Proud, Yin Le Sheng arrogantly laughed, “Yang Kai, do you think you will live after today?”
A Master proficient in the Dao of Space could tear space at will, but now, he was trapped here. Yin Le Sheng was so filled with joy that it couldn’t be described with mere words.
So, even though he knew that he shouldn’t talk to Yang Kai at this moment, Yin Le Sheng couldn’t help but arrogantly taunt.
Hua Fei Chen, on the other hand, didn’t speak a word as he was constantly looking for a chance to attack.
Yang Kai, blocking the next attack, drew back. He put the Myriads Sword horizontally before his chest, taking a defensive stance, before rebuking with a snort, “The frog at the bottom of the well knows nothing of how vast the sky is. Today, this Young Master will open your useless eyes. Just watch how I break this useless Array of yours!”
Saying so, he flipped his hand as a bracelet suddenly appeared. Although bracelets were usually artifacts worn by women, this bracelet didn’t appear to be suitable for women to wear because it was filled with mysterious runes and was surging with Spiritual Energy. One could tell that it was a powerful Emperor Artifact at a glance.
“You still dare to be so arrogant?” Yin Le Sheng was enraged. With the cover of Heavenly Net Absolute Sealing Array, Yin Le Sheng sneaked close to Yang Kai, but just as he raised his hand, preparing to launch a sneak attack, he suddenly heard a buzzing noise ringing next to his ear.
That buzzing sound was extremely strange, as if countless tiny insects were flying over.
“What is this?” Yin Le Sheng raised his brow, and lest he found himself in another troublesome situation, he didn’t dare to make a move and rather pulled back.
“Something that will take your dog life!” Yang Kai sneered, standing on the spot, waving his hands to release countless black insects from the bracelet.
The bracelet was naturally the Insect Enslavement Bracelet, and the black insects were naturally the evolved Soul Devouring Demon Insects.
When he was besieged by the countless Yin Souls in the cave before, Yang Kai suddenly wondered whether his Soul Devouring Insects would have a restraining effect against them.
Soul Devouring Insects fed on Spiritual Energy, and could even swallow Demon Qi.
As for Yin Souls, to a certain extent, they were just a mass of Spiritual Energy.
However, earlier, there were too many eyes on him. If the Soul Devouring Insects did not take a fancy to the Yin Souls, his secret would be exposed with him not being able to kill all the onlookers.
But now, there were only two that were watching, so Yang Kai secretly released a few Soul Devouring Insects earlier while dealing with Yin Le Sheng and Hua Fei Chen, waiting for the results.
After giving it a try, it went as he had expected. The Yin Souls were simply delicious dishes laid out for the Soul Devouring Insects. Not only did the Soul Devouring Insects devour the Yin Souls gleefully, they also seemed able to devour the black Qi as well.
They loved this type of energy too.
Now that the result of his experiment was already out, naturally, Yang Kai would no longer be polite to the Netherworld Sect. The next moment, countless Soul Devouring Demon Insects flew out, swarming in every direction. The insects rushed forward like a pack of hungry wolves charging into the flock of sheep, catching each and every Yin Soul wandering around.
In a flash, miserable wails sounded everywhere. Although these Yin Souls were devoid of the sentience they had when they were still alive, they still screamed when they were being eaten, giving jitters to the listeners.
Both Yin Le Sheng and Hua Fei Chen were shocked. They had no idea what was going on. All they understood was that their side was taking heavy losses.
With having no idea of what was happening, they didn’t dare to rashly attack anymore, lest what Yang Kai said came true.
“What’s going on?” Helpless, Hua Fei Chen could only ask the twenty or so disciples managing the Array.
Only they knew about the situation inside the Array, because they were the ones who had arranged it. More importantly, the foundation of the Array was made up of their artifacts, so it could even be said that their lives were related to the array, their life and death tied to it.
“It’s very bad, Elder Hua!” A disciple cried in horror, “That guy has suddenly released a swarm of insects.”
“A swarm of insects?” Hua Fei Chen’s eyes widened in shock before he furiously shouted, “Why are you making a fuss about a few insects? Just kill them!”
[What a bunch of wastes! Even an Emperor Realm Master can be killed inside the Heavenly Net Absolute Sealing Array, and you are afraid of a bunch of insects? The disciples taken into the Sect over these past few years have really dropped in standard.]
That disciple added with trepidation, “Elder, these insects can’t be killed. Rather they are devouring the banner’s Yin Souls.”
“What!?”
Hua Fei Chen was taken aback this time. The Yin Souls inside the black ball were the ones from each Netherworld Purgatory Banner and were completely intangible. They were identical to the Yin Souls found in the Ancient Lands Passageway, an accumulation of grievances after a person’s death. They were sinister and treacherous, not good to provoke.
Yet there were actually insects in this world that could swallow Yin Souls stored within the banners?
What kind of insects were they?
Before Hua Fei Chen could ask any further questions, he suddenly felt a chill coming over from the front, rushing straight at him.
Hua Fei Chen was greatly shocked and immediately shouted, “Junior! You dare to sneak attack me!?”
Evidently, this chill was the result of Yang Kai’s sneak attack, and while shouting, Hua Fei Chen hurriedly blocked the oncoming strike. A deafening clap of thunder immediately followed and his eyes bulged in shock so wide that the corners of them almost cracked. Much to Hua Fei Chen’s shock and dismay, he was actually pushed back.
This was the first head-on confrontation between Yang Kai and him as all the previous clashes were just him sneak-attacking, taking advantage of the concealment of the Array. Therefore, he hadn’t expected Yang Kai to be this powerful.
[Is he even human?] Hua Fei Chen couldn’t help but find it surreal, as if he was dreaming.
Yang Kai broke into laughter as he taunted, “If you can do it, why can’t I? What’s so strange about me sneak attacking you? Does Elder Hua think that this Young Master should just stick his neck out and let you cut it off?”
The corners of Hua Fei Chen’s lips twitched, but he couldn’t help but agree with a snort, “That would be best.”
Yang Kai meaningfully grinned and said, “Then it would depend on whether you even have the strength to make me!”
As he spoke, his figure flickered as he attacked him with an earth-shattering momentum. Somehow or the other, he had accurately grasped Hua Fei Chen’s location.
Hua Fei Chen was greatly shocked and hurriedly shouted, “Martial Nephew Yin, help me!”
A Second-Order Emperor Realm Master was attacked by an enemy, who was one Minor Realm below him, inside a Spirit Array his allies controlled, yet he was still calling for his Martial Nephew’s help. Hua Fei Chen felt like he lost all face at this moment.
But compared to his life, his face was simply nothing.
Naturally, Yin Le Sheng wouldn’t let Hua Fei Chen take risks alone and promptly rushed over after hearing this cry for help while fiercely shouted, “Yang Kai! Don’t go too far!”
Martial Nephew and Uncle instantly teamed up, their Emperor Qi surging as they launched one Netherworld Sect Secret Technique after another against Yang Kai, locking him in a fierce struggle.
Deafening claps of thunder rang out one after another as violent energy fluctuations spread outward.
Strange looks appeared on the faces of Old Fu and the girl named Lin’er, who were hovering in the air.
Old Fu furrowed his brow, criticizing, “What the Hell are those from the Netherworld Sect doing?”
“A bunch of wastes!” The girl named Lin’er ground her teeth and cursed.
She had even taken out an Emperor Artifact, the Taiyi Cinnamon Bowl, to help, but she hadn’t expected for the Netherworld Sect to be unable to take down Yang Kai even after this. This really caused her to look down on them.
“Young Lady, do you want this Old Master to help them out?” Old Fu inquiringly asked.
Judging by the shockwaves and rumblings, the chances of Hua Fei Chen and Yin Le Sheng being able to defeat Yang Kai anytime soon appeared bleak. At any rate, Old Fu was a First-Order Emperor Realm Master, and if he helped them now, they would definitely be able to suppress Yang Kai.
“No need,” the girl named Lin’er refused, “This Young Lady has already personally given them a hand, which is already giving them a lot of face. Why should you intervene too? If they still can’t win, these guys from the Netherworld Sect are truly useless.”
Old Fu didn’t dare to violate her order, so all he could do was bow his head and agree.
Right then, a cry of shock sounded.
Old Fu’s pupils shrank as he looked toward the source of the cry. The next moment, he saw the twenty or so Netherworld Sect disciples, who were presiding over the Array, stumble as if they were struck by lightning. Their faces were pale as paper and large beads of sweat were rolling down their foreheads while blood could also be seen coming out of the corners of their lips.
They seemed to have suffered serious injuries.
“What happened?” Old Fu stared with widened eyes, unable to understand what was going on.
One of the Netherworld Sect disciples cried for help, “Elder! Please… Save us! The Yin Souls within our banners are about to be completely devoured! Ple-”
The Netherworld Sect disciples’ lives and cultivation were tied to their Netherworld Purgatory Banners, so while their strength might be greatly enhanced with them, if their Netherworld Purgatory Banner was damaged, they would have to bear an extremely serious backlash.
They were just presiding over the array and weren’t directly clashing with Yang Kai.
But the Soul Devouring Insects released by Yang Kai were constantly devouring their banners’ Yin Souls, and at an extremely fast pace at that.
This disciple was rather unlucky, as all the Yin Souls released by him were devoured clean by the Soul Devouring Insects, resulting in serious damage to his Netherworld Purgatory Banner. He even had to bear a tremendous backlash.
Before he could finish talking, a streak of black light suddenly shot over from that enormous black ball.
It was the very same Netherworld Purgatory Banner that was tied to his life and cultivation.
But when this disciple saw his artifact, not only did he not feel the slightest joy, but he appeared as if he had seen something extremely horrifying, hurriedly got up, turned around, and fled.
The approaching Netherworld Purgatory Banner seemed to be sentient as it chased right after him.
In the blink of an eye, the Netherworld Purgatory Banner had already caught up with the Netherworld Sect disciple.
*Hong…*
The Netherworld Purgatory Banner blew up into a cloud of pitch black energy, enveloping the Netherworld Sect disciple.
“Ahhh!!!!…” A heart-rending scream immediately resounded. It sounded extremely miserable, as if the one caught in it was subjected to the most terrifying torture in the world.
The pitch-black energy was like black flames that were attached to this disciple, they couldn’t be put out and were like poisonous vipers that were invading his body through every pore and orifice.
Miserably screaming, the Netherworld Sect disciple kept rolling on the ground, scratching his cheeks with his hands.
He was scratching very hard, clawing his flesh and skin, and in the blink of an eye, his entire face was mangled; even his bones could be seen.
“What… what’s happening to him?” On the other side, the red-robed girl, who was controlling the Taiyi Cinnamon Bowl, turned pale and couldn’t help but ask in a trembling voice.
She had never seen such a horrible sight.
If a person wasn’t in such excruciating pain that his mind couldn’t process it, how could he do such a horrible thing to himself?
“Ten Thousand Ghosts Biting Backlash!” Old Fu too nervously gulped as he added in shock, “He is finished.”
The Netherworld Purgatory Banner was greatly damaged, so much so that even its owner had received a horrible backlash. This backlash was even more unbearable than falling into a hot wok filled with oil.
While he was speaking, the black energy on that disciple converged, completely seeping into his body all of a sudden. Right after, he screamed even more miserably, tossing and turning on the ground, clawing off pieces of his own flesh. Very soon, the ground was dyed red.
Within just ten breaths, the Netherworld Sect disciples suddenly made a huge jerk before he ceased breathing, lying still on the ground. No part of his body remained intact; even his intestines had been dug out by himself. It was a horrendous sight.
And the pitch-black energy was still burning around him, as if it would continue burning till the end of time.
*Xiu Xiu Xiu…*
Streaks of black light continued to fly out of the Heavenly Net Absolute Sealing Array, one after another, shooting straight towards the Netherworld Sect disciples.
These disciples were utterly terrified and all turned tail and ran, crying to the Elder to save them.
But, how would Hua Fei Chen have the time to rescue them when he and Yin Le Sheng were still being chased by Yang Kai. They didn’t even have the time to gasp for breath, so despite knowing that these disciples were suffering from the Ten Thousand Ghosts Biting Backlash, they were completely helpless.
However, even if he had the time, he would still not be able to rescue those disciples.
For Netherworld Sect disciples, the Ten Thousand Ghosts Biting Backlash was the cruellest torture and the most unbearable method of death. This was related to their cultivation technique and their artifacts.
But at the end of the day, it was the foundation of the Netherworld Sect, so how could the disciples not cultivate it?
Miserable screams resounded, one after another, but this time, it wasn’t the Yin Souls that were being bitten, but rather the Netherworld Sect disciples who were afflicted with the Ten Thousand Ghosts Biting Backlash.
In just thirty breaths, the number of Netherworld Sect disciples had been reduced by half, all of them having suffered the backlash and died because of their Netherworld Purgatory Banners being damaged.
However, the array was still operating.
The Heavenly Net Absolute Sealing Array was a rather peculiar Spirit Array in that it was quite flexible; five could lay out the Array and ten could too. The same went for twenty…
So, even if so many had died, the Spirit Array still had not stopped.
It was just that the pitch-black ball had faded a lot, and the three figures inside could already be seen flying about rapidly, locked in a fierce battle.
With the sudden death of half of the disciples on their side, the remaining Netherworld Sect disciples were naturally terrified. They knew that if they didn’t run away, they would not fare any better than their departed Brothers. Sooner or later, they would be killed by the backlash.
But Hua Fei Chen didn’t give out any orders to retreat, so how could they dare escape? If they really tried to escape at this point, they would definitely be chased by the entire Netherworld Sect, so they could only grit their teeth and persevere.
“Summon the Ghost King, you fools!” Yin Le Sheng suddenly shouted.
The remaining Netherworld Sect disciples all jolted when they heard this. Immediately after, a resolute look flashed across their faces before they started making hand seals as their Source Qi surged.
Next, they spewed mouthfuls of Blood Essence towards the black ball, one after another.
The red blood splashed through the black ball, vanishing from sight like the rain falling into the sea.
However, the banner’s Yin Souls inside the black ball seemed to have been stimulated and started roaring non-stop.
Hua Fei Chen timely flew over, blocking Yang Kai. Yin Le Sheng quickly pulled away, looking at Yang Kai with a glare of hatred. In the next moment, a Netherworld Banner suddenly appeared in his hand.
It was the very same Netherworld Purgatory Banner, the symbol of being a Netherworld Sect disciple.
Holding the Netherworld Purgatory Banner, he opened his mouth and spurted a mouthful of Blood Essence towards his artifact as he fiercely urged it, causing it to rapidly inflate in size.
*Huchi Huchi…*
Suddenly, rhythmic sounds started coming from the Purgatory Banner, like the sound of breathing, making everyone feel unnerved.
And along with this sound, the dense black Qi and the countless Yin Souls inside the black ball gathered towards the Netherworld Purgatory Banner in Yin Le Sheng’s hand, as if they were drawn in by some irresistible force.
In a flash, all the black Qi and Yin Souls had disappeared.
Yang Kai and the two were left standing, their fields of vision bright and clear, only the white light screen of the Taiyi Cinnamon Bowl left covering them, sealing them in this space.
Yang Kai’s heart skipped a beat as he instinctively had a dangerous feeling. While fighting with Hua Fei Chen, he found a moment to glance at Yin Le Sheng, whereupon he saw Yin Le Sheng grinning hideously before shouting, “Yang Kai, let’s see how you will remain alive now!”
Just as he said this, the Netherworld Purgatory Banner in his hand suddenly burst into a cloud of black mist, and from that surging cloud of black mist, a pair of scarlet eyes suddenly flickered with a strange gleam, like it could devour everyone’s Soul. No one could keep their eyes away from it.
Immediately afterwards, two enormous ghastly claws stretched out from the black mist.
Amid the tumbling mist, an enormous figure appeared.
The figure was more than five meters tall and was completely black, its appearance completely repulsive. There was a curved horn on his forehead, and a mouth packed with sharp fangs. When the figure appeared, it gave off an oppressive feeling.
The temperature of the surrounding air seemed to have dropped to the freezing point in an instant.
*Huchi…*
A streak of white mist gushed out from the figure’s nostrils, freezing the air.
“Ghost King!” Old Fu’s pupils shrank. He knew that the Netherworld Sect disciples had put their lives on the line now, otherwise they wouldn’t resort to such a Forbidden Technique. Once they had used this technique, they had pushed themselves to an impasse; either their enemy would die, or they would.
This Ghost King was different from the Ghost King found in the Ancient Lands Passageway. The Ghost King in the passage was born naturally and had reached its terrifying cultivation over many years of accumulation. But this Ghost King was formed by the Netherworld Sect disciples through merging the Yin Souls stored within their banners.
Nevertheless, the undeniable fact was that the aura exuded by this Ghost King was terrifying; in fact, it was comparable to a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. Old Fu, who was spectating the fight from outside, couldn’t help but shiver as the Yin Qi radiating from the Ghost King hit him.
On the contrary, the girl named Lin’er, whose cultivation was lower, remained unaffected; however, a faint aura flashed around her figure at this moment. Apparently, the glow surrounding her had negated the corrosion of the Yin Qi.
“Martial Uncle, help me!” Yin Le Sheng shouted.
Hua Fei Chen made a feint, causing Yang Kai to back away, and then immediately flickered as he retreated to Yin Le Sheng’s side and punched himself right in the chest.
*Pu…*
Blood spurted by Hua Fei Chen landed on the Ghost King, causing its aura to grow stronger still.
The two rapidly formed hand seals and a serious look filled their faces as they seemed to be resonating with something; they had established a connection with the Ghost King.
Yang Kai on the other hand stood in place with a solemn look on his face, his eyes narrowing as he sized up the newly summoned Ghost King.
[Worthy of a top Sect from the Eastern Territory, they actually had such a bizarre Secret Technique!] Yang Kai thought his victory was secured, but he had never expected such a development.
Yin Le Sheng, gritting his teeth, shouted, “Yang Kai, I didn’t anticipate you being so strong, but can you beat this Ghost King? This is the full power of the several dozen disciples of my Netherworld Sect! Your death has now been assured!”
Yang Kai derided with a snort, “You have already said that so many times today, yet this Young Master is still standing here, isn’t he?”
Yin Le Sheng was unable to suppress his anger as he stopped arguing and formed a hand seal, shouting, “Die!”
When the words fell, the Ghost King’s eyes flashed with a red gleam, it rushed toward Yang Kai.
“Devour it!” Yang Kai pointed at it as countless Soul Devouring Demon Insects flew out and crashed into the Ghost King, forming a dark cloud in the sky.
*Honglong…*
The dark cloud of insects suddenly collapsed as countless Soul Devouring Insects were knocked back and fell to the ground; it was difficult to tell whether they were alive or dead.
The Ghost King, on the other hand, was completely safe; its momentum wasn’t diminished in the slightest.
After all, the dark cloud of insects was composed of countless Soul Devouring Insects, so they didn’t form a dense or rigid structure. How could a cloud withstand such a collision? It was natural for it to collapse, giving the impression that it couldn’t take even a single hit.
Yin Le Sheng broke into laughter and sneered, “Who asked you to act so arrogantly and presumptuously? You brought this upon yourself!”
Judging by his words, it seemed as if Yang Kai was in the wrong.
Yang Kai pursed his lips into a sneer, indifferently staring at the oncoming Ghost King, showing no intention of moving away.
Yin Le Sheng’s laughter abruptly came to a stop as he stared ahead with bulging eyes when he noticed pitch-black insects crawling all over the Ghost King at some point, covering it completely. Obviously, they had secretly landed on the Ghost King during the collision.
*Kacha…*
Suddenly, a crisp sound akin to the silkworm biting the mulberry leaves rang out. Immediately, an extremely painful look appeared on the charging Ghost King’s face and it let out a howl as it suddenly slowed down.
“This…” Yin Le Sheng was stunned. He didn’t expect these strange insects would be so powerful that they could even devour the Ghost King.
Hua Fei Chen’s face suddenly brightened and then darkened as a flash of confusion appeared in his eyes. Soon, he seemed to have recalled something as he called out in alarm, “Soul Devouring Insects! These are Soul Devouring Insects!”
As a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master, he had cultivated for many, many years and naturally had an extremely rich breadth of experience and knowledge. It wasn’t surprising for him to know about Soul Devouring Insects.
He didn’t recognize them at first; after all, these Soul Devouring Insects were really different from the records he had seen in the ancient books he had read. Whether it was their size or brutality, these were on a completely different scale compared to the ancient records.
Only now did he come to realize their true nature.
And after having come to know that they were Soul Devouring Insects, Hua Fei Chen was struck with panic.
Yin Le Sheng may not know how powerful these Soul Devouring Insects were, but he knew that the Netherworld Purgatory Banner and Yin Souls were absolutely not opponents of these insects. No wonder so many disciples had so miserably died, it was because of these bugs!
While he was crying out in shock, the Soul Devouring Insects that had been knocked down and fallen on the ground also crawled back up, fluttered their wings, and buzzed towards the Ghost King, biting at it.
Currently, the enormous Ghost King was covered in Soul Devouring Insects, leaving only its faintly discernible scarlet eyes visible.
Being gnawed by the Soul Devouring Insects, the Ghost King was slowly slipping out of Yin Le Sheng and Hua Fei Chen’s control, howling and writhing as if in excruciating pain.
Hua Fei Chen knew that things weren’t looking good for them and he hurriedly shouted, “We have to end this quickly!”
Once the Soul Devouring Insects had come into play, they couldn’t delay things any longer. If they continued to drag the situation, the Ghost King would be completely devouring clean. When that happened, he and Yin Le Sheng would also suffer the Ten Thousand Ghosts Biting Backlash.
Over a dozen disciples had miserably died already, and Hua Fei Chen didn’t want to follow in their footsteps.
Yin Le Sheng was also sharp and naturally knew about the fearsome relationship with this Ghost King, so he immediately teamed up with Hua Fei Chen to force the Ghost King to attack.
*Hou…*
The Ghost King let out a deafening roar and its two eyeballs turned redder, as if blood was pouring out from them. It completely disregarded the Soul Devouring Insects gnawing at it and shot straight at Yang Kai, stretching its enormous ghastly claws as a pitch-black sickle suddenly appeared in its hands. Immediately after, it swung it straight towards Yang Kai.
The momentum of the Ghost King’s attack was astonishing, and before it even reached Yang Kai, the resulting wind tore open Yang Kai’s skin.
*Weng…*
The Myriads Sword hummed as Yang Kai swung it diagonally and Emperor Qi surged through it. Immediately after, it bloomed with a dazzling halo.
The next moment, a crisp metallic clang rang out as sparks flew everywhere.
The lunging Ghost King paused for a moment before its enormous figure leaned back a bit, proof in itself how powerful Yang Kai’s blow was. The feedback from the Ghost King made Yin Le Sheng and Hua Fei Chen’s pupils simultaneously shrink as looks of disbelief appeared on their faces.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai was knocked back like a rucksack, crashing right onto the white light screen before stopping.
A flash of horror appeared in his eyes as he hadn’t expected Ghost King to be this powerful.
When Yin Le Sheng saw Yang Kai suffer a loss, he couldn’t help but laugh, “After I have teamed up with Martial Uncle Hua, the Ghost King is as powerful as a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master! Yang Kai, how are you going to fight against me now? Quickly come and accept your death!”
While speaking, he controlled the Ghost King to lunge at Yang Kai again. Apparently, he wanted to kill Yang Kai before he could regain his breath.
*Chi Chi Chi…*
The enormous pitch-black sickle struck again with an unstoppable momentum, directly cutting Yang Kai’s figure in half.
Hua Chen Fei raised his brow before speaking without a moment of hesitation. “An afterimage!”
With the two collaborating, their senses had become sharper and they could immediately tell that Yang Kai had already escaped. The only thing that the sickle had split in two was an illusory phantom left by Yang Kai, that’s all.
“Ghost King, come back!” Yin Le Sheng also shouted without hesitation, rapidly forming hand seals. Suddenly, the Ghost King burst into a cloud of black mist before mysteriously disappearing from where it was.
The next moment, Yang Kai’s figure strangely appeared about ten metres away from Yin Le Sheng and Hua Fei Chen, his face cold and the Myriads Sword in his hand pulsating, preparing to cut the two down.
Surprisingly, Yin Le Sheng was gazing right into Yang Kai’s eyes, sneering; not a single trace of panic could be found on his face.
Suddenly, a cloud of black mist appeared behind Yang Kai, and the Ghost King’s faint figure loomed inside it. Right then, the enormous sickle swept horizontally towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow, sensing the oncoming chill behind him. How could he not know that the Ghost King had already caught up with him?
He hadn’t expected this thing to be so difficult to get rid of; it was like maggots on rotting bones. He had planned to cut off the leader to defeat his subordinates; finish Yin Le Sheng and Hua Fei Chen. He didn’t want to confront the Ghost King head-on.
But now, his plan had gone awry.
In a hurry, Yang Kai could only flee from his position. When his figure reappeared again, he was already several tens of metres away.
“What’s the point of jumping around? Yang Kai, if you are still a man, you should fight head-on!” Yin Le Sheng roared in anger. He discovered that even though the space here was sealed, stopping Yang Kai from simply teleporting away to flee, the latter was still at ease and as slippery as a loach. He couldn’t catch Yang Kai at all.
Yang Kai sneered, “You have teamed up with your Martial Uncle, and also have the help of an Array arranged by so many of your fellow Brothers, yet you have the gall to tell me to fight head-on? Is your head messed up?”
Yin Le Sheng looked embarrassed, but nevertheless, he stubbornly continued, “If you have ability, find a Martial Uncle and fellow Brothers and bring them here. This Yin will definitely not object.”
Yang Kai rebuked with a snort, “What lopsided logic!” He then pointed the Myriads Sword at Yin Le Sheng, provocatively continuing, “Yin Le Sheng, I will definitely settle our old and new grudges today. If you are still a man, come and fight this Young Master one-on-one, and see if this Young Master doesn’t beat you to the point that not even your mother will be able to recognize you!”
“My mother is already dead, why are you dragging her into this!?” Yin Le Sheng furiously stated.
Yang Kai sarcastically added, “In any case, you are also the top disciple of the Netherworld Sect and a hegemon of Great Desolation Star Field. What’s wrong? You don’t even have the guts to fight with me one-on-one?”
Yin Le Sheng’s face turned gloomy as he burned with fury. Even the Ghost King he was controlling seemed to flicker with rage.
Whether it was about being the top disciple of Netherworld Sect or the hegemon of Grand Desolation Star Field, Yin Le Sheng was naturally proud of his achievements, and had these words been said by someone else, he would have already slapped him. But he was up against Yang Kai and really didn’t dare to challenge him one-on-one.
He had experienced Yang Kai’s strength and abilities first hand and knew he wasn’t his opponent by any means. Rather, if he were to attack alone now, he would soon be lying in his grave.
“Martial Nephew, he is trying to stall for time!” Hua Fei Chen warned Yin Le Sheng with a cold face as he glanced at the Ghost King.
At this moment, the Soul Devouring Insects were crawling all over the Ghost King’s body while crisp biting sounds could be continuously heard. Obviously, they were devouring the Ghost King’s strength and Hua Fei Chen could already see that it had weakened a lot in this short moment. If they didn’t kill Yang Kai soon, the Ghost King would cease to exist before Yang Kai fell.
And once the Ghost King was destroyed, all the Netherworld Sect members present at the scene would also suffer a backlash, including Yin Le Sheng and himself.
“I know!” Yin Le Sheng replied, grinding his teeth.
“We can’t delay, we must act now!” Hua Fei Chen shouted, rapidly forming hand seals again.
Yin Le Sheng promptly acted in concert, while glancing at Lin’er outside fleetingly.
“What a bunch of wastes!” Lin’er coldly snorted, “They are fighting one man, and had even laid out this Heavenly Net Absolute Sealing Array, but still, they haven’t killed him yet and are still allowing him to run around all over the place! These Netherworld Sect disciples are truly useless! Had I known this earlier, I wouldn’t have helped them out.”
Now, unable to vent her anger, she was even more pent up than ever before, especially when she saw Yang Kai flaunting his prowess. Lin’er blew her top and wanted to go in and teach him a lesson personally.
It never crossed her mind that she was just a Third-Order Dao Source Realm. How could she have the ability to teach Yang Kai a lesson? She also didn’t notice Hua Fei Chen, Yin Le Sheng, and the others all sweating from the extreme exertion.
“Ao!!” The two Emperors of the Netherworld Sect cast some mysterious Secret Technique at that moment and the Ghost King suddenly let out a roar, facing the sky. The sickle in its hand was giving off powerful energy fluctuations and its enormous figure shot towards Yang Kai in the blink of an eye, ruthlessly sweeping the sickle down at him.
Yang Kai impatiently asked, “You have used this attack over and over again, do you think it will still work against this Young Master?”
He wasn’t able to cut down the ringleader, but as long as he continued to make them consume their energy, it would not take long for the Soul Devouring Insects to finish off the Ghost King. When that happened, he wouldn’t need to make a move as all those from the Netherworld Sect would face a miserable end.
So, while taunting them, Yang Kai prepared to move away from his position to dodge the incoming attack.
But right then, the enormous phantom of a cinnamon flower on the screen of white light that had been enveloping them suddenly moved, one of its branches sweeping towards Yang Kai at lightning-fast speed.
How could Yang Kai expect such a thing to happen?
He didn’t know how this layer of white light was formed, and thought that it was laid out by the Netherworld Sect disciples.
This was a natural assumption as this white light curtain seemed to just be blocking space, so Yang Kai hadn’t put up any defences against it.
Caught off guard, one of his arms was caught by the branch.
He tried to free himself, but wasn’t able to.
And it wasn’t over yet. The illusory phantom of the cinnamon flower shook again as three branches shot out from the light screen, binding Yang Kai’s other arm and his legs with great precision.
In a flash, Yang Kai’s limbs were completely tied and pulled by the branches, forming the ‘大’ character with his figure.
The branches tightened their hold before lifting him up in the air.
Suddenly, Yang Kai turned his head and stared at the red-robed Lin’er. He noticed that her face was pale and she was rapidly forming hand seals, as if she was casting some Secret Technique.
[So, it’s her doing!]
Yang Kai suddenly understood everything and ground his teeth angrily, “Little Girl! You court death!”
He was worried about her background before, so he had given her a small punishment in the desolate city, and he saw her mingling with the Netherworld Sect members, he still hadn’t considered what to do with her. Yang Kai had only planned to get rid of those from the Netherworld Sect and then completely disregarded this girl.
How could he have known that she would have such strange tricks up her sleeve? And having been caught by surprise, Yang Kai finally felt killing intent towards her.
Lin’er was scared by the sight of the fierce, murderous look on Yang Kai’s face, but she gritted her teeth and countered back, “I won’t die if you are dead, will I!?”
Yin Lin Sheng broke into laughter before speaking, “Well done Young Lady Lin’er. I’d like to see how this bastard will escape now!”
Although Hua Fei Chen didn’t say anything, he was trying his best to push his Emperor Qi, controlling the Ghost King with Yin Le Sheng to attack Yang Kai.
As the enormous sickle slashed down, an aura of death caressed Yang Kai’s face.
Yin Le Sheng widened his eyes, as if he wanted to enjoy every moment of Yang Kai’s death.
Hua Fei Chen was also smiling, relieved that things were finally over. If Yang Kai could break loose and escape now, that would be an inconceivable feat.
The attack came instantaneously, and Yang Kai’s pupils immediately shrank to the size of needle tips as he roared, “Dragon Transformation!”
With a deafening roar, a shining Golden Dragon Head suddenly appeared behind Yang Kai. The entire world seemed to tremble with its appearance as Dragon Pressure immediately spread everywhere, causing every living being to submit.
Even the charging Ghost King couldn’t help but momentarily freeze, its sickle strike stagnating for a moment.
Yin Le Sheng and Hua Fei Chen had their jaws drop, watching the roaring Dragon Head in a daze, a sense of absurdity rising in their heart.
It became even harder for Lin’er to hold on once this happened. Her cultivation was the lowest here, and under the intense Dragon Pressure, her tender figure stumbled, almost falling over and collapsing. Owing to this, the power of Taiyi Cinnamon Bowl’s restraints also greatly fell.
From the start, she was unable to bring out the full power of this Emperor Artifact and even her current condition couldn’t be maintained for too long. Now, under the Dragon Pressure, the white screen of light was showing signs of collapsing, but through sheer force of will, she hurriedly grit her teeth and held on, not daring to let Yang Kai break free.
The shining illusory phantom of the Dragon Head flickered as it drilled into Yang Kai’s body.
Immediately after, Yang Kai’s hands transformed into Dragon Claws as Dragon Scales mysteriously appeared on his bare body. Even a Dragon Tail formed of golden energy had appeared behind him, sweeping left and right, leaving gullies on the ground as it did. It was a shocking sight.
*Hong…*
The Ghost King’s attack arrived in the next moment, cutting Yang Kai right in the chest.
*Chi Chi Chi…*
A grating sound immediately followed as sparks flew everywhere.
It seemed as if the Ghost King’s attack hadn’t struck a human but the hardest artifact that could possibly be made.
Yang Kai spurted out a mouthful of blood, but what everyone found surprising was that the blood wasn’t red like others, but golden.
And on his chest, a half-metre long gaping wound had appeared, one so deep that even his bones were visible.
Yang Kai had cast the Dragon Transformation Secret Technique, which had greatly improved his physical defences, but nonetheless, he was still hit hard by the Ghost King’s attack.
If the Ghost King’s energy had not been devoured by the Soul Devouring Insects, and had his body not been this strong, this blow would have killed Yang Kai instantly.
Although his life wasn’t in any danger, the injury was shocking. There was dark energy lingering around his wound, corroding his body and preventing Yang Kai from healing his injuries.
This was the Yin Energy of the Ghost King, which was extremely difficult to get rid of.
“He’s still not dead!?” Yin Le Sheng couldn’t help but cry out loud as his eyes bulged in shock, having a hard time believing how sturdy Yang Kai’s body was as well as the strange Secret Technique he just used to cause a Dragon Head and pure Dragon Pressure to manifest.
Was it an actual Divine Spirit?
Considering all this, Yin Le Sheng’s legs trembled.
“I… I can’t hold on anymore,” Lin’er stated in a low voice, gritting her teeth.
It was already a remarkable feat for her to maintain an Emperor Artifact like the Taiyi Cinnamon Bowl for so long with her low cultivation. In addition, she had been deterred by the Dragon Pressure just now and her concentration was shaken. At this moment, the Source Qi in her body was of no use and she was unable to hold out any longer.
Yin Le Sheng and Hua Fei Chen were greatly shocked after hearing this and didn’t dare to delay any further, pushing their Emperor Qi hard to control the Ghost King to launch another attack.
Finally, with the help of Young Lady Lin’er, Yang Kai was suppressed and had become an easy target. If they couldn’t kill him now, a miserable end was waiting for them.
“All of you are dead!” Yang Kai’s eyes flickered with a cold gleam as he struggled hard to get free.
Crisp cracking sounds immediately followed as Yang Kai broke the branches binding his limbs.
Lin’er let out a tender cry, as if she had suffered a backlash, and the white light screen suddenly converged before turning back into the crystal-clear jade bowl and flying towards her, disappearing into her body right after.
Without the suppression of this strange Emperor Artifact, Yang Kai felt the pressure around him suddenly lighten and immediately felt full of energy.
Only now did he come to understand that the white screen of light was actually an Emperor Artifact.
The Ghost King was fiercely rushing at him, but Yang Kai acted as if he didn’t see it. Rather, a serious look appeared on his face and his Emperor Qi surged like a tide as he rapidly formed a seal with his hands.
“Time Flows on Infinitely, Like a Mighty Stream, Like an Unending Dream!”
Once the Flowing Time Great Emperor’s Divine Ability was brought into play, time seemed to have frozen.
That seal rumbled straight towards Yin Le Sheng and Hua Fei Chen, but the pair were completely oblivious to it; they just kept looking ahead with widened eyes.
It seemed like thousands upon thousands of years had passed by in an instant.
When their eyes finally regained clarity, the seal was already upon them.
A terrified look immediately appeared on Yin Le Sheng’s face and his hands rapidly danced as he continuously spurted Blood Essence, shouting, “Martial Uncle, hold on!”
Who knows what Secret Technique Yin Le Sheng had used, but he fled as quickly as a loach. At the same time, his Spiritual Essence was rapidly declining; even his cultivation, the Emperor Realm that he had just recently reached, was also regressing…
This Secret Technique seemed to have brought great harm to himself.
“You…” Hua Fei Chen was filled with grief and anger.
Others might not know what Secret Technique Yin Le Sheng had cast, but he knew it very well.
Obviously, Yin Le Sheng had cut off his own cultivation, thereby giving up the connection with his Netherworld Purgatory Banner. This way, he would not suffer the Ten Thousand Ghost Biting Backlash. But in light of this, it was tantamount to giving up all the cultivation he had achieved in the Netherworld Sect over so many years.
He would have to start everything from scratch, and there was a serious risk that his foundation would suffer serious damage.
Trusting his Martial Nephew, Hua Fei Chen had brought over twenty disciples to help him kill his enemy, but at this critical juncture of life and death, Yin Le Sheng had actually chosen to escape, pushing everything onto Hua Fei Chen.
What could be more depressing than this?
Hua Fei Chen almost spat blood in anger, cursing in his heart that the Netherworld Sect had raised an ungrateful wolf. He blamed himself for not seeing this beforehand. As distance tests a horse’s strength, so does time reveal a person’s heart. If he was given a choice again, he would rather meditate and cultivate in the Sect rather than put his foot into this chaos, and place himself in this precarious situation where there was just a fine line between life and death.
While his mind was filled with a jumble of thoughts, the Time Flies Seal had already struck him.
And thanks to him blocking it, Yin Le Sheng was able to escape.
The next moment, Hua Fei Chen’s skin grew old at a rate visible to the naked eye and his vitality was quickly passing away. Thousands of years seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye for him.
“Ungrateful bastard!” Hua Fei Chen turned his head and cursed, glaring at Yin Le Sheng and grinding his teeth in anger. After which, his head slumped to one side before he fell on the ground, struggling to breathe.
The Flowing Time Force was corroding his body and he was unable to resist it; death was only a matter of time.
And without his control, the Ghost King suddenly went mad, its eyes turning red as if hot charcoals were burning in them. It kept aimlessly swinging the huge sickle in its hand.
“Ahhh…”
Close to a dozen pitiful cries rang out at the same time as the Netherworld Sect disciples, who were on their last legs already, fell down on the ground together. Black energy emerged from their bodies, burning them like flames.
Obviously, they were suffering from severe backlash and had no hope of surviving.
Yang Kai didn’t pay attention to them, nor did he take care of the Ghost King that was out of control, he just coldly glanced in the direction of Lin’er and stated with a cold snort, “I’ll deal with you later!”
Lin’er couldn’t help but shiver when she met with his icy gaze. She was scared, but she still stubbornly glared back at Yang Kai without flinching.
Yang Kai’s figure flickered and he chased after Yin Le Sheng.
“Young Lady, let’s quickly escape!” Old Fu hurriedly and secretly suggested; his forehead was drenched in cold sweat.
[If we don’t escape, we won’t get the chance to escape again! Two Netherworld Sect Emperor Realm Masters had teamed up, and even had the support of over twenty Dao Source disciples, even going so far as to summon a Ghost King, yet they were unable to do anything to this young man. Instead, they were all killed by him, like plucking feathers from a chicken!]
This boy was simply a monster!
His loss in the desolate city was not unjustified. With the strength Yang Kai had just displayed, killing Old Fu would have been no more difficult than stepping on an ant.
“Why should I escape!” Lin’er angrily shouted, “This Young Lady will remain here! I want to see if he dares to attack me!”
She might have retorted in anger just now, but there was also reason backing up her confidence as no one had dared to attack her so far. More importantly, she had grown limp and couldn’t run.
Old Fu became anxious and hurriedly said, “Young Lady, didn’t you see his bloodshot eyes filled with murderous intent? If he accidentally hurt Young Lady’s noble body, how would this Old Master explain it to Sir?”
Lin’er snorted again even louder and declared, “I would like to see if he dares!”
Old Fu simply didn’t know what to say. Yang Kai was cut by the Ghost King because of his Young Lady’s interference and was still bleeding from his wound as they spoke. He would definitely not let his Young Lady go, but Old Fu’s earnest advice was completely useless and he didn’t dare to force Lin’er to obey. He was really as anxious as an ant on a hot wok now.
On another side, Yang Kai had caught up with Yin Le Sheng, who had not been able to escape far.
Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space, so escape and pursuit were his forte. Not to mention, Yin Le Sheng’s strength was plummeting and his aura was constantly declining. At this moment, Yin Le Sheng’s cultivation had already dropped to the peak Dao Source Realm, so how could he escape from Yang Kai?
While running, Yin Le Sheng looked back and noticed Yang Kai hot on his tail like a hungry ghost, and his expression sank so low that a layer of frost could almost be shaved from his face.
While pursuing Yin Le Sheng, Yang Kai teased, “Run! Keep on running, I’d like to see where you can escape!”
Yin Le Sheng knew that he couldn’t flee, so he steeled his heart as something suddenly appeared in his hand. He grit his teeth and turned around, wanting to activate it.
But the moment he turned around, he was taken aback, because Yang Kai was already standing in front of him, coldly staring at the thing in his hand.
Before Yin Le Sheng could trigger it, Yang Kai had already swung the Myriads Sword.
*Shua…*
Yin Le Shen’s arm flew into the air as blood gushed out like a fountain from his shoulder.
Yang Kai stretched his hand out, catching the thing in his hand, glancing at it and muttering with a cold snort, “An Emperor Authority Bead! I knew it!”
In the past, he had suffered a big loss at the hands of the Young Sect Master of the Seeking Passion Sect, Feng Xi, inside the Shattered Star Sea. Yang Kai knew that the most outstanding disciples of a Sect, like the Netherworld Sect, would be bestowed with defensive treasures by their Elders.
And the Emperor Authority Bead was the most powerful of such treasures.
Although it wasn’t easy to create and was a one-time consumable object, if one had it, he or she could turn the tides at a critical moment.
Feng Xi had almost killed Yang Kai using the Emperor Authority Bead given to him by his father.
As the old saying goes, ‘once bitten, twice shy’, so how could Yang Kai not prepare against this action by Yin Le Sheng?
He had not allowed Yin Le Sheng to use the Emperor Authority Bead, and had directly chopped off his arm.
“Ahhh…”
Yin Le Sheng only just realized that his arm had been chopped off after staring at his severed limb in a daze before miserably screaming. He staggered back and fell to the ground, his face completely pale.
*Zheng…*
A cold gleam flashed before his eyes as the Myriads Sword in Yang Kai’s hand appeared right before him as the latter condescendingly looked down at him. The sword tip was pointing right at his nose, and the gleaming sword aura was like a poisonous snake hissing at him.
Yin Le Sheng’s cries came to an abrupt halt as he couldn’t help but nervously gulp with a look of horror on his face.
He knew that he had lost, and his defeat was thorough and complete. Even if Yang Kai let him go now, he would not be able to cultivate anymore as he had used a forbidden technique to sever his cultivation to escape with his life. His foundation was damaged and he had already regressed to the Saint King Realm, his strength still continuously declining.
“In truth, there is no deep grudge between us,” Yang Kai gazed at Yin Le Sheng, blood dripping down his chest and onto the ground as he continued with a stoic look on his face, “You brought this upon yourself!”
If Yin Le Sheng had stayed honestly in the Netherworld Sect, consolidating his cultivation, putting aside his grievance with Yang Kai, he may be able to take over his Honoured Master’s mantle and might even take charge of the Netherworld Sect in the future, but he just had to bring people to intercept Yang Kai.
One wrong step, led to another, and then another!
Yin Le Sheng grimly smiled and stated, “Who can tell what path is right or wrong on the Grand Dao. I might have lost today, but it’s not definitive that you will reach the peak in the future. What are you feeling proud about!?”
“Perhaps you are right,” Yang Kai nodded in agreement before adding, “But I can go farther and see more than you.”
The corner of Yin Le Sheng’s lips twitched. He was rendered speechless.
“Do you have any last words? Let’s hear them,” Yang Kai indifferently asked.
Yin Le Sheng grit his teeth and stated, “I’ll be waiting for you on the road to the Yellow Springs…”
“You’re still reluctant to admit your faults!” Yang Kai let out a cold snort before pushing the tip of his sword forward a bit, “Do you believe I won’t pull out your Soul and refine it instead of killing you?”
Yin Le Sheng immediately shut his mouth, not daring to act presumptuously.
Yang Kai tilted his head and said with a smile, looking at him, “I lied.”
Saying so, he thrust the Myriads Sword ahead, slowly stabbing into Yin Le Sheng.
Yin Le Sheng’s eyes widened in an instant. He could hear the Myriads Sword slowly piercing his body and stabbing his heart loud and clear. That slow and terrifying feeling instantly filled his heart and Soul.
“My Netherworld Sect… Will not spare you!”
A murmur-like voice came from nearby. Yang Kai turned his head and looked towards the source. He noticed Hua Fei Chen, who was hanging by a breath, lying on the ground, staring in his direction with wide-open eyes that were grey and devoid of any lustre, like those of a fish that had been dead for many days.
After having said his piece, his head slumped to one side as his vitality completely disappeared.
It was already a pretty impressive feat that he had remained alive till now after having been struck by the Time Flies Seal.
Naturally, Yang Kai didn’t attach importance to a threat from the dead, simply reaching out and taking Yin Le Sheng’s ring before throwing it into his pocket.
He was the top disciple of the Netherworld Sect, so he definitely had many treasures on him. How could Yang Kai miss such a prize?
Before he could turn and deal with Hua Fei Chen, Yang Kai’s expression drastically changed and he hurriedly threw away the Emperor Authority Bead in Yin Le Sheng’s hand.
*Peng…*
With a deafening clap, the Emperor Authority Bead suddenly exploded, reducing into dust before scattering in the air.
Yang Kai’s expression rapidly changed as his good mood suddenly turned bad, gritting his teeth as he murmured, “So, there was a restriction!”
He had no idea what restriction was placed on the Emperor Authority Bead, but it must have been related to Yin Le Sheng’s life; after all, it was a treasure bestowed to Yin Le Sheng by the Netherworld Sect’s Sect Master. Such a restriction must have been set to trigger upon Yin Le Sheng’s death, rendering the Emperor Authority Bead useless.
Yang Kai was saddened, but now that it had already happened, it was pointless to brood over it; all he could do was collect himself then walk over to Hua Fei Chen and take his Space Ring as well.
As for the out-of-control Ghost King, Yang Kai was totally unconcerned about it. Countless Soul Devouring Insects were gnawing on it, treating it as a delicious meal, so presumably, it would not be long before it would be completely devoured.
With over twenty fresh corpses lying around, there was a pungent bloody smell lingering in the air.
Yang Kai was injured as well. The wound caused by Ghost King’s slash hadn’t healed even now and pitch-black energy was lingering around the edge of the wound, continuously corroding his flesh and skin.
Yang Kai stretched his hand out and made a gesture, immediately drawing a small swarm of Soul Devouring Insects towards him and directing them to his wound.
Since the Soul Devouring Insects could devour a being like the Ghost King, it shouldn’t be a problem for them to deal with its Yin Qi. Yang Kai had summoned them to deal with his injury, and as he expected, just as the Soul Devouring Insects landed on his wound, they started devouring the lingering energy.
In just a few moments, that pitch-black energy was devoured clean and without the corrosion and interference of the Yin Qi, the strong restorative properties of Yang Kai’s Golden Blood came into play. His flesh and skin started squirming, and Yang Kai estimated that his wound would fully heal in just a few days.
Only now did Yang Kai finally turn his head, looking at the red-robed girl.
As soon as their eyes met, Lin’er couldn’t help but nervously gulp. She might have put up a brave front, but she was still scared to death in her heart. She had never seen someone as fierce as Yang Kai, who could kill all his opponents even when he was so heavily outnumbered. Furthermore, he didn’t murder ordinary people, but two Emperor Realm Masters from the Netherworld Sect plus a group of Dao Source Realm Masters who had laid out the Heavenly Net Absolute Sealing Array.
The huge wound on Yang Kai’s chest gave him an even more ferocious appearance.
Seeing Yang Kai looking in her direction, it would be a lie if she said that she wasn’t in a panic. Lin’er was currently regretting a little. Had she known, she would have escaped with Old Fu earlier. What could she even do by putting up a brave front and remaining here?
It never crossed her mind that with Yang Kai’s skill, she wouldn’t have been able to escape even if she wanted to. Unless she and Old Fu escaped back to the Ancient Lands Passageway where they could throw Yang Kai off with the help of the strange fog.
*Sha Sha Sha…*
Yang Kai walked towards her, step by step, his eyes completely cold, putting a lot of pressure onto Lin’er.
Old Fu earnestly tried to protect Lin’er, his figure flickering and standing before her, a wary look on his face.
“You are pretty obedient!” Yang Kai stood just ten metres away from them and coldly stated, pointing his sword at them, “For your honesty and compliance, this Young Master will give you a quick and painless death. Tell me, how do you want to die?”
Old Fu grew anxious upon hearing this. Was he serious? There were only a few people in this world who would dare to point their swords at his Young Lady and ask how she wanted to die, and judging by the murderous look on this young man’s face, he really was not planning to let the two of them go.
This was only natural, however, as his Young Lady had used an Emperor Artifact to bind him in a life and death fight, almost causing him to die at the hands of the Netherworld Sect’s people. Anyone would be enraged if they were in his place.
But how could he let his Young Lady die? If she died, the entire world would be thrown into chaos.
Old Fu quickly intervened, “Young Master, enmity should be resolved rather than settled. We were in the wrong today, please show mercy on us this time. In any case, nothing happened today, yes?”
“Nothing happened!?” Yang Kai, who was burning with fury, looked sidelong at him as he snorted as he rebuked, “Do you think this Young Master is faking his injuries? How can you say nothing happened?”
His wound had still not healed and his bones could be seen quite clearly. How could it be treated as nothing?
Old Fu’s face sank as he justified, “This Old Master is also doing this for your own good. If you refuse to realize your errors, you will be facing a huge disaster.”
Yang Kai laughed in anger and stated, “This Young Master knows that you have strong backing and there is someone big behind you, but so what? Since you have fallen in this Young Master’s hand, your life or death is for me to decide. Losers should act like losers, yet you still dare to shamelessly boast like this! Do you really believe I won’t run you through with my sword!”
While speaking, Yang Kai thrust his sword, resting it straight on Old Fu’s chest and with a flick of his wrist, he tore Old Fu’s shirt apart, scaring him to the point that he hurriedly backed away. His bold front instantly vanished in a puff of smoke and his puffed up chest shrivelled like a wilted eggplant.
He was utterly afraid that Yang Kai would stab him in a rage. If his Young Lady died, this young man would suffer a deadly crisis, but if he was killed, no one would stand up for him.
In the end, he was just a guard, responsible for protecting his Young Lady. But how was he supposed to protect her if he couldn’t even protect himself now?
They had really run into a true madman!
Old Fu was filled with hatred, but he knew very well how strong Yang Kai was now. Had he known that the Netherworld Sect disciples were such wastes, why would he have gone to look for them and actively cooperate with them, provoking Yang Kai with his Young Lady time and time again?
But then again, how could he have known that a mere First-Order Emperor Realm Master could be so overwhelmingly powerful?
“Th-then what do you want?” Old Fu softened his stance and weakly asked.
At present, he was the fish on the chopping block, facing Yang Kai’s blade. He had no choice but to lower his head, throw his pride and humiliation aside, and look for a way to survive this. Ten years wasn’t too late for a gentleman to take his revenge.
Yang Kai’s face sank as he stated, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. This Young Master can let things go once or twice, but certainly not thrice. Your Young Lady obstinately insists on her foolish actions and will cause a catastrophe sooner or later. Why doesn’t this Young Master clean up your Sect on behalf of the Sir behind you and save him from future worries?”
Old Fu was greatly shocked, feeling like he was trying to make a clever speech to a cow. Yang Kai’s murderous intent hadn’t been reduced at all and he seemed dead set on his Young Lady. What was he supposed to do?
He didn’t dare to hesitate anymore and hurriedly added, “Do you know who we are? Who my Young Lady is? She is…”
“Shut up!” Yang Kai kicked him before he could finish.
Old Fu was caught unprepared and helplessly watched himself get kicked right in the face, letting out a miserable scream as he was sent flying. His nose was broken from this kick and he crashed to the ground, not getting up no matter how much time passed.
After kicking away Old Fu, Yang Kai finally turned his gaze at the red-robed girl and quickly said, “Girl, this Young Master let you go back in that desolate city, and instead of feeling grateful and seeking ways to repay me, you actually joined forces with the Netherworld Sect to try to attack this Young Master. Today, this Young Master will take your life to let you know that there are some people in this world you cannot provoke!”
Lin’er was greatly shocked and her pretty face turned pale as she cried, “How dare you!?”
She had not even finished her words though when Yang Kai lifted his sword and swung it at her.
In a flash, Lin’er pretty face went as pale as paper as the aura of death enveloped her. She broke into a cold sweat and her hands and feet froze up.
She had never experienced something like this. She had been completely spoiled since birth, with everyone at her beck and call. Wherever she went, no one would dare disobey her every command, much less dare to kill her.
But now, she had encountered someone who wanted to take her life, and he wasn’t just trying to intimidate her, he meant what he said and was actually trying to do it.
She was just a Third-Order Dao Source Realm, who was exhausted from using her Emperor Artifact. Now, she couldn’t even smoothly walk, much less defend herself from a blow like this.
[So, this is what death feels like!]
[He really intends to kill me!?] Lin’er stood in a daze, as if a petrification spell had been cast on her.
Emperor Qi surged as the Myriads Sword horizontally slashed at her. Yang Kai hadn’t held himself back at all. Even Old Fu would be cut into two by this slash, not to mention a tender girl like Lin’er.
But just when the Myriads Sword was about to cut her, a black pendant on Lin’er neck suddenly cracked and turned into a black barrier, covering her completely.
*Hong…*
A crisp and reverberating clang immediately rang out. The Myriads Sword struck the barrier, but it couldn’t damage it even a bit. Instead, Yang Kai retreated a few steps from the recoil.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t look surprised at all. It appeared as if he had expected this and just stared at the black barrier while letting out a cold snort.
After protecting Lin’er, the black barrier turned into a streak of black light as it shot out and sank into Old Fu, who was still lying on the ground.
*Weng…*
The surrounding world suddenly trembled as an unimaginable pressure spread into the surroundings, a pressure which clearly originated from Old Fu.
*Hualala…*
The birds and beasts within a hundred kilometres fled, as if they had sensed the approaching danger.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but nervously gulp as he raised his vigilance.
He couldn’t be any more familiar with the phenomena before him. This was clearly a powerful Master’s Soul Descent.
Feng Xi had also resorted to this technique back in the Shattered Star Sea, so the experience was still fresh in Yang Kai’s memories.
The elites of top Sects seemed to have many tricks up their sleeves, with Emperor Authority Beads being the most common. The Soul Descent was undoubtedly an even stronger form of protection as a wisp of a true Master was able to manifest itself through it. Although this Master was unable to bring out their full strength in a borrowed body, it still wasn’t something an ordinary person could deal with.
The manifestation of a Master’s Soul not only put tremendous pressure on the opposite party, but also deterred the enemy with prestige and reputation.
There were only so many top Masters in the world, but once one of their Souls appeared, who would dare to disregard them?
Since even Feng Xi had a Soul Descent of his father placed on him in the Shattered Star Sea, of course this Young Lady Lin’er could have a similar technique protecting her.
Yang Kai had already expected this, so he didn’t expect to be able to really kill Lin’er at all. Still, being unable to vent his anger vexed him greatly.
The mysterious Master, who chose to Soul Descend in Old Fu’s body, might have his own considerations. First, Lin’er was a girl, making it a little inconvenient, and second, Old Fu was much stronger than Lin’er. The mysterious Master would be able to use a few more moves by manifesting his Soul in Old Fu’s body. Furthermore, he didn’t have to worry about damaging Old Fu afterwards.
Also, it would be a bigger burden on the person with a weaker body when a Master’s Soul manifested in their body.
Under Yang Kai’s watchful gaze, Old Fu, who was lying on the ground, stood up straight, his grey hair dancing as if in the wind despite there not being any blowing. His eyes were now as deep as the sea, giving off an awe-inspiring impression.
In the blink of an eye, Old Fu’s temperament had drastically changed, and the look in his gaze was now one of a superior being, who considered everyone beneath him, like the ruler of the world.
Old Fu glanced around, his gaze momentarily stopping on Yang Kai, before turning to Lin’er’s direction. His face remained stoic, making it hard to tell whether he was happy or angry.
At this point, Lin’er finally showed a response. She reached out to her neck and touched the area where the pendant was originally hanging, then she glanced at Old Fu. After noticing a familiar gaze, she couldn’t help but shrink her neck again, already realizing what had just happened.
“Father…” She called out in a mosquito-like voice. Rather than being happy that her father’s Soul had appeared, it looked more like she was scared.
“Hmph!” Old Fu let out a cold snort before indifferently speaking, “Why are you outside? You should be behind closed doors, reflecting on your mistakes.”
Lin’er was rendered speechless after hearing this, flinching as she looked away, not daring to meet her father’s gaze.
Yang Kai’s brow twitched upon hearing this. It turned out that this Young Lady had secretly run away from home! No wonder she looked afraid when her father had used a Soul Descent. Why did all these little girls like to do this? Mo Xiao Qi also often sneaked out of Spirit Beast Island, now there was this girl too.
All of them were so spoiled! Yang Kai coldly snorted in his heart.
“What did you do now?” Old Fu asked.
Lin’er didn’t answer and instead began glancing left and right, as if she was looking for a way to escape.
“I’ve asked you a question. Why aren’t you answering?” Old Fu suddenly shouted.
Lin’er trembled before blurting out in a conditional reflex, “Your dear daughter was bullied…”
While she replied, tears rolled down her white cheeks before dripping down on the ground. She appeared as pitiful and as sad as could be. Her previous arrogance and domineering bearing were nowhere to be found. Her current performance was completely opposite from before.
Yang Kai was flabbergasted, thinking in heart, [This Young Lady’s acting skills are pretty good. I guess she does this quite often.]
Her tears started pouring out as soon as she started speaking and they kept rolling down like there was no end to them. Her cries sounded extremely miserable and pitiful, as if someone had really bullied her intolerably. Next, she pointed at Yang Kai and shouted, “It was him! He wanted to kill me! Father, you must uphold justice for me!”
Old Fu, maintaining a stoic look, stated, “Is there anyone who would dare to bully you? It’s always you who has been bullying others and causing trouble everywhere you go, but this time you were taught a harsh lesson, am I right?”
He seemed to know his daughter very well and didn’t believe her story at all, hitting the nail on the head in just a few sentences.
Lin’er’s cries came to an abrupt stop as she looked at Old Fu, mouth agape.
“Sir is really wise!” Yang Kai praised, hurriedly cupping his fists, a grin on his face.
Old Fu turned and indifferently looked at Yang Kai, “This King is talking to his daughter. You have no right to interrupt us.”
Yang Kai couldn’t help but disdainfully snort, finding the whole situation tiresome and frustrating.
Old Fu then asked, “Aren’t you surprised to see this King?”
Yang Kai replied with a snort, “What’s there to be surprised about? Had you not been spoiling and protecting her, with your daughter’s temper and ability to cause trouble, how could she survive till today? Without such sheltering, you wouldn’t even know how she died.”
Since the opposite party wasn’t polite towards him, Yang Kai didn’t bother to give him face. In any case, he was in the right now, so Yang Kai didn’t believe that the opposite party could bully him.
Feng Xi’s father, Feng Xuan might forcefully stand up for his son, paying no attention to his face, but the opposite party couldn’t do this as he still had to have qualms regarding his identity. And precisely because of this, Yang Kai wasn’t afraid at all.
Lin’er glanced at Yang Kai in astonishment. She had never thought that Yang Kai would have such guts that he could say such things right in her father’s face. Not just anyone could do this.
[Why did I provoke this kind of crazy person?] Lin’er was deeply regretting it now.
Old Fu’s face turned grim as he doubtfully asked, “Little brat, are you accusing this King of being too lax in his discipline?”
Yang Kai snorted and ignored him. What was the point of asking this when he clearly knew the answer already?
Seeing his indifferent appearance, Old Fu was also taken aback and immediately asked, “Aren’t you afraid of this King?”
Yang Kai gave him a sidelong glance and stated, “Why should I be afraid?”
Had it been before his trip to the Shattered Star Sea, Yang Kai might have still been frightened, but he was far more experienced now and had even met the Bustling World Great Emperor and the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor. He already had an extremely rich experience.
“Do you know who this King is?” Old Fu asked again.
Yang Kai remained indifferent for a while before he cupped his fists and greeted, “Junior Yang Kai greets Senior Serene Soul!”
He didn’t greet him out of fear, but rather he was showing his respect towards a Master.
Old Fu was really shocked by this, but that couldn’t be helped as Yang Kai had actually known his identity. It was quite evident that Yang Kai knew who he was dealing with and what his status was.
As Yang Kai had just said, the Soul Manifestation before him belonged to one of the Ten Great Emperors of the Star Boundary, the Serene Soul Great Emperor; the hegemon of the Eastern Territory and founder of the Serene Soul Palace.
The Soul Contracts that widely circulated throughout the Star Boundary were this Master’s personal creation.
Yang Kai could guess all this because of the attitude the Netherworld Sect disciples had towards Lin’er. The Netherworld Sect was a top Sect of the Eastern Territory, so if Lin’er’s status wasn’t nobler than theirs, why would they treat her so politely?
Who could have a higher status than a top disciple and Elder from the Netherworld Sect?
It wasn’t that strange to make the connections.
“How did you know?” Old Fu furrowed his brow.
Yang Kai grinned meaningfully and stated, “I made a guess.”
Old Fu’s eyes glimmered but he didn’t pursue it, pondering for a moment before asking, “Since you know about Lin’er’s background, how dare you try to kill her? Could it be… That your purpose was to draw this King out?”
[Seems this old man does have some brains at least…]
After having his intentions revealed, Yang Kai didn’t bother playing dumb and cupped his fists and stated, “Sir’s vision is truly sharp. Junior did have such intentions.”
Of course, if he didn’t show up, Yang Kai would have really silenced all the witnesses. Lin’er had provoked him many times already. More importantly, her interference had almost gotten him killed, so Yang Kai couldn’t assume that this had never happened.
Old Fu curiously asked, “What do you get by drawing out this King?”
Yang Kai sighed and replied with a pained look on his face, “Sir, Junior had no choice as well. I was forced by your daughter.”
“How is this related to me!?” Lin’er was now calmer than before. With her father here now, she wasn’t worried for her life. What she was rather worried about was how long she would be grounded for this time.
Yang Kai glanced at her and angrily responded, “If you didn’t have an astonishing background, do you think you would still be alive to be able to speak right now?”
Lin’er let out a snort. She was too lazy to argue with him, but when she recalled how Yang Kai slashed at her without a shred of hesitation, she was gripped with lingering fear and knew that Yang Kai was right. Without her father’s protection, she would indeed be dead.
Yang Kai cupped his fists and continued, wearing a sad face, “Senior Serene Soul, your daughter has made things difficult for me over and over again. This Junior had no intention of haggling over such matters though, as with this little girl’s background, a little mischief is justified. Junior let her indiscretion pass several times, but not only did she not appreciate it, she colluded with the Netherworld Sect to set an ambush for me, an unforgivable act! With no other choice, Junior was forced to slaughter twenty Netherworld Sect members right here…”
Old Fu raised his brow and looked around. He had already noticed the corpses littered on the ground before, but he hadn’t expected these guys to be from the Netherworld Sect.
[Is this brat really so impressive? He is just a First-Order Emperor, how did he kill so many by himself?]
Yang Kai continued, “The death of the Netherworld Sect’s members isn’t worth pitying, but this Junior doesn’t dare to make rash moves against your daughter!”
“You… You are lying!” Lin’er angrily pointed at Yang Kai and shouted, “You clearly wanted to kill me!”
Yang Kai sneered and stated, “If I didn’t threaten your life, how would I draw Sir out!?”
Old Fu asked, looking at Yang Kai with narrowed eyes, “What do you want by drawing out this King?”
Yang Kai was taken aback but still promptly responded, “Sir, I don’t dare to kill your daughter, but I have to vent my anger one way or another, don’t I? Naturally, I can only ask you to settle it. Who asked my fists to not be bigger than yours?”
Old Fu softly sneered.
[So, you think that it’s okay for me to be bullied, right?] Yang Kai’s heart burned with fury and immediately continued, “Sir, I almost lost my life because of your daughter. Look at this wound, it burns even now.”
Old Fu gazed down at the half-meter long scar on Yang Kai’s chest and was indeed shaken a little.
[This brat really is one of a kind, speaking so boldly with me even after suffering such a serious wound while maintaining a straight face! Isn’t he afraid that I will crush him into nothing with just a wave of my hand?]
“This King understands! How do you want this King to settle this?” Old Fu gazed at Yang Kai, maintaining a calm and composed look, “Since I am here now. Just say what’s in your mind. If you don’t say it right now, you won’t get another chance again.”
Yang Kai’s face sank as he asked, “Sir, are you thinking of silencing me? Sir, if a man of your status does something like this, how will you keep your face if the word ever got out?”
Old Fu replied, “Whatever your motive was, it is a fact that you wanted to kill this King’s daughter. What does it matter if this King kills you?”
Yang Kai immediately blew his top and lashed out in anger, “Sir, are you really going to do this? Relying on your own status and strength to bully me?”
This old fart was simply too shameless! As one of the Ten Great Emperors, he was someone of great prestige. How could he do something so deplorable?
Lin’er, on the other hand, was excited and immediately shouted, “Father, there is no need to talk nonsense with him. Quickly kill him!”
Old Fu coldly smiled and asked, gazing at Yang Kai, “Are you afraid now?”
Yang Kai grit his teeth and stated, “What have I to be afraid of? This Young Master has fought shoulder to shoulder with the Bustling World Great Emperor, it’s not like I have never seen the power of a Great Emperor! This Young Master is also an experienced person. What’s there to be afraid of?”
Once he mentioned this, a strange look immediately appeared on Old Fu’s face as he asked, “You have fought shoulder to shoulder with Old Hong Chen?”
“That’s right!” Yang Kai snorted before continuing, “Sir, if you really came in person, this Junior would naturally flee right away, but with just a wisp of Sir’s Soul having manifested here, how much of your strength can you display? Forgive this Junior for being blunt, but if forced to, this Junior can drag your daughter down with me before he dies! I wonder if Sir cares about your daughter’s life or not!?”
A ferocious look appeared on Yang Kai’s face. He would really do it. He wasn’t just making an idle threat.
“Despicable!” Lin’er’s face turned pale. [This bastard still wants to kill me! He has been harbouring impure motives from the start. You better not fall into this Young Lady’s hand, otherwise, I will definitely take good care of you!]
“Sir, if you don’t believe me, you are welcome to give it a try!” Yang Kai waved the Myriads Sword, taking a posture that he was ready to die along with the enemy.
Old Fu maintained the same stoic look as he rebuked in a low voice, “You fought shoulder to shoulder with the Bustling World Great Emperor? Brat, haven’t you gone overboard with your bragging? Aren’t you afraid of getting exposed?”
Yang Kai replied, “This Junior only states facts, he never brags.”
“Is that so…” Old Fu meaningfully laughed before he paused and stated, “Wait a moment!”
“Wait for what?” Yang Kai stared at him in amazement, his brow slightly furrowing. He had no idea what the opposite party was planning on doing now, but he knew that he was clearly not the opposite party’s opponent; therefore, he didn’t dare to take things lightly.
The opposite party couldn’t be compared with the likes of Feng Xuan. Even though it was just a Soul Manifestation here, Yang Kai didn’t have much confidence in being his enemy; however, he still had some confidence in escaping. If it weren’t for this, how could he dare to stay here and confidently talk with the opposite party, maintaining a straight face?
Meanwhile, Old Fu’s gaze lowered a little as he stood completely still. Yang Kai immediately became suspicious. But he still didn’t dare to make a rash move, lest he provoked the other party’s anger.
…
Somewhere among a towering, snow-capped mountain range, buildings of all shapes and sizes stood erect. From time to time, cultivators would fly over from the sky. The buildings below were filled with people, painting an extremely lively picture.
Senior Brothers of the same Sect were exchanging pointers with each other or playing games of chess. Teams of maids passed by, moving in a hurry without speaking or smiling.
Plum blossoms were blooming everywhere as their sweet fragrance lingered in the air. Many tamed, rare, and exotic animals were roaming in the mountains and forests, where rays of morning sunlight were shining through the clouds and the leaves of trees.
The beautiful sights painted the picture of a paradise on earth that was extremely rich in World Energy.
This was the hegemon Sect of the Eastern Territory, Serene Soul Palace.
Those who had never been to Serene Soul Palace couldn’t even imagine this scenery inside this Sect. Its name containing ‘Soul’ alone gave the impression of a mysterious and ethereal place. There was a vast difference between imagination and reality.
On the highest mountain covered in snow, there was a palace that stood on a vast piece of land. The palace was cold and deserted, seemingly not having been inhabited by anyone for a long time.
Also, not a single person could be seen within a hundred kilometres of this mountain. Not even the birds and beasts wandering in the mountains dared to approach this place.
It couldn’t be helped as this was the Restricted Area of Serene Soul Palace, where the Serene Soul Great Emperor cultivated in secluded retreat.
Serene Soul was one of the Ten Great Emperors and stood at the apex of the Star Boundary. It was quite common for his retreats to last several dozen years to over a century. Unless one was summoned, no one dared to disturb him at all. Even his children needed to ask for his permission before they could set foot here.
Even the Young Palace Master of Serene Soul Palace, Yao Si, hadn’t seen his father for three years. He only knew that his father was comprehending some Secret Technique and could not be disturbed.
At this moment, under the swaying lights inside the palace, two figures were sitting cross-legged opposite each other.
One was a person with black hair and wearing a black robe. He had an indifferent look on his face, but there was a natural aura of majesty and superiority to him, giving a daunting impression. He was none other than the Serene Soul Palace’s Master, one of the Ten Great Emperors, Serene Soul Great Emperor himself.
And the other person sitting opposite him was an elderly man. This elderly man seemingly didn’t know how to sit or stand properly and was literally just slumped on the ground, looking left and right with a bored look on his face, as if he wanted to see what this damned place had to offer. Apparently, he was preparing to take advantage of the moment the Serene Soul Great Emperor wasn’t paying attention.
His appearance, the sneaky look on his face, perfectly matched his movements.
If Yao Si saw this scene, he would be completely surprised.
Because only his father and a few of his most trusted confidants had ever set foot in this place; no outsider had ever entered it, but at this moment, an elderly man of unknown origins was sitting face to face with his father, and his great Father was completely unguarded against him…
If Yang Kai saw this scene, he too would be greatly shocked.
Because this elderly man wasn’t a stranger, he was none other than Duan Hong Chen, who had just parted ways with him in the Purple Mountain Range.
Who knew why Duan Hong Chen had come here and went directly to the Serene Soul Great Emperor.
Only the crackling sound coming from the wicks of the lamps could be heard in the silent palace. Right then, the Serene Soul Great Emperor slowly opened his eyes, scaring Duan Hong Chen, who immediately straightened his back and eagerly asked, “Are you done?”
“Not yet,” the Serene Soul Great Emperor shook his head.
Duan Hong Chen was at a loss and asked in amazement, “Why did you open your eyes when you aren’t done yet? Hurry up and finish whatever it is quickly, this Old Master still has other things which require your help.”
He showed not the slightest politeness, as if he was very familiar with the Serene Soul Great Emperor.
The Serene Soul Great Emperor smiled and stated, “Your business isn’t that pressing, but I have something to ask you.”
Duan Hong Chen curiously asked, “Ask me? What do you need to ask me about?”
The Serene Soul Great Emperor replied, laughing, “There is a little brat who doesn’t know the immensity of Heaven and Earth and says that he fought shoulder to shoulder with you, is it true or false?”
Yang Kai had just boasted so shamelessly, so the Serene Soul Great Emperor had come back to ask Duan Hong Chen right away. Who knows how Yang Kai would feel if he came to know about this strange coincidence.
Duan Hong Chen sneered before replying, “What nonsense is that? Would you believe anything anyone says? When has this Old Master fought side by side with others? Whoever it is must have tried to scare you using the Old Master’s name. Send him away right away, this Old Master’s business is more pressing.”
Serene Soul agreed with a nod, “I also thought so…”
He also felt that Yang Kai was just uttering nonsense; after all, who was Duan Hong Chen? Even if he cut his own cultivation and his strength had sharply dropped, he didn’t need to team up with others to fight his enemies, and since Duan Hong Chen happened to be in his Serene Soul Palace, it didn’t cost him much to casually ask him.
“Wait!” Duan Hong Chen suddenly shouted, a strange look appearing on his face as he asked further, “What does this brat look like?”
He suddenly remembered that there was indeed a guy who had fought alongside him just recently.
The Serene Soul Great Emperor didn’t reply in words and instead waved his hand, causing the space between the two to ripple. A clear picture immediately entered Duan Hong Chen’s eyes. It was the scene of Yang Kai standing at the entrance of the Ancient Lands Passageway with the Myriads Sword, surrounded by corpses everywhere.
The corners of Duan Hong Chen’s lips twitched after just a glance before speaking, “Why is it this brat…”
The Serene Soul Great Emperor was stunned and immediately asked, “Do you know him?”
Duan Hong Chen’s face suddenly grimaced as he began grinding his teeth, “This King will recognize that brat even if he is reduced to ashes! Quickly kill him! If you help this King vent his anger, this King will definitely owe you one!”
The Serene Soul Great Emperor heaved a sigh before responding, “Heaven Devourer, if you come out and talk nonsense again, this King will not be polite to you. This King’s Serene Soul Finger isn’t something to be trifled with.”
He could easily tell at a glance that it wasn’t Duan Hong Chen speaking, but the Heavenly Devouring Great Emperor, Wu Kuang, who was sharing bodies with Duan Hong Chen.
Duan Hong Chen gave a weird smile, retorting, “Oh! How gutsy of you! You actually dare to use this kind of tone with this King! I didn’t see you having such guts back then.”
The Serene Soul Great Emperor repeated with a smile, “This King’s Serene Soul Finger isn’t to be trifled with…”
He kept silent about what happened back then. Apparently, he had suffered a huge loss at the hands of Heaven Devourer.
Duan Hong Chen’s face turned gloomy as he retorted, “Can’t you change the line you keep using? Is it that interesting to threaten this King with the same line, over and over again?”
The Serene Soul Great Emperor remained unaffected and kept smiling, “This King’s Serene Soul Finger…”
“You are sick!”
The Heaven Devouring Great Emperor didn’t have a good temperament to begin with, so at this moment, he couldn’t help but lash out.
At that moment, Duan Hong Chen’s suddenly jolted before the vicious look on his face suddenly disappeared, replaced by an angry look.
If somebody was speaking but someone took over his body suddenly, anyone would be annoyed, but Heaven Devourer and he couldn’t do anything to each other right now.
“Do you really know this brat?” Serene Soul asked after seeing that Heaven Devourer was suppressed.
“Yes…” Duan Hong Chen smacked his lips and said, “He is that boy I just told you about.”
Serene Soul raised his brow and asked, “Did both of you attack Heaven Devourer together, and ruin Heaven Devourer’s plans?”
“That’s right! But it’s more complicated than you think. I can’t explain it to you in just a few words. In any case, you have seen the final result,” Duan Hong Chen helplessly replied.
The Serene Soul Great Emperor slightly nodded before confirming, “So to say, he really isn’t just idly boasting, right?”
“What do you want to do to him?” Duan Hong Chen worriedly glanced at Yang Kai in the light screen before him.
He knew that the Serene Soul Great Emperor had used a Soul Descent somewhere. Apparently, his spoiled daughter had encountered some danger. The Soul Descent of a Great Emperor wasn’t a joke. It was like some treasured sword that couldn’t be drawn from the sheath, but once it was drawn, it needed to drink blood.
If the Great Emperor returned without killing someone after using Soul Descent, it would damage his reputation.
[It’s fine if it’s someone else, but if it’s Yang Kai…] Duan Hong Chen really didn’t want him to die at the hands of the Serene Soul Great Emperor; after all, he had indeed helped him a lot in the Shattered Star Sea.
Serene Soul asked, glancing at him, “Do you want me to let him go?”
Both of them were old monsters who had lived and cultivated for countless millennia, so Serene Soul could easily tell what was going through Duan Hong Chen’s mind even without any tell-tale signs and thought, [This is perfect. I can make this old thing owe me one.]
Serene Soul secretly made up his mind.
“I have nothing to do with him. Whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with me. You can do what you want. You don’t need to ask me,” Duan Hong Chen flicked his sleeve, wearing a disinterested look as though such matters were of no concern to him.
If Serene Soul could guess what was on his mind, why couldn’t he guess what Serene Soul’s plan was? He already owed him one, so if he owed him another, he might have to serve Serene Soul for a lifetime. This was a huge loss to him. He wouldn’t do it!
“Alright then, this King will kill him!” Serene Soul nodded, “Although it would be wilful, I can’t let anyone bully my daughter.”
“Heh,” Duan Hong Chen slyly laughed and stated. “If you want your daughter to die along with him, you are welcome to make a move.”
Serene Soul’s face sank as he snarled, “Duan Hong Chen, aren’t you looking down on this King too much? Although just a wisp of this King’s Soul has manifested on the other side, it will only take a wave of my hand to kill a First-Order Emperor.”
Duan Hong Chen explained, shaking his head, “If it was a normal First-Order Emperor, he would naturally not be your opponent. But this kid… Haa… Isn’t that simple. If you want to take him down, you might have to sweat a little.”
Serene Soul angrily lashed out, “Duan Hong Chen, enough is enough!”
[He isn’t looking favourably on that brat but rather looking down on me!] Serene Soul immediately blew his top.
Duan Hong Chen indifferently stated, “He is proficient in the Dao of Space!”
“Is that so?” Serene Soul was slightly shocked, but since Duan Hong Chen said this boy was proficient in the Dao of Space, then he really must be so. Such a person would really be hard to kill.
“He has also mastered the Time Flies Seal!”
“What!? Time Flies Seal!?” Serene Soul was really shocked this time. Time Flies Seal was the Divine Ability of the Flowing Time Great Emperor, the only Divine Ability related to the Dao of Time in this world. Even Serene Soul himself had not been able to get a glimpse of its secrets. Once the Time Flies Seal was used, his daughter really might be buried along with him.
“By the way, he also has the Mountains and Rivers Bell!” Duan Hong Chen threw out information in bits and pieces, each time giving Serene Soul a bigger shock than the last, making his expression change even more drastically than before. Giving it another thought, even Duan Hong Chen felt uncomfortable.
He didn’t have an idea about any of this; after all, Yang Kai hadn’t revealed much information in the Shattered Star Sea back then.
The Serene Soul Great Emperor was flabbergasted and in a daze, the corners of his lips were constantly twitching.
After a long time, he confirmed in a grim voice, “Yuan Ding’s Mountains and Rivers Bell?”
Duan Hong Chen raised his brow before rebuking, “Apart from that Mountains and Rivers Bell, are there any other Mountains and Rivers Bell you know of?”
Serene Soul’s facial muscles twitched even more fiercely.
Although he was one of the Ten Great Emperors and had no shortage of Emperor Artifacts, he couldn’t help but covet an artifact like the Mountains and Rivers Bell, an Ancient Exotic Artifact. In the past, when Heaven Devourer was besieged, he killed Yuan Ding first at the cost of serious injuries all because of the fear of the suppressive capabilities of the Mountains and Rivers Bell.
How could Serene Soul not desire something that even Heavenly Devourer was afraid of?
[Dao of Space, Time Flies, Mountains and Rivers Bell…]
[This brat’s luck is simply too good. How could he gather all these treasures for himself? It’s already a blessing if an ordinary cultivator can obtain one! Is he simply that loved by the Heavens?]
[Those who are not blessed will not encounter such fortuitous opportunities. The blessings of this brat are too Heaven defying.]
After a while of silence, Serene Soul stated with a snort, “What’s the point in telling me this? How boring!”
Duan Hong Chen replied, chuckling, “I’m just making small talk…”
He knew that Serene Soul wouldn’t attempt to kill Yang Kai anymore, because he wasn’t confident that he could behead Yang Kai with just his Soul Descent. Duan Hong Chen wouldn’t have revealed all this if that wasn’t his objective.
While speaking, Duan Hong Chen impatiently urged again, “You should quickly settle the things there. This Old Master is waiting for you to separate me from Heaven Devourer. Ever since this old dog has occupied this Old Master’s body, it has become inconvenient for this Old Master to visit the brothel!”
The Serene Soul Great Emperor was titled Serene Soul naturally because he was proficient in Souls and Spiritual Energy. He had done the most thorough research on the topics related to Spiritual Energy and Souls among the Ten Great Emperors. Therefore, Duan Hong Chen had come to Serene Soul Palace and asked the Serene Soul Great Emperor for help. He wanted to check whether Serene Soul could strip Heaven Devourer’s Soul from his body.
If even Serene Soul couldn’t help him, then he could only temporarily maintain this state while trying to find other solutions. When he contemplated the future, Duan Hong Chen couldn’t help but shudder.
Speaking of proper business, Serene Soul’s face also turned serious as he replied, “Hong Chen, I won’t hide it from you. Your situation is a bit tricky. I may not be able to help.”
“Whether you can help or not, it’s fine. Just give it a try,” Duan Hong Chen replied in a grim voice.
Serene Soul nodded before closing his eyes again.
Outside the Ancient Lands Passageway, Yang Kai was keeping an eye on Old Fu while holding the Myriads Sword, not daring to let down his guard.
The Soul Manifestation of the Serene Soul Great Emperor spoke a sentence to him before he stopped moving, leaving Yang Kai puzzled. He couldn’t comprehend what Serene Soul wanted to do.
[Should I take advantage of this situation and run away?]
[But if the matter here isn’t resolved, I might be targeted by the Serene Soul Palace. The Serene Soul Palace and the Netherworld Sect are on completely different levels. Being targeted by those from the Serene Soul Palace will definitely be troublesome.]
Thinking about it, an even bolder idea flashed in his mind.
[How about I be the ruthless one and kill these two first? Their deaths would end all my troubles.]
However, the moment this idea appeared in his mind, it was quashed by Yang Kai. If he really did this, he would completely offend the Serene Soul Great Emperor.
[Let’s look at how things proceed first.] Yang Kai decided to act depending on the situation. If the Serene Soul Great Emperor really tried to attack him, it would not be too late to react. Considering all this, he glanced at Lin’er and coincidentally, she too was looking at him.
As their gazes met, Yang Kai pursed his lips into an evil grin, one that made him look extremely ferocious.
Lin’er was frightened and hurriedly looked away, questioning what her Father was doing. [Things won’t end even with the death of this brat… I was bullied and can’t lift my head anymore… How depressing…]
At this moment, Old Fu, who had been standing still, suddenly raised his head and looked at Yang Kai as if he had regained his senses.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but nervously gulp before speaking in a stiff voice, “Sir, what advice do you have for me?”
Old Fu slightly narrowed his eyes as he sized up Yang Kai. Then, he turned his gaze to the corpses of the twenty or so Netherworld Sect disciples. He knew that these people had unjustly died. How could they be an opponent of someone who had fought together with the Bustling World Great Emperor to deal with Heaven Devourer?
[Mountains and Rivers Bell! After this Ancient Exotic Artifact was brought out of this place by Yuan Ding tens of thousands of years ago… To think it would return to this place again…]
“I understand the gist of what has happened here,” Old Fu indifferently stated, “My daughter was in the wrong in this matter and deliberately made trouble for you. You did nothing wrong.”
“Haha, Sir’s vision is truly sharp,” Yang Kai relaxed after hearing this as he knew that he wasn’t in danger. In any case, Serene Soul was a Great Emperor, and since he had given such a judgement, he would definitely not make trouble for Yang Kai any longer.
On the contrary, Lin’er pouted in anger upon hearing this, her face filled with dissatisfaction.
Old Fu added with a nod, “The Ancient Lands are a dangerous place, take good care of yourself.”
Having said so, he stretched his hand toward Lin’er and wrapped her up in his Emperor Qi before turning to leave.
“Wait!” Yang Kai hurriedly shouted seeing his stance.
“You have something more to say?” Old Fu turned his head, looking at Yang Kai with some impatience.
The corner of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched as he asked, “Sir, you are not thinking of leaving just like that right?”
[Are you kidding me? I was injured because of this stubborn girl, and now you want to leave without so much as a word of apology?] Even if Heavens’ retribution came down now, Yang Kai wouldn’t agree to this.
Old Fu was stunned and a strange look appeared on his face as he asked, “What do you want?”
Yang Kai grimaced in pain and stated, pointing at the gaping wound on his chest, “Sir, this Junior’s injuries are a result of your daughter’s interference, even my bones have been crushed and I’m afraid I won’t be able to recover from this for at least a half year…”
Old Fu turned his gaze down, looking at the squirming muscles near Yang Kai’s wound, and immediately, his face couldn’t help but twitch a little.
Did this brat think he was blind? Although he couldn’t see what Body Tempering Secret Art Yang Kai had cultivated, such an injury was clearly just a superficial wound to him and would fully recover in a few days, yet he dared to claim it would take half a year of rest to recover from? How outrageous!
Yang Kai didn’t seem to have noticed his expression and continued, “Sir also said that the Ancient Lands are dangerous. This Junior must continue to venture forth because of some personal matters. If Junior was to die here because of this wound, your dear daughter would not be able to escape blame. If this matter were to be spread out, Sir’s prestige would truly be affected. Others will definitely say that Sir schemed together with his daughter to commit murder. Tsk tsk… Sir’s also has a reputation to maintain, right?”
[Is he really trying to threaten me!?] Old Fu slightly raised his brow, his expression turning gloomy as he bluntly asked, “What do you want?”
Yang Kai put away his sword and replied in a trembling voice, “This Junior is confident in his strength, but isn’t sure that he can charge straight into the Ancient Lands unscathed. Sir, if you could casually offer me a defensive artifact, at least to protect myself due to my wounds, that would be the best.”
Angered, Old Fu broke into laughter before asking, “What defensive artifact do you want? Let’s hear it.”
Yang Kai replied with a stern face, “The bowl in your daughter’s hand… I think it’s pretty good…”
Lin’er was greatly taken aback and she furiously rebuked, “You ruffian! You dare to have eyes for my treasure!?”
Yang Kai snorted and countered, glaring, “When adults are speaking, children should keep quiet!”
Old Fu looked at Yang Kai, smiling, and asked, “Do you want the Taiyi Cinnamon Bowl?”
“So, it’s called the Taiyi Cinnamon Bowl…” Yang Kai raised his brow before continuing, grinning, “If Sir can bestow it to me, it would naturally be best. To tell you the truth, this Junior has been wandering alone in the Star Boundary and is currently quite poor. Although I have reached the Emperor Realm, I haven’t been able to find a good artifact. I have had truly bitter days!”
[You have the Mountains and Rivers Bell in your possession, and you still dare to call yourself poor? Only ghosts would believe you!] Old Fu snorted in his heart.
“Sir is a respectable Great Emperor and has no shortage of Emperor Artifacts, right?” Yang Kai continued to pester. He really wanted the Taiyi Cinnamon Bowl as it clearly had exceptional defensive abilities and he just happened to lack a defensive artifact. It was indeed a reckless waste of such a good treasure to be placed in the hands of Lin’er, so if Yang Kai could get his hands on it, it would just be like adding wings to a tiger.
“My Father is my Father, and I’m me! Why are you eyeing my treasure!?” Lin’er screamed. This man was truly loathsome! He kept making such unreasonable demands. If she could beat him up, she would have long ago taught him a lesson!
“Isn’t everything because of you? Just look at my wound!” Yang Kai puffed up his chest, his hideous wound immediately scaring Lin’er as she quickly turned her head away.
He might have been bringing up his wound at every turn, making for a dull argument, but it was indeed quite frightening.
Old Fu remained indifferent for a while before he agreed, nodding, “That also makes sense. It’s not impossible to give you the Taiyi Cinnamon Bowl!”
Yang Kai burst with joy after hearing this. He was just trying his luck; after all, the Serene Soul Great Emperor had a reputation to uphold and needed to keep some face. Even if he didn’t give Yang Kai the Taiyi Cinnamon Bowl, he would give something else. Otherwise, his enmity with Lin’er would remain unresolved!
But Yang Kai had never even imagined that the Serene Soul Great Emperor would be so easy to talk to. By the looks of it, the Taiyi Cinnamon Bowl would be given to him.
Yang Kai smacked his lips and stretched his hand out towards Lin’er, asking, “Give it!”
Mouth agape, Lin’er looked at Old Fu and grievously pleaded, “Father!”
Old Fu remained unmoved and indifferently stated, “I can give you the Taiyi Cinnamon Bowl, but I can’t give it for free. This King wants something in exchange from you. If you agree, the Taiyi Cinnamon Bowl is yours.”
Yang Kai suddenly became vigilant, “What is it?”
[There are conditions? What’s the meaning of this!?]
[I don’t think I’ve something on me that someone like the Serene Soul Great Emperor would be interested in, do I?]
[The Myriads Sword? Impossible…]
[Although the Myriads Sword is good, it can’t possibly enter Serene Soul’s eyes. As a Great Emperor, he has all kinds of Emperor Artifacts. Why would he be interested in a mere Myriads Sword?]
[Then, what does he want me to use to exchange?] Yang Kai thought about it over and over again but he couldn’t understand what Serene Soul meant.
“Sir, you wouldn’t happen to be thinking of wanting… This Junior’s life, do you?” Yang Kai laughed awkwardly.
Old Fu sneered as he rebuked, “What use is your life to this King?”
Yang Kai’s face turned ashen. Although he didn’t think that his life was worth much, it was natural to be unhappy when someone said it right in his face that his life was worthless. Had he not cared about the identity of the other party, he would have attacked Serene Soul already.
“Just say whether you agree or not,” Old Fu gazed at Yang Kai in a calm and composed manner, a smile of mockery hanging on his lips.
[How can I agree when you aren’t even speaking clearly? Do you think that this Young Master’s intelligence is like your daughter’s?] After a cold snort, Yang Kai replied, “Sir, since you haven’t made things clear, forgive this Junior for being unable to accept.”
Yang Kai didn’t dare to agree to anything in front of an old monster like him who had lived for who knows how long, so as not to fall into his trap. By then, he would be at others’ mercy.
Old Fu calmly stated, “It’s nothing much, this King just wants to exchange it for your bell!”
As soon as he said this, Yang Kai was greatly shaken and immediately put up his guard.
Exchange it for his bell? Which bell? What other bell did he have apart from the Mountains and Rivers Bell?
[How does he know about it?] Yang Kai had never used the Mountains and Rivers Bell in today’s battle, and the enemies who had seen the Mountains and Rivers Bell were already dead. So, how did the Serene Soul Great Emperor know about it?
Could he sense it? That’s unlikely. The Mountains and Rivers Bell had already been refined by Yang Kai and no one would be able to sense it unless he took it out to deal with them.
But this old fogey spoke so confidently, as if he was certain that Yang Kai had that bell. It really made Yang Kai wonder whether Serene Soul was really bluffing him or was really truly confident.
[He isn’t thinking of killing me and snatching it, is he?] Yang Kai secretly gnashed his teeth. If the Serene Soul Great Emperor was planning this, maintaining his life would indeed become really difficult.
“What bell? What does Sir mean?” Many thoughts flashed through Yang Kai’s mind but there was no change in his expression. Rather, he showed a puzzled look.
Old Fu mockingly looked at him before rebuking with a sneer, “Do you really not know, or are you pretending to not know about it?”
Yang Kai naturally didn’t dare to reveal any flaws, gritting his teeth as he replied, “I ask Sir to make himself clear. This Junior is confused and has no idea what you are talking about.”
Yang Kai had secretly come to a ruthless decision. If this old fogey mentioned the bell again, he would make him watch his daughter die first!
Old Fu, however, just stated, “If that’s the case, this King will not force you.”
Saying so, Emperor Qi wrapped Lin’er before the pair shot towards the outside. In the blink of an eye, they had disappeared into the Ancient Lands Passageway.
He said he was leaving and left. He did it in such a quick and straightforward manner that he didn’t leave Yang Kai any chance to react at all.
“Damn it! You didn’t need to give me the Taiyi Cinnamon Bowl, but you could have given me some Source Crystals at least! This Young Master was thrashed for no reason…” After a while, Yang Kai finally reacted, cursing loudly in anger.
He had suffered a great loss this time. Lin’er had made things difficult for him again and again, and even put his life in danger by teaming up with the Netherworld Sect. He was then forced to confront the Soul Descent of the Serene Soul Great Emperor… and when all was said and done, he didn’t reap a single benefit…
But soon, Yang Kai felt a cold and moist feeling on his back.
When Serene Soul mentioned the bell, it had really terrified him.
Yang Kai looked left and right warily, not daring to stay in this place anymore. He walked to the dead Netherworld Sect disciples and took away their Space Rings before hurriedly rushing deeper into the Ancient Lands.
After exiting the passage, he could be considered to have officially stepped into the Ancient Wild Lands.
This was a domain that had never been developed and was one of the most dangerous places in the entire Star Boundary. Even when an Emperor Realm Master entered it, he couldn’t guarantee his safety.
In the Ancient Lands, there were countless dangers that were difficult to resist. There were many natural restrictions and ancient relics here, all of them dangerous to anyone who triggered them.
There were even rumours that Divine Spirits were living inside the Ancient Lands, though no one knew whether it was true or false.
After venturing about a hundred kilometres deeper, Yang Kai finally noticed the strangeness of the Ancient Lands.
There was an unknown energy in the air, one that seemed to suppress the strength of cultivators. And the deeper one ventured in, the more obvious this effect was.
The towering old trees soared straight into the clouds, while on the ground, there were many strange flowers and plants that Yang Kai had never seen or heard of before. An ancient and desolate smell constantly blew in his face.
[Wild Force!]
The entire Ancient Wild Lands were filled with this peculiar Wild Force. Naturally, it was derived from primitive energy when the world was first created, and every living being would feel small and insignificant before it. Under the suppression of this energy, any cultivator who had ventured into this land would not be able to exert their full strength!
However, Yang Kai immersed himself in this place for a while and concluded that this Wild Force had no effect on him.
The corrosion spreading into his body was like a breeze blowing on his face; he could ignore it.
With an Ancient Exotic Artifact like the Mountains and Rivers Bell on him, all the Wild Force that invaded his body was actively resolved by it. Realizing this, Yang Kai’s confidence grew.
He had already noticed this somewhat when he drank the Wild Wine. Although he had made some conjectures back then, it wasn’t confirmed until now.
It seemed he occupied a huge advantage in the Ancient Wild Lands with the Mountains and Rivers Bell. Yang Kai was beaming with joy in his heart as he felt fortunate for that particular opportunity in the Shattered Star Sea. If not for him being able to collect the Mountains and Rivers Bell, things would not be so easy for him here.
While walking, he took out a jade slip and compared the surrounding terrain with the map inside. This was the jade slip given to him by Pi San, and it had all the known topography of the Ancient Wild Lands as well as the position of the more dangerous Monster Beasts. Only, the information in the jade slip was incomplete as no one knew how big the entire Ancient Lands was. So far, the cultivators figured they had explored less than a tenth of the Ancient Lands at the cost of countless lives.
But with this jade slip, Yang Kai was still spared from a lot of trouble.
After an hour, he had completely entered the Ancient Lands, where he found a cave and ventured inside.
Who knows which Monster Beast’s lair this was originally, but the cave was dry and spacious, with no owner to be seen. It was unclear whether it had gone out to hunt or was killed by someone or something.
Yang Kai estimated that the latter was far more likely as it was not far from the entrance. The cultivators coming in from the entrance could easily find this place, so generally, Monster Beasts would not be able to survive in places like this.
With a wave of his hand, Yang Kai let out Zhang Ruo Xi and ordered, “I want to heal, stand guard for me. Focus on resisting the Wild Force in the air and call me if there is any movement or if you can’t hold on.”
“Yes!” Zhang Ruo Xi obediently responded. Seeing the horrifying injury on Yang Kai’s chest, her heart inexplicably trembled.
Without any further question, she went and sat at the entrance of the cave, cross-legged.
Inside the cave, Yang Kai took out a bunch of healing pills and threw them into his mouth before he closed his eyes and started refining them.
In fact, his injury wasn’t that serious, and even if he didn’t actively deal with it, it would have only taken him a few days to recover; however, Yang Kai didn’t dare to be careless in this place as even the smell of blood might draw some unnecessary trouble. It really wasn’t worth the risk.
So, he thought about healing his wounds first before rushing to find Xiao Xiao.
Around the wound, his flesh and skin kept squirming, continuing to fill the gap, an eerie sight. Yang Kai’s recuperative ability was already pretty good, so with the assistance of good healing pills, it would only take him one or two days to fully recover.
Outside the cave, Zhang Ruo Xi, following Yang Kai’s instruction, prompted her Source Qi to defend herself.
In the beginning, she was a little worried about the so-called Wild Force; after all, Yang Kai had already mentioned its strange properties before. She knew that all the cultivators inside the Ancient Lands would be suppressed by the Wild Force, and the lower one’s cultivation was, the stronger the suppression was.
Although her cultivation was Third-Order Dao Source Realm, she couldn’t provide any help to Yang Kai on this journey at all. She was even sent inside the Sealed World Bead by Yang Kai during the last part of the Ancient Lands Passageway.
Zhang Ruo Xi hated her weakness, which made it impossible for her to share Yang Kai’s woes and foes, even making her a burden at times. [Sir had such a big wound on his chest. He must have bled a lot; he must be in a lot of pain; he must have been in a lot of danger at that time…]
[Everything I have today was given to me by Sir. Without Sir, I would have long been abducted and dirtied by those ungrateful wolves of the Lu Family. A small family like the Zhang Family would have not been able to gain a foothold in Maplewood City.]
[Not only has Sir saved me, but also the entire Zhang Family. Sir gave me countless cultivation resources, allowing me to have my current achievements.]
[I don’t know why Sir brought me out of the Zhang Family back then, but now I have been travelling with Sir here and there over many years.]
[When will I be able to ward off calamities and danger for Sir? I can’t always be protected by Sir like this, can I? Even if Sir had asked me to take care of his daily life, or tidy up his bed…]
[I haven’t done much of that either…]
Zhang Ruo Xi lightly nibbled her red lips. She felt her chest tighten and a desire to become stronger prompted her to circulate the Secret Arts to cultivate.
This was an unconscious action.
But soon, Zhang Ruo Xi was taken aback and quickly stopped.
She had no other choice as she suddenly remembered that she was in the Ancient Wild Lands and the World Energy here was filled with Wild Force. This place wasn’t suitable for cultivation, and if she absorbed too much Wild Force, not only would she be unable to assimilate it, it would also be detrimental to her cultivation.
Realizing this, Zhang Ruo Xi’s face immediately paled as she quickly checked on her condition.
But she found nothing serious, leaving Zhang Ruo Xi rather confused by her own situation.
Because she found that although she had inadvertently absorbed some Wild Force, it didn’t appear to be harmful to her. Rather, it spread around her body before it assimilated with her own strength.
And during this short round of cultivation, the efficiency of cultivation was almost twice that of before!
[What’s going on?]
Zhang Ruo Xi looked surprised and a little puzzled. She wanted to ask Yang Kai what was happening; after all, he knew many more things than her, but he was recuperating at the moment and she didn’t want to bother him.
Zhang Ruo Xi kept her silence for a long while before she summoned up her courage and started circulating her Secret Art again.
This time, Zhang Ruo Xi could clearly feel it. She wasn’t just absorbing the World Energy by cultivating here, she was also absorbing the Wild Force, yet strangely enough, both of those energies were beneficial to her, especially the latter. She almost couldn’t get enough of it and couldn’t stop absorbing it, nor did she want to.
[What’s happening? What’s wrong with my body? This is Wild Force… Right?]
Zhang Ruo Xi suddenly got a little afraid and didn’t dare to continue cultivating, stopping the circulation of her Secret Art and just sitting there in silence with a confused look on her face.
She couldn’t find any explanation for this other than her bloodline. [Sir had said once that I had a strange bloodline power with many unknown abilities.]
She was pretty bewildered by this, as she wasn’t cultivating the Secret Art taught by the Zhang family, but rather the one comprehended and invented by her. She had grasped it on her first cultivation attempt, as if it was engraved in the depths of her mind.
As she sat there in a daze, nothing unusual occurred, with the surroundings as quiet and peaceful as ever.
Zhang Ruo Xi mulled this over for a moment then took out the Space Spirit Jade from her Space Ring. Yang Kai had handed over the Space Spirit Jade to her before entering this land and he asked her to study it more deeply, insinuating that it likely contained the way to unseal her bloodline power.
At this moment, after Zhang Ruo Xi had taken out the Space Spirit Jade, her body shivered and she raised her head to look in a certain direction.
She got that strange feeling once again!
She faintly felt that the Space Spirit Jade in her hand was resonating with something far off in the distance, and whatever it was, it was summoning her. Zhang Ruo Xi’s blood felt as if it was set afire, circulating faster and faster.
She had gotten a similar feeling in the past and could affirm that it wasn’t just a product of her imagination.
But, it was still a fleeting feeling, and it had quickly disappeared before she could observe it more carefully.
As all kinds of spectacular scenery flashed past the Space Spirit Jade, Zhang Ruo Xi held it in her hand and started studying it for a long while, yet couldn’t find any clues. She couldn’t understand the function nor the meaning of those scenes.
…..
In a thick and dense forest in the depths of the Ancient Lands.
It was the true depths of the Ancient Wild Lands, a region never before tread upon by mankind, with only a myriad of Monster Beasts and Monster Race living and reproducing here since the dawn of its existence.
This was like a whole new world, completely different from the Star Boundary’s Four Territories.
On a towering mountain, a luminous oval object was shining brightly with blood-red radiance. This object was wholly blood-red, as if it was formed from fresh blood, but it emitted a sweet and enchanting fragrance.
The Blood Gate!
All Monster Race Masters living in the Ancient Wild Lands knew of the existence of the Blood Gate, but none had managed to enter it, nor did they know what kind of secrets were hidden within it.
However, some rumours about the gate had spread across the Ancient Lands. It was said that the Blood Gate hid behind it the secrets for allowing beings of the Ancient Lands to evolve into Divine Spirits.
The inhabitants of the Ancient Lands had all inherited a varying degree of one or another Ancient Divine Spirit’s bloodline. Even the lineage of the most ordinary-looking snake could be traced back to the Dragon Clan of ancient times.
Once the dormant primordial bloodline of the Ancient Lands’ beings was stimulated and awakened, then they would possess power rivalling their ancestors, the Divine Spirits, but since ancient times, the number of the Ancient Lands’ inhabitants that had successfully unearthed their bloodline power and transformed into Divine Spirits could be counted on one’s fingers and toes.
Yet, it was rumoured among the myriad races of the Ancient Lands that the Blood Gate possessed a mystical power, which would completely unearth the bloodline power of those Monster Race Masters. If they could fully stimulate their bloodlines, then they would get a great chance to relive their ancestors’ glory as Divine Spirits.
The Blood Gate’s location had turned into a sacred land for all races of the Ancient Wild Lands because of these rumours. Many living beings confident in their strength or luck would rush over one after the other to cross the Blood Gate in hopes of stimulating their bloodline, yet none of them had succeeded up to this day.
None could even approach the Blood Gate. Most who entered within a perimetre of ten kilometres around the Blood Gate would suffer a miserable death and turn into a pool of blood and flesh.
There was once a powerful Monster King at the peak of the Twelfth-Order who arrived near the end of his lifespan and decided to make one last struggle. He didn’t have much lifespan left, and if he couldn’t come up with a way to prolong his life, he would shortly die of old age, so he took the gamble.
The Blood Gate was his last hope!
A Monster King at the peak of the Twelfth-Order was tantamount to a Human Race’s Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. Only a few people in the whole of Star Boundary could reach this realm.
The Monster King used all his strength and techniques without restraint, yet he couldn’t get closer than three kilometres from the Blood Gate. In the end, he persevered for three days and nights there only to perish, melting down into a pool of blood.
Since then, no one in the Ancient Lands dared to approach the Blood Gate. Even a Monster King at the peak of the Twelfth-Order couldn’t enter the Blood Gate and awaken their bloodlines, so what hope did others have?
The Blood Gate had become the Ancient Lands’ forbidden area and no being dared to approach it again, out of fear of the death awaiting them there.
This was a custom that stood since ancient times, but fortunately, the creatures of the Ancient Lands were all endowed with a long lifespan. Moreover, a lot of Monster Kings ruling over large territories had witnessed the miserable death of the Monster King at the peak of the Twelfth-Order with their own eyes. Afterwards, they had all admonished their subordinates to stay away from the Blood Gate.
At this moment, the Blood Gate atop the towering mountain that didn’t go through any changes for innumerable years suddenly let out a blazing scarlet light. The scarlet light formed a large column that broke through the clouds, leaving a large hole in them.
But, this light column quickly disappeared, leaving only specks of red light behind that gradually disappeared into the air.
A hundred kilometres from the Blood Gate, a pitch-black python strangled its prey with its large body then opened its gaping mouth and devoured it.
At that moment, it had been facing the Blood Gate’s direction and it had clearly seen the red column of light that flashed past there.
The black python widened its eyes and stared intensely in the Blood Gate’s direction with clear fright.
The python’s fears were well-grounded, as the legends of the Blood Gate were all fairly intimidating. It had been standing there for innumerable years without going through any changes, yet it suddenly let out such a light. So, who wouldn’t tremble in fear in the face of this?
But, this abrupt incident had ended quickly and didn’t affect it, so the python quickly calmed down.
The python waited for a long while, not daring to make a rash move, and only after ascertaining that the Blood Gate had no other peculiarities did it twist its body, making its bones let out a crackling noise. The five-metre-long body of the large python started going through drastic changes.
But, those changes didn’t take more than an instant. The black python instantly turned into a dark-skinned middle-aged man with a treacherous gaze clad in a black robe.
The man’s mouth was still wide open, exposing its numerous large fangs, and it was still chewing on its prey, a pretty scary sight!
Along with a gulping noise, the black python that had turned into a middle-aged man swallowed down his prey, blowing it up, as if he was a woman pregnant for ten months. But, as he patted his large belly, it quickly shrank down to its usual size.
“This is a major incident, I must hurry up and report it to Sir!”
After the middle-aged man muttered to himself with his hesitation apparent on his face, his Monster Qi started surging and he turned into a ray of light that flew off in a certain direction.
The energy fluctuations emitted by the man reached the Eleventh-Order, which was more or less equivalent to a Dao Source Realm Cultivator.
After two hours, the black ray stopped outside of a gate in front of a large mountain.
The two Monsters standing guard there became alert as one of them took out a bone hammer while the other raised the two bone spears in his hands; glaring intensely at the black ray of light.
“Who goes there?” The Monster with the bone hammer let out a shout, placing his weapon in front of him as he continued, “This is the palace of Monster King Xi Lei. If you don’t identify yourself immediately, we will mercilessly slay you.”
“Indeed!” The Monster with bone spears also shouted imposingly.
The black ray stopped near the gate and showed itself. It was none other than the black python that had turned into a middle-aged man.
“I’m one of you, I’m one of you. Brothers, I’m also one of Xi Lei’s subordinates and I have something important to report to him. Please notify him!” The middle-aged man cupped his fists and spoke.
The two Monsters at the gate exchanged a glance then started sizing up the man doubtfully. One couldn’t blame those two guards for nor recognizing him as a lot of Monsters lived in this area and Monster King Xi Lei had more than a hundred thousand subordinates scattered in an area of several hundred thousand kilometres. They couldn’t recognize anyone other than the ones seen regularly.
Moreover, not just anyone could obtain an audience with Monster King Xi Lei whenever he wanted.
The Monster with bone spears in his hands let out a sneer, “You’re claiming that you’re one of us, aren’t you? Do you have any proof?”
It looked like the middle-aged man had already expected this and he quickly took out an object from his Space Ring and handed it over to the guards respectfully.
The Monster Race obviously couldn’t craft Space Rings, but a lot of Humans had come here to seek death, so these Monsters had obviously gotten their hands on a number of Space Rings left by the Humans over the years.
The middle-aged man had also once killed a Human cultivator, obtaining his Space Ring for himself. He usually put all of his possessions in it and he found it pretty convenient.
The Humans were pretty good at using their brains and could make a lot of good things such as artifacts and Spirit Pills. It was really a pity that none in the Monster Race could craft such exquisite things.
The Monster with the bone hammer accepted the object handed to him and he discovered that it was a token made out of bone with a design of a galloping rhinoceros depicted on it, as well as a large ‘Lei (雷)’ character on it.
This was the token crafted by Monster King Xi Lei. It was pretty crudely made, but not just anyone could imitate it because they were all made from the bones of the same Monster Beast.
The two Monsters standing guard at the gate had seen a lot of tokens and they could recognize with a glance that it was a genuine one.
Only a few Monster Race Masters could obtain this token. Among more than a hundred thousand Monsters, only around two thousand had one, and it was a sort of status symbol.
So, upon seeing the middle-aged man take out the bone token, the expressions of the two Monsters standing guard at the gate turned for the better. The one holding a bone hammer spoke, “Even though you’re one of his subordinates, we still can’t let you in. Sir has asked to not bother him for any little and trifling matter. If you have something to tell him, then just tell us and we’ll pass your message to him.”
The middle-aged man said anxiously, “This is not something trivial or insignificant; I must speak to Sir in person!”
This might be a great contribution to Sir Xi Lei, so how could the middle-aged man employ any other middle-man to act on his behalf?
Despite the middle-aged man’s strenuous effort, he couldn’t convince those standing guard at the gate to allow him to pass.
He was left without a better choice and could only offer them a bribe. This barren land had no valuable treasures, and he couldn’t offer them anything other than the Monster Cores of Monster Beasts slain by him.
Monster Cores were a pretty hard currency in the Ancient Wild Lands, as anyone could use them to raise their strength. Thus, upon receiving these gifts, the two beamed in delight, and after they discussed it for a moment, one of them turned around and went inside. He had obviously gone to make a report!
The dark python who had taken a humanoid shape had finally experienced and understood the meaning of the saying, ‘Meeting the king of Hell wasn’t difficult, but dealing with his lackeys was’.
The man started exchanging pleasantries with the others at the gate to pass time, while he vowed inwardly, [Once I get rewarded for this great contribution, I’ll surely teach you all a memorable lesson and make you regret putting on such a haughty front. I’ll make you spit out everything you took from me!]
After a short while, the one who had gone to make a report came back and cupped his fist at the middle-aged man, saying, “Today, Sir is in a pretty good mood and doesn’t mind meeting you. Go inside!”
The middle-aged man expressed his thanks to them then started climbing up the mountain, leaving the two guards playing with the few Monster Cores in their hands in delight.
There wasn’t anyone to guide the middle-aged man, but he could still make his way through with ease, as this wasn’t his first visit. He quickly crossed several checkpoints and reached the peak of the mountain where a large palace was built with a rough design completely different from the ones commonly seen in the Star Boundary. It was just a large mass of boulders piled up together without an ounce of beauty.
Moreover, there was a large sculpture of a mighty-looking galloping rhinoceros outside the palace.
This was the true body of Monster King Xi Lei. He had just been an ordinary rhinoceros who managed to cultivate to the peak of the Twelfth-Order. Who knew what kind of fortuitous encounter had helped him accomplish this great feat, but nonetheless, he had now become the ruler of a large expanse of the Ancient Wild Lands with over a hundred thousand Monster Race subordinates under him.
There were only thirty-two beings in the same realm as Xi Lei in all the Ancient Wild Lands. They all had their own territories and wouldn’t invade nor assault each other, and they were all under the jurisdiction of the Four Great Divine Spirits.
Every Divine Spirit had eight Monster Kings at the peak of the Twelfth-Order under them, while Monster Kings had Monster Commanders and Monster Generals, as well as an innumerable number of Monster Beasts below the Twelfth-Order. One could well imagine how dangerous the Ancient Wild Lands were.
However, the Humans outside were obviously oblivious to this and they only knew that the Ancient Wild Lands was a chaotic land fraught with dangers. They were unaware that deep within the Ancient Wild Lands, it had already developed its own social order.
After the middle-aged man reached the palace, the Monsters guarding the gate just checked his identity then allowed him in.
It couldn’t be said that they were careless, as it was pretty much impossible for the middle-aged man to wreak havoc in the face of the Xi Lei with his low cultivation. The Monster Race had always been pretty casual about customs and they didn’t attach great importance to them.
If this was a Sect of the Human Race, then it wouldn’t have been so easy for a Dao Source Realm cultivator to meet a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master.
After the middle-aged man entered the palace, soft music, light singing, as well as decadent noises reached his ears, taking him aback and almost making him assume he walked into the wrong place.
But, when he raised his eyes to take a look, he sighted a muscular man sitting cross-legged at the end of the hall with a table decorated with the corpse of a Monster Beast in front of him, a bloody corpse that died not long ago. The muscular man was holding the corpse of the Monster Beast and gorging himself with blood dripping off the corners of his mouth. It was a pretty ghastly sight, yet the man was eating with gusto with his eyes shining with a scarlet gleam.
The legs of the middle-aged man went soft and he had almost escaped on the spot.
He had heard that Monster Kings were fond of devouring their subordinates’ flesh, but he didn’t take it for more than a mere rumour. This was a sight he had never expected to see.
The muscular man was obviously none other than Monster King Xi Lei. The middle-aged man had once seen him from afar and he could recognize him with a glance.
Xi Lei took a few more bites of the meat then laughed heartily out of delight.
Two women clad in revealing clothes with pretty much all their skin exposed were next to the muscular man, serving him and fawning over him. They were both endowed with pretty good figures hidden behind light gauze, making for a breathtaking sight!
Once Xi Lei let out a peal of laughter, one of the women took advantage of this chance to stuff one of the peeled grape-like spirit fruits on the table into his mouth.
Xi Lei was pleased by this and he embraced the woman and started having his way with her.
After a short moment, the woman was also left with a bloody mouth, but she wasn’t displeased by this, rather, she licked off the blood with her little scarlet tongue in delight.
The middle-aged man observed this in trepidation and longing, wondering when he would obtain a cultivation equal to Xi Lei. At that time, beauties would throw themselves at him and he would also get to enjoy such a delightful experience.
In the hall below the table, there were a few women with slim waists and plump bottoms clad in revealing clothes singing and dancing.
The middle-aged man observed them in a daze with his eyes rolling around ceaselessly. He couldn’t make up his mind about which beauty he should observe.
The beauty embraced by Xi Lei a while ago had also taken notice of the middle-aged man and she curled up the corners of her mouth into a smile and threw a flirtatious glance at him, which almost stole his Soul.
The woman leaned closer to Xi Lei’s ears and started whispering to him.
At this moment, Xi Lei finally raised his eyes to look at the middle-aged man and he waved his hands, sending the women around him away.
The middle-aged man didn’t dare to slight this Master and hurriedly walked forward with a solemn look, then knelt and spoke, “Greetings, Sir. My name is Wu Zhui.”
Xi Lei asked in a deep voice, “Is it you who has claimed that you have something to report?”
“Indeed!”
“Speak. What is so important about it that you had to see me personally? If it’s just a trivial matter, then you may not keep your head.”
Wu Zhui’s expression darkened and didn’t dare to delay, quickly explaining, “Sir, it’s related to the Blood Gate.”
“The Blood Gate?” Monster King Xi Lei stood up and the few female Monsters in the hall covered their mouths and stared at Wu Zhui with their pretty eyes.
The Blood Gate was a pretty pivotal place for all beings of the Ancient Lands. It was rumoured that the Blood Gate contained a great secret, which could awaken their bloodline power and allow them to evolve into Divine Spirits.
Even though Xi Lei was an apex Twelfth-Order Monster Race, he still couldn’t repress his desire to enter the Blood Gate. If he could become a Divine Spirit, then he would get to change the current hierarchy of the Ancient Lands, which had remained unchanged for innumerable years. The Four Great Divine Venerables would become the Five Great Divine Venerables.
“All of you, leave!” Xi Lei waved his hand and shouted, realizing that this news was crucial and making him lose his calm.
“Sir…” One of the two females who served him a while ago leaned against him, putting on a pitiful look. She obviously wanted to stay here to listen to them.
Xi Lei simply turned his head around and glared at her with his blood-red eyes.
The body of the female stiffened and she didn’t dare to make any more presumptuous actions. She quickly retreated, followed closely by the others.
“Speak. What happened to the Blood Gate?” Once the crowd had left, Xi Lei questioned in a deep voice.
Wu Zhui quickly replied, “An unusual incident has occurred at the Blood Gate.”
“What kind of unusual incident?” Xi Lei asked in surprise.
Wu Zhui quickly told him everything he knew, and upon hearing him out, Xi Lei furrowed his brows with a bewildered look on his face.
This unusual incident was pretty eye-catching, and his subordinate had no reason to falsify it. He surely wasn’t the only one who had seen it as well, so verifying the claim would be as simple as questioning other Monsters Race members who were in the vicinity of the Blood Gate. But, what did this unusual incident mean?
A long time had passed since the Blood Gate appeared and it didn’t go through any changes since then. It had always been quietly sitting atop the peak of the mountain, yet on this day, it emitted radiant scarlet light that soared into the Heavens!
No matter what, this was a vital piece of news for any inhabitant of the Ancient Lands.
Xi Lei paced back and forth in the hall for a while with an indecisive look on his face, only stopping after a long while, “You should go with me to see the Divine Venerable and tell him everything you have seen.”
“The D-D-Divine V-V-Venerable…” Wu Zhui had almost bitten his tongue.
The Ancient Lands had four Divine Venerables, and Xi Lei served one of them. The Four Great Divine Venerable were rarely seen, and ordinary members of the Monster Race wouldn’t ever lay eyes upon them in their lifetime. Even the thirty-two Monster Kings couldn’t get to see them whenever they wanted.
Wu Zhui had never imagined that he would one day get to meet a Divine Venerable.
But he quickly got over his shock and became overwhelmed with excitement. Since he could see the Divine Venerable, then the news brought by him was surely anything but insignificant. He would get to lay down a great merit and make his rise from this day.
He didn’t hope to get a lot. After all, he was pretty weak, and he could only hope to get some rewards that could propel him to the rank of a Monster General. At that time, he could also get some subordinates and rule over a whole mountain, which would be a lot better than living on the move, scraping out a living each day.
After Wu Zhui composed himself, he cupped his fists and spoke, “I’ll heed Sir’s commands.”
“Let’s go!” Xi Lei was also pretty impatient. He had already decided to see the Divine Venerable, so there was no need to hesitate now. He summoned a wind that engulfed Wu Zhui and rushed out of the gate.
“Other than you… Who else knows of this?” Xi Lei suddenly asked.
Wu Zhui said, “I’m surely not the only person who has seen this unusual incident related to the Blood Gate, but I rushed over quickly to report it to Your Excellency, so I don’t know who else might know of it.”
Xi Lei nodded lightly, knowing well that Wu Zhui wasn’t mistaken. That unusual sight was pretty eye-catching and he surely wasn’t the only one who had taken notice of it. The other Monster Kings were probably also aware of this by now, and they would surely be rushing to their respective Divine Venerables to take credit for this.
Wu Zhui’s eyes flickered, mulling over something for a moment, before letting out a sigh, “Unfortunately, I have an insignificant and lowly status, so I was obstructed for a long time by the two guards at the mountain gate when I asked for an audience with Sir. Those two didn’t allow me to go in and I had to part with all of my wealth just to get them to agree to report my presence,” saying so, he looked nervously at Xi Lei and said. “Did I do something wrong?”
Xi Lei’s face darkened as he snorted, “They’re getting more outrageous with each passing day!”
Saying so, he suddenly thrust his fist down.
*Kacha*
Along with a thunderous crack so loud that it would leave one’s eardrums ringing in pain, a thick lightning bolt fell from the sky, rushing towards the ground.
After a short moment, a loud rumble echoed, accompanied by two sudden miserable shrieks.
Wu Zhui lowered his head to take a look, only to discover that the mountain gate was a total mess with a large hole left there. As for the two Monsters guarding the gate? They had already disappeared.
One day later, Yang Kai walked out of the cave with the wound on his chest fully healed. He had also changed into a new set of clothes, as the scent of blood might attract some unnecessary trouble for him.
Upon hearing some noise, Zhang Ruo Xi, who had been keeping watch at the entrance of the cave, quickly stood up and was relieved to see that Yang Kai’s complexion had already regained its vigour.
She was well aware that Yang Kai’s injuries were anything but serious, but she still couldn’t help but worry over him.
Upon exchanging a glance, Yang Kai nodded at her, while Zhang Ruo Xi said, “Sir, I noticed something peculiar.”
“What?” Yang Kai asked in bewilderment.
Zhang Ruo Xi quickly recounted to him what she experienced during her cultivation, then looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to dispel her doubts.
Yang Kai had no clue about this though, but he found it embarrassing to admit his ignorance to Zhang Ruo Xi, so he put on a pensive look and mulled over it for a moment, then spoke, “Better safe than sorry, you should stop cultivating in the Ancient Lands, and if you need to recover your strength, you can just use Source Crystals or Spirit Pills. If worse comes to worst, then you can just enter the Small Sealed World.”
Zhang Ruo Xi heeded his instructions without the least bit of hesitation, but shortly after, she questioned him, “Sir, what about you?”
Yang Kai said with a smile, “It’s fine, the Wild Force can’t harm me.”
Zhang Ruo Xi was pretty surprised and she looked in veneration at Yang Kai with stars almost sparkling in her eyes. She couldn’t help but inwardly praise, [Sir is really amazing. I have heard that even a Great Emperor will be affected by this land’s Wild Force, yet Sir hasn’t suffered any harm.]
Yang Kai coughed and said, “Let’s leave…”
Saying so, his expression suddenly changed and he turned his head towards a certain region and shouted, “Who dares hide there!”
Zhang Ruo Xi was startled by this as she had been keeping guard here all along and didn’t notice anyone approaching them. Yet, Yang Kai had shouted at someone shortly after coming out. Yang Kai wouldn’t raise a fuss over nothing, so there must surely be someone here.
She turned her head around to have a look and followed Yang Kai’s gaze to a large tree, one that looked peaceful and serene without any peculiarities. Even when she swept it with her Divine Sense, she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
Yang Kai snorted coldly and spoke, “Still trying to die? Do I have to pull you out myself?”
After he said so, a rustling noise echoed out from the tree, shortly followed by a head poking out of the dense leaves of the canopy. Said head swayed around, its bright eyes then casting a glance at Yang Kai and Zhang Ruo Xi, giving them a silly smile.
Zhang Ruo Xi’s expression darkened, having been caught off guard by this; after all, someone she had failed to notice approaching her was now smiling dumbly at her in this damned place.
“Hmm?” Yang Kai exclaimed in surprise as he observed this human-looking face carefully. It could be seen that it had quite dishevelled hair, as if this individual hadn’t washed it for many years, leaving a nought but a tangled mass.
This person’s face was dark with indistinct features, but it had a pair of bright eyes and pearly white teeth.
It was definitely a woman!
Even though Yang Kai couldn’t get a clear look at her face, he still recognized with a glance that it belonged to a woman.
All women cared a lot about their appearance, yet this one was a total mess, even more so than the Bustling World Great Emperor in Maplewood City. Who knew what this woman had suffered and gone through in the Ancient Wild Lands?
It wasn’t limited to appearance though, as Yang Kai could clearly tell that this woman hanging upside down from the tree was mentally impaired. Her gaze was pretty bright, but it still looked chaotic and erratic.
However, what Yang Kai cared most about was this woman’s concealment technique.
If she didn’t suddenly let out some noise from the tree earlier, then even Yang Kai wouldn’t have noticed that she was hiding there.
Just who was she?
Upon sweeping her with his Divine Sense and detecting the faint energy fluctuations emanating from her body, Yang Kai discovered in surprise that she was a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master!
While doubts were still flooding Yang Kai’s mind, the woman suddenly giggled and spoke, “Come and catch me!”
Having said this, she jumped off the tree, but she turned around in mid-air and rushed into the forest, quickly disappearing, leaving only a peal of laughter behind her, “Come catch me, catch me!”
[Who the hell wants to catch you!?] The corners of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched. He was now certain that the woman had a mental impairment.
If that wasn’t the case, why would a solemn Second-Order Emperor Realm Master do such a ridiculous thing? She wasn’t just in a dishevelled state, her speech and words were also a mess. Yang Kai was dumbfounded. He had just come into the Ancient Wild Lands and ended up running into a crazy woman. He obviously wasn’t in the mood to play hide and seek with her.
“Sir, her attire…” It looked like Zhang Ruo Xi had noticed something, and she covered her rosy lips with her hand, looking in shock at the region where the crazy woman had disappeared.
“What about her attire?” Yang Kai furrowed his brows.
“Sir, didn’t you find what she was wearing familiar?” Zhang Ruo Xi asked back.
When the crazy woman had jumped off the tree, Yang Kai swept her with his gaze. Her clothes were also worn out and in a mess like her, revealing her skin with every little movement. He didn’t know what her real skin tone was, but it was currently completely grey, as if she hadn’t taken a bath for many years.
Yang Kai was surprised and bewildered by Zhang Ruo Xi’s words.
“Those were the robes of Ice Heart Valley!” Zhang Ruo Xi said anxiously.
“Are you certain?” Yang Kai widened his eyes.
Zhang Ruo Xi nodded, “I have seen many disciples of Ice Heart Valley the last time we were in the Northern Territory’s Ice Moon City. They were all clad the same way as her. Her clothes were torn and worn out, but they still had an ice crystal symbol over her chest.”
“Why would a disciple of Ice Heart Valley come here?” Yang Kai was pretty stunned.
Ice Heart Valley was located in the Northern Territory, while they were now in the Eastern Territory. There was a large distance between the territories and ordinary people wouldn’t ever travel so far, much less come to a place like this. But, upon giving it more thought, he recalled that all Masters of the Star Boundary eyed this treasure land.
He could also be counted as a disciple of the Southern Territory, yet, he had come here, so it wouldn’t be strange for the inhabitants of the Northern Territory to come here; after all, all Masters of the Four Territories converged here.
But, he was still bewildered by something. From the moment Ice Heart Valley was founded by its Martial Ancestor Bing Yun until this day, they didn’t have a lot of Emperor Realm Masters. So, how did a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master end up here? Worse, in a chaotic mental state.
Upon mulling this over, Yang Kai’s eyes suddenly lit up and he recalled something.
In the past, when Bing Yun returned from the Solitary Void Sealed World to Ice Heart Valley, its current Valley Master, her First Disciple, An Ruo Yun, made mention of a certain event.
When Bing Yun had gone missing, her Third Disciple went out to look for her, yet she didn’t find her trail and had also gone missing in the end. Three thousand years had already passed since then, and it was pretty much unknown whether that disciple was still alive or not.
When An Ruo Yun had reported this to Bing Yun. Yang Kai had been there to hear this and he had also sighed over it as he thought that this Third Disciple had most likely died in some unknown region; after all, the Star Boundary was fraught with dangers, and if she was still alive, then she would have at least contacted them over the past three thousand years.
However, those were private matters, so Yang Kai didn’t really care about them.
But upon getting Zhang Ruo Xi’s reminder, Yang Kai suddenly realized that this woman was most likely Bing Yun’s Third Disciple. A Second-Order Emperor Realm cultivation also fit the criteria, as the First Disciple An Ruo Yun and the Second Disciple Sun Yun Xiu were also in the same realm, so the Third Disciple would likely not be any worse than them.
Upon thinking of this possibility, Yang Kai looked at where the crazy woman had disappeared to, but he couldn’t catch even her shadow. She had already escaped from him.
Yang Kai could guess why this Third Disciple was here. In the past, she had left Ice Heart Valley to look for Bing Yun and she surely wouldn’t miss the famous Ancient Wild Lands. She must have come here to seek Bing Yun.
As for why the woman was now in a state of mental chaos? Yang Kai had no ideas about this, but he could still imagine that she must have suffered a lot here, else, why would a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master end up so demented with no regard to her own image?
However, all of this was obviously just Yang Kai’s guess, and he still did not have confirmation that the crazy woman was Bing Yun’s Third Disciple. She could have just killed that Third Disciple and stolen her clothes.
If Yang Kai didn’t get to see this, then he wouldn’t have bothered with it, but since he had already become involved, he couldn’t just ignore this matter; after all, it was related to Bing Yun and Ice Heart Valley.
“Sir, Old Ban once said that an Emperor Realm Master had gone missing in the Ancient Lands Passageway more than ten years ago… And it was a woman… Could it be her?” Zhang Ruo Xi suddenly asked.
This possibility didn’t cross Yang Kai’s mind, but upon giving it more thought, he realized that it was pretty likely the case. She must have gone crazy because she got lost in the Ancient Lands Passageway for more than ten years.
Old Ban had said that the woman was a First-Order Emperor Realm Master, but Old Ban was just a First-Order Dao Source Realm, so he surely couldn’t distinguish between the First and Second-Order Emperor Realm and must have just made an assumption.
“Let’s go after her and investigate,” Yang Kai waved his hand, enveloping Zhang Ruo Xi with his Emperor Qi, then rushing in the direction where the crazy woman had disappeared.
Along the way, he couldn’t find any trace of her, and even though he completely released his Divine Sense, he couldn’t detect even a wisp of her aura. He did, however, notice a lot of Monster Beasts.
It was as if that crazy woman had vanished into thin air, the same way she suddenly appeared.
“Where did she go?” Yang Kai was pretty vexed. If he had known earlier that the crazy woman was linked to Ice Heart Valley’s Third Elder, then he would have made a move to intercept her and not allowed her to run away. Now, it was extremely difficult for him to find her.
After Yang Kai spent most of the day searching for her in vain, he found himself forced to give up and stop. Running around the Ancient Wild Lands aimlessly was nothing short of insanity; after all, he might end up catching the attention of a powerful Monster Race.
If he couldn’t find her, then so be it, he would just give up for now, then, take a trip to the Northern Territory after dealing with his affairs here and pass the crazy woman’s news to Bing Yun, leaving her to deal with this herself.
Yang Kai took out a jade slip and checked it, only to discover that he had already ventured a lot deeper into the Ancient Lands in his half-day-long pursuit. If he continued further, then he would end up in a gathering spot for Monster Beasts, which had a Twelfth-Order Monster Beast presiding over them.
Yang Kai didn’t want to attract trouble for no reason as he had come here just to seek Xiao Xiao, so he would surely try to avoid danger as much as possible.
When Yang Kai had just put away the jade slip after deciding to make a detour around this region, a peal of laughter reverberated in a large tree near him, shortly followed by a dark face poking out of the tree’s leaves. She grinned at him, revealing her pearly white teeth, and she beckoned to Yang Kai, “Come catch me, hurry up and catch me!”
[This crazy woman!] Yang Kai was almost driven crazy with rage at this moment when he realized that all this time he was unable to find her, she had actually been hiding nearby to mess with him.
Yang Kai really didn’t know what to do with this kind of person. If she was sane and could think properly, he would have sat down and talked with her; asked her about her origins and background, but she was completely insane. The only way he could talk to her was if she allowed it…
Yang Kai ground his teeth in anger, but he didn’t dare to beat the bush and scare the snake away.
[This woman comes and goes without a trace. Her camouflaging technique is really profound too. If I scare her away, it won’t be easy to find her…]
Having set his mind, Yang Kai squeezed a smile and tried his best to put on a harmless face before beckoning to her, “Come here!”
The crazy woman wasn’t swayed at all. She just cheekily smiled at him and stated, “Come and catch me!”
She repeated the same thing as if she only knew one sentence and never got tired of it.
Yang Kai tried to call her a few times, but it didn’t work, leaving him feeling utterly helpless.
“Sir, why don’t you tempt her with something and see whether she will come over?” Zhang Ruo Xi suddenly proposed.
Yang Kai felt that it was a good idea and rummaged through his Space Ring to quickly find a red fruit. He had a lot of Alchemy ingredients on him, most of which were obtained from killing others, and the rest were found in the ancient medicine garden last time.
This Blue Crab Apple was an Emperor Grade Alchemy ingredient. It looked extraordinary and was completely ripe, and the moment Yang Kai took it out, a tangy fragrance wafted in the air.
Yang Kai flipped his hand and spread his palm, revealing the Blue Crab Apple as he called out, “Come and take it, there’s no need to be afraid.”
He looked like a perverted old man trying to lure in and kidnap a little girl. He was extremely embarrassed inside, but he still had to pretend that it was alright.
The crazy woman was hanging upside down from a tree and was clearly interested in the fruit, her bright and wide eyes totally fixating on it. She also made no effort to disguise the desire in her eyes and began smacking her lips a few times while salivating.
Who knows whether it was because of her situation though, but she was still very vigilant. Despite the hungry look on her face, she didn’t rush over as Yang Kai had hoped.
*Chi chi chi…*
The leaves rustled for a while before the crazy woman suddenly disappeared.
Yang Kai was struck dumb and quickly spread his Divine Sense to lock onto her position. If he lost her this time, considering how vast the Ancient Lands was, trying to find her would make looking for a needle in a haystack feel trivial by comparison. He would really have no idea where to search for her.
*Chi chi chi…*
Another rustling noise came from nearby. Yang Kai turned his head to look and suddenly found that the crazy woman had reappeared on the branch of another tree, holding the trunk with one hand, quietly standing there.
[Fast! So fast!]
Yang Kai’s pupils shrunk when he saw how swiftly she had moved. Before he could grasp her position, she had reappeared like a ghost.
However, she was a lot closer than before.
Yang Kai secretly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the fruit in his hand had finally aroused her interest.
Yang Kai smiled and pushed the fruit forward before speaking in a soft voice, “Do you want it or not? If you don’t want it, I will eat it.”
While speaking, he pulled back the fruit and slowly brought it towards his mouth.
The crazy woman immediately became anxious at this sight and took a bent stance, as if she could not wait to pounce and grab the apple. But she appeared to have some scruples still and swayed back and forth on the tree, refusing to come down.
Yang Kai ground his teeth in anger, steeled himself, and bit into the Blue Crab Apple.
In just one bite, Yang Kai’s mouth was filled with rich fruit juice. It was an Emperor Grade spirit fruit after all, and the essence within it was quite amazing. On top of that, it tasted quite good and the attractive fruity fragrance only grew stronger once the flesh was exposed.
*Baji baji…*
Yang Kai ate it with relish, making some exaggerated noises, clearly causing the crazy woman’s heart to ache.
She looked at the Blue Crab Apple again before a firm look flashed in her eyes. She seemed to have made up her mind and with a flicker she shot out towards Yang Kai, leaving a streak of white light in her wake like a bolt of lightning.
Yang Kai was waiting for this very moment, so how could he let it pass? He threw the spirit fruit in his hand straight at her while, at the same time, stretching his hand out, grabbing towards a certain place in the air like a dragon.
The crazy woman suddenly appeared in front of Yang Kai with a flash. Her bright and shiny eyes were focused on the Blue Crab Apple that had been thrown by Yang Kai, as if nothing in this world could distract her from her prize.
If the spirit fruit continued to fly like this and there was no accident, it would definitely hit her right in the forehead.
Although Yang Kai didn’t mean to kill her with this attack, it was by no means a casual throw either. Rather, he had poured some of his Emperor Qi into it as he wanted to distract the crazy woman so that he could proceed with his next move.
But much to his surprise, the crazy woman leaned back at the critical moment, evading the spirit fruit by a hair’s breadth. Immediately after, she opened her mouth wide and directly took a bite at the spirit fruit. In a flash, her eyebrows rose in pleasure and an overjoyed look filled her face.
In the twinkling of an eye though, Yang Kai had flashed to her side and grabbed her arm.
The crazy woman was greatly shocked and quickly looked at Yang Kai as an inexplicable coldness flashed through her smiling eyes.
She twisted her body at an impossible angle and changed her posture like there were no bones in her body, standing face to face with Yang Kai.
Next, she raised her hand, while palming hard at Yang Kai. Before her attack even reached him, an extremely icy cold pressure that seemed capable of freezing the entire world spread out.
Yang Kai took a deep breath and couldn’t help but shiver as he shouted in a grim voice, “Ice Principles!”
If it was just speculation before that this crazy woman was somehow related to the Third Elder of Ice Heart Valley, who had gone missing many years ago, now it was all but certain she was that very person.
After all, every Ice Heart Valley disciple cultivated an Ice Attribute Secret Art.
Yang Kai’s face turned serious as he didn’t dare to be negligent. He also sent out a palm that radiated Space Principles.
*Hong…*
A deafening clap immediately followed as both of their bodies fiercely shook like two small boats caught in a violent storm. The two different Principle Strengths clashed with each other, but they were evenly matched.
This wasn’t a surprise though, as the crazy woman’s cultivation was a little higher than Yang Kai’s, and she had attacked in anger, whereas Yang Kai could only hastily respond. Forcing a draw here was already Yang Kai’s limit, and had it been any other First-Order Emperor, he or she might have suffered serious injuries.
Before the two clashing Principle Strengths could dissipate, the crazy woman suddenly twisted her arm held by Yang Kai, which had turned soft and boneless like a snake, and in the next moment, she slipped out of his grasp.
Yang Kai was greatly shocked by this, but it was already too late to grab her again. After being frightened by Yang Kai once, the crazy woman had quickly retreated, opening a huge gap with him.
*Hu chi chi…*
Only now did the two clashing Principle Strengths finally die down. Yang Kai stood with a wry smile hanging on his lips as he didn’t dare to make a rash move for the fear of scaring off the other party. Over twenty metres away, the crazy woman stood in place, her eyes filled with resentment. It appeared as if Yang Kai had abused her and then abandoned her, making Yang Kai feel apologetic.
It was really not a glorious thing to lie to a person whose brain was not currently working right, and to a woman no less.
She reached out to take the spirit fruit bitten by Yang Kai before taking a bite; she bit it without a moment of hesitation even though it had been eaten by Yang Kai. She was eating it with great relish, and there was a big smile on her face, but her nose and eyes were telling another story; she looked completely furious.
Yang Kai slightly sighed at the situation. This was Bing Yun’s Third Disciple, a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master, but now just a simple spirit fruit was enough to give her incomparable joy. If the others of Ice Heart Valley saw this, their hearts would surely ache with incomparable pain.
Yang Kai secretly winked at Zhang Ruo Xi. Seeing this, Zhang Ruo Xi knew what to do. She quickly took out a fruit from her Space Ring and spoke in a soft voice, “Want more? I have one here too. If you want it, I will give it to you.”
The crazy woman raised her brow and looked at her, but the next moment, her face paled as she repeatedly waved her head in refusal.
Having been tricked by Yang Kai, she was acting like she was bitten by a snake, shying away from ropes for ten years.
Not only that, she turned around and ran off in panic.
Yang Kai immediately became anxious and began regretting being too hasty just now.
In fact, he was confident before he made his move; after all, with his current strength, he believed that taking down an unstable Second-Order Emperor Realm Master would be as easy as flipping his hand. But this Third Disciple’s reflexes and judgement turned out far sharper than what he had estimated.
But after carefully thinking about it, this wasn’t that strange. For her to wander outside for so long, and even survive in the Ancient Wild Lands for this long, if she didn’t have such ability, she would have been reduced to a pile of bones already.
Clearly, she was even stronger than her Eldest Senior Sister and Second Senior Sister now. Although An Ruo Yun and Sun Yun Xiu were also Second-Order Emperors, would they be able to survive in this environment like this with their current strength?
Hardship and danger will always be a stepping stone for a person’s growth.
Seeing the crazy woman turn around and escape, Yang Kai didn’t dare to hesitate anymore and immediately shouted, “Third Disciple, Senior Bing Yun is waiting for you to return, where are you trying to run to!?”
He didn’t know what Bing Yun called her as he hadn’t inquired about it before, so he could only bring up Bing Yun’s name, hoping it might affect her.
If this crazy woman was really Bing Yun’s Third Disciple, she would definitely not remain indifferent to this call even if she had lost her mind.
What pleasantly surprised Yang Kai was that after listening to his shout, the crazy woman suddenly stopped in her place, her tender body slightly trembling as she slowly turned around. She had even forgotten about the spirit fruit in her mouth.
When their gazes met, Yang Kai discovered that her eyes were filled with confusion. Obviously, Bing Yun’s name had triggered some of her memories, but she still couldn’t clearly remember and organize her thoughts because of her current chaotic state. Due to her muddled thoughts, a struggling and painful look appeared on her face.
[She is definitely the Third Disciple!] Yang Kai was sure in his heart now and followed up in a soft voice, “Third Disciple, Senior Bing Yun has already returned. Your Eldest Senior Sister, Second Senior Sister, and several Junior Sisters are waiting for you. Don’t run around, I will lead you back!”
While speaking, he stretched his hand toward her.
The struggling look on the Third Disciple’s face became even more severe and her beautiful pair of eyes trembled violently as two lines of tears slid down her cheeks while she muttered, “Honoured Master, Honoured Master…”
Yang Kai was overjoyed when he heard this. Obviously, some of this Third Disciple’s memories had returned.
Just as Yang Kai was preparing to strike while the iron was hot, the Third Disciple suddenly started scratching through her hair, crying her heart out, “Honoured Master, where are you, your disciple can’t find you…”
She fell on the ground, grabbing and pulling her messy hair that was all tangled together.
The bleak, sorrowful, and self-blaming tone was truly hard to listen to and brought tears to one’s eyes.
Zhang Ruo Xi’s eyes had turned red as she glanced at Yang Kai, thinking that if Sir suddenly disappeared one day, she would definitely go looking for him. Even if it was three thousand years, or thirty thousand years, she would never stop just because of the passage of time.
“Honoured Master!” The Third Disciple suddenly tenderly cried before her body rose into the air like a cannonball, shooting towards the depth of the Ancient Lands.
“We need to go after her!” Yang Kai was angry but helpless. What he was angry about was that he had told the Third Disciple the truth but she had completely ignored him, instead triggering this chaotic episode. As for helplessness, it was about the current situation of the Third Disciple that he couldn’t reason with.
For now, he could only chase after her and look for an opportunity to knock her out, even if it would hurt her.
While chasing after her, Yang Kai didn’t hesitate to use his Space Principles, teleporting a few times yet still losing track of her after the time it took for an incense to burn.
It was just like before. Had the Third Disciple not shown up again, he would have never been able to find her.
But the Third Disciple was having a nervous break, so it was impossible for her to show up again on her own. Yang Kai kept running around looking for her, annoyed and frustrated.
He had experienced the Third Disciple’s abilities first hand. She could freely come and go in this damned place, which he couldn’t help but admire.
*Hong long long…*
A series of approaching footsteps and rustles sounded from the distance suddenly. Apparently, many people were approaching. Obviously, the commotion made by Yang Kai and Zhang Ruo Xi while pursuing the Third Disciple had attracted some attention.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow and looked in the direction of the source of the sounds, wondering how so many had suddenly appeared in the Ancient Lands all at once.
He promptly spread his Divine Sense and discovered the aura of an Emperor Realm Master. Furthermore, the aura didn’t seem to belong to a Human.
[Monster Race?] Yang Kai immediately made an educated guess.
After a short while, a group of figures rushed out of one side of the jungle. Each of these figures looked exceptionally fierce, vicious, and ugly. In addition, Monster Qi was emanating from them. With so many gathered in one place, the Monster Qi soared into the sky in an unstoppable manner.
[As I thought, it’s the Monster Race!]
The fellow leading the group of Monster Race Masters was a burly man. He was holding a bone spear, which looked extremely scary. Who knows which Monster Beast’s bones were used to craft it. It was more than five meters long and as thick as a Human leg, but this burly man was holding it with ease. He was wearing a simple animal hide, revealing his strong and robust muscles. Every part of his body was a picture of strength. He was sitting on a steel-back maned boar with two-metre-long tusks pointed upward. Every time this boar breathed it sprayed hot air from his nostrils, and its four hooves kept restlessly digging the ground, its scarlet eyes flickering with a scary gleam.
The pair of Monster Race and Monster Beast looked extremely imposing, like war gods descended to the mortal realm.
He was obviously a Monster General!
Also, there were about thirty to forty members of Monster Race with different levels of strength on either side of this Monster General, standing in a disorderly manner.
In a flash, several dozen gazes locked onto Yang Kai and Zhang Ruo Xi, sizing them up, with Zhang Ruo Xi being more of a focus than Yang Kai; after all, Zhang Ruo Xi looked beautiful and delicious. Her slim and slender figure always attracted the attention of males, no matter whether the opposite party was from the Human or Monster Race.
The female members of the Monster race, who were wearing revealing clothes, immediately became unhappy and glared at Zhang Ruo Xi with hostility, grinding their teeth and cursing. One or two whispers could be heard, calling her ‘slut’ and the like.
Zhang Ruo Xi, on the other hand, was looking at these Monster Race members who had suddenly rushed out of the jungle with curiosity. She had never seen members of the Monster Race before. She had seen many Monster Beasts, but how could it be that easy to see them take on Human form?
Seeing that they were no different from ordinary people, she couldn’t help but look at them a few more times.
She was showing no fear at all; after all, Yang Kai was by her side. She had complete confidence in her Sir.
“Human, I admire your courage, actually daring to trespass in this King’s territory!” The robust Monster General sitting on the steel-back maned boar pointed the spear in his hand with a majestic sweep.
Yang Kai’s brow momentarily twitched as he had no idea how to respond.
He knew that many Monster Races were living in the Ancient Wild Lands. Monster Beasts were different from members of the Monster Race as most Monster Beasts weren’t sentient, only surviving on wild instincts and absorbing World Energy to cultivate naturally. Although their lifespan was generally quite long, it was difficult for them to improve their strength quickly, much less assume Human form.
Those classified as members of the Monster Race were different. Although they stemmed from Monster Beasts, they were sentient and knew how to cultivate more effectively. Some even knew how to cultivate Secret Arts.
In the entire Ancient Wild Lands, the Monster Race was the strongest force. In addition to the Monster Race, there were many Primordial Species. These Primordial Species included countless near-extinct races that while small in number, were all extremely powerful because of their ancient bloodlines. All Primordial Species could unleash some unimaginable abilities.
Yang Kai wasn’t clear about the distribution of forces in the Ancient Lands as the only information he had was the things recorded in the jade slip given to him by Pi San. Naturally, this jade slip didn’t have comprehensive information and just gave a brief rundown about the outer areas of the Ancient Lands.
Seeing this team of Monster Race cultivators appear, Yang Kai immediately knew that while pursuing Ice Heart Valley’s Third Elder, he had inadvertently rushed into the territory of this Monster General.
“Kill, kill, kill!” The crowd of Monster Race suddenly started chanting. If someone ignorant of the situation saw this, he might think that this group of Monster Race was a group of bandits who were blocking the road to rob and pillage. It was a funny sight.
“This King has a question for you!” The Monster General reined in his Monster Beast mount while keeping his bone spear pointed at Yang Kai as he asked with no trace of politeness, “Have you seen a crazy woman?”
[Is he talking about Bing Yun’s Third Disciple?]
Yang Kai didn’t want to get involved with the Monster Race, but by the looks of it, they had obviously seen the Third Disciple, so Yang Kai immediately shouted, “Have you seen her?”
The Monster General blew his top seeing this and pushed his Monster Qi madly, rebuking with a cold snort, “It’s this King who will ask the questions here! If you don’t want to suffer, obediently answer this King! Otherwise, I will let you know how fearsome this King is.”
Determining that civil discourse was impossible with this fellow, Yang Kai decided to start talking with his fists instead, grinning as he taunted, “I’d like to see you try.”
The Monster General sneered, “Since you’re courting death, then don’t blame this King for showing no mercy!” While remaining seated on his mount, he waved his hand as he ordered aloud, “Kill the man, capture the woman!”
Just as he shouted the order, the thirty or forty members of Monster Race howled and acted as swiftly as the wind. In a flash, waves of Monster Qi spread into the surrounding area, lifting up the leaves into a flurry which they charged through to attack Yang Kai with reckless abandon.
[What the…] Yang Kai was stunned. He had known that the Monster Race was simple-minded, but he hadn’t expected them to be so dull. Before they even assessed the strength of their opponent, they all swarmed forward, as if they feared being late to the fight.
[It must have been really hard for the Monster Race to survive in the Ancient Lands for this long.]
However, Yang Kai’s vision was now higher, owing to his higher strength.
In any case, this group of Monster Race was led by a Monster General, and there were many of them. More importantly, the Human cultivators were usually suppressed by the Wild Force present here, so even if they ran into a Second-Order Emperor Realm Human, they could attack like this without any fear.
After so many years, many Emperors had lost their lives to the Monster Race like this. Furthermore, if a cultivator was not strong, how could they survive in the Ancient Lands for so long? They would have long died in a place like this where there was no peace.
The Monster Race group rushed in, unleashing all kinds of techniques. Many of them revealed their true bodies halfway through. In a flash, various strange Monster Beasts were seen galloping everywhere, showcasing all kinds of Monster Race Secret Techniques. The world instantly lost colour in the chaotic storm.
The Monster General, on the other hand, remained seated in the rear, coldly observing everything.
A giant python spewed a breath of poisonous mist, covering Yang Kai and the space around him, blinding him to his surroundings.
Inside the poisonous mist, a figure suddenly appeared and leapt at Yang Kai, its fangs shining with a cold gleam. It was a wolf-type Monster Beast that had launched a sneak attack under the cover of the poisonous mist.
*Zheng…*
A soft metallic cry rang out as a cold gleam flashed. Yang Kai remained standing in place, as if he hadn’t moved at all, but the Myriads Sword had at some point appeared in his hand.
The giant wolf flew past him, its scarlet eyes crazily flickering as if it had seen something terrifying.
After crashing to the ground, it uncontrollably slid forward before a squishing sound rang out and blood gushed from its neck like a fountain. Its head separated from his body as its body constantly twitched.
It was only an Eleventh-Order Monster Beast, so even if it had launched a sneak attack under the cover of the poisonous fog, it wasn’t Yang Kai’s opponent and was killed in a single blow.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
Seven or eight members of the Monster Race showed their true bodies and rushed into the mist together, biting from all directions.
Yang Kai stood stalwart, releasing flashes of light one after another.
Splattering sounds echoed to no end as all the Monster Race attacking him flew past him, splitting into two in the air, their blood and internal organs dying the ground red as miserable wails rose and fell everywhere.
The remaining Monster Race members instantly quieted down and halted their charge right then and there. All of them were staring with widened eyes as a look of shock covered their faces. They hadn’t expected Yang Kai to be so powerful.
*Dida dida…*
Only the sound of blood dripping down the Myriads Sword could be heard, but to the members of the Monster Race, this light dripping was like a death knell deafening their ears, making them tremble in fright.
At this point, they finally noticed that Yang Kai was a little different from the Humans they had encountered before. He didn’t seem easy to mess with.
“Boy, how dare you! To have killed so many of my men. This King will send you to Hell!” The Monster General, who was originally sitting in the rear, continuously leering at Zhang Ruo Xi, blew his top when he noticed that over ten of his men had died in just the blink of an eye. He spurred his mount as he charged at Yang Kai with his spear.
Who knows what kind of exotic beast the steel-back maned boar was, but its speed was so fast that its limbs instantly blurred. The enormous trees in its path, which could only be hugged by several people working together, all broke under its charge, proof of how powerful it was.
As soon as the Monster General made his move, his subordinates naturally avoided and went to trouble Zhang Ruo Xi.
Yang Kai coldly snorted as he slid his finger across the Myriads Sword, a serious look appearing on his face as he mumbled, “Myriads Sword Arts, Radiant Moon Swallows the Wolf!”
*Chi Chi Chi…*
The sword danced around as thousands of Sword Qi blades shot towards the surroundings like a shower.
The Monster Race members were thrown off their feet, miserably wailing as they were helplessly struck by the thousands of Sword Qi blades before they could even approach Yang Kai. Blood gushed out from their bodies as if they had been riddled with holes like a sieve.
After this one move, Yang Kai suddenly disappeared from his position.
*Shua…*
His figure flickered as he flew to the front of the charging Monster General, swinging his sword down.
The Monster General had never seen such a scary Human before. After having seen his subordinates cut down like straws, he realized that things weren’t looking good for him. This Human seemed to be different from the ones he had encountered before. He was too scary!
Having been suddenly attacked, the Monster General was naturally shocked and angry.
However, his reaction was swift as well. The bone spear in his hand left afterimages, forming a screen of thrusts directed straight at Yang Kai. Monster Qi burst forth as the sound of the spear cutting through the air filled the surroundings.
Yang Kai similarly swung his sword again and again, and coupled with his Emperor Qi, the Myriads Sword became incomparably sharp; so sharp that the white bone spear was chipped off bit by bit and in the blink of an eye, only half of the long spear in the Monster General was left.
“Ah!?” The Monster General turned pale in horror. In this short time, who knows how many times he had visited the gates of Hell.
He had encountered a lot of Human cultivators before, but he had never seen one who could kill him without him being able to fight back. Even if the Human’s cultivation was higher than his, they were fighting him in the Ancient Wild Lands, where most of their strength was suppressed. And coupled with his several dozen subordinates, he had never been defeated. He had killed and robbed a lot of Human cultivators, making a big profit in the process.
This time though, it seemed he had kicked an iron plate. Not only did his feet hurt, but he might even lose his life if he didn’t handle things well.
Seeing Yang Kai swing his sword again, the Monster General screamed in horror and raised his arms up, lifting the remaining bone spear and pouring his Monster Qi into it to defend himself.
*Hong…*
A terrifying force struck him from above before the bone spear that had been with him for who knows how many years was cut into two. Sharp Sword Qi almost chopped off his face as it cut through his chest and abdomen.
The steel-back maned boar under him directly buckled to the ground, kneeling down. It was quite apparent how heavy this blow was.
In pain, the steel back maned boar’s eyes suddenly turned red and its steel-like hairs stood on end before they shot outwards.
Yang Kai raised his brow, surprised by this mount’s unexpected blow. It seemed this boar wasn’t just a status symbol but also a combat asset.
Yang Kai didn’t take this attack head-on, instead choosing to fly back as he swept his sword forward, deflecting the oncoming steel needles flying at him.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the steel-back maned boar pig suddenly jumped, leading the Monster General away from Yang Kai.
Having hardly recovered from the shock, the Monster General patted himself all over for a while before laughing, “I’m not dead! Hahaha, I’m not dead!”
At that moment, he thought he would die for sure, but to his surprise, he was still alive, making him feel lucky to have survived.
However, how could he dare to fight with Yang Kai again after this short confrontation? He knew that he wasn’t Yang Kai’s opponent, so he spurred his mount with his legs, turning tail and fleeing. Right now, his little life was the most important. He didn’t dare to pester Yang Kai and couldn’t even care about his subordinates’ lives.
But just as he had taken a few steps, a figure flickered and appeared in front of him, blocking his path. It was Yang Kai.
With his black hair dancing in the wind and a cold look in his eyes, Yang Kai stated stoically, “You didn’t die because you are of use to me. Why else do you think you survived?”
Having said this, he swung his sword down again.
The charging steel-back maned boar was too late to dodge this time and was hit straight on by the Sword Qi. It immediately let out a miserable squeal before its enormous body was split in two, blood and organs splashing out on the ground as its two halves kept rushing forward due to the inertia.
The Monster General sitting on its back was also sent flying, knocking over a dozen or so towering trees one after another before finally sliding across the ground and coming to a stop at the base of a particularly large tree. He was heaving hard and couldn’t get up for a long time.
*Zheng…*
A cold gleam flashed before the Monster General’s eyes as he found a sword resting on his forehead. He immediately panicked, staring at the sword. When looked ahead, cross-eyed, he slowly noticed Yang Kai standing in front of him, condescendingly gazing down at him.
A drop of cold sweat trickled down his forehead as the Monster General knew that Yang Kai had spoken the truth. He wasn’t dead, not because of his own strength, but because Yang Kai had spared his life. If Yang Kai had wanted to kill him just now, it would only have taken a flick of his wrist.
*Gudong…*
The fierce face of the Monster General turned pale as the sound of him gulping sounded. He forced a smile and started begging for mercy, discarding the integrity of the Monster Race, “Spare me, Sir! Spare me!”
It wasn’t the first time Yang Kai had dealt with the Monster Race. In Tong Xuan Realm’s Nine Heavens Holy Land, he had many encounters with the Monster Race, so he knew that these guys were no different from Humans in a certain sense; many of them clung to life instead of choosing death.
Although the fellow before him was a Twelfth-Order Monster Race, he was no doubt a timid fellow.
“Do you want to live or die?” Yang Kai asked in a cold voice, pushing the Myriads Sword a bit, cutting the Monster General’s skin lightly and drawing out a trickle of blood that ran down his face. Of course, the Monster General shouted, “Live! I want to live!”
“If you want to live, answer my questions. If you dare to lie even one word, I will immediately take your dog life!”
“Sir, just ask away!” The Monster General didn’t dare to move, otherwise, his head would have been repeatedly nodding like a chicken pecking rice.
Yang Kai asked, maintaining a cold face, “You asked about a crazy woman just now, have you seen her?”
The Monster General immediately understood that the cause of this disaster was its stupid mouth. This Human Master must have some connection with that crazy woman! He nervously gulped and gingerly asked, “May I ask Sir a question, is that woman your…”
“Hmm?” Yang Kai immediately glared as he coldly snorted through his nose before rebuking, “I am the one asking the questions, you only need to honestly answer them!”
“Yes, yes, yes!” The Monster General’s body went stiff as he hurriedly replied, “I’ve seen her. Not only have I seen her, but I have also fought with her more than once!”
“What happened? Tell me everything in detail!”
Suddenly, an agonized look appeared on the Monster General’s face as he sorrowfully explained, “Sir, please understand, that crazy woman… Cough cough…” Knowing nothing about the relationship between Yang Kai and the crazy woman, the Monster General didn’t want to annoy Yang Kai and have his head cut off. He had been paying close attention to Yang Kai’s language and countenance, so he could tell that Yang Kai shouldn’t be annoyed yet, but was clearly not happy, so he immediately corrected himself and continued, “That woman has caused us a lot of harm. She has been stealing the Heaven Star Nurturing Spirit Fruits that this lowly one has been raising on the mountain. She would steal once every month. I had a total of five fruits and she stole them all in less than half a year. Even the tree was uprooted by her! This lowly one had been keeping those spirit fruits to use for his breakthrough and had spent a thousand years raising them. Just when it was about time to reap the harvest, I didn’t even get to taste one! She has also dug up a dozen or so Turtle Snake Grass that Old Niu, next door, had been raising…”
“Who is Old Niu?” Yang Kai furrowed his brow.
The Monster General hurriedly replied, “Niu Quan is a Monster General under Monster King Ying Fei, just like this lowly one. He lives next door to me.”
“Continue!” Yang Kai poked him with the sword, causing the Monster General to retreat as he could feel the sharp pain grow stronger, not daring to make a rash move so that he could keep his life.
“Hei Ya’s Ten Directional Fruit, Tu Rui’s Golden Rainbow Fountain Flower, Zhui Feng’s Royal Limes… All have suffered at her hands. This lowly one knows more than a dozen others who were robbed by her. I too have no idea exactly how many victims there are. She has been running around the surrounding region, and almost all of my fellow Brothers’ treasures had been taken away by her. Monster King Ying Fei was furious when he learned of this, cursing us as incompetent for being unable to catch one crazy woman. He ordered us to capture her within half a year, lest he loses face in front of the other Monster Kings.”
Yang Kai looked stunned.
Who were these Hei Ya, Tu Rui, Zhui Feng, and the like? Yang Kai had no idea, but he reckoned all of them must be Monster Generals like the one in front of him. He was quite familiar with the Ten Directional Fruit, Royal Lime and the like as well, as all of them were top-grade spirit medicines.
Judging by what this Monster General had said, it seemed like the Third Disciple had robbed these Monster Generals of a lot of the precious treasures they had been guarding.
But this wasn’t strange. She was still a Second-Order Emperor, even if her sanity had been lost. The Ancient Lands might be fraught with dangers, but it was also filled with opportunities, so her cultivation was bound to improve after robbing so many treasures.
After hearing this, Yang Kai couldn’t help but find it infuriating as well as funny.
Why did it feel like that the Ancient Lands had turned into the Third Disciple’s backyard, where she could come and go as she wished, take whatever she wanted, and enrage any Monster General she came across?
“When did this all happen?” Yang Kai asked again.
“It has been like this for fifty years…” The Monster General replied with an ashamed look on his face. A crazy woman had been roaming around in the Ancient Lands for fifty-some years, yet the Monster Race members here were unable to do anything to her. It was really embarrassing to speak of it out loud.
The corner of Yang Kai’s brow twitched before he continued asking, “You brought these subordinates to find that crazy woman?”
The Monster General replied, “Yes, yes. This lowly one heard my subordinate say that they found traces of her in this area, so this lowly one rushed straight here, but… we then ran into Sir,” the Monster General forced a smile as he gingerly asked, “Sir, how is that woman related to you?”
“None of your damn business!” Yang Kai coldly snorted.
The Monster General shrank his neck; however, he could tell that Yang Kai had something to do with the crazy woman, and they were obviously not enemies, otherwise, why would he look worried?
The Monster General rolled his eyes before speaking, “That woman is quite strange. Although we have been looking for her for so long, no one ever succeeded and every time we do spot her, she escapes before we even notice… Uh, Sir, what are you doing?”
While he was talking, he suddenly noticed Yang Kai’s eyes turn colder. Yang Kai appeared to be about to thrust the sharp sword in his hand into his body, frightening the Monster General greatly. Knowing that his life was hanging by a thread, he quickly pleaded, “Sir, please spare me! This lowly one can be of use to you! This lowly one will work very hard to repay this kindness, Sir!”
“What’s the point in keeping a bunch of vile members of the Monster Race alive?” Yang Kai coldly snorted, continuing to push his sword forward. He just wanted to inquire about the Third Disciple for a bit, so now that he had learned everything he needed, there was no reason for him to keep this Monster General alive.
Sensing his murderous intent, large beads of sweat rolled down the Monster General’s forehead. He racked his brain hard before an idea suddenly came to him and he hurriedly stated, “This lowly one can help Sir find traces of that woman! This lowly one has been tracking her for fifty years now and has some understanding of her habits. Sir, please give me a chance!”
The Monster General was utterly helpless. He had no idea whether his assistance would be useful or not; however, he was grasping at straws from the beginning.
To his surprise, Yang Kai really stopped.
The Monster General felt like he had just survived the storm and knew he had bet right, immediately adding, “Sir, rest assured. As long as Sir lets me live, this lowly one will definitely not disappoint Sir. Besides, this lowly one also has some men under him. If you make them search, they will surely be helpful one way or another.”
[That makes sense!]
Yang Kai had never ever thought that he would run into Ice Heart Valley’s Third Elder in the Ancient Wild Lands, but now that he had run into her, he couldn’t simply let her roam free like this. However, the Third Elder’s movement skill was extremely strange and her camouflaging techniques were fearsome. If just he and Zhang Ruo Xi tried looking for her, they might not be able to do anything no matter how hard they tried.
If they could get the help of this Monster General, it would save them some time; after all, the Monster General had many subordinates at his disposal.
In order to put Yang Kai at ease, and safeguard his own life, the Monster General gritted his teeth and proposed on his own, “If Sir wants, this lowly one is willing to hand over his Soul Brand. This lowly one will be at Sir’s beck and call and work myself to the bone.”
Handing over one’s Soul Brand was tantamount to be becoming a Soul Slave. His life and death would be up to Yang Kai to decide. In order to control Hua Qing Si, Yang Kai had done the very same thing.
However, Hua Qing Si was forced to do it and was powerless about it, but the Monster General was actively proposing it.
However, the Monster General wasn’t doing this for no reason; he could care less about anything else to save his own skin, but who knows whether he would regret it in the future or not.
“Hand it over!” Yang Kai stretched his hand towards him.
“Yeah…” The corner of Monster General’s mouth started twitching, noticing Yang Kai’s cold gaze pointed at him. He didn’t dare to resist anymore and obediently closed his eyes and used a certain Secret Technique. In a few moments, a glowing golden wisp flew out of his forehead before being caught by Yang Kai.
The Monster General let out a stifled groan; his face going slightly pale.
After Yang Kai had stored the Monster General’s Soul Brand in his Knowledge Sea using some means, he finally put away the Myriads Sword and indifferently ordered, “Get up!”
Although the Monster General was agonizing in his heart, he knew that his life was saved somehow. He quickly got up, patted the dust off his body, then faintly sighed as he glanced over at his mount that had been cut in half.
“Sir, can you ask that Young Lady… To stop? This lowly one is afraid that she might accidentally get hurt!” The Monster General pointed at Zhang Ruo Xi’, who was still fighting with the other Monster Race members.
Yang Kai nodded and transmitted his voice into Zhang Ruo Xi’s ears.
The Monster General also shouted at the same time, “Everyone, stop!”
By the looks of it, he had very high prestige among the Monster Race members here as all of them retreated with just his one command, distancing themselves from Zhang Ruo Xi while leaving two fresh corpses on the ground.
Although they were locked in a heated battle, few had actually died, mainly because Zhang Ruo Xi’s hands and feet were tied while fighting so many enemies at once. After all, she was only a Third-Order Dao Source Realm.
However, the fact that she had killed two members of the Monster Race and remained unscathed after just a short battle had terrified all her opponents.
Fortunately, the Monster General had ordered them to stop, otherwise, they had no idea if they would still have the courage to fight after a few more deaths.
The Monster Race members and their mounts both looked towards Yang Kai and the Monster General. Seeing them standing side by side in peace had made them curious.
The Monster General lightly coughed and explained, “Everything was a misunderstanding. This Sir is on our side, we don’t need to fight anymore.”
He was too ashamed to tell his subordinates the truth that he had already become Yang Kai’s slave; after all, he still wanted to save face. When he spoke, he surreptitiously looked at the change in Yang Kai’s expression, but after finding that Yang Kai didn’t mind, he finally put his heart at ease.
The Monster Race group on the other hand looked at each other blankly, confused about what their leader was doing. This man and woman were clearly humans, so how could they be on their side?
But after having experienced Yang Kai and Zhang Ruo Xi’s ferocity first hand, they didn’t dare to raise any questions, lest they draw trouble to themselves.
“In the future, seeing this Sir will be as if you are seeing me. Do you understand?” The Monster General shouted again, pointing at Yang Kai.
Although the Monster Race members were totally confused, they still nodded in agreement; mainly because they were scared and they had no desire to risk themselves to avenge their fallen comrades.
The Monster General turned and spoke with a flattering smile next, “Sir, you must be tired from the journey, how about you take a rest at this lowly one’s mountain?”
“Rest?” Yang didn’t give him face and ordered, waving his hand, “Hurry up and ask them to find her. If they can’t find her, death will be the punishment.”
The Monster General immediately looked bitter as he replied, “Sir, I believe you don’t know about this yet, but when that woman is frightened, she won’t show up for some time. It’s useless to look for her during that period.”
Yang Kai calmly asked, “What do you mean?”
The Monster General continued to explain, cupping his fist, “She is very timid, and every time she is frightened, she will hide for a month or two. During this time, no one has ever been able to find her. So, if Sir wants to look for her, the best method is to wait and lie low. After a time, she will naturally show up again.” Seeing Yang Kai looking at him suspiciously, the Monster General began sweating profusely, “Sir, this lowly one is speaking the truth, Sir can ask them.”
Yang Kai had experienced Bing Yun’s Third Disciple’s timidity first hand. It should be because of her problem with her sanity, so he felt that the Monster General wasn’t lying to him. Not to mention, his life was in Yang Kai’s hands, so this Monster General wouldn’t have the courage to lie to him in the first place.
“Even if you can’t find her, you still have to keep looking. Let me know if there is any news,” Yang Kai coldly snorted.
Although he knew that the Monster General was not lying, Yang Kai was still hoping for a chance that she would be found.
“Yes, yes, yes!” Since he couldn’t dissuade Yang Kai, all he could do was ask his subordinates to look around and immediately report back if there were any news.
After having received the order, the twenty or thirty Monster Race members of varying cultivation dispersed in all directions, leaving only five Monster Race members to escort the Monster General and Yang Kai.
“Where are we going to rest?” Yang Kai glanced at the Monster General with a straight face. Now that someone was helping him look for the traces of the Third Disciple, he didn’t need to work so hard. This Monster General also said that the Third Disciple won’t show up for a month or two, so Yang Kai had no intention to look for her immediately and decided to wait.
The Monster General immediately made an inviting gesture after hearing this, nodding and bowing his waist, “This way, Sir, it’s not too far. It will only take half a day.”
Yang Kai nodded before flying towards the indicated direction.
Zhang Ruo Xi didn’t know what Yang Kai was doing, but she didn’t ask any questions either, just flying into the air along with Yang Kai, shooting a contemptuously look at the Monster General as she passed him.
No matter what, he was a Monster General, a Twelfth-Order Monster Race equal to an Emperor Realm Master of the Human Race, so how could he be so spineless? He was no better than cowardly Humans. Zhang Ruo Xi had heard that the Monster Race of the Ancient Lands were brave and did not fear death, so how could she suddenly accept this great disparity in reality?
Having been looked at by Zhang Ruo Xi like this, the Monster General embarrassingly touched his nose before he followed them.
And following his lead, a file of people flew towards the Monster General’s abode.
“What’s your name?” Yang Kai suddenly asked in the middle of the journey.
The Monster General cupped his fists and introduced himself, “This lowly one is Yang You Wei!”
“I heard you mention a Monster King Ying Fei, who is he?” Yang Kai curiously looked at him.
Yang You Wei immediately turned serious as he replied, “Sir Ying Fei is one of the eight Monster Kings under the Divine Venerable. His strength is unfathomable and has already reached the peak of the Twelfth-Order, which is comparable to a Third-Order Emperor Realm Human Master!”
“Eight Monster Kings!” Yang Kai furrowed his brow, “So to say, there are seven other Monster Kings?”
Yang You Wei chuckled before proudly stating, “Not just seven, there are thirty-two Monster Kings in the Ancient Lands!”
Yang Kai was shocked, “So many? Are all of them at the peak Third-Order Emperor Realm!?”
Yang You Wei responded with a nod, “But of course! How can they secure the position of Monster King without such a level of strength? In fact, there are more than thirty-two with this level of strength, but there are only thirty-two Monster Kings, that’s all. Those who couldn’t seize the position of Monster King are all powerful Masters who serve the Divine Venerables directly. There are more than a dozen of them and they aren’t any worse than any Monster King. Some of them may even be stronger.”
Yang Kai gasped a cold breath of air.
Before coming here, he had never known that there were so many fearsome Monster Race Masters in the Ancient Wild Lands. Hearing information about this, Yang Kai finally realized that he had been greatly underestimating the Ancient Lands.
In the entire Star Boundary, no Sect had so many Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters! Even those sects led by Great Emperors did not have such formidable strength! At most, a single Sect would have seven or eight such Masters.
In other words, the force of the Ancient Lands was comparable to four or five Star Soul Palaces combined.
No wonder everyone called the Ancient Lands a dangerous domain. It was far more than dangerous, it was simply a gateway to Hell. One might not even know how they died in this place!
Yang Kai felt slightly lucky now that he didn’t kill Yang You Wei right away, otherwise, he might not have been able to get hold of this important information. This made him a little worried about the task that lay ahead of him.
“Then who or what… Is this Divine Venerable you speak of?” Suddenly, a fearsome notion flashed in Yang Kai’s mind as he hesitatingly asked.
“A Divine Venerable is a Divine Venerable!” Yang You Wei meaningfully grinned, “They rule over the entire Ancient Wild Lands. Oh yes, according to humans, a Divine Venerable is also referred to as a Divine Spirit!”
[As I expected…]
Yang Kai was shocked. Although there were rumours that Divine Spirits existed in the Ancient Lands, the general population didn’t know if this was true or not. After hearing what Yang You Wei had said, it seemed that the Monster Race living here was well aware of their existence.
There were really Divine Spirits in the Ancient Lands!
Zhang Ruo Xi looked at Yang You Wei in shock, unable to digest this shocking news, her mouth slightly agape as she gasped lightly.
Yang You Wei wasn’t finished yet though and immediately threw out another startling piece of information, “There are four Divine Venerables in the Ancient Lands, each of them having eight subordinate Monster Kings as well as two Great Kings under them. Heh heh, our Ancient Lands’ strength is extraordinary!”
[Four Divine Venerables… Doesn’t that mean that there are four Divine Spirits here?] Yang Kai turned pale.
Although his current cultivation was decent, he was still no match for a Divine Spirit.
Yang You Wei was paying close attention to Yang Kai’s expression, so when he noticed that there was some shock and awe in it, he secretly felt elated. He didn’t give him any face, but it looked like he was scared now!
Unexpectedly, Yang Kai turned to him and stated, coldly looking at him, “No matter how strong the Divine Venerables and Monster Kings are, your life or death is now mine to control.”
This time it was Yang You Wei’s turn to turn pale as he stated in an aggrieved voice, “Sir, this lowly one is loyal to you. Sir, I always keep my word, the Sun and Moon can testify to it. Sir, please understand!”
[Loyalty? What nonsense! How long have we known each other? To think you are actually talking about loyalty. You are lying right through your teeth!]
“Rest assured, I will give you back your freedom once I find that woman!” Yang Kai stated with a snort, giving him the carrot after hitting him with the stick.
Yang You Wei beamed with joy in his heart but said otherwise, “The lowly one will do anything for Sir, loyally and faithfully.”
Who knows where this guy learned to be this good with words, sucking up and flattering Yang Kai at every turn with complete seriousness, drawing even more contempt from Zhang Ruo Xi towards him.
After half a day, the group landed on a certain mountain. The entire Ancient Wild Lands was filled with who knows how many rolling and zig-zag mountains, making such places the best for Monster Race to establish themselves upon.
This was where Yang You Wei’s cave mansion was located.
According to him, with this mountain as the centre, the surrounding ten nearby mountains were his territory.
Yang Kai took out the jade slip handed to him by Pi San and compared it, soon finding that where he now stood already exceeded the range recorded by the detailed map. The only thing that was noted about this place was that it was a dark shade of red, meaning it was extremely dangerous.
Apparently, the information in the jade slip wasn’t useless. If an ordinary cultivator saw this indication in jade slip, he would definitely not dare to arbitrarily come here.
There was a cave halfway up the mountain, one leading to the belly of the mountain. Inside, there was a special Cave Haven, with many grottos and the like having been dug out. There was little aesthetic sense to it as the Monster Race probably never cared about decorations and cared only about practicality.
Yang You Wei led Yang Kai and Zhang Ruo Xi into a certain grotto for Yang Kai and the one adjacent for Zhang Rui Xi before he left with much nodding and bowing.
It was a good idea to be respectful to the one who had one’s life in his hands.
Inside the grotto, Yang Kai looked around and found that although the place was small, there were five rooms in it. It should be the place where Yang You Wei lived. There were stone beds in it with exquisite beddings that Yang You Wei obtained from who knows where.
There was also a natural bath in the grotto that used water seemingly gathered from a mountain spring. The water was crystal clear, and Yang Kai tried it out and found that the temperature was actually quite pleasant.
“These guys sure know how to enjoy life,” Yang Kai smiled slightly as he walked to a nearby stone bench and sat down.
“Sir, what should we do now?” Zhang Ruo Xi, who was next to him, asked.
“We’ll figure that out when we need to,” Yang Kai heaved a slight sigh. He didn’t expect the trip to the Ancient Lands to be this eventful; however, he couldn’t ignore the Third Disciple even if his primary concern was finding Xiao Xiao.
There was a spiritual connection between him and Xiao Xiao, similar to the one he once shared with Liu Yan, allowing him to sense Xiao Xiao’s existence as long as they weren’t too far apart.
Naturally, Zhang Ruo Xi would only follow his orders and raised no objections.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. The two looked at each other before Yang Kai signalled Zhang Ruo Xi with his eyes. The latter moved lithely and went to the door.
Outside the door, Yang You Wei was anxiously fidgeting. There were two beautiful maids carrying something on either side behind him. One was holding a pot of spirit wine and the other was holding a plate of spirit fruits. They had beautiful eyes and slim and slender figures while their voluptuous figures were only covered by a thin and translucent muslin, tantalizing one’s imagination, especially their bare snow-white slender thighs that instantly drew the attention of men.
Obviously, these two beautiful maids were not Human as they were exuding an obvious Monster Qi, their true forms unknown; however, since they could assume Human form, they had undoubtedly gained sentience and knew how to cultivate.
The two women were also very curious. They had always exclusively served Yang You Wei, but this time, Yang You Wei had asked them to serve an honoured guest. Yang You Wei clearly stated that no matter what the honoured guest wanted, they had to obey, and they had to do it with smiles and flattery, not showing any resistance.
It wasn’t like the two were totally oblivious to what Yang You Wei meant; though, they didn’t mind it either. Accompanying Yang You Wei was ‘accompanying’, and accompanying the honoured guest was also ‘accompanying’. They were just guessing which powerful Monster General or Monster King had come here. If that wasn’t the case, how could Yang You Wei be willing to ask the two of them to please someone else?
As the door opened, Yang You Wei looked up, but before he could address his new ‘Sir’, he swallowed his words back and asked in amazement, looking at Zhang Ruo Xi, “Young Lady, what are you doing here? Where is Sir?”
Zhang Ruo Xi vigilantly glanced at him before turning her focus on the two alluring women who were acting coquettishly and were indecently dressed. Her pretty face immediately turned colder, especially after seeing the two women peeking through the crack in the door. She could see what was going to happen, and this made her uncomfortable.
She looked back and found that Yang Kai happened to be curiously looking at this side, his eyes constantly scanning the two ‘offerings’ over and over again.
She immediately stepped forward and slammed the door shut behind her, cutting off the presumptuous gazes of the two women, making the two look at her with resentment.
“Sir is tired and resting. What’s the matter?” Zhang Ruo Xi didn’t give Yang You Wei any face.
Yang You Wei chuckled before replying with a bow, “It’s like this. Sir came here for the first time, but there is nothing for entertainment in this barren mountain, so this lowly one came to offer a pot of spirit wine and a plate of spirit fruits. This lowly one hopes that Sir will not refuse this lowly one’s hospitality!”
Zhang Ruo Xi finally shifted her gaze to the spirit wine and spirit fruits before lightly snorting through her nose.
Yang You Wei didn’t know what she was planning to do, so he remained standing there to make her give way, but he discovered that Zhang Ruo Xi had blocked the door like a guard, and she wasn’t showing any intention of giving way at all. In desperation, he turned to the two women and gestured to them, signalling the two to give the things in their hands to Zhang Ruo Xi.
“Anything else?” Zhang Ruo Xi took the items and impatiently asked when she saw that they hadn’t left yet.
Yang You Wei flatteringly smiled and said, “Sir is tired from the long journey, so this lowly one had also prepared these two maids to wait upon Sir, to help him take bath and rest… I wonder if you can…”
Before he could finish speaking, he saw Zhang Ruo Xi stretch her hand out, pointing towards the way out.
Yang You Wei turned his head but found nothing, making him doubtfully scratch his head.
“Sir has me to serve him, he doesn’t need you. You can go back where you came from. Apart from the news about the crazy woman, if you dare to disturb Sir again, I will take all of your dog lives!” Zhang Ruo Xi’s pupils turned colder as a murderous look appeared on her face.
Yang You Wei was taken aback. He had no idea what mistake he made to offend this Young Lady, but he didn’t dare to be presumptuous before her; after all, Zhang Ruo Xi was brought here by Yang Kai, so offending her would not bode well for him.
He repeatedly bowed and scraped before he took the two women and walked away in frustration. The two women had come here in excitement but were forced to return in disappointment, not to mention a lot of resentment.
“Shameless vixens!” Zhang Ruo Xi, holding the wine pot with one hand and the fruit plate with the other, ground her teeth and cursed.
[Two impure vixens actually dare to aim for Sir, how dare they!? How annoying!? What’s more annoying is that Sir’s eyes actually lit up when he looked at their bodies. That look was very different from…]
Turning around, Zhang Ruo Xi was just about to open the door and step in, fuming in anger, but suddenly, her raised foot froze in the mid-air.
Suddenly, she remembered that she had never seen Sir having close contact with any woman during all the years she had been accompanying him. She was no longer a child and was not ignorant of the relations between men and women. She used to live with Sister Hua in the Small Sealed World, who would often tease her about these matters, making her blush.
She knew very well that with Yang Kai’s cultivation, if he wanted a woman, thousands of beauties would line up to let him choose between them, but he seemed to have never had such ideas. He had been smashing his way through all kinds of difficulties and had been tirelessly cultivating; having almost no time to relax at all.
[How can a man possibly dislike women? Why is Sir so self-disciplined?]
Suddenly, she started blaming herself, feeling like she shouldn’t have blocked the two women; after all, judging by her Sir’s gaze, he seemed quite interested in those two vixens. But she had now presumptuously sent them away…
She anxiously pushed open the door and walked in, placing the spirit wine and fruits on the table before explaining what just transpired, carefully observing Yang Kai’s expression.
Yang Kai just nodded and didn’t do anything else.
[Sir isn’t angry because I ruined his good deed! Otherwise, why would his reaction be so dull, right?] Zhang Ruo Xi suddenly became a little concerned about the pros and cons. She couldn’t help but speculate something, and now, her imagination was running wild…
After a long silence, Zhang Ruo Xi bit her red lips and asked, “Sir, you must be tired from the long journey, do you want me to call back the two women and ask them… To serve you?”
After saying this, Zhang Ruo Xi’s cheek turned slightly red. She was a little embarrassed, and a little afraid that Yang Kai would agree.
Yang Kai took a sniff of the spirit wine and said without raising his head, “No need.”
He was just checking them out, curious about what their true Monster Beast form was. They were indeed charming and sexy, so if they were in the outside world, they would definitely bring a disaster to the nation, but there was no other meaning behind his gaze, so he replied calmly while pouring himself a glass of spirit wine to taste.
“Then… do you want Ruo Xi to personally serve you?”
*Pu…*
Yang Kai spurted the sip of spirit wine and hurriedly wiped it, flabbergasted.
Zhang Ruo Xi couldn’t help giggling at this comical sight, approaching Yang Kai and using her sleeve to wipe his wet clothes with gentle movements.
A sweet fragrance immediately tickled his nose, causing Yang Kai to stare at the flower-like tender and sweet face and say with a smile, “Ruo Xi has grown up.”
He still remembered when he brought Zhang Ruo Xi out from the Zhang Family; she was a little girl back then who had yet to mature, but after following him for so long, she had become a great beauty herself. Perhaps, it was because it was always darker under the lamp that Yang Kai hadn’t noticed it until now.
Zhang Ruo Xi blushed and her movements momentarily paused after hearing this.
Yang Kai patted her shoulder and motioned her to get up, then he got up and dispersed the wine from his robes before speaking, “If you find a man to your liking in the future, tell me. I’ll have him marry the beautiful you.”
Zhang Ruo Xi bit her lip a bit harder than before and held her tongue, a slightly bitter look flashing across her eyes.
“Okay, things should be fine now. You should focus on your cultivation. If there is any news, I will call for you,” Yang Kai waved her away.
Zhang Ruo Xi opened her mouth, but couldn’t come up with anything to say, so she eventually gave a meek ‘yes.’
After she went out and closed the door, Zhang Ruo Xi covered her cheeks with her hands and dashed into the grotto next door, blushing furiously as her heart pounded like a drum.
She couldn’t understand what was wrong with her today. She was hit with a sudden thought and said something she wouldn’t dare to say normally. Looking back now, she really didn’t know where she got the courage to make such a proposal.
These feelings had always been bottled up in a corner of her heart, and if she hadn’t spoken them today, she might not have even noticed them.
[Have I reached the stage mentioned by Sister Hua, the so-called ‘girl in spring’?]
Time passed on just like that while Yang Kai cultivated inside the mountain.
Yang You Wei was very astute, so after he was sent away by Zhang Ruo Xi that day, he did not appear again. But Yang Kai wasn’t afraid of him playing any tricks. Currently, Yang You Wei’s Soul Brand was in his hands, so Yang You Wei couldn’t get out of his control. If the latter dared to have any crooked thoughts, he would be seeking his own death.
Zhang Ruo Xi hadn’t come again either as she was completely focused on her cultivation. She was now a Third-Order Dao Source Realm and had gained a lot of benefits in Shattered Star Sea. She had even obtained an intact Star Source and after refining it, she had begun comprehending Emperor Intent. She was just looking for an opportunity now to break through to the Emperor Realm.
After one month, the door was knocked on again.
Yang Kai opened his eyes and opened the door with the wave of his hand.
Yang You Wei respectfully came in and reported, cupping his fists, “Sir, I have some news.”
Yang Kai didn’t want to delay the matter of Bing Yun’s Third Disciple any longer as once he was done with it, he could finally search for Xiao Xiao in peace. Therefore, as soon as he was done listening to Yang You Wei, he set off without wasting a single moment.
Just as he walked out of the door, Zhang Ruo Xi, who had received Yang Kai’s Divine Sense Message, also hurriedly walked out. After exchanging a glance, Yang Kai slightly nodded to her, after which Zhang Ruo Xi followed him without a word.
A streak of light soared into the sky, leaving the top of the mountain before turning in the air and shooting towards a certain direction.
On the way, Yang You Wei carefully reported his findings.
His twenty-some Monster Race subordinates who had survived the last incident had been searching for the Third Disciple’s tracks over the past month, and just half a day ago, one subordinate had suddenly discovered something and quickly reported it to Yang You Wei. The Third Disciple was too vigilant though, so that subordinate had kept a good distance after finding traces of her. They had found the Third Disciple many times over these few decades, but they were unable to capture her, so they had developed a habit of secretly tracking her from afar.
But then again, Yang You Wei’s subordinates weren’t the Third Disciple’s opponent even if they attacked her head-on.
Yang Kai knew that Yang You Wei wasn’t even aware that the Third Disciple was already a Second-Order Emperor, otherwise, how would he dare to attack her so valiantly and spiritedly?
According to the subordinate’s report, the Third Disciple seemed to have been hiding under a local river. They had been able to find her all because of some chances and coincidences. Perhaps it was because the Third Disciple was hiding for too long and wanted to take a breath, she had come out and exposed herself.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. As expected, it was easier to do things with more people.
It was a wise decision to not kill Yang You Wei and instead subdue him at the time, allowing him to search for the Third Disciple. If not, who knows how long it would have taken Yang Kai to find a trace of her.
The journey wasn’t long, but before Yang Kai’s group could even reach their destination, a Monster Race member came flying from the front.
Yang You Wei focused his gaze before hurriedly informing, “It’s my subordinate.”
He took the lead and greeted the Monster Race member, and as soon as the two met, they whispered a few sentences with each other. Immediately after, Yang You Wei’s expression drastically changed and he promptly turned and looked at Yang Kai with anxiety.
Seeing the drastic change in expression on his face, Yang Kai’s heart tightened and he quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”
Yang You Wei bitterly replied, “We were discovered.”
“She ran away again?” Yang Kai asked with a cold look on his face. Last time, the Third Disciple had been hiding for a month after running away. This time, she might hide for more than a month. How could he waste so much time here?
“It can be said that she ran, and it can also be said that she didn’t!” Yang You Wei looked embarrassed, as if he didn’t know how to explain this to Yang Kai.
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai coldly looked at him.
Yang You Wei opened his mouth and sighed before replying, “That woman entered the tomb!”
“What tomb?” Yang Kai frowned.
“The Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb!” Yang You Wei had an agonized expression as his face turned pale and he shuddered as he spoke this name, as if he dreaded it deeply.
Yang Kai coldly laughed and ordered, “I don’t give a damn. I order you to continue tracking her, otherwise, I will take really good care of you!”
Yang You Wei cried in surprise, “Sir! I think you are hearing about the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb for the first time and do not know its circumstances. After you come to know about it, you will understand that this lowly one wants to follow your orders but is unable to do so.”
Yang Kai coldly glared at him, realizing Yang You Wei wasn’t just trying to alarm him and asked, “Fine. Let’s hear what tricks you are up to?”
Yang You Wei bitterly stated, “This lowly one wouldn’t dare. Sir, let me tell you, the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb is an invisible place. It’s also the tomb of all the beings of the Ancient Lands.”
“How can it be invisible?”
Yang You Wei bitterly replied, “No one knows where it is, and it’s also impossible to find.”
Yang Kai angrily rebuked, “You just said that the Third Disciple has entered the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb, now you are saying that no one can find where it is? Do you think this Young Master is a three-year-old who you can fool anytime?”
Zhang Ruo Xi also glared at him with a cold and unkind look on her face. The main reason was that what Yang You Wei had said was too contradictory, making it hard not to be suspicious of him.
Yang You Wei was terrified as he felt pressure on his Soul, knowing that if he didn’t explain it clearly, he would have to part with his life today. Anxiously, he stated, “Sir, please calm yourself, what this lowly one said is indeed true. The entire Ancient Lands knows about the existence of the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb. You can find out about it by just asking anyone. How could I dare lie to you?”
Yang Kai furrowed his brow, feeling like Yang You Wei would not be joking with this, waving his hand and snapping, “Go on!”
Yang You Wei let out a breath of relief, knowing he had managed to keep his life for now. Organizing his thoughts for a moment, he then continued, “The Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb is ethereal and impossible to trace. It can appear anywhere or anytime in the Ancient Lands with no set pattern. It might remain for one or two days, or even several months, but only one entrance will appear each time. If you want to enter, you can only enter through that entrance, but after so many years, no one who has entered has ever come out ever again. And… Once the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb appears, the nearby Monster Beasts and the Ancient Lands residents who are about to die of old age would take the initiative to enter it and wait for their death. This is why it is called the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb. Along with the Blood Gate, they are the two Restricted Areas of the Ancient Lands.”
[What in the world is this Blood Gate?] Yang Kai didn’t know what the Blood Gate was, but since it was designated as a Restricted Area, it must be an incomparably dangerous place.
Yang Kai didn’t even bother to ask about the Blood Gate as he was only interested in confirming the current situation, “So, according to you, this Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb is the place where the residents of Ancient Lands go at their predestined time of death, right?”
“Sir understands correctly!” Yang You Wei said, bowing.
“So, why did the Third Disciple go in?” Yang Kai asked, furrowing his brow.
Yang You Wei thought to himself, [You are asking me, but who am I going to ask?] But he didn’t dare to complain and could only bitterly reply, “This lowly one also has no idea, but since she has gone in… I’m afraid things aren’t looking good for her because even when the strongest Monster Kings enter, they can only remain inside and wait for death.”
When he mentioned this, he hoped that this Sir would not do anything rash.
But Yang Kai only pondered for a moment before he ordered, waving his hand, “Lead the way, let’s go and see this Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb.”
Yang You Wei felt that he had wasted his breath and wailed in his heart. He wanted to dissuade him but when he met Yang Kai’s threatening gaze, he honestly led the way ahead.
After a short while, a small group landed near the entrance of a mountain valley. Immediately after, several Monster Race members came from the jungle. Yang Kai found them familiar as he had seen them last time. They were all Yang You Wei’s subordinates.
“Sir!” The few Monster Race members stepped forward and saluted.
Yang You Wei waved his hand and asked to stand aside, warily staring at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai also looked at the mountain valley, trying to find the Ten Thousand Spirits Tombs, but he found nothing, frowning as he asked, “Where is the tomb?”
Yang You Wei looked at a subordinate and that Monster Race member immediately replied, pointing ahead, “It’s just ahead.”
“Quit playing with me!” Yang Kai’s face turned gloomier and colder.
Yang You Wei was shocked as he hurriedly stated, “This lowly one doesn’t dare to. It’s just that the entrance to the tomb is invisible, one cannot see it unless they have reached the end of his or her lifespan, only then will they be able to find some clues.”
“Really?” Yang Kai suspiciously looked at Yang You Wei. He didn’t find anything with his powerful Divine Sense, but Yang You Wei seemed to be speaking with absolute certainty, which made it harder for him to not doubt it.
“Sir, can’t you see it?” Zhang Ruo Xi suddenly intervened.
“See what?” Yang Kai looked at her in amazement.
“There is a door of light over there, a dark grey door of light!” Zhang Ruo Xi replied, pointing in a certain direction.
The eyes of the few Monster Race members present here widened in shock as they stared at Zhang Ruo Xi in disbelief.
Yang Kai was still looking around and thoroughly swept the area with his Divine Sense, but still came up with nothing, stating in frustration, “There’s nothing there.”
“How is that possible? It’s obviously there…” A doubtful look appeared on Zhang Ruo Xi’s face.
Yang You Wei timidly looked at Zhang Ruo Xi and tentatively asked, “Young Lady… Can you see… The entrance of the tomb?”
“That’s right!” Zhang Ruo Xi didn’t know what was so strange about it.
Yang You Wei’s countenance immediately became unnatural as he looked around and found that the other members of the Monster Race had strange looks on their faces too.
Yang Kai coldly looked over at them and asked with a snort, “Didn’t you say that only someone at the end of their lifespan can see the entrance? How do you explain this? Is Ruo Xi about to die of old age too?”
Zhang Ruo Xi was taken aback, furrowing her delicate brow as she angrily glared at Yang You Wei.
It was like Yang You Wei was actually cursing her to die! Just as she had first suspected, he was a bad man!
Yang You Wei stated with a crying look on his face, “This saying has been there since ancient times and remains true till today. Therefore, when this lowly one said that the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb is invisible he was simply stating the truth. I also don’t know what’s going on!” He turned to one of his subordinates and grabbed him by his collar, angrily asking, “Are you sure that the entrance to the tomb is right there?”
The Monster Race member hurriedly nodded, “Yes, yes! That woman disappeared when she went in. When she entered, the entrance to the tomb flashed. Everyone saw it!”
The two Monster Race members on the side also repeatedly nodded in agreement.
Yang You Wei finally let him go and anxiously looked at Yang Kai.
*Dong dong dong…*
Right then, several loud thuds sounded, as if something huge was approaching, and from the direction of the sound, trees could be heard snapping and crashing to the ground.
Yang Kai and the others turned their heads when they heard this clatter and quickly caught sight of a rising cloud of dust. A huge figure was coming from the jungle, step by step, shaking the ground and mountains.
Also, many Monster Race members happened to be flying in the sky above the huge figure, constantly shouting, all looking extremely anxious.
“Sir, it’s Sir Niu’s men!” A Monster Race member suddenly approached Yang You Wei and shouted.
Yang You Wei’s countenance changed after hearing this and quickly rose into the air to get a better look. After seeing the appearance of a behemoth figure approaching, he couldn’t help but shout, “Niu Quan!”
He had mentioned Niu Quan before, and although Yang Kai didn’t get into the details, he knew that Niu Quan was a Monster General, someone on the same level of strength and status as Yang You Wei, but he didn’t expect to meet him here today.
Yang Kai was considering whether he should ask Yang You Wei to cooperate with him to silence the witness, so as to prevent other irrelevant Monster Race members from knowing about Yang You Wei cooperating with him, which might lead to some accident. But he hadn’t expected Yang You Wei to actually fly straight ahead and shout loudly, hovering in the air, “Old Niu, what are you doing?”
He didn’t get any response.
Yang You Wei’s face changed again as he anxiously asked, “Old Niu, it’s Old Yang, wake up and look at me!”
The Monster Race members who were flying along with Niu Quan recognized Yang You Wei. Some of the Monster Race members broke down in tears as they requested, “Sir Yang, please do something and save our Sir. We don’t know what happened with Sir today, he suddenly revealed his true form and started running straight in this direction. We couldn’t stop him. He is also not responding to our shouts!”
Hearing this, Yang You Wei’s conjecture was immediately confirmed. He glanced at the place where the invisible tomb entrance was as a trace of sadness appeared on his face. He heaved a heavy sigh before waving his hand and flying back to Yang Kai’s side.
*Hong long long…*
The towering trees snapped as the behemoth figure finally rushed out of the woods. Yang Kai focused his gaze and found an enormous ox-shaped Monster Beast suddenly entering his vision. Its entire body was glowing green and its skin was filled with deep cracks. The criss-cross patterns were obviously the marks left by the passage of time. Each of its hooves were the size of a house and every time they fell, the ground and mountains quaked.
There were two sickle-like curved horns on either side of the Monster Beast’s head, but one of them was cut off; who knows by what or whom, but the broken horn did not make this ox look weaker, instead just giving him a ferocious air.
[This should be the Monster General named Niu Quan!] Yang Kai made an educated guess in his heart, but he couldn’t come up with the reason why this Monster General would show his real body here. Although the strength of a Monster Race member would increase after they took on their real form, that form wasn’t ever as agile or flexible as a human form, so most Monster Race Masters would not reveal their original forms unless it was a last resort.
“What happened?” Yang Kai looked at Yang You Wei.
“His pre-destined time has come. He is about to enter the tomb.” Yang You Wei suddenly heaved a sigh, his tone carrying a bit of sadness. He had known that Niu Quan would not live for much longer, but he hadn’t expected this day to come so suddenly.
Yang Kai looked at Niu Quan and then he looked in the supposed direction of the tomb entrance that the Monster Race members had pointed out before. Then he suddenly came to realize, “Can he feel the call of the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb?”
Yang You Wei agreed with a nod, “All inhabitants of the Ancient Lands can feel the location of the Ten Thousand Spirits Tombs when their time of death arrives and will involuntarily try to enter it. Old Niu… Haaa…” He heaved a heavy sigh and was unable to speak any further.
“I see…” Yang Kai raised his brow.
He didn’t have any friendship with Niu Quan and he wasn’t sure about whether the Ten Thousand Spirits Tombs was real or not, but now, there was actually a way to verify everything, so Yang Kai didn’t hold any sadness. On the contrary, he was watching the situation with interest, thinking these next few moments would broaden his horizons.
Niu Quan’s subordinates were still calling out to him; however, after assuming his real form, it seemed that he couldn’t hear anything anymore and only knew how to charge towards the location of the tomb entrance, step by step.
After a while, all the Monster Race members following Niu Quan came to know about the truth of the matter from Yang You Wei’s subordinates. After they came to know that their Sir was about to enter the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb, they were extremely saddened and started weeping loudly.
In front of everyone’s eyes, Niu Quan walked into the mountain valley and suddenly stopped. He raised his head and mooed loudly before plunging forward.
Yang Kai’s eyes widened in an instant.
Because a dark grey gate of light suddenly appeared out of thin air. This gate of light was tens of meters tall and had been invisible before now. Had Niu Quan’s entrance not caused a ripple, others might not have been able to see it.
As Yang You Wei had said before, only the residents of the Ancient Lands, who were close to their pre-destined time of death, could see the tomb entrance.
Niu Quan passed through the entrance, creating ripples as he did so, and his enormous body quickly disappeared. At the same time, the tomb entrance concealed itself again.
The Monster Race members, who had followed Niu Quan here, cried and wailed.
Yang You Wei also sighed as an unpleasant look appeared on his face.
“There really is a tomb entrance!” After witnessing it with his own eyes, Yang Kai knew that Yang You Wei and the others weren’t trying to deceive him. It also confirmed that the Third Disciple had really entered the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb.
[What should I do now?] Yang Kai was having a terrible headache. He didn’t know what dangers were inside this strange tomb, or if he could leave if he entered it. If the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb was really a place where one could only go in, but could never come out, wouldn’t it mean that he would be seeking his own death if he charged in recklessly? Although he was proficient in the Dao of Space, he dared not act rashly.
But Ruo Xi could actually see the tomb entrance, which made things all the stranger here.
Considering all this, Yang Kai turned his head and looked at Zhang Ruo Xi, receiving a great shock as he did because Zhang Ruo Xi had arrived at the front of the tomb entrance at some point. She had her hand stretched out, reaching it towards the invisible entrance, her pair of pretty eyes flickering with a strange glow as she stared blankly forward.
“Ruo Xi, what are you doing!?” Yang Kai shouted aloud.
Zhang Ruo Xi’s tender body trembled and she suddenly regained her senses. When she realized that she had unknowingly come to the tomb entrance, her beautiful face turned pale and she immediately tried to withdraw.
But right then, the hidden tomb entrance manifested again and this time, it revealed itself in its entirety.
In the vast mountain valley, an enormous dark-grey door of light flashed a gloomy light that bathed the surrounding space in dark light.
All the Monster Race members illuminated by this light were horrified as they found themselves suddenly unable to move. A terrified look appeared on everyone’s face as they shouted and clamoured madly.
Yang Kai’s eyes also bulged to the point that they were almost ready to pop out. Illuminated by that dark-grey light, he couldn’t take even a step at all, and no matter how much he prompted the Space Principles, he was unable to teleport away.
All the surviving humans and Monster Race in the mountain valley seemed to have a petrification technique cast upon them.
“Sir, I…” Zhang Ruo Xi was on the verge of crying. She too had no idea what she was doing, and when she took a sidelong glance at Yang Kai, she found that even Yang Kai was struggling to save himself and couldn’t protect her. Her heart immediately sank.
This happened so quickly that no one could react.
Yang Kai struggled for a while, but upon determining he couldn’t free himself at all, he grit his teeth and tried to summon the Mountains and Rivers Bell, but right then, the tomb entrance flashed once more and hid itself again.
And along with its disappearance, all the living creatures inside the mountain valley had disappeared as well.
In an ashen-grey world with no Sun, Moon, or Stars, no flowers or trees, there was only deathly silence, just like a cemetery…
Yang Kai and Zhang Ruo Xi appeared together with Monster Race members and the mysterious power binding them suddenly disappeared.
Yang Kai teleported to Zhang Ruo Xi’s side the next instant, pushing his Emperor Qi to envelop her while vigilantly looking around.
But what he saw next put him in a daze.
Everyone seemed to be standing on a bone mountain. There were only white bones as far as they could see; skeletons of all shapes and sizes were scattered on the ground. The small ones were almost of negligible size, but the big ones were utterly enormous. The true body of Niu Quan was simply not worth mentioning next to some of these giants.
These white bones were left by the Monster Beasts that had died here over the many years.
“Moo…”
A beast’s roar resounded from nearby, and as Yang Kai turned to look, his pupils immediately shrank and he shouted, “Niu Quan!”
Niu Quan, whom he had seen in the mountain valley before, was also here, but at this moment, thick Death Qi lingered around him. He was lying quietly on a part of bone mountain, motionless. He had reached the end of his lifespan and appeared to be waiting for his death.
Glowing specks of light were flying out from his body, like dancing sprites, adding a touch of life to this dark-grey monotonous world. The specks of light seemed to be drawn by something as they flew towards the depths of this place.
And with the disappearance of the specks of light, Niu Quan’s vitality was also declining.
“So, this is the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb!” Yang Kai’s face turned darker.
If he had made some guesses before, then after seeing Niu Quan, he already had a clear idea what kind of place it was.
Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb!
It was the tomb for the entire Ancient Lands, a place where one could only go in but could never come out. Even the strongest Monster King could forget about leaving after entering this place.
[How did I enter this damned place?] Before, Yang Kai was still hesitating whether to come in and explore to find traces of the Third Disciple, but now, since he had come in, albeit not by his own choice, he basically didn’t have the chance to hesitate anymore.
“I’m sorry, Sir. I also don’t know what happened to me just now!” Zhang Ruo Xi was about to cry. She also knew that she had made a big mistake, but it was indeed involuntary; her body simply wasn’t under her control at that moment.
After entering the Ancient Wild Lands, she found that there was something wrong with her, but she had never expected to charge into a disaster like this.
Yang Kai glanced at her and patted her head, not saying anything.
It was too late to say anything anyway, and now that they were forced in, what would be the point of scolding Zhang Ruo Xi? It didn’t go unnoticed by Yang Kai that Zhang Ruo Xi’s actions were unintentional. The most important thing now was to leave this damned place.
He turned his head to look for Yang You Wei.
After all, Yang You Wei was a member of Monster Race, born and bred in this land, so his understanding of the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb should naturally be better than Yang Kai’s. If there was a way out, he must know about it.
But after a glance, Yang Kai’s face started twitching because he realized that Yang You Wei would not be able to help him at all because, at this moment, Yang You Wei and the crowd of Monster Race were also stupidly standing on their spots, shrouded by a dark-grey aura while specks of light were escaping out of their bodies bit by bit.
Just like Niu Quan, the same thing was happening to Yang You Wei and the other Monster Race present. The specks of light flying out from their bodies were obviously related to their vitality, and the more time passed, the dimmer their vitality became. If this went on, they would undoubtedly die.
Niu Quan could be considered to have come here on his own initiative to die as his end was approaching, but Yang You Wei and the other Monster Race members were all dragged in here involuntarily.
“Sir… Please… Save me…” Yang You Wei, noticing Yang Kai’s gaze, shouted in a trembling voice, Death Qi lingering on his face.
An awkward look appeared on Yang Kai’s face as he clenched his fist and forced a cough before speaking, “I can’t do anything about this. You are on your own on this one.”
He had no clear understanding of the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb, or how to save Yang You Wei and the others. Perhaps he could send them into the Sealed World Bead to escape this disaster, but the Sealed World Bead was Yang Kai’s closely guarded secret. Except for those he trusted implicitly, he would not expose it to others. Exposing the existence of the Sealed World Bead to save these Monsters wasn’t cost-effective at all.
Yang You Wei immediately despaired after hearing this, but he soon looked at Yang Kai in amazement and stated, “Sir, why are you…safe and sound?”
Yang Kai also discovered this as out of everyone who was sucked into this tomb, only he and Zhang Ruo Xi were safe. The other Monster Race members were quickly losing their vitality. If it weren’t for this, Yang Kai wouldn’t have calmed down this quickly.
“I don’t know. Perhaps it’s because we aren’t residents of the Ancient Lands. Didn’t you say that this is the tomb of all inhabitants of the Ancient Lands?” Yang Kai casually explained. Apart from this reason, he didn’t have any other explanation either.
“Is such an amazing thing possible…” Yang You Wei’s face twitched as a look of hatred filled his eyes.
[If you hadn’t asked me to search for the whereabouts of that crazy woman, we would never have been dragged by into this Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb and wound up here. That’s all fine and well, I can blame that on my bad luck, but you still acting carefree even after seeing that we can’t survive is intolerable! You basically don’t need to worry about dying here and yet you are not doing anything to help us!]
Yang You Wei’s heart was burning with indignation and he couldn’t wait to tear Yang Kai apart to vent his hatred.
“Sir, you can’t just ignore our plight!” Yang You Wei grit his teeth and shouted aloud.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow in impatience as he stated, “I said I can’t do anything. Only the damned ghosts know what happens in this tomb!” While speaking, he suddenly looked at Yang You Wei, squinting his eyes as he asked with a cold smile on his lips, “Why? Are you angry?”
[What nonsense! Who won’t feel angry about this situation?] In any case, he was about to die, so Yang You Wei suddenly got bolder, his eyes turning cold and sinister as he stated, “Sir, if you don’t do something, I can’t say that I’ll not drag you down with me.”
Yang Kai immediately smirked and taunted, “Drag me down with you? Did you forget that your life and death are just a matter of this Young Master’s thought? Do you think you can take me down with you?”
“…” Yang You Wei’s face immediately froze. In his moment of anger, he had forgotten this point, but now that he returned to his senses, he realized that he didn’t have any qualifications to threaten Yang Kai as his Soul Brand was in his grasp.
He was overcome with a feeling of sorrow and slumped down on the ground before he began crying out loud, “How tragic!? This Old Yang has been bitterly cultivating till now, but who would have thought that I would die without being able to enjoy my life. The Heavens really have no eyes! Damn you, Heavens! This Old Yang cannot coexist together with you!”
His cry was heart-wrenching and his voice was filled with sadness. Other Monster Race members also felt grief after hearing this.
After having fallen into the tomb, they could also foresee their own fate, but they weren’t reacting in such an exaggerated manner. Nevertheless, they too must be feeling extremely sad in their heart.
Yang Kai snorted, “Don’t cry in such an ugly manner. If you die, everyone will die together with you. Everyone will accompany you on the road to the Yellow Springs. You won’t be lonely!”
Yang You Wei wiped his tears and angrily stated, “If you were standing in my shoes, you wouldn’t say that. This is the tomb of all the Ancient Lands creatures. It has nothing to do with you!”
Yang Kai spat disdainfully and stopped talking. In fact, he also found it very strange why this place had no effect on him or Zhang Ruo Xi. Instead, the vitality of other Monster Race members was passing away with every breath, turning into specks of light and floating off.
[Is it really because of what I just said?]
At this moment, mournful wails rang out as glowing black wisps suddenly flew out from under the white bones. As soon as those pitch-black lights wisps appeared, they transformed into Monster Beasts of all kinds of shapes and sizes that swiftly pinned the surviving Monster Race members to the ground.
Every time the phantom of a Monster Beast crashed into them, it would dim the vitality of the surviving Monster Race, and the speed at which the glowing specks left their body would increase noticeably.
“A Beast Soul!” Yang You Wei turned pale and cried in shock.
Yang Kai’s countenance also changed, because in this short while, thousands of shadows flew out from below the bone mountains. These shadows were similar to Yin Souls and were emanating strong Yin Qi. Obviously, all of them were the residual Beast Souls of the Monster Beasts who had fallen here.
The Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb had existed for who knows how many eons, and countless Monster Beasts must have died here over all those years. After these Monster Beasts had died, at least some of their Beast Souls remained. By now, their number was surely uncountable.
In the blink of an eye, innumerable Beast Souls were stalking around the bone mountain, each of them a different shape and size, retaining the form they had before their deaths. They all had a strong air about them, giving the impression that a black aura had covered the entire tomb. It looked like a swarm of locusts was passing through.
Zhang Ruo Xi’s pretty face turned pale as she stuck closer to Yang Kai; she didn’t dare to make any rash moves.
Having prior experience with Yin Souls, Yang Kai directly summoned the Insect Enslavement Bracelet without a moment of thought, releasing all the Soul Devouring Insects and surrounding themselves with their swarm. He first ensured his own safety before allowing the rest of the Soul Devouring Insects to swarm the Beast Souls.
Once the Soul Devouring Sects appeared, the countless Beast Souls acted as if they had encountered their nemesis and fled away from Yang Kai and Zhang Ruo Xi’s location, not daring to approach them.
Yang Kai was pleasantly surprised. The success of Soul Devouring Insects in this place was too surprising and they were definitely the best way to deal with things like Yin Souls. He secretly decided to focus on training them in the future. When the Soul Devouring Insects fully matured, maybe he would be able to fight off Serene Soul Great Emperor if he ever ran into him again.
[That old fogie relied on his higher cultivation to cover up his daughter’s misconduct, but I couldn’t do anything!] This really made Yang Kai grind his teeth in anger.
The miserable shouts of Yang You Wei and other Monster Race members being annihilated rang out one after another, and within just a few breaths, silence had returned to the tomb. Obviously, all of them were dead. Yang Kai felt the Soul Brand belonging to Yang You Wei under his control shatter, making him sigh with some emotion.
Although he hadn’t planned to pay attention to Yang You Wei’s life and death before, and was controlling him to find the whereabouts of Bing Yun’s Third Disciple, the fact that he died like this was a little out of his expectations.
“Sir, please open a gap!” Zhang Ruo Xi suddenly requested.
Yang Kai didn’t know what she wanted to do now. He was really frightened by Zhang Ruo Xi’s previous actions, and someone bitten by a snake once would be afraid of a rope for ten years; however, once he saw Zhang Ruo Xi take out a huge wooden seal, his eyes immediately lit up and he promptly controlled the Soul Devouring Insects to open a gap.
Zhang Ruo Xi patted the seal with her hand, directly sending it flying through the gap.
Immediately afterwards, she continuously made hand seals, controlling the huge seal’s ability.
After the huge seal flew out, it suddenly grew bigger, turning into the size of a house and making it give off a pitch-black light.
*Hualala…*
The sound of chains clanking rang out as Zhang Ruo Xi’s hand seals changed. Suddenly, countless black chains shot out from the enormous seal, shooting in all directions.
The Beast Souls flying around were completely helpless against these chains and were bound by them, one after another.
The chains tightened as the tied up Beast Souls were pulled towards the huge seals under Zhang Ruo Xi’s control. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of menacing Beast Souls were pulled into the huge seal, disappearing in a flash, and no matter how the Beast Souls struggled, they couldn’t get free.
“You have already refined the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal completely?” Yang Kai asked, looking surprised.
“I finished refining it a few days ago,” Zhang Ruo Xi stated with joy without stopping her hands, “But who would have thought that such a good thing would happen.”
The huge seal was Earth City’s City Lord, Zu Hong’s Ten Thousand Beasts Seal. After Zu Hong was killed by Yang Kai in the ancient medicine garden, the latter had given the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal to Zhang Ruo Xi to defend herself. In any case, it was an Emperor Artifact that could display extraordinary might depending on the number and strength of Beast Souls sealed in it.
The more Beast Souls that were sealed inside, and the stronger their strength, the mightier the Ten Thousand Beasts Seals would be.
After Zu Hong got the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal, he had worked hard but was only able to kill less than a thousand Monster Beasts and seal their Souls inside this Seal using his Secret Technique. Furthermore, most of those Beast Souls were Tenth or Eleventh-Order. The number of Twelfth-Order Beast Souls he possessed could be countered on one hand, so he simply couldn’t unleash the true might of the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal.
But inside the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb, Twelfth-Order Monster Beast Souls were everywhere. If all of them were sealed inside the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal by Zhang Ruo Xi, the might of this Emperor Artifact would be unimaginable.
Beast Souls were hard to find; after all, one could only get a Beast Soul by killing a Monster Beast and then refining it with a special Secret Technique. If one’s luck was poor, during this refinement they would damage the Beast Seal and drastically reduce its strength.
But this place was a natural gathering place for Beast Souls, simply tailored for supplementing the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal.
Before, Zhang Ruo Xi was still thinking about where she should go to kill Monster Beasts and increase the might of Ten Thousand Beasts Seal; however, she hadn’t expected for everything to be delivered to her doorstep. One could imagine how many tyrannical Beast Souls were gathered here.
If she could really seal all the Beast Souls present here into the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal, when she went to use it against an enemy, the entire Star Boundary would certainly tremble under its might.
*Hua la la…*
The sounds of chains clanking rang out to no end, and every time Zhang Ruo Xi made a move, hundreds of Beast Souls were dragged into the Ten Thousand Beasts Soul. She repeated it again and again, working without stop.
Seeing this, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a bit envious.
The Ten Thousand Beasts Seal obviously had a powerful restraint on the Beast Souls. Those flying Beast Souls, no matter how strong or weak they were, were all suppressed by the Ten Thousand Beasts Soul and were unable to break free. One after another, they were taken into the large seal and disappeared thereafter.
Yang Kai clearly saw many Beast Souls comparable to Twelfth-Order Monster Beast dragged into the big seal.
Ruo Xi was making a killing. After this trip was over, the might of the Ten Thousand Beast Seals would be unfathomable.
As this thought crossed his mind, Yang Kai’s countenance sank again. He was inside the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb and had no idea how to get out of here. He didn’t even know whether tearing space would work here.
*Hualala…*
As the countless wandering Beast Souls collided with each other, the bone mountain shattered and the white bones turned into dust.
Suddenly, a vague yellow glow caught Yang Kai’s eyes. Curious, Yang Kai reached out, grabbing that glow in his hand. It was warm and round. Also, he immediately felt decent energy fluctuations from it.
“A Monster Core!” Yang Kai’s eyes lit up as a look of surprise filled his face.
Much to his surprise, it was a Monster Beast Core. Furthermore, judging by the energy fluctuations, it appeared to be the Monster Core of a Tenth-Order Monster Beast.
Yang Kai stood there in a daze for a while; who knows what was going on in his mind, but he seemed extremely excited. Suddenly, he flicked his sleeve, giving rise to a gust of wind.
*Huhuhu…*
The bone mountain collapsed into ashes that flew in every direction as if a white storm was blowing, and at the centre of the storm, an open area of tens of metres in radius remained, where several dozen Monster Cores of different colours lay strewn about.
“Hahaha!” Yang Kai couldn’t help but laugh out loud as he stared at the several dozen Monster Cores, excitement filling his face.
Although Zhang Ruo Xi was preoccupied with sealing the Beast Souls, Yang Kai movements hadn’t gone unnoticed by her. At this moment, she asked in a sweet voice, “Sir, could it be that the Monster Cores remained here after the death of these Monster Beasts?”
“It must be so. Ruo Xi, we’re going to be rich!” Yang Kai happily replied before he began collecting the several dozen Monster Cores.
These were several dozen Monster Cores of different grades, but the lowest was still of Ninth-Order, while the highest was of Twelfth-Order.
Countless Monster Beasts had died in the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb, and after their deaths, their Souls transformed into Beast Souls, guarding this place while their flesh and skin disappeared into glowing specks, leaving behind their Monster Core.
It was impossible to calculate how many Beast Souls there were, and similarly, the number of Monster Cores lying here could not be calculated either!
Monster Beast Cores had many uses, but they were mostly used in Alchemy. Many Spirit Pills required Monster Beast Cores to refine, and while Yang Kai had collected many spirit grasses and herbs over the years, he was always short on Monster Cores, but after today, he would have many choices in this regard when refining pills.
Previously, he felt that Zhang Ruo Xi got an opportunity by coming here, but he hadn’t expected an opportunity to fall into his lap in the very next moment.
[If I could clean out the Monster Cores in this tomb, I would be making a killing! Even the Ten Great Emperors might be jealous!]
After collecting the several dozen Monster Cores, Yang Kai waved his hand again, sweeping away the nearby skeletons. Immediately, several dozen more Monster Cores of different grades appeared on the ground.
Zhang Ruo Xi was doing her best to seal the Beast Souls, while Yang Kai was doing everything to collect the Monster Cores. The two were performing their duties without interfering with each other, cooperating seamlessly.
In the beginning, Yang Kai would sweep away the bones to expose the cores, but he soon found that tiresome, so he began to simply spread his Divine Sense to search for every Monster Core he could find then use his Golden Blood Threads to pull them out, saving himself from dealing with the bone dust.
This way, his efficiency had improved a lot too.
In a short time, all the nearby Beast Souls had been collected by Zhang Ruo Xi, while all the Monster Cores within a dozen kilometres had been cleaned up by Yang Kai. Although he didn’t count, he was certain he collected over ten thousand Monster Cores.
Even if only one percent of the ten thousand or so Monster Cores were Twelfth-Order, there would be over a hundred Twelfth-Order Monster Cores! Each of which was extremely valuable.
“Let’s change places!”
Having cleaned the nearby region, Yang Kai immediately dragged Zhang Ruo Xi to a new spot. As for how to get out of here… It wouldn’t be too late to worry about that after getting enough benefits.
Soon they came to another bone mountain, where Zhang Ruo Xi summoned the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal, while Yang Kai spread his Divine Sense to search for the buried Monster Cores.
After a little less than the time it takes to boil a cup of tea, they had cleaned out this mountain as well. Needless to say, Yang Kai wrapped Zhang Ruo Xi with his Emperor Qi and changed positions again.
They kept clearing everything wherever they went. All the Beast Souls were sealed by Zhang Ruo Xi, whereas the Monster Cores were cleaned out by Yang Kai. This was the first time in the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb’s history it had suffered like this.
This was nothing short of wanton plundering!
If the four Divine Venerables of the Ancient Wild Lands came to know about this, who knows how they would feel.
There were no Sun, Moon, or Stars here; no night or day either, but according to Yang Kai’s calculations, he and Zhang Ruo Xi had been here for about three days and had scoured almost the entire tomb.
This should be a Small Sealed World that spanned a small area. The two had spent three days only sealing Beast Souls and collecting Monster Cores, but if they had focused on just exploring, they could have searched this entire place in under an hour.
Their harvest was unimaginable though.
The Yin Qi around the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal was getting darker and darker. Even if Zhang Ruo Xi didn’t activate it, one could feel its tyrannical might. According to Zhang Ruo Xi, the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal was almost saturated, there were at least a few hundred thousand Beast Souls sealed inside, and this didn’t include the Beast Souls devoured by the Soul Devouring Insects.
The Soul Devouring Insects had eaten quite a lot these days in fact. Only half of the Beast Souls were sealed by Zhang Ruo Xi while the remaining half were devoured clean by the insects. Now, the Soul Devouring Insects were transmitting a sense of sleepiness to Yang Kai, showing signs of wanting to enter hibernation.
Yang Kai knew that this was a sign that they were on the verge of an evolutionary leap, which made him very happy.
As for the Monster Cores Yang Kai had obtained, there were more than a million. The Monster Cores had almost formed a hill in the Sealed World Bead, ranging from Ninth-Order to Twelfth-Order.
Not a single great force could have such a large amount of Monster Cores alone. Even the Sects founded by Great Emperors didn’t have such financial resources.
After travelling around the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb once again, confirming that no fish had slipped through their net, Yang Kai finally stopped and looked in a certain direction.
“Sir, are you going there?” Zhang Ruo Xi, putting away the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal, gracefully stood by his side.
The two of them had been running around the entire tomb over these few days, but they hadn’t found any exit, nor did they find any traces of Bing Yun’s Third Disciple. If there were any exits, it would only be possible in that direction as there were no beast skeletons over there, so the two hadn’t gone to search there yet.
That should be the centre of the entire Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb. All the Monster Beasts that had come here to die had surrounded the central region in a circular ring, leaving a large empty space.
Yang Kai had been busy collecting Monster Cores and hadn’t paid much attention to this before.
[I need to check it out. If the Third Disciple is here, she must be at the centre. I wonder if she is dead or alive.]
Nodding, Yang Kai kicked the ground, running in that direction. Zhang Ruo Xi hurriedly followed after him.
Passing through the bone mountains, the two quickly arrived at the open area, and after looking around, Yang Kai noticed a dark grey glow in the distance. Yang Kai squinted his eyes to have a clear look.
After a moment, he happily smiled.
Because the dark grey glow was actually in the shape of the tomb entrance that he had seen before.
Maybe there really was an exit. If he could get out through there, it would save him the trouble of tearing the space to form an exit. Yang Kai wasn’t even sure he could tear a hole in the barrier around this Small World.
Yang Kai immediately increased his speed, but along the way, he suddenly froze and lowered his head to inspect something.
Zhang Ruo Xi’s pretty eyes also widened as she stared at this unexpected sight.
Because down below, there was an extremely fierce aura, the source of which was a thin and skinny body.
The figure’s hair was dishevelled and it cut a sorry figure, but obviously, it was still alive. The thin figure was surrounded by strands of black Qi and glowing specks were escaping from it, bit by bit.
“Monster Race!” Zhang Ruo Xi cried out in a low voice. At a glance, she could tell that the figure belonged to a member of the Monster Race, and a very powerful one at that.
“It’s a Monster King!” Yang Kai added; extremely shocked.
He had no idea how a Monster King appeared here because this area didn’t look like a palace where a member of the Monster Race could step into. Otherwise, this place would not be clean; it would be piled up with bones and skeletons.
Furthermore, the Monster King was still very much alive and kicking. He was trying very hard to resist the passing of his vitality, but by the looks of it, he wouldn’t last for too long.
No wonder Yang You Wei said that even the strongest Monster King would find themselves on a road to their doom after entering the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb; the Monster King before them was the best proof. A Monster Race member had to be as strong as a peak Third-Order Emperor Realm Master to become the Monster King, yet even a Master this strong couldn’t get out after entering this place.
After hesitating for a while, Yang Kai flickered and flew over to the Monster King.
Obviously, the Monster King was taken aback, his skinny figure shuddering as he looked up at Yang Kai.
His gaze was as deep as an abyss and a little dull as well. He had indeed reached his rope’s end.
“How did a Human…” The Monster King’s lips moved as his lifeless eyes revealed a surprised look.
Yang Kai raised his brow. Hearing his surprised voice, he asked with a frown, “Have you seen anyone pass through here before?”
The Monster King had one foot in the grave yet he was still extremely arrogant and unyielding, pursing his lips after hearing this and somehow trying to show a cold smile, but only managing a grin that looked uglier than if he had been crying, “Why would this King tell you?”
A bright flash passed through Yang Kai’s eyes as he pointed at the door of light and suggested, “I’ll be leaving through that. If you want, I can bring you along!”
The arrogant Monster King was immediately moved, his lifeless eyes suddenly regaining their lustre as his expression changed; however, his excitement soon disappeared as he asked with a snort, “Why would you be so kind?”
Yang Kai indifferently replied, “We both need something from the other. As long as you can tell me what I want to know, it won’t be a big deal to save you.”
“What good would it do me lying to you? You are about to die soon anyway,” Yang Kai indifferently stated.
The Monster King replied, “The words of you Humans… heh heh…” He implied that the Humans were too deceitful and untrustworthy.
Yang Kai turned around and left without another word, “Since that’s what you want then forget it.”
“Hold on…”
Unsurprisingly, Yang Kai only walked a few steps before the Monster King called out to him.
After all, his life was at stake, and before him was a glimmer of hope and a chance to struggle.
Yang Kai glanced back and looked at him with squinted eyes.
The Monster King murmured a sentence, who knows whether he was cursing or not, but after a moment he finally spoke, “Take this King out first, then this King will tell you whatever you want to know.”
“You dream!” Yang Kai coldly snorted, not bothering to pay attention to him anymore.
Seeing that Yang Kai was really planning to leave, the Monster King immediately became anxious. He didn’t have the time to negotiate with Yang Kai either, so he replied in a hoarse voice, “Yes, someone did pass through here!”
Yang Kai halted his footsteps once more, turned around and added, indifferently looking at him, “Don’t play games with me, or I will immediately leave.”
The Monster King’s face turned ugly, but he didn’t dare to say anything.
Yang Kai stated, “What did the person who passed here look like?”
The Monster King angrily replied, “It was a woman. Her hair was a mess and she was clearly crazy. She even smashed a Monster Core on this King’s forehead. If this King hadn’t fallen in this predicament, how would this King be bullied by her?”
Yang Kai found it very funny; however, the Third Disciple might really do something like this, so he continued asking in a calm voice, “Did she leave in that direction?”
“Indeed!”
Hearing this news, Yang Kai couldn’t help but be relieved. Having failed to find the Third Disciple before, he was really afraid that something might have happened to her; after all, this place was extremely dangerous. It wasn’t good to provoke the countless Beast Souls here. Yang Kai, touching his chin, asked, “If she can leave, why are you trapped here?”
Monster King replied with indignation, “If you can leave, why is this King trapped here? The Ancient Lands’ residents are greatly suppressed inside the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb. This King ventured into this place by mistake, and now this King can do nothing to leave!”
“It doesn’t look like your lifespan has come to an end. How did you come here anyway?” Yang Kai curiously looked at him.
Speaking of this, the Monster King looked like he would shed tears of blood. He heaved a sigh before replying, “Everyone has their shares of misfortune and blessings. This King came into this palace when this King was treading the sky.”
Like the Monster King here, who knows how many there were in the Ancient Lands that accidentally entered this place before their predestined time of death. However, after entering the tomb, they would really die, reaching the end of their life…
It was also thanks to this Monster King’s strength that he could reach this close to the exit, escaping from the pursuing Beast Souls. Otherwise, he would have already been dead and not even a pound of his flesh would remain.
After having replied to Yang Kai’s questions, the Monster King urged, “If you have something else to ask, ask quickly. This King can’t hold on for much longer.”
“I have no further questions,” Yang Kai shook his head before focusing his gaze on him.
Sensing the malicious intentions in his gaze, the Monster King’s heart skipped a beat, realizing that Yang Kai was going to burn the bridge after crossing the river. What Yang Kai had said earlier was complete nonsense. In a flash, the Monster King became extremely sad and angry. He had known that Humans never keep their word, but he still had a bit of hope in his heart. In the end, he was still pushed to his death though, so the Monster King felt extremely tired and weary…
He thought that Yang Kai would kill him immediately, but Yang Kai pondered for a moment instead before stating, “Hand over your Soul Brand, and you will live!”
And having tasted the sweetness once, Yang Kai was craving for more; he had controlled Yang You Wei to be at his beck and call, and had found the Third Disciple’s trail as soon as she appeared as a result. And Yang You Wei was just a Monster General, with a limited number of subordinates. If Yang Kai could subdue a Monster King, not to mention finding the Third Disciple, even his search for Xiao Xiao would be many times easier.
Furthermore, with this Monster King’s shelter, it would be much more convenient to walk around and do things in the Ancient Lands.
When the Monster King heard this, he immediately acted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on and snarled, “In your dreams!”
He was one of the thirty-two honourable Monster Kings, with a distinguished status and tyrannical strength, how could he be willing to be controlled by a Human? And he could easily tell that this Human was weaker than him, someone he could easily slap in half if he was at his peak. It would be nothing more than a joke to hand his Soul Brand to him.
Yang Kai didn’t pressure the Monster King though and just stated in a calm and relaxed manner, “Once someone dies, he can no longer do anything. Only by staying alive can you have hope.”
Monster King sneered, “It’s better than being enslaved and constantly being on the brink of death.”
Yang Kai glanced at him before indifferently speaking, “Monster King, don’t you have sons or daughters? If you die here, what will happen to your children? All the Monster Race members, who were once oppressed by you will certainly not be polite to your family. By the way, Monster King, you should have wives and concubines too, right? As a Monster King, your wives and concubines should be all beautiful and charming. After you die, I’m afraid those wives and concubines will quickly belong to others. They will be ravaged and savoured, again and again. They will never get to have the pleasure of being with you again. What a pity, your widows and children will have a hard time in the future!”
Hearing this, the Monster King’s dim face immediately turned as black as the bottom of a pot. He felt that Yang Kai’s every sentence was touching his sore spot, inevitably making him think of the misery his wives and children would have to face after his death.
Especially those wives and concubines, they would really be wantonly ravaged by others.
The Monster King couldn’t continue thinking about it anymore and his eyes turned red as he fumed through his nose.
Zhang Ruo Xi too was feeling extremely uncomfortable hearing this, her face flushing as she reflected, [How could Sir speak of something like this? It’s too shameful!]
The Monster King’s face changed as the speed with which the glowing specks escaping from his body suddenly increased. Apparently, he couldn’t suppress the passing of his vitality as his mood fluctuated.
Contrary to Yang Kai’s expectations though, the Monster King turned his head after a moment and said in a heavy voice, “This King would rather die than surrender!”
[He’s not bluffing!] Yang Kai was slightly stunned and began to admire him a little. When an ordinary person was about to die, he would agree to anything as long as he could be saved, just like Yang You Wei, who handed his Soul Brand over immediately. However, this Monster King seemed to have an iron will, which was really impressive.
With this line of attack having failed, Yang Kai could only choose even more extreme methods of persuasion. Yang Kai was still hoping for this Monster King to work for him, so he couldn’t kill him outright, instead turning to Zhang Ruo Xi and giving her a wink before saying, “Give him a taste.”
Zhang Ruo Xi was confused at first, but she was quite clever and soon understood what Yang Kai meant. She stretched her hand out and immediately summoned the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal.
The Monster King kept sneering, “If you want to kill me, you can stop wasting time and get on with it.” He looked as if he would calmly accept his death; it was quite a sight.
Yang Kai didn’t speak a word. Zhang Ruo Xi, on the other hand, constantly formed seals with her hands and then patted the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal, releasing a seemingly never-ending tide of Beast Souls of various shapes and sizes from it.
Each Beast Soul retained the appearance it had before its host’s death, and all of them were extraordinary and majestic. Judging by the aura, many of them weren’t any weaker than the Monster King, with some possibly even stronger.
The Monster King’s eyes widened as he blankly gawked at this sight.
Zhang Ruo Xi remarked, “This is the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal. It has strong suppression ability against the Souls of Monster Beasts. Are you going to surrender to my Sir, or should I use the Ten Thousand Beasts Soul to collect your Soul, stopping you from reincarnating ever again? Your choice!”
The Monster King’s sickly body immediately trembled, raising his finger and pointing at Yang Kai as he grudgingly scolded, “You… You’re going too far!”
He would rather die than surrender, and refused to hand over his Soul Brand just to save his skin, but now? With the appearance of the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal, he would not even be at peace after his death. His Soul would be received inside the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal.
By then, his life would be no worse than death. A slave either way.
Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, signalling Zhang Ruo Xi to put away the Ten Thousand Beasts Sea before he patted the Monster King’s shoulder and explained, “Don’t make it sound so ugly. Monster King, you would rather die than live on in dishonour; your heroic spirit is really admirable, but we belong to two different races. In the end, it’s not possible for me to simply save you out of good faith.”
“You just promised me,” Monster King glared at Yang Kai, but he could do nothing to him.
Yang Kai stroked his chin and stated, “Times have changed. As the saying goes, a wise man will submit to circumstances! Monster King, I will not make things difficult for you. If you surrender to me, I just want you to do some little things for me. When I’m done with them, I will leave the Ancient Lands. At that time, I will definitely return your freedom!”
“Do you think I will still believe you?” Monster King contemptuously looked at him.
Yang Kai stated with a snort, “Do you have any other choice?”
[This guy’s face flips faster than the page of a book.] The Monster King stared at him in a daze.
“I don’t have the time to waste on you. Either hand over your Soul Brand or I’ll immediately kill you and collect your Soul into the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal; your choice!” Yang Kai waved his hand; his tone was beyond question.
Meanwhile, Zhang Ruo Xi controlled the Ten Thousand Beasts Seal to fly over the Monster King’s head, giving the impression that if he didn’t agree, she would immediately do it.
The Monster King was unwilling, but he had no other choice. He could only grit his teeth and agree, “Take it!”
His voice was filled with grief, indignation, and unwillingness. This time, he was like a tiger that had gone down to the plains, leaving himself to be humiliated by the dogs, like a Phoenix in the cage mocked by the small birds.
Yang Kai immediately put on a smiling face, stretching his hand toward him.
The Monster King used a Secret Technique next, and soon, a wisp of golden light floated from his forehead. Yang Kai promptly grabbed it and took it inside his Knowledge Sea.
[I might have lost Yang You Wei in this tomb, but I have gained a Monster King instead. It’s not a loss.]
As for the Monster King, who had used the Secret Technique to surrender his Soul Brand, he had become incomparably weak and the glow around him collapsed, giving him the appearance of a man near death.
Yang Kai grabbed him, turned around, and sprinted straight towards the dark-grey door, asking, “It’s alright to get out from here, right?”
The Monster King slightly nodded, a complicated look in his eyes. He might have escaped alive, but he had lost his freedom. He was a slave now; it wasn’t something he wanted. Therefore, he didn’t appear to be happy being able to escape from the gates of death. Rather he was very depressed.
Not long after, Yang Kai had arrived before the door of light with the Monster King. He pushed his Emperor Qi, enveloping the Monster King and Zhang Ruo Xi before rushing straight into the door.
Everything before their eyes changed as the two Humans and one Monster Race member left the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb and reappeared in a lush and vibrant world.
They were surrounded by ancient trees that reached straight to the clouds, and Wild Force filled the air once more. Clearly they had appeared somewhere inside the Ancient Wild Lands.
[It was so easy to leave!] Yang Kai couldn’t help but be a little surprised.
Apparently, the Ten Thousand Spirits Toms was really only for the Ancient Wild Lands’ residents and didn’t restrict outsiders from entering or exiting it. Of course, one had to escape the pursuit of countless Beast Souls after entering, otherwise, they would find themselves on a road to Hell.
[This doesn’t look like the mountain valley where we entered the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb from. Where are we?]
Their appearance seemed to have made some noise as a Monster Race member came rushing over from not too far away to check things out. But before he could approach closer, the Monster King let out a low roar before rushing like a bolt of lightning, pouncing straight at the Monster Race member.
A miserable cry immediately resounded as the Monster Race member was knocked to the ground without even seeing who had sneak attacked him. The Monster King opened his mouth and bit his victim’s neck, swallowing his blood in large gulps. For a moment, the Monster Race member thrown on the ground miserably howled and wailed as he continued to struggle, but he wasn’t able to get free and gradually his struggle and wails died down.
After a while, the Monster King got up and turned around, wiping the blood off the corners of his mouth.
The Monster Race member’s blood seemed to have provided him a lot of energy, and his skinny and ragged figure had improved a lot; at least, his skin had regained a bit of luster, and his figure had become a little bulkier. Even his dwindling vitality had improved a little.
He glanced at Yang Kai with a complicated look in his eyes, but finally, he lowered his head and heavily sighed.
“What should I call you, Monster King?” Yang Kai asked.
“Xie Wu Wei!” The Monster King snappily replied; however, seeing that Yang Kai had no intention of disregarding him just because he was a Soul Slave now, he felt relieved. He was afraid that Yang Kai would throw insults and abuse him after bringing him out. If that were the case, he would definitely not be able to bear it with his explosive temper.
“Fearless and dauntless! A good name, Monster King!” Yang Kai smiled.
Xie Wu Wei responded, waving off, “It’s nothing like that!” After being silent for a while, he asked, “What should this King call you?”
Yang Kai replied, “You can call me Young Master Yang.”
Xie Wu Wei lightly nodded before speaking, “Young Master Yang, earlier you said that this King would need to do something for you, I wonder what exactly that is?”
He couldn’t wait to finish Yang Kai’s task and then try to get rid of his control, and he made no attempt to hide his intentions.
“There’s no rush,” Yang Kai chided, “First take me back to your base, then we will talk about what I want you to do. It needs many people.”
[Back to my base!?] Xie Wu Wei looked annoyed. As one of the thirty-two Monster Kings, he had a distinguished status, and it wouldn’t look good if someone saw him with a Human. Worse, if he were to be seen taking orders from a Human, how would he show his old face in the future?
Yang Kai could tell what was going on in his mind and added, “Monster King, rest assured, I won’t make things difficult for you. If your subordinates ask, you can tell them that this Young Master is your friend from outside. It’s okay for Ancient Lands’ Monster Race members to make one or two Human friends, right?”
Xie Wu Wei’s brow twitched as he reluctantly agreed, “Fine.”
With his Soul Brand being controlled by Yang Kai, how could he disobey? He was under the eaves now and had no choice but to bow his head.
Afterwards, the three figures used their respective Movement Skills, making a beeline towards the depths of the Ancient Lands.
Xie Wu Wei was quite familiar with the Ancient Wild Lands and led Yang Kai and Zhang Ruo Xi forward without trying to hide his tracks.
A few ignorant Monster Race members came to investigate, but they all became Xie Wu Wei’s supplements.
Half a day later, a towering mountain appeared before the trio. There were some buildings hidden on this mountain, and after taking a closer look, Yang Kai discovered that those buildings were made of large and small stones. They didn’t have any beauty at all, looking rough and wild, just like the Monster Race’s temperament.
On the mountainside, there were countless caves, with many Monster Race members living in them.
Yang Kai and the others flew over, obviously alarming the Monster Race members living on the mountain. They immediately walked out of the cave to investigate, but before they could clearly see who had come, the trio had already rushed into the main hall.
In the hall, the few beautiful maids present fearfully looked at Xie Wu Wei before bowing and greeting, “Sir!”
Xie Wu Wei was in a bad mood, so he didn’t bother to care about these maids. He didn’t even cast them a sidelong glance and rushed straight in. But Yang Kai and Zhang Ruo Xi, following Xie Wu Wei, had immediately provoked the maids.
After all, the two of them had no Monster Qi around them and were clearly Humans. They couldn’t fathom why Xie Wu Wei would bring back two Humans from his trip, and judging by the Humans’ appearances, they didn’t seem to be prisoners.
In the main hall, there was a throne made of white bones from who knows what Monster Beast. Xie Wu Wei walked straight ahead, turned around, flicked his robes, and sat down on the throne, looking around with his tiger-like fierce eyes, his actions giving him a sense of majesty.
But soon, Xie Wu Wei looked a little embarrassed.
After having returned to his home, his heart was finally at peace, making him forget his own predicament, but when he saw Yang Kai gazing at him with a smile, Xie Wu Wei quickly stood back up.
“Monster King, just sit down. We are just your friends from the outside,” Yang Kai sent him a voice transmission. He could tell that this Monster King had an unyielding temperament; therefore, he didn’t want to make things too difficult for him. After all, Yang Kai needed him to do something and didn’t care about such superficial things.
Xie Wu Wei felt grateful, thinking that this Human was at least reasonable, allowing his repulsion from before to lessen. So, he sat back down and said, stretching his hand, “Young Master Yang, please take a seat!”
Yang Kai slightly smiled and walked to the side and found a seat to sit. As he looked around, he found that this place was far more sophisticated than Yang You Wei’s place; the two couldn’t compare whether it was in terms of style nor in layout. A Monster King was a Monster King in the end, a trivial Monster General like Yang You Wei simply couldn’t be put on par with him. Just as he arrived, Yang Kai felt the auras of many Twelfth-Order Monster Beasts, which were equal to Emperor Realm Human Masters.
[Just a single Monster King has so many Emperor Realm Masters among his subordinates, so how many do the thirty-two Monster Kings have in total? Not to mention, there are four Divine Spirits in the Ancient Wild Lands.]
[If so many Monster Beasts and Monster Race members went out, unless the Ten Great Emperors joined forces, I’m afraid they could sweep through the entire Star Boundary.]
[The Ancient Wild Lands can’t be underestimated!]
Zhang Ruo Xi, who was obediently standing behind Yang Kai, was also curiously looking around with her pretty eyes.
“Come in!” Xie Wu Wei yelled in a deep voice.
Six Monster Race members with imposing auras promptly entered the hall, all of them seemingly having been waiting for a long time. Each and every one of them exuded a powerful pressure. Yang Kai’s pupils immediately shrank at the sight of them as all of them were Mid-Level Twelfth-Order, equal to Second-Order Emperor Realm.
The six Monster Race Masters entered the main hall and respectfully greeted, cupping their fists, “Greetings, Sir!”
Xie Wu Wei gestured to them to dispense with the ceremony before speaking, “Nothing happened while this King was away, right?”
He also didn’t tell his subordinates that he had accidentally fallen into the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb; otherwise, he would be unable to explain how he got out.
A thin Monster Race member on the left immediately stepped forward and spoke, cupping his fists, “Reporting to Sir, there is something your subordinate wishes to report.”
“What is it?” Xie Wu Wei indifferently asked, without so much as raising his eyes, simply sipping the tea from the cup handed to him by the maid at his side. Who knows what was used to brew the tea, but it was red and thick like blood and exuded a strange aroma.
When the thin Monster Race member heard this, he hesitatingly glanced at Yang Kai, who was sitting on the side, and stopped talking.
Clearly, he didn’t want to make a report in front of a Human to prevent leaking of secrets.
Xie Wu Wei, taking another sip and putting down the cup, raised his eyes and stated, “You may speak freely, Young Master Yang is this King’s life and death friend. There is nothing to hide.”
He was also helpless in this situation as now his Soul Brand was in Yang Kai’s hands; his life and death were just a matter of Yang Kai’s whims. Even if he wanted to make Yang Kai leave, he couldn’t do so; he was completely powerless and secretly regretting it. If he had known how awkward this would be earlier, he would not have summoned his subordinates in. Now that things had come to this though, he could only choke down his grievances and let his subordinates report on whatever matters.
The Monster Race members were also taken aback when they heard this. When they saw a Human sitting in the hall earlier, they were filled with suspicion. They had no idea about his origins, or why Sir Monster King was treating a mere Human like this, but when they heard Xie Wu Wei mention that he was a ‘life and death friend’, they were even more shocked.
[When did Sir Monster King have such a good friendship with a Human?]
But then they recalled that Sir Monster King had once left the Ancient Lands several dozen years ago. Apparently, he had gone to the Human world to explore and rumour had it that it was an extremely dangerous trip and Sir Monster King almost lost his life. Later, they heard that the Monster King was rescued by a certain Human, which finally allowed him to return to the Ancient Lands safe and sound.
Unknowingly, the Monster Race members connected Yang Kai to Xie Wu Wei’s benefactor, who had saved Xie Wu Wei’s life. Suddenly, the arrogance and disdain in their eyes had lessened a lot.
The thin Monster Race member reported in a heavy voice, “Sir, the Blood Gate showed some changes!”
“Blood Gate!” Xie Wu Wei momentarily paused before looking up at his subordinate in shock. The latter slightly nodded in confirmation. Immediately, Xie Wu Wei’s breathing became rapid as he quickly asked, “Is this news correct?”
The Monster Race member replied, “It’s certainly true. It was first discovered by Monster King Xi Lei’s subordinate, but many saw the event and confirmed it happened. Now, the change in the Blood Gate has already alarmed even the four Divine Venerables and they have deployed people to investigate.”
Xie Wu Wei suddenly lost his calm, standing up and hurriedly ordering, “Tell me the details.”
“Yes!” The Monster Race member replied, arranging his thoughts before continuing, “It happened over a month ago, when the Blood Gate suddenly emitted a blood red beam straight up into the sky, but that only lasted a moment. However, during this past month, the Blood Gate has obviously become a little different from before, seemingly radiating a kind of intense energy fluctuation. Many people couldn’t help but want to rush in when they got close, but all who tried lost their lives.”
“Bloodline attraction!?” A crazed look immediately appeared in Xie Wu Wei’s eyes.
The Monster Race member agreed with a nod, “We hypothesised as much as well. Your subordinate risked his life to explore and found that the Blood Gate could indeed tempt your subordinate, making him have an impulse to rush in. If it weren’t for Shu Yu and the others quickly awakening and dragging him back, your subordinate might have already lost his life! All signs indicate that the Blood Gate is about to open and that the ancient rumours were true.”
Xie Wu Wei looked excited after hearing this, beginning to pace back and forth on the podium, folding his hands behind his back. After a while, he finally stopped and asked in a serious voice, “What are the Divine Venerables’s intentions?”
The Monster Race member replied, “The Divine Venerables have issued a joint command, asking us to not believe false rumours and lose our lives meaninglessly. Now, the eight Great Kings have been dispatched near the Blood Gate and are blockading the area near the it, preventing anyone from approaching.”
“False rumours!?” Xie Wu Wei sneered, “Bloodline attraction can only be caused by instinct. Do the Divine Venerables think that everything will be fine if they seal everyone’s mouth? I’m afraid that they are just worried about the emergence of one or two new Divine Venerables, which would affect their status.”
Xie Wu Wei’s defiant look immediately terrified his subordinates like frightened rats. They secretly thought, [Sir sure is hot-headed. Fortunately, there are no outsiders here, otherwise, if this reached the Divine Venerables’ ears, Sir might have to pay for it.]
“Blood Gate, what’s that?” Yang Kai, after listening for a while, finally couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.
He had also heard Yang You Wei mention the Blood Gate before and knew that it was one of two Restricted Areas of the Ancient Wild Lands, just like Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb; however, he didn’t get into details that time. But now, seeing Xie Wu Wei’s expression and listening to his words, it was apparent that this Blood Gate was of great importance, so much so that even the four Divine Spirits of the Ancient Lands were interfering in matters related to it.
This was no small matter.
Yang Kai was now looking for Xiao Xiao in the Ancient Wild Lands, as well as the Third Disciple, so it wasn’t a bad idea to learn more about the situation here. As the saying goes, if you know your enemy and yourself, you can win a hundred battles.
Hearing Yang Kai’s question, Xie Wu Wei gawked, suddenly remembering that there were two outsiders present here. The corners of his lips momentarily twitched as he had been so excited that he had forgotten about this.
“If it’s inconvenient to speak about it, then forget it!” Yang Kai smiled lightly before picking up the dark red tea served by the maid beside him. But after smelling the scent, he didn’t dare to drink it, for the fear that it was really brewed from blood.
He might have casually spoken, but Xie Wu Wei didn’t dare to take it lightly; after all, Yang Kai was already interested and who knows what was going on in his mind. So, all Xie Wu Wei could do was go along with the flow and satiate Yang Kai’s curiosity, “Not at all. The Blood Gate is useless to Humans anyway. It’s one of the Restricted Areas in our Ancient Lands!”
Yang Kai asked, “I heard someone mention that the Blood Gate and the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb are designated as the two Restricted Areas of the Ancient Lands. I wonder if that’s true or false?”
Xie Wu Wei agreed with a nod, “That’s right. The Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb is the place where we, who were born in the Ancient Lands, go when we reach our predestined time of death, while the Blood Gate is the place where one can go to obtain a whole new life. One for life and one for death, they are the two sides of the same coin.”
“Where you can get a whole new life?” Yang Kai was stunned.
Xie Wu Wei quickly added, “According to ancient rumours, if one can pass through the Blood Gate, he or she would basically be reborn, regain their ancestral bloodline, and transform into a Divine Spirit.”
“Transform into a Divine Spirit!?” Yang Kai was shocked, “Does that mean that if you can enter the Blood Gate, you can become a Divine Spirit?”
Xie Wu Wei replied with a nod, “That is the literal meaning, but no one knows whether it is true or not. Since the Ancient Lands came into existence, the Blood Gate Restricted Area has also existed; however, no one we know of has ever been able to approach it, much less enter it. There are still ancient rumours passed down from generation to generation about it though. In the Ancient Lands, even the weakest Monster Race member who has just gained sentience will know about these rumours. It’s no secret that the residents of the Ancient Lands all have some bloodline connection to ancient Divine Spirits, some having a stronger inheritance while others were weaker, but in the end, quality is the key. One’s strength is related greatly to his or her aptitude as well as the purity of their bloodline. If one can fully awaken their bloodline, and reproduce the glory of their ancestors, then naturally they will have strength comparable to a Divine Spirit.”
Yang Kai was shocked, “There is such a place in this world? Does the Blood Gate really have such a miraculous effect?”
Xie Wu Wei replied, “Whether it has such a miraculous effect or not remains uncertain, but rumours have it that all Divine Spirits originated from the Blood Gate. Unfortunately, those rumours are all from aeons ago so there is no way to verify them. Regardless, the Blood Gate is a great fortune to the residents of the Ancient Lands. Just like the rumours of a fish transforming into a dragon after leaping over the dragon gate, the Blood Gate is tantamount to the dragon gate. Who wouldn’t want to give it a try?”
“Monster King, do you also want to go in?” A strange look appeared in Yang Kai’s eyes.
Xie Wu Wei stated with a sneer, “That would depend on if the Sirs would give us a chance. They have now sent their Great Kings to block the vicinity of the Blood Gate, so who can get close to it? But by doing so, they have just given themselves away. If one asks who knows the most about the secrets of the Blood Gate best, the answer would undoubtedly be the four Divine Venerables.”
Yang Kai nodded in agreement. Listening to Xie Wu Wei, he immediately understood the significance of the Blood Gate. If it could really simulate the Ancestral Bloodline of the residents of the Ancient Lands, it would surely increase their strength. The Blood Gate was undoubtedly a place of rebirth; it was the complete opposite of the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb, where the creatures at the end of their lifespan go to die.
[Nothing is too strange in this world…] Yang Kai sighed in his heart. If he had not entered the Ancient Wild Lands to search for Xiao Xiao this time, he wouldn’t have been able to imagine that there was such a mystical place in this world.
“The Divine Venerables have been consolidating their power for a long time, and since the eight Great Kings have been dispatched, no one would dare to do anything strange for the time being; however, no one can suppress the temptation of their ancestral bloodline. I’m afraid this move will only be counterproductive. “Pass my order to closely monitor the situation of the Blood Gate, and if there are any changes, immediately report to me. I don’t believe those thirty or so old fogies will obediently remain still,” said Xie Wu Wei, waving his hand.
“Yes Sir!” The thin Monster Race member immediately retreated after having received the order.
Xie Wu Wei, standing on the platform, pondered with an uncertain look on his face for a while before he finally raised his head and asked, looking at Yang Kai, “Young Master Yang, you said that you want this King’s help for something, what is it?”
“To find someone,” Yang Kai slightly smiled.
“Find someone?” Xie Wu Wei asked in astonishment.
“It’s the crazy woman you saw before,” While speaking, Yang Kai stretched his hand a bit as ripples appeared, displaying the Third Disciple’s appearance, causing Xie Wu Wei to gawk and his face to turn black.
He could still vividly remember the scene when he was hit by the Third Disciple with a Monster Core in the Ten Thousand Spirits Tomb.
“I have some connection with this woman. She has lost her sanity and it’s dangerous for her to remain in the Ancient Lands. Therefore, I need to find her and take her away.”
[This isn’t that difficult!] Xie Wu Wei finally put his heart at ease. He was worried that Yang Kai would ask him to do something difficult after taking his Soul Brand, but now, it seemed that he was just looking for someone, which was a trivial matter.
He cast his gaze on a man with a deer head and rat eyes, and said, “Shu Yu, let the men pay more attention to this woman’s tracks. Immediately report to me if you find something. Also, don’t let anyone hurt her.”
The Monster Race member with the deer head known as Shu Yu immediately obeyed, cupping his fists, “Yes, Sir.”
He then turned around and left the hall.
Xue Wu Wei then turned his head and stated, looking at Yang Kai, “If this woman is still in the Ancient Lands, as long as she shows up, she will definitely be spotted by this King’s subordinates. Young Master Yang, you just have to calmly wait for the news.”
Yang Kai nodded with satisfaction, “Sorry to trouble you, Monster King.”
Xie Wu Wei’s brow twitched before he spoke words contrary to his convictions, “Young Master Yang’s business is this King’s business, you need not be so polite. Come, lead Young Master Yang and arrange a place for him to take a rest.”
He couldn’t wait to send Yang Kai away; after all, he was still feeling uncomfortable with him around and was afraid that his men would find some clues from his words and expressions.
“That can wait,” Yang Kai raised his hand and interrupted him, “I still want to ask Monster King to inquire about another matter.”
Xie Wu Wei slightly furrowed his brow, looking at Yang Ka unhappily. Yang Kai ignored him and lifted his hand, about to show him Xiao Xiao’s image before a deafening clap from below interrupted them. Immediately after, the mountain and the ground started quaking, causing the entire palace to shake left and right. The maids immediately screamed in panic and even the faces of the four Monster Race Masters in the hall changed.
“Hou…” A muffled roar suddenly came from deep underground, as if there was a beast trapped for a thousand years down there. The roar was extremely stifled, but everyone could clearly feel the anger of the voice’s owner.
Yang Kai couldn’t remain indifferent and curiously looked at Xie Wu Wei. He had no idea what was going on here, or what kind of monster was suppressed under the mountain.
Xie Wu Wei’s face immediately turned ugly as he looked down at the Monster Race Masters standing before him and shouted, “Has that big guy still not surrendered?”
One of the Monster Race members replied with an ugly look, “That thing is a bit stubborn. We used all kinds of methods but we can’t make it submit.”
“A group of wastes!” Xie Wu Wei coldly snorted, causing the Monster Race Masters to all lower their heads.
“This King will go and see in person.” Who knows why Xie Wu Wei suppressed a monster under the mountain, but with a flick of his sleeve, he did just as he said and went to check the situation personally. However, after just a few steps, he turned around and stated, “Sorry about that, Young Master Yang, something has come up, so this King needs to personally deal with it. This King’s maid will take you to rest. This King will later come to apologize to you for this.”
“There is no harm. I’ll also join in the fun.” Yang Kai slightly smiled.
Xie Wu Wei rolled his eyes, but he knew it would be pointless to try to stop Yang Kai, so all he could do was quietly walk forward.
The remaining four Monster Race Masters hurriedly followed after him, grumbling in their hearts. They felt that Sir Monster King was way too polite to this Human, even allowing him to participate in such a confidential matter.
After leaving the main hall, the group came to a cave where they walked in, one after another, in a file.
The cave seemed to be the only entrance and had stairs leading downwards; who knows where it led to. There were luminous stones on the cave walls on either side, providing illumination so the cave wasn’t that dim.
Xie Wu Wei and the others descended the stairs in large strides.
After a few thousand meters descent, the cave suddenly widened up as a spacious underground cavern appeared below.
There were a lot of Monster Race members gathered in this underground palace, but at this moment, these Monster Race members were acting as if they were facing a powerful enemy. Many Monster Race members were even in their true forms, looking in a certain direction warily.
Seeing Xie Wu Wei and his men arrive, these Monster Race members retreated to either side, one after another, looking at him and his men with respect and fear.
Xie Wu Wei scanned them before he called a Monster Race member and shouted, “What’s going on?”
The Monster Race member immediately turned around and stammeringly replied, “We don’t know, it suddenly woke up and flew into a rage. We couldn’t suppress it with our low strength and a few of our Brothers and Sisters have already died. If Sir hadn’t personally locked him with that chain, I’m afraid it would have already broken free.”
“Scram, you lot are useless to this King!” Xie Wu Wei flicked his sleeve with a displeased look on his face, throwing the Monster Race member to one side then walking straight to the depths of the underground palace.
*Hou…*
Another roar came, giving rise to a powerful gust of wind that swept across the underground palace. Everyone’s clothes and hair flapped along with this gust.
A look of surprise appeared on Yang Kai’s face though as he had no idea who or what powerful being was suppressed in this underground palace.
Curious, he focused his gaze, looking inside.
But what entered his vision next left Yang Kai dumbfounded. He stood rooted on the spot as if he was struck by lightning, mumbling in a trembling voice, “Xiao Xiao…”
About several dozen metres away, a huge, fifteen-meter-tall Humanoid creature was shackled by heavy black chains. This enormous figure’s entire body was sharp and angular, and at a glance, it looked to be carved from stone. It had an ore-like lustre, but it also had distinct facial features and four robust limbs. It was giving off a sense of immense power.
The big guy before him clearly looked like what Xiao Xiao would look like after he assumed his stone giant form.
When the Monsters heard this, they all had strange expressions as they glanced at Yang Kai, thinking to themselves, [Small? What the heck? This guy is clearly huge! Is this Human blind?] There was also the Divine Binding Chain’s suppression involved. If it wasn’t for the Divine Binding Chain, this guy could become even larger and would likely wreck the palace.
Before the Monsters could finish thinking about this topic, they saw that Yang Kai had actually stepped forward and was striding with large steps, his eyes filled with a complex expression. It seemed as if his entire world only contained the big guy over there.
Xie Wu Wei was shocked as he shouted, “Be careful, Young Master Yang! This guy has a violent temperament and has incredible strength. Please stand back for the time being and allow this King to deal with him!”
He didn’t know what Yang Kai was trying to do, but he had personally experienced before just how difficult this big guy could be to deal with. Back when he was trying to make him submit, many of his subordinates had died, and even he had taken a blow that caused him to spit out lung-full of blood, nearly dying right there and then.
If it wasn’t for seeing that this big guy was incredibly strong and wanting to make it submit to him, Xie Wu Wei would have killed it long ago rather than trapping it here.
As a mere First-Order Emperor Realm Master, Yang Kai would likely suffer from approaching this big guy so recklessly, even if he was bound by the Divine Binding Chain.
Yang Kai ignored Xie Wu Wei of course and continued walking forward.
Xie Wu Wei furrowed his brow and was about to step forward to stop him, but Zhang Ruo Xi suddenly flickered forward and blocked his way while reaching out with one hand to stop him.
“Girl, what do you mean by this!?” Xie Wu Wei had a dark expression as he looked at Zhang Ruo Xi. A trivial Third-Order Dao Source Realm dared to act like this to him? If it wasn’t for his Soul Brand being under Yang Kai’s control, he would have slapped her already.
Ruo Xi had no fear though as she calmly stated, “Since Sir is doing this, he must have a plan in mind. Monster King, you simply need to silently watch what happens.”
She also didn’t know what Yang Kai was doing or why he would suddenly step forward, but she trusted him blindly and would not allow anyone to disturb him.
Xie Wu Wei was furious. If only he wasn’t a Soul Slave now! His life and death were connected to Yang Kai’s life, why else would he possibly care if this Human brat lived or died?
Xie Wu Wei had an ugly expression as he stood where he was, secretly circulating his Monster Qi as he prepared to jump over to save Yang Kai at any moment. He also gestured to his subordinates so that they would immediately save him if they noticed anything going wrong.
The Monsters all felt rather nervous as they watched Yang Kai go up to the big guy.
[It’s not Xiao Xiao…]
The excitement in Yang Kai’s heart gradually faded as he looked at the fifteen-metre-tall stone giant before him, gradually realizing that this stone giant wasn’t Xiao Xiao, because he shared a Soul connection with Xiao Xiao. If this stone giant before him was Xiao Xiao, it would have been impossible for him to not sense that link.
More importantly, even though Yang Kai was quite close now, the stone giant was still roaring in fury, acting like it wanted to kill him. It was struggling madly, but it was bound in place by the Divine Binding Chain.
“Hou!” The stone giant roared as a fierce gust of wind blew to the extent Yang Kai’s face became distorted. Flying sand and rock shards flew everywhere in the palace, and the walls themselves rumbled, as if they would collapse at any moment.
Yang Kai sent out his Divine Sense and tried to communicate with the stone giant, but found that it was in such a state of fury that it completely ignored him.
Yang Kai was helpless to do anything else other than ask out loud, “Are you Xiao Xiao’s clansman?”
Yang Kai couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t a coincidence that he met a stone giant who was identical to Xiao Xiao after transforming. Perhaps there were more than just two Stone Puppets in this world apart from Xiao Xiao and his Embodiment. Perhaps there was a mysterious race of Stone Puppets in this world. Perhaps Xiao Xiao had sensed his own clan was here, which was why he had entered the Ancient Wild Lands!
Or, perhaps this Monster even knew who Xiao Xiao was.
“Hou…”
However, only an angry roar greeted him. The Monsters watching in the distance all felt really afraid as they thought, [This Human is quite bold! He’s so relaxed even when facing a stone giant that even Sir Monster King wasn’t an opponent for single combat.]
Without mentioning anything else, just Yang Kai’s courage alone was enough for the Monsters to respect him.
But, he still seemed to be rather idiotic, and the Monsters around wondered if Yang Kai would soon be flattened into a pancake.
“In that case, have you seen him before?” Yang Kai reached out and tapped the air to create Xiao Xiao’s image before him.
The image displayed quite clearly what Xiao Xiao had appeared like back when he separated from Yang Kai. Xiao Xiao had a foolish and honest appearance with spirited eyes. He was only half of an average Human’s height and there was obvious sharpness to his stone skin. It was as if he was wearing a layer of stone armour that appeared quite sturdy.
On top of that, Xiao Xiao was carrying a pitch-black stick on his shoulder. Xiao Xiao had one hand on the stick, and his other hand was on his forehead as he gazed off into the distance.
The roaring stone giant suddenly quieted down, the fury in its eyes receding as he stared blankly at the image in front of him before he glanced at Yang Kai again. Soon, a confused look appeared on his face.
Xiao Xiao was simply too attention-grabbing with his Heaven Shaking Pillar.
“You’ve seen him before, haven’t you?” Yang Kai was delighted when he observed the stone giant’s expression.
The stone giant remained silent for a while before it slowly nodded.
[As I thought!]
Yang Kai was overjoyed as he hurriedly asked, “Where is Xiao Xiao now? Is he alright?”
Yang Kai was really eager to find out how Xiao Xiao had been recently as he blamed himself deeply for separating from him back in the Starlight Corridor. While he found Liu Yan rather quickly, and even found Chi Yue and the others, who were now safely cultivating in the Thousand Leaves Sect, Yang Kai had still been unable to locate Xiao Xiao after all this time.
The Star Boundary was a dangerous place, and Yang Kai didn’t know how Xiao Xiao was currently doing. In fact, Yang Kai felt incredibly worried after hearing from Yin Le Sheng that Xiao Xiao had entered the Ancient Wild Lands.
How could Yang Kai not be overjoyed now that he suddenly had a clue to Xiao Xiao’s whereabouts?
Yang Kai only wished that he could enter this stone giant’s mind to directly find out about how Xiao Xiao had been doing recently.
The stone giant opened its mouth and said in a coarse and low voice, “Who are you to the little one?”
The stone giant didn’t pronounce its words very clearly, making it evident that it rarely spoke. Additionally, its voice was like thunder that caused the entire palace to rumble.
All the Monsters were stunned as they looked with stupefaction at the scene in front of them. All of them were howling in their hearts, [this big guy actually opened its mouth and spoke!?] They had all been thinking for all this time that this big guy didn’t have any sentience and was unable to communicate with intelligent living beings. Only now did they understand that rather than not having any sentience and being unable to communicate, it simply didn’t bother to talk to them.
Xie Wu Wei also had a strange expression as he was secretly astonished.
He could now tell that Yang Kai seemed to have a connection of some sort with this stone giant. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so easy for him to calm down the stone giant’s rage and make it speak. Xie Wu Wei had spent such an effort leading his subordinates in trying to capture the stone giant, so was Yang Kai going to be angry at him…?
Xie Wu Wei felt really distasteful inside. If Yang Kai really got angry at him in front of so many of his subordinates, what was he going to do about his loss of face?
Xie Wu Wei even secretly wondered if he should have his subordinates leave right now so that he wouldn’t feel as awkward.
“Little one…” Yang Kai smiled because he realized that the stone giant was referring to Xiao Xiao, “The little one hatched with my Blood Essence. I also personally raised him.”
There wasn’t any need to explain anything else, as these two sentences were plenty.
The stone giant nodded in response as it spoke in its rumbling voice, “So, the Venerated One that Elder spoke of was you!”
“Elder…” Yang Kai arched his brow, not knowing who this Elder that had suddenly come up was. Still, he wasn’t in the mood to ask as he simply inquired, “Is Xiao Xiao doing well now? He hasn’t met with any danger over these years, has he?”
The stone giant answered, “Since you’re the Venerated One to the little one, you are a guest of my clan; I have no need to hide anything from you. The little one found our clan many years ago, and the clan also accepted him. He’s safe now.”
“You guys have your own clan?” Yang Kai was slightly surprised. Although he had already guessed at it previously, he still couldn’t help but be surprised now that it was confirmed. The Stone Puppet Clan was naturally impervious to weapons and possessed immense physical strength. Even one would be difficult to deal with if it was allowed to reach the peak, but if there was a big group of them…
It was likely that even a Divine Spirit would have to retreat before them.
The stone giant stated proudly, “Although we of the Stone Spirit Clan are low in number, we have not gone extent just yet. Honoured guest, why are you so surprised?”
[Stone Spirit Clan…]
Yang Kai was rendered somewhat speechless. It seemed that he had been incorrect to call them the Stone Puppet Clan before as they addressed themselves as the Stone Spirit Clan, but this was simply a matter of a name, which wouldn’t be any trouble for him to change to.
“Can you take me to see Xiao Xiao?” Yang Kai spoke up again with another question.
The stone giant fell silent for a moment after hearing this, and it was quite some time before it spoke, “You want to take the little one away? The little one is now a member of the clan, so it’s impossible for him to leave with you again. Our Stone Spirit Clan won’t be restricted by anyone. Anyone who has designs on our Stone Spirit Clan is an enemy.”
Yang Kai smiled, “I just want to go see him, not take him away.”
The stone giant swept its eyes over him for several glances before he nodded, “It seems you’re not lying…”
Yang Kai was astonished as he thought, [You can even tell if I’m lying or not?] Still, he didn’t have a good understanding of the Stone Spirit Clan, so he didn’t know if they had any special talents or Divine Abilities apart from refining ore.
“I can satisfy the honoured guest’s request, but currently…” The stone giant tugged on the chains binding its limbs as it spoke, which caused the chains to rattle. It was indicating to Yang Kai that it wasn’t even able to defend itself right now, so it was likely strong in will but weak in strength.
“That’s simple,” Yang Kai turned his head as he replied, “Monster King, please come over for a bit.”
Xie Wu Wei’s mouth twitched as he walked over somewhat unwillingly.
He had heard Yang Kai’s conversation with the stone giant quite clearly, so he knew what Yang Kai wanted him to do; however, he had finally managed to find an opportunity to capture this stone giant when it was alone to imprison it here. Xie Wu Wei had originally intended on making the stone giant submit and work for him, but never expected that Yang Kai would suddenly appear.
“Young Master Yang, what command do you have for me?” Xie Wu Wei walked over and spoke in a low voice, pretending not to know what Yang Kai wanted.
Yang Kai tilted his head, “Release him!”
“This…” Xie Wu Wei had a hesitant expression.
The stone giant was glaring angrily at him as if he had killed his father and stolen his wife. The stone giant seemed to be absolutely irreconcilable with him.
Xie Wu Wei had a bitter expression, “Young Master Yang, it’s not that this King is unwilling, but look at how he’s acting. If this King releases him, he is likely to immediately stir up trouble and ruin this land. If he starts causing a ruckus, my entire mountain will likely be flattened.”