In an instant, the hall was engulfed in flames and there was basically no corner that wasn’t ablaze.
Nevertheless, a breeze was swirling around Wind Lord as there was no sign of fire in a radius of ten metres around him. He looked like an unmoving rock amidst the violent storms and waves as he snorted, “It seems that you won’t regret until you see your coffin!”
After he declared so, he shot towards Yang Kai. The flames separated and revealed a path that he could pass through. It seemed that wherever he went, the flames around the area would be extinguished.
In just a moment, he reached a spot that was ten metres away from Yang Kai. Presently, his figure was smaller than that of Yang Kai by several hundred times, but he appeared to be more imposing than the other party as though he was the taller one. Then, he lifted his right hand and balled up his fist, after which a fan appeared in his grip. The fan was only half an arm’s length in size, but a shocking light could be seen emitting from it. Raising the fan, he gently waved it at Yang Kai.
A gale swept across the hall as a razor-sharp wind blade shot out of the fan and expanded to several tens of metres before slashing at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai wanted to dodge, but his perception of time had been warped, so he was unable to move as he pleased. When he came to his senses, the wind blade was already right in front of him, so he hurriedly crossed his arms to protect his face.
With a loud boom, Yang Kai shuddered as his mountain-like figure slid backwards. Huge wounds appeared on his arms, which were now drenched in blood.
Making use of that force, Yang Kai turned around and swept his tail at Wind Lord. His Dragon Tail, which was covered in Dragon Scales, looked like a long whip which seemed able to make space shake and shatter where it passed.
Wind Lord scoffed and lifted his leg. In just a few steps, he was able to dodge the tail with ease.
Following a failed strike, Yang Kai charged forward and chanted in the Dragon language again. Wind Lord raised his fan and waved it at Yang Kai again. This time, it wasn’t just one but over ten wind blades that came at Yang Kai from all directions, which made sure there was no way he could dodge or defend.
With no other way to ward off or avoid the wind blades, Yang Kai decided to dash forward with a grin. He seemed resolute and ready to lose his life.
“Don’t get presumptuous!” Wind Lord sneered, grasping the hourglass in his left hand in an attempt to use the same trick again. He wanted to influence Yang Kai’s perception by using the power of the Flowing Time Divine Sand.
Right then, a clang was heard, and light expanded. Following that, Yang Kai vanished into thin air.
Wind Lord’s pupils contracted, and the next moment, he realised that the light in front of him had been blocked by a gigantic figure. Looking up, he saw that Yang Kai was gazing down at him like he was an ant. After Yang Kai inhaled deeply, he opened his mouth and spat out a Dragon Breath.
The Dragon Breath seemed extremely sharp, as it could cut through space as it slashed at Wind Lord’s head.
Wind Lord grunted in surprise and took a step sidewards to dodge the attack, but he felt a force coming at him from the side as though it had been waiting for him.
Turning around, he realised that Yang Kai was sweeping his right fist at him. The horrifying force caused his eyelids to twitch. Although he was more powerful than Yang Kai, he knew that he would end up in a terrible state if he was hit by this fist.
So, he immediately turned into a breeze and disappeared. Yang Kai was frustrated that he hit air again.
In one corner of the hall, Wind Lord reappeared and stared at the bell in Yang Kai’s hand before he snorted, “Mountains and Rivers Bell!”
At this moment, not only was Yang Kai holding the Mountains and Rivers Bell, but he was also flicking it around, which caused the ringing of the bell to reverberate around the hall. With the bell as the centre, glowing waves could be seen spreading across the hall, seemingly cleansing Yang Kai’s body.
Wind Lord had stayed in this place for a hundred years and obtained Flowing Time Great Emperor’s Legacy Artifact, the Infinite Hourglass. With that hourglass, he was able to drain Yang Kai’s life away and affect his perception of time.
However, he wasn’t the only one who possessed a Great Emperor’s Legacy Artifact. Yang Kai also had a Legacy Artifact, which was the Mountains and Rivers Bell. That was the reason he wasn’t afraid of Wind Lord. Only a Great Emperor’s Legacy Artifact could be used against another Legacy Artifact.
Therefore, after Yang Kai summoned the Mountains and Rivers Bell and made it ring out, he was able to restore his own perception of time. However, he still hadn’t managed to cut off his connection with the Infinite Hourglass. As the Flowing Time Divine Sand continued trickling down, his remaining years of life would still rapidly leave him.
Yang Kai was unable to fully utilise the power of the Mountains and Rivers Bell, but it was the same case for Wind Lord and the Infinite Hourglass. In this regard, both of them were even.
The bell continued ringing out as the invisible pressure permeated the hall, causing Wind Lord to feel extremely heavy, as though a mountain was pressing down on his shoulders.
The ringing of the bell was able to suppress the world itself, such a statement best described the Mountains and Rivers Bell.
After activating the power of the Mountains and Rivers Bell, Yang Kai managed to break free from the Infinite Hourglass’s disturbance and restored his perception of time.
Noticing this, Wind Lord stared at the bell for a moment before he sighed and said, “Grudges should be resolved rather than formed. You’ve killed many of the people from Demon Heavenly Dao, and I’ve made you suffer a setback. Why don’t we forget about what has happened today? We can part ways and never see one another again. What do you think?”
With the hourglass rendered ineffective, he wasn’t confident in dealing with an expert in the Dao of Space, unless Yang Kai insisted on battling against him until either party was killed instead of fleeing. If Yang Kai wanted to flee, he wouldn’t have any way to stop him.
He didn’t want to fight with Yang Kai. He was already satisfied that he had obtained the Infinite Hourglass from the Flowing Time Temple. As for those people from Demon Heavenly Dao who were killed, there had never been a lack of people who were killed in this world. They should feel honoured that they were able to sacrifice their lives for his Master’s goal.
“Sure,” Yang Kai replied in a hushed voice and put on a grin, “Put the hourglass down and cripple your cultivation. After that, I’ll let you go.”
Wind Lord narrowed his eyes and grinned wickedly, “Boy, this King is sincerely trying to make peace with you, but it doesn’t mean that I’m afraid of you. If you remain obstinate, this King will have no choice but to kill you.”
“Do it if you can,” Yang Kai lifted his hand and crooked his finger.
“Is there really no room for discussion?” Wind Lord stared grimly at him.
Yang Kai guffawed, “I’ve told you that we’re not even from the same side. Cut the nonsense, will you?”
Wind Lord took a deep breath and put on a helpless expression, “Since you insist on forcing me, you must pay the price.”
After he finished speaking, he raised the hourglass and pushed his Emperor Qi wildly, infusing as much power into it as possible.
Initially, the speed at which the Flowing Time Divine Sand trickled down inside the hourglass was neither fast nor slow. After a long battle, only half of the Divine Sand had reached the bottom of the hourglass. In other words, only four hundred years of Yang Kai’s life had been sucked away from him.
However, what Wind Lord had done was to accelerate the speed at which the sand fell. The other half of the sand reached the bottom in just a short moment.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but grunt as his blood gushed towards his throat and almost spurted out. Although he wasn’t hit by any external force, he had suffered a serious injury by losing four hundred years of his life in just a moment. He could also feel his vitality plummeting.
Wind Lord wasn’t done yet though. When the sand in the hourglass completely reached the bottom half, he flipped it upside down again before infusing more Emperor Qi into it. Grinning wickedly, he said, “How are you going to fight with me when I have this hourglass? This King was magnanimous enough to let you off, but do you seriously think this King has no way to deal with you?”
Having his life drained away from him was a terrible feeling. Furthermore, not only was this loss of life visible to the naked eye, but it could also be physically felt. Of course, Yang Kai wouldn’t stay idle and wait for death. As the Mountains and Rivers Bell continued ringing, he disappeared from his spot. When he reappeared, he was already behind Wind Lord as he extended his free Dragon Claw towards him.
However, as though there were eyes behind Wind Lord’s head, he gently flapped the fan in his right hand, after which giant wind blades accurately slashed at Yang Kai.
Whizzing sounds were heard but Yang Kai didn’t dodge the attack. As a consequence, new wounds appeared on his huge claw, which was now covered in blood. In a resolute manner, he continued pushing forward. Wind Lord gritted his teeth as he hadn’t expected Yang Kai to be so determined.
He was frustrated at the fact that Yang Kai’s body was so sturdy. His wind blades were extremely sharp and they were able to slash the average Emperor Realm Master to pieces; however, Yang Kai’s Half-Dragon form was extremely tough, so while his wind blades could cut his body, the wounds weren’t even bone deep.
At the critical moment, Wind Lord transformed into a breeze again and shot up into the sky. To his surprise though, he found the Mountains and Rivers Bell was falling down on him.
Yang Kai had been controlling the bell for some time now, so certainly he would do everything he could to stop Wind Lord from fleeing by turning into wind as he had done so before. As long as he could trap Wind Lord inside the bell, he had a hundred ways to torture him to death.
Naturally, Wind Lord wouldn’t get trapped easily, so he quickly changed direction and escaped from the bell’s suppression before reappearing on the other side of the hall.
The sand in the hourglass had completely reached the bottom half again. Unable to take it anymore, Yang Kai sprayed out a mouthful of blood as his three-hundred-metre figure shrank by thirty metres. His life was sucked out of him and his vitality had declined, which was why he was unable to fully maintain his Half-Dragon form anymore.
Nonetheless, he didn’t stop attacking as he seemed determined to bite off a piece of his opponent’s flesh even if he died in the process. Charging forward, Yang Kai manipulated Space Principles and launched a series of Moon Blades at his enemy.
Wind Lord infused more Qi into the hourglass, after which the Moon Blades abruptly stopped in front of him. Then, he nonchalantly walked away and stared at Yang Kai like the latter was a madman, “Are you really so eager to die?”
Yang Kai put on a hideous grin, “Suck all the life out of me if you can!”
Wind Lord’s brow twitched as he turned the hourglass over again. This time, the sand didn’t trickle down quickly as the speed became normal again.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to accelerate the sand, but rather that he couldn’t anymore. It had only been a hundred years since he obtained the hourglass, and although he had partially refined it, he was unable to fully utilise the treasure’s power. He had reached his limit by activating it twice, and he had paid a hefty price to do so.
Yang Kai had figured this out, which was why he appeared so fearless. He was a Third-Order Emperor, so he still had a few thousand years left to live. After the sand in the hourglass fully reached the other end, it meant that over eight hundred years of Yang Kai’s life had left him. Since the hourglass had been used twice, it meant losing some one thousand six hundred years in total. Taking the time that was stolen from him when he was flying across the Two Seasons Mountain Range into consideration as well, Yang Kai figured he still had many years left to live. It was unwise to battle against his opponent when his own life was draining away from him, but he had no other choice; otherwise, he wouldn’t have done it.
Seeing as Wind Lord had no other tricks, Yang Kai cackled, “You’re dead now!”
After Yang Kai finished speaking, his right eye suddenly turned black. It was the purest black as though his eye was able to devour everything in this world. The Demon Qi around him surged towards the sky as his aura no longer appeared weak.
Yang Kai’s loud but solemn voice reverberated around the hall, “Black Eye Purgatory, Infinite Darkness!”
This was one of Yang Kai’s trump cards, which was even more powerful than his Dragon Transformation Secret Technique. In the past, he had gone through demonification when he was still in the Dao Source Realm and managed to escape unscathed after a battle with three Emperor Realm Masters using this technique, which went to show how powerful it was.
Despite that, there was a hefty price to pay. Every time Yang Kai used it, he would be at risk of becoming fully demonified.
When he used the Secret Technique in the past, he had to undo the seal on his dantian and release the Ancient Demon Qi from it; however, since Yang Kai reached the Third-Order Emperor Realm in the Demon Realm, he had become a true Demon and all his Emperor Qi had been transformed into Demon Qi. So, he didn’t have to unseal anything or worry about losing his mind anymore, so could use Infinite Darkness whenever he wanted.
Faced with a Pseudo-Great Emperor, Yang Kai wouldn’t dare to lower his guard, which was why he directly used the Command Token at the beginning of the fight in an attempt to win the battle in one shot, but the outcome turned out to be different from what he had expected. The Great Emperor’s Divine Ability was offset by the Infinite Hourglass, rendering it ineffective. Next, Yang Kai used his Dragon Transformation Secret Technique and summoned the Mountains and Rivers Bell, but he still couldn’t defeat his enemy. Now, he was only left with Infinite Darkness, which was his last trump card.
Despite using his most powerful trump card, Yang Kai still wasn’t confident of defeating Wind Lord. Previously, he had killed a Half-Saint on his own in the Demon Realm, but that was because Yin Si’s injuries from the war on the Eternal Sky Continent still hadn’t healed, which gave him a chance to take advantage. Moreover, Yin Si was most proficient with Soul and Charm Techniques, which were all useless against Yang Kai. That was the real reason she was killed in the end.
However, it was a different case for Wind Lord as his injuries had completely healed since he had recuperated in this place for a hundred years prior. Although he had become fatigued from the battle, he was still in a much better state than Yin Si at the time.
Once Infinite Darkness was cast, the hall immediately fell into a pitch-black abyss. Not only was Wind Lord unable to see anything, but even his other senses had been sealed.
Wind Lord had never expected that Yang Kai was still able to use such a powerful technique at this point. Although he was slightly shocked, he remained unfazed as he quickly cast a technique to protect himself. With the hourglass in his left hand and his fan artifact in his right, he only needed to stay vigilant.
Just then, he suddenly sensed something and looked up. Although he couldn’t see anything, he could clearly feel that there was a huge black eye above him that was looking down at him in the darkness. This kind of invisible pressure made him feel anxious.
For some reason, he suddenly became alarmed and without thinking, he wielded the fan in his right hand and roared, after which a tornado shot out and turned into a huge and hideous Wind Dragon.
Yang Kai was charging forward when he saw the Wind Dragon approach, causing his brow to twitch as he thought to himself that it was truly difficult to deal with a Pseudo-Great Emperor. Supposedly, Wind Lord shouldn’t be able to see or perceive anything inside Infinite Darkness, but he could still accurately locate Yang Kai and know what the latter was doing, which went to show how extraordinary he was.
Such a person had fallen into Demon Heavenly Dao and become the Demons’ lackey, which was a shame.
Faced with the Wind Dragon, Yang Kai lifted his right hand and smashed the Mountains and Rivers Bell down at it. In silence, the Dragon’s head was blasted apart while its body turned into countless wind blades and shot out in all directions.
At that instant, sparks could be seen flaring on Yang Kai’s figure as the wind blades slashed at his Dragon Scales. Although the impact didn’t produce any sound, they were still incredibly powerful. Despite the fact that Yang Kai was in an advantageous position, he still suffered a setback. Many new cuts had been formed on his body, but he had also managed to reach a spot that was just ten metres above Wind Lord.
Given their close proximity, Yang Kai decided to raise his gigantic hand, which was right above Wind Lord’s head, and brought it down.
Wind Lord suddenly raised his head as though he was able to see the approaching palm. As he roared, he extended his hand to parry the attack. A gale gathered in the centre of his palm and turned into a humongous wind palm.
It was once again a silent clash. When their palms came into contact, Yang Kai’s figure arched backwards as though he was about to tumble away, but upon impact, Wind Lord also had no choice but to lower his body. It was a draw!
While Yang Kai clenched his teeth, Wind Lord was astounded.
Unlike how they kept dodging attacks earlier, this was a clash of pure power this time. Wind Lord could no longer remain nonchalant upon realising that a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master had just as much strength as he had.
Without stopping, he stabilised himself and charged towards the direction he just parried the attack, deciding to seize the initiative.
Certainly, Yang Kai wouldn’t back down. He widened his stance to stand firmly on the ground and pushed out a fist.
After this clash, both parties were sent flying back. In that instant, a Pseudo-Great Emperor and a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master launched into a brutal melee inside the pitch-black hall.
Yang Kai wanted this kind of direct clash because Wind Lord was more powerful than he was and the latter had cultivated for a longer time. Moreover, Wind Lord had the Infinite Hourglass with him. If the battle dragged on, there was no hope for Yang Kai to win, so he welcomed what Wind Lord had done.
However, to Wind Lord, he had no other choice. Although the Infinite Hourglass was powerful, it was useless against Space Secret Techniques. His vision had been shaded and he could barely perceive anything, so it was difficult for him to locate Yang Kai. Presently, he was basically blind and deaf. He could only rely on the moments when he traded blows with Yang Kai to detect his faint aura. Without those moments, he would never be able to locate Yang Kai.
Therefore, he wouldn’t dare to back down and instead clashed head-on with Yang Kai in the hope that he could defeat his opponent in close quarters. At this moment, Demon Qi was swirling violently around their bodies, so it was apparent that they had fully unleashed their strength and were no longer holding anything back. Things had come to a point where one of them had to lose his life before the fight would end.
During the battle, Yang Kai kept using Dragon Clan Secret Techniques while Wind Lord rapidly sent out razor-sharp wind blades using his fan, which caused Yang Kai to go through excruciating pain.
Their intense battle caused the hall to turn into a mess. Fortunately, this was Flowing Time Great Emperor’s palace, the Flowing Time Temple. If it were just any other palace, the entire building would’ve collapsed already.
The battle raged on, but as time passed, both Yang Kai and Wind Lord’s attacks became weaker because this life-or-death fight had exhausted both of them.
A long time later, the darkness that had engulfed the hall faded and Wind Lord was able to see again. Turning around, he arched his brow and guffawed. Then, he pointed at Yang Kai and said lethargically, “Why persist?”
A hundred metres away, Yang Kai didn’t even seem able to support his own weight as he stood unsteadily. His entire body was drenched in blood and he looked completely battered. His Half-Dragon form had disappeared and his black hair had turned grey while his skin appeared dry. He didn’t look anything like a man in his twenties anymore. Presently, he looked like a tired old man in his late fifties.
During the battle, Yang Kai’s life kept draining away. Previously, he had lost two thousand years of his life, and coupled with the life he had lost in this battle, he felt as though he was reaching his predestined end. He knew that it wasn’t an illusion but a reality.
Perhaps he still had several dozen years left to live, but he was certain that it was fewer than a hundred years. This kind of damage was even more severe than the injuries on his body. Even if his Soul was wounded, it could still be healed; however, what Yang Kai was experiencing now was a fundamental loss of vitality and lifespan. Besides some rare treasures that could increase his lifespan, nothing in this world could cure him.
At this moment, Yang Kai could be said to be in a miserable state.
While Yang Kai was in misery, Wind Lord wasn’t much better off. His chest had caved in and his right arm had gone completely limp. The fan in his hand had gone missing and all his clothes were drenched in blood, which dripped onto the ground and formed a puddle even now.
Yang Kai was the only Third-Order Emperor Realm Master in this world who could severely injure a Pseudo-Great Emperor in single combat, so this was enough to be proud of himself.
Wind Lord shook his head repeatedly, “Is it worth it?”
Panting heavily, Yang Kai replied in a hoarse voice, “Of course!”
The Infinite Hourglass had significantly increased Wind Lord’s power, and if it fell into the hands of Can Ye, the consequences would be dreadful. Therefore, whatever cost Yang Kai had to pay, he had to kill Wind Lord and keep the hourglass in this palace.
After he finished speaking, Yang Kai lifted his hand and pushed out his fist. The speed at which he extended his fist was equivalent to that of a snail, and even a three-year-old child could dodge it with ease.
Wind Lord’s face twitched, “You’re insane!”
He also pushed out his fist. They had traded countless moves in the darkness earlier, so they were familiar with one another’s tactics by now.
Ten breaths later, their fists finally came into contact. With a loud boom, Wind Lord and Yang Kai spat blood at the same time, and following that, they were sent flying backwards until they crashed into the walls on opposite sides of the hall and slid down.
Wind Lord sat up with difficulty and pressed his back against the wall. After wiping the blood off his mouth, he stared at Yang Kai and grinned, “This King has won in the end. After you die, no one will ever find you here. You will have to travel to the Yellow Springs alone and forgotten.”
Both of them were practically on their last breaths, but Yang Kai’s life was still linked to the Infinite Hourglass. The sand in the hourglass was still trickling down, so Wind Lord only had to wait patiently until Yang Kai died of old age.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was in a state where he could do nothing but wait for death. That was why Wind Lord claimed that he had won. Although it was embarrassing that he had been beaten to within an inch of death by a Third-Order Emperor, the outcome was acceptable.
After Yang Kai passed away, he just had to continue recuperating and refining the Infinite Hourglass. When he managed to obtain the entire Flowing Time Temple and leave one day, he would be able to make a greater name for himself.
At this moment, Yang Kai had also pressed his back against the wall as he hung his head low. His hair had covered his eyes and he said in a low voice, “You’ve won? I don’t think so.”
Wind Lord scoffed, “Do you still have other tricks? Why don’t you show me? This King has no more power to resist. Just come over to give me a punch and this King will lose his life.”
Lifting his head, Yang Kai gazed at him through the hair on his forehead and grinned, “I don’t have any energy left to punch you, but you also can’t win this battle.”
Upon finishing his words, Yang Kai lifted his hand and pointed at Wind Lord.
After a loud neigh was heard, a sturdy beast with flaming hooves and a single horn on its head appeared. The beast looked like a horse, but it was much burlier than your average horse. Demon Qi could be seen swirling around its figure, and it appeared quite ferocious. Apparently, its power was equivalent to that of a Half-Saint.
Yang Kai didn’t only have three Half-Saints from the Demon Race with him, he also had Zhui Feng in the Small Sealed World. The reason he didn’t summon him earlier was that in Infinite Darkness, everyone else besides him would be affected by the technique. So, even if he summoned Zhui Feng, the beast would’ve become blind and deaf just like Wind Lord and the situation might’ve become worse.
However, it was different now. Just like Yang Kai, Wind Lord had used up all his energy, so now was the best time to release Zhui Feng to give his opponent a fatal blow.
Although Zhui Feng was a beast from the Demon Realm with low sentience, he was able to distinguish friends from foes. After taking a look at Yang Kai, he batted his eyes and turned to look at Wind Lord. In an instant, his eyes turned bloodshot, and his entire figure went ablaze. After a neigh, he hung his head low and charged towards Wind Lord.
At that instant, Wind Lord widened his eyes in disbelief.
He genuinely thought that the dust had settled and that he could definitely defeat Yang Kai by waiting for the latter to pass away; however, he hadn’t expected that Yang Kai was still able to summon such a beast! Although he couldn’t recognise Zhui Feng, he could detect a Half-Saint’s aura from it. Even if he came across such a beast when he was at his peak, it would still cause him a headache, to say nothing of the fact that he was barely able to lift his one good arm right now.
Seeing that Zhui Feng was about to ram into him as a glint flashed across the beast’s horn, Wind Lord knew that he would lose his life if he was struck. At this life-or-death moment, he bit his tongue and sprayed out a mouthful of Blood Essence at the Infinite Hourglass.
The simple-looking hourglass suddenly shone brightly as the entire Flowing Time Temple started shaking and buzzing. The next moment, a light screen appeared out of thin air and surrounded Wind Lord.
With a loud boom, Zhui Feng crashed into the light screen and was sent flying back upon impact. At the same time, the palace shook more violently. It seemed that Zhui Feng had crashed into the Flowing Time Temple instead of a light curtain!
While Zhui Feng was still in mid-air, Wind Lord and Yang Kai stared at each other and bellowed, ““You sly/shameless bastard!””
Following that, they pressed their hands against their own chests and coughed violently as blood spewed out of their mouths.
After such a long time of battle, it had come to a point where both of them probably had to go accompany the other to the Yellow Springs. In the end, both still had a final trick up their sleeves. While Yang Kai thought that Wind Lord was shameless, Wind Lord thought that Yang Kai was sly.
However, they stopped after cursing at each other instantly because they had no more energy left. Be it Wind Lord or Yang Kai, it was the first time in their lives that they ended up in such a terrible state.
On the other side, Zhui Feng fell to the ground with a loud thud. After getting to his feet, he shook his head for a bit before he identified Wind Lord’s location and charged forward again.
A moment later, just like what had happened earlier, a loud boom was heard and Zhui Feng was sent flying back.
Yang Kai’s face twitched as he realised that he was in deep trouble. He had held back his urge to release Zhui Feng previously because he wanted to use him to launch a surprise attack on Wind Lord at the most critical moment. He thought that he could definitely be victorious, but he hadn’t expected that Wind Lord also had one more trick up his sleeve.
The light screen activated from the Infinite Hourglass after Wind Lord spat his Blood Essence onto it, and was apparently impenetrable. Zhui Feng couldn’t even cause the slightest damage to it after ramming into it twice. It seemed that Zhui Feng was unable to break it. If the light screen couldn’t be broken, Wind Lord would survive, and that would mean the end for Yang Kai.
His life was still leaving him as the sand continued trickling down inside the hourglass, so he would be dead soon if this dragged on. Fleeing into the Small Sealed World was probably his last resort. The Small Sealed World was a world on its own. If Yang Kai entered it, he could probably cut off the connection with the hourglass; however, that remained only a possibility as he couldn’t be certain about something he had never tried before. Nevertheless, that was indeed his last resort.
Seated across from Yang Kai, Wind Lord burst into a fit of laughter.
A displeased Yang Kai gave him a cold look and said lethargically, “I’ll knock out all your teeth if you keep laughing.”
Wind Lord shook his head and replied in an equally weakened voice, “You’ll never be able to do that. The Infinite Hourglass isn’t just Flowing Time Great Emperor’s Legacy Artifact, it is also the control key for the entire Flowing Time Temple. This King has activated the power of the palace through the hourglass to protect me. Unless this beast can destroy the entire palace, no one will be able to harm me. Not even a Great Emperor!”
“Say that again if a Great Emperor really arrives at this place…” Yang Kai sneered.
Despite his mockery, he knew that Wind Lord was stating the truth. Lies were unnecessary at this point; moreover, Zhui Feng had rammed into the light screen twice earlier. Each time he did it, the entire palace would shake, which went to show that the light screen was indeed closely connected to the palace itself. Unless they could destroy the palace as a whole, they would never be able to harm Wind Lord. But how was Zhui Feng supposed to shatter the Flowing Time Temple? They were basically stuck in a deadlock.
As they spoke, Zhui Feng dashed forward for the third time.
Wind Lord gave the beast a dismissive look, “This beast is indeed extraordinary. Unfortunately, it has sided with the wrong person. Boy, don’t you worry, after you pass away, this King will have plenty of time to tame it.”
Wind Lord thought that Zhui Feng was just a mount Yang Kai had tamed. If he knew that Zhui Feng was Chang Tian’s former mount, he wouldn’t have dared to say such a thing. Although Chang Tian wasn’t technically a Demon Saint, he undoubtedly possessed the power of a Demon Saint.
How was Wind Lord supposed to tame a Demon Saint’s mount? Zhui Feng was friendly with Yang Kai because the latter had a Dragon Clan bloodline, but they were not Master and servant.
Right then, Zhui Feng reached Wind Lord. He had learned his lesson, so he didn’t ram into the light screen this time; instead, he raised his front hooves and forcefully stomped onto it. Given the power of his stomp, the light screen should have shattered even if it was as strong as a mountain. However, the light screen only dented slightly before it was restored to its original state.
By acting this way, Zhui Feng was spared from the fate of flying backwards again, only arching his back a little before stabilising himself and stomping forward again.
Every time his hooves came into contact with the light screen, the palace would rumble and a deafening thud would reverberate around the spacious hall.
Despite his best efforts, the light screen remained intact, completely incensing Zhui Feng. As he kept neighing, he repeatedly turned to look at Yang Kai as though he was asking for a solution from him.
Yang Kai had nothing to suggest unfortunately as his only hope was that Zhui Feng could break the light screen on his own.
After Zhui Feng stomped his hooves on the screen and caused the palace to shake one more time, an angry voice suddenly echoed around the palace, “It’s so noisy! Who dares… Ouch! Why did you hit me?”
“Open your eyes and look clearly!” Another person was heard speaking.
The first person was clearly a man, while the second voice belonged to a woman. Although she had only said a single sentence, her voice sounded melodious and rhythmic, as though she was humming a song.
Besides those in the hall, there were actually two more people in the palace!
Wind Lord widened his eyes in disbelief and bellowed, “Who goes there!?”
He vigilantly looked around and spread his Divine Sense to trace the voices, but he failed in his attempt to do so. Besides himself, he could only sense Yang Kai and the strange beast inside the hall.
Yang Kai also frowned even though he was aware that there were other people inside the palace. In fact, including Qiong Qi and Liu Yan, there should be four in total.
However, the voices of the man and the woman just now were different from any of the four people he knew. The voices didn’t belong to Liu Yan or Qiong Qi, and they certainly weren’t the voices of Yang Xiao and Yang Xue either.
Yang Kai couldn’t believe that there were even more people in the palace! Who were they? His heart sank as he felt that this issue had become thorny. If those two people had always been inside the palace, where were Yang Xiao and Yang Xue? Had Qiong Qi and Liu Yan fallen into deep sleep because of this unknown pair?
Although Zhui Feng’s sentience was low, his instincts were quite sharp, so when he heard the unfamiliar voices, he swiftly retreated and stood in front of Yang Kai. He swung his tail repeatedly and darted his gaze around as he perked up his ears, as though he had put his guard up high to protect Yang Kai.
After Wind Lord bellowed, he didn’t get any reply, which caused him to sport a solemn expression. After some deliberation, he asked, “Who are you? Why don’t you show yourselves?”
Although he was in a terrible state, he still remained aloof and arrogant because he had the confidence to act so. He had activated the power of the Flowing Time Temple through the hourglass, so he was protected. Unless someone could destroy the palace, no one would be able to harm him. Even though the unknown man and woman, who hadn’t shown up, seemed to be fairly strong, Wind Lord wasn’t a pushover. That was why he wasn’t afraid of them.
However, given the situation he was in, he would rather not make more enemies, so he decided to find out who these two were by forcing them to show themselves first before coming up with any plan.
After he asked these questions though, Wind Lord still didn’t get any reply, as though what he had just heard was an auditory hallucination, which caused him to knit his brow deeply. He turned to look at Yang Kai and Zhui Feng, but upon seeing their reactions, he knew he wasn’t hearing things. Yang Kai must have heard the voices as well; otherwise, he wouldn’t be showing such an expression.
Wind Lord frowned and said grimly, “Show yourselves!”
Inside a hall in the deepest part of the palace, there was a mirror that was as large as a tub. The mirror wasn’t something physical though and seemed to have been created by some Secret Technique. In the mirror was reflected the image of Yang Kai, Wind Lord, and Zhui Feng. At this moment, the unknown man and the woman were looking down at what was happening in the other hall.
These two looked quite young, with the man appearing about sixteen or seventeen years old while the woman appeared no older than twenty. The man was tall and handsome, his long hair the purest of white, tied up in a neat ponytail. His demeanour was elegant and he gave off an amiable feeling.
On the other hand, the woman was clad in a long yellow dress. She was slim and attractive with red lips and a delicate nose. Her skin was as white as snow, and her jet black hair hung loosely over her shoulders.
By just standing there, they were quite a sight to behold.
At this moment, the young woman was staring fixedly at the person in the mirror. Seeing Yang Kai’s face that had aged so much, along with his hair that had turned completely grey, she felt her eyes turning bloodshot as tears streamed down her face.
The young man beside her had white hair as well, but unlike Yang Kai, he was born with such a hair colour. On the other hand, Yang Kai’s grey hair was a sign that most of his vitality had left him, and he was rapidly approaching his predestined time of death. Although the young woman hadn’t really ventured into the martial world, she had a fairly powerful cultivation, which was why she understood just what she was seeing.
Her eyes had reddened and she was tearing up because she felt sorry for Yang Kai. In the next moment though, she became furious and shifted her attention to Wind Lord, who was leaning against the wall, her alluring eyes filling with murderous intent.
The young man beside her was staring at the mirror as well, but his forehead was drenched in cold sweat as though he had just come across a ghost. At the same time, he kept muttering, “I’m dead… I’m so dead…” Then, he started pacing around as if it was the end of the world for him. All of a sudden, his gaze brightened as he turned to look at the young woman, “Ahem… you can handle everything here… I’ll take my leave!”
After he finished speaking, he moved and broke through space into the Void in an attempt to flee.
The young woman lifted her slender hand in a practised manner, however, and accurately pinched the young man’s ear before yanking him back.
The young man crouched down in pain and said aggrievedly, “Stop, stop! Can’t we talk about this? If you need anything, just tell me about it and I’ll do it for you without even batting an eye! Please have mercy and stop pinching my ear! I’m a member of the Dragon Clan! If word gets out, it will bring great shame to me and the Dragon Clan as well!”
Both of them appeared to be of a similar age, but the young man behaved like he was a Junior to the young woman, who didn’t find it awkward at all as though this was how it was supposed to be. After hearing what he had said, she gave him a look and pointed at Wind Lord in the mirror, “I want him to beg for death!”
The young man batted his eyes, “That’s it?”
“Can you do it or not?” The young woman demanded.
The young man patted his chest confidently and declared, “Leave it to me!”
After that, he flashed a fawning smile at the young woman, who stared at him for a moment before releasing his ear.
After regaining his freedom, the young man rubbed his ear and cursed at Wind Lord, who was inside the mirror. He was clenching his teeth as if he had shifted all the blame to Wind Lord for the pain he had suffered.
A moment later, he put on a smile and let out a breath before saying, “It’s said that Dao changes everything, be it for better or for worse. Everything in this world is inconstant, including Humans.”
After he finished speaking, he took a step forward and directly entered the mirror. As a ripple spread across its surface, the young man disappeared from the room. The next moment, he appeared in the hall and stood in front of Wind Lord.
The young man was handsome and his smile appeared harmless. Wind Lord was flabbergasted because from his perspective, the young man appeared too abruptly, as though he just walked out of the Void with no signs prior to that.
Wind Lord narrowed his eyes and stared at the young man warily, given that even with his cultivation, he still wasn’t able to gauge how powerful this young man was. Other than the fact that he himself was in a terrible state currently, it also went to show that the young man before him was truly extraordinary.
The young man’s voice was identical to the one that had reverberated around the hall earlier, so Wind Lord could confirm that this young man was the one who spoke earlier. With a solemn expression, he intended to inquire about his identity, but the young man didn’t give him a chance. Keeping a faint smile on his face, the young man extended his hand and said lightly, “Don’t you feel ashamed for stealing someone else’s stuff? It’s time you returned what doesn’t belong to you to its rightful owner!”
His expression was nonchalant, as though he was facing a powerless scholar instead of a Pseudo-Great Emperor, and his movement appeared so effortless it was as if he was just bending over to pick a flower.
The young man’s fair hand easily penetrated the light screen, which Zhui Feng was unable to damage one bit no matter how hard he tried and snatched the Infinite Hourglass from Wind Lord’s palm.
Wind Lord was astonished because the hourglass was Flowing Time Great Emperor’s Legacy Artifact, which was what he heavily relied on in this place. It was also an item that could be used to control the entire Flowing Time Temple. He had used his Blood Essence to activate the power of the palace to protect himself earlier, so even if a Great Emperor appeared, he shouldn’t have been able to harm him unless he could destroy the palace as a whole.
Wind Lord had told Yang Kai as such before, and it was the truth; however, he hadn’t expected that a young man would appear out of thin air, taunt him lightly, then ignore the protective light screen and snatch the Infinite Hourglass right out of his hand.
What just happened was more terrifying for Wind Lord than if a Great Emperor had actually arrived. Even though a Great Emperor was immensely powerful, it was still possible to make sense of their methods; however, the young man didn’t exude any aura when he extended his hand just now, which was why Wind Lord was lost as to how the young man had achieved what he had.
While he was in a dazed state, he realised that the weight on his left palm was gone as the hourglass had disappeared. Looking up, he saw that the young man had straightened up and the hourglass was now in his hand. Presently, the young man was curiously studying the hourglass.
At that instant, Wind Lord felt a chill running down his spine and he was drenched in cold sweat, like his blood had all frozen solid.
“So, this is the Infinite Hourglass…” The young man fiddled with it for a moment and pursed his lips. Then, he nonchalantly chucked the hourglass over his shoulder as though he was throwing away a piece of trash.
Following that, the young man’s expression changed as he turned from gentle into ferocious. Stomping his foot on Wind Lord’s chest, he bellowed, “So, you’re the one who disturbed this Young Master’s peace. Don’t you know this place already has an owner? Did you even get this Young Master’s permission before entering? How dare you come here without my permission? You bastard! I’ll stomp you to death!”
As the young man cursed, he kept mercilessly trampling on Wind Lord.
Wind Lord was dumbfounded. He had already exhausted himself when he activated the power of the palace earlier, but the young man easily passed through the light barrier and was now stomping on him like a hoodlum while he became paralysed on the ground.
He was a Pseudo-Great Emperor, but at this moment, he was like a thug on the streets who had just lost a brawl. Wind Lord had curled up on the ground to protect his vital organs as he could not stop the young man from kicking him. A moment later, he spat a mouthful of blood as he was covered in shoe prints. It was an understatement to say that he was in a sorry state. Presently, he felt both confusion and shame as he couldn’t help but wonder who the young man was.
He had stayed in this place for nearly a hundred years to recuperate and refine the Infinite Hourglass, but he had never realised that there were other people inside this palace. Moreover, the young man had declared that he was taking back what rightfully belonged to him, as though the hourglass belonged to him. However, the hourglass was Flowing Time Great Emperor’s Legacy Artifact, so how was it possible that this young man was its owner?
Yang Kai was dumbfounded as well. The young man appeared abruptly and took the hourglass effortlessly before violently kicking Wind Lord. Everything happened in the blink of an eye, but before he understood what was going on, he saw a young woman appear in front of him.
The young woman nonchalantly caught the hourglass, which was thrown away by the young man earlier. It seemed that the young man knew she was around, which was why he chucked it in that direction. Although they didn’t talk to each other, this incident showed how well they knew one another.
As their eyes met, Yang Kai fell into a dazed state. The young woman’s eyes were drenched in tears and she was staring at him with her lips pressed together tightly, as though she was trying to suppress her sorrow. What made Yang Kai fall into a dazed state wasn’t her expression, however, but rather her face.
He found the young girl familiar, as if he had met her before, but he couldn’t recall where. However, he was certain that the young woman wasn’t hostile to him; instead, she gave off an incredibly warm feeling, as though she was a family member instead of a stranger.
Zhui Feng neighed and charged forward as he had no idea what was going on. Seeing that the young woman had appeared out of nowhere, he thought that she was going to harm Yang Kai, which was why he had to protect him.
“Stop!” Yang Kai pressed his hand against his chest and shouted.
Zhui Feng understood Human language, so he immediately stopped in his tracks as he darted his gaze between the young woman and Yang Kai. Then, he obediently stood beside Yang Kai, but he remained vigilant to prevent any unwanted outcome.
“You are…” Yang Kai examined the young woman and increasingly believed that he had met her somewhere before, but he just couldn’t recall where. Nevertheless, he just had to ask her to find out.
The young woman parted her lips, but before she could speak, she started tearing up. Just like pearls that had slid off the string, her tears dropped onto the ground as her shoulders trembled. She also covered her mouth in an attempt to prevent herself from sobbing out loud.
However, she failed in her attempt to do so and she started wailing, her tears streaming down her face and falling onto the ground.
Yang Kai was torn between tears and laughter as he said, “Just let it all out…”
Upon hearing this, the young woman stopped suppressing her sorrow and bawled loudly, calling out through her tears, “Big Brother…”
Yang Kai batted his eyes and thought that he had heard it wrong, or that the young woman had mistaken him for someone else. There was indeed someone in this world who called him ‘Big Brother’, and she was supposed to be in the Flowing Time Temple as well; however, that person was just a little girl when she came to this place. It had indeed been a few years since then, but it was impossible that she had grown to be such an attractive young woman.
When that idea flashed across his mind, Yang Kai suddenly thought of something and examined her again. For some reason, he felt that this young woman took after his parents. Her petite nose was identical to that of his Father, while her delicate brow was strikingly similar to those of his Mother. It could even be said that her face resembled that of Yang Kai’s.
Yang Kai’s pupils contracted as he gulped and said in disbelief, “Xue’er?”
The young woman nodded repeatedly, which caused her tears to sprinkle even more, and she replied in a shaking voice, “En, I’m Xue’er! I’m Xue’er! Big Brother…”
She became agitated and sobbed uncontrollably after Yang Kai recognised her. Then, she fell to one knee in an attempt to hug Yang Kai, but seeing that he was in an awful state, she held back her urge. Instead, she cupped his face and muttered, “Big Brother, I missed you… and Father… and Mother…”
Feeling the warmth of her hands, Yang Kai became astounded as though he was in a dream.
Yang Xue was nothing more than a little girl when she entered the Four Seasons Realm a few years ago. Supposedly, she should be ten years old now, which would still make her a child.
Nevertheless, the young woman in front of Yang Kai didn’t look anything like a ten years girl.
The question was, how was this possible?
The way the young woman called Yang Kai ‘Big Brother’ tugged at his heartstrings. Every time he returned to his home, a little girl would call him that in the same clear voice, which could easily make him feel joyful.
Yang Kai trusted his own feelings. The young woman before his eyes shared the same bloodline as him, and this kind of familial bond couldn’t be faked by anyone.
Therefore, he was absolutely certain that the woman before his eyes was the one that would always ask him to play with her whenever he came home, and would always see him off with tears and stare at him longingly whenever he had to leave. She was his one and only Sister, Yang Xue!
Yang Kai put on a smile, which affected his wounds, so his smile looked uglier than if he was crying before he asked in shock, “Why have you…”
He wanted to ask her why she had grown up all of a sudden, but he soon recalled what had happened to Wind Lord. He had practically stepped into the Flowing Time Temple right after Wind Lord, but when he arrived at this place, Wind Lord had already stayed here for a hundred years. During this period of time, Wind Lord had fully recovered and partially refined the Infinite Hourglass.
Judging from Wind Lord’s case, it seemed that Time Principles affected the flow of time itself in the palace, making them different from those in the outside world. Perhaps it was due to the palace’s own power, or a mysterious Secret Technique was involved.
Since it had happened to Wind Lord, how long had Yang Xiao and Yang Xue stayed here? They had only entered this place a few years ago from the perspective of the outside world, but in here?
Yang Kai decided to ask in a different way, “How old are you now?”
Yang Xue continued sobbing as she replied, “I don’t know, but we’ve been cultivating here for five hundred years…”
[Five hundred years…] Yang Kai felt speechless when he heard this. It was no wonder that the little girl had turned into a woman all of a sudden and she immediately teared up upon seeing him.
Five hundred years were long enough for her to grow up. She had left home as a child and cultivated in isolation for five hundred years, which was why she couldn’t stop her tears from sliding down her face when she saw her dearest family member. Although Yang Kai frequently left home, and sometimes he’d be held up in the outside world for a long time, the longest he had ever been away for had not exceeded fifty years; hence, the idea that Yang Xue had stayed here for five hundred years was inconceivable. In fact, it had only been over a hundred years since Yang Kai started cultivating.
“Stop crying,” Yang Kai lifted his hand to wipe the tears off her face, but his attempt was futile as her tears just wouldn’t stop streaming down her face, “You’re already five hundred years old, why do you still behave like a child?”
He suddenly pulled a funny face for her.
This was what he always did for the little girl back then and it always brought a smile to her face.
As expected, Yang Xue burst into laughter while her eyes were still drenched in tears. Those were tears of joy. Torn between laughter and tears, she said, “I’m no longer a child. I’m even older than you…”
Staring at Yang Kai’s aged face and grey hair, she realised that he was probably several thousand years old now, so she was still younger than her Big Brother. As a result, she started bawling again.
Yang Kai stroked her head and shifted her attention by saying, “Since you’ve already grown up, is that Xiao’er over there?”
After that, he turned his head and pointed in that direction.
Certainly, he had seen the young man appear just now, but he didn’t have any special feelings at that time. He was just shocked that there were other people in this palace; however, Yang Kai was in an awful state, so he didn’t have the heart to care about such things at the moment. He was simply elated to see that the young man had gone over to deal with Wind Lord.
Now that Yang Xue’s identity had been confirmed, it was apparent who the young man was. Yang Xiao was a White Dragon and he was born with a head of white hair. This feature would never change, so this young man must indeed be the boy Yang Kai knew.
Without turning her head, Yang Xue stared at her Big Brother and replied in a choking voice, “En en, he’s Xiao’er.”
Yang Kai chuckled, “Both of you have grown up.”
Suddenly recalling something, he snorted as his face twitched.
Across from them, Yang Xiao kept kicking Wind Lord until the latter spat blood and became limp on the ground. As a Pseudo-Great Emperor, Wind Lord had never been humiliated in such a way before. He wanted to resist, but he was powerless to do so. He had used up all his energy in his battle against Yang Kai and the hourglass had been taken away from him. Even a Dao Source Realm Master would be capable of defeating him with ease now, not to mention that the one beating him was Yang Xiao.
Although Yang Xiao acted ferociously, he made sure not to kill Wind Lord directly, which was why the latter wasn’t at risk of losing his life despite the fact that he was completely battered.
After Yang Xiao finished beating Wind Lord up like a thug, he turned around and sported a solemn expression before cupping his fists at Yang Kai, “Greetings, Adoptive Father. Xiao’er cannot express his joy at seeing you again in this palace.”
A gratified Yang Kai nodded repeatedly, “En, good son. Come over and let me have a proper look at you.”
Yang Xiao batted his eyes and replied hesitantly, “Yes…”
He then slowly shuffled towards Yang Kai.
Following that, he bowed and said, “Adoptive Father, just tell me what you want me to do. Xiao’er is a man now so he will do his utmost to be of assistance.”
Yang Kai examined him and nodded his head repeatedly with a gratified expression, “Good, good. Both of you have grown up splendidly. I am glad you are both well.”
Although he was certain that it was a great opportunity for these two children to have entered the Flowing Time Temple, Yang Kai was still worried because Flowing Time Great Emperor’s inheritance was involved. Seeing that they had grown up to be fine young adults, he could finally put down his worries.
Yang Kai could also cast away the worries of the two Elders from the Dragon Clan and his own parents.
Upon hearing Yang Kai’s caring words, Yang Xiao felt his eyes reddening as he was moved. In a loving voice, he called out, “Father…”
Although he was a member of the Dragon Clan, he was actually hatched by Yang Kai. After that, he also left Dragon Island with him. Compared to his own parents, he found himself closer to Yang Kai.
Leaning against the wall, Yang Kai beckoned to him and said in a weakened voice, “Come closer.”
Yang Xiao took a few steps forward and leaned closer to Yang Kai. While he was unsuspecting, Yang Kai directly landed a fist on his head, which prompted him to cover his head and stagger backward. With an aggrieved expression, he asked, “Adoptive Father, why did you hit me?”
Yang Kai snorted, “Why do you think?”
Yang Xiao darted his gaze around and grinned, “En, Adoptive Father must be thinking that my cultivation is not good enough, so you decided to encourage me to work harder! Don’t worry, Xiao’er will remember Adoptive Father’s teachings and will strive to not disappoint you!”
Certainly, Yang Xiao knew why Yang Kai had hit him. Before he showed up, he had cursed at the people in the hall, so even though he didn’t mean to, he had also cursed Yang Kai. It was unforgivable for a son to curse his father. That was why right after he showed up, he went over to deal with Wind Lord and why he was hesitant when Yang Kai told him to come over. It was also the reason Yang Kai had hit him.
Given the state Yang Kai was in, there should have been no way he could hit Yang Xiao. It was just that Yang Xiao didn’t dodge it. The punch basically served as a lesson for Yang Xiao and the matter was thus over. Certainly, he understood that.
After taking the punch, Yang Xiao put on a smirk as he had set his mind at ease. Then, he asked, “Adoptive Father, how did you come in? Old Qiong said that no one else could come in besides him. He’s so unreliable! By the way, who is that guy over there? He seems powerful but he had only spat some blood after he was beaten up. His cultivation and figure…”
“Shut up!” Yang Xue shot him a glare.
Yang Xiao immediately shut his mouth and did a zipping gesture as though he had stitched up his mouth using an invisible force.
“Big Brother, I’ll heal you now.” Yang Xue supported his weight and made him sit up before brushing away the tears on her face. After she was interrupted by Yang Xiao, she stopped crying, but her eyes had still become swollen.
Yang Kai waved his hand with a smile, “I’m fine. You don’t have to help me.”
The damage he had suffered was no ordinary injury. His life had been drained away, so ordinary methods would be of no use to him. If he wanted to live longer, he had to save himself by achieving a breakthrough in his cultivation. Only by doing so could he hope to lengthen his life.
He could also look for some treasures that could extend his life. Given High Heaven Palace’s power, it wouldn’t be so difficult to collect such items, but there was a limit as to how many years could be added to his life using those treasures. Now, all Yang Kai could hope for was to try to break through to the Pseudo-Great Emperor Realm during his limited lifetime.
Yang Xue, however, shook her head and declared, “Big Brother, don’t worry. I can heal you.”
Yang Kai was stunned, but seeing the look of confidence on her face, he didn’t have the heart to turn her down. So, he simply nodded, “Good. Show Big Brother what you’ve cultivated in the past five hundred years.”
Yang Xue flashed a smile at him and declared, “I won’t disappoint you.”
After she finished speaking, she sat down with her legs crossed in front of Yang Kai and held the hourglass in her left palm. Then, she performed different hand seals with her right hand as her Emperor Qi surged.
Yang Kai arched his brow, “You’re already a First-Order Emperor!?”
It took Yang Xue five hundred years to reach the First-Order Emperor Realm, which while it couldn’t be considered the fastest as Yang Kai had reached the same realm much quicker, it was already much better compared to most Emperor Realm Masters.
The next moment, Yang Kai’s expression was transformed by shock as Yang Xue exuded a very familiar Principle Strength. Under the influence of this Principle Strength, his perception became blurred again.
“Time Principles?” Yang Kai widened his eyes in disbelief.
He wouldn’t have been so surprised if it was Yang Xiao who exuded this Principle Strength as in the past, Yang Xiao had showcased an innate talent for Time Principles, which was why Qiong Qi took the initiative to bring him to enter the Four Seasons Realm so that Yang Xiao could receive Flowing Time Great Emperor’s inheritance.
However, Yang Kai was shocked that Yang Xue had also cultivated Time Principles. Moreover, it appeared that her mastery of Time Principles was outstanding!
Not just anyone could cultivate Time Principles as it was even more esoteric than Space Principles. In a sense, it was actually more difficult to cultivate Time Principles than Space Principles. Yang Xiao had some kind of bloodline talent for Time Principles, but why was Yang Xue also able to cultivate them as well? Whatever the reason, both of them had taken advantage of their own opportunities in this palace over the past five hundred years. This was something others couldn’t even ask for or be envious of.
Yang Kai felt a little lost in his heart, not because the little girl had turned into a woman and her cultivation had become powerful, but because he realised that he really hadn’t taken care of his Little Sister and protected her as a Big Brother should. When Yang Xue was still a child, he hadn’t even spent a lot of time by her side.
In the blink of an eye, not only had she grown up to be a mature young lady, but she was also able to heal him and support him now.
When Yang Xiao appeared and took the Infinite Hourglass away from Wind Lord, the connection between Yang Kai and the Great Emperor’s Legacy Artifact had been cut off; however, when Yang Xue performed her set of hand seals, he was reconnected to the hourglass.
The connection couldn’t be seen or touched, but it could be clearly felt. It was as though his life now was tied to the hourglass.
Yang Xue didn’t turn the hourglass upside down like how Wind Lord did though; instead, she only pointed two fingers at the item. In an instant, the ten thousand and eight grains of Flowing Time Divine Sand inside the hourglass trembled before breaking through the container’s barrier and changing into a stream that swirled above Yang Kai’s head.
Seeing this, Yang Kai was dumbfounded. What was happening suggested that Yang Xue was able to activate the power of this Great Emperor Legacy Artifact, but he couldn’t detect any traces that she had refined this hourglass before. How had she managed to achieve this?
Moreover, the hourglass had been in Wind Lord’s hands and he had to spend a hundred years refining it before he could even partially activate it. On the other hand, it seemed that Yang Xue had a significant advantage over Wind Lord in this regard.
After swirling around three times, the sand streamed into Yang Kai’s body through his head, as though it was intangible.
Yang Kai shuddered, and following that, he was over the Moon because when the ten thousand and eight grains of Flowing Time Divine Sand rushed into his head, he could feel that his lost lifespan was returning to him in a rapid manner.
Lifting his hand, he saw that firmness had been restored to his skin and his physique began filling out as well, and this was just the transformation he could see with his bare eyes. Within his body, he realised that he had regained his strength and all his organs became vibrant again.
At that instant, he couldn’t help but start laughing heartily. He had used up all his energy and almost set off on the road to the Yellow Springs together with Wind Lord. At that time, he didn’t worry too much as he just thought that he mustn’t let Wind Lord bring the hourglass out of the palace. He wouldn’t mind it even if he had to lose his life to achieve this goal.
However, after the dust settled, Yang Kai naturally started feeling terrified. It wasn’t that he was afraid of death per se, but if he passed away, what would happen to the Sealed World Bead? How would they continue devouring the Demon Realm? What about the trillions of lives in the Star Boundary? He was also worried about his friends and family.
That was the reason he was terrified. Now that he was able to get back his life through the Flowing Time Divine Sand, he didn’t have to worry that his time was up in this world anymore.
With the return of his lifespan, Yang Kai’s injuries seemed to heal as well and soon he ceased looking like he was about to die. On the contrary, he appeared quite energetic.
Yang Xue appeared diligent as a layer of sweat had formed on her brow. It was apparent that using this technique cost her quite some energy. One hour later, her figure started trembling slightly and her face had turned pale. Following that, she used a different set of hand seals and at that instant, Yang Kai felt extremely itchy, as very fine particles began streaming out of his body. Upon closer inspection, he realised that it was the Flowing Time Divine Sand.
Following Yang Xue’s guidance, all ten thousand and eight grains of Flowing Time Divine Sand returned to the hourglass. She let out a breath and waved her hand, after which a mirror appeared in front of Yang Kai and reflected his current appearance. As she giggled, she asked, “Big Brother, are you happy with how you look now?”
Yang Kai stared at the mirror and examined himself carefully. There were some changes to his face, but they were negligible, as if he was just five or six years older than before. Nevertheless, his hair was slightly grey, which made him look more mature than he was.
Yang Xue said after a sigh, “This is the best I can do for now. After Xiao’er and I fully refine the hourglass, we’ll help you recover all your lost life.”
“This is good enough,” Yang Kai said, satisfied with the result. He was about to die of old age just now, but his vitality had been almost fully restored, so he was more than happy. At the same time, he was shocked by Yang Xue’s capabilities. Nevertheless, he knew that it must be the power of the hourglass rather than her own capabilities. The power of the Great Emperor’s Legacy Artifact was indeed inscrutable. Wind Lord had probably only activated a tiny fraction of its true power.
Then, he asked, “How many years of my life are still missing?”
Yang Xue’s eyes turned moist again when she heard that, and then she replied gently, “A few hundred years.”
She appeared to be deep in self-blame. If she worked harder in the past, she could have gotten back all of her Big Brother’s stolen life just now. Unfortunately, she still wasn’t strong enough and hadn’t fully refined the hourglass yet.
Yang Kai, however, guffawed and patted her head, “Just leave it. I’m glad that I’m now older than you by a few hundred years. No Big Brother in this world is younger than his own Younger Sister,” After he finished speaking, he attempted to get to his feet.
“Big Brother, don’t move yet. Let me examine you to see whether you’ve suffered from any hidden injuries.” Yang Xue pressed him down and turned to look at Wind Lord, who was still curled up on the ground. As she narrowed her alluring eyes, a murderous intent flashed across her gaze, “Leave him to Xiao’er and me.”
It was the first time Yang Kai saw his Little Sister becoming so fierce. When she was still a child, even if she was annoyed, she would only pout to pretend that she was angry, which made her look adorable. Now that she had grown up and revealed real murderous intent, it was difficult for Yang Kai to get used to it.
After all, she was his Little Sister, so he still adored her very much. Upon hearing her words though, he replied with a smile, “En. But don’t kill him. I still need him alive.”
Yang Xue turned around and flashed a smile at him, “Don’t worry. As long as I want him to live, he won’t die even if he wants to.”
She then looked up at Yang Xiao.
Yang Xiao said with a grin, “Little Aunt, say no more.”
He balled up his fists and cracked his knuckles before shuffling towards Wind Lord.
Wind Lord felt cold all over his body and his legs had turned to jelly. Although he was in a terrible state already, he was still able to hear. After listening to the conversation between the three people inside the hall, he knew that the young man and young woman were Yang Kai’s allies.
His situation was best described as when it rained, it poured. He had used up all his energy and the Infinite Hourglass had been taken away from him, which stripped him of the palace’s protection. Now that there were two more powerful enemies, there was no way he was able to win.
He was still traumatised from the beating just now, so when he saw Yang Xiao walking over with a wicked smile, he quickly shouted, “You can kill me but not humiliate me! Kill this King so he may advance ahead of you to the Yellow Springs!”
Yang Xiao grinned wickedly and taunted, “Hey, waste, didn’t you hear what Little Aunt just said? If she wants you to live, you won’t be able to die even if you want to.”
Then, he bent over and extended his hand before lifting Wind Lord with ease. On the other hand, Yang Xue didn’t even turn her head as she extended a finger, after which a beam of light shot out of it and hit Wind Lord.
Wind Lord’s expression instinctively changed as he thought that she wanted to kill him, but he soon set his mind at ease. Now that he had fallen into their hands, he would rather die than be shamed.
However, when the beam of light shot into his body, he was shocked. That was because the profound power within the light didn’t harm him; instead, it was actually beneficial to him as he could clearly feel his wounds healing rapidly. The injuries caused by Yang Xiao had been cured and he had regained some energy.
Nevertheless, after several attempts, he still wasn’t able to struggle out of Yang Xiao’s grip. Yang Xiao flashed a smile at him and said, “The good show is about to begin. Enjoy yourself.” After he finished speaking, he raised his hand and hurled Wind Lord to the ground.
As a member of the Dragon Clan, Yang Xiao was born with immense physical strength, and after cultivating in the Flowing Time Temple for five hundred years, he had obtained Flowing Time Great Emperor’s inheritance, so he could already be considered one of the top cultivators in this world. Following his move, a loud thud was heard as Wind Lord’s back came into contact with the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood as his back literally cracked.
Yang Xiao inched forward as his fists turned into illusory phantoms before he began raining down punches on Wind Lord.
He didn’t expend a lot of power, as he only used a bit of his brute force, but that was still able to inflict excruciating pain upon Wind Lord with every blow while not dealing enough damage to kill him outright. Soon, Wind Lord became half-dead and could hardly even breathe.
Fortunately, as a Pseudo-Great Emperor, he was pretty sturdy; otherwise, he would’ve been beaten to death already.
On the other hand, Yang Xiao made sure that Wind Lord remained on the edge of losing his life. If he really killed him, he wouldn’t be able to help his Adoptive Father and Little Aunt vent their anger.
After Yang Xiao stopped, Yang Xue shot out a light from her finger again and infused it into Wind Lord’s body. Just like what had happened earlier, the wounds on Wind Lord’s body healed and he regained some strength again, but rather than feeling happy, he only felt terror.
“Come on!” Yang Xiao bellowed and pounced on him before beating him up again.
Yang Kai was shocked as well. Yang Xue had shot out a light twice and caused such a significant transformation to Wind Lord. Despite his acute vision, he still wasn’t able to see through the secrets behind it. With a frown, he asked, “Is that a Healing Technique?”
Yang Xue kept staring at her Big Brother without blinking her eyes as though she could never watch him enough. Upon hearing his question though, she replied with a smile, “It’s not a Healing Technique, but it has the same effect.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s Time Reversal.” Seeing that Yang Kai was interested to find out more, Yang Xue explained it to him with joy, “In the past, Uncle Qiong Qi wanted to bring Xiao’er to enter the Four Seasons Realm. He said that Xiao’er was gifted and born suited to cultivate the Dao of Time, so he wanted Xiao’er to receive the Great Emperor’s inheritance. At that time, I was still a mischievous child, so I insisted on coming with Xiao’er. Uncle Qiong Qi couldn’t dissuade me, so he finally agreed to it. Big Sister Liu Yan decided to tag along to protect us, which was why she also came to this place.”
After explaining why they were all here, she went on to narrate, “Xiao’er is indeed gifted and the best person to receive the Great Emperor’s inheritance, but he was naughty and impatient. Fortunately, I was around, so I would always play with him. A long time later, I missed our parents and you, so I wanted to go out; however, it was easy to get into the Four Seasons Realm but difficult to leave, so I was trapped here. At that point, Big Sister Liu Yan decided to teach me how to cultivate, so I focused on it and my cultivation gradually improved. One day, Xiao’er and I were talking about our own progress in cultivation, and I realised that what he had cultivated was somehow easy for me to understand. After finding out about it, Uncle Qiong Qi was greatly surprised. After some tests, he realised that I could also cultivate the Great Emperor’s inheritance. Since then, I had started cultivating the Dao of Time with Xiao’er until now; however, the aspects we study are different. Xiao’er focuses on the future while I’m better at controlling the past.”
As she spoke, she lifted a finger and shot a light at Wind Lord, who had just been tortured to the brink of death by Yang Xiao. Upon receiving the light, his injuries had been healed again. With a grin, Yang Xue said, “Just like that. In a way, I can turn back the hands of time. His current condition is just like after he finished battling against Big Brother earlier.”
The studies of the past and the future were also the studies of the Dao of Time. Flowing Time Great Emperor’s inheritance had apparently been divided into two parts. Yang Xiao and Yang Xue had comprehended each of the two parts and they had excelled in their respective fields, so they could be considered Flowing Time Great Emperor’s Inheritance Disciples.
It was because Yang Xue had cultivated the power of the past that she was able to reverse time to a certain extent, just like what she had done to both Wind Lord and Yang Kai.
Making use of the Infinite Hourglass’s power, she was able to help Yang Kai get back the life he had lost, which was a kind of time reversal as well.
It was also thanks to the hourglass that she was able to restore Wind Lord’s condition to a certain point in the past.
Seeing that Yang Kai was stunned, Yang Xue burst into laughter and said, “Although it’s a powerful technique, there are many limitations. Given my strength, I’m still not able to bring the dead back to life. I also can’t heal wounds that are too severe.”
She seemed to have seen through Yang Kai’s thoughts, which was why she explained it to him.
It was then Yang Kai who nodded his head. When he heard that she was able to reverse time, the first idea that sprang into his mind was resurrection. If Time Principles were so powerful, she would be able to use Time Reversal and resurrect anyone who happened to lose their life in front of her. In that case, this kind of power would be invaluable.
However, after hearing Yang Xue’s explanation, Yang Kai realised that it was nothing more than a pipe dream. If Time Principles were so Heaven-defying, Flowing Time Great Emperor wouldn’t have passed away. As someone who had mastered Time Principles, he should have been able to live as long as the Heavens.
Although cultivation was Heaven-defying in and of itself, cultivators still had to live within the will of the Heavens. It was beyond a cultivator’s capabilities to interfere in matters regarding life and death.
Yang Xue went on to explain, “It’s because Xiao’er and I have cultivated the Great Emperor’s inheritance that we’re able to control this thing.” She pointed at the hourglass in her hand.
When Yang Xiao appeared just now, he was able to take the hourglass away from Wind Lord with ease. On the other hand, there were no signs that Yang Xue had refined the hourglass, but she was able to activate the power within it. Everything had to do with the fact that they had cultivated in this place for a few hundred years.
They had cultivated Flowing Time Great Emperor’s orthodoxical inheritance, and the Infinite Hourglass was the Great Emperor’s Legacy Artifact, which was left here for his inheritors. That was the reason they were able to use it with ease. Wind Lord was completely no match for them in this regard despite the fact that he had refined the hourglass here for a hundred years.
Speaking of the hourglass, Yang Xue appeared quite guilty, “Xiao’er and I have always known that this thing was in the palace; however, in the past, Uncle Qiong Qi told us that we should only take the treasure after we achieved some success in our cultivation. I never expected that it would make Big Brother suffer one day.”
“This isn’t your fault. It was just my fate,” Yang Kai waved his hand. Earlier, he still blamed Qiong Qi for leaving the Great Emperor’s Legacy Artifact there, which allowed someone else to snatch it. He had also suffered a setback because of this artifact, but looking back, he realised that Qiong Qi’s actions were proper. The Infinite Hourglass was Flowing Time Great Emperor’s Legacy Artifact, and although it was meant for his inheritors, it would be terrible for the cultivation process of Yang Xiao and Yang Xue if they had obtained it too soon. Only by solidifying their foundations could they obtain the treasure and use it with ease. If they got this hallowed treasure when their cultivation was still weak, they could lose themselves to the treasure’s power or become over-reliant on it, which would negatively affect their growth.
With a frown, Yang Xue turned to look at Wind Lord, who was being beaten up by Yang Xiao yet again, and she asked in puzzlement, “Big Brother, do you know how that person got into the palace and refined this hourglass?”
Supposedly, the Flowing Time Temple had been sealed off. Unless they opened the door from inside, no one should be able to enter this place. However, not only had someone barged into the palace, but he had also taken the Infinite Hourglass away and refined it, which greatly confounded Yang Xue.
The situation wouldn’t have become so complicated if Wind Lord had only used the hourglass on its own, but in the last moments of Wind Lord’s battle against Yang Kai, he had also used the hourglass to activate the power of the palace to protect himself. After Zhui Feng rammed into the light screen, the entire palace was affected, which shocked Yang Xiao and Yang Xue, who were cultivating at that time; otherwise, they wouldn’t have found out that so much had been going on in the palace.
It was also thanks to what Wind Lord had done that caused the turn of events. Otherwise, Yang Kai could only hide inside the Small Sealed World and struggle on while at death’s door.
After a sigh, Yang Kai briefly told her about how he came across Wind Lord and Demon Heavenly Dao. He also emphasised the existence of Flowing Time Great Emperor’s rib bone.
Hearing this story, Yang Xue knitted her brows and raised her hand before she grabbed something from the Void.
Following that, a gigantic figure appeared before them. It was a hideous giant beast with a horrifying aura. He was none other than Qiong Qi! However, just like when Yang Kai saw him earlier, he was still in a deep slumber as his loud snoring seemed able to shake the world.
Yang Xue explained, “When Xiao’er and I cultivate the Dao of Time, the palace becomes affected. Sometimes, space and time become a mess. That’s why Uncle Qiong Qi told us to use a seal on both Big Sister Liu Yan and himself so that they would stop perceiving the passing of time.”
The two young kids had cultivated in this place for a few hundred years, so Qiong Qi and Liu Yan naturally became bored as they had nothing to do. The seal would make them fall asleep for up to a thousand years, which was better than just waiting around. That was the reason Yang Kai wasn’t able to wake up Liu Yan and Qiong Qi earlier.
Yang Xue extended her delicate finger and pointed at Qiong Qi’s head before yelling, “Release!”
Following that, she exerted more force with her finger and a snapping sound was heard. She retracted her hand and waited. A few breaths later, Qiong Qi stopped snoring as his eyelids twitched. A moment later, he slowly opened his eyes.
In an instant, his ferocious aura swept across the hall.
Having just awakened from several hundred years of sleep, he was still in a groggy state, but after his vision focused, he saw Yang Xue and Yang Kai, then was startled for a moment. At that instant, his gigantic figure contorted and turned into a savage old man with a wrinkly face.
Anyone who didn’t know him would think that he must be a horrendous criminal. They would also not be wrong since Qiong Qi wasn’t a kind-hearted individual in the first place. He was an ancient ominous beast, and his foul temper and violent tendencies were not mere rumours.
“Greetings, Young Master. Why are you here?” Despite his ferocious face, he spoke quite politely.
Yang Kai replied with a smile, “You can stop calling me Young Master…”
When Qiong Qi was hunted down by Li Wu Yi and Jiu Feng from Spirit Beast Island, he happened to come across Yang Kai just outside Heavenly Wolf Valley in the Eastern Territory. He wanted to make use of Yang Kai to get himself out of trouble, so he persuaded Yang Kai to be his Young Master. One of the reasons was that he wanted to seek his protection, but it was also because Yang Kai had cultivated Time Flies Seal.
However, now it seemed that Qiong Qi should stop addressing Yang Kai in such a manner; after all, it was Yang Xiao and Yang Xue who had received Flowing Time Great Emperor’s inheritance, not him.
Qiong Qi understood that as well, so he fell silent for a moment before asking again, “Master, why are you here?”
Upon hearing that Qiong Qi had called him ‘Master’ instead, Yang Kai was rendered speechless. After some deliberation though, he realised that Qiong Qi wasn’t wrong. Flowing Time Great Emperor was Qiong Qi’s Old Master, and now that Yang Xiao and Yang Xue had become the Great Emperor’s disciples, they were Qiong Qi’s Young Master and Young Lady. Since Yang Kai was Yang Xiao’s Adoptive Father as well as Yang Xue’s Big Brother, it was perfectly reasonable for Qiong Qi to call Yang Kai ‘Master’.
Not wanting to dwell on this issue, Yang Kai said, “Xue’er will tell you all about it.”
Although most of his lifespan had returned to him, Yang Kai was still lethargic after fighting such an intense battle. It would take him ten days to half a month before he would recover completely.
Understanding her Big Brother’s condition, Yang Xue decided to narrate what had happened to Qiong Qi.
Basically, a person called Wind Lord possessed Flowing Time Great Emperor’s rib bone and arranged an array before he made use of that rib bone’s power to summon forth the Flowing Time Temple. After his array was destroyed by Yang Kai, he sacrificed part of the rib bone to break through the World Barrier and sneak into the palace. Upon arrival here, Wind Lord managed to obtain the Infinite Hourglass. After listening to this story, Qiong Qi furrowed his brow.
The incident wasn’t complicated, so Yang Xue was able to explain it in just a short moment. Yang Kai would fill in the details if there was anything unclear.
After that, Yang Xue asked, “Uncle Qiong Qi, I would like to know why some of our Honoured Master’s remains are still in the outside world. Where is his tomb?”
Everyone knew that Flowing Time Great Emperor had passed away a long time ago and they thought that the Flowing Time Temple was his final resting place; however, only Qiong Qi, Yang Xiao, and Yang Xue knew that his tomb wasn’t in the palace. There was only the Great Emperor’s inheritance here.
As one of the Great Emperor’s Inheritance Disciples, Yang Xue had the responsibility to investigate such issues. At the very least, she and Yang Xiao had to pay homage to the Great Emperor.
Hearing her question, Qiong Qi paused for a moment before slowly shaking his head, “Old Master has no tomb.”
Yang Kai frowned, “What do you mean?”
Yang Xue also looked inquisitively at him. If there was no tomb, how did Wind Lord manage to obtain the Great Emperor’s rib bone? It wasn’t like he could just pick it up randomly.
Qiong Qi explained solemnly, “This old man shouldn’t be telling you all this so soon, but things have reached a stage where it’s pointless to hide it from you anymore.”
He paused for a moment, “In the past, Old Master was a genius who managed to master the Dao of Time. It only took a thousand years to comprehend the Grand Dao, which allowed him to obtain approval of the World’s Will and become a Great Emperor. When he was alive, he was famous and practically peerless, which was why he was also lonely. He had focused his entire life on cultivation, so he didn’t marry or beget a child. For the following several thousand years, he secluded himself in the Flowing Time Temple until one day, he suddenly came out of his cultivation room and told me that he touched upon some mysterious Principles from the Outer Universe. So, he decided to explore the outside world and told me to watch over the palace until he returned. Certainly, I would obey his order, so I stayed in the palace for the following years.”
At this point, Qiong Qi furrowed his brow and there was a sense of fear behind his fierce-looking gaze, which caused Yang Xue and Yang Kai to be astounded.
Qiong Qi was an ancient ominous beast who had accompanied Flowing Time Great Emperor for countless years, so there shouldn’t be anything in this world that could scare him. Even if he was faced with another Great Emperor, he wouldn’t have sported this kind of expression.
However, the truth was that there was indeed a tinge of horror behind his gaze and his voice was slightly shaking as he continued, “Several hundred years later, the Infinite Hourglass broke through the Void and returned to the palace. A tiny piece of Old Master’s Divine Sense was left in the hourglass, which was very vague, but the message within it was clear. It was dangerous in the Outer Universe and the Great Emperor had lost his life!”
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai felt his entire body freeze all over and he had goosebumps on every part of his skin.
Throughout history, there were not many Great Emperors in total. Due to the limited capacity of this world, there would never be more than ten Great Emperors at any one time.
Despite that, the number of Great Emperors that had ever existed couldn’t be considered small; after all, the Star Boundary had been in existence for countless years. As one era fell, another would rise. There would always be new Great Emperors replacing the old ones.
Although there had been many generations of Great Emperors, there were two who stood out amongst them all as their powers far exceeded all others. One of them was Heaven Devouring Great Emperor, Wu Kuang, who had single-handedly killed four other Great Emperors in the Great Emperors War in the Shattered Star Sea. The other one was Flowing Time Great Emperor, who had mastered the Dao of Time.
Wu Kuang was still alive as his Soul had occupied half of Duan Hong Chen’s body, with both Souls currently inhabiting the same body. Presently, nobody knew where Wu Kuang was. On the other hand, Flowing Time Great Emperor had passed away a long time ago.
In fact, Flowing Time Great Emperor had comprehended the Grand Dao far before Wu Kuang ever did. There had been speculation among the people in the Star Boundary that if Flowing Time Great Emperor and Heaven Devouring Great Emperor lived in the same era, a great struggle would have broken out between the two to see who would emerge supreme.
However, it now seemed like Flowing Time Great Emperor comprehended some kind of mystery of the Outer Universe when he was cultivating in seclusion, so he decided to set off to explore the universe on his own. Unfortunately, a few hundred years later, he passed away and only his Legacy Artifact, the Infinite Hourglass, returned to the Flowing Time Temple.
How dangerous must the Outer Universe be that even Flowing Time Great Emperor was unable to traverse it safely?
There were countless worlds in this vast universe. Both the Star Boundary and the Demon Realm were independent worlds, but where did Flowing Time Great Emperor go while he explored the universe? What happened to him? No one knew anything about it, not even Qiong Qi.
After the hourglass returned, Qiong Qi was extremely mournful. He wanted to seek revenge for the Great Emperor, but he didn’t even know who or where the enemies were, so how could he do that? Left with no choice, he could only stay in the Flowing Time Temple and wait for the right person to receive the Great Emperor’s inheritance so that he could fulfil what he had promised the Great Emperor before the latter embarked on his journey.
At this point, Qiong Qi appeared quite guilt-ridden.
Yang Kai stared at him with narrowed eyes, “Old Qiong, that wasn’t very honourable of you!”
Yang Xue was intelligent, so she knew why Qiong Qi felt guilty and understood the meaning behind Yang Kai’s words. Since they had received Flowing Time Great Emperor’s inheritance and became his Inheritance Disciples, they were now duty bound to seek revenge for their Honoured Master. That was the reason Yang Kai was displeased with Qiong Qi.
With a smile, however, Yang Xue commented, “This is still an opportunity for Xiao’er and me. We were fortunate enough to have received our Honoured Master’s inheritance, so this is the least we should do for him. Big Brother, please don’t blame Old Qiong.”
Yang Kai frowned, but he soon realised something. Flowing Time Great Emperor had lost his life in the Outer Universe, and although Yang Xue and Yang Xiao had obtained the Great Emperor’s inheritance, it would take them many years to reach a level of cultivation that would allow them to even think of seeking revenge for the Great Emperor. At the very least, they had to be powerful enough to leave the Star Boundary like Flowing Time Great Emperor first.
No one knew when that would happen, so it was pointless to harp on this issue now.
“What happened next?” Yang Xue turned to Qiong Qi.
Qiong Qi shook his head, “There’s no next. I thought that Old Master had passed away in the Outer Universe. After the hourglass returned, I left the temple to gather some information, but to no avail. Now, it seems that Old Master’s remains had also returned to the Star Boundary at that time, but I hadn’t managed to find out about it.”
If that wasn’t the case, how could Wind Lord have obtained a bone from Flowing Time Great Emperor’s body?
Then, Qiong Qi turned to look at Wind Lord. Yang Xue looked in the same direction and realised that they had to pry the information about the Great Emperor’s remains out of this man.
Even while they were having a chat just now, Yang Xue did not forget to reverse time for Wind Lord from time to time to ensure that he wouldn’t die of his injuries.
It was torture truly worse than death for Wind Lord. Although Yang Xiao hadn’t used all his strength, he made sure that he would beat Wind Lord until his life had all but left him. Only at the precipice of death would the young woman shoot out a beam of light from her finger and use that invisible force to drag him back from death’s embrace, and then he would be assaulted by Yang Xiao again.
It had been a long time since Wind Lord started cultivating, but he had never even imagined such a cruel method of torturing someone. He was literally being forced to wander back and forth across the gates of death. The kind of terror this imprinted in his soul soon consumed his mind, as he was denied the right to beg for life or death. Although he was a Pseudo-Great Emperor, he was unable to hold his ground any longer. At this moment, he was trembling violently like a quail in the winter, his gaze filled with terror as he looked at Yang Xiao.
Certainly, Yang Xiao heard what the others had talked about, so he grabbed Wind Lord’s collar and pulled him towards himself before glaring at him, “You will answer all of this Young Master’s questions. If you dare to lie, I will cut open your chest, pull out your organs and soak them in acid until they melt before feeding them to you one by one. You’ve seen what my Little Aunt is capable of doing. Trust me. Even if we dig out your five viscera and six organs, only to make you choke them down again, she can ensure you relive the experience every day for the next ten thousand years.”
Wind Lord’s face was all swollen and his entire body was covered in shoe prints, but when Yang Xiao spoke, he couldn’t help but imagine himself being force-fed his own innards over and over again for all eternity. After a shudder, he quickly nodded his head in a weak manner.
So what if he was a Pseudo-Great Emperor? In the face of such an unbearable torment, he was no different from an ordinary mortal as his psychological defences had crumbled.
“Where did you get that rib bone?” Yang Xiao got straight to the point.
Wind Lord parted his lips and said the answer, and despite his hoarse voice, everyone in the hall was able to hear it clearly.
East Sea!
The East Sea was vast and there were many normal and spirit islands dotted around. The most famous ones were certainly Dragon Island and Spirit Beast Island, but that didn’t mean there were no other spirit islands and Sects on the East Sea. On the contrary, a great many Sects existed on the ocean.
Three hundred thousand kilometres away from Spirit Beast Island sat Free Spirit Island, on which Free Spirit Sect was located. It was a small Sect with only two hundred to three hundred people in total.
There were innumerable Sects of such a scale on the East Sea. It hadn’t been a long time since Free Spirit Sect had been founded, only about a thousand years; however, since it was located in the open sea, there were a lot of natural resources around which allowed it to thrive.
But one day they had fallen into a crisis, and the Sect was destroyed.
Wind Lord was a disciple from Free Spirit Sect. He was born on the open sea, and a Free Spirit Island Elder took a liking to him and accepted him as a disciple. However, Wind Lord’s aptitude was considered average at best, so there were plenty of Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters who joined the Sect later than he did and quickly surpassed him in terms of cultivation. The other Elders didn’t have high hopes for him, so they just let him do as he pleased.
He led a carefree life, and besides doing some occasional missions for the Sect, he spent most of his youth playing. He was a fan of diving, and he was pretty good at swimming. Before he started cultivating, he was able to stay in the water for an hour and reach thirty metres below the surface, so after he started cultivating, he was able to reach a thousand metres below the surface.
When he was diving one day, he found Flowing Time Great Emperor’s rib bone at the bottom of the sea. At that time, he didn’t think it was something important, but he soon realised it was no ordinary bone.
He decided to keep the bone, not telling the others in the Sect about it. When he was free, he would fiddle with the bone. For some reason, since he obtained the bone, his cultivation had started improving rapidly and he was able to reach higher realms quickly.
However, no one found out about it as he hid well. Even the Elder who took him in to be a disciple wasn’t aware of this change. Although Wind Lord didn’t understand the reason, he knew that the transformation he had gone through must have something to do with the bone, which was why he increasingly treasured it.
Soon, his cultivation surpassed all others in the Sect. It wouldn’t have mattered if that was all that had happened, but at some point, something happened that drove him mad. Consumed by some kind of Heart Demon, Wind Lord became fully demonified and killed everyone in his Sect. After coming to his senses sometime later and realizing what kind of crime he had committed, he didn’t dare to remain. Thus, he fled the East Sea and went into hiding.
That was when he met Night Shadow Great Emperor. That man allowed him to enter his Sect. With the Great Emperor’s rib bone, his cultivation increased further till he reached his current level.
After that, the Demons invaded the Star Boundary and Demon Heavenly Dao rose to prominence. Naturally, Wind Lord sided with them and even became one of its Four Great Lords, after which, he became a famous figure in the Star Boundary.
Over the years, he had been fiddling with the Great Emperor’s rib bone. As a Pseudo-Great Emperor, he certainly understood that the bone was extraordinary, and as he felt a sense of gratitude towards his Master, he decided to present the bone to Night Shadow Great Emperor, Can Ye.
As an experienced person, Can Ye was able to figure out the bone’s background at first glance. He knew that he was no match for Flowing Time Great Emperor when it came to fame and power, so he was naturally interested in the latter’s legacy.
Previously, Can Ye had to keep watch on the Two Worlds’ Passage, so he couldn’t go off on his own. After Yang Kai returned to the Star Boundary and sealed the passage, the Demons fell into deep trouble, and Can Ye was even more unable to leave; thus, he tasked Wind Lord to go to the Flowing Time Temple.
Wind Lord had been carrying out his plan in secret, but Yang Kai happened to come across this incident and destroy the Spirit Array he was using, after which the palace disappeared into the Four Seasons Realm. Left with no other choice, Wind Lord decided to dive into the palace and refine the Infinite Hourglass so that he could make use of it to control the temple.
After that, he fell into an intense battle with Yang Kai. Up until this point, he still couldn’t figure out how a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master was able to go against him, which led both of them to be severely injured. In the end, two freaks like Yang Xiao and Yang Xue, as well as Qiong Qi had come to Yang Kai’s rescue.
Wind Lord felt that he was probably the unluckiest person in the world. He would die with untold grievances if he were to lose his life now.
After hearing the story behind it, Qiong Qi asked with a frown, “There was only a single rib bone?”
Wind Lord replied lethargically, “That’s right.”
At this point, Wind Lord probably wouldn’t lie to them. Since he said that there was only one, it must be the truth.
“Have you revisited the place over the years?”
“I have.” Wind Lord spoke between coughing up blood, as though he was about to lose his life at any moment, “Since I found the Great Emperor’s rib bone there, I would definitely revisit the place to conduct a proper search. But I never discovered anything else.”
“Do you remember where the place is?” Yang Xue asked.
Wind Lord nodded gently.
“Lead the way for us.” Yang Xue stared at him. This was an important issue, so she and Yang Xiao had to personally go over to have a look. Wind Lord was unable to find other remains, but that didn’t mean that she and Yang Xiao couldn’t; after all, they had received the Great Emperor’s inheritance, so they had a connection with their Honoured Master now. If there were other remains at the bottom of the sea, they would certainly detect them as long as they were within a certain range.
With his life or death hinging upon their whims, Wind Lord had no choice but to agree.
Yang Xue turned to look at Yang Kai and said with a smile, “Big Brother, please wait for me here for ten years. We’ll leave this place together after that.”
Yang Kai lifted his hand and stroked her head, “En, I’ll wait for you all.”
Ten years would be a long time in the outside world to wait, but they were now in the Flowing Time Temple where Time Principles fluctuated wildly, so ten years in this place were probably just a short moment in the outside world.
Yang Kai could take advantage of this opportunity to study a Secret Technique.
While Wind Lord was gasping for breath, Yang Kai put him inside the Small Sealed World. Although Wind Lord was a Pseudo-Great Emperor, he had to be submissive when inside the Small Sealed World. Moreover, he was still severely injured, so he couldn’t stir up any trouble even if he wanted to.
Yang Xiao and Yang Xue returned to their own place to cultivate. She wanted Yang Kai to wait for her for ten years, but she didn’t specify what she was going to do as she attempted to remain mysterious. Apparently, something good would soon happen.
Before she left, she woke Liu Yan up. Yang Kai and Liu Yan were technically Master and Servant, so they were overjoyed after they were reunited.
Inside the hall, Yang Kai told Liu Yan and Qiong Qi about what had happened to the Star Boundary in recent years. When all four of them entered the Four Seasons Realm in the past, the Demons still hadn’t invaded the Star Boundary, so they had no idea what had been going on in the outside world. Upon learning the current situation in the Star Boundary, Liu Yan and Qiong Qi were astonished.
This came as a surprise to them as they thought that they had just had a good sleep in the Flowing Time Temple, but they had never expected that the entire Star Boundary had descended into chaos.
Certainly, Qiong Qi would have to assist Yang Xiao and Yang Xue in the future, so he had to understand the current affairs in the Star Boundary so that they wouldn’t be befuddled when they eventually left this place.
The chat only lasted for a while.
A few days later, Yang Kai found a cultivation room and entered a retreat.
When he was in the Demon Realm in the past, he made use of the Sealed World Bead to devour the separate continents; however, as he gobbled up more continents, problems also came knocking on the door. The World Principles in the third region of the Sealed World Bead slowly grew stronger and were now showing signs of assimilating the second region. The fundamental reason was that the World Principles in the second region were weaker, so it was unable to resist the third region’s invasion.
Just like how water would always flow to a lower position, the more abundant World Principles in the third region started streaming towards the second region.
The second region was made up of the Cultivation Stars that Yang Kai had devoured in a Lower Star Field. Presently, countless people from those Cultivation Stars were living together in the second region. If Yang Kai allowed the third region to assimilate the second, the people living there would swiftly become demonified. This would not be like that of the people from Demon Heavenly Dao as these people were much weaker. Once they were invaded by Demon Qi, they would become living dead with no consciousness.
With the number of Cultivation Stars Gun-Gun took in, billions upon billions of innocent people would be affected.
Yang Kai had to swallow the rest of the Demon Realm if he wanted to end the war, but he also couldn’t turn a blind eye to the plight of those people from the Cultivation Stars he devoured. Otherwise, he would be no different from a mass murderer. If that really happened, he would never be at ease for the rest of his life.
Since he was unable to go on swallowing up the Demon Realm, he returned to the Star Boundary with Yu Ru Meng and the others. If the issue wasn’t settled, his plan of devouring the rest of the Demon Realm couldn’t be continued.
In fact, it wasn’t so difficult to solve the problem. Since the problem lay with those people, he just had to move them out of the Small Sealed World.
Yang Kai was the Star Field Master of Heng Luo Star Field, and there were many Cultivation Stars in the Star Field that were suitable for living and cultivating. He just had to bring those people back to Heng Luo Star Field and help them settle down on those Cultivation Stars.
This was the simplest solution, but it was also the hardest to carry out. There were indeed many Cultivation Stars in the Lower Star Field, but every Cultivation Star had its own established system already. If a massive number of foreigners suddenly arrived in one place, it would undoubtedly cause upheaval. Take a city with a hundred thousand residents as an example. Although there would surely be some conflicts from time to time, the people were still able to live and work together in relative harmony. However, if twenty thousand outsiders joined the city all of a sudden, everything would descend into chaos.
It would be best if he could find an uninhabited Cultivation Star, but that was practically impossible because all the Cultivation Stars in the Star Field had been discovered and occupied.
Therefore, Yang Kai decided to do it in another way. He wanted to separate the second region from the Small Sealed World and make it a world on its own. By doing so, he could prevent it from being consumed by the third region.
Since the second region was formed after the Sealed World Bead ate several Cultivation Stars, logically it could also be separated. However, it was difficult for Yang Kai to achieve this. Separating an independent world from the bead was akin to creating a new world.
This was even harder to achieve than creating another Floating Mountain like how Li Wu Yi had done. However, if Yang Kai succeeded, it would be beneficial for his cultivation in the Dao of Space, possibly even allowing him to achieve a transformational breakthrough in it.
Despite the difficulty, there were great benefits to be reaped, which was why Yang Kai was in favour of this option. Furthermore, even if he failed, he could still transfer those people to different Cultivation Stars. He would just have to visit more Cultivation Stars and place fewer people in each of them.
Li Wu Yi had refined a new world before. The Floating Mountain was his work. In a way, what Yang Kai wanted to do was the same as forging a new Floating Mountain.
Floating Mountain was originally part of the Star Boundary; Li Wu Yi had then separated it from the Star Boundary and made it a world of its own. The second region was from the Small Sealed World, so it stood to reason that Yang Kai could also pull it out and make it independent.
He could learn from Li Wu Yi’s experience; however, the Floating Mountain was no longer with him because he had given it to Star Soul Palace to make the World Pagoda complete again. Fortunately, besides the mountain itself, Li Wu Yi had also given Yang Kai a jade slip.
The jade slip contained Li Wu Yi’s insights on creating a new world. It could be said to be the essence of his understanding of the Dao of Space. The tiny jade slip was akin to the most valuable treasure in this world for the current Yang Kai. Previously, he didn’t have the time to study it and had planned to do so after he returned to the Lower Star Field. Now that he had ten years to spare though, he definitely couldn’t waste the chance; therefore, he decided to study it in seclusion.
The jade slip contained all of Li Wu Yi’s insights into the Dao of Space, so Yang Kai was soon immersed in it and swiftly lost track of the time.
Time Principles permeated the Flowing Time Temple, which was a blessing left behind by Flowing Time Great Emperor. Although it wasn’t the credit of Yang Xiao and Yang Xue, they still had something to do with it.
Since they had received the Great Emperor’s inheritance and cultivated the Great Emperor’s Secret Art, they had also activated an array inside the palace, which caused the Time Principles in this place to fluctuate, creating the differential with the outside world.
This kind of blessing wasn’t inexhaustible of course. Once the Time Principle Strength was exhausted, the wondrous effects in the palace would cease as well. To Yang Kai, he had practically gotten ten years for free.
For the next ten years, he basically had nothing else to do. Qiong Qi and Liu Yan wouldn’t bother him while Yang Xiao and Yang Xue were working hard on their own; therefore, he could totally immerse himself in studying the jade slip.
Only Zhui Feng wasn’t able to stay idle. After Yang Kai released him from the Small Sealed World, he wasn’t willing to go back again because no one could play with him inside the Small Sealed World.
During these ten years, he followed Qiong Qi and Liu Yan around. All three of them were Divine Spirits, and although their Sources were wildly different, they managed to get along well as time passed. They learned from Yang Kai that Zhui Feng was a beast from the Demon Realm, and despite his low sentience, he was fairly powerful. In these ten years, they frequently took part in friendly battles, so they knew one another’s skills quite well.
However, such a powerful beast was just a mount to a man on par with the Demon Saints in the Demon Realm, so Qiong Qi and Liu Yan wondered how formidable the Demon Saints must be.
Ten years had passed with the snap of the fingers. One day, a buzzing sound was suddenly heard in the usually serene Flowing Time Temple. It seemed that the muffled sound was coming from the deepest part of the temple.
Yang Kai, who was meditating, was shaken awake. When he came to his senses, he released his Divine Sense to figure out what was happening, but before getting to the bottom of the situation, Yang Xue’s clear voice was heard speaking into his ear, “Big Brother, please give us a moment. Xiao’er and I will be ready soon.”
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai knew that the unusual sound was caused by Yang Xiao and Yang Xue, so he set his mind at ease and continued studying the jade slip.
Despite what Yang Xue had said, the disturbance in the palace lasted for a month. Every breath of every single day, a rumbling sound was continuously heard throughout the halls. Sometimes, lights would flow through the palace, flickering in different patterns.
After a long roar was heard one month later, the palace finally fell silent again. All of a sudden, Yang Xiao appeared outside Yang Kai’s cultivation room. He was clad in spotless white clothes, and his long white hair was tied into a ponytail. He was tall and energetic with a delicate face; after all, he was a Dragon who was born to be outstanding. His face and demeanour would certainly attract countless girls in the future.
The elegant young man bowed and cupped his fists before saying in a clear voice, “Adoptive Father, please come out.”
By the time he finished speaking, Yang Kai had already appeared in front of him.
Yang Xiao’s gaze brightened as he said loudly, “Congratulations, Adoptive Father.”
A smiling Yang Kai asked, “Why are you congratulating me?”
Yang Xiao replied, “There’s a sharp glint behind your gaze and you appear energetic, so it’s apparent that Adoptive Father must have gained something during your secluded cultivation. As your Adoptive Son, I must congratulate you.”
Yang Kai shook his head, “I was just learning from someone else’s experience.”
He had spent the last ten years comprehending Li Wu Yi’s insights, so he really was just learning from the latter.
Yang Xiao also shook his head, “It doesn’t matter whether you’re just learning from someone else now. I’m sure Adoptive Father will master the secrets of the Grand Dao one day.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai couldn’t help but size him up and scoffed, “How have you become such a smooth talker? Those from the Dragon Clan would never flatter others. If your parents saw you behaving in such a way, they’d definitely tidy you up.”
A solemn Yang Xiao replied, “It’s thanks to Adoptive Father that I have become who I am today, so I wouldn’t dare to accept your compliment.”
“You cheeky brat.” Yang Kai scolded him with a smile, “Are you trying to say that if the main support is crooked, the floors will be too?”
“I wouldn’t dare to…” Yang Xiao put on a fawning smile and bowed again before offering his hand, playing the part of a filial son serving his old father, “Let’s go now, Adoptive Father. Little Aunt has gotten everything ready. We can leave this place now.”
“Enough already. I’m still young, I don’t need you to help me walk,” Yang Kai slapped his hands away and shuffled out of the place with him.
Presently, the Flowing Time Temple’s doors were wide open. Yang Xue, Qiong Qi, Zhui Feng, and Liu Yan were already waiting outside the palace.
Hearing the noise from behind, Yang Xue turned around and took a brief look at Yang Kai’s grey hair. A sense of melancholy flashed across her eyes, but she soon said with a smile, “Big Brother, thanks for waiting for so long.”
Yang Kai flashed a smile at her, “I happened to need some time to study a little something, so I should be thanking you instead.”
He then looked around, “If you’re all ready, let’s get going.”
Yang Xue nodded and took a look at Yang Xiao, who smiled and shuffled forward to stand beside her. The next moment, both of them started forming different hand seals.
Despite their different hand seals, the Time Principles exuded from them were the same.
A moment later, Yang Xiao sported a solemn expression and stomped his foot on the ground. The palace before them started buzzing as a rumbling sound as loud as thunder was heard coming from all around.
Yang Xue lifted her slender hand and shouted, “Rise!”
*Hong Long Long…*
The Flowing Time Temple was uprooted like a tree as it rose from the ground.
The Flowing Time Temple wasn’t just a palace, but it was also Flowing Time Great Emperor’s mobile residence. It meant that it could be carried with him wherever he went just like a sedan chair or a carriage. The idea might be inconceivable for the average person, but it was something common for the Great Emperors.
The object that was used to control the palace was the Infinite Hourglass. Yang Xiao and Yang Xue had basically spent the last ten years refining the hourglass. Since they had received the Great Emperor’s inheritance, they were able to activate some of the hourglass’s power right after they obtained it; however, if they wanted to fully control the palace, they had to properly refine the Legacy Artifact.
Their ten years of hard work finally bore fruit today. Now, the Great Emperor’s palace had become their personal flight artifact.
The palace then broke through space and shot out of the Four Seasons Realm.
In a nameless mountain valley, the Embodiment was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed. Nearby, what appeared to be two sculptures but were actually two Half-Saints from the Demon Race stood like statues, sealed in place by a Great Emperor’s Divine Ability.
During the intense battle, Bai Ya and Bai Zhuo had only managed to show up for a moment before they were locked in place. They hadn’t even showcased their true powers. One of them appeared ferocious while the other’s posture was that of a lion pouncing on a rabbit. Just like sculptures, however, they were completely unmoving.
The Embodiment was slightly frustrated. Although he could confirm that the two Half-Saints were not at risk of losing their lives, he couldn’t break the seal and set them free no matter what he tried.
Although the Embodiment’s cultivation path was different from that of Yang Kai’s, they had spent many years experiencing life-or-death moments together; therefore, it could be said that he was an experienced person now, and he possessed the power of a Half-Saint. However, he was powerless to help Bai Ya and Bai Zhuo, which was why he felt dejected.
Furthermore, one month had passed and there was still no news from Yang Kai, making the Embodiment wonder what Yang Kai had come across in the Four Seasons Realm.
One month ago, he suddenly had a feeling that he was about to pass away. He was in essence still Yang Kai’s Soul Clone infused into an empty Stone Spirit’s body. He was a Half-Saint now, but even if he became a Demon Saint one day, this fact would never change. He was born because of Yang Kai, and he would also perish because of the latter.
In other words, if Yang Kai was killed, he would also die. On the other hand, if anything happened to him, Yang Kai wouldn’t be affected.
At that time, the Embodiment was cleaning up the mess on the battlefield with Zhou Quan and had just moved Bai Ya and Bai Zhuo to somewhere else when he had a feeling that death was upon him. At that instant, he knew that Yang Kai must have fallen into grave danger.
He couldn’t understand the reason behind this. Yang Kai was in peak condition when he raced after the severely injured Wind Lord, and was also accompanied by the ferocious Zhui Feng, so how could he have wound up on the brink of death? Although the Embodiment couldn’t figure it out, he knew that something unexpected must have happened in the Four Seasons Realm.
He wasn’t able to help Yang Kai though, so he immediately called out to Zhou Quan and told him what to do once he passed on. He wanted Zhou Quan to bring Bai Ya and Bai Zhuo to Seven Mists Sea and hand them over to Li Wu Yi. He also wanted him to head over to High Heaven Palace to give the people there a detailed explanation of the situation.
After he was done making arrangements, the Embodiment closed his eyes and waited for death. In the end, however, he survived for some unknown reason and thus continued to wait until now.
Presently, Zhou Quan was meditating nearby while recuperating as he was still slightly injured from the previous battle. After a month, his injuries were mostly healed while the expansive valley was completely silent.
Just then, the Embodiment lifted his head and his stony face appeared solemn. He stared at a particular spot in the sky with his flaming eyes before a moment later, he suddenly bellowed, “Not good!”
Right after he finished speaking, he wrapped his Demon Qi around Bai Ya, Bai Zhuo, Zhou Quan, and six or seven other captives before hurriedly retreating more than thirty kilometres.
Following his move, a ripple suddenly spread across the sky above the nameless valley, as though someone had hurled a stone into a usually serene lake.
Zhou Quan opened his eyes in shock and looked up as he exclaimed. That was because after the ripples diminished, a gigantic, blurry image came into sight. This sight was familiar to him. The same thing had happened one month ago when Wind Lord activated the array using the bone in his hand, which was why he knew that it was the Flowing Time Temple’s contour.
At that time, Wind Lord’s effort all went to waste because of Yang Kai as the palace soon retreated into the Four Seasons Realm.
[Did Wind Lord manage to stage a comeback? Is he not dead yet?] Zhou Quan immediately circulated his Emperor Qi to prepare himself for a battle.
On the other hand, the Embodiment grunted in surprise and clapped the other person’s shoulder before he said with a smile, “No need to panic. Everything will be fine.”
He had detected Yang Kai’s aura after the World Barrier began to open.
Since Yang Kai was still around, he must be the one who had made the palace appear again, not Wind Lord.
Right then, a cracking sound was heard as the space tore open. The gigantic palace appeared from the Void and shaded the sunlight from everyone’s sight. A few figures were standing at the entrance of the palace. One of them was none other than Yang Kai.
At that instant, the Embodiment put on a bright smile.
In just a short moment, the Flowing Time Temple completely left the Four Seasons Realm. After countless years, Flowing Time Great Emperor’s palace finally reappeared in this world.
Qiong Qi felt somewhat sorrowful. In the past, wherever the palace appeared in the Star Boundary, the people there would kneel down to welcome its arrival. Even the other Great Emperors would come over to greet them.
However, after Flowing Time Great Emperor passed away, the palace could only gather dust inside the Four Seasons Realm. It wasn’t until now that it reappeared under the sun.
Finally, the Great Emperor had two successors. While the others were not paying attention to Qiong Qi, he secretly rubbed the corners of his eyes.
The palace was big enough to shade the entire valley, the shadow it cast on the ground looking like a crouching ancient beast. A shocked Zhou Quan fell on his backside while the other detained Emperor Realm Masters from Demon Heavenly Dao were shaken to the core.
Although they had been demonified, they were still clear-headed, which was why they knew what this palace was. Seeing that Wind Lord wasn’t around, they knew that from that day onwards, only three out of the Four Great Lords under their Master would remain.
After leaping off the palace entryway, Yang Xue waved her hands and stopped using her hand seals. In just a few breaths of time, the palace shrunk until it became a palm-sized item that was then stored inside her sleeve.
Zhui Feng kept neighing and widened his eyes in disbelief. He stared fixedly at Yang Xue’s sleeve as though he had just seen a ghost. He was probably wondering just how enormous her sleeve must be to be able to keep a gigantic palace inside of it.
Yang Kai walked up to the Embodiment and took a look at Bai Ya and Bai Zhuo before asking, “How are they?”
Previously, he didn’t have the time to check on the two Half-Saints as he had to race after Wind Lord. It wasn’t until now that he had the time to ask about them.
“They’re not dead,” the Embodiment replied.
Yang Kai was relieved that they were still alive as he was worried that something serious had happened to them. If they were dead, he wouldn’t be able to explain himself to Yu Ru Meng and Bei Li Mo.
“Why has your hair turned grey?” The Embodiment stared at Yang Kai’s hair with a frown.
When Yang Kai entered the Four Seasons Realm, his hair was still as black as night, but his hair had turned slightly grey after he walked out of the palace. The Embodiment had no idea what had happened, but upon recalling the palpitation he felt some time ago, he figured that Yang Kai must have fallen into a fierce battle.
“I’ve aged by a few hundred years,” Yang Kai put on a smile as if it didn’t really matter. He was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, so he still had a long time to live. His current age was actually still considered young for his current realm.
“Who are they?” The Embodiment turned to look at Yang Xiao and Yang Xue. Just like Yang Kai, he found them to be familiar at first glance, as though he had met them before, but he couldn’t recall where.
Even if he could recognise them, he wouldn’t dare to acknowledge it. It was an inconceivable idea that two little kids had grown into young adults in just a few years.
It was troublesome to explain everything to him, so Yang Kai decided to simply share his Soul. The Embodiment examined this flood of memories swiftly before he widened his eyes and muttered, “They’re Xiao’er and Xue’er?”
Yang Xiao obediently walked over and cupped his fists, “Xiao’er greets, Second Uncle.”
The Embodiment was Yang Kai’s Soul Clone, so it could even be said that he was Yang Kai’s biological brother. Yang Xiao was right to call him ‘Second Uncle’ and his smooth talk successfully cracked the Embodiment up. The Embodiment kept praising him and said that the latter was a promising young man.
Yang Xue wasn’t aware of the Embodiment’s existence; after all, she was still far too young when she left High Heaven Palace, so she had never met the Embodiment before. After hearing what Yang Xiao had called him though, she also figured out how she should address him.
After hearing himself addressed as ‘Second Brother’, the Embodiment grinned from ear to ear. After a good laugh, he said, “All of you have come out at the right time. I need your help.”
Following that, he brought Bai Ya and Bai Zhuo over and showed them to Yang Xiao and Yang Xue.
The two Half-Saints were petrified after they were struck with a Divine Ability contained within Flowing Time Great Emperor’s rib bone. Thus, even the Embodiment, a Half-Saint was unable to save them. Upon learning that the two young people were the Great Emperor’s Inheritance Disciples, the Embodiment knew that they could help.
Since they were all one family, they certainly had to lend a hand. Both of them respectively extended their fingers and pointed at the foreheads of Bai Ya and Bai Zhuo. The next moment, Time Principles undulated and engulfed the Half-Saints.
Half an hour later, light returned to the Half-Saints’ eyes, and following that, their Demon Qi surged as Bai Ya bellowed, “Go to Hell!”
Bai Zhuo also yelled, “Die!”
They made a move at the same time.
Yang Xiao and Yang Xue were well prepared, so they immediately hid behind Yang Kai.
When the two Half-Saints arrived in front of Yang Kai with their Divine Abilities flaring, their expressions changed all of a sudden. Then, they forcefully retracted their power and retreated before they grunted in mid-air. They had suffered from some backlash after withdrawing their power at the last moment, but that wasn’t enough to hurt them. As Half-Saints, they had full control over their power.
A moment later, Bai Zhuo and Bai Ya stared over with confused expressions. They took a look at the unfamiliar figures, especially Qiong Qi and Liu Yan, before turning inquisitive gazes to Yang Kai.
Bai Zhuo asked, “What happened? Where’s Wind Lord?”
The last thing he recalled was striking out at Wind Lord, but the next moment, Yang Kai suddenly appeared in front of him while Wind Lord was nowhere to be seen.
Moreover, in the blink of an eye, Yang Kai seemed to have aged by a few years as there was now a tinge of grey in his hair.
Yang Kai turned to look at Yang Xiao and Yang Xue before asking, “Are they not aware of what happened?”
Yang Xue replied with a smile, “They were petrified by Time Principles, so they were unable to sense anything during the period they were frozen.”
Yang Kai nodded and finally understood the reason behind the Half-Saints’ reaction. While they were petrified, they basically couldn’t perceive anything as their ‘time’ had essentially stopped. It would’ve been strange if they knew what had happened.
After some explanation, Bai Ya and Bai Zhuo finally understood what had happened, then their expressions turned serious.
A Divine Ability hidden inside the bone of a Great Emperor who had passed away tens of thousands of years ago was still able to render them powerless, so it was difficult to imagine how formidable that Great Emperor must have been when he was still alive.
Both of them were Half-Saints, making them among the strongest cultivators below the Demon Saints in the Demon Realm. The statuses of Demon Saints and Great Emperors were the same. In the past, they didn’t realise that there was such a huge gap between Demon Saints, Great Emperors and them. This time, they were truly shocked.
Nevertheless, they were not injured. They were simply petrified by Time Principles, which hadn’t harmed them in any way. Even without the help of Yang Xiao and Yang Xue, they would still awaken one day, but that would take several dozen to a hundred years.
After asking about it, Yang Kai found out that it had only been a month in the outside world. Just like what he had speculated, years inside the Flowing Time Temple were equivalent to only a month in the outside world. The truth wasn’t far from his speculation.
However, Qiong Qi had told him that the power inside the palace was a blessing left behind by the Great Emperor. Yang Xue and Yang Xiao had expended a lot of it, so there wasn’t much of it left. When the blessing was exhausted, the wonders in the palace would cease to exist.
It wasn’t impossible to recreate it, but Yang Xiao and Yang Xue would have to work harder on improving their understanding and mastery over the Dao of Time first.
Most of the Emperor Realm Masters from Demon Heavenly Dao were either killed or heavily injured. Now, only seven of them were left and they had all become captives. With Zhou Quan as an example, if Bai Zhuo could extract the Blood Demon Blood Essence out of those seven, they could regain their sense of self.
They were all Emperor Realm Masters, so it would be a waste of talent to kill them all off. The Sixty-First Army had just been established, so they were still in the process of collecting resources and recruiting manpower.
Without hesitation, Yang Kai waved his hand and put the captives and the Half-Saints inside the Small Sealed World. He decided to leave the rest of the matter to Bai Zhuo. It’d be best if these Emperor Realm Masters could regain their senses. If not, they could only blame it on their bad luck.
Yang Kai’s original plan was to head to the Lower Star Field after this trip, but since Flowing Time Great Emperor was concerned in this matter, he had to personally launch an investigation. Therefore, he could only delay his plan of returning to Heng Luo Star Field for now.
He didn’t ask Zhou Quan to tag along because he wanted him to pay a visit to Azure Sun Temple and inform them of what had happened. Previously, he had come across Xiao Bai Yi and Murong Xiao Xiao on his way to this place. It had been a month since then, so they must be worried and they might even be getting ready to come over here to help. By telling Zhou Quan to go over, it could spare them some unnecessary trouble.
He believed that those from Azure Sun Temple would inform Seven Mists Sea about this incident. By then, this matter would be known to everyone in the Star Boundary.
Not long after the Palace Master of High Heaven Palace as well as the Army Commander of the Sixty-First Army returned to the Star Boundary, he managed to thwart Demon Heavenly Dao’s plans for the Four Seasons Realm by killing more than twenty of their Emperor Realm Masters. He had also defeated one of the Four Great Lords, Wind Lord, whose true name was Feng Zai Xiao. It was akin to cutting off a limb from their Master, Can Ye, turning them into the Three Great Lords instead. This kind of news would surely bolster everyone’s mood, so it had to be spread around quickly.
It wasn’t that Yang Kai craved fame, but this incident was useful in boosting the morale of all the armies in the Star Boundary and also serve as a recruitment tool for the Sixty-First Army. As an Army Commander, Yang Kai had to put himself out there to attract more people.
Zhou Quan was saved by Yang Kai, and he had participated in the battle against Demon Heavenly Dao, which enabled him to get revenge for his Sect. That was why he immediately agreed to Yang Kai’s request. Following that, he set off on his journey to Azure Sun Temple. It would probably take him less than half a month to reach there.
After Zhou Quan left, Yang Kai and the others decided to leave as well.
Yang Kai spent half a day arranging a Space Array and then transferred everyone to a certain unnamed island on the East Sea. The Space Array on this island was fairly close to Dragon Island, and was left behind by Yang Kai in the past so that he could visit Dragon Island with ease when he wanted to. It proved to be useful now.
As a member of the Dragon Clan, Yang Xiao had a special connection with Dragon Island, which was his birthplace. After emerging from the array, he swiftly turned to look in a particular direction.
That was where Dragon Island was located, which was about one to two thousand kilometres away from where he currently stood.
“You can go back. Your Little Aunt and I will handle your Honoured Master’s matter.” Yang Kai patted Yang Xiao’s shoulder. After Yang Xiao was born in the past, he was eager to leave Dragon Island, which was why he even lied to everyone about his Source being impure. In the blink of an eye, he had cultivated for five hundred years though. He hadn’t met his parents for a long time, so he missed them very much, especially after he learned from Yang Kai that his mother almost went mad upon hearing that he had entered the Four Seasons Realm.
Yang Xiao replied with a smile, “Dragon Island is right there, and it won’t be going anywhere. Since I’ve received Honoured Master’s inheritance, I should do something for him. After this matter is settled, I’ll pay a visit to my parents.”
Yang Kai nodded, “En.”
Yang Kai made a grabbing gesture and pulled Wind Lord out from the Sealed World Bead. He had spent ten years inside the palace while Wind Lord had also stayed inside the Small Sealed World for the same period of time. It seemed that Time Principles affected everything within their bounds, so even though the Small Sealed World had its own World Barrier, it was still affected just like the inside of the palace.
Over the past ten years, Wind Lord didn’t manage to heal his wounds as he still looked as battered as when the battle ended. Yang Kai was the ruler of the Small Sealed World, so it was easy for him to stop Wind Lord from treating his wounds.
“Where’s Free Spirit Sect?” Yang Kai directly cut to the chase.
Wind Lord appeared lethargic as his life had been hanging by a thread for the past ten years. Upon seeing sunlight again, he was still in a dazed state. It wasn’t until a long time after Yang Kai asked the question that he came to his senses and replied apprehensively, “Sir, please give me a moment, I need to get my bearings.”
He was a Pseudo-Great Emperor, so he wasn’t supposed to call Yang Kai ‘Sir’. However, after the torture he had gone through and ten years of isolation on the brink of death, his mind had cracked and his pride had been shattered. Now, he was simply hoping not to be tortured again.
Yang Kai directly pointed out the directions for him, “We have Dragon Island this way, Spirit Beast Island over there, and Serene Soul Palace in that direction.”
Things became much easier with the references. Wind Lord was born on the East Sea and grew up on Free Spirit Sect, so he managed to quickly identify the proper direction, then he extended a finger and said, “That way. It should be within a hundred thousand kilometres from here.”
Yang Kai then stuffed him back inside the Small Sealed World and wrapped everyone else in his Demon Qi before shooting off in that direction. As Space Principles undulated, their figures became blurry as they seemed to skip across the Void.
A look at the people on Yang Kai’s side revealed that, including Zhui Feng, there were four Half-Saints from the Demon Race who were waiting inside the Small Sealed World. Beside him were the Divine Spirits, Liu Yan and Qiong Qi, who were just as powerful as any Half-Saint or Pseudo-Great Emperor. Even though Yang Xiao and Yang Xue were only in the First-Order Emperor Realm, they were Flowing Time Great Emperor’s disciples; therefore, they were far more powerful than those in the same realm.
Both of them had pretty outstanding aptitudes, so the reason it took them a few hundred years to reach the First-Order Emperor Realm was mainly that the Great Emperor’s inheritance was too abstruse, so it took them a long time to comprehend its mysteries, but this kind of heritage dictated that they would turn out to be more formidable than their peers.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was a High-Rank Demon King who was able to fight Wind Lord to a draw, leaving both of them severely injured.
This kind of lineup could be said to be a great force to be reckoned with. Even if a Demon Saint got in their way, they would still be able to exchange a few moves with them. Moreover, their mission was just to look for Flowing Time Great Emperor’s remains, so there shouldn’t be any trouble.
The small group flew towards their destination. From time to time, Yang Kai would pull out Wind Lord to correct the heading. Violent Demon Qi could be seen whizzing past above the East Sea, which shocked many of the smaller Sects.
Three days later, an island came into sight. The island was fairly big as it was about a few hundred square kilometres. It was Wind Lord’s old Sect, Free Spirit Island.
Free Spirit Sect was supposed to be on the island in the past, but it was already destroyed by Wind Lord. There was a new Sect that had occupied the island since then, but it was also just a small one, even worse than Free Spirit Sect from the past. They had an Emperor Realm Master in Free Spirit Sect, but the strongest cultivator in this small Sect was only in the Dao Source Realm.
Yang Kai and the others were simply here to look for something, so they didn’t have the intention to disturb these people. Upon reaching their destination, Yang Kai reigned in his Demon Qi before they silently dispersed and respectively looked for the Great Emperor’s remains.
For this trip, Yang Kai didn’t have any expectations. Flowing Time Great Emperor fell into danger when he was exploring the Outer Universe. After he passed away, his Infinite Hourglass returned to his former palace. Even though one of his bones sank into the East Sea, it didn’t really mean anything.
However, since they were aware of this news, they had to look into the matter.
The five of them left in four different directions. Liu Yan and Yang Kai were in the same group. It had been a few hundred years since they last met, so she wasn’t willing to separate from him and insisted on following him around. On the other hand, Yang Xiao, Yang Xue, and Qiong Qi headed in different directions on their own.
For the following days, Yang Kai and Liu Yan explored everywhere that was within a radius of several thousand kilometres of the island, but they didn’t find anything.
Just then, one of the Space Beacons on Yang Kai’s wrist started blinking. Following that, a jade slip broke through the air and reached him.
A few days ago, Yang Kai had made three Space Beacons that were matched to his own for Yang Xiao, Yang Xue, and Qiong Qi. If they came across any danger, they could immediately contact him or transfer themselves to his side.
At this moment, it was Yang Xue who had sent him a message.
With the jade slip in his hand, Yang Kai scanned it with his Divine Sense and muttered in surprise, “She really discovered something.”
The message inside the jade slip was short, so it was apparent that she was too rushed to explain in detail. Since there was a message though, it meant that she must have discovered something. It seemed that their little trip to the East Sea this time wasn’t futile.
Yang Kai wrapped his Demon Qi around Liu Yan and channelled some power into the Space Beacon. The next moment, the world around the pair seemed to be spinning, and when they reappeared, they were already beside Yang Xue.
Presently, Yang Xue was deep in the sea moving at high speed.
In an instant, Yang Kai felt a horrifying pressure squeezing him from all directions, which caused him to grunt in pain. In response, he hurriedly used his strength to resist it.
Right then, Yang Xiao and Qiong Qi also appeared. Apparently, they had also received Yang Xue’s message. Just like Yang Kai, they felt pressured upon appearing, but they soon became fine after putting up some defences.
Yang Xue didn’t have the time to explain anything as she used her Emperor Qi to protect herself. While she was moving forward rapidly, she pointed at the front and said, “Chase it! I’m going to lose it!”
It was dark under the sea as there was barely any light from the surface, but Yang Kai sharpened his vision and caught sight of a figure fleeing quickly. The figure was so swift that it had opened up quite a distance from Yang Xue in the blink of an eye.
It was no wonder that Yang Xue had to call out to the others. That was because she was no match for the other party when it came to speed.
Upon closer inspection, Yang Kai found it a little funny because the figure wasn’t a Human or a Sea Beast. It was actually a flat plate-sized Mussel.
The relatively large Mussel didn’t have any limbs as it only had a sturdy-looking shell, but its speed was truly incredible. The seawater could be seen slipping off its shell as a rapid torrent flowed out behind it.
The Star Boundary was a beautiful world with countless different races. While spirit flowers were able to be enlightened and turn into Monsters, ordinary animals could evolve into Monster Beast and even assume Human Form if given enough time and opportunity. There was an abundance of species that lived under the sea, so it wasn’t surprising that there were Monsters here as well.
The variety of Monsters under the sea was more diverse than on land. The Mussel was apparently a Sea Monster, and judging from his aura, it was obvious that he was in the Monster King Realm, so he must be fairly powerful.
He was basically born and bred in the sea, so moving in the sea was natural to him, which was why his speed was incredible. There was no way Yang Xue would be able to capture him.
Yang Kai didn’t know why she wanted to chase the Sea Monster, but before he could ask, Yang Xiao suddenly laughed and said, “Little Aunt, don’t worry. Leave it to me.”
After he finished speaking, he transformed into a thirty-metre-long White Dragon. His Dragon form was as translucent as jade, which was quite beautiful. Following that, he turned into a beam of white light and raced after the Mussel, his speed even faster than the one he was pursuing.
Although Yang Xiao wasn’t a Water Dragon, a Dragon under the sea was like a tiger on a mountain. No creature in the sea could possibly move faster than a Dragon.
With him around, there was no way the Mussel could flee, and he was bound to be captured.
As Yang Xiao charged forward, he yelled using a Secret Technique, “Hey, stop! We just want to talk to you!”
The Mussel replied, “Little Brat, don’t you know your place? How dare you race after me, your Grandpa? If you’re clever, stop chasing me now, otherwise, I’ll beat you up.”
Despite his threat, he fled at an even quicker pace.
Yang Xiao bellowed, “Rotten stinking mollusca! You court death!”
Then, he parted his lips and roared before accelerating his pace.
He wanted to have a peaceful talk with the Mussel, but he hadn’t expected that the latter would offend him with such coarse language. Even though they were in the wrong for chasing after him in the first place, the Mussel shouldn’t have crossed the line by claiming to be Yang Xiao’s Grandpa. Yang Xiao was a member of the Dragon Clan and he had revealed his true form, so most Monster Beast wouldn’t dare to act haughty in front of him.
Furthermore, his Adoptive Father, Yang Kai, was right behind him. The Mussel had basically scolded his Adoptive Father as well.
While the Dragon was charging forward, the Mussel was fleeing as fast as he could. Soon, they disappeared from everyone’s sight. After giving it a thought, Yang Kai decided not to chase after them. It wasn’t that he was unable to do so, he was an expert in the Dao of Space after all. Despite the fact that they were several kilometers below the sea, Yang Kai could catch up to the Sea Monster with just a few Instantaneous Movements if he wanted to.
The reason he decided not to chase them was that he wanted to find out Yang Xiao’s current limits. When they were in the Flowing Time Temple, Yang Xiao was able to torture Wind Lord with ease; however, at that time, Wind Lord had no ability to resist and had fallen into a dazed state after the Infinite Hourglass was snatched away from him, so any Dao Source Realm cultivator could have beaten him up. Now that they had come across a Sea Monster, it was the perfect opportunity to gauge Yang Xiao’s power.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai still tagged a piece of his Divine Sense onto Yang Xiao. If Yang Xiao was unable to defeat the Mussel, Yang Kai, as his Adoptive Father, would certainly lend him a hand.
“Why were you chasing after him?” Yang Kai turned to look at Yang Xue and spoke to her via Divine Sense.
Yang Xue’s eyes could be seen gleaming as she replied, “There’s something from our Honoured Master with that Mussel. I think it’s also a bone.”
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai arched his brow. When he received her message earlier, he knew that she must have discovered something, and upon her explanation, he knew that his speculation was right.
Others might not realise anything special about the Mussel; however, Yang Xue, as Flowing Time Great Emperor’s Inheritance Disciple, had cultivated the Great Emperor’s Divine Abilities and Secret Arts, which was why she was able to detect a familiar aura on the Mussel from afar. The aura was well hidden though, so people who hadn’t cultivated the Dao of Time would never have detected it.
Yang Xiao realised that as well upon arrival, so he directly raced after the Mussel without asking questions.
Qiong Qi was both agitated and sorrowful, “Young Lady, are you sure?” He was agitated because there were really more of Flowing Time Great Emperor’s remains in this sea. At the same time, he was sorrowful that the Great Emperor had been dismembered after his death. Wind Lord had obtained a bone from the sea around Free Spirit Island, and now, the Mussel also had a bone with him. Qiong Qi couldn’t help wondering where the rest of his Old Master’s remains were.
“Xue’er would never act carelessly when it comes to Honoured Master’s matters,” Yang Xue replied solemnly.
Nothing else needed to be said at this point. Since it was confirmed that the Mussel had Flowing Time Great Emperor’s remains on him, they had to pursue him.
Half a day later, Yang Kai arched his brow and said with a smile, “They’ve stopped moving.”
He had tagged Yang Xiao with his Divine Sense, so he could somewhat detect what was going on. Presently, Yang Xiao had obviously stopped in his tracks. It seemed that he had caught the Mussel, but Yang Kai didn’t know the details. He had to go over there to find out whether they were confronting or fighting with one another.
Thus, his Demon Qi expanded and wrapped Yang Xue, Qiong Qi, and Liu Yan in it. Following that, he activated the power of his Space Beacon, and as Space Principles undulated, they passed through the Void and appeared beside Yang Xiao.
Arriving at the scene, it appeared Yang Xiao and the Mussel weren’t fighting but rather facing off.
There was a magnificent palace that was covered in a light screen, which served as a barrier. The palace wasn’t large as it had only occupied a land area of a thousand square metres. At this moment, there was a short old man who was glaring forward just outside the palace. He had very short limbs while his head was unusually large. There was no hair on his head, and his neck was short as well, which made him look rather funny. What was more ridiculous was that there were two shells on his back. At first glance, the shells looked just like his wings.
Apparently, this short guy must be the Mussel that Yang Xiao had chased after.
The grand palace under the sea must be his home, and behind him, there were even more Mussels of both genders. Just like him, the men were bald with petite figures. On the other hand, the women were all beautiful and tall with long and smooth hair. The shells behind their backs flapped slowly like they were real wings.
Even though they were all Mussels, the men and the women didn’t look like they were from the same species. There were more than a hundred of them in total, but their cultivation realms varied. The most powerful one was undoubtedly the Mussel that was being chased by Yang Xiao earlier. The rest of them were in the realms of Monster Commander, Monster General and Monster Soldier. Some of the Mussels looked like they had just been born a short time ago as they were hiding inside their own shells and looking out curiously.
All of them were staring at Yang Xiao. While the male Mussels were glowering at him, the female Mussels could be seen with their eyes shining as they sized up Yang Xiao’s entire figure.
Yang Xiao was already pretty good-looking when he was a boy, so now that he had grown up, he had become even more attractive. He could even be described as dashing.
Yang Kai had never seen such a pretty man before, but Yang Xiao still appeared brave and heroic. Men like him were the most attractive to women.
Yang Xiao was a member of the Dragon Clan as well as the son of the Great Elder and Second Elder of Dragon Island, but this was undoubtedly the first time he was stared at by so many Monster Clan women, which caused him to blush.
When Yang Kai and the others appeared, Yang Xiao’s face had completely reddened, and his gaze darted around as though he wasn’t sure where to look. Seeing that, Yang Xue frowned and asked caringly, “Are you hurt?”
Yang Xiao replied meekly, “No, we haven’t started fighting yet.”
A puzzled Yang Xue asked, “Why are you flushed then? Your vitality also seems a bit agitated.”
Yang Xiao’s face turned a shade redder as he wasn’t sure how he should explain himself. At this moment, he couldn’t wait to look for a hole and bury his head in.
Yang Kai took a look at Yang Xiao and the Mussels, then he broke into laughter. In fact, Yang Xiao couldn’t be blamed as the female Mussels’ outfits were on the skimpy side. All of them only had their most sensitive parts covered while the rest of their fair skin was exposed to the sea. Their long bare legs were especially alluring.
Yang Kai knew that if he saw such a sight when he was younger, his vitality would boil a bit as well.
Although Yang Xiao had cultivated inside the Flowing Time Temple for five hundred years, he had never seen so many beautiful women before. Despite his age, he was still considered a young child in the Dragon Clan. He almost couldn’t take it anymore as it was the first time he saw so many alluring ladies.
Noticing the weird smile on Yang Kai’s face, Yang Xue secretly took a look at the Mussels, and then she realised what had happened. After shooting a glare at Yang Xiao, she turned to look at the leader of the Mussels and said, “Flowing Time Great Emperor’s Disciple Yang Xue greets Senior. May I ask your honoured name?”
They had come all the way here to retrieve the Great Emperor’s remains, which was why she called herself Flowing Time Great Emperor’s Disciple instead of a disciple of High Heaven Palace. There were many methods here to retrieve what they were after, but since they held no grudge against the Mussel Clan, it would be best if they could refrain from getting into any conflict. Moreover, the Mussel had a big family including old folks and young children. If a fight broke out, killing innocents would surely leave a bad taste in their mouths. Hence, the best solution was to settle things peacefully.
Upon hearing what she had to say, the Mussel shot her a glance and grinned, “Are you the one who chased after me just now?”
Seeing that someone was trying to capture him earlier, the Mussel immediately turned around and fled, so he didn’t manage to make out Yang Xue’s face. Nevertheless, he was aware that the person was a woman, so now that he saw her, he could instantly recognise her.
Yang Xue replied with a smile, “I meant no disrespect, Senior. Please forgive me.”
However, the Mussel bellowed, “Why did you pursue this King across this vast sea? Do you think this King is easy to bully?”
He then swung his arms, “I ran away not because I was afraid of you. I just didn’t want to kill you. But I didn’t expect that you’d cross the line by following this King back to his home. This is outrageous! I’ll swallow you down without leaving a single bone left!”
Yang Xue hurriedly said, “I’m thankful for your magnanimity, Senior, but there is a good reason we pursued you. Please pardon us.”
“A reason?” The Mussel crossed his arms and appeared to be haughty, “There’s a reason for chasing after this King? Let’s hear it then.”
Yang Xue replied politely, “We wish to obtain something from you.”
On the other hand, Yang Xiao finally managed to stabilize his breathing as he said, “If you give it to us, we will leave now and not make things difficult for you all.”
The atmosphere around the Mussels changed when they heard this. The female Mussels, who were originally ogling Yang Xiao, turned grim all of a sudden as their gazes turned cold. The male Mussels pushed their Monster Qi and sported grave expressions.
The leading Mussel chuckled, “You want something from this King?”
Yang Xue said, “Don’t worry. We don’t ask for it for free. We will give you something in return of appropriate value…”
Before she even finished her words, the leading Mussel shouted, “Don’t even dream of it! The reason this King even bothered to speak with you is that you spoke politely, but I never expected that you would actually be such an ill-intentioned woman! Go back to where you came from now, otherwise, this King will ensure you all die a horrible death!”
The barrier around the secluded home had opened up. The Mussel hid inside it and threatened them, but he was far from being imposing.
Yang Xue said with a frown, “Senior must have misunderstood us, we…”
“There is no misunderstanding!” The Mussel shouted as he didn’t give Yang Xue a chance to speak. At the same time, he swung his short arms, “Scram scram! Before you anger this King!”
The Mussel waved his hands, after which the seawater swept across Yang Kai and the others. Even though the waves were not harmful, it went to show that the Mussel was truly powerful.
Yang Xue knitted her brows as the other party insisted on chasing them away, so there was no way they could talk it out. After giving it a thought, she stared at the Mussel and said, “Don’t blame me for what I’m about to do, then.”
Upon finishing her words, she took a step forward and performed a hand seal before pointing at the barrier.
Without the need to be told what to do, Yang Xiao pushed out his palms at the barrier at the same time as Yang Xue. His movement was slow, but he appeared determined.
Their moves seemed light and didn’t exude any aura.
The Mussel put on a sneer. With his arms crossed, he remained behind the barrier and stared mockingly at Yang Xue, “It seems that you have no idea about your own limitations! The barrier around this secluded home has been finetuned over the generations. Do you even think you ca…”
All of a sudden, he stopped talking and the smile on his face froze. That was because the moment Yang Xue and Yang Xiao came into contact with the barrier, a snapping sound was heard, and following that, countless cracks started appearing on the light screen.
All the adult Mussels were flabbergasted while the little Mussels, who were looking on curiously, immediately closed their shells and hid in them before rolling backwards.
The cracking sounds continued to ring out as the Mussel King’s eyes turned bloodshot. With a horrified expression, he stared fixedly at the barrier around the secluded home. It was as though the cracks were appearing on his heart instead of the barrier.
He couldn’t understand why the two youngsters, who didn’t seem powerful at all, were able to achieve this. There was no time for him to ponder though as a few breaths later, with a loud crash, the barrier collapsed.
“How dare you!” The Mussel King bellowed. The Mussels around him activated their Monster Qi and prepared themselves for the imminent battle.
Just then, a few figures appeared out of thin air. Following a neighing sound, Demon Qi could be seen surging as four Half-Saints appeared at the same time and surrounded all the Mussels.
In addition, Qiong Qi assumed his true form and howled. His mouth was so wide that he seemed able to devour over ten Mussels at the same time. Liu Yan also performed a hand seal, after which a phantom Fire Phoenix appeared behind her, exuding a terrifying aura.
Faced with this group of Mussels, they didn’t actually need so many people to deal with them. Liu Yan or Qiong Qi alone would be enough to destroy them. However, Yang Kai still summoned all the Half-Saints he had with him not because he wanted to kill, but because he wanted to intimidate.
He had no grudges against the Mussel Clan, so he wasn’t willing to kill them; however, if a fight broke out, Yang Kai couldn’t guarantee that no harm would be done. If both parties became locked in a battle to the death, the outcome would be terrible.
Therefore, Yang Kai decided to showcase all the power at his disposal in hopes that the Mussels would realise that there was no way they could win.
When the four Half-Saints appeared, all the Mussels gasped and stopped making any moves. Upon realising how powerful the Half-Saints were, they were all flustered, and after Qiong Qi showed his true form and the Fire Phoenix appeared, all of them felt as if they had been thrown into the coldest of blizzards.
[Who are these people?] Besides the two youngsters, all the others present were clearly not small characters. As their powerful Divine Senses permeated the area, all the Mussels felt their mouths turn dry, and they couldn’t help but clench their shells as though they could find a sense of security by doing so.
Initially, they thought that there were not many people on the other side, so there was no need to fear them; however, they didn’t expect to see such a turn of events.
The Mussel King was, fortunately, a tactful man, so after being startled for a moment, he quickly exclaimed, “Wait! Wait a moment!”
Then, he turned to look at Yang Kai as he saw that it was the latter who summoned all the Half-Saints, which was why he understood that Yang Kai was the leader of this group.
Feeling both terrified and humiliated, the Mussel King said, “This time… My Mussel Clan admits defeat. This Bang Bang’er will give you what you want; however, if you dare harm any of my clan, we will fight to the death!”
Hearing this, all the Mussels were shocked before they called out in sorrow, “Great King!”
Some of the Mussels appeared furious as they swept a hate-filled glance over Yang Kai and the others before saying through clenched teeth, “Great King, you don’t have to be afraid of them. We would rather die than admit defeat. We will fight!”
“Fight!”
“Great King, please give the order!”
The Mussel King, Bang Bang’er, however just bellowed, “Silence!”
Anyone could act bravely in the heat of the moment, and if he really gave the order, there was no doubt that the Mussel Clan had the courage to charge forward, but the consequences would be dreadful. Given the collective power the other side had showcased, they could easily destroy the entire Mussel Clan. The over one hundred Mussels were totally no match for them.
He was the leader of the Mussel Clan, so he had to act in the interest of everyone. If he could sacrifice himself to ensure the safety of his Clan, it would be a good deal.
“If anyone dares to say one more word, they will be punished according to the Clan’s laws!” He swept a glance over them and realised that no one dared to speak again. He had been King for many years, so the others wouldn’t dare to disobey him.
He took one more look at Yang Kai and gritted his teeth. Then, he opened his mouth and stuffed his hand into it. When he withdrew his hand, a light seemed to be shining from his hand as though the moon had suddenly appeared in the depths of the sea. What he had in his hand was longan-sized, and it radiated a soft light. It was apparently a Peak-Rank pearl.
This was not just a pearl though, it was also Bang Bang’er’s Monster Core. Monster Qi could be felt flowing within the pearl, making a sound akin to the churning of the ocean waves.
Bang Bang’er turned his head away and extended his hand towards Yang Kai, “Take it.”
He didn’t want to look at it because he was reluctant to part with his Monster Core. His years of cultivation had been condensed in this Monster Core, so if he lost it, he would die a few years later.
While Yang Xue was shocked, Yang Xiao failed to stifle a laugh. Yang Kai shook his head and said, “You’ve misunderstood us. We didn’t come here for this thing.”
Bang Bang’er’s pearl was a Twelfth-Order Monster Core, and a Peak-Rank one at that. It was of the best quality. Moreover, his Monster Core had such a wonderful appearance, so it was more precious than the average Twelfth-Order Monster Core. Anyone would agree that it was a rare treasure.
However, it was useless for Yang Kai to obtain it as he had countless Monster Cores in his Space Ring. In the past, he had collected over a million Monster Cores in Ancient Wild Lands, many of which were Twelfth-Order.
There was no doubt that Bang Bang’er’s Monster Core was valuable, but Yang Kai wasn’t interested. Since the very beginning, all the Mussel Clan members had misunderstood their intention.
A startled Bang Bang’er turned to look at Yang Kai and said, “You don’t want this?”
In disbelief, he asked again, “You really don’t want this?”
With a solemn expression, Yang Kai shook his head, “No.”
It was unthinkable that a Human wouldn’t want a Monster Core from the Mussel Clan. It was difficult for the Mussel Clan to survive in the sea because they were always hunted by Humans. The Monster Cores from the Mussel Clan were unlike those from other Monsters, which was why they were favoured by Human women. They loved to put Mussel Clan’s Monster Cores in their rooms because the cores would radiate a gentle light at night. If they wore the cores regularly, it could even help with preserving their youth.
That was the reason Bang Bang’er ran away when he saw Yang Xue, because he thought that she was one of those beauty-loving young ladies who wanted to snatch his Monster Core.
After reaching his secluded home, she even went so far as to ask him for something. Naturally, Bang Bang’er thought that she wanted his Monster Core, which was why he directly rejected her. Unexpectedly, that wasn’t what she was looking for.
A relieved Bang Bang’er said joyfully, “You should’ve told me earlier. You nearly scared me to death. I thought that you… Aha… ha…”
He then quickly gulped down his Monster Core and patted his belly as he was finally able to be at ease.
Yang Xue smiled helplessly and shook her head. She wanted to make it clear to him, but he didn’t even give her a chance to speak, so how was she able to reveal her intention?
“A misunderstanding! It’s all just a misunderstanding!” All the Mussels played along with bright smiles on their faces. As long as she wasn’t here to snatch their Monster Cores, they were fine with anything else. All the Mussels were terrified as Humans kept hunting them down to snatch their Monster Cores, which was why they had moved to the deepest part of the sea in an attempt to avoid them.
Staring at Yang Xue, Bang Bang’er scratched his head and asked, “What does this Young Lady want, then?”
It was then Yang Xue told him their purpose of coming here, “We’re looking for a bone.”
Upon hearing that, Bang Bang’er turned solemn and said grimly, “What do you mean?”
Yang Xue replied with a smile, “I’m looking for my Honoured Master’s remains. If I’m not mistaken, it is with you now. Please show it to me.”
Bang Bang’er sized her up and shook his head, “Impossible!”
Hearing that, Yang Xiao became infuriated as he shouted, “Hey Mussel, I’m warning you! Don’t even think about pulling any tricks on us! This Young Master has been magnanimous enough not to kill you so far, but that doesn’t mean I can’t kill you!”
Yang Xue lifted her hand and looked smilingly at the Mussel, “What do you mean by that?”
Ignoring Yang Xiao, Bang Bang’er stared fixedly at Yang Xue and said seriously, “I do have a certain bone with me, but it’s impossible that it belongs to your Honoured Master. You must be mistaken.”
Yang Xue said, “I would never be mistaken about this matter. I have cultivated my Honoured Master’s Secret Arts, so I can detect the aura of the bone when it is nearby. Right now, I am certain it is with you.”
Bang Bang’er nodded, “I do have a bone with me, but it has been passed down through the generations within the Mussel Clan, so it has been countless years now since we obtained it. I don’t believe you’re anywhere near old enough for it to belong to your Honoured Master.”
After he nodded, he repeatedly shook his head.
With a smile, Yang Xue parted her lips and said, “Senior, please allow me to explain it to you. My Honoured Master indeed passed away a long time ago. My Junior Brother and I only recently received the opportunity to obtain his inheritance, but we have never met him. However, one thing is irrefutable. Since we have received Honoured Master’s inheritance, we are his disciples. Upon learning that his remains were still scattered somewhere in this world, it is our duty to retrieve them and enshrine them properly.”
Upon hearing this, Bang Bang’er finally understood what was going on as he batted his eyes, “Then… your Honoured Master is…”
“Flowing Time Great Emperor!” Yang Xue replied.
Bang Bang’er gasped and exclaimed, “Flowing Time Great Emperor?”
Even though he was a Sea Monster, he was aware of who Flowing Time Great Emperor was; otherwise, he wouldn’t have reacted in such a way. The Mussel Clan knew that this bone must be extraordinary, but they hadn’t expected that it actually belonged to such a powerful figure.
He was the only Great Emperor who had mastered the Dao of Time throughout history!
After recovering from his shock, Bang Bang’er put on a conflicted expression and said, “I see. No wonder.”
Yang Xue asked curiously, “Senior, what do you mean?”
Bang Bang’er quickly waved his hands, “I wouldn’t dare to be addressed in such a way by the Great Emperor’s Legacy Disciple. Please forgive my rudeness earlier.”
He then took a few steps backwards and saluted her, “On behalf of the Mussel Clan, Bang Bang’er greets Patron God’s Legacy Disciples!”
Initially, the leader of the Mussel Clan fled in embarrassment when he saw Yang Xue, then he became haughty in front of his secluded home. Now, he respectfully saluted Yang Xiao and Yang Xue. Anyone would be confused by his constant changes in behaviour.
Following him, the other Mussels saluted as well, including those little Mussels. The little ones had tiny, stubby limbs, but they still imitated their leader and performed a salute, which made them look truly adorable.
Yang Xue was lost for words for a moment before she asked, “Senior, what do you mean?”
Bang Bang’er replied with a smile, “We had some misunderstandings before this. I never expected that we were actually all one family and just did not recognise one another. Please forgive Bang Bang’er for offending you earlier, Patron God’s Legacy Disciples.”
Yang Xiao batted his eyes, “Are you talking about our Honoured Master when you mention this Patron God?”
He was puzzled by what the Mussel King had said, so he had to ask him about it.
Bang Bang’er quickly nodded, “En. My Mussel Clan has benefited greatly from Patron God over the years. That is why we address him in such a way, and we’ve always worshipped him in our Clan. Despite that, we have never had the chance to discover his true name. It wasn’t until today we learned that Patron God is actually the legendary Flowing Time Great Emperor. We are so ashamed.”
Yang Xue’s gaze brightened when she heard that, “You mean he hasn’t truly died yet?”
Even Yang Kai straightened up. If the Great Emperor was dead, how was he able to give them any benefits?
Bang Bang’er shook his head, “That is not the case.”
Next, he opened his mouth and spat out a bone, which appeared as spotless as a piece of white jade; however, the bone was different from the one Wind Lord with him and seemed to be a bone from the forearm.
Yang Xue was right to say that the Great Emperor’s remains were with Bang Bang’er. The leader of the Mussel Clan had basically refined the bone into his body and only took it out now.
Seeing the bone, Yang Xiao and Yang Xue immediately knew that it belonged to their Honoured Master. Others might not be able to sense it, but they could detect the Time Principles hidden inside.
Qiong Qi’s eyes turned bloodshot as there was indeed another bone. It seemed that the Great Emperor’s corpse had really been dismembered. He wondered how dangerous the Outer Universe must be that even a top cultivator like the Great Emperor ended up in such a miserable state.
Bang Bang’er held the bone in his hand and sported a conflicted expression. After a moment of hesitation, he respectfully extended the bone towards Yang Xue with both hands, “This must be the bone you’re looking for.”
Yang Xue nodded and solemnly accepted it. As soon as she came into contact with the bone, she shuddered for a moment. She didn’t make any move, but the bone suddenly glinted. Following that, a golden pattern appeared on the bone as a strange aura spread around, which caused everyone’s mind to turn blank.
It seemed to be just a short moment, but it also felt as though a thousand years had passed, and when they came to their senses, they realised that the bone had become normal again, with no anomalies about it.
No one would think that what happened was just an illusion though. Flowing Time Great Emperor was extremely powerful, so even his remnant bones contained traces of his Divine Ability. Even though it had been a long time since he passed away, his strength was still hidden in his remains. It was normally hidden, and it would only be revealed when the Great Emperor’s Disciple came into contact with them.
The last bit of doubt behind Bang Bang’er’s gaze vanished and instead he directed a gentle look toward Yang Xiao and Yang Xue. Even though Yang Xue said she was Flowing Time’s successor, she couldn’t provide any evidence, so it wasn’t until this moment that he finally completely believed her.
With a faint smile, Bang Bang’er said, “Our ancestor accidentally came across this bone many years ago. Even though he could tell that it was extraordinary, he was unable to unravel what secrets hid within it. Since then, the bone has been passed down over the generations. Finally, it has been returned to its rightful owner. Congratulations.”
Yang Xue put away the bone and gazed at him, “Senior, what do you mean that you’ve benefited from my Honoured Master?”
Bang Bang’er quickly waved his hands, “Since you are Patron God’s Legacy Disciple, you must stop addressing me as Senior. Just call me by name.”
He then paused for a moment before asking, “How old do you all think I am?”
This was an odd question, but it was apparent that he wouldn’t have asked a random question for no reason. It must have something to do with the current situation.
Yang Xiao immediately replied, “You’re fairly powerful, but you don’t look very old. Monsters are supposed to enjoy a long life anyway so… I would guess that you’re about two thousand years old now.”
“You’re wrong.” Bang Bang’er shook his head. He decided to tell them the answer straight away instead of keeping them guessing, “I don’t remember my exact age, but I’m over eight thousand years old now today.”
Yang Kai and the others were shocked when they heard this. As compared to Bang Bang’er’s cultivation, he had indeed enjoyed an extremely long life at eight thousand years old. Furthermore, he didn’t even look that old. Nevertheless, they soon realised that it must have something to do with the bone.
As expected, Bang Bang’er went on to explain, “I am a Monster King, a High-Rank Monster King to be precise. I’ve lived such a long life already, but I still feel youthful. It isn’t that we Mussels are blessed with long life, but rather all thanks to Patron God’s remains. After our Old Ancestor obtained this bone, he couldn’t figure out the secrets inside it, but he realised that his life had been lengthened with the bone around. So, over the generations, every leader of the Mussel Clan had enjoyed a long life. Other than those who had lost their lives in battles against other Monster Clans, the longest-living King enjoyed a thirteen-thousand-year-long life. This was all thanks to Patron God’s blessing.”
After a pause, he went on to say, “We have lived in this vast sea for many generations, and even though we refrain from fighting with others, calamities will still descend upon us from time to time. There are not many of us, and we don’t have a lot of top Masters. It so happens that several times in the past our Clan was almost wiped out. The reason we were able to endure was thanks to Patron God’s remains. While I cannot truly use it, in times of great crisis, I am still able to draw out a portion of its power to destroy my enemies.”
Bang Bang’er was the leader of the Mussel Clan. If he were in danger, the entire Mussel Clan would be at risk of going extinct. In such a circumstance, drawing on the Great Emperor’s power could indeed assist him.
It hadn’t happened to him before, but the previous leaders of the Clan had apparently experienced this.
That was the reason the Mussels always worshipped the bone’s owner and regarded him to be their Patron God. However, it wasn’t until this day that they found out who the bone’s owner was.
After the explanation, Bang Bang’er said with a smile, “We owe Patron God a huge favour. Not only have we found out his name today, but we have also realised that he has Legacy Disciples in this world. All of us from the Mussel Clan cannot express the depths of our joy.”
Yang Xue said, “Senior is too courteous. My Junior Brother and I must offer proper thanks for returning these remains to us.”
Bang Bang’er waved his hands, “This is what I should do. Patron God has blessed us many times already. Since his Legacy Disciples are here now, the bone should return to you.”
It wasn’t certain what he really thought about the matter, but at the very least, he appeared sincere. In any case, it wasn’t like he had a choice. The Mussels were now surrounded by six Half-Saints. If he dared to say no, they would cease to exist in the next instant.
Yang Xue asked, “If you return the bone to me, will it affect your health in any way?”
The reason Bang Bang’er had lived for such a long time was thanks to the Great Emperor’s remains. If the bone was taken away from him, it wasn’t certain how long he could still live.
Hearing that, Bang Bang’er replied with a smile, “I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t be affected in any way, but it’s just that I won’t live as long as the ancestors before me. Regardless, the years I should still live will not be taken away from me. Given my current condition now, I believe that I’ll still be around for another one or two thousand years at least.”
Yang Xue nodded her head and said, “My Junior Brother and I will make it up to you in the future.”
“There’s no need for that.” Bang Bang’er kept shaking his hands, then he let out a long breath as though he had put down something. After that, he sported a passionate expression, “We are honoured to have Patron God’s two Legacy Disciples here. If you are open to the idea, why not come inside and have a chat? I have something else to tell you about.”
Upon hearing that, Yang Xue took a look at her Big Brother.
Yang Kai said with a smile, “In that case, we will be imposing on your hospitality.”
They had chased after Bang Bang’er and even taken the Great Emperor’s bone, which he had kept for many years, away from him. It would be inappropriate if they left just like this. Since Bang Bang’er was so inviting, it wouldn’t matter for them to go in and have a chat.
An elated Bang Bang’er turned around and shouted, “We have very important guests today! All of you, begin preparing, we must host a grand banquet!”
The little Mussels imitated their King and cheered loudly. At that instant, all the Mussels started getting busy. Half of the Mussels returned to their homes to get things ready while the remaining Mussels stayed with their King to welcome their Honoured Guests.
Yang Kai directly shuffled forward while Liu Yan was walking alongside him. Qiong Qi and the Half-Saints walked behind them, followed by Yang Xue while Yang Xiao brought up the rear. It wasn’t that Yang Xiao walked too slowly though, it was just that he had been surrounded by the flirtatious and alluring Mussel Clan ladies.
They really loved this beautiful White Dragon like Yang Xiao. When both parties were in conflict just now, it would be inappropriate for them to be forward with him, but now that the misunderstanding had been resolved, all of the ladies with different styles and demeanours surrounded him.
Yang Xiao’s face had completely reddened, and before he could say anything, two Mussel ladies took his arms from both sides and lugged him into the secluded home. Seeing how dazed he was, they all started giggling.
The fragrance coming from the ladies made Yang Xiao feel like he was on cloud nine and he seemed to be seeing stars.
After entering the secluded home, Yang Kai stood before a sculpture, which appeared very ancient. The imposing sculpture was placed in a central square inside the secluded home. It was apparent that the sculptor was an expert in this field as his work looked lifelike and alive. However, what was puzzling was that the sculpture didn’t have any facial features.
On the side, Bang Bang’er explained politely, “We have benefited from Patron God’s blessings, but we have never seen him before. One of our ancestors placed this sculpture here so that the future generations could continue to worship him.”
They were not sure what the bone’s owner looked like, so they didn’t carve a face onto it. Nevertheless, they could tell that he must be an extraordinary person, which was why they made the sculpture look imposing.
Yang Kai replied with a smile, “Do you need any help? One of us has seen the Great Emperor before.”
Upon hearing that, Bang Bang’er was astounded. It had been countless years since Flowing Time Great Emperor passed away, so he hadn’t expected that someone had actually seen him before. How long had this person lived? Regardless, this was wonderful news to him, so he naturally wouldn’t reject it. Thus, he quickly said, “It is the greatest wish of all our ancestors to know the face of our Patron God. Please, it would be our honour if we could have help with filling in the details of the sculpture’s face.”
Yang Kai turned to look at Qiong Qi.
The only person among them who had seen Flowing Time Great Emperor was Qiong Qi. Even though Yang Xiao and Yang Xue had received the Great Emperor’s inheritance, they had no idea what their Honoured Master looked like. That was why they also looked expectantly at Qiong Qi.
Qiong Qi determinedly moved past Yang Kai with a serious expression. As he looked up at the huge sculpture, there seemed to be a tinge of longing and sorrow on his face. Soon, those emotions vanished from his face though and were replaced by a solemn expression.
After that, he condensed his Monster Qi and lifted his hand. The Monster Qi agglomerated on his finger and turned into a graver. Following that, he leapt into the air as the graver turned into afterimages. At that instant, stone crumbs could be seen scattering around.
Qiong Qi kept carving without stopping, the entire process as smooth as flowing water. Even though he wasn’t a master in the art of sculpting, given his powerful cultivation, he was still able to do it with ease.
Despite the fact that he was just helping out to fill in the details, he was still doing it seriously. Every cut and stroke he made was the result of the condensation of his cultivation.
After thirty breaths, Qiong Qi put his hand down. The crowd looked up at the sculpture and sported different expressions. Most of them were surprised.
Flowing Time Great Emperor was one of the most famous figures in the history of the Star Boundary. Even though it had been a long time since he passed away, his legends were still spread around among the general public. Most people would think that such a top cultivator must have an extraordinary bearing and unique appearance.
However, the truth was that, after Qiong Qi was done with carving out the Great Emperor’s face, everyone realised that Flowing Time Great Emperor looked just like the average man, one who could simply disappear in a crowded street market.
Nevertheless, a Great Emperor’s power had nothing to do with his face. He was Flowing Time Great Emperor, so even his average-looking face became extraordinary because of his title.
Then, all of them paid homage to the Great Emperor.
After stepping forward, Yang Xiao and Yang Xue respectively burned three incense sticks for their Honoured Master and kowtowed to him.
When they were done with all that, Bang Bang’er led all of them into the main hall where a welcoming aroma permeated the place. The Mussels had prepared a feast for them as they awaited their honoured guests to have a seat.
Everyone was respectively served by a gentle and beautiful young Mussel woman. In the middle of the hall, there were some alluring ladies who were dancing to the music.
The prior confrontation was nothing more than a misunderstanding, and Bang Bang’er happened to come across their Patron God’s Legacy Disciples, which was why he was overjoyed as he kept proposing toasts to them. Even though the Mussels lived under the sea, there had never been a lack of resources, so their homemade wines were especially mellow and aromatic, which were a treat to the taste buds.
After they tasted some wine and dishes, Bang Bang’er suddenly said, “Sir, Madam, for your information, in this sea, we are not the only ones who have benefited from the Great Emperor’s blessing. There are other Clans in the sea that are in the same situation as well.”
Flowing Time Great Emperor was the Patron God for the Mussel Clan, which was why he called his Legacy Disciples ‘Sir’ and ‘Madam’. It was a form of address to show his respect, so there was no problem with it.
Yang Xue’s gaze brightened when she heard that, “Senior means…”
Bang Bang’er replied with a smile, “This is what I wanted to tell you. It wouldn’t have mattered if we didn’t know that Patron God still has some Disciples in this world, but since both of you have come all the way here, it would be wrong to conceal the truth from you.”
He paused for a moment, “Patron God’s bone, as well as a message, has been passed down within the Mussel Clan over the generations. Our Old Ancestor said that the Mussel Clan wasn’t the only one who had obtained the Patron God’s remains. In this vast sea, some other Clans have already received Patron God’s blessings, which allowed them to thrive over the millennia.”
Upon hearing that, Yang Xiao stopped drinking his wine and stared at Bang Bang’er, “Senior, do you know where those Clans are?”
Bang Bang’er replied with a smile, “I’m not sure about the others, but it’s highly likely that Patron God’s remains are in a particular place.”
Yang Xue and Yang Xiao asked at the same time, “Where?”
“Fifty thousand kilometres to the west of our territory is a certain Shrimp Clan’s territory. It’s highly likely that Old Shrimp has a piece of the Patron God’s remains.”
“What do you mean that it’s highly likely?” Yang Xiao arched his brow.
Bang Bang’er explained, “Because Old Shrimp has lived for many, many years. Without Patron God’s remains, he couldn’t have achieved this.”
The Mussels had one piece of Flowing Time Great Emperor’s bones, so they knew what it could do. The situation in the Shrimp Clan was similar to that of their own, which was why he had this speculation.
This came as a surprise as Yang Xiao immediately rose from the chair, “What are we waiting for? We’ll get back our Honoured Master’s remains from the Shrimp Clan right now.”
Then, he turned to look at Yang Xue, “Little Aunt, what do you think?”
Yang Xue called him ‘Junior Brother’ while he called her ‘Little Aunt’. Their relationship was really a mess.
Yang Xue nodded, “We’ll go together.”
Bang Bang’er quickly said, “Wait a moment. The situation within the Shrimp Clan is different from that of our Clan. They might not be willing to return Patron God’s remains to you. They might also think that you all are swindlers. Let me gather up some people to help you out.”
Yang Xiao shot him a look and said with a smile, “Do you have any grudges against him?”
If there were no grudges between the Mussel and Shrimp Clans, why was Bang Bang’er acting proactively and so eager to destroy the other Clan through Yang Xiao and the others? Even though Yang Xiao had stayed in the Flowing Time Temple for five hundred years, he wasn’t a fool. That was why he could easily see through the other’s thoughts.
Nevertheless, he didn’t intend to get a reply from him, so before Bang Bang’er could explain anything, he went on to say, “This is the internal affairs of the Flowing Time Temple, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
He didn’t care what Bang Bang’er’s intention was or whether the latter wanted to commit murder using a borrowed knife, since they had found out that the Shrimp Clan might have the Great Emperor’s remains, they had to go over.
Bang Bang’er appeared slightly embarrassed, but since Yang Xiao had said as such, he didn’t have the courage to insist on lending them a hand; thus, he only said, “I wish Sir and Madam great success in your endeavour then.”
Upon learning about the whereabouts of the Great Emperor’s remains, Flowing Time’s disciples were not willing to idle anymore as they wanted to set off immediately. Bang Bang’er pointed out the direction for them and saw them off.
After that, all of them charged forward at full speed in this expansive sea.
Halfway there, however, Yang Kai stopped all of a sudden. Seeing this, Yang Xue, Qiong Qi and the others quickly halted their pace as well. Only Yang Xiao shot forward for quite some distance before he came back and looked doubtfully at Yang Kai, “Father, did you discover something?”
Yang Kai shook his head with a smile before he took a look at both Yang Xiao and Yang Xue, “Both of you have grown up.”
Yang Xiao and Yang Xue were puzzled by his statement as they looked inquisitively at him.
Yang Kai went on to say, “Since you’ve grown up, you have to learn to walk on your own.”
As an intelligent young woman, Yang Xue immediately understood what he was trying to say and asked, “Big Brother, do you have to leave now?”
Yang Kai extended his hand to stroke her head and replied with a smile, “Yes, there are some things that require my immediate attention.”
“Please go ahead, then. Don’t worry about Xiao’er and me.”
With a straight face, Yang Kai said, “I also have to bring your Big Sister Liu Yan and Uncle Qiong Qi with me. I might come across some formidable enemies this time, so I need as much support as possible.”
Before Yang Xue could say anything, Yang Xiao became excited and said, “We’ll let Great Aunt and Old Qiong go with you, then. Little Aunt and I will handle the matter regarding our Honoured Master.”
Yang Xue nodded. They had received the Great Emperor’s inheritance and cultivated in his palace for five hundred years, so they were like two tigers that had just left the mountain now. With Yang Kai around, they felt somewhat restricted, so upon hearing that he wanted to bring Liu Yan and Qiong Qi with him, while she felt somewhat sad, at the same time, it was something she wanted as well.
Yang Kai replied with a smile, “Even though you’ve achieved some success in your cultivation, you must remember that there’s always someone stronger than you in this world. Don’t ever think that you’re peerless just because you’ve received the Great Emperor’s inheritance. Even your Honoured Master wasn’t invincible, let alone two little kids like you…”
“Adoptive Father, I’m over five hundred years old now!” Yang Xiao corrected solemnly as he was no longer a young kid.
Ignoring him entirely, Yang Kai continued, “Even though you two are not from the same generations, you’re of similar ages. So, you have to take care of one another and be careful.”
He paused for a moment, “If you come across any danger, you must immediately use your Space Beacons!”
Yang Xiao and Yang Xue nodded in unison, “We’ll remember.”
“Also, after you’re done with this matter, Xiao’er, you have to go back to Dragon Island, and Xue’er, you have to return to High Heaven Palace…”
“Ah ah, Adoptive Father! You’re so long-winded!” Yang Xiao pouted. Right after he finished speaking, he received a knock on his head from Yang Kai; however, he just giggled like nothing had happened.
“Alright, I’ll stop nagging at you. Now, go on.” Yang Kai waved his hand as though he was chasing away two chicks.
Yang Xiao and Yang Xue traded glances before they turned around and transformed into a beam of light that shot across the sea.
Yang Kai, Qiong Qi, and Liu Yan remained in the same spot. With his eyes narrowed, he watched as the beam of light disappeared from his sight before he said, “Follow them, but don’t make a move unless they’ve fallen into a life-or-death crisis.”
It was just an excuse that he might come across formidable enemies and that he needed more people with him. Yang Kai was going to the Lower Star Fields, so there was practically no one who could be a match for him there. Moreover, he still had four Half-Saints inside the Small Sealed World. Even if he really bumped into any powerful enemies, the four of them would be enough to deal with any unforeseen danger.
The reason he said such a thing was that it was the perfect opportunity for Yang Xiao and Yang Xue to test their own powers after five hundred years of secluded cultivation. If Liu Yan and Qiong Qi were beside them, they would think that they still had some people to rely on, that was why Yang Kai had to bring Liu Yan and Qiong Qi away from them and let them face their problems on their own.
Whether they would come across any setbacks or opportunities, they had to deal with them by themselves. The flowers inside a greenhouse would bloom beautifully, but they wouldn’t withstand the harsh winds and rain of the outside world.
Qiong Qi understood this well, so after Yang Kai told him to move in secret, he immediately nodded.
Moreover, Yang Kai indeed didn’t have any time to stay by their side. His own matters had been delayed for quite some time, so he had to deal with them quickly.
Qiong Qi then hid his aura before following them.
On the other hand, Liu Yan wasn’t willing to leave as she lifted her head and looked longingly at Yang Kai, her big eyes as clear as a mountain stream.
Yang Kai smiled and stroked her head until her hair became a mess, but Liu Yan seemed satisfied as she beamed at him; then, without saying a word, she raced after Qiong Qi.
With Qiong Qi and Liu Yan protecting them, Yang Kai was able to set his mind at ease. In this sea, no one should be able to harm them.
After they were all gone, Yang Kai remained where he was as he fell into his own thoughts. Then, he suddenly lifted his hand and landed a palm on his chest.
He had exerted quite some force with his palm, which was why two of his ribs had broken as he sprayed out a mouthful of Golden Blood and dampened his clothes. His face turned pale and he almost couldn’t support his own weight.
After coughing for a bit, he took a rest before using his Space Principles to activate one of the Space Beacons on his wrist.
As the Principles undulated, he disappeared from the spot and reached the other end of the Space Beacon in an instant.
With a solemn expression, he began reading out the speech he had prepared, “Sixty-First Army Commander Yang Kai greets Iron Bloo… Shit!”
His greeting abruptly turned into a curse. It wasn’t that he was disrespectful of the Great Emperor, but rather that he was shocked by the sight before his eyes. No matter how many circumstances he had imagined he would come across, the sight in front of him wasn’t one of them.
Yang Kai was heading to the Lower Star Field, so he had to go through Star Court first. Presently, Star Court was presided over by Iron Blood Great Emperor, which was why he activated the Space Beacon that was connected to Zhan Wu Hen. Previously in Seven Mists Sea, Yang Kai had given a Space Beacon to the Great Emperor.
Supposedly, after the Space Beacon was activated, Yang Kai should appear beside Iron Blood Great Emperor.
However, at this moment, the place he was in was filled with Demon Qi. Lifting his head, he realised that the Demon soldiers in front of him were seemingly endless and it wasn’t long before innumerable streams of Divine Sense came from all directions and targeted him.
[What’s going on?] Yang Kai was dumbfounded as he subconsciously thought that Iron Blood Great Emperor must have barged into the Demon army’s base. Nevertheless, looking around, he realised that the Great Emperor was nowhere to be seen.
However, he detected a very familiar energy fluctuation that was coming from a High-Rank Demon King that was nearest to him.
The High-Rank Demon King was a Corpse Demon whose body was filthy and putrefied. Presently, he was just an arm’s length away from Yang Kai, so they were basically touching shoulders. Yang Kai’s expression darkened as he caught a whiff of the rancid smell.
The Corpse Demon was startled for a moment. Anyone would be stumped when a person suddenly appeared in front of him.
The next moment, the Corpse Demon’s eyes brightened as he could recognise Yang Kai. Pleasantly surprised, he immediately howled as his weltering Demon Qi swept across Yang Kai. At the same time, he lifted his arms as his hands extended towards the latter.
Yang Kai also pushed out a palm to parry the attack with his Demon Qi. As he activated his Dragon Transformation Secret Art, his hand turned into a Dragon Claw.
When their hands came into contact, the Corpse Demon started wailing instead as his arms twisted and shredded apart. He quickly changed his tactic by turning into a corpse mountain. The corpse mountain was shaped like a giant, and the Corpse Demon’s original appearance could only be faintly seen. However, the figure was actually made of many corpses, which could be seen struggling and wailing. Their voices seemed able to terrify anyone.
So many corpses had been crammed together that it really looked like a mountain.
Yang Kai fully activated his Dragon Transformation Secret Art and turned into a three-hundred-metre-long Half-Dragon.
Then, the two gigantic figures clashed with each other head-on.
Just then, a deafening Dragon Roar was heard, which caused the corpses to fall like rain. Three breaths later, the corpse mountain collapsed. Before the corpses even came into contact with the ground, they turned into pus, which stank terribly.
Yang Kai’s three-hundred-metre-tall figure seemed able to support the entire sky. There was a thing in his left hand that was pounding hard. It was none other than the Corpse Demon’s Demon Heart.
In just a move, the Demon Heart was taken away from him. The Corpse Demon couldn’t sustain his current form anymore as he shrunk to a Human-sized figure. Then, he collapsed to the ground, and there was a hole in his chest that could be seen through from the front to the back.
Yang Kai looked down at him with his golden eyes. He seemed authoritative as though he was a deity. Exerting more force with his hand, he was able to crush the Demon Heart apart with ease.
The Corpse Demon immediately became paralysed, but he hadn’t passed away yet. As a High-Rank Demon King, there was definitely more than one Demon Heart in his body, so it didn’t matter that one of them had been destroyed. As long as the Demon Heart remained, the Demon Race would never die!
He wailed as dark blood streamed out of his mouth. Then, he attempted to get to his feet to flee.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai lifted his foot and pressed him down. With a loud thud, the ground seemed to be shaking and the figure beneath his foot exploded into blood. The Corpse Demon didn’t even manage to grunt in pain before he was killed.
In just five breaths’ time, a High-Rank Demon King had fallen. Yang Kai had almost always fought people above his realm, so now that he had ascended to the High-Rank Demon King Realm, he was even able to battle against a Pseudo-Great Emperor like Wind Lord, so it didn’t take him much effort to kill another High-Rank Demon King.
After the Corpse Demon was killed, Yang Kai spread his right palm and revealed a tiny bead, which was a Space Beacon. It was the one that he had given to Iron Blood Great Emperor when he was in Seven Mists Sea.
There were only two possible reasons why the Space Beacon had fallen into the Corpse Demon’s hands.
First, the Corpse Demon had killed Iron Blood Great Emperor and looted his stuff. However, could a High-Rank Demon King kill a Great Emperor? That was impossible. Even if Zhan Wu Hen just stood there without resisting, this High-Rank Demon King wouldn’t be able to harm him even if he kept on attacking for a hundred years without rest.
Since it was impossible for the High-Rank Demon King to have killed the Great Emperor, only one possibility was left. The Great Emperor had secretly placed the Space Beacon on the Corpse Demon’s body.
The uses of Space Beacons were no longer a secret in the Star Boundary. They could be used to send messages and transfer some items. Yang Kai suddenly gave Zhan Wu Hen a Space Beacon, so the Great Emperor knew that Yang Kai would be looking for him one day.
Iron Blood Great Emperor wasn’t willing to see Yang Kai again, so he just took it without saying anything, but he soon placed the bead in the hands of a Demon King. That was why, after Yang Kai activated the Space Beacon, he immediately appeared among the Demon soldiers.
Realizing this, Yang Kai’s expression darkened. With his three-hundred-metre tall figure, he just killed a High-Rank Demon King like the latter was a chicken. After that, he sported a dark expression, so it seemed that he still hadn’t killed enough.
All the Demons were horrified. There didn’t seem to be an end to the Demon soldiers in this base, but at this moment, the place was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
Soon, a few figures flew over and they exuded the auras of Half-Saints. Apparently, they noticed the noises over there. The speed of Half-Saints was fast, so it would only take them a few breaths to reach this place. Before they even arrived, they had targeted Yang Kai with their auras.
Yang Kai took a look in that direction and gently let out a breath. Then, he yelled in a deafening voice, “Tell Can Ye to wash his neck and wait for me! This King will definitely come to claim his skull one day!”
After he finished speaking, he shot a glance at the Half-Saint that was nearest to him, then he sneered and took a step forward before his gigantic figure vanished into thin air.
A few breaths later, some figures landed on the spot where Yang Kai was standing earlier. The Half-Saints had finally arrived, but Yang Kai was already gone and only a puddle of dark blood was left on the ground.
All of them sported grim expressions. Despite the fact that so many Demon soldiers were around, Yang Kai was still able to come and go as he pleased. Not only had he killed a High-Rank Demon King, but he had also threatened to destroy their Master, which was humiliating for them. They hadn’t really suffered from any damage as they had only lost a High-Rank Demon King, but this kind of humiliation was unacceptable for them.
However, the Half-Saints didn’t understand what Yang Kai was up to. Did he come all the way here just to showcase his power or threaten them? That would be quite childish if that was true. After giving it a thought, they still couldn’t figure out what Yang Kai’s secret plot was, so they could only tell everyone else to put up their guard.
In fact, Yang Kai didn’t have any secret plot. He was also astounded to have appeared among the Demon soldiers all of a sudden. Fortunately, Can Ye wasn’t around; otherwise, he might not even be able to flee. The Half-Saints couldn’t seal off space to stop him from fleeing, but Can Ye could do that.
If he came across Can Ye just now, he would’ve lost his life; thus, Yang Kai cursed at Zhan Wu Hen in his heart, utterly incensed.
However, he had appeared in that place and killed a High-Rank Demon King, so it would’ve been awkward if he just left like that, which was why he left behind a threat. It wasn’t just a threat though as it was his true intention as well.
Compared to the Demon Saints, he was more resentful of Can Ye. That was because Can Ye, as a Great Emperor of the Star Boundary, ignored the plight of the people in his own world and opened up the Two Worlds’ Passage, which allowed the Demon armies to invade the Star Boundary and caused their world to descend into turmoil. Besides that, he stemmed from a Shadow Demon’s bloodline, which was why he had the urge to acknowledge his own ancestry.
During the war on Eternal Sky Continent, while Bright Moon fought alone against impossible odds, Can Ye had hidden on the side and launched a sneak attack at the critical moment, severely wounding Bright Moon and destroying all chances he had to flee.
It could be said that Can Ye’s sudden attack was the last straw that broke Bright Moon’s back, so he was one of the main reasons behind Bright Moon’s death.
Yang Kai had received Bright Moon’s blessings, so he had a duty to seek revenge for him, which was why he had to kill Can Ye one day.
When he reappeared, he caught a whiff of a fragrance, and a four-post bed came into his sight. He was startled for a moment before realising that it was a woman’s room.
Turning around, he was met with a pair of bright eyes, then he put on a grin, “Yang…”
After saying just one word, Yang Kai’s voice caught in his throat. Lowering his gaze, he saw a fair and slender neck, then two great, snow-covered towering peaks. Following that, it was the woman’s flat belly.
“Why are you still staring?” An enraged Yang Yan swiftly extended two fingers and poked Yang Kai’s eyes.
As Yang Kai saw the alluring woman in the state she was brought into the world all of a sudden, he fell into a dazed state while Yang Yan made a move, which was why he was unable to react. After his eyes were poked, he felt excruciating pain and started seeing stars. After a grunt, he couldn’t help staggering backwards.
After stabilising himself, he forcefully rubbed his eyes as tears streamed down his face.
Yang Yan hadn’t fully used her power, so Yang Kai wouldn’t really be hurt, but his vision definitely would become blurred for a while.
A moment later, his vision finally regained focus, but his eyes had reddened as though he had gotten a cloud of dust in them. Lifting his head, he realised that Yang Yan was already fully clothed as she stared at him with a perfect smile.
Yang Kai’s face twitched as he could see the murderous intent behind her smile. At that instant, he knew that he was unlucky again. Initially, he wanted to use the Space Beacon to look for Iron Blood Great Emperor, but he arrived at the Demons’ army base instead. Then, he thought that he could look for Yang Yan; after all, she was from Star Court as well, so she might be able to help. However, he hadn’t expected to walk in on her when she was getting changed, which was just terrible timing. Basically, today was the day that everything had gone wrong for him.
After giving it a thought, he said seriously, “I’ll have to start the story with Senior Zhan Wu Hen.”
“Get out!” Yang Yan demanded.
“Huh?” Yang Kai was startled.
Yang Yan pointed at the door and said through clenched teeth, “I said get out!”
Without saying a word, Yang Kai sniffled and turned around to leave the room, then he closed the door. After waiting for a while with his hands hidden in his sleeves, he coughed and knocked on the door, “Is anyone home?”
Yang Yan’s voice was heard coming from inside, “Come in.”
With a grin, Yang Kai pushed the door open and entered the room, only to see that she was already seated at the table with a cup of tea in her hand. She was sipping the tea in an elegant manner, her red lips particularly attractive.
Without waiting for her to say anything, Yang Kai directly took a seat.
Yang Yan said with a smile, “You’re acting like you’re a close friend of mine.”
The murderous intent and coldness on her face had vanished, as though nothing had happened earlier.
Yang Kai poured himself a cup of tea and gulped it down. After several cups, he finally calmed down and let out a long sigh, “I’m not an outsider so…”
Yang Kai made small talk with Yang Yan to ease the tension, and only after making sure that she really wasn’t mad at him, did he set his mind at ease and asked about the current affairs in the Star Boundary.
Yang Yan replied with a smile, “The support for the Demons has been cut off, and even the Demon Saints are unable to interfere. Only Can Ye is left to be in charge of everything, so how are they going to make a fuss again? Moreover, you’ve brought with you so many helpers from the Demon Realm, three of whom are Demon Saints. With the situation stacked so heavily in our favour, if Li Wu Yi couldn’t destroy the last pockets of resistance, wouldn’t he have lived all those years in vain? That said, things cannot be rushed, so it’ll take a few years before the dust settles.”
After hearing her explanation, Yang Kai learned that while he was busy, the fifty-four armies in the Star Boundary had rallied and limited the Demons to a small area in the Western Territory. They had launched several small-scale battles and won every time.
Moreover, Chang Tian, Yu Ru Meng, and Bei Li Mo had separated an army of their own which further destroyed the morale of the Demon armies. Recently, many of the Demons had come to their side.
The situation was indeed in their favour; however, Yang Yan was right to say that it couldn’t be rushed. They had to act methodically.
Even though the support for the Demons had been cut off, countless Demons had invaded the Star Boundary prior to that. It was an arduous task to destroy all of them. First of all, they had to be wary that the Demons might be driven to act desperately. Secondly, they had to be cautious that some of the Demons might hide among the common people.
All fifty-four armies had their own tasks as they encircled the Demons and made sure no enemies could flee. When the right time came, there was bound to be an epic battle.
The Sixty-First Army had just been founded, so they didn’t have any generals and soldiers yet. They were still in the process of making preparations, so they probably wouldn’t be able to help out with the current war effort. However, Yao Si was left in charge of the Sixty-First Army now, so there was nothing Yang Kai had to worry about. Furthermore, destroying the Demons in the Star Boundary was just the beginning. Their ultimate goal was to devour the entire Demon Realm.
Certainly, the Sixty-First Army would shine and make a name for itself one day.
After they were done with discussing the war, Yang Yan suddenly asked, “Why were you looking for me?”
She knew that if there was nothing important, Yang Kai wouldn’t have used the Space Beacon to appear beside her. Since he was here for something, she simply smiled, “Just tell me straight away.”
They had known each other for many years, so Yang Kai could just be straightforward to her.
“Where’s Senior Iron Blood? I need to see him,” Yang Kai replied.
Yang Yan shook her head, “You’ll be disappointed then. Senior Iron Blood and Senior Serene Soul are trying to find Can Ye’s whereabouts. They’ve ordered that if there’s nothing serious, we should not contact them. If it’s really something important, just tell me about it and I’ll pass on your message to him later.”
Yang Kai was surprised upon hearing this and asked, “They’re trying to hunt down Can Ye?” At that instant, he finally understood why the Space Beacon given to Iron Blood Great Emperor had fallen into the hands of a Demon King.
Presently, only Can Ye was in charge of the Demon Realm forces in the Star Boundary. It was said that to defeat one’s enemies, one had to capture the leader first. As long as they could kill Can Ye, the remaining Demon armies would fall apart, which would then save countless lives on the Star Boundary’s side. Can Ye’s title, however, was Night Shadow, so he was an expert in stealth and launching sneak attacks. Even though Iron Blood and Serene Soul had joined forces, it still wasn’t easy for them to find his whereabouts. Any small move would alert their enemy.
In order to ensure that nothing would go wrong, Zhan Wu Hen decided to throw away the Space Beacon to prevent Yang Kai from appearing at an inopportune moment and alert Can Ye.
[That must be the reason… Forget it. I know very well that it isn’t the main reason…] Yang Kai wanted to come up with an excuse for Zhan Wu Hen for throwing the Space Beacon away; however, it was apparent that Zhan Wu Hen had a bias against him. Otherwise, he could’ve just kept the Space Beacon in his Space Ring. With the Space Ring’s isolation, it would be impossible for Yang Kai to directly connect to it.
Having failed in his attempt to come up with an excuse to console himself, Yang Kai became incensed again. After taking a deep breath, he said, “Since he isn’t around, I’ll just make a request to you. En, I want to go to the Lower Star Field.”
In fact, he also wanted Zhan Wu Hen to make another Command Token for him. Even though the original token was still around, the Great Emperor’s Divine Ability inside it was gone as Yang Kai had used it in the Flowing Time Temple. Something seemed to be lacking when no Great Emperor’s Divine Ability was stored in the token.
Because of this, Yang Kai had even landed a palm on his chest to make himself look miserable. He wanted to tell Zhan Wu Hen that he had fought a great battle against Wind Lord, risking his own life to obtain a victory. However, he couldn’t even find Zhan Wu Hen now, so this matter had to be put aside.
“Just go if you want to. You’re the Star Field Guardian, so that’s basically your territory. Who can stop you if you want to go there?” Yang Yan giggled happily.
“How do I get there?” Yang Kai batted his eyes.
Yang Yan replied curiously, “Haven’t you refined the Star Field’s Source already? Just communicate with the Source and it will give you directions.”
Yang Kai shook his head, “I know, and I’ve tried it, but there’s a barrier around the Star Boundary. If the barrier doesn’t open, I cannot head to the Star Field, unless I can break the barrier.”
Yang Yan kept a smile on her face, “When did you last try? Why not give it another try now?”
Yang Kai frowned at her words, but she didn’t seem to be pulling his leg, so he quickly focused his mind and communicated with the Source of Heng Luo Star Field. A moment later, a glint flashed across his eyes as he finally understood what had happened, “I see!”
Yang Yan explained, “The Star Boundary and Star Fields are inseparable, and they’re closely connected. Take a tree as an example. The countless Lower Star Fields are like a tree’s roots, and the Star Boundary is like the tree crown. Cultivators like us are the fruits on this tree. Fruits will only grow when the roots absorb nutrients from the ground. Normally, the fruits are unable to return to their roots; however, a Star Field Guardian is able to make use of the Star Field’s Source to trace back to his own root.”
Yang Kai nodded as he already knew this. After he refined the Source of Heng Luo Star Field and returned to the Star Boundary in the past, he had already given it a try. He just had to communicate with the Star Field’s Source and could somewhat sense the existence of Heng Luo Star Field; however, it was impossible for him to return to the Star Field as there was a barrier that separated the Star Boundary and the Star Field. If he couldn’t break the barrier, he would never be able to go back to the Star Field, even though he was a Star Field Master.
However, it wasn’t until this moment that he came to the realisation that the barrier came from the Star Boundary. Heng Luo Star Field was his territory, so it would always welcome him.
He had given it a try in the past, so he thought that he couldn’t go back again, which was why he wanted to look for Zhan Wu Hen.
“For the average Star Field Master, he would have to go through Star Court if he wanted to descend to his Star Field, but you’re different. That’s because you have obtained the Great Emperor’s Opportunity as well as the Star Boundary’s acknowledgement. If you want to go back, the barrier around the Star Boundary will not stop you.”
“Got it.” Yang Kai nodded, and then he became curious, “Where is Star Court actually? What does it look like?”
He had heard a lot about Star Court in the past. This time, he thought that he could have a look at it, but it seemed that his wish couldn’t be granted.
Yang Yan replied with a smile, “Star Court is just a name, not a place.”
“What?” Yang Kai exclaimed.
Yang Yan explained, “A long time ago, anyone could move between the Star Boundary and the Lower Star Fields. As long as one was powerful enough, he could easily move between any Star Field and the Star Boundary, and there was no hindrance for him; however, I’m sure you’re familiar with what Wu Kuang did. He was a special case, but apart from him, there were a number of other top cultivators who had made a fuss in the Lower Star Fields. It was just that they didn’t turn the Star Fields upside down like what Wu Kuang had done…”
When a wolf suddenly barged into the home of rabbits, naturally, it could do whatever it pleased. Even though the World Principles would restrict the wolf’s sharp teeth and claws, it still had a burly figure. There was no way the rabbits could go against the wolf.
It was just that Wu Kuang was a very special wolf who had cultivated the Heaving Devouring Battle Law. He had destroyed countless rabbit homes. Wherever he went, Stars would collapse and Star Fields would be destroyed.
After the war in the Shattered Star Sea, the Great Emperors gathered together and had a serious discussion. All of them realized that they had to put a stop to these heinous acts. The Lower Star Fields were the roots for the tree, and if they allowed these wolves to do whatever they pleased, the tree would eventually die. Hence, the Great Emperors joined forces and built a barrier around the Star Boundary. Since then, those from the Star Boundary were unable to descend to the Star Fields to commit any crimes. Because of this, the Great Emperors also founded an organisation called Star Court to monitor the situation in the Lower Star Fields. That was also how the positions of Star Field Guardians came about.
Star Court was just an organisation, so it didn’t have specific headquarters. When Iron Blood Great Emperor was in charge of Star Court, Iron Blood Fort was where the Court was located. When Serene Soul Great Emperor was in charge, Serene Soul Palace would be the Court. When it was Bustling World Great Emperor’s turn, the Court would be wherever he was at that time.
The barrier was set up by the Great Emperors using the Star Boundary’s Will, so it was useless to someone who had obtained the acknowledgement of the Star Boundary. In other words, Great Emperors could just ignore the barrier.
The reason Yang Kai couldn’t go back to his Star Field previously was because he hadn’t obtained a part of the World’s Will. However, it was a different case now. With Bright Moon’s Opportunity in possession, Yang Kai had also obtained a pass to move freely between the Star Boundary and the Star Fields.
However, it didn’t mean that he could go to just any Star Field he wanted. Without guidance from the Star Field’s Source, he couldn’t possibly know which root led to Heng Luo Star Field as there were countless roots beneath the Star Boundary.
Fortunately, he already had the Star Field’s Source, which was closely connected to the Star Field. No matter how far they were apart, he could still sense the Star Field’s existence. This kind of feeling was faint and ethereal, but it was still real. Only someone who had refined the Star Field Source could sense it.
“Why are you going to the Lower Star Field? Are there more women you’ve left behind?” Yang Yan looked smilingly at him. Normally, no one was willing to go to the Lower Star Field because they would be restricted by the World Principles over there. No matter how powerful the person was, he could only use a limited strength that was allowed by the governing World Principles. Most Emperor Realm Masters were not used to it, unless they were the Star Field Guardians or they had obtained the blessing from the Great Emperor’s restriction. For example, those from Star Court.
“You’re right. I still have about seventy-two women living in different places there. I have to bring all of them to the Star Boundary!” Yang Kai nodded repeatedly.
Yang Yan scoffed and waved her hand, “Leave now and show me your women when you come back.”
Upon lifting the teacup, Yang Kai gulped down all the tea and guffawed, “I’ll take my leave now.”
Before Yang Kai left, he suddenly recalled something, and then he waved his hand and summoned the half-dead Wind Lord from the Small Sealed World. Wind Lord still looked as battered as he was after their battle ended as even though he had stayed in the Small Sealed World for ten years, he was unable to treat his injuries. The only reason he was still alive was that Yang Kai still had to make use of him in the future.
Yang Yan narrowed her eyes and sized the man up before scoffing, “Feng Zai Xiao? Why has he been captured by you?”
“You know him?” Yang Kai put on a smile.
“Of course I do. He’s one of the Four Great Lords of Demon Heavenly Dao. He’s famous,” Despite the smile on her face, her gaze was very callous.
Lying on the ground, Wind Lord flashed a dead smile at her. As a Pseudo-Great Emperor, he had truly ended up in a miserable state.
Yang Yan took one more look at Yang Kai and said, “It’s no wonder you’re hurt. Even your hair has turned grey. Are you alright?”
There were some blood stains on the chest area of Yang Kai’s clothes, but that was a result of self-harm. It had been ten years since his battle against Wind Lord, so his injuries had long healed.
Earlier, Yang Yan was curious about why Yang Kai’s hair had turned grey even though it had only been a short while since they last met. Now, she realised that he must have expended too much energy during his battle against Wind Lord, which shortened his life.
“I’m fine. Even though I’ve suffered a little, the result is a positive one. I’ll pass him to you now. Since he’s one of the Four Great Lords, I’m sure you can pry some useful information out of him.”
The reason Yang Kai didn’t kill Wind Lord was that he wanted to get more information about Demon Heavenly Dao from him. If they could get some leads and find out the whereabouts of the other three Great Lords, that would be best.
Demon Heavenly Dao was like a tumour in the Star Boundary. Although they were not as numerous as the Demon armies, they were well hidden, so it was difficult to capture them. Since they had caught a big fish like Wind Lord, they had to make good use of him.
Yang Yan nodded, “You’ve earned a big merit for this. I’ll tell Li Wu Yi about it later.”
“Please tell the Great Emperor that in order to capture Wind Lord, I had to use the Divine Ability within my Command Token. Please ask him to make a new one for me,” Yang Kai thought he should make a request to Zhan Wu Hen as well.
Yang Yan replied with a smile, “I can help you pass on your word, but the Great Emperor has the final say in whether he wants to make another token for you.”
Yang Kai didn’t want to pressure her, so he said, “En, I’ll go now.”
“Go and come back quickly.”
Yang Kai nodded and communicated with the Star Field Source. When he moved, he abruptly disappeared from Yang Yan’s sight.
Unlike his previous experiences of passing through the Void, after Yang Kai communicated with the Star Field’s Source in an attempt to head to Heng Luo Star Field, he suddenly plunged into a world of many different colours.
The sight around him was strange. Space and time had been contorted as well. No sound was heard and no shadow was seen. All he could see were very vibrant colours. He could feel that he was moving at an inconceivable speed, but he couldn’t control the direction he was heading.
Nevertheless, he wasn’t flustered at all as he could sense that he was heading to the right destination; therefore, he decided to calmly enjoy this special journey.
After five breaths, the vibrant colours around Yang Kai suddenly faded. During this period of time, he had only blinked once. Following that, he realised he was in the expansive Starry Sky. An indescribable sense of joy was rising within him as he had a feeling that he had returned home.
He was indeed home. Without the need to identify anything, he knew that he was in Heng Luo Star Field. The Star Field’s Source within his body resonated with the Starry Sky. Every Star in this Star Field seemed to have brightened a little and become more radiant.
The trillions of people on the various Cultivation Stars in this Star Field looked up in surprise as they wondered why the sun and moon had suddenly become bigger and brighter on this day.
Then, Yang Kai heard some rumbling sounds in the distance and white lights could be seen flickering. Turning his head, he saw that in the void over there the fleets from two great forces were attacking one another. All the Starships had imposing appearances, with the largest ones several thousand metres long while the smaller ones were just several hundred metres in length. They had targeted one another with their Crystal Cannons and white lights could be seen flashing every time shots were fired. It was an intense battle.
Both parties had similar numbers of Starships, with one side painted red while the other side was all black. It was apparent that they were equal matches for one another. It wasn’t certain how long they had been battling against each other, but both parties had clearly suffered immense losses. Some severely damaged Starships had withdrawn to the rear of the fleets to be repaired. The Starships at the front would protect the damaged ones as they continued firing while dodging at the same time.
The battle was indeed very violent; however, judging from the situation, it seemed that both parties would suffer huge losses in the end, and no one would be the winner.
Yang Kai observed them for a while before gently lifting his hands and rolling up his sleeves. Following that, his left palm faced the red fleet while his right palm faced the black fleet, after which he simply spread his hands apart.
At that instant, the cultivators from the two fleets felt that the world around them was spinning, as though it was the end of the world. When they came to their senses, they realised that their enemies were nowhere to be seen. Even their own fleets had moved several million kilometres from where they originally were.
Everyone was flabbergasted at this sight. Not daring to stay in the same spot anymore, they quickly rallied their forces and set course for their Home Stars.
To the cultivators from both parties, the incident on this day was extremely odd; however, to Yang Kai, it was just something he did on a whim. It was like he happened to see a stone on the road, and then kicked it away.
It wasn’t that he wanted to save these people. Even though he was the Star Field Master, he wasn’t able to determine the fates of the billions of cultivators in this Star Field. They all had their own opportunities as they journeyed from cradles to graves. However, he found it annoying to see two groups of people fighting against one another the moment he returned to the Star Field, which was why he decided to separate both parties.
He literally pulled the two groups apart, and seeing that both parties turned and retreated after, Yang Kai simply turned around and left.
Half a day later, he landed on a Dead Star. It was apparent that this Dead Star used to be bustling with people as many oddly-shaped buildings were left on its surface; however, as time passed, these buildings had become dilapidated.
The Source in this Star was also dead as the entire Star didn’t exude any vitality at all. The ground was covered in yellow sand, and violent gales were gushing across its surface. The average cultivator wouldn’t even be able to come near this Star, let alone land on it.
Yang Kai was fine with the terrible environment of course. He had come to the Lower Star Field to study a certain Divine Ability. His intention was to create a new world, so a Dead Star was exactly what he was looking for. He didn’t have the heart to experiment on a Cultivation Star with living creatures.
Thus, he found a mountain that was a thousand metres high. After sitting down with his legs crossed on the peak, he closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing. He went on to stay in the same spot for over ten days. After that, he suddenly opened his eyes and Space Principles undulated as he spread out his Divine Sense to engulf the entire mountain.
A buzzing sound came from the mountain as rocks came falling down. The thousand-metre-high mountain could be seen faintly shaking. Anyone who happened to see the sight from afar would definitely exclaim in shock because after the mountain shook, it shrunk a little.
It wasn’t so conspicuous, but the mountain had indeed become smaller. The height of the mountain had shrunk by several tens of metres.
However, all of a sudden, Yang Kai widened his eyes, which had become bloodshot. He was a top cultivator who was able to kill a High-Rank Demon King with ease, but at this moment, his Demon Qi was roiling around him as though he was facing a formidable enemy.
As his Demon Qi surged, the mountain seemed to be continuously growing smaller as well.
One hour later, Yang Kai suddenly grunted as his face turned pale. The mountain had returned to its original shape and size; however, countless cracks had appeared on every part of this barren mountain. The cracks were so wide that it was as though the mountain had been divided into several dozen to a hundred parts.
Yang Kai batted his eyes as he felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He had seen Floating Mountain refined by Li Wu Yi and studied the jade slip given to him by the latter; therefore, he already had his own insights when it came to creating a new world. He thought that it was going to be easy, but when he actually tried to do it, he realised that it was extremely difficult.
Floating Mountain was much larger than the barren mountain Yang Kai was sitting on currently, but it was still successfully refined by Li Wu Yi until it became the size of a palm. It wasn’t that Floating Mountain had actually been shrunk, it was just an application of Space Principles to isolate a region of space before compressing it down.
The mountain and the space were still the same. Anyone who didn’t believe it could just land on Floating Mountain to see it for themselves.
Yang Kai didn’t intend to create a new Floating Mountain though, what he needed was a place that was much larger than Floating Mountain as it had to be big enough to accommodate the people from several Cultivation Stars. A single mountain wouldn’t be useful at all. Nevertheless, this process couldn’t be rushed. Yang Kai had to gain more comprehension and familiarise himself with the process first.
He wanted to give it a try on this mountain, but he realised that even though the mountain was barren and the Star was dead, the mountain and the Star were closely connected. If he wanted to refine the mountain, he first had to isolate it from the Star, an impossible task for the current him.
At the thought of this, he fished out a Pill from his Space Ring and stuffed it into his mouth. After adjusting his breathing for a while, he shot into the sky.
Not long after he left, a gale swept across the thousand-metre-high mountain, which then turned into dust and was swept away by the wind. It wasn’t that the gale was powerful enough to blow down a mountain, it was just that Yang Kai had failed in his attempt to refine the mountain. Space Principles had affected every part of the mountain, so although the mountain retained its shape, it had actually been completely shredded into dust.
That was the consequence of a failed attempt. Yang Kai already knew this, which was why he found a barren mountain to experiment on first. If he attempted to refine a lush mountain filled with living beings, the consequences would have been dreadful if he failed.
However, he hadn’t expected that this task would be so much more difficult than he had originally imagined, which was why he failed. In light of that, Yang Kai had to lower his expectations.
After about one day, he reached an Asteroid Sea. There were countless Asteroid Seas in the Starry Sky that seemed to stretch across the Starry Sky forever.
Asteroid Seas were most commonly formed from the broken remnants of Dead Stars. These asteroids would fly across the Starry Sky and crash into other Stars sometimes. If these Stars were unlucky, they would fall apart as well and join the Asteroid Sea.
That was a kind of danger the cultivators would come across in the Starry Sky. The asteroids flew at an incredible speed and they covered a wide area, making them quite deadly for weaker cultivators whenever they were encountered.
When Yang Kai roamed around the Star Field in the past, he had bumped into Asteroid Seas on several occasions.
This time, however, he had proactively looked for an Asteroid Sea, then walked down memory lane and lamented that he was so weak in the past.
Soon, he found an asteroid that was as large as the barren mountain from before. After sitting down with his legs crossed, he closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing in silence.
A few days later, he opened his eyes and pushed his Demon Qi. As his Divine Sense undulated, Space Principles permeated his surroundings.
Following the movements of Yang Kai’s Demon Qi, the asteroid continuously expanded and contracted. This time was different from his previous attempt. Previously, the barren mountain turned back into its original size after it shrunk a little; however, now, every time the size of the asteroid fluctuated, it would shrink significantly.
As the size kept changing for the next seven days, it became half of its original size. Half a month later, it became only several dozen metres wide. In just one month, it became the size of a plate.
However, instead of setting himself at ease, Yang Kai had turned more solemn. The pace at which Space Principles and Demon Qi fluctuated had quickened, which caused the plate-sized asteroid to also expand and contract more quickly. However, the progress had become much slower.
The last stage of any task was the most difficult. Yang Kai had been cultivating for a long time, so he understood this principle well. Strictly speaking, this asteroid was the first Sealed World he had refined, so he wouldn’t dare to be careless, and there mustn’t be any mistakes, which was why he made sure that he was fully focused.
As time passed, the asteroid became smaller and smaller. It took Yang Kai one month to turn a thousand-metre-wide rock into a plate-sized one, but it took him three months to refine this plate down to a final size. The closer it got to the finish line, the slower it became to see any progress.
The entire refining process lasted for four months until, one day, he suddenly arched his brow and made a grabbing gesture, after which a bead appeared in his hand.
The bead was only longan-sized and it didn’t give off any kind of energy fluctuations. It was just a simple stone bead; however, Yang Kai was holding it in a way as though it was the most valuable treasure in the world. Pleased, he grinned from ear to ear and started laughing out loud.
After just a short moment, he rolled his eyes and stretched his legs, then he passed out.
Following that, the Embodiment, Bai Ya, and Bai Zhuo appeared at the same time. In an instant, the two older Half-Saints grunted as their expressions changed.
It couldn’t be helped. When they appeared, they realised that the Demon Qi in their bodies stopped flowing smoothly, as though it had been restricted by an invisible hand. Apart from that, there seemed to be a sense of hostility that was pressuring them in this Starry Sky. There also seemed to be a pair of invisible eyes that were monitoring every move they made.
Bai Ya and Bai Zhuo thought that they were faced with a formidable enemy, which was why they quickly readied themselves for the imminent battle.
“Don’t worry. It’s just the suppression from the World Principles,” the Embodiment hurriedly explained.
Even though Bai Zhuo and Bai Ya had never experienced this before, they soon understood what was going on after giving it a thought. They were in a Lower Star Field with a very weak Martial Dao, but the world around them was still lively and beautiful. The world was seemingly lifeless, but it had a spirit which seemed able to detect their powers that had exceeded what was allowed in this place, which was why it started repelling the Half-Saints. This was one of the ways the world protected itself.
Yang Kai had also experienced this when he returned to the Star Field in the past, so it didn’t specifically target the two Half-Saints.
Upon hearing the Embodiment’s explanation, the two Half-Saints set their minds at ease, but right then, a huge asteroid was fast approaching them from behind in silence. Powerful cultivators like Bai Ya and Bai Zhuo failed to detect it as the asteroid directly hit the back of their heads, causing them to stagger forward.
The Half-Saints were sturdy, so they wouldn’t be hurt at all even though they were struck by the asteroid. On the other hand, the asteroid had fallen apart upon impact; however, what had happened was embarrassing for them.
Fortunately, it was just an asteroid that had hit them this time. What if it was some form of violent Divine Ability?
The Embodiment coughed and said, “Normally, those who are above the Origin King Realm experience bad luck in this world.” The world was hostile to those people, and without the blessing of the world, naturally, they wouldn’t have much luck. The two Half-Saints were considered lucky as the asteroid couldn’t harm them. When Yang Kai was here in the past, he would even trip over nothing and fall for no reason, which was truly embarrassing.
“Why is that?” Bai Zhuo frowned.
The Embodiment replied, “It’s because this Star Field doesn’t welcome you two.”
What he had said sounded odd, but it was the truth. It was like a few worms had snuck into an ant colony, so no one would welcome them.
“Why are you fine, then?” Bai Ya asked curiously. He could clearly feel that the Embodiment hadn’t been suppressed by the local World Principles.
In response, the Embodiment grinned and pointed at Yang Kai, “This Star Field belongs to him, so it’s essentially mine as well.” They were like the family members of this Star Field, which was why it wouldn’t chase them away.
“Why is he… asleep?” Bai Zhuo asked curiously as he looked around to prevent any asteroid from hitting him again.
Even though Yang Kai wasn’t snoring, he had indeed fallen asleep. However, he wasn’t knocked out or anything. While he was literally drifting about in his slumber, he still kept a smile on his face as though he had a good dream.
Although the Half-Saints had always stayed inside the Small Sealed World, they had no idea what had happened prior to this. On the other hand, the Embodiment was Yang Kai’s Soul Clone, so he was able to open up the Small Sealed World as he pleased. When he was inside the Small Sealed World, he was still able to see what Yang Kai was doing in the outside world, so upon realising that Yang Kai had nodded off, he immediately left the Small Sealed World.
“He just exhausted himself. He’ll be alright after a rest,” the Embodiment said as he put Yang Kai inside the Small Sealed World. The two Wood Spirits in the medicine garden would take care of him.
Standing on an asteroid, the two Half-Saints gazed at the Starry Sky with sorrowful expressions on their faces. That was because they had never seen such a magnificent sight in the Demon Realm before. The Demon Realm was on the brink of destruction. Other than the continents that had already disappeared, even the existing continents exuded a kind of Death Qi. The average Demon wouldn’t be able to detect this kind of aura, but as Half-Saints, they were fully aware of it. That was the reason the Demons had to look for a way out for themselves by invading the Star Boundary.
The Starry Sky before their eyes was in a Lower Star Field where the World Principles couldn’t accommodate greater power, but it was still full of vitality. Even though the Asteroid Sea they were in seemed completely dead, no one could say that several ten thousand years later, it wouldn’t be revitalised again. The Demon Realm wasn’t comparable to this place in this regard.
Bai Ya took a deep breath and said, “Brother Embodiment, I’d like to have a look around this place.” Since he was here, he wanted to take in the different sights of this world. The Embodiment had said that this Star Field belonged to Yang Kai, so supposedly, Yang Kai wouldn’t come across any danger in this place, which meant that they didn’t have to protect him.
On the side, Bai Zhuo nodded as that was his intention as well.
“Are you sure?” The Embodiment gazed at them with an awkward expression.
Bai Ya asked, “Is it inconvenient for us to do so? If there’s anywhere we’re not supposed to go, just tell us and we’ll avoid trespassing.”
The Embodiment waved his hand, “There’s nothing like that.” After giving it a thought, he put on a smile, “Just go if you want to. Both of you have Space Beacons with you, so you can come back here any time.”
Upon hearing that, Bai Zhuo and Bai Ya cupped their fists and shot into the Starry Sky.
A stunned Embodiment quickly said, “I haven’t finished my words yet… Be careful!” However, the Half-Saints were already out of sight, so it wasn’t certain whether they had heard what the Embodiment had said.
…
Yang Kai had a sweet dream, in which the Demons were no longer a threat and the people in the Star Boundary were able to live their lives peacefully. On the other hand, he and his wives travelled around the world and their lives were filled with joy. Just when he was immersed in this pleasant scenery, he suddenly awakened from the dream.
When he opened his eyes, he saw two petite figures sitting together on a tree branch that was just one metre away from him. They were swinging their legs and looking joyfully at him.
Seeing that he had awakened, Mu Zhu and Mu Lu covered their mouths and giggled.
Yang Kai sat up on the ground and stretched his back. At that instant, he felt energised and refreshed. Then, he realised that he was in the medicine garden in the Small Sealed World, so he immediately understood that it was the Embodiment who had sent him in.
Then, he shot a glance at the Wood Spirits and frowned, “Why are the two of you laughing like that?”
Hearing that, they immediately stopped smiling and straightened up before shaking their heads.
Yang Kai batted his eyes and burst into laughter, “Did I say anything in my sleep?”
The two Wood Spirits were unable to hold it in anymore as they started convulsing with laughter.
“What did I say?” Yang Kai scratched his head. He hadn’t fallen into such a deep sleep for a long time. First of all, it was because he had expended too much energy. Secondly, he was finally able to set his mind at ease after significantly improving his skill in refining a world. He wondered what embarrassing stuff he had said in his sleep that made the Wood Spirits laugh in such a way.
Ignoring him, Mu Zhu and Mu Lu held hands and flew to the other end of the medicine garden, leaving the baffled Yang Kai behind.
Even though Yang Kai didn’t manage to get any answers, he didn’t want to force them; then, he spread his palm and revealed a stone.
This palm-sized stone was the result of his four months’ worth of hard work. Even though he was still very far from his ultimate goal, he had gotten off to a good start.
This stone was the asteroid that was originally a thousand metres wide, which was as large as the previous barren mountain. With the proper application of Space Principles, it had shrunk to such a size. No one was able to comprehend the secrets behind it except for those who were experts in the Dao of Space.
After fiddling with it for a while, Yang Kai stored the stone and left the Small Sealed World. Presently, the Embodiment was keeping guard in the outside world as he was standing on an asteroid that was a few times larger than the one Yang Kai had refined. Seeing Yang Kai, he grinned, “I’ve found a suitable rock for you.”
Yang Kai scanned it with his Divine Sense and replied with a smile, “It’s indeed excellent for me.”
The Embodiment was his Soul Clone after all, so they knew what was on each other’s minds without the need to say anything. Yang Kai wanted to look for an asteroid of such a scale to refine, but the Embodiment had already done the leg work for him.
The asteroid beneath his feet was five times larger than the previous one. Given its size, it would surely be more difficult for him to refine it. However, he estimated that it would take him fewer than four months this time. Even though he had only given it a try once, Yang Kai had mastered some of the key points of this process. If he were to refine another asteroid, his efficiency would improve, and it wouldn’t be as laborious as the first time.
Furthermore, as he gained more insights and became familiarised with the process, it would become increasingly easier for him.
After Yang Kai sat down on the asteroid with his legs crossed, the Embodiment nodded and said, “I’ll go back now.”
Yang Kai nodded and pointed at him to keep him inside the Small Sealed World.
After putting the Embodiment inside the Small Sealed World, Yang Kai turned to look in another direction, only to see two figures that were rapidly approaching him from the other end of the Starry Sky. The speed at which the figures were moving were incredibly fast. When Yang Kai first saw them, they were just two dots, but a few breaths later, they became as large as two peas. In just a moment, they landed on a spot in front of Yang Kai.
They were the Half-Saints who had left earlier to take in the sights of Heng Luo Star Field.
Yang Kai flashed a smile at them, “How’s the view in the Star Field?”
Bai Zhuo gently nodded, “It’s magnificent.”
Bai Ya said, “It’s splendid.”
The Half-Saints appeared amazed and it seemed that they hadn’t visited enough places. It was as though they had the intention to settle down in this place instead of going back to the lifeless Demon Realm.
Yang Kai nodded his head and asked directly, “You were struck by lightning, right?”
Bai Ya put on a haughty smile, “We’re Half-Saints who are able to seize the moon and shatter the stars. Why would we be afraid of any lightning?”
Right after he finished speaking, a beam of purple lightning flashed across the void like a fish and directly struck his back. Fortunately, he was a Half-Saint, so even though the murderous intent was furtive, he was still able to react quickly by turning around and striking the lightning with his fist.
With a loud boom, the lightning vanished while he was forced to step backwards. It wasn’t that he was weak, but rather that with the World Principles’ suppression in place, he wasn’t able to use his true might. If he forcefully acted, he might attract an even madder counterattack from the Star Field.
Beams of purple lights could be seen flickering in the void while lightning continued flashing across the Starry Sky, as though it would strike again at any moment.
Bai Zhuo cringed and put on a helpless smile, “Brother Yang, I guess it’s more carefree for us in the Small Sealed World. It seems that it’s not suitable for us to show up in this world.”
Yang Kai guffawed and quickly put the Half-Saints inside the Small Sealed World. When he returned to the Star Field from the Star Boundary in the past, he was also extremely unlucky. Besides stumbling and falling for no reason, he was also frequently struck by lightning and burned by fire. Upon seeing others suffer the same bad luck, he couldn’t help but take pleasure in their misfortune.
The lightning in the Star Field wasn’t able to harm the Half-Saints, but it was annoying for them, which was why they were no longer in the mood to do any sightseeing. Therefore, they hurriedly returned to Yang Kai to hide inside the Small Sealed World so that they could relax again.
After the Half-Saints were gone, Yang Kai emptied his mind again and went on to refine the new asteroid.
As the days went by, the Asteroid Sea continued moving forward as though it was sliding towards the end of the Starry Sky; however, as time passed, the gigantic rocks in this Asteroid Sea decreased in number while the number of stones in Yang Kai’s hands increased.
He didn’t manage to successfully refine the asteroids all the time. Once he failed, regardless of how big the asteroid was, it would turn into dust in an instant. These asteroids were not able to resist the pressure from his Space Principles.
In the blink of an eye, three years had passed. In the past three years, Yang Kai’s mastery of the Dao of Space had improved significantly. He had gained more from the three years of refining asteroids than all his years of cultivation combined. After all, he was totally focused on improving his Space Principles, and it was also a journey of self-betterment.
When he refined an asteroid now, it wasn’t nearly as difficult or time-consuming as it was in the past. With just a thought in his mind, he was able to create a new Sealed World.
No asteroids were able to meet the need for his cultivation anymore, which was why he decided to leave the Asteroid Sea. As he roamed around the Star Field, he would land on any suitable Dead Star and sneak into the core before falling into a deep state of meditation. When he awakened, he would realise that the Dead Star had become a stone bead.
The speed at which his comprehension of the Dao of Space improved was incredible. He felt as though a door had opened up for him to the Grand Dao. Golden lights could be seen radiating from the other end of the door as an inexhaustible source of treasures awaited his exploration.
The duration of his meditation varied. Sometimes, it would be over a year, while sometimes, it would take him just three months before he awakened, depending on the size of the Dead Star. It would take more effort and a longer time to refine a large Dead Star, while it was easier to refine a smaller one.
During this period of time, Yang Kai never ceased contacting those in the Star Boundary. Even though he was in a Lower Star Field, he was a Star Field Master, which was why he had some advantages. With Space Beacons in his possession, he was able to contact the people from High Heaven Palace and Seven Mists Sea at any time.
Presently, the situation was in the Star Boundary’s favour as the Demons were powerless to resist.
It could be said that since Yang Kai sealed off the Two Worlds’ Passage and returned from the Demon Realm, the outcome of the war had already been determined. Those Demons, who were already in the Star Boundary, were either killed on the battlefield or taken into the army led by Chang Tian, Yu Ru Meng, and Bei Li Mo. The collective power of the Demons plummeted after they were besieged by all fifty-four armies from all directions. Just one epic battle had tilted the balance in the Humans’ favour.
With that said, many lives had been lost on the Star Boundary’s side. In any war, the loss of lives was inevitable, and all the Army Commanders understood that. Regardless, the number of lost lives was still bearable for them.
Besides the Demons themselves, Demon Heavenly Dao had also suffered immense losses. Before coming to the Lower Star Field, Yang Kai had passed Wind Lord to Yang Yan, which was no different from sending him to the Great Emperors.
In fact, an interrogation wasn’t even needed as Serene Soul Great Emperor directly used a Soul Searching Technique on him and uncovered a lot of Demon Heavenly Dao’s secrets. Based on the information, those from Seven Mists Sea had managed to devastate several hundred of Demon Heavenly Dao’s strongholds. They also managed to destroy another important figure in Demon Heavenly Dao. Following Wind Lord’s captivity, those from Seven Mists Sea successfully ambushed Fire Lord in an ordinary town in the Northern Territory. Li Wu Yi had personally led a team of over ten Pseudo-Great Emperors to carry out the mission. Even though Fire Lord was powerful, he wasn’t able to escape from the siege of so many Pseudo-Great Emperors.
Unfortunately, they were not able to capture him alive. During the intense battle, Fire Lord decided to detonate himself, which caused those from Seven Mists Sea to be covered in dirt. Fortunately, they were not hurt in any way.
Despite the advantageous position the Star Boundary was in, the war between the two Great Worlds was far from over. When the Demons from the Demon Realm managed to break the seal one day, even more violent battles would erupt. By then, no corner in either of the Great Worlds would be spared.
Those from the Star Boundary were fully aware of this, which was why they wanted to quickly settle their internal trouble by killing the Demons already in the Star Boundary and destroying Demon Heavenly Dao.
Nevertheless, all of that had nothing to do with Yang Kai and he didn’t have to go back, which was why he was able to stay in the Star Field with peace of mind and continue improving his Space Secret Technique.
When Yang Kai awakened from his sleep one day, the Dead Star had already disappeared. After he made a grabbing gesture, a rounded stone bead appeared in his hand; however, staring at this particular stone bead, he seemed to be torn between tears and laughter.
In fact, he wasn’t fully unaware when he refined a Dead Star as he basically snuck into the core and integrated himself with the Star before falling into a half-conscious state. This was a new way of cultivating and refining a Dead Star he had discovered in recent years, which was extremely efficient. It also allowed him to comprehend Space Principles more easily.
Therefore, when he was in such a state, he was aware of what was going on in the outside world. Nevertheless, though he couldn’t react in real-time, he could remember everything that happened when he awakened.
It wasn’t the first time he saw a Dead Star turning into a stone bead. Initially, he would still be excited about it, but as time passed, he had gotten used to it. Nevertheless, he was speechless at the fact that, presently, there was a Human on the stone bead in his hand.
In other words, someone came to this Dead Star before it was fully refined. Of course, the person wasn’t a native of this Dead Star. She was an unwelcome guest who had barged into the place just one month ago.
At that time, Yang Kai was at the most critical moment in the refining process, and he had fallen into a state of deep meditation, which was why he wasn’t able to react. After the Dead Star was refined, this ‘guest’ had become stuck.
However, she wasn’t aware that the Dead Star she was on had been refined into a stone bead and it was presently held in someone’s hand.
Yang Kai sharpened his vision and took a look at the stone bead, only to see a petite figure who had hidden inside a cave on a certain barren mountain. At this moment, she was looking up at the sky out of curiosity.
She seemed to be injured as her clothes had been covered in blood stains, and her face had turned pale. Despite the fact that she had stayed in this place for a month, she hadn’t managed to recover from her injuries.
Initially, she was just trying to look out for any possible danger, but upon lifting her head, she saw a humongous figure in the Starry Sky, one that had blocked all her vision. The figure was so enormous that she wasn’t able to see the sun, moon or stars. All she could see was this figure.
Shaken to her core, she exclaimed and fell on her backside. Any unsuspecting person would’ve reacted in the same way when they saw such a sight.
However, before she could take a proper look, the world around her started spinning, and then she suddenly appeared in the Starry Sky. Turning her head, she saw a slightly grey-haired young man looking helplessly at her.
On the other hand, she realised that the Dead Star she was hiding in had vanished.
At that instant, she was both shocked and doubtful as she wasn’t certain whether what she had just seen was a real Human or some kind of hallucination. Was it possible that such a humongous Human existed in this world? However, the figure didn’t look like a hallucination either.
She didn’t realise what the huge figure looked like just now because she was too shocked. If she had seen the figure’s face clearly, she would’ve exclaimed by now because the young man in front of her looked just like that giant.
Having appeared in the Starry Sky for no reason, she became alert and took a few steps backwards to widen her gap with Yang Kai. Then, she stared vigilantly at him and bellowed, “Who are you!”
At the same time, she scanned him with her Divine Sense in an attempt to figure out his true power.
As a thought flashed across Yang Kai’s mind, he exuded the aura of an Origin Returning Realm cultivator before he asked back, “Who are you?”
Upon closer look, he realised that the young woman before him appeared to be in her early twenties with a curvy figure and long legs. Also, she was fairly powerful as she was already in the First-Order Origin King Realm.
Yang Kai was slightly surprised because the Origin King Realm was the highest Great Realm one could reach in the Lower Star Fields. In the past, all the Origin Kings were famous and he knew basically all of them, but the woman before his eyes was definitely not one of them.
Clearly, she had only recently reached the Origin King Realm.
Seeing that Yang Kai was sizing her up, the woman turned gloomy and said through clenched teeth, “What are you looking at? If you keep looking, I’ll dig out your eyes!”
[She’s quite fierce!] Yang Kai stroked his nose. Strictly speaking, he had just taken one look at her and wasn’t examining her, but he was cursed by her in return. It was apparent that she was in a bad mood.
The woman looked around and asked doubtfully, “Did you see anything just now?”
“What do you mean?”
The woman scowled and looked up at the Starry Sky, then she impatiently waved her hand, “Nothing. Maybe I was mistaken.”
“It seems you’re hurt,” Yang Kai said.
The woman bellowed, “You don’t say! Do I need you to tell me that I’m hurt!?”
They were basically talking past one another, so Yang Kai smiled helplessly and decided not to harp on this issue. However, he still warned her of possible danger by saying, “You’d better leave now. I can see some Starships approaching. I guess they’re coming for you.”
The woman’s expression changed when she heard that, then she turned to look in the direction Yang Kai pointed and saw some gigantic Starships rapidly approaching them. Apparently, they had found out her whereabouts. Then, she said through clenched teeth, “What a bunch of relentless thugs!”
After she finished speaking, she turned around and fled in a different direction.
However, just a moment later, she returned and grabbed the collar of a shocked Yang Kai before lugging him away. As they were fleeing together, she yelled, “Are you out of your mind!? Were you just going to wait for death by staying there!?”
Hearing this, Yang Kai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he realised that there were indeed some grudges between this woman and those people from the Starships. She must have been hiding on the Dead Star to evade them. Unexpectedly, Yang Kai refined the Dead Star, which practically stripped her of her hiding place and exposed her.
Nevertheless, she still decided to return and bring Yang Kai with her, which suggested that even though she was foul-tempered, she was fundamentally a good-hearted person. Anyone else would’ve run for their life instead of trying to save a stranger.
Yang Kai was neither loathful nor fond of the woman at first, but her actions had made him take a liking to her; thus, he said, “They have no grudges against me, so I guess they won’t harm me.”
The woman shot him a look and sneered, “What Cultivation Star are you from? How have you managed to live to this day when you’re so naive? Haven’t you heard of the saying that wherever the Sand Scorpions go, not even a strand of grass will survive?”
“Sand Scorpions?” Yang Kai arched his brow.
The woman yelled, “Why do you keep spouting nonsense!? Shut up now if you want to live; otherwise, I’ll throw you away!”
Yang Kai was a High-Rank Demon King as well as the Guardian of Heng Luo Star Field, but he was unable to refute the woman when he was scolded, which made him feel speechless. Despite not knowing who these Sand Scorpions were, he reckoned that the Starships behind them were controlled by Star Pirates.
Star Pirates existed in every Star Field, and they varied in terms of numbers and power. Basically, they were bandits who robbed people. They roamed around the Starry Sky as they oppressed the weak and snatched their things. When merchants came across them in the Starry Sky, they either had to give up some items or battle against them.
In the past, Galaxy Ridge and Abandoned Lair were the largest groups of Star Pirates in Heng Luo Star Field; however, after Yang Kai became the Star Field Guardian, he had destroyed both groups. Nevertheless, Star Pirates were like spring bamboo shoots after rain as new ones would always emerge.
When the woman appeared just now, the Starships immediately noticed her and started racing after her. Even though the woman was fairly powerful, she was injured, and presently, she was dragging Yang Kai along with her. Her speed had reduced significantly, which was why she was unable to get rid of the Starships. Soon, the gap between them shortened.
After getting scolded, Yang Kai fell silent for a moment; however, upon seeing that she was unable to get rid of her enemies, and that she was about to be cornered, he couldn’t help but ask, “Don’t you have a Star Shuttle?”
With a cold expression, the woman stared fixedly ahead, “It’s broken.”
Yang Kai replied, “Oh… Things are looking bad. They’ll reach you soon.”
“Can you just shut up?” The woman turned her head and shot him a glare. She thought that this man was very annoying. While she was trying her best to escape and save them from their enemies, he just wouldn’t stop yapping.
In response, Yang Kai flashed a smirk at her and kept his mouth shut.
A moment later, the woman heaved a sigh, “I’m sorry for dragging you into this mess. I’m afraid we won’t be able to escape. I’ll create a chance for you to flee later. Just run for your life on your own. If you survive, you must go to Boundless Sect on Blue Clouds Star and tell them to immediately move to a new place; otherwise, when the Sand Scorpions retaliate, they’ll be destroyed.”
A shocked Yang Kai said, “You want me to flee while you fight against them?” That was incredibly noble of her, which caused Yang Kai to be moved. In comparison, he appeared a little despicable by hiding his true power and watching the show from the side.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t really his intention as all this just happened by chance.
The woman said through gritted teeth, “Do you think this is the arrangement I want as well? Since we’re left with no other choice, we must give it a shot. Why don’t you try to battle against them while I run away? Given your cultivation, you’ll be killed as soon as you appear in front of them.” Then, she put on a milder expression, “Moreover, I don’t really think you can escape, there’s just a slim chance… Anyway, I’m sorry for getting you involved in this. If we die here, on the road to the Yellow Springs together, you mustn’t blame me.”
Yang Kai scratched his nose and asked, “What have you done that makes them chase after you so relentlessly?”
The woman sneered, “Sand Scorpions are all savages. Everyone has the right to kill them. I just happened to kill their Third Manager.”
Just then, an old voice was heard coming from a Starship behind them. The voice was so ear-piercing that it was as though two pieces of metal were scraping against one another while a cat clawed at the heart of the person who happened to be listening, which was very agonising, “Mei Jiu’er, you’ve killed my Third Brother. We, the Sand Scorpions, will never let you off! Rest assured, after this Old Master captures you, he will make sure you suffer excruciating pain. You won’t be able to end your life even if you want to before I’m done with you! Your Boundless Sect will be destroyed, and Blue Clouds Star will become lifeless. All of you must go to Hell to accompany my Third Brother!”
“They sure sound ferocious,” Yang Kai commented lightly.
The woman called Mei Jiu’er scoffed, “That’s typical of them. They’ll destroy anyone who dares to offend them. Besides that, the person’s Sect and Cultivation Star will also be devastated.” Then, she turned to look at Yang Kai and sneered, “Are you afraid now?”
Yang Kai simply declared, “The Heavenly Way will never let these cruel people off!”
Mei Jiu’er guffawed, “Heavenly Way? If that thing actually exists, what’s the point of us cultivating?” Despite her slender figure, she was laughing in an arrogant and heroic manner, assuming an awe-inspiring air.
After that, she let out a sigh, “I hate myself for my weak cultivation. If I was powerful enough, I would destroy trash like them and make the Star Field a better place!”
Yang Kai stared at her in awe and said, “You’re quite the ambitious woman!”
Mei Jiu’er snorted, “Since the Star Field Master basically does nothing, we have to rely on ourselves.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai brushed away the cold sweat on his forehead, “Star Field Master… What do you mean?”
Mei Jiu’er gazed at him with a frown, “What rock have you been living under? Don’t you know that this Star Field has a Master?”
Yang Kai shook his head repeatedly.
Mei Jiu’er explained, “You’re such an ignorant brat. Initially, this Star Field didn’t have a Master. Once upon a time, there was only the Starry Sky Great Emperor. Then… Forget it. Let’s not talk about that annoying guy. We should save some energy to flee.”
A guilty Yang Kai asked, “You know that guy?”
“Of course I don’t,” Mei Jiu’er said through clenched teeth, “If I knew him, I’d have asked him whether he still wants to manage this Star Field or not. If he doesn’t, I’ll take it over from him! The Star Field was devastated by a war some years ago, but now that we’re finally recovering, these trash have appeared out of nowhere. However, he doesn’t even care about it. Does he even have the right to remain as the Star Field Master?”
Yang Kai hung his head low. Every word Mei Jiu’er said seemed to have transformed into a huge hammer that landed on his head, which caused him to be completely embarrassed.
The Star Field was indeed troubled by a war in the past. Many years ago, those from Grand Desolation Star Field invaded their Star Field and destroyed countless lives. Even though they were chased away in the end, those from Heng Luo Star Field had suffered considerable losses.
Mei Jiu’er seemed resentful of the Star Field Master. Perhaps it was because she knew that she was unable to get rid of her enemies, so she started relentlessly scolding the Star Field Master. She didn’t use any foul language, but she appeared to be frustrated by the Star Field Master’s inaction.
While she was cursing, she suddenly felt a grip on her hand, which caused her expression to change. As a cold light flashed, a blade appeared right beside Yang Kai’s neck. Her pale face reddened slightly as she questioned, “Why did you grab my hand?”
Yang Kai quickly explained, “Calm down. I just want to give you something.”
Before Mei Jiu’er could ask, she realised that there was something in her hand. Looking down, she saw that the man had stuffed a rock into her hand. It was an irregularly shaped stone the size of a baby’s palm, and seeing it, she knitted her brow to ask, “What is this?”
After scanning it with her Divine Sense, she really couldn’t see anything special about the stone as it didn’t exude any aura at all. It seemed like a common rock one would pick up from the roadside. She didn’t understand why Yang Kai gave her such a thing at this point.
Yang Kai coughed into his fist and explained, “This is a divine item which contains endless profundity. With the help of this item, we might be able… Hey! Why are you throwing it away when I haven’t explained yet?”
“Are you nuts?” Mei Jiu’er shot him a glare. They were at a life-or-death moment, but he was still in the mood to pull her leg. What did he mean that it was a divine item that contained endless profundity? Even she, an Origin King, was unable to find anything special about the rock. She didn’t move her sword away from Yang Kai’s neck as she couldn’t believe that she had decided to bring this man with her. With a cold expression, she questioned, “Were you trying to take advantage of me?”
Yang Kai felt incredibly helpless, so he ignored her and turned his head to look at his back.
Perhaps Mei Jiu’er had acted out of instinct, but even though she had randomly thrown the stone away, she still hurled it at their enemies. Presently, the stone was gliding towards the Starships.
Seeing Yang Kai turn away from her, Mei Jiu’er went on to question, “Do you think I won’t do anything to you just because we’re about to be killed? I’m warning you, even though we’re going to die, I’ll push you away and let them torture you first. I’ll make sure that you’ll die a horrible death!”
As she was speaking though, Yang Kai suddenly became elated as he exclaimed, “Nailed it!”
A bright light suddenly expanded and dazzled Mei Jiu’er, which caused her to narrow her eyes. Then, she turned to look at the source of the light. The next moment, she widened her eyes in disbelief as though she had just come across a ghost, and her jaw almost dropped. At the same time, she stopped moving and fell into a dazed state as she gazed at the sight behind her.
A few thousand kilometres behind them, all the Sand Scorpions’ Starships had exploded. The dazzling light earlier was the result of the Starships’ destruction.
For some reason, the Starships had detonated. Despite the fact that they were a few thousand kilometres apart, Mei Jiu’er was still able to see it clearly. None of those Sand Scorpions managed to escape as they plunged into obliteration with their Starships.
After the Sand Scorpions’ Starships exploded, all the Star Pirates inside them lost their lives. A myriad of expressions came over Mei Jiu’er as she was puzzled, excited, pleasantly surprised, and terrified all at once.
She had just escaped a crisis as her enemies were destroyed, which was why she was pleasantly surprised; however, the Starships wouldn’t have exploded for no reason. It could even be said that no power in this Star Field was able to achieve what just happened in the blink of an eye. The existence of such an incredible power was beyond her ability to comprehend.
As an intelligent woman, she immediately realised the crux of the matter. Then, she exclaimed and dumped Yang Kai before flying in the direction she had thrown the stone earlier.
An incense stick later, she returned with the stone firmly held in her hand, and her expression appeared conflicted.
Stopping in front of Yang Kai, she sized him up with a doubt behind her gaze, then she asked solemnly, “Who are you? What is this thing?”
She had just randomly thrown the stone away, but it was able to cause the Starships to explode and all the Sand Scorpions to die. She didn’t exert much force when she threw the stone either. In other words, such an outcome was all thanks to the stone’s power. What was strange was that she couldn’t detect any energy fluctuation from the stone at all even now.
Such an item could even be called a Divine Stone. The person who could produce such a stone was definitely no ordinary man. She even suspected that Yang Kai might be an old hermit who had hidden his true power to mess with her.
Yang Kai shook his head without replying to her. If she hadn’t literally cursed his existence earlier, he might consider revealing his identity; however, she had just gone on a long rant about how disappointed and angered she was with the ‘Star Field Guardian’, so he would be out of his mind if he told her that the person she had scolded was him.
With a faint smile, Yang Kai just pretended to be mysterious by saying, “It’s thanks to fate that we’ve come across one another, so I’ll give the stone to you. I hope that you’ll remain ambitious and never forget your initial goal.”
After he finished speaking, he moved as his figure rapidly faded.
Mei Jiu’er raised her hand, “Wait!”
However, looking around, she realised that Yang Kai was nowhere to be found. At that instant, she felt frustrated as she knew that she had come across a top Master. Not willing to give up, she went on to look for Yang Kai in the nearby area for one month before she finally stopped. Then, she found a secluded place and recuperated. After she fully recovered, she headed straight to the headquarters of the Sand Scorpions.
Before that, she found a Dead Star to test the Divine Stone’s power on, and she realised that she really didn’t need to expend any force to use it. She just had to toss it in the right direction to cause immense damage. Upon that revelation, she was amazed, and she felt overjoyed to have obtained such a treasure.
Half a year later, word spread that the Sand Scorpions, who were like a tumour in the Star Field, were wiped out. Their headquarters were demolished and all the Sand Scorpions were killed. They were all devastated by some top cultivator in one just battle.
…..
While Mei Jiu’er was exterminating the Sand Scorpions, Yang Kai was hiding nearby. If he wanted to hide his whereabouts, Mei Jiu’er wouldn’t be able to discover him even if they were standing next to each other.
As Space Principles undulated, Yang Kai fully focused on the Sealed World Bead.
After years of studying and cultivating, it was finally the moment of truth, which was why he wouldn’t dare to be careless. Because of that, he had also summoned the Embodiment to protect him.
If the crisis facing the second region wasn’t solved, the Sealed World Bead wouldn’t be able to go on devouring more continents in the Demon Realm; therefore, he had to pull the second region out of the Small Sealed World.
When he created the second region using the Sealed World Bead in the past, Yang Kai hadn’t expected that he would have to draw it out one day. Now, it seemed that he shouldn’t have swallowed the second region in the first place, but without this incident, he wouldn’t have made up his mind to focus on this strange new technique and his comprehension of the Dao of Space wouldn’t have soared so quickly in such little time.
In this world, one thing led to another in unexpected ways.
With his mind fully focused, he expanded his Divine Sense and engulfed the entire second region, then he slowly separated it from the Small Sealed World, which caused the region to shake and rumble incessantly. With a strange phenomenon happening all around them, it seemed as though it was the end of the world, so the trillions of lives living in the second region were horrified.
Just then, Yang Kai’s figure appeared in the sky like an overlord descending upon the second region, and declared with a smile, “Do not panic. There is nothing to be afraid of.” His voice transmitted throughout the entire second region, and everyone seemed to have been soothed because of that.
Following the movements of Space Principles, the Sealed World Bead itself seemed to be going through some changes as well.
A blotch suddenly protruded from the Sealed World Bead, which was firmly held in Yang Kai’s hand, as though it had developed a tumour.
As time passed, the tumour grew larger until it became one-tenth the size of the Sealed World Bead. Presently, the Sealed World Bead looked like a bottle gourd as one larger bead was connected to a smaller bead, which made it look odd.
The Space Principles around Yang Kai became turbulent as well. The area around him seemed to have turned into a black hole that could devour everything in this world.
One year, two years, five years… Yang Kai remained seated on the same spot as the tumour had now grown to be half the size of the Sealed World Bead, which made it look identical to a bottle gourd now.
Five years later, Yang Kai opened his eyes one day as the turbulent Space Principles died down in an instant. With the bottle gourd-shaped Sealed World Bead in one hand, he straightened his free palm and slashed at the bead.
However, the speed at which he moved was extremely slow. His movement was almost imperceptible if one wasn’t looking closely. Just to complete this motion took him three years.
In the past three years, he had only managed to reach half of the distance between the bead and where he originally started. Nevertheless, right after three years, he suddenly cut through the air and slashed at the ‘bead’. At that instant, he widened his eyes, which had turned bloodshot. All his Demon Qi gushed out of his body like a flood, and even all his Soul seemed to be pulled out of his Knowledge Sea.
Just then, a snapping sound could faintly be heard as the bottle-gourd-shaped Sealed World Bead was divided into two. The larger bead was fine while the smaller bead was violently turning around on his palm, and a horrifying aura began exuding from it.
Yang Kai’s expression changed when he saw this. Ignoring his own frail condition, he bit his tongue and sprayed out a mouthful of Blood Essence onto the smaller bead. Even though he was exhausted, he still squeezed out more energy from his body to engulf the smaller bead with Space Principles in an attempt to suppress and stabilize it.
The speed at which the bead spun slowed down and the horrifying aura slowly diminished; however, instead of setting himself at ease, Yang Kai only became more anxious. It was the moment of truth for his eight years of hard work. Despite his calm temperament, he still couldn’t help feeling worried.
After the bead completely stabilised a moment later, Yang Kai grabbed it in his hand, then he flicked his finger and shot the bead into the Starry Sky.
When he made the move, the bead was only as large as a soybean, but the next moment, it expanded rapidly into a thousand metres wide ball, and as it flew forward, it continuously inflated.
Several dozen breaths later, the bead had transformed into a huge Star in the Starry Sky. Despite the fact that they were now tens of millions of kilometres apart, Yang Kai could still see a giant Star before him.
However, it couldn’t expand anymore as it had reached its limits. The land area of the second region was fixed, so it still couldn’t break that limit after it was pulled out by Yang Kai.
Next, Yang Kai extended his hand and made a grasping gesture, after which the Star stopped flying and settled in place. Following that, he scanned the Star with his Divine Sense and realised that everything was fine. Even though some damage had been caused, no one was injured or killed. Relieved, he fell on his backside and started panting.
Then, he turned to look at the Small Sealed World and realised that there wasn’t any anomaly with it either. Even though the second region had been drawn out, the other areas were not affected.
It was only then he was able to set his mind at ease.
Finally, he managed to achieve his goal. After more than ten years since he returned to the Star Field, he resolved the crisis facing the Small Sealed World, which was why he was over the moon. Despite the fact that he was exhausted, he still couldn’t help laughing heartily. He was elated not only because of what had happened to the Small Sealed World, but also because of what he had gained. He had spent the past over ten years cultivating and refining a new Star, and as a result, his cultivation had improved significantly. Although he hadn’t made much progress in his realm, his mastery of Space Principles was much greater than it was a dozen or so years ago when he first arrived.
While he was relishing his achievements, the Embodiment, on the side, suddenly said, “That woman has been looking for you for a few months.”
Yang Kai was startled for a moment before asking, “Who are you talking about?”
Before the Embodiment could reply, he already saw what he meant. Previously, the Embodiment had been standing guard around Yang Kai, and he had concealed both of their figures. Now that the Star was successfully refined though, he couldn’t possibly cover up such a magnificent scene. The woman, who had been searching in the same area, saw it and immediately flew over.
Yang Kai burst into laughter and stuffed some pills into his mouth to restore his energy. While he was looking at the woman who was coming over. The Embodiment, on the other hand, directly retired to the Small Sealed World.
Just one hour later, an alluring woman landed in front of Yang Kai. After taking a look at him with a conflicted gaze, she cupped her fists and bowed, “Mei Jiu’er of Blue Clouds Star’s Boundless Sect, greets Sir.”
“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai flashed a smile at her. Despite his pale face, he still appeared energetic. That was because he was happy that he had solved a thorny issue.
“Is Sir the Star Field Master?” Mei Jiu’er asked respectfully. In fact, she already had the answer in her heart, but she needed Yang Kai to confirm it; after all, the stone Yang Kai had given to her was just too peculiar. In terms of cultivation, she wasn’t the strongest in the Star Field; however, over the past few years, with the stone in her possession, she was able to punish all those who bullied the weak. Virtually no one was a match for her. Even though some of her enemies were also Origin Kings, she was still able to kill them by hurling the stone at them. Most Star Pirates in the Star Field had been destroyed by her by this point.
Basically, she just had to find out the headquarters of those Star Pirates and toss the stone at them, then everything would be settled.
Eventually, she recalled seeing a humongous figure when she was on a certain Dead Star. After the Dead Star disappeared, a stranger appeared before her eyes.
Over the years, she increasingly believed that Yang Kai was the Star Field Master, but if it was just speculation in the past, she could confirm it now after seeing the birth of a new Star in the Starry Sky.
No one was able to do such an inconceivable thing except for the Star Field Master.
Seeing his identity was exposed, Yang Kai didn’t deny it as he replied with a smile, “Yes, I’m that rather… irresponsible Star Field Master.”
An embarrassed Mei Jiu’er hung her head low and said, “Junior Mei Jiu’er apologizes for her ignorance and disrespect.”
Yang Kai shook his head and said with a smile, “I don’t blame you because you didn’t know. Moreover, what you said was true.”
After he became the Star Field Master, he headed straight to the Star Boundary, so he didn’t have the time to manage this Star Field. Seeing that Mei Jiu’er was about to speak further, he waved his hand and said, “I’ve just done something big, so I’m a little weak now. If there’s anything important, just speak bluntly. If not, please stand guard for me because I need to adjust my breathing for a while.”
Mei Jiu’er’s gaze brightened when she heard this as her face radiated a glow, “It is Junior’s honour to stand guard for Senior!” She knew that given Yang Kai’s strength, he didn’t really need her protection. As the Star Field Master, he was even able to create new Stars out of thin air, so there was obviously nothing in this Star Field that could harm him. The reason he had even said as much was to make sure that she wouldn’t feel embarrassed. At that instant, she could confirm that he really didn’t mind the incident some time ago.
Before realising who Yang Kai was, Mei Jiu’er was resentful of the Star Field Master and thought that despite his title, he didn’t really care about the Star Field. Basically, he had occupied the position without doing anything. Looking back now though, she realised how small-minded she was being. Given the Star Field Master’s immense power, he surely had much more important matters to deal with, like creating new Stars, which was why he didn’t have the time to take care of the more minor issues.
As a person with great authority, he should naturally be busy dealing with the more important things.
While Yang Kai was seated with his legs crossed to adjust his breathing, Mei Jiu’er stole a few glances at him and thought that he was pretty handsome. Some grey hair had grown on Yang Kai’s head recently, which gave him a look of maturity. Recalling the time when she grabbed his collar and fled from their enemies, she couldn’t help but put on a smile.
She was probably the only person in the entire Star Field who had experienced such a funny matter.
Yang Kai spent the next ten days recuperating before he opened his eyes and let out a long breath.
Seeing this, Mei Jiu’er quickly walked over. Unlike how fierce she was previously, she was now very respectful and her gaze seemed to have been filled with admiration as she called out, “Senior.”
“En, many thanks.” Yang Kai wanted to stretch his back, but upon seeing her admiring glance, he didn’t have the heart to disappoint her. Hence, he acted like how a top Master was expected to behave and nodded at her.
Completely in awe, Mei Jiu’er beamed at him and said, “Senior, you don’t have to thank me. It is my honour to do this for you.”
She was an Origin King after all, so it wouldn’t be an issue for her even if she had to stand guard for over ten years, to say nothing of the fact that it was just ten days or so.
Yang Kai flashed a smile at her, “I’ve settled my matters, so I should get going.”
Upon hearing that, Mei Jiu’er was startled as her gaze dimmed, “Senior, are you leaving now?”
Yang Kai stared at her and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Mei Jiu’er batted her eyes as her long eyelashes fluttered, then she hurriedly said, “Senior, if you’re not in a rush, I’d like to invite you to have a look at a particular place. Something about it is… strange.”
“Huh?” Yang Kai arched his brow, “What do you mean ‘something is strange?”
Mei Jiu’er shook her head, “I can’t really tell. When I passed by that place a few months ago, I could detect an aura that didn’t seem to… belong? At that time though, I was looking for you, so I didn’t dare to get closer to investigate carefully. Now, it’s obvious to me that something is off about that place.”
Seeing that Yang Kai was smiling faintly at her, she became flustered, and there was a tinge of grievance in her voice, “What I’ve said is true. Please trust me.”
Yang Kai nodded and replied, “Okay, I’ll have a look.”
After he finished speaking, he sent his consciousness into his Knowledge Sea to examine the Star Chart there. He had the Star Field’s Source, which could reflect everything that was going on in the Star Field in real-time. If anything had happened, he just had to communicate with the Source to find out, so it wasn’t necessary for him to go over.
The next moment, his expression changed dramatically as he said through clenched teeth, “Damn!” Upon looking into the matter, he realised that something serious had actually happened.
He appeared incredibly imposing when he was furious, so thinking that he was referring to her, Mei Jiu’er turned pale as her eyes became bloodshot.
Seeing that, Yang Kai quickly said, “I wasn’t scolding you.” Then, he took a look at the other end of the Starry Sky with his deep gaze, which seemed able to see billions of kilometres away. With a frown, he asked, “When did you pass by that place?”
Mei Jiu’er pulled herself together and replied gently, “About seven months ago…”
Hearing that, Yang Kai nodded, “It’s not too late then.” Following that, he waved his hand to engulf her in his Demon Qi and took a step forward.
Despite the fact that Mei Jiu’er was protected by Yang Kai, she still felt the world around her spinning. When she came to her senses, she realised that she was already in a different part of the Starry Sky, which seemed very far from her original spot. Looking around, she could see that the view around her had changed completely and she could immediately confirm that this was the place she had passed by seven months ago.
At that instant, she was dumbstruck. She had spent several months going from this place to the location where she found Yang Kai; however, the Star Field Master was able to bring her back to this place in just one step, which went to show just how powerful he was.
However, at this moment, this part of the Starry Sky seemed different from the one she had come across in the past. At that time, she just felt an ominous aura wafting about this place, one that gave her a sense of danger and dread, so she didn’t dare to investigate. However, looking at it now, she realised that a large area of azure blue colour was swirling before them, and wherever the azure blue aura went, the Star Field itself seemed to be contaminated.
An astounded Mei Jiu’er said, “What is this…”
Yang Kai sneered, “Someone is trying to snatch my territory, thinking I wasn’t around.”
This had happened to Heng Luo Star Field before. At that time, the entire Star Field was affected and countless Cultivation Stars were devastated.
Upon hearing that, Mei Jiu’er immediately realised what was going on and asked, “Have those from Grand Desolation Star Field returned for revenge?”
Previously, it was the Star Field Master of Grand Desolation Star Field, Wu Heng, who had invaded their territory; however, instead of gaining anything, he had failed to steal a chicken and even lost his rice in the process. Instead of occupying Heng Luo Star Field, he had actually lost a large part of his own Starry Sky.
In fact, a large part of Heng Luo Star Field had already been devoured. However, the area that had been taken away originally belonged to Grand Desolation Star Field, which Yang Kai had snatched from them in the past, which was why he hadn’t managed to notice it initially. It wasn’t until Mei Jiu’er told him about it that he realised this.
While this intrusion was indeed coming from Grand Desolation Star Field though, it couldn’t possibly be Wu Heng’s doing this time, as he was already dead.
To the side, Mei Jiu’er said coldly, “It seems that they’ve forgotten their lesson. Senior, please give the order now and I will gather up all the great forces in the Star Field. We must make sure these thieves can never return again this time.”
Without replying to her, Yang Kai stared fixedly at the azure blue colour that was slowly advancing towards them with a frown. Upon closer inspection, he realised that the situation was different from the previous incident, but he couldn’t really explain the difference in words.
While he was lost in his doubts though, the Embodiment, who was inside the Small Sealed World, suddenly spoke to him in his mind. Upon hearing what the Embodiment said, Yang Kai felt his face twitching, and he appeared to be suffering from a headache.
Soon, he made up his mind and said to Mei Jiu’er, “Retreat for now. I’ll go over to have a look.”
Upon finishing his words, he shot forward into the azure blue region.
Just then though, he caught a whiff of a fragrant scent. Instead of obeying his order, Mei Jiu’er had actually raced after him as she shouted, “I am willing to provide whatever assistance I can to Senior.”
Yang Kai felt speechless, but he didn’t have the heart to turn her down since she was so eager to help, so he simply wrapped her in his Demon Qi and continued forward.
The next instant, the pair plunged into the azure blue region. Abruptly, both of them felt as though they had sunk into an ocean. Looking around, they realised that they were indeed underwater, but with the protection of Yang Kai’s Demon Qi, they wouldn’t get wet.
Mei Jiu’er was astounded as she couldn’t understand how they ended up submerging in water when they were in the Starry Sky earlier. Furthermore, the water was different from the water she usually saw. Yang Kai frowned as though he was faced with a formidable enemy, then he turned around with her and shot up.
With a loud splash, they leapt out of the water.
As an experienced warrior, Mei Jiu’er immediately pushed her Saint Qi and scanned for any possible danger. At the same time, she gripped the stone in her hand, preparing to throw it at their enemy.
However, when she saw the sight around her, she was dumbfounded.
Instead of Grand Desolation Star Field, they were in a garden which couldn’t be considered vast as they could see the other end with one glance. Nevertheless, the sight was pretty lovely as there was a rockery and a bridge over a small river. There was also a gazebo in the garden and a pond in one corner. Yang Kai and Mei Jiu’er just leapt out of that pond. The azure blue colour of the pond was the same as the one they saw in the Star Field.
Mei Jiu’er was stunned. The pond in front of her was only about ten metres wide, but when she was inside it earlier, she felt as though she was swimming in a vast ocean.
Soon, she became even more astonished as the World Energy in this garden was unimaginably dense. Her aptitude was extraordinary, which was why she was able to reach the Origin King Realm at such a young age; however, if she had the chance to cultivate in such a place, she could have reached her current realm tens of times faster.
She couldn’t have imagined that such a cultivation paradise existed. Besides the abundant World Energy, there seemed to be something else in the atmosphere; however, her cultivation was too low to comprehend what this extra something was.
While she was in a dazed state, Yang Kai said through clenched teeth, “Wu Kuang, it really was your doing!”
Upon hearing that, Mei Jiu’er followed his gaze and became horrified, as there was a person sitting in the gazebo. He was an energetic old man whose hair and beard were grey. His amiable appearance made him look like one of those legendary immortals.
However, what shocked her wasn’t the old man’s appearance, but the fact that she didn’t notice him at all even as she was actively scanning the surroundings. It wasn’t until Yang Kai pointed him out that she became aware of his existence.
Presently, there was a board with a number of black and white stones on it in front of the old man called Wu Kuang. The strange aura wafting from the board was so intense that anyone who happened to see it would be shaken to the core.
After taking just one look at the board, Mei Jiu’er turned ashen and she thought that this old man must be too bored, which was why he decided to play the board game on his own. Moreover, it had even somehow turned into such an intense competition that the board itself was giving off an overwhelming aura.
The old man in the gazebo lifted his head to look at Yang Kai, then he burst into a fit of laughter as he called out, “Little brat, what are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here!?” An enraged Yang Kai stepped into the gazebo and looked down at the old man with a hostile gaze, “Wu Kuang, I should be the one asking! What are you trying to do?”
When the Embodiment told him that he detected the Heaven Devouring Battle Law’s aura, Yang Kai immediately realised that something serious was going on. After he came to this place and saw that it was truly Wu Kuang’s doing, he became infuriated. The last time they met, they were still in the Ancestral Domain; however, he hadn’t expected that Wu Kuang would come over and devour his Star Field one day. If it weren’t because Duan Hong Chen and Wu Kuang shared the same body, Yang Kai would’ve beaten him up instead of talking so much to him. Although Wu Kuang was a Great Emperor, he hadn’t managed to restore all his power so fighting was still an option.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was already much stronger than when he was still on Dragon Island in the past. Furthermore, he had four Half-Saints to assist him now. That was the reason he wasn’t afraid of Wu Kuang even if they got into a scuffle.
Mei Jiu’er followed Yang Kai into the gazebo and stood behind him. She remained vigilant and gripped the stone in her hand harder. It was apparent that Yang Kai and this old man knew each other, but they were on bad terms. Since Yang Kai was resentful of the old man, she had to put on a grim expression as well.
Wu Kuang batted his eyes and smiled, “That’s your Star Field?” He was an intelligent person as well. Even though he was shocked upon seeing Yang Kai, he quickly realised the reason behind it.
“What do you think?” Yang Kai bent over and landed a slap on the board, which caused the black and white stones to be messed up.
Wu Kuang gazed at the board with a frown and sighed, “I was about to win. Why couldn’t you just talk it out with me instead of messing up my stones?” He sighed.
Before he could speak further, Yang Kai directly turned the board over. At that instant, all the stones were hoisted into the air upon impact.
Wu Kuang said with a smile, “Did you know how many people you’re about to kill by doing that?”
In fact, Yang Kai didn’t need him to say something so obvious as he immediately realised that something was off after he flipped the board over. With his expression changed drastically, he pushed his Demon Qi hard and extended both hands, after which an innumerable number of phantom hands appeared in the gazebo. After all the phantom hands returned to Yang Kai, he could be seen carrying a large number of stones in his arms, and it appeared that he was still reeling from the shock.
Wu Kuang narrowed his eyes and stared at Yang Kai, “Demon Qi? You’ve gone through demonification?” He didn’t notice it before Yang Kai made a move. When Yang Kai’s Demon Qi undulated, he appeared truly imposing though, so anyone who wasn’t blind would be able to tell that his aura was a little different from before.
Presently, Yang Kai’s face was as pale as a white sheet. As he looked down at the stones in his hands, his eyelids kept twitching, “What in the world are you doing?”
Instead of answering his question, Wu Kuang said, “It’s interesting that you’ve gone through demonification. Why haven’t you lost your mind? If it’s alright with you, can you let this Old Master inspect you?”
Yang Kai replied coldly, “Sure, but there’s a price to pay.”
Wu Kuang smiled and nodded, “Just ask me any questions you want.”
It was then Yang Kai snorted and took a seat across from Wu Kuang before he carefully put the stones back on the board. He didn’t intend to put them back in their original spots. Thus, he just arranged them properly.
Then, he checked on those stones, and upon making sure that they were fine, he let out a long sigh.
Mei Jiu’er didn’t understand why Yang Kai cared so much about these stones, so out of curiosity, she sent her Divine Sense towards the board and instantly fell into a dazed state as she was rooted to the spot. It was as though her Soul had been sucked out of her, and she had become a living corpse.
All of a sudden, a gentle force engulfed her, which caused her to come to her senses. Her pretty face had turned pale as she said in shock, “Senior, the board and the stones…”
“I know,” Yang Kai nodded.
Mei Jiu’er’s face turned a shade paler when she heard this. She still doubted that she might have seen it wrong; however, upon hearing Yang Kai’s confirmation, she knew that what she had seen was real.
Rather than a board, what was before her was an entire Star Field, and the stones were also not what they seemed to be as they were clearly whole Stars.
This amiable-looking old man with the demeanour of an immortal was battling against himself using the Star Field as a board and the Stars as pieces. Given the fact that Mei Jiu’er was just an Origin King, it was no wonder that her Soul was overwhelmed as soon as she took a look at the board. If Yang Kai hadn’t saved her in time, she really would have died.
It was then she understood what the old man actually meant. All the stones were real Stars, and trillions of people lived on these Stars. By flipping the board over, Yang Kai had practically turned this Star Field upside down. If the stones really fell to the ground, countless lives would have been lost.
Fortunately, Yang Kai reacted quickly and caught all the stones; otherwise, he would’ve become an unforgivable murderer.
Mei Jiu’er was stunned as she wasn’t sure if it was reality or an illusion. If it was an illusion, it was too lifelike, but if it was real, could anyone really do such a thing?
While her emotions were fluctuating wildly, Yang Kai extended one hand. Without being overly polite, Wu Kuang placed two fingers on Yang Kai’s wrist and infused a piece of Divine Sense into his body. At the same time, he asked with a smile, “Aren’t you worried that I’ll kill you?”
Yang Kai snorted, “Senior Hong Chen is around. If you’re able to kill me, go right ahead!”
Mei Jiu’er thought that Wu Kuang was playing the board game on his own, but Yang Kai knew that he was actually having a competition with Duan Hong Chen. Since Bustling World Great Emperor was able to battle against Wu Kuang, he definitely could stop him from making a move, which was why Yang Kai wasn’t worried that Wu Kuang would harm him.
Wu Kuang put on a smile and scoffed, “I’ve already refined that old fart. Duan Hong Chen no longer exists in this world!”
Then, he suddenly said, “He’s just talking nonsense. I’m still alive and kicking.”
Yang Kai grinned, “Greetings, Senior. Junior is glad to know that you’re still healthy.”
‘Wu Kuang’ nodded and took a look at the woman behind Yang Kai, “She’s quite pretty. Is she your new woman?”
An embarrassed Yang Kai replied, “She’s just someone from my Star Field. I happened to come across her, which was why I brought her with me as well.”
Wu Kuang’s gaze brightened when he heard that, then he said to Mei Jiu’er, “Little girl, since you’re here, why don’t you stay here to serve me? I can teach you about the supreme Grand Dao.”
Bustling World Great Emperor was a carefree man who enjoyed life to the fullest. Since the incident in the Shattered Star Sea, he had been intertwined with Wu Kuang; hence, he was unable to drink wine and feast, nor was he able to surround himself with beautiful ladies anymore. That was why he was extremely bored. Since someone had finally come to this place, he naturally wanted to make her stay. It wasn’t that he wanted to do anything to her, but it was better to face a beautiful woman than be alone Wu Kuang all year round.
A rare and precious opportunity was right before Mei Jiu’er’s eyes, but her face had turned pale and she shook her head repeatedly. She didn’t know what was going on as she just thought that the old man didn’t look like a good person, and that he seemed a little crazy, which was why she wouldn’t dare to remain. As for the supreme Grand Dao, she wouldn’t know if he was telling the truth, so she decided that she didn’t want it.
Seeing that, ‘Wu Kuang’ didn’t want to force her as he heaved a sigh, “That’s such a shame.” Then, he nodded at Yang Kai, “You can talk with him.”
Yang Kai bowed his head and pointed at the board, “What is this?”
Wu Kuang looked away as he was meticulously probing Yang Kai’s body. Without even thinking, he replied, “Blood Sun Star Field.”
Even though Yang Kai already had a speculation, he still gasped when Wu Kuang admitted it, “You’ve refined a Star Field into such a thing?”
He didn’t know where Blood Sun Star Field was, nor had he heard of it before, but apparently, just like Heng Luo Star Field, it was also a Lower Star Field; however, it had become a board game that was right in front of him now.
Wu Kuang replied with a grin, “What’s so strange about it? There are many more in the sky.”
Yang Kai looked up as his pupils contracted because nebulas of different sizes were hovering in the sky above him. Some of them were as small as a dustpan while the bigger ones were the size of a basin. There was some distance between them as they were not compatible. If Wu Kuang hadn’t pointed it out, Yang Kai would’ve just thought that these nebulas looked a little odd even if he happened to see them. Upon closer look now though, he realised that every nebula was a separate Star Field.
Staring fixedly at them, Yang Kai could see that the Cultivation Stars were as small as dust, on which billions of people lived.
However, just like the stones on the board, these people were not aware of the situation they were in as they went about their daily lives.
“Your condition is odd. It’s apparent that your body is full of Demon Essence, but you don’t seem affected at all. How do you keep yourself clear-headed?” Wu Kuang asked.
“You know about Demon Qi?” Yang Kai questioned.
Wu Kuang put on an inscrutable smile, “I know a lot more about it than you do.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be in the Ancestral Domain? Why are you here? Where’s this place?” Yang Kai wasn’t willing to dwell on the topic of Demon Qi, he just wanted to find out what Wu Kuang was doing.
“We are in the Ancestral Domain,” Wu Kuang replied.
“Nonsense!” Yang Kai rebuked. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been to the Ancestral Domain, so he knew what the place looked like; however, after giving it a thought, he realised that, since this old fart was able to refine Star Fields into boards and nebulas, it wasn’t so unthinkable that he could turn the Ancestral Domain into a garden.
After a moment of silence, Yang Kai asked with a frown, “Is this a Sealed World?”
Wu Kuang shook his head with a smile, “It’s a Great World.”
In an instant, Yang Kai turned pale and stared at him in shock, but he knew that Wu Kuang wasn’t lying. Mei Jiu’er just thought that the World Energy in this place was ample, but she hadn’t realised that the World Principles in this place were also incredibly strong.
Just like the Star Boundary and the Demon Realm, it was also a Great World. Even though this place was no match for the former, it wasn’t too far off.
Wu Kuang didn’t seem to have noticed Yang Kai’s expression as he went on to explain, “There must be something in your Knowledge Sea that can keep you clear-headed. I want to see it. Open up your Knowledge Sea for me.”
“In your dreams!” Yang Kai directly rejected him. Then, he furrowed his brow and looked around, “Did you sneak into the Ancestral Domain from the Dragon Temple in the past just to refine this place?”
“That’s right. The Ancestral Domain is the origin of all Lower Star Fields. By refining the Ancestral Domain, it significantly reduced the effort this King needed to exert in order to achieve my goal.”
“Just what in the world are you trying to do?” Yang Kai looked puzzledly at him.
Wu Kuang shook his head with a smile, “I can’t tell you.”
He paused for a moment, “Since you’re here, I need you to help me out with something.”
“Do you think I’ll help you?” Yang Kai sneered.
Ignoring him, Wu Kuang went on to say, “I want your Star Field. I didn’t know you were the Master of that Star Field I happened to be devouring; however, it doesn’t matter. Whether the Star Field has a Master or who the Master is, this King will still devour it. Apart from your Star Field, I also want all the Lower Star Fields.”
Yang Kai said impassively, “If you’re so eager to die, I can grant your wish.”
Wu Kuang burst into laughter, “We haven’t met for years, but you’ve become more arrogant and confident. It seems that you’ve grown stronger.”
Yang Kai straightened up and refuted, “I’ve always been confident.”
Presently, Heaven Devouring Great Emperor, who was touted to be the evilest person in history, appeared to be a mild-tempered old man. Even though he was repeatedly offended by Yang Kai, he didn’t seem to have the intention of flaring up. With a faint smile, he simply said, “Why don’t we just talk it out? The discussion will lead to nowhere if you’re so aggressively defensive. Don’t you agree?”
Hearing that, Yang Kai decided to suppress his anger. Even though he still appeared furious, he managed to calm down internally as he said impassively, “What are you trying to achieve?”
Wu Kuang waved his hand across the table, after which the board and stones turned into points of light and contorted into a nebula before it shot up into the sky and became fixed on one spot. Then, a tea set appeared on the table as he looked smilingly at Mei Jiu’er, who was behind Yang Kai, and asked, “Little girl, do you know how to prepare a pot of tea?”
Mei Jiu’er wasn’t sure if she should reply to him as she took a look at Yang Kai. Seeing that Yang Kai didn’t object to it, she nodded, “Yes, Junior knows a little about it.”
Even though she knew that the old man before her eyes was a terrible person, she was equally aware that he was a top Master. Regardless of his temperament, she had to show appropriate respect.
“Please,” Wu Kuang extended his hand to motion for her to help with preparing the tea.
Mei Jiu’er took one more look at Yang Kai, and upon seeing that he nodded, she walked up to the table and respectfully fell on her knees before she meticulously made the tea.
Wu Kuang observed her for a bit and concluded that she indeed knew how to prepare tea. Instead of knowing just a little, she seemed to be an expert in this field; thus, he smiled and nodded.
Following that, he turned to Yang Kai and said, “This King is indeed up to something, and my plan has something to do with the happiness of the people and the life or death of the Star Boundary… Look, this King is telling you about his plan, but you don’t seem to believe me at all. What should I do?”
“Go on!” Yang Kai pointed his chin at him.
“Good, I’ve finished speaking.” Wu Kuang grinned, “That’s it.”
“Do you think I’ll believe you?” Yang Kai shot him a look.
Wu Kuang shook his head and said, “Of course, you won’t.” He paused for a moment, “However, even if you don’t believe me, you should trust old Duan. After the war in the Shattered Star Sea, Duan Hong Chen and my Soul intertwined with one another in the same body. It isn’t as simple as you think to have two Souls in the same body. It can be said that, if we’re willing to do it, we can open up our minds and share each other’s secrets. I can’t tell you what I’m trying to do in detail. Your cultivation is still too low, so it’ll only do more harm than good to you. Nevertheless, Duan Hong Chen is aware of it, and he’s agreed to it.”
Yang Kai furrowed his brows. Just like what Wu Kuang had said, he didn’t believe an old thief like him; however, if Duan Hong Chen was also supportive of this idea, he had to give it due consideration.
In the past, in order to kill a dangerous person like Wu Kuang, Bustling World Great Emperor had crippled his own cultivation over and over again just so he could return to the Dao Source Realm. Then, he repeatedly snuck into the Shattered Star Sea to look for Wu Kuang. Duan Hong Chen was titled as the Bustling World Great Emperor. He travelled around this bustling world and he loved it from the bottom of his heart, which was why he was willing to protect this world that he dearly treasured.
If what Wu Kuang was doing was harmful to the Star Boundary, there was no way Duan Hong Chen would have agreed to cooperate.
Then, Yang Kai looked into Wu Kuang’s eyes as though he was trying to see through his mind and get to the deepest part of his soul. After that, he grimly said, “Senior, is that true?”
Naturally, he was talking to Duan Hong Chen instead of Wu Kuang.
This time, instead of replying to Yang Kai through the body he was in, Duan Hong Chen directly spoke to him via Divine Sense, a tinge of helplessness in his voice, “Even though I’m not willing to admit it, what this old ghost has said is true; otherwise, I wouldn’t have allowed him to make such a fuss. This old fart was more powerful than all of us in the past, so he knows things that we don’t. As for the war in the Shattered Star Sea, let’s just say that our perspectives differed too greatly to come to an agreement.” He sighed.
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai was shocked not because Duan Hong Chen had confirmed Wu Kuang’s statement, but because Bustling World Great Emperor sounded heartbroken by the outcome of the war in the Shattered Star Sea.
The war in the Shattered Star Sea was an epic battle waged by the Great Emperors to destroy a malevolent evil like Wu Kuang. During the battle, four Great Emperors fell, and Wu Kuang’s body was broken, forcing him to fake his own death to escape.
Supposedly, there wasn’t any problem with the war. Even though four Great Emperors had lost their lives, which was an immense loss for the Star Boundary at the time, they managed to remove a tumour like Heaven Devouring Great Emperor. The Great Emperors had lost their lives for a grand cause, so they should be able to rest in peace.
However, judging from what Duan Hong Chen had said, it seemed to Yang Kai as if the former was saying that the war in the Shattered Star Sea was a mistake. In that case, the fallen Great Emperors were killed for no reason at all.
Duan Hong Chen went on to say, “You don’t have to worry. I’ll monitor him and make sure that he doesn’t cross the line. Even though he has refined these Star Fields, he hasn’t harmed any of their lives or destroyed any Stars. He has just made use of the Ancestral Domain as the origin and made the other Star Fields merge with it.”
Yang Kai took a deep breath to suppress his undulating feelings, then he asked with a scowl, “What is it that will harm the Star Boundary’s safety?”
Duan Hong Chen replied, “This is indeed a thorny issue. It’s pointless to tell you anything now, so you should stop asking. It’ll indeed do more harm than good to you. When the time comes, you’ll naturally find out about it.”
If Wu Kuang had said it to him, Yang Kai would’ve snorted and argued back; however, since it was Duan Hong Chen who had said so, he reckoned that he should stop asking despite the fact that he was eager to find out more.
Following that, he nodded gently and asked, “Does he have to devour every single Lower Star Field and integrate them with the Ancestral Domain?”
Duan Hong Chen replied, “You’re fairly strong now, so I’m sure you can see that the Ancestral Domain has gone through some changes. The old fart isn’t wrong to say that it is a Great World. According to our estimation, if we manage to integrate all the Lower Star Fields, the Ancestral Domain will indeed become a Great World. By then, the Ancestral Domain will become a Plane that is an equal match for the Star Boundary. You have to understand that every single Lower Star Field was separated from the Ancestral Domain in the past. What we’re doing is just amalgamating them, returning them to their original state. It would be best if we could integrate all the Star Fields as no one can tell what the outcome will be if one or two are missing.”
After pondering on it for a while, Yang Kai asked, “What will the consequences be if my Star Field is integrated?”
“The most immediate result is that you’ll no longer be the Star Field Master, but other aspects will not be affected. After the integration, all the living creatures will go about their daily lives as usual, and they won’t be affected one bit. It can even be said that they’ll benefit from it. If the Ancestral Domain becomes a Great World, all the Star Fields that have been integrated will reap the rewards as well.”
Yang Kai said with a frown, “Before coming back, someone told me that the Star Boundary and the Lower Star Fields are like a tree. The Star Boundary is like the tree crown while the Lower Star Fields are like the roots. If Wu Kuang removes all the roots, won’t it affect the tree crown, the Star Boundary?”
“Tree crown and roots?” Duan Hong Chen sounded surprised, “This analogy is pretty interesting. It’s not wrong per se, but it’s not completely right either. The relationship between the Star Boundary and the Lower Star Fields are indeed like that of a tree crown and roots, so after all the Star Fields are integrated, it’ll slightly affect the Star Boundary. The biggest change we’ll see is that, after the cultivators in the Star Fields reach a certain realm and free themselves of the World Principles’ chains, they’ll head to the Ancestral Domain instead of the Star Boundary. As for the Star Boundary, it has become mature, and all the lives are living and reproducing on their own. Even without the roots, it will never die.”
Yang Kai knitted his brows, “Senior, it seems that you’ve sided with Wu Kuang now.”
In the past, in order to destroy Wu Kuang’s Soul in the Shattered Star Sea, Duan Hong Chen was even willing to perish together with him. In his eyes, Wu Kuang was no different from a ferocious beast. Even though he was saved by Yang Kai in the end, Duan Hong Chen still tried his best to solve his own problems. However, Yang Kai had never expected that when they met again, Duan Hong Chen would side with Wu Kuang and even speak up for him.
This prompted Yang Kai to wonder whether it was Duan Hong Chen’s true intention or he had been tricked by Wu Kuang. Perhaps Wu Kuang had even done something to him.
“I’m not deaf yet, and I’m much older than you are, so will you please show some respect and stop calling me by name? It’s unpleasant to the ears,” Wu Kuang stared at Yang Kai and said.
Yang Kai rolled his eyes, “What do you think I should call you, then? Senior?”
Wu Kuang replied with a smile, “This King knows you have some biases against me. In fact, anyone who happens to know my name in this world has the same kind of bias. When this King became famous, all of your forefathers hadn’t even been born yet! Tell me, what has this King done that has actually harmed your interests? All of you are terrified simply because of some ancient rumours about me. How many of you in the Star Boundary actually understand who this King really is?”
Yang Kai snorted, “Are you saying that you had some good reasons for what you had done in the past?”
Wu Kuang chuckled, “Naturally not! This King killed those people and destroyed those Star Fields, which is why they were so they’re resentful of me! However… everything happens for a reason, and life is not as simple as you believe it to be. So far, only Duan Hong Chen understands the secrets behind this King’s actions. Even other Great Emperors are not aware of this.” He paused for a moment, “Forget it. Let’s drink some tea first.”
Presently, Mei Jiu’er was finished preparing the tea and poured two cups for Wu Kuang and Yang Kai, then she obediently knelt on the side.
Yang Kai took a look at her and pushed his own cup towards her.
A shocked Mei Jiu’er quickly waved her hands, “Many thanks for your consideration, Senior. Junior really appreciates it, but…” The Star Field Master and a top Master even the Star Field Master had to call ‘Senior’ were right in front of her, so she didn’t dare to drink tea before them. She was already honoured to be able to serve them, and she knew that there were lines she shouldn’t cross.
“Just drink it! It’s good for you!” Yang Kai directly stuffed the cup into her hands. Even though he hadn’t tasted it, by just taking a whiff of the aroma he could tell that it was no ordinary tea. He was already a High-Rank Demon King though, so this tea probably wasn’t useful to him at all; however, Mei Jiu’er was only a First-Order Origin King, so it was definitely an opportunity for her, one she shouldn’t miss.