Saying this, the Charm Demon actually turned around and made the request on Yang Kai’ behalf, but the Demon Kings she asked all shook their heads. They looked at Yang Kai as if he was dead meat, their expressions full of ridicule and mockery.
The Charm Demon turned back and looked at Yang Kai regretfully, “Little Brother, it’s not that Elder Sister is unwilling to help you, but they’re not willing to let you pass at all. What are you going to do?”
Yang Kai grinned and said, “Regardless, I still have to thank Elder Sister. Please step aside first for now.”
“What are you planning to do?” The Charm Demon was taken aback.
Yang Kai said frankly, “If they’re not willing to retreat, then I can only use force. Elder Sister, your skin and body are delicate and soft, you should stand farther away to avoid being accidentally injured later.”
The Charm Demon was confounded and felt that Yang Kai’s words were ridiculous. For a boy no better than a Low-Rank Demon King, he sure talked big, was he tired of living? But seeing his serious expression, she asked again, “You mean… you want to force your way through?”
“Indeed!” Yang Kai nodded. If they wanted to fight, he’d humour them.
Raising his hand, the unadorned Mountains and Rivers Bell was summoned and an ancient and desolate aura burst forth from it. On the bell were magnificent patterns that gleamed with fascinating light while an oppressive force descended from the sky like an invisible hammer.
Feeling this suppressive force, the Demon Masters hovering in the sky paled. It felt as if there was a lofty mountain suddenly placed over their heads. Their insides churned, and they couldn’t breathe as they fell to the ground involuntarily.
Some of the weaker Demon Great Generals spurted blood as they flailed about to stabilize themselves. Be that as it may, they failed to hold their ground and plummeted from the sky one after another.
Even the Demon Kings with powerful cultivation found their movements impeded. Left with no choice, they used their respective Secret Techniques to free themselves of the suppression.
But suddenly, the Mountains and Rivers Bell grew bigger and fell straight from the sky. The enormous bell overshadowed quite a few Demon Kings, swallowing them like the mouth of a giant beast, inducing their panic-stricken shouts.
*Hong…*
The Mountains and Rivers Bell fell to the ground, quaking the entire Demon Fury City, causing many old and unsecured buildings to collapse.
Everyone and everything sunk into silence. All the Demon Race members’ eyes were filled with shock, gawking in the enormous bell’s direction. At this moment, several Demon Kings with fairly good cultivations were suppressed under the bell and one of them was ranked among the top ten Masters of Demon Fury City.
But even such a powerful Demon King failed to react before this fearsome attack. And now, who knows whether he was dead or alive.
Very soon, the answer was revealed to everyone.
Yang Kai made a few hand seals as the Mountains and Rivers Bell slowly grew smaller and smaller before flying back to his hand, leaving several mutilated corpses on the ground, each one flattened like a biscuit as if they had been smashed down with a hammer.
Everyone gasped in shock at the sight of this. Many Demon Race Masters had their faces go pale while the Demon Kings who had ridiculed Yang Kai just now could no longer utter a word. Their hearts had been gripped with fear and all of them unconsciously took a step back, trying to distance themselves from Yang Kai.
Just a casual attack caused such devastation here, so who could stand against this Human in Demon Fury City? Even the strongest Demon Kings couldn’t achieve such a feat with a single blow. If anyone really provoked this person, perhaps the entire Demon Fury City would be destroyed!
*Gudong…*
The now pale Charm Demon made a nervously gulp and stuttered, “Little Brother, you’re really too bad, pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger and scare all of us. Elder Sister was almost scared to death,” She somehow squeezed a smile out, but it looked uglier than if she were crying. Her voice was shaky and it was obvious how frightened she was right now.
Although she was also a Demon King, her strength was at the lower end among the Masters of Demon Fury City. If such an attack was launched at her, she would have definitely had a miserable end.
It wasn’t until this moment she finally realized that this harmless looking Human with an amiable smile actually wielded such destructive power.
Yang Kai, holding the Mountains and Rivers Bell, shook his head in denial, “Elder Sister, you’re mistaken.”
“How so?” The Charm Demon asked while grumbling in her heart. All she knew was that a wrong word from her now might bring about her doom. Her figure involuntarily trembled when she took a glance at the little bell in horror.
Yang Kai replied with a serious look on his face, “I never said that I’m not a tiger, so how can I be pretending?”
“En, en, you’re right,” the Charm Demon nonchalantly replied, “They had eyes but failed to see. They were dogs looking down on others. They deserved to die.”
Yang Kai smiled and continued, “Elder Sister, it has been a pleasure talking to you, I can’t help but want to continue our lovely conversation, but what can I do, I still have pressing matters to attend to.”
“Hehe…” The Charm Demon’s face turned stiff and promptly stepped aside, “Since Little Brother has such important matters awaiting him, he should quickly go and not delay.”
“Good!” Yang Kai nodded in agreement, “Then this Young Master will take his leave first. No one is going to stop me now, right?”
The Charm Demon denied, shaking her head, “Naturally; no one here is blind.”
Many Demon Kings’ faces turned grim but none dared to say anything. They were afraid that if their tongue slipped and they somehow ended up provoking this Human again, a few more would have to part with their lives.
“That’s good,” Yang Kai winked at the Charm Demon, “Elder Sister doesn’t need to be sad or worried, it’s not like this Young Master will never come back. When I do, perhaps we can share a romantic evening together. At that time, Elder Sister will come to know the charm of this Little Brother.”
[Where am I sad or worried?] The Charm Demon cursed in her heart but she didn’t dare to show it.
The crowd of Demon Kings’ faces turned incomparably ugly. They were terrified by Yang Kai’s words and wanted nothing more than for him to quickly scram and hopefully die on Yin Wind Mountain. Many wished they could go up and push him along so he would move faster.
Fortunately, Yang Kai didn’t continue with this little game, otherwise, the Demon Kings would have been driven mad. Swiftly, he boarded the Flowing Clouds Shuttle, which then soared through the air before flying straight towards Yin Wind Mountain.
The Charm Demon finally heaved a sigh of relief and only now did she realize that her entire back was drenched in sweat as a cold breeze hit her, sending her shivering.
Noticing the pairs of eyes gazing at her, the Charm Demon grit her teeth and shouted, “What’re you looking at? I didn’t kill them.”
“You shouldn’t have told him so much,” a Demon King with a majestic aura coldly snorted. Demon Fury City had never suffered such an insult before. A mere Human had broken into the city and wantonly slaughtered a few Demon Kings, yet none could stop him.
The Demons all felt ashamed and needed a scapegoat to blame.
The Charm Demon was the only one among them who spoke to Yang Kai directly, so she was obviously the best choice here.
“Are you blaming me?” The Charm Demon lashed out in a sharp voice, feeling quite wronged.
“If you haven’t chatted with him, why would Demon Fury City face this undeserved catastrophe?”
The Charm Demon dumbfoundedly gawked at the speaking Demon King as she truly hadn’t expected to be accused with such a flippant reason.
“Hm? Someone else is approaching!” That Demon King turned his head and saw a handsome red-haired young man meandering over. This young man however had a gloomy look and tight frown on his face, clearly annoyed about something.
He flew straight into Demon Fury City without a care in the world, completely disregarding all the Demon Race Masters as if he was taking a stroll in his own backyard.
The Demon Kings blew their tops.
Demon Fury City had stood in the Revolving World for over ten thousand years, but when had it ever been despised like this? Forget about that Human who, although had low cultivation, possessed a treasure which was completely overpowered, just who the Hell did this red-haired Human think he was?
After looking around and exchanging eye signals with each other, many Demon Race Masters immediately flew up into the air, blocking the red-haired young man’s way.
Zhu Lie stopped and coldly glared towards the front, the anger in his heart on the very edge of erupting.
Zhu Qing and Yang Kai’s relationship had left him extremely irritated, but what was done could not be undone, leaving him with a problem without a solution. He was left with nowhere to vent his anger, and now someone presented themselves on a silver plate.
He took a deep breath and indifferently asked, trying his very best to calm himself down, “Which one of you is the strongest?”
This question was rather baffling but many Demons subconsciously glanced toward a certain direction. Before everyone’s eyes, a Demon King with a robust waist and soaring Demon Qi stepped forward and replied in a thunderous voice, “This King is Hao Fei, who are you?”
It was the very same guy who was reprimanding the Charm Demon before. He was acknowledged by all the Demon Kings here as the strongest and was just a step away from breaking the shackles of the world to reach the Demon Saint Realm.
He was confident that he would break through within a century, and as long as he could become a Demon Saint, he could attack Human Imperial City and finally break the unchanging pattern of the Revolving World, enslaving all Humans and turning this place into a paradise for the Demon Race once and for all.
He had such ambitions and also had the potential to achieve them.
When Yang Kai had just used the Mountains and Rivers Bell to launch that terrifying attack, he reckoned that he couldn’t take the blow after weighing his chances a little, so he swallowed his pride and arrogance, but at this moment, he couldn’t remain hiding in his shell like a turtle.
The Demon Race was belligerent by nature and respected strength above all else. If he hadn’t answered, he would have been looked down upon by his clansmen, and most importantly, it would be detrimental to his own cultivation.
He secretly made up his mind to humiliate this red-haired young man and let him know the strength of Demon Fury City’s strongest Master.
He disdainfully stared ahead, his eyes indifferent, seemingly not putting anyone in them.
In response, Zhu Lie lightly threw out one word, “Die!”
Just as he said this, his figure left a fiery trail as he shot straight towards the Demon King named Hao Fei like a meteor.
Hao Fei’s expression changed as the moment Zhu Lie made his move, he instinctively sensed his opponent’s strength and hurriedly pushed his Demon Qi to resist.
*Roar~*
A deafening dragon roar suddenly rang out, causing everyone’s ears to ache.
This dragon roar seemed to contain a very peculiar power that caused any who heard it to momentarily freeze.
Hao Fei was shocked and hurriedly tried to protect his mind while shaking off this crisis.
But at this moment, his vision was suddenly filled with fiery red, as if the entire world was burning. The next instant, an enormous dragon head appeared out of nowhere, shrouding the entire world, its enormous eye gazing down at him arrogantly, causing Hao Fei’s entire figure to turn stiff as his hands and feet went cold.
In a flash, Hao Fei’s figure jolted before he completely froze in place as a sound of something shattering inside his body sounded.
Zhu Lie, on the other hand, was found standing behind Hao Fei. He slowly exhaled, feeling much better.
He let out a cold snort before chasing straight ahead, ignoring the dumbfounded Demon Race members.
No one stopped him; no one dared to stop him.
It was a long time after Zhu Lie left that the Demons finally and softly called out for Hao Fei, but they never got any response. Hao Fei remained frozen in the air as if a petrification technique had been used on him. There was no change in his facial and eye expression either, as if he was just a sculpture, an extremely detailed and vivid one.
“Senior? Senior Hao Fei!” The Charm Demon boldly stepped forward and touched Hao Fei.
Much to everyone’s surprise, Hao Fei’s figure exploded into a cloud of blood mist with a loud bang, leaving not even a single piece of bone behind.
Immediately, screams and gasps rang out as every Demon Race member gazed at the blood mist with trembling eyes. They almost felt that they were dreaming.
The strongest Master of Demon Fury City, the famous Senior Hao Fei, was actually dead!
Killed by a red-haired young man, who had popped out from who knows where, in a head-on confrontation.
If they had not seen it with their own eyes, perhaps no Demon would have believed it, but the facts were laid out before them, so they had no choice but to believe.
Compared to the sight of Demon Kings dying under the treasure of the previous Human, the sight of Hao Fei being killed in an instant was even more shocking.
After the shock though came the doubts.
Who was that red-haired young man? Who was that Human? Why hadn’t they heard of such fearsome Masters in Human Imperial City? If those two were from Human Imperial City, the Demon Race would have no place in the Revolving World. All of them would have already been massacred!
Demon Fury City had gone through a lot; first, several Demon Kings lost their lives, and now, the strongest Master of Demon Fury City also died. The entire Demon Fury City was covered in gloom and each member of the Demon Race was on tenterhooks. All of them were afraid that these two catastrophes would suddenly return. In that case, no one in Demon Fury City would be able to stop them.
“They won’t live long,” some Demon King shouted. “They went to that damned place, Yin Wind Mountain. They won’t come back, so there is nothing to worry about.”
As soon as this was brought up, many Demons were shocked to their senses. They finally remembered that Yang Kai had mentioned that he was looking for a way out of this world on Yin Wind Mountain.
Apparently, it finally clicked for them. The Demon Race members finally weren’t scared; however, Demon Fury City had suffered a heavy loss this time. Even though not many clansmen had died, the ones who had were basically all Demon Kings, and one of them was the strongest Master of the city, while another of the strongest ten had also fallen. If this news ever reached Human Imperial City, the Human Race would not sit still.
For a while, many Demon Race members were overwhelmed with worries.
A thousand metres up Yin Wind Mountain, Yang Kai and others finally stopped with solemn expressions on their faces.
Before this, they were flying in the Flowing Clouds Shuttle all the way, but after ascending just one thousand metres, they were unable to move forward. They had no choice but to get out of the Flowing Clouds Shuttle and face the Yin Wind blowing from the top of the mountain.
Yang Kai took the lead and Zhu Qing was in the middle, holding the black puppy in her arms, Li Jiao brought up the rear.
After travelling a thousand metres more, Yang Kai actually felt that he could no longer advance a single step.
Yin Wind Mountain lived up to its name. The ancient books in Human Imperial City only described a fraction of how terrifying this place was. Yang Kai had tried to overestimate the dangers of Yin Wind Mountains as much as possible, but he had never expected that he had still underestimated them.
There were no other obstacles on Yin Wind Mountain, only the uninterrupted biting-cold Demon Qi blowing from the top of the mountain. This frigid Demon Qi was not only the biting chill that could extinguish every bit of vitality found only in the Frozen Earth, but also the fearsome Demon Qi of the Demon Realm blended together. Surprisingly, the two complemented each other, multiplying their power.
Even with his robust cultivation and strong physique, Yang Kai was finding it harder to resist the ravages of the Cold Demon Qi. He was expending his Emperor Qi like the water discharged from a sluice gate and already felt somewhat exhausted after advancing a thousand metres.
Yang Kai looked up, but he saw nothing but a dense fog, so who knows where the top of the mountain was.
“Let me!” Zhu Qing proposed.
Yang Kai nodded in agreement and no longer forced himself, quickly retreating behind Zhu Qing and letting her take the lead. Meanwhile, he took the opportunity to stuff some pills into his mouth to recover. In such an environment, the person leading their way would always have to bear the most pressure, because most of the oncoming Cold Demon Qi would be resisted by the leader while those following behind would have to pay a lesser price to keep up.
Li Jiao, who was at the rear, was completely pale and was giving Yang Kai a fawning smile and flattering look.
He was undoubtedly the weakest when it came to resisting the Cold Demon Qi. Even though Yang Kai’s cultivation wasn’t as good as his, Yang Kai was blessed with a strong Dragon Clan bloodline and also had pure Ancient Demon Qi sealed inside his body, giving him a natural advantage against the Cold Demon Qi. The same was true for Zhu Qing. Even if her Ninth-Order Red Dragon strength was excluded, the Dragon Clan had inherent resistance against various corrosive energies, which was directly proportional to their bloodline.
Therefore, if Li Jiao wanted to leave this world through Yin Wind Mountain, he had to rely on Yang Kai and Zhu Qing. He was afraid that he would be left behind now and felt uneasy deep in his heart.
Yang Kai didn’t bother to pay attention to him though and simply circulated his Secret Art to refine the medicinal efficacies of the Spirit Pills he took while silently observing the changes of the Cold Demon Qi for untimely and unexpected accidents.
“Hm…” Zhu Qing suddenly exclaimed as if she had discovered something extremely surprising.
Yang Kai anxiously asked, “What is it?”
“Ah Wang, she…”
Yang Kai hurriedly took a closer look and immediately he too looked surprised. He saw that the black puppy in Zhu Qing’s arm actually had his mouth wide open, facing the oncoming Demon Qi. It was devouring a large amount of Cold Demon Qi into its abdomen, making it easier for everyone.
It seemed to have sensed Yang Kai and Zhu Qing’s gaze. Surprisingly, she shook her head and proudly barked before opening its mouth wider. Immediately, the oncoming Cold Demon Qi grew even weaker. Zhu Qing, who was walking at the front, almost couldn’t feel the interference of the Demon Qi and suddenly, everyone’s speed increased.
“This beast is really amazing!” Li Jiao hurriedly started licking boots with a flattering look on his face, “I wonder where Palace Master Yang found this Divine Beast. It’s really a blessing.”
Yang Kai suddenly looked back, glancing at him, “I guess Brother Li has a lot of energy. Since you have the energy to talk, you might as well take the lead later.”
“Of course, of course.” Li Jiao obsequiously agreed, but he couldn’t wait to slap his mouth.
The mystical performance of the black puppy allowed the trio to speed up. In just the short time it took to burn a stick of incense, they had traversed more than a thousand more metres, and it wasn’t taxing at all.
The black puppy had a special taste for Demon Qi and the Demon Race, so while the Cold Demon Qi on Yin Wind Mountain was a little different, it was fundamentally similar, so the black puppy enjoyed it nonetheless.
If this continued, they might really reach the top without any difficulty.
After a thousand metres, Zhu Qing, who had been silently observing the situation of the black puppy, suddenly said, “Yang Kai, I think Ah Wang can’t continue anymore.”
Yang Kai looked at the black puppy and noticed that something was indeed wrong with Ah Wang. It didn’t appear to be having it easy like before. On the contrary, it appeared to be having a very difficult time. Its big mouth was slowly growing smaller and smaller and it would return to its original state at any moment. Also, a layer of visible frost had actually appeared on its pitch-black body as it curled up in Zhu Qing’s arm, shivering.
Any part of Zhu Qing’s body that came in contact with it also got covered in frost, and although the layer of frost was thin, it was exuding an unimaginable cold aura that seemed to freeze all existence.
Suddenly, the black puppy had reached its limit and its big mouth instantly returned to its original state.
With nothing to obstruct it now, the overwhelming Cold Demon Qi swept over everyone from top to bottom.
Zhu Qing immediately screamed the moment she came in contact with it and unleashed the might of her Dragon Source, summoning an enormous Red Dragon’s illusory phantom to wrap around Yang Kai and her.
*Kacha…*
Shockingly, the Red Dragon’s illusory phantom lasted only for a few moments before fissures began to appear on it, like cracks on a mirror on the verge of shattering.
“Not good, quickly retreat!” Yang Kai’s pupils constricted as he shouted. At the same time, he grabbed Zhu Qing by her waist and promptly kicked the ground, hurriedly falling back.
Li Jiao’s reaction was incomparably prompt as well. Seeing Yang Kai being so panic-stricken, he immediately knew that they were in mortal danger, and knowing he couldn’t resist the Cold Demon Qi, he hurriedly turned tail and ran.
Descending the mountain was much easier than going up. The three toiled very hard to traverse just a few thousand metres, but they retreated the same distance in the blink of an eye.
Going down, they ran into Zhu Lie, who was steadfastly climbing up the mountain, indomitably resisting the Cold Demon Qi. When they passed him by, they left him dumbfounded.
In a flash, they were at the bottom of Yin Wind Mountain.
The trio looked up with fear still lingering on their faces. Regardless of who it was, a layer of Cold Qi could be found on their body. This Cold Qi was as persistent as maggots on rotting bones, impossible to remove easily. The coldness seeping into their bodies made it harder for them to circulate their energy, causing them to turn stiff.
The black puppy’s situation was especially precarious. It was curled up in Zhu Qing’s arms, motionless. Its entire body was frozen inside a block of ice and no matter how much Zhu Qing called it, it gave no response, as if it was already dead.
“Don’t worry about it. It has a very tenacious life. It won’t die that easily,” Yang Kai comforted Zhu Qing, but he too wasn’t confident.
However, last time, when the black puppy was attacked by ten Emperor Realm Masters, it was on the verge of death as well, but in the end, it made it through. This time, although the situation didn’t look optimistic, it was at least better than last time.
Zhu Qing nodded before silently sitting down cross-legged, tightly hugging the black puppy in her arms, not letting go. At the same time, she circulated her Dragon Essence to eliminate the Cold Demon Qi in her body while also warming up the black puppy, hoping for a miracle.
Li Jiao did the same. Shivering, he sat down cross-legged and circulated his Secret Art.
The invasion of the Cold Qi just now almost made him see the doors of Hell. Even now, he was still terrified when he recalled it.
At this moment, Zhu Lie returned as well. He glanced at the trio and slightly furrowed his brow at their condition before silently standing at the side.
He still couldn’t fathom how Yang Kai and the others could climb farther than him. The cold winds blowing on Yin Wind Mountain were simply not on the same level as what they faced in the Frozen Earth; the two were worlds apart.
To be honest, the cold on Yin Wind Mountain really lived up to the prestige of the Frozen Earth Forbidden Zone.
Even he, an Eighth-Order Dragon, had quickly reached his limit. If he went any further, he reckoned that he would have suffered the same fate as his companions.
Yang Kai glanced at him and forced a smile before he shiveringly sat down cross-legged to adjust his breathing.
With Zhu Lie standing guard, he didn’t need to worry about anything. Although he had some differences with his little brother-in-law, in the end, as a member of the Dragon Clan, this silly brat still could be trusted somewhat.
It took Yang Kai a full two hours to get rid of the Cold Qi that had invaded his meridians and body. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw Zhu Lie standing still to one side. Although Zhu Qing was safe and sound, she was helping the little black dog get rid of the cold, so who knows how long it would take.
Sensing Yang Kai’s gaze, Zhu Qing looked up and assured, “It’s alright, it just needs time.”
Yang Kai lightly nodded; he wasn’t surprised.
Since the little black dog had awoken its Abyssal Returner Bloodline, his vitality had become extremely tenacious. Earlier their team was able to climb so far up Yin Wind Mountain all thanks to it. At that altitude, even Yang Kai and Zhu Qing couldn’t do any better.
So, as soon as Yang Kai noticed that it couldn’t hold on, he immediately pulled back with Zhu Qing.
Strictly speaking, the little black dog was not very strong as it had been emanating the aura of a Fifth or Sixth-Order Monster Beast from beginning to end. Monster Beasts of this Order could be found just about everywhere in the Star Boundary.
But it wasn’t any ordinary Fifth or Sixth-Order Monster Beast that could deal with ten Emperors alone, swallow a Demon King alive, or swallow the Yin Wind that was even giving Yang Kai and Zhu Qing a hard time, taking Yang Kai and the others much farther up Yin Wind Mountain.
The distinction between Order and strength seemed completely meaningless to the little black dog. It could be strong or weak. When it was weak, it looked completely harmless and innocent, but when it was strong, it could make a thousand men flee from it.
If the Zhu Qing sister and brother duo couldn’t withstand the Yin Winds, Yang Kai likely couldn’t either.
Then again, if it was so easy to leave the Revolving World, some from Human Imperial City would have left long ago.
For the time being, they could only start with Ah Wang.
Yang Kai turned his head, glancing in the direction of Demon Fury City, frowning for a moment to ponder before speaking, “Qing’er, I’m heading back.”
Before Zhu Qing could say anything, his figure rose into the air before flying away.
After a short while, Yang Kai suddenly felt that someone was approaching him from behind. He looked back and saw Zhu Lie quickly chasing after him with a solemn look on his face.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes before slowing down, and when Zhu Lie finally caught up, he let out a snort and stated, “You actually want to kill me? You’ve got guts, I have to hand it to you.”
Of course, Yang Kai wasn’t just speaking randomly. Although Zhu Lie had a serious look on his face, devoid of any murderous intent whatsoever, when Yang Kai was meditating before, healing his wounds, he had noticed killing intent rising in Zhu Lie’s heart.
The killing intent was very well hidden, but there were only Zhu Qing and Li Jiao there besides Zhu Lie.
Zhu Qing was his Elder Sister, so it was naturally impossible for him to hold murderous intent toward her, and if it was towards Li Jiao, Zhu Lie would have already killed him. He had no qualms about it at all.
What did it matter if an honourable Dragon Clan member killed a human? If he wanted to kill, Zhu Lie would kill. Who could punish him anyway?
So, at that moment, there was only one person who could bring out the murderous intent in Zhu Lie’s heart but not have him act on it. Yang Kai knew it for sure. Before, Zhu Lie didn’t want to reveal it before Zhu Qing, but now, there was naturally no need to hide it.
An enemy hiding in the dark was the most difficult to deal with. When the tricks and conspiracies were out in the open, such enemies were far easier to handle.
“Since you know it, there is no point hiding it,” Zhu Lie frankly admitted. After all, when one’s cultivation had reached their realm, some things couldn’t remain hidden once they were revealed. He then continued, maintaining a stoic face, “Yes, I want to kill you. If possible, I would have already killed you.”
Yang Kai’s face turned cold, but he didn’t stop. He rather flew side by side with Zhu Lie, maintaining a delicate distance between the two, and demanded in a cold voice, “You better give me an explanation, otherwise even if you are Zhu Qing’s brother, I won’t forgive you.”
If it was before, he wouldn’t have cared about Zhu Lie’s murderous intentions toward him; after all, the two were total strangers before, but things were different now. With his relationship with Zhu Qing, the two had some connections no matter how much they vehemently denied it. If Zhu Lie was doing this for no reason, Yang Kai wouldn’t tolerate it.
A small fight with Zhu Lie was nothing, but if it was a true life and death battle, it would be devastating for Zhu Qing. Yang Kai didn’t want to see that kind of situation, so he needed to get to the bottom of this quickly.
Zhu Lie grit his teeth and replied, “I want to kill you because I am her brother.”
“What kind of dumb logic is that?” Yang Kai stared at him.
“You don’t understand. The reason I came here was just to tell you that if we can leave this world, it would be best for you to stay away from Zhu Qing and never reveal your relationship with her. Of course… if we can’t leave this palace, then treat it as if you didn’t hear anything.”
He had a completely serious look on his face, like if Yang Kai didn’t agree, he would fight it out with him.
Yang Kai was immediately angered and cursed, “Damned brat, it’s not your place to meddle in this. If Zhu Qing has anything to say, she will naturally tell me.”
Zhu Lie lashed out, “It’s because Zhu Qing can’t speak that I have to on her behalf!”
Yang Kai swept his eyes over him and asked, narrowing his eyes, “In what capacity are you speaking, are you speaking as a member of Dragon Island’s Dragon Clan, or as Zhu Qing’s brother?”
Zhu Lie quickly said, “Does it matter?”
“Yes, it does!” Yang Kai pursed his lips into a smile as he replied, tightening his fists, “If it’s former, I’ll beat you up, and if it’s latter, I’ll still beat you up.”
Zhu Lie angrily shouted, “Are you messing with me?”
Yang Kai coldly looked at him, “There are differences in beatings. A light punishment and beating to death aren’t the same. Which one do you prefer?”
Zhu Lie earnestly shook his head, “I don’t want to argue with you. I only have one request, if and when we get out of this world, you should part ways with Zhu Qing. That would be best for you and for her.”
For a Dragon, speaking the word ‘request’ was already their limit. How could the arrogant Dragon Clan, who were famous for their pride, lower themselves to request anything of anyone? Had Zhu Lie not been Yang Kai’s opponent, Zhu Lie would have already ended all troubles by force, why bother speaking so much nonsense?
Yang Kai slowly heaved a sigh and continued, “I can tell that you are concerned about Zhu Qing, but your concerns are misplaced. I’m sorry, I can’t agree to your request, let alone consider it. Zhu Qing is my woman, she is mine today, will remain mine tomorrow, and will remain mine forever, unless I die someday. Understand?”
Zhu Lie stated with a stoic face, “If Zhu Qing came to hear your sweet words, she would definitely be very happy.”
Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders, “I’m only speaking my mind.”
“Unfortunately, you will be the end of Zhu Qing, and yourself.”
Yang Kai, treading the thin air and riding the wind, spoke with a smile, “Do you want to tell me that I am a Human, and Zhu Qing is a member of Dragon Clan, so the Dragon Clan will never allow her to be with me? If word of our relationship got out, it would only cause great trouble, that’s what you want to say, right?”
“You do understand!” Zhu Lie slightly furrowed his brow.
“I have been calling you stupid, but you just don’t want to admit it,” Yang Kai sneered, “How backwards Dragon Island is, I can infer a little from your stupidity. It would be stranger if Dragon Island allowed Zhu Qing to be with me. If the news about Zhu Qing staying with me is really sent back to Dragon Island, I’m afraid Dragon Island will send many more of your Dragons to attack me. Perhaps Dragon Island would forcibly take Zhu Qing back to punish her, imprisoning her for the remainder of her life.”
“Zhu Qing told you?” Zhu Lie was completely dumbfounded because Yang Kai had said exactly what he was expecting.
A high and mighty Ninth-Order Red Dragon actually willingly gave herself to a lowly Human; once this news was sent back to Dragon Island, it would definitely cause an uproar. Dragon Island would definitely send Masters to deal with Yang Kai and forcefully take Zhu Qing back. As to whether she would be imprisoned for life, it would depend on Zhu Qing’s performance in the future.
Yang Kai grinned as he pointed to his head, “Anyone can guess such a simple thing after giving it a little bit of thought. Your Dragon Island has such a long heritage, and the older one’s heritage is, the more pedantic they are; with higher reputation comes higher self-esteem. So, how can you agree to your clansmen willingly giving herself to a Human? Isn’t that a disgrace to your Dragon Clan? It’s an even worse insult than shitting on your head.”
“It’s the truth,” Zhu Lie repeatedly nodded, “Since you know this, why are you still being stubborn?”
“You know that I can kill you at will, but do you know why you are still alive?” Yang Kai looked at him with naked contempt.
Zhu Lie was stunned, feeling that there was some truth to this, but there seemed to be something wrong about it too.
Yang Kai continued after a snort, “I don’t have many merits, but I do like to cover my friends’ and family’s shortcomings. Zhu Qing is already my woman, so if Dragon Island really tries to bully her, don’t blame me for not showing any affection to my in-laws. So, don’t do similar things in the future. Besides, you and I are both close to her, any conflict between us will be difficult for her. I don’t think you want to see that, alright?”
Zhu Lie frowned but nodded his agreement, only to then shake his head. He had no idea whether to agree or not.
Yang Kai added, “Then again, only Li Jiao and you are aware of the matter between Zhu Qing and me. If you don’t report it to Dragon Island, how will Dragon Island know about it?”
Zhu Lie solemnly stated, “How can I not report a matter of this much importance?”
“People who like to report everything are most annoying!” Yang Kai coldly snorted.
“You can say anything you want, but those are my principles. Zhu Qing and you have broken Dragon Island’s laws. If I know it and don’t report it, the matter will only get worse.”
“You really can’t hide it?” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes.
Zhu Lie firmly shook his head in refusal.
“I will remember this,” Yang Kai coldly harrumphed.
“You don’t understand,” Zhu Lie sighed. “Although Dragon Island has a huge reputation and a long inheritance, the population of my Dragon Clan is very small in any era, and a Great Dragon with a pure bloodline is even more precious. In order to ensure the continuation of the Dragon Clan’s bloodline inheritance, Dragon Island has its own rules, and anyone who violates those rules must pay a heavy price.”
Yang Kai smiled lightly and leisurely replied, remaining noncommittal, “Although Dragon Island’s inheritance seems eternal, it will not last forever. As the waves of time crash upon the shore, all things are worn away, not even Dragon Island is an exception.”
Zhu Lie snorted and rebuffed, “The waves crashing against the rock would only get destroyed, nothing other than that would happen.”
Yang Kai countered, raising his head, “Then it will depend whether the rock called Dragon Island is hard enough to break my bones to pieces.”
Zhu Lie looked at him in astonishment, as if he wanted to see a joking look on his face, but to his disappointment, Yang Kai didn’t appear to be speaking in jest; although there was no serious look on his face, there was no humour behind it either.
Zhu Lie slowly shook his head and rebuffed with a complex look on his face, “You’re really crazy.”
Yang Kai broke into laughter, “Thanks for the compliment.”
Zhu Lie didn’t want to haggle with him anymore, because Yang Kai’s attitude had made everything clear; he would never give up Zhu Qing, nor would he succumb to Dragon Island’s rules.
That being the case, there was no point in wasting words on him so he turned his head and asked, “What are you doing here?”
While talking, the two had unknowingly arrived at Demon Fury City. It had only been half a day since the last time the two had passed through here, and the aftermath of their havoc hadn’t even been cleaned up yet. The corpses of Demon Kings were still lying where they were before, and a thick stench of blood was lingering in the air.
Seeing the two scourges actually return, and returning together, with aggressive bearings like they were preparing to go all out, the Demon Race members of Demon Fury City turned completely pale. Their hearts were like dead ashes and they felt as if doom had come for them.
But even so, no Demon abandoned the city to escape. The Demon Race had been based here for hundreds of thousands of years, confronting Human Imperial City from a distance. The two races had never stopped fighting, so if they submitted to cowardice now, would they still be called the Demon Race?
One after another, Demon Race Masters walked out of the city, gradually gathering towards Yang Kai and Zhu Lie’s location. Even though their cultivations were mixed, their numbers were great.
The Demon Kings had also gathered at one place, gazing with a serious look on their faces towards the two Humans flying over from Yin Wind Mountain’s direction as their fighting spirits slowly rose.
Yang Kai and Zhu Lie stopped a thousand metres away from the Demon Kings, and although they were only two, it seemed as if an army of thousands of soldiers and horses was marching over. On the contrary, the Demon Race had completely fallen into a disadvantage in momentum.
“What are you doing here?” Zhu Lie furrowed his brow, “Could it be that you want to slaughter the entire city?”
Humans and Demons could not coexist. Even in this little Revolving World, the grievances between the two clans had lasted for hundreds of thousands of years, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Yang Kai really came to create a massacre.
“Slaughter the city? Fighting and killing like that is boring,” Yang Kai disdainfully spat before he swept a glance over the Demon Kings with a frown. Finally, his eyes landed on one particular figure hiding behind the crowd and he flashed a harmless, innocent smile as he called out, “Beautiful Elder Sister, can you come out and have a chat?”
All the Demon Kings turned their heads, looking in the direction of Yang Kai’s gaze.
A graceful figure was hiding behind the crowd as if she didn’t dare to show her face.
Obviously, she was very discreet, but she had still been picked out from the crowd by Yang Kai. Her heart was bogged down with sorrow as she kept raining down silent curses on Yang Kai while viciously glaring at him. She hated herself for teasing Yang Kai before out of boredom, as now she couldn’t get rid of this scourge. She had no idea what fate was waiting for her.
In front of everyone’s eyes, the Charm Demon couldn’t hide anymore, so all she could do was walk out of the crowd with a reluctant smile. She knew everything, but deliberately asked, “Sir… are you talking to me? You aren’t, right? Hehehe…”
With no one acting in concert with her, she embarrassedly laughed and immediately stopped, wearing a pitiful and submissive look.
“En, I’m talking to you,” Yang Kai nodded to her with a warm smile.
She knew that was the case, but when Yang Kai confirmed it, her face involuntarily turned pale nonetheless. She replied in a trembling voice, “Sir, please forgive this slave for having eyes but failing to see. Fortunately, Sir is magnanimous and would not lower yourself to the same level as such a lowly one. This slave will not commit the same mistake again. Sir, please spare me!”
She yielded right away while the faces of the other Demon Kings immediately turned ugly. Everyone felt that this bitch had lost the Demon Race’s face. She made the despicable Human look down upon them and they couldn’t wait to rip her mouth out.
But they could only think such things in their heads. Although the Demon Kings despised this Charm Demon’s attitude, they also knew that there should be no conflicts among them at the moment. If they really made their moves now, these two bastards would wash the entire Demon Fury City with blood.
“Don’t be so nervous, we won’t eat you,” Yang Kai chuckled at the Charm Demon. “This Young Master just came over to ask some questions. Is there someplace we can talk?”
Hearing this, the Charm Demon didn’t know whether she should believe him or not, but even if she didn’t believe him, what could she do? The opposite party had a bigger fist, so whatever he said was the truth.
“Yes, there is. Sir, what do you think about there?” The Charm Demon proposed, pointing to a nearby location.
Yang Kai looked over and saw an open square with stone tables and chairs at its edges. There were many statues erected in the square, all of them were quite tall and muscular, with frightening faces. Those statues should have been sculpted by a Master, as each one was vivid and lifelike, just like a real person.
The statues were of males and females, and all different races. Even though Yang Kai knew much of the Demon Race, he couldn’t identify all the races of these statues.
“It will do!” Yang Kai nodded and flew towards the square first.
Zhu Lie furrowed his brow; he had no idea what Yang Kai wanted to do here, so all he could do was follow his lead for now.
The Charm Demon’s feet seemed to be rooted on the ground; she appeared to be in a difficult spot. She really lacked the courage to meet with Yang Kai face-to-face, but if she didn’t go, she might offend this plague.
She turned to look at the other Demon Kings, as if she was looking for their support.
The moment she glanced at them, some Demon Kings looked away, others looked up, some whispered to their companions as if they were discussing important matters, while some infuriatingly even pretended to be counting their hairs! All of them had extremely serious looks on their faces though as they avoided her eyes!
The Charm Demon felt isolated and helpless.
“All you Demon Kings come too, I’ll kill whoever refuses!”
Yang Kai’s voice came from afar. It wasn’t loud, but the countenances of many Demon Kings immediately turned ugly.
Meanwhile, the Charm Demon suddenly smiled happily. She couldn’t help but want to laugh out loud, but seeing the livid looks on her fellow clansmen’s faces, she held back.
Letting out a soft snort, she chased after Yang Kai, swaying her hips lightly.
With her taking the lead, the other Demon Kings followed one after another. Naturally, some prideful and unyielding Demon Kings stood in place, not wanting to follow Yang Kai’s order, but they were dragged over by their companions soon enough.
They didn’t want to give these two fearsome fellows any reason to act out.
In the square, Yang Kai and Zhu Lie, taking their respective seats, gazed at the statues before Yang Kai looked back and asked, “Who are they?”
The Charm Demon was first to arrive, and after coming within ten metres of him, she started shaking. Her mouth went parched and tongue scorched, feeling insecure. In her heart, just when she was wondering what Yang Kai wanted to ask and how she should answer him so as not to arouse his anger, she finally felt at ease when she heard his question. She hurriedly replied, “These are the statues of all the Demon Kings ever born in Demon Fury City.”
Yang Kai raised his brow and asked, “Demon Fury City has been standing for hundreds of thousands of years, but there have only been this many Demon Kings?”
There were many statues in the square, but at most there were two thousand in total. Demon Fury City couldn’t have only given birth to these few Demon Kings.
The Charm Demon hurriedly corrected, “Of course not! The only ones whose statues can remain here are the top Demon Kings.” After having said this, she added, “The top Demon King is the strongest Master of Demon Fury City.”
“So that’s how it is,” Yang Kai gently nodded before asking with interest, “I wonder if among the few Demon Kings who just died, was there a top Demon King or not?”
The corner of Charm Demon’s mouth twitched as she wondered what Yang Kai’s intentions were, but she still gently nodded.
“Who did it?” Yang Kai was a little surprised, thinking that the top Demon King’s luck was too bad.
The Charm Demon cautiously glanced at Zhu Lie and said, forcing a smile, “I would also like to thank Sir for giving our top Demon King the chance to leave his name in advance… After all, according to the rules, one can only leave a statue here after his or her death.”
Zhu Lie coldly snorted, “This Dragon wasn’t aiming at anyone in particular, it’s just that you Demon Kings are weak as chickens!”
The Demon Kings of Demon Fury City happened to have just arrived so their chests immediately heaved up and down in anger, hearing Zhu Lie’s words. Their breathing became ragged, but they dared not voice their discontent, settling for grimacing in anger.
The Charm Demon was rendered speechless too. Although she deliberately wanted to please Yang Kai and Zhu Lie, she wasn’t stupid enough to agree to this in front of so many Demon Kings.
[But speaking of, this red-haired man is really scary. It’s not that the top Demon King was weak. In fact, anyone who could reach the realm of Demon King isn’t weak while the one who rises to seize the title of top Demon King is the strongest Master among all living Demon Kings.]
[Even so, he was killed by this red-haired man in a flash.]
The Charm Demon wanted to know the origins of this red-haired young man and what his cultivation was.
“What about the statue in the middle? It’s like a crane amongst the chickens. And why can’t I see its face clearly?” Yang Kai looked at the centre of the square.
There stood an enormous statue. In contrast, the other statues were simply like grandchildren before their grandfather. It was at least ten times bigger than the other, but what Yang Kai found strange was that the other statues were vivid and lifelike, but only this statue’s face was completely flat, uncarved in any way.
The Charm Demon immediately replied with a solemn face and in a solemn voice, “That is the statue of my Demon Realm’s Great Demon God! Because no one has seen the Great Demon God in person though…”
“Great Demon God!” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes as he suddenly recalled his experience in the Thousand Illusions Dreamworld. Inside the Two Worlds Passage, just one remote attack by Great Demon God had almost extinguished his Soul. That moment was completely terrifying and even now Yang Kai could recall it vividly.
Zhu Lie rebuffed with a look of contempt, “What a load of crap! How come this Dragon has never heard of it? I may not know about his abilities but how dare he confer himself as a God? How shameless of him!”
The moment these comments left his mouth, he had poked a hornet’s nest. All the Demon Kings angrily glared at Zhu Lie; obviously, they had been extremely furious at his blatant disrespect of Great Demon God.
Even the Charm Demon, who had been acting sheepishly and cautiously, turned serious and stated, grinding her teeth, “Sir, please choose your words carefully!”
Zhu Lie glanced at her and indifferently stated, “This Dragon has always spoken his mind, why would I need to choose my words!?”
His indifferent gaze immediately brought the Charm Demon to her senses and her face turned incomparably pale. She was at a loss; she regretted her impulsiveness and lightly bit her lips, not daring to speak another word.
Another Demon King stepped up at that time and stated in a heavy voice, “Your Excellency’s cultivation is high and you have fearsome methods in your arsenal. We are indeed not your opponent, but if Your Excellency deliberately humiliates us, then we will fight. We are not afraid of dying. Great Demon God is inviolable.”
Just as he proclaimed this, all the Demon Kings stepped forward in unison. Each and every one of them had a cold look on their faces, giving the impression that they were prepared to battle Zhu Lie at a moment’s notice.
The Charm Demon hesitated for a moment before she too took a step forward despite turning even paler.
“Oh?” Zhu Lie’s mouth curled into a cold smile, “Do you think that you trash can fight against this Dragon?”
Slight traces of murderous intent slowly started to leak from Zhu Lie as his Dragon Essence surged. He might need to sweat a little to kill all these Demon Kings, but he could definitely do it. Not just anyone could take on the anger of an Eighth-Order Red Dragon. Even a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master might have a hard time dealing with a furious Great Dragon.
The fate of the best Demon King of Demon Fury City was a prime example.
Zhu Lie didn’t place any importance on these Demon Kings; he didn’t need to talk to them on an equal footing. As far as he was concerned, Demon Fury City was just a slightly bigger ant hill, one he could walk past if he was in a good mood, or kicked away if he was in a bad one. And now, when these ants actually started defying him on their own, only blood and death could calm his fury.
His murderous intent swept around like a tide, creating a tense atmosphere; everyone was ready to confront each other.
“The Great Demon God… is truly strong!” Yang Kai stated in a light but reverberating voice.
Zhu Lie looked at him, furrowing his brow. He was wondering why Yang Kai suddenly said this. Speaking of which, although he looked at Yang Kai with undisguised displeasure, he also felt that he couldn’t beat Yang Kai because of the bloodline suppression. He had no choice but to admit that Yang Kai indeed had some ability.
With just a First-Order Emperor Realm cultivation, he could display strength no worse than a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. Not many people in the entire Star Boundary possessed such a robust foundation.
So, Zhu Lie still paid a little attention to his words.
Many Demon Kings were also taken aback and their gazes and expressions when looking at Yang Kai grew softer. Everyone thought that this Human was a hundred times more pleasing to the eyes than the red-haired young man.
Yang Kai smiled at Zhu Lie, “There are many powerful heroes in this vast universe. Although the Divine Spirits stood at the apex of this myriad worlds, there is always something or someone that exists beyond your imagination. And all we can do is strive to catch up; catch up to them, surpass them, and become the ones they must strive to catch up to someday.”
Zhu Lie was startled and snarled, “Are you teaching me?”
Although he admitted that Yang Kai’s words were reasonable, the arrogance rooted in his bones made it impossible for him to agree with him. In the eyes of the Dragon Clan, they were the strongest, standing high above everyone and everything. All creatures could only look up to them, so the way Yang Kai spoke as if that was untrue displeased him even more so.
“Boy, you are quite arrogant!” Yang Kai chuckled before turning his gaze away from the furious Zhu Lie and to the Charm Demon, “I called you over for just one thing.”
“I wonder what Sir wants to know?” The Charm Demon asked in a seductive voice.
Just now, Yang Kai’s act of rectifying the Great Demon God’s name had made a good impression on her. She was no longer as fearful as before, and the same was true for the other Demon Kings.
“Tell me about the Abyssal Returner,” Yang Kai indifferently asked.
“What!?”
“Abyssal… Returner!”
“The Beast of Destruction!”
“How did you come to know about the Abyssal Returner?”
The faces of the Demon Kings changed as they broke into an uproar as if they had heard something terrifying. Yang Kai immediately let out a cold snort, which instantly shut them up. Nevertheless, they kept exchanging glances with each other, seemingly shocked in their hearts.
The Charm Demon nervously gulped and asked, “Sir, I wonder why are you asking about this?”
“What do you mean why? I’m raising an Abyssal Returner, so I wanted to know about it. Isn’t the Abyssal Returner an Exotic Beast of the Demon Realm? Naturally, I would come to you to inquire about it.”
“R-R-Raising an A-A-Abyssal Returner?” The Charm Demon’s face lost all its colour as she somehow forced a smile and continued, “Sir, you must be joking, right? How could you be raising that Exotic Beast?”
A shadow of a smile slowly seemed to have appeared on the faces of some of the Demon Kings. Obviously, they didn’t believe Yang Kai one bit. They felt that he was just shamelessly boasting; after all, it was too unbelievable. How could an Abyssal Returner that was born to destroy the world be raised by a Human? If that was really the case, he would have long been devoured by it. How could he be standing here, chatting casually?
“You think I’m joking?” Yang Kai looked at the Charm Demon with a serious look on his face.
The Charm Demon withdrew her smile and slowly shook her head.
“Then don’t ask such naive questions.”
The Charm Demon gave a light cough as she secretly thought in her heart, [This guy must have mistaken some strange Monster Beast for an Abyssal Returner.] But seeing the serious look on his face, she didn’t dare to raise such a point. Instead, all she could do was go along with him and reply, “Sir, what do you want to ask?”
“Tell me whatever you know!” Yang Kai rested his one hand on the stone table while pointing at the Demon Kings with another before speaking to the Charm Demon, “Starting from you, everyone will tell me one thing about the Abyssal Returner, and if anyone doesn’t give me something or his answer dissatisfies me, there will be consequences.”
The Charm Demon jumped back in fright, “Sir, what are the consequences?”
Yang Kai replied, “I haven’t thought about them but it would certainly not be good.” A slightly cold smile emerged on his lips as a sliver of murderous intent timely reared its head before receding, terrifying the Demon Kings. They knew that Yang Kai was being serious. He indeed wanted to know about the Abyssal Returner.
They really couldn’t fathom why though as although the Abyssal Returner had quite the notoriety, it had long been destroyed. Furthermore, the Abyssal Returner was an Exotic Beast of the Demon Realm, so why was a Human trying to learn about it? None of them dared to ask any question though and turned their gazes to the Charm Demon.
The Charm Demon felt a bitter taste in her mouth, but she had no choice but to go along Yang Kai’s whims. So, she thought for a while before replying, “The Abyssal Returner is also known as Beast of Destruction. It is a legendary creature in our Demon Realm, and not in a good way. The reason why it has such a title is because it represents destruction itself. Wherever it goes, nothing but an empty abyss and destruction remains.”
After speaking, she vigilantly looked at Yang Kai, who lightly furrowed his brow. Although he was a little dissatisfied with such general information, he didn’t care about it too much and just waved his hand, indicating a pass.
The Charm Demon breathed a sigh of relief before turning her head towards another Demon King.
Obviously, this Demon King had already thought about it and immediately started speaking, “Legend has it that the Abyssal Returner was born from the primordial chaos itself. Although it has a body of flesh and blood, it has no source or root. No one knows how it was truly born, but it seemed to have existed since the Demon Realm was formed.”
Yang Kai gently nodded.
The speaking Demon King took the hint and looked to another Demon King.
The third Demon King added, “I only know that there seems to be a strange space inside the Abyssal Returner that can swallow and contain anything and everything.”
“Because the Abyssal Returner was an Exotic Beast of the Demon Realm, it was particularly attracted to Demon Qi. It seems to grow stronger by devouring Demon Qi.”
“Yes, rumour has it that the Abyssal Returner wasn’t very strong when it was born. Although it showed peculiar abilities, our Demon Race didn’t pay that much importance to it until it slowly matured, whereupon it finally attracted the attention of the Masters of the Demon Realm. But unfortunately, it was too late by then.”
“Back then, the Abyssal Returner ran rampant. It devoured countless Demons and razed countless cities to the ground. Even Demon Saints were swallowed by it. Finally, my Demon Race stood united to resist it and finally killed it after paying a very heavy price.”
“The Abyssal Returner was so tenacious that it is said it did not actually die and instead retreated into the chaos after faking its death, waiting for the day it would stage a comeback.”
“…”
One after another, pieces of information about the Abyssal Returner left the mouths of the Demon Kings. Although they had been trapped in the Revolving World for hundreds of thousands of years, some of the information about the Demon Realm was still passed down from generation to generation. As for the Abyssal Returner, it was known as the Beast of Destruction and was a legend unto itself, so even if most of the facts had been distorted by time and rumours, they were all extremely good pieces of information.
Some Demon Kings knew nothing about the Abyssal Returner, or the things they knew had already been spoken by others, but other Demon Kings would secretly relay some information to them, which would allow them to pass Yang Kai’s test.
After two or three rounds, the Demon Kings couldn’t think of anything more no matter how much they racked their brains, but seeing that Yang Kai had no intention of stopping, they couldn’t help but feel a little bitter. They now thought that Yang Kai was deliberately making things difficult for them; why else would he ask about the Abyssal Returner and nothing else?
After another Demon King gave what information he knew, the next one wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He thought hard for a very long time but couldn’t think of anything.
Yang Kai raised his head and asked, “Nothing else?”
The Demon King bitterly shook his head.
The Charm Demon hurriedly intervened, “Sir, we have told you everything we know. We have not concealed anything.”
“En, I know.” Yang Kai nodded, “I believe what you said just now is true, but there is one point that interests me in particular.”
“I don’t know what Sir is referring to?”
“Can the Abyssal Returner become stronger if it devours all of you?”
“U… us?” The Charm Demon nervously gulped, her lips quivering before she haltingly replied, “Possibly…”
“I wonder …” Yang Kai smilingly looked at her, “If it swallowed all of you Demon Kings, its speed of growth should be very quick, right?”
“Aha… ha… probably,” the Charm Demon forced out a laugh. Although she didn’t think that an Abyssal Returner would really appear to swallow them, it still sent chills down her back to talk about this. She felt as if a bloody mouth was biting toward her and would swallow her down at any moment.
“Call your Elder Sister here,” Yang Kai looked at Zhu Lie and ordered.
Zhu Lie lightly snorted. Although he was unhappy with Yang Kai’s overbearing tone, he didn’t haggle with him much. Having heard everything so far, he prompted his Dragon Essence and formed a few hand seals as his lips moved up and down a few times.
Yang Kai turned his attention back to the Charm Demon and smilingly asked, “If I ask you which Demon King you would like to kill, who would you pick?”
The Charm Demon’s face changed after hearing this and she immediately asked, shocked, “Sir, what do you mean?”
“I’m just asking, who do you find the most disgusting?”
The Charm Demon replied with a forced smile, “Sir, please don’t joke, we all belong to the Demon Race. We stand together and help each other in times of difficulty. All in Demon Fury City are brothers and sisters, how can we find each other… disgusting?”
Other Demon Kings puffed their chests after hearing this, trying their best to assume the stance of sharing life and death together in adversity. Although no one knew why Yang Kai was asking this, everyone felt that something wasn’t right.
This Human seemed to have some ill-intentions, and it was by no means as friendly as he looked on the surface. He was a beast shrouded in the wool of a sheep, one that would attack if they accidentally touched it.
Yang Kai’s brow twitched as he declared, “The opportunity is in your hand, it will be gone once you let it slip away.”
The Charm Demon didn’t say a word, hesitating for a time before using her Divine Sense stealthily.
Yang Kai raised his eyes, looking toward one side, his gaze happening to land on a sinister-looking Demon King. This Demon King was surging with Blood Qi, forming a faint red halo around his body. He seemed to be a member of the Blood Demon Clan and there was an uneasy expression on his face, as if he was worried about something.
When Yang Kai’s gaze swept over him, he immediately reacted, shouting at the Charm Demon, grinding his teeth in anger, “Slut, how dare you betray me!”
The Charm Demon had her red lips pursed and her face turned a little pale, but she said nothing to the accusation of the Blood Demon.
The Blood Demon grew angrier, “Ungrateful slut! When you were under my crotch, you did everything to seduce me, but now that you’ve climbed a higher branch, you want to kill me!? I should have known never to trust a wench like you!”
The Charm Demon became angry out of shame and rebuked, gritting her teeth, “Although I am a Charm Demon, I’m not loose! If you hadn’t forced yourself on me, why would I…”
“Hahaha!” The Blood Demon broke into laughter as Blood Qi fiercely surged from him, “Enough with the sophistry. The Charm Demon Clan are all cheap sluts! If it wasn’t for this King’s help, how could you have ever reached the Demon King Realm with your aptitude!? You think that this King had no idea that you have been secretly hooking up with other people all these years? And you still have the gall to say that you aren’t loose? Now, you are just a piece of rotten meat that not even the wild dogs would bother to sniff! Even if you kneel down and beg me, this King wouldn’t touch you!”
“What nonsense!?” Charm Demon screamed before she turned and begged, looking at Yang Kai, “Sir, although this slave has no idea what you want to do, if you want to kill someone, please kill him! The slave will be at your beck and call in the future.”
“How dare you want to kill me!? I’ll kill you first!” The Blood Demon erupted and the moment he raised his hand, a beam of bloody light shot straight towards the Charm Demon. The beam then exploded, transforming into a rain of blood that poured down over a large area.
The blood rain seemed to be extremely corrosive and made sizzling noises even as it fell through the air.
The Charm Demon immediately screamed. Her cultivation was much lower than the Blood Demon’s so she couldn’t resist his attack. She promptly retreated as she chanted some verse in the Demon language, while repeatedly swinging her arms, shooting pure Demon Qi out again and again. Nevertheless, she was unable to stop the blood rain from falling on her.
*Chi chi chi chi…*
The drops of blood rain melted through the Charm Demon’s defences, corroding her clothes, laying a large part of her body bare. The exposed skin was then stained by the blood rain and quickly rotted away, turning into pus and dripping down along her body. At some places, her white bones could even be seen, making her look extremely miserable.
“Die slut!” The Blood Demon didn’t give up and charged straight at the Charm Demon. By the looks of his posture, he wanted to finish her once and for all.
The Charm Demon’s face turned pale in horror. She did her best to retaliate but was unable to stop the Blood Demon from charging. She felt death approaching and believed no matter what, she would not survive this.
But suddenly, the Blood Demon collapsed in the mid-air, blowing up as an endless wave of blood shot straight towards Yang Kai. Its momentum was quite shocking, giving the impression of a tidal wave. The tsunami of blood was extremely powerful and destructive, seemingly capable of sweeping away all things in existence, and at the forefront of the blood wave, the Blood Demon’s face slowly emerged. He seemed to be riding the waves, fiercely rushing towards Yang Kai.
Attacking the Charm Demon was just a cover, that’s all. His real target was always Yang Kai.
Although he didn’t want to have a conflict with Yang Kai, having been stirred by the Charm Demon, he had been pushed to the edge of the storm. If he wanted to survive it, he had no choice but to strike first.
The red-haired young man was too terrifying. Even the top Demon King was instantly killed, so the Blood Demon didn’t dare to have any thoughts of attacking him whatsoever.
Although Yang Kai had killed a few Demon Kings, he had done it by depending on the might of an artifact, so in the Blood Demon’s opinion, Yang Kai’s own strength might not be that great. Now was his opportunity to take Yang Kai down while he had not yet summoned his artifact.
[As long as I can capture this Human, I can have the absolute upper hand!] Thinking so, the Blood Demon immediately made his move. Furthermore, he was extremely confident that he would succeed.
At that moment, he noticed a meaningful grin on Yang Kai’s face. The smile promptly made his confidence hit rock bottom as he inexplicably felt that he was a sheep throwing himself at a wolf. He immediately felt that he had made a fatal mistake.
The hesitation in his heart caused his blood wave incarnation to freeze for a moment.
Yang Kai raised his hand and flicked his fingers.
*Chi chi chi chi…*
Crescent-shaped pitch-black slashes cut through the blood waves like hot knives through butter.
Every Moon Blade made the Blood Demon grunt in pain as his crimson halo dimmed, reducing the size of the blood wave.
After seven or eight Moon Blades, the blood wave converged to a point as the Blood Demon’s figure re-appeared and staggered not too far away from Yang Kai.
Yang Kai quickly formed hand seals as a solemn look appeared on his face while a faint Time Principle fluctuation rose from his body.
“Time Flows on Infinitely, Like a Mighty Stream, Like an Unending Dream!”
He lightly smacked his palm out, hitting the absent-minded Blood Demon in a flash, who immediately spurted a mouthful of blood before his figure flew away like a kite. Somehow, the Blood Demon regained his wits after taking this hit and his figure jolted as he transformed into rays of blood light that shot off in multiple directions.
The serious injuries he had suffered in that brief clash let the Blood Demon, who was a powerful Demon King, know that he had greatly underestimated his opponent. From the start, he wasn’t Yang Kai’s opponent.
Now, he just wanted to escape, the farther the better.
“Blood Shadow Escape Technique!” Yang Kai lightly snorted before sneering, “If it was Shadow Demon Clan’s Divine Shadow Slayer Escape Technique, then this Young Master may have taken a little more time to solve it, but you dare act so arrogant in front of this Young Master with mere Blood Shadow Escape? Watch how this Young Master instantly breaks it.” Saying so, Yang Kai’s gaze quickly swept through various streaks of blood light in succession before he focused his gaze on one in particular and pointed his finger at it.
Immediately, Space Principles surged, turning the area around that streak of blood light into an invisible cage.
The streak of blood light crashed into the cage wall and was knocked back as a pale Blood Demon appeared.
“How is this possible!?” He couldn’t help but cry out in shock.
The Blood Shadow Escape Technique was one of the Blood Demon Clan’s Innate Divine Abilities, one that boasted superior concealment and speed. If an ordinary person encountered this Divine Ability, he or she wouldn’t be able to distinguish between the real and fake bodies.
The Blood Demon never expected a mere First-Order Emperor Realm Human boy to see through it.
And the words this young man had spoken just now horrified him even more. The Blood Demon’s Blood Shadow Escape Technique and the Divine Shadow Slayer Escape Technique were both Innate Divine Abilities. Even for the Demon Race’s Demon Kings, it would be too difficult to see through these techniques, but judging by this Human’s confident tone, he was well versed and experienced with the unique skills of the Demon Race.
The Blood Demon was horrified to the extreme and his entire body had gone cold.
He tried to use his escape technique again, but a figure had appeared before him; Yang Kai was already blocking his way.
The Blood Demon immediately gasped in horror, hurriedly retreating.
“Look at me!” Yang Kai spoke in a heavy tone, his voice seemingly carrying an irresistible power. The Blood Demon instinctually looked up at him when he heard this and when their eyes met, the Blood Demon saw the opposite party’s left eye turn into a vertical golden slit. The majestic golden glow of this eye seemed to suck away his Soul, shaking his Knowledge Sea, rendering him unable to have any thought of looking away. The next moment, Yang Kai’s Divine Sense surged like a tide as a budding lotus flower flashed away from his left eye, shooting straight into the Blood Demon’s Knowledge Sea.
In an instant, the Blood Demon’s thoughts froze even more firmly as he stood rooted on the spot, dumbstruck.
His Knowledge Sea had collapsed. The Blood Demon was now as good as a walking corpse.
A figure rushed over from the side at that moment, its eyes filled with deep-rooted hatred, holding a white bone dagger. The bone dagger didn’t appear to belong to any kind of Ominous Beast. Rather it was more like a bone left behind by a Human or Demon Race Master, one that had been refined into a Demon Artifact using some unknown technique.
The aura of the bone dagger was pretty good, and it was ruthlessly thrust straight towards the head of the rooted Blood Demon, wanting to reap his life in a single blow.
Yang Kai promptly sent out a palm along with a cold snort, knocking the Charm Demon away, who crawled back up and doubtfully asked, wiping the blood from the corner of her lips, “Sir?”
The Charm Demon’s condition was pretty miserable at the moment. Her clothes were in tatters, and ugly pustules could be found all over her beautiful figure. Many of these pustules were bleeding, radiating an unpleasant aura.
She was far weaker than the Blood Demon, and was nearly killed by his opening attack. Coupled with the humiliation she had suffered, she naturally wanted to take revenge.
It was just that she couldn’t understand why Yang Kai would stop her; after all, it was Yang Kai who asked her who she wanted to kill in the first place.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Yang Kai coldly looked at her, the golden glow remaining in his left eye. The Charm Demon’s entire body went cold as she hurriedly explained, “Didn’t Sir want to kill him? I only wished to assist you!”
“If I want to kill someone, I can do it myself, why would I need your help?” Yang Kai lightly snorted.
The Charm Demon tremblingly admitted her mistake, “This Mistress was wrong, Sir, please don’t be angry!”
She knew that she had to be submissive if she wanted to survive, so she didn’t dare show any grievance or anger.
Yang Kai simply ignored her though and looked over at the nearby Zhu Lie.
Zhu Lie had been sitting in the same place, not moving an inch, but the Dragon Pressure radiating from him had already been pushed to the limit. The Demon Kings standing before him were sweating buckets while the ones with the lower cultivation were shivering, their faces pale. They felt as if a huge mountain had been placed on their chests and they were having a hard time breathing.
Although the battle between Yang Kai and the Blood Demon was very short, without Zhu Lie’s deterrence, other Demon Kings would not have just stood by and watched. In any case, they were all Demons, so it was impossible for them to idly sit while their clansman was being killed.
In fact, several Demon Kings wanted to make a move as soon as the Blood Demon made his, but they were suppressed by Zhu Lie before they could act.
The red-haired young man had put a lot of pressure on the Demon Kings, but the pressure the strange Human was giving wasn’t any weaker. They weren’t confident that they could survive under his attacks, so they remained obedient after being suppressed, secretly praying that they would not draw fire upon themselves.
Now that the dust had settled, it became apparent that the Blood Demon had suffered serious injuries, and while he may be alive, he was as good as a walking corpse. This chilled the other Demon Kings even further, making them all worry about what kind of fate was awaiting them.
“What are you trying to do?” Zhu Lie frowned and impatiently stared at Yang Kai.
First, he went to Demon Fury City to look for Demon Kings to inquire about some strange beast, and now, he had attacked without a word. It would have been nothing if he had killed the Blood Demon, but Yang Kai actually just put him into a half-dead state, which was rather baffling.
“You will know later,” Yang Kai indifferently replied. At this moment, he noticed Zhu Qing flying over, with Li Jiao a half step behind her. Who knows what kind of brown-nosing he was doing, but it was clear he was nodding and bowing with a big smile on his face. However, he couldn’t get any response from Zhu Qing.
After the two flew closer, Li Jiao hurriedly greeted Yang Kai.
“What happened here?” Zhu Qing curiously looked around. She was puzzled about what had happened as she noticed the traces of fighting and could tell that they were fresh.
“Nothing much,” Yang Kai gave an arbitrary reply before he looked at the black puppy in her arms and asked, “How is it doing?”
“It’s getting better, but it seems a little weak,” Zhu Qing caressed the little black puppy’s head.
Its situation had indeed improved. When Yang Kai left, the black puppy was still frozen in a block of ice, but now, although there was still frost on its body, it was obviously much better.
Right at that moment, it looked as if it had smelled something delicious and it raised its head to look at the nearby Demon Kings, drooling from the corner of its mouth.
Being stared at by this small beast, many Demon Kings felt as if they had encountered their nemesis and their hands and feet went cold as they promptly looked away.
“Want to eat?” Yang Kai smilingly asked.
“Woof!” The black puppy’s bark immediately rang in his mind as it struggled to get up from Zhu Qing’s arm.
“Don’t just indiscriminately eat things,” Zhu Qing frowned as she scolded it. She wanted to say it when she saw Ah Wang swallow the two Demon Race members before, but the situation had changed so abruptly that she wasn’t able to. Now that she saw it wanting to do the same thing, she immediately knocked its head.
The black puppy aggrievedly whimpered.
Yang Kai picked up the black puppy from Zhu Qing’s arm and said, “Qing’er, if we want to leave this place, we’ll have to let it eat more.”
“Huh?” Zhu Qing furrowed her brow, wondering what Yang Kai meant.
The next moment, she saw Yang Kai throw the black puppy straight toward the absentminded Blood Demon.
In the air, Ah Wang was in high spirits, practically glowing with vigour. His pair of black eyes burst with a fearsome glow as it suddenly opened its mouth, which grew to the size of a door as it swallowed the Blood Demon in one bite.
*Ssii…*
Immediately, gasps escaped from the Demon Kings’ mouths as they dumbfoundedly stared at the black puppy’s sudden transformation. Their eyes were ready to pop out of their sockets. The frightening things Yang Kai had been talking about earlier were gradually confirmed by what they were seeing before their eyes, bringing them all to a horrifying conclusion.
“Abyssal Returner!”
The Charm Demon’s scream reverberated throughout the sky as her face, which had just regained a bit of its complexion, turned completely pale once again. She seemed to have lost all her strength as she crumpled down to the ground.
Although the other Demon Kings fared better than her, they were greatly frightened for sure. Panic immediately spread among the Demon Kings, making all of them extremely uneasy as their emotions were thrown into chaos.
The legendary monster that they thought was long dead had suddenly appeared in front of them. They simply couldn’t believe this; after all, in the records of the Demon Race, the Abyssal Returner was described in the most terrifying of ways, portraying it as the living embodiment of catastrophe and destruction. Almost a third of the Demon Realm was destroyed by its demonic hunger, and the current harsh environment of the Demon Realm was inextricably linked to it.
They couldn’t figure out how the Abyssal Returner was still alive. Wasn’t it killed by the Great Demon God of the time? Could it be that the rumours they spoke of earlier were actually true? That the Abyssal Returner had escaped by feigning death, hoping to make a comeback, and when it was prepared, it would definitely go looking for the Great Demon God for revenge. The current shattered Demon Realm couldn’t withstand any more destruction.
With so many Demon Kings here, it was impossible to misidentify the Abyssal Returner. Although the Abyssal Returned seemed very ordinary at a glance, when it transformed, its characteristics couldn’t be any more obvious.
In other words, this seemingly docile black puppy was definitely the Abyssal Returner, the very same horrifying existence that destroyed the Demon Realm and fought a life and death battle with the Great Demon God back then.
[No wonder, no wonder this Human wanted to learn everything about the Abyssal Returner.]
It turned out that what he said about raising an Abyssal Returner was really true!
Just as this thought crossed their minds, many Demon Kings’ faces turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
They seemed to have revealed a lot of information that shouldn’t have been revealed, especially the part about the strength of the Abyssal Returner, which was simply life-threatening information.
In a flash, all the Demon Kings felt regret, especially the Demon Kings who had revealed more sensitive information, wishing to tear their mouths off for their foolishness.
While the Demon Kings had lost their wits in shock and horror, the little puppy had already swallowed the Blood Demon in one bite, and its enormous mouth had already returned to its original shape. There was a satisfied look on its face, and its belly was moving up and down. The frost covering its body surprisingly began to melt at speed visible to the naked eye. Wisps of Cold Qi slowly flowed out of its body, assimilating into the surroundings and causing the temperature to drop sharply.
Moreover, under Yang Kai’s keen perception, the moment the black puppy ingested its latest food, its aura soared, reaching to the level of Sixth-Order Monster Beast before returning to its original level after the black puppy returned to its native state.
In just a short dozen breaths, the black puppy had already returned to its original size, but it wasn’t as weak as before; its vitality was as vigorous as a dragon and it was walking in large strides. It was now eagerly looking at the Demon Kings, making them shiver in horror.
“Hmm?” Zhu Qing looked at the black puppy in astonishment, as if she hadn’t expected that swallowing a Demon King would be this helpful.
Yang Kai explained, “This little thing is a Demon Realm Exotic Beast. It also seems to be very famous over here. There is a kind of void space in its belly, which allows it to devour everything, so anything related to the Demon Race makes it stronger.”
Zhu Qing thoughtfully asked, “Speaking of which, was the Yin Wind it had swallowed before swallowed into that unknown space too?”
Yang Kai replied, “It should be so. I guess the size of that space has something to do with its strength. If it’s not strong enough and the space in its belly is too small, it can’t handle it after swallowing it to a certain extent.”
“It’s really amazing,” Zhu Qing looked surprised, sizing up the black puppy as if she wanted to re-assess it. The Yin Wind they had encountered on Yin Wind Mountain was too terrifying. The Cold Demon Qi that became heavier as they walked further was something even Yang Kai and she couldn’t resist, was swallowed by the black puppy in its strange space, carrying them more than a thousand meters up Yin Wind Mountain. This kind of ability was shocking.
“Do you want to make it stronger, strong enough to take us deeper into the Yin Wind Mountain?” Zhu Lie asked, furrowing his brow. Yang Kai’s intentions couldn’t be any more obvious now, so if he still couldn’t guess it, he would really be a fool.
“That’s right.” Yang Kai nodded his agreement, “Ah Wang is our only chance now. As long as it is strong enough, and the space in its belly large enough, then it can definitely lead us outside.”
Zhu Lie thought for a moment before agreeing, “This is indeed an opportunity. However… before that, it needs a lot of food.” While speaking, he glanced at the Demon Kings.
Many Demon Kings’ faces turned bitter. They had the will to resist but were powerless to do so. They felt wronged.
The Charm Demon sat down on the ground in despair. She hadn’t expected that such a destiny awaited her. She racked her brain, trying to come up with ways to survive. If there was no Blood Demon, she could have tried to seduce Yang Kai, but the previous battle had left her in a sorry state that would take at least a month or two to recover from. How could she get so much time to recuperate now?
Yang Kai added, “Of course, this is just my guess. I don’t know if it will work. In order to confirm this, I have to go and do a little experiment.”
“How are you going to experiment?” Zhu Qing asked.
Yang Kai slightly smiled before he reached out and grabbed the black puppy. The black puppy looked confused; it had no idea how it would be treated next.
“Take good care of these guys, none of them are allowed to leave,” ordered Yang Kai before his figure disappeared from the spot.
Zhu Lie thoughtfully gazed in Yin Wind Mountain’s direction.
After a while, he retracted his gaze and firmly sat.
The Charm Demon was flabbergasted. She wanted to escape but didn’t have the guts to try it. Obviously, she could only stand up and walk toward the other Demon Kings.
She gingerly glanced at Zhu Lie and noticing that he didn’t have any intention of stopping her, she secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
Many Demon Kings gathered around as their Divine Senses surged. Apparently, they were discussing ways to save their lives. Occasionally, a faint murderous intent would emerge, obviously wanting to give it a try.
After all, they weren’t weak. If they were really fish in the net and had no chance to live, it would have been a given that they would become food for the Abyssal Returner.
Demon Fury City had stood in the Revolving World for hundreds of thousands of years and had been constantly at war with Human Imperial City, but it had never faced this kind of crisis.
This strange Human Boy, who had appeared out of nowhere, was beyond what they could contend with.
While the Demon Kings were talking among themselves, the Zhu sister and brother duo weren’t interested in knowing their intentions. Li Jiao was huddled on one side. He completely lacked the stance of a Sect Master or powerhouse as he deliberately went to chat and flatter the two Dragon Clan members, but without the guts to go any further, a troubled look covered his face.
After an hour, Yang Kai suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Although he cut a sorry figure, obvious joy could be seen on his face.
Zhu Qing and Zhu Lie immediately knew that Yang Kai’s theory was correct at one glance. Otherwise, he would never show such a happy look. Both of them secretly cheered.
Meanwhile, the Demon Kings looked horrified and their hearts were gripped with bitterness.
This couldn’t be helped, the Abyssal Returner cub in Yang Kai’s arms was covered in frost, obviously because it had swallowed a lot of Yin Wind on Yin Wind Mountain. And from past experience, solving this problem was quite easy, but it certainly wasn’t what the Demon Kings were hoping for.
Yang Kai nodded to Zhu Qing before turning his gaze to the crowd of Demon Kings, like a butcher looking at a herd of lambs. Zhu Lie and Zhu Qing rose into the air without speaking a word, surrounding the Demon Kings in a triangle formation along with Yang Kai.
Li Jiao thought for a while before hurriedly joining them, releasing his own Emperor Pressure and assuming a ferocious look on his face, giving the impression that he could swallow them in one bite.
“Sirs and Madam, please wait a moment!” The Charm Demon hurriedly stepped up and loudly spoke, perhaps forced or perhaps of her own will, either way sweating buckets, “We have had a discussion and are willing to help you make the Abyssal Returner stronger, to help Sirs and Madam leave this place.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai raised his brow and enthusiastically asked, “It’s interesting for you to cooperate of your own will, but if I don’t satisfy you, then I’ll be ill-at-ease. So, who is willing to die first?”
The Charm Demon hurriedly wiped the sweat off her forehead and corrected, forcing a smile on her face, “The Abyssal Returner consumes anything related to the Demon Race, and its strength can be increased using the Demon Qi, but it doesn’t mean that it needs to devour my clansmen, Sir.”
“I know,” Yang Kai nodded before adding, “But isn’t this the most efficient and direct method?”
The Charm Demon replied, “The most direct method, yes, but the most efficient, not necessarily.”
Yang Kai asked with a shadow of a smile lingering on his face, “How is it inefficient?”
The Charm Demon summoned up her courage and replied, “There are only so many Demon King-level Masters in Demon Fury City. May I ask, what would Sir do if the Abyssal Returner’s strength isn’t enough to leave this place after swallowing all of us?”
Yang Kai frowned before adding, “Although there are only so many Demon Kings, there are a lot of other Demons in Demon Fury City, swallowing all of them would be enough.”
The Charm Demon continued, “How can these clansmen be compared with us? Sir is also a Master himself, so Sir should know that strength doesn’t have anything to do with quantity.”
Yang Kai smiled, “What you say also makes sense. Good, I will give you a chance to convince me otherwise.”
The Charm Demon was taken aback and immediately replied, “This Mistress has heard that among humans there is a saying, ‘do not kill the goose that lays the eggs’. Sir’s current practice is exactly that. If you want eggs, you must not kill the goose that lays them.”
“Would you be willing to be the goose that lays the eggs?”
The Charm Demon replied with a wane smile, “It’s better than the alternative, death. We are willing to cooperate, and allow the Abyssal Returner to devour our Demon Qi. Although it won’t be as fast as directly swallowing us, it shouldn’t be much worse, and it has the benefit of maintaining a source of energy. As long as we are alive, we can provide the Abyssal Returner with the energy it needs to grow. Sir is wise, Sir should be able to weigh the pros and cons.”
Yang Kai lightly snorted before indifferently asking, “And if I insist on killing the goose that lays the eggs?”
The Charm Demon nibbled her lower lips before she looked at the other Demon Kings and aggrievedly replied, “If Sir insists, then we will have no choice but to fight back. We might have no hope of succeeding, and will just be speeding up our deaths, but… if we all die, the Abyssal Returner won’t get any benefits. Sir probably doesn’t know, but the Abyssal Returner doesn’t eat the dead, only the living.”
Having finished her peace, she nervously looked at Yang Kai, and with the other Demon Kings silent as well, the atmosphere was turning a little serious.
In front of everyone’s eyes, Yang Kai’s face became serious. He pondered for a while before a look of realization appeared on his face, “No wonder it didn’t swallow those Demons last time, so this guy is a picky eater!”
The Charm Demon couldn’t help but be a little dumbfounded. Seeing Yang Kai thinking so seriously just now, she naturally thought that Yang Kai was considering their proposal, who knew that it was actually something so irrelevant.
Just as she was about to speak, Yang Kai continued, “I can follow your suggestion and not kill you. Massacring an entire city goes against Heaven’s Will, so if not forced, this Young Master is not willing to do so. However, whether you live or die will depend on your performance.”
Just as he said this, Yang Kai threw the black puppy over.
The Demon Kings were all struck with panic at the sight of this and instinctually dodged. Having just seen the black puppy swallow the Blood Demon in one go, they were naturally wary of it.
In the end, the Charm Demon was more reliable than the others and courageously caught the black puppy.
The black puppy opened its mouth wide and instantly, everything went dark before the Charm Demon’s eyes. The Charm Demon was so terrified that her entire body went limp, helplessly watching as the big mouth closed down on her. She couldn’t do anything to escape.
A smacking sound suddenly rang out as Yang Kai slapped the black puppy’s head, who immediately let out a whimper, but it still promptly closed its mouth, finally letting the Charm Demon escape.
“You can’t eat her!” Yang Kai looked at it with a serious look on his face, “Don’t pretend to be a fool. No means no!”
The black puppy’s ears immediately drooped.
“It’s all good now.” Yang Kai broke into laughter, looking at the Charm Demon.
The Charm Demon was frozen on the spot. After a good long while, she finally awkwardly reacted, “I’m a little limp, which one of you will come first.”
The Demon Kings hesitatingly looked at each other, but in the end, a Bone Demon came out and volunteered in a hoarse voice, “I’ll go first.”
While speaking, he strode to the black puppy and pushed all his Demon Qi. In a flash, surging Demon Qi emerged from him and fiercely flowed towards the black puppy.
The black puppy suddenly got excited and opened his mouth wide again as a strong suction came from its wide-open jaw, sucking in the Bone Demon’s Demon Qi and swallowing it into its abdomen.
A black line visible to the naked eye appeared between the black puppy and the Bone Demon. A steady stream of energy was flowing from the Bone Demon to the black puppy, owing to which the frost covering the black puppy slowly began to melt.
The Bone Demon’s cultivation was good, his aura placing him somewhere between the Second and Third-Order Emperor Realm. He was definitely ranked among the top ten Demon Kings in the city.
But such a Demon King couldn’t even last the time it took for an incense to burn before the black puppy.
No matter how much he pushed his energy, the black puppy devoured it clean. Its small stomach was like a bottomless pit that could never be filled.
After the time it takes for an incense to burn, the Bone Demon, whose Demon Qi had been devoured clean, staggered. The pulsating ghost fire in his eyes had dimmed significantly, obviously because of the excessive consumption of his strength.
Staggering, he walked to one side and sat down cross-legged to recover.
With an example having been made, the other Demon Kings walked to the black puppy one by one and followed the same pattern.
One by one, the Demon Kings walked up the black puppy and left soon after. Each and every one of them had almost been drained to death.
Even the strongest Demon King present could only persist for the time it took for two incense sticks to burn before he was exhausted.
After three hours, all the Demon Kings were left sitting on the ground in rows.
Yang Kai’s face turned a little dark. Although he knew that the black puppy had gotten stronger, it was definitely not enough to take them out of here.
The Charm Demon had been paying attention to Yang Kai’s posture and expression, so she immediately said, forcing herself to be enthusiastic, “This Mistress can summon all the Demon Great Generals in the city here. Although they are weaker, they are greater in number.”
Yang Kai lightly nodded, whereupon the Charm Demon used a technique to summon all the Demon Great Generals.
Not long after, Demon Great General-level figures flew over from every direction of the city one after another.
As the Charm Demon said, although the Demon Great Generals were weaker in cultivation, they won in numbers. In any case, they could contribute to making the black puppy stronger.
When the crowd of Demon Great Generals arrived, they were taken aback at the sight of the Demon Kings’ plight. They were uneasy, wondering what fate awaited them.
The Charm Demon summoned some of the strongest Demon Great Generals to her side and whispered to them, making them turn pale. From time to time, they glanced at the black puppy with apprehension.
Very soon, all the Demon Great Generals knew why they were called over.
With the Demon Kings taking the road before, they knew that they couldn’t resist, so they lined up before the black puppy and pushed out their Demon Qi.
The Demon Great Generals were far worse than the Demon Kings, as each of them was only comparable to a Dao Source Realm cultivator. They could only persist for a few dozen breaths, that was all. The suction from the black puppy’s mouth seemed to be able to squeeze out energy from their bodies, making them unable to hold out for long.
One after another, the Demon Great Generals became dead tired.
After a day, the Demon Great Generals round was already over. Everywhere, Demon Race members were sitting cross-legged, restoring their energy. It was an extremely spectacular sight.
But just a short span of one day wasn’t enough for the Demon Kings to completely recover.
The black puppy impatiently growled a few times. Since its birth, it had never eaten so refreshingly. Although it wasn’t as delicious as eating a Demon King directly, eating this way lasted longer, allowing it to revel in the pleasure of savouring its food.
The Bone Demon, who had gone first, had no choice but to get up and repeat what he did the day before.
Yang Kai, who was coldly watching from the side, knew that this would only be a vicious cycle. The Demon Race members wouldn’t get enough time to recover, owing to which, the energy they could provide to the black puppy would become less and less, eventually becoming almost negligible.
After weighing his options for a while, Yang Kai took out a few bottles of recovery-type pills, woke up the Charm Demon, and asked her to distribute them.
The Charm Demon appeared to be hesitating as she wished to ask what these pills were, but didn’t dare to ask.
Yang Kai let out a cold snort before taking the initiative to explain, freeing her from her worries.
The distribution of the pills was finished in no time. The Demon Kings who had taken the pills were all smiling happily. Obviously, their recovery speed had become much greater.
The Charm Demon walked back. She seemed to be able to tell what was on Yang Kai’s mind as she whispered, “Sir, please don’t worry too much. At this moment, the World Principles are biased toward your Star Boundary, but once the principles change, our recovery speed will be greater. At that time, things will go much faster.”
“I hope so.” Yang Kai remained noncommittal.
The World Principles of the Revolving World cycled back and forth between being biased towards the Star Boundary and the Demon Realm. There was no pattern to it at all and the reason was that the Revolving World sat in the Void Crack between these two Great Worlds, wandering randomly. It would constantly move between the spheres of influence of these two Great Worlds, and depending on which Great World it was overlapping with, the World Principles would be thus affected.
However, there would be some very obvious natural signs when the World Principles were about to shift. The Human Race of Human Imperial City relied on this to avoid danger.
With the pills distributed by Yang Kai, the speed of recovery of the Demon Kings was indeed a lot faster, but it still couldn’t satisfy the black puppy’s appetite.
Now, Yang Kai could only pin his hopes on the Revolving World’s shifting World Principles.
The wait lasted for half a month.
In this half month, every Demon King and Demon Great General of Demon Fury City had basically undergone ten rounds being drained by the black puppy, only to recover then push their Demon Qi again to let the black puppy feed once more.
No Master could withstand this kind of suffering, not even Yang Kai, so after half a month, all the Demon Kings and Demon Great Generals’ faces had turned grey and were filled with Death Qi, as if their end was nigh and they could die at any moment. Some of the Demon Kings and Demon Great Generals’ cultivations had even regressed and it was unknown if they could ever recover their original strength.
They simply couldn’t carry on, but if they could have escaped, they would have done so long ago. There was an Exotic Monster like the Abyssal Returner, two Dragon Clan members guarding the surroundings, and Yang Kai, who was keeping a close watch on them. How could they escape?
They too were looking forward to World Principles changing.
After half a day, the World Principles began to shift. A reverberating thunderclap-like sound rang out, making the Demon Race members, who had been suffering these days, tear up and cheer in excitement.
After a tremble, the ambient World Energy started to undergo some subtle changes.
Li Jiao came up to Yang Kai’s side and begged, wearing a sad face, “Palace Master Yang, help me.”
“What’s wrong?”
Li Jiao replied, “This Li was corroded by Demon Qi, and these days, the Demon Essence has been steadily growing. It has been very hard to hold on to my sanity. The World Principles are about to change, and if I don’t find a place to hide, I’m afraid I would really undergo demonification.”
Last time, when he wandered with Zhu Lie outside, the World Principles had shifted in favour of the Demon Realm, and without a place to take shelter, he had been invaded by Demon Qi. Li Jiao had been relying on his powerful cultivation to suppress the Demon Essence which had taken root in his body so far, but now, the World Principles were about to change again and flood the air with Demon Qi.
In his current state, it was simply impossible for him to survive. He would definitely be completely overwhelmed by the Demon Essence and become a Demon.
“Then find a place to hide, why are you asking me to save you?” Yang Kai asked with a grin.
Li Jiao replied, wearing a sad look, “But I don’t know where to go. I heard Palace Master Yang mention that there is a place called Human Imperial City. I wonder…”
“Don’t even think about going to Human Imperial City. Although it’s not far from here, you won’t get there in time.”
Li Jiao was struck with panic immediately after hearing this, “Then what do you suggest?”
Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands as he replied, “If you want to save yourself, you have to rely on your own ability.”
Li Jiao’s face turned black and was on the verge of crying as he protested, “Palace Master Yang, you can’t just sit back and watch me die! This Li only came here because of you.”
Yang Kai simply replied, “If I could save you, I would have, but now, I too can’t do anything.”
Li Jiao’s expression involuntarily turned unsightly. Out of everyone present here, the two Dragon Clan members shouldn’t have to be worried about being invaded by the Demon Qi; after all, their Divine Spirit physique and Dragon Blood possessed strong resistance towards Demon Qi. Not to mention the change in World Principles, even if they were thrown into the Demon Realm itself, they were unlikely to be concerned.
Yang Kai couldn’t be regarded as ordinary either. Although Li Jiao had no idea why Yang Kai was confident that he would remain safe and sound, judging by his current lax attitude, Li Jiao knew that he must have a way.
Li Jiao was a little angry, thinking that Yang Kai was treasuring his own skin, but was unwilling to help him.
“Didn’t I show you the way before? What can I do when you don’t cherish it?”
Li Jiao quickly rebuffed, “Palace Master Yang, don’t be ridiculous. While getting blood from the Dragon Clan was something you suggested, if this Li brought it up, his fate would be even more miserable.”
“You’re about to be demonified, so what could be worse?”
“Palace Master Yang, are you really going to sit back and watch me die?” A malevolent aura slowly crept up on Li Jiao’s face as swirling black Qi surrounded his body; anger and wicked thoughts were growing in his heart, strengthening his Demon Essence a lot, especially at this moment when the World Energy had begun to infuse with Demon Qi, which was now even affecting his mind.
Yang Kia looked at him with a sneer, “Now you’re trying to blame me?”
“Damn you!” Li Jian couldn’t stand it and a hideous look appeared on his face as he shouted, grinding his teeth in rage, “If it weren’t for you, how would this Li be trapped here? Since you are so cold-hearted, then don’t blame this Li for not giving you face!”
Just as he said this, the black Qi around him swirled as his eyes turned red. His head moved left and right before it suddenly transformed into the enormous head of a flood dragon, fiercely biting at Yang Kai.
Having been invaded by Demon Qi, Li Jiao had been incomparably vexed these past few days, and now, after having been antagonized by Yang Kai so much, he finally couldn’t maintain a hold on his sanity. The repressed Demon Essence suddenly erupted, instantly demonising him.
“You dare to act presumptuously in front of me? Li Jiao, your courage isn’t small.”
Facing Li Jiao’s anger-filled attack, Yang Kai only chuckled and pushed his Golden Divine Dragon Source Strength before raising his hand and pointing at Li Jiao’s forehead.
A wisp of golden glow emerged from his fingertip. The golden glow wasn’t that bright, but Li Jiao acted as if it was his ultimate nemesis. He screamed in horror as the enormous flood dragon head shrank back to its original size. The Emperor Qi instantly stopped circulating and he felt as if he was on the brink of suffocating.
The fingertip pointed on his forehead shocked Li Jiao as a sliver of clarity returned to his eyes.
He was horrified after regaining his senses. He had never thought he would actually attack Yang Kai and realized his actions were a result of the Demon Essence erupting, not his own intention, but who knew whether Yang Kai would spare him or not.
His cultivation was indeed two Minor Realms higher than Yang Kai’s, but under the effects of bloodline suppression, this gap provided him with no advantage at all. If Yang Kai wanted to kill him, it would be as easy as crushing an ant underfoot; Li Jiao didn’t have the slightest chance to resist.
This was the sorrow of Dragon Clan descendants. The bloodline of the Dragon Clan descendants indeed allowed him to walk farther and stand higher than almost all others, with his current Third-Order Emperor Realm cultivation as the proof itself. Without his Dragon Clan bloodline, Li Jiao would never have reached such high cultivation.
But before an opponent with a purer Dragon Clan bloodline, more often than not, one’s cultivation was secondary, the power of one’s bloodline was the most important factor.
His back was immediately drenched in a cold sweat as he hurriedly begged, “Palace Master Yang, I was wrong, please show mercy!”
Yang Kai just chuckled and completely ignored him, as if he really wanted to finish him off.
Li Jiao’s face turned ashen as he secretly thought that his end had come.
[My Fire Dragon Palace, my beautiful wives and concubines, what will happen to them? Who will enjoy them when I am gone?]
All kinds of random thoughts flashed in his mind, but even after some time, he didn’t see the gates of Hell. Yang Kai’s finger was still pointed at his forehead, but it was devoid of any murderous intent; instead, a joking look filled his face.
Suddenly, Li Jiao felt the aura around Yang Kai’s body undergo a tremendous change, one that had an ancient and desolate feel to it.
A reverberating and solemn chant sounded as a brilliance bloomed from Yang Kai’s fingertip, enveloping Li Jiao.
The next moment, Li Jiao’s figure jolted as if all the joints in his body cracked. His already tall figure doubled in size as fierce and surging Blood Qi broke out from his body, attacking the Demon Qi inside and outside his form.
Li Jiao was stunned on the spot. He might not know what Yang Kai had done to him, but he could clearly tell that his strength had improved greatly. Furthermore, extremely belligerent and blood-thirsty thoughts were mysteriously rising in his heart. Although these thoughts were giving him discomfort, they were also weakening the effect of Demon Essence on him, allowing him to maintain a strange lucid state.
Li Jiao now looked like he was filled with two coloured lights, one was black Demon Qi and the other was a crimson Blood Qi. The red and black colours were tumbling against each other, giving an extremely strange appearance.
“This…” Li Jiao couldn’t help but begin to ask. At this moment, he knew that Yang Kai had no intention of killing him. The reason for doing this might be to help him, it was just that he hadn’t figured this out, but since Yang Kai could do this, why didn’t he do it earlier? Why toy with and aggravate his condition?
“Ancient Bloodlust Spell!” Yang Kai slightly smiled, “It has a strong effect on the Demon Qi that has invaded Humans. The Shamans of ancient times used this method to save their clansmen, but today’s World Principles are somewhat different from that time. It’s not difficult to get rid of Demon Qi in your body, but it’s troublesome to root out the Demon Essence completely. The best method would be to allow that Demon Essence to completely erupt, only then could it be eliminated once and for all. Otherwise, some hidden dangers might be left behind. You don’t wish to experience cultivation dissonance while in seclusion in the future, do you?”
Li Jiao looked at Yang Kai and asked with an impressed look on his face, “So that’s why Palace Master Yang has been ignoring me these days, deliberately leaving me hanging, even trying to aggravate my condition?”
If not for this, the Demon Essence in his body would not have erupted so quickly.
Yang Kai nodded, “Since we came in together, we must leave together. Not to mention, your Fire Dragon Palace still owes me a lot of Source Crystals, so I can’t have you dying here.”
“Palace Master Yang Kai, this Li has firmly engraved your grace in his heart!” Li Jiao was completely excited. Originally, he thought that he would die today, but things had suddenly turned around. Not only did he have the hope of surviving, but he wouldn’t have to worry about possible sequela.
“Don’t get too excited yet. As I said, the current World Principles are different from the ancient times, and so are the people living under those World Principles. This method was useful for the ancient Humans, but I don’t know how effective it will be for you. Be extremely careful when cultivating in the future.
“Yes, yes, yes, this Li will certainly be careful!” Li Jiao nodded without hesitation.
Suddenly, Yang Kai’s expression changed as he changed the incantation before raising his hand and patting Li Jiao, “Demon Suppression!”
Under his pat, the Demon Qi surging around Li Jiao seemed to have been suppressed by something and stagnated.
Yang Kai’s incantation changed again before smacking another palm, “Demon Purification.”
The moment the light flashed, a stream of black Qi whizzed out from Li Jiao’s back and let out a wail as if a ghost possessing Li Jiao had been exorcised.
The black Qi lasted for several breaths before it was completely eliminated. When the Demon Qi was completely eliminated, a flash of joy involuntarily appeared in Li Jiao’s eyes.
He knew his own situation best. He had been plagued by the Demon Qi these days, and even if it didn’t continuously grow, he was unable to get rid of it despite his Third-Order Emperor Realm cultivation.
But now, after Yang Kai had used his mysterious techniques, Li Jiao could clearly feel that the problem that had been plaguing him had been completely resolved. There was no more Demon Qi left in his body; all of it had been expelled, and with the Bloodlust Spell’s restraint, the Demon Essence would no longer affect his heart while his Knowledge Sea would remain completely clear.
“Many thanks, Palace Master Yang!” Li Jiao was extremely grateful.
Just as he finished thanking him, he saw Yang Kai grin widely at him, sending out a hard palm. This palm was definitely not something to expel Demon Qi, because it was quite powerful. The most important thing was that it carried a suppressive force of his Dragon Clan bloodline.
Pitifully Li Jiao, a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, didn’t even have the time to react before directly fainting from the blow.
Afterwards, Yang Kai stretched his hand out towards him before Li Jiao’s figure disappeared from sight.
Zhu Lie, who had been watching on with cold eyes, couldn’t help but have his pupils shrunk. He couldn’t figure out where Yang Kai had put Li Jiao.
Only Zhu Qing knew that Li Jiao should have been thrown into that strange space she had been to before. The World Principles here were about to change, and although the Demon Qi had been purged from Li Jiao’s body, if he didn’t find a place to take shelter, it was inevitable that he would be invaded by the Demon Qi again. Human Imperial City was too far away, and there was no place to hide in Demon Fury City, so that isolated space was the best option.
Thinking of what previously transpired in that space though, Zhu Qing’s cheeks involuntarily flushed.
At this moment, the transformation of the World Principles was extremely obvious. The World Energy seemed to have been infused by something which was no doubt Demon Qi.
Many Demon Kings and Demon Great Generals who had been waiting for this looked excited. This was the aura of their ancestral home. When the Revolving World Principles leaned towards the Demon Realm, their rate of cultivation and speed of recovery was enhanced.
The black puppy also became very excited. Obviously, it liked these World Principles too. It cracked its mouth wide and constantly sucked in the surrounding Demon Qi.
In a short while, the entire world had drastically changed. The surroundings were full of rich Demon Qi, and the world had gone dark. The rich Demon Qi flooded in every direction, giving everyone the impression of entering the Demon Realm.
Although Yang Kai had no idea what the Demon Realm looked like, he reckoned that it shouldn’t look much different from the current Revolving World.
The change in World Principles lasted a total of three days, and in these three days, Demon Fury City’s Masters recovered a lot, not enough to keep up with the appetite of the black puppy, but better than before.
Three days later, Yang Kai took the black puppy to Yin Wind Mountain, but when he came back, there was a frown on his face. Under the Demon Kings and Demon Great Generals’ disappointed gaze, Yang Kai threw the black puppy down, letting it continue to devour their Demon Qi.
“What’s the situation?” Zhu Lie asked, raising his head.
“I still couldn’t see the exit,” Yang Kai shook his head.
Although he climbed a little further than the last time, he still couldn’t find where the exit was. In other words, the black puppy’s current strength was still insufficient for them to leave. He had no choice but to continue making it grow stronger.
Zhu Qing stepped forward and comforted, holding Yang Kai’s hand, “Don’t worry, we will definitely get out someday, it’s just a matter of time, that’s all.”
Yang Kai chuckled, “I’m not worried about anything. Only, this damned place is too depressing. The sooner we leave this place, the sooner I will be at ease.”
Zhu Qing hesitated for a moment before softly asking, “What if we really can’t leave this place?”
Yang Kai squeezed her hand and affectionately replied, “Then we will grow old together here.”
Zhu Qing lowered her head; her face was completely flushed.
“You two, do you think I’m blind?” Zhu Lie coldly snorted, his face extremely unsightly.
He had strictly warned Yang Kai before, but he hadn’t expected him to not take his words seriously.
Yang Kai raised his hand, put his arm around Zhu Qing’s shoulder, and stated provocatively, “You watch over things here, I’m going on a walk with your Elder Sister.”
After having said this, he directly grabbed Zhu Qing and left.
Li Jiao grew anxious and loudly shouted from behind, “Palace Master Yang, please return as soon as possible.”
Without Yang Kai, he would definitely not be able to stand the erosion of the Demon Qi when the World Principles changed again. Although he had no idea what Yang Kai had done to him before, he didn’t notice any signs of Demon Qi erosion when he woke up from his coma.
If he wanted to survive in this place, he could only rely on Yang Kai.
“Where are we going?” Zhu Qing still believed that Yang Kai was taking her out for something, and innocently asked.
“Anywhere as long as there is no one else there.”
His words were too straightforward, so Zhu Qing immediately understood and her heart immediately started beating wildly as her cheeks turned red and hot.
……
One after another, days went by, and in a flash, it had been three months since Yang Kai and his group had come to Demon Fury City.
During these three months, the Demon King and Demon Great Generals of Demon Fury City had been living a life worse than death. They were constantly alternating between recovering and being drained. More often than not, they were forced to line up when just twenty to thirty percent of their strength had recovered.
After three months of this, the cultivations of all the Demon Kings and Demon Great Generals had regressed by one or two Minor Realms.
It was tantamount to having their flesh cut with a blunt knife, even more painful than being killed outright. Sometimes, the Demon Kings simply wanted to fight it out with Yang Kai, whatever the cost might be, but after giving it a thought, a living dog was better than a dead lion. Their ancestors had occupied Demon Fury City for hundreds of thousands of years, they couldn’t allow its inheritance to be severed in their generation. Thinking so, they had no choice but to painstakingly bide their time, waiting to send these gods of misfortune away.
The black puppy still looked the same as ever, only exuding an aura of a Fifth or Sixth-Order Monster Beast, but through Yang Kai’s many experiments, he knew it had become a lot stronger.
The unknown space in its belly was more than a hundred times larger than it was at the beginning, and it could now take Yang Kai far higher up the mountain than before.
During these three months, Yang Kai and Zhu Qing would occasionally go out to tour the mountains and rivers, then return to Demon Fury City after spending a day or two together. Zhu Lie grumbled over this many times, even openly mocking them, but it had no effect on the couple. Zhu Qing had thin skin and would always blush with guilt whenever her little brother accused them, but Yang Kai was completely brazen. No matter what Zhu Lie said, he treated it as nothing but farts.
As for Li Jiao, he was no longer living his life according to his own wishes, because every time the World Principles leaned towards the Demon Realm, he would be knocked out by Yang Kai and only wake when the change was over.
To this day, he still had no idea how exactly Yang Kai helped him avoid the misfortune of being corroded by the Demon Qi. Nonetheless, his gratitude towards him was increasing day by day despite having no choice in the matter.
At this moment, Yang Kai was already rejoicing a little for not letting the black puppy swallow the Demon Kings, because if he had really done that, the black puppy would have never grown to this level in three months.
It was indeed better to keep the goose that lays the egg than to kill it.
The hard days of the Demon Race were finally coming to an end though, because the last time Yang Kai returned from Yin Wind Mountain with the black puppy, he informed the others that he had a vague idea of the location of the exit. As long as the black puppy became just a bit stronger, they should have a chance to leave this place.
All the Demon Race members rejoiced after hearing this piece of news. They had been toiling hard for these three months just for this day, so now that they had seen hope, they naturally tried harder to recover.
The priceless Demon Fruits that they could never bear to use, were all taken out as they spared no effort to recover their energy.
After another change of World Principles, Yang Kai threw Li Jiao out of the Small Sealed World and woke him.
In the square, all the Demon Kings and Demon Great Generals were sitting cross-legged on the ground, blankly looking at Yang Kai, looking weak and exhausted.
Yang Kai curled his lips into a smile and loudly stated, “Humans and Demons have been enemies since ancient times. There is a deep-rooted feud between the two races that can never be resolved. According to reason, I should kill you all and end all troubles.”
Just as he said this, the faces of Demon Race members changed, but they didn’t panic as they could tell that Yang Kai didn’t plan on doing that from his words.
“However, as thanks for your help over these past few months, we finally have hope of leaving this place, so I am willing to spare your lives.”
“Many thanks, Sir!” The Charm Demon shouted out loud, but there was no response from other Demon Race members.
Yang Kai smiled and added, “I hope we will never meet again.”
[Who wants to meet you again!?] Many Demon Kings and Demon Great Generals rained down curses in their hearts!
“Farewell!” Yang Kai smiled before picking up the black puppy and flying towards Yin Wind Mountain.
Zhu Qing, Zhu Lie, and Li Jiao hurriedly followed after him.
“I wish Sir good luck and safe travels!” The Charm Demon vigorously waved her hands; the corners of her eyes were a little moist.
[Finally! Finally, these living calamities are leaving!] The Demon Kings and Demon Great Generals sincerely prayed in their hearts for them to leave this world, watching Yang Kai and the others’ departing backs.
Yang Kai had been to Yin Wind Mountain more than a dozen times now, each time to perform an experiment with the black puppy, each time climbing further than he previously had.
So, he could be considered to be quite familiar with the way and method.
The Cold Demon Qi continuously blew down the mountain from some unknown place, and the higher one climbed, the more terrifying it was.
At the very beginning, everyone was at ease and could resist the Cold Demon Qi with their own strength, but after a thousand metres, it started to become a little strenuous. None would be able to go farther than a thousand metres without the help of the black puppy.
Obviously, the black puppy was familiar with this too, and after a thousand metres, it opened its mouth wide and sucked in the oncoming Cold Demon Qi into its belly.
In a flash, the four felt the pressure on them greatly reduce. Basically, ninety percent of the oncoming Cold Demon Qi was swallowed by the black puppy while the remaining ten percent was scattered about, easily dealt with by Yang Kai and the others.
As they continued to advance forward, the Cold Demon Qi grew more intense, but the black puppy was safe and sound as it devoured everything.
Only after traversing ten thousand metres did a faint frost start to appear on the black puppy’s body. Obviously, the Cold Demon Qi began to have some effect on it.
In the group of four, Yang Kai was in the lead with the black puppy in his arms, whereas the Zhu sister and brother duo were in the middle, with Li Jiao bringing up the rear, though the distance between them did not exceed more than three steps each.
The surrounding landscape was completely invisible. Even their Divine Sense couldn’t spread more than two hundred metres. Nonetheless, Yang Kai wasn’t worried about going in the wrong direction. He just needed to walk in the direction from where the Cold Demon Qi was blowing.
After a day, they finally noticed signs of an anomaly up ahead.
Powerful Space Principle fluctuations were radiating from that direction. Yang Kai was greatly excited and cried in a loud voice, “We are almost there.”
Hearing what he said, all three of them turned serious, especially Li Jiao. The Emperor Qi emanating from him was extremely fierce and a voice was ringing in his mind, [As long as I can leave this damned place, I’m going straight back to Fire Dragon Palace and not coming out!]
Thinking so, his blood was pumping as he was filled with expectation.
The air around the black puppy became colder and colder as a thick layer of frost covered its body. Its big wide open mouth also became smaller and smaller. Obviously, it was approaching its limit.
About a thousand metres ahead, there seemed to be the source of the Cold Demon Qi. The whistling Yin Winds that were found everywhere on the Yin Wind Mountain were nowhere near as terrifying as they were here.
The last stretch was always the hardest to cross. Yang Kai discovered this place the last time he came here and knew that this should be the place where the exit was. The black puppy had grown a lot stronger over the last few days, so he reckoned that he should be able to bring himself and the others to the exit.
Sink or swim, it all depended on this moment.
Yang Kai constantly whispered words of encouragement in the black puppy’s ears.
The black puppy could obviously understand everything and probably knew that everyone’s life and death were tied to its performance. Suddenly, like divine providence, a muffled roar came from its throat as its small mouth suddenly became bigger again.
All the oncoming Cold Demon Qi was swallowed by it.
Immediately, the pressure on everyone sharply dropped! Yang Kai promptly sped up his footsteps.
Seven hundred metres!
Five hundred metres!
Three hundred metres!
With just one hundred metres left, Yang Kai finally saw what the exit looked like. At first glance, it looked like a rift in space. Furthermore, pure and rich Demon Qi along with an extremely cold aura that could freeze anything and everything in the world was billowing out from that tear, converging in one place.
The rift was several dozen metres long and stretched across the top of Yin Wind Mountain, weaving up and down, continuous and ever-changing, looking extremely unstable.
Logically, such a gap could not possibly continue to exist for a long time because the World Principles would automatically repair it.
But the Revolving World was quite peculiar, located in the Void Crack between the Demon Realm and the Star Boundary. It wouldn’t be surprising if the pulling force of the two Great Worlds were what made a crack appear in the Revolving World and kept it open.
If someday, the pulling force of a certain Great World on the Revolving World suddenly grew stronger, it might tear the entire Revolving World to pieces. At that time, all the creatures living here would surely perish.
A rift like this was inappropriate for anyone to pass through as they wished, because the wild fluctuations in Space Principles could have unpredictable effects on those who tried to cross it. One might pass through without any trouble, or might be ripped apart the instant they tried, it was completely up to luck.
If one wanted to cross such a rift, one would first need to stabilize it to create a safe entrance.
As all kinds of thoughts flashed across Yang Kai’s mind, he had already anticipated this situation and had long come up with a plan. He then shouted, “I will stabilize this exit, but I won’t be able to hold it for too long, three breaths at most. You must quickly follow me so that you don’t get lost in the Void Crack!”
“En!” Zhu Qing nodded while Zhu Lie and Li Jiao also turned serious; their nerves were taut and they were ready to act at a moment’s notice.
When it came to the Void Crack and anything else related to the Dao of Space, they were completely helpless regardless of their great strength. They could only depend on Yang Kai at this moment.
Yang Kai’s face also turned serious as Space Principles flared from his figure. Although he was standing on the same spot, it gave the impression that he was sometimes far and sometimes near as space warped around him.
“Open!”
With a loud shout, the invisible Space Principles condensed, creating a wave visible to the naked eye which shot straight towards the shifting Void Crack.
In an instant, an invisible gate seemed to have been erected at a certain location on the rift, stabilizing that small piece of it.
“Qing’er, hurry!” Yang Kai shouted.
Zhu Qing, who had prepared beforehand, rushed into the invisible gate and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Zhu Lie followed right on her tail without a word.
Li Jiao was the last to make a move, and in light of his strength, he should be able to rush in if there was no accident, but the moment he left the black puppy’s protection range, he became completely stiff. He was unable to circulate his Emperor Qi, and could only watch the entrance just before him helplessly as he stood rooted on the spot.
His eyes bulged and were almost ready to pop out as his blood went cold and almost froze as panic and despair gripped his heart and soul.
He knew that he was finished this time. If he missed this opportunity, he would never be able to leave this place and would freeze to death in the end.
Panic-stricken and anxious, all he could do was cast a begging look at Yang Kai.
“Waste!” Yang Kai angrily cursed. He hadn’t expected that Li Jiao would freeze at the critical moment. He wanted to leave him behind but he still reached out and grabbed him before quickly rushing towards the crack, holding the black puppy with his other hand.
The three breaths were already over and the stabilized part of the rift had begun to collapse.
Yang Kai had no choice but to push his Space Principles once again, forming a semi-safe region in front of himself before disappearing into it.
The howls of the wind disappeared all of a sudden and their surroundings turned completely quiet and calm. There was no light, nor any World Energy here, only nothingness.
Arriving at such a mysterious and silent place from the howling environment before would make anyone a little uneasy.
In this place, only Divine Sense was of some use.
“Qing’er!” Yang Kai promptly shouted but no voice could propagate here. Fortunately, he sensed Zhu Qing’s aura and immediately threw Li Jiao down and came to Zhu Qing’s side, pulling her into his arms.
“Are you okay?” Yang Kai asked via Divine Sense.
“I’m alright!” Zhu Qing replied. She was the first to charge into the rift, so naturally, nothing would happen to her, but Yang Kai’s concern still filled her with warmth as she asked, “Is this the Void Crack?”
“That’s right, this is the Void Crack!”
It wasn’t the first time Yang Kai had been to this place. The Void Crack was everywhere, and one could enter it from anywhere. Although it was similar in all places, it was unimaginably vast and for most, no matter how strong they were, such a place was extremely dangerous. Once someone was cast into the Void Crack, he or she might become lost here and never escape for the rest of their life.
Only someone proficient in the Dao of Space was qualified to traverse this place, and they were only qualified, far from being able to leisurely stroll around.
At this time, Zhu Lie and Li Jiao also converged on him. Zhu Lie was still good and fine, but Li Jiao was trembling as he had been almost frozen just now; fear still lingering on his face.
Yang Kai’s Divine Sense surged as he warned them, “There are many space turbulences in the Void Crack that can swallow up and sweep one away, or teleport them to some random location. If you sense something strange, don’t try to investigate out of curiosity, just move as far away from it as possible.”
“Palace Master Yang is right, I will follow your orders here,” Li Jiao nodded his agreement without a moment of hesitation.
In this situation, even if Yang Kai farted, he would breathe it in gratefully. He had no choice. After having owed him so many times, including being rescued just now, Li Jiao had no choice but to pin his hopes on Yang Kai if he wanted to make it back to the Star Boundary. If he couldn’t count on him, who could he count on?
“It’s also easy to get lost here. In this place, a momentary lapse is all that is required to lose contact even if you are just arm’s length away, so I suggest that everyone hold each other’s hands like good friends!”
“That’s a really good proposal!” Li Jiao was trying to find some sense of security, and Yang Kai’s proposal undoubtedly hit home as he hurriedly looked over at Zhu Lie.
Zhu Lie, maintaining a cold face, responded, “If you dare to lean over, you’re dead.”
“Ahem, it was Palace Master Yang’s suggestion…” Li Jiao replied, now stuck in a tight position.
Zhu Lie furrowed his brow before he took out a ribbon from his Space Ring without another word.
Although they were inside a chaotic nothingness, when the ribbon appeared, a flash of light immediately brightened the surroundings for a moment. Obviously, it was a fairly good Emperor Artifact. Moreover, it was an Emperor Artifact quite suitable for women.
“Use this,” Zhu Lie suggested. Asking him to hold hands with Li Jiao was more difficult than killing him.
“That should work too!” Yang Kai nodded.
Zhu Lie immediately flicked the ribbon straight at Yang Kai, who grabbed its end and tied it around his waist while Zhu Lie tied the other end to himself.
Li Jiao, looking with eager eyes, asked with an unashamed look, “Leave a bit, leave a bit for me too.”
Zhu Lie let out a snort. Although he was filled with dissatisfaction, he didn’t make things difficult for him and really left a section for Li Jiao, who hurriedly and happily tied it to his wrist.
This way, all three of them were connected with each other, and the quality of the ribbon was pretty good, so it wouldn’t break that easily.
As for Zhu Qing, there was no need to worry about her. Yang Kai was holding her in his arms the whole time, so it could be said that she was in the safest place. It was just that she was blushing and having a hard time adapting to being so close to Yang Kai in front of others.
“Alright, let’s find the exit now,” Yang Kai shouted.
“Do you know where the exit is?” Zhu Lie asked.
“I can sense it somewhat,” Yang Kai turned and looked towards a certain direction before walking off. Zhu Lie and Li Jiao hurriedly followed after him.
After walking for a while, Zhu Lie felt that something was wrong.
Indeed, it was a good idea to use a ribbon to remain connected to each other, avoiding the embarrassment and discomfort of holding hands, but now, it gave the impression that Yang Kai was leading two animals…
Once this thought crossed his mind, Zhu Lie’s face blackened right away.
Li Jiao was struck with panic and large beads of sweat started oozing from his forehead as, much to his surprise, he felt a murderous intent rising from Zhu Lie.
[I didn’t provoke him! So what’s going on now?] He couldn’t understand.
In the boundless Void, a group of four walked for who knows how long and avoided who knows how many Void Turbulences before they finally arrived at a strange place.
This place seemed to be divided into two levels, an upper and lower level, each connected by an enormous whirlpool. The whirlpools were completely pitch-black and seemed capable of swallowing anything and everything, giving everyone the shudders. Both whirlpools appeared to be in a mysterious static state, but anyone could feel the terrifying suction coming from them.
Yang Kai and the others were standing right in the middle of these two vortices.
After meticulously observing them for a long time, Yang Kai solemnly stated, “These two are the exits, and if I’m right, one should lead to the Star Boundary and the other to the Demon Realm.”
Li Jiao asked, “Which should we take?”
Yang Kai replied, pointing at one, “The upper one. Although both look exactly the same, Demon Qi is overflowing from the bottom one. That one definitely leads to the Demon Realm.”
“Since the location is determined, let’s go then,” Zhu Lie urged.
Yang Kai nodded before exhorting, “I will take you out of here back to the Star Boundary, but I can’t guarantee your safety during the transit; after all, there are a lot of variables here.”
“Since that’s the hand we are dealt, it’s useless to say anything anymore.”
Yang Kai pursed his lips into a smile and stated, “Then let’s go, you must closely follow behind me.”
Just as he finished speaking, his figure rushed towards the upper vortex. Space Principles madly surged as an invisible blow shot straight toward the vortex, prying open a way through it, creating a safe passage between the two realms.
Immediately, some unexpected changes began to appear in that calm and quiet vortex. The rotating layers upon layers madly squeezed from all directions, as if they wanted to push everyone out.
At first glance, the entire scene gave the impression that Yang Kai was riding a giant wave, waves that separated and then merged back together, and swirled behind him.
Zhu Lie and Li Jiao could only follow closely behind Yang Kai to avoid getting swallowed up by the current.
Fortunately, everyone was a Master among Masters and were connected by the Emperor Artifact ribbon. Furthermore, no one made any mistakes at this critical point.
Yang Kai pushed forward like a hot knife cutting through butter, releasing Space Principles to the limit.
After shuttling through the vortex for who knows how long, Yang Kai suddenly felt a huge resistance coming from the front, making him feel as if he had run straight into an iron plate. His blood began to roil and he could see stars circling around him.
The World Barrier!
The reason the two Great Worlds weren’t connected to each other was because of the existence of World Barriers. This was the barrier that shielded and bordered a Great World. Generally speaking, it was extremely strong and even Great Emperors couldn’t tear it apart.
According to what Yang Kai knew, only the Great Demon God of the Demon Realm once pierced through the World Barrier, allowing the Demon Realm’s Masters to descend to the ancient Star Boundary.
If the World Barrier was in a normal state, Yang Kai would never be able to pierce through it even if he was proficient in the Dao of Space; after all, his cultivation was too low. Compared to those ancient Masters, he was just in the First-Order Emperor.
But the World Barriers were incomplete here because of the existence of the Revolving World floating between the Star Boundary and the Demon Realm, so some flaws had appeared in it.
Although Yang Kai was disoriented after the collision, he also noticed a chance to break through it.
Suddenly, the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus in his Knowledge Sea bloomed with seven coloured brilliance, stabilizing Yang Kai’s mind. At the same time, Yang Kai pushed his Space Principles to form Moon Blades one after another which he crazily fired towards the front.
Countless Moon Blades fell like a meteor shower and a gap really began to appear in the sturdy World Barrier.
Yang Kai rejoiced as he led everyone through that gap.
But right then, an accident occurred. Who knows whether it was triggered because of Yang Kai’s methods or because a gap had suddenly appeared in the World Barrier, but the Void Turbulences suddenly rioted, sweeping everyone up in an instant.
Yang Kai was caught off guard, and by the time he regained his wits, Zhu Qing was nowhere to be found.
He immediately turned pale in horror and promptly spread out his Divine Sense, but the next moment, his heart hit rock bottom.
Not only had Zhu Qing disappeared, even Zhu Lie and Li Jiao, who were following behind him, had also disappeared. Even the black puppy was nowhere to be found.
Yang Kai broke into a cold sweat and stood rooted on his spot.
Yang Kai turned around, wanting to rush back, but the World Barrier had already repaired itself.
After a bright flash of light, Yang Kai appeared in another world.
Feeling the familiar World Principles in his surroundings, Yang Kai understood that he had returned to the Star Boundary, but it was a little different from his expectations. He wasn’t in the Frozen Earth, because there was no ice and snow anywhere in sight.
This wasn’t even the Northern Territory as although the World Principles of the Star Boundary were roughly the same everywhere, there were some subtle differences between the different territories.
Yang Kai had lived in the Northern Territory for quite some time, so if he was in the Northern Territory now, he would definitely have sensed it.
[Where the Hell am I?]
[Zhu Qing and the others wouldn’t have failed to keep up and get lost into the Void, could they?] Just as this thought crossed Yang Kai’s mind, his face immediately turned incomparably ugly. He hadn’t expected for an accident to happen when he had opened a rift in the World Barrier. Had he known this earlier, he would have been more cautious.
If Zhu Qing and the others were really lost in the Void, they might never be able to find their way out. In that case, he would have to return to the Revolving World to search for them, but even the black puppy was gone now, so even if he could really enter the Revolving World, he would not be able to venture deep into Yin Wind Mountain.
In a flash, Yang Kai became extremely depressed, and all the joy of returning to the Star Boundary had completely vanished.
He lowered his head and looked at his waist where Zhu Lie’s ribbon artifact was broken and had lost most of its brilliance. Its spirituality was completely lost as this fairly good Emperor Artifact was cut to pieces by the intense Void Turbulence. If Zhu Qing and the others had suffered similar fates, even their dragon bodies would be injured.
Taking a deep breath, Yang Kai forced himself to calm down and carefully think about what just transpired.
After a moment, Yang Kai’s taut nerves finally relaxed.
Although everything happened during a very short span of time, he still had sensed a little, and recalling everything step by step, he found some clues. He now believed that Zhu Qing and the others should not be lost in the Void as the Void Turbulence, which caused them to be separated, struck them as they passed through the World Barrier.
If that was the case, it meant that they had all returned to the Star Boundary, but the place where everyone returned was different.
[As long as Zhu Qing and Zhu Lie returned to the Star Boundary, they would not be in any danger. Perhaps they might be searching for me now.]
As this thought crossed his mind, Yang Kai finally relaxed somewhat, but whether this was the case or not, it had not been verified yet.
Finally, he looked around and found himself standing amidst scorching sand and violent sandstorms, like he was in a desert. The World Energy here was pretty lacking, and the environment was a little harsh too; he could not find a single piece of grass growing anywhere in sight.
[In any case, I need to find Zhu Qing and the others first.]
Thinking so, Yang Kai immediately summoned his Flowing Clouds Shuttle and flew off in a random direction to begin searching.
The desert seemed vast; Yang Kai had been searching around for several days but had not found its end. Of course, he had been circling around where he had appeared and hadn’t travelled in a straight line. Had he flown in just one direction, perhaps he would have left the desert.
The reason he was constantly circling was to look for any signs of Zhu Qing and the others.
After five days though, Yang Kai, who was keeping a close watch on the surroundings on the Flowing Clouds Shuttle, finally sensed a familiar aura. He was taken aback and immediately made a beeline in that direction.
It didn’t take him that long to reach that place, where he saw billowing sand as if an army was rushing over; it was quite an amazing sight.
And in front of that dust storm, a small black figure was running. It seemed to be running away from some fearsome Master, looking quite panicked as it weaved left and right.
The black figure was extremely fast, but pursuing it was an extremely powerful Monster Beast. This Monster Beast was treading the sand but was still unable to catch up to its target. Furious, it kept angrily roaring and attacking, leaving enormous pits in the surrounding deserts.
Promptly stowing the Flowing Clouds Shuttle, Yang Kai ran towards the fleeing black figure.
The black figure had obviously sensed Yang Kai’s aura and raised its head to stare at him. The black figure looked pleasantly surprised and immediately made a beeline towards Yang Kai, its speed shooting up as it pulled away from its pursuer.
After a while, the little black shadow arrived before Yang Kai and jumped into his arms, whimpering and trembling.
“Ah Wang, it’s alright now, don’t be afraid!” Yang Kai’s anxious heart finally relaxed as he gently stroked the black puppy’s back.
Seeing the black puppy, Yang Kai finally confirmed that Zhu Qing and the others were safe and sound. At least Zhu Qing was absolutely fine as the black puppy had been in Zhu Qing’s arms the whole time. Since the black puppy had returned to the Star Boundary, Zhu Qing had definitely returned as well. Only, he had no idea where she was.
Obviously, the black puppy had been fleeing for a long while as it was out of breath and its small body was heaving up and down. It had finally found a sense of security in Yang Kai’s arms.
“Hou!”
A deafening roar suddenly reverberated across the sky, shaking eardrums before the billowing sand flew over and an enormous Monster Beast the size of a two story building suddenly appeared. The beast looked extremely terrifying, like an angry bull that had two fangs protruding from the corners of its mouth. Its eyes were red as blood and it was exuding fearsome Monster Qi. Judging by the aura it was radiating, it appeared to be a peak Eleventh-Order Monster Beast.
Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter, “You are really useless. You were chased by this guy? Don’t you have your Swallowing Divine Ability?”
An Eleventh-Order Monster Beast was equivalent to a Dao Source Realm Master, that’s all. This Monster Beast might appear fearsome but the black puppy had even swallowed Demon Kings, so how could it be helpless before a mere Eleventh-Order Monster Beast?
Yang Kai couldn’t understand what was going on?
“Don’t make trouble! Swallow it.” Yang Kai poked the black puppy, but he didn’t expect it to shrink even more into his arms, leaving only its butt and its short tail between its legs exposed. It looked as if it would not come out no matter what.
“Hou!” The Eleventh-Order Monster Beast was angered by Yang Kai’s carefree appearance and let out another roar before it lifted its enormous paw and smacked it down towards him with the intention of flattening Yang Kai into nothing.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow before lifting his arm and flicking his finger straight towards the Monster Beast’s hoof.
The enormous hoof suddenly exploded and the Monster Beast was sent flying. The brutality in its scarlet eyes disappeared all of a sudden, replaced by pure horror.
Having cultivated to the Eleventh Order, a Monster Beast would naturally have some level of sentience even if it did not have a Human Form; hence, it would know how to seek out fortune and avoid misfortune.
When Yang Kai easily used a finger to cause its huge hoof to explode, it immediately sensed that it was in mortal danger. Therefore, it turned around without hesitation, wrapped itself in sand and dust, and escaped into the distance as swiftly as the wind. The ability to wrap itself in sand and dust seemed like some sort of Innate Divine Ability for it to escape from danger.
Yang Kai was in a good mood since he managed to locate the black puppy; thus, he did not give chase nor kill it ruthlessly. An Eleventh-Order Monster Beast was nothing to him, so he simply watched it escape without stopping it.
“What’s with you?” He held the black puppy up in front of his eyes and studied it carefully; he was unable to make heads or tails of the situation. It could even devour a Demon King, so why is it being driven into the corner by a mere Eleventh-Order Monster Beast? He would not have believed it had he not seen it with his own eyes.
Thinking back on it, Gong Yue, who had been taken over by a Demon Spirit at the time, once said that the black puppy had a faint trace of the Abyssal Returner’s bloodline; however, he did not outrightly mention that it was an Abyssal Returner cub. It was very likely that the puppy did not come from a pure bloodline.
Its Innate Divine Ability would instinctively be stimulated when faced with its favourite food, the Demon Race. Unfortunately, that ability was unstable and unreliable against other kinds of enemies. It once devoured Liao Guan Shi in the Revolving World without any warning, but behaved very ordinarily when fighting against the Princes and Princesses of the Imperial Family. It had not used its innate devouring ability at the time even once.
From the looks of it, it probably failed to bring out its Divine Ability and was chased by an Eleventh-Order Monster Beast as a result. It was pretty troublesome to have impure bloodlines.
Even so, Yang Kai wasn’t bothered by this. It was good if the black puppy was capable, but it was fine even if it wasn’t; after all, he did not need to rely on its power. The most important thing was that he finally knew that Zhu Qing and the others were here.
Picking up the black puppy, he placed it on his shoulder, but did not summon his Emperor Grade flight-type Artifact. Instead, Yang Kai just flew into the air directly before he continued his search. Unfortunately, for the next ten days, he made no new discoveries.
Ten days later, an oasis suddenly appeared in Yang Kai’s field of vision. Discovering such a pleasing spot out of the blue in this land of endless sand and dust instantly made his mood brighten.
There seemed to be a small village in the oasis, and Yang Kai could sense a number of life auras inside. Sweeping his Divine Sense across the village, he discovered that there were no powerful cultivators here, with the strongest person being just a Dao Source Realm while the rest were even lower than that.
Yang Kai headed to the oasis and landed beside the clear pool of water. Bending down, he washed his face in the water while the black puppy jumped into the water and started swimming freely. When he lifted his head again, he saw several children standing next to him and staring at him with wide eyes brimming with curiosity.
The children were a mix of boys and girls, with the youngest no older than five while the oldest was perhaps eleven or twelve. It might have been due to the environment, but their clothes were shabby and patched over multiple times. Moreover, they had terrible complexions and were all skin and bones, looking extremely malnourished.
The older ones among them seemed to have begun cultivating. Unfortunately, their cultivation was weak to the point that it was pitiful. They stood tens of meters away from Yang Kai, staring at him timidly with eyes that sparkled with curiosity.
Yang Kai smiled at them slightly, but just as he was about to speak, his gaze focused on something in one of the girl’s hair. Smiling even more happily, Yang Kai asked in as friendly a voice as possible, “Hey, where did you get that?”
This girl was among the older ones in the group of children and had tied a ribbon into her hair. What surprised Yang Kai was the material the ribbon was made out of. It turned out to be part of the Emperor Artifact Ribbon Zhu Lie had brought out!
Back in the Void Crack, everybody had used this Emperor Artifact Ribbon to tie themselves together to prevent getting lost or separated. However, that artifact had been shredded when they crossed the World Barrier by a violent Void Turbulence. Yang Kai had one section in his possession originally, but later threw it away since he no longer had a use for it.
[I can’t believe I’d find another section of that artifact here! This is clearly not the one that I threw away as the place I discarded mine is far away from here, there is no way this little girl could have picked up that ribbon from over there. In other words, this section of the ribbon must have been dropped by either Li Jiao or Zhu Lie.] This discovery confirmed Yang Kai’s suspicions from before: everyone had returned to Star Boundary, it was just that they all landed in different places.
When Yang Kai spoke up abruptly, the children jumped in fright and took several steps back in unison.
“Can you let me see that for a moment? I will return it to you once I’m done,” stretching out his hand, the ribbon loosened and flew over to Yang Kai. He lowered his head and studied the ribbon and was now certain it was a piece of the Emperor Artifact. It was too bad that its spirituality was completely lost after it was torn to pieces and no longer had any use. If not for that, the aura of an Emperor Rank Artifact alone would be enough to crush this little girl into dust.
Nodding repeatedly, he lifted his head again to ask something, but to his surprise, he saw the children fleeing without warning. They were probably frightened away by his sudden movements.
Moments later, several dozen cultivators of varying strength rushed over from all directions following the screams of the children. In the blink of an eye, they surrounded Yang Kai, all of them staring at him warily, their expressions rather unkind.
Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter even though he knew that his actions were a little reckless. His gaze shifted and landed on the face of one of the middle-aged men as he asked, “Are you the one in charge here?”
That middle-aged man’s cultivation was at the Second-Order Dao Source Realm and he was the strongest person here, but for some reason, his face looked particularly haggard and aged. It seemed even his cultivation could not prevent the passing years from carving wrinkles into his face while the rest of the villagers were in similar situations. Moreover, Yang Kai could tell that something was amiss from their expressions. The looks in their eyes seemed to be filled with despair.
Upon hearing Yang Kai’s question, the middle-aged man nodded, “That is correct. I am the one in charge of Green Water Village. May I know Your Excellency’s name?”
Although his cultivation was not as high as Yang Kai’s, he could tell that the young man in front of him was not somebody he could afford to provoke. Thus, he spoke with great respect, for fear that he might bring disaster down on the Green Water Village.
“My name doesn’t matter, I just wanted to ask something,” Yang Kai lifted the ribbon in his hands and continued, “I saw the little girl wearing this on her head just now, so I wanted to know where she obtained it. I didn’t mean to frighten them. Can you help me ask her about it instead?”
The middle-aged man said, “If that’s the case, there’s no need to ask her.”
“Do you know about it?”
He nodded and replied, “She received that item from a red-haired young man.”
“A red-haired young man!” Yang Kai was overjoyed when he heard the news. He didn’t need to inquire further to know that the red-haired young man was Zhu Lie and thus, he hurriedly asked, “Where is that red-haired young man now?”
“He left a long time ago,” the middle-aged man mulled over it for a bit before continuing, “He suddenly appeared in this place about half a month ago and waited here for about half a day. Then, a woman came looking for him. After that, they left together.”
Yang Kai anxiously asked, “What did that woman look like? Did she have red hair too?”
The middle-aged man nodded, “That’s right. Moreover, those two looked very strong, I believe they were even stronger than you.”
“That’s right; that’s right. They are certainly stronger than I am,” Yang Kai was all smiles, his worries finally completely laid to rest. Although he had guessed that Zhu Qing was fine when he managed to locate the black puppy, it was still a huge relief to receive confirmation.
Red hair was a unique characteristic of the Red Dragon siblings. Zhu Lie had obviously arrived at this oasis and used a Dragon Clan Secret Technique to contact Zhu Qing. Then, they left this place together after she arrived.
The middle-aged man continued, “This ribbon is what the red-haired young man left behind when he left this place. Please excuse the child’s ignorance for picking it up and playing with it. You can have it back if it is something you need.”
Yang Kai waved his hand lightly in response, “That is not necessary. I just wanted some information, there’s no need to be so nervous.”
While speaking, he flicked his wrist and the ribbon immediately flew to the little girl and stopped in front of her. The little girl glanced at Yang Kai several times before grabbing the ribbon and holding it in her palm like a treasured item.
After ascertaining that he meant no harm, the group of people finally felt relieved. They had sensed how powerful Yang Kai was and knew if he meant to harm them, they would have no way to resist.
“Which direction did that man and woman leave in? Do you know?”
The middle-aged man pointed with his hand, “That way!”
Glancing into the distance, Yang Kai cupped his fists and said, “Many thanks!”
Subsequently, he turned around and called for the black puppy. Picking Ah Wang up, he then left in the direction Zhu Qing and her brother had gone, chasing after them.
Upon seeing him leave, the villagers secretly breathed a sigh of relief; however, it was just a momentary respite as a figure appeared in front of them again a moment later. It was the powerful young man from before who had for some reason returned.
The middle-aged man asked curiously, “Does Your Excellency need something else?”
Yang Kai smiled, “I thought about it, and since you helped me out, I should return the favour to you.”
“It was nothing; please don’t worry about it!” The middle-aged man shook his head in response.
“It might be a trivial matter to you, but it is extremely important to me. In that case, go ahead and tell me what you need. I will do my best to satisfy you!”
As soon as those words left his mouth, a small commotion ran through the crowd as they looked at the middle-aged man in unison.
Similarly, the head of the village’s expression changed significantly. Even so, he hesitated for a long time before shaking his head and saying, “Many thanks, Your Excellency; however, we are currently not in need of anything in particular.”
Yang Kai smiled, “Looking at your expressions, it must be something difficult to ask, or perhaps there are lives at stake. Not answering when asked means that you are either being restrained by something, or do not have confidence in me. Tell me, who is troubling you?”
“It’s nothing,” the middle-aged man shook his head again with a nervous expression, “Your Excellency, please go quickly. The people you are looking for left half a month ago, so if you don’t leave now, you won’t be able to catch up with them again.”
Yang Kai ignored the village head and turned his gaze to the little girl who had picked up the ribbon instead to ask, “In truth, you are the one who did me the favour, so I would like to return the favour in kind. Tell me, is somebody bullying you? I will go and beat them up so that they won’t be able to bully you again.”
The little girl exclaimed in surprise, “Really?”
“Yes, really.”
Then, the little girl said, “Then, can you go and defeat that giant snake? It often comes here to eat people. Both my brother and sister were eaten by it.”
“A giant snake?” Yang Kai frowned.
Ten days later. Yang Kai leisurely appeared in a city somewhere. After so many days, he finally figured out where he was. He was in the Western Territory! The Western Territory was said to be the most barren and desolate of the four domains in the Star Boundary.
Despite coming to Star Boundary for so many years, Yang Kai had yet to step foot into the Western Territory. He never thought that he would accidentally come here upon escaping from the Revolving World and did not know if there were mysterious and unseen forces at work behind the scenes.
Ten days ago, he had left the oasis and went to slay a Monster Beast, a giant snake. It was a Twelfth-Order Monster Beast, which was comparable to a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master. It considered the people living in the oasis food and would devour one or two of them from time to time. Unfortunately, the people living in the oasis were powerless, even if they wanted to escape. Anyone who dared to venture any further than five kilometres from the oasis would die a horrible death.
Even though that Twelfth-Order Monster Beast was a terrifying nightmare to those people, it was nothing to Yang Kai; thus, he got rid of it in passing. It was also to return a favour to those people. He did not return to the oasis again afterwards, leaving straight away without another word. He was certain that the people in the oasis would discover that the giant snake causing trouble for them had been slain within a few days.
He then chased after Zhu Qing and her brother but did not find traces of them anywhere, so he concluded they must have returned to Dragon Island or gone back to High Heaven Palace. At this point, Yang Kai was no longer in a rush to search for them. Travelling across the mountains and the rivers, he enjoyed the unique customs and sceneries of the Western Territory in a leisurely manner.
It was a rare opportunity for him to come to the Western Territory; hence, he wanted to find a remote and hidden location to set up a Cross-Territory Space Array. That way, it would be more convenient for him to come to the Western Territory again in the future. However, he couldn’t find a suitable place for his use despite searching for several days, leaving him feeling somewhat helpless.
The Western Territory might be relatively remote and barren compared to the other three territories, but relative was still just relative. Having said that, it contained many famous lands which were cultivation paradises rich in World Energy.
The famous Shadow Killer Palace was also located in the Western Territory. Shadow Killer Palace was the Hegemon of the Western Territory and was led by a Great Emperor. It was established by none other than the frightening Night Shadow Great Emperor.
Compared to other Great Emperor Sects, Shadow Killer Palace was undoubtedly the most mysterious one. That was because even the local cultivators in the Western Territory were not sure as to where the Sect was situated, nor how many disciples it had. Even so, it did not prevent Shadow Killer Palace from standing supreme in the hearts of the Western Territory’s cultivators.
If one were to say that Star Soul Palace was the Holy Land in the hearts of the Southern Territory’s cultivators, then Shadow Killer Palace held the same status in the Western Territory.
As Great Emperors were Masters among Masters, a Great Emperor who was proficient in the way of assassination was even more terrifying. There were rumours in the Western Territory that although there were no obvious differences in strengths among the Great Emperors, the most feared one was none other than Night Shadow Great Emperor. That honour was not something ordinary people could ever grasp.
The city Yang Kai entered was not that small, and he immediately made his way into a tavern, found a table by the window, and sat down. Then, the shop-hand immediately came over and greeted him enthusiastically, “Hello, what would you like to order?”
“Do you have any Sword Wine?” Yang Kai asked.
The shop hand grinned meaningfully in response, “You came to the right place, Sir. There are thousands of shops in Star Point City, but only ten of them sell Sword Wine. This small shop happens to be one of them.”
Yang Kai waved his hand magnanimously, “Bring me a hundred bottles to quench my thirst!”
The Western Territory was not just famous for Shadow Killer Palace and the Night Shadow Great Emperor. It was also famous for the Sword Wine, a wine brewed by a place known as the Sword Villa. The brewing process of the Sword Wine was extremely complicated and time-consuming. More importantly, it required a Master proficient in the Sword Dao to pour their insight into the wine. For that reason, every bottle of it was extremely precious.
The Sword Wine was very beneficial for cultivators, and consuming it long-term could improve cultivation, especially for those cultivating the Sword Dao. It could help cultivators comprehend the concepts of the Sword Dao better and it was precisely because of the Sword Wine’s existence that there were more Sword Masters in the Western Territory compared to the other three territories.
When Yang Kai first met Zhu Qing, she kept pestering him non-stop to be ‘friends’, which annoyed him to no end. Hence, he sent her to the Western Territory to obtain some Sword Wine in order to escape from her pestering. He originally did that just to make things difficult for her, but to his surprise, she actually managed to obtain a bottle of Sword Wine in rather short order.
Recalling the unfamiliarity and repulsion between them in the beginning, Yang Kai couldn’t help sighing in amazement at the thought that they were now husband and wife. It truly was impossible to predict the future. Fate is decided by the Heavens, and everything in life is part of a never-ending cycle. Zhu Qing herself probably never expected the two of them to end up as a couple either.
Now that Yang Kai had experienced the Western Territory for himself, the first thing he thought about was the Sword Wine. If he could obtain large quantities of the Sword Wine, it would be helpful to the future development of High Heaven Palace. More so since his relatives and friends back on Shadowed Star were not strong enough. When the time came for him to bring them to the Star Boundary, it would surely be easier for them to cultivate if they had the assistance of the Sword Wine.
[Perhaps, I should visit Sword Villa to find a way to cooperate with them. At any rate, I am an Emperor Rank Alchemist, so I’m sure Sword Villa won’t be able to deny my request if I can meet their requirements.]
As those thoughts flashed through Yang Kai’s mind, mocking laughter sounded from the table next to him, “Which rock did you crawl out from under? What do you take the Sword Wine for? I can’t believe you tried to order a hundred bottles. You sure don’t know your own limits!”
Yang Kait turned his head to look in the direction of the sound and saw a burly man with his chest exposed looking at him mockingly. He had a bulb-like nose and a toad-like mouth, making him look extremely ugly. He wore a string of skulls around his neck that originated from some sort of unknown beasts. Each skull was approximately the size of a fist and gave off a chilling aura, which only served to set off his ferociousness even more.
That person’s appearance might be rather horrendous, but Yang Kai was more surprised to discover that that man was a Second-Order Emperor. Moreover, two other First-Order Emperors shared a table with that man.
Yang Kai couldn’t help frowning. According to his observations, Star Point City was not considered a big city, so it did not make sense for so many Emperor Realm Masters to be here.
However, the truth was that there seemed to be two other Emperors in this tavern aside from those three at that table. Stealthily extending his Divine Sense outward, Yang Kai studied his surroundings and instantly discovered that something was wrong. These Emperor Realm Masters seemed to be waiting for something here.
When their gazes met, the brawny man slammed his fist against the table and sternly roared, “What are you looking at?! I was talking about you, you country bumpkin!”
[What a nasty temper!] Yang Kai chuckled secretly. He couldn’t be bothered to pick a fight with that man while on the other hand, the other two Emperor Realm Masters sharing the same table as him hurriedly piped up, “Senior Xiong, please calm down. Why are you trying to reason with a country bumpkin like him? We should focus on business instead.”
“That’s right!” The other person fervently agreed.
The burly man with the surnamed ‘Xiong’ snorted coldly at those words. Yang Kai showing weakness seemed to stroke his ego and vanity so he threw a disdainful look at him before picking up his wine and draining the contents with a smug expression.
Seeing that a storm had passed, the shop-hand nearby wiped away his cold sweat and tentatively glanced at Yang Kai to ask, “Does Sir come from afar?”
“You have a good eye, little guy!” Yang Kai smiled gently without denying it.
Generally speaking, servants working in these kinds of crowded environments would develop an excellent eye for people. They could pretty much figure out the origins and status of a person with a single glance. Besides, there were subtle differences between Yang Kai’s clothes and the clothes of the Western Territory’s cultivators and he was also covered in dust from his travels. If the shop hand failed to notice these details, he would be unqualified for his job.
The shop hand smiled and said, “Then, I can’t blame Sir for not knowing. I’m sure you know that Sword Wine can only be produced by Sword Villa; therefore, the amount produced every year is limited. This shop may sell Sword Wine, but we have a limited supply of it. I’m afraid something like a hundred bottles of Sword Wine… Is beyond what we can sell.”
Yang Kai understood and asked, “How many bottles can I buy?”
The shop hand answered embarrassedly, “One bottle.”
“Only one bottle?” Even though Yang Kai was somewhat mentally prepared, he was still taken aback by the answer. It seemed as though the Sword Wine was not something one could drink casually even in the Western Territory. [I wonder how Zhu Qing obtained the Sword Wine back then?]
Despite his curiosity, Yang Kai didn’t care too much so he simply nodded, “Oh well. One bottle it is, then. I want the best one you have.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the burly man by the side sneered again, “Is the best Sword Wine something that you are worthy of drinking? Why don’t you look at yourself in the mirror? What a shameless fool.”
Another person at the same table laughed, “There are all kinds of people out there in the world. Senior Xiong, why do you care about what he does?”
That burly man shook his head, “I can’t stand these useless good-for-nothings that have nothing to them aside from their good looks. I get the urge to beat them up every time I meet one.”
Meanwhile, Yang Kai turned a deaf ear to those words and simply addressed the shop hand again, “Can you explain it to me?”
The shop hand felt even more embarrassed as he explained, “The Sword Wine can be categorized into three classes: Low-Rank, Mid-Rank, and High-Rank. This shop only sells Low-Rank and Mid-Rank Sword Wines. On the other hand, only one bottle of the High-Rank Sword Wine is sold each day and those can only be bought by participating in the auction.”
“An auction?!” Yang Kai looked surprised but soon realized that this was a way for the shop to solicit customers; after all, special goods always sold better. He immediately asked, “About today’s auction…”
“It ended this morning.”
Yang Kai nodded and pondered in silence for a moment, “I see, get me a bottle of Mid-Rank Sword Wine then.”
“Good! Please wait a moment!” The shop hand seemed relieved to see that Yang Kai was being so reasonable; thus, he turned around to leave after responding.
Yang Kai turned to look out the window then, watching the weaving flow of people as the urge to visit Sword Villa grew stronger.
At that moment, a quiet conversation entered his ears. One person said, “The Wind and Cloud Pavilion has gone all out this time around and issued a wanted order for that little girl. If anybody manages to kill her, they will receive a reward of 10 million High-Rank Source Crystals. The reward for capturing her alive is even more remarkable. They are offering a reward of 20 million High-Rank Source Crystals for that!”
The voices came from the table by the side where those three Emperor Realm Masters sat. They believed that their voices were soft enough that nobody else could hear them; however, Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was extremely powerful so he could hear their voices clearly regardless of how softly they spoke.
A reward ranging from 10 to 20 million High-Rank Source Crystals was very tempting to these Emperor Realm Masters; after all, even Fire Dragon Palace, a top Sect in the Northern Territory, only made 50 million High-Rank Source Crystals a year. Moreover, that was the income of the entire Sect. What was distributed to the individuals within the Sect was much less than that. For that reason, 10 million to 20 million High-Rank Source Crystals was quite astonishing in comparison.
As soon as the words left that person’s mouth, another said, “It’s all that girl’s fault for killing the Young Pavilion Master of Wind and Cloud Pavilion. Because of that, she provoked Wind and Cloud Pavilion’s ire. How can she possibly survive? She will die sooner or later.”
The first person replied, “That girl is pretty interesting too. Of all the people she could choose to kill, she had to kill the Young Pavilion Master of Wind and Cloud Pavilion. Although the Old Pavilion Master of Wind and Cloud Pavilion has many wives and concubines, he does not have any children to continue the family name. It was not easy for him to get a son; moreover, he spoiled his son rotten. How could he let bygones be bygones now that his precious son has been killed? If not for that, the reward would never be that generous.”
“Speaking of which, the Young Pavilion Master wasn’t anything good either. He abused his status and the love the Old Pavilion Master had for him to oppress both men and women. He was completely lawless. Even though his cultivation wasn’t high, he had a strong background supporting him. I don’t know how many women he ruined. I heard that the reason he was killed was that he had molested that little girl.”
The eyes of the burly man surnamed Xiong brightened at those words, “Does that mean that the girl is a beauty?”
The first person burst out laughing, “Of course! Think about it; the Young Pavilion Master has played with countless women already, so what kind of woman has he not seen before? He wouldn’t be interested in ordinary women! I’ll be honest with you, I caught a glimpse of that girl from a distance, and I can say with confidence she is extremely beautiful. It was as if an Immortal Fairy had descended to the Earth! If I could marry a woman like that, I would surely lose my motivation to cultivate. How could a sleazy Young Master like the Young Pavilion Master keep his hands off her the moment he saw her? It’s just that…”
“What?”
“It’s just that her strength was equally extraordinary. I’m not sure I could win against her, that’s why I just watched the opportunity slip away from me.”
“I love gorgeous women too,” the man surnamed Xiong grabbed the wine bottle from the table and took a swig. The wine dripped out of the corner of his mouth, making him look bold and unconstrained as an evil light flashed across his eyes, “I want to see just how beautiful this woman is. She is merely a First-Order Emperor Realm Master, so if I ever meet her, she won’t be able to escape from me!”
“With Senior Xiong taking action, the girl won’t be able to escape anymore,” one of them flatteringly said.
The man surnamed Xiong laughed, “Once I capture her, I will have a good time with her before handing her over to Wind and Cloud Pavilion to get the bounty.”
“Good! If you really capture her, Senior Xiong, please let me have some fun with her too.”
He snickered, “Brother, you sure have strange preferences. You want my leftovers?”
“It’s just for fun. It’s not like I’m marrying her, so what does it matter?”
“Sure, then let’s do that. It’s just that I don’t know if the information is accurate. Is that little girl really going to pass by this place?”
“The information has been confirmed. That girl is bold if nothing else. Despite offending Wind and Cloud Pavilion, she did not conceal her whereabouts and is instead killing her way towards Wind and Cloud Pavilion. It seems like many died at her hands already. Since she is making her way towards Wind and Cloud Pavilion, she will surely pass by Star Point City. We can just wait here for her to come. Didn’t the two of you notice that there are many Emperor Realm Masters in Star Point City? They are all here for that girl.”
“Hmph, they want to steal my prey? With their strength? How arrogant of them! They had better not get in my way or they can’t blame me for being merciless!”
“What you said is right, Senior Xiong! How can this pile of trash compare to you?”
While those people were talking among themselves, the man surnamed Xiong suddenly looked up and glanced in Yang Kai’s direction.
At that moment, Yang Kai was tasting the Mid-Rank Sword Wine that had been delivered to him by the shop hand; however, he immediately frowned after taking a sip as he discovered that the taste of this Sword Wine was a little different from the one he had drunk before.
[It’s not the same Rank at all!] Although the wine contained some Sword Intent, it was extremely weak. Yang Kai could easily refine the Sword Intent that rushed into his body and his meridians, so it was of no use to him at all.
[The Sword Wine Zhu Qing gave me before seems to be a rather high-end product.] Holding the wine glass in his hand, he frowned and suddenly felt rather empty inside.
All of a sudden, the opened bottle of wine on the table was sucked to the side by a powerful force as the man surnamed Xiong laughed loudly and said to Yang Kai, “Little brat, the Sword Wine isn’t something you can drink. I’ll reluctantly help you finish it. You don’t need to thank me.”
The Sword Wine at his table had been finished a long time ago; therefore, he indiscriminately snatched Yang Kai’s bottle away. While speaking, he picked up the wine bottle and gulped down the contents greedily, his Emperor Qi rippling slightly as if stimulated by the Sword Intent in the wine.
In response, Yang Kai’s expression immediately darkened. This burly man surnamed Xiong had scorned him several times, and at first, Yang Kai had been too lazy to bother with him, but now this man went so far as to snatch away his Sword Wine from right under his nose. Although Yang Kai did not care much for that bottle of Mid-Rank Sword Wine, nor plan to finish drinking it, letting it be snatched away by somebody else was a different matter altogether.
“What great wine!” The burly man surnamed Xiong finished drinking the bottle and the vitality of his body was stimulated by the Sword Intent, causing his face to become flushed. Wiping at his mouth, he yelled out cheerfully. Similarly, the other two people at the table were watching Yang Kai with scornful and jeering looks.
Yang Kai’s expression was frosty as he said, “As the saying goes, ‘all lay loads on the willing horse’. Initially, I had no plans to stoop down to your level, but you trash just had to provoke me. It looks like you are begging to die.”
When the burly man surnamed Xiong heard those words, he was taken aback for a moment before he burst out laughing, “What did you say, boy? I didn’t hear you clearly, why don’t you say that again, hmm?”
He deliberately leaned his ear towards Yang Kai while speaking, acting as if he really wanted to hear properly.
Yang Kai sighed softly, “Some people are simply frogs in a well; the sky above them is only as wide as they can see, but for some reason, they seem to think that they’re amazing.”
The expression of the burly man surnamed Xiong turned cold as he stood up abruptly and snarled, “Little brat, just who did you say is a frog in a well?!”
The other two people sitting at the same table as that man stood up as well and started to circulate their Emperor Qi. One of them snorted, “Don’t talk nonsense, little brat. This place is not your poor countryside home. It’s fine if you get embarrassed from saying the wrong things, but it’ll be bad if you lose your life because of that.”
“The ones that will lose their lives are you people!” Yang Kai lifted his hand slightly to teach these three people a profound and unforgettable lesson.
But at that moment, an abnormality occurred. A loud noise came from afar, followed by several blood-curdling screams that resounded through the sky. It sounded like a battle was taking place nearby. Emperor Qi filled the air as the World Energy and Principles were thrown into chaos. In the next instant, a pink figure suddenly shot by overhead.
Yang Kai was sitting by the window and caught a whiff of a faint fragrance as that figure passed him by. He then spotted a graceful figure with long hair flying in the wind and a fluttering pink robe out of the corner of his eyes, but she was gone in a blink of an eye. Immediately after that, several rays of light rushed by as they gave chase.
“Slut! How dare you run away?”
“How dare you show up here in Star Point City?! You won’t be able to escape this time!”
“Hurry up! Don’t let her get away again! The reward is 20 million High-Rank Source Crystals!”
The commotion lasted for a while as hundreds of people chased after the girl. There were some Emperors, but most were just Dao Source Realms, obviously tagging along to join in on the fun.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai was frozen in place from shock. His brain had blanked out at that moment as he stared blankly at the figure that had long since disappeared into the distance before he rubbed his eyes vigorously.
“It’s that little girl!” Exclamations rang out from behind him.
“Let’s go!” Another person hurriedly leapt out the window.
The moment that burly man surnamed Xiong heard those words, he lost all interest in Yang Kai and simply shot him a glare before he stomped his big foot and broke through the roof to pursue the girl.
The tavern instantly became a huge mess, with the shop hand running over to check on the situation. The scene that greeted him left him close to tears though, but he was unable to cry.
On the other hand, Yang Kai recovered from his shock and quickly threw some Source Crystals onto the table before he disappeared in a flash. When he reappeared again, he was already outside the city.
A group of people swarmed out from the city, seemingly unbothered by his sudden appearance, their eyes fixed on the beautiful figure fleeing in front of them, energetically chasing after her. To them, that girl was equivalent to 10 or 20 million High-Rank Source Crystals.
Yang Kai joined the chasing team without saying a word. It was not a particularly eye-catching action, but unlike the other pursuers, he only had one question in his heart, [Was I mistaken? Did I see wrongly?]
The speed the young woman flew past him was too fast; moreover, his attention had been fixed on the people sitting at the neighbouring table. Therefore, he failed to get a proper look at her appearance and only saw something out of the corner of his eyes.
That one glance shook his heart to the core though as he found the girl oddly familiar. In addition, she was a young woman he had not seen in many years. If he was not mistaken, then the situation was far too coincidental; therefore, he planned to mix into the crowd to observe the situation carefully before he made a decision since he wasn’t too sure about what he saw. It would be awkward if he recognized the wrong person. Besides, that girl was not in a good situation right now. In the worst case, he might be suspected of being her accomplice or something.
Outside Star Point City, the girl fled with unusual speed. She was like a pink streak of lightning shooting across the sky while the group of cultivators behind her chased after her perseveringly.
Within a short time, the differences between the strength of the cultivators manifested. The pursuers in the Dao Source Realm were all left behind and only those in the Emperor Realm managed to barely keep up with her speed.
Not many people were left soon, only about ten or so of them were left and most of them were First-Order Emperors. Nevertheless, that was a force that could not be underestimated, especially for this lone girl.
Despite the distance between them, Yang Kai could tell that the girl was only a First-Order Emperor Realm Master, and it was precisely because of her current cultivation that he wasn’t sure if he was mistaken. After all, he himself was just a First-Order Emperor. [If she is truly who I think she is, then it should have been impossible for her to reach this realm so quickly.]
A First-Order Emperor had little chance of winning when facing so many pursuers at the same realm; however, Yang Kai soon realized that something was amiss.
The girl fleeing in front of him didn’t seem the slightest bit flustered. Her aura was deep and serene, clearly indicating that she was not using her full strength. Rather, she seemed to be baiting her pursuers. As soon as the thought surfaced in Yang Kai’s mind, he failed to stifle his laughter and dismissed his suspicions as an excessive worry.
They soon left Star Point City far behind on their cat and mouse chase. Then, the girl who had been fleeing all this while suddenly stopped in her tracks amid the wild plains approximately five thousand kilometres away from Star Point City. She stood quietly in the plains, showing a beautiful back to her pursuers. A breeze blew past her and her long hair swayed lightly in the wind. It was a mesmerizing sight to behold.
Consequently, the dozen or so Emperor Realm Masters pursuing her came to a stop as well. At this point, they finally noticed that something was wrong. The girl did not seem to be escaping; rather, she seemed to be leading them into a trap. When that thought occurred to them, they hurriedly checked the surrounding area, lest there be a hidden Spirit Array or a powerful helper lying in wait.
Sweeping their Divine Sense across their surroundings and finding no hidden traps, Spirit Arrays, or Masters waiting to ambush them, the Emperors finally felt a sense of relief wash over them. However, the way the girl stood with her back to them annoyed them greatly. They felt as if they were being looked down upon and the thought left them feeling very uneasy.
A red-faced old man sighed, “Little girl, why did you go and provoke Wind and Cloud Pavilion? You brought this upon yourself. Although I don’t condone bullying the weak, the reward is too generous to pass up. It is impossible not to be swayed by such benefits. Heed my advice, you should surrender without a fight; otherwise, you might get hurt if a fight breaks out. That won’t be good for you.”
His tone was as earnest as could be; however, his eyes were shifting about suspiciously as he spoke. He was clearly up to no good. The rest of the group were silent, but even so, each of them was secretly circulating their Emperor Qi, preparing for a fight at a moment’s notice.
The old man continued, “Little girl, you don’t have a chance of winning. As you know, resistance will only cause you more harm than good. It’s not easy for somebody as young as you to reach this realm! Unfortunately, you don’t know how to hide your claws! I’m willing to be a peacemaker and accompany you to Wind and Cloud Pavilion to apologize and resolve this grievance. What do you think?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the girl chuckled, “If you weren’t trying to covertly use a Secret Technique on me, I might have actually believed you’re not a bad man. It’s a pity that your methods are too crude. What my Master said was right; the people outside are cunning and dishonest. It really is hateful.”
After saying that, she suddenly lifted a finger into the air and swiped horizontally. Her actions were accompanied by a soft tearing sound as if something was being cut open. A cloud of brilliance burst out in the air and in response, that red-faced old man shuddered. His complexion paled greatly, obviously suffering from the backlash of his Secret Technique being forcefully broken.
Therefore, he was both shocked and horrified. He did not expect a petite little girl to be able to break his Secret Technique with such ease. Gaining a deeper understanding of her strength, he instantly became fearful of her.
At the same time, a figure appeared without any warning about ten metres away from the girl. That person had secretly hidden next to the girl at some point in time. Before this moment, not a single trace of their presence had been revealed and they took advantage of the moment she broke the Secret Technique to attack. It was the moment when her guard was at its lowest and his timing could not be more perfect. Enveloped in powerful Emperor Qi, this man raised his hand and threw a large net-like artifact over her. The large net sparkled in a brilliant multi-coloured glow and one could tell that it was a high-grade Emperor Rank Artifact at a glance, one specifically meant for capturing people.
The large net opened so widely that it seemed as though it could encase the entire world in it, enclosing the space around the girl firmly and securely. Then, the person who launched the surprise attack laughed heartily, “Hahahaha! Let’s see where you can escape now!”
The girl’s strength was exceptional, but she obviously had little combat experience. When this change occurred, she frowned and tried to retreat. Unexpectedly, the large net followed her closely like maggots on rotting bones and she couldn’t get away from it no matter what she did. Furthermore, the large net was shrinking rapidly to capture her within it.
She would not be able to escape if she were to be caught by this Emperor Artifact, regardless of how powerful she was. After all, there were many Emperor Realm Masters gathered here and if they all attacked at once, she would surely be overwhelmed by their numbers.
The moment she turned around though, Yang Kai stared at her in a daze. He stared blankly at the somewhat familiar yet unfamiliar face but could not associate her with the person he knew in any way.
[Is this her? Or, not?] He wasn’t certain anymore.
At that moment, the Emperor Realm Master that threw the net formed a series of hand seals and shouted, “Seal!”
In response, the large net shrank abruptly and completely encased the girl inside it. A panicked expression surfaced on her face, and although she wanted to escape, the space surrounding her had been sealed inside the net. Then, a trace of determination flashed through her beautiful eyes.
At that moment, a strange force suddenly enveloped her, and by the time the large net fully closed around her, they discovered that she had escaped through some unfathomable means. The owner of the large net was astonished and looked bewildered and incapable of comprehending what had just happened.
“Master said that if a person hits me once, I should hit them back twice. If you can take two hits from me and survive, I will let you go.” The girl seemed a little angry after being ambushed just now and her beautiful face furrowed in rage. Still, a beauty would always be a beauty and even her angry face was gorgeous.
As she spoke, her tender body shifted slightly and she lunged towards that person with a pair of small fists that were glowing with a bright light. Then, she threw a punch at him from more than ten metres away.
That person was still wondering why his Emperor Artifact had failed to capture the girl; however, he immediately became furious when he heard what she said, “Those are some cocky words, little girl! You’re far too arrogant! I don’t know who your Master is, but he must not be that great of a person to raise a disciple like you. Two hits? Even if it’s a hundred…”
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly noticed that something was wrong. When the girl threw her punch, the entire world seemed to freeze in that moment. He himself had the illusion that a vast mountain was pressing down on him and he physically felt a huge weight on his chest, making it hard to even breathe. Moreover, all the blood in his body felt like it had frozen in his veins.
*Hong…*
A loud sound rang out, followed by the sound of bones breaking as that Emperor Realm Master flew backwards and smashed into the ground like a meteor. He even coughed up blood mid-air as his complexion became bloodless in an instant.
*Pa…*
He crashed into the ground, creating a huge crater, and at the same time, cracks spread out in all directions like the world itself was breaking apart.
The sound of many shocked gasps could be heard; everyone widened their eyes in surprise as they stared at the delicate and weak-looking girl in a daze. None of them had expected such an ordinary-looking punch to carry such power. The visual impact gave them an incredibly unreal feeling, so much so that they couldn’t help wondering if they were dreaming.
Even Yang Kai was dumbfounded. He was fairly certain at this point that this girl was not the person he knew as, although she was a First-Order Emperor, the strength she unleashed was horrifying. Contrarily, the person he knew would not be able to achieve this level of strength.
“Take my second fist!” The girl flew up above the crater and threw another punch downward as she shouted.
This time around, everybody was mentally prepared and stared fixedly at this attack, all of them becoming aware that this was no simple punch. There were no traces of any kind of Secret Technique being used, but even so, this small fist caused the crater to expand by more than ten times. The Earth trembled from the force of her blow while the First-Order Emperor Realm Master that had crashed into the pit uttered a muffled groan before he stopped moving.
Many Divine Senses swept over and following that, their expressions were filled with shock. That man was dead! He actually died! He was killed in two punches by a delicate-looking little girl!
Inside the crater, that man had died a terrible death, to the point where his remains barely even looked human anymore.
“W-W-Who is your Master?!” The red-faced old man asked in surprise. Even an idiot could tell that something was amiss by now. The girl’s strength was too shocking, not something an ordinary person could achieve. The Disciple was already so strong, so surely the Master would be even more powerful than her. It was very likely that she had some kind of supreme existence backing her.
After thinking about it from this perspective, everybody looked at the girl again and seemed to see a giant illusory shadow standing behind her.
At that moment, all of them felt rather distressed. They were afraid that they might have provoked an existence that they should not have and that there was a reason why she dared to kill the Young Pavilion Master of Wind and Cloud Pavilion.
Although Wind and Cloud Pavilion was fairly influential, several great forces in the Western Territory could rival it in strength. Not to mention there was still the elusive Shadow Killer Palace standing above them all.
“Why do you care about who my Master is? You secretly tried to trick me just now! I’m going to hit you twice too!” After getting rid of her first opponent, the little girl fixed her gaze on the red-faced old man and raised her small fists.
The old man was extremely shocked in response. He might have been strong, but he wouldn’t dare to claim he was stronger than the man just now. If that man failed to receive two blows from this girl, then he wouldn’t be able to survive them either.
From an uninvolved party’s perspective, the girl’s slightly reddened fists looked quite attractive; however, in the old man’s eyes, they looked like deadly weapons that were about to slaughter him. Panicking, he shouted, “This girl is strong! We need to attack her together!”
“Little girl, you are beautiful indeed! Let me give you some love!” A furious roar rang out as a burly figure lunged towards the girl.
Everybody else felt astonished in response to that burly figure’s actions and thought to themselves. [Great! People who are not afraid of death really exist!]
They had learned their lesson after the spectacle from before and were planning to withdraw. Source Crystals were attractive, but one needed their life to be able to enjoy them. Even though the possibility of winning against the little girl was very high if all of them worked together to bring her down, they knew that everyone had their own reservations. Hence, it would only give the girl an opportunity to break through their ranks if they really attacked with such a fragile alliance. That would only result in more injuries and casualties on their side.
For somebody to rush forward at this time would undoubtedly cause some changes to the situation though. Therefore, everybody turned to watch how things would unfold. Upon seeing the person’s appearance and cultivation, however, many were shocked.
“Xiong Kai Shan!”
“It’s him!”
“This is great! With him taking the lead, we might have a chance of winning!”
One by one, the Emperor Realm Masters that were about to retreat stood their ground to watch the situation unfold.
On the other side, Xiong Kai Shan appeared in front of the girl, his Emperor Qi surging greatly as his fists that were as large as plates flew out. Every punch he threw could crush mountains and split seas. The air filled with afterimages of his punches at that moment, and thanks to his brawny figure, his attacks covered a wide range, making him look extremely fierce.
In the face of this violent storm of fists, the girl pursed her red lips and retaliated blow for blow without saying a word. Following several loud booming sounds, the pair exchanged hundreds of blows in a matter of breaths.
All of a sudden, Xiong Kai Shan pulled back from the fight, his expression filled with shock as both his arms trembled uncontrollably.
Everybody was dumbstruck by the sight. Xiong Kai Shan’s fists were covered in blood while on the contrary, the girl was safe and sound. Even though her enemy had retreated, she did not take advantage of the situation to pursue him further and just glared at the other party angrily.
“How is she this strong?!” Xiong Kai Shan lowered his head to look at his fists in disbelief; however, the reality was laid out before his eyes and did not allow any room for doubt. As a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master, he actually lost to a little girl in a direct exchange of fists! That fact made him feel extremely humiliated and he roared to activate his Secret Technique. At that moment, the necklace of skulls hanging around his neck snapped and flew out. Those white skulls danced about in the air and transformed into gigantic skulls with gloomy ghost fires burning in their eye sockets as they slammed towards the girl.
The gigantic skulls danced through the air, shooting out a series of freezing cold Yin Qi blasts from their mouths. The Yin Qi seemed like it could freeze Emperor Qi and clearly presented a huge threat.
In the blink of an eye, the girl was surrounded so tightly that not even a fly could escape, and her figure disappeared behind the wall of skulls.
Xiong Kai Shan coldly snorted, “There are always youngsters that don’t know their own limits. Today, I will teach you what it means when they say there is always Heavens beyond Heavens, people beyond people!”
He continued to control his Secret Technique, amplifying the power of the flying skulls.
All of a sudden, an explosive sound rang out and Xiong Kai Shan’s expression changed drastically, displaying unprecedented shock. Lifting his head to look in the direction of the sound, he saw his skulls flying in all directions after being blown away by some huge force.
The girl’s figure was revealed again, standing there motionless like a God of War.
“Damn slut! How dare you destroy my Emperor Artifact?!” His eyes turned scarlet with rage. Those skulls were his biggest trump card, but at this moment, the light in one of the skulls’ sockets had completely dimmed. It was a little out of control and floated about unsteadily, clearly having lost most of its spirituality.
He had not expected that an Emperor Artifact he summoned would be blown away by a young girl’s physical strength alone.
Meanwhile, a pair of gloves had appeared on the girl’s fists. They were completely pitch-black and gave off an extremely ominous aura. Judging by the fluctuations emanating from her fists, this pair of gloves was also an extraordinarily powerful Emperor Artifact. It was by relying on the power of these gloves that she managed to blast away the skulls surrounding her.
Roaring intensely, Xiong Kai Shan once again controlled his skulls to slam into the girl while at the same time, he burst out, “Are the rest of you only here to watch the show?!”
After exchanging blows with this girl, he was no longer confident that he could win against her on his own; thus, he could only pin his hopes on the others. As long as everyone worked together, this girl would surely be overwhelmed by their numbers no matter how strong she was.
The red-faced old man immediately echoed those words, “What are you all waiting for?! If you don’t act now, when will you?!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he made his move, summoning an Emperor Artifact that looked like a wine gourd with a flip of his wrist. The wine gourd expanded rapidly as the old man aimed its opening in the direction of the girl. The next moment, a violent flame burst from.
The moment he made his move, the rest of the Emperor Realm Masters that had been spectating finally couldn’t hold themselves back anymore. They hurriedly summoned their respective Emperor Artifacts and attacked the girl. Subsequently, various Emperor Artifacts and Secret Techniques flew through the air, making for a chaotic and lively display.
The girl was truly quite strong; however, she could barely keep up with the endless stream of attacks from so many Emperors all at once. For a moment, she didn’t know what to do as she constantly avoided the attacks coming her way. Although she wanted to break through this encirclement, she kept missing her chances and in the end, she remained trapped in place.
It could be seen from this situation that her combat experience was severely lacking. Believing that she was strong enough to face all her pursuers, she had led them to this place, but how could she have known she would cause her own movements to be restrained instead? Even so, she was by no means weak and each time her fists were thrown out, an explosive force on par with any Emperor Artifact attack or Secret Technique was unleashed.
At this point, that pair of tender fists was practically an existence comparable to that of an Emperor Artifact. Besides, she remained standing even when facing more than ten Emperor Realm Masters and their Artifacts. That in itself was enough to demonstrate the depths of her strength. Up until today, the only ones that Yang Kai knew of who could achieve this level of physical strength was the Dragon Clan.
“Hey, Friend, why aren’t you attacking?” All of a sudden, somebody turned to look at Yang Kai curiously.
All the other Emperor Realm Masters present had already taken action, either by rushing forward to attack or using their Artifacts and Secret Techniques. Yang Kai was the only one who stayed still, making him stand out from the crowd.
Yang Kai lightly waved his hand and said, “Don’t worry. I’m about to take action.”
Saying so, he lifted his hand and palmed towards that man.
“You…” That person was shocked as he never expected Yang Kai to attack him without any warning. He had never offended this young man or even met him before today, so what reason did he have for targeting him?
Suppressing his suspicions and shock, the man hurriedly circulated his Emperor Qi to protect himself. At the same time, he retreated quickly to create some distance between him and Yang Kai. Unfortunately, that was a pointless effort as he could not get away from the power coming from Yang Kai’s palm no matter how far he retreated.
The Emperor Qi that man used to protect himself was shattered in an instant, causing him to spurt a mouthful of blood while his aura weakened considerably.
Yang Kai did not relent and pushed his palm down, knocking this man out on the spot.
The sudden turn of events took everyone by surprise, but the red-faced old man quickly shouted, “This guy is with that bitch!”
Yang Kai chuckled and said, “Think whatever you want.”
The reason why he followed along was just to see if that girl was somebody he knew. He was pretty certain by now that he had gotten the wrong person, but even so, he did not wish to stand by and do nothing in this matter. These people were obviously nothing good and needed to be taught a lesson.
While shouting, the red-faced old man waved his hand and the huge wine gourd immediately flew back to him. He then aimed the wine gourd at Yang Kai and the surrounding World Energy instantly became disordered. Just as the wine gourd was about to spew out flames, the red-faced old man’s vision blurred for a moment and a person suddenly appeared less than a hand’s length away from his face.
“Ah…” The old man exclaimed in shock as his eyes focused and he realized that the young man he had been targeting was now standing in front of him somehow. [What kind of Divine Ability is that?! I didn’t even see him move!]
Looking flustered, the red-faced old man bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a kind of blood arrow. Simultaneously, a cold smile appeared on his face.
He had complete confidence in his attack, but to his shock, the blood arrow missed, as if it was being guided by an invisible force to slip past the side of the young man’s face.
“How?!” The old man exclaimed. With just a hand’s length between them, even a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master would have been hit by his sneak attack, so how did he miss?
“Old man, you’re quite the crafty one!” Yang Kai nodded in approval before he lifted his hand and casually patted his opponent’s chest.
The old man was so scared that his Soul nearly left his body in fright; however, he quickly discovered that he was perfectly fine. Just as he was secretly rejoicing over that fact, a powerful force burst out from his chest and his entire body flew out as if he had been struck by lightning. Nobody could tell if he had survived the attack. Meanwhile, his Emperor Artifact, the wine gourd, shrank back into its original size with nobody controlling it and fell to the ground.
Yang Kai easily dispatched two Emperor Realm Masters in less than three breaths.
His horrifying combat ability terrified the others present. They initially thought that the little girl was enough of a monster, but they did not expect another more terrifying individual to pop up out of nowhere.
How could anyone still have the confidence to fight after this? Their expressions changed considerably before they scattered in all directions, trying to escape from this place. Only Xiong Kai Shan was left fighting that girl. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to escape either, but rather that he couldn’t as no one would cooperate with him to create an opening he could use to escape.
“It’s so rare for me to play the hero. What would become of my reputation if I let you all escape?” Yang Kai shook his head slightly as he stood in place; however, Space Principles flared from his body as he spoke, turning a thousand-metre radius around himself into a sealed space.
All the Emperor Realm Masters that had rushed to the edge of this cage were blocked by an invisible barrier, all of them falling into confusion as they did.
“Hm?” An exclamation of surprise rang out as the little girl, who had been suppressing Xiong Kai Shan’s continuous and fierce attacks, raised her head suddenly and glanced over at Yang Kai. She tilted her head to the side with a puzzled expression, seemingly feeling like this person’s voice sounded quite familiar. Furthermore, that figure also looked very familiar from behind. Then, a person sprang to mind and she opened her mouth to call out suspiciously, “Uncle Yang?”
Yang Kai was shocked to hear the way she addressed him, but that thought he had given up upon was suddenly rekindled with hope again. Turning to look at the girl, who was looking at him in surprise, he uttered in equal astonishment, “Yun’er?”
“It’s me! Uncle Yang! It’s Yun’er!” Lin Yun’er shouted excitedly. The excitement that overflowed from her was beyond words. It might be because she was meeting an old acquaintance again in a faraway land, but she was so excited that her eyes misted over with emotion.
“It really is you!” Yang Kai wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead as he swept his gaze over her, “I almost couldn’t recognize you.”
Although he had confirmation now, Yang Kai still couldn’t believe that this girl was really Lin Yun’er. Many years had passed after all and back when he had accepted her into High Heaven Sect on Shadowed Star, she had only been a child of around five or six years. Lin Yun’er had left Heng Luo Star Field for the Star Boundary together with Yang Yan even before Yang Kai, and many years had passed since then with him never hearing any news about her at all.
In a blink of an eye, the little girl from back then had grown into a fine young woman. If that was all, Yang Kai would not have had so much trouble recognizing her. Even though they say a girl experiences eighteen different changes as she becomes a woman, there were still some traces of the past in her face. In fact, there were many similarities between the current Lin Yun’er and the little girl from back then.
What made Yang Kai doubt himself was her current cultivation. She was a First-Order Emperor Realm Master! That wasn’t all, she could also fight above her realm with ease. Therefore, cultivators in the same realm as her were nothing to her. If not for that, he would not have had any trouble recognizing her.
When Yang Yan took her away with her back then, Lin Yun’er had been very young and her cultivation had been very weak. Even if she was brought to the Star Boundary where she would have plenty of opportunities to grow, it shouldn’t have been to such an exaggerated extent, right? After all, Yang Kai himself was only a First-Order Emperor Realm Master at the moment.
[Her strength is almost equal to mine! What is going on?] Still, no matter how shocked Yang Kai was, the fact that this girl was Lin Yun’er was indisputable. The best proof was the way she addressed him as ‘Uncle Yang’. That was how the little girl had always called him in High Heaven Sect back on Shadowed Star.
During their conversation, Yang Kai unconsciously stopped using his Space Principles to isolate this space, allowing the Emperor Realm Masters that had been trapped by him to regain their freedom. Hence, they quickly used their Movement Skills to escape and ran away into the distance in the blink of an eye.
Turning to glance in their direction, Yang Kai frowned slightly and raised his hand to send out a dozen Moon Blades. Several shrill screams rang out in the distance as Space was torn apart. Some had been hit by those attacks, but more than half of them managed to escape.
Meanwhile, Xiong Kai Shan wanted nothing more than to escape right now. Fighting with Lin Yun’er had given him a sense of imminent death as he realized how terrifying the little girl was. Taking advantage of her distraction, he hurriedly recalled his skulls and his figure flickered for a moment as he hid in one of them to escape.
At that moment, Lin Yun’er snapped back to her senses and after wiping the corners of her eyes quickly, she shouted, “Uncle Yang, I’ll be back to talk to you again once I finish dealing with this guy.”
“Do you need any help?” Yang Kai asked with a smile.
“Nope!” The girl politely refused with a confident expression. As soon as the words rolled off her tongue, she punched at the floating skull Xiong Kai Shan was hiding in, sending out a raging force that caused the surrounding space to be compressed into a layer of irregular fluctuations. Its power was absolutely terrifying.
Although Xiong Kai Shan was fast, he was not as fast as her punch, and with a loud explosive sound, the skull took the blow and nearly fell from the sky. A crack appeared in the bone as a muffled groan came from the inside.
Yang Kai’s eyes brightened with interest and he secretly thought to himself, [She must have received many opportunities since coming to Star Boundary for her to unleash such power even though she is only a First-Order Emperor Realm Master. I wonder how Yang Yan dug out her potential to such an extent.]
Thinking about Yang Yan, Yang Kai’s heart swayed again. He had been looking for her whereabouts for several years now, but he had not gotten any leads. He only had a vague guess that she was involved with some great force known as the Star Court. Since he had coincidentally run into Lin Yun’er here, he might be able to get some clues about Yang Yan’s whereabouts from her.
As long as he could locate Yang Yan, he would be able to find a way to return to Heng Luo Star Field and bring his relatives and friends here. The time he had spent in the Star Boundary was not short, and during that time he had built a foundation here for himself. The expansive High Heaven Palace was enough for those on Shadowed Star to obtain a better environment and resources for cultivation.
“Little girl, you should show some restraint! We might run into each other again in the future, so it’s best if you do not forge unresolvable enmities. Why do you have to be so aggressive?!” Xiong Kai Shan’s flustered voice called out. During that brief period where Yang Kai’s thoughts had wandered all over the place, Xiong Kai Shan had been badly beaten up by Lin Yun’er.
The gigantic skull he was hiding in had countless cracks in it; moreover, the ghost fire in its eye sockets had gone dim, looking like it was on the brink of being extinguished. Understanding his enemy’s strength, he knew that he was no match for her and thus wanted to bury the hatchet and make amends.
It was a pity that Lin Yun’er did not act as he hoped. It was a mystery where she had cultivated all these years, and her mentality remained relatively simple and naïve, but she had a stubbornness in her that was not to be underestimated. She completely turned a deaf ear to whatever Xiong Kai Shan said and continued to punch the skull continuously.
After dozens of punches, the skull exploded into dust with a loud bang, forcing Xiong Kai Shan out in a pathetic state, blood trickling out from a corner of his mouth. It was apparent that he had suffered serious injuries.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai felt cold sweat pouring profusely down his face as he watched the entire scene. Lin Yun’er had destroyed an Emperor Artifact with brute strength alone, an extraordinary feat. Right now, this monstrous young woman was completely different from the little girl in his memories that never grew up.
Now that the skull had been destroyed, Xiong Kai Shan’s shame turned into rage, which fed his courage as he gritted his teeth and snarled, “If you won’t let me off, then you won’t get off easy either!”
Gesturing with both hands, the remaining intact skulls suddenly began to dance in the air. Then, they burst into flame all at once and exuded a freezing aura that shot towards Lin Yun’er in unison.
Yang Kai’s expression changed drastically as he could vaguely sense that these flames were difficult to deal with. The consequences would be terrible if one were to touch such flames carelessly.
Just as he was about to call out a warning to Lin Yun’er, he saw that she was neither surprised nor afraid as she charged forward without avoiding the flames. Subsequently, her body was enveloped in the gloomy flames and she disappeared.
“Hahahahaha!” Xiong Kai Shan laughed loudly, “What a foolish girl! Did you think my Dark Ghost Fire could be dealt with so easily?! Let’s see how you di… gah!” His laughter ended abruptly as he widened his eyes in shock, looking as if an invisible hand was strangling him. His eyes were filled with both amazement and terror.
A graceful figure confidently walked out of the so-called Dark Ghost Fire, the cold flames coiling around her body rapidly, but unable to harm her at all.
At this moment, her entire body was exuding a dazzling light. That light seemed to have a strange power that was preventing the Dark Ghost Fire from harming her, allowing her to remain safe.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes in astonishment as he could tell that the light was not the effect of a defensive Emperor Artifact. Rather, it came from some unknown Secret Technique that she was using, but what kind of Secret Technique had such powerful defensive abilities?
“Master said that I must kill anyone that tries to kill me!” She said lightly with a serious expression. It was as if the words of her Master were the only truth she had to follow. After making this declaration, she shot forward towards Xiong Kai Shan.
In response, Xiong Kai Shan gasped. His strongest Divine Ability had been defeated so easily, so how could he still have the confidence to fight? Seeing the girl rushing toward him so fiercely, he bit the tip of his tongue, burned his Blood Essence, and turned tail to flee.
He only managed to take several steps before he suddenly noticed that the space around him had become extremely viscous, however, making it difficult for him to even lift his foot off the ground.
“You…” He turned to look at Yang Kai with an expression of grief and rage, glaring at him as he shed tears of blood. He was certain that Yang Kai had done something to cut off his only hope of escape.
“Have a safe journey!” Yang Kai smiled and waved at Xiong Kai Shan like an old friend saying goodbye.
All Xiong Kai Shan could feel was the vitality in his chest lurching uncomfortably before he involuntarily spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
In the next moment, Lin Yun’er slammed into his back and delivered two blows with her fist. Blood spread across the sky like a rose in full bloom while flesh and blood rained down on the ground. However, the girl remained clean and unsullied like a white lotus growing out of the mud.
Immediately afterwards, she withdrew her aura while the gloves on her hand simultaneously vanished without a trace. Then, she threw herself into Yang Kai’s arms at lightning speed and sweetly called out, “Uncle Yang!”
The change was too sudden, catching Yang Kai off guard. Thus, he staggered backward slightly before he could stabilize himself.
The scent of a young woman’s body lingered in his nose as her hair exuded an intoxicating fragrance. Moreover, the fullness and amazing elasticity of her chest which pressed against his instantly made him feel embarrassed.
Meanwhile, Lin Yun’er buried her head in his chest and took several deep sniffs before lifting her head, an intoxicated expression on her face as she squinted and murmured to herself, “This is the familiar scent that I even smelt in my dreams.”
Looking at the girl’s sincere expression and listening to her heartfelt voice, Yang Kai felt a warmth spreading in his heart as he lifted his hand and patted her head with a smile, “Yun’er has grown up.”
She laughed softly, revealing a set of pure white teeth. Subsequently, she pulled away from him slightly, looked him up and down, and nodded repeatedly, “Uncle Yang, you haven’t changed much. I hope everyone else hasn’t changed like you, or else I might not be able to recognize them anymore.” After saying that, she hugged him again as if she never wanted to let him go again.
“This isn’t the place to talk. We can chat while we walk,” he suggested.
“Just a little longer,” she remained motionless, acting as if she was trying to burn this familiar scent and touch deep into her memory.
She didn’t want to move, and he didn’t want to force her. Thus, Yang Kai could only stand there motionlessly. A moment later though, he frowned as he could feel a wet and warm sensation around his chest. Looking down, he saw the girl’s eyelashes trembling slightly, and the corners of her eyes were wet.
“What is there to cry about?” Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter.
“I missed you!” Lin Yun’er’s voice was full of grievances, “I miss Aunt Yang Yan, Aunt Huang, Aunt Ye, and you! I miss all of you! But, I couldn’t meet you all, I didn’t even know where you all were, and I couldn’t find any of you.”
Yang Kai felt a bit emotional when he heard the grief in her voice. Although Lin Yun’er now wielded astonishing power, she was still very young so it was normal for her to be sentimental and emotional. Besides, she had been taken away when she was even younger, so now that she finally met somebody from her homeland, all the repressed emotions in her heart immediately poured out without stopping.
Yang Kai lifted his hand to pat her back, enjoying this rare moment of warmth with her.
*Gululu…*
A strange noise broke through the silence, and Yang Kai was startled for a moment before he realized what that sound was and he laughed out loud.
On the other hand, Lin Yun’er lowered her head, blushing from her neck all the way up to her cheeks and ears.
“Hungry?” Yang Kai asked, lowering his head to look at her.
She nodded almost imperceptibly. Logically speaking, it shouldn’t matter even if she did not eat for years since she was a First-Order Emperor Realm Master. Once one reached such a cultivation, they neither needed to eat nor drink as absorbing World Energy would be enough to sustain their body. How could Lin Yun’er possibly be hungry then? When an Emperor Realm Master ate, it was more about satisfying cravings rather than for cultivation purposes. Therefore, it had been a long time since Yang Kai experienced what it felt like to be hungry.
Without asking too much, he sent his Divine Sense into the Sealed World Bead and searched. Although he had no delicious food on hand, he had many other things like spirit fruits. There were all sorts of strange and exotic plants in his medicine garden, so finding some fruits was a simple matter. Furthermore, these fruits were not ordinary spirit fruits; they were all extremely high-grade items.
With a flip of his hand, three red fruits about the size of a baby’s fist appeared in his hand, “Do you want this?”
“You’re the best, Uncle Yang!” The girl’s spirits lifted and she instantly forgot about her shame. She quickly took the fruits from him and bit into them, narrowing her eyes in satisfaction.
She seemed to eat slowly; however, she was done almost immediately. It just seemed slower because she did not lose her elegance. She still had tears in the corners of her eyes but she also had a smile on her face, the combination making her look rather heartless.
“Let’s go!” Yang Kai proposed.
“Wait a moment,” after saying that, Lin Yun’er flickered and disappeared not too far away.
A heavily injured Emperor Realm Master was lying on the ground over there, one of the people that had been injured by Yang Kai’s attack early.
Yang Kai was curious as to what this little girl wanted to do, but a moment later, he saw her eating the spirit fruit while throwing a punch at that person. That punch of hers blasted that half-dead person until not even his bones were left, causing Yang Kai’s brow to twitch slightly.
Afterwards, Lin Yun’er turned around, went up to another disabled Emperor Realm Master, and repeated the same process, showing no hesitation nor doubt during the entire process. It was as if she was not killing two Emperor Realm Masters but two insignificant insects.
[On one hand, she is innocent and naïve, on the other, she kills without batting an eye.] The more Yang Kai saw, the more he realized that he no longer understood this little girl.
“Master said that when it comes to problems, one must cut weeds and pull out roots or else they will return again one day,” Lin Yun’er explained.
Yang Kai felt cold sweat dripping down his back in response. [I wonder who this Master of hers is, I can’t believe they are so cold and cruel! Just who did Yang Yan entrust Lin Yun’er to when she first brought her to the Star Boundary?]
Meanwhile, Lin Yun’er took the initiative to hold Yang Kai’s hand and flew off in a certain direction, chattering away happily the entire time. Along their journey, he mostly listened to what she said. He wanted to ask about her situation over the years but couldn’t bring himself to interrupt her cheerfulness.
Soon, he noticed something strange. She was a glutton! The three spirit fruits he gave her were Emperor Grade, and even if an Emperor Realm Master ate them, it would take them some time to finish digesting the energy completely. However, those three fruits were no different from a mere snack to this girl.
After eating the spirit fruits, she proceeded to take out big pieces of dried meat from her Space Ring. These pieces of meat looked like they were cooked from High-Order Monster Beast meat and contained explosive power in them.
“Is it okay for you to eat that much?” Yang Kai couldn’t help asking.
To which Lin Yun’er answered matter-of-factly, “Master said that one can only cultivate or fight when their stomach is full.”
[What kind of logic is that?] Yang Kai was becoming more and more curious as to who her Master was.
One day later, the two of them arrived in another city. This city was no worse than Star Point City with lots of people jostling against each other like a school of fish.
In view of Lin Yun’er’s behaviour along the way, Yang Kai brought her to one of the largest restaurants, arranged for a private room, called the shop-hand over, and ordered a table full of sumptuous dishes.
These delicacies were not ordinary food, each one cooked with spirit herbs and Monster Beast meat. Even if a Master ate this food, it would be of great benefit to their cultivation.
Lin Yun’er’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the food and she wolfed down everything in a flash, making short work of the dishes like a gust of wind. The eyes of the shop-hand serving the dishes nearly popped out in surprise at the sight as it was hard to imagine that such a stunning beauty could actually eat so much.
When she finally had her fill, Yang Kai asked, “Yun’er, where is your Aunt Yang Yan?”
Lin Yun’er leaned back against the chair, rubbing her belly with one hand. After eating so much food though, her stomach remained flat as usual, with no signs of bloating whatsoever. At first, her expression was comfortable and contented; however, she pouted upon hearing his question and answered aggrievedly, “I don’t know…”
“You don’t know?” Yang Kai was surprised, “Didn’t she take you away with her back then?”
Nodding, Lin Yun’er continued, “En, she brought me here and entrusted me to Master. After that, I never saw her again, and she never came to see me either.” The little girl looked like she was about to cry. Her deep-seated sorrow was very apparent. While speaking, she grabbed a drumstick from the table and gnawed on it as if to turn her grief and anger into appetite…
Yang Kai wiped at the cold sweat on his forehead and continued to ask, “What about your Master? Who is your Master?”
Without even lifting her head, she answered, “Master is Master.”
He said, “He must have a name, right?”
Lin Yun’er tilted her head and stared at him blankly, but after a while, she gave a silly chuckle and said, “I don’t know… I have always called Master, ‘Master’.”
[It’s over. This little girl isn’t just naïve, she is also an air-head.] Yang Kai couldn’t help worrying about her future. How could she hold her own in Star Boundary with this kind of personality? No wonder she provoked that Wind and Cloud Pavilion and was chased by them all over. It was a wonder how she managed to grow up safely over all these years.
But then again, since Yang Yan entrusted Lin Yun’er to whoever her Master was, that person must be extremely reliable. Besides, it could be seen from Lin Yun’er’s current growth that her Master was an extremely powerful cultivator who could shake the world by stomping his foot. It was a pity that she knew nothing about her Master’s identity, making it impossible for Yang Kai to obtain any clues from her even if he wanted to inquire about it.
He recalled that Lin Yun’er’s physique was rather special. Back then, Yang Yan mentioned that Lin Yun’er had a Special Constitution called the Tyrant Strength Body. The reason she had taken Lin Yun’er away was that she supposedly had a friend whose Secret Art and techniques were extremely suitable for Lin Yun’er to learn.
Now, it seemed that Yang Yan’s decision was right. Although the little girl had been separated from her relatives for many years, the growth she experienced was considerable indeed. If she had stayed on Shadowed Star back then, she would never have the achievements she had at this moment.
“Can you bring me to your Master?” Yang Kai asked in a deep voice.
“Why do you want to look for Master?” Lin Yun’er asked curiously, not even pausing her hands as he continued to eat, staring at him with widened eyes.
“I want to ask your Master about your Aunt Yang Yan’s whereabouts.”
“Oh,” She nodded lightly and continued, “If that’s the case, there’s no need to do so.”
“Why?” He asked frowningly.
“Because Master won’t tell me anything. I’ve asked him countless times over the years, but he always refused to answer.”
Yang Kai replied smiling, “He might have his reasons for not telling you; however, it might be different if I ask him myself. That’s why, I hope you can bring me to meet your Master.”
Lin Yun’er’s expression suddenly became a little unnatural as she laughed dryly and her eyes shifted about. She even seemed a little absent-minded while eating.
Hence, Yang Kai asked curiously, “Is it inconvenient for you?”
She hurriedly waved her hands dismissively, “No, no, no… It’s not inconvenient…” All of a sudden, she looked downcast and answered seriously, “Uncle Yang, I actually ran away…”
Yang Kai was shocked and asked, “Why did you run away? Where did you run away from? Did somebody restrict your freedom?”
She lowered her head, “Nobody is restricting my freedom. The one I escaped from was Master.”
Yang Kai was astonished beyond words, “Are you sure your Master is treating you well? Why did he restrict your freedom?”
“That’s not it,” she hurriedly denied, “Master treats me very well. He said that I am his successor, so he gives me the best of everything. He also gives me delicious food every day.”
Yang Kai was now genuinely confused, “If he treats you so well, why did you run away?”
She squirmed, “I just wanted to come outside to have a look. I’ve always stayed in one place, and have never gone out. Also, I… I miss Aunt Yang Yan, I wanted to come out and look for her.”
After listening to her explanation, Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter. At the same time, he felt relieved. He had no idea who her Master was, but going by what she said, it seemed that that person truly treated her well.
Lin Yun’er laughed softly and continued, “It’s lucky I ran out though, otherwise I wouldn’t have met you, Uncle Yang!”
“En, good! But first, let’s discuss something.”
“En?”
“As you can see, I’m not that old, so stop calling me ‘Uncle’.”
Tilting her head to the side, she considered it before smiling heartlessly, “But, you are Yun’er’s Uncle Yang!”
“… Ha… fine.” Yang Kai shook his head helplessly. Then, he frowned abruptly and became pensive, “Your Master must be very powerful, right?”
To which Lin Yun’er excitedly replied, “Of course! Master is the strongest! There is nothing he cannot do in this world!”
Yang Kai then asked, “If he is so powerful, how did you escape from him?”
“I ran away while he wasn’t paying attention! What’s so difficult about that?”
The confidence in her reply rendered Yang Kai speechless, but just as he was about to ask something else, his expression changed drastically and he shouted, “Yun’er, stop eating that! It’s poisoned!”
He suddenly noticed that she had an unusual colour to her complexion, which was a tell-tale sign of poisoning.
[A poison that can even affect a First-Order Emperor Realm Master! It must be extremely potent!] Yang Kai blamed himself greatly for making this kind of mistake. Although he had casually checked the food when it was brought in, he did not notice anything abnormal about it. He did not expect the poison to be so well-concealed that it completely deceived his perception.
“Oh! It’s poisoned? No wonder it tasted funny.” Saying so, Lin Yun’er belched and then stared at the food in her hand… before she continued biting into it!
“You…” Yang Kai was utterly dumbfounded. She had been poisoned; moreover, she knew it! So why wasn’t she taking this seriously? Was there really something wrong with her head?
Just as Yang Kai was about to snatch away the food in Lin Yun’er’s hands, he noticed a strange phenomenon. The surface of her body had started to emit a viridian mist, and that mist contained a very powerful toxic substance.
[She can even do that?] Yang Kai nearly bit his own tongue in surprise. Lin Yun’er was clearly forcing out the toxic mist herself. In other words, the poison in the food had no effect on her. She obviously knew that too, which was why she recklessly continued to eat.
[Is the Tyrant Strength Body that strong? Or, is it the inheritance she received from her Master that is so amazing?] Yang Kai couldn’t figure out anything about this situation. Even so, he felt relieved and said, “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back!”
As soon as those words left his mouth, his figure flickered and disappeared. The next moment, he arrived at a place similar to a kitchen. It was very hot and there were many people dressed as cooks, preparing various dishes in this place.
Looking around, Yang Kai’s gaze immediately landed on a certain person. That person’s cultivation was not low, a First-Order Emperor Realm Master like Yang Kai. Moreover, he was fully wrapped in a black robe that concealed his face and he exuded an extremely dangerous aura.
“You…” That person was surprised to see Yang Kai appearing all of a sudden. Lifting his hand, a multi-coloured venomous snake struck out at Yang Kai without warning. The snake was fierce, opening its mouth wide to reveal fangs that glimmered with a strange light as it lunged.
“You court death!” Yang Kai swung his hand to release a Moon Blade which cut the body of the venomous snake in half. The snake dropped to the ground as a result.
Nevertheless, the black-robed person wasn’t flustered. Forming a set of hand seals, the two halves of the snake’s body suddenly exploded and transformed into a cloud of blood-red poisonous mist filling the surrounding areas.
Taking this opportunity, he retreated backwards and smashed through the wall to escape. A loud explosion sounded, and the kitchen wall collapsed. By the time the dust settled, the man was already several thousands of metres away.
“Did you think you had escaped?” Yang Kai’s voice suddenly sounded.
The black-robed man was shocked to hear this voice and upon looking up, he discovered that Yang Kai had appeared in his path and blocked his way without him noticing. In response, his black robe fluttered and poisonous animals of every kind subsequently rushed forward to attack, including snakes, frogs, and spiders among them. Each and every one of them was brightly coloured and it only took one glance to tell that they were all highly venomous. Furthermore, there were many of them; several hundred, which instantly attacked Yang Kai all at once.
“Exile!” Yang Kai shouted as he stretched out his hand in front of himself, causing space to warp and tear apart. Subsequently, all the poisonous animals were sucked into the collapsed space and exiled into the endless Void, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
“A Space Technique!” The black-robed man exclaimed. At first, he wanted to exchange a few blows with Yang Kai; however, he immediately dispelled his original idea upon seeing the power of Yang Kai’s Divine Ability. Pushing his Emperor Qi, with a flick of his robe, the man’s entire body suddenly became indiscernible, as if he had melted into the surrounding air around him.
It was obviously a profound escape method. When used, it made it hard for others to grasp his movements and the slightest bit of carelessness from them would allow him to escape without a trace.
“Why run? You should stay!” Yang Kai coldly snorted as Space Principles surged, enveloping the surrounding space. The man’s faded figure appeared again as a squeezing force from the surrounding space broke his Secret Technique in an instant and forced him to reveal himself.
At that moment, the black-robed man panicked. He had long heard that Masters proficient in the Dao of Space were not to be trifled with; however, he had not expected his opponent to be so strong. Although both their cultivations were in the First-Order Emperor Realm, Yang Kai seemed so much stronger that it was difficult to believe their realms were the same. Thus, the black-robed man no longer had the confidence to fight against Yang Kai.
Forcibly pushing his own power, he tried to escape the constraints of the Space Principles, but before he had a chance to succeed, a large hand reached out from the front and grabbed him by the neck. Then, a surge of power flooded into his meridians, scattering his strength. The black-robed man immediately lost all strength to resist and as a result was lifted up like a helpless chicken, unable to move a single muscle.
Yang Kai snorted and a burst of energy tore apart the headpiece covering the black-robed man’s head. Consequently, a scarred and pitted face that looked like it had been burned by boiling water was revealed. It was a horrifying and sickening appearance that made one shudder at the sight.
The struggle between the two might have been short, but it still created a commotion, attracting the attention of many local residents the moment their powers clashed. As soon as the black-robed man’s true appearance was revealed, bursts of exclamations rang out from the crowd.
“Poison Lord Bu Hong!”
“Why is he here?!”
“Damn! How could Wind and Cloud Pavilion let that monster out?!”
“Hurry up and run! This place is dangerous! We can’t stay here! Death and destruction always follow the Poison Lord’s appearance!”
“Why are you running? Don’t you see that Bu Hong has been restrained? Tsk. Tsk. Just who is that young man, I can’t believe how amazing he is!”
“Are you blind? How could the Poison Lord be captured so easily? That little brat is done for. No, no way. I have to leave quickly. If I don’t leave now, I might never get the chance to leave this place again!”
The crowd became quite noisy and many people rushed out of the city desperately, as if that black-robed man was a scourge and they would lose their lives if they fled even a little slower.
“It looks like you’re pretty famous,” Yang Kai pointed out, looking ahead coldly.
Bu Hong smiled deviously, “Little brat, you’re dead! My body is full of poisons. If you had not approached me, I might not have been a match for you, but you just had to recklessly try and capture me without fear of death!”
While Bu Hong was talking, a viridian aura flowed into Yang Kai’s hand and spread along his arm like a green snake climbing upward. It moved very swiftly and disappeared into the sleeves of his clothes in the blink of an eye.
Yang Kai looked down and absent-mindedly said, “With this rubbish of a poison of yours?”
Bu Hong was clearly affronted, but just as he was about to retort with vicious words, he widened his eyes in astonishment as he stared at Yang Kai’s arm incredulously. Then, Yang Kai pulled up his sleeves as the green aura became stuck at his elbow, unable to advance any further.
A drop of cold sweat dripped from Bu Hong’s forehead as he uttered in shock, “How is that possible?! How did you resist my poison?!”
Yang Kai replied indifferently, “As long as one’s body is strong enough, it can protect itself against any kind of poison!”
“Impossible! That’s absolutely impossible!” Bu Hong’s eyes trembled violently, as if he had received a terrible shock. Even a Third-Order Emperor should be unable to resist his poisons! How could a mere First-Order Emperor Realm brat remain safe in front of him?
Even though Yang Kai had been poisoned, the poison was being blocked below his elbow. It couldn’t spread to the rest of his body. Therefore, Bu Hong simply couldn’t accept it. Just how strong does one’s body have to be to resist his poison?
Now that his biggest trump card had failed to produce results, he finally panicked for real. He could feel Yang Kai’s murderous intent and the increasing strength gripping around his neck and hurriedly said, “You might have a way to detoxify my poison, but what about the little girl? If you want her to live, you have to obediently release me! Perhaps, she might still have a chance of survival then.”
Yang Kai snorted in response, “You don’t need to worry about her! Have a safe journey to the afterlife!” As soon as the words left his mouth, he pushed Emperor Qi into his hand.
With a soft snap, Bu Hong’s neck was squeezed so hard that it exploded and his head flew up into the air. Bu Hong’s eyes were as wide as saucers as he retained a shocked expression on his face, as if he had yet to realize what was going on. Up until the moment of his death, he still could not understand why this young man was so unconcerned about the life and death of that little girl.
As the mutilated body fell from the air, Yang Kai reached out his hand and took Bu Hong’s Space Ring.
When the crowd of onlookers saw what happened and were so shocked by the situation that they were rendered completely speechless. Poison Lord Bu Hong was dead! Poison Lord Bu Hong, who caused disasters in the Western Territory for centuries and had left more than a dozen cities in ruins in his wake, had been killed so effortlessly! Moreover, he had died so miserably, crushed to death by a young man with one hand.
After a long period of silence, cheers suddenly rang out from the crowd below. Eyes filled with admiration and gratitude looked up at Yang Kai as if he had done something to be applauded.
It certainly was a good thing though. Poison Lord Bu Hong had used many cultivators in the Western Territory as his experimental subjects when concocting his poisons. On many occasions, he poisoned entire cities just to test out the effects of his new poison and concealed himself in the city to observe the results. Numerous cities had been wiped out by him and countless people had lost their lives. As such, the people in the Western Territory hated the very mention of the Poison Lord.
Although Bu Hong’s cultivation wasn’t high, the poisons he cultivated were unpredictable and difficult to deal with. Many Second-Order Emperor Realm Masters had died at his hands. Later, Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters had tried to hunt him down, but unfortunately, Bu Hong had taken shelter inside Wind and Cloud Pavilion. It had been a long time since he last showed up in public and he certainly never expected to meet his death just like that.
Ignoring the cheers coming from below, Yang Kai silently circulated his Secret Art to force out the poison in his arm. Bu Hong’s poison really was quite amazing and if it were Yang Kai from a few years ago, he probably would have succumbed to it as well.
However, ever since he started cultivating the Dragon Transformation Secret Art, drawing out the Golden Divine Dragon’s Source Strength, a trace of the Dragon Clan’s bloodline had been added to his physique, dramatically increasing his body’s resistance to poison.
The true members of the Dragon Clan had an incredible resistance towards all forms of negative conditions. A Master of the Dragon Clan was even more invincible and impervious to all sorts of poisons.
Although Yang Kai could not compare to the true members of the Dragon Clan, it was sufficient to resist Bu Hong’s poison.
A short while later, a drop of viridian poison was forced out of Yang Kai’s fingertip. The poison might be small in amount but it contained enough power to destroy an entire city. Pushing his Space Principles, Yang Kai exiled the poison to the Void.
Shifting his body slightly, he returned to the private room and saw a mess on the table. All the food had been polished off cleanly. Meanwhile, Lin Yun’er spread her palms open and was carefully licking her fingers clean, one by one.
Yang Kai sweated profusely. It must not have been easy to be this girl’s Master. Just how much would it cost to keep this bottomless glutton fed?
“Are you back, Uncle Yang?” She looked up at him and smiled so widely that her eyes squinted.
“Ah… en,” he nodded. Then, he pensively asked, “Were you planning to head towards Wind and Cloud Pavilion?”
“That’s right,” upon hearing his question, her pretty face sank and her expression turned frosty, “The people of Wind and Cloud Pavilion are too much! From what I heard from their Young Pavilion Master, it seems that he has imprisoned many innocent women and girls in his home. I want to rescue them.” After saying that, her expression changed drastically and she slammed her palms down on the table and stood up.
“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai asked in astonishment.
“I don’t know where the Wind and Cloud Pavilion is!” She looked at him with an aggrieved yet innocent expression.
The corners of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched in response, “Then, how did you find your way before?”
She laughed in embarrassment, “I was just moving about randomly.”
Yang Kai suddenly felt a headache coming on but somehow pushed it aside and muttered, “Forget it. I’ll go with you.”
There was nothing urgent that Yang Kai needed to do at the moment. He originally wanted to search for Zu Qing and her brother, but it seemed as though the two of them had left this place a long time ago, so it was meaningless to continue chasing after them. Besides, he could meet them again when he returned to the Northern Territory; on the other hand, it was not easy for him to meet Lin Yun’er, so she naturally became the priority.
The little girl might be powerful, but there would always be people in this world that she could not afford to provoke. With her innocent and naïve personality, he did not know what trouble she might get herself into; therefore, it was better for him to just go along with her.
When Lin Yun’er heard those words, her eyes lit up, “Uncle Yang, you’re the best!” She rushed over and hugged his arm, squeezing herself up against him.
Feeling an amazing softness pressing against his arm, Yang Kai earnestly said, “Yun’er, you’re all grown up. You are a big girl now.”
She nodded repeatedly, “En, en.”
He continued, “Since you are a big girl now, there are some things that you can’t continue doing like before.”
“En, en!”
He opened his mouth again but swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue before sighing to himself. This little girl had been sheltered too much, never having been outside in all these years, so she had no clue about the differences between men and women nor how to act appropriately… She was too pure, so why should he be the one who leaves a black mark on her with worldly ideas?
Giving up on educating her, Yang Kai was about to say something else when he frowned slightly and scanned his surroundings warily, releasing his Divine Sense out like a rushing tide.
“What happened?” Lin Yun’er asked anxiously, noting his strange behaviour.
“Did you just feel something?” Yang Kai quickly asked.
“I did,” She nodded immediately.
“You felt it too?” He was looking around, straining his sense to the maximum. For some reason, he had felt a sudden trace of hostility directed at him for a moment; however, there was no trace of it now, so it made him wonder whether it had simply been an illusion.
“En, I feel very comfortable!”
Yang Kai was speechless while Lin Yun’er giggled in response, hugging his arm even tighter without any care.
Afterwards, the two of them left the restaurant and asked around for directions to Wind and Cloud Pavilion. Then, Yang Kai immediately summoned his Flowing Clouds Shuttle and led Lin Yun’er aboard before it took off like a stream of light into the distance.
The two of them had just left the restaurant when a strange figure appeared at the entrance of the restaurant. He appeared out of thin air, as if he had been standing there all this while. It was strange, but the people passing by seemed to be completely unaware of his presence.
That person was brawny with a dignified air about him. He was wearing a soap-coloured robe and had a thick stubble on his chin. All in all, it gave him a bold and unconstrained look. He was staring in the direction in which the Flowing Clouds Shuttle was leaving with a distressed expression. The bulging veins on his forehead twitched wildly, causing his entire facial expression to look fierce and hideous.
A long while later, he flinched slightly, placed one hand over his chest, and sighed heavily. After that sigh, he suddenly disappeared again. That movement startled the people nearby as they rubbed at their eyes and wondered if they had seen it wrongly.
……
Wind and Cloud Pavilion was considered one of the top Sects in the Western Territory, its status was equivalent to that of Azure Sun Temple in the Southern Territory. Moreover, the Old Pavilion Master Hua Xing was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. He was the anchor of Wind and Cloud Pavilion, as well as an influential figure across the entire Western Territory.
It was a large and prosperous Sect with an inheritance passed down for more than ten thousand years. No matter where its disciples went in the Western Territory, everyone had to show them some level of respect. Therefore, the disciples of Wind and Cloud Pavilion were all quite proud of their background.
Even so, someone actually dared to humiliate such a powerful Sect.
One month ago, the Young Pavilion Master was killed in a city 300,000 kilometres away from Wind and Cloud Pavilion’s headquarters when he went out to play. As soon as news of his death came back, the entire Wind and Cloud Pavilion was shocked to its core, with the Old Pavilion Master even coughing up blood on the spot and fainting from rage.
It wasn’t that the Old Pavilion Master’s mental cultivation was weak; he was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master after all. He had seen many great storms and survived them all. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t even frown if the sky came crashing down, unfortunately, this was not something he could bear.
Old Pavilion Master Hua Xing had focused on cultivating the Martial Dao when he was younger, putting all his efforts into strengthening himself as he travelled across the entire Star Boundary. During that period, he experienced many difficulties and challenges, survived countless life-and-death situations, and spent two thousand years to finally become a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. One day though, he realized that his cultivation had reached a plateau he could no longer rise above. Thus, he returned to the Western Territory and inherited the position of Pavilion Master of Wind and Cloud Pavilion.
Since his own Martial Dao journey had come to an end, he stopped thinking about it and began to pin his hopes on the next generation, hoping that he could produce a child that had greater aptitude than himself; a child that could aspire to become an existence akin to a Great Emperor one day.
He knew better than anyone else that although a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master seemed to be a ruler amongst men, it was no different from an ant in front of a Great Emperor. If any Great Emperors wanted to, they could destroy the long-standing legacy of the Wind and Cloud Pavilion with ease.
After returning to Wind and Cloud Pavilion, Hua Xing had developed the Sect while taking in many wives and concubines. In the short span of ten years, he had a thousand great beauties in his harem.
As if the Heavens were mocking him though, Hua Xing was struck with a terrible shortcoming. The higher one’s cultivation was, the lower the probability of siring a child, and Hua Xing had practised abstinence and stayed away from women for all his life, thinking them a distraction from his journey on the Martial Dao. It wasn’t until he became a Third-Order Emperor that he started to sow his seeds in an effort to sire a child. Unfortunately, none of the seeds he sowed showed any signs of germinating.
It wasn’t until thirty years later that a concubine gave birth to a baby boy. It was as if Hua Xing had received the most precious treasure, and therefore, he painstakingly began to nurture his son’s cultivation.
In the beginning, he had hoped that his son could grow up to become his hope; however, he soon discovered that his son’s aptitude was far worse than his own. Despite being backed by the entire Wind and Cloud Pavilion and personally taught by Hua Xing, the child’s journey in cultivation was full of challenges. With such poor aptitude, it would be a miracle for his child to even reach the Emperor Realm, much less aspire to become a Great Emperor.
Upon realizing this, Hua Xing immediately changed his plans. He decided not to place his hope on that child and instead focus on the following generation. He waited until his son came of age, then he immediately brought in many beautiful wives and concubines for him while also greatly encouraging him to fool around outside.
The Young Pavilion Master was not suitable for cultivation in the first place. Moreover, the heavy pressure the Old Pavilion Master had placed on him as a child made him instinctively reject cultivation. Combining that with his lack of aptitude, his cultivation was entirely built on a shaky foundation of treasures and external aids. On top of that, he no longer feared anything after receiving the Old Pavilion Master’s permission and even encouragement to do as he pleased.
The Young Pavilion Master generally spent most of his time fooling around with women, but as he gradually grew sick and tired of his wives and concubines, he decided to go out and have fun with those who weren’t so submissive to him.
The Old Pavilion Master did not object to this at all, even sending a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master along as a bodyguard for his son.
Unexpectedly, the Young Pavilion Master had gotten into trouble the very first time he went outside. If trouble was all that it amounted to, it wouldn’t have mattered. In any case, the Old Pavilion Master didn’t love his son at all, so as long as his son had left behind an heir, it wouldn’t even have mattered if his son had died. However, the key point was that his son had not left a single descendent behind! That was tantamount to ending the entire lineage of the Hua Family!
That was something Hua Xing could never accept. On the one hand, he scolded his unfilial son for being blind despite having eyes and offending somebody who should never have been provoked. On the other hand, he deeply resented the person who killed the Young Pavilion Master and swore to rip their corpse into ten thousand pieces to vent the hatred in his heart!
Hence, Hua Xing immediately issued a bounty of 20 million Source Crystals for the culprit’s head, an amount tempting enough for many Masters to join in the hunt. Unfortunately, the news that came from the outside frightened Hua Xing greatly. The young woman that had killed his son turned out to be ridiculously powerful. Recently, many Masters eyeing the reward had died at her hands. Moreover, judging by the direction the news came from, it seemed that the woman was actually heading towards Wind and Cloud Pavilion.
Hua Xing was furious! If that woman really killed her way to Wind and Cloud Pavilion, his Sect would lose all face. For that reason, he raised the reward to attract more helping hands while dispatching all the Masters of the Sect out to kill her. Nevertheless, the results so far had not been satisfactory. Not only were the Masters attracted by the reward unsuccessful, even Wind and Cloud Pavilion lost several Emperor Realm Masters in quick succession.
Moreover, the latest news reported that the woman had picked up a companion from somewhere and the two of them were travelling together, leaving a path of destruction in their wake, seemingly completely unstoppable.
Inside the Rear Palace of Wind and Cloud Pavilion, a pink aura seeped across a large hall. Numerous beautiful and captivating bodies were spread across the palace, their gazes dazed as they panted breathlessly. The soft moans that rang out constantly made anyone listening blush furiously and cause their throats to go dry.
The Old Pavilion Master was not young, but he was still going strong. At this moment, he was sweating profusely as he sowed his seed in one of his concubines. Every time he thrust forward, he made the woman pressed under him scream. However, it was not clear whether those screams were of pleasure or pain.
Several other naked beauties were tangled like snakes next to him, leaking soft moans from their lips as they constantly begged for more. The entire Rear Palace drowned in passion was a complete mess, the air thick with the scent of lovemaking.
Only the Heavens knew how much time went by before all the women were lying on the ground and gasping feebly while Hua Xing let out a deep roar and released his seed.
*Dong Dong Dong…*
All of a sudden, a knock sounded from the outside and Hua Xing swept his gaze over his surroundings without the slightest pity in his expression before letting out a soft snort. Then, he headed towards the outside just like that.
Upon opening the door, he was greeted by a beautiful woman standing outside the door. She had her eyes lowered obediently, but her expression looked a little flustered.
“What is it?” He glanced at her coldly as he had an ominous premonition.
The beautiful woman tremblingly replied, “Pavilion Master, that unscrupulous pair have made their way to Great Cloud City.”
Hua Xing’s eyes flashed sharply when he heard those words. Gritting his teeth, he snarled, “As I expected, they are heading this way. They are looking down on me too much. These youngsters are simply going too far!”
The imposing aura of a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master surged from him. In response, the beautiful woman suddenly felt strength leaving her body and she fell to her knees.
Glancing at her, Hua Xing reached out his hand and held her head.
She immediately paled and spoke in a trembling voice, “Pavilion Master…”
Hua Xing coldly replied, “What are you afraid of? I’m not going to kill you.” After saying that, he exerted some strength in his hand and guided her towards his lower body.
She felt relieved knowing that her life was not in danger and hurriedly opened her small mouth to clean up the mess before her. From her posture and proficiency, it could be seen that it was not the first time she was doing this.
Hua Xing narrowed his eyes slightly as the cold expression on his face grew even colder. Although he did not know where this man and woman came from, they seemed to be quite extraordinary judging by the information he received recently. These two First-Order Emperors had killed many Second-Order Emperor Realm Masters along their way here. That was not something ordinary people could do.
Wind and Cloud Pavilion lost many men in its efforts to kill them a few days ago. Just those in the Emperor Realm alone that died in their hands were numerous, striking fear into the entire Wind and Cloud Pavilion.
Even Hua Xing felt apprehensive. The more he learned about them, the more he felt that they came from extraordinary backgrounds. Even if he was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, there were still many people in this world that he could not afford to provoke. Forget about the Great Emperors that never revealed their presence, there were other existences out there that were stronger than him even among those in the Third-Order Emperor Realm. If he really offended one of those existences, then Wind and Cloud Pavilion would have a rough time surviving in the future.
[But, how can I not avenge the death of my son? Maybe… I should let that person test out the waters first.] It would be great if he could figure out the origins of those two. In any case, that person should be enough to capture them, even if the attempt to learn more about them failed. More importantly, if that person took action, the one to offend the other party would not be him. Not to mention, that person was also much stronger than he was.
Coincidentally, that person visited Wind and Cloud Pavilion recently and was staying here as a guest. [It’s as if he is a helper sent by the Heavens. I’d be stupid not to use him!]
[I am an Emperor Realm Master and a Palace Master. I should be living a life like this instead of living a precarious life wagging my tail like a dog at others.] Li Jiao secretly vowed in his heart, [Even if somebody presses a knife to my throat, I will never do such thankless things again.]
The two beauties in his arms were delicate and tender. Moreover, their exposed skin glowed like the most exquisite porcelain. He stroked and played with them, satisfying some of his primal desires. He stroked them so much that they were panting breathlessly and protesting coquettishly. Even so, their reaction only made him laugh loudly in delight.
Thinking back to the miserable situation he had been in previously and comparing it with the comfort he had now, Li Jiao became slightly melancholic for an instant, secretly feeling sorry for himself.
All of a sudden, he lifted his head and looked out. A smile appeared on his face as he stood up and smilingly said, “You came, Brother Hua. Please forgive me for not coming to greet you.”
A well-dressed Hua Xing strode inside. When the young girls, who were singing and dancing gracefully in the main hall, saw him, they hurriedly bowed their heads in greeting and called out to him, “Pavilion Master.”
Hua Xing acknowledged their greeting and indicated for them to be at ease. Only then did they dare to continue performing. Perhaps it was due to the Pavilion Master’s presence, but these girls seemed to put in more effort and became more enchanting when they performed. The looks in their eyes revealed that they were clearly expecting something.
“Brother Li, I’m sorry for bothering you!” He cupped his fists and smiled.
When Li Jiao heard those words, he laughed in response, “What are you saying, Brother Hua? I should be the one saying that! This is Wind and Cloud Pavilion after all. You are the Master here! Come, come! Have a seat!”
While speaking, he invited Hua Xing to sit in the higher position.
The time Li Jiao and Hua Xing had known each other was not just a year or two; it had been hundreds of years by now. Back when Hua Xing had been wholeheartedly pursuing the Martial Dao, he had travelled to all four Territories in the Star Boundary. When he arrived in the Northern Territory, there had been some friction between him and Li Jiao. Despite exchanging blows, it did not create enmity between them though, and instead, a kind of respect was fostered, eventually becoming a friendship.
Later, they even explored a Sealed World together. Thus, they had a pretty close relationship between them. It was just that since Hua Xing returned to the Western Territory and assumed command of Wind and Cloud Pavilion, the two of them had not kept in contact.
After escaping from the Revolving World, Li Jiao arrived in the Western Territory; however, the place he landed was a little different from where Yang Kai, Zhu Qing, and Zhu Lie had landed. It was a little closer to Wind and Cloud Pavilion; therefore, he decided to come visit his old friend.
Even though they had not met for hundreds of years, Hua Xing had not forgotten about Li Jiao and welcomed him warmly, allowing Li Jiao to live on one of the mountain peaks while sending some beauties over to serve him. Thus, Li Jiao fooled around all day, indulging in his vices and living carefreely.
In any case, Li Jiao had been frustrated for long enough. Life had not been easy for him ever since he lost his bet against Yang Kai at High Heaven Palace.
First, his Sect had encountered a financial crisis, which caused many Elders within Fire Dragon Palace to become resentful. However, they did not dare to say a word against him. Then, before he could resolve that issue, Yang Kai had dragged him to the Frozen Earth. What happened later was so unbearable that just thinking about it filled Li Jiao with the urge to cry.
[I am the Palace Master of Fire Dragon Palace! I am a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master! I can be considered a Master among Masters throughout Star Boundary! As long as a Great Emperor does not come forward, a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master can be said to be the strongest! Who would dare to act disrespectfully and discourteously towards a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master? But, after staying with monsters like Yang Kai and his companions, I can no longer feel the slightest sense of superiority.]
Two Pureblood members of the Dragon Race had been Li Jiao’s most recent travel companions. Any Great Dragon above the Eighth-Order only needed to slightly release their Dragon Pressure to force him to bow in fear, hence he had no choice but to serve them cautiously. Even Yang Kai had the blood of a Dragon in him. Li Jiao was not fooled by the fact that he was only a First-Order Emperor and knew that if it came down to a fight, he was certain he wouldn’t be able to take more than three blows from Yang Kai.
Those three… Were like Great Seniors of the Sect, while he was just a lowly disciple. Any one of them could order him around and he couldn’t even utter a single complaint or muster any kind of resistance. The aura and confidence he had as a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master was all but washed away being in their presence. It is too humiliating! Just thinking about it threatened to bring tears to his eyes!
For that reason, Li Jiao had no intention of looking for Yang Kai and the others the moment he got away from them. He relished the freedom he suddenly obtained, and if possible, he never wanted to meet them ever again.
After coming to Wind and Cloud Pavilion as a guest, Hua Xing had been so welcoming that Li Jiao finally regained some of his confidence. [I am a Dragonborn. I am a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master. I am a Master!]
These days, Li Jiao lived a life of indulgence and the resentment accumulated in his heart gradually dissipated as a result. It felt as if living in Wind and Cloud Pavilion was more comfortable than living in his own home, Fire Dragon Palace. Although Fire Dragon Palace belonged to him, he had to deal with a massive debt that would saddle him for decades once he returned. It felt like knives were slowly shaving off pieces of his heart at the thought of those Elders that loved passing the blame around.
[How can Fire Dragon Palace compare to Wind and Cloud Pavilion in terms of freedom and leisure? If possible, I’d stay here for several dozen years before going back. I’m sure Hua Xing wouldn’t mind. It would be as if Wind and Cloud Pavilion had gained another Master among their ranks. Hua Xing would probably like that very much.]
Therefore, Li Jiao had been overjoyed at the sight of Hua Xing’s arrival and was wondering about how he was going to let Hua Xing know that he wanted to stay here for a while.
“Are you comfortable living here, Brother Li?” Hua Xing asked with a look of concern.
Li Jiao laughed and pointed to the graceful young ladies around him, “How can I not be comfortable with such hospitality from Brother Hua? Wind and Cloud Pavilion is a beautiful place indeed, much better than Fire Dragon Palace.”
Hua Xing hurriedly waved his hands dismissively, “Brother Li, you are being absurd. I believe the Western Territory is the most barren and desolate land in Star Boundary. No matter how great Wind and Cloud Pavilion is, how can it compare to Fire Dragon Palace? Brother Li, don’t forget, I’ve been to your Fire Dragon Palace before. I know what it’s like there.”
Those words were so pleasant on the ears; they even contained a trace of flattery in them. It had been a while since Li Jiao heard these kinds of words. Thus, those words immediately brought a smile to his face and a sense of relief to him. [This world is filled with ordinary people. Existences like those three monsters are a rarity.]
“Brother Hua, you don’t need to put yourself down. It’s precisely because Wind and Cloud Pavilion is located in the Western Territory that it is very impressive for it to achieve such a size and scale. It shows how great you are at managing the Sect, Brother Hua. On this point, I should be asking for advice instead.”
“You praise me too much; I don’t dare to accept such high acclaim. Besides, I’ve lost interest in overseeing Wind and Cloud Pavilion. If I ever go to the Northern Territory one day, I hope you can welcome me too, Brother Li. I will be eternally grateful.” Hua Xing looked sorrowful and disappointed.
Li Jiao was surprised, “Welcoming you is not a problem. You and I have been friends for hundreds of years, so it’s only natural that I welcome you with open arms if you ever come to the Northern Territory. It’s just that… What do you mean by that, Brother Hua? In my opinion, Wind and Cloud Pavilion is at the height of its prosperity. If you manage the Sect for another three to five hundred years, I’m sure it will become one of the strongest in the Star Boundary, so why are you sighing so heavily, Brother Hua? Could it be that you encountered some kind of problem?”
Upon hearing that, Hua Xing smiled bitterly as he picked up his wine glass with a depressed look and finished its contents in a single gulp before saying, dispirited, “I shouldn’t air my dirty laundry in public. It’s fine; don’t mention it.”
Li Jiao’s expression darkened as he angrily said, “You shouldn’t say that, Brother Hua. We have been friends for hundreds of years, so what do you mean by airing dirty laundry in public? If you’ve really run into some kind of trouble… Why don’t you talk to me about it? If I can help, I won’t just stand by idly.”
A light flashed in Hua Xing’s eyes, but it was well hidden, while on his face he smiled bitterly and said, “I appreciate your kind offer, Brother Li. It’s just that… This is the Sect’s affairs after all…”
Li Jiao stood up with a sullen expression, “In other words, you are treating me like an outsider! Fine! Since you don’t consider me a friend, I won’t disturb you anymore. Until next time; goodbye, Brother Hua!”
After saying that, he strode outside with large strides as if he was truly about to leave.
In response, Hua Xing quickly stood up and grabbed Li Jiao’s sleeve, “Calm down, Brother Li; calm down. I was wrong, alright?”
Li Jiao looked back at Hua Xing. He was only acting like he was leaving, so he naturally went with the flow and remained, earnestly saying, “Brother Hua, we faced life and death together back then. We might not have seen each other for a hundred years, but our friendship has not diminished in any way. If you are in trouble, I’m willing to lend a hand.”
Hua Xing looked touched and gratefully replied, “You are righteous indeed, Brother Li! I was being too petty!” After ‘struggling’ for a moment, Hua Xing resolutely said, “Good, it’s not like you’re an outsider, Brother Li. It’s not shameful to tell you this. Let’s sit down and talk.”
Li Jiao returned to his seat and personally poured a glass of wine for Hua Xing before he waited quietly.
Hua Xing opened his mouth and sighed again, downing the contents of his glass before saying sadly, “Brother Li, I’ll be honest with you. Wind and Cloud Pavilion… Was kicked in the face recently. Our reputation has taken a huge blow because of that.”
“What happened?” Li Jiao frowned. Although he had been acting as a guest here recently, he had done nothing more than spend time drinking and having fun. He had not been paying attention to anything outside, and the girls serving him would never speak about this to him either. Thus, he had been somewhat isolated from news of the outside world.
“Who is it that dares to be so reckless?!” He shouted, slamming his fist down on the table in a rage while he muttered to himself in his heart, [Hua Xing’s cultivation is comparable to mine. I might be stronger than most Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters because of the Dragon blood in me, but the difference is negligible even if I am slightly stronger than Hua Xing. Hua Xing looks like he has encountered a strong enemy. I wonder just who Wind and Cloud Pavilion offended to make him look so helpless.]
Li Jiao secretly regretted his bold words just now and felt he really should have taken the opportunity to leave. [That’s just great. I don’t think I’ll be able to get out of this easily now.]
While Li Jiao was now on edge, he heard Hua Xing saying, “It’s a little girl who doesn’t know her limits! She even killed my son!”
As Hua Xing spoke, the corners of his eyes became wet at a timely moment. He grabbed the wine bottle on the table directly and took a large swig as if trying to drown his sorrows away.
“A little girl…” Li Jiao felt cold sweat forming on his forehead as a face that absolutely terrified him involuntarily appeared in his mind. Hesitantly, he asked, “What does the little girl look like? Does she have… Red hair?”
He was extremely frightened. If the person who killed the Young Pavilion Master of Wind and Cloud Pavilion turned out to be Zhu Qing, then Li Jiao had to leave immediately even if he had to cut all ties with Hua Xing. Even if he was friends with Hua Xing, the depths of that friendship were something they both understood very well. Offending a member of the Dragon Clan for the sake of some casual friendship? And, a Ninth-Order Dragon at that?! Li Jiao wasn’t insane!
“Red hair?” Hua Xing was a little puzzled by what Li Jiao said and he looked at Li Jiao questioningly as he shook his head, “She doesn’t have red hair. That little girl has black hair.”
Although he did not know why Li Jiao asked that question, he vaguely sensed that Li Jiao was scared of something.
[He has somebody he fears?] Hua Xing couldn’t help finding the very notion strange.
“Black hair…” Li Jiao breathed out a sigh of relief, [If the girl has black hair, then it’s definitely not Zhu Qing.]
Just in case, he carefully asked for more clarification, “What cultivation does that girl have?”
“First-Order Emperor Realm!”
He was startled by those words, “A mere First-Order Emperor Realm Master?”
[That’s definitely not Zhu Qing!] He was completely at ease now.
“That’s right. That’s why I feel so humiliated!” Hua Xing picked up another bottle of wine and gulped it down. Wiping at his mouth as he complained, “Brother Li, you know about my situation. Despite all the efforts I put in, I only have one son. I was expecting him to inherit my position in the future. W-Who would have thought…” At this point, he sounded choked up.
Li Jiao comforted, “To see one’s child die before oneself… It must be difficult for you, Brother Hua. You have my condolences.”
Hua Xing slammed his hands on the table and murderously vowed, “I have to avenge my son, 0therwise, I can’t call myself a man anymore!”
“This is a deep-seated hatred. It is only natural to take revenge,” Li Jiao hesitated for a moment before asking, “It’s just that I don’t quite understand… Wind and Cloud Pavilion is a top Sect in the Western Territory. Moreover, you are a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, Brother Hua, how can you be helpless against a little girl?”
Hua Xing shook his head and smiled bitterly, “You might not be aware, but that little girl’s strength is extremely unusual despite her seemingly low cultivation. Unfortunately, I underestimated her previously when I sent some of the Masters within the Sect to capture her; as a result, all of them died at her hands, even though some were Second-Order Emperors!”
“Oh? To think a little girl could fight so many Masters above her own realm!” Li Jiao raised his brow at those words, “It looks like this little girl is quite difficult to deal with.”
He suddenly thought of Yang Kai and solemnly said, “Not many people can fight against those in a higher realm by themselves, but as long as they don’t die early, they will surely become powerful in the future.”
Hua Xing said, “Wind and Cloud Pavilion’s face has taken a huge hit recently. Please help me, Brother Li!”
Li Jiao replied, “You are exaggerating, Brother Hua. That little girl might be strong enough to kill a Second-Order Emperor, but surely she can’t triumph against you if you take action personally. I know the extent of your strength very well and even though I want to help, taking revenge for your son should be done with your own hands… Only by doing so will you truly be able to soothe your anger.”
Upon hearing those words, Hua Xing smiled bitterly, “How can I not know that? Ever since my son was killed, I’ve been unable to rest at all. I can’t wait to rip that cheap slut apart and skin her alive! If I could take revenge with my own hands, I would track that bitch down this instant… it’s just…”
“What is it?” Li Jiao looked at Hua Xing curiously. He couldn’t figure out why Hua Xing would make this request of him.
“Haa… perhaps this will make you understand, Brother Li,” Hua Xing stretched out his hand as he spoke.
Li Jiao stuck out two fingers suspiciously and pressed them against Hua Xing’s wrist. A moment later his expression changed and he uttered in surprise, “You’re injured, Brother Hua? Who could have done this to you?”
Hua Xing replied dejectedly, “When news of my son’s death arrived, I was cultivating in retreat. The shock I received at the time nearly caused a dissonance in my cultivation. Although I managed to stabilize myself, I still suffered a serious backlash. If not for this injury, I would have personally taken action a long time ago. How could I possibly leave that whore alive and free knowing what she did?!”
“So that’s how it is!” Li Jiao nodded lightly, a touch of sympathy appearing on his face. [It’s not easy for Hua Xing either. He only has one son after all. It certainly is difficult to accept that his son was killed so suddenly.]
“That cheap slut is capable of killing a Second-Order Emperor; hence, her strength is certainly not low. I am not in my best condition at the moment, and if I act rashly… It’s fine if I succeed, but it will be a disaster if I were to fail.”
“You are right, Brother Hua,” Li Jiao pondered for a moment, “I understand what you are trying to say, Brother Hua. Rest assured, you can leave this to me. I will let that little girl know the consequences of her actions!”
The moment Hua Xing heard those words, he was overjoyed and stood up before bowing deeply, “Many thanks, Brother Li! With you personally taking action, that cheap slut won’t stand a chance no matter how talented she is!”
Li Jiao helped Hua Xing up with a smile, “I’ve been repeating this again and again, Brother Hua, I won’t stand idly by if you are in trouble. But… I don’t know that little girl’s current whereabouts.”
Hua Xing solemnly said, “I’ll be truthful with you, Brother Li. That slut is currently in Great Cloud City, just thirty kilometres away from Wind and Cloud Pavilion.”
“She dares to make her way here?” Li Jiao’s expression soured as he snorted, “Her courage isn’t small.”
Hua Xing said through gritted teeth, “That’s certainly the case. Her strength has gone to her head and she must believe she can look down on my Wind and Cloud Pavilion as a result! I’ll have to trouble you for this, Brother Li.”
Li Jiao said, “Since she is not that far away, why don’t we let her break into Wind and Cloud Pavilion before I make my move? I won’t let her escape.”
Hua Xing smiled bitterly, “If she succeeded in attacking Wind and Cloud Pavilion and breaking the Sect Defending Array, then…”
Li Jiao thought about it and immediately understood Hua Xing’s worries. Thus, he nodded and said, “That certainly wouldn’t look good. I was too careless in my thoughts. Good, I’ll head to Great Cloud City and capture her.”
“That’s exactly what I was hoping for. Many thanks, Brother Li.”
“This shouldn’t be delayed any longer; I’ll go now.” While speaking, Li Jiao stood up and walked outside.
“I’ll be waiting for good news from you, Brother Li!” Hua Xing saw Li Jiao off.
From the top of the mountain peak, Li Jiao soared into the air and flew off into the distance. When his figure disappeared from sight, the smile on Hua Xing’s face gradually vanished as he stood there frowning while deep in thought for a while. Afterwards, he coldly snorted and strode away.
In his opinion, making Li Jiao take action was enough to make this trip worthwhile. He couldn’t obtain any background information on that man and woman; however, judging from the way they dared to attack Wind and Cloud Pavilion so blatantly, it was clear that they had some sort of profound backing. If they really turned out to have strong backgrounds, then the blame for upsetting them will fall on Li Jiao. It will have nothing to do with Wind and Cloud Pavilion, so Hua Xing only needed to wait quietly for the news.
In Great Cloud City, the air was filled with the smell of blood. Ruins were scattered everywhere while the ground was covered in fresh bloodstains and torn limbs.
Great Cloud City was only thirty kilometres away from Wind and Cloud Pavilion and could be considered an important industry for the Sect as well as a hub of communication with the outside world. In other words, this city was the commercial heart of Wind and Cloud Pavilion.
Yang Kai and Lin Yun’er were travelling with a clear goal in mind. It was obvious that they planned to go straight to Wind and Cloud Pavilion. Therefore, it was only natural for Great Cloud City under Wind and Cloud Pavilion to take precautions against them.
Inside a certain palace, a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master led a team consisting of several hundred disciples. In addition, many other Emperor Realm Masters attracted by the reward were gathered as well. They had long since set up an impressive array and were waiting for their targets to walk right into their trap.
For that reason, Yang Kai and Lin Yun’er were noticed the moment they stepped into Great Cloud City, and a huge battle instantly broke out.
In just an hour, Great Cloud City was practically in ruins. Hundreds of disciples of Wind and Cloud Pavilion suffered heavy casualties, and even the Second-Order Emperor Realm Master leading the team had been blown away by a punch from Lin Yun’er.
With the Spirit Array broken, the rest scattered. The disciples of Wind and Cloud Pavilion that survived the battle hurriedly fled back to their headquarters while the Emperor Realm Masters, attracted by the bounty, were either dead or making a run for it. The entire Great Cloud City was a chaotic mess as everybody was thrown into panic.
On the way to the city, Li Jiao landed in front of a group of blood-stained Wind and Cloud Pavilion disciples that were currently fleeing.
“What happened here?” Li Jiao released his Emperor Pressure, suppressing the group of disciples so that they did not dare to take any rash actions.
“You are… Senior Li?” A First-Order Emperor Realm Master leading the group recognized Li Jiao and called out with joy.
“Who are you?” Li Jiao squinted at the man.
That First-Order Emperor Realm Master hurriedly cupped his fists and said, “Greetings Senior Li, I am Wind and Cloud Pavilion’s Ninth Elder, Cai Shi.”
“You know me?”
Cai Shi quickly replied, “I saw you once from afar when you came to the Sect a few days ago.”
“Oh. So, that was you.” Li Jiao had a vague impression of this man. He seemed to recall greeting this person back when he first arrived at Wind and Cloud Pavilion. Frowning, he asked, “Why are you in such terrible condition?”
Cai Shi blushed and said in embarrassment, “I am ashamed to say that the invaders were too powerful and I was not their opponent. The Sect’s Masters were all either killed or suffered heavy injuries.”
“That little girl is that strong?” Li Jiao raised his eyebrows.
Cai Shi replied, “The Second Elder died tragically at her hands. Moreover, the Nine Serenity Chain Spirit Array we arranged as a trap was destroyed in less than an hour.”
Li Jiao narrowed his eyes as he commented, “It looks like Wind and Cloud Pavilion has offended an incredibly powerful enemy this time.”
Cai Shi said, “I can only ask the Pavilion Master to take action now. I’m afraid he is the only one that can suppress her.”
Li Jiao raised his hand and said, “There’s no need to bother the Pavilion Master to take action. He has entrusted this matter to me. I will take care of that little girl.”
Cai Shi’s eyes lit up upon hearing this and couldn’t help asking, “Senior Li will be stepping in?”
“Why else would I come here?” Li Jiao replied proudly.
“Good good! With Senior Li here, that cheap slut will certainly be defeated!”
Li Jiao impatiently said, “Come with me. The faster we resolve this issue, the faster we can return.”
“Yes, of course! Please come this way, Senior Li!” Cai Shi excitedly replied, the terror on his face vanishing into thin air. He had heard from Hua Xing before that Li Jiao had a trace of the Dragon’s bloodline in him. Therefore, Hua Xing was no match for Li Jiao even though they were both Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters.
[With such a powerful Master taking action, things will become much easier!] Wind and Cloud Pavilion had suffered heavy losses, with even the Second Elder being killed; therefore, Cai Shi was worrying about how he was going to report the outcome of the battle upon his return. At that moment, Li Jiao had appeared like a hero to save them, so how could he not be overjoyed?
In his opinion, regardless of how strong the young man and woman in Great Cloud City were, they couldn’t win against Li Jiao. As long as they could capture and bring those two back, it should be enough to redeem themselves and salvage some of Wind and Cloud Pavilion’s face. Hence, he was extremely diligent and even took the initiative to lead the way.
It didn’t take long before the small group arrived at Great Cloud City again.
Li Jiao swept his Divine Sense over the city and upon seeing the destruction that had been wrought, he frowned involuntarily as he thought to himself, [These people from Wind and Cloud Pavilion are so useless. How could they be so helpless against one little girl? I wonder how Hua Xing taught his disciples… If this matter were to occur at Fire Dragon Palace, that little girl would have died several times over by now.]
“Where are they?” Li Jiao asked with a scowl as he could not sense the enemy’s aura.
Cai Shi replied, “They should be in the City Lord’s Mansion. They killed many people from the Sect previously before breaking into the City Lord’s Mansion. They are clearly looking to obtain some riches.”
“Let’s go to the City Lord’s Mansion then!” Li Jiao gestured with a wave of his sleeve.
Thus, Cai Shi quickly led the way.
A few moments later, they arrived in front of the City Lord’s Mansion, the scene of a bloodbath. Many cultivators dressed as Wind and Cloud Pavilion disciples had died here and even the gates of the City Lord’s Mansion had collapsed.
Cai Shi pointed somewhere and said, “They are right there, Sir.”
Li Jiao swept his Divine Sense over the place and sure enough, he found the aura of Emperor Realm Masters inside. However, it was somewhat different from the information he had received. There were two people inside, not one like he had initially thought. Even so, the auras weren’t that strong, both First-Order Emperor Realm.
“You all wait outside. I’ll be right back!” Li Jiao snorted. He was not worried about the change in numbers and rushed into the City Lord’s Mansion with a slight shift of his body.
Immediately afterwards, Cai Shi heard Li Jiao shouting loudly, “Fearless youngsters, how dare you insult Wind and Cloud Pavilion?! This Li is here to dispense justice! If you surrender without a fight, you may yet live!”
As soon as the words rang out, an extremely dense Emperor Pressure seeped into the air. With the City Lord’s Mansion as the centre, the air spanning a radius of a thousand meters began to thrum.
Cai Shi’s expression changed slightly as he revealed a look of admiration. A Third-Order Emperor Realm Master was indeed different. The power they wield is on a completely different level, incomparable to that of a First or Second-Order Emperor.
Now that he felt it for himself, Cai Shi realized that the Pavilion Master was not being modest when he said that this person was stronger than him. Li Jiao’s aura was indeed noticeably denser than the Pavilion Master’s.
[This is great. Nothing unexpected should occur with Senior Li around. It’s just a pity that the Second Elder and many other disciples had died a tragic death at the hands of that unscrupulous young man and woman. If only Senior Li had arrived just a little earlier, things might have turned out differently.]
Cai Shi sighed as those thoughts crossed his mind. This was fate. His cultivation was not as high as the Second Elders’, but he had survived in the end. It was simply a matter of luck.
Cultivation was a process meant to defy the Heavens; therefore, luck was also a form of opportunity and strength. Escaping from the clutches of death had given Cai Shi a faint trace of enlightenment, and the bottleneck he had been stuck at for many years now showed signs of loosening.
Upon realizing this, he was overjoyed. He was currently a First-Order Emperor Realm Master, so if he could break through, he would become a Second-Order Emperor. Such strength was enough for him to rank among the top three Wind and Cloud Pavilion Elders. Thus, he secretly made up his mind that once this matter was resolved, he would immediately enter secluded retreat and not come out until he ascended to the next realm!
*Hong hong hong…*
Just as Cai Shi was deep in thought, several thunderous explosions rang out from the City Lord’s Mansion, clearly the sound of Emperor Realm Masters exchanging blows. The overflowing power seemed to invert the Heavens and Earth, causing great damage and destruction with large parts of the building collapsing as a result.
Cai Shi stared in that direction intently, his heart pounding wildly as his admiration for Li Jiao grew.
All of a sudden, the fighting stopped abruptly and the noise subsided.
[Is it over?] Shock washed over Cai Shi again. Wasn’t that a little too fast? He had fought that young man and woman before, so he was well aware of how strong they were; he simply couldn’t believe that Senior Li dealt with them so easily.
A figure flew out from the ruins of the collapsed City Lord’s Mansion and headed in his direction in the next instant.
Cai Shi looked in that direction and wondered, [Isn’t that Senior Li?]
Cai Shi stepped forward with a surprised look and cupped his fists, “Many thanks, Senior Li! Congratulations on your victorious return!”
Contrary to the smiling expression Cai Shi expected, Li Jiao was frowning deeply, as if he had encountered some huge difficulty. What surprised Cai Shi even more was the bruise mark around one of Li Jiao’s eyes. It was obviously caused by a fist. Moreover, that punch was extremely heavy, so heavy that the corner of Li Jiao’s eye was cut and the area around it was badly swollen. Heaven knows how long it would take to heal.
“Senior Li…” Cai Shi was a little confused and did not know what was wrong with Li Jiao.
“Haa…” Li Jiao sighed heavily, turning his head to look up at the sky, feeling choked with speechless tears. After a long time, he looked back down at Cai Shi and muttered, “Just who did I provoke in order to deserve this?”
“What?” Cai Shi looked at Li Jiao, confused, unable to comprehend what was going on.
“Did you say your name was Cai Shi?” Li Jiao asked.
“Yes!” Cai Shi nodded, the feeling that Li Jiao was acting strangely growing ever stronger. The arrogant attitude from before was gone; furthermore, Li Jiao even seemed depressed and despondent now, but what exactly could make a Third-Order Emperor reveal such an expression?
“I want something from you,” Li Jiao looked at Cai Shi expressionlessly.
Cai Shi felt his heart jump and he instinctively felt uneasy, subconsciously taking a few steps back as he haltingly asked, “What is it that you want, Senior Li?”
“I want your life!” As Li Jiao spoke, he suddenly reached out his hand to grab Cai Shi.
Although they were both Emperor Realm Masters, there was a difference of two Minor Realms between them, and the gap between each of those Minor Realms was enormous. How could Cai Shi resist this surprise attack? He swayed slightly and felt something tighten around his neck before suddenly finding himself caught by Li Jiao’s hand.
A stream of power that absolutely terrified him poured out from that large hand, indiscriminately flooding into his body and his meridians. It made his entire body convulse uncontrollably and left him in a disoriented state. He couldn’t even summon the strength to resist.
“S-S-Senior Li, w-w-why are y-you doing t-this?!” Cai Shi struggled desperately, staring at Li Jiao in disbelief. Wasn’t Li Jiao asked by the Pavilion Master to help them? He said as much himself, even saying to leave that little girl to him. Why did he change his mind in the blink of an eye and turn against them instead?
Cai Shi couldn’t help feeling that everything was changing too abruptly.
“You can only blame your Wind and Cloud Pavilion for provoking someone they should never have provoked. That man inside… Even I cannot afford to offend him. Haa… Forget it, you have so many companions with you on your journey to the afterlife. I’m sure you won’t feel lonely.”
[Huh? What? The man inside is somebody even Senior Li can’t afford to offend?!] Cai Shi wondered whether he had heard wrongly, but just as he was about to say something, a violent force pressed down on him from all directions.
With a loud boom, his entire body turned into a bloody mist, not even leaving behind any bones.
“Ah!” The rest of the Wind and Cloud Pavilion disciples were dumbfounded. They never expected something like this to happen. Their hope and saviour suddenly became their executioner instead. Even the Ninth Elder was crushed to death!
Not stopping to try to figure out what was happening, the survivors went all out to flee.
Before they could get far though, the wind raged around them and a gigantic green palm suddenly descended from the sky, covering a wide area and slamming into the ground fiercely. Several blood-curdling screams rang out, and those Wind and Cloud Pavilion disciples were all wiped out. Their cultivations could not be considered powerful, so they had no way of defending themselves against Li Jiao’s attack.
*Wang wang!*
The sound of a dog barking came from behind and the indifference on Li Jiao’s face disappeared immediately. It was instantly replaced by endless flattery as he turned around and bowed deeply, “Heh heh… Palace Master Yang, I have killed them all. You see…”
Where did all the prestige of a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master go? At this moment, the great Palace Master of the Northern Territory’s Fire Dragon Palace looked no different from a dog wagging its tail.
“At least you know what’s good for you!” Yang Kai scoffed.
Li Jiao sweated profusely as he knew that Yang Kai was still angry; thus, he hurriedly explained, “Palace Master Yang, I was deceived! I knew nothing about this matter. Had I known it was you, I would never have come here.”
As Li Jiao tried to explain himself, he cursed Hua Xing in his heart over and over again. He had finally escaped from Yang Kai, Zhu Qing, and Zhu Lie, but he only managed to enjoy his leisurely life for a few days before he went and got himself caught again! There was nothing sadder in this world than this!
Yang Kai glanced sideways at him and said, “It almost sounds as if you wanted to avoid this Palace Master.”
Li Jiao began sweating profusely at those words and anxiously declared, “No, no, no! What I meant is that, had I had known that Palace Master Yang was here, I would have come to welcome you! How could I dare to be your enemy? This is all just a misunderstanding. Yes, a misunderstanding.”
“Enough,” Yang Kai waved his hand dismissively, “I know very well what you think of me in your heart. Tell me, what is the connection between you and Wind and Cloud Pavilion? Why are you helping them?”
Li Jiao was extremely embarrassed and quickly explained. Meanwhile, Yang Kai looked over at Lin Yun’er while listening to the explanation.
The little girl was hugging the black puppy and playing with it. She opened her small mouth and playfully pretended to bite it. She even made soft baby growling noises from the mouth. The black puppy seemed to enjoy this childish game and played happily with her, shaking its tail and barking vigorously.
It was quite strange in fact. When Yang Kai and Lin Yun’er reunited a few days ago, she had not cared much for the black puppy; however, she couldn’t bear to be separated from it anymore after spending some time together. Lin Yun’er would spend most of her time playing with Ah Wang now, but this was not surprising as the little beast was adorable and had always been well-received by women.
When Li Jiao finished explaining, Yang Kai summarized, “In other words, you are on good terms with the Pavilion Master of Wind and Cloud Pavilion.”
Li Jiao hurriedly explained, “No no no, we only met by chance and are passing acquaintances. Besides, we have not contacted each other for over a hundred years so even if we had any friendship between us, it has more or less faded with time. Aha.. ha ha…”
Putting aside the fact that the friendship between him and Hua Xing was not that deep, even if they were sworn brothers Li Jiao would not dare to say otherwise at this moment; after all, he really could not afford to offend Yang Kai. Both of them lived in the Northern Territory as leaders of great forces, but if he really upset Yang Kai, Fire Dragon Palace would not survive. Besides, Yang Kai had an incredibly close relationship with the Dragon Clan, so what was his friendship with Hua Xing in comparison? If it wasn’t for Hua Xing, he wouldn’t have run straight into this trap and gotten caught by Yang Kai!
Thinking about this, Li Jiao now felt a bit resentful towards Hua Xing. [That guy is so dishonest, giving me so much false information. It’s all his fault that I am now stuck under Yang Kai’s despotic command again.]
“Palace Master Yang, this young lady is…” Seeing that Yang Kai was not saying anything, Li Jiao quickly found something to fill the silence and asked about Lin Yun’er.
This little girl was extraordinary! When she punched his eye just now, Li Jiao felt as if his head was about to explode. Fortunately, he had a trace of the Dragon Clan’s bloodline within him, otherwise, this would not have ended with just a small injury. That punch had been enough to daze him momentarily, and in a life-or-death battle, a moment of disorientation was enough to make one lose their lives.
[This little girl is so powerful. Could she be another member of the Dragon Clan?] Li Jiao jumped in fright. At the same time, his admiration toward Yang Kai grew stronger. [He only just obtained a Ninth Order Red Dragon a short while ago. Did he get another one in just a few days?]
Malicious speculations sprung up in his mind at the thought. [If Zhu Qing and this girl meet each other, will they turn the world upside down? Who is stronger? Who is weaker? Yang Kai, Yang Kai… I’d like to see what becomes of you then!]
The images that accompanied such thoughts suddenly put Li Jiao in a better mood.
“Don’t ask about things you shouldn’t ask!” Yang Kai glanced at Li Jiao coldly.
Li Jiao immediately fell silent at those words.
“I need a favour from you!”
Li Jiao quickly replied, “What are you saying, Palace Master Yang? I owe my life to you. Please let me know if you have any instructions for me, I will not shirk away from it.”
Despite his bold and unrestrained manner, Li Jiao secretly felt bitter inside. He could already guess what Yang Kai wanted his help with. It was undoubtedly related to Yang Kai’s grievances with Wind and Cloud Pavilion. Now that Yang Kai had arrived in Great Cloud City, it was obvious that he wanted to infiltrate the headquarters of Wind and Cloud Pavilion.
Li Jiao thought to himself, [Hua Xing, oh, Hua Xing… It’s not that I don’t bear any friendship with you. It’s just that I have no other choice.]
“Take us into Wind and Cloud Pavilion.”
Li Jiao puffed out his chest, “No problem. Leave it to me!”
A quarter of an hour later, the group of three flew over and stood just outside Wind and Cloud Pavilion. Circulating his Emperor Qi, Li Jiao enveloped both Yang Kai and Lin Yun’er. Even the black puppy was not spared. After that, Yang Kai, Lin Yun’er, and the black puppy obediently followed behind him as though they had been placed under some sort of restriction.
“Are you Senior Li?” An Elder of Wind and Cloud Pavilion was standing behind the Sect Defending Array and cupped his fist to greet Li Jiao. It was obvious that he had heard from Hua Xing and specifically came here to await Li Jiao’s return. The Sect Defending Array was fully activated at the moment. Clearly, Hua Xing had not placed all his hopes on Li Jiao either and made preparations just in case.
“It is this Li!” Li Jiao replied in a deep voice.
“Then, these two…” the Elder asked suspiciously.
“Open your eyes wide and have a good look. Is this girl the one behind the murder of the Young Pavilion Master? I have captured her and brought her back.”
The Elder fixed his gaze on Lin Yun’er and was soon overjoyed, nodding, “That’s her! It’s that cheap slut! Senior Li, you are truly amazing to be able to capture her! The Pavilion Master will be ecstatic to know about this!”
“Then why are you still wasting time on nonsense? Hurry up and open the array. I want to hand these two over to the Pavilion Master and finish this sorry business!”
“Of course, of course,” the Elder nodded repeatedly and took out a token he then poured his Emperor Qi into. A stream of light immediately shot out from the token and landed on the Sect Defending Array which subsequently opened a crack and allowed Li Jiao to enter.
“Brother Li, you returned victoriously! I apologize for not coming to greet you sooner, please forgive me for my discourtesy,” Hua Xing suddenly appeared out of nowhere, flying over from not too far away. It was uncertain if he had been hiding nearby, waiting for Li Jiao to return or had really just arrived.
“It’s nothing worth mentioning!” Li Jiao waved his hand lightly.
“Are you the Father of that nasty guy?” All of a sudden, Lin Yun’er frowned at Hua Xing and asked, but before Hua Xing could answer, she continued, “I’m sure it’s you. You both look very similar.”
“You cheap slut!” Hua Xing turned to look at her, flames of rage burning in his chest as his murderous intent surged up like a wave. He roared furiously, “How dare you kill my son?! Today, I… Huh?”
While he was speaking, he suddenly noticed that something was wrong. This girl’s aura was vigorous and her Emperor Qi was clearly flowing freely, she hadn’t been imprisoned at all!
Just as those doubts grew in Hua Xing, Lin Yun’er rushed forward as swiftly as lightning. At the same time, a pair of pitch-black gloves appeared on her tender fists which she clenched tightly and threw out with all her might.
*Ssii…*
Hua Xing was startled, but although things had happened so abruptly, it wasn’t enough to panic him. What shocked him was the explosive force the girl exerted in that instant. Those small fists of hers contained enough strength to destroy the Heavens and shatter the Earth. It would hurt greatly if he were struck by that fist, even if he was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master.
“You court death!” Hua Xing immediately countered in a furious rage. He initially wanted to torture this girl by subjecting her to all sorts of torment before brutally killing her; however, the battle had been joined and he had no choice but to respond in kind. He circulated his Emperor Qi and struck out at her with his palm.
Following that, a gigantic palm formed from pure, condensed Emperor Qi instantly appeared in mid-air. That palm hanging in mid-air triggered a Secret Technique, stretching out its finger and pointing it at her, causing the surrounding World Energy to become turbulent while Principles surged up.
That was definitely a powerful Secret Technique and all of Wind and Cloud Pavilion’s disciples shuddered under its might. At the same time, an impulsive urge to bow down and worship that power bloomed in them. Even the Sect Defending Array nearby rippled as if it was about to break. This was the power of a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master’s attack at full strength; it was phenomenal indeed.
Undeterred, Lin Yun’er smashed her fist against the palm before she grunted in pain. Her entire being was slapped by a vigorous force, and she was sent flying like a kite with a broken string before being pressed into the ground.
Even if she was strong, her cultivation was still two Minor Realms lower than her opponent’s; therefore, her strength was inadequate in a fight against a veteran like Hua Xing and her disadvantage was clear after just one exchange of blows.
*Pa…*
A soft sound rang out as Yang Kai slapped his hands together before drawing a large arc in the air, Space Principles surging as a gigantic Moon Blade was slashed out.
The Moon Blade soared forth, collapsing space around it as it flew. As a result, a deep gash was cut into the palm Secret Technique, causing its power to reduce drastically.
Consequently, the pressure pressing down on Lin Yun’er disappeared suddenly. Her feet kicked against the ground, and she slipped through the gaps like a flash of lightning before appearing Hua Xing, her fists striking out repeatedly.
Hua Xing’s expression changed as he opened his mouth, he spat out a tiny cyan sword. The sword spun leisurely in the air before instantly expanding until its shadow covered the entire sky, forming a defensive barrier in front of him.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
Lin Yun’er’s fists continuously smashed into the barrier formed by the giant sword, each punch containing the sum of her complete strength behind it, and the sounds of explosions that rang out from each blow was deafening. Her raw destructive power made everybody’s expression change; however, the sword remained unyielding and stood before Hua Xing steadily, rendering all her attacks futile.
“Cut!” Yang Kai flexed his fingers. Following that, Moon Blades flew towards Hua Xing one after another.
Hua Xing furrowed his brow slightly as he waved his hand to send out another Secret Technique. Then, the sword barrier in front of him suddenly shot out phantom blades that struck and deflected the Moon Blades accurately. Not only that, but a giant sword also descended from the sky at the same time and slammed down towards Yang Kai ferociously.
“Hmph!” Li Jiao snorted coldly, lifting his hand as a phantom Flood Dragon flew out, slammed into that gigantic sword and caused it to shatter to pieces.
Meanwhile, Lin Yun’er fluttered backwards and retreated, returning to Yang Kai and Li Jiao’s side while panting lightly. She had used up a lot of energy to launch the previous round of attacks. Even so, it had not affected Hua Xing in any way, which showed how impressive the Emperor Artifact Sword was.
During that exchange of blows, sparks flew and mayhem ensued. Everything happened so quickly that the onlookers could not keep up with the battle. Before the disciples of Wind and Cloud Pavilion in the surrounding area could grasp what was happening, both sides had retreated from the clash.
Hua Xing’s eyes flashed sharply. He gritted his teeth and shouted, “Li Jiao! I treated you with such courtesy during your stay here, how could you collude with outsiders to deceive me?!”
That young man and woman had looked like they were being restrained by Li Jiao, but in truth, they were not imprisoned at all. Otherwise, they couldn’t have fought with Hua Xing. In addition, Li Jiao had stepped up to help them just now. Hua Xing would be an idiot if he still failed to notice the problem.
However, he simply couldn’t figure out something. [Li Jiao only left for a short while, so why did he suddenly turn from an ally to an enemy? This young man and woman shouldn’t have that much power to make him switch sides, right? What is going on?!]
Even though Hua Xing couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation, he already held a grudge against Li Jiao now. If not for his trust in him, he would never have allowed an enemy to slip through the Sect Defending Array.
This was a matter of pride. It didn’t matter if they had massacred their way to Great Cloud City, but the fact that they managed to kill their way into Wind and Cloud Pavilion headquarters and get past the Sect Defending Array was a naked insult to the Sect. Even though Wind and Cloud Pavilion’s reputation had taken a huge blow recently, the Sect Defending Array was the last layer of defence they had left to cover up this embarrassing incident.
[This is just great. Even our last layer of defence was rendered useless. Wind and Cloud Pavilion will have no face to speak of from now on.]
Hua Xing originally hated Lin Yun’er because his son had died in her hands, but the betrayal of Li Jiao angered him even more.
Faced with Hua Xing’s questioning, Li Jiao’s expression remained unchanged as he simply snorted, “Brother Hua, your aura sure is vigorous. It seems like you’re recovering quite well. That’s so amazing. Only a short while has passed, but you recovered from your internal injuries so quickly. I am extremely impressed. What kind of rare and precious treasures did you take to heal yourself so quickly? I can’t believe how miraculous the effects are. Do you think you can spare me a few?”
He avoided the most important topics and instead changed the subject to one more favourable to him. Li Jiao was undoubtedly embarrassed to speak of his own affairs; thus, he pointed out the fact that Hua Xing had deceived him by faking an injury and forcing his hand.
He could see it now. This old fox Hua Xing had pushed him to take action, obviously without good intentions. Thinking about it this way, Li Jiao suddenly felt the guilt in his heart lessen.
Hua Xing turned to look at Yang Kai and Lin Yun’er before turning to look at Li Jiao, “Brother Li, was my hospitality lacking during your stay in Wind and Cloud Pavilion?”
“Nothing of the sort. Brother Hua, you made me feel extremely welcome,” Li Jiao replied lightly.
Then, Hua Xing asked bitterly, “In that case, why did you betray me? W-Why did you join hands with them?!”
Li Jiao responded, “I had to!”
Hua Xing stared at Li Jiao incredulously, “You had to?”
This was what puzzled him the most. Why would Li Jiao rather join hands with this unknown young man and woman? Why would he rather become his enemy?
Gritting his teeth, Hua Xing asked, “You and I have been friends for hundreds of years, but that’s all it takes for you to make me your enemy? Because you ‘had’ to?!”
Li Jiao scratched his cheek somewhat awkwardly, “Friendship isn’t as important as life, right?”
Hua Xing couldn’t help losing his composure, “Just who are these people?!”
Hua Xing knew very well just what kind of person Li Jiao was. He was a descendant of the Dragon Clan, a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, as well as the Palace Master of one of the top Sects in the Northern Territory. Hua Xing couldn’t believe Li Jiao was acting so weakly now. It looked like his guess was right. This young man and woman must come from influential backgrounds, ones powerful enough that they can even threaten Li Jiao’s life! If not, Li Jiao would never say such embarrassing things.
Hua Xing’s expression suddenly became gloomy and uncertain. Li Jiao’s betrayal had upset him greatly, but although Wind and Cloud Pavilion was pretty impressive, that was only a relative comparison. If this man and woman, plus Li Jiao were to really kick up a fuss here, more than half of Wind and Cloud Pavilion would be destroyed. Even if the Sect ultimately survived, it would undoubtedly be a pyrrhic victory.
As soon as that thought crossed his mind, Hua Xing began considering backing down. Thus, he secretly sent a Divine Sense transmission to Li Jiao, “Brother Li, tell me the truth. Are these two… related to one of the Great Emperors?”
If that was the case, then even if his pride was damaged, this conflict could not be aggravated any further. Wind and Cloud Pavilion could not afford to provoke anybody related to the Great Emperors.
Li Jiao glanced at him before glancing at Yang Kai. Seeing that Yang Kai had no intention to stop him from speaking, he casually replied, “No.”
“No?” Hua Xing was taken aback by the reply.