this point, he suddenly found that Yang Kai’s face had turned ugly, and immediately figured out the problem. With a smile, he stopped his flattery and spoke after giving out a cough, “Brother Yang, these are the Facetless Profound Grass that Elder Chen asked me to deliver. Would you like to count them?”
“It’s fine,” Yang Kai reached for the Space Ring that was passed to him and thanked that man with his fist cupped before turning around to leave.
Although Yang Kai had predicted that some of his secrets could no longer be hidden after his involvement in the incident in the Four Seasons Realm, he did not expect that the news would spread so fast and so wide. It was outside of his predictions.
If so, he should seriously consider Gao Xue Ting’s proposal to join Azure Sun Temple.
With the umbrella of protection of Azure Sun Temple, he could certainly avoid a lot of troubles in the future while without it, he would probably be hunted when he travelled around Star Boundary.
The cultivators in the Four Seasons Realm already knew that the Extraordinary Treasure Pills were all gone; however, matters related to the Extraordinary Treasure Pill were quite sensational. Some would still come and demand Yang Kai hand over the Extraordinary Treasure Pills he had…
The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he got. When he returned to the secluded cave mansion on Purple Bamboo Peak’s mountainside, his mood gradually stabilized.
There was no need to be worried about this for now. If such a thing really happened, he would just have to deal with it then.
Moreover, he was not someone to be trifled with. Despite his cultivation apparently not having progressed since the Four Seasons Realm closed, his Soul had grown significantly inside the Divine Ascension Mirror World. Any average cultivator would not be his match.
Yang Kai would only have troubles if an Emperor came to seek him out.
But even if it was a First-Order Emperor Realm Master, couldn’t he just run away if he couldn’t defeat them?
When he thought of this, his mood brightened up and a feeling of pride kicked in. Yang Kai overflowed with indescribable self-confidence, which made him feel a lot more relaxed.
After he sat down cross-legged again, he took out the Insect Enslavement Bracelet and threw the thousand Facetless Profound Grass into it before stuffing them all into the jar which contained the Soul Devouring Insects.
According to the Exotic Insect Record, due to its medicinal scent that had extremely stimulating effects on the Soul Devouring Insects, Facetless Profound Grass was the best herb to promote their evolution.
This spirit grass was also very effective in helping the growth of the Soul Devouring Insects.
All of a sudden, a mad burst of cracking sounds came from within the jar, like the galloping noises of a golden-armoured horse.
After listening for a while, Yang Kai ignored it.
There was no way for him to interfere with the evolution of the Soul Devouring Insects. Only time would tell the final results of their evolution.
Withdrawing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai took out another object and placed it in his hand to study attentively.
It was another Emperor Artifact of the Insect Emperor, the Soul Splitting Saber!
Yang Kai would not consider refining it if it was just an ordinary Emperor Artifact.
These days, he had numerous tricks to handle his enemies. Without even mentioning all of the abilities he had personally created for himself, Yang Kai also possessed two Emperor Artifacts, the Annihilation Thunder Bead and the Myriads Swords. Unfortunately, the Myriads Sword had to be returned to the Qin Family when he went back to Maplewood City.
However, one could not digest well when being stuffed with too much good food. This was one of Yang Kai’s concerns before, so he had not planned to refine the Soul Splitting Saber previously. On top of that, he had not been strong enough to do this anyways.
But everything changed since he knew this Soul-type Emperor Artifact was going to be useful. Yang Kai needed to refine it now.
Having made up his mind a while ago, after he settled matters regarding the Soul Devouring Insects, Yang Kai began to refine the Soul Splitting Saber.
He thought that refining such an Emperor Artifact would certainly take up a lot of effort and energy, since even the Insect Enslavement Bracelet had taken him a full whole month to refine.
But, contrary to what Yang Kai originally thought, refining the Soul Splitting Saber was easier than the Insect Enslavement Bracelet.
In less than half a month, Yang Kai has broken the seal on the Soul Splitting Saber, erased the Soul Imprint of the Insect Emperor, and left his own Soul Imprint in its place.
After thinking it over, Yang Kai felt that there were probably two reasons for this situation. First, his Spiritual Energy was strong enough to shorten the refining time, second, the Soul Splitting Saber was once fused with his own Soul Avatar and fought together with him against enemies in the Divine Ascension Mirror World. This experience had strengthened the connection between the Soul Splitting Saber and himself, allowing him to refine it in just half a month.
However… Like with all artifacts, Yang Kai was unable to exert this Soul Splitting Saber’s maximum power even if he had successfully refined it. In order to do that, a long period of nourishing and adapting was necessary.
Yang Kai sent the Soul Splitting Saber into his Knowledge Sea and then appeared before it in his Soul Avatar form. Next, he spared no energy to cultivate a certain Secret Technique with it.
This Secret Technique was learned from Tian Yan.
During his last days in the Divine Ascension World, Yang Kai learned a lot from Senior Tian Yan.
Tian Yan was a Great Emperor after all, and although he did not have a physical body, it was still a simple matter for him to teach Yang Kai some things at his level.
Tian Yan was extremely generous with Yang Kai and passed him almost all of his accumulated knowledge and experiences in the cultivation of the Soul.
However, in terms of Secret Techniques, Yang Kai only learnt one from Tian Yan.
Tian Yan once said to him that the quality of the Secret Techniques one possessed was more important than the quantity. If Yang Kai mastered just one extraordinary Secret Technique to an incredible height, he could still be invincible. On the other hand, learning many Secret Techniques to a sub-par level would only prove useless. All roads lead to one path, the same was true for Secret Arts and Secret Techniques.
As such, he only taught one Secret Technique to Yang Kai.
This Secret Technique was called the ‘Heaven Severing Slash’!
During normal times, Yang Kai would cultivate this Secret Technique by nourishing his weapon with his Spiritual Energy; then, when he needed to use this Secret Technique, Yang Kai could unleash all of the accumulated energy in his weapon in a single strike, resulting in an almost certain-kill technique.
Tian Yan did not have a Soul-type artifact, so he only used this Secret Technique to nourish a weapon he had formed from his own Spiritual Energy.
On top of that, it was ten thousand years ago, when he was just an ordinary Emperor Realm Master, that he created this Secret Technique.
Tian Yan today did not need this kind of Secret Technique. He was a Great Emperor and could control Principle Strength to a high degree. No one in that world could stand against him in a fight, so why would he still need special Secret Techniques?
Therefore, he passed this skill down to Yang Kai.
Although the Heaven Severing Slash would only have a miraculous effect on the first strike delivered by the Soul-type artifact it was cultivated with, and subsequent attacks could only exert the original power of that artifact, the Soul Splitting Saber itself was an Emperor Artifact, so even if Yang Kai could not release its maximum power, few would be able to withstand such a strike given his current strength.
With the support of this Secret Technique, the Heaven Severing Slash, even an Emperor Realm Master could be severely injured if they were taken off guard.
This was a life-saving, certain-kill trump card, therefore Yang Kai spared no effort to cultivate it.
Inside his Knowledge Sea, Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar revealed itself and continuously sent Spiritual Energy towards the Soul Splitting Saber, causing the flames around him to dance about madly.
With every crash of the flaming waves, the Soul Splitting Saber seemed to glow faintly and its aura would increase ever so slightly. This increase was almost unnoticeable, but if it continued to build like this, it would reach an astonishing intensity in time.
The first strike from this technique would definitely be Earth-shaking!
From time to time, Yang Kai opened his mouth to blow out a pure breath from his Soul towards the Soul Splitting Saber, tempering the strength within.
As the days passed, Yang Kai stayed in the cave mansion on Purple Bamboo Peak and cultivated the Heaven Severing Slash with his Soul Splitting Saber.
But he also spent some time checking in on Hua Qing Si and Zhang Ruo Xi in the Small Sealed World.
Ever since he gave the last Extraordinary Treasure Pill to Hua Qing Si and she consumed it unceremoniously, this woman’s attitude towards Yang Kai had turned around completely. Although she did not act at Yang Kai’s beck and call, she no longer rejected him directly as she used to and was much more accommodating.
The Principles of the Small Sealed World weren’t perfect… Although the Small Sealed World had absorbed a lot of Shattered Principles from the third layer of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, its inner World Principles still lacked something and could never be compared to the Principles of the Star Boundary.
It was not a problem for a Master like Hua Qing Si, with her level of cultivation, to normally cultivate and comprehend in the Small Sealed World.
However, if she wanted to break through, the Small Sealed World was not suitable for her due to the imperfection of the Principles here. The Heavenly Way and Martial Dao that she could sense and comprehend from this place were insufficient to support her next breakthrough.
But when that time came, Yang Kai would definitely let her out and find a safe and proper place for her to break through peacefully. By then, Yang Kai would have a subordinate Emperor who could fight for him…
He was so excited just thinking about it.
Zhang Ruo Xi had also made rapid progress these days, and now her Second-Order Returning Realm cultivation had been fully consolidated.
The cultivating speed of those Favoured Sons and Daughters of Heaven paled in comparison to Zhang Ruo Xi’s.
Something in Zhang Ruo Xi seemed to be awakening gradually, and as it did so, her cultivation speed only grew faster and faster. There was a gradual change in her character as well, as she became less timid and instead was imbued with strength and confidence.
This naturally pleased Yang Kai.
It had been two months since Yang Kai came back from the Divine Ascension Mirror World, and today, like the day before, he was nourishing his Soul Splitting Saber in order to cultivate the Heaven Severing Slash in his cave mansion. Suddenly, he sensed the barrier outside being slightly disturbed.
He immediately stopped his cultivation and returned his consciousness to his body. Taking out the control token, he then disabled the barriers.
A voice was heard from outside, “Young Master Yang, Young Master Yang!”
The voice was familiar and Yang Kai realized who the person was after a while.
He replied, “Please enter, Deacon Tao.”
Outside the cave mansion, Tao Ming, who originally had a small grudge with Yang Kai a few months ago, heard his invitation and stepped into the cave mansion with a solemn face.
After a short while, he came to the secret room. However, Tao Ming at this moment had long lost his past arrogance and greeted Yang Kai with a flattering smile, “Pardon me for interrupting Young Master Yang’s rest. This Tao feels deeply guilty about this.”
Yang Kai glanced at him and said lightly, “Who sent you here? What news do you bring?”
Tao Ming’s face turned solemn again after hearing this, “By the order of Sir Temple Master, this Tao is here to inform Young Master Yang that the item you need… has been found.”
Yang Kai got up hastily as his eyes lit up and he called out, “Really?”
Tao Ming smiled, “Temple Master gave his word personally for this matter.”
“Great, it’s been found!” Yang Kai brightened up.
Although Tao Ming did not tell him what ‘it’ was, what else could it be other than the Tribulation Fruit?
Even though Yang Kai had been busy with the Insect Enslavement Bracelet, raising his Soul Devouring Insects, and nourishing his Soul Splitting Saber, he never stopped thinking about the matter of the Tribulation Fruit. It was just that the appointed time had not arrived, so he did not become impatient either.
Now, he finally received the good news.
He could not help releasing a sigh of relief, and his whole body relaxed, as if the burden he had been carrying for a long time was finally lifted.
After all, the Tribulation Fruit was a matter of life or death for Qin Yu.
All the opportunities that he received during these past few months were only possible because of the Bustling World Token owned by Qin Zhao Yang.
If he failed to obtain the Tribulation Fruit, Yang Kai would not have been able to give a proper confession to Qin Zhao Yang and the Qin Family.
This matter would definitely become a stain on his conscience and may even develop into a Heart Demon.
But now, he no longer needed to worry. Since Wen Zi Shan had ordered Tao Ming to send a message to him, it meant that the Tribulation Fruit had been found.
In this way, he could bring the spirit fruit back to Maplewood City, hand it over to the Qin Family, and finally untie this knot in his heart.
Tao Ming rejoiced with him, although he had no idea what Yang Kai was looking forward to. He just needed to flatter him.
“Right, Deacon Tao, did the Temple Master say where that thing is now?” Yang Kai asked after composing himself again.
Tao Ming replied, “Temple Master said that the thing is already en route and will be here within three days. Young Master Yang may rest assured that there will not be any accidents.”
“Good good good, thank Temple Master Wen on my behalf,” Yang Kai cupped his fists formally.
“If Young Master Yang has no other orders, this Tao will take his leave,” Tao Ming smiled.
“En, many thanks, Deacon Tao!”
Yang Kai sent Tao Ming off, but he did not feel like cultivating again after. He guessed that Wen Zi Shan had sent a message to him just now in order to let him feel at ease, but he also probably did not expect that Yang Kai would value the Tribulation Fruit so much…
Yang Kai felt like he was sitting on pins and needles in his cave mansion for the next three days, and early in the morning of the last day, Yang Kai left Purple Bamboo Peak and rushed towards Myriad Saints Peak.
When Yang Kai reached the temple’s main peak, before he could even announce his arrival, Wen Zi Shan’s voice called out from inside, “Come in.”
Yang Kai was startled… but quickly straightened up his clothes and stepped in.
There was no one else in the temple except for Wen Zi Shan, who was sitting cross-legged, seemingly cultivating some kind of mysterious art.
Yang Kai waited quietly and did not interrupt him after entering the temple.
Secretly, Yang Kai was impressed.
Wen Zi Shan was already so powerful with his Third-Order Emperor Realm cultivation, yet he was still so diligent and did not slack at all in his efforts.
For a cultivator, being untalented was not scary. What made a cultivator formidable was not their aptitude, but their will.
No doubt, Wen Zi Shan was a man of incredible will. It was not a fluke that he was able to reach the Third-Order Emperor Realm …
After a short while, Wen Zi Shan ceased his work and opened his eyes. He looked at Yang Kai and teased, “What’s wrong? Can’t wait for it anymore?”
Yang Kai said shyly, “The earlier I see it, the earlier I will be at ease.”
“En, a loyal and righteous spirit!” Wen Zi Shan nodded, “The Bustling World Token from the Qin Family was not wasted.”
“It’s only natural for a man to fulfil his promises,” Yang Kai replied.
Wen Zi Shan nodded lightly, pondered for a short while before saying, “Have you given the matter mentioned by Little Xue Ting any thoughts?”
Yang Kai gave a wry smile after hearing this, “So, it was Temple Master Wen who asked Elder Gao to persuade me?”
“Yes, it was my idea, but Little Xue Ting also has great expectations of you,” Wen Zi Shan admitted bluntly. “Besides, you have entered the Divine Ascension Mirror World, so you can already be considered half a disciple of the temple, yes? This is a secret that even ordinary disciples do not know about”.
Yang Kai looked solemn and pondered for a long while. He seemed to be considering the words that he was about to say for a long time before finally opening his mouth, “Many thanks to the kindness of Temple Master Wen and Elder Gao, but Junior does not have any thoughts about joining any Sect for now. It is not because I despise or even dislike your noble temple, but… Junior has his own reasons.”
Of course, what he meant was the Demon Spirit.
Wen Zi Shan gazed at him intently and nodded, “Fine, this King won’t force you. However… if one day you grow tired of wandering outside, just come to our temple. Our gates will always be open for you!”
Yang Kai was slightly moved and bowed deeply, “Many thanks for your kindness, Temple Master Wen. If such a day does come, it will be this Junior’s honour to accept!”
Wen Zi Shan grinned, “This King was like you back then, in love with the idea of wandering freely and enjoying life, but then…” The corner of his mouth twitched before he continued, “I picked up a little girl who fought like a wild cat for food in the wild.”
The appearance of Gao Xue Ting floated before Yang Kai’s eyes.
“So, bear in mind that you can pick up any treasure during your travels across the Star Boundary, but be sure not to pick up a little girl!” Wen Zi Shan said in a sincere and serious tone, “These little girls are cute, gentle, and obedient when they are young, but when they grow up, they will show absolutely no respect for you and become utterly heartless. Just speaking of this now… it brings tears to one’s eyes!”
He looked extremely hurt, making Yang Kai feel speechless.
“Only brings tears to your eyes, is it?” A cold, emotionless voice suddenly came from outside the hall, causing the temperature inside the plummet rapidly. It was as if the weather had suddenly turned and winter rolled in, causing one to feel a chill deep in their bones…
Wen Zi Shan froze solid and his face twisted up, as if he had been hit by some kind of paralysing technique.
A moment later, a beautiful figure slowly walked inside.
Gao Xue Ting, her face cold as ice, swept her beautiful eyes, which seemed to be filled with thunder and lightning, across the room.
Wen Zi Shan seemed to shrink to half his original height at that moment, and even Yang Kai could not help shivering.
A murderous intent and hostility filled the air.
“Show absolutely no respect, right?” Gao Xue Ting said flatly as the corners of her mouth curled upwards ever so slightly.
“Th… this is… tha… that…” Wen Zi Shan’s sweat was dripping down like a waterfall and his words cracked like he was stuttering incoherently. At the same time, his eyes kept swirling about as he forced himself to put on a flattering smile, “Little Xue Ting, wha… what are you doing here? Wh, wh, why didn’t you send a notification before coming in? I… i… isn’t this a little impolite?”
Gao Xue Ting answered coldly, “I’m here to deliver the Tribulation Fruit.”
Saying so, she tossed a jade box to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up as he caught the jade box and opened it with a flick.
The box was full of cold mist, and a crystal-like spirit fruit was lying quietly inside it.
[The Tribulation Fruit!]
Even though Yang Kai had never seen the real thing before, he could still identify it at a glance. By looking at the appearance of the Tribulation Fruit, it seemed that it was freshly harvested not long ago. If he wasn’t mistaken, this Tribulation Fruit was the very one that had been picked in the Realm of Winter in the Four Seasons Realm.
Yang Kai didn’t know which great force Azure Sun Temple obtained this spirit fruit from, but given the time consumed, it seemed that the Azure Sun Temple had put in a lot of effort for this.
“Utterly heartless, you say?” Gao Xue Ting did not intend to give up, however, and continued to stare at Wen Zi Shan coldly after handing over the spirit fruit, her eyes flashing like sharp swords.
Wen Zi Shan grit his teeth before putting on a strong expression and bellowing to Yang Kai, “Disaster has come, so this Temple Master will take his leave first. Take care of yourself! If you ever encounter troubles in the future, come to the temple!”
Yang Kai did not even have time to give his thanks before Wen Zi Shan’s figure flickered and disappeared.
“You want to run?” A cold light flashed across Gao Xue Ting’s beautiful eyes as she summoned her Radiant Sun Mirror Emperor Artifact. An intense beam of blazing sunlight shot out towards the void, and a moment later, Wen Zi Shan’s figure reappeared in that direction. Although Gao Xue Ting found his whereabouts, Temple Master Wen was still able to escape the Radiant Sun Mirror’s suppression with his extraordinary strength and disappeared in a blink of an eye.
“Old thing, don’t you dare run! Today I will show you what it really means to have no respect and become utterly heartless!” Gao Xue Ting ground her teeth as she stomped her foot and chased after Wen Zi Shan.
The disciples who were guarding outside watched this scene with their jaws dropped.
Yang Kai, who was holding the jade box, looked at the farce with a smile on his face. He kept smiling and smiling until he suddenly could not smile anymore, slapping his thigh in regret, “I forgot to ask about the Shattered Star Sea again!”
Maplewood City, Qin Family.
On the sickbed in Qin Yu’s boudoir, laid Qin Yu looking as pale as a ghost. She coughed gently from time to time and occasionally so violently that she could not even breathe.
An inexplicable Death Qi lingered around Qin Yu, one that even ordinary mortals who had never cultivated before could vaguely feel. Someone with a bit of cultivation could clearly see Qin Yu was enveloped by a faint black Qi with just a scan of their Divine Sense.
As time went by, the black Qi became denser.
No one knew what kind of energy the black Qi was, but since it appeared two months ago, it had been devouring Qin Yu’s vitality, making her condition worse day by day.
It was her World Tribulation Body Special Constitution, which was not allowed by the Heavens and Earth. Anyone with Qin Yu’s Special Constitution could not live beyond eighteen years of age, because the World Principles would cut off their vitality.
Beside the sickbed, a maidservant who served Qin Yu, gently wiped away the tears from her red and swollen eyes.
Qin Yu was kind and polite to both her Seniors and Juniors. Everyone in the Qin Family respected her, including this maidservant. The maidservant was in extreme distress that the Young Lady of the family was suffering from a serious illness and had weakened this much in just two months.
“What are you crying for?! Get out of here, you useless thing!” Qin Zhao Yang shouted in fury from the side.
He was extremely anxious these days, and the sight of this maidservant crying in front of him aggravated his worries and fury, so he could not stop himself from venting at her.
The maidservant fell to her knees in terror, but she did not leave, “Forgive me, Old Ancestor! Please show mercy! This servant will stop crying, but this servant will not go! This servant wants to stay and take care of the Young Lady…”
She begged repeatedly with utter sincerity.
Qin Zhao Yang opened his mouth to say something but could only sigh deeply, raised his hand to use an invisible force to lift the maidservant up. Restraining his anger, he muttered, “Forget it…”
He was too depressed and lonely to argue.
“It is this servant’s fault. This servant did not take good care of the Young Lady,” as the maidservant spoke, she silently wiped the newly shed tears from her eyes.
“Old Ancestor…” On the sickbed, Qin Yu gently called out suddenly. With another fierce cough, the maidservant quickly went forward to pat her back.
After Qin Yu had stopped coughing, Qin Zhao Yang said in a soft voice, “Yu’er, take a good rest. Don’t say anything.”
Qin Yu shook her head slowly and asked, “Big Brother Yang… Is he back yet?”
Hearing this, Qin Zhao Yang’s face changed slightly, at a loss for words.
As Qin Yu approached her eighteenth birthday, Yang Kai was her only hope for survival, but there was still no sign of him.
Qin Zhao Yang could not help but begin to wonder if he had trusted the wrong person.
He had already investigated what happened in the Four Seasons Realm.
In the Four Seasons Realm, Yang Kai had performed an incredible feat of refining a legendary Spirit Pill before outwitting and overpowering the elite disciples of various great forces all on his own. The news had spread widely across the entire Southern Territory.
Maplewood City was a small city, but it was not difficult to catch the news with Qin Zhao Yang’s effort.
However, the Four Seasons Realm had closed nearly three months ago, so if Yang Kai had really gotten the Tribulation Fruit, he should have come back to Maplewood City long ago. Why then had he not appeared yet?
Qin Zhao Yang did not want to be overly suspicious and pessimistic, but he just could not be at ease for even a day without seeing Yang Kai.
He did not know whether Yang Kai was too embarrassed to see him because he failed to obtain the Tribulation Fruit, or Yang Kai did not take the matter of the Tribulation Fruit seriously and had completely forgotten the matter.
The world was too big, so even if he planned to look for Yang Kai, he would not know where to start. What was more, he did not have enough time.
“Old Ancestor, are you suspecting Big Brother Yang?” Although Qin Yu was extremely ill, she was still as beautiful and intelligent as before and immediately knew what was on his mind as soon as she saw the look on Qin Zhao Yang’s face.
“Old Ancestor does not want to overthink things either, he just hopes Little Brother Yang can bring that item back as soon as possible, but… even if he didn’t manage to obtain the item, he should still return to explain. He is not omnipotent, this Old Ancestor can understand, but now he…!”
“Perhaps Big Brother Yang was delayed by some important matter,” Qin Yu said softly, but just as she had just finished speaking, she coughed again.
“Old Ancestor hopes so,” Qin Zhao Yang gave a wry smile, but he disapproved in his heart.
[Even if he was delayed, he could always send someone to deliver a message, right?] Deep down in his heart, he felt that Yang Kai probably took the Myriads Sword from the Qin Family and did not want to come back.
It would be fine even if he lost an Emperor Artifact like the Myriads Sword as, although it was extremely valuable, the Qin Family had declined so far that no one in the family could use its power anymore. Also, an ordinary man is innocent but his treasures make him guilty, so having such a precious treasure around might bring them more harm than good down the line.
But the cost of trusting the wrong person made Qin Zhao Yang feel extremely heartbroken and he secretly regretted that he had given such an important task to a person he barely knew.
If he had gone to the Four Seasons Realm on his own at that time, there might be a glimmer of hope that Qin Yu could be saved.
The deep sense of guilt and self-blame was the cause of Qin Zhao Yang’s sleepless nights and lack of appetite.
“Big Brother Yang will be back,” Qin Yu said with a determined voice, “He is not the kind of person who would take advantage of others and leave without saying goodbye.”
“Young Lady, at this point of time, why are you still defending that person?” The maidservant watched in distress, tears struggling to leak out again.
“You don’t know anything,” Qin Yu reprimanded her gently and continued, “Although I haven’t known Big Brother Yang for a long time, Old Ancestor, you should know that I have the Fated Fortune Heavenly Pupil, and my judgement about people is never wrong.”
Hearing this, Qin Zhao Yang’s eyes lit up, and he felt a little hopeful again.
It was true. Although Qin Yu did not have a very high cultivation, because she had the Fated Fortune Heavenly Pupil, her ability to assess others’ characters was incredibly accurate. With just a glance, she could sense if a person was good or evil, and if a person was trustworthy or not.
Without Qin Yu’s advice, Qin Zhao Yang would never have given the Four Seasons Realm entry quota to Yang Kai.
“So Big Brother Yang must be delayed by something,” Qin Yu ended the discussion before changing the topic, “Old Ancestor, don’t worry about me and attend to your own affairs. I will get better sooner or later. In fact, I heard from Hui’er that quite a few important characters have recently arrived here in Maplewood City… and some are even residing in our Qin Residence?”
“En!” Qin Zhao Yang nodded, “Old Ancestor did not tell you about it because you were so ill lately, but it seems this little girl has been gossiping behind my back.”
While talking, he glared at the maidservant called Hui’er.
The maidservant gulped, “This servant just told the Young Lady some recent news to uplift her mood. This servant dares not repeat it next time.”
“I’ll chop off your legs if this happens again!” Qin Zhao Yang snorted coldly.
“Don’t be afraid, Old Ancestor is just scaring you,” Qin Yu smiled and patted the back of Hui’er’s hand.
Qin Zhao Yang sighed deeply, “The people in the family are all spoiled by you.”
“Old Ancestor, what is happening in the city recently, why have so many people suddenly come?” Qin Yu asked, turning her head.
In the past two years, the peace of Maplewood City was consistently disturbed. First was the appearance of the Divine Spirit Luan Feng, attracting Masters sent by great forces like Star Soul Palace to investigate. Then, there was a Demon Qi explosion which besieged the city, causing a great deal of trouble.
The nearby Forest City was wiped out in the latter incident, but fortunately, the Demon Qi had retreated voluntarily in the end, restoring peace and calm once more.
If that wasn’t the case, Maplewood City would likely be a desolated ruin by now.
After that event, a few Emperor Realm Masters worked tirelessly to investigate the situation.
The reason for the arrivals of these Masters this time was still unknown to Qin Yu, so she was quite curious. Although Qin Yu heard some rumours from Hui’er, she did not know any details.
“The source of this recent incident actually has something to do with the appearance of that Demon Qi last time,” Qin Zhao Yang sighed, with a sad look on his face.
Qin Yu’s delicate face slightly changed upon hearing this and she exclaimed, “Is it possible the Demon Qi that disappeared inexplicably has appeared again?”
Hui’er, who was standing next to her, trembled, with her face filled with terror.
“That’s not it,” Qin Zhao Yang replied, “The Demon Qi retreated inexplicably and has never appeared again. The reason for what is happening now is because a High-Grade Earth Vein has appeared beneath the seal that we visited last time.”
“A High-Grade Earth Vein?” Qin Yu’s eyes lit up, “Has a High-Grade Earth Vein really appeared in our Maplewood City?”
Qin Zhao Yang laughed, “We, the old folk of the city, were surprised too. You know, the reason why Maplewood City has not attracted any great forces is that it is too small and the World Energy aura of this region is not very rich. There are also no special products produced here, so the City Lord’s Mansion has been able to take responsibility for all things all this time. However, when this High-Grade Earth Vein appeared, the situation changed…”
“A single High-Grade Earth Vein would not be enough to cause such a stir… could there be other reasons these great forces have decided to act?”
“Indeed!” Qin Zhao Yang looked solemn, “Near that High-Grade Earth Vein, it seems that many branches of Mid-Grade and Low-Grade Earth Veins have also been found. In addition, towards the direction of Clear Jade Mountain, a Source Crystal lode was discovered, but the grade of this mine is still to be determined!”
Qin Yu could not help feeling shocked this time.
She finally understood why Maplewood City had attracted so many outsiders.
A Source Crystals lode was enough to start a war over, not to mention that there were many Earth Veins of different qualities in this place too.
“Of course, great forces like Star Soul Palace would not pay any attention to these Earth Veins or a single Source Crystal lode, but the second and third-tier forces are all very interested in these things,” Qin Zhao Yang continued.
“Maplewood City is not the same anymore, there are already several dozen Third-Order Dao Source Realm Masters here, and if the benefits seem to be large enough, it probably won’t be long until Emperors begin to appear as well.”
Qin Yu listened intently, then said seriously, “Old Ancestor, during this critical situation, I don’t think we, the Qin Family, should get ourselves involved. Let us just wait and observe. We are no match to those giants.”
“Old Ancestor naturally understands this,” Qin Zhao Yang forced a smile, “It’s just that the Qin Family has rooted in Maplewood City and we can’t stay out entirely… the Masters from the second and third class Sects were not willing to settle down in the various inns in the city and instead chose to stay in the residences of the few large families here. The Zhou Family, Du Family, Liang Family, and Xin Family have shown hospitality to a number of such forces each, and even the City Lord’s Mansion was wrested away by Flying Saint Palace!”
“Even the City Lord’s Mansion…” Qin Yu covered her mouth.
Qin Zhao Yang continued, “Flying Saint Palace is helmed by an Emperor Realm Master, while Sir City Lord is just a Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator. How could he raise any objections? We, the Qin Family, are already considered to be lucky by comparison as we only need to deal with one great force, but the City Lord’s Mansion… Haa… they are in dire straits.”
“What happened?” Qin Yu questioned.
Qin Zhao Yang’s face darkened, he said, “Zhuang Pan returned!”
“What?” Qin Yu’s face turned black after hearing this and she couldn’t help gritting her teeth, “That shameless coward still dares to return?”
Back when the city was besieged by the Demon Qi wave, the few Masters available had united and used the Black Tortoise Seven Points Array to forge their way towards the sealing place of the Demon Qi in order to stem its tide. However, before they could complete their task, Zhuang Pan had lost his nerve and, caring for nothing but saving his own skin, deserted the others and ran off at the crucial moment, leading to the destruction of the Black Tortoise Seven Points Array.
Although Duan Yuan Shan managed to escape at the last moment and bring Qin Zhao Yang and Qin Yu back to Maplewood City, they had failed to reinforce the Demon Qi seal. No one knew what happened next, only that three Emperor Realm Masters showed up right after and then the Demon Qi disappeared.
Zhuang Pan had not been seen since then.
He used to be a Vice City Lord of Maplewood City, similar to Drunkard. He assisted Duan Yuan Shan in managing Maplewood City and the surrounding ten-thousand-kilometre region. After he disappeared, the position of Vice City Lord was naturally left unfilled.
Duan Yuan Shan had tried to persuade Yang Kai to fill that position, but he kindly refused.
After that incident, everyone, including the Qin Family and Duan Yuan Shan, hated Zhuang Pan deeply. Duan Yuan Shan even announced in public that he would execute this cowardly traitor if he ever saw him again.
Who could have expected that this same snake would return just a few months later? How could Qin Yu not be surprised?
Qin Zhao Yang coldly snorted, “He didn’t just shamelessly return, he actually came back even more arrogant than before!”
“What happened?” Qin Yu frowned, vaguely feeling that there must be more to the story.
“What else could have happened? He sought refuge in the Flying Saint Palace!” Qin Zhao Yang sneered, “He was also the one who led the delegation from Flying Saint Palace into the City Lord’s Mansion. I bet City Lord Duan… must be suffering.”
Qin Yu was silent for a while after listening to him, seemingly imagining the helplessness Duan Yuan Shan must be experiencing.
With the backing of Flying Saint Palace, Zhuang Pan could parade around wantonly while Duan Yuan Shan could do nothing against him. Their situation had totally reversed from before, so Duan Yuan Shan must be incomparably frustrated.
‘City Lord’s Mansion’ today was only an empty title.
“Every family is not having a good time now. The Zhou Family, Du Family, Liang Family, and Xin Family are all quite irritated by this foul atmosphere. Xin Gao Jie has come to me and complained about the bitterness his family is suffering several times already…” Qin Zhao Yang sighed with his head shaking slowly.
“Then our Qin Family…” Qin Yu stopped, swallowing back the words on the tip of her tongue.
“It’s still fine so far,” Qin Zhao Yang said in a heavy tone, “The Sect that came to stay in our Qin Residence is called ‘Eight Paths Sect’, a second-class Sect, and the young man who leads them prefers solitude so he can focus entirely on his cultivation, so our Qin Family has not been given any serious trouble from him. The same goes for this young man’s subordinates, so we have been able to co-exist peacefully until now.”
“That’s good then,” Qin Yu felt relieved after hearing this.
“Our Qin Family has it comparatively good,” Qin Zhao Yang smiled faintly.
While they were still speaking, a sudden rush of footsteps was heard from the outside. It seemed that someone was running in their direction.
Qin Zhao Yang couldn’t help but frown.
After a while, the voice of the maidservant rang out, “Old Ancestor…”
The voice quivered with uncontrolled emotions.
“Have a good rest, Yu’er. Old Ancestor will be back soon,” Qin Zhao Yang did not want to disturb Qin Yu’s mood with some trivial matters, so he turned to leave after comforting her.
“Old Ancestor…” Qin Yu called out from behind, “Be careful.”
Qin Zhao Yang gently nodded and walked out. After closing the door, he flashed his eyes like lightning and glared at the maidservant.
The eyes of the maidservant were filled with tears as she began to speak but then hesitated when she noticed Qin Zhao Yang’s stare.
Qin Zhao Yang walked out of the boudoir and the maidservant followed closely behind him.
After taking some distance from Qin Yu’s room, Qin Zhao Yang asked, “What’s the matter? Speak.”
“Old Ancestor…” The maidservant hurriedly explained what happened just now.
Qin Zhao Yang’s face darkened after hearing her explanation and rushed out to the rear courtyard.
Inside her room, Qin Yu spoke to Hui’er, “Help me up.”
Hui’er asked in shock, “Young Lady, what do you want to do?”
“To see what is happening, I have a bad feeling,” Qin Yu answered with worry.
“We have Old Ancestor with us, what could happen? In fact, Young Lady is the one who is not feeling well now, so it’s better not to get up.”
“Are you going to help me or not?” Qin Yu stared at her Hui’er with her sharp but beautiful eyes.
Hui’er panicked seeing this and desperately tried to dissuade, “Young Lady, this servant dares not without Old Ancestor’s consent…”
“Then I will get up by myself…” Qin Yu grit her teeth and slowly straightened her body. It was just a simple movement but it already caused her to groan in pain and cold sweat to bead on her forehead.
Hui’er, watching from the side, was anxious like a cat on a hot brick and kept trying to persuade Qin Yu to stop, but her Young Lady turned a deaf ear to her pleas. In the end, Hui’er had no choice but to choke down her tears and assist Qin Yu.
…
City Lord’s Mansion.
Inside the main hall of the City Lord’s Mansion, a man who appeared to be in his twenties sat at the head seat. Although this man had an impressive appearance, there was a sinister feeling about him, as if he was always plotting some wicked scheme.
His cultivation was not high, just First-Order Dao Source Realm, but the air about him made it apparent he had a strong background.
This man was the current Young Palace Master of Flying Saint Palace, Ning Yuan Shu.
Ever since the last Young Palace Master of Flying Saint Palace, Ning Yuan Cheng, suffered from a sudden death, his younger brother, Ning Yuan Shu, had assumed the role of Young Palace Master.
Two Third-Order Dao Source Realm Masters were standing separately on either side of Ning Yuan Shu. One of them was expressionless and seemed to be resting his mind with his eyes closed, while the other one appeared like an old man but radiated a strong vitality.
They were the Left and Right Protectors of Flying Saint Palace, Gao Shan and Liu Shui.
Gao Shan was Left Protector while Liu Shui was Right Protector. Both of them were proficient in sound-based techniques and had mysterious combination skills that were incredibly powerful.
At this moment, Ning Yuan Shu was savouring the spirit fruits on the table with a smile on his face.
Below him, the former Maplewood City Vice City Lord, Zhuang Pan was staring coldly at a man, his facial expression filled with contempt and arrogance.
The person that he was staring at was Duan Yuan Shan.
Beside Duan Yuan Shan was Drunkard, who developed a red flush in his face and was most likely drunk. His eyes seemed glossy and drifted around the hall as his gaze floated about his surroundings.
“Is there some reason Young Palace Master has summoned both of us here?” Duan Yuan Shan cupped his fists and asked unhappily.
Anyone would be pissed if their home was suddenly intruded on by outsiders and taken over. However, considering that both Protector Gao Shan and Protector Liu Shui were present, and represented Flying Saint Palace, Duan Yuan Shan did not dare to resist and could only allow them to occupy the City Lord’s Mansion, which was supposed to symbolize the pride of a City Lord.
These days, he and Drunkard had tried their best to live in simplicity and stay out of worldly affairs.
But Ning Yuan Shu had asked for them today.
“Obviously there is a reason for you to be summoned! However, don’t you see that Young Palace Master is currently enjoying his spirit fruit? Just stand there and wait quietly!” Zhuang Pan rebuked sharply.
Just a few months ago, he had a conflict with Yang Kai during which the spirituality of his precious artifact was all but destroyed and he had personally been injured. At the time though, Duan Yuan Shan did not help him and instead took Yang Kai’s side to reprimand him.
Zhuang Pan loathed Duan Yuan Shan, so now that he had the chance to repay the humiliation from back then, he took full advantage of it.
“Ge…” Drunkard gave out a loud burp without any warning, filling the air with a strong smell of alcohol.
Ning Yuan Shu, who was seated at the head of the hall, frowned as he lost the mood to savour his food and unpleasantly dropped them.
“Sir City Lord… ge, why does this old man… wu… hear a dog barking… uhh…” He could only finish his one sentence in a few divided sections, looking so sloppy that it was embarrassing just looking at him.
“You…” His words and actions enraged Zhuang Pan. It was impossible for him to not understand that Drunkard was insulting him.
But Ning Yuan Shu waved his hand to stop his clamour.
Seeing this, Zhuang Pan did not dare to continue his sentence and instead just glared at Drunkard with hatred.
“City Lord Duan!” Ning Yuan Shu greeted Duan Yuan Shan with a slight smile.
Duan Yuan Shan frowned.
Although Ning Yuan Shu was smiling, Duan Yuan Shan could not help feeling a chill down his back, like some kind of venomous snake was eying him.
“What is your command, Young Palace Master?” Duan Yuan Shan asked solemnly.
“Father specially arranged the two Protectors, Gao Shan and Liu Shui, to keep this Young Master company for this trip out of the palace. Given that they are the strongest masters aside from my Lord Father in our palace, they actually shouldn’t be dispatched for such a simple errand. So, City Lord Duan, do you know why they are here?” He grinned lightly.
Duan Yuan Shan thought to himself, [What does that have to do with me? It was your old man who sent some men to protect you. Also, don’t Young Masters like you always have some bodyguards with them when they are out for a trip?]
Even though he thought so, he simply replied, “I don’t know.”
“Heh heh…” Ning Yuan Shu laughed softly, “Of course they are here to keep me safe…”
Duan Yuan Shan’s face darkened and he showed an expression that seemed to scream ‘Are you messing with me’. [If this question was that simple, why did you even ask in the first place?]
As expected, Ning Yuan Shu suddenly continued, “Lord Father said that the public order in Maplewood City… is quite bad!”
Duan Yuan Shan frowned and asked, “Where did such a rumour spawn from? This Duan has governed Maplewood City for many years now and although the cultivators in the city might not be the kindest or easiest to get along with, killing and robbing rarely happen here. Regarding the statement about the public order here being bad, please forgive this Duan for not being able to agree.”
“Really?” Ning Yuan Shu smiled slightly, but sinisterly stared at Duan Yuan Shan, “Then, may I ask, how did my Elder Brother die?”
Duan Yuan Shan shivered and frowned, “What does Young Palace Master mean?”
“Heh heh…” Ning Yuan Shu laughed and said, “My Eldest Brother, Ning Yuan Cheng. City Lord Duan, don’t you know him?”
Duan Yuan Shan was silent. Of course, he knew Ning Yuan Cheng. When the Divine Spirit appeared last time, Ning Yuan Cheng had brought an entourage to Maplewood City. Duan Yuan Shan also knew that Ning Yuan Cheng participated in an auction fair that he had organized.
Ning Yuan Shu said, “As far as I know, my Eldest Brother went missing after he participated in your auction fair in Maplewood City. Although no corpse was found, his Life Lamp, which was placed in the palace, shattered, so obviously, something tragic happened to him. Even if the location of his disappearance was not in Maplewood City, it should not be far from here. Should City Lord Duan not give me an explanation?”
Duan Yuan Shan looked uncertain.
He thought that the other party was about to settle accounts with him.
Although Ning Yuan Cheng’s death had nothing to do with him and he didn’t even know anything about it, the last time he showed up in Maplewood City, he had a bad encounter. In any case, Maplewood City should at least be a bit responsible. If Flying Saint Palace was really trying to hold him accountable, Duan Yuan Shan would have no way out.
Seeing his ugly face, Ning Yuan Shu laughed, “City Lord Duan, don’t panic. Speaking of this, this Young Master wants to thank you…”
“Is the Young Palace Master telling this Duan a joke?” Duan Yuan Shan looked up with a gloomy expression.
Ning Yuan Shu shook his head, “Of course not. If my Eldest Brother had not encountered an accident in your Maplewood City, I would never have been appointed as Young Palace Master in his place. City Lord Duan, this Young Master should be thanking you.”
Instead of feeling any joy, Duan Yuan Shan felt chills all over.
He rejoiced instead of mourning for the death of his own Elder Brother, excited to replace him as Young Palace Master, and even admitted it in public.
Ning Yuan Shu’s repulsive personality was evident. Duan Yuan Shan would not dare to take people like him lightly.
From above, Ning Yuan Shu continued, “Although that trash died, his death caused the Sect to lose a lot of face, which is really heartbreaking. In addition… Elder Fu, who came to investigate the cause of my Elder Brother’s death, also died in Maplewood City. Elder Fu was a Third-Order Dao Source Realm Master, a highly valuable asset to the Sect. His death can’t be left uninvestigated. Shouldn’t City Lord Duan give me an explanation for this as well?”
His face gradually turned cold as he spoke the last line, and he looked at Duan Yuan Shan aggressively.
“Elder Fu?” Duan Yuan Shan was startled. His face changed slightly as he thought of someone and whispered, “Is this the person the Young Palace Master is referring to?”
As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and waved forward, using his Source Qi to form the image of a person.
Ning Yuan Shu took a look, and nodded, “Exactly! He is Fu Si Tong from my Sect!”
Duan Yuan Shan’s face changed drastically, and he murmured, “It turns out that he was your noble Sect’s Elder, no wonder he had such a high cultivation.”
He had just suddenly recalled this person and had not really expected him to be the Elder Fu that Ning Yuan Shu mentioned.
Duan Yuan Shan was not familiar with this Elder Fu, but when the Demon Qi wave enveloped the city, Duan Yuan Shan had recruited him as a candidate to form the Black Tortoise Seven Points Array that the Qin Family contributed. There was also another young woman with a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivation who was present at the time. Although Duan Yuan Shan knew that both of them were extraordinary, he did not investigate their backgrounds.
He only learned that one of them was an Elder of Flying Saint Palace today.
He pondered for a while, cupped his fists, and continued, “If Young Palace Master wishes to know how your Elder Fu died, this Duan can say a thing or two.”
“Oh? Let’s hear it,” Ning Yuan Shu frowned.
“Young Palace Master must have heard about the revival of an Ancient Great Demon and an eruption of Demon Qi which occurred near Maplewood City a few months ago.” He explained what had happened, including Zhuang Pan’s cowardice at the last moment, abandoning everyone and fleeing.
Zhuang Pan’s expression turned from red to green as he was unable to refute.
Gao Shan and Liu Shui both turned even more contemptuous looks towards Zhuang Pan, making the latter want to find a place to bury his head and never to show himself again.
“When the array broke, Demon Qi spread rapidly, and this Duan was unable to resist so he escaped back to the city with the Qin Family members, somehow managing to survive in the end. Elder Fu did not leave immediately but chose to stay behind. There is no way for this Duan to know what happened exactly, but since Elder Fu died, it was most likely because he was injured by the Demon Qi.”
“I see…” Ning Yuan Shu did not show any doubt. He just pondered for a moment before positing, “In that case, it’s not City Lord Duan’s fault, but Deacon Zhuang’s?”
He suddenly turned his gaze to Zhuang Pan.
Zhuang Pan cultivation was not low, at any rate, he had reached the Dao Source Realm, allowing him to obtain the position of Deacon even though he only joined Flying Saint Palace recently. He thought he would be making his way in the world but he did not expect that a few words from Duan Yuan Shan would cause tragedy to suddenly approach.
Zhuang Pan cursed Duan Yuan Shan viciously in his heart.
Sensing the coldness of Ning Yuan Shu’s gaze, however, Zhuang Pan dropped to his knees with a thud in fright, causing Duan Yuan Shan and Drunkard to also look at him with contempt.
“Please understand, Young Palace Master, the situation that day was definitely not what Duan Yuan Shan had described. The reason why this subordinate did that was actually… actually…” He ran out of words and cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
“Actually what?” Ning Yuan Shu sneered, his eyes flickering as he questioned, “You’d best give me a satisfactory explanation today”.
At that critical moment, like a light went off in his brain, Zhuang Pan said, “This subordinate realised that nothing could be done and so rapidly retreated in order to make himself useful and serve the Young Palace Master!”
After he finished speaking, he looked at Ning Yuan Shu with a flattering smile.
“He is really good at bootlicking!” Duan Yuan Shan whispered to Drunkard who was next to him, “I never knew that he was such a smooth talker before.”
Although his voice was lowered, everyone in the room was a Dao Source Realm Master, so how could they not have heard him?
“Ge…” Drunkard’s eyes were barely open as he was totally drunk at the moment, so all he did was burp loudly.
Zhuang Pan couldn’t help glaring at them fiercely, his face blotched with patches of redness, feeling humiliated.
“Yes, it’s good that Deacon Zhuang has such loyalty. Here, have a reward!” Ning Yuan Shu, who was taken aback for a moment, suddenly smiled pleasantly and threw a spirit fruit to Zhuang Pan. The spirit fruit rolled along the ground and stopped right in front of Zhuang Pan.
Instead of feeling humiliated, however, Zhuang Pan laughed and cupped his fists. “Many thanks, Young Palace Master, for the reward!”
He bent down, bowed his head, held the spirit fruit in his mouth like a dog, and ate it.
Duan Yuan Shan could not stand it anymore and turned his gaze away, feeling disgusted as he remembered that he had once worked with this person before.
“City Lord Duan…” Ning Yuan Shu turned his gaze to Duan Yuan Shan again and said, “This Young Master has a request.”
“Please state it, Young Palace Master.”
Ning Yuan Shu began, “This Young Master is an outsider, and as the saying goes, ‘Strong foreign dragons do not test local snakes’. Since City Lord Duan still holds authority in this place, this Young Master hopes that City Lord Duan can help to find out the cause of the death of my Eldest Brother. If someone harmed him, the murderer must be found!”
When Duan Yuan Shan was about to open his mouth to speak, Zhuang Pan stood up with an eager expression on his face and said, “If Young Palace Master wants to trace the cause of death of Young Master Cheng, this subordinate does have a suspicious candidate.”
“Oh?” Ning Yuan Shu looked at him in surprise, “What do you know? Let’s hear it…”
“There is a little brat surnamed Yang, who had once used a certain flying ship artifact!” Zhuang Pan said, “And this subordinate had seen Young Master Cheng use the same ship artifact before. If this subordinate is not mistaken, that little bastard surnamed Yang must know something. He could even be the one who killed Young Master Cheng and stolen his wealth.”
“Is that the case?” A cold light flashed across the eyes of Ning Yuan Shu’s eyes.
“Indeed!”
As soon as Zhuang Pan finished speaking, Ning Yuan Shu suddenly struck a palm at him, releasing a surge of Source Qi. Obviously, this was a powerful Secret Technique. Zhuang Pan was shocked and just as he was about to react instinctively, Elder Gao Shan, who had been closing his eyes and concentrating the whole time, suddenly opened them and sent a flash of light over to envelop Zhuang Pan.
Zhuang Pan suddenly stiffened in place, and the next moment, there was a muffled sound resounding from his chest. Accompanied by a scream, Zhuang Pan was sent flying and slammed heavily onto the rear wall, coughing up a mouthful of blood as he became dazed and dishevelled.
“Young Palace Master…” Regaining control of his body, Zhuang Pan asked in a flustered tone, “Why?”
Ning Yuan Shu coldly snorted, “Why didn’t you report such important news earlier?”
Zhuang Pan, who was dumbfounded with his jaw dropped, muttered, “This subordinate thought…”
“You thought?” Ning Yuan Shu looked at him coldly, “Do you think this Young Master didn’t want to find out how that trash died? Hmph, although this Young Master despised him, he was still a member of the Sect. It is highly improper for a member of the Sect to have died unknowingly. The circumstances must be investigated and the murderer must be severely punished!”
“Yes yes yes, it was inconsiderate of this subordinate!” Zhuang Pan replied repeatedly.
“Where is that boy surnamed Yang now?” Ning Yuan Shu asked in a deep voice.
“I’m afraid Young Master will have to ask City Lord Duan about this person’s whereabouts,” Zhuang Pan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at Duan Yuan Shan coldly, taking pleasure in his coming misfortune.
Ning Yuan Shu also shifted his gaze, looking aggressively at Duan Yuan Shan.
Duan Yuan Shan frowned and said, “He left Maplewood City several months ago, and this Duan doesn’t know where he is now.”
“Which Sect does he belong to? And is there anyone he was close with in Maplewood City?” Ning Yuan Shu asked again.
“This Duan doesn’t know which Sect he was from. He came to Maplewood City two years ago, and he does not seem to have any relatives in the city.”