The Innate Divine Ability, Black Eye Purgatory, was forcefully dispelled by Mo Duo, causing Yang Kai to suffer from a severe backlash. With his vitality roiling and his head feeling like it had been split in two, Yang Kai could only scream miserably.
Taking this opportunity, Mo Duo finally got rid of Yang Kai’s disturbance and flew upwards. In just a few breaths of time, he was already ten thousand metres above the ground and was just about to reach the crown of the tree.
But at this time, Yang Kai suddenly flickered strangely in front of him, holding the Demonic War Hammer and smashed at him furiously, Demon Qi erupting from all over his body.
Mo Duo hurriedly leapt to the trunk nearby to evade Yang Kai’s blow.
The two looked at each other across the short distance between them. Mo Duo was boiling in anger, while Yang Kai’s expression could not be seen due to the wrapping of Demon Qi, but his eyes were more energetic and clearer than before. Resting the Demonic War Hammer on his shoulder he seemed to grin menacingly and remarked coldly, “Thanks for shaking my consciousness awake, otherwise, I’m afraid I really wouldn’t have been able to escape from that chaotic state.”
Mo Duo’s face changed slightly and replied in a cold voice, “How do you plan to stop me now without the power of the Black Eye?”
He noticed that Yang Kai’s aura had greatly reduced after the Innate Divine Ability of the Black Eye was dispelled, so although he recovered his rational mind, he was now no longer a match for him.
Yang Kai smiled lightly, and pointed his finger to the sky, “I can’t stop you, but… I just need to delay you for a moment.”
Hearing this, Mo Duo’s face darkened as Yang Kai was speaking the truth. Even if he was no longer Mo Duo’s opponent, that didn’t mean he couldn’t give him some trouble and delay his pace. As long as Yang Kai could buy just a bit more time, the Evergreen Divine Tree would have the opportunity to seal the Two Worlds Passage.
The tree crown had now reached right below the top of the passage, almost completely covering it with its broad trunk and canopy. As long as it continued growing, it would soon accomplish its mission.
“You can try!” Mo Duo roared as he kicked off the branch he was standing on and shot upwards like a cannon, sending out a punch as he soared into the sky.
Strangely, Yang Kai appeared in front of this fist, as if he had thrown himself at it.
Yang Kai was shocked as he had not anticipated this move. The punch sent him flying, but nevertheless, his reaction was incredibly fast. Immediately, he teleported the moment he was about to be hit and his figure reappeared in a blink above Mo Duo.
He swung the Demon Qi empowered Demonic War Hammer at Mo Duo’s head with Heaven-destroying and Earth-shattering power.
“Damn you!” Mo Duo bellowed as he raised his hand to block the blow.
With a loud bang, Mo Duo’s gigantic body fell back several tens of metres, but he quickly stabilized himself again. He was so infuriated that his two house-sized eyes almost ignited in rage.
After the Black Eye Purgatory was dispelled, Yang Kai’s strength had dropped significantly, which was obvious from the power of his hammering. Before, when Yang Kai struck with his hammer, it would be enough to send Mo Duo tumbling, but now, such a blow could only force him back a couple dozen metres.
Even so, Yang Kai was still the biggest obstacle in front of him. If Mo Duo did not destroy this obstruction, he wouldn’t be able to move on, but how could he have time to fight with this foreigner now?
He had underestimated Yang Kai. In fact, all the Demon Saints underestimated Yang Kai. If they had known that this foreigner wielded such strange power, they would have sent two Demon Saints to deal with him.
Mo Duo blew a long whistle to ask for helpers.
But he received no response.
The other four Demon Saints were fighting with the four Shaman Saints of the Barbarian Race at the moment. Both sides had an even number, so no one could get away easily. Mo Duo was on his own.
*Kacha…*
A strange noise suddenly sounded, causing Mo Duo’s eyelids to jump and his head to quickly turn up. At that moment, he saw the giant crown of the strange tree fill the last crack of the Two Worlds Passage, and though it seemed to twist and deform under the pressure, it still managed to complete the seal.
It was too late. It was all too late. Mo Duo was devastated.
Yang Kai burst into laughter despite his ravaged and dishevelled state. Listening to this mocking laughter, Mo Duo felt extremely offended and embarrassed, and the suppressed anger in his chest erupted completely like a volcano.
Yang Kai’s laughter abruptly stopped, as if someone had grabbed his throat all of a sudden.
Mo Duo also turned solemn as he obviously felt something as well.
Both of them looked up at the same time, their gazes penetrating through space as they stared straight into the depths of the Two Worlds Passage.
From the depths of the corridor, a black cloud suddenly appeared strangely above the tree crown. The black cloud pressed down slowly, and even though it did not move with great speed, it possessed a powerful oppressive force, as if nothing in the world could stop its advance. In the process of falling, the black cloud gradually twisted and transformed into a huge hand that seemed to cover the sky.
“Sir Demon God!” Mo Duo exclaimed.
“Great Demon God!” Yang Kai bellowed hoarsely.
In the Demon Realm, the strongest Master was Great Demon God, who was an existence more powerful than even Demon Saints. It was he who tore open the World Barrier of the two Great Worlds, opened the passage between the Demon Realm and this one, and brought destruction and disaster to it.
Given that the Demon Saints were already so strong, just how powerful could the Great Demon God who was superior to them be? Yang Kai thought about this question before, but he could not find an answer, just like when he was still an Origin Returning Realm cultivator and could not imagine the terror of a Dao Source Realm Master. Before one reached a certain Realm, they would still be lacking comprehension no matter how rich their imagination was.
The Great Demon God stood at a height too high for Yang Kai to even speculate about.
But at this moment, he could easily feel the terror of the Great Demon God. A simple palm transformed from the black cloud already seemed to be able to destroy a world. It was the power that even the Demon Saints would fear.
As the huge hand pressed down, cracking sounds came up from the crown of the Evergreen Divine Tree. The giant tree could not continue to grow, and instead was being pressed down.
Mo Duo did not look at this scene with joy in his eyes though; instead, he was full of fear. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead as his nearly three-hundred-metre-tall body shivered.
As a Demon Saint who was sent to this world by Great Demon God, he had failed his mission to stop the foreign race’s plan of sealing the Two Worlds Passage, forcing the Great Demon God to step in personally. Even if the Demon Race achieved a great victory after this battle, he and the other four Demon Saints would definitely not be able to avoid punishment.
The punishment of Great Demon God was not something that anyone could bear, even if one was a Demon Saint.
*Xiu…*
A strange noise sounded, and Mo Duo turned to look, his face changing drastically as he roared, “How dare you!?”
When he was truly shocked and incensed as Shaman Niu actually flew up with a solemn face and charged towards the Two Worlds Passage. Looking at his movements, it seemed that he wanted to use his own strength to block whatever method Great Demon God was using to interfere.
This frightened Mo Duo.
He was not afraid that Shaman Niu had the ability to do so. Since the Great Demon God had made his move, no matter how powerful Shaman Niu was, it would amount to nothing before the Great Demon God. However, he could not allow Shaman Niu to disturb the Great Demon God, not in the slightest.
Mo Duo chased after him and wanted to stop him in advance. Nevertheless, his body was too massive and his movements were not as flexible as Shaman Niu’s, so he could only watch as Shaman Niu rushed into the Two Worlds Passage and disappeared.
Mo Duo grew increasingly anxious as he flew up, his Demon Qi surging madly as he quickly reached the tree crown that was previously unreachable to him in less than ten breaths time.
Without any intention of remaining though, Mo Duo also rushed directly into the Two Worlds Passage to kill Yang Kai.
The inside of the Two Worlds Passage was nothing but emptiness and chaos. There were no identifying markers one could use to gain a sense of direction, and even a Demon Saint would shiver with unease in this endless void. No matter how powerful a Master was, he may be trapped forever if he lost his way here.
Feeling unimaginable pressure pressing down from above his head, Mo Duo looked up and saw Great Demon God’s giant palm pressing towards him, but Shaman Niu was nowhere to be seen.
This palm was Great Demon God’s sudden cross-world attack, yet it still felt unmatchable.
Mo Duo did not dare to release his Divine Sense to search for Yang Kai, because the surrounding Void Turbulence would devour it before it provided any useful information.
As he was looking for Yang Kai though, Yang Kai appeared strangely beside him and charged at him like a meteor. Facing the unexpected attack, Mo Duo could not stand firm and was directly pushed back.
Yang Kai struck Mo Duo’s chest head-on while pushing his Space Principles wildly, using the very Void Turbulence to drive himself and Mo Duo towards the giant palm.
Mo Duo’s face went completely pale as he struggled hard, but in this place where Space Principle dominated all others, he soon found that he could not free himself from Yang Kai’s control and was getting closer and closer to the palm print of Great Demon God.
“What are you doing!?” Mo Duo was equal parts enraged and terrified as a frightening thought surfaced in his mind.
“I need your help!” Yang Kai grinned madly at him, but Mo Duo obviously did not see this expression.
His words turned Mo Duo’s face green as his gigantic body started to tremble. He fought even more vigorously and nearly broke away from Yang Kai’s grasp several times, but all to no avail.
Yang Kai hurriedly waved his hands and drew rivers of Void Turbulence over to bind Mo Duo.
Having been caught, Mo Duo ceased his futile efforts.
“Do you know what you’re doing!?” Mo Duo knew he could not break free by force, so he could only try to persuade Yang Kai to change his mind, “You’ll die too!”
Without saying a word, Yang Kai pushed Mo Duo with all his strength to meet the giant palm.
“Madman, you are a madman!” Mo Duo yelled, “I won’t be used by you! It is my honour to die at the hands of the Great Demon God, there’s no meaning in what you’re trying to accomplish!”
“You have Ancient Demon Qi flowing through you and the Ancient Demon’s Solitary Black Eye. Although you were born a Barbarian, you are also Half-Demon. Furthermore, you have proven your strength! Give up now and Great Demon God will forgive you! Anything you want from the Demon Race will be yours.”
“Why are you still not stopping? It will be too late if you don’t stop now!”
Mo Duo kept screaming, his face becoming more and more panicked, but Yang Kai flat out ignored every word he said.
Finally, the two of them reached right in front of Great Demon God’s giant palm and Mo Duo shut his mouth because he knew it was too late to say anything now. Even if Yang Kai released him, he would still not be able to escape from the Great Demon God’s attack.
The huge palm pressed down from above his head, together with a destructive aura, causing Mo Duo to let out a sigh, close his eyes, and bare his neck for execution.
At that moment, Yang Kai’s roar exploded in his ears, “You’re not making a move? Do you really want to die?”
This roar was like the Devil’s whisper, causing Mo Duo’s eyes to shoot open, and driven by primal instincts to survive, he pushed his Demon Saint strength wildly and swung his fists upward.
He suddenly found that the strength that had been restraining him had disappeared, and the Void Turbulence that had been binding him had also vanished, allowing him to use his full strength.
But Mo Duo regretted it the moment he threw his attack.
He asked himself, [What am I doing? As a Demon Saint, why am I resisting Sir Great Demon God?]
All his actions were made instinctually, done without any thought, driven by a simple desire to live. At the verge of death, one could not afford to think too much.
In any case, this was the full powered blow of a Demon Saint.
At the same time, Yang Kai, who was not far away, turned solemn and raised the Demonic War Hammer in his hand, pouring his own Demon Qi into it before swinging it heavily at the giant palm.
Space Principles engulfed the Demonic War Hammer, causing the Void to crack and distort wherever it passed. Not only that, Yang Kai also pushed his Time Principles into this attack. At this critical juncture of life or death, Yang Kai delivered a violent blow that surpassed his own limit.
This blow was the strongest he had ever unleashed, one that even he found difficult to comprehend.
Of these two great attacks, one was intentional while the other was unintentional. Yang Kai and Mo Duo’s coordination was perfect and delivered an amazing counterattack.
The giant palm halted slightly before a huge hole was pierced through it, causing a seemingly endless Demonic Qi to erupt out in all directions.
However, in the next instant, the giant palm recovered from their interference and slammed down towards where Yang Kai and Mo Duo were, destroying the two insignificant ants before continuing to press downwards.
Mo Duo’s muffled grunt disappeared instantly, and the three-hundred-metre-tall body fell apart, turning into pieces of shredded meat, scattered in the endless Void. Yang Kai too felt as though he was torn apart, his body dissipating completely, and only his Soul falling into an endless abyss.
[Am I dead?] Yang Kai did not know what death was like, but if Demon Saint Mo Duo could not survive this, it was naturally impossible for him to be alive.
[I think I’m really dead.]
In a daze, he suddenly felt as if he had forgotten many important things, only to suddenly remember something vaguely.
All the while he was self-reflecting, he continued to fall. His entire body was somehow loosened and relaxed as he plummeted endlessly. There was nothing that required his attention, nothing that could worry him. Maybe it was not such a bad thing to keep falling like this.
Then, there was a change, and the feeling of falling suddenly disappeared, followed by a change in his vision. When Yang Kai recovered his senses, he was already standing in a Void blanketed with twinkling stars. He turned his head to observe his surroundings; nothing but deathly silence remained. Even Yang Kai found he was without a physical presence or form.
Suddenly, the clamour of war and wild fluctuations of energy reached him from below.
He looked down, and his eyes widened.
He saw a huge, unmatched tree that connected Heaven and Earth standing tall in the middle of a battlefield full of blood and corpses. The magnificent tree crown had penetrated into the crack in the sky and was still growing continuously.
He saw some strong Humans evading the attacks of Demons under the big tree.
He also saw millions of Humans and Demons risking their lives in the vast surrounding wilderness.
In the sky on the other side, eight exceptionally powerful Masters were fighting. The Saints of the two races seemed to be competing on equal footing.
Yang Kai had the chills as he remembered something he had forgotten just now, and then remembered something even more distant from him.
[I am Shaman Niu, and I am the Shaman King of the South Barbarian Clan. I commanded a strong army called the Shaman Niu Clan.]
[I’m also Yang Kai, the Palace Master of High Heaven Palace in the Northern Territory of the Star Boundary.]
He did not know when he had completely forgotten all of this, especially his latter identity.
When he first came to this world, he would still remember it from time to time, remember that he was but a visitor in this world and had entered this Sealed World as a simple training experience. However, along with the outbreak of the war between the two Races, his identity became increasingly vague and had gradually adapted to the identity of Shaman Niu, ultimately completely forgetting his real name, Yang Kai.
He dragged a Demon Saint and launched a suicidal attack against Great Demon God. Was he trying to emulate the sacrifice of the Evergreen Divine Tree?
If he had remembered that he was Yang Kai, he would never have been so reckless and impulsive; after all, this was just a Sealed World, with everything he experienced possibly being one giant illusion.
But if he was looking at the situation as Ancient Barbarian Shaman Niu, doing such a thing would seem normal.
Shaman Niu would definitely make such a choice. Any Ancient Barbarian would make such a choice without hesitation. Even if he died, as long as there was even the slightest chance of success, his death would have value.
There was only one thing he could not understand, what the Hell was this place? Was everything just an illusion, or was he really dead?
“Isn’t it bizarre?” A voice suddenly came from behind.
Yang Kai jumped, not having expected anyone else to be here at all, but he did not turn around immediately, because he knew who the voice belonged to.
Standing in the void, he pointed down and asked, “Is all this real or just illusionary?”
“It’s real, and it’s also illusionary!” A petite figure walked over to him slowly and stopped next to him, her beautiful eyes looking down, watching the scene with Yang Kai.
Yang Kai turned to look at her in curiosity, “Please explain!”
“There is falseness in the truth, and there is truth in the false.” The woman winked at him a little playfully. This was an expression she had never shown before, and Yang Kai was taken aback.
Yang Kai continued to look at her without saying a word.
The woman continued, “This war is real. There really was such a battle between the two races in the Ancient Times. It’s not much different from what you are seeing before your eyes, only on a larger scale.”
Yang Kai frowned, “Then what about Shaman Niu?”
“It’s exactly because there were countless Shaman Nius in that war that this land could be preserved and the Demons were forced to retreat!”
Yang Kai exclaimed, “So what I saw and experienced as Shaman Niu is just a kind of summary?”
“Exactly!”
Yang Kai nodded, “I understand. Everything I experienced was just an illusion, but this illusion is not an empty fantasy, but instead based on the reality of the ancient past.”
This illusion had lasted quite a while, a full two years in fact.
But Yang Kai believed that it was impossible for such a war to have ended in just two years. It could have been twenty years, or maybe even two hundred years, but all of that had been condensed into a ‘short’ two year summary for him.
“Yes, and congratulations on your contributions in this war.” The woman pursed her lips and smiled.
Yang Kai sneered, “I died, there is nothing to congratulate me on.”
“Only in this world. You are still alive.” The woman chuckled slightly.
Yang Kai shook his head and continued, “I want to see the final result of this war.”
The woman nodded gently, stretching out her hand to touch the void. In the next moment, Yang Kai seemed to have turned into a Deity and everything below simply played out before him as he wished.
First, it was the Two Worlds Passage that connected the two Great Worlds. After Great Demon God destroyed Demon Saint Mo Duo and Shaman Niu, his palm continued to press downward.
However, the sacrifice of Mo Duo and Shaman Niu was not without effect. A hole was punctured into the huge palm, and a large amount of Demon Qi gushed out and was absorbed by the surrounding Void, greatly reducing the power of the huge palm. And as the giant palm continued pressing down, its power became weaker and weaker.
In the end, when the giant palm collided with the tree crown, it still shook the world.
The huge tree crown cracked, and countless broken branches and fallen leaves scattered in the wind as its mighty trunk splintered and split, as if it might collapse at any time.
But the Evergreen Divine Tree only swayed for a moment before it stabilized again. Emerald green light bloomed from every leaf and branch of the Evergreen Divine Tree, releasing an amazing aura of vitality.
The crown of the tree that had already touched the top of the Two Worlds Passage soared as if it was going through a growth spurt and immediately blocked all cracks in the sky.
Immediately afterwards, countless emerald green lights flew towards the sky like fireflies, rushing into the sealed boundary and disappearing.
The Two Worlds Passage was soon flooded with the same emerald green light.
The life essence that the Evergreen Divine Tree had accumulated for tens of thousands of years shrunk rapidly, its life aura all being transformed into emerald green light, which was used to seal the Two Worlds Passage.
When the Two Worlds Passage was completely flooded by countless emerald green lights, the tall sacred tree suddenly shook and its branches fell off, leaving only a bare trunk.
The Two Worlds Passage gradually shrank under the influence of the inexplicable force, and finally closed and disappeared.
The entire process took quite a long time, but after the green light faded, the Evergreen Divine Tree seemed to have lost all its vitality. The trunk of the tree that connected Heaven and Earth had turned into dust and scattered into the wind.
The Evergreen Divine Tree, Senior Qing, had sacrificed his life for the World, sealing the Two Worlds Passage.
All the Barbarians cheered in ecstatic surprise at this scene, while the Demons, who were still fighting, looked grief-stricken as if their parents had just died.
Losing the connection to the Demon Realm was a huge blow to the strength and morale of all the Demons, whether it was the miscellaneous warriors or the Demon Kings. It seemed that they could no longer perform at their best.
The Barbarians fought back and killed countless enemies.
And the stalemate of the battle of the Saints was finally broken.
The four Demon Saints gradually lost their footing and fled in embarrassment as the Shaman Saints chased after them. Half a day later, two Demon Saints were beheaded and killed on the spot. The other two Demon Saints knew that the situation was beyond salvation and split up to escape.
The Shaman Saints chased each of them separately.
The Demon Saints either fled or died while the Demons under their command were even more helpless. The war was over, and all that was left was to clean up the battlefield.
Yang Kai retracted his gaze and let out a soft breath.
He had seen the result of this Two Races Great War, and as expected, the Ancient Barbarian Race won after paying a huge price, and the invaders were exterminated. As for the two escaped Demon Saints, even if they were exceptionally powerful, there was no place for them to hide in this world.
Taken as a whole, this training experience was very successful. Yang Kai had gained a lot, especially his understanding of Shamanic Spells from Ancient Times, which was incomparable to anything recorded in the ancient books.
The only flaw was that Shaman Niu died, but in that situation, Yang Kai, as Shaman Niu, could not think of a better way to resolve the Great Demon God’s last attack.
Now, there was only one last question left…
Yang Kai turned to the petite woman beside him and asked seriously, “Who are you? What should I call you, or should I just call you like before… Tiea!”
Tiea smiled, as if she was aware of the dissatisfaction in Yang Kai’s heart, and responded gently, “I am a witness and recorder of history. What you have experienced is only a drop of water in the ocean that I have recorded.”
“Did you create this dreamworld?” Yang Kai raised his eyebrows.
Tiea shook her head, “I’m only responsible for witnessing and recording. What kind of dreamworld one encounters here entirely depends on his own choice.”
Yang Kai frowned, “I don’t remember choosing anything.”
After he entered here, he woke up as Ah Niu in Blue South Village. Since when did he ever have a choice?
Tiea smiled lightly, “Something in you made the best choice for you.”
Yang Kai thought for a while, before positing, “The Ancient Demon Qi?”
Only the Ancient Demon Qi had something to do with the dream world of the Two Races Great War.
As soon as he spoke, he was suddenly shocked as he recalled breaking the gold and silver seal in his Dantian. He had used his Demon Transformation, but now did not feel much discomfort. He wanted to check his state, but he did not even have a body now, only a form similar to a Soul Avatar that allowed him to communicate with Tiea, so he could not check his situation at all.
Tiea seemed to be aware of his thoughts and reassured him, “Don’t worry. What you’re experiencing now is just a moment in time. You can deal with your difficulties after you go out.”
Yang Kai nodded and pondered for a moment before he continued, “You said that you are a witness and recorder of history. I assume that you are the dreamworld itself?”
Tiea’s eyes flashed as she looked at him appreciatively, “You’re quite sharp. Yes, I am the manifestation of the dream world itself.”
Yang Kai pressed on, “Everyone who comes here will experience a different dream world, right? What I have experienced is the invasion of the Demon Race, the Two Races Great War. If other people come, they may experience something else, yes.”
“Correct,” Tiea smiled gently, thinking it was easy to talk with smart people. “This time you experienced the Two Races Great War. Perhaps the next time you enter, you will experience something completely different. Everything has a cause and effect.”
“Does this Sealed World have a name?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
“Thousand Illusion Dreamworld!” Tiea answered, her petite body suddenly transforming into a flash of light.
Yang Kai was slightly shocked but soon calmed down as he saw a massive butterfly gently floating in front of him.
The place where Tiea originally stood was now occupied by a colourful butterfly as big as a house. The bright patterns on Tiea’s butterfly body exuded a sense of extreme beauty as she gently flapped her wings, creating a fluttering of fluorescence, looking exceptionally mesmerizing.
Tiea’s voice echoed from the butterfly, “I am the Thousand Illusions Butterfly, the ruler of this Sealed World!”
“So you are the key to open this Sealed World!” A sudden realization dawned on Yang Kai.
Princess Lan Xun told Yang Kai once before that many of the Sealed Worlds in the fifty layers of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda could only be opened with a specific key. For example, the Grand Illusion Realm she once mentioned could only be unlocked with the Golden Armour Heavenly Book. Since Star Soul Palace’s Tan Jun Hao was killed by Yang Kai in Flowing Shadow City and the Golden Armour Heavenly Book fell into the latter’s hands, a number of disciples of Star Soul Palace who were training in the Grand Illusion Realm had become trapped and were unable to leave.
In order to reclaim the Golden Armour Heavenly Book, Star Soul Palace had to agree to Yang Kai’s request to enter the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda for a one-month training.
The key to the Grand Illusion Realm was the Golden Armour Heavenly Book, and the key to the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld that Yang Kai experienced was Tiea, which was also the Thousand Illusions Butterfly that she had transformed into!
Tiea giggled, “Key? I’m not just the key. As I told you just now, I’m the dream world itself.”
Yang Kai did not know the difference, but instinctively felt that the so-called Thousand Illusion Butterfly seemed to be higher grade than the Grand Illusion Realm mentioned by Lan Xun and nodded, “I’ve roughly understood, but since you are in control of this Sealed World, why did you appear next to me as Tiea? Were you watching me?”
Tiea replied, “I can easily know everything in the Sealed World without actively monitoring anything. As for why… You can think of it as a whim. I’ve been sleeping for a very long time and only awoke after you arrived.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai raised his brow and continued excitedly, “So what’s special about me to you? Can I take you away with me?” After a pause, he rephrased, “Would you like to come with me?”
If he could take Tiea with him, he could control this Sealed World. Moreover, it was a Sealed World that was changeable and suitable for all Realms of cultivators to enter and train. As Palace Master of High Heaven Palace, Yang Kai had to consider many things for the future.
Every great Sect had its own heritage and foundation, such as the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda of Star Soul Palace, the Divine Ascension Mirror of Azure Sun Temple, the Outer Astral Wind of Orthodoxy Temple, and the Martial Intent Temple of Heavenly Martial Holy Land. Each of these played its own irreplaceable role and contributed unimaginable benefits to the development of its respective Sect.
The strength of a Sect was not just based on the few Masters who oversaw it, but also the future development and the growth of its disciples.
High Heaven Palace was not short of Masters now, with several Monster Kings as High-Rank Guest Elders under Yang Kai’s command, an Emperor Array Master, an Emperor Alchemist, an Emperor Artifact Refiner. There were also the Cross-Territory Space Arrays that connected the North and South Territories, so cultivation resources would not be a problem in the near future. Yang Kai was also still thinking about Tian Yan. If he could help Tian Yan obtain a physical body, allowing him to leave the Divine Ascension Mirror, there would be a Master as strong as a Great Emperor protecting High Heaven Palace. Even if it was not a real Great Emperor Sect, by that point it would not be much worse than one.
What High Heaven Palace lacked now was assets that could assist the growth of the disciples of future generations.
The Thousand Illusions Dreamworld was undoubtedly an excellent choice in this regard.
Therefore, Yang Kai wanted to take it away. The Thousand Illusions Dreamworld was one of the many Sealed Worlds on the fifty layer of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, while Tiea was the Sealed World itself and the key too. As long as he could take Tiea away with him, High Heaven Palace would have its own Sealed World in the future.
As for whether he would be found out or stopped by Star Soul Palace, Yang Kai did not think that he had to be worried about it.
There were so many Sealed Worlds in the fifty layer of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, some of which could not even be opened or found by the people of Star Soul Palace. Therefore, Star Soul Palace definitely would not notice even if he had ‘borrowed’ one from it.
In any case, would it matter if they really noticed? This was something Yang Kai gained from his experience here, so Star Soul Palace could not bully and force him to leave it here. That would soil the reputation of Star Soul Palace.
With this in mind, Yang Kai asked this question while at the same time he started thinking of ways he could persuade Tiea if she refused him, though he was not sure what he was supposed to offer to entice her.
“Sure!” Tiea answered softly.
“Wha… What?” Yang Kai was flabbergasted. He did not expect Tiea would agree so easily. The words of persuasion that he prepared in his mind immediately rotted in his stomach.
“I said sure,” Tiea repeated.
Yang Kai was stunned for a moment, because he could not react to Tiea’s sudden agreement.
On the contrary, Tiea noticed his concerns and continued with a smile, “I sense that history will be transformed around you, so I need to record that. Therefore, it’s inconvenient for me to stay in this place.”
Yang Kai grinned, “I don’t know what the future looks like, but I think my future should be very interesting. You may be able to record a lot of things.”
“I hope so.”
Yang Kai reached out his hand to Tiea, who gently flapped her colourful wings as her beautiful body suddenly turned into a stream of light and landed on his palm.
Yang Kai held her gently and as he looked down, saw a small and dainty butterfly hairpin in his hand, one that looked exactly like the Thousand Illusions Butterfly that Tiea transformed into, only many times smaller.
Tiea disappeared, turning into a key in the shape of a butterfly in Yang Kai’s hand.
Everything around him suddenly distorted and became blindingly bright. Then, Yang Kai felt an irresistible force pulling him in an unknown direction, as if trying to draw him out.
He could not resist this force, so he could only be vigilant about it.
With a rumbling sound, Yang Kai felt that his Soul seemed to be travelling across an endless space-time tunnel and suddenly came to a familiar residence.
He opened his eyes, and the first thing he did was to check if his Soul had returned to his flesh.
But his physical condition was truly looking quite bad.
He was currently wrapped in a rich Demon Qi that gave off an extremely malevolent aura. This wicked aura impacted his Soul and psyche and threatened to demonize him at any moment.
Although he used his Demon Transformation in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, his body in real life responded in the same way too. In other words, although the training in that Thousand Illusions Dreamworld was only an elaborate illusion of sorts, there was still an inextricable link between what happened there and his real body. For example, in this situation, Yang Kai’s actual physique had used his Demon Transformation when he did so in the dream world.
There was no time to worry about the details though as Yang Kai hurriedly pushed the power of the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus in his Knowledge Sea to shield his Soul and consciousness before he immersed himself in the Small Sealed World, drawing out the sealing power of the Firmament Tree in the medicine garden and pouring it into his body.
The two gold and silver lights rapidly gushed out and flowed through the meridians of his whole body.
Under the miraculous gold and silver sealing power, the Demon Qi surging in every part of his body seemed to have encountered its nemesis and rushed back into his Dantian, as if it were a panicked rabbit avoiding the pursuit of a falcon.
After spending a little time, Yang Kai finally managed to seal the Demon Qi again and restore his normal condition.
This action used up all the sealing power that the Firmament Tree had accumulated with difficulty. The gold and silver colours could no longer be seen on the Firmament Tree, which was planted in the medicine garden of the Sealed World Bead; instead, it looked a little wilted and Yang Kai figured he must have drawn too much power from it.
With a small sigh, Yang Kai stretched his hand and took out a jade bottle in which there was a drop of viscous liquid.
It was the Supreme Divine Water! Yang Kai had managed to trade with an Emperor Realm Master who went to the Azure Sun Temple to participate in his Grand Canonization Ceremony not too long ago for this treasure, but he did not expect it to come in handy so soon.
The Supreme Divine Water could promote the growth of Spirit Herbs, greatly shortening their maturation period; however, such a treasure was rare and valuable, and only a few people could get their hands on it by luck. The sealing power of the Firmament Tree was exhausted, and Yang Kai had to plan early and use the Supreme Divine Water to replenish its reserves.
Otherwise, if he was forced to use his Demon Transformation again, he would not have any sealing power to relieve himself from the crisis.
After using his Demon Transformations several times, Yang Kai found that the more he unsealed the Ancient Demon Qi, the more sealing power was needed to re-seal it.
According to his estimation, he would only be able to transform another two or three times at most before he would no longer be able to seal the Ancient Demon Qi. After that, he would be reduced to a mindless Demon forever if he were to use his Demon Transformation.
Perhaps… The Dragon Transformation Secret Technique could be used as a way to counter this issue. When he used his Dragon Transformation Secret Technique during his Demon Transformation his mind was much clearer than the previous two transformations. It was apparent that the Dragon Transformation Secret Technique had some ability to restrain the side-effects of his Demon Transformation. At the very least, he was able to maintain his consciousness without losing himself.
Should he finally agree to Zhu Qing’s request and visit Dragon Island with her? There were a large number of Dragon Blood Flowers on Dragon Island that could be harvested and refined into Dragon Blood Pills, which could help him perfect his Dragon Transformation Secret Technique.
However, Zhu Qing went to the Frozen Earth in the far north, and there had been no news from her so far, so Yang Kai didn’t even know if she was dead or alive.
He shook off these thoughts and checked his condition again.
There were no big issues with his physical body, it was only slightly weakened after the Demon Qi crisis. He only needed a few days of cultivation to recuperate.
On the contrary, Yang Kai was rather shocked at the trauma on his Soul.
Although everything he experienced was just an illusion, his Soul had taken part in everything in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld; and in that lifelike environment, Yang Kai had completely forgotten his original identity and came to think of himself as Shaman Niu.
All of the damage suffered by Shaman Niu had directly and intuitively affected his Soul.
The terrifying battle with Mo Duo had caused him serious injuries, but the horrifying attack by Great Demon God from across Worlds at the last moment was even more unimaginable. Yang Kai highly doubted that he would have survived if his Soul was not being protected by the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus.
This Supreme Treasure was the one that kept his Soul intact and allowed him to return to reality. If anyone else encountered something like that, they would definitely not be able to return alive.
All illusions could confuse truth with falsehood, not to mention a top-grade Sealed World like the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld.
Yang Kai felt an instinctual sense of fear, and at the same time, unspeakable exhaustion swept over him, making him want to pass out and fall asleep immediately.
However, he still remembered that he was in the territory of another, and he had entered the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda more than two years ago, completely breaking the agreement he had with Star Soul Palace, so he did not know what kind of inquiries he would be facing after going out.
He opened his hand and found that the butterfly-shaped key was still resting on it, its cold touch assuring Yang Kai that everything he had experienced before was not just a dream, but was something that really happened.
Tiea had transformed into a butterfly, which then transformed into a key before him.
He called out softly, but there was no response.
The once vivid butterfly was now like a cold dead object, without even the slightest spirituality. Yang Kai could not even detect the slightest trace of anything out of the ordinary from it. The butterfly key at this moment looked like something that could be seen at a roadside stall. Except for its novelty in design, there was nothing unusual about it.
However, this was actually an entire Sealed World! With it, the future development of High Heaven Palace would be even better.
Yang Kai closed his hand around it before carefully placing it into the Sealed World Bead.
Slowly, Yang Kai got up and looked around, soon realizing that he was in a hall that looked somewhat familiar. There was nothing but a glimmering door not far away. Even after pondering carefully, Yang Kai just could not remember when the last time he had been to this place was or even where this was.
However, the radiating door should be the exit.
He took a deep breath, then took a step forward.
His vision blurred as he passed through the door, and arrived at another place.
The extremely fierce power fluctuations surrounding Yang Kai startled him, and he instinctually thought someone was attacking him, but in the next moment, a familiar voice sounded in his ears, “Senior Brother Yang, you came out?”
Yang Kai squinted slightly, his eyes following the voice and soon landing on a beautiful, elegant, and somewhat pale face.
He could not help being in a daze, as if he was still trapped in the identity of Shaman Niu. Two years was neither long nor short, but in that ancient world, Yang Kai experienced an entire cycle of growth from weak to strong, life and death. It was a splendid life, and it diluted his memory of other things. At this moment, he still could not completely distinguish the boundary between reality and fantasy.
“Princess… Lan Xun?” Yang Kai finally saw the person’s face clearly and blurted the name as soon as it popped into his mind. This name gradually overlapped with the figure in front of him, finally allowing him to confirm the identity of the person.
The smile on Lan Xun’s face slowly receded, obviously sensing Yang Kai’s abnormality and asked worriedly, “Senior Brother Yang, are you injured?”
At the same time, Lan Xun noticed Yang Kai’s estrangement. This estrangement was not intentional, but was revealed unintentionally. It was as though she and Yang Kai were meeting for the first time, like they were strangers unfamiliar with one another.
Lan Xun felt this was incredibly odd as, although she and Yang Kai had not been particularly close to each other, they had at least met several times. She was even the one who came to deal with the issue regarding the Golden Armour Heavenly Book, so logically speaking, Yang Kai’s attitude towards her should not be like this.
A majestic gaze surrounded Yang Kai, examining him, but they did not find anything special, except that he seemed quite frail, like he was severely injured and exhausted.
This was inevitable though, as the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda was part of the foundation of Star Soul Palace. Although disciples could gain many benefits from exploring it, doing so came with a certain degree of danger. Each time it was opened, several disciples would fall inside.
Yang Kai’s injuries and frailty could not be more normal.
“It’s just a small injury, nothing to worry about,” Yang Kai mustered a laugh as his memories were slowly recovering, gradually removing the influence of Shaman Niu’s existence on him. He then addressed Lan Xun, “Was Junior Sister Lan waiting for me here all this time?”
Smiling at him calling her Junior Sister again, Lan Xun replied, “I only just came out. I didn’t mean to wait for you.”
Yang Kai was startled, “Junior Sister Lan has only just come out?”
He could not help feeling a little lost. What happened to Lan Xun while he was held in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld for more than two years? What happened to Lan Xun that she had only just come out? Suddenly, Yang Kai seemed to have realized something and swept his surroundings before asking, “Where are Brother Lei and Brother Xiao?”
He recalled that many entered the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda for training, and originally it was not the opening date of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda yet, but the schedule was moved up because of the agreement with Yang Kai. This also benefited many Star Soul Palace disciples, allowing them to enter ahead of time to gain experience.
At this moment, many of them had come out and were gathered in small groups to share their experiences. The joyful expressions on the faces of some were an obvious sign that they had gained much, while the dejected expressions on others probably meant that they were less than pleased with their outcome. They had gone through so much for nothing and had wasted an opportunity. Seeing Yang Kai chatting with Lan Xun though, many Star Soul Palace disciples glared at him, seemingly resisting the urge to run up and beat him up.
Yang Kai, however, did not see Lei Ting and Xiao Chen.
Lan Xun answered, “They are still inside. They should be coming out soon. The pagoda is about to close, so they won’t have a choice either way.”
Slightly startled, Yang Kai asked curiously, “How long has it been since we entered the pagoda?”
Lan Xun looked at him with puzzlement, not knowing why he asked such a question, but still replied, “Including today, exactly one month.”
One month…
Yang Kai could not believe his ears.
He obviously spent more than two years in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, but it was actually only five days… in reality.
He remembered when he entered the Sealed World on the fifth layer of the pagoda, there were only five days left before the closing date of the pagoda, whereas a month referred to the time from the opening to the closing of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda.
He subconsciously squeezed his hand, but there was already nothing there.
It seemed the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld had the magical effect of distorting time. A whole two years of experience had been compressed into just five days. This was incredible, not something achievable by ordinary means even in an illusion.
Yang Kai already had a high evaluation of the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, but now it seemed that he was still underestimating this Sealed World. The Time Principles involved with it alone had given invaluable worth to the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld.
Yang Kai’s silence worried Lan Xun and she couldn’t help asking, “Senior Brother Yang, are you alright?”
“I’m fine, just a little tired,” Yang Kai forced a slight smile, but his words were a great oversimplification. He was thoroughly exhausted, and the trauma on his Soul and the exhaustion on his body could not be restored in short order.
He suspected that this exhaustion was caused by living two years worth of experiences in just five days.
To prevent Lan Xun from suspecting anything though, Yang Kai quickly changed the subject, “What are Elder Xiao and the others doing?”
As soon as he walked out of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, Yang Kai discovered that several Third-Order Emperor Realm Elders of Star Soul Palace had all joined forces to channel some kind of Secret Technique, the target of which was the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda. Based on the expressions of Xiao Yu Yang and the others, it seemed like they had been maintaining this state for quite some time, and despite their great strength, they seemed to be barely hanging on at this moment.
Lan Xun answered, “There seems to be something wrong with the fourth layer of the pagoda. Many Small Worlds were shattered, which caused some impact on the structure of the pagoda itself. Uncle Xiao and the others have been doing everything they can to stabilize the pagoda until everyone exits. Otherwise, once the space collapses, the people inside will be trapped.”
A drop of cold sweat silently trickled down Yang Kai’s back as he asked in as calm a voice as possible, “How could a treasure like the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda have such a problem?”
Lan Xun looked in the direction of the pagoda, and shook her head, “I don’t know either. I’ve never encountered such a thing before.”
Yang Kai laughed awkwardly, “Then I must have bad luck to encounter such a problem my first time coming here.”
He dared not say too much. Fortunately, his current state was quite weak, so even if his expression was a bit difficult, he would not attract too much attention.
Given that the problem of the fourth layer of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda was due to the shattering of Small Worlds, Yang Kai knew that it must have something to do with him. He had collected a tremendous amount of World Principles into his Sealed World Beads on the fourth layer, destroying those shattered worlds, an outcome that he had never expected.
Fortunately, the consequences did not seem to be irreparable or too serious.
As they were talking, two figures flashed in front of the pagoda’s entrance. It was Xiao Chen and Lei Ting, who came out together. They also entered the fifth layer of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, but they had their own opportunities. By the look of their faces, one could guess who had gained and who had suffered a loss.
Xiao Chen looked gleeful and was full of self-confidence, obviously having benefited greatly from the fifth layer.
Lei Ting’s face on the other hand was gloomy and his aura was weak. His injuries looked more serious than Yang Kai’s, so perhaps he had suffered some setbacks.
Nevertheless, both setbacks and benefits were parts of the growth that cultivators must experience. With perseverance, one could turn setbacks into valuable experience, as well as a driving force to progress further on the path of cultivation.
Xiao Chen and Lei Ting were the last to come out, so after the two appeared, Xiao Yu Yang bellowed, “Everyone, leave here now.”
The Star Soul Palace disciples received the order, saluted the four Elders, and dispersed.
Yang Kai and Lan Xun also left together.
Not far away, Yang Kai suddenly felt an extremely strong power fluctuation coming out of the Void. When he turned around, he saw a moonlight-like radiance coming out from somewhere in Star Soul Palace, striking right at the middle of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda.
This radiance was not an attack, but rather some kind of miraculous technique. After the light arrived, Xiao Yu Yang and the others turned solemn, quickly weaving all kinds of hand seals while stabilizing the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda.
Yang Kai’s face turned solemn. He knew that the moonlight-like radiance was the Great Emperor taking action.
In the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, he also faced and fought with someone who was on par with a Great Emperor, so he was naturally familiar with this level of strength.
Demon Saint Mo Duo was comparable to the existence of a Great Emperor, and Yang Kai had a life or death battle against him. Back then, during the fight between Heaven Devouring Great Emperor and Bustling World Great Emperor in the Shattered Star Sea, Yang Kai was lucky enough to encounter it and play some small role at its conclusion, but saying he actually fought would be an exaggeration. Furthermore, the two Great Emperors could not unleash their full strength at that time.
But the experience in the dreamworld was different. Even if it was all an illusion, it had a basis in reality. In other words, the power released by Mo Duo was the true strength of a Great Emperor.
Yang Kai had used all his means without any reservation, yet he was still no match for him. If Mo Duo had not underestimated Yang Kai so greatly in the early stages of the fight, and allowed him to perform so many Secret Techniques, and if his focus had not been on stopping the Evergreen Divine Tree in the later stage, Yang Kai’s odds of surviving would have absolutely been less than thirty percent, while winning was simply impossible.
Even so, Yang Kai could not hold him back, and in the end, he had to rely on some deception and tricks to drag him into resisting Great Demon God’s cross-world attack.
This was an extremely valuable memory and experience. As long as Yang Kai could absorb the experience of that battle, he believed his strength would improve notably.
At this moment, the Great Emperor’s technique was so mysterious that Yang Kai could not even compare it with Mo Duo’s, because he could feel that the Bright Moon Great Emperor was definitely stronger than Mo Duo.
Lan Xun also stopped her feet and turned around to look at the moonlight-like radiance, pursing her lips with bitterness because she had not seen her father in a long time.
“Junior Sister Lan.” Yang Kai suddenly called out, “It’s time for me to leave.”
He destroyed many small worlds on the fourth layer of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, and Xiao Yu Yang and the other Elders surely suspected him. When Yang Kai came out just now, the few Third-Order Emperor Realm Elders had all been observing him; however, as long as Yang Kai did not admit to anything, they could not blame him, so they could only let him leave.
Nevertheless, the butterfly hairpin in his possession was the key to the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, a Sealed World that technically belonged to Star Soul Palace. To put it nicely, it was Yang Kai’s opportunity, but to put it bluntly, he was stealing.
Yang Kai naturally did not want to stay longer and draw unwanted attention from Star Soul Palace after stealing from them, not to mention that he still had something else to do.
Lan Xun looked at Yang Kai in surprise and asked, “Is Senior Brother Yang leaving now?”
“En, I have a prior appointment to keep.”
“But Senior Brother Yang, you seem to be hurt. Are you sure you don’t want to rest here for a day or two before you leave?” Lan Xun asked with concern.
Yang Kai smiled and shook his head, “No, I’m fine. My injuries only need some time to heal.”
There was no trauma in his body, and the injury to his Soul could not be recovered with rest alone. Fortunately, he had the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, so all he needed was time.
“I see…” Lan Xun did not try to convince him further as she saw that he had made up his mind to leave, so she just smiled happily and said, “In that case, Junior Sister won’t keep Senior Brother Yang any further. Senior Brother Yang, be safe.”
Yang Kai replied, “About the Elders…”
Lan Xun smiled, “I will inform them when they are finished.”
“Many thanks,” Yang Kai cupped his fist, then turned around and flew out of Star Soul Palace.
Lan Xun stood in place, only leaving after watching his back disappear out of her vision. Not far away, Xiao Chen, who had been secretly observing them, was slightly relieved.
After leaving Star Soul Palace, Yang Kai checked his directions before flying straight towards the location of Thousand Leaves Sect.
His Soul was still injured, so he did not fly quickly. On his way, he recalled all the scenes of his battle with Mo Duo and studied them intently, trying to think of what different approaches he could have taken. He gained a lot through this trip into the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, with the fight against Mo Duo being just one of his gains. He had actually gained so much he hadn’t had time to digest everything yet; as such, he needed to spend some time sorting out the memories in his mind.
Suddenly, Yang Kai noticed something and stopped in his tracks to stare ahead.
A man stood mid-air before him, a young and handsome man who seemed no older than twenty. He carried one hand behind his back and put the other hand naturally on his abdomen, behaviour more appropriate for an old man that did not match his appearance at all.
Yang Kai put on a serious expression, because he found that this ‘young man’s’ aura was unreadable. He could not sense anything about this person and even his eyes felt like they couldn’t clearly see his real appearance. Even though his Soul was injured now, any ordinary Emperor Realm Masters would not be able to conceal themselves before him like this since his Soul was far more powerful than his Realm would suggest.
However, just now, Yang Kai had not noticed anything at all. It was as if this man had suddenly appeared in front of him without any prior signs.
There were only two possibilities, either the other party’s cultivation was much higher than his own, or he was using some kind of special artifact.
Yang Kai looked at the other party, who was also looking at him, with an unfathomable smile on his face.
Yang Kai did not feel good about this smile and frowned and asked, “What’s the matter, Friend?”
The man simply opened his mouth and spat out a word that frightened Yang Kai to the core, “Bind!”
Ten thousand Principles seemed to obey this one word.
Yang Kai’s body suddenly stiffened as he inexplicably felt that the surrounding space solidified around him like a thick rope, tying him up tightly. At this moment, he was petrified to a point that even making a small movement with his finger had become extremely difficult for him.
Yang Kai was aghast as he had not felt any trace of his opponent using a Secret Technique or Divine Ability. All of this seemed to simply be a manifestation of his will through his words.
This was unachievable by any Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. In fact, there was only one kind of Master in this world who could do this.
Given that this place was near Star Soul Palace, the identity of this ‘young man’ became obvious.
“You…” Yang Kai was shocked and angry at the same time. He did not expect that such a supreme Master would stop and attack him here. What did this mean? If he wanted to make a move, he had a lot of opportunities when Yang Kai was still in the Star Soul Palace earlier, so why intercept him outside?
Furthermore, as someone with such status, what could he gain from acting stealthily? Yang Kai did not understand, and he did not have time to think about it.
As soon as he spoke, with a flash before his eyes, the ‘young man’ who was a thousand metres away a moment ago appeared right in front of him like a ghost, scaring the wits out of Yang Kai.
He finally experienced the feeling of those enemies who were caught off guard by him using his Space Techniques.
The two were now face to face, but the ‘young man’ did not do anything, simply continuing to quietly observe Yang Kai with a calm and relaxed smile.
Looking into the man’s eyes, Yang Kai felt like he could see two full moons blooming with astonishing light. Under the shadow of this light, everything about Yang Kai seemed to be revealed, all his secrets open and exposed without any way to hide from this man’s eyes.
Yang Kai was infuriated. Although he knew who the opponent was, he still did not allow anyone to pry on his secrets. He was immobilized, and could not think as quickly as he normally would, but Yang Kai still managed to mount a forceful resistance.
He madly surged his Spiritual Energy, and the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus in his Knowledge Sea suddenly started to rotate wildly, like a spinning top, rotating faster and faster.
A seven coloured glow exploded and filled his entire Knowledge Sea.
A shower of moonlight descended upon Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea from above, and initially, everything that was shone upon by the moonlight was revealed, but at this moment, the seven coloured glow actually swept out and dispersed that moonlight.
The ‘young man’ let out a light sound of surprise as he obviously did not expect Yang Kai to still have the power to fight back against his investigation.
Yang Kai grunted as blood leaked from his seven orifices. His already pale complexion suddenly became even paler, and he shuddered unsteadily as if he might fall down at any time.
The young man was taken aback and quickly retrieved his Divine Sense.
He had no malice towards Yang Kai, but he had to clarify something, and it was inconvenient for him to investigate due to his identity, so he could only intercept him here.
He just wanted to use some small means to investigate Yang Kai but did not expect the latter to fight back so desperately, and to even somewhat succeed in resisting.
This was quite awkward.
After his first move failed, the young man would not be able to make another one, so he flickered and appeared a thousand metres away as if he had never moved.
Standing where he had from the start, Yang Kai glared at this newcomer in anger, pushing the power of the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus to its limit to protect his Soul and Knowledge Sea. He would not let slip any secrets unless the other party was willing to knock him down.
The opponent was definitely capable of this, but Yang Kai would not give in easily.
This scene resembled the scene of a rabbit facing its predator, a falcon that was about to swoop down at it from the sky. No matter how much he bared his teeth, it would not do much, and the falcon would still grab the rabbit with its talons, fly up high, and drop it to its death on the ground.
The young man watched Yang Kai for a short time before suddenly letting out a sigh and, turning his gaze to the sky, muttered as if he was talking to the air, “The weather is nice today.”
After saying so, he stepped forward and suddenly disappeared from Yang Kai’s field of vision without a trace.
Yang Kai maintained his vigilance, sweeping his Divine Sense to cover the surrounding several kilometres for quite some time before he was convinced that the young man was really gone. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief and relax his guard.
An unimaginable feeling of exhaustion swept over Yang Kai like a tide in the next moment, causing him to stagger in the air involuntarily and almost fall on his head.
With difficulty, he steadied himself before reaching up to wipe the blood from his face before frowning.
That person suddenly intercepted him and even used a Divine Ability to probe into his Knowledge Sea, but in the end, it had only been some loud thunder and no rain, which puzzled and surprised Yang Kai.
Did he come here deliberately just to say ‘the weather is nice today?
That was obviously impossible.
After thinking for a while though, the frown on Yang Kai’s face gradually dissipated and was slowly replaced by a laugh. The more he laughed, the more cheerful he became, and in the end, every bit of worry and burden in his heart were completely relieved.
Yang Kai now somewhat understood the matter regarding that person.
He had taken away the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld from the fifth layer of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, and as the true master of Star Soul Palace and the owner of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, the Great Emperor must have noticed something, but he could not fully understand it. That was why he needed to investigate.
However, Yang Kai was not a Star Soul Palace disciple, and he was only allowed to enter the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda because of the previous agreement, so neither the Great Emperor nor the Elders could request Yang Kai to proactively explain his experiences inside.
If Yang Kai was just an ordinary Emperor Realm Master, there may be many Secret Techniques that could be used by Star Soul Palace that would make him unknowingly reveal the existence of the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, but as of now, Yang Kai was also an Azure Sun Temple Elder. As the overlord and guardian of the Southern Territory, Star Soul Palace could not throw its weight around haphazardly in this situation.
Therefore, the Great Emperor took action personally, and the location he picked was not inside Star Soul Palace’s borders, but just outside, a way to silently indicate that, officially, this had nothing to do with Star Soul Palace.
He did not report his origins due to the same consideration, and even though Yang Kai clearly identified him, he did not expose him, the two of them maintaining a kind of mutual understanding to reduce the issues here to a minimum.
The matter was now settled. The Great Emperor himself failed to obtain any useful information, or it could be said that the Great Emperor did not force Yang Kai to reveal what he did and knew. After this incident, Star Soul Palace would no longer pursue Yang Kai regarding his experience and gains in the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda.
In other words, Star Soul Palace and Bright Moon Great Emperor would close one eye about anything Yang Kai took away from the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda.
It was precisely because Yang Kai realized this that his mood was suddenly lifted.
He was somewhat worried before because he took something of theirs without permission. As such, in the future, he could only use the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld in secret when he took it back to High Heaven Palace, and its existence could not be exposed openly. But with what happened just now, the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld could now be used openly, and even if Star Soul Palace found out later, they would not be able to say anything.
After thinking about it carefully, Yang Kai felt that he should actually be grateful to the Great Emperor for all his consideration. With the Great Emperor’s strength and abilities, it would not be impossible for him to forcefully break through the defences of Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea, but he stopped after just touching upon it, fully displaying the demeanour of a Senior Master.
Yang Kai thus had a good impression of him.
The phrase ‘the weather is nice today’ was probably also the Great Emperor’s acknowledgement of his helplessness and awkwardness.
Yang Kai kept laughing, but he suddenly could not laugh anymore. He touched under his nose and felt warm blood trickling down incessantly. The consumption of his Spiritual Energy during this period was too great, especially with his Soul already in an injured and exhausted state. If he was not protected by the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, he would already have degenerated into an idiot.
…..
For a journey that would usually only take a few days, Yang Kai took more than ten, staggering and stumbling all the way.
The former site of Thousand Leaves Sect was still just a blasted ruin. Yang Kai arrived at the familiar mountain valley, surged his Space Principles, and entered Emperor Heaven Valley.
Emperor Heaven Valley was an independent Small World. Currently, apart from Yang Kai, no one else in this world could freely enter and exit this place.
But at this moment, there was a figure near the entrance of the Emperor Heaven Valley.
The man had Emperor Realm cultivation, and he was drawing something on the ground of an open space, frowning sometimes, widening his eyes sometimes, then smiling sometimes. The expressions on his face were ever changing.
He seemed to be immersed in his own world, unable to extricate himself. He did not even notice when Yang Kai approached.
It was not until Yang Kai cleared his throat lightly that this man woke up from his dazed focus. At first, he frowned, as anger appeared on his face, he was obviously mad for being interrupted, but after seeing Yang Kai, all the displeasure disappeared immediately and he greeted him with a smile, “Palace Master!”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded lightly, glancing casually at the things he drew on the ground, and found that the drawings had something to do with the Cross-Territory Space Array. There was only one person in all of High Heaven Palace who would be able to immerse himself in the world of Spirit Arrays to the point of not being able to extricate themselves: Chief Array Master Nanmen Da Jun.
When Yang Kai sent Bian Yu Qing back to the Northern Territory to join High Heaven Palace, he asked her to relay a message to Nanmen Da Jun to come here. It seemed that the Emperor Array Master had been here for a while, and decided to do some studying on his own while waiting for Yang Kai.
“Did you bring it?” Yang Kai asked.
Nanmen Da Jun froze for a moment but recovered quickly. Taking out a jade slip, he handed it to Yang Kai and explained, “Palace Master, I engraved all the information about the Spirit Array inside. You can read it slowly during your journey, but Palace Master, I have to remind you that this Spirit Array is quite wicked. Whoever arranged this Spirit Array must not be a good person. It would be best to be on guard.”
“Noted.” Yang Kai nodded.
Nanmen Da Jun took out something else next. Resting on the palm of his hand was an extraordinary-looking, smooth, shimmering spindle-shaped object, one he handed to Yang Kai.
“What’s this?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
Nanmen Da Jun chuckled, “Didn’t Palace Master ask Hou Yu to refine a flight type artifact? This is it.”
“So fast?” Yang Kai took the flight type artifact in surprise and examined it a bit before revealing a shocked expression, “Is this an Emperor Grade Artifact?”
It had not been long since he brought Hou Yu back to High Heaven Palace, and although he assigned her the task of refining a flight type artifact for him, Yang Kai thought it would take a few years to refine a decent ship. But how long had it been? It hadn’t even been half a year since he made the request, probably three or four months at most.
Nanmen Da Jun smiled, “Even though Xiao Hou doesn’t have the best character, she’s definitely a Grandmaster Artifact Refiner, and we have no shortage of materials in High Heaven Palace now. After giving her so much to work with, how could she not refine something good? Xiao Hou also said that there’s still room for improvement for this artifact, so when Palace Master has the time, you should let her upgrade it for you.”
“She’s not still thinking about escaping, right?” Yang Kai smiled slightly, slowly sinking his mind into the flight type artifact in his hand, revealing a look of satisfaction.
Nanmen Da Jun snickered, clearly taking pleasure in another’s misfortune as he explained, “The three Monster Kings are taking turns guarding her. If she dared to escape, they would have broken her legs. The Monster Kings are not to be trifled with.”
The Monster Kings’ respect was only for Yang Kai, and also Heaven’s Order and the Divine Spirit Sources she could grant them access to, but they had no reservations towards any other; even Emperor Array Masters, Emperor Alchemists, and Emperor Artifact Refiners were nothing in the eyes of the Monster Kings. There were no such titles among the Monster Race. To them, only the strongest deserved respect.
With the three Monster Kings taking turns to guard Hou Yu, she probably could only dream of escaping from High Heaven Palace for the rest of her life.
Yang Kai could not help laughing when he imagined Hou Yu’s aggrieved expression in his mind. However, Hou Yu was worthy of the title of Grandmaster. Yang Kai could already tell that this artifact was extremely good even before having the chance to refine it. Once he did refine it, it would certainly serve him well.
However, for Yang Kai the other functions of this artifact did not matter. What mattered most was its ability to carry him from one point to another at speed. As long as it was fast enough, the other functions weren’t important.
“Did Hou Yu christen it?” Yang Kai asked.
Nanmen Da Jun thought for a while before replying, “Flower Clouds Shuttle. En, she said that if Palace Master doesn’t like the name you can change it. It’s just a name after all.”
“Let’s just call it the Flower Clouds Shuttle.” Yang Kai smiled slightly.
While talking, Yang Kai suddenly reached out and summoned something before handing it to Nanmen Da Jun, “Take this back.”
“What is this?” Nanmen Da Jun took it curiously and found that the thing Yang Kai handed over was a small box, but it was not an ordinary one by any means because it clearly exuded a type of ancient aura. It was evidently something that had been passed down from a long time ago, and should be a good artifact.
“Heavenly Music Treasure Box,” Yang Kai reached out and tapped on the box. Immediately, the Heavenly Music Treasure Box released a tinkling sound, like a mountain spring or an empty spirit valley, and listening to the tune was enough to make one feel refreshed.
The gentle tone continued to play, and the box rose up step by step, gradually turning into the shape of a pagoda. There were nine layers in total, and each layer rotated either to the left or to the right at a differing speed, transmitting different sounds that came together in beautiful harmony.
Not only that, but a light blue mist started being released from the Heavenly Music Treasure Box as its floors spun, spreading out in all directions and filling a large space. The pale blue mist was like a starry sky, free of all impurities. The appearance of the stars made one feel as if they were truly standing in the midst of the starry sky, a beautiful scene to behold.
“A good treasure!” Nanmen Da Jun’s eyes lit up at the sight. Even though he did not think this Heavenly Music Treasure Box was too useful for him, its mysterious melody would surely be of great help to any cultivator below the Emperor Realm during cultivation as it would make it easier for them to clear their mind and enter a meditative state. Surely, cultivating in such a state would allow one to achieve twice the result with half the effort.
“You should be able to understand its use and maximize its potential application,” Yang Kai smiled at him.
Nanmen Da Jun’s eyes glowed brightly as his mind was already thinking of using this Heavenly Music Treasure Box as the core of a Spirit Array. With the supplementation of several other artifacts, he could set up a Heavenly Tone Treasure Palace.
This was not a difficult thing for him to do, and once his arrangements were successful, the entire Heavenly Tone Treasure Palace would be filled with the sound of the Heavenly Music Treasure Box, which would be of great benefit to the disciples who entered retreat inside to cultivate.
Yang Kai was right. Only in the hands of an Emperor Array Master like Nanmen Da Jun would this Heavenly Music Treasure Box be able to display all its effects. With the augmentation of a Spirit Array, the Heavenly Music Treasure Box would definitely become another foundation for High Heaven Palace, and a great boon for the disciples below the Emperor Realm.
“Leave it to me.” Nanmen Da Jun put away the Heavenly Music Treasure Box with care before turning to Yang Kai and asking with some concern, “Are you alright, Palace Master?”
He noticed just now that Yang Kai wasn’t in good shape with his face unnaturally pale.
He knew deeply how strong Yang Kai was. He was strong enough that even the Sect Masters of the top Sects in the Northern Territory, Sect Masters Mi Qi and Li Jiao, were unable to even lift their heads in front of him. Even the three great Monster Kings were loyal to his every word. For a Master like Yang Kai to be pale-faced, the only explanation must be that he had sustained a very serious injury.
Nanmen Da Jun could not think of anyone in this world who would be able to cause such injuries to Yang Kai, and it was naturally impossible that he would imagine Yang Kai’s experiences in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld.
Yang Kai simply shook his head.
Nanmen Da Jun asked, “Do you need me to come along? Though I know not what Palace Master is going to do, it is obviously related to that Spirit Array. If I go with you, I may be of some help in deciphering it.”
“No need,” Yang Kai waved his hand, “I’m fine. What’s more, it’s not convenient for me to bring you along.”
He had accepted Xia Sheng’s request to explore an Ancient Cave Mansion as Hua Yu Lu’s assistant, and Hua Yu Lu also said that she could only bring one helper, so bringing along someone else may cause some conflict.
Since Yang Kai refused, Nanmen Da Jun didn’t insist on following either. He just reported to Yang Kai about the development of High Heaven Palace during this period of time before returning to the Northern Territory through the Cross-Territory Space Array.
Yang Kai did not hurry to leave, however, and instead sat down cross-legged and took out some Spirit Pills to first patch up his Soul. Only then did he begin refining the Flower Clouds Shuttle.
He realized that he had underestimated the impact his Soul received during his experience in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld. He thought that with the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, his Soul should be able to restore itself in half a month no matter how severely damaged it was.
But facts showed that after more than ten days his Soul still showed hardly any signs of improvement.
Yang Kai guessed that this was due to a large overconsumption of his Spiritual Energy rather than just injuries he sustained inside the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld. There was also the time distortion. Living two years in just five days undoubtedly put an immense load on his Soul. It was equivalent to Yang Kai consuming two years worth of his Spiritual Energy in just five days, so it would take more than just half a month to be replenished again.
Emperor Grade artifacts were not easy to refine, especially now since Yang Kai’s Spiritual Energy was lacking.
But he still spent a few days making a simple mark on the Flower Clouds Shuttle, which would be enough for him to get the Flower Clouds Shuttle to fly, but not enough for him to release its full power.
This was already enough as Yang Kai’s greatest use for the Flower Clouds Shuttle was transportation.
He set off once more, and only remembered the location of his destination after some careful thought. After what he encountered in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, his memories of the past often became fuzzy.
The Southern Swamp was a dangerous place in the Southern Territory, and even though it was not as deadly as the Northern Territory’s Frozen Earth, many Masters still lost their lives there each year. What attracted cultivators to enter the swamp was the abundance of precious treasures and the various hidden cave mansions in its unexplored corners.
Rumour had it that long ago, the Southern Swamp was a place where cultivation flourished in the Southern Territory. Countless Sects and great forces established themselves there and developed into regional overlords. But a cataclysm turned this prosperous region into a swamp, and the Southern Territory’s cultivators eventually gave up on this treasure land.
During the disaster, countless Sects were destroyed, and many cave mansions became buried. Cultivators often risked their lives to come here in hopes of discovering ruins of ancient Sects and the inheritances of old Masters, thus allowing them to soar to great heights.
The Southern Swamp also produced many special spirit flowers and exotic herbs which could not be found anywhere else in the entire Star Boundary, any one of them worth an enormous price on the market.
In the face of such benefits, even the dangers could not stop cultivators from exploring the Southern Swamp. A few thousand years ago, the swamp used to be a lively place, but as more and more of its treasures were discovered, it had become far quieter. Still, there were always some cultivators who did not fear death who would come every now and again to explore.
Yang Kai had heard of the Southern Swamp in the past, but this was his first time entering it. He was now a Master who did not need to fear anything though, so even though his Soul was not yet fully recovered, he still wasn’t a soft persimmon that just anyone could easily pinch.
It was half a month later when Yang Kai arrived at the Southern Swamp.
Just as the rumours said, he discovered that there were indeed marshes and muddy rivers everywhere, as well as extremely dangerous auras that occasionally lurked beneath them, like predators waiting for their prey to throw themselves into their nets, ready to pounce out at any moment to land the fatal blow. The Southern Swamp was filled with poisonous obstructions, and when viewed from high up in the sky, these obstructions would reflect the sunlight and form a colourful spectacle. But hidden beneath that bright appearance was murderous intent at every step.
The existence of these poisonous obstructions alone had stopped the advance of cultivators below the Dao Source Realm. Only Dao Source Realm and Emperor Realm cultivators could resist the poison and explore the Southern Swamp safely.
Of course, the strength of the poison differed depending on one’s location, and some pockets were powerful enough that even Emperor Realm Masters could not resist it easily. Once these toxins infiltrated the body, even an Emperor Realm Master may lose their life.
Yang Kai took out a communication artifact and sent a message to Hua Yu Lu.
A while later, he received a response.
After focusing his mind and searching his surroundings, Yang Kai turned and flew off.
Four hours later, Yang Kai distantly sensed the presence of several auras, one of which belonged to Hua Yu Lu, so he quickly sped up.
The people on that side had clearly also sensed Yang Kai’s approach and released their Divine Senses to investigate. In the next moment, they all revealed looks of surprise.
The reason was that they sensed the presence of the Flower Clouds Shuttle.
The Flower Clouds Shuttle was a Flight Type Emperor Artifact, and its value was immeasurable. Such an Emperor Artifact was rare to find even among Emperors. If Yang Kai didn’t have Hou Yu refine it for him, then he would not have been able to own such an artifact.
A short while later, the Flower Clouds Shuttle arrived before the crowd, and after a flash of light, Yang Kai’s figure was revealed.
Hua Yu Lu looked over at him with a look of joy, but then became stunned.
The reason for that was because she was greeted by an extremely unfamiliar face that did not belong to Yang Kai at all.
But very soon, she realized that Yang Kai was wearing some sort of disguising artifact to change his appearance.
This Camouflage Artifact was something that Yang Kai obtained back in the Solitary Void Sealed World. It wasn’t very useful as it was basically impossible to hide the signs of camouflage in front of an Emperor, so any Master could tell that he was wearing a Camouflage Artifact, but it was at least able to hide his weakened appearance.
Without this artifact, Yang Kai wouldn’t be able to hide his pale demeanour.
Hua Yu Lu did not dwell on why Yang Kai would do this, but since he wanted to hide his identity, she went along with it as a matter of course.
“Senior Brother Yang!” Hua Yu Lu greeted him.
“Palace Master Hua!” Yang Kai gave her a gentle nod, “I apologize for being late.”
Besides Hua Yu Lu, there were four others gathered here. It was quite apparent that everyone had already arrived. Hua Yu Lu said that she discovered the Ancient Cave Mansion with two others, and even though they managed to break through some of the barriers inside, and each of them already had some gains, they were obstructed by the final barrier and unable to advance.
As such, the three of them agreed to seek out one helper each at or below the Second-Order Emperor Realm and, six months later, reunite here to explore the cave mansion again.
The person that Hua Yu Lu found was Xia Sheng, but unfortunately, Xia Sheng had to remain at Spirit Lake Palace and was unable to leave, so he could only ask for Yang Kai’s help. Since Xia Sheng asked for his help, Yang Kai couldn’t refuse him either. What’s more, he was also quite interested in this Ancient Cave Mansion.
That was because Hua Yu Lu got her hands on the Little Flower Drum. Like the Mountains and Rivers Bell, this drum was also an Ancient Exotic Artifact, though it wasn’t as powerful.
According to Hua Yu Lu, one of the other two experienced a great rise in their cultivation. Originally, that person was the weakest among them, but when they left, he had the strongest aura. Meanwhile, the other person was able to learn a Secret Technique, though Hua Yu Lu had no idea how powerful it was.
Cultivation was not just done behind closed doors, all kinds of experiences and opportunities were necessary parts of growth. Often, these experiences and opportunities would make it easier for one to increase in strength compared to meditative cultivation.
Only, the timing of this trip to explore the Ancient Cave Mansion was a little unfortunate. Yang Kai had just gone through an intense experience in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld and was in need of rest, but since he had already made an agreement with someone else, he could only grit his teeth and trudge on.
Yang Kai made up his mind that he would focus on safety this time. As long as he could bring Hua Yu Lu back in one piece, then he would not have failed Xia Sheng’s trust.
In the wilderness, four gazes focused on Yang Kai after he made his greeting, all with looks of scrutiny.
Three of the four others gathered here were men, with only one being a woman. Two of them were in the First-Order Emperor Realm while the other two were Second-Order, each of them standing in pairs. Clearly, only Hua Yu Lu was alone before Yang Kai arrived.
Even though the Camouflage Artifact could hide the paleness of Yang Kai’s face, his weak aura could not be concealed in any way. Not to mention the fact that everyone here was an Emperor, so just a quick check would reveal the depth of his cultivation.
[First-Order Emperor Realm!] This allowed the other four to breathe a sigh of relief somehow.
One of the men with a short and stumpy body coldly snorted with a look of displeasure, “Palace Master Hua, is this your friend? He’s a haughty one, isn’t he, making us wait like this?”
He didn’t hide his true thoughts in the slightest. He was obviously annoyed by having to wait here for so long and straightforwardly criticized Yang Kai. It was also true that Yang Kai did not arrive in time as he had been delayed for a few days during his trip, so there wasn’t much he could say. If Yang Kai had been a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master, then this stocky fellow might not have had the guts to criticize him, but a First-Order Emperor was nothing to be feared.
Faced with the man’s criticism, Hua Yu Lu smiled apologetically, “Brother Wu, please calm your anger. Senior Brother Yang was met with some problems some days ago that delayed his trip. This Mistress will apologize in his stead.”
Even though she had no idea what held Yang Kai back a few days, causing him to miss their appointed time, she was certain he wasn’t the type to just break appointments on purpose. Otherwise, Xia Sheng wouldn’t have asked him to help. As the inviter, Hua Yu Lu naturally had to speak for Yang Kai.
The man coldly snorted, “Your Hundred Flowers Palace is filled with women, where does this Senior Brother Yang come from? I’ve never heard of men entering Hundred Flowers Palace before. What’s more, this Brother Yang is hiding his head while only showing his tail. Does he not even have the guts to show his true appearance? Or does Brother Yang have something else he’s hiding?”
He seemed to dislike Yang Kai and immediately confronted him about using the Camouflage Artifact.
It was reasonable to call this an impromptu treasure hunting team, so there was no need for them to look deeply into each other’s backgrounds and origins. They each had their own ulterior motives to begin with. When they could work together, they would work together, but if not, they would just separate. If they happen to chance upon some treasure, they may even get into a fight for it. Everyone knew this, so Hua Yu Lu did not ask who the helpers of the other two were or where they were from, as if it was a tacit agreement.
Therefore, the stubby man clearly had ill intentions to target Yang Kai, and there were even suspicions of him trying to sow discord with his last sentence.
The Star Boundary was so huge that the number of people living in it reached the trillions. Each one of them had a different nature and temperament, so walking around with a Camouflage Artifact wasn’t a strange thing; however, when it came to this man surnamed Wu, it seemed he intended to blow up matters here, intent on getting Yang Kai to take off his artifact and reveal his true appearance without taking no for an answer.
Hua Yu Lu frowned and was clearly displeased with this situation. She was the Palace Master of Hundred Flowers Palace, so the fact that she could put down her status and apologize already showed her sincerity. Still, the incessant pestering of this man naturally annoyed her. However, it was not a favourable situation for them as both she and Yang Kai were First-Order Emperor Realms, while the other two were in pairs of one First-Order and one Second-Order Emperor. Things may become messy if a fight were really to break out here.
She was fortunate enough to have seen Yang Kai’s skills before when he sparred with a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master at Azure Sun Temple’s Grand Canonization Ceremony. Being able to block a Third-Order Emperor Realm’s surprise attack, then land one of his own, proved Yang Kai’s strength could not be judged with common sense. However, Hua Yu Lu was able to sense that Yang Kai’s aura was quite weak at the moment, and she guessed that he must have endured some sort of injury, leading him to hide his appearance.
She did not want to get into a conflict with the others right now.
Just as she was about to say something, Yang Kai spoke, “May I know what to call this friend?”
The man surnamed Wu grunted, “Wu Kuang Yi!”
“So it is Brother Wu!” Yang Kai nodded lightly and smiled, “There is no deeper meaning for my disguise. Only… My appearance is a little odd so if I appear before others with my true appearance, I’m worried I would scare… this lady!”
While speaking, Yang Kai raised his head and looked at the other woman on the scene other than Hua Yu Lu.
The woman was not with Wu Kuang Yi and was instead standing next to the other elderly man. She had a Second-Order Emperor Realm cultivation and was clearly the helper hired by him. The woman’s appearance could not be described as extremely beautiful, but her temperament was very refined, and she had a graceful figure. Her goose yellow dress outlined her delicate figure wonderfully.
Since Yang Kai appeared, this woman and the others have been silently observing him, so now that the topic had turned to her, she was slightly taken aback before she smiled and commented, “My courage isn’t that small.”
There was a strange charm to her smile, and it seemed to be able to drive the emotions of others, but there was no sign of her using any kind of Charm Technique. It was quite apparently an innate talent she possessed, which made it so Yang Kai could not help but take closer notice of her. At the same time, he also raised his wariness slightly.
“And what should I call Little Brother?” The woman asked.
“Yang Jiu!” Yang Kai answered promptly.
He was the ninth oldest son in his Yang Family, so there was a basis for his name. It wasn’t just made up.
Wu Kuang Yi’s frown was knitted even tighter when he saw the woman actually chatting with Yang Kai casually, but just as he was about to say something, the elderly man who was standing with the woman stepped forward and smiled, “It’s fine, it was only a few days. For those at our level of cultivation, a few days is but a blink of an eye. Brother Wu does not need to mind it too much. Just think of it as resting time for cultivation.”
His smile was very warm, just like an amiable neighbourhood grandpa, causing people to have a good impression of him.
When the elderly man spoke, it became difficult for Wu Kuang Yi to push the matter. Moreover, it wasn’t a big deal, so if he continued to dwell on it, it would only make him look small-minded and damage his image. What’s more, Hua Yu Lu had already apologized, so he took this opportunity to step back. Still, he kept a sullen look on his face, as if he were informing others that he was very unhappy with the state of affairs.
After a while, Wu Kuang Yi said, “Since we’re all here, let’s set off. We’ll discuss the details of our cooperation along the way.”
Hua Yu Lu and Yang Kai naturally had no objections to this and both nodded in agreement. To be honest, it was only now that Hua Yu Lu could breathe a sigh of relief. She was not close with Yang Kai, and when he didn’t show up on time, she had of course worried that he intended to break their appointment. So, when she finally saw him, she naturally put down the worries in her heart.
“Please wait a little longer!” The amiable old man raised his voice and said.
Everyone turned their eyes to him at once, none of them understanding his intentions.
The elderly man explained, “One more person is coming!”
“Another person?” Wu Kuang Yi’s face darkened and the anger that was originally suppressed rose up again as he quickly shouted, “What do you mean, Yang Tai? We agreed half a year ago that we could only find one helper each, and they had to be at the Second-Order Emperor Realm or below. You’ve already brought one, so you can’t be telling me that there’s another, right?”
Now, even Hua Yu Lu’s face went dark.
Compared to Yang Kai who was late for a few days, if this elderly man, Yang Tai, really did what Wu Kuang Yi accused him of, then that would truly be an intolerable betrayal of everyone’s trust.
Yang Kai glanced at the woman standing beside Yang Tai and found that she was still smiling as before, clearly aware of this news beforehand and not surprised by it.
Yang Tai quickly said, “Please calm yourself, Brother Wu. This Old Master did not break our agreement. I really have asked only Lady Chen to assist me. The one who is on his way is not my helper.”
He had a helpless expression on his face as if Wu Kuang Yi had wronged him.
Wu Kuang Yi was furious, “Then I must ask Brother Yang to explain this situation. If you can’t give us a satisfying explanation… Even if I accepted it, Palace Master Hua and this Brother Yang Jiu may not necessarily be able to.”
The Ancient Cave Mansion was discovered by him, Yang Tai, and Hua Yu Lu, so it was considered a shared belonging of the three of them. Both Wu Kuang Yi and Hua Yu Lu kept their promises and brought only a single helper, yet Yang Tai actually asked them to wait for another person, which caused Wu Kuang Yi to lose his temper.
Yang Tai smiled bitterly, “Once that man arrives, Brother Wu will understand. When the time comes, Brother Wu and Palace Master Hua can decide whether you will allow him to accompany us or not. If you refuse, this Old Master will not have any objections.”
Wu Kuang Yi sneered, “It sounds like Brother Yang is quite insistent on having this man come with us. Or perhaps I should ask, what sort of great use is he to us? I would like to know what sort of man he is exactly.”
But Yang Tai did not say anything more. He just smiled and kept silent with a profound look on his face.
Since things had come to this, Wu Kuang Yi could not clash with Yang Tai even though he was annoyed, so he could only hold his temper and wait.
For Yang Tai to sound so confident, he was frankly quite curious about what sort of person they were waiting for as well.
Yang Kai and Hua Yu Lu exchanged glances, both of them feeling that this treasure hunt was going to be more complicated than they anticipated. They had just met up and all sorts of conflicts had already broken out. They were six people split into three small groups, so they couldn’t cooperate sincerely with each other. When the time came, it would be considered good if no fights were to break out.
But this was the norm, and Yang Kai was already prepared for this. However, Hua Yu Lu had a worried look on her face.
While they were waiting, Yang Kai took the opportunity to secretly communicate with Hua Yu Lu and asked the names of the others.
He knew about Wu Kuang Yi and Yang Tai already as both of them were First-Order Emperors and had explored the Ancient Cave Mansion together with Hua Yu Lu half a year ago. Of them, Wu Kuang Yi’s cultivation seemed to have risen greatly in the Ancient Cave Mansion. Even though he was still in the First-Order like the rest of them, Wu Kuang Yi used to have the weakest aura out of the trio, but now it seemed his aura could vaguely compare to that of a Second-Order Emperor. It was clear he had already reached the peak of the First-Order and was the strongest of the three.
The helper that Wu Kuang Yi brought with him was a silent man. Since Yang Kai arrived, he had not heard this person speak once. He seemed to have been born with a cold face and looked uninterested in everything, as if he couldn’t want for anything more than to obtain eternal peace immediately. From Wu Kuang Yi’s introduction earlier, he knew that this man was called Fang Zhuo.
The woman standing next to Yang Tai was called Chen Bing Ru. Hua Yu Lu knew nothing about Fang Zhuo and Chen Bing Ru’s origins, and could only make a few guesses based on her experience. However, Hua Yu Lu knew the details of Wu Kuang Yi and Yang Tai very well.
During their secret communication, Hua Yu Lu passed on all of this information to Yang Kai.
In just a short wait that lasted about an hour, the six people present suddenly detected a strong, but unfamiliar aura flying towards them. Wu Kuang Yi and Hua Yu Lu were secretly frowning, but Yang Tai was looking over with joy on his face.
A few moments later, an elderly man with white hair arrived before them, standing in the air and nodding gently to the group.
“Brother Gong!” Yang Tai cupped his fists immediately and greeted him with enthusiasm.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Brother Yang,” the elderly man surnamed Gong responded with a smile on his face. He was clearly quite close with Yang Tai.
“It’s no matter at all. We just gathered not long ago.” Yang Tai chuckled, but what he said was true. They had been waiting for Yang Kai here for a few days, and only with his arrival were they considered a full party.
Turning to Wu Kuang Yi and the others, Yang Tai said, “This is the man that this Yang was waiting for. Brother Wu, are you familiar with him?”
Wu Kuang Yi was frowning hard as he thought back to what Yang Tai said previously and had a vague guess, “Since Your Excellency’s surname is Gong, could you possibly be related to the Heaven River Valley’s Gong Family in any way?”
When she heard this, Hua Yu Lu’s eyes lit up as well, and she began studying this elderly man surnamed Gong with interest.
If this old man really came from the Gong Family, then he would really be a great help to them.
Yang Tai smiled, “Brother Wu is truly knowledgeable. Indeed, Brother Gong comes from the Heaven River Valley’s Gong Family.”
Wu Kuang Yi answered coldly, “The Heaven River Valley’s Gong Family is well known, and while this Wu may be ignorant and uninformed, he has still heard of them.” He was still a little annoyed with Yang Tai’s previous actions and felt that the latter had broken their agreement, so he couldn’t help looking somewhat sharply at this old man and asking, “How should we address Your Excellency?”
The old man surnamed Gong smiled, “Gong Yue!”
“Gong Yue…” Wu Kuang Yi pondered for a moment before suddenly a look of shock appeared on his face and he cupped his fists politely, “So it is the Gong Family’s former Patriarch. Please excuse this Wu’s rudeness!”
He had obviously heard of Gong Yue’s name and knew of his status. At once, he no longer dared to be arrogant and gave the other party their due respect.
Gong Yue smiled and waved his hand, “I’m just an old man wandering around with nothing better to do now. No need to be so formal.”
Yang Tai said, “A few days ago, I visited the Gong Family in Heavenly River Valley in order to ask about the sealing Spirit Array, which happened to coincide with Brother Gong exiting secluded retreat. After seeing the Spirit Array, Brother Gong showed much interest in it and wanted to come along to have a first-hand look. This old man really couldn’t refuse Brother Gong’s request, that’s why this old man will apologize to you all for this matter today. Please do not be angry, Brother Wu.”
Wu Kuang Yi responded with a cold face, “Not at all. Brother Yang is overthinking things.”
Gong Yue chimed in here, “It was this Gong who came uninvited, so you can all blame me if you want as Brother Yang was helpless to refuse. Of course, this Gong is only interested in the ancient sealing Spirit Array. I would like to take a look at it up close, and it can’t be any better if this Gong may participate in cracking it. If anyone finds fault with this idea, then this Gong can just return home.”
Even though the Heavenly River Valley’s Gong Family wasn’t considered a peak level force, they were still very impressive. Their fame was related to the Dao of Spirit Arrays, and it was their family’s speciality. There were many Array Masters in the family, and they were hired to assist in arranging arrays for many Sects in the Southern Territory.
Hua Yu Lu also wanted to visit the Gong Family in order to ask about the Ancient Cave Mansion’s sealing Spirit Array, but it was just an idea. She did not actually go.
But now, it seemed Yang Tai had the same idea as her. What’s more, this Yang Tai seemed to be rather close with this Gong Yue, to the point where they could speak informally to one another.
The Gong Family was naturally obsessed with Spirit Arrays, especially when it came to strange and ancient lost arrays. To suddenly learn of such a sealing Spirit Array, it was understandable how Gong Yue was interested to the point of coming without an invitation.
After working out the matter, everyone present immediately knew why Yang Tai said those words before. If it were Gong Yue, then he would really be a great help to them during this treasure hunting trip; after all, this man was the former Patriarch of the Gong Family. His attainments in the Dao of Spirit Arrays were so great that few could ever hope to match him. With his help, cracking that ancient Spirit Array wouldn’t be a problem at all.
Wu Kuang Yi pondered for a long time and glanced at Hua Yu Lu from the corner of his eye, transmitting a message to her.
He did not hide his actions as everyone could see clearly what he was doing, and could also guess what he was saying to her.
A few moments later, Wu Kuang Yi opened his mouth to ask, “May I ask Old Patriarch Gong if you came only for the ancient Spirit Array? I’m sure you understand what we are here to do. If we were to find anything in the Ancient Cave Mansion…”
Gong Yue answered immediately, “This Old Master pursues the Dao of Spirit Arrays, it is my one and only pursuit and shall be so for as long as I live!”
That answer alone was enough. There were countless Daos in this world, and as Gong Yue chased after the Dao of Spirit Arrays, no matter how valuable other things may be, it would still pale in comparison to the chance to study the ancient array.
Yang Tai laughed, “Brother Gong only wishes to take a look at the Spirit Array and participate in cracking it; he has no other requests. Of course, if everyone is not comfortable with it, then Brother Gong has said it himself earlier. He won’t trouble everyone and will just return home. The key point is that one of us must be able to crack the Spirit Array in his stead, otherwise, we are sure to return empty-handed.”
He, Wu Kuang Yi, and Hua Yu Lu, had already been preparing for half a year, not only to find a reliable helper, but also to crack the Spirit Array which blocked their path.
Hua Yu Lu had thought of visiting the Heavenly River Valley to ask the Gong Family for advice, but she gave up on the idea when Yang Kai took it upon himself to handle this matter several months ago.
On Wu Kuang Yi’s side, the cold-faced man he invited was clearly also someone who was versed in Spirit Arrays, the reason for it being the fact that Wu Kuang Yi was currently looking at him and seemed to be seeking his opinion.
That man named Fang Zhuo was silent for a long time before gently nodding.
Wu Kuang Yi understood, “Since nobody has any objections, then let us invite Old Patriarch Gong to come with us. We will be counting on Old Patriarch Gong during this trip.”
“Much obliged. This Old Master will surely do his best.” Gong Yue stroked his beard with a smile.
Yang Kai took a step forward at that moment and asked, “Is Your Excellency truly the former Patriarch of the Gong Family? Can you prove your identity?”
At those words, the faces of the crowd stiffened slightly. Wu Kuang Yi seemed to be shaken awake as well in that instant.
The reason why he trusted the man’s claim of being Gong Yue was that he had heard of Gong Yue before, and knew that he was the former Patriarch of the Gong Family. Secondly, it was because Yang Tai’s words from before had planted a preconceived idea into his mind which convinced him that it must be true.
Only when Yang Kai mentioned this did he suddenly come to his senses and raise his guard.
He had never met Gong Yue before, and naturally had no idea what Gong Yue looked like. This man before him may really be Gong Yue, but he also… may not be. If this man truly was the Gong Family’s former patriarch, then they could put their trust in him, but if he was an impostor, then they had to be careful.
Considering all this, Wu Kuang Yi suddenly shot a glance at Yang Tai.
Yang Tai still had a cheerful expression on his face as he turned to Yang Kai, “This Little Brother Yang Jiu surely jests. Could someone possibly impersonate Brother Gong? That’s not a very proper question, is it?”
“If there’s anything I’m unsure about, then I should inquire about it. Am I wrong?” Yang Kai also turned to look at him, lips curving into a smile.
Yang Tai frowned, “This Yang swears on his name that Brother Gong is truly Brother Gong, the former Patriarch of Heavenly River Valley’s Gong Family.”
Yang Kai smiled without responding and Yang Tai also seemed to understand that his own guarantee held no weight at all. He’d never even met Yang Kai before this, so how could he guarantee anything? Moreover, Wu Kuang Yi seemed to be a little suspicious as well, so his face instantly turned bitter, “What should we do now, then? Should we head over to Heavenly River Valley first to ask for proof?”
This was obviously impossible as Heavenly River Valley was very far away from here and would take at least two months to make a round trip. Who had the time to delay things constantly? So he may as well not have proposed it.
But the more Yang Tai insisted, the more Wu Kuang Yi felt something was suspicious. His eyes were constantly shifting between Yang Tai and Gong Yue, seemingly trying to catch some sort of clue, but to his disappointment, he didn’t find anything suspicious about Yang Tai’s behaviour at all, and even though Gong Yue’s legitimacy was questioned, he remained calm and composed.
This made him wonder whether Yang Jiu was just being too suspicious.
Gong Yue spoke at that moment, “Though I have the Gong Family’s token on me, I don’t think it will be of much use even if I take it out. Since this little brother is suspicious of me and asking this Gong to prove himself, may I ask how I should do so? Does little brother have any suitable method?”
Yang Kai smiled, “Since this concerns Spirit Arrays, then let us prove it using a Spirit Array. May I ask if anyone here is learned in the Dao of Spirit Arrays?”
When he said that, everyone vaguely understood the meaning behind his words.
Wu Kuang Yi immediately turned to Fang Zhuo.
Even though Fang Zhuo had been silent the whole time, that didn’t mean his mind wasn’t nimble and he instantly caught onto Yang Kai’s thoughts. Stepping forward, he took out several array flags without saying a word and formed seals with his hands. One by one, the array flags were tossed out and disappeared.
His movements flowed as swiftly and freely as water, making it obvious he was quite proficient in this craft, even having extraordinary attainments in the Dao of Spirit Arrays.
Gong Yue remained smiling, seemingly having understood Fang Zhuo’s plan, so he simply let him continue as he pleased.
And, following Fang Zhuo’s actions, a large area of space suddenly became distorted. Once the last array flag landed into its corresponding position, the area around Gong Yue transformed, and he disappeared without a trace.
Everyone released their Divine Sense to probe, but they were blocked by a strong barrier while not a single thing could be discerned using the naked eye.
“Oh? So Brother Fang Zhuo is also proficient in the Dao of Spirit Arrays?” Yang Tai looked surprised.
Fang Zhuo cherished his words like gold and simply replied, “A little.”
Then, standing with his hands behind his back, he narrowed his eyes and observed the area where he arranged his Spirit Array.
This was clearly a Trapping Array, and even though it had no killing ability, it was still able to confine someone in one position and keep them from moving.
If the Gong Yue that was trapped inside the Spirit Array was truly the former Patriarch of the Gong Family, then it shouldn’t be too hard for him to crack this array and escape, but if he were an impostor, he may not necessarily have the appropriate level of skill to deal with it.
This was a straightforward test, and even though they may not be able to completely ascertain Gong Yue’s identity this way, it would at least be able to dispel most of the doubts they had about him.
For a while, everyone was holding their breaths and focusing on the Spirit Array, eager to know the final result.
The result astonished everyone. Fang Zhuo’s face, which had been indifferent the whole time, suddenly changed dramatically.
That was because, less than ten breaths of time after he finished arranging the array, the space became distorted again before returning to its original appearance. Gong Yue’s figure was revealed from within, and he was holding onto some array banners, clearly the ones Fang Zhuo had just tossed into the void.
It only took him ten breaths of time to break Fang Zhuo’s Spirit Array, so his profound attainments in the Dao of Spirit Arrays was clear to see.
The way Gong Yue stood there with a cheerful look on his face gave the others a sense of profoundness as he said, “Small World Inversion Array. This friend’s array technique has no major flaws, but the refining of these array banners is slightly rough. They’re unable to exert their full power. If you can refine them some more, their power can still increase by a fair amount.”
As he said that, he threw the array banners back to Fang Zhuo.
Fang Zhuo grabbed them and lowered his head in thought for a moment before cupping his fists to thank Gong Yue for his advice.
Yang Tai guffawed, “Brother Gong’s attainments in the Dao of Spirit Arrays is truly remarkable and eye-opening! We are lucky to have Brother Gong’s help on this trip.” Then, he turned to Yang Kai, “Little Brother Yang Jiu. Do you have any more questions? Please ask away.”
Yang Kai shook his head, “No, I don’t.”
Yang Tai said, “In that case, everyone should have no problem with Brother Gong coming with us, right?”
After what happened just now, nobody had any further comments. Everyone was happy to have the help of someone like Gong Yue. It was only because they couldn’t help but be wary about the question that Yang Kai raised that they wanted to verify Gong Yue’s identity, but now that Gong Yue had proven his ability, and with the golden signboard of the Heavenly River Valley’s Gong Family that he was holding up, it made everyone feel at ease. Nobody had any more suspicions about him.
Wu Kuang Yi even gave Yang Kai a stern glare, probably thinking that he was making a big mess out of nothing, luring him into making a bad judgement as well.
Yang Kai’s tardiness already left a bad impression on him, and now that impression had grown even worse. If it weren’t because of the agreement they had, then he would have driven Yang Kai away from here.
Since nobody had any objections, the matter was naturally settled, and as the one who invited the powerful helper, Gong Yue, Yang Tai seemed to have jumped up to become the leader of their group, enthusiastically leading everyone on their way.
The Southern Swamp was vast, and their agreed gathering point was far away from the Ancient Cave Mansion, so it would take about three or four days for them to reach it.
The seven Emperor Realm Masters sped away towards the Ancient Cave Mansion with each other’s company and actively released their auras so that no ferocious creature would dare rear its head. Gong Yue and Yang Tai were at the forefront of the group, talking with great passion, seeming to share a great friendship and letting out a hearty laugh on occasion.
The woman named Chen Bing Ru flew between Wu Kuang Yi and Fang Zhuo, while Yang Kai and Hua Yu Lu were in the back, excluded by them whether intentionally or unintentionally. A worrying prospect for Hua Yu Lu.
In their group, other than Yang Tai and Gong Yue in the lead who were chatting up a storm, the others were all silent.
Yang Kai was occupied by other thoughts, however, and while following the group, he was digesting his experiences from the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld. The information he gained in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld was an invaluable cornerstone for his growth, especially Senior Qing’s inheritance and the things he read in the Shaman Divine Temple.
There were several times when Hua Yu Lu tried talking to Yang Kai, but faced with his aloof demeanour, she didn’t feel right about disturbing him too much; after all, they had only met him a few times in the past and never gotten to know each other that well.
Among the seven people present, she was the only one who was feeling extremely apprehensive about this treasure hunting trip. The others were in pairs, while Yang Kai was acting indifferent towards her. If any conflict were to arise when they found some treasure, she had no idea to what extent Yang Kai would go to in order to help her.
She even vaguely regretted coming here again. If she had known this would happen, she would rather have given up on this opportunity than take such risks.
Time flew by as she became more and more uncertain.
Travelling through the poison mist of the Southern Swamp, the seven Emperor Realm Masters travelled for four days before Yang Tai, who was at the forefront, stopped. Wu Kuang Yi’s expression also lifted with anticipation.
“Are we there?” Gong Yue asked curiously, but when he looked around, he didn’t see anything of note.
Yang Kai also withdrew his thoughts and looked around. Just like Gong Yue, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary; however, the large cloud of poison mist in front of them caught his attention.
There was poison mist everywhere in the Southern Swamp, and the seven of them have been constantly travelling through clouds of it these past few days, but they all had decent cultivation and strong resistance against such poison mist, so it was not a problem for them.
But the poison mist in front of them was clearly different to the ones before. Yang Kai even felt a trace of danger from it, as if his life would really be at risk if he were to rush in.
But just as he was about to release his Divine Sense to check, Hua Yu Lu quickly came over to his side and whispered, “Be careful, that poison mist is extremely toxic.”
Yang Kai suddenly caught a whiff of a different fragrant scent that tickled the tip of his nose. He responded with a gentle nod, and Hua Yu Lu suddenly realized their position, retreating two steps backwards with a blush on her face.
Yang Tai announced, “We’ve arrived. The Ancient Cave Mansion is hidden within this poison mist, but this poison mist is very strong. Even as Emperor Realm Masters, we will not be able to resist it, so we must not be reckless here.”
In order to prove that his words were true, he suddenly raised his hand and sent out a bolt of Emperor Qi towards the toxic barrier.
After the beam of light passed through, an empty space was split open in the poison mist almost three hundred metres deep, and at the end of the newly formed corridor, a blackened skeleton could be seen lying on the grass of the swamp. From its appearance, the person seemed to have been dead for a long time.
“Speaking of which, we were four people when we found that cave mansion. There was another Second-Order Emperor Realm Brother with us, but as you can see, he is lying there now.” Yang Tai pointed to the skeleton and said with a smile.
When Chen Bing Ru heard this, her pretty face paled while the face of Fang Zhuo who had been silent this whole time twitched a little as well.
Just from the appearance of the skeleton alone, they all thought that this man must have died a long time ago; however, only from hearing Yang Tai’s words did they understand that this man had just fallen half a year ago. Due to the immense corrosiveness of the poison mist, it caused some unexpected changes in the skeleton.
As for the reason for his death, everyone could guess without the need for Yang Tai to explain further.
Even a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master could not resist the toxicity of the poison mist, so the danger could be imagined. The world was so large that nothing should be surprising, and in the face of nature’s power, no matter how strong one’s individual prowess may be, it still seemed small and insignificant.
After Yang Tai finished speaking, the opening in the poison mist restored itself at a visible rate, as if there was some mysterious force keeping the poison mist there, blocking the path of any explorers.
Gong Yue frowned and exclaimed, “What strong toxicity! With this poison mist blocking the way, how were you and your group able to enter the cave mansion last time, Brother Yang?”
Yang Tai smiled, “It was all a coincidence. Even though this poison mist was strong, something seemed to be restraining it here, just like how detoxifying herbs could be found where venomous snakes lay. You will all understand when you see it for yourselves later.”
He gave them a clue but did not explain too much, so Gong Yue just smiled and did not pursue an answer.
“We are just in time actually. We should be able to enter tonight, so let us take this opportunity to rest. We do not know what dangers lurk within that Ancient Cave Mansion that we have to deal with, so we should restore ourselves to our peak condition.”
Naturally, no one had any objections to his words, so they each found a place to sit down and meditate.
Hua Yu Lu naturally stuck close to Yang Kai, taking out two Spirit Pills and swallowing them. Even though she was a First-Order Emperor, and travelling at full speed for a few days wouldn’t cause her any real problems, a large amount of Emperor Qi was still consumed in this poison mist-filled environment, so it was naturally necessary to take this opportunity to replenish herself.
The others did the same.
Yang Kai suddenly looked up and spoke at that moment, “Old Patriarch Gong, since you are knowledgeable and experienced, this Junior has a question to ask.”
Gong Yue was looking at something when Yang Kai suddenly called out to him, so he turned to him and smiled, “I dare not call myself knowledgeable, only that I’ve been alive for a long time. What does little brother want to know? If this Gong knows the answer, this Gong will surely answer.”
Yang Kai asked, “It’s like this, a friend of mine once obtained a Flowing Time Fruit. May I ask what is the best way to consume it in order to achieve the greatest medicinal efficacies?”
“Flowing Time Fruit?” Yang Tai’s eyes lit up at his words as he stared at Yang Kai with a burning gaze, “You mean the Flowing Time Fruit that can prolong one’s life?”
“Exactly so!” Yang Kai nodded.
Yang Tai’s eyes glowed even brighter hearing this. He was a First-Order Emperor Realm Master and had a long lifespan, but he still could not resist the erosion of time. In other words, he was getting old, but he clearly hadn’t lived enough yet. In the recent millennium, he no longer immersed himself in cultivating but instead set his mind to searching for ways to prolong his own life. His efforts in the past thousand years had indeed brought results that allowed him to increase his lifespan considerably, but he had already tried all the general methods and elixirs, so they no longer worked for him.
The reason why he took the risk to come into the Southern Swamp was so that he could find some precious treasure that could prolong his life. That was how he, Hua Yu Lu, and the others were able to chance upon this Ancient Cave Mansion.
When he heard Yang Kai mention the Flowing Time Fruit, he was naturally very excited.
He had heard of the Flowing Time Fruit before and it was of great use to him. It was inevitable that his attention would be piqued.
“The Flowing Time Fruit is a good thing!” Gong Yue smiled, “But little brother, I’m afraid you’re asking the wrong person. This Gong specializes in Spirit Arrays and is not very proficient when it comes to herbs and elixirs. So, for this Flowing Time Fruit, this Gong has no better advice than for your friend to find an Alchemy Grandmaster to help refine it into pills.”
Yang Kai thought deeply, “So that’s the only way, it seems, but in order to refine the Flowing Time Fruit into pills, an Emperor Alchemist is needed for the job. However, to seek an Emperor Alchemist’s help is…”
Everyone knew how difficult it was to request for an Emperor Alchemist’s help with Alchemy. Even if one had prepared the necessary materials and an appropriate reward, it was normal to have to wait for years and years for an opportunity without suitable connections.
Gong Yue smiled, “Hopefully your friend is in no urgent need.”
“He’s still young, so it’s not urgent,” Yang Kai smiled back.
“That’s good,” Gong Yue said nothing more and turned around and continued to observe the poison mist at the front, seemingly not taking this random question to heart.
Yang Tai was very interested in the Flowing Time Fruit, so he left Gong Yue’s side and walked next to Yang Kai, trying to figure out the identity of Yang Kai’s ‘friend’ in a roundabout way.
Naturally, Yang Kai wouldn’t tell him the truth, and as the topic was subtly changed, Yang Tai couldn’t appear too eager either. In the end, he could only leave the matter unresolved and walk away in disappointment.
The scene turned silent at that point as the seven sat down and rested, waiting for night to come.
An imperceptible wisp of Divine Sense suddenly stretched over towards Yang Kai, following that, Yang Kai heard a stealthy message from Hua Yu Lu, “Is there something wrong?”
Even though she was a woman, as the Palace Master of Hundred Flowers Palace, she naturally wasn’t some simple-minded little girl. She was able to catch some clues from Yang Kai’s performance earlier, and that’s why she was asking him this now.
Yang Kai responded, maintaining his composure, “Stick within ten metres of me once we enter the Ancient Cave Mansion.”
Hua Yu Lu was taken aback and asked, “So there really is a problem?”
If there was no problem, then Yang Kai wouldn’t have told her such a thing, but she couldn’t tell what was going on no matter how she tried, so she couldn’t help but feel suspicious.
Yang Kai asked, “You must have heard about the opening of the Four Seasons Realm many years ago, right?”
Hua Yu Lu replied, “Yes. I also heard that you refined the Extraordinary Treasure Pill inside, Brother Yang.”
The Four Seasons Realm was no ordinary Small Sealed World, but rather a legacy left behind by the Flowing Time Great Emperor. Every time it opened, the only ones allowed inside to train were the most outstanding Dao Source Realm cultivators of the Southern Territory, who often obtained huge amounts of benefits from within.
The most recent opening of the Four Seasons Realm was a big deal, one reason being that Yang Kai was able to refine a Heaven-defying Spirit Pill, the Extraordinary Treasure Pill, inside, bringing great fame to his name. However, the second and most important reason was that an Ancient Divine Spirit emerged from the Four Seasons Realm: the Ominous Beast, Qiong Qi!
Nobody could be unconcerned about the emergence of a Divine Spirit, especially when it was an Ominous Beast that was known for its ferocity in ancient times. It was said that Qiong Qi was the mount of Flowing Time Great Emperor back then, and after the fall of the Great Emperor, Qiong Qi had been sleeping in the Flowing Time Temple the whole time and only came out from the Four Seasons Realm during its most recent opening.
In the following years, the Masters of the Southern Territory were all on edge, worried that Qiong Qi would begin a reign of chaos; however, to everyone’s surprise, Qiong Qi disappeared without a trace since the last time they heard about him, and as time passed, everyone’s concern towards Qiong Qi also gradually weakened.
Hua Yu Lu had also sought out information regarding Yang Kai because she had seen how powerful he was, and due to the fact that he was going to accompany her to explore the Ancient Cave Mansion. She also learned some information about the Four Seasons Realm during her research.
Thinking back to it, she was already an Emperor Realm Master at that time while Yang Kai had just barely entered the Dao Source Realm; however, Yang Kai now had equal cultivation to her, and she even needed to rely on him for her own safety.
Faced with such a disparity, Hua Yu Lu’s feelings grew inexplicably complicated.
“I once met one of the Gong Family’s descendants in the Four Seasons Realm, and together, we each obtained one Flowing Time Fruit inside,” Yang Kai explained.
Hua Yu Lu answered in surprise, “What good fortune.”
Yang Kai smiled, “People only know that the Flowing Time Fruit can prolong a person’s life, but they do not know that there are actually two types of Flowing Time Fruits. One of them can truly prolong a person’s life after it is consumed, but the other one is a terrible poison. If eaten by mistake, then it would make time pass by and age the consumer rapidly. The two types of Flowing Time Fruit are all but impossible to distinguish by a layperson from their appearance, but their effects are exact opposites.”
“Really?” Hua Yu Lu was quite surprised. Even though she was an Emperor as well, she was not well versed in Alchemy; however, considering that Yang Kai was able to even refine the Extraordinary Treasure Pill, then surely he must have great attainments in the Alchemic Dao, so he was no stranger to the Flowing Time Fruit.
He said that he and the Gong Family descendant obtained one Flowing Time Fruit each, and with his knowledge in spirit herbs, Yang Kai obviously chose the one that could prolong one’s life. In other words, the one that the Gong Family descendant brought back must be the poisonous one.
Perhaps someone in the Gong Family may even be suffering because of it now…
But this was highly unlikely. Even though the Gong Family may not know the details of the Flowing Time Fruit, they would definitely find someone to refine it into a pill, and an Emperor Alchemist would surely know a thing or two about the Flowing Time Fruit. If that really were the case, then the Gong Family must have obtained some information about the Flowing Time Fruit.
But based on what Gong Yue said earlier…
When she thought of this point, Hua Yu Lu was shocked and immediately understood where the problem lay.
“Of course, this is only my suspicion. This Old Patriarch Gong seems to have been in retreat recently, so there is the possibility that he did not know what was going on in his clan; however, it is always better to be careful.”
Hua Yu Lu nodded with deep understanding and stopped communicating with Yang Kai, lest the others catch onto them.
After breaking off contact with Hua Yu lu, Yang Kai swept his eyes around calmly. If his suspicions were to prove true, then there was definitely a problem with ‘Old Patriarch Gong’!
It was a moonless night, making the stars in the sky seem all the more dazzling, but such a scene could not be enjoyed in the Southern Swamp as the poison mist covered the earth, blocking out any trace of light from above.
At midnight, something seemed to catch everyone’s attention, and they all opened their eyes in unison.
*Shh…*
Yang Tai raised a finger to his mouth, signalling everyone to stay calm. Then, he retracted his aura and used a concealing technique. Without seeing him with their naked eyes, it would be possible that no one could even detect his presence.
Hua Yu Lu and Wu Kuang Yi obviously knew what was going to happen, so they too concealed themselves together with Yang Tai.
The others followed their example and retracted their auras as well.
The water of the swamp before them began to bubble, as if something was going to surface, and as everyone could tell, there was indeed a sign of life rising up from extremely deep within.
Soon after, a figure that was a few metres in length suddenly appeared before them.
The creature looked like a crocodile and also a little like a lizard. The strange-looking thing had eight claws, a long tail, and two big eyes on the top of its head, bulging just like a toad’s. As it crawled up onto land, it would flick its tongue like a venomous snake searching for prey. Not only that, but it was also exuding an unpleasant smell from its body that made one want to gag.
The creature was terribly ugly in appearance, and even though the two women present had superb cultivations, they still could not help but show their disgust. Yang Tai, on the other hand, was looking at this creature with great interest, as if it were some sort of great delicacy.
More and more monsters of the same species began crawling out from the swamp in an endless stream. At first, there were only a dozen of them, then a hundred. Very soon, they were covering the ground for as far as one could see.
None of the Emperor Realm Masters present recognized what they were. They were likely a type of Monster Beast as their bodies were giving out traces of Monster Qi, but they didn’t seem very powerful. At the very most, they would be Fifth or Sixth Order Monster Beasts, with some possibly not even having condensed their own Monster Core.
Any one of them could easily destroy a large number of this type of Monster Beast with a single palm, and none of the Emperors knew how such weak creatures were able to survive in this harsh environment. Though the group did not encounter any danger along the way, they had still perceived many ferocious beasts hidden below the swamp.
It seemed this species’ only advantage was their great numbers.
The goal of these monsters seemed to be the thick poison mist, and as soon as they surfaced, they made their way towards it. The noise they gave off as they crawled on the ground was enough to give a person goosebumps involuntarily.
Very soon, some of the monsters at the front arrived in front of the poison mist barrier, and under the close watch of Yang Kai and the others, they spat out their long tongues. Then, a shocking scene emerged. The poison mist that was able to kill even a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master was actually swallowed into the bellies of these monsters, who all remained unharmed.
They were actually feeding on the poison mist, and the stronger the poison was, the more delicious it seemed to be for them.
A single monster could only devour an insignificant amount of the poison mist, which would then be quickly replenished by the fog around it.
But what if there were thousands, tens of thousands, and even hundreds of thousands of these things…
One by one, they stuck out their tongues to lick the air, and the Emperor Realm Masters present could see with their own eyes that the impenetrable poison mist barrier in front of them was becoming thinner. Even though the poison mist around the area quickly replenished what was lost, it could not keep up with the consumption rate of these monsters.
More and more monsters dove into the poison mist bank, opening up a safe path behind them wherever they passed.
For the ones who were seeing this for the first time, they all had dumbfounded looks on their faces. Only then did they understand what Yang Tai was saying during the day.
There were countless oddities in this world, and there would always be one thing that overcame another. If they had not seen it with their own eyes, then who would believe that a Fifth or Sixth-Order Monster Beast could actually devour the poison mist that even an Emperor Realm Master could not resist?
And, from what Yang Tai said earlier, it seemed these Monster Beasts do not come out every night. They seem to be active only at a specific time. Otherwise, Yang Tai wouldn’t have mentioned that they were just in time.
It was a miracle that they even discovered the Ancient Cave Mansion here as it was only exposed through a series of coincidences.
If it were not so, then the Ancient Cave Mansion would not have been left untouched until now. If it were so easily discovered, it would long have been looted by others.
Even though it was deep into the night and there was no light anymore, everyone present was a powerful Master who could see unhindered even in the dark. The poison mist that was blocking their way forward during the day gradually thinned under the assault of the dense pack of Monster Beasts, and a passage deeper inside soon began to form.
But as Yang Tai did not move, the others did not dare to move carelessly either. They were all waiting silently.
After waiting for around four hours, just as the sky was about to turn light, Yang Tai suddenly shouted, “Go!”
Gong Yue and Chen Bing Ru, who had long been prepared, shot forward immediately. Wu Kuang Yi and Fang Zhuo were in a better position, so they rushed in second, leaving only several tens of metres of distance between them and Yang Tai.
Yang Kai and Hua Yu Lu were left behind again, but with a gentle push from Yang Kai, Hua Yu Lu took the lead. This move warmed Hua Yu Lu’s heart, and her sense of security was greatly increased.
As soon as the seven people began to move, they immediately startled the Monster Beasts that were devouring the poison mist. In contrast with their previous quiet disguise, these creatures all instantly let out a shrill cry. The disturbing noise crashed into everyone’s ears like gold and iron clashing against each other.
Not only that, some of the Monster Beasts even leapt up high from the ground, pouncing towards the group with their tongues out, seemingly intent on dragging them down into the swamp.
The odd Fifth and Sixth-Order Monster Beasts were shown no regard by the Emperor Realm Masters at all who were able to clear out large swarms of them without any difficulty. The bodies of the Monster Beasts burst apart one by one, turning into pools of blood before flowing back down into the swamp. Still, this did not scare off their remaining companions. Instead, it riled them up even further as more and more Monster Beasts pounced up from the ground.
The shrill cries did not stop for even a moment and at one point, the chaotic cries suddenly unified, converging into a single shockwave made up of tens of thousands of their calls.
Yang Tai, who was leading the group, saw this and shouted, “Run, now!”
Hua Yu Lu and Wu Kuang Yi’s expressions had also become grave.
Just as the others were confused, a strange scene appeared.
After the shrill cries merged into one, the auras of the Monster Beasts that came from below the swamp actually began to merge as well. From Fifth or Sixth-Order, auras at the Eighth-Order or even higher began to appear.
Yang Kai let out a casual strike before finding some time to glance down. Immediately, he saw a scene that made him click his tongue in wonder.
He could see the Monster Beasts gradually fusing together, as if they were parts of something larger that were separated and had now found an opportunity to reassemble.
A Monster Beast that was several tens of metres long soon appeared before Yang Kai’s eyes. This Monster Beast had two horns on its head and its body was protected by an armour of scales. It also had eight claws and its appearance resembled a Flood Dragon, but also not. It was extremely strange-looking and right now, it no longer had just a Fifth or Sixth-Order cultivation, but was instead emitting the aura of a Tenth-Order Monster Beast.
Even more monsters that were bigger than this one circled around in pursuit of them.
Yang Kai could feel the aura of a number of Twelfth-Order, Eleventh-Order, and Tenth-Order Monster Beasts all around them.
The Fifth or Sixth-Order Monster Beasts that were so insignificant in the eyes of Emperor Realm Masters actually had the strange ability to fuse with each other and grow into a stronger being. And, the speed of them fusing together and transforming was simply beyond anything anyone could imagine.
Sure enough, for them to be able to survive in this kind of environment, these Monster Beasts could not be underestimated.
A rumble could be heard as these new behemoths trampled over the ground in pursuit of them, their heads raised high as they opened their mouths to bite at the people in the sky. An unpleasant smell was coming out of their humongous mouths as well, and after failing to catch their prey, they would spit multi-coloured balls of light at them.
Yang Kai could see clearly that those balls of light were the condensed poison mist that these creatures had devoured earlier. Even though Yang Kai could face off with these Twelfth-Order Monster Beasts calmly, the immense lethality of the poison mist was something he could not just ignore.
The faces of the other six Masters also changed dramatically, and all of them summoned their artifacts to protect themselves.
Unlike the others, Yang Kai had no defensive artifact that he could use, only his Great Soaring Black Dragon Armour, but even though it was an Emperor Artifact Armour, its main use was for him to cover his body during his Dragon Transformation. Yang Kai never thought about using it to defend against attacks, so he had no choice but to use his Emperor Qi to form a layer of protection around his body.
The group worked together to disperse the poison mist balls whistling over in their direction. A few of them managed to land on the various defensive artifacts, but those were easily deflected or dispersed. Still, the poison mist was toxic enough to send shivers down people’s spines.
Several Emperor Artifacts began to flicker after they resisted a strike from the poison mist balls, clearly revealing that their spirituality was damaged, and the Emperor Qi that Yang Kai was maintaining around his body had also been strongly corroded. So, he had no choice but to push out even more of his energy in order to keep up his protection, making him seem quite battered.
The group fled, not wanting to become entangled with these monsters.
A long time seemed to have passed, but it also seemed to just be a moment. When the seven managed to reach dry land again, the surrounding poison mist had disappeared and the Monster Beasts who had been chasing them suddenly stopped, as if something terrifying that they dared not face was up ahead. Instead, these beasts wandered the perimeter of the poison mist, staring at the group with their big eyes.
“It’s all good now that we’ve reached this place,” Yang Tai said with a laugh, clearly quite relieved. He pointed to the Monster Beasts and remarked, “Those things won’t chase us in here, but I don’t know why that is.”
The Monster Beasts gathered at the edge of the poison mist and watched them for just a short while before they broke apart again, turning back into the Fifth and Sixth-Order monsters that were only two metres long. Then, they wandered off from whence they came and disappeared in just the blink of an eye.
Confirming the danger had passed, everyone then began observing their surroundings.
They were on dry land, which was an unusual sight in the Southern Swamp which was filled with ponds and marshes. This piece of land was just like an island in the middle of a vast wetland.
The area of the island was not big, measuring only several dozen metres across, and it was surrounded by the same type of poison mist that even Emperor Realm Masters had to be wary of. If these Monster Beasts had not opened up a path for them, their group would have no hope of reaching this place.
With a solemn look, Yang Tai quickly said, “This is where the Ancient Cave Mansion lies.”
Even though his expression was serious, there was a hint of unconcealed enthusiasm in his eyes.
Wu Kuang Yi was also showing some excitement on his face as he commented, “Last time, Brother Yang, Palace Master Hua, and I managed to gain some good things from inside, but the Sealing Array blocked our path forward. This time, we have more people, and we also have the help of Old Patriarch Gong, so it should be no problem for us to break through it this time.”
Gong Yue smiled humbly, “This Old Master will do his best.”
“Then this Wu must thank Old Patriarch Gong in advance.” Wu Kuang Yi cupped his fists at him before saying, “I would like to remind everyone not to touch anything once we enter the Ancient Cave Mansion, and don’t run around aimlessly either. We should follow Old Patriarch Gong’s lead here. Many seals and traps still remain inside that cave mansion, and despite their age, they are still quite powerful. If anyone were to touch them by accident, then it may lead to unnecessary consequences.”
When he said these words, he glanced over at Yang Kai, whether intentionally or unintentionally, as if he was speaking especially for him.
However, Yang Kai’s aloof, almost distracted look caused Wu Kuang Yi’s expression to turn sour.
“Alright now, no one here is a child, I’m sure we all know what we have to do, so let us proceed.” Yang Tai beckoned to the crowd with a smile before leading them towards the Ancient Cave Mansion.
The order of the group remained unchanged, with Yang Kai and Hua Yu Lu bringing up the rear.
“Senior Brother Yang, if you really find any treasures, you can try to grab them if you’re able, but if not, then we shouldn’t worry about it. Just think of this as gaining some life experience,” Hua Yu Lu quietly transmitted to him.
“En,” Yang Kai responded subconsciously, still seemingly distracted even at this moment.
Hua Yu Lu could not help but be worried about this. Who knows what sort of dangers awaited him past the last barrier? If there really was any danger, then things may be disastrous for Yang Kai if he were to be in this state. She wanted to give him a warning, but she didn’t know how to go about it, so she could only make up her own mind to be careful.
Yang Kai was indeed distracted because since he set foot on this island, he had been getting a strange feeling, as if there was something trying to contact him somewhere on the island. However, when he tried to trace it, he found nothing. He couldn’t even figure out which direction this outreach was coming from.
This puzzled him greatly, and while he was trying to figure it out, Wu Kuang Yi and Hua Yu Lu had tried to talk to him, which made him come off as distracted to them.
The island was not very large, so it took only a few moments for the group to arrive at a kind of stone forest where a dozen stone pillars of different heights stood. The surface of the stone pillars were mottled with traces of erosion. They seemed to be arranged haphazardly, but upon closer inspection, one could see that there was a great deal of meaning behind the arrangement.
After more careful observation, they could see that the stone pillars were even moving at a slow pace, with some moving faster than others, gradually causing a dizzying effect.
Anyone could see that there was something wrong with this stone forest.
Perhaps in Ancient Times, this used to be a well-concealed entrance, and even Masters at the Emperor Realm may not be able to discover anything if they passed through here, but the barrier was now in a state of disrepair after being worn down through the ages, so its effect was definitely going to be much weaker, causing many of its traces to be revealed.
“Follow me!” Yang Tai stood at the front and after calling out to everyone, he went straight towards the middle of the stone forest without waiting for anyone.
In front of everyone’s eyes, it seemed as if he passed right through an invisible wall and disappeared mysteriously.
“Interesting, how interesting!” Gong Yue stroked his long beard and watched the scene with interest. His eyes were flashed, as if he discovered something, but he still began walking over without explaining any details.
A moment later, Gong Yue also disappeared.
Following that was Fang Zhuo and Wu Kuang Yi.
When it was Hua Yu Lu’s turn, she turned around and called out, “Senior Brother Yang, we should follow them.”
Yang Kai smiled, “I’ll be right behind you.”
Only then did Hua Yu Lu relax somewhat and begin walking forward.
Then, when it came Yang Kai’s turn to cross the invisible boundary, he could feel very clearly as if he were stepping through space. The barrier at the centre of the stone forest seemed to have similar effects to a Space Array.
The first ones to enter were all gathered there, and they appeared to have entered a rock cave. The rock cave was only several tens of metres wide, and the air was quite dry. There was also an unpleasant smell here, but it was not unbearable.
A dim light was coming from the surrounding cave walls from some kind of stone used for lighting.
But after so many years, most of the light stones had lost their effectiveness while those that still functioned were just like candles in the wind, looking like they might go out at any moment.
There was nothing else in the rock cave. It was completely empty. It was not even clear what the use of this rock cave was so many years ago.
“This wasn’t where we were brought the last time we came here,” Yang Tai, who was standing at the lead spot, looked around them and scratched his head with an awkward expression on his face.
Both Wu Kuang Yi and Hua Yu Lu nodded as well. When the three of them passed through the stone forest, it was indeed not this rock cave that they were brought into.
Gong Yue smiled, “That stone forest is a kind of array used to control the entrance to this place, and we do not have the means to operate it properly. Even though we were lucky enough to have gotten through, it will only have brought us to a random place. Since this is still part of the cave mansion though, we can just walk around and explore. I’m sure we’ll be able to find the right path eventually, and perhaps we may even find some good things you missed on your last trip here.”
Yang Tai’s eyes lit up at his words and he nodded, “Brother Gong is right. Then, let us begin!”
As he said so, he walked ahead with the others following behind him.
After walking out of the rock cave, there was a deep dark tunnel ahead of them. Just like the rock cave, there were light stones embedded across the walls for illumination and though the light was dim, it was better than nothing.
A mirror-like artifact suddenly appeared in Yang Tai’s hands, who was taking the lead. It was the size of a human face, and it was not known what purpose it served. They saw him form seals with his hands before channeling some Emperor Qi into the mirror, and in the next moment, the mirror began to glow, and a profound light shot out from within.
The light enveloped the room and everything instantly became clear. This profound light seemed to have the ability to discern between what was real and illusionary, a kind of investigative artifact.
The group of seven walked onwards and would pass by some stone rooms occasionally, but they were all empty without anything valuable or worth their attention inside. There also wasn’t much danger to be found in the interior of the Ancient Cave Mansion, so they were safe all throughout their exploration.
However, Yang Tai did not manage to find the path they crossed last time.
After an hour, Yang Tai suddenly stopped, and seeing this, the rest stopped as well.
“What happened?” Wu Kuang Yi asked.
Yang Tai answered, “There seem to be traces of a barrier here. Let me take a closer look.” Saying so, he aimed his mirror forward and a faint distortion appeared where the light passed. It was a little different from normal, but it wasn’t very clear either.
Yang Tai released more of his Emperor Qi to enhance the power of the mirror artifact, and the light became stronger in response.
Now, everyone could see things more clearly. There were traces of a barrier ahead, one that had originally been imperceptible to the naked eye but had now appeared under the envelopment of the mirror’s profound light. Everyone could see energy paths of differing strengths ahead of them twisting in accordance to some mysterious law, forming a restrictive layer.
This barrier technique was extremely complex and ancient.
Wu Kuang Yi immediately turned his head to look at Gong Yue.
Since there was an ancient barrier blocking the way, they naturally needed the assistance of the Gong Family’s former Patriarch himself to settle the matter. He was the one who had the greatest understanding of such things.
To everyone’s surprise, Gong Yue just smiled and did not express anything else, not even taking the initiative to act.
Wu Kuang Yi was just about to speak up when Yang Tai suddenly said, “This is just a small barrier. There’s no need to bother Brother Gong, we can just break it together.”
As he said so, he thrust out his palm against the barrier.
Everyone was taken by surprise and all circulated their Emperor Qi to protect themselves.
After all, none of them knew what sort of effects this barrier had, and touching it rashly could very well trigger some dangerous consequences, so Yang Tai’s move was undoubtedly risky. However, seeing that Gong Yue did not say anything to stop him, they all felt slightly relieved.
With a bang, a curtain of light emerged, followed by several huge skulls that suddenly rushed out from within. They were not the skulls of humans, but rather the skulls of strange-looking Monster Beasts, about a dozen in total. Each of these skulls seemed to belong to a different species, and no one could recognize what Monster Beasts they belonged to.
But to everyone’s great surprise, there was a fluctuation of extremely ferocious auras coming out of these skulls.
As soon as the skulls appeared, they each opened their big mouths to bite at Yang Tai aggressively, as if they were going to swallow the Heavens and devour the Earth.
Yang Tai was extremely shocked, and only now did he realize that he had underestimated the power of this ancient barrier. The Emperor Qi around his body became agitated as he suddenly let out an extremely choppy sounding incantation as he raised his hand, pointing it in front of himself.
A large golden character suddenly flew out from his fingers, one condensed from his Emperor Qi. It all happened in a flash, so quickly that none of the others were able to see clearly what character it was.
Only Yang Kai showed a shocked expression.
Even though the Divine Ability performed by Yang Tai was over in a flash, he managed to catch some of it.
That character…was clearly an ancient character he had seen in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld when his Soul was roaming about the Shaman Divine Temple.
When the ancient humans condensed their power into these characters, they were able to unleash Heaven destroying and Earth Shattering might. Naturally, these characters were even more ancient than the existence of Shamans, so the records available in the Shaman Divine Temple were by no means comprehensive.
Yang Kai suddenly remembered Hua Yu Lu mentioning that Yang Tai had learned a Secret Technique in the Ancient Cave Mansion, but she was not sure what it was, or what it did.
Now, it seemed like this may be the Secret Technique that Yang Tai learned back then.
This was indeed an extremely powerful Secret Technique. Even though Yang Tai was only a First-Order Emperor, the might of the attack that was shot out from his finger just now was on par with an ordinary Second-Order Emperor Realm’s attack. It seemed that facing a life or death crisis, Yang Tai had not been able to hold back and had gone all out.
It seemed this cave mansion was from before even the period Yang Kai experienced in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld. No wonder there were Ancient Exotic Artifacts here.
At the same time, everyone else had also made their moves. In an instant, all sorts of Emperor Realm Secret Techniques and artifacts were unleashed in the narrow cave, causing the surrounding World Energy to shake.
Then, a scene appeared that amazed everyone.
The skulls that had flown out from the barrier may have appeared intimidating, but it was apparently all bark and no bite. As soon as they came into contact with Yang Tai’s Secret Technique, they all disintegrated and scattered just as soon as they burst out from the light curtain, achieving nothing at all.
There was a rumble as everyone’s attacks hit the light curtain in front of them, which only trembled for a moment before breaking apart as if it were a popped bubble.
Rough sighs filled the tunnel as the group felt as if they’d just avoided a great catastrophe.
“As expected, this barrier has really fallen into disrepair over the years.” Yang Tai was the first to speak with an embarrassed expression on his face.
Everyone saw the situation clearly just now. The barrier had deteriorated so much that it was unable to sustain itself after being activated, crumbling away by itself. Otherwise, the skulls that came out of it would have given them a lot of trouble, not to mention that the light curtain from the barrier was broken in just an instant.
“Brother Gong must have seen through it from the very beginning, right?” Yang Tai turned to Gong Yue, “If Brother Gong had warned me, then this Yang would not have embarrassed himself so.”
Even though he was complaining, it was more jest than anything else.
Gong Yue smiled and did not answer, a profound and inscrutable look on his face.
Wu Kuang Yi frowned. He was obviously annoyed at Yang Tai’s self-assertion, leaving everyone in fear for nothing; however, since it was just a false alarm, there wasn’t much he could say.
With this experience, everyone became more alert. Even though the barrier they encountered did not unleash too much power due to its deteriorated state, who could guarantee that all the barriers and arrays here were the same?
Yang Tai, who was taking the lead, did not dare to be too eager to prove himself again, and could only take things one steady step at a time.
They did encounter more barriers that they activated on their way, but as they took turns to test the barriers, they all reacted just like the first one. None of these Spirit Arrays were able to do much due to their extreme age. Most of their effects were short-lived, and some did not respond at all.
Despite that, the group was still in awe of them.
That was because these barriers gave off a very strong feeling. Nobody could imagine how strong they were when they were at their peak state, or how powerful the Grandmaster was who arranged such Spirit Arrays.
Four hours later, Yang Tai suddenly showed a look of joy as he swept his eyes around and said excitedly, “We’ve found the right path!”
Wu Kuang Yi and Hua Yu Lu exchanged glances, both smiling.
They had finally found the path that they passed through last time, and as long as they followed this path, they would not encounter any more danger until they reached the Sealing Array that obstructed their way forward last time.
They were all curious to know what was hidden away behind that Spirit Array.
Even though they had found the correct path, Yang Tai still did not put down his guard, still maintaining the profound light from his mirror artifact, quietly and contentedly leading the way.
Another hour passed before the group arrived at a humongous rock cave that spanned several kilometres in space. They had gotten used to walking through narrow tunnels, so being here felt like they were blessed with the first light of dawn.
Like the one before it, this rock cave was also empty, with only sharp stone pillars scattered around the place. Some were standing, others were hanging upside down. They were erected in all sorts of strange positions.
At the end of the cave though, a large and heavy-looking door caught everyone’s attention.
The huge door was several tens of metres in size and was embedded into a part of the cave wall, the seams tightly sealed. The gazes of everyone burned hot as they looked towards the large door as if there were precious treasures hidden behind it.
Yang Kai had already seen this door before in the image that Hua Yu Lu sent to him, but seeing it as an image and in person were two different things.
When he saw it with his own eyes, Yang Kai could sense an extremely eerie aura coming off of this door, as if something bad was eager to escape and engulf them from behind the door.
The door was red in colour, as if it were dyed in blood, and even after countless aeons, it still looked as good as new.
Many complicated patterns were engraved onto the door that gave off a profound and mysterious aura. It was those patterns and images that came together to form an ancient Spirit Array, sealing the door so that no one could peek into the world inside.
The group of seven stood in front of the door, each of them with a different expression on their face.
Yang Tai’s expression was one of indescribable fervour, and for some reason, his lips were trembling with excitement. On the other hand, though Wu Kuang Yi and Hua Yu Lu were also feeling excited, more of what they felt was eagerness and curiosity. They both wanted to know what sort of good things they could find hidden behind that door.
Fang Zhuo looked as indifferent as ever, while Gong Yue’s eyes narrowed, studying the door seriously.
Chen Bing Ru was the one to finally break the silence when she asked, “Can this barrier not simply be broken?”
Wu Kuang Yi shook his head, “Last time, all three of us joined forces but still couldn’t even shake it. If Lady Chen is interested, you can give it a try yourself.”
Chen Bing Ru answered lightly, “No need.”
Even though she had a Second-Order Emperor Realm level cultivation, and was slightly stronger compared to Hua Yu Lu and the others, she didn’t want to bother wasting her time if the three of them failed to do anything despite joining forces.
“Brother Gong, we’ll have to trouble you with this,” Yang Tai turned around, his expression indescribably serious, as if what he was entrusting to Gong Yue was a matter of life or death.
Gong Yue smiled, “I will do my best. You can all rest for a bit while I study this carefully.”
“Good,” Yang Tai nodded and turned around. “You should all rest as well as there may be a need for us to assist later.”
Yang Kai smiled, “With Old Patriarch Gong here, why should we make a mess of things?”
Yang Tai said, “We wouldn’t know. There may be opportunities where our power is truly needed.”
“That’s true.” Yang Kai smiled and said nothing more before shooting a glance at Hua Yu Lu, motioning for the two of them to move to the side to rest.
Inside the rock cave, Gong Yue busied himself, standing in front of the giant blood-coloured door and constantly making gestures with an occasional change in his expression.
The rest of the group was sitting down and meditating, but Yang Tai seemed a little restless. He would walk back and forth and occasionally turn to the giant blood-coloured door to take a look, but he didn’t dare to interrupt Gong Yue’s work.
Wu Kuang Yi beckoned him to sit down, but Yang Tai declined with a smile.
“Senior Brother Yang, is there anything else that seems out of place?” Hua Yu Lu quietly asked through her Divine Sense.
Yang Kai’s eyes remained closed as he responded, “Let’s wait and see.”
He did not see anything worth getting suspicious about so far, other than the previous suspicion he had about Gong Yue’s identity; however, that was just a suspicion in the end. He was not really sure, so he naturally couldn’t give Hua Yu Lu any definite answers.
Whether this suspicion would become reality or not would depend on how Gong Yue acted next.
While resting, he immersed his consciousness into the jade slip that Nanmen Da Jun gave him, once again studying its contents and memorizing some key points in his mind.
Half a day later, Gong Yue suddenly stepped back, and looking at the giant blood-coloured door, he smiled and called out to everyone, “Everyone, please come.”
When the group heard this, they all got up and headed over, especially Yang Tai. He rushed over to Gong Yue’s side eagerly and asked, “Brother Gong, were you able to figure anything out?”
Gong Yue stroked his beard with a smile, “A little.”
“Good, very good! As long as we have a direction,” Yang Tai’s face flushed with excitement.
“But if we want to break the array, it will require everyone’s help.”
When he heard this, Yang Kai’s heart could not help but thump and he narrowed his eyes, the suspicions in his heart growing stronger.
Wu Kuang Yi followed up, “May I ask what Old Patriarch Gong needs us to do? Most of us are not proficient in the Dao of Spirit Arrays. Only Brother Fang has some insight in the matter.”
Gong Yue smiled, “Proficiency in Spirit Arrays is not required, you just have to coordinate with this Old Master, and also place your trusts in this Old Master unconditionally!”
All of them looked at each other, but none of them knew what level of trust this man expected of them though, so Yang Tai said, “Since we asked for Brother Gong’s help, we will naturally trust you.”
“That’s good, then.” Gong Yue smiled, “I will teach everyone a set of techniques. Once you’re all familiarized with it, we can arrange the Spirit Array together that will be able to break this seal.”
“Then what are we waiting for? I’ll be troubling Brother Gong to teach us,” Yang Tai said eagerly.
Smiling, Gong Yue took out several blank jade slips, engraved some contents into them with his Divine Sense, then handed them out to everyone.
Yang Kai accepted his and swept his Divine Sense over it, looking through the contents thoroughly before sighing in his heart.
Even though he did not know what was branded in the jade slips of the others, it was obviously going to be different from his own. Arranging a joint array like this would involve each person having different tasks. At times like these, a centre point was required to coordinate the powers of everyone into one, and this centre point was undoubtedly going to be Gong Yue.
The centremost position controls the most delicate part of the Spirit Array, and as the core, Gong Yue would be able to control the others in the formation to a certain extent once the Spirit Array was formed. Of course, as the array had the ability to interfere directly with a person’s life, this sort of control was not easily accepted by Emperor Realm Masters.
That was why Gong Yue had said that everyone had to have unconditional trust in him.
Without trust, the joint array would not succeed.
Yang Kai did not look too closely at the jade slips’ contents, the reason being that he had already seen this before.
After all, these instructions were recorded in the jade slip given to him by Nanmen Da Jun.
That day, he asked Bian Yu Qing to bring back information about the ancient Spirit Array to High Heaven Palace and ask Nanmen Da Jun to carefully formulate a plan to crack it. And, as expected of the Emperor Array Master, Nanmen Da Jun was able to come up with three solutions in just a month’s time.
One of them was a method to break the array using another array, like what Gong Yue was trying to do now, but if they really tried to do that, then they would be falling into someone else’s trap. To completely break the ancient seal on the giant blood-coloured door this way, another factor was needed, an extremely wicked one.
Yang Kai was going to help Hua Yu Lu and the others break the Spirit Array using a different method Nanmen Da Jun came up with and then search around to see if there was anything good inside, but he didn’t expect to meet Gong Yue halfway through this plan.
With such an Array Grandmaster in the team, there was no further need for him to step up.
But Gong Yue’s actions made him suspicious. If he was only a little suspicious of Gong Yue’s identity before, then he could now conclude that there was a problem with Gong Yue. It was very likely that there was a problem with Yang Tai as well. As for the last individual, Yang Kai wasn’t sure yet.
When he raised his head to glance at Yang Tai, he saw a focused expression on his face. He seemed to be reading through the contents of the jade slip, but his Divine Sense was actually focused elsewhere, secretly communicating with someone else.
Yang Kai understood at once.
Seemingly having noticed his gaze, Gong Yue suddenly looked at him and smiled, “Little Brother Yang, do you have any questions?”
“I do!” Yang Kai declared in a particularly loud voice that echoed back and forth in the rock cave, interrupting the concentration of the others, causing Wu Kuang Yi and the others to frown with displeasure.
Gong Yue was slightly taken aback, but still asked calmly, “What does Little Brother Yang not understand? Maybe this Old Master can explain.”
“Only one thing…” Yang Kai looked at him with a piercing gaze, narrowing his eyes slowly, “Who are you?”
Gong Yue’s smile stiffened slightly, while the other Emperor Realm Masters also looked over in surprise. They had stunned expressions on their faces, and even the contents of the jade slip didn’t matter to them anymore.
After being dumbfounded for a moment, Hua Yu Lu immediately moved over to Yang Kai’s side, as if to seek a sense of security.
There was a long silence in the rock cave with only Yang Kai’s aggressive gaze that looked as if he wanted to cut open Gong Yue’s head and expose the secrets hidden within it.
“What are you trying to imply?” The first one to question him was not Gong Yue, but rather Wu Kuang Yi. He seemed to be the more straightforward type that would ask any questions he had in his heart without reservation.
“I mean exactly what I said!” Yang Kai responded bluntly.
Wu Kuang Yi frowned and was secretly annoyed with Yang Kai’s attitude, but there were no problems with Yang Kai’s answer, he was just taken by surprise.
“What grudges does little brother have against me? Or is it a grudge against my Gong Family?” Gong Yue asked, the faint smile from before returning to his face.
“I have no grudge with you or the Gong Family at all,” Yang Kai shook his head.
Gong Yue smiled, “If there is no grudge between us, then why does little brother question my identity time and time again?”
Yang Kai had already questioned him once when he arrived, but it was Fang Zhuo verifying Gong Yue’s attainments in the Dao of Spirit Arrays that convinced everyone of his identity as the Gong Family’s former Patriarch.
It was now the second time, and even a stoic man would have some fire in him. As the former Patriarch of the Gong Family, and a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master, not being angry despite being questioned in such a way was enough to show how well he had tempered his patience. If it were someone else who had a hotter temper than his, he would probably have made a move against Yang Kai already.
“This Old Master is this Old Master, Gong Yue, former Patriarch of the Gong Family who stepped down two hundred years ago.” Gong Yue suddenly raised his voice, even straightening his back up somewhat, asserting his identity loud and clear.
“Please desist, Little Brother Yang Jiu. This Old Master guarantees with his life that there is absolutely no problem with Brother Gong’s identity.” Yang Tai stepped out to smooth out the situation, but there seemed to be a touch of worry between his brows, which was extremely obvious, as he urged, “Now is not the time to dwell on this. We should find a way to break the ancient seal first before anything else.”
“If the problem is not solved and we can’t work together, how will we break the array?” Yang Kai turned to him and asked.
“You…” A trace of anger emerged on Yang Tai’s face, clearly directed at him.
“This Brother Yang is right,” Chen Bing Ru who had been silent the whole time suddenly spoke up.
Yang Tai turned his head to look at her in surprise, “Lady Chen, even you…”
Chen Bing Ru was the helper he invited, and the two shared a close personal relationship; however, he never would have expected her to be the one to stand on Yang Kai’s side at this time, which inexplicably hurt him.
Chen Bing Ru smiled, “Quell your anger, Brother Yang. Through the bumpy journey of our cultivation up to this point, who would not be careful in the face of danger? It’s just like walking on thin ice. Without constant care and balance, I’m afraid we would all have returned to nature just like the masses of people before us. So, I would like to hear what this Little Brother Yang has to say, and what he wishes to convey.”
She turned her beautiful and elegant eyes to Yang Kai, who nodded in regard to her.
She didn’t trust Yang Kai, but since there was a problem, they naturally had to listen. It wouldn’t take up much time anyway.
Wu Kuang Yi hesitated for a long time, but he still spoke out at this moment, “What are you suspicious of? Let us hear it!”
Yang Kai said, “I’ve already said it before.”
Gong Yue sighed, “Your suspicions are baseless.”
Yang Tai turned to Hua Yu Lu, heartbroken, “Palace Master Hua, this is the helper you found? If he does not want to help, then why must he come to destroy our unity and stability? Now look, we are having internal problems before we even attempt to break this Spirit just because of one nonsensical statement.”
Hua Yu Lu blushed slightly, hesitated a moment, then declared, “I… trust Senior Brother Yang.”
Yang Tai’s face went dark as he bellowed at Yang Kai, “Little brat, if you’re unwilling to participate in cracking this array, then you can leave now. You are also an Emperor Realm Master, so you should remember the way. Just go! This Old Master won’t force you to stay!”
Yang Kai smiled, “If I go, then how will the Spirit Array be completed?”
Yang Tai grunted, “As long as Brother Gong is here, what would it matter if you were gone? Brother Gong alone could break the array!”
Yang Kai turned to look at Gong Yue, a smile covering his face, “Then you should ask the ‘Former Gong Family Patriarch’ whether five people can complete the Six Points One Centre Array!”
Gong Yue looked shocked at these words, while Fang Zhuo, who had not spoken a word this whole time looked at Yang Kai with a stunned expression on his face.
Yang Tai’s mouth was wide open as he stared dumbfoundedly at Yang Kai.
This behaviour allowed the others present to immediately understand that what Yang Kai said was not without merit.
The Spirit Array that Gong Yue was trying to arrange was precisely the Six Points One Centre Array; only, nobody knew it until Yang Kai said it. The jade slips that Gong Yue passed them only contained the method to arrange their part of the array and not much detail on what everyone else was meant to do. They only had to follow these instructions and work together with the others, making it less complicated.
Everyone believed that the jade slip that Yang Kai received should be the same as well.
Then the question arose, how did he know about the name ‘Six Points One Centre Array’? And, from his words, the Spirit Array required the assistance of a full six people in order to complete. Even one less would not work.
Everyone then turned their heads to Gong Yue, only to see him with a deep frown on his brows, as if he were extremely surprised.
“Brother Yang is also proficient in the Dao of Spirit Arrays?” Fang Zhuo observed Yang Kai with great interest, thinking that this guy really hid well. He himself had some knowledge in Spirit Arrays; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been invited by Wu Kuang Yi. If Gong Yue was not here, then he would’ve been the one with the most profound attainments in the Dao of Spirit Arrays and they may have had to rely on his ability in order to crack the ancient seal.
But even he knew nothing about this so-called Six Points One Centre Array. This Spirit Array was clearly an extremely rare and profound Spirit Array, but he didn’t think that Yang Jiu would be able to see through it at a glance, which he was secretly in admiration of.
But to his surprise, Yang Kai actually shook his head, “I don’t know anything about the Dao of Spirit Arrays. I just happen to know about this Six Points One Centre Array, that’s all.”
There was only one Spirit Array that he was proficient with, and that was the Space Array! And even that was all thanks to Yang Yan’s careful teaching and his own talent in the Dao of Space. If not for these two factors, Yang Kai would really know nothing about arranging or cracking Spirit Arrays.
But Fang Zhuo did not say anything else after that, assuming that Yang Kai was just being modest. It was clearly impossible for someone like Yang Kai, who even knew about such an obscure Spirit Array, to not know anything about this Dao.
“I’m right, aren’t I, ‘Old Patriarch Gong’?” Yang Kai cocked his head to the side and stared at Gong Yue.
Gong Yue’s smile did not return, but he still nodded in acknowledgement, “That’s right. The Spirit Array that this Old Master intends to arrange is indeed the Six Points One Centre Array.”
Even though they’d guessed it from the start, everyone was still shocked when they heard Gong Yue admit it with his own mouth.
“But what does this have to do with this Old Master’s identity?” Gong Yue asked, “This Old Master is still this Old Master. Little Brother, have you made a mistake?”
Chen Bing Ru nodded, “That’s right. Little Brother Yang, what does the Six Points One Centre Array have to do with Old Patriarch Gong’s identity? Even though this Mistress does not know much about Spirit Arrays, this Six Points One Centre Array must be very profound according to what is recorded in these jade slips. Old Patriarch Gong even explained it to us simply and clearly, so that someone like this Mistress can learn it easily. This isn’t something that just anyone can achieve.”
Yang Kai frowned slightly and was silent for a moment, “Fine, let’s say that there’s nothing wrong with Old Patriarch Gong’s identity, that’s not the main problem.”
“What is, then?” Wu Kuang Yi asked. He had been getting a little impatient, but Yang Kai’s seriousness made him realize that there was more to this issue than meets the eye and he also needed answers for his own safety.
“The Six Points One Centre Array itself is the issue…” Yang Kai was speaking to the others, but his eyes remained fixed on Gong Yue the whole time, “Everyone has already seen the contents of the jade slips, so you should have some understanding of the principles and structure of this array. I must inform everyone that this Six Points One Centre Array, once arranged and activated, will allow six people to become six poles, while a seventh individual will serve as the core of the Spirit Array. As for who this core will be, obviously, Old Patriarch Gong must assume that role. However, the longer the Spirit Array is maintained, the stronger the control he will gain over us six, and once it reaches a certain limit, he will be able to freely control us, including whether we live or die. Regardless of how strong we are, we won’t be able to free ourselves from his bindings then.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the faces of everyone changed dramatically and they all turned their eyes towards Gong Yue.
If what Yang Kai said was true, then Gong Yue’s move was indeed questionable. He would actually gain control of everyone here after the Six Points One Centre Array was arranged, which they found to be simply unacceptable.
Under everyone’s sharp gaze, Gong Yue still responded calmly, “That is why this Old Master said earlier that everyone must trust me unconditionally! Only then can we combine all our strengths and crack this Spirit Array.”
Yang Kai grunted, “It’s not the Six Points One Centre Array that’s going to break the array, but rather another method… you want us to become blood sacrifices, right?”
“Blood sacrifices?” Wu Kuang Yi jumped in surprise. Even though he was just hearing Yang Kai speak, cold sweat was already pouring down his back.
Yang Kai smirked, “Brother Wu may not know, but while cracking this seal may seem outwardly complex, there is actually a much simpler method, and that is to offer it enough fresh blood. You didn’t try this method when you came here last time, did you?”
“Offering… fresh blood?” Wu Kuang Yi’s face paled, asking in trepidation, “How much blood?”
“Who knows? Maybe it’ll be enough after he bleeds us dry,” Yang Kai shrugged as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him.
Making a blood sacrifice was not the only way to break the array, but it was the simplest way, and not just any cultivator’s blood would do. The stronger the cultivator, the greater the effects. The blood of several Emperor Realm Masters should barely be enough.
Wu Kuang Yi turned his head to Gong Yue and asked in disbelief, “Old Patriarch Gong, is what he says true?”
Fang Zhuo and Chen Bing Ru also turned their questioning gazes to him. As for Hua Yu Lu, she naturally stood by Yang Kai’s side and believed him without a hint of doubt. She was also the only one here who knew about Yang Kai’s real identity, and as an Elder of Azure Sun Temple, she trusted that Yang Kai wouldn’t harm her or those of the Southern Territory. This was not because she understood Yang Kai, but because he now represented Azure Sun Temple.
It was only at this point that everyone understood why Yang Kai had doubts about Gong Yue’s identity.
Because if Gong Yue was truly the former Patriarch of the Gong Family, then there was no reason for him to act in such a deceitful and cruel manner. The Heavenly River Valley’s Gong Family’s golden signboard would be completely smashed if he were to do this.
They were all secretly relieved that this Yang Jiu knew so much about the Six Points One Centre Array. Otherwise, they may really have fallen into someone’s trap today, but on second thought, why did Yang Jiu know that a blood sacrifice was able to break the array? He said that he didn’t know anything about Spirit Arrays just now, but he was able to speak clearly and eloquently about this Six Points One Centre Array. His words were somewhat contradictory.
“So it turns out Little Brother Yang is a man of the same path. Forgive my disrespect.” Gong Yue smirked at Yang Kai. There was a trace of surprise in his eyes, but he was not panicked.
When Yang Kai saw that expression, he immediately had a bad feeling about it, as if he had missed something critical.
“Old Patriarch Gong… What he said… Is it all true?” Wu Kuang Yi’s eyes widened, “You really mean to use us as blood sacrifices to break the array?”
Gong Yue smiled, “Indeed, I do.”
After he said that, a noise suddenly emerged from Gong Yue’s body, as if something had been broken.
At the same time, Yang Kai’s face changed drastically as he finally realized what he had overlooked. Swiftly, he threw away the jade slip in his hands and was just about to warn the others, but he was too late.
With a crack, the jade slips in everyone’s hands burst, each of them turning into a stream of light that wrapped around each person.
Everyone in the room here was an Emperor Realm Master, so their reaction speed couldn’t be said to be slow. Each of them moved to counter the light the instant the jade slips burst, but unfortunately, Gong Yue’s actions were still faster.
He raised his hand and shot out two black lights that formed black curtains, one enveloping Wu Kuang Yi and the others, the other specifically targeting Yang Kai.
Yang Kai quickly stepped back to dodge, but found that the more he tried to retreat, the closer the black light got to him. Caught off guard, his vision went black for a moment before the scenery around him suddenly changed.
By the time he recovered, all Yang Kai could see around him was an endless ocean filled with loud crashing waves and a hot sun beaming down from above.
He had actually arrived above a vast sea, unable to distinguish left or right, north or south, up or down. All he saw was the tall sky and vast sea as he stood alone.
“Array Plate!” Yang Kai’s face suddenly turned dark.
This was an illusion, Yang Kai could be sure of that, and to be able to arrange such a large-scale illusion with such realistic effects, even Gong Yue would not be able to achieve such a thing in an instant. The only explanation was him using an Array Plate!
After an Illusion Array like this was imprinted into the Array Plate, the user needed only to summon it directly when they needed it. It was quick and convenient, with the only drawback being that it couldn’t be compared to arranging a real Illusion Array, making it far less powerful.
But the Illusion Array Plate that Gong Yue used was of a very high grade and could undoubtedly trap Yang Kai for a while, especially now that his Soul had not fully recovered, greatly reducing his strength.
But he believed that given enough time, he should be able to find this Illusion Array’s weak point.
The jade slips that had the information about the Six Points One Centre Array recorded on them were clearly Array Plates as well. Sure enough, Gong Yue was an old fox, having made preparations beforehand so that even if someone like Yang Kai uncovered his plot, he would still have the ability to subdue everyone in a flash.
Yang Kai was the only one who realized it early and threw out the jade slip, but he still could not avoid the fate of being trapped.
Now, Hua Yu Lu and the others must have fallen into Gong Yue’s Spirit Arrays, and as an Array Grandmaster and a Second-Order Emperor, Gong Yue could definitely release strength comparable to a Third-Order Emperor inside these Spirit Arrays.
In other words, even if Hua Yu Lu and the others joined forces, they may not be able to defeat him.
Yang Kai had to rush to their aid.
But obviously, he wouldn’t get that chance.
Suddenly, a figure appeared above the sea. Yang Tai appeared mysteriously and began staring down Yang Kai with a cold look on his face. His amiable image from before was nowhere to be seen as he glared at Yang Kai as if he was guilty of killing his father and stealing his wife, ruthless hatred filling his eyes.
“As I expected, you really are accomplices,” Yang Kai coldly snorted at Yang Tai when he saw him appear. At the same time, he was silently looking for a way to break out of this Illusion Array.
Yang Tai was the one who invited Gong Yue, and since Gong Yue was suspect, Yang Tai was naturally suspicious as well. When Yang Kai saw Yang Tai enter the illusion realm so simply just now, his previous doubts were immediately confirmed.
“Accomplices?” Yang Tai sneered, “Think what you want. I was most wary of Fang Zhuo at first, but I didn’t think you’d be the one to spoil everything. It seems I’ve underestimated you.”
Yang Kai’s face was extremely dark as he thought for a moment before asking, “So that Gong Yue really is the Gong Family’s former Patriarch?”
Even though he doubted Gong Yue’s identity twice, he understood that he was wrong after he was trapped in this Illusion Array. Gong Yue was most likely exactly who he said he was as only someone from the Gong Family would be able to carry around so many Array Plates with them and be able to deploy such profound Illusion Arrays in an instant.
What Yang Kai did not expect was that the Gong Family’s former Patriarch would actually be so vicious as to disregard the family’s reputation just for the sake of one Ancient Cave Mansion.
“Brother Gong is naturally the real Brother Gong. I don’t know why you’re suspecting him.” Yang Tai looked at Yang Kai with a mocking gaze, as if laughing at him for thinking himself clever.
Yang Kai sighed, “Anyway, you and Gong Yue are in the same boat. That I’m not wrong about.”
But Yang Kai made another mistake. He thought that Fang Zhuo was also one of their accomplices because Fang Zhuo had lost too quickly during his Spirit Array match with Gong Yue, which was what verified Gong Yue’s identity for everyone.
Yang Kai thought that he was just acting, so he was suspicious of Fang Zhuo as well, but now he knew that Gong Yue was the real deal, and really did have the ability to crush Fang Zhuo when it came to Spirit Arrays.
“Are you trying to find this array’s weak spot?” Yang Tai himself was a First-Order Emperor, and he also had the wisdom that came with age, so it was naturally impossible for him to not realize Yang Kai’s intentions here. However, he did not seem to show any fear, nor was he in any rush to stop Yang Kai’s movements. Instead, he showed a taunting smile, “Then you better look properly, because Brother Gong’s Spirit Arrays don’t come with many flaws.”
Yang Kai suddenly turned his head and looked straight at him and muttered, “So that’s how it is.”
Yang Tai laughed, “So you figured it out?”
Yang Kai nodded, “It’s all thanks to your words. You are the centre of this Spirit Array, its Array Core so to speak.”
Yang Tai nodded readily, “That’s right. I entered this array with control of the Array Core, so it is quite a simple task to break this array. You just have to kill me.” He smiled smugly like an old fox that had snatched a chicken, “But… Do you have that ability?”
It wasn’t that he looked down on Yang Kai. Even though the two of them were around the same realm in terms of cultivation, he had seen Yang Kai’s moves when they were cutting through the poison mist. His attacks were weak and it was hard for him to keep up, his aura was also fluctuating and unstable, proving the speculation the group had about Yang Kai being injured. What’s more, Yang Tai gained control of this Illusion Array from Gong Yue, becoming its Array Core, so he could exert strength far beyond that of just an ordinary First-Order Emperor here.
That was why he had no fear. Even if Yang Kai realized where the Array Core was, he still couldn’t break this array.
“Why?” Yang Kai furrowed his brows.
“What do you mean why?” Yang Tai wasn’t in a hurry to make a move as he had an absolute advantage at this moment and knew he could strike at any time to effortlessly take Yang Kai’s life.
“Nobody knows what’s hidden behind that giant blood-coloured door. It may be treasure, or it may be a deathtrap. Who can say anything for certain regarding things from ancient times? Why would you even go to the extent of killing others for it?”
Yang Tai laughed and shook his head, “You understand nothing, nothing at all!”
“That’s why I’m asking for clarification.”
Yang Tai frowned as he muttered, seemingly to himself, “There’s something very important in there. Very, very important. I must get my hands on it!”
Yang Kai was surprised, “You know what’s inside? How could you possibly know?”
The giant blood-coloured door had an ancient seal on it, and it was because Yang Tai, Wu Kuang Yi, and Hua Yu Lu were unable to break it that they agreed to go out and find helpers then come back to try again half a year later. Before the seal was broken, no one could possibly know what secrets were hidden inside.
Murdering four or five Emperor Realm Masters was not something someone would consider for uncertain benefits, but Yang Tai had done just that, even going so far as to invite Gong Yue to assist him.
His mutterings, however, clearly showed that he did have some knowledge about what lay beyond the giant blood-coloured door, which was the most surprising part to Yang Kai. To make things worse, Yang Tai didn’t seem to be in the right state of mind at the moment. It was as if he’d gone mad, with not even a trace of an Emperor Realm Master’s poise left in him.
Quietly, Yang Kai circulated his Spiritual Energy and a golden light flashed from his left eye. Speaking in an authoritative voice laced with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai called out, “Tell me, what’s in there?”
“Inside there? It’s…” Yang Tai began to speak, but as soon as he said a few words, his face suddenly changed.
At the same time, Yang Kai let out a stifled grunt, his face suddenly turning pale.
His Soul had been injured to begin with, and he was forcefully circulating his Spiritual Energy now. It would have been fine if Yang Tai hadn’t resisted, but this old fox reacted immediately and counterattacked, injuring Yang Kai again.
“You dare try to manipulate me?!” Yang Tai’s face twisted with fury in an instant and no longer wasted time with Yang Kai. Spreading his arms, the seawater behind him rose up into the sky, converging into a lifelike water dragon that swam through the sky and slammed towards Yang Kai.
Its dragon roar was so powerful that it shook the world, opening its giant maw as if it were going to swallow up Yang Kai.
Yang Kai could feel cold sweat dripping down his forehead. Even though he knew that this was all part of the Illusion Array, he didn’t dare to take this water dragon head-on. He wasn’t in the best condition right now, so any carelessness on his part may cause him irreparable damage.
So, in the face of such a terrifying blow, Yang Kai’s first reaction was to dodge.
His body flickered and moved several dozen metres at once, but before he could regain his footing, the seawater below him swirled up turbulently, forming a giant whirlpool out of which another water dragon surged.
Yang Tai sneered, “Little brat, you should just surrender without a fight. You are not this Old Master’s opponent!”
Even without the help of the Spirit Array, Yang Tai was confident that he could beat Yang Kai. Only, it would take a little more effort. Now that he had entered the Illusion Array as the Array Core and was able to control its power, it was even more impossible for Yang Kai to best him.
Despite controlling two water dragons at once to chase after Yang Kai, Yang Tai’s mouth did not remain idle, “Even though a blood sacrifice is needed, your lives may not have been needed. You could have just helped this Old Master open up the seal if you obediently cooperated, it’s not like this Old Master must take your life. But if this Old Master catches you now… heh heh!”
He did not say what the consequences would be, but his threat couldn’t be more obvious.
How could Yang Kai believe him though? Without a word, he dodged the two water dragons’ attacks, escaping several close calls and gradually closing in on Yang Tai.
“Since you refuse a toast, you must drink a loss!” Yang Tai tried to persuade him but received no response, spoiling his mood, so he raised his hand and another two water dragons rose from the sea to pursue Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s situation was getting worse and worse now, like a tiny wooden boat caught in the middle of an ocean storm, at risk of breaking apart at any moment. But each time he seemed to be in danger, Yang Kai was able to avoid the attacks of the water dragons at the most critical moment, which caused Yang Tai to bellow in anger, consumed by fury.
Yang Tai had completely lost the bearing of an Emperor Realm Master. Ever since he saw the giant blood-coloured door, Yang Kai noticed that something wasn’t quite right about Yang Tai. He seemed to be more hotheaded than usual and suffered from huge mood swings. It was slightly more hidden and not too obvious before, but it had become extremely conspicuous after he entered into a fight with Yang Kai in the Illusion Array.
Four water dragons became six, then eight, then ten…
When the water dragons above the sea became as many as fifteen, Yang Tai’s robes began billowing on their own with an audible flutter. The Emperor Qi pulsing from his body was constantly threshing like boiling water. His eyes were bloodshot and he was staring hard at Yang Kai as he moved back and forth. Yang Tai was now like a volcano that was about to erupt, harbouring a great deal of heated rage.
There was no way Yang Tai could not be angry at this moment though as he thought he would be able to take down Yang Kai as easily as crushing a bug with his great strength and the assistance of the Spirit Array. But reality was different, and no matter how dangerous the situation seemed to look for Yang Kai, he would always be able to turn peril into safety at the critical moment. The disparity between his expectations and reality was hard for Yang Tai to accept, and his anger continued to climb.
His anger reached its peak once he summoned fifteen water dragons.
He was focused on controlling those dragons and pursued Yang Kai for quite a while, finally trapping him somewhere in the sea with no room to escape.
As dragon roars sounded, the huge writhing water dragons rammed towards Yang Kai.
Yang Tai sneered, “Little brat, you should be glad that you still have some use. This Old Master will not kill you now, but you’ll have a taste of something even more painful than death after this!”
Yang Kai stood above the sea, watching the fifteen water dragons that were crashing down on him. As if he’d resigned to his fate, he no longer dodged like before, but there didn’t seem to be much panic on his face either.
Fierce auras were pouncing over in all directions, sending chills down Yang Kai’s body before the attacks even arrived.
But right at that moment, something happened.
As if they were having cramps, the fifteen water dragons suddenly stopped, squirmed a few times, then collapsed into giant splashes of rain that poured down from the sky.
Yang Tai was stunned and his expression twisted as he hissed, “What have you done?!”
He thought that Yang Kai secretly performed some sort of trick to break his ability to control the Spirit Array without him knowing, but he was confused to find that he was still the Array Core here, with nothing having changed.
Yang Kai grinned, “Even though I am not too proficient in Spirit Arrays, I do know one thing… And that is that sometimes one’s strength falls short, making it impossible to perform, especially for an old man like you.”
The enraged Yang Tai’s face became even more ugly at his words.
But Yang Kai’s words also made him realize that the water dragons did not break as a result of something Yang Kai did, but rather because he exceeded his own limits, causing the illusion to go out of control. He didn’t even notice such a simple thing until Yang Kai reminded him about it.
Yang Tai quickly tried to reassert control over the Illusion Array and was determined to be more careful this time. He had fought with Yang Kai for such a long time that he had more or less figured out his details. Even if this little brat was a bit faster than him, there was nothing else about him worth paying any attention to.
But Yang Kai wasn’t going to give Yang Tai any more chances.
He had been running and dodging all this while just for this chance, so how could Yang Kai not grasp this opportunity well?
He quickly formed a set of profound hand seals as a strange aura began to expand from his body. As this aura spread out, Yang Tai suddenly felt as if trying to think was an extremely difficult thing, like his mind had frozen at that moment. Everything in the world then stopped, as if time had been disturbed.
When he came to his senses, he heard Yang Kai’s murmurs in his ears.
“Time Flows on Infinitely, Like a Mighty Stream, Like an Unending Dream!”
A seal suddenly flew out towards him, and it wasn’t until it came close that Yang Tai woke up from his daze. Before this, he didn’t even feel any traces of Yang Kai’s movements, as if his memory of that moment had been erased.
As he was struck by the seal, Yang Tai was knocked down into the sea below, blood splashing out that dyed the water red.
He paid a heavy price for his carelessness and underestimating his foe.
Time Principles began to erode his old body, and the little lifespan he had left in him rapidly melted away, causing him to panic. He had no idea what to do in this situation.
Just as Yang Tai was feeling at a loss, Yang Kai caught up to him underwater. His movements were strong and nimble, even in this environment, and he was able to arrive in front of Yang Tai in just a breath. Raising his hand, Yang Kai thrust out his palm, causing the surrounding water to surge. Even though this wasn’t some kind of Secret Technique, it wasn’t a strike the current Yang Tai could handle.
Yang Tai let out a strange cry as his body was torn apart.
Yang Kai did not feel the slightest joy after his strike landed though, and instead turned his eyes to the side.
There, a gigantic catfish with thick whiskers was swimming away quickly, fleeing several kilometres in the blink of an eye.
This catfish was actually Yang Tai. At the most critical moment, he used the power of the Illusion Array to create the scene of him being killed in front of Yang Kai while disguising himself as a fish to escape.
Yang Tai himself was definitely incapable of really transforming like this, but he could do as he pleased thanks to the Illusion Array.
Ten kilometres away, the catfish leapt out of the sea and changed back to reveal the figure of an elderly man. Right now, Yang Tai was not as casual and confident as before; instead, he was in a miserable state. There were large blots of red on his chest, and as he bent over and coughed violently a few times, he appeared more like a terminally ill patient that was about to die than a powerful Emperor Realm Master.
The Time Flies Seal was still eroding every part of his body, right down to his bones, causing Yang Tai to panic. No matter how he tried to resist this strange force, he couldn’t stop its rampage, much less disperse it.
Yang Kai also leapt out of the water, and panting lightly, he looked at Yang Tai from across the sky.
He injured Yang Tai, but he wasn’t in good shape himself either. Usually, he would be able to crush someone like Yang Tai easily, but in his current state, it would require more thought on his part, especially since his opponent had both favourable conditions and an advantageous position.
“Damn it. Damn you!” Yang Tai cursed through gritted teeth, his eyes filled with hatred.
Yang Kai waved his hand and sent out several Moon Blades before chasing after them.
He wasn’t clear about the situation outside, but he knew that it could only get worse the longer he delayed things here. Xia Sheng entrusted Hua Yu Lu to him, so he had to bring her back safely.
Yang Kai could ignore the lives of the others, but he couldn’t afford to make any mistakes with Hua Yu Lu.
He had the opportunity to strike first and he didn’t want to be passively beaten anymore, so he took the initiative into his own hands.
When the Moon Blades whistled over to him, Yang Tai stopped his cursing. He could feel the terrifying force contained within the Moon Blades, causing his face to change abruptly as his body began to melt away like water.
The Moon Blades cut through his body, but they weren’t able to harm him much.
Yang Tai had clearly begun exercising the Spirit Array’s might as well. The sea began to rage, and a thousand-metre-high wave rose up, transforming into a water giant that vaguely shared Yang Tai’s features.
The water giant walked on the waves, each and every step rolling up the tide of the sea into a terrifying attack.
Compared to Yang Kai, who continued his charge, it was simply like the difference between an ant and an elephant.
A moment later, Yang Kai arrived before the water giant, summoned his Myriads Sword, and sent out a series of sword lights that sliced huge gashes into his opponent. But no matter how Yang Kai attacked, the gashes would just restore themselves in short order.
The water giant that Yang Tai transformed into howled above the sea. Inside the Illusion Array, he was able to perform the Water Attribute attacks of the highest grade, pushing Yang Kai to the edge immediately.
Yang Kai thought about using his Dragon Transformation or even summoning the Mountains and Rivers Bell to end this once and for all, but his injuries would not allow him to do so. Right now, he could not even release half of his full strength.
Yang Tai gradually took the advantage, and steadily suppressed Yang Kai to the point where the latter couldn’t fight back.
The water giant howled, “I’ll rip your corpse into ten thousand pieces!”
He seemed to have forgotten about his original intention of taking Yang Kai’s blood to perform the blood sacrifice. Right now, all Yang Tai wanted was to end Yang Kai’s life right here.
Wisps of black Qi began seeping out from the body of the transparent water giant at that moment.
Sensing this black Qi, Yang Kai’s body shook as he shouted, “Demon Qi!”
His jaw instantly dropped.
He actually saw Demon Qi coming out of Yang Tai’s body. Even though it was neither pure nor dense, it was undoubtedly Demon Qi. Yang Kai couldn’t recognize it wrongly as he had just left the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld where he had fought for years with the Ancient Demons. His memory of their Qi was still fresh.
[How could Demon Qi come out from Yang Tai’s body?] Yang Kai couldn’t figure it out.
In ancient times, the Demon Race invaded the land several times, but they were always beaten back. The Two Worlds Passage should also have been sealed, so normal people couldn’t come into contact with Demon Qi.
But thinking about it again, Yang Kai had encountered Demon Qi several times before. Only, it was far purer than the Demon Qi Yang Tai was radiating.
Yang Tai must have obtained something as well that allowed him to develop Demon Qi.
All sorts of thoughts passed through his mind in a flash before it all suddenly clicked in Yang Kai’s mind, [Was it that Secret Technique?]
Hua Yu Lu told him that her trio had all gained something when they explored the Ancient Cave Mansion six months ago. She obtained the Little Flower Drum, Wu Kuang Yi made great advancements in his cultivation, and Yang Tai acquired a Secret Technique.
When they were on their way here, Yang Kai was lucky enough to see Yang Tai use that Secret Technique. It was power condensed into an ancient character. Even if he stayed in an ancient world for two years though, he still had no idea about the mysteries behind that character. He had only seen it once in the Shaman Divine Temple, and even the records inside were not clear.
But now, it appeared that the ancient character was not from this land, but was instead a Demon Race character.
The reason that records of it were available in the Shaman Divine Temple was to warn their descendants of the existence of these types of characters.
Yang Tai had unknowingly learned the true meaning of that character, and a trace of Demon Essence was thus formed in his body. As this Demon Essence awakened during this life or death battle with Yang Kai, it began releasing Demon Qi.
All of this was just his speculation, but Yang Kai couldn’t find a better explanation for the current situation. If what he thought was truly the case though, then all of Yang Tai’s strange behaviours would make sense. He was an Emperor Realm Master after all, and should have a corresponding level of intelligence and mental fortitude. Large emotional fluctuations and frenzied reactions towards certain things were definitely not something normal, but if he was being affected by Demon Qi hiding inside his body, then it would be perfectly reasonable to act in this manner.
Thinking about it this way, Yang Kai was shocked again. He speculated that perhaps it was a Demon Spirit that was born from the Demon Race character that gave Yang Tai insight into the secrets behind the giant blood-coloured door.
If that was true, then whatever was hidden behind that giant blood-coloured door was definitely related to the Demon Race.
“Yang Tai, you’ve become demonised and aren’t thinking straight!” Yang Kai bellowed.
Yang Tai ignored him, however, as the water giant he transformed into slammed its palm down, raising a huge wave that seemed like it wanted to shatter the entire world.
“Tell me, is there a Demon sealed behind that door?!” Yang Kai continued to shout, but this time he infused his Spiritual Energy into his voice and sent it directly into Yang Tai’s Soul, making it impossible for him to ignore.
Some Ancient Demons were very difficult to kill, just like the Giant One-Eyed Demon that Yang Kai encountered, which was sealed outside of Maplewood City. If what was sealed behind that giant blood-coloured door also happened to be such a Demon, or a part of such a Demon, then it definitely wouldn’t be a good thing to set it free.
Last time, Yang Kai just happened to seal an Ancient Demon’s Qi into his dantian, but such a miracle may not happen again this time.
This time, Yang Tai heard Yang Kai’s shout and the water giant’s movements stalled for a moment before turning furious, “How did you know that? How could you possibly know that!”
As if some unspeakable secret had been revealed, Yang Tai had become infuriated.
Yang Kai’s heart sank sharply hearing these words.
The water giant raised its palm again, slamming it down towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai stood his ground this time though, not trying to evade. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, but by the time they opened again, the aura surrounding his body had abruptly changed, taking on an ancient air.
He was now channeling his Shaman Strength.
After leaving the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, Yang Kai had always wanted to try and see if he could still use his Shaman Strength; after all, he had cultivated this power for more than two years there, so he couldn’t just let it go to waste.
So, he attempted it several times on the way here.
The results pleasantly surprised him. He could freely switch between Emperor Qi and Shaman Strength now, with the two powers not conflicting with each other. Only, the Shaman Strength was a little weaker than his Emperor Qi, and the Shamanic Spells were a little strenuous to perform. It wasn’t as easy as the Secret Techniques of the modern day.
Another thing Yang Kai noticed was that though he could perform the Shamanic Spells, they weren’t as strong as they were inside the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld. It could only be used at eighty percent of its power.
Yang Kai felt that this must be due to the effects of the different World Principles.
The Ancient Barbarian Race could only cultivate Shamanic Spells because the World Principles of that era aligned with these techniques. Over time, slight changes also began to appear in the World Principles. The living beings of each era had their own specialties.
Yang Kai was forcefully using Shamanic Spells of the ancient times in this era, so it was only natural they wouldn’t be as effective.
This was just how it was, and nobody could change it.
While muttering an archaic incantation, Yang Kai quickly formed seals with his hands and a glowing light burst forth from his hands, spreading out in all directions with a loud bang.
“Demon Suppression!”
The light swept over towards the water giant’s body as Yang Kai’s voice sounded.
It didn’t cause any apparent damage, but the water giant seemed to take a hard hit, its actions halting as it lost all its momentum. At the same time, a grating cry sounded from the mouth of the water giant, naturally, it was Yang Tai.
The black Qi floating on the surface of the water giant’s body melted away like snowflakes under the sun after the light swept across it.
During the war inside the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld that lasted more than two years, the Barbarian Race also developed a number of Shamanic Spells to use against the Demon Race. The Demon Suppression Spell was born at that time. It did little in terms of lethality, but it could disrupt and suppress the power of a Demon.
Yang Kai had several dozen such Shamanic Spells in his possession, all of which were similar to each other.
After using Demon Suppression, Yang Kai began chanting again, quickly engulfing the water giant in front of him with another blinding light and drawing even more miserable screams from Yang Tai.
When Yang Kai cast the seventh Shamanic Spell, the huge water giant burst apart. Yang Tai’s screams also came to a screeching halt and the turbulent sea regained its calm.
Yang Kai’s expression looked solemn as he released his Divine Sense and searched for Yang Tai.
But he found nothing. Yang Tai’s aura had disappeared without a trace in this Illusion Array and a short moment later, Yang Kai was surprised to find the Illusion Array’s Core. Yang Tai had escaped and was no longer here.
The truth was just as Yang Kai observed. At this moment, from a cloud of blue smoke, a figure suddenly appeared inside the rock cave. Yang Tai had emerged in a miserable state, doubled over and coughing violently, blood dripping from numerous wounds all over his body.
“Brother Yang, you… How…” Not far away, Gong Yue who was presiding over the Six Points One Centre Array was shocked to see Yang Tai’s condition, almost causing a fault to appear in the Spirit Array. Currently the Six Points One Centre Array had already been arranged, with Hua Yu Lu, Fang Zhuo, Wu Kuang Yi, and Chen Bing Ru all suspended mid-air with pale faces, set in special positions according to the array’s principles, seemingly having lost the power to resist. There was a small cut on each of their bodies as well that red blood was trickling out of, and under Gong Yue’s manipulations, this blood was all gathering towards the giant blood-coloured door.
The giant blood-colour door also seemed to have transformed into a bottomless pit. No matter how much blood was brought to it, it would devour all of it without leaving a single drop. Following the inflow of blood, the giant blood-coloured door began emitting a strange glow.
Gong Yue was a Second-Order Emperor, and his strength was not bad to begin with, so having caught his opponents off guard and with the help of numerous Array Plates, Hua Yu Lu and the others weren’t his opponents at all. In the time that Yang Kai and Yang Tai were locked in battle, all the others had been restrained and no longer had the power to fight back.
Gong Yue thought that Yang Tai wouldn’t need to use much effort to take down Yang Jiu, but when Yang Tai showed up in such a terrible state, he realized he was wrong.
[That Yang Jiu actually defeated Yang Tai inside the Illusion Array. He had such capability?]
“How is the progress?” Yang Tai ignored Gong Yue’s surprise and was also no longer as friendly as before. There was a look of impatience on his brows and at the moment, he acted just like a king standing high above others, questioning his subordinates.
Gong Yue frowned, “My side is fine, but with two fewer people, the speed of cracking the array is going to be very slow. I still need about an hour.”
When the trapped Hua Yu Lu and the others heard these words, their faces turned ashen.
Breaking the array with a blood sacrifice was not as simple as it seemed. Every time their blood was drawn away, they could feel excruciating pain as if their insides were being torn apart. The only reason they weren’t screaming was because they were under the restraint of this Spirit Array.
Hearing that this was going to last another hour, the four people were all feeling terrified and uneasy. If that were truly the case, then they may as well commit suicide so they wouldn’t have to suffer this way.
“An hour is too long!” Yang Tai shouted, turning back towards a cloud of blue smoke. Yang Jiu was trapped inside this fog bank, but he no longer dared to go in and fight him.
Honestly, Yang Jiu’s performance surprised Yang Tai, but he wasn’t too worried about him at first. Only after he began using those strange Secret Techniques did Yang Tai become terrified. It was as if he’d met his natural enemy, an existence he had even lost the courage to face.
“Use my blood!” Yang Tai took the initiative to step towards Hua Yu Lu and the others, occupying another position in the array in a flash. Then, with his finger as a knife, he cut a wound on his own wrist and blood immediately gushed out in a torrent.
“Brother Yang, you…” Gong Yue looked at Yang Tai in surprise. He had the instinctive idea that this man was not in the right state of mind at this moment.
This wasn’t anything like what they planned. Even though Yang Tai was supposed to be part of the Six Points One Centre Array, the most important sources for the blood sacrifice were supposed to be the other five. As long as they drained those five dry, it should be enough to break the array.
But things didn’t happen quite as they expected. Firstly, Yang Jiu was able to see through part of their scheme, resulting in some accidents. Now, they couldn’t even gather everyone to complete the array with, but Yang Tai actually decided not to be stingy with his own blood and asked to participate as well, as if vowing to break open the Spirit Array even if it cost him his life.
“What are you waiting for? Hurry up!” When he saw Gong Yue’s hesitation, Yang Tai couldn’t help but urge him on, his tone even seeming hostile.
Gong Yue frowned, “Brother Yang, what you said is truly behind this door, right?”
At this point, Gong Yue was even thinking of withdrawing, mainly because of how worrying Yang Tai’s performance was. He couldn’t help but wonder if this was all worth doing in the first place.
Yang Tai coldly snorted, “You also know how deep and profound that character is, so you must know its might. There are more characters like that behind that door. The greatest secrets of the Martial Dao are hidden there, and as long as the seal is broken, you can easily break through to the Third-Order Emperor Realm. When that time comes, who will dare to underestimate your Heavenly River Valley Gong Family? As for your Gong Family’s reputation, who will know what happened here if they’re all dead? This Old Master is on your side, so I will naturally not reveal what happened today.”
Gong Yue’s expression fluctuated several times before he finally made up his mind, “Good!”
The main reason he agreed to work with Yang Tai to deceive the others here was because of the power he had seen behind that ancient character. At his First-Order Emperor Realm cultivation, Yang Tai was able to exert the strength of a Second-Order Emperor, proving how astonishing the origins of that character were.
Even though the Gong Family was not a small force, they didn’t have a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master’s protection, so their status in the Southern Territory was a little awkward. Whenever the Gong Family was mentioned, anyone would think about Spirit Arrays, but nobody had any idea how much the Gong Family coveted great power, especially Gong Yue. He made the revitalization of the Gong Family his lifelong goal, but his Second-Order Emperor Realm cultivation was neither here nor there in terms of the hierarchy, so it was difficult for him to become the great trailblazer for his family.
Yang Tai assured him that he would be able to gain the secrets to advance into the Third-Order Emperor Realm after the Spirit Array was broken.
Interest aroused, Gong Yue joined hands with him.
Just as Yang Tai said, everyone here was going to die after the blood sacrifice, so who was going to know that the Gong Family’s former patriarch did something so despicable? So, the Gong Family’s reputation wouldn’t be affected.
At Yang Tai’s urging, the seals on Gong Yue’s hand changed. Yang Tai immediately let out a grunt as large amounts of blood began pouring out of the wound on his wrist like a fountain.
In order to ensure the Spirit Array could be broken faster, Gong Yue also increased the extraction of blood from the other four. All of a sudden, Hua Yu Lu and the others were all showing unbearable expressions of pain.
As blood flowed into it, the glow of the giant blood-coloured door became brighter and brighter.
Yang Tai lost a lot of blood, but he didn’t feel uncomfortable. Instead, he was exhilarated as he stared at the giant blood-coloured door without even moving his gaze for a moment.
It was at that instant that a noise suddenly sounded from the pale blue smoke, and Yang Kai’s figure appeared out of thin air.
Without Yang Tai hosting the array and with Gong Yue distracted with other matters, the Illusion Array created by the Array Plate was unable to withstand Yang Kai’s attacks. In just that short amount of time after Yang Tai escaped, Yang Kai was able to break free.
With a sweep of his Divine Sense, Yang Kai immediately understood the current situation.
Under Yang Tai’s panicked and fearful gaze, he waved the Myriads Sword in his hand, slashing down a shocking sword light that was aimed right at Gong Yue.
Gong Yue was the master of the Six Points One Centre Array, so the only way to stop it was to attack him.
Gong Yue was not surprised at all by this. Or rather, he had anticipated this situation ever since Yang Tai escaped from the Illusion Array. So, with a flick of his finger, another Array Plate was sent flying at Yang Kai.
As the former Patriarch of the Gong Family, and a Sect Master of a Spirit Array Sect, Gong Yue did not carry much on his body, but he did have quite a number of Array Plates at his disposal. Among these plates were Killing Arrays, Illusion Arrays, Trapping Arrays, etc.
The space was too narrow for Yang Kai to be able to dodge though, so despite having just escaped from one Spirit Array, he was quickly dragged into another.
When he saw this, Yang Tai cheered and laughed while the faces of Hua Yu Lu and the others paled even further.
They had no other hope now. Being restrained by the Six Points One Centre Array, they were unable to use their strength at all and even their freedom was under Gong Yue’s control. There was no way for them to break free with their own ability.
They could only put all their hopes on Yang Kai, but just as he showed them a glimmer of hope, they were let down again. Some expectation had just emerged, and it had all shattered immediately. They were done for now, they all thought.
“How long can you keep him trapped?” Yang Tai asked Gong Yue.
Gong Yue frowned, “Thirty breaths…”
Yang Tai seemed to be dissatisfied with this, but he knew too that there was no way around it. If Gong Yue were to host these Array Plates personally, then he should be able to trap Yang Jiu for a longer amount of time, but right now, Gong Yue didn’t have the spare hands to do so. Being able to trap Yang Jiu for thirty breaths of time with a masterless Spirit Array was already the limit.
Ten breaths later though, the Spirit Array suddenly shattered, and Yang Kai’s figure reappeared.
“What?” Gong Yue was shocked.
He had just announced that the Spirit Array could trap Yang Kai for thirty breaths of time, which was already an overestimation of the opponent’s strength, but it turned out that after just ten breaths of time, the array was broken. Just how powerful was this Yang Jiu?
“He’s back!” Yang Tai called out to remind Gong Yue to toss out another Array Plate.
After eating such a loss, Yang Kai was much more careful now. In a flash, he put some distance between Gong Yue and himself, shouting, “Old Patriarch Gong, regardless of whether or not you’re doing this willingly or were deceived, you must know one thing! Yang Tai has been corrupted by Demon Qi and underwent demonification! Your acts now are akin to assisting a tyrant to oppress the innocent. This will not bring any kind of glory to your Gong Family. It’s not too late for you to stop now!”
“You smelly brat, what sort of nonsense are you spouting? When did this Old Master become demonified?” Yang Tai retorted, and as he was worrying that Gong Yue would be affected by these slanderous lies, he also quickly urged, “Brother Gong, don’t listen to him! The most important thing is to take him down as soon as possible!”
Yang Kai’s body suddenly disappeared in a flash before his voice began sounding from all directions, “Ancient Demons are sealed behind that giant blood-coloured door. Yang Tai intends to let them out. You may not know how terrifying the Demon Race is, but you definitely won’t want to know. Gong Yue, are you sure you want to be this sinner’s accomplice?”
“This Ancient Cave Mansion has been around for at least tens of thousands of years, if not hundreds of thousands. How could any Demon be sealed inside? This brat is lying! Not to mention that even if Demons were sealed here, they would have died long ago! Brother Gong, the ultimate secret of the Martial Dao lies behind that door. Don’t believe that little brat. Open the door, then you and I can share in the benefits!”
Yang Kai and Yang Tai’s arguing sounded like two flies constantly buzzing in his ears, annoying Gong Yue to no end.
Raising his hand, he summoned several more Array Plates, laying down several layers of Spirit Arrays to protect himself so no matter where Yang Kai was attacking from, he was bound to get caught by one of them.
“Very good!” Yang Tai laughed, shouting tauntingly into the void, “This Old Master acknowledges that you have some skill, but that’s all! If you want to live, then it’s not too late for you to escape now. Otherwise, I’m afraid it’ll be too late.”
He was really afraid of all the strange Secret Techniques Yang Kai had as they felt as if they were created solely to restrain him. So, he could want nothing more than for Yang Kai to leave here as soon as possible. As for whether Yang Kai would expose the secret of this place or not after escaping, that wasn’t something he had to consider.
He just needed to get this door open.
There were five people left in here, including him, which was enough for the blood sacrifice. It just needed a little longer to break the array.
But Gong Yue’s face sank when he heard this. Even though he and Yang Tai worked together to set this trap, he had done it for the sake of the Gong Family. There was no intention for any survivors to be left. Yang Tai was also one of the targets he intended to kill, so how could he allow Yang Kai to escape alone?
As his thoughts turned, he asked, “Little brother, you say there are Demons sealed behind that door, but what proof do you have? Yang Tai told me that the ultimate secrets of the Martial Dao were inside there.”
Yang Kai coldly snorted as he spoke, “Do you really believe that? If you do, then you’re a fool.”
Gong Yue raised his voice, “I have peered into the mysteries of that word, and it tells me that Yang Tai isn’t lying!”
“What you saw was an Ancient Demon Race character! You’ve been deceived!”
“What?” Gong Yue’s face changed, “A Demon Race character?”
Under shock, a crack began to appear in his layers of Spirit Arrays.
It was at that moment that Yang Kai suddenly appeared. Nobody could see clearly how he re-emerged, but by the time they saw him, he was already standing a metre in front of Gong Yue.
The look of panic on Gong Yue’s face disappeared in an instant, and there was a shrewd glow in his eyes. Everything he said just now was obviously just an act to lure Yang Kai out.
And Yang Kai really showed up. Gong Yue smiled coldly as he instantly prepared to activate all the Array Plates by his side to their maximum to drag Yang Kai into one of them. He wouldn’t take it lightly again this time, and decided that even if he had to split his attention, he would actively deal with Yang Kai before handling other matters.
At that moment, a small, ancient-looking bell appeared in Yang Kai’s hand that began to spin and swell up into a massive object.
An ancient and desolate aura filled the air while Yang Kai shivered, seemingly on the verge of collapse; however, the hand that was holding onto the small bell was steady as a rock.
*Guang dang…*
When the bell tolled, everyone felt their eardrums shaking, dizzying them for a moment. The layers of Spirit Arrays that Gong Yue arranged around himself were all shattered by the ring of this bell before they could activate, collapsing all at once.
Not only that, but being struck by such a close impact from the Mountains and Rivers Bell, it was as if Gong Yue had been struck by lightning, his mind going blank for a moment before his chest caved in and a large bulge formed on his back. In the next instant, he flew out like a rag sack and smashed into a nearby wall before sliding down miserably.
He had a Second-Order Emperor Realm cultivation, so it was reasonable to say that he shouldn’t have suffered so badly from this strike, but thinking he had already won, Gong Yue had left himself completely defenceless, allowing this fierce blow from the Mountains and Rivers bell to hurt him severely.
The toll of the bell raged through Gong Yue’s body and his meridians, making it so he couldn’t even breathe.
The Six Points One Centre Array, having lost its host, collapsed, causing Hua Yu Lu and the others who were suspended mid-air to fall down like dumplings, all of them letting out cries of surprise.
They were all Emperor Realm Masters, but they were completely disoriented on the ground now, just like babies who had not yet learned to walk, they couldn’t get back up after falling down, and they all looked miserable.
Most of the power of the Mountains and Rivers Bell’s attack was borne by Gong Yue, but it still affected them a little. Plus, they were under Gong Yue’s control this whole time and lost too much blood, so they were extremely weak to begin with.
Right now, they probably wouldn’t be able to exert a tenth of their full strength.
The only one among them in a better state was Yang Tai. He entered the array later, and even though he lost a lot of blood, he was still far better off than the rest. He only staggered for a moment after landing on the ground before steadying himself.
But the sudden blow still made his mind buzz. Everything had been going well, so he didn’t expect the situation to take such a sharp turn in the blink of an eye. He was standing in place, stunned for a while, before he finally came back to his senses. Eyes filled with incomparable hatred, he turned towards Yang Kai, ground his teeth, and began incoherently muttering, “Why, why, why…”
Murderous thoughts towards Yang Kai filled his entire being before spilling over and enveloping their target.
Yang Kai also staggered. He used up all of his strength in that attack with the Mountains and Rivers Bell and was now just like a lamp running out of oil, even the Emperor Qi in his body was having difficulty circulating. When he saw Yang Tai’s Divine Sense locking onto him though, seemingly as if he was going to immediately lash out, Yang Kai quickly took a deep breath and squeezed out what little remaining power there was in his dantian and began to chant.
Yang Tai was startled and felt as if a bucket of cold water had doused all the anger in him, he even began to cower before Yang Kai, seemingly utterly terrified.
He had already eaten a loss from Yang Kai previously in the Illusion Array and knew the might of these strange Secret Techniques. They were just like his natural enemy, so he became instinctively afraid as soon as he heard the strange incantations again.
Only after falling back a few steps was Yang Tai able to find a sense of security.
Yang Kai also found the right moment to stop chanting. He was currently an arrow at the end of its flight and could no longer exert his power at will. If Yang Tai wasn’t going to move, then he couldn’t be bothered to strike first.
The current situation gave him a headache. There were seven Emperor Realm Masters here, and each one was weaker than the next. Yang Tai was currently in the best condition, so if he really steeled himself to kill, the only thing Yang Kai could do would be to hide in the Sealed World Bead with Hua Yu Lu. As for the others, whether they lived or died was no longer his business.
But Yang Tai was indeed extremely fearful of Yang Kai, and did not dare try anything with him again.
Suddenly, the crimson glow that once filled the cave began fading, catching Yang Tai’s attention. He turned towards the giant blood-coloured door and wailed, “No, this can’t be!”
Before, under the blood sacrifice that Gong Yue presided over, the glow surrounding the giant blood-coloured door was growing brighter and brighter. The ancient seal was even showing signs of opening; however, after the array was broken by Yang Kai, cutting off the blood sacrifice, the glow gradually turned dim, and the ancient barrier stabilized once more.
Yang Tai began to roar, and nobody knew what he thought of, but he suddenly turned around to glare viciously at one of the people in the room. Then, reaching out, he grabbed at him.
“Yang Tai, you dare?!” Wu Kuang Yi shouted angrily at him, but where would he still have the strength to resist? He was lifted up by Yang Tai as easily as lifting up a chicken.
In front of everyone’s eyes, Yang Tai struck Wu Kuang Yi’s body several times before throwing him towards the giant blood-coloured door.
Wu Kuang YI let out a pained scream, but that too came to a sudden halt.
When he hit the giant blood-coloured door, maybe due to the force of the impact, or maybe it was from the strikes Yang Tai delivered to his body, but Wu Kuang Yi suddenly burst into a mist of blood, leaving no bones behind, splashing a crimson mass onto the giant blood-coloured door.
Gradually, the dimming door regained a trace of light.
When they saw this, everyone was aghast. Wu Kuang Yi’s death caused their lips to go numb, and their teeth to go cold. None of them knew who Yang Tai was going to attack next.
“Not enough, not enough! This is far from enough!” But it was as if Yang Tai had gone insane. After killing Wu Kuang Yi with his own hands, there was only a vexed look on his face. He was constantly muttering under his breath as his eyes swept over the remaining people.
At the same time, a faint black Qi began appearing from his body. Naturally, it was the Demon Qi that Yang Kai was familiar with.
As the others instinctually averted their gazes at this sight, fearing that they would draw unwanted attention to themselves, Yang Kai stared at Yang Tai with cold eyes, sneering, “Give it up, Yang Tai. Your plan won’t work anymore. There’s no way you can break this seal now. You’re already completely transforming into a Demon, and your death isn’t even worth pitying!”
On the other side, Gong Yue, who had been wounded by Yang Kai, finally managed to gather himself and was staring dumbfounded at the Demon Qi surrounding Yang Tai. Lifting his finger, he pointed forward and haltingly stuttered with a trembling voice, “You, you…”
He finally saw the truth. With the trace of Demon Qi on Yang Tai’s body being so obvious, how could Gong Yue not understand now?
It was only at this point that he believed what Yang Kai said earlier.
Yang Tai had really been demonised, and if that was the case, then Yang Tai’s promise wasn’t worth a wooden coin anymore…
At that thought, Gong Yue’s heart felt ashen. He had risked everything in order to join Yang Tai in this villainous plot, but he never expected it to be a scam right from the beginning. He had no idea what Yang Tai’s aims were here, but he knew there were definitely no secrets to the Martial Dao that he was promised behind that door.
“Give up?” Yang Tai did not notice Gong Yue at all as he yelled hysterically, “My mission isn’t even complete yet, how could I possibly give up!?”
Yang Kai keenly grasped a clue and frowned, “Mission? Your mission is to break that seal? Is whatever behind that door giving you orders? Did it communicate with you?”
Yang Tai hurriedly shut his mouth, seemingly realizing that he had said too much. Sweeping his eyes across everyone present, he then sneered, “Wastes, nothing but wastes! Even if all your blood is sacrificed, it will still be far from enough!”
Truthfully, it would have been enough if Yang Kai had not interrupted the blood sacrifice; however, after it was interrupted, all progress was lost.
Yang Tai had gone completely crazy and he quickly spread his arms wide, as if to embrace the whole world, and for the first time, the Demon Qi around his body grew dense, dark, and turbulent. Just the sight alone was enough to send one trembling in fear. “Open your dog eyes wide and take a good look! The new era is coming! You are all ants before the coming tide!”
He shouted nonsensically before letting out a maniacal laugh and turning towards the giant blood-coloured door, running towards it.
Yang Kai’s eyes bulged as everyone else who was watching was dumbfounded by this scene. Nobody would have expected such a dramatic turn of events.
It seemed as if Yang Tai wanted to use his own body as a blood sacrifice to break the ancient seal.
Nobody tried to stop him. For one, it was Yang Tai’s malicious intentions that dragged everyone into this mess to begin with, so his death was indeed not worth pitying. Secondly, Wu Kuang Yi was just killed by Yang Tai and used as a blood sacrifice, however that wound up being mostly ineffective. Even if Yang Tai sacrificed himself now, it was likely no miracles would happen.
So, everyone just stood by and watched coldly.
As everyone watched on, Yang Tai smashed into the giant blood-coloured door.
He used all his strength to crash into the door and did not protect himself in the slightest, so it wasn’t hard to predict what would happen.
They heard a bang, and just like Wu Kuang Yi before him, Yang Tai exploded into a mist of blood.
But his blood and flesh didn’t splatter over the door like a messy paste; instead, it seemed to have its own life, slowly wriggling in mid-air and gradually coming back together.
Everyone who had just begun to feel relieved was instantly set on edge again. They had no idea what this situation entailed, but everyone’s hearts filled with a very bad feeling. Yang Kai’s perception was better than the others and he was able to feel wisps of Demon Essence coming from the mist of blood that Yang Tai had burst into. Naturally, it was a type of aura that made him very uncomfortable, as if he had returned to that ancient world and was facing the Masters of the Demon Realm once more.
In the blink of an eye, the cloud of blood gathered into a shape.
“This…” Gong Yue’s eyes widened.
“Demon Character!” Yang Kai gritted his teeth and shouted, his heart swelling with anxiety.
The shape that the bloody mist gathered into was none other than the Demon Character that Yang Tai revealed when he performed his Secret Technique earlier. Under a mysterious force, the bloody Demon Character was propelled forward and smashed against the door.
No one knew what kind of effect the Demon Character formed of Yang Tai’s physical essence through the blood sacrifice would have on the door, but since Yang Tai had done this, he must have been certain about its efficacy.
A light burst from the door that was so bright that they could hardly open their eyes, and just as everyone was blinded for a moment, they could hear a sudden creak.
Everyone jumped in fright, and by the time they realized what sound it was, all their faces were pale.
The giant blood-coloured door was opened!
Even though the blood sacrifice that had gone on for so long was interrupted by Yang Kai halfway through, Yang Tai’s final desperate struggle became the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
Whatever was hidden behind the door was going to be revealed at this moment.
Yang Kai focused his eyesight to its maximum and finally saw something. The giant blood-coloured door had indeed been opened, but only by a small crack. Many of the sealing patterns on the door still seemed to be effective, creating a force that was opposite from the Demon Character, preventing the door from opening.
At that moment, Yang Kai vaguely saw something fly out from the gap.
When the light dissipated and the door was shut once more, everything felt like it had just been an illusion after the dust settled.
Everyone was in shock and were all looking at each other.
But very quickly, someone noticed something was wrong.
“What… What is that?” Chen Bing Ru’s voice was trembling as she pointed at the object floating in front of the door.
The group turned to the direction she was pointing at, and they all looked shocked.
At some unknown time, a black light the size of a green bean had begun floating in front of the door. It was simply too small and wasn’t emitting any special aura, so nobody noticed it at first. Not to mention that the lighting here wasn’t very good, so Chen Bing Ru had also only noticed it by chance.
The black light didn’t seem to be a living thing at all and just floated there quietly without any strange behaviour.
But when Yang Kai swept his Divine Sense over it, his face changed and he shouted, “It’s a Demon Spirit! Everyone, guard your minds, don’t let it invade your Knowledge Sea or you’ll definitely be demonised!”
When they heard that, the faces of the group changed, but Yang Kai had just saved them from death’s door, so even though they didn’t understand everything, they still moved out of instinct. All of them closed off their Knowledge Seas and guarded their minds vigilantly.
“Brother Yang, this Demon Spirit… Is it the type of Demon Spirit that we’re familiar with?” Fang Zhuo asked.
The Demon Spirit that he mentioned was the mass of distracting thoughts that would appear in a cultivator’s mind on their path of cultivation. These were the thoughts that could affect their cultivation, such as greed, vanity, jealousy, hatred… All of these were Demon Spirits, and at times, they were able to cause dissonance in one’s cultivation.
Yang Kai shook his head and turned back to that small mass of black light. He couldn’t help but recall his experiences in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, “There is another Great World out there called the Demon Realm, and the beings that live there are called the Demon Race. Several times, they’ve tried to invade the Star Boundary, but they were forced to withdraw by the ancient warriors who killed off many of the Demon Race’s Masters. But the Demon Race had a very strange and special characteristic, their incredibly tenacious vitality. They were extremely difficult to kill, and even those ancient warriors were unable to destroy all of them completely. For that reason, they could only seal them. I have no idea what is sealed behind that giant blood-coloured door, but this Demon Spirit definitely escaped from behind it. In short, the Demon Spirits I speak of are Remnant Souls of Demon Race Masters.”
The thing they saw speeding out from behind the door was this black light.
When they heard this, everyone was stunned. It was the first time they’d heard about the Demon Realm. They were, at the very least, Emperor Realm Masters with exceptional skill in cultivation and vast amounts of experience, so while they wouldn’t dare say that they knew all the secrets of the world, at the very least, it was very rare for them to have not even heard of something.
But it was the first time they’d heard the words ‘Demon Realm’. They knew about the Demon Race of course, as there were some vague references in ancient books they’d seen, but those weren’t very detailed.
“Brother Yang means to say that there are Demons sealed behind this door?” Fang Zhuo asked with a frown.
“From how it seems, I’m afraid it is so.”
Chen Bing Ru asked, “This Ancient Cave Mansion has existed for tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years. Even if a Demon Race Master was truly sealed behind that door, there’s no way they would still be alive now, is there?”
Yang Kai answered, “That is why only a Demon Spirit appeared. The Demons sealed inside may be dead, but their Remnant Souls still exist.”
“It’s just a Remnant Soul… There’s no need to be so…” Chen Bing Ru squeezed out a smile, vaguely feeling that Yang Kai was making a big problem out of nothing. Regardless of whether a Demon was sealed behind that door or not, so much time had passed that a Remnant Soul likely wouldn’t be able to achieve much even if it showed up.
“What do you know?” Yang Kai shouted in anger at her.
Chen Bing Ru shut her mouth in embarrassment. Her cultivation was higher than Yang Kai’s, so if not for the fact that Yang Kai had just saved her life, she would probably be snapping back at him right now. Even so, she still didn’t take too kindly to being shouted down at by Yang Kai like this.
Yang Kai took a breath to moderate his mood and tone before continuing, “As long as the Demon Spirit is still around, we can not put down our guards, otherwise… Hm?”
As he was speaking, the black light which had not been moving this whole time suddenly flew up and rushed straight at him. It was not known whether it was intentional or by coincidence.
An extremely unsettling aura pulsed from within that small Demon Spirit, and as if flew towards Yang Kai, he could feel a burning sensation come from his right eye.
He immediately understood that it was not a coincidence that the Demon Spirit chose him; rather, its actions were driven by instinct.
His right eye was fused with the Ancient Demon’s Black Eye, which had the aura of an Ancient Demon. Since the Demon Spirit was the Remnant Soul of a Demon Race Master, it was only natural that it would be attracted to it.
Yang Kai coldly snorted and began chanting a Shamanic Spell, raising his hand and pointing it forward.
A burst of light shot out and swept across the black ball that was flying over to him. In an instant, the black light which was the size of a bean was thrown back like a falling leaf in a storm, seemingly being hit hard.
Yang Kai’s current state was like an arrow at the end of its flight, so the power he could exert at this moment was not great by any means; however, this Demon Spirit had been sealed for so long that as a Remnant Soul, it wasn’t very powerful. It immediately shrank in size the moment the Shamanic Spell hit it.
Seemingly sensing that Yang Kai was not easy prey, the black light shot off in another direction.
Its target was now Gong Yue.
Gong Yue was currently somewhat dazed. He had been deceived by Yang Tai and joined hands with him to try and kill several Emperor Realm Masters from the Southern Territory, but now, after Yang Tai used himself as a blood sacrifice, a Demon Spirit had come out from behind the door, proving that Yang Kai’s words were true.
The so-called ultimate secrets of the Martial Dao were not in there at all. Those lies were merely part of Yang Tai’s scheme.
Yang Tai wanted to release all the Demon Spirits sealed behind that door, and that was why he came to Gong Yue, to take advantage of his skills in the Dao of Spirit Arrays.
He was the former Patriarch of the Gong Family, and everything he did was going to reflect back on the Gong Family. After today, the Gong Family’s reputation would have been completely destroyed, putting it in a difficult situation.
When he realized this, Gong Yue’s heart turned to ashes and even after hearing the conversation Yang Kai and the others had about the Demon Spirit, he didn’t react too much to it.
It wasn’t until the Demon Spirit began flying over to him that Gong Yue finally moved. He raised his hand slightly, sending a solid palm print flying towards the approaching Demon Spirit.
Even though he was an Array Grandmaster, he still had Second-Order Emperor, so while his palm strike wasn’t enough to cause both Heaven and Earth to flip, it was still very strong. At the very least, it was several times stronger than the Shamanic Spell that Yang Kai cast earlier.
He thought this would be enough to sweep away the Demon Spirit, and even kill it.
But something unexpected happened.
The palm print passed right through the Demon Spirit, having no effect on it in the slightest.
“Watch out!” Yang Kai shouted. Even though Gong Yue was partly responsible for the current situation, he didn’t want Gong Yue’s mind to be corrupted after what he encountered in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld. That was why Yang Kai tried to warn him.
Gong Yue also focused himself quickly and brought out everything he had. He had been hurt by the Mountains and Rivers Bell, but under desperate conditions, he still exerted extraordinary strength, placing several layers of solid protection in front of him.
But the black light passed through his layers of protection as if they weren’t even there, piercing straight into his mind.
Everyone was stunned.
Gong Yue’s eyes also widened for a moment before he let out a shout, as if he was suffering great torment.
Yang Kai was a little dumbfounded. He couldn’t understand why such a thing happened no matter how he thought about it. He saw Gong Yue’s protection, and it was reasonable to say that it was sufficient to withstand the Demon Spirit’s erosion.
But in fact, it didn’t even seem half as useful as it should be.
[This doesn’t seem right…]
Just as Yang Kai was feeling puzzled, Gong Yue suddenly let out a roar and a raging aura escaped from the pores of his body. Both his hair and his beard danced wildly while his voice shook the cave and rustled the rocks.
The faces of everyone changed as they all watched Gong Yue nervously.
At this moment, nobody had much power left to resist, so if Gong Yue went berserk, then everyone would be in trouble.
Chen Bing Ru said in a trembling voice, “Brother Yang, he… Did he…”
“His mind is being invaded by the Demon Spirit. He’s going through demonification!” Yang Kai shouted through gritted teeth.
Yang Kai encountered many similar situations in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld. In the war between the two races, even if a Demon were to be killed, leaving behind only its Demon Spirit, they would still retain their ability to transform the Barbarian Race into Demons, forcing them to change sides. The aura and Remnant Soul of the Demon Race both had strong corrosive power.
“What should we do now?” Fang Zhuo also asked.
Before Yang Kai had time to speak, the roaring Gong Yue suddenly turned quiet. His head jerked up, revealing a pair of terrifyingly dark eyes without any whites.
“Old… Old Patriarch Gong!” Chen Bing Ru shouted in a trembling voice as if hoping to confirm the identity of the person before her.
But Gong Yue ignored her calls, cocked his head to the side, and observed Yang Kai, showing both a look of bewilderment and curiosity as if he had just woken up from a long dream, not understanding where he was or what he was doing.
Yang Kai held his breath and stayed on guard.
But Gong Yue did not strike him; instead, he just made an odd noise from his throat and began stumbling outside.
Chen Bing Ru, Fang Zhuo, and Hua Yu Lu quickly made way. They didn’t have a shred of fighting strength left in them right now and simply did not dare to obstruct his path.
Gong Yue’s mind had clearly been corroded by the Demon Spirit because he was behaving very differently from before. It was as if a new Soul had seized his body but had yet to fully integrate with it. Even the way it walked was not quite normal.
In the silence, Gong Yue’s footsteps sounded incomparably harsh as he gradually moved away.
After his footsteps could no longer be heard, Hua Yu Lu and the others let out a sigh of relief, as if they’d been saved from a disaster. After watching Gong Yue’s transformation with their own eyes, they no longer had any doubts about what Yang Kai told them earlier about Demon Spirits.
“Has Old Patriarch Gong been possessed?” Fang Zhuo turned to Yang Kai and asked.
If that really were the case, then that would be a big problem. After all, Gong Yue was the former Patriarch of the Gong Family, and he even had a Second-Order Emperor Realm cultivation. If someone like that was allowed to roam freely, there was no saying what sorts of danger he could bring to the Southern Territory.
“I have no idea, but it may be even more serious than that!” Yang Kai looked grim. The only thing he could be sure of now was that Gong Yue had gone through demonification, but there was one thing he couldn’t understand. Even if Gong Yue’s mind was disturbed, he shouldn’t have been invaded so easily by the Demon Spirit. How could he have failed to even temporarily resist it?
Yang Kai couldn’t find a reasonable explanation for what he saw just now with his own eyes.
But then a thought suddenly struck Yang Kai and he shouted, “The Demon Character!”
“What?” Hua Yu Lu turned to look at him.
“That Demon Character!” With a grave expression, Yang Kai looked at the group, “How much of it did you all see?”
Hua Yu Lu frowned slightly before replying, “If you are referring to the Secret Technique that Yang Tai performed earlier, I didn’t see it very clearly.”
Yang Kai looked at the three others and quickly said, “Regardless of how much you saw, you’d best find a way to erase it from your memory. Yang Tai’s demonification and Gong Yue’s corrosion may be related to it.”
“What do you mean?” Fang Zhuo asked curiously. He had deliberately observed Yang Tai when he performed that Secret Technique, so he saw a little more than Hua Yu Lu, so with how serious Yang Kai was putting the matter, he didn’t dare to take it lightly.
Chen Bing Ru also cast a curious gaze at him.
Yang Kai explained, “Yang Tai had already gone through demonification when we came here despite having never had the chance to make contact with that Demon Spirit. There’s a good possibility that this is related to the Ancient Demon Character that he learned. In order to convince Gong Yue, he must have also presented the power of that character to him, and Gong Yue may have studied it during that time. So… Some Demon Essence should also have formed inside of him. That is the reason why he was willing to risk everything to work with Yang Tai to entrap us. Yes, that must be it. Otherwise, how could Gong Yue, as the former Patriarch of the Gong Family, make such a foolish and reckless decision? He must have already been subtly influenced by the Demon Essence hidden inside his body and was no longer thinking rationally. The reason why the Demon Spirit invaded his mind so easily was not because Gong Yue’s protection was ineffective, but because the Demon Essence inside of him was attracting the Demon Spirit, forcing him to give up his resistance unwittingly!”
Half of what Yang Kai said was merely speculation, but the more he spoke, the more that he felt that his guess was correct.
The root of everything was that Ancient Demon Character.
Half a year ago, Hua Yu Lu, Yang Tai, and Wu Kuang Yi discovered this Ancient Cave Mansion. All three of them gained different benefits, but the Ancient Demon Character that Yang Tai learned had been a trap all along. It was a piece of bait set up to entice him into opening the seal and releasing the Demon Spirits behind it.
Anyone who learned that Ancient Demon Character would have made the same choice as Yang Tai.
It was through the true meaning of that Demon Character that Yang Tai was able to establish an inexplicable connection with the Demon Spirit behind that door, and that was how he found out what was inside, and why opening the seal had become his sole mission in life!
Hua Yu Lu’s face turned more and more pale as she listened, her tender body shivering somewhat uncontrollably.
She felt lucky that she had only gotten the Small Flower Drum last time. If she had also studied that Ancient Demon Character like Yang Tai, she would likely have met the same fate as him.
Chen Bing Ru asked uneasily, “Is it possible that we’ll also go through demonification like Yang Tai?”
She also saw the Ancient Demon Character after all.
Yang Kai shook his head, “The true meaning of that Demon Character isn’t so easy to grasp. Yang Tai must have studied it for quite some time to become influenced by it. It shouldn’t matter if you only saw a glimpse of it, but I would advise you to forget about it completely. Nobody knows what sort of dangerous effects that Demon Character may have.”
Everyone else nodded; then, after exchanging glances, they sent their Soul Avatars into their Knowledge Seas, found the memories regarding the Demon Character, and destroyed them.
This way, they would forget what that character looked like, and only remember its existence. Destroying such memories themselves would cause some damage to their Soul, but compared to the risk of going through demonification, it was an acceptable injury.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai was contemplating what to do next.
Only after everyone opened their eyes weakly did Yang Kai say, “There should be more than one Demon Spirit behind this door, perhaps many more. Right now, there are two matters we need to see to!”
Hearing Yang Kai say that there may be more Demon Spirits behind that door, everyone jumped in fright, but thinking about it carefully, it really did seem possible.
That was because the seal of the giant blood-coloured door was not fully broken. Yang Tai’s blood sacrifice was only able to open it by a crack, allowing a single Demon Spirit to escape. This seal was laid down by great Masters from ancient times, and since it was able to close itself again, it meant that there were still other hidden dangers inside.
“What two matters?” Fang Zhuo asked. After the mess that just happened, Yang Kai had unconsciously become the leader of the group, and they had no objection to his decisions.
“The first thing we have to do is to find someone to secure the sealing Spirit Array here just in case someone else accidentally stumbles in and tries to break it again.” Yang Kai raised a finger, “This is a matter concerning the entire Southern Territory, and possibly even the entire Star Boundary. For that reason, we must inform the top Sects and get them to collaborate to find a solution for this problem. En, the Gong Family should also make up for their mistakes. They are good candidates for this job as well.”
Gong Yue made a grave mistake, and he was the one who broke the seal. Repairing the seal should be the Heavenly River Valley’s Gong Family’s responsibility. Not to mention that even without what Gong Yue had done, the Gong Family was still the best choice for this job. In the Southern Territory, other than the Array Grandmasters of the top Sects, they were the ones who knew the most about Spirit Arrays.
Fang Zhuo and the others all nodded in agreement at Yang Kai’s words. Even though exploring the Ancient Cave Mansion was their business, the consequences that came out of it were beyond their ability to bear alone.
Even Gong Yue, who was a Second-Order Emperor, couldn’t resist the Demon Spirit’s encroachment. Chaos was bound to break out in the Southern Territory if things were left as they were, and when that time came, they may become the greatest sinners in history.
“That’s why I need someone to go to the Heavenly River Valley’s Gong Family. Tell them what happened here, and make sure they have their guard up against Gong Yue. If Gong Yue returns to Heavenly River Valley… He may not be that foolish, but it’s still better to take precautions.”
“I’ll go.” Hua Yu Lu volunteered.
Even though her cultivation wasn’t very high, she was at the very least the Palace Master of Hundred Flowers Palace, so her words would surely carry some weight. If she was the one who went to inform the Gong Family, then the Gong Family was sure to take it seriously.
“The three of you should go together!” Yang Kai said seriously.
After some thought, the three of them nodded in unison.
They had no idea where Gong Yue was right now, and there was no saying that he was not outside, waiting for them to throw themselves into his net. If the three of them joined hands though, then they would at least have some power to protect themselves.
“Then who will inform the top Sects?” Fang Zhuo asked. Without the help of those hegemons, nothing was going to happen. Even if they managed to get the Gong Family to come, they may try to cover up this matter, so they had to find a way to contact the Masters of those great forces.
Yang Kai paused for a moment before he spoke, “Allow me to introduce myself again!”
As he said that, he reached up to wipe his face, revealing his original appearance. His face was as pale as a sheet of paper with hardly any rosiness.
“My name is Yang Kai!”
“Yang Kai!” Chen Bing Ru furrowed her brow as she asked with some surprise and suspicion, “I heard that Azure Sun Temple recently conferred a new High-Rank Guest Elder title…”
“It was this Yang,” Yang Kai nodded.
Chen Bing Ru and Fang Zhuo were immediately awed and cupped their fists respectfully, “So it is Elder Yang. We have truly been impolite.”
It was only at this moment that they no longer dared to underestimate Yang Kai. For someone who could become an Elder of a top Sect in the Southern Territory, even if he was ‘just’ a High-Rank Guest Elder, he definitely wasn’t someone who would stand around waiting for things to get done. What’s more, there were rumors going around that Yang Kai had exchanged blows with one of Star Soul Palace’s Elders during that Grand Canonization Ceremony.
Star Soul Palace Elders were peak Masters in the Third-Order Emperor Realm, not an opponent one could casually challenge.
It was only at this point that they realized why Yang Kai’s performance had been so astonishing despite his aura feeling so weak. It turns out he was an Elder of the Azure Sun Temple.
“I will inform the top Sects. I have my own methods of contacting the temple, and they will naturally spread the word to the other Sects once the news reaches them.”
Naturally, the three of them had no objections after hearing this.
“What about the second issue?” Hua Yu Lu asked.
“As for the second issue… Let’s wait until everything is settled here before we work on that. Until then, I will stay here to watch over the seal, just in case Gong Yue decides to come back.”
“Brother Yang’s plans are well made,” Fang Zhuo agreed.
Gong Yue had already gone through demonification, so who knows whether he would come back to try to destroy the seal. The seal on the giant blood-coloured door was old to begin with, and had been damaged by Gong Yue earlier. If he kept at it, he may really be able to break it. For that reason, Yang Kai wanted to stay here as a precaution.
Yang Kai had to be the one to do this too, as only he had such ability.
After some simple discussion, everyone quickly began adjusting their breathing to recuperate.
Even though Hua Yu Lu and the others were not injured, the blood sacrifice they were forced into by the Six Points One Centre Array drained a lot of their energy. They had to recover for a short while before leaving for Heavenly River Valley. Everyone here was an Emperor Realm Master though, so they had brought some precious Spirit Pills for emergencies. Now wasn’t the time to be stingy either, so they all took out their pills and swallowed them without hesitation.
Half a day later, Hua Yu Lu and the others were barely able to restore sixty percent of their strength, but they did not dare to delay further. After bidding farewell to Yang Kai, they all went back the way they came, preparing to leave this Ancient Cave Mansion together.
In just a moment, Yang Kai was the only one left inside the rock cave. The cave was so quiet that even the sound of his breathing was audible. The only other sound present was that of water dripping from the stalactites. This trip to the Ancient Cave Mansion was not as risky as it seemed, but thinking back to the dangerous parts still made Yang Kai’s heart palpitate.
Seven people came, but only four were left alive. Wu Kuang Yi had been used as a blood sacrifice by Yang Tai, the latter sacrificed his own life, and Gong Yue’s mind was invaded by a Demon Spirit. Meanwhile, the remaining four people were exhausted and could even be described as battered.
Now, there was finally a chance to recover, so Yang Kai naturally made use of every last breath of it.
With that, a day passed before he opened his eyes again to check on his current state. Only after verifying his condition did he take out his Jade Elder Token.
This was the token that Wen Zi Shan gave him at the Grand Canonization Ceremony and it not only represented his identity as an Azure Sun Temple Elder, but also had many other useful functions.
Pushing his Emperor Qi, the jade token hovered in the air in front of Yang Kai, and after weaving a few hand seals, the jade token responded with a faint hum. One by one, hidden messages were transmitted through the jade token towards Azure Sun Temple.
This wasn’t a perfect method of communication, since nothing too complicated could be transmitted this way. Moreover, it was limited by distance and could only be used within the same territory; however, it was the only method of long-distance communication available in the Star Boundary now. All big Sects used similar methods to stay in contact.
After finishing this, Yang Kai put away the jade token. He believed that the Azure Sun Temple should have gotten the message, and it wouldn’t be long before someone was sent over to investigate.
He then continued to meditate to recover his energy.
More than ten days passed and everything went by smoothly. Yang Kai’s injuries also gradually improved, and the injury he sustained to his Soul was also slowly recovering. With a bit more time, he felt that he should be able to recover to his peak shape.
But he didn’t let his guard down for a moment. He constantly kept a part of his awareness on the giant blood-coloured door, and even the slightest breeze would not escape his senses.
On that day, a wonderful feeling suddenly welled up within Yang Kai while he was meditating, as if he was gaining some insight into the Martial Dao. He was immediately delighted as this feeling had come inexplicably and without any warning, but was a rare opportunity for any cultivator. So, Yang Kai immediately immersed his mind into it, trying to chase after that deeper insight.
That unexplainable feeling grew clearer and clearer, just like a delicious dish placed right in front of him that was almost within reach, but was separated from him by an invisible barrier, only permitting him to smell the fragrance but not taste it.
However, Yang Kai was in no hurry and simply took things step by step, slowly breaking through the obstacle in front of him.
He had the feeling that if he really managed to comprehend this insight, then he would definitely be able to advance to the Second-Order Emperor Realm.
He had broken through to the Emperor Realm in the Shattered Star Sea, and even though that hadn’t been that long ago, and it would normally be impossible for him to break through again so quickly, with the rich experiences he had gone through these past few days as well as his two years inside the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, he had long gathered enough capital in order to reach the Second-Order Realm. All he needed was an opportunity.
Right now, the opportunity was right in front of his eyes, so he naturally needed to seize it properly.
Time passed slowly and Yang Kai soon became deluded, unaware of how long he had been in this state. It seemed like only a moment had passed, but at the same time like years had gone by. Finally, at a certain moment, when he felt the obstruction clear up, a whole new world appeared before his eyes.
All kinds of wonderful sensations flooded into his mind from places he’d never known about, giving him an illusion of omnipotence. Yang Kai couldn’t help but want to immerse himself deeper into this feeling, to swim in it, and to peek into the mystery of the Martial Dao’s peak.
At that moment, Yang Kai felt as if he had stepped into a strange new world, like he was standing in the Starry Sky with brilliant points of luminescence shining all around him. Each star was an elusive domain, filled with the Martial Dao’s mysteries. They were his stepping stones towards the ultimate Martial Dao, and it was right within his reach. As long as he harvested these stars, he would be able to achieve greatness that shocked history and amazed the present.
Yang Kai slowly reached out towards the stars.
All of a sudden, a fire broke out within the Starry Sky, drawing a frown from Yang Kai.
But as soon as he laid his eyes on this flame, an extremely hot feeling took over him as if he was being cooked right on top of those fires. The burning feeling became more and more intense, so violent that Yang Kai was almost unable to bear it.
It was at that moment that he felt a sense of coolness as if a pot of cold water had doused his head. It woke Yang Kai up and it made him feel extremely comfortable.
These great fluctuations inside his mind alerted him and he immediately collected his senses and broke out of his deep trance.
A thought flashed through his mind at that moment, and he instantly understood what had just happened to him. That wasn’t an epiphany, it was a trap, a trap from the Demon Spirits behind that giant blood-coloured door! Everything he saw before was merely an illusion!
Not daring to hesitate, he quickly let out a fierce roar.
The stars before him shook violently, all of them glowing in unison before gathering towards a certain spot. In an instant, they came together to form a set of large radiant characters! Those characters were very different from the characters used in today’s Star Boundary and were extremely complicated, but also seemed to contain great mysteries.
“Demon Characters!” Yang Kai was shocked. He didn’t think he would be caught despite being so careful. He looked away, but as if they had their own sentience, the characters emitted an even more piercing light that constantly tried to drill into Yang Kai’s mind, attempting to burn their essence and meaning into his Soul.
At this critical moment, Yang Kai’s mind calmed down like never before and a layer of seven coloured light burst out from his body, enveloping him like a seven coloured robe.
The light from the Demon Characters was blocked off by the seven coloured robe.
Yang Kai sneered and slowly withdrew from the illusion, returning his consciousness to his physical body.
It went surprisingly smoothly and he didn’t meet any obstructions. Or perhaps, the Demon Spirit had no ability to hinder him.
When he opened his eyes, Yang Kai saw a new light in the dark cave. Glancing over, Yang Kai discovered that the giant blood-coloured door was now glowing. However, after he returned to his senses, the light gradually dimmed again before disappearing without a trace.
Yang Kai felt a chill run down his back.
His right eye felt like it was burning, but his mind felt as cool as a bucket of ice water. It was this alternating hot and cold sensation that woke him up and freed him from the grasp of those Demon Characters.
Yang Kai had no idea whether those Demon Characters were the ones that Yang Tai had been exposed to because he hadn’t seen them clearly, and the protection of the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus had blocked off their true meaning, not allowing them to invade his mind at all.
Obviously, the reason why Yang Tai was able to learn the true meaning of those Ancient Demon Characters and possess Demon Essence inside his body was due to the fact that he wasn’t as fortunate as Yang Kai. Yang Tai may have encountered something similar when he first came here, but without a Supreme Treasure like the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus to protect him. So, when Yang Tai learned the true meaning of the Demon Characters, he thought that he had caught onto an opportunity to grasp the Martial Dao’s mysteries, having no idea it was all just a clever bait to lure him into a trap that set in motion a chain of events that ended in a series of tragedies.
To be honest, this encounter was an eye-opener for Yang Kai. In the two years he spent fighting the Demon Race in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld, he had never encountered a Demon Race with such a strange ability to silently infiltrate his mind and slowly corrupt his Soul. This was simply the first time he had encountered such a tactic.
This was not an attack, but rather a kind of subversion. The victim would think they had chanced upon a Heaven-sent opportunity, but the more they tried to grasp it, the more they would be corrupted, eventually reaching a point where they could no longer turn back.
After this episode, Yang Kai confirmed that the seal on the giant blood-coloured door was indeed damaged and had to be repaired and reinforced. Otherwise, if someone were to find this place again, they might break the seal and let out the Demon Spirits behind the door.
Yang Kai was even more cautious in the following days. No matter what he did, he would always divert a part of his attention to watch the giant blood-coloured door’s changes while at the same time preventing the Demon Spirits from setting any traps for him.
But after one failed attempt, the Demon Spirits behind the door seemed to have realized how difficult Yang Kai was to influence, and nothing unusual happened after that.
Yang Kai’s injuries improved day by day until he finally recovered fully.
After one full month, the Masters of the Southern Territory’s top Sects finally arrived.
After he received a response from the Jade Elder Token, Yang Kai quickly left the cave mansion and went to the stone forest on the surface to meet with them.
At this time, the large island was surrounded by poison mist and was blocked on all sides. It wasn’t time for the Monster Beasts who could merge together to feed yet; however, after receiving Yang Kai’s message, the Masters of the top Sects decided to break through by force to meet up with him as soon as possible.
Yang Kai had no idea how they were planning to accomplish this, but as he stood outside the stone forest, he could hear distinct rumblings from beyond the poison mist. Then, a profound light shot out from the colourful fog. As if it were riding on winds of fire, it broke through the toxic barrier and landed on the large island.
One by one, powerful auras spread out, and when the light dispersed, the figures of more than twenty people were revealed.
Yang Kai looked around and found a few old acquaintances.
With Star Soul Palace’s Elder, Xiao Yu Yang, standing at the forefront, Azure Sun Temple’s Gao Xue Ting, Heavenly Martial Holy Land’s Chen Wen Hao, and Orthodoxy Temple’s Feng Ming were gathered here. Out of them, other than Xiao Yu Yang who was in the Third-Order Emperor Realm, the other three were Second-Order Emperors.
Yang Kai was still in Maplewood City the first time he met these people. During that time, Gao Xue Ting and the others who were still First-Order Emperors, were towering existences to him.
Over the years, Gao Xue Ting advanced from the First-Order Emperor Realm to the Second-Order, so it was only natural that Chen Wen Hao and Feng Ming didn’t fall far behind. They also seemed to have caught up to her cultivation in recent years.
In addition, there was a middle-aged man with a stately appearance. He was wearing a jade belt and a brocade robe, giving off an extraordinary aura. He seemed to be someone in a leading position and with high status, and he had a First-Order Emperor Realm cultivation.
Behind that man stood ten to twenty other cultivators who were all dressed in similar robes. Most of their cultivations were Emperor or Dao Source Realm. Yang Kai could vaguely tell where they were from with just a glance, because he saw a familiar face among them.
Gong Wen Shan!
Yang Kai did not know him well and had only crossed paths with him once in the Four Seasons Realm, but he remembered him for his boldness, even daring to provoke Heavenly Martial Holy Land’s Wu Chang, and remaining unscathed even after being chased down by the latter for many days.
Since Gong Wen Shan was here, then it was clear where this largest group came from.
The Heavenly River Valley’s Gong Family! The First-Order Emperor Realm middle-aged man standing at the front should be the current Gong Family Patriarch, Gong Zhen.
He was the best Array Master in the Southern Territory, and his reputation was no less than Nanmen Da Jun’s in the Northern Territory. It may even be higher in some ways, as Gong Zhen was the head of a family while Nanmen Da Jun was just a solitary man.
Xiao Yu Yang was holding a shuttle-shaped artifact that was glowing radiantly. It was of extraordinary quality and it was clearly with this artifact that he broke through the poison mist with this group. Yang Kai had also learned of the might of the poison mist before this, so how powerful would an artifact be if it was able to break through it with ease?
“Elder Xiao, Elder Chen, Elder Feng…” Yang Kai cupped his fists and greeted all of them. He couldn’t help but feel a little nostalgic. To think he had to maintain respect with these Masters back then and address them as his seniors, but now he could stand on equal footing with them.
The last one he greeted was Gao Xue Ting, who gave him a light nod. They were all one family, so there was no need for them to be so polite with each other.
“You really do… cause trouble everywhere you go,” Xiao Yu Yang had a helpless smile on his face when he saw Yang Kai again, as if the sight of him gave him a headache.
After all, Yang Kai hadn’t left Star Soul Palace for that long. Even in Star Soul Palace, trouble broke out in the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda. Xiao Yu Yang and the other Elders suspected that Yang Kai had something to do with it, but since the Great Emperor didn’t say anything, they couldn’t pursue the matter either. In any case, the damage to the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda wasn’t too serious, so they just let the issue drop.
“I’m innocent,” Yang Kai insisted with a straight face. “I’m only here under someone else’s request. Encountering this matter is also… by pure chance.”
“I’m not blaming you,” Xiao Yu Yang waved his hand and his face turned serious, “We heard what happened from Hua Yu Lu and the others, and we all know this matter has nothing to do with you. In fact, we should be thanking you for sparing the Southern Territory from a disaster.”
Yang Kai responded earnestly, “I am also a cultivator from the Southern Territory, so it’s my duty to help whenever a situation arises.”
*Chi…*
Gao Xue Ting sneered at the side. She was obviously thinking about Yang Kai’s identity as High Heaven Palace’s Palace Master in the Northern Territory. She had been brooding over that fact and felt that Yang Kai shouldn’t have founded a Sect in the Northern Territory. He should have just stayed as an Elder in the temple.
Yang Kai pretended not to notice this of course and continued talking with Xiao Yu Yang, “Elder Xiao, since you brought everyone here, what are your plans?”
Xiao Yu Yang told him, “Just as you’re thinking, we’re going to repair and strengthen the seal. In addition, we’re classifying this place as a Restricted Area. No one will be allowed to enter or exit this cave mansion.”
Yang Kai stroked his chin, “That’s a good idea, but there are always curious people in this world who aren’t afraid of losing their lives. The more the place is restricted, the more they’ll want to break into it, as if they’re complaining that they’ve been alive too long…”
Xiao Yu Yang smiled, “That’s why we’ll need to borrow the power of Patriarch Gong.” He pointed to the middle-aged man beside him, “Once that seal is reinforced, this entire island is going to be enveloped by a concealment and barrier Spirit Array. Ordinary people wouldn’t be able to find their way in even if they’re curious.”
“That would be for the best.” Yang Kai turned to the middle-aged man and cupped his fists. “Greetings, Patriarch Gong.”
Gong Zhen returned the greeting with a complicated look on his face, “Elder Yang is too polite. This Gong has long heard of Elder Yang’s name. Sure enough, meeting you today, this Gong can tell that Elder Yang is truly a dragon among men.”
Yang Kai smiled in response, “Patriarch Gong flatters me.”
Gong Zhen continued, “My Family’s Ancestor has caused you trouble, so this Gong hereby apologizes to Elder Yang on behalf of the Gong Family.”
Yang Kai shook his head, “No need to apologize. Patriarch Gong needs only reinforce the seal.”
Gong Zhen nodded lightly, “Even though I have already heard what happened from Palace Master Hua, I still wish to hear it from Elder Yang again, if I may request it.”
The reputation of the Gong Family’s former patriarch was at stake here, so he had to ask for confirmation just in case.
“Naturally.” Yang Kai gestured with his hand, “Let’s talk on the way. The seal is still deeper inside.”
The group followed Yang Kai down, and while they walked, Yang Kai told everyone what happened that day in full detail. At his cultivation, recalling even minor details from a month ago was definitely no problem. Yang Kai spoke quickly, but thoroughly and in complete detail, including all the barriers they encountered on the way, and what sort of reactions the group had to them.
Everyone just listened without asking any questions.
But when Yang Kai mentioned the Demon Characters, the minds of the Emperor Realm Masters clearly shook.
Quite apparently, even they felt that such a tactic was unimaginable. To think an obscure ancient character that contained some sort of true meaning would actually be able to form Demon Essence in a person, even manipulating them into believing their mission in life was to break the seal on the giant blood-coloured door. However, what Yang Tai did clearly proved this matter to be true.
Soon, they arrived at the underground rock cave. Yang Kai waved his hand and cast a Shamanic Spell to illuminate the rock cave before pointing to the front, “That is the door sealing the Demon Spirits.”
Everyone exchanged astonished glances before looking forward.
Yang Tai and Wu Kuang Yi died in front of that door, and the blood and flesh left behind hadn’t been cleaned up yet. It wasn’t Yang Kai being lazy, but him acting on purpose. Only, what everyone else saw now was only dried up body parts on the ground with no traces of any blood.
All the blood had already been absorbed by the door.
“Another thing I must warn everyone about is that when I was meditating here, the Demon Spirit inside the door tried to burn the true meaning of the Demon Characters into my mind. Fortunately, I noticed it early enough and managed to protect myself in time. Otherwise, I’m afraid I would have ended up in the same situation as Yang Tai.”
They were all shocked to hear his words.
Gao Xue Ting quickly asked, “Are you sure you’re fine?” There was a worried and nervous look in her beautiful eyes, showing her overwhelming concern.
“I’m certain,” Yang Kai responded earnestly.
Xiao Yu Yang had a serious expression on his face, “In that case, your previous speculations are undoubtedly correct. There was not only a single Demon Spirit behind this door. I’m afraid there’s likely many more.”
Yang Kai shrugged, “Whether there are or not, this place needs to be sealed up completely.”
“That’s what we’re here for.” Xiao Yu Yang turned to Gong Zhen, “We’ll have to trouble Patriarch Gong for this part.”
Gong Zhen cupped his fists, “It is the Gong Family’s duty-bound responsibility.”
As he spoke, he flew leisurely to the giant door and used his Divine Sense to check the seal’s condition.
Xiao Yu Yang and the others maintained a high level of alertness, ready to take on any unexpected danger.
After a moment, Gong Zhen said, “The situation is not too bad. Even though the seal is old, the ancient Masters must have planned for the worst, so a self-repairing Spirit Array was added. As long as we reinforce it carefully, it should not have any problems.”
Hearing him say so, everyone relaxed.
Gong Zhen continued, “I need a few days to come up with a plan. In the meantime, I must entrust everyone to stand guard.”
Xiao Yu Yang said, “Rest assured, Patriarch Gong. I will be staying here.”
Gong Zhen gently nodded before finding a clean spot to sit down cross-legged. Then, he took out many strange objects from his Space Ring, seemingly getting to work.
Xiao Yu Yang then turned to Yang Kai, “Gong Yue’s mind being invaded by the Demon Spirit and him running away after the demonification is a troublesome matter that has to be resolved thoroughly. Otherwise, countless consequences will haunt us. Do you have any good ideas on how to deal with this?”
Yang Kai grinned, “I can track his location.”
Xiao Yu Yang’s eyes lit up, “Sure enough, it was right for us to seek you out first. Seems like you’re well-prepared.”
Yang Kai responded, “I can only hope he hasn’t noticed it yet.”
As early as when Gong Yue went through demonification and left, Yang Kai had already made plans and secretly left a hidden mark on his body. Gong Yue’s consciousness was still blurry during that moment so he couldn’t have noticed, allowing Yang Kai to act with ease.
At that time, Yang Kai told Hua Yu Lu and the others that there were two matters they had to deal with, and the second matter was to hunt down Gong Yue and eliminate him!
But those three did not have that ability, so Yang Kai didn’t tell them. He could only wait for the Masters from the top Sects to arrive.
“I must stay to watch over matters here, so I’ll leave Gong Yue’s matters to you all,” Xiao Yu Yang said to the other Second-Order Emperor Realm Masters.
Chen Wen Hao nodded, “Rest assured, Elder Xiao. We won’t disappoint you.”
They came together firstly to see the seal on the giant blood-coloured door, and secondly to pursue Gong Yue. They originally intended to get some clues from Yang Kai to begin their search, but they didn’t expect him to actually be able to track Gong Yue’s location, which definitely made things easier.
With three Second-Order Emperor Realm Masters combining their strength, it would be impossible for Gong Yue to match them even if they had the same level of cultivation. Not to mention, Yang Kai had also recovered back to his peak condition, and he alone would be enough to deal with Gong Yue.
“We should not delay things. Go now,” Xiao Yu Yang instructed.
It had been more than a month since the incident, and nobody knew where Gong Yue had gone. If they delayed matters too long, then the mark left behind by Yang Kai may possibly lose its effectiveness or even be discovered.
Without saying anything more, they turned and left.
Gong Zhen, who was working up a plan to the side, suddenly said, “If possible, I hope that you can bring back the old Patriarch’s body.”
He did not ask them to spare Gong Yue’s life because he knew that the latter’s mind had already been invaded by a Demon Spirit. Even if they spared him, he would no longer be Gong Yue. The old Patriarch showed a lifetime of wisdom, but his reputation ended up being destroyed in his old age, even involving the Gong Family in it. Gong Zhen couldn’t help but sigh while thinking so.
It was a bright day. Under the cloudless azure dome of a sky, a streak of light was flying forward. Naturally, it was the light from a flight type artifact. Only, the speed was so fast that it was simply impossible for the ordinary populous to notice.
This artifact was Yang Kai’s Flowing Clouds Shuttle, a flight type Emperor Artifact refined by Hou Yu that performed excellently. Even though its interior was small, fitting four people was no problem.
Yang Kai released the control restrictions so the group of four could take turns controlling it and travelling at full speed towards the fading mark Yang Kai set to track Gong Yue.
Gong Yue was much more difficult to deal with than he had anticipated. The four Emperors had left the Ancient Cave Mansion a month ago, but they still hadn’t caught a single glimpse of him. Worse, Yang Kai’s ability to sense the mark was growing weaker and weaker as time went on. If this continued to drag, then they might really lose Gong Yue’s trail.
This made Yang Kai very anxious. At one point, he suddenly opened his eyes.
Gao Xue Ting, who was controlling the Flowing Clouds Shuttle, seemed to have noticed and turned to him, “It cut off again?”
Yang Kai gently nodded, revealing a helpless expression. For the first half of the month, his connection with the mark, while weak, was at least constant. But during the latter half, the connection would somehow be interrupted from time to time, making him lose track of Gong Yue’s direction.
Even though Gong Yue’s consciousness had been in a chaotic state and he did not detect what Yang Kai did at the time, Yang Kai didn’t dare to be too careless. So, the mark he left on him was not too strong. There was no way for him to sense it if it was too far away; however, thanks to his comprehension of Space Principles, he had managed to persist until now.
“Do you think Gong Yue noticed anything? In the end, he’s still a Second-Order Emperor.” Gao Xue Ting asked with a frown.
Yang Kai responded, “Whether he noticed or not, we should all be thankful he didn’t take advantage of the situation to cause trouble.”
Even though Gong Yue had escaped for two months, he hadn’t done anything to harm anyone else yet. He just kept on going in circles, seemingly looking for something, or perhaps hiding from someone.
No one knew whether Gong Yue was acting on instinct, if he had managed to restore his consciousness, or if his mind was completely taken over by the Demon Spirit.
Nobody knew his current condition, and they would only be able to tell when they saw him face-to-face.
Feng Ming coldly snorted, “Since he has already gone through demonification, though this world is big, there’s nowhere for him to hide. We’ll find him eventually.”
Chen Wen Hao suddenly said, “Do you two still remember the incident in Maplewood City?”
Upon hearing this, both Gao Xue Ting and Feng Ming nodded, “Naturally.”
Chen Wen Hao sighed, “After that incident, this Chen went back to the Holy Land specifically to check through many ancient books, and it turns out that these situations were extremely rare in ancient history. However, they seem to be happening more and more frequently in recent years.”
“So?” Feng Ming wondered why he suddenly brought this up.
“It seems the Demons are stirring,” Chen Wen Hao said in a solemn voice. “Similar situations have happened in the past, and despite there only being vague records, every time they did, it was always a bad sign.”
The other three were slightly stunned by his words.
Feng Ming chuckled, “Even if that’s true, it’s not up to us to worry about it. If the sky falls, those above us will be there to hold it up.”
Gao Xue Ting and Chen Wen Hao had no opinion about his carefree attitude.
Feng Ming changed the topic as he stroked his chin, “By the way, this Old Master is quite curious. What will Gong Yue look like after demonification? Will it be similar to those guys the three of us encountered outside of Maplewood City back then?”
“Back then? There were many suspicious things about what happened back then.” Chen Wen Hao frowned.
Gao Xue Ting nodded in agreement. Back then, the three of them entered into a great battle with a Demon Lord, and as a result, they were inexplicably dragged into a pitch-black environment. By the time they restored their sight, their enemy had disappeared without a trace. They were unharmed, but it was as if the Demon let them off intentionally.
None of them could say for certain what really happened during that time, so the three of them returned to their Sects after carefully examining themselves to make sure they had no issues. Even so, after all these years, memories of that event were still fresh in their minds.
Hearing them mention what happened during that time, Yang Kai silently shut his eyes and tried to track down Gong Yue’s traces while controlling the Flowing Clouds Shuttle.
After another day, Yang Kai suddenly opened his eyes and shouted, “I found him!”
“Where?” Gao Xue Ting and the others opened their eyes at the same time and asked.
Yang Kai pointed in a certain direction, “Three thousand kilometres that way.”
Feng Ming’s eyes lit up at his words, “That close? Let’s see where he can run now!”
For ordinary mortals, three thousand kilometres may be too far to walk even over the course of a lifetime. However, for an Emperor Realm Master, three thousand kilometres was just barely out of arm’s reach.
The group had been tracking Gong Yue for a month, and they had never been this close to him, so when they heard this news, they were all excited.
In just a short while, the Flowing Clouds Shuttle arrived at that place.
The Flowing Clouds Shuttle stopped, and four figures were revealed in the air. They did not try to hide their auras, so the Emperor Pressure that was as vast as the sea filled the void, causing even the ground below to shake.
This was a small mountain peak that was only a thousand metres high. A pavilion stood at the top of it, and even though the scenery was not bad here, the World Energy was not very rich.
Yang Kai swept a glance around and understood that the Earth Vein here wasn’t good, making it impossible for Sects and families with any kind of heritage to pay attention to it. Only those who had no background and cultivated alone would choose to stay here.
But looking at the situation on that peak, it seemed there was actually a small Sect here.
There were about fifty to sixty people gathered there, but the strongest among them only gave off the aura of the Origin King Realm. A small Sect such as this was nothing to look at in the Southern Territory.
This place was very remote, so rarely would any Masters come here.
The strongest cultivator in this small Sect’s disciples was a Third-Order Origin King, so for Yang Kai’s group of four to suddenly appear here was extremely shocking to them.
Today, four Emperor Realm Masters suddenly descended upon their Sect, and each of them was from a top Sect of the Southern Territory. As if the Heavens and Earth had flipped, there was a surge of shock in everyone’s hearts.
They did not have the ability to recognize that these four Masters were all in the legendary Emperor Realm, but the almost suffocating pressure made it clear to them that these four people had the ability to kill them at will.
On that mountain peak, the fifty to sixty cultivators in the houses and forest trails were pale-faced and shivering as they looked up in awe.
They were just like a group of ants with an elephant standing before them, and the elephant had raised its foot. They could only pray that this foot would not step down on them as there was nothing they could do to resist.
Yang Kai and his group took in the situation of these cultivators, and they began to spread out as soon as they showed up, each taking a different direction to block off the mountain.
Feng Ming then said aloud, “This King is Orthodoxy Temple’s Elder Feng Ming. Fellow cultivators, this King has joined hands with his fellow Daoists to chase down an evildoer, and we hold no malice towards your Sect. If you cooperate and do not move about at will, we will make sure your lives are unharmed. Disobey us at your own risk!”
With his status, it was kind enough for him to warn this group of cultivators who had not even reached the Dao Source Realm. So, he did not say anything more after finishing that announcement.
Naturally, the cultivators didn’t dare to move an inch after hearing his words. In fact, they had already stopped moving before Feng Ming said anything. In front of the suffocating Emperor Pressure, it felt like their movements were being restricted by an invisible force, making their bodies feel stiff, and even their thoughts had stopped. The only thing left inside of them was panic and horror.
The four Emperor Realm Masters glanced at each other before each summoning their Emperor Artifacts.
Chen Wen Hao cultivated the Sword Dao and his skill in it was nearly at the point of perfection. With his sword in one hand, the aura he gave off was awe-inspiring. Light flashed brilliantly through his Flowing Water Sword, which had been with Chen Wen Hao for over a thousand years. Man and sword merged as one.
Gao Xue Ting summoned her own Emperor Artifact, the Radiant Sun Mirror. The mirror appeared simple and unadorned, hardly worth noticing, but it was actually the Emperor Artifact she spent her life refining.
Feng Ming held his Flying Thunder Spear in hand. His seemingly old body suddenly looked much taller, and his body gave off a brave and heroic aura that seemed even more imposing than those at the height of their youth.
Yang Kai was holding his Myriads Sword, but compared to Chen Wen Hao’s Flowing Water Sword, the broad longsword was simply not up to par.
However, Chen Wen Hao still took a glance at the Myriads Sword. As another Emperor who cultivated the Sword Dao, Chen Wen Hao could intuitively sense the might of the Myriads Sword.
After the four Emperors got into position, Feng Ming shouted towards the tallest building on the peak below, “Gong Yue, show yourself! There’s nowhere for you to run!”
After arriving here, he had already detected a clear energy fluctuation even without Yang Kai’s reminder, which was closely linked with Yang Kai’s aura. It was clearly the mark that Yang Kai previously placed on Gong Yue.
If the mark was here, then Gong Yue should naturally be here as well.
He shouted loudly, but received no answer.
Feng Ming brandished his spear and sneered, “Since you refuse a toast, you must drink a loss. We originally planned to leave your corpse whole, but since you insist on being stubborn, don’t blame this Old Master for not showing mercy!”
At the end of his sentence, a cold glint flashed and Feng Ming’s spear shot out like a soaring dragon.
There wasn’t too much splendour to this move, Feng Ming’s strike was as simple as it could be. The disciples of this small Sect were unable to grasp much of its mysteries, but the other three Emperor Realm Masters could appreciate Feng Ming’s amazing skill.
He gathered all of his power into one point without the slightest leak.
The spear thrust seemed to leap over space and the mountain peak shook violently as if it was about to collapse while the building atop it began to vaporize.
“Hm?” At that moment, Feng Ming frowned as if he had discovered something.
Yang Kai quickly shouted, “Elder Feng, don’t kill that man!”
Feng Ming’s hand shook, and the power he shot out instantly dispersed by as much as eighty percent. The remaining twenty percent of the power was also directed in elsewhere.
With a rumble, the building fully collapsed, revealing the figure of a stiff elderly man who was shaking like a leaf in a storm. The elderly man had a miserable appearance, his face as pale as a sheet of paper and he stood alone in the ruin, covered in dust.
The cultivation of this old man was not very high, only Third-Order Origin King, so his aptitude clearly wasn’t that good. He had already reached the end of his potential, and he couldn’t progress again in his lifetime.
At this moment, with the building on the mountain peak collapsed, no other person could possibly appear but him.
The four Emperors could all sense that the aura from the mark was actually from this man’s body.
Feng Ming frowned and instantly realized what happened, cursing, “Just like a golden cicada shedding its skin, he escaped!”
Yang Kai also sighed, “We were careless. It seems like Gong Yue is now in good shape.”
The mark he left on Gong Yue’s body had been transferred to this elderly man, luring the four of them in the wrong direction. It was impossible for the mark to have transferred on its own though, so the only explanation was Gong Yue had done it intentionally.
And, for him to have done it without Yang Kai noticing, it was clear that Gong Yue was no longer in a muddled state. He had either restored his consciousness, or it was taken over by the Demon Spirit after it fused perfectly with his body, neither of which was what Yang Kai’s group hoped to see.
One by one, they put away their artifacts.
The elderly man standing in the ruins was scared out of his wits, and he cried out miserably to them, “This humble old man greets these Seniors. Please… Seniors, please…spare my life!”
He had no idea what Yang Kai and the others had come here to do, but he knew that they were not people he could resist, especially the one who made that strike earlier, the one who called himself the Orthodoxy Temple’s Elder Feng Ming.
This old man knew of Orthodoxy Temple as it was one of the top Sects of the Southern Territory. A small Sect like his didn’t even have the right to look upon them, but now one of Orthodoxy Temple’s Elders had come here personally and even attacked him. If Feng Ming had not dispersed his lethal move at the last moment, this old man would have vanished without even a trace of his bones remaining.
The old man could not understand what he had done to provoke Orthodoxy Temple, and to attract the attention of such a powerful Master. Fear and panic obstructed his ability to think and he could only open his mouth to beg for mercy.
“Do not panic, old man.” Yang Kai smiled at the elderly man while using his Divine Sense to apply a kind of calming wave to settle his emotions, “We are not here to make things difficult for you, merely to track down a criminal. We did not expect such a misunderstanding to arise.”
“A criminal…” The old man was much more stable after receiving this pacification and was also no longer in a panic like he was earlier.
“Yes.” Yang Kai looked solemn. Tapping the tips of his fingers in front of him and circulating his Emperor Qi at the same time, an image appeared in front of him, naturally of Gong Yue’s face, “This is the man we’re looking for. Have you seen this person recently?”
Since the mark was transferred to this elderly man, that meant that Gong Yue had at least been here before. Now, without the mark, tracking down Gong Yue was going to be a problem, and this old man may be their only clue. Naturally, Yang Kai wouldn’t let it go so easily.
“Him?” The elderly man looked shocked after seeing Gong Yue’s face.
Yang Kai exclaimed, “You’ve seen him?”
The old man muttered, “I thought that was just a dream! A few days ago, when this old man was cultivating, I may have seen that man, but when I tried to take a closer look, he was gone. I thought…I thought that it was just…an illusion.”
Feng Ming quickly said, “Let me see your memory!”
As soon as he said that, his arm reached out for the elderly man, resulting in the man’s yelp. Involuntarily, he was pulled before Feng Ming.
This old man was terrified. Feng Ming’s attitude hadn’t been particularly friendly when he made that strike at him earlier, so thinking that he was going to meet with some untoward end, he struggled out of panic, but there was nothing an Origin King Realm cultivator like him could do in front of an Emperor Realm Master. He was subdued in an instant and was unable to move even a finger.
Feng Ming pointed a finger at his forehead, quite apparently prying into his memories from yesterday.
Right at that moment, Yang Kai suddenly shouted in alarm, “Elder Feng, watch out!”
Feng Ming was distracted for just a moment when the elderly man he dragged in front of him suddenly swelled up. The power in this old man’s body became chaotic and violent. Clearly, the elderly man had no idea what was happening either, as he was panicking with a look of confusion on his face.
With a loud bang, the elderly man burst apart.
And, from inside his exploded body, a small ball of black light quickly rushed at Feng Ming.
Even though Feng Ming was a Second-Order Emperor, he was still caught off guard by the sudden unexpected change in front of him. He was trying to check the memory of the elderly man, but he didn’t expect the man to suddenly self-destruct right before his eyes, and for this strange thing to fly out of his body as well.
The black light was not big, but Feng Ming’s vision seemed to be filled by it. He could no longer see anything else, and at the same time, there was a faint murmur in his ears that shook his mind, causing him to open the defences of his Knowledge Sea.
“Demon Suppression!”
Yang Kai shouted, and the light of a Shamanic Spell shot off in Feng Ming’s direction, just barely making it between Feng Ming and the black light. As soon as the black light touched the Shamanic Spell, it bounced off and shot towards Gao Xue Ting instead.
The Radiant Sun Mirror appeared behind Gao Xue Ting, emitting a dazzling light just like the blazing sun.
With a serious expression, Gao Xue Ting formed seals with her hands.
A beam of light shot out from her Radiant Sun Mirror, covering the black light.
The beam of light seemed to have a very strong binding force, and the black light crashed left and right within its boundary, but was unable to break free for a while. And, under the power of the Radiant Sun Mirror, there even seemed to be traces of it melting as thin wisps of black Qi could be seen diffusing from it.
“Three Thousand Sword Daos Entwine Like Thread!” Chen Wen Hao pointed his Flowing Water Sword at the black light, and thin silk threads shot out, entering the light and turning into a layer of restraint to wrap around the struggling black light.
With the combined strength of Chen Wen Hao and Gao Xue Ting, they finally subdued the black light.
“This…is the Demon Spirit?” Feng Ming wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, his heart still jumping from the event.
If Yang Kai hadn’t reacted quickly and helped him block that strike with his strange Secret Technique, then his mind would have been invaded by the Demon Spirit. He had no idea whether he had the ability to resist the Demon Spirit or not, but with Gong Yue as an example, he may not be able to break free if the Demon Spirit was really that strong.
The four of them had come out to hunt Gong Yue, but they had actually been fooled by such a small trick and almost suffered a heavy loss, causing Feng Ming to show a terrible expression.
“This isn’t a complete Demon Spirit!” Yang Kai frowned as he carefully observed the imprisoned black light and judged, “It was split from Gong Yue. He knows we’re hunting him, so he planted this trap on purpose!”
“The Demon Spirit can split itself?” Feng Ming was shocked.
Chen Wen Hao and Gao Xue Ting also had grave expressions. If that was true, then the problem was much more serious than they anticipated. They thought that all they had to do was find Gong Yue and kill him, but if the Demon Spirit could divide itself, then it wouldn’t help even if they eliminated Gong Yue.
Because none of them knew how many parts the Demon Spirit could split into, and where else it was hiding.
Only Yang Kai had been in a direct confrontation with the Demon Spirit, so everyone turned their gazes to him to see what his opinion was.
“From the information we have, it seems the Demon Spirit can indeed divide itself.”
Hearing this, the hearts of the other three sank.
“However…” Yang Kai went on, “This ability is likely not unlimited. This is half of the Demon Spirit I saw before, so it’s possible it can only divide into two parts, and there must be a cost to do so.”
“Even so, this is a tricky situation.” Chen Wen Hao frowned.
“Let’s eliminate this Demon Spirit first.” After eating a loss, Feng Ming was more concerned with this thing than anyone else.
Agreeing, Gao Xue Ting planned to increase the might of her Radiant Sun Mirror. No matter how strange this Demon Spirit was, there had to be a way to eliminate it, and this situation proved it. Gao Xue Ting also felt that she would be able to melt the restrained Demon Spirit completely if she put in thirty percent more power.
“Wait,” Yang Kai raised his hand to stop her. “We’ve already lost Gong Yue’s trail. If we want to track him down again, we can only start from this half Demon Spirit. If we destroy it, I’m afraid we may lose him forever.”
Feng Ming nodded, “You’re right. Gong Yue tried to use this little trick to catch us off guard, and maybe even try to demonise one of us, but he must not have expected to leave a clue behind instead. It seems a wise man can truly be ruined by his own wisdom.”
Chen Wen Hao said, “Even so, how are we going to track Gong Yue using this Demon Spirit? Who dares to handle it?”
The Demon Spirit had so many strange tricks that none of these Emperor Realm Masters dared to handle it directly. But if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be able to track Gong Yue’s location.
Yang Kai said, “If you can all trust me, then leave it to me.”
Gao Xue Ting was shocked, “You? What will you do with it?”
Yang Kai smiled, “Don’t worry, Senior Sister Gao. Since I was able to resist the invasion of the Demon Characters in that cave mansion, I can naturally resist the temptation of this meagre half of a Demon Spirit.”
“Can you…truly?”
Gao Xue Ting looked worried. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in Yang Kai’s strength, but nobody would dare to make any guarantees in this situation. If Yang Kai were to be invaded by the Demon Spirit, then they would be falling right into Gong Yue’s plan.
“Are you confident?” Chen Wen Hao also looked seriously at Yang Kai.
Even though Feng Ming did not say anything, he clearly thought the same.
Yang Kai said, “I’m at least seventy percent sure. What’s more… Don’t I have three Masters standing guard by me?”
Chen Wen Hao nodded, “If there’s a seventy percent chance, then this method is feasible!”
Gao Xue Ting glared at him, “If you think it’s feasible, then why don’t you try it?”
Chen Wen Hao cleared his throat, “I don’t have confidence, so I can’t try it.”
If they wanted to trace Gong Yue through this half of the Demon Spirit, then they would need to have deeper contact with it, and even peer into its inner workings. In doing so, one would be actively opening themselves up to the Demon Spirit, which wasn’t something to joke about.
“We should destroy it!” Gao Xue Ting was about to act as soon as she said that. She wasn’t willing to watch Yang Kai take this risk. Even if Yang Kai said he was seventy percent sure he could do it, what if they fell into the remaining thirty percent instead?
Instead of having Yang Kai take such a risk, they might as well destroy this Demon Spirit as soon as possible. They may have lost track of Gong Yue, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t be able to trace him. If anything, they could use their Sects to mobilize all the cultivators of the Southern Territory to seek him out, then Gong Yue wouldn’t be able to hide no matter how hard he tried.