Xiang Yong sneered, “Manager Zhou doesn’t need to know how I found out, I just know.”
Zhou Zheng became sullen, “I was surprised by what happened yesterday. When Head Manager went to inspect his plot as I guided, and found out about the loss of a Spirit Fruit, I thought everything was settled, but who could have anticipated that Great General would come to that bastard’s rescue at the last moment.”
“Manager Zhou doesn’t need to tell me the details, I have already learned about it from others.”
Zhou Zheng was confused, “Since you already knew, why are you coming to me?”
“Naturally, I came here to ask Manager Zhou for an explanation!”
Zhou Zheng laughed, “Ask me for an explanation? What do you want me to say?” His face turned cold, “Why should this King give you an explanation?”
Xiang Yong snorted, “If it wasn’t for your instigation, how could I have done such a despicable thing? Now that the deed has been done, but the expected result did not happen, shouldn’t Sir Manager take some responsibility?”
Zhou Zheng’s face was so cold that it was practically frozen, “When did this King instigate you? I told you before that this was a serious matter that needed to be carefully considered before execution, and the consequences would be yours to bear. Now that something went wrong, is it this King’s fault?”
Xiang Yong cracked his neck, his posture turning vicious, “I don’t care, we are grasshoppers on a single rope now. If one suffers, all suffer.”
Zhou Zheng was so angry that he wanted to slap the bear in front of him to death, secretly regretting that he had fed such a bad idea to Xiang Yong a few days ago.
“What do you want?” Zhou Zheng asked in a cold voice. Xiang Yong was a fool, not worth Zhou Zheng’s attention, so it was quite hard for Zhou Zheng to hold his temper when someone like that was blackmailing him so blatantly.
Xiang Yong grinned meaningfully, “Sir Manager surely knows my intentions. As long as Sir Manager can satisfy me, I will also satisfy Sir Manager.”
Zhou Zheng narrowed his eyes, “Do you want to go back to your original site?”
“It doesn’t matter now, as long as you can transfer me near Xiao Dié.”
Zhou Zheng nodded lightly, “If that’s all you want, it’s not impossible. Go back and wait for my news. I’ll let you know when I’ve arranged it.”
Xiang Yong looked at him suspiciously, “Is Sir Manager trying to deceive me? Although I may appear uncultured, I’m not that easy to fool.”
Zhou Zheng was furious, “Why should I lie to you? Do I need to lie to you for something like this?”
“Then I’ll trust you one more time!” Xiang Yong nodded, “I’ll leave now, and wait for Sir Manager’s good news.”
“Wait!” Zhou Zheng raised his hand to stop him.
Xiang Yong turned around, “Is there something else Sir Manager needs?”
Zhou Zheng snarled through gritted teeth, “Where’s the fruit?”
“What fruit?” Xiang Yong was puzzled by what he said.
“What do you think?”
“Oh!” Xiang Yong suddenly understood, “You mean the stolen one…” He patted his stomach, “I’ve sacrificed it to the stomach, it actually tasted quite bad!”
“You…” Zhou Zheng looked at him, unable to come up with a retort, then shooed him away in disgust, “Leave, leave!”
After opening the barrier around the hall and sending Xiang Yong off, Zhou Zheng paced around for a while before sighing heavily. This plan was supposed to be perfect. In fact, if the Ruler of the Dawn Great General did not interfere at the last moment, Yang Kai would have been dead already; but now, Yang Kai was not only unscathed, Zhou Zheng was in deep trouble.
[Xiang Yong… He can no longer be kept alive. Since he dares to blackmail me once, he’ll dare to do it twice.] Zhou Zheng did not want to be blackmailed again; however, even if he was the Orchard Manager, he could not just kill a Worker at will. He had to wait for the right opportunity.
…..
Shortly after, in Yang Kai’s plot, a sudden brilliance flashed and two figures appeared out of thin air. It was Yang Kai and Du Ru Feng.
Yang Kai looked over to see Du Ru Feng’s expression as tranquil as an ancient well; there was no way to know what the latter was thinking.
Yang Kai did not ask either. What he saw and heard today had completely confirmed his suspicions. With this incident, Zhou Zheng and Xiang Yong would probably end in disaster. It was not a guarantee that Yang Kai would be replacing Zhou Zheng once he was removed, but at least he would not need to always be on guard against troubles from his superiors.
Yang Kai was only trying his luck when he requested Du Ru Feng to promote him to be the Manager of the orchard and did not really expect him to agree. Yang Kai knew he did not have adequate qualifications to begin with, as it had only been a few months since he came to the orchard. Secondly, his cultivation was insufficient, so it would be difficult to command respect from the Workers.
If he could not be the Orchard Manager though, Du Ru Feng would definitely compensate him in other aspects, so there would be a lot of room for him to negotiate.
If this incident did not involve his own life, Yang Kai would not have been this ruthless. If Zhou Zheng just made things difficult for him, wanting to extract some benefits, Yang Kai would have endured it if he could, but Zhou Zheng actually went so far as to frame him by stealing a Spirit Fruit! If Yang Kai continued to bear with it, he would not know how or when he was going to die.
Yang Kai invited Du Ru Feng to take a seat, poured some tea, and waited quietly.
After a long time, Du Ru Feng smiled lightly, “You’re quite impressive. In less than half a year, there are already two people who want to kill you. How did you offend them?”
“I’m curious too!” Yang Kai looked puzzled, “In regards to Manager Zhou, it’s probably because I didn’t offer him a share when I was rewarded last time, so he held some grudges. But I can’t think of a reason why Xiang Yong would do this.”
Du Ru Feng took a sip of tea, “No matter what the reason is, since they dared to steal a Spirit Fruit, they will end up dying no matter how many lives they have.”
Yang Kai was slightly stunned. Old Fang was right, the lives of the Workers were really worthless here, and it could even be said that Seven Wonders Land did not treat the Workers as people at all.
“I also said before that the position of Orchard Manager needs to be appointed by Venerable in person, and I only have the right to make a recommendation. I will recommend you, as well as report the cause and effect of this matter. As for whether Venerable agrees in the end, it’s up to him.”
“Whether it works or not, I thank Sir Du for his kindness.” Yang Kai cupped his fists.
“Wait for good news,” Du Ru Feng patted Yang Kai’s shoulder and flew away.
The next few days were calm. Yang Kai walked around the orchard, and from time to time he would visit Dié You. Xiang Yong did not appear recently and according to Old Fang, Xiang Yong has been very well-behaved, sleeping most of his time away.
On the fifth day, while Yang Kai was catching worms with Dié You in her plot, he received a message and quickly took out the jade plate.
“Is it from Old Fang?” Dié You asked, recognizing the communicating artifact.
“En!” Yang Kai nodded, and sent his Divine Sense into the artifact.
Suddenly, he turned to look at Dié You and declared, “Xiang Yong was captured!”
Dié You was flabbergasted, “Xiang Yong? What did he do?”
Yang Kai shook his head and said he did not know, mainly because he did not know what Du Ru Feng’s plan was.
Dié You frowned, “Although he is a little reckless, he’s still capable of distinguishing between right and wrong. Did Old Fang see him get captured?”
Yang Kai nodded in confirmation, “Some of the Seven Wonders Land disciples arrived to arrest him, and Old Fang saw it with his own eyes. It happened half a stick of incense ago.”
Yang Kai then looked up in the direction of the tall summit. Since Xiang Yong had been captured, it meant that the same must have happened to Zhou Zheng too.
He wondered what Zhou Zheng was feeling at this moment. Was he surprised? Since he dared to frame Yang Kai with such a vicious plot, he should be mentally prepared for revenge.
In just one day, a rumour spread throughout Fire Spirit Land.
The Orchard Manager, Zhou Zheng, together with a Worker, Xiang Yong, stole a Fire Spirit Fruit. After careful investigation, it was confirmed that the two had committed a heinous crime and had been handed over to the Fire Spirit Land Punishment Hall, to serve as a warning to the others!
The Workers could not believe it, but it was news directly from the Seven Wonders Land disciples, so it was not up to them to question anything.
Everyone knew that Xiang Yong and Zhou Zheng were done for. No one had dared to steal a Fire Spirit Fruit in many years. The question was, as the Orchard Manager, why would Zhou Zheng steal a Fire Spirit Fruit? It served no other function other than to refine Open Heaven Pills. What could he do with a stolen fruit?
Even before this news could be digested, another situation began brewing.
Since Zhou Zheng was in trouble, the Orchard Manager position would be vacant, and someone would definitely take over. It was out of the question for the Workers, as only disciples from Seven Wonders Land could take the position of the Manager.
The position of Orchard Manager may sound very attractive as one would have a huge number of people under his command, but the position was actually a hard and thankless job. Any Seven Wonders Land disciple with a promising future would not be interested. Only those like Zhou Zheng, a Worker with no future prospects, would covet such a position.
Two days later, Du Ru Feng descended from the sky.
Yang Kai, who was busy, hurriedly stopped and greeted him, “Sir Du!”
Du Ru Feng smiled and waved, “Get up!”
Yang Kai observed his expression, slightly surprised “Sir, is there a happy event? You look practically radiant.”
Du Ru Feng chuckled, “There is, but it’s not for me, it’s for you!”
“Me?” Yang Kai’s expression changed, “Could it be that…” Of course, he was already mentally prepared to be rejected.
“Look at this.” As Du Ru Feng spoke as he stretched out his hand and a new set of clothes immediately appeared.
“Seven Coloured Robe…”
“Exactly!” Du Ru Feng unfolded the Seven Coloured Robe, “Try it on.”
“But Sir, aren’t only disciples of Seven Wonders Land allowed to wear this?”
“En, and you are now a disciple of Seven Wonders Land!” Du Ru Feng announced with a smile.
Yang Kai was pleasantly surprised, and cupped his fists, “Many thanks, Sir, for the promotion.” He respectfully took the Seven Coloured Robe in both hands and put it on himself without reservations.
Du Ru Feng nodded approvingly, “Not bad, the size is just right. When you’re free, go to the Personnel Hall to get your disciple token and a few more sets of clothes.”
“Yes, Sir!”
All of a sudden, Yang Kai became a disciple of Seven Wonders Land. Although the Seven Coloured Robe was not particularly stylish, it was a symbol of identity and status in Seven Wonders Land.
In order for a Worker to become a Seven Wonders Land disciple, breaking through to the Open Heaven Realm had always been the only way. That was why so many Workers had no choice but to condense First or Second-Order materials in order to achieve the First or Second-Order Open Heaven Realm, because the materials needed for the Third-Order Open Heaven Realm were way too unaffordable for Workers. If the Workers aimed too high, they might only waste their whole life away only to end up not being promoted to the Open Heaven Realm.
No matter how many First or Second-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters there were, Seven Wonders Land did not need to worry about them causing any disturbance. Removing their status as a Worker and giving them the position of a Common Disciple could not only make them feel a sense of belonging to Seven Wonders Land, but also strengthened the Sect.
Yang Kai naturally understood all this with a little thought.
Seeing him in a trance, Du Ru Feng laughed, “Are you already happy with just this? Good things are yet to come.”
Yang Kai asked curiously, “Is there something more?”
Du Ru Feng smiled faintly, “Have you forgotten about the request that you made? If you want to achieve it, you must at least become a disciple of Seven Wonders Land, so your clothes are only the most basic premise.”
Yang Kai was surprised, “Did Venerable agree?”
Du Ru Feng nodded, “Yes.”
Without waiting for Yang Kai to say anything, Du Ru Feng continued with a change of tone, “But Venerable has a condition!”
“What condition?” Yang Kai asked, seemingly quite eager when in fact, he became vigilant. He knew it was impossible for them to agree to his request so readily. The condition was probably a difficult task for him, but it did not matter, because he had at least achieved his expected goal.
“Venerable stated that you haven’t been here for very long and your cultivation is not high. Even though you have made a great contribution by exposing the criminals responsible for stealing a Spirit Fruit, it’s not enough to appoint you as the Orchard Manager. You know, quite a few are coveting this position and if you are appointed without a valid reason, I’m afraid it’s difficult to convince the public.”
“This Disciple understands,” Yang Kai nodded.
“Venerable wants you to make another contribution!” Du Ru Feng looked at him with a smile, “As long as you can make another great contribution, with Venerable’s backing, no one will be able to complain about your promotion.”
Yang Kai scratched his head, “Luck is required to make a contribution. This Disciple couldn’t easily make another contribution even if he wanted to. Or, are there any other Scarlet Clouds Golden Flames in Fire Spirit Land that need this Disciple to assist in collecting?”
Du Ru Feng chuckled, “It’s extremely hard for a Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame to be formed, so it’s unlikely to be seen another one even in thousands of years. It’s a blessing from the Heavens for us to get one last time, how can there be a second one so easily?” He continued with a lower voice and a solemn face, “There’s something you need to do now. As long as you complete this task, the credit will come naturally.”
Yang Kai suddenly understood, “Venerable has already made arrangements!” He immediately cupped his fist, “In that case, please give the order, Sir. This Disciple will start now and complete the mission as soon as possible.”
Du Ru Feng patted him on the shoulder, “When you put on this robe, you and I became fellow brothers, so don’t call me Sir anymore. What Venerable wants you to do this time is to hunt down a traitor.”
“A traitor!” Yang Kai’s face turned solemn.
“That’s right.” Du Ru Feng declared coldly, “This man committed a huge crime a few days ago but refused to repent. On the contrary, he escaped from Seven Wonders Land. His sin is unforgivable, so Venerable wants you to find him, kill him, and bring his head back!”
Yang Kai blinked and asked embarrassingly, “This Junior Brother knows he should obey Venerable’s order, but this Junior Brother has to ask… What cultivation does this traitor have?”
He did not want to run after the enemy recklessly. If it turned out that the traitor was an Open Heaven Realm Master? How could he complete the task then? By that time, Yang Kai was unsure who would be the one getting killed.
Du Ru Feng smiled lightly, “Don’t worry, his cultivation is equivalent to yours. Furthermore, he is wounded.”
Yang Kai nodded, “No problem then, but how can I find him? Senior Brother, the world outside is so vast that I can’t even distinguish my direction. This traitor could be hiding anywhere…”
“Someone will go with you. It’s just a formality this time really, so you only need to go tag along. You don’t really need to do much.”
[Can there be such a good thing?] Yang Kai was dumbstruck.
Outwardly, however, Yang Kai quickly reacted by cupping his fists, “Many thanks to Venerable and Senior Brother for the promotion!”
Du Ru Feng patted him on the shoulder, “Good, you should move now. Someone will pick you up when you get out of Fire Spirit Land.”
“Yes!” Yang Kai answered and soared into the sky.
After Yang Kai departed, Du Ru Feng immediately disappeared from his spot with a flicker.
A moment later, in the main palace of Fire Spirit Land, Du Ru Feng stood in front of a heavy gate and saluted respectfully.
The door opened a gap and Du Ru Feng stepped in, standing straight as a voice reached his ear, “Is it done?”
“Reporting to Venerable, it is done.”
“En.” The Venerable answered softly, “From your look, it seems that you have some questions.”
Du Ru Feng smiled wryly, “Nothing can be concealed from Sir Venerable. It’s true that this Disciple has some questions.”
“Speak!”
“One of this Disciple’s questions is that given that Yang Kai is a newcomer and his cultivation is not high enough, is it really fine to promote him to a higher position?”
“Why not? It’s just a trivial Orchard Manager. Even if we promote him, how long can he stay in that position? At most, it will be for half a year.”
“Is Senior Brother Yu Lian coming out of the retreat soon?” Du Ru Feng got a clue from the statement.
“Exactly!”
“Then there should be no problem. It’s only half a year, so it’s really nothing.” Du Ru Feng nodded gently, “There’s something else that this Disciple doesn’t understand!”
“About the traitor?” Duan Hai chuckled.
“Yes, it’s about the traitor!” Du Ru Feng was puzzled, “The traitor entered Fire Spirit Land at the same time as Yang Kai, so his cultivation is not high. Although he made a mistake without knowing, it should not have been serious enough to lead to his death, so why did he try to flee? Furthermore, he actually succeeded in escaping!”
“Seven Wonders Land is covered by a Grand Array. If the Grand Array is not deactivated or opened, not even an Open Heaven Realm Master could come or go as they pleased. If it weren’t for the permission of this King, how could that traitor have escaped!?”
A sudden realisation dawned on Du Ru Feng. His guess was right. Otherwise, how could a mere Emperor Realm Master escape out of Seven Wonders Land while the Grand Array was functioning? After listening to Duan Hai’s words, he knew that he was right. It was the intention of the Venerable to allow the traitor to run. It could even be said that he was encouraged by someone to run away.
“Why?” This was the part that Du Ru Feng did not understand, “This Disciple can easily take care of trash like that, so why bother to let him out?”
“You don’t understand!” Duan Hai shook his head slowly, “You can’t kill him. This King found something when he brought that man back here. If we really let him die in the hands of Seven Wonders Land, it might cause trouble in the future.”
Du Ru Feng was taken aback. Seven Wonders Land was not weak. The Heavenly Monarch and the several Venerables were all Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters, so a person who could cause them troubles should be at least a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, “Does it mean that he has a great backing??”
…..
As soon as Yang Kai left the orchard, Great General flew down. Yang Kai was used to such habits. This chicken always perched on his head only when he was in the orchard, and he would act on his own at other times.
Yang Kai did not care about him and continued to walk. Soon, he left Fire Spirit Land.
Two figures were waiting at the exit of the Grand Array. They approached Yang Kai as soon as they saw him. The fatter man on the left side spoke, “Are you Junior Brother Yang Kai?”
“It is this Yang!” Yang Kai stepped forward and cupped his fist, “Greetings, two Senior Brothers. My apologies for having caused two Senior Brothers to wait.”
While speaking, Yang Kai checked out the pair and was secretly frightened. Initially, he did not believe Du Ru Feng stated that it was just a formality this time; after all, he had not encountered such a good thing since his debut. Now when he saw these two people, he understood that it was indeed just a formality for him, because these two were impressively Open Heaven Realm Masters!
Their auras were similar to that of Zhou Zheng, so they should only be First-Order, but even a First-Order was an Open Heaven Realm Master
Although he did not know who he was going to kill, Du Ru Feng disclosed that his strength was almost the same as that of himself. In other words, the traitor was definitely not an Open Heaven Realm Master, or even a Half-Step Open Heaven Realm Master.
It seemed quite weird to Yang Kai that he had to go after an Emperor Realm Master with two Open Heaven Realm Masters.
When Yang Kai was checking them out, they were also examining Yang Kai. The fat man who spoke earlier pressed on, “So you are Junior Brother Yang. You really have a handsome and extraordinary look.”
The skinnier man on the right also nodded, “Junior Brother Yang has a majestic and prestigious demeanour. I can tell that you are a man who will go on to do great things.”
[What’s this situation?] Yang Kai was dumbfounded. The two guys bootlicked him so much that he felt extremely uncomfortable.
Since he came to Seven Wonders Land, Yang Kai was treated ordinarily among the Workers, and none of the Seven Wonders Land disciples in the shopping district had ever given him a second glance.
Nevertheless, these two Open Heaven Realm Masters here were actually flattering him openly… He could not get used to the current situation.
With a single thought, Yang Kai associated their behaviour with Du Ru Feng. He wondered what Du Ru Feng had told these two guys that they did not hesitate to praise him.
What else could Yang Kai say? He could only cup his fists with a smile, “Senior Brothers flatter me. Two Senior Brothers have vigorous auras and profound cultivation. This Junior Brother is far behind you two, and will need two Senior Brothers to take care of me this time, please.”
The pair exchanged looks and beamed lightly as they found that Yang Kai had a good attitude. The fat man immediately assured, “Don’t worry, Senior Brother Du informed us that even if we fall into danger this time, we can’t let Junior Brother get into an accident. We two brothers will absolutely protect Junior Brother Yang with our lives.”
“May this Junior Brother know how to address two Senior Brothers?” Yang Kai asked politely, silently confirming the reason why these two guys treated him with a good attitude. It turned out that Du Ru Feng had left them instructions before. They must have understood that Yang Kai was a very important person to Du Ru Feng and may stand out in Fire Spirit Land in the future. As such they hurriedly take this opportunity to make friends with him, and maybe they could follow him to make a success in the future.
They each reported their names. The fat one was Ma Liu and the thinner one was Jiang Sheng. After chatting a bit, the three departed together.
Seven Wonders Land was overlaid with a massive Grand Array, one that did not allow people to enter and exit without permission, but since it was under Duan Hai’s order, Yang Kai’s group was naturally well prepared.
They left Seven Wonders Land easily, but the void where it was located now was shrouded in fog. Yang Kai looked back and could only see a mass of fog so he asked worriedly, “Two Senior Brothers, we don’t know how long it will take us to run this errand, do you want to note down the way so we don’t get lost?”
Fatty Ma Liu guffawed, “You are not aware, Junior Brother, but in this vast Outer Universe, it is far too easy to become disoriented, so there is no point in remembering the way, but as long as there is a navigation chart to guide us, no matter how far away we travel, we can find our way back.”
Yang Kai had a sudden understanding. He vaguely recalled that Duan Hai mentioned something similar when he was brought to Seven Wonders Land, but he had never seen it with his own eyes and had no idea what such an object looked like.
Yang Kai guessed that it should be a treasure that showed directions.
“How do we track down the traitor?” Yang Kai asked again.
It was Jiang Sheng who replied this time, “Junior Brother Yang, don’t be impatient. We will find a way to track him. Junior Brother, you just need to follow us and kill him when we find him.”
“I understand, I’ll be counting on two Senior Brothers then.” Yang Kai cupped his fists and simply stopped worrying. Although he was curious about a lot of things, it would raise suspicion if he asked too many questions. Why bother when there was no need to worry? Now that he thought about it, this was his first time leaving Seven Wonders Land since his arrival a few months ago.
Seven Wonders Land was not a good place. Although he was fortunate to get great backing from Du Ru Feng and seemed to be appreciated, Yang Kai had a nagging feeling that there were other intentions involved.
This feeling was only reinforced when he recalled that everything happened after he assisted Du Ru Feng in collecting the Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame!
Yang Kai highly suspected that his Wood Element had been exposed. Although he was not sure, he needed to be cautious. If he had a chance this time, he may be able to escape from Seven Wonders Land.
It was a pity he did not expect Du Ru Feng would have given him such a task, and he was not given time to prepare for his escape; otherwise, he might have been able to bring Old Fang and Dié You along with him.
Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng were both Open Heaven Realm cultivators and sped through the void at incredible speed. It was all Yang Kai could do to barely keep up with them. Even so, these two were impressed by Yang Kai, for they thought he was just a little brat who was lucky enough to be appreciated by Du Ru Feng. Who knew that he actually had such skill?
After half a day, Ma Liu suddenly stopped, flicked his hand, and took out what looked like a sphere. Inside the sphere, a cloud of constantly shifting red mist drifted in a certain direction.
Ma Liu put the sphere away and sped in that direction.
When Yang Kai saw this, he knew that the artifact in the shape of a sphere was a tracker. Otherwise, in this vast Outer Universe, how could the traitor be found after escaping from Seven Wonders Land?
Yang Kai was secretly surprised. Since the traitor could be traced, could it be the same for him? He had no way of knowing if Duan Hai had secretly done something to them when he brought them back to Seven Wonders Land. After all, the gap between cultivation Realms was too great.
Duan Hai might just have done that! If this was really the case, Yang Kai had to figure out a way to escape Seven Wonders Land quickly before his intentions were exposed and he was tracked down.
Speeding through the void, Yang Kai took in his surroundings. The scenery was breathtaking, and the insignificance of his own being was somehow emphasized at this moment.
Time flew by. Yang Kai estimated that they have left Seven Wonders Land for at least ten days. As the three travelled, Ma Liu would take out the sphere from time to time and change directions accordingly.
And as time passed, the faces of Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng gradually became ugly.
Yang Kai had to ask even if he did not want to.
“Two Senior Brothers, is something wrong?”
Ma Liu answered, “Junior Brother Yang, don’t be impatient, there is nothing wrong. It’s just that we’re too far away from Seven Wonders Land, and there are all kinds of dangers in this vast world. Although both of us are Open Heaven Realm Masters, we’re just First-Order and we may not be able to protect you if we encounter danger.”
Jiang Sheng cursed, “I thought it would be easy to track down that guy, but we didn’t expect him to be so fast. Maybe he cultivated some sort of sacrificial Secret Technique.”
It was only then that Yang Kai realized that things had gone far beyond their plan, and the traitor had run too far.
Ma Liu continued, “We have to speed up. We won’t know how long we have to chase after him if we continue to let him run like this.”
Jiang Sheng nodded, “Junior Brother Yang, forgive us,” Right after, he and Ma Liu clutched Yang Kai on the left and right, and their speed increased a level. Suddenly, they were moving as swiftly as the wind.
After another three days, a look of joy suddenly appeared on Ma Liu’s face, “He stopped.”
“He should be stopping to rest!” Jiang Sheng raised his eyebrows, “How far?”
Ma Liu looked at the sphere in his hand again, “Another half a day’s journey!”
Jiang Sheng turned to Yang Kai, “Junior Brother Yang, get ready. When you meet the traitor, it will be your turn to take action. These two Senior Brothers will be on the sidelines for you.”
“Many thanks, Senior Brothers!” Yang Kai bowed.
Ma Liu chuckled, “It’s not a problem. We just hope that Junior Brother won’t forget about us two Senior Brothers when he prospers in the future.”
“I will never!” Yang Kai replied, closing his eyes to adjust his breathing, he secretly felt speechless. With Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng literally holding on to him, he had no chance to run even if he wanted to, unless he killed them. But they were Open Heaven Realm Masters, so even if Yang Kai initiated an attack with all he had, he might possibly kill one off while they were unguarded, but it was unrealistic to take down two…
It seemed that there was no way to escape Seven Wonders Land for the time being; it was better for him to take one step at a time.
Half a day later, a Universe World’s aura suddenly appeared in front of them. Yang Kai opened his eyes and found that it was indeed a Universe World. From a distance, the blue world looked like a sky with clouds, a breathtaking sight to see.
Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng took him straight towards that world through the layers of clouds, and they were welcomed by a bright light. Yang Kai looked around curiously; after all, this was the first Universe World he had entered after leaving the Star Boundary. Naturally, he would want to see how other places were different from his home.
From the looks of it though, it did not seem to be much different, except for the slightly altered World Principles.
Also, this Universe World did not seem to be very strong, because when the group of three entered, there was no obstruction at all.
If there was a Great Emperor here, that would definitely not have been the case.
Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng let out a sigh of relief. Although they were Open Heaven Realm Masters, if there were Great Emperors guarding this Universe World, they would not want to create conflict.
The three broke through the sky and landed on top of a certain mountain.
Ma Liu took a deep breath, his already fat body became even more bloated as he bellowed in a single large breath towards the bottom of the mountain, “Come out!”
The mountain collapsed, and waterfalls flowed against the current when the words resounded. Birds and beasts were killed or injured in an instant, and the land rolled violently as if Dragons were trying to escape from beneath the ground!
In the midst of the rumbling, a figure escaped out of the collapsing peak and looked up at the place where Yang Kai and the others were in horror.
Jiang Sheng sneered, “This bastard can run quite well. This King has been chasing him for so many days!”
At this moment, the traitor clearly saw the Seven Coloured Robes donned by Ma Liu and the others and the colour drained completely from his face before he turned to flee.
Jiang Sheng’s laugh was even colder now, “This King is here now, where do you think you can run to?” He spat, and an artifact in the shape of a sphere was summoned, instantly sealing off the local space. He scrambled left and right but failed to escape from the bounds of the artifact, causing the fear etched on his face to intensify.
“Junior Brother Yang, it’s up to you now.” Ma Liu turned to Yang Kai, “Don’t worry, he is injured now and absolutely no match for you. Besides, both of us will be here to back you up, so just execute him boldly!”
Yang Kai nodded, “Understood.”
He walked forward into the domain confined by Jiang Sheng and stopped to look at the traitor who betrayed Seven Wonders Land with a complicated expression.
The traitor was still trying to break through the barrier but could not find a way to leave at all, so he turned, and when their eyes met, he asked with some confusion, “Yang Kai, why are you here?”
Yang Kai sighed, “That’s what I wanted to ask.”
When Du Ru Feng asked him to hunt down a traitor, he did not ask for any details; after all, he did not know many people, but now he realized that he knew the traitor as he was in the same batch of people who came to Seven Wonders Land with him.
Fang Tai!
“It’s all because of you!” Fang Tai glared at Yang Kai, his eyes glowing a shade of deep scarlet as if he had met his nemesis, “If it wasn’t for you, how could this Fang be put in this position!?”
Yang Kai scoffed, “How is this my fault?” This was simply illogical.
Fang Tai gritted his teeth, “The Fire Spirit Fruit that Zhou Zheng and Xiang Yong conspired to steal was yours, right?”
“Indeed!” Yang Kai nodded, suddenly realizing, “I understand now, you were involved in their plot.”
Fang Tai was furious, “I had no idea! All I knew was that Zhou Zheng asked me to delay you for a while. He is the Orchard Manager, so how could I refuse? I thought it was just a trivial matter, but who knew it would involve stealing Spirit Fruits!”
“You didn’t have to listen!” Yang Kai sneered, “Fate is always in your own hands.”
“Cheap words!” Fang Tai exclaimed, “The moment Zhou Zheng and Xiang Yong got into trouble, I knew I would be involved, so I ran, but I didn’t expect to be caught so quickly. What was even more unexpected is that you were the one coming after me!”
“What’s so strange about this? I’m the subject of the matter.”
Fang Tai was puzzled, “But you’re just a Worker… “
Yang Kai tugged at his collar and adjusted it…
Fang Tai’s eyes widened, “Seven Coloured Robe! You’re actually wearing Seven Coloured Robes… Are you a disciple of Seven Wonders Land now?”
In an instant, Fang Tai’s eyes turned red from jealousy. He, too, had been in Seven Wonders Land for several months. Naturally, he knew the difficulty of getting promoted from a Worker to a Common Disciple, but since Yang Kai was wearing a Seven Coloured Robe, it was clear that he had gotten rid of the Worker status and became a disciple of Seven Wonders Land.
[How did this happen?]
The last time he saw Yang Kai was only a few days ago. At that time, he had Zhou Zheng’s protection while Yang Kai was the target of Zhou Zheng’s anger. Fang Tai thought that he could be safe by relying on Zhou Zheng, but he did not expect to be implicated in this debacle and end up running for his life.
“Brother Fang, this Yang has been ordered to take your life now. Since we know each other, I don’t want to make things too complicated. Why don’t you kill yourself to avoid suffering!?”
“End my own life?” Fang Tai’s face changed drastically, “This Fang just made an unintentional mistake! For that, I deserve death?”
Yang Kai remarked faintly, “It’s an order from the higher-ups, I have no choice either.”
Fang Tai looked around and saw that Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng were both eyeing him. He knew that he probably could not escape this disaster under the watch of the two Open Heaven Realm Masters here and for a moment, he became depressed, his face turning pale as he sent out a Divine Sense transmission, “Brother Yang, you and I have entered Seven Wonders Land together and even had an alliance before. Now, this Fang is in trouble, please show kindness and let me go. This Fang will surely repay this favour in the future.”
Yang Kai stared faintly at him and asked, “Did Brother Fang really take that alliance seriously?”
Fang Tai’s face turned ugly, knowing that he had done something wrong in the past. He isolated and forced Yang Kai out when he saw him get on Zhou Zheng’s bad side, but the tide had turned after just two months and now he became the one who had to beg for mercy. Still, Fang Tai pleaded, “Brother Yang, this Fang was wrong last time. Please be merciful and forgive me. It’s all because of this Fang’s foolishness in trusting the wrong person…”
Yang Kai raised his hand and stopped him, “It’s useless for you to say this now. Senior Brother Du ordered the other two Senior Brothers here to come with me. They certainly are not here just to lead the way for me. Even if I let you go, they will not. Furthermore… Why should I let you go?”
If it was just their disagreements from before, Yang Kai might not have been so forceful here; after all, everyone had their own free will to seek blessings and avoid disaster. Yang Kai offended Zhou Zheng, while Fang Tai depended on the backing of Zhou Zheng to succeed, so it was natural for him to stay away from Yang Kai. In order to survive and thrive, Fang Tai made the correct choice. They just had different ways of living and could not work together.
But Yang Kai could not forgive Fang Tai for cooperating with Zhou Zheng and Xiang Yong to frame him. Even though Fang Tai was ignorant of the full plot, if they really succeeded, Yang Kai would be dead now.
An unintentional mistake was still a great enmity.
Moreover, as he mentioned, since Du Ru Feng ordered Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng to accompany him, Yang Kai also had his hands tied. Even if he did not do it, Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng would definitely not let Fang Tai go.
Reaching out his hand, a Dragon Roar sounded as the Azure Dragon Spear appeared in Yang Kai’s grip, “Fang Tai, suffer death!”
Yang Kai’s aura quickly rose to the limit as he already appeared in front of Fang Tai when he uttered the last word, the spear in his hand thrusting forward.
Fang Tai was taken aback, not having expected Yang Kai to make such a decisive move without giving him any time to react at all. Even though he was on guard, Fang Tai only managed to raise his arm and hurriedly summon a round shield before the spear reached him.
A loud metallic clang erupted and cracks ran all over the round shield as soon as it appeared, its radiance quickly fading.
After just a breath of time, the round shield exploded, revealing Fang Tai’s terrified face.
Not far away, Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng looked at each other and saw the amazement in each other’s eyes. Although such a blow could be wielded at will with their current strength, they were sure that they could not achieve a similar level of power when they were at Yang Kai’s current cultivation. In other words, at the Emperor Realm, Yang Kai’s heritage was already much more powerful than theirs. In the future, when Yang Kai reached the Open Heaven Realm, even if he was the same First Order as them, they would probably be no match for him.
The Azure Dragon Spear penetrated the shattered round shield and through Fang Tai’s shoulder. Blood spurted, and Fang Tai’s face turned as pale as a sheet of paper.
Yang Kai’s face was emotionless. When he retracted the spear, he kicked right into Fang Tai’s stomach, sending him flying like a rag sack until he collided with the barrier of Jiang Sheng’s artifact, spewing blood from his mouth.
Fang Tai looked dreadfully frightened while Yang Kai seemed slightly surprised.
This was actually the first time that he had a real fight after leaping out of the Star Boundary and entering the 3,000 Worlds. Although his opponent was not an Open Heaven Realm Master, he felt that Fang Tai was not as strong as he expected him to be…
But Yang Kai figured it had something to do with Fang Tai’s wounds and the latter being on the run for so many days. Yang Kai had no idea how Fang Tai was injured, but it was probably because he had fought with someone when he escaped Seven Wonders Land.
Regardless, there was nothing to think about. With a flicker, Yang Kai rushed forward, and the shadow of the Azure Dragon Spear streaked beneath the sky to envelope Fang Tai.
Fang Tai was not too weak, and he kept releasing all kinds of artifacts one after another, especially defensive artifacts, which made Yang Kai wonder how he obtained so many and how insecure he was to have prepared them all.
However, under Yang Kai’s continuous and rampageous attacks, Fang Tai was put in a passive position with no chance to strike back. Fang Tai was shocked, as if he did not expect that even though they had the same cultivation, he was no match for Yang Kai at all.
When his last defensive artifact was shattered, Fang Tai covered his chest as he was torn by grief.
“Yang Kai, do you really insist on forcing me to death?”
Yang Kai said nothing, his spear pointing at Fang Tai, his face full of murderous intent.
Fang Tai gritted his teeth, “You forced me! Even if this Fang’s end is miserable, you won’t feel any better!” After stating so, he performed a hand seal with one hand, and his initially weak aura suddenly surged. At the same time, a mysterious aura permeated out of his body.
Yang Kai turned solemn. Just as he was wondering why this aura felt a little familiar, Fang Tai had already opened his mouth and spat out an ancient seal. Although the seal looked insignificant, it contained a terrifying power.
“Dao Seal!” Yang Kai’s face changed drastically. Now he understood why it felt familiar to him, because he had done this before. Back then in the Star Boundary, Yang Kai was forced to release his own Dao Seal to kill Can Ye. He truly did not expect that his first enemy in this Outer Universe would deal with him in the same way.
Yang Kai was aware of how powerful one’s Dao Seal could be. Watching the ancient seal rushing towards him in a stream of light, Yang Kai immediately withdrew. At the same time, he pulled back his arm and hurled the Azure Dragon Spear forward violently.
The two streams of light clashed mid-air. The deafening blast shook the world, sending terrifying waves in every direction while even the barrier of Jiang Sheng’s artifact rippled violently.
At this time, Ma Liu had rushed over and shielded Yang Kai with his fat body like a city wall, blocking the storm in front of him. He kept slamming his palms forward to offset the horrifying aftershocks.
After more than ten breaths of time, the dust finally settled.
Yang Kai, who was hiding behind Ma Liu, peeked out and saw Fang Tai’s burly body had completely shrivelled up. His aura was so weak that he was barely even alive.
Fang Tai was not as lucky as Yang Kai, nor as powerful as Yang Kai. His Dao Seal, which was the condensation of the cultivation of his entire being, was released and completely destroyed after colliding with the Azure Dragon Spear. Followed by the destruction of his Dao Seal, his strength dissipated too.
Although he was not dead yet, he would not live long.
Yang Kai was secretly frightened and vowed not to summon his Dao Seal unless he had no choice. It was just too dangerous.
“Junior Brother Yang, are you alright?” Ma Liu asked with concern.
Yang Kai cupped his fists, “Many thanks, Senior Brother, for your protection. Junior Brother is fine.”
“Think nothing of it. Junior Brother must remember that battle in the Outer Universe is no longer the same as your previous experiences. The most important thing to guard against is this kind of desperate move. If you are not careful, you may suffer a loss.” Ma Liu advised kindly.
Yang Kai nodded sincerely, “I’ll remember.”
Ma Liu continued, “Good. Go and take down that guy’s head, then we can return to complete our mission. This journey is too far. If we don’t hurry back, Senior Brother will definitely worry.”
Yang Kai nodded, then slowly walked towards Fang Tai. He stretched out his hand in the air, and the Azure Dragon Spear immediately flew back into his hand.
Fang Tai was gasping for breath on the other side. Yang Kai approached and looked down at him. Fang Tai’s eyes had become cloudy, as if he had aged thousands of years in an instant. There was not much vitality left in his body.
It was uncertain if Fang Tai could see clearly, but his lips moved to whisper, “You won’t live well after you kill me!”
With a flick of his wrist, Yang Kai’s spear swept out and Fang Tai’s head soared up, though there was not much blood.
Jiang Sheng flew in at the right moment and wrapped the head with a black cloth that was prepared beforehand before putting it directly into his Space Ring, “It’s done!” He grinned.
The order they got was to help Yang Kai in claiming the head of the traitor Fang Tai. Now that everything was settled, they could naturally return home. Moreover, not only did they make friends with Yang Kai this time, but they also would receive rewards from Du Ru Feng later.
He turned to look at Yang Kai, to find that he was slightly distracted. He could not help patting him on the shoulder, “Junior Brother, do you rarely kill? You better get used to it if you want to survive. It’s either kill or be killed. We still have Seven Wonders Land as our shelter, but if you wander outside, your life will always be at risk, and you may be killed one day.”
Since when did Yang Kai rarely kill? Countless lives had been ended by his hands throughout his path of cultivation. The reason he was absent-minded was that something felt off after killing Fang Tai, but he could not put a finger on it.
He did not bother to clarify anything, but just nodded, “Senior Brother is right.”
Looking at the headless corpse in front of him, Yang Kai could not help recalling that they were brought into Seven Wonders Land together by Duan Hai just a few months ago, but in the end, they were forced to kill each other. Life was truly unpredictable.
Yang Kai picked up the Space Ring from Fang Tai’s hand with his spear, and then handed it to Jiang Sheng as he remarked, “I don’t know if there’s anything good in it. Since two Senior Brothers have been escorting me, I shall thank you for your hard work and effort.”
“You are too generous.” Even though Jiang Sheng said so, he did not hesitate, and quickly took the Space Ring with a grin, “Many thanks, Junior Brother.” He secretly praised Yang Kai for respecting them in his heart, and understood why he was appreciated by Junior Brother Du. He told himself that he really had to learn from him, and he might be able to succeed from then on. He winked at Ma Liu and put away the Space Ring without checking what was inside, for they would share whatever they got equally anyway.
“The job’s done. Let’s go back now.” Ma Liu proposed, and the other two naturally had no objection. Although Yang Kai wanted to stay and enjoy the customs of this new Universe World, he was really not in the mood at the moment.
The three rapidly rose into the sky.
However, before flying too far, the sky above them suddenly darkened.
Ma Liu looked up and muttered, “What is it?”
When he finished his sentence, he suddenly disappeared in the blink of an eye, as if he had not been there before.
Both Yang Kai and Jiang Sheng were appalled. They stopped simultaneously, leaned against each other’s backs without saying anything, and monitored the surroundings with their respective Divine Senses. Jiang Sheng kept calling for Ma Liu’s name, but there was no response.
A moment later, Jiang Sheng whispered, “Junior Brother Yang, did you see anything just now?”
Yang Kai shook his head slowly, “Nothing.”
Jiang Sheng’s heart sank when he heard him. Nothing was worse than not knowing what was happening. It was extremely strange that they were totally unaware of what caused the sudden disappearance of Ma Liu even when it happened right before their eyes.
“Run!” Jiang Sheng no longer hesitated and rushed up to the sky with great speed after calling out to Yang Kai. Yang Kai also did not delay and immediately followed after him.
The next moment, there was another darkness above their heads.
Yang Kai hurriedly looked up and saw something shrouding them from above. At the same time, Jiang Sheng shouted, “Split up!”
Before Yang Kai could react, Jiang Sheng already ran far away from him; however, the darkness ignored Yang Kai and chased after Jiang Sheng. Followed by a flash, Jiang Sheng disappeared just like Ma Liu.
A chill ran down Yang Kai’s spine and he felt goosebumps all over his body. Because of what happened just now, he saw the outline of a dark shadow.
It was like an enlarged cloth sack…
The cloth sack slipped down and Jiang Sheng was taken away. He believed the same happened to Ma Liu.
Two Open Heaven Realm Masters were stuffed into this strange sack like they were helpless chickens. Yang Kai could imagine how powerful this artifact was, and understood that he probably could not escape it either. However, what frightened him more was the owner of the artifact!
Until now, he still could not see who was behind this!
Standing in the void, Yang Kai looked around, and cupped his fists, “May I know who Senior is? Seven Wonders Land Yang Kai hopes to offer proper greetings!”
There was no reply, and another darkness appeared above him.
Yang Kai, who was already prepared for it, immediately surged his Space Principles in an attempt to escape. Nevertheless, there was an invisible shackle that immobilized him, leaving him nowhere to hide.
Soon, his vision turned dark, and he felt like he had entered a tight space.
Before Yang Kai could adapt to it, he felt like someone was squeezing him nearby. Not only that, he could sense movements of punching and kicking, and a violent fist thrust towards him.
Yang Kai raised his hand to block it and shouted, “Two Senior Brothers, please stop!”
The bustling movement stopped for a moment, and the two exclaimed in unison, “Yang Kai?”
After shouting, they exclaimed again.
“Ma Liu?”
“Jiang Sheng?”
Ma Liu was enlightened, “Oh, so you were all brought in too. I thought someone was ambushing me.”
Jiang Sheng replied, “I wonder who did this, and what this place is?”
Yang Kai responded, “I didn’t see anyone, but this should be the inner space of some kind of artifact. When Senior Brother Jiang was captured just now, I caught a glimpse that it was a cloth sack-shaped artifact.”
Ma Liu questioned in a deep voice, “Cloth sack-shaped artifact? Old Jiang, do you know what it is?”
“I’ve never heard of something like that.” Jiang Sheng shook his head slowly and continued solemnly, “But since we were captured without us even spotting our captor, they should be a Senior Expert at the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm at least.”
“A Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master…” Yang Kai was shocked, “Why did he bring us here? “
Ma Liu did not know whether to cry or laugh, “I don’t know, but this Universe World might be his territory, and we have disturbed him when we killed the traitor just now.”
“Could it be an enemy of our Seven Wonders Land?” Yang Kai guessed, “I just introduced myself, but he didn’t care at all.”
Jiang Sheng gulped, “Stop talking, Junior Brother. You are scaring me now. It better not be an enemy of our Seven Wonders Land, otherwise, none of us will survive. I hope it’s just like what Old Ma said and we disturbed someone and he just wants to punish us slightly.”
Ma Liu suddenly shouted, “Senior, Senior, we were unaware of your presence and inadvertently offended you earlier. Please forgive us!”
Jiang Sheng also hurriedly pressed on, “Yes, Senior. Please forgive us, and let us go first. We are willing to talk to settle this problem. This Junior apologizes for the inconvenience caused.”
The two started to beg for mercy without knowing whether the person could hear them or not, which made Yang Kai feel speechless.
Nothing happened after shouting for a long time though, so they eventually stopped.
Ma Liu sighed, “I knew it wasn’t a good idea to leave so far. This is bad.”
Yang Kai asked, “Does our Seven Wonders Land have enemies?”
“Not that I know of.” Jiang Sheng shook his head, “But both of us only joined Seven Wonders Land a thousand years ago. Maybe there are enemies, but since this Senior only captured us and did not kill us immediately, I guess he probably wouldn’t harm us.”
Ma Liu nodded repeatedly, “Old Jiang is right. If he were really our enemy, I’m afraid he would have killed us by now.”
With some self-consolation, they were not so flustered anymore.
After staying in the narrow and cramped space for a time, a glimmer of light shone in, as if a skylight had been opened above them.
Without hesitation, the three trapped men used their Movement Skills to rush to the slit of light at the same time, escaping their prison and appearing in a cave.
Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng obviously were connected in mind, and as soon as they broke free, they immediately watched out for each other as they scanned the surroundings. Yang Kai also stayed focused and calm, scanning around with his Divine Sense.
Soon, their eyes were fixed not far from the front. There stood a thin, short, gloomy, middle-aged man. The man donned simple and plain clothes that looked as if they had faded with numerous washes. His hair was tied in a simple bun and he held a wooden sword in one hand and a bag in the other.
The bag was the cloth sack that Yang Kai had seen before, but it was only the size of a palm at the moment and was soon taken back into the man’s sleeve.
Needless to say, it was this guy who secretly abducted the three of them earlier.
It was good to be able to see him now, because not knowing who was behind their capture was the scariest thing. Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng exchanged looks, and the former cupped his fists and greeted, “Junior Ma Liu of Seven Wonders Land greets Senior. May I know Senior’s honoured name?”
It was somewhat pathetic to act so servile, but since this man was far stronger than them, they could only inquire about his name politely and be careful when dealing with him, lest they offend him.
“Hmph!” With just a light snort from the man, a great power descended from the sky. Yang Kai felt like a whole world was collapsing on his head for a moment as his bones creaked and his chest was squeezed so tightly that he almost coughed up blood. It was only because of his strong will that he did not fall to the ground.
On the contrary, the situation of Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng was better than his since they had a higher cultivation, but their faces turned ugly too, looking dreadfully uncomfortable.
For the first time, Yang Kai witnessed the great difference between different Orders of the Open Heaven Realm from a close distance. Although they were all Open Heaven Realm Masters, Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng were only First Order, while the man was at least Fourth Order, so the latter was able to make Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng suffer with just a snort. If they really had to fight, Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng would definitely not be a match for this middle-aged man. In fact, he could probably kill them effortlessly.
“Are you all from Seven Wonders Land?” The man glanced at the three of them, and gradually withdrew his pressure, which relieved Yang Kai and the others from the stress.
Ma Liu cupped his fists with a terrified face, “Reporting to Senior, the three of us are indeed Seven Wonders Land disciples.”
“Very good!” The man nodded, “I was still worried that I couldn’t find any Seven Wonders Land people, but now, you’ve brought yourselves to me.”
Their faces changed drastically as soon as they heard this. This man’s words did not sound good as they made it obvious this guy had a grudge against Seven Wonders Land. As expected, anything that could go wrong would go wrong. While the three people were still wondering whether this man was an enemy of Seven Wonders Land, their worry became true.
Ma Liu hurriedly explained, “Senior, we are just Common Disciples of Seven Wonders Land. If you really have any grudges against Seven Wonders Land, just Find Heavenly Monarch. We have nothing to do with it.”
“As long as you put on that robe, you have something to do with it!” The man sneered.
Yang Kai almost vomited blood after hearing the statement. Unlike Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng, he had only put on this robe about ten days ago. How unfortunate was it for him?
“As for your Venerables and Heavenly Monarch, this King will eventually look for them, but now is not the time!” After the man declared, he reached out his hand and threw the cloth sack at them again.
Without having time to react, Yang Kai’s vision instantly turned black. Needless to say, he was put back into the bag again.
Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng obviously understood that the situation was bad, so after a brief exchange, they decided to take action and try to break the artifact from the inside to see if they could escape.
However, they soon realized this was a bad idea. The unbridled energy clashed in every direction, putting all three of them in a mess with Yang Kai almost becoming injured.
Without any viable solution, Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng could only stop and started begging from inside the sack. However, whether the man was ignoring them or simply could not hear them, there was no response at all.
In the pitch-black darkness, an unknown amount of time passed as the trio were squished inside the sack. Suddenly, a slit of light broke open above them, but it rapidly closed after a moment before any of them could react to it.
Yang Kai wondered, “What does this mean?”
Ma Liu answered, “I don’t know. Junior Brother, does anything feel off?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “No!”
“Where’s Brother Jiang?” Ma Liu asked again, but he did not get any response. After calling several times, a realization dawned on him, “Brother Jiang is gone.”
Yang Kai was also surprised and quickly felt around only to find that Jiang Sheng had indeed disappeared. Thinking about the incident just now, Jiang Sheng had probably been taken out by their abductor.
Ma Liu was a little flustered, “Why did he take Brother Jiang?”
“Don’t worry, Senior Brother. Since Senior didn’t kill us earlier, he likely has plans for us. We’ll know more when Senior Brother Jiang comes back.” Although Yang Kai said so, he could not help worrying whether Jiang Sheng would come back alive. From the declaration of the middle-aged man earlier, it was not difficult to infer that he had grievances against Seven Wonders Land. Now that the three of them had fallen into his hands, they were totally under his control, and had no way to escape or fight back.
Ma Liu obviously understood this and felt quite pessimistic despite Yang Kai trying to cheer him up. He secretly regretted taking this job. Initially, he thought it was a good opportunity for him, but now he had gotten into this danger and was not sure if he could survive it.
The space in the sack was not as crowded without Jiang Sheng, and after grumbling for a while, Ma Liu quieted down. Yang Kai tried searching for any flaws in the artifact sack with his Divine Sense, but unfortunately, he found nothing.
After several days, the slit of light cut through the darkness again, the situation was exactly the same as the previous one. The mouth of the sack was swiftly closed right after it opened, so quick that Yang Kai could not react to it at all.
When the darkness settled in again, Yang Kai obviously felt Ma Liu, who had been squeezed together with him in the sack, had vanished. He knew that Ma Liu had been taken out too, leaving only him in the sack space.
Given that Jiang Sheng was not returned, Yang Kai believed that he was more unfortunate than fortunate. Now even Ma Liu had been taken away, and it was unlikely that he could come back. Yang Kai grew anxious at this moment.
He had been quietly searching for the flaws in the artifact these days but unfortunately, he found nothing. The artifact was obviously unusual for it had its own internal space that could accommodate living creatures; however, the size of the space inside was a little strange. It appeared to be able to resize itself. It could fit snugly around one person, but it could also fit three people. However, it felt crowded no matter how many people were thrown into the sack, as if there was a soft barrier surrounding the space.
Before, Jiang Sheng and Ma Liu tried to break the confinement of this sack artifact, but they failed. Since the two Open Heaven Realm Masters had no way to overcome it, Yang Kai believed that he could not break free even if he used his full strength.
He just did not know if the space of this sack had a limit and whether it could be broken.
Anyway, he did not really have a choice in his current situation. He could only try to stuff the sack till it burst and hope for the best. However, it was not too late for him to come up with another idea even if it did not burst. Regardless, it was better than being trapped here waiting to die.
At this point, Yang Kai no longer hesitated and took a deep breath before bellowing, “Dragon Transformation!”
A loud Dragon roar sounded. Golden light radiated brightly in the dark space, and a glimpse of a golden Dragon head flashed and disappeared into Yang Kai’s body. Followed by the cracking of his bones, Yang Kai’s body swiftly expanded.
100 metres, 300 metres, 500 metres, 1,000 metres…
The surrounding soft barrier tightly bound Yang Kai’s massive body, like invisible ropes. Yang Kai was about to spurt blood as he felt extremely uncomfortable, like his whole body was about to be crushed.
However, he endured all kinds of discomfort and continued to expand his body.
*Kacha…* Every one of his bones crackled noisily. Hot air sprayed out of Yang Kai’s nostrils, and the vitality in his chest surged, filling his throat with a bloody taste.
When he expanded to his limit, which was 2,000 meters, the sack artifact showed no signs of bursting. Yang Kai immediately knew that his attempt had failed.
He was unwilling to give up though and reached out his hand to summon the Azure Dragon Spear. With the fluctuation of the Space Principles, he thrust out his spear with a massive black spot forming at its tip.
Rupture…
Violent energy swirled and the crushing force could not be dispersed inside the confined space. It turned into an attack that covered the entire space, which ultimately rebounded on Yang Kai.
Yang Kai already had a hard time enduring the suffocation of the surrounding force, so with the additional disintegrating rebound force, he could not hold it any longer and spurted a mouthful of blood. As if he was a deflated balloon, his huge body rapidly shrunk as his aura dwindled.
He secretly thought to himself while gritting his teeth, [This really doesn’t work. I don’t know what the Hell this sack is. There’s no way for me to get out. I’m too weak. Only if I was an Open Heaven Realm Master would I have a chance to force my way out.]
Nevertheless, it was extremely difficult to be promoted to the Open Heaven Realm. First of all, one had to condense the Yin, Yang, and Five Elements in order to split Heaven and Earth apart inside one’s own body. Yang Kai was lucky to have started off with an excellent beginning when he refined the Immortal Tree to condense his Wood Element.
But having a good start did not mean he could achieve a higher Order Open Heaven Realm. If he wished to achieve his goal, he had to obtain high-Order materials.
However, high-Order materials were not that easy to find or obtain. Yang Kai had no idea when he could break through to the Open Heaven Realm, let alone when he could find the World Tree to repair the damaged Star Boundary.
After having all kinds of absurd thoughts for a while, his disordered aura gradually calmed down. Since he could not get out of trouble himself, he could only observe the situation and react to whatever came his way. Yang Kai secretly prayed that Jiang Sheng and Ma Liu were safe as he sat cross-legged and adjusted his breathing.
A few days later, when the slit of light broke open above him for the third time, Yang Kai was not surprised anymore. An irresistible force caught him, and when he regained his senses, he was no longer in the narrow space, but appeared in the previous cave.
In front of him stood the middle-aged man who, at this moment, had a face as black as the bottom of a pot. Yang Kai had no idea what incident had upset this man for him to be so visibly upset.
A strange smell filled the air, which Yang Kai could not identify precisely, but he did notice a trace of blood odour mixed in with it. Yang Kai looked around with a frown, and his gaze suddenly stopped at a corner of the cave.
Two dead bodies laid over there, one fat and one thin, both were wearing Seven Coloured Robes. Although Yang Kai could not see their faces clearly due to the angle, he could recognize that these two people were Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng, who were dragged out before him. He did not know what happened to them earlier, as although the bodies were intact, they had long lost their vitality.
Yang Kai’s heart sank. Although he had long speculated that his two Senior Brothers would not end well, he could not help grieving when he saw it with his own eyes.
“Little brat, what’s your name?” The man suddenly asked.
Yang Kai did not want to speak, but he had no choice but to introduce himself. He actually had done it before, but this man probably did not take it to heart.
The man sneered, “You are much bolder than that fat man. I hope you’re luckier too.”
Yang Kai sighed, “Senior, with your strength, it’s a simple matter to kill us. Why bother torturing my two Senior Brothers?” During this short while, he noticed that Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng should have suffered inhuman torture before they died. The blood flowing out of their seven facial orifices were probably the source of the bloody stench in the cave.
The man snorted coldly, “This King doesn’t care about torturing them, but this King has a plan that required their cooperation. Too bad, they failed to live up to this King’s expectations.”
Yang Kai raised his eyes, “May I know what plan Senior has that needs me to cooperate with my life?”
The man looked at him strangely, “Do you want to try?”
“Can I refuse?” Yang Kai looked back at him seriously.
The man shook his head, “No, you can’t.”
“Then that’s enough. Since I can’t refuse, I can only cooperate, but before that, please explain to me how I should cooperate with Senior. I guess Senior doesn’t want me to follow the footsteps of my two Senior Brothers, right? If so, you won’t find any Seven Wonders Land disciples anytime soon.”
The man nodded lightly, “You’re right. Little brat, you’re quite interesting. This King didn’t expect there to be people like you in Seven Wonders Land.”
Yang Kai took a deep breath, “Actually, I don’t really belong to Seven Wonders Land. I barely arrived in Seven Wonders Land half a year ago.”
The man sneered, “Do you think this King will believe you?”
Yang Kai shrugged, “This is the fact, whether Senior believes it or not won’t change the truth. In any case, please tell me about your plans. If I can, I will try my best to cooperate; after all, I don’t want to die.”
“It’s not up to you to decide whether you can live with just words. It depends on whether you have the ability to survive what comes next.” As he remarked this, the middle-aged man took out his hand and turned it over. A delicate wooden box suddenly appeared on his hand that had an obvious aura of a living thing inside of it.
Without hesitation, the man opened the box directly and handed it to Yang Kai, “Swallow it!”
Yang Kai looked at him suspiciously, accepted the box and looked down. Chills ran up his spine as he saw a black centipede with the length of a thumb lying inside quietly. Although he had no clue what it was, anyone could see that it was not a good thing, and he could not imagine what would happen to him if he swallowed it.
At this moment, Yang Kai already knew how Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng died. It was clear that they were tortured to death from swallowing the centipede.
Yang Kai gulped his saliva with difficulty, and looked up at the man, “Senior, what do you mean?”
The man explained, “Swallow it. If you survive, your life will be controlled by this King. This King will need you to do something at that time. But if you die, no more words are needed.”
“Senior, is this just to control me?” Yang Kai raised his eyebrows.
“Good.”
“Why all the hassle? Senior just needs to implant his Soul Imprint in my Knowledge Sea and it naturally will have the same effect.”
The man sneered, “It would work if you hadn’t condensed your Dao Seal, but since you have one Dao Seal, as long as your Dao Seal is not destroyed, you can naturally find a way to escape this King’s control.”
Yang Kai was stunned. This was the first time he heard this. Back in the Star Boundary, it was much easier to control a person. As long as he was strong enough and implanted a Soul Imprint in their Knowledge Sea, he could naturally control them. How could this proven method not work in the Outer Universe?
When Yang Kai thought about it carefully though, he suddenly realized that during the process of condensing his Dao Seal, all his Qi and Spiritual Energy had been amalgamated into his Dao Seal. In other words, for people like him, their Dao Seal was their foundation. If one wanted to completely control such a person, it must be done through their Dao Seal as it was not safe to do so through their Soul alone.
However, looking at the fate of Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng, Yang Kai was truly frightened. Who knew if he would go to Hell to reunite with his two Senior Brothers after swallowing the centipede? However, even the two Open Heaven Realm Masters could not resist it, so how could he?
Yang Kai wanted to say something to stall for time, but the middle-aged man gave him no chance at all. He grabbed his jaw, forced his mouth open, picked up the centipede with his other hand, and stuffed it directly into Yang Kai’s mouth. With a slight lift of his hand, the centipede was forced down Yang Kai’s throat with a gulp, and Yang Kai did not even have a chance to resist. Only then did he realize how huge the gap was between them.
A scorching feeling slid down Yang Kai’s throat into his stomach. Stumbling a few steps backwards, Yang Kai reached out his hand to pound his chest and purge the centipede from his throat, but he failed to do so. He could feel that the centipede, which was motionless in the box, became active after entering his body. It turned into a bundle of pure energy that crashed chaotically everywhere inside him. An unspeakable pain immediately overwhelmed Yang Kai, causing him to scream uncontrollably as his eyes widened like copper bells.
The man backed away and watched coldly from the side, not a single drop of emotion on his face. He did not mean to help at all, as if he was leaving Yang Kai’s fate to his own hand.
Inside the cave, Yang Kai screamed in pain endlessly. He had never experienced such unbearable torture in his life as his body kept interchanging between hot and cold. He would feel like he was on fire one moment, only to have his body temperature suddenly plummet in the next, releasing cold air while he shivered violently.
During the tormenting fluctuation between hot and cold, Yang Kai’s vitality weakened at a visible rate.
The man showed a hint of gloom in his eyes. Although he had long expected this outcome, he still felt disappointed to see Yang Kai’s poor performance. However, it was understandable; after all, the previous two First-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivators did not make it and were tortured to death. How could a little brat who had just condensed his Dao Seal do any better?
However, if he could not find a suitable pawn, he could not proceed to the next part of his plan. He had no idea when he could find another Seven Wonders Land disciple again.
After half a stick worth of incense, Yang Kai started suffocating. Blood flowed out of his seven orifices, exactly like the dead Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng, and his vitality was so weak that his Soul could be extinguished at any time.
The man sighed and turned around to walk out of the cave. He looked into the distance, the flames of vengeance burning in his eyes.
After a long while, the man walked back into the cave again and went straight to Yang Kai. He looked down and watched Yang Kai curled up and enclosed in a thick layer of ice, even his brow and hair had turned snow-white.
After examining him, the man could not help revealing a look of surprise, because he found that the young man who was frozen in front of him was not dead yet. Although his vitality was barely there, he was still holding on, which truly shocked him. In theory, after such a long time, it was impossible for this young man to still be alive even if he had ten lives, but it turned out that he really had not died yet.
Feeling strange about it, the man checked carefully, and soon, his eyes were attracted by the blood flowing out of Yang Kai’s seven orifices. The blood was golden and the man clearly felt a surging vitality in it.
He scraped up a drop of the golden blood with his finger, and put it under his nose to sniff it slightly before his expression suddenly changed, “Dragon Blood!”
When he turned to Yang Kai again, the way the man looked at him had suddenly changed. He did not expect that there was a Dragon among the Seven Wonders Land disciples, or that he would be so lucky to catch him.
However, in this way, it could explain why the boy could survive despite his low cultivation and insufficient strength. It was not surprising that the vitality of those with a Dragon Vein has always been strong. They could persist through major injuries for much longer.
The man struggled. Several times, the man wanted to kill Yang Kai to avoid trouble in the future, but he could not do it when he recalled his purpose. It was not easy to capture Seven Wonders Land disciples. For some special reason, he did not dare to get too close to Seven Wonders Land, and had been hiding in this Universe World for so many years. After all those years of waiting, he finally got to capture Ma Liu and the others, but the two Open Heaven disciples were not competent enough and died under the poison of the Soaring Black Centipede’s influence. However, this little brat in front of him may become a useful pawn.
Of course, it would be unfortunate if he could not withstand the torment until the end.
After debating back and forth in his mind for some time, the man made up his mind and continued to observe the situation.
Time passed slowly as Yang Kai laid on the ground in a coma, his near-death condition not recovering while his weak vitality never died out, allowing him to survive under the severe torture.
The man had been quietly paying attention, but when Yang Kai survived for three days, he could not help feeling shocked again. And when he sensed that Yang Kai was still alive five days later, he was pleasantly surprised.
As he recalled, the previous two First-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivators only lasted two and a half days at most.
Seven days later, Yang Kai’s weak vitality suddenly began to recover, and all kinds of abnormal reactions after swallowing the Soaring Black Centipede began to subside.
Slowly, his vitality became more and more vigorous, as if a spark had ignited an entire prairie. At one moment, Yang Kai suddenly opened his eyes with lingering fear on his face, gasping for breath.
With his current strength, even though he was in a coma for seven days, Yang Kai still had a trace of mental clarity. He might not know the situation during his coma, but he was aware of everything when he woke up.
He secretly felt lucky to have barely survived this time.
He had no idea what the strange centipede was that he had swallowed. Its violent toxicity rapidly consumed his own vitality. If his vitality was not strong enough, he would definitely have succumbed to death. One of the reasons that he was able to survive was because of the Dragon Vein in his body, which made his vitality much stronger than that of ordinary cultivators. The reason was the work of the Wood Element.
Yang Kai condensed his Wood Element from the essence of the Immortal Tree, and although he lost the ability to resurrect as a result, it greatly enriched his vitality. That was why he was able to sustain the last bit of vitality and stayed alive.
At this moment, Yang Kai clearly felt a centipede-like seal on his Dao Seal. The seal was extremely strange, looking like a living creature wrapped around his Dao Seal. It did not really hinder him in any way, but Yang Kai believed that as long as the man did something, he could destroy his Dao Seal, sending him to the next world.
He laughed wryly in his heart. Now that his life was really controlled by the man, he had no way to resist him but could only obey his orders.
“Good! Very good!” The man revealed a look of pleasant surprise when he saw Yang Kai open his eyes. He reached out his hand to help Yang Kai up, and patted him on the shoulder gently as he grinned, “Little brat, you really didn’t disappoint this King.”
It sounded like he had high expectations from Yang Kai before.
Although Yang Kai was sober, he was too weak to answer because he had been tortured for so long. Furthermore, knowing that his life was not his own to control anymore in the future, Yang Kai was not in the mood to talk, so he simply nodded.
The middle-aged man did not mind it, and simply laughed, “Little brat, serve this King with all your heart, and after this King has obtained his revenge, he will certainly set you free. By that time, if you’re willing to, you can follow this King and have the whole world at your command. Isn’t it better than being a Seven Wonders Land disciple?”
Yang Kai rolled his eyes in his heart. Although he did not know what resentment this guy had with Seven Wonders Land, if he wanted to use him for revenge, Yang Kai definitely would be put in danger, and be involved in the calamity. What good would come of that? Nevertheless, he dared not to reveal his thoughts and simply cupped his fists, “This Junior doesn’t have such lofty dreams. I just hope Senior will keep his word, fulfil his promise, and set me free in the future.”
The man snorted coldly, “Of course this King will keep his word. What? Are you reluctant to let go of your status as a disciple of Seven Wonders Land?”
Yang Kai coughed a few times and answered weakly, “Of course not, Senior. This Junior only entered Seven Wonders Land recently, so I don’t really care about my disciple status.”
The man looked at Yang Kai suspiciously, but the latter did not seem to be lying; therefore, he simply nodded, “I see. It seems that Seven Wonders Land didn’t treat you as one of their own either.”
Yang Kai frowned, “Senior, what do you mean?”
The man sneered, “If they treated you as one of their own, why would they harm you!?”
“Harm me?” Yang Kai was puzzled, “If you have something to say, say it clearly. This Junior doesn’t understand what you’re talking about.”
The man replied, “Who was the guy you killed before?”
Yang Kai did not know why this middle-aged man brought up Fang Tai again, but he just answered honestly, “A Worker in Seven Wonders Land, named Fang Tai. He escaped from Seven Wonders Land and this Junior brat was ordered to hunt him down.”
“What about these two?” The man pointed his finger at the bodies of Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng.
“These two Senior Brothers were ordered to protect me.”
The man chuckled strangely, “Protect you? I don’t think so. I’m afraid they’re here to monitor you.”
“Is that a problem?” Yang Kai frowned. Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng were Open Heaven Realm Masters after all. The mission was just to chase down Fang Tai, and it was excessive of Du Ru Feng to have them serve as Yang Kai’s protectors. Yang Kai was aware that they were keeping a lookout over him.
The man chuckled, “Didn’t you feel something wrong when you killed that Fang Tai?”
“Wrong?” Yang Kai was getting more and more confused, and became impatient, “What does Senior want to say? Please be direct.”
“Let me show you something first.” As he spoke, the man formed a seal before his thumb slowly pressed down between Yang Kai’s eyebrows. Yang Kai instinctively wanted to evade it, but when he remembered that his life was in the hands of another, he stopped resisting as it was futile regardless.
The moment the man’s thumb was pressed on Yang Kai’s forehead, an invisible force overwhelmed him. Yang Kai’s body wobbled for a moment as if his Soul had left his body, and his vision was suddenly extended backwards.
It was a notably strange feeling. He was still standing in the same place, but his perspective was now all wrong, and when he looked up, Yang Kai’s face changed, because he could see a layer of faint Black Qi fluttering on the surface of his body like a mist.
Yang Kai was stunned, he had never noticed it before. It was obviously the work of the man’s Secret Technique that allowed him to see some hidden things.
The man grinned meaningfully and slowly retracted his big hand, allowing Yang Kai to immediately return to his normal state. Yang Kai hurriedly asked, “What was that?”
He looked at his raised hands, but he could not see anything anymore. He scanned himself with Divine Sense and found nothing abnormal. It was as if the black fog did not exist at all, but what he saw earlier was definitely not an illusion.
“That Fang Tai probably had some kind of tracker on him.” The man snorted softly, “A Master implanted a seal on him, one that activated if anyone killed him, leaving behind a distinctive mark. This mark is very well hidden, and unless one’s strength exceeds that of the one who made it, it would be impossible to identify. The reason why this King knew of it is because he saw you killing that Fang Tai.”
“A seal…” Yang Kai was stunned.
The man sneered, “In this way, if that Master ever met you in the future, he would know that you killed his Junior, and he would not spare you easily.”
After a pause, he continued, “With Seven Wonders Land’s capabilities, why would they need to put in so much effort to kill a traitor? Why do you think they sent you to do the dirty job? Think about it.”
Yang Kai’s expression changed as many thoughts flashed through his mind and he quickly grasped the crux of the matter, “Seven Wonders Land has long known that Fang Tai had such a seal implanted on him?”
The grin on the man’s face did not fade away, “This King can’t say for certain, but that is the most likely answer. Seven Wonders Land probably did not want to provoke that Master, so they made you a scapegoat by sending you to kill that boy. Now, they’ll surely find a way to eliminate you, and they will be able to avoid all calamities.”
Yang Kai was taken aback, murmuring, “No wonder…”
Yang Kai had found the whole situation suspicious from the start. Seven Wonders Land was overlaid with powerful Grand Arrays, so how could a trivial Worker like Fang Tai escape? He thought it was Du Ru Feng’s way to create a chance for him to contribute a merit by deliberately letting Fang Tai go, but now it seemed like he was released on purpose not for Yang Kai to make a contribution, but to not let Fang Tai die in Seven Wonders Land, so as not to be traced in the future.
No wonder he was promoted to be a Seven Wonders Land disciple so easily. It turned out that he was not appreciated by Du Ru Feng at all and was always intended to be a scapegoat.
Yang Kai did not doubt the words of the man in front of him as this man already had total control of his life or death. There was no need to lie to Yang Kai for something like this, and what Yang Kai saw with his own eyes was absolutely not wrong.
When he finally understood the big picture, Yang Kai gritted his teeth silently, [Good, Du Ru Feng. I helped you to harvest the Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame, but in the end, you chose to frame me like this? All the previous favours and promotions were just a show!]
Although he had no sense of belonging in Seven Wonders Land and held no real gratitude towards Du Ru Feng, Yang Kai was still a little annoyed at being used by others.
He suddenly recalled that when they were still in Venerable Protector Duan Hai’s Small Universe, Fang Tai had once taken out a Faith Token and said that it was given to him by a Senior from Black River World. The seal on Fang Tai should have been implanted by that same Black River World Senior.
Although it was a vast universe, and there may not be a chance to ever meet the Senior expert of Black River World, one should always take precautions. There could be an unfortunate day when Yang Kai would bump into that Master. If that really happened, he wouldn’t even know why and how he was killed. Yang Kai could not help asking, “Senior, how can I dispel this mark?”
The man smiled, “Unless one’s strength exceeds that of the one who put down the seal, there is no way to disperse it.”
“Can Senior do it?”
“Regardless of whether this King is capable of doing it or not, even if I am, why would this King help you?”
There was nothing wrong with what he said. The two of them had no relationship whatsoever. As unpleasant as it sounded, he was the man’s slave now, so why would he bother to help Yang Kai to dispel that mark?
The man spoke again, “But don’t worry, as long as you can help this King with his great revenge, then this King will satisfy you with whatever you want.”
Yang Kai gritted his teeth, “Since they started this, I will respond in kind. Feel free to give me any orders, Senior.”
“Very good!” The man laughed loudly. Although Yang Kai would definitely not dare to resist since he was subdued by the Soaring Black Centipede, it was still pleasing to know that Yang Kai was willing to help; otherwise, why would he tell Yang Kai these things?
“By the way, I still don’t know Senior’s honoured name!” Yang Kai cupped his fists.
“This King is surnamed Xu!” The man replied lightly.
“Then what is the grudge between Old Xu and Seven Wonders Land?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
Old Xu snorted coldly, “Don’t ask what you don’t need to know, just do your job properly.”
“Then what does Old Xu want me to do? This Junior’s cultivation is low, and I’m afraid that I am not capable of helping Old Xu. If I were to mess up Old Xu’s important affairs, this Junior would deserve to die a thousand times.”
Old Xu grinned again, “You can help me by just wearing this Seven Coloured Robe. Since you just received this King’s Secret Technique, cultivate and rest for two days first; this King will come back and fill you in with the details after that.”
Yang Kai could not protest, and although he was very curious, he could not ask anymore, so he cupped his fists and made another request, “Old Xu, Junior would like to make a request.”
“Speak!”
Yang Kai pointed to the side, “I want to bury their bodies.”
Old Xu looked at him coldly, “You are very affectionate and righteous.”
Yang Kai shook his head, explaining, “These two were only ordered to supervise me. I don’t think they knew anything about the situation, and they have also taken good care of me along the way. Now that they are dead, they should at least be buried properly.”
“Do as you please.” Old Xu did not seem to be fazed by Yang Kai’s gesture and left the cave after responding with a flick of his sleeves, soon disappearing, completely unworried about Yang Kai trying to escape.
Yang Kai sighed, feeling downcast. It seemed like nothing had gone well since he came to the Outer Universe. First, he was brought into Seven Wonders Land to be a Worker and was soon involved in the dramas of others; now Old Xu had taken control of his life, turning Yang Kai into his pawn. Although he did not know how Old Xu wanted to take revenge, Yang Kai could tell he was at least a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Master, and what good could he get if he got himself involved in such a Master’s scheme?
If Yang Kai did not come up with a solution, he might really end up dying soon.
The only fortunate thing now was Yang Kai still held some value to Old Xu, so he would not need to worry about his safety for the time being, though Seven Wonders Land would be difficult to deal with.
Since Old Xu wanted to use him, Yang Kai had to return to Seven Wonders Land by himself. How was he going to explain the death of Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng? It did not seem sensible that the two First-Order Open Heaven Masters died, but he was still alive.
Yang Kai’s head began to ache, so he stopped thinking about it and instead walked over to the bodies of Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng before sighing, “You two have each other, and probably won’t feel lonely on the road to the Yellow Springs. Hopefully, you will bless this Junior Brother to turn misfortune into fortune.”
Yang Kai did not have a bad impression of these two Senior Brothers. As he told Old Xu before, Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng must have been clueless about the arrangements of Seven Wonders Land. They were just ordered to supervise him during the mission and to make sure Fang Tai died at Yang Kai’s hand.
The two of them had treated him well during the entire journey. Now that they were dead at the hands of Old Xu, Yang Kai had no ability to avenge them, so the only thing he could do was to give them a proper burial.
He took the bodies out of the cave, searched for a nice location that was close to the mountains and water, dug two large pits, and buried them.
Of course, Yang Kai had taken both of their Space Rings.
Not only theirs but also Fang Tai’s.
The cave was too stuffy, so Yang Kai flew directly to a nearby mountain, sat cross-legged on a boulder, and examined the Space Rings.
After some inspection, he found that Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng were dirt poor. Apart from some artifacts, there were only a few hundred Open Heaven Pills in each of their Space Rings.
Hundreds of Open Heaven Pills were a huge number for a Worker, but not for an Open Heaven Realm Master. The fact that these two were First-Order Open Heaven Masters, but only had such minimal savings, proved that they were not doing well in Seven Wonders Land.
It made sense though. After they reached the Open Heaven Realm, they surely would find ways to improve their Order, and to do so, they would need to consume large quantities of Open Heaven Pills over a long period of time. They probably consumed most of the Open Heaven Pills they owned, and it was good enough that they even had a few hundred left.
The grade of their artifacts were also mediocre. Uninterested, Yang Kai took the Open Heaven Pills, and threw away everything else, including the Space Rings, so as not to be found out later.
There was nothing much in Fang Tai’s Space Ring. Other than some special local products brought out from his Universe World, there were only about ten Open Heaven Pills, which was completely insignificant to Yang Kai.
The only thing he cared about was a Jade Token. It was the size of a palm, crystal clear, and had no other colour. Something like a small fish swam around inside like a living creature.
This was what Fang Tai showed to Duan Hai before. It was a Faith Token given to him by his Senior from Black River World. Yang Kai had no idea what the function of this Faith Token was. He initially wanted to throw it away, but after thinking about it for a while, he decided to keep it with him, but he did not dare to put it into his Space Ring, so he just threw it into the Sealed World Bead.
With the Sealed World Bead being its own independent world, Yang Kai believed that the Great Expert of Black River World would not be able to trace the Faith Token.
He turned to look around. The mountains and plains were all quiet so he swept his Divine Sense around him and found no trace of Old Xu, wondering where he went. However, he did not think about escaping. Since Old Xu dared to leave him here, he obviously was not afraid of him running away.
Yang Kai sat cross-legged and began examining himself. He soon saw the centipede seal wrapping around his Dao Seal. The seal was like a living creature. Yang Kai tried to surge his power, and felt no obstruction. He tried to exert a little more force on the centipede seal, but beyond his expectation, the centipede seal immediately fastened itself onto his Dao Seal, and Yang Kai felt that he was going to be crushed to pieces in an instant. He was drenched in sweat from the terror, and immediately stopped his action.
However, in this way, he confirmed that he could not remove the centipede seal with his current strength. Given that Old Xu should be at least a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he definitely would not use a simple thing to subdue him that could be dispelled easily. Yang Kai could only curse him secretly as he began healing himself.
Yang Kai consumed a lot of strength when the centipede entered his body, and although he was no longer in life-threatening danger, he was still extremely feeble.
Three days later, Yang Kai, who was meditating, suddenly noticed something different. When he opened his eyes, he saw Old Xu standing in front of him, looking at him quietly.
Yang Kai hurriedly got up, “Old Xu!”
Old Xu nodded and remarked faintly, “Seems you’re well-behaved. With your current strength, if you had forcefully tried to break the shackles of Soaring Black Centipede, I’m afraid you would’ve died already.”
Cold sweat beaded on Yang Kai’s forehead; he was a bit embarrassed to admit that he had tried, but only stopped because he was too powerless to overcome it. As such, he changed the topic, “Old Xu, what can this Junior do for you?”
After being subdued that day, Yang Kai did not have the chance to ask Old Xu about what kind of plans he had for him before the latter disappeared. All Yang Kai knew was that Old Xu had a feud with Seven Wonders Land and must be looking for revenge.
“This King wants you to take him into Seven Wonders Land.”
Yang Kai smiled wryly, “Old Xu, even this Junior doesn’t know how to go back now. How can I take you into Seven Wonders Land?” It was not really that Seven Wonders Land could not be found, for Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng had a type of beacon that pointed towards Seven Wonders Land.
Furthermore, even if Yang Kai did not know the direction, Old Xu must know the location of Seven Wonders Land. But what worried Yang Kai was how he should explain the death of Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng when he returned alone?
As if he knew what Yang Kai was thinking, Old Xu assured faintly, “Don’t worry. After you go back, just say that you met a Wandering Space Beast, and those two were accidentally eaten.”
Yang Kai was speechless, wondering how it was possible for him to pull off such a simple excuse. He would definitely suffer if Seven Wonders Land found out he was lying, and it was obvious that Old Xu did not care about his safety.
“But Old Xu, how can this Junior bring you into Seven Wonders Land?” Yang Kai questioned unwillingly, “Seven Wonders Land is surrounded by a powerful Grand Array. It shouldn’t be a problem for this Junior to go back alone, but if I appear with another person, I’m afraid I won’t be able to pass inspection and we will be exposed.”
Old Xu casually threw something at Yang Kai. Yang Kai caught it, looked down, and found that it was the cloth sack that captured him, Ma Liu, and Jiang Sheng previously.
“This Six Fated Paths Bag is quite the mysterious artifact, one this King only obtained by luck. If you bring this back with this King hiding inside of it, we can pass through the Grand Arrays of Seven Wonders Land safely.”
Yang Kai gulped. He had experienced the power of the Six Fated Paths Bag before. It was certainly not an ordinary artifact, because even the two First-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng, had no way to get out of it. But now, Old Xu actually passed the Six Fated Paths Bag to him, and wanted to be put into the bag.
Yang Kai’s heart could not help beating rapidly.
Old Xu sneered, “Since this King dares to deliver you this artifact, I am certainly not afraid of you using it against me. If you don’t believe me, you can try.”
Yang Kai hurriedly explained, “I dare not. Old Xu misunderstands me. I just felt that the power of this artifact is incredible and was a little excited when I first came into contact with it. This Junior would not dare have an ill intent towards Old Xu.”
“You better.” Old Xu said indifferently, “I’ll pass you a Soul Secret Technique later. You just need to circulate it slightly and you will be able to control this bag in cooperation with this King.”
“Yes!” Yang Kai replied respectfully, “With the help of this artifact, there must be no problem entering Seven Wonders Land. But Old Xu, what about after getting into Seven Wonders Land? What should this Junior do?”
“What can you do with your current strength?” Old Xu sneered at him disdainfully, “As long as you take this King into Seven Wonders Land, your task is complete. You don’t need to do anything else. This King will deal with it!”
Yang Kai was relieved, but at the same time, secretly terrified. Listening to Old Xu’s words, it seemed that as long as he could get into Seven Wonders Land, he had the confidence to obtain his revenge. There were a lot of Open Heaven Realm Masters in Seven Wonders Land. Apart from the Seven Wonders Land Heavenly Monarch who was a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, the seven Venerable Protectors were all Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Besides them, there must be other Third-Order or Second-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. How could Old Xu still have such great confidence in facing countless powerful enemies alone? Yang Kai could not help wondering what Order of Open Heaven Realm Old Xu was. Could he be a Sixth-Order? Or possibly even higher…?
Only people with such strength would not put the entire Seven Wonders Land in their eyes. It seemed that Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng were wrong about their previous speculation regarding Old Xu’s strength. He was definitely an Open Heaven Realm Master that was higher than Fourth-Order.
After worrying for so long, it turned out that Old Xu just wanted Yang Kai to smuggle him into Seven Wonders Land. Yang Kai was speechless, but after thinking about it carefully, this matter really required a trustworthy person to work with; otherwise, a snitch could easily ruin Old Xu’s great plan in Seven Wonders Land. Therefore, the Soaring Black Centipede was obviously a part of the plan to prevent this.
At this point, Yang Kai did not have the ability to resist, for his life was totally in Old Xu’s hands. He had no choice but to agree with him with a nod.
After that, Old Xu really passed a Soul Secret Technique to him, and personally assisted him in refining the Six Fated Paths Bag. It took only half a day for Yang Kai to master opening and closing this artifact.
However, that was all he could do. He could not use the Six Fated Paths Bag against an enemy at all.
“All right, let’s go.” Old Xu was obviously well prepared, and he only needed a carrier. After that, without waiting for Yang Kai’s reaction, he grabbed him and soared into the sky. In mid-air, he drew the wooden sword he was carrying and had it transform into a massive sword light before charging swiftly in a certain direction.
There were no references around Yang Kai, so he could not tell how fast their speed was; however, Yang Kai felt that Old Xu was much faster than Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng.
After travelling for three days, the sword light suddenly stopped and Old Xu instructed, “Little brat, you have to travel the rest of the way yourself. With your strength, you probably need another three days to return to Seven Wonders Land. When you enter Seven Wonders Land, you can find a remote place to release this King.” After ordering, he continued faintly, “Don’t try to play any tricks, otherwise, you will suffer the consequences.”
“Don’t worry, Old Xu. I’ll take you into Seven Wonders Land safely and secretly.”
Yang Kai formed a seal with his hands and opened the Six Fated Paths Bag, which Old Xu dove into himself. After that, Yang Kai closed the mouth of the bag, stuffed it into his pocket, and continued to move forward.
Just as Old Xu remarked, Yang Kai saw Seven Wonders Land in the distance after three days. Without delay, he flew straight ahead. During the journey, Yang Kai had already made himself look miserable. His clothes were messy, and he also ruthlessly palmed himself several times until he spurted blood and weakened his aura.
After another half day, he finally reached the border of Seven Wonders Land. It was Yang Kai’s first time returning to Seven Wonders Land from the outside, so he had no idea how to get in. He shouted loudly, but there was no response from the inside, probably because they could not hear him. He stood in place and scratched his head for a long time before he came up with an idea. He took out his disciple token from his Space Ring, sent his energy into it, and then thrust it directly into the fog in front of him.
It turned out that this was the right method as, soon after the token disappeared, the fog in front of him split to both sides, revealing a path forward. Yang Kai flashed in and soon, he came to the huge gate. In front of the gate, two disciples donned in Seven Coloured Robes stood guard on either side, each holding swords, looking majestic.
Seeing Yang Kai, they revealed a suspicious look, “Junior Brother, which Spirit Land disciple are you? Why haven’t I seen you before?”
Yang Kai cupped his fists, “Reporting to Senior Brother, I am from Fire Spirit Land and was just promoted from a Worker to a Common Disciple, so it’s natural for two Senior Brothers to not have seen me before.”
The two men exchanged looks, and one of them stated, “Wait a moment.”
As he spoke, he took out a round bead, which seemed to be a communication artifact.
A moment later, the man looked up at Yang Kai, and nodded gently, “Are you Junior Brother Yang Kai?”
“Yes!”
Only then did the man step aside, and return Yang Kai his disciple token, “Go in, Senior Brother Du asked you to see him immediately.”
“Many thanks, Senior Brother!” Yang Kai took the token and passed through the gate. His vision blurred for a moment before he appeared in Seven Wonders Land. He lightly sensed around himself and found that the Six Fated Paths Bag was still in his pocket. Seeing how nothing happened, he finally felt relieved.
However, it was not the proper moment to release Old Xu, so Yang Kai could only delay the matter. He identified the direction and moved towards Fire Spirit Land, preparing himself to see Du Ru Feng first.
Yang Kai clenched his teeth with hatred while thinking about this. Although he knew that Duan Hai must be the one who made the call to use him as a scapegoat, he was still disgusted by all the fake kindnesses and favour that Du Ru Feng had shown to him.
Yang Kai flew straight to the hall that he had gone to when he first arrived in Fire Spirit Land as he guessed that Du Ru Feng should be living there.
In fact, Du Ru Feng really lived there. From a distance, Yang Kai saw a familiar figure donned in white standing in front of the hall, waiting quietly. Who else could it be if it was not Du Ru Feng?
After landing, Yang Kai cupped his fists, “Senior Brother, fortunately, I did not fail my mission. I have the traitor’s head here with me!” While talking, he took out Fang Tai’s head.
Du Ru Feng took a glance and confirmed that it was Fang Tai’s head. He tilted his head slightly, and a woman dressed as a maid behind him immediately went forward to collect the head. Du Ru Feng then stretched out his hand to hold Yang Kai’s shoulder and complimented, “Well done, Junior Brother.”
Curious, however, Du Ru Feng looked behind him and asked, “Why are you alone? Where are Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng? Didn’t they go out with you? Why are they not here?”
Yang Kai immediately put on a depressed face and replied, “Senior Brother, you have no idea. Everything was going so well, but suddenly, on the way back, we met a strange beast, and two Senior Brothers… Two Senior Brothers tragically died. Junior Brothers was unable to avenge them, and almost could not make it back. It took a lot of effort for me just to find the way home.”
“A strange beast? What kind of beast was it?” Du Ru Feng frowned.
Yang Kai thought carefully and proceeded, “I’ve never seen it before, but I heard two Senior Brothers say it was a Wandering Space Beast!”
“What did it look like?” Du Ru Feng questioned again.
Yang Kai quickly described it. Fortunately, he thought of this earlier and inquired about it to Old Xu. Otherwise, he would not be able to answer this question, because he just came to the Outer Universe and did not have a chance to see a Wandering Space Beast yet.
After listening to Yang Kai’s description, the doubt in Du Ru Feng’s eyes gradually disappeared. Since Yang Kai was able to describe the beast so vividly, Du Ru Feng believed that he must have seen it with his own eyes, and patted him on his shoulder, “Wandering Space Beasts are strong, and can appear anywhere. It is really dangerous to bump into them in the Outer Universe. Junior Brother must be extremely lucky to escape from it.”
“But Senior Brother Ma and Senior Brother Jiang…” Yang Kai’s eyes turned red.
Du Ru Feng sighed, “That is their fate. Junior Brother, don’t be sad. You must be tired, go back and have a rest first.”
“Yes!” Yang Kai nodded. After getting into Old Xu’s mess, he was no longer interested in asking about a promotion to Orchard Manager. Now that he had brought Old Xu into Seven Wonders Land, who knew how long he could be a Manager here? Perhaps, Old Xu was going to take revenge in just a few days. Although Yang Kai was clueless about Old Xu’s strength and whether he could succeed, there was no way he could stay in Seven Wonders Land for long regardless of the result. It was better for him to find a way to get out of this place as soon as possible.
Du Ru Feng mentioned it himself despite Yang Kai’s silence, “It will be a new month in a few days. I’ll go to the orchard at that time and announce your promotion to Fire Spirit Land.”
“Many thanks, Senior Brother!” Yang Kai hurriedly put on a joyful look, “This Junior Brother will take his leave now.”
Du Ru Feng nodded.
Yang Kai turned around and left, but after just a few steps, Du Ru Feng laughed from behind, “Junior Brother, where are you going?”
[Does he want to kill me now?] Yang Kai looked back and carefully concealed the vigilance in his eyes, “Didn’t Senior Brother ask me to go back and rest for a few days?”
“Now that you are wearing a Seven Coloured Robe, you are considered a Seven Wonders Land disciple. You should go to the Personnel Hall to settle your affairs and register first.
Yang Kai patted his head, “I forgot.”
Du Ru Feng slanted his head to the side, “Xiao He, go with Junior Brother.”
“Yes!” The previous maid answered.
Under the guidance of the woman named Xiao He, Yang Kai reached the Personnel Hall. He went in to register and received several sets of new clothes with a cheerful face.
Xiao He then stated, “Sir Yang is truly lucky. Even after serving Sir Du for so many years, it is Xiao He’s first time seeing a Worker be promoted to a Common Disciple in only half a year.”
Yang Kai cupped his fists towards the direction of the previous hall before replying, “It is all thanks to Senior Brother Du.” He continued after a pause, “By the way, Sister Xiao He, where should I live now?”
Xiao He chuckled, “You can live wherever Manager Zhou used to live.”
“So it’s still the Worker’s Room!” Yang Kai snapped his fingers; however, Zhou Zheng’s residence must be different from that of an ordinary Worker’s hut. The place should be bigger and have a better environment, but since he had not been there yet, Yang Kai was not sure for the time being.
“Then Sir, please go back and have a rest. I must return to report on my task.” Xiao He bowed elegantly. Although she served Du Ru Feng, she was not a Seven Wonders Land disciple. Yang Kai guessed that she had been a Worker before, and Du Ru Feng kept her with him because of her beauty.
“Thank you, Sister Xiao.” As Yang Kai spoke, he slipped a few Open Heaven Pills to her.
Xiao He took the pills without refusing. She glanced at him with a smile, turned around, and soared into the sky, leaving Yang Kai to make his way to the Worker’s Room alone.
He arrived at the Worker’s Room shortly but the whole village was empty. All the Workers had gone to the orchard, so there was no one there.
Yang Kai did not return to his original residence, for there was not much for him to pack up there anyway, and instead went straight to the largest building.
This was where Zhou Zheng used to live, but it was his now. After checking both inside and outside of the building to make sure that there was no one around, Yang Kai secretly opened all the barriers, hid in a secret room, and released Old Xu.
“Not bad, little brat,” Old Xu was not surprised by the environment when he appeared. It seemed that even if he was held in the Six Fated Paths Bag, he was aware of Yang Kai’s recent activities. While speaking, he claimed the Six Fated Paths Bag back.
Yang Kai cupped his fists, “Old Xu, I have completed your orders. There’s nothing I can do for you now, so I wish Old Xu good fortune and swift success.”
Old Xu chuckled, “Don’t worry. I’ll keep my promise that you will not be involved in the rest of the matter. Just stay alive.”
Yang Kai turned solemn, “This Junior is truly worried; after all, Old Xu is all alone. Although this Junior hasn’t been here for very long, I do know that there are a lot of Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters in Seven Wonders Land. How sure is Old Xu that he will succeed in taking revenge this time?”
“Hmph!” Old Xu glanced sideways at him, “Since this King dares to come, he is naturally well prepared.”
“Then I’m relieved.”
Old Xu quickly departed. Yang Kai sent him off and before he could close the door, he saw the Ruler of the Dawn Great General strutting proudly from the other end of the village, the golden light emitted by him as dazzling as ever.
Yang Kai was unsure if it was because the Great General could sense his aura, but it walked straight to him and eyed him appraisingly.
Yang Kai felt a little anxious, wondering if Great General had seen anything just now.
Great General obviously had the ability to understand Human speech, but because he was proud and aloof, he did not bother to communicate with others. After all, the Great General was still the Venerable’s pet so Yang Kai would be in great trouble if Great General reported to the Venerable.
But on second thought, since Great General already appeared in front of Yang Kai, he probably would not report him even if it saw something. Sometimes, Yang Kai had no idea whether this stupid chicken was truly stupid or not.
He let the Great General into the house and then ignored him as he paced back and forth inside with his hands folded behind his back, trying to come up with a way out of this mess for the future. Since Old Xu came to take revenge, Seven Wonders Land would definitely undergo a great upheaval. As such, it was the best time now for him to leave this place of trouble so as to avoid being involved.
However, Yang Kai did not have an excuse to leave. Without Du Ru Feng’s instructions or other legitimate reasons, he could not go out at all, and he really could not come up with anything.
By counting the days, Yang Kai estimated that there was still some time before the end of this month. This outdoor trip truly had delayed him a lot.
Yang Kai felt suffocated being alone in the house, so he decided to get some fresh air outside and flew towards the orchard. Without saying a word, Great General followed him and perched on his head as usual.
After entering the orchard, he went to meet Old Fang.
Old Fang’s face paled when he saw him and hurriedly pulled Yang Kai into his hut, “Damn brat, are you courting death? Where did you get the clothes? How dare you simply wear them? Quickly take them off!”
As he spoke, he tried to rip off Yang Kai’s robes.
Yang Kai raised his hand to stop him, “Why should I take them off? I’m a disciple of Seven Wonders Land now. What’s the problem with wearing this?”
Old Fang’s eyes were as wide as an ox’s now, “Have you lost your mind?” It was not that he did not believe Yang Kai, but rather that it was too hard to accept. Even if Yang Kai had made great contributions, how was it possible for him to be promoted to Seven Wonders Land disciple when he was only here for a short time?
“I’m too lazy to explain to you!” Yang Kai sat down, looking disgruntled.
Old Fang looked at him for a long time, and started again, “Are you really a Seven Wonders Land disciple now?”
“Nonsense, if I weren’t promoted, why would I dare to wear this coming from the outside? I would have been killed on the spot by those Seven Wonders Land disciples before reaching here.”
It made sense to Old Fang when he thought about it. The robe was not something that could be taken lightly, and Yang Kai would not be stupid enough to risk his life by wearing it. Furthermore, Yang Kai would not be able to get this robe if Seven Wonders Land did not distribute it to him.
[Did he really become a Seven Wonders Land disciple?]
Old Fang’s eyes were suddenly shining with admiration, “You’re great, Little Brother…” After that, he slapped his mouth and cupped his fists, “Sir Yang is a young rising star. You’re truly impressive. You have the admiration of this Old Master.”
Yang Kai looked up at him and could not help rolling his eyes, “On top of that, I will take over the position of Orchard Manager.”
“Manager!?” Old Fang’s eyes almost popped out of its sockets, “Are you being serious?”
Yang Kai knocked on the table, Old Fang received his signal and quickly poured him some tea. Yang Kai took a sip of the tea and proceeded softly, “After a few days, Senior Brother Du will announce the news. I’m here just to give you a heads-up so that you’re prepared for it.”
Old Fang was overwhelmingly exhilarated, “Little Brother, you’ve had great success. You should take care of your Big Brother in the future.”
Yang Kai let out a long sigh, not knowing what to say because Old Xu was a matter of secrecy. Therefore, he just nodded, “Don’t worry, I’ll try my best to take care of you.”
Old Fang burst into tears of gratitude.
Yang Kai left Old Fang and went to meet Dié You. Like Old Fang, Dié You was flabbergasted and could not believe him. She kept trying to take off his clothes too, until Yang Kai had no choice but to flee, hoping that she would believe it after the announcement in a few days.
A few days later, the orchard closed down and all the Workers returned to the Worker’s Room. Dié You and Old Fang went straight to Yang Kai’s house, but they could not find him. After they contacted each other, they learned that Yang Kai was in the Manager’s Room where Zhou Zheng lived before.
They did not doubt him anymore. Since Yang Kai dared to live in the Manager’s Room, he definitely had the authority. Furthermore, someone had been spreading the news among the Workers that Yang Kai was taking up the position of Orchard Manager.
Both Old Fang and Dié You swore that they did not leak anything. As such, Yang Kai guessed that Du Ru Feng must be the person behind it, in order to get everyone ready for the announcement in a few days, so that it would not be too abrupt for them.
Yang Kai would go to the shopping district to collect worms from various Spirit Lands every month, feeling completely motivated. However, because of the matter of Old Xu now, he was not in a mood anymore. For the whole day, he was dreadfully anxious, fearing that he would be implicated when the battle started in Seven Wonders Land.
He started a promising business with the aid of Great General, but now it seemed that it was not meant to last long.
He was demotivated, so he asked Dié You and Old Fang to go to the shopping district by themselves. After all, Yang Kai did not have many Open Heaven Pills left after buying the Third-Order Stainless Golden Dew for Dié You, and he needed them to pay for it anyway.
Dié You and Old Fang could not understand why Yang Kai seemed depressed after being promoted to a Seven Wonders Land disciple and taking over the position of Orchard Manager, but it was inappropriate for them to ask in detail. Therefore, they left and went to the shopping district to negotiate with the agents of the six other Spirit Lands.
Not long after the two left, a Worker came to visit Yang Kai.
Yang Kai did not know his name and had never even met him before.
Seeing that Yang Kai was living in the Manager’s Room and wearing a Seven Coloured Robe, it was obvious that the news spread around was not just a groundless rumour.
Since the person in charge had changed, the Workers at the bottom of the pyramid naturally wanted to build a good relationship with Yang Kai.
Yang Kai saw Workers for the rest of the day. There were nearly a thousand Workers in the Worker’s Room, so even if only ten percent of them visited, it would be around a hundred people. In order to build a good relationship, gifting was the most common practice.
The Workers were all poor, and they could not afford valuable gifts. As such, Open Heaven Pills were the most suitable gift from them. Each of them gave Yang Kai about five to ten pills, so he obtained quite a large amount in the end.
After three days, Yang Kai had met countless Workers, and received more than 5,000 Open Heaven pills.
It was hard for Yang Kai to reject the gifts from the Workers, otherwise, it would seem impolite. During the daytime, Yang Kai met the Workers and received gifts from them, while at night he fed worms to Great General together with Dié You and Old Fang. His empty pockets were suddenly filled up again.
Three days later, before going to the orchard, Du Ru Feng visited in person and announced that Yang Kai had taken over the position of Orchard Manager. Not many people were surprised, but everyone was satisfied with it.
During the ceremony, Yang Kai naturally made an impassioned speech in front of Du Ru Feng and vowed to ensure that he would manage the orchard well. Du Ru Feng added a few words of encouragement and then dismissed the crowd.
After arriving at the orchard, Yang Kai went straight to the solitary mountain in the centre of the orchard. He came here with Du Ru Feng before to eavesdrop, so this place was not unfamiliar to him.
With the Orchard Manager Token in his hand, the Grand Array of the entire orchard was under his control. Since he was still new to being an Orchard Manager, he was not familiar with many things; therefore, he only managed to straighten things out and started to understand the tasks of a Manager after several busy days.
The management of the orchard could be relaxing, but it could also be tough. When there was nothing to do, Yang Kai could just patrol around, but during busy hours, he had to assist the Workers of each orchard in taking care of the fruit trees. There was a lot of busy work.
A few days later, Yang Kai used his authority as Orchard Manager to transfer Old Fang and Dié You to his side in the name of assisting him in managing the orchard, and their sites were subsequently given to the other people to take care of.
Dié You and Old Fang were notably uncomfortable about this decision; after all, even Zhou Zheng had never used his power so blatantly for his personal gain when he was in charge before. Therefore, they persuaded Yang Kai to keep a low profile to avoid stirring up discontent with Du Ru Feng.
Yang Kai was too lazy to care about this though. Since Du Ru Feng had ill intentions for him, he would not mind such minor things. On the contrary, Seven Wonders Land was still so quiet after Old Xu disappeared for many days, which made Yang Kai anxious. He preferred Old Xu to cause trouble as soon as he arrived; however, the calm before the storm truly stressed him.
No one knew when Old Xu would start making trouble, or what situation Seven Wonders Land would be in at that time.
Old Fang and Dié You had been treating Yang Kai well since he arrived here half a year ago, so although he could not tell them about the crisis of Seven Wonders Land, he could keep them close by. In case anything happened, it would be convenient for them to take care of each other.
Since Old Fang and Dié You could not persuade Yang Kai, they had no choice but to help him manage the orchard quietly. Because of this, Yang Kai had nothing to do anymore.
Yang Kai thought that Old Xu would act soon, but after three months, nothing happened in Seven Wonders Land, and Old Xu did not come to look for Yang Kai again. If it were not for the faint but persistent uneasiness in his heart, Yang Kai really would have thought that Old Xu had left Seven Wonders Land.
However, Seven Wonders Land was completely covered by a Grand Array, and Old Xu only managed to get in with Yang Kai’s help; therefore, it was impossible for him to leave so quietly.
On this day, Yang Kai was playing chess with Old Fang when suddenly, he felt something and took an object out of his pocket. He examined it quietly, then explained, “Du Ru Feng is summoning me. I’ll be right back.”
Old Fang nodded, “En, come back quickly.”
Yang Kai dropped his chess pieces, went out of the door, and soared into the sky.
After a while, he came to Du Ru Feng’s residence and entered the hall. He saw Du Ru Feng standing there looking at him with a smile.
Over the past three months, Du Ru Feng summoned him to come over from time to time to ask about the orchard, and Yang Kai reported everything to him truthfully. He had done a good job in managing the orchard these months, so he did not have to be afraid of anything.
Every time when he came, Du Ru Feng was alone.
But this time was different. There were three people in the hall today, one was Du Ru Feng and the other was a young man he had never seen. As soon as Yang Kai came in, this man swept his eyes over him like a greedy poisonous snake, which made Yang Kai feel extremely uncomfortable. His gaze was full of examination, and with a trace of interest.
The two were standing, while the last one was sitting at the head of the hall. It was Duan Hai, the Venerable Protector of Fire Spirit Land!
Yang Kai turned solemn, and hurriedly cupped his fists, “Greetings, Venerable and Senior Brother Du!”
Since Duan Hai brought him to Fire Spirit Land last time, Yang Kai had not seen him again. Yang Kai had no idea why Duan Hai appeared here today. Yang Kai instinctively felt something was wrong, wondering if Old Xu was caught, and got himself involved. If so, Old Xu was truly useless.
“Is this him?” The young man whom Yang Kai did not know suddenly asked an inexplicable question.
Du Ru Feng answered, “It’s him!”
“There’s nothing special about him. How could he be so lucky?” The man chuckled.
Du Ru Feng continued, “This Junior Brother has no idea. You should ask him yourself.”
Yang Kai was confused, and asked suspiciously, “Senior Brother Du, this is…”
Du Ru Feng introduced, “This is Senior Brother Yu Lian. He was in retreat previously, and just came out, so you haven’t seen him yet.”
“So it is Senior Brother Yu!” Yang Kai saluted with his fists cupped, “Greetings, Senior Brother Yu!”
Yu Lian grinned, “Junior Brother Yang, right? Are you interested in guessing what I did in my previous retreat?”
[Why would I be interested? Is this guy crazy?] Yang Kai secretly felt disgruntled about him, but he still answered, “This Junior Brother has no clue. Please enlighten me, Senior Brother!”
Yu Lian smiled lightly, “If a cultivator wants to be promoted to the Open Heaven Realm, he needs to condense the power of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements. This Senior Brother first condensed his Yin and Yang Elements, then moved on to the Five Elements. Among the Five Elements, the first one I condensed was the Fire Element. Fire supports Earth, Earth generates Metal, and Metal begets Water… The last time I went into retreat was to condense my Water Element.”
Yang Kai calculated quietly and was secretly surprised. This guy was a Half-Step Open Heaven Realm Master, and only needed one Element to complete his breakthrough, “Senior Brother seems to be in a good condition, so I assume the last retreat was successful. Now Senior Brother is only one step away from the Open Heaven Realm. Congratulations, Senior Brother!”
“Good, just one last step!” A hint of fanaticism flashed in Yu Lian’s eyes, “But how many people have been stopped because of this one last step? Junior Brother, this Senior Brother doesn’t mind letting you know that the materials that I condensed were all Fourth-Order!”
“Then if Senior Brother breaks through to the Open Heaven Realm, he would be a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master? There would be another Master in our Seven Wonders Land! It is truly a blessing for us!”
“En, but it is hard to find Fourth-Order Open Heaven materials. Even with Seven Wonders Land’s resources, if I want to find the right one, I have no idea how long I have to wait. I’m afraid it will take hundreds of years or even longer.” Yu Lian let out a long sigh.
“With Venerable’s ability, Senior Brother definitely could find a suitable one.”
Yu Lian turned to glance at Duan Hai, and carried on with a smile, “We shouldn’t bother Venerable with such a small matter. I just need Junior Brother to help me.”
Chills ran up Yang Kai’s back as he felt something wrong, “Junior Brother is incompetent. May I know what I can do to help?”
Yu Lian leaned forward slightly, and gazed at him solemnly, “Junior Brother just needs to contribute his Wood Element!”
Hearing this, Yang Kai was taken aback. His previous doubts were finally answered! No wonder after helping to collect the Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame, Du Ru Feng had been treating him well. It turned out that they were eyeing his Wood Element.
Although Yang Kai had speculated about it for a long time, he was not sure until now when his suspicions were confirmed. Everything had started on the day when he was forced to release his Dao Seal in front of Du Ru Feng.
Promoting him to be an Orchard Manager and asking him to hunt down Fang Tai were nothing but treating him like a pawn that could be abandoned. If his Wood Element was really taken away, Yang Kai guessed that his end would be miserable.
“Is that so!” As Yang Kai’s words fell, he had already punched forward. He surged his Space Principle and teleported out directly from his original place without even hesitating.
Yang Kai disappeared with a flicker. Duan Hai, who had been sitting calmly at the head of the hall, finally raised his brow and his eyes lit up, “Space Principles!”
While speaking, he stretched out his hand and grabbed at the Void.
Following his action, Yang Kai, who fled out of the hall hurriedly, immediately felt a great sense of crisis. When he looked back, he saw a gigantic hand overshadowing the sky behind, grabbing towards him with enormous power.
Yang Kai was taken aback and surged his Space Principles madly, teleporting over and over again. However, no matter how many times he tried, he could not escape the coverage of the giant hand. Moreover, he felt a powerful shackle lock firmly on himself.
The huge hand that covered the whole sky and blocked the sunlight caught hold of Yang Kai soon after. With a snort, Yang Kai’s vision rapidly changed, and when he recovered, he was already in a secret room.
Duan Hai, Du Ru Feng, and Yu Lian were all here. The two of them stood left and right behind Duan Hai, one looking indifferent, while the other seemed mirthful.
Yang Kai panicked. He looked around but he could not find a way to escape. He knew he was in deep trouble. He could not get rid of Duan Hai’s grip even by using his Instantaneous Movement. It could be seen that the gap between the Four-Order Open Heaven Realm and his cultivation was truly big.
“Junior Brother Yang, what are you running for? This Senior Brother didn’t say that he will eat you, just that he wanted to use your Wood Element.” Yu Lian grinned.
[If I don’t run, should I just wait to die?] Although he was not optimistic that he could escape from them, he still had to try it, “If Senior Brother wants my Wood Element, he could just ask for it and this Junior Brother will make his contribution. Why do you have to deceive me like this?”
Yu Lian chuckled, “Since Junior Brother is a sensible person, then don’t resist.”
Yang Kai questioned, “I’m curious, however. Can someone’s Yin, Yang, and Five Elements be forcibly seized?” He had asked Old Fang this question before, but Old Fang could not answer him. However, since he encountered this incident today, it meant that the power of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements could indeed be stolen; otherwise, why would they spend so much effort on this?
“There is only one situation where a person’s Yin, Yang, and Five Elements can be forcibly seized.” Perhaps because Yu Lian was close to his dream of being promoted to an Open Heaven Realm Master, he was in a particularly good mood and did not hesitate to answer Yang Kai’s question.
“What kind of situation?” Yang Kai raised his eyebrows.
“When someone has only condensed a single Element, just like Junior Brother. If Junior Brother condensed two, we would be helpless.” Yu Lian explained with a smile, “However, Junior Brother’s Wood Element will also have its Order degraded by one or two after being forcibly seized. In any case, it doesn’t really matter. I heard that the Wood Element you condensed is at least Fifth-Order, and this Senior Brother only needs a Fourth-Order. So if I’m lucky, even if the Order is downgraded, it can still be used.”
“I see!” Yang Kai was enlightened.
Yu Lian continued, “Junior Brother, is there anything else you want to ask?”
Yang Kai asked with a darkened face, “What will happen to me if my Wood Element is seized?”
Yu Lian disclosed, “Are you wondering if you’ll die? Probably. You might live if you are lucky, but I’m afraid you won’t be able to cultivate again in the future.”
Yang Kai’s heart sank into the abyss after listening to this. Both of these options would be tragic for a cultivator. In fact, it was better to die if one could not cultivate.
No longer giving Yang Kai a chance to speak, Yu Lian turned around and cupped his fist at Duan Hai, “Venerable, please!”
Duan Hai nodded gently, raised his big hand, and swung fiercely.
Chains clattered noisily in the air and shuttled aggressively towards Yang Kai from all directions. Looking around, Yang Kai wanted to dodge the chains engraved with countless complex runes, but he was being immobilized and could not move an inch.
Followed by the clanging of metal, the seemingly immaterial chains penetrated through Yang Kai, causing him to scream in pain and immediately drench in sweat.
A powerful Array lit up below his feet and began to spin slowly.
The Array was already arranged here before they arrived, so it was clear they had been preparing for this day for quite some time, just waiting for the right moment to seize his Wood Element.
The chains were pulled taut, and Yang Kai’s trembling body was lifted into the air. Duan Hai and Yu Lian stepped into their respective positions in the Array, leaving Du Ru Feng alone guarding to the side
Yang Kai panicked. His situation was completely hopeless. He could not get out of trouble with his own strength, and the only thing he could count on was Old Xu.
However, Old Xu had not made a sound after he entered Seven Wonders Land for three months. Yang Kai had no idea where he was and what he was doing, so it was unrealistic to expect him to save him. Moreover, Yang Kai probably no longer had value to him despite Old Xu having complete control of his life. Even if Old Xu knew his situation, he may not care about him at all.
Sitting cross-legged in position, Yu Lian emptied his mind and calmed his breathing as the aura around his body fluctuated mysteriously.
On the other side, Duan Hai too, looked solemn, his hands constantly forming seals.
Yang Kai felt a strong power being transmitted from the clattering chains to him, shaking his Dao Seal, trying to extract his Wood Element.
Indescribable pain overwhelmed his body as Yang Kai clenched his teeth in endurance, the veins on his forehead bulging.
Suddenly, there was an unexpected change. A gigantic black centipede illusory phantom abruptly appeared behind Yang Kai, firmly wrapping him in its hundred feet. No matter what Duan Hai did, he was unable to extract the Wood Element out of Yang Kai.
“Soaring Black Centipede?” A hint of surprise flashed across Duan Hai’s eyes, pausing his hand seals and swiftly moving to Yang Kai’s side. He clasped Yang Kai’s neck and poured in a violent power to examine his Dao Seal before his face changed and he roared, “Boy, who implanted this Soaring Black Centipede in you!?”
Suffering from intense pain, Yang Kai kept gasping for air, his countenance as pale as a sheet, but a sneer on his face, “Your Father!”
He did not expect that the Soaring Black Centipede, which was supposed to restrain him, actually saved his life in this crisis. It was truly a mixed blessing. When he thought about it carefully though, it was not surprising at all. The Soaring Black Centipede was originally implanted to restrain his Dao Seal. On the other hand, Duan Hai set up an Array to try to seize the Wood Element which was condensed into his Dao Seal. These two processes obviously clashed with each other. At this moment, Yang Kai could not help thanking Old Xu. Although he did not know how long it could stall for, he felt hopeful for a moment.
Duan Hai looked back at Du Ru Feng, “Did you see anything else in his Dao Seal last time?”
Du Ru Feng was also a little confused. He was clueless about the Soaring Black Centipede, so he shook his head, “No!”
“Then it was implanted later…” Brilliant light flashed across Duan Hai’s eyes as he turned to stare at Yang Kai solemnly, “Boy, who did you meet when you went out?”
He truly had a sharp mind and saw through the truth at once.
But how could Yang Kai answer him? He just maintained a sneer. Duan Hai immediately applied force through his hand, causing Yang Kai to roar in pain, almost robbing him of his consciousness.
Duan Hai pressed on gloomily, “Do you think this King can’t do anything to you? It’s just a mere insect. This King will torture you slowly after this King destroys it.”
Saying so, he lifted his hand and palmed at the Dao Seal. Intense power slammed into Yang Kai’s body, shocking the Soaring Black Centipede that was wrapping around the Dao Seal.
With Duan Hai’s action, Yang Kai could obviously feel the uneasy mood of the centipede seal that was wrapping his Dao Seal. The initial binding strength was gradually relaxed, and it showed faint signs of being expelled.
A vague will suddenly extended from the Soaring Black Centipede, and like a drowning man clutching at a straw, Yang Kai immediately exclaimed with great joy, “Old Xu, save me!”
“Waste, you almost spoiled this King’s grand plan!” Although Old Xu was cursing Yang Kai in his mind, it was as sweet as Heavenly music to Yang Kai’s ears.
Duan Hai’s face changed wildly as he barked, “Who dares run wild here!?”
He obviously heard the voice just now. Since his will was connected to the Soaring Black Centipede, it was obviously from the seal’s owner who had been alarmed by Duan Hai’s previous actions.
[Is there a strong enemy hiding in Seven Wonders Land?] Duan Hai broke out into a cold sweat. Fortunately, he discovered this by coincidence today; otherwise, he had no idea what would happen when the enemy was fully prepared.
“Long time no see, Duan Hai. What? Do you not remember my voice?” Old Xu’s voice sounded cold.
Duan Hai’s expression changed several times as he blurted out, “Xu Huang! You’re not dead!?”
Old Xu laughed, “This King is blessed, how can he just die? You and those other traitors set me up and plotted to seize my Seven Wonders Land, but today this King will take back his capital together with interest!”
Duan Hai replied in a deep tone, “I didn’t know anything during that time!”
“Do you think this King will believe you? Today you will all die!”
When the word ‘die’ fell, a world-shaking movement came from the outside. Even if the secret room was covered by an isolation array, it shook violently, as if it were about to collapse. Then, a torrent of power suddenly emerged in the form of an unstoppable finger, flying towards Duan Hai.
Duan Hai’s face turned pale and he hurriedly retreated with a flicker. At the same time, he flipped his hands, completed a set of hand seals, and pushed his palm forward.
*Hong long long… *
A deafening blast sounded, and the world was turned upside down. The secret room exploded into pieces, and the Array collapsed.
Yang Kai, who was bound in mid-air, instantly felt like he was riding a small boat in the middle of a raging ocean, surrounded by boundless waves, at risk of being drowned at any time.
The aftershocks of the impact of the two Open Heaven Realm Masters spread out and caused massive destruction. Yang Kai’s body rolled and tumbled, his bones cracking noisily as blood spurted out of his mouth and nose while even his Soul became unstable.
Yang Kai was shocked. Although he had been with Ma Liu and Jiang Sheng, the two First-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters before, he did not witness them battle, so he had no idea how strong they were. However, the gap between the First-Order Open Heaven Realm and the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm was too huge. Just the fallout from the opening clash between Duan Hai and Old Xu had almost cost him his life!
This was the true Open Heaven Realm! If Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters already had such power, Yang Kai could not imagine how powerful High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters were.
Blood kept gushing out of Yang Kai’s mouth and nose, but his eyes were as bright as stars!
The main hall collapsed, dust and smoke scattered everywhere, and darkness shrouded the world. Yang Kai was suffering tremendous pain as the collapsed buildings fell on him, but fortunately, the array that bound him had vanished.
This place had been destroyed, so the array that was arranged here naturally lost its function. Without these shackles, Yang Kai regained his freedom.
With a shake of his arms, Yang Kai shoved away the blocks that fell on him and was able to see light again.
Before he had time to look around, he heard a light cough not far away. Yang Kai turned to it and a hint of murderous intent flashed across his eyes. He stretched out his hand and summoned the Azure Dragon Spear. The spear trembled as Yang Kai poured all his power into it. With a mighty Dragon Roar, he stabbed toward the side with the spear.
*Hong…*
Large pieces of gravel were sent flying by an explosion, revealing Yu Lian who had been buried underneath.
Blood spurted wildly as Yu Lian widened his eyes, looking dreadfully terrified.
“Die!” Yang Kai roared as Space Principles flared, concentrating at the tip of the Azure Dragon Spear which was plunged into Yu Lian’s body.
Rupture!
A huge cavity immediately appeared in Yu Lian’s chest, and most of his internal organs vanished. In a desperate measure, he grabbed the Azure Dragon Spear with one hand and reached out to Yang Kai with the other.
Yang Kai took a deep breath and blew out through his mouth. His breath shredded off layers of flesh from Yu Lian’s arms like sharp blades, exposing the pristine bones underneath.
Screams echoed from Yu Lian’s mouth as Yang Kai swung his spear up, tossing the former into the air before a barrage of spear shadows emerged.
Just three breaths of time later, Yang Kai withdrew his spear, and Yu Lian fell to the ground like a ragged sack. Blood gushed out like spring water from the countless holes in his body, and his vitality rapidly faded. It seemed that he would not be able to survive this.
Before Yang Kai could celebrate his narrowly escaped death, however, a murderous intent rose behind him and he quickly turned around, swinging his spear horizontally to defend himself.
A tremendous force impacted him, sending Yang Kai flying, spurting blood mid-air.
Yang Kai hurriedly landed, looked up, and saw that not far from where he once stood, Du Ru Feng was looking over with a blank face, disbelief apparent in his eyes, “Senior Brother Yu?”
Yu Lian was moving his mouth, but he was just gasping for air like a fish out of water. Soon after, his head tilted and he breathed his last breath.
Du Ru Feng was horrified and could not accept that his Senior Brother, who was in high spirits and ready to obtain his Wood Element to finally break through to the Open Heaven Realm, had died in the blink of an eye!
He knew that the root cause of all these changes was the aftermath of the battle between the unknown enemy and Venerable Duan Hai. At that moment, Du Ru Feng almost thought he was going to die. Although he narrowly escaped death in the end, the aftermath of the attack had severely wounded him still.
Obviously, Yu Lian was not any better off and in his carelessness, he was attacked again, losing his life. Du Ru Feng’s heart suddenly clenched as he could not help wondering if he would have survived if Yang Kai had attacked him instead of Yu Lian just now.
He turned to Yang Kai, who was coughing up blood and obviously not in good condition either.
“You killed Senior Brother Yu!” Du Ru Feng’s face was so cold that it could freeze over.
“You’re next!” Yang Kai pointed his spear forward and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
“Ridiculous!” Du Ru Feng’s face twisted in rage, “How dare you speak such big words in front of Venerable…”
After saying that, Du Ru Feng suddenly frowned. He scanned around with his Divine Sense and his face changed slightly because he found that Duan Hai did not seem to be here anymore.
He knew that Seven Wonders Land was in deep trouble. The Venerable should be in a hurry to resist the enemy, and could not care about this minor situation at all. Du Ru Feng’s heart sank as he had no idea who Xu Huang was or how much of a threat he posed.
*Hong hong hong…*
Earth-shaking noise descended from the sky as dazzling lights flashed and violent energy fluctuations rampaged. It was obvious that the two Masters were still fighting.
However, it was not up to him to worry about this kind of thing. Such matters had to be left to the Heavenly Monarch and the other Venerables to handle. No matter how powerful the enemy was, it was impossible for him to stand against the joint force of so many Open Heaven Realm Masters.
*Shua shua shua…*
The explosive booms continued as Seven Wonders Land disciples from every direction swiftly rushed over to investigate the situation. At first glance, they could not help being shocked at the ruins here, and their faces changed drastically when they saw Yu Lian’s corpse lying on the ground. One of them stood up and questioned, “Senior Brother Du, what happened? Who killed Senior Brother Yu!?”
Du Ru Feng looked at Yang Kai coldly as he proclaimed, “Who else could it be? It’s this bastard! Kill him for me!”
“Madman! How dare you commit murder in Fire Spirit Land in broad daylight! Die!” The group of Seven Wonders Land disciples were furious, summoned their artifacts one after another, and pounced at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai already began circulating his strength as soon as these people arrived. Although he wanted to kill Du Ru Feng now, he was outnumbered, so it was better to escape first. Moreover, almost all of these people here were Open Heaven Realm Masters. Although most of them were just First-Order with a few being Second-Order, it was still more than what Yang Kai could handle for now.
With his Instantaneous Movement, as long as there were no Masters such as Duan Hai, Yang Kai was still confident that he could escape.
With a rumble, the Void shattered as countless attacks were thrown at Yang Kai; however, his figure flashed aside, stared coldly at Du Ru Feng, and rushed towards the direction of the orchard.
Du Ru Feng was infuriated, “Wastes! After him!”
Without needing his order, the Seven Wonders Land disciples immediately pursued Yang Kai as soon as he ran away. For a moment, in the sky above Fire Spirit Land, a group of people was seen pursuing one individual, making for quite a lively show.
*Weng… *
The earth shook suddenly as a dull sound reverberated through everyone’s head, causing them to shudder.
Following the noise, a glowing array abruptly emerged in the sky. The array was gigantic, covering almost the entire Fire Spirit Land.
When this scene appeared, a Heaven-destroying and Earth-shattering aura fell from above. Everyone in Fire Spirit Land felt like they were enveloped by an aura of death.
Du Ru Feng, who was not far behind Yang Kai, exclaimed, “The Grand Defense Array!”
Yang Kai also had goosebumps all over his body as he could sense the incoming of an imminent disaster. Although he did not understand what had happened, it seemed that the Grand Defense Array of Fire Spirit Land was activated according to Du Ru Feng.
The next moment, a roar sounded, “Xu Huang, are you insane!? Are you going to destroy Seven Wonders Land!?”
Old Xu’s laughter resounded, “So what if it’s destroyed!? Since Seven Wonders Land rebelled against this King, this King doesn’t want it anymore! All of you can die!”
At the end of his sentence, the gigantic array pattern enveloping Fire Spirit Land suddenly rotated wildly, and a series of exquisite lights shot down from above like a rainstorm, pummelling the ground below.
Without further thought, Yang Kai immediately hid inside the Sealed World Bead.
He watched the situation outside from within and saw that the world was filled with beams of light. Everything in Fire Spirit Land began to collapse as huge ravines appeared on the ground. All the disciples of Seven Wonders Land who pursued him were terrified, dodging left and right foolishly, but few successfully avoided the disaster.
Casualties were caused as the light beams appeared everywhere as body parts fell from the sky like dumplings.
Yang Kai gulped and secretly prayed that the Sealed World Bead would not be hit. Although he had no idea what the consequences would be if the Sealed World Bead was struck, they definitely would not be good.
Fortunately, although the attack was continuous and dense, the Sealed World Bead was small. As long as he was lucky, there should be no problem.
Only now did Yang Kai understand why Old Xu dared to come here alone to take revenge.
The Grand Defense Array of Seven Wonders Land was obviously not activated by the Venerable Protector. It was unreasonable that he would kill his disciples; only Old Xu would do such a thing.
From the conversation between Old Xu and the others, Yang Kai vaguely realised that Old Xu should have a close relationship with Seven Wonders Land. It could even be speculated that Seven Wonders Land originally belonged to Old Xu, but for some reason, it was stolen from him.
Even so, Old Xu retained the ability to control the Grand Defence Array of Seven Wonders Land. During his previous three months’ disappearance, he must have been quietly trying to gain control of this trump card.
With Old Xu’s abilities and the aid of the Grand Defence Array, he might just stand a chance to complete his revenge.
Now in this situation, Yang Kai naturally wished that Old Xu would cause as much trouble as possible. Only in this way could he have a chance to escape from this place. If Old Xu failed and was killed, he would definitely be buried with him, because he could never escape from Duan Hai’s wrath.
The duration of the Grand Defense Array attack was not too long, only lasting twenty breaths of time.
But after twenty breaths, the whole Fire Spirit Land had fallen silent!
Yang Kai waited until the array in the sky disappeared before he emerged from the Small Sealed World and looked around. It was a mess. Scattered all over the ground were mutilated body parts donned in Seven Coloured Robes. It looked as if the apocalypse had arrived.
A huge net suddenly plummeted from the sky, enveloping Yang Kai. Shockingly, the huge net possessed the ability to seal off space. The grip on Yang Kai’s body swiftly tightened as he shouted, “Sky Seizing Net!”
[Du Ru Feng survived!] A thought flashed through Yang Kai’s mind. Since the Sky Seizing Net was Du Ru Feng’s artifact, it meant that Du Ru Feng was still alive.
Yang Kai rapidly plummeted from the sky, but the Sky Seizing Net was chasing after him like a maggot on rotting bones and he could not get rid of it.
The surrounding space was sealed, which made him unable to use Instantaneous Movement to escape. Watching the huge net above him, Yang Kai was notably anxious. He surged his power into the Azure Dragon Spear and thrust upward.
However, without being affected by the force, the Sky Seizing Net fell directly on Yang Kai and wrapped him up tightly. As the power of imprisonment transmitted from the huge net, Yang Kai could feel that his strength was restrained in an instant.
In mid-air, Du Ru Feng’s figure slowly emerged, a look of resentment and lingering fear on his face. If it was not because he was lucky during the activation of the Grand Defense Array, he probably would have followed in his fellow brothers’ footsteps.
Nevertheless, his condition did not look good at this moment. His face was pale, he was holding his chest with his hand, and the corners of his mouth were bloody. It seemed like the aftermath of the battle between Duan Hai and Old Xu had really wounded him.
“You’re not dead, how lucky are you!?” Du Ru Feng looked coldly at Yang Kai, who was bound by the Sky Seizing Net, and performed a hand seal, strengthening the binding power of the net.
Yang Kai grunted. Although the situation was unfavourable to him, he did not give in to Du Ru Feng and taunted back, “Aren’t you still alive too?”
Du Ru Feng snorted, “Shut up. This King will kill you now!” Yu Lian coveted Yang Kai’s Wood Element, but Du Ru Feng did not. Everyone’s condensed power was different and he had already condensed his Wood Element, so he was uninterested in Yang Kai’s life. Now that Seven Wonders Land had encountered a huge disaster, it was better to kill Yang Kai as soon as possible to avoid causing troubles later.
After that declaration, Du Ru Feng acted, lifting his hand as he summoned a long sword and bellowed, “Go!”
The long sword transformed into a sword light, shooting straight at Yang Kai.
In Yang Kai’s field of vision, the sword light was rapidly magnifying in front of him, and the aura of death closed in on his head. At the critical moment of life and death, Yang Kai’s heart became as tranquil as still water. A Dragon Roar resounded, his bones crackled noisily, and Dragon Scales quickly enveloped his rapidly expanding body.
During the Dragon Transformation, Yang Kai snapped his jaw at the oncoming sword light. Following a massive impact of power, Yang Kai felt that his teeth were threatening to crack, and his mouth was once again filled with blood.
Du Ru Feng was dumbstruck as his gaze followed the transformation of Yang Kai’s body size, never having imagined he had such an ability. A moment later, he exclaimed with a cracked voice, “You’re a Dragon?!”
The characteristics of Yang Kai’s body after the Dragon Transformation were too obvious, so how could Du Ru Feng not understand it?
In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai had turned into a gigantic 2,000-metre-tall Half-Dragon; however, he was still unable to get escape the binding of the Sky Seizing Net. Similar to the Six Fated Paths Bag, it was extremely flexible. It expanded together with the growth of Yang Kai’s body size, and continued to bind him tightly.
However, Yang Kai sensed some obvious signs of instability in the Sky Seizing Net and was overjoyed. Despite its function being similar to the Six Fated Paths Bag, it was clearly not as strong.
Without hesitating, Yang Kai clenched the Azure Dragon Spear and swung it violently.
The light of the Sky Seizing Net flashed wildly for a moment, then rapidly faded.
“In your dreams!” Du Ru Feng yelled and performed a hand seal. The sword light that was bitten by Yang Kai suddenly flew back to Du Ru Feng and he slashed out at Yang Kai after catching it.
Yang Kai saw the incoming sword wave, but could not dodge. Even if he were not killed by it, he would definitely be severely wounded.
At the critical moment, a golden light swiftly flew from the distance and shielded Yang Kai. It was only a small ball of golden light, but when it appeared, it suddenly expanded and turned into a giant golden chicken several tens of meters tall.
“Great General!” Yang Kai was surprised. He never thought that this unreliable chicken would arrive to save him at this critical moment.
He did not bring Great General with him during this meeting with Du Ru Feng, but left him in the orchard. Beyond his expectation though, Great General somehow managed to come here.
The sword wave slashed down, and following a short wail, Great General was blown away. In mid-air, his body reverted back to its original size, and his golden feathers greatly dimmed.
Yang Kai was infuriated and his Dragon Aura erupted. He hurled the Azure Dragon Spear forward and shouted angrily, “Break!”
The spear flew out like a true Azure Dragon diving into the sea, and space was pierced through by its power.
Following a crash, the Sky Seizing Net that had been binding Yang Kai shattered, its power of confinement vanishing in an instant. However, the momentum of the Azure Dragon Spear was not weakened and shot straight towards Du Ru Feng.
Sensing the power of this spear, Du Ru Feng’s face changed drastically and he hurriedly tried to dodge. Nevertheless, Yang Kai did not give him a chance to breathe. Du Ru Feng was a Half-Step Open Heaven Realm Master, who was stronger than Yang Kai, and he also had the Shadowless Veil artifact. If Yang Kai allowed him to summon out the Shadowless Veil, he would never be able to find him again.
He stretched out his Dragon Claw and grabbed at Du Ru Feng while at the same time, he surged his Space Principles.
The surrounding space suddenly solidified, Du Ru Feng’s body was frozen, and in that brief moment, Yang Kai grasped Du Ru Feng tightly in his giant claw.
“Scram!” Du Ru Feng roared as power fluctuated all over his body. Even with his Dragon Transformation, Yang Kai felt that he was about to be repelled, so he inflated his chest, and breathed out furiously at Du Ru Feng.
Fire Dragon’s Flaming Breath!
Dragon Breath spewed out from his mouth, shrouding Du Ru Feng who let out an ear-piercing scream and struggled even more violently. Yang Kai suddenly felt a sharp pain in his hand and loosened the grip of his Dragon Claw involuntarily for a slight moment. Du Ru Feng quickly took the opportunity to escape.
Yang Kai fixed his gaze on Du Ru Feng and saw that he was in a great mess. He had already been hurt in the aftermath of the battle between Duan Hai and Old Xu and in addition to his Sky Seizing Net being destroyed and being attacked by Yang Kai, he was now completely covered in blisters and burns. He looked dreadfully miserable.
Their eyes met, and Yang Kai could clearly see the fear and uneasiness on his opponent’s face.
Unlike Yang Kai, who was used to fighting and killing with his life on the line, Du Ru Feng was born and cultivated in peace in Seven Wonders Land. Throughout his whole life, Du Ru Feng had not even left Seven Wonders Land many times, not to mention having the fight for his life. In the beginning, he was able to gain some advantage by relying on his own superior strength and artifacts. However, he was unable to handle it once he faced a slight setback.
Yang Kai had encountered many people like him, greenhouse flowers unable to weather the wind and rain.
Grinning, Yang Kai swung his arm, causing a surge of Space Principles which sent a massive Moon Blade towards Du Ru Feng.
Du Ru Feng’s face changed and he attempted to dodge the attack.
But Yang Kai now had complete control over the battlefield with his Space Principles. Following a slight flourish of the Azure Dragon Spear, he shouted in a low voice, “Shatter!”
When the words fell, space trembled and suddenly, innumerable Void Cracks filled the surrounding region, releasing an aura of chaos and nihility. Looking at the scene, Du Ru Feng’s face turned pale again.
“Du Ru Feng, this day next year will be your death anniversary!” With a loud roar, Yang Kai had already charged with his spear in hand, soon shrouding Du Ru Feng in a giant spear shadow that seemed to block out the entire sky.
Du Ru Feng felt constrained by the surrounding Void Cracks. He wanted to escape, but how could Yang Kai give him such an opportunity? His spear thrust had sealed off all chances of escaping.
In a moment of desperation, Du Ru Feng threw caution to the wind and went all out with Yang Kai.
That was exactly what Yang Kai had wanted though. Although Du Ru Feng was a Half-Step Open Heaven Realm Master and stronger than him, his combat experience was certainly lacking and his restorative abilities were no match for Yang Kai’s. In a close-quarters life-or-death struggle, Yang Kai was not afraid of Du Ru Feng.
The Sky Seizing Net was broken, so now all Yang Kai had to worry about was the Shadowless Veil. If Du Ru Feng summoned the Shadowless Veil to conceal himself, Yang Kai would undoubtedly fall into a disadvantage; therefore, Yang Kai made continuous attacks without caring about his consumption or injuries in order to tie Du Ru Feng down and make it impossible for him to summon his artifact.
Their figures interlocked and blood spurted everywhere as time slowly dragged on.
After fighting for some unknown amount of time, Yang Kai withdrew his spear and panted heavily. At this moment, he had returned to his original size because he could not maintain his Dragon Transformation anymore. There were wounds of various sizes all over his body, some so deep his bones were exposed, looking dreadfully miserable. He staggered and barely managed to stand upright with the support of the Azure Dragon Spear.
Du Ru Feng’s condition was no better, however, as his whole body was stained with red blood, his hair dishevelled like a fierce ghost, his eyes quivering violently as deep down, he was in a panic.
Wheezing, Du Ru Feng remarked, “Yang Kai, since such a big incident has happened to Seven Wonders Land, no one knows what the future will be. Why do you and I have to fight to the death here?”
Yang Kai grinned meaningfully, “The battle has already begun, what do you want to do now?”
Du Ru Feng proposed, “Why don’t we both withdraw? You can’t stay in Seven Wonders Land after what happened today anyway. You better run for your life as soon as possible before Venerable makes his move. Otherwise, when Venerable returns, I’m afraid you won’t be able to escape even if you want to.”
“Makes sense!” Yang Kai nodded gently and tilted his head, “So you want us both to take a step back?”
Du Ru Feng nodded repeatedly, “Good!”
Before he could finish speaking though, his face suddenly changed and he stabbed his sword forward.
*Chi*
The long sword seemed to have pierced something, and when he looked forward, he saw that Yang Kai had already appeared in front of him, and the long sword in his hand had penetrated directly through his chest.
“Bastard!” Du Ru Feng scolded furiously.
Yang Kai grinned, “You plotted to kill me, how could I possibly spare you!?”
Du Ru Feng immediately felt the heart-piercing pain in his chest and his face turned pale as he looked down to see that his chest was also pierced through by Yang Kai’s spear.
“Rup…ture!” Yang Kai spat out the word slowly as Space Principles churned.
For a moment, Du Ru Feng felt that something in his body had collapsed. In his field of vision, a huge hole was suddenly gouged out around where his body was penetrated by the spear.
He looked up slowly and stared at Yang Kai incredulously, his eyes full of longing for life.
Yang Kai unceremoniously kicked him, sending him flying away. When the long sword was pulled away from his chest, another gush of blood spilled out of his wound. The world around him started spinning and he almost fainted. Struggling to keep his consciousness, he walked over to Du Ru Feng step by step and looked down on him from above.
At that moment, Du Ru Feng’s eyes went cloudy as the light faded from them and his aura was on the verge of being extinguished.
Yang Kai looked at him coldly before stabbing his spear through Du Ru Feng’s skull, splitting it open and spilling its contents onto the ground.
With a lift of the spear tip, Yang Kai picked up Du Ru Feng’s Space Ring, but he did not have time to examine it. He staggered over to one side, where Great General was sprawled on the ground, his golden feathers dreadfully dimmed.
Yang Kai bent down, picked him up, and examined him with his Divine Sense, feeling relieved a moment later. Although Great General’s aura was weak, his life was not in danger.
To be honest, Yang Kai did not expect Great General would leave the orchard to find him and even save him at the critical moment, only further confusing him as he wondered why Great General favoured him so greatly.
However, it was not the right moment to ponder this now. Ever since he started clashing with Du Ru Feng, the rumbling in the sky had not ceased. It was obvious that Old Xu was using the Seven Wonders Land Grand Array against many Open Heaven Realm Masters. It was good to know that they were still occupied; otherwise, Yang Kai probably would have had a bad time.
Although he had no idea whether Old Xu could successfully complete his revenge or not, now was definitely the best time to escape from Seven Wonders Land.
Nevertheless, before that, Yang Kai still had to locate Old Fang and Dié You first. He hoped that they were safe. Earlier when Old Xu activated a devastating attack from the Grand Defense Array, it caused tremendous casualties in Seven Wonders Land, so Yang Kai couldn’t help wondering how the situation in the orchard was.
He held Great General in his arms, but just after flying for a short while, he saw two figures flying side by side from the distance. It was Old Fang and Dié You. Yang Kai was immediately relieved. They were fortunately not affected by the attack of the Grand Defense Array. Otherwise, they certainly would not be able to survive with their current strength.
At this moment, the entire Fire Spirit Land was in chaos. Countless figures flew everywhere like headless flies and no one knew what was going on.
As soon as they met each other, Old Fang asked with a cracked voice, “Little Brother, what happened to you?”
Dié You also covered her mouth with her hand, her beautiful eyes quivered, “Such severe injuries…”
“It’s complicated!” Yang Kai smiled wryly and shook his head, “Now is not the right time to explain. It’s important for us to leave this place now.”
“What the Hell had just happened?” Old Fang questioned. Everything happened too abruptly today. A massive Grand Array pattern appeared over the entire Fire Spirit Land all of a sudden and unleashed a massive indiscriminate attack. More than half of the orchard was destroyed, and more than sixty percent of the Workers were killed in an instant. Old Fang and Dié You hurriedly escaped when they saw the situation and fortunately survived.
“I’ll explain on the way!” Yang Kai did not have much time to talk as he tried his best to push his strength and fly upwards.
On the way, he briefly explained the situation to Old Fang and Dié You, and also made it clear that Old Xu was brought in by him before. Their eyes widened in shock as Yang Kai told them what happened, for they could not believe such a strange coincidence had occurred. However, in this way, it created a good opportunity to leave Seven Wonders Land. Now that the Seven Wonders Land Masters were busy dealing with Old Xu, probably no one would care about their lives.
Many others had the same ideas as them, all of them basically Workers. After all, they had been all but enslaved by Seven Wonders Land for hundreds, if not thousands of years, and everyone knew that there was no way out of here. Although danger lurked in every corner in the world outside, they still at least had a little hope as long as they dared to step out. As Workers in Seven Wonders Land, there was no chance for them to stand out, unless they were willing to give up and settle for achieving the First-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Numerous Workers were flying out in all directions now.
However, when Yang Kai got close to the Grand Array, only then did he realize that his thinking was too naïve. The coverage of the Seven Wonders Land Grand Array didn’t have a single flaw, so no one could escape through it. It made sense as he thought about it though. Since Old Xu usurped control of the Grand Array, how could he let the people of Seven Wonders Land stand a chance to escape?
The battle in the sky went on without restraint and would cause an impact to Fire Spirit Land from time to time, causing mass chaos.
Once in a while, glowing array patterns of various sizes would appear in the sky as the Grand Defense Array activated, resulting in another rain of attacks.
Yang Kai saw with his own eyes how some Workers failed to dodge these attacks and were killed on the spot.
Just when Yang Kai was secretly beginning to worry, he heard a shrill scream from high up above, followed by the propagation of a violent energy wave which swept over the whole world, causing the vast Fire Spirit Land to rumble loudly.
A moment later, a figure fell from the sky straight among where the many Workers gathered.
Old Fang’s face turned pale as he shouted, “He’s the Venerable Protector of Water Spirit Land!”
Dié You’s voice trembled, “Is he dead?”
Old Fang shook his head, indicating that he had no idea.
The Venerable Protector of Water Spirit Land fell straight to the ground in front of everyone’s eyes and remained motionless for a long time. The Workers kept looking at each other, but no one dared to go forward to examine him.
Right at that moment, a rainbow light from the sky slashed down directly on the Water Spirit Land Venerable Protector’s motionless body, splitting it in two.
There was no need for Old Fang to answer now as everyone knew that the Venerable Protector was dead.
Ignoring his severe injuries, Yang Kai rushed to the corpse of the Water Spirit Land Venerable Protector with a flicker, lifted his hand, took down his Space Ring, and stuffed it into his pocket. Then, he disappeared with another flicker.
When Old Fang and Dié You regained their senses, a transmission from Yang Kai reached their ears.
Only then did the other Workers react and begin looking around for Yang Kai. Unfortunately for them, their efforts were in vain. Taking advantage of his Instantaneous Movement, Yang Kai had long disappeared, sending the crowd into a fury!
The wealth of a Venerable Protector was unimaginably valuable to a Worker. If they had the guts to act earlier, they might have grabbed the Space Ring, but now it had already fallen into the hands of another.
Old Fang and Dié You quietly left the crowd and flew in the same direction. Soon, they left Fire Spirit Land, and rushed straight to the shopping district.
Although no one could leave the coverage of the Seven Wonders Land Grand Array, travel within Seven Wonders Land was unobstructed.
The two soon arrived at a corner of the shopping district where Old Fang checked the surroundings before whispering, “Yang Kai, Yang Kai!”
Yang Kai’s head peeped out from the back of a building and he waved, “Here, I’m here!”
Old Fang and Dié You hurriedly ran to his side, turned a corner, and saw Yang Kai leaning against the wall with blood all over his body. He was pale, gasping for breath, and holding the Ruler of the Dawn Great General in his arms.
Finding it frightening and amusing at the same time, Old Fang remarked, “Little Brother, you really value fortune over your life!”
If those Workers reacted a little faster just now, Yang Kai would have no way to escape at all. As the saying goes though, birds die of food just as men die for wealth, everyone would have slaughtered him without a second thought for the Venerable Protector’s Space Ring.
Yang Kai coughed lightly, “The poor have to take risks!”
Dié You reprimanded angrily, “You call yourself poor!?”
Yang Kai waved his hand, “Let’s not talk about this first. No one has come to the shopping district for the time being, and the Grand Defense Array doesn’t cover this region, so I think we should be safe to hide here for now. I need some time to heal my wounds.”
Old Fang nodded solemnly, “You can heal at ease. Sister Dié You and I will stand guard for you.”
“Then I shall trouble you two.” Yang Kai accepted his favour. Given the situation now, it was pointless to think too much, and they could only take one step at a time. Everything now depended on the final result of the battle, which was either Old Xu successfully took revenge or Seven Wonders Land managed to defeat him. However, judging from the death of Water Spirit Land’s Venerable Protector just now, Seven Wonders Land was probably at a disadvantage.
Although Old Xu was alone, he may still be able to succeed with the aid of the Grand Defense Array.
Yang Kai did not really care what the outcome was. As long as Duan Hai died, it did not matter to him who ultimately won this battle, because if Duan Hai survived, he would have no way to live.
Grabbing a handful of healing Spirit Pills from his Space Ring and stuffing them into his mouth, Yang Kai also fed several to Great General. Then, he sat cross-legged to adjust his breathing.
Although his wounds were severe, they were not fatal. Yang Kai knew his body very well, and as long as the injuries were not too serious, he could recover sooner or later by relying on the shocking regenerative powers of his Dragon Vein and Wood Element.
The whole shopping district was quiet; after all, it was not the three rest days of the month, so it was naturally empty. After standing guard for a while, Old Fang seemed to suddenly think of something, “Sister Dié You, I’ll be right back. Please take care of Little Brother Yang.”
Dié You knew what Old Fang was up to so she replied with a smile, “Go and be safe.”
Old Fang grinned meaningfully and disappeared with a flicker.
The noise outside never ceased and it was obvious that the fight was still ongoing. Watching Yang Kai’s disordered breathing slowly begin to stabilize, Dié You was amazed. A normal person could not recover from such severe injuries without resting for at least ten days to half a month, but Yang Kai actually took less than half a day to begin showing improvement. Dié You was truly impressed by his vitality.
Old Fang soon returned, dejected. After Dié You asked, she learnt that there was nothing for him to loot in the shopping district.
Yang Kai was still healing while the fight outside persisted. The two of them had nowhere to go, so they gradually lost interest in talking.
After a long time, Yang Kai abruptly opened his eyes and muttered, “Someone is coming.”
Dié You and Old Fang were taken aback and quickly scanned their surroundings with their Divine Senses, and soon, they noticed someone. When they looked up, they saw a petite figure flying over. While flying, she kept checking around carefully, like a thief.
However, the person soon found Yang Kai and the others, and after hesitating for a moment, she flew straight towards them.
“Stop!” Old Fang roared.
Yang Kai raised his hand, “Relax, I know her.”
He then looked up and laughed, “Why are you here?”
The visitor was Ah Sun, who was brought to Fire Spirit Land by Duan Hai along with Yang Kai. Lucky for her, she had no signs of injury at all. She had probably avoided the attacks of the Grand Defense Array by luck.
Ah Sun was pleasantly surprised and called out, “Senior Brother Yang, you’re here too!”
Yang Kai remarked, “Fire Spirit Land is too dangerous, so we came here to hide.”
Ah Sun nodding repeatedly, “I thought so too. It’s too chaotic out there. Many fellow brothers have been killed, and even a Venerable is dead.”
“A Venerable is dead? Which one?” Although Dié You saw the Water Spirit Land Venerable die with her own eyes, there were seven Venerables in Seven Wonders Land, so she wondered which Venerable Ah Sun was referring to.
Ah Sun answered, “Our Fire Spirit Land Venerable.”
“Duan Hai?” Yang Kai was surprised, “Did you see it?”
Ah Sun nodded, “With my own eyes.”
Yang Kai clenched his fist and secretly celebrated. With Duan Hai’s death, Yang Kai’s secret was also buried with him. Even if Old Xu failed in his revenge and Seven Wonders Land managed to survive this disaster, no one would trouble him by then. However, if he could find an opportunity to leave here, Yang Kai did not want to stay any longer.
Two Venerables died back-to-back. One could imagine how fierce the fight was up there. Unfortunately, he was not strong enough now, otherwise he would want to watch the battle.
Old Fang and Dié You were not familiar with Ah Sun, but although Yang Kai was not too close with her either, he knew this little girl had a good heart. They got in touch several times when they first came to Seven Wonders Land, and Yang Kai had a good impression of her. It could be considered fate that they were brought together during this difficult time.
The battle continued, but it had not spread to the shopping district yet. As such, the four of them were safe hiding here.
As time passed, more people gathered in the shopping district. They were the Workers from various Spirit Lands, and also the Seven Wonders Land disciples donned in Seven Coloured Robes. Now that the Grand Array of the entire Seven Wonders Land was usurped, everyone probably had the idea that the other places were not safe at all, and only this shopping district which was a separate space added after the arrangement of the Grand Array was the last safe haven.
Yang Kai changed out of his Seven-Coloured Robe into his normal clothes to avoid raising attention.
The great battle persisted for more than ten days without stopping, and more and more people took shelter in the shopping district. Everyone was extremely worried, for they feared being involved in the disaster.
At a certain moment more than ten days later, a bright light suddenly lit up the dark shopping district. Everyone looked up and saw a hole had torn in the cloudy sky and light was now spilling down on them from the tear.
“The Grand Array is broken!” Someone shouted before many figures rushed towards the hole in the sky, disappearing into it.
Yang Kai and the others exchanged a glance and saw the delight on their faces. Without hesitating, the group of four people surged their power and soared into the sky together with the crowd.
The Grand Array covering Seven Wonders Land had finally broken. No one knew whether it was because Old Xu had spent too much power to activate the Grand Array these days, or whether Seven Wonders Land Masters used powerful means to disable it. Regardless, since the barrier was broken, no one could stop them from escaping.
After leaving Seven Wonders Land, Yang Kai did not know which way to go, so he just kept flying forward. Wherever it was, the farther away from Seven Wonders Land, the better.
Dié You, Old Fang, and Ah Sun followed him without saying a word. They had no place to go either, so anywhere was the same to them. After the initial excitement of escaping, Dié You and Old Fang could not help feeling lost. Ever since they jumped out of their own Universe Worlds, they had been taken into Seven Wonders Land, where they had not left even after so many years. They had fortunately escaped from Seven Wonders Land now, but where could they go in the future? Especially when they had not been promoted to the Open Heaven Realm, so their strength was insufficient to survive in this vast world.
The four of them flew for several days straight. Along the way, it was an endless void without any reference points, so they had no idea where they were at the moment.
Suddenly, Yang Kai felt a sense of apprehension in his heart, and when he looked back, he was frightened and his face turned pale as he shouted, “Run!”
Old Fang and the others were puzzled, so they looked back too. At a glance, their faces changed drastically. A streak of light in the rear was rushing towards their side, and by the looks of the brightness and speed at which it travelled, their pursuer was obviously an Open Heaven Realm Master. They were unsure which Order this Open Heaven Realm Master was, but no matter which Order they were, this person was not someone they could compete with now.
They changed directions several times, but the light continued chasing after them persistently. No matter how they changed directions, the light did not deviate, and the distance between them was getting closer and closer instead.
The group was anxious when suddenly, they heard Yang Kai scream and saw him suddenly stop.
Dié You was taken aback and shouted, “What’s wrong? Quickly run!”
Yang Kai smiled wryly, “I can’t run!”
Earlier, he had no clue who was chasing behind them, but he knew now. It was Old Xu. Yang Kai had the Soaring Black Centipede in his body, and his Dao Seal was clenched by the centipede seal just now. It was obviously Old Xu’s warning to him. If he continued to run, he would lose his life.
Yang Kai could not figure out how Old Xu found him after running so far, but he guessed that it was most probably due to the Soaring Black Centipede. Since it was a kind of Exotic Ancient Insect raised by Old Xu, there should be some kind of connection between the two. As such, it was not surprising that he could track him with it.
[Why is Old Xu here? Shouldn’t he be fighting with those Venerables and the Heavenly Monarch back in Seven Wonders Land? Since he came here at this time, does it mean he lost?]
Yang Kai was resentful, but he could only stand in place and wait, looking at Old Fang and the others as he declared, “You guys go.”
It was a blessing, not a curse, and if it was a curse, it could not be avoided.
Old Fang hurriedly replied, “Take care!”
When the words fell, he continued to speed forward, but Dié You did not move. Yang Kai turned to look at her only to see her smile, “If he really wants to harm us, we won’t be able to escape. Since that’s the case, we might as well take a chance and fight alongside you.”
Her speech was not convincing at all as there was always a glimmer of hope if she ran away; otherwise, she could only hand over her life to Old Xu.
Unsure whether Ah Sun was too kind or foolish, she continued, “I’ll stay with you…”
Yang Kai was speechless.
On the other hand, Old Fang, who had not run far, turned around and flew back, standing beside Yang Kai as he snorted and retorted angrily, “I’m dead now because of all of you.”
Yang Kai could not help but laugh.
During their conversation, Old Xu had already flown to them. Yang Kai sighed and cupped his fists, but when he was about to greet him, he saw Old Xu raise his hand. The Six Fated Paths Bag was summoned, enveloping them from above, and in the next moment, their vision turned dark and they were stuffed into the bag.
Old Fang exclaimed, “What happened?” He was taken in before he could see clearly what the enemy looked like, and he was totally clueless about the mystery of Six Fated Paths Bag.
Ah Sun complained, “It’s so crowded here. What is this place?”
Dié You panicked, “Who… Who touched me… Whose hand is this…”
Yang Kai coughed lightly, “Sorry, it wasn’t on purpose. Don’t move around, everyone. This place is like this. Just bear with it.”
The bag immediately became quiet as no one dared to move.
Suddenly, there was a loud squeaking noise, followed by a foul stench.
Ah Sun retched, “Who… Who farted!?”
Old Fang quickly clarified, “It wasn’t this Old Master!”
Dié You also clarified, “Well it wasn’t me…”
“Little Brother Yang, you…”
Yang Kai was immediately enraged and lashed out, “It wasn’t me, it was this stupid chicken!” Yang Kai would have crushed Great General if it were not for the small space. The stench lasted for a long time in this enclosed space, forcing everyone to hold their breath.
After an unknown period of time, a slit of light suddenly appeared above them and following a flash, Yang Kai instantly emerged in an empty cave.
There was a chaotic aura of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements coming from nearby, and when he looked over, he saw Old Xu sitting in a corner, clearly not in good condition.
As for Old Xu, he was simply staring back at Yang Kai indifferently.
Yang Kai hurriedly cupped his hand, “Old Xu!”
By the looks of it, Old Xu did not look like he was hurt, but it was impossible not to be wounded after so many days of fighting. Moreover, Yang Kai believed that his revenge plan probably had failed, otherwise, he would not be here. If it succeeded, he should have taken over Seven Wonders Land.
Yang Kai wondered how Old Xu was feeling now as his revenge plan failed after putting so much effort into it. He was probably upset, so Yang Kai had to be careful with his words.
Old Xu stared at him steadily, various complicated feelings flashing through his eyes before he finally started, “Little brat, you spoiled my good deed!”
Yang Kai looked confused, “Old Xu, why did you say so? I’ve never leaked any information about you to Seven Wonders Land.”
Old Xu sighed, “Although you didn’t leak anything, the Soaring Black Centipede has been exposed. Duan Hai could have followed that clue to track down this King within a few days, so this King was forced to act earlier!”
“This…” Yang Kai had nothing to say, “This Junior didn’t know things would turn out like this.”
It could be said that it was a coincidence. Duan Hai and Yu Lian arranged an array and tried to seize his Wood Element. As a result, the Soaring Black Centipede’s seal was triggered. Old Xu sensed it, and he had no choice but to act earlier. By the looks of Old Xu’s current state and according to his words, the result of his early action was a failure…
“If I had just three more months to prepare, things would not have ended like this.” Old Xu snorted coldly.
Yang Kai gulped and looked ahead warily, “What does Old Xu want to do now? Kill me?”
“If killing you could change the result, why would this King have let you live until now? In the end, this Old Master’s thousands of years of plotting have all ended in failure, falling short at the last moment!”
Hearing this, Yang Kai was relieved that his life was not in danger; however, falling into the Old Xu’s hands now was just like jumping out of the wok into the fire and he began wondering how he would be tortured in the future.
Yang Kai felt dreadfully aggrieved. If he knew it would be like this, he would have stayed back in Seven Wonders Land. Although his future prospect would be unpromising, he was still an Orchard Manager with a large number of people under him. Now that Seven Wonders Land suffered a great tragedy, it would definitely be short of manpower, so if he had stayed, he might have had better opportunities.
Old Xu snorted coldly again, “Although this King’s plan failed, those dogs did not get off any better. More than half of the Venerables died and Seven Wonders Land suffered serious losses. They won’t be able to recover without hundreds of years of effort.”
“Then it’s not for nothing.” Yang Kai congratulated insincerely, and comforted, “This time, Seven Wonders Land’s strength has been greatly damaged. Old Xu just needs to spend some time recovering before launching another assault. At that time, Old Xu will be able to stage a comeback and obtain his revenge.”
“Heh heh… Stage a comeback…” Old Xu laughed for no reason, “This King is afraid he won’t have such an opportunity.”
Yang Kai asked curiously, “What does Old Xu mean?”
“This King is dying!”
Yang Kai was taken aback, “How?”
Even though Yang Kai knew that he must have been injured, he could not see any injuries on Old Xu’s body, certainly not one that would be fatal.
Old Xu did not explain anything more to him, but tossed something to him.
Yang Kai caught it and saw that it was a jade ring.
“What is this?” He wondered.
“It’s Seven Wonders Land’s main array token!” Old Xu answered faintly, “With this token, you will have the opportunity to control the Grand Array of Seven Wonders Land!”
Yang Kai’s heart jumped. Although he had not refined it yet, he could sense a mysterious fluctuation from the jade ring in his hand. Old Xu was not lying. This may truly be the main array token of Seven Wonders Land. It was probably the reason that Old Xu was able to usurp the Seven Wonders Land Grand Array in the first place.
“It’s yours now. Whether you dump it or keep it, it’s up to you.”
[How could it be so simple…] Yang Kai was in doubt. From his past experience dealing with Old Xu, he learnt that this guy was not a good man and wondered, [Are all people so kind when they are about to die?]
Old Xu explained, “This King has no strength left to take revenge, but if you can grow stronger in the future, you will stand a chance to seize Seven Wonders Land with this jade ring. You may rest assured that if Seven Wonders Land wants to change their Grand Defence Array, it cannot be done in a short time. This jade ring will still be useful within a thousand years, but this King can’t guarantee anything after that.”
Hearing his explanation, Yang Kai was relieved of his doubts. Old Xu just wanted him to avenge him. With this main array token in hand, when Yang Kai was strong enough, he certainly would covet Seven Wonders Land as it was a big piece of prosperous land.
Because of this, Old Xu did not vent his anger on him, otherwise, he would have been killed. Killing Yang Kai now could only ease his anger for a moment, but if Old Xu let him live, he might still have a chance for revenge.
As soon as he thought about this, Yang Kai quickly put away the jade ring and cupped his fists solemnly, “Rest assured, Old Xu. I will break through to the Open Heaven Realm within a thousand years and when that time comes, I will return to Seven Wonders Land.” No matter what, he had to act like what Old Xu wanted in front of him. As for whether he would help Old Xu to take revenge in the future, it depended on his mood and the benefits at that time. Although Yang Kai did not have a favourable impression of Seven Wonders Land, he did not want to waste too much time there either; after all, his hatred was not enough to launch a massacre.
Old Xu was noncommittal, probably aware of Yang Kai’s thoughts, but he did not have much time left now, and there was nothing he could do about Yang Kai so he just nodded lightly and closed his eyes.
As his eyes closed, the aura of his body rapidly weakened, and his vitality dissipated in the blink of an eye. At the same time, the chaotic Yin, Yang, and Five Elements aura coming from him became even more unstable.
Yang Kai asked anxiously, “Old Xu, can you take back the Soaring Black Centipede?”
Old Xu did not respond.
A moment later, an eruption of World Force occurred. It seemed Old Xu’s Small Universe completely collapsed and with that, the cave they were in exploded. Yang Kai found himself floating in the void and not far away he saw Old Xu, sitting cross-legged, but without any vitality.
Yang Kai stretched out his hand to check his breathing and confirmed that Old Xu had indeed passed away.
Yang Kai immediately felt distressed. Given that the Soaring Black Centipede on his Dao Seal was raised by Old Xu, he wondered if Old Xu’s death would have any impact on it.
Only after standing in place for a long time and not seeing any response from the seal did Yang Kai let out a sigh of relief.
However, Yang Kai felt insecure to have such a thing on his Dao Seal. Previously, Old Xu was still there to constrain it, but now that Old Xu was gone, Yang Kai probably would not know how he died if the Soaring Black Centipede suddenly went berserk and crushed his Dao Seal one day.
Yang Kai even suspected that Old Xu might have given some instructions to the Soaring Black Centipede before he died. He was worried that if he did not avenge him in Seven Wonders Land in the future, something would be triggered in the Soaring Black Centipede.
This was very likely to have happened, otherwise, what would Old Xu keep his life for?
However, now that Old Xu was dead, worrying was pointless. He could only try to break through to the Open Heaven Realm as soon as possible and get rid of it himself. Yang Kai reached out his hand next and took Old Xu’s Space Ring. After sorting through the ring, he did not find the Six Fated Paths Bag so he searched Old Xu’s body again, finding the bag in the latter’s sleeve.
Fortunately, Yang Kai had slightly refined the Six Fated Paths Bag before, so although he could not use it against his enemies, he had no problem opening and closing it at least.
Forming a hand seal, Yang Kai opened the Six Fated Paths Bag and Old Fang, Dié You, and Ah Sun appeared together with Great General.
As soon as Old Fang emerged, he cupped his fists, “Greetings, Senior!”
Yang Kai informed, “He’s dead!”
“Dead… Dead?” Old Fang looked up in surprise and examined Old Xu carefully, and found that he had really lost all vitality, so he could not help wondering, “How did he die?”
Yang Kai answered, “Probably because his injuries were too severe.”
Dié You asked, “Is he the one who attacked Seven Wonders Land earlier?”
Yang Kai nodded, “En, that’s him.”
Old Fang let out a long breath, “It’s good that he’s dead!” It would be stressful to have such a Master watching them. If he got into a bad mood and decided to vent on them, they would not be able to survive.
They did not expect to encounter such an incident during their escape. Fortunately, Old Xu succumbed to his injuries before he could harm them. Yang Kai kept Old Xu’s body in his Small Sealed World and secretly ordered Mu Zhu and Mu Lu to bury him properly. He did not know whether Old Xu had left a card up his sleeve, so Yang Kai decided to keep his body just in case.
“Let’s go.” After handling this matter, Yang Kai beckoned to the others.
Naturally, everyone had no opinion, but Great General just stood still. Previously, Great General blocked Du Ru Feng’s furious blow for Yang Kai and was seriously injured. He had been healing his wound and only woke up a short time ago. However, he did not follow Yang Kai and instead kept crowing at him.
Yang Kai was puzzled, so he looked around.
Seeing Yang Kai halt, Great General flew behind him and pushed him towards a certain direction with his fat body.
Old Fang remarked curiously, “Little Brother, it seems like he wants you to go somewhere!”
Yang Kai noticed it too and reached out to grab Great General before asking, “Where are you taking me?”
The Great General crowed twice and turned to look in a certain direction.
Yang Kai looked towards that direction, but he saw nothing.
Pondering for a moment, he continued, “Great General might have found something, so I’ll go with him and check it out. What do you all want to do?”
Dié You and the others exchanged looks before Old Fang answered, “We don’t know where to go anyway, so let’s go together. We can at least look after each other that way.”
“Let’s go together,” Dié You also nodded.
Ah Sun had no objections either.
Therefore, Yang Kai put Great General on top of his head and asked him to lead the way before the four of them continued to fly through the vast Outer Universe.
During the long journey, Yang Kai quietly counted the harvest of these past few days.
Although his life was in danger ever since he was summoned by Du Ru Feng, he also had a huge windfall! He obtained Du Ru Feng’s Space Ring, then the Space Ring of the Water Spirit Land Venerable Protector, and finally Old Xu’s Space Ring.
Without mentioning anything else, the Six Fated Paths Bag itself was an amazing artifact! Up to now, Yang Kai has never seen an artifact that could store living creatures other than his Small Sealed World and the World Beads that he refined personally. The Six Fated Paths Bag was the first one!
Entering the Outer Universe, if Yang Kai could not enhance his strength, he could only rely on external sources of power like artifacts for the time being. Although the artifacts he obtained in the Star Boundary were not bad, they weren’t sufficient when considering the Outer Universe. Whether it was the Mountains and Rivers Bell or the Soul Splitting Saber, even though they could be used to deal with other Emperor Realm cultivators without a problem, they would be useless against Open Heaven Realm Masters.
With the Six Fated Paths Bag he obtained, however, Yang Kai could make up for his shortcomings slightly. As such, he had to finish refining it as soon as possible so he could make use of its other miraculous effects if he encountered a strong enemy later.
Examining the Space Rings one by one, Yang Kai realized that he had truly gained a lot. There were as many as 300,000 Open Heaven Pills alone. About 10,000 were from Du Ru Feng’s Space Ring while the rest were from the Space Ring of the Water Spirit Land Venerable Protector.
Yang Kai was ecstatic! A month ago, he had to work hard to collect worms to feed Great General in order to earn a few thousand pills each month. But now he gained more than 300,000 Open Heaven Pills at once. His hands suddenly felt heavy.
However, after some pondering, he realized this was nothing much. A Third-Order material alone cost at least 15,000 Open Heaven Pills, so these 300,000 or so pills were only enough to buy a couple Fourth-Order materials, while they weren’t sufficient for a single Fifth-Order material.
In addition to the pills, however, Yang Kai had retrieved the Fourth-Order Scarlet Clouds Golden Flame that was collected by Du Ru Feng previously. This material was valuable and as long as he could find a suitable channel, he could exchange it for more than 100,000 Open Heaven Realm pills easily.
Nevertheless, what pleasantly surprised Yang Kai the most was the Shadowless Veil that was found in Du Ru Feng’s Space Ring.
Yang Kai had experienced the fantastic ability of this artifact which could turn one invisible and undetectable even to nearby eyes. Moreover, Du Ru Feng also mentioned that the Shadowless Veil was given to him by Duan Hai, and that any Third-Order and below Open Heaven Realm Masters would have no way to see through its concealment. Even if it was a Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master, one could miss it if they were not careful.
Compared to the Six Fated Paths Bag, this Shadowless Veil was a more suitable artifact for him at the moment.
Due to his low strength, Yang Kai had no way to resist strong enemies, so perhaps the Shadowless Veil could save his life in times of crisis.
In comparison, Old Xu’s Space Ring was actually quite empty. Other than a strange wooden sword, there were only a few personal miscellaneous items. It was not surprising though once Yang Kai thought about it. Old Xu had been focusing on taking revenge all these years, and probably did not have extra time and effort to do other things.
However, there was one thing Yang Kai was curious about. According to his own understanding, Seven Wonders Land should have belonged to Old Xu before, but it was seized from him later for some reason. He wondered what reason caused Old Xu to fail to protect his own territory.
No one could answer him, unfortunately. Old Xu was dead, so who else could he ask?
After sorting out the things in the three Space Rings, Yang Kai took out the Shadowless Veil, held it in his palm, and refined it silently. Because it belonged to Du Ru Feng, there was Du Ru Feng’s Soul Imprint on it, but since Du Ru Feng was dead now, the mark could be erased at will.
The journey was silent. After experiencing such a drastic change, the few of them lost interest in talking after narrowly escaping death. They all followed Great General silently, and let him guide them.
As time passed, they no longer knew how long they had flown. Yang Kai estimated that it was at least two to three months, yet Great General was still not stopping.
There was no great danger along the way. Occasionally, there would be some natural disasters like turbulence, but they managed to avoid such things in advance.
Finally, one day, a small black spot suddenly appeared at the end of their vision. At this moment, Yang Kai felt an obvious change in Great General’s mood. He became much more excited and his speed increased sharply.
It was too far away to see clearly what the black spot was, and it was not until a long time later that Yang Kai found it to be a huge Universe Fragment. He did not know which Universe World had shattered to leave this fragment, but despite its large size, it was completely desolate.
Great General led the group straight to the Universe Fragment.
A day later, the group of four landed on the Universe Fragment. At first sight, it was an endless desolate land without a single living soul there.
Great General flapped his wings and continued to lead the way, causing Old Fang to look around curiously and asked, “What did Great General lead us here for?”
“No idea.” Yang Kai shook his head, “Let’s just follow him and see.”
Just the fact that Great General risked his life to take a blow from Du Ru Feng for him, Yang Kai would not sit idly by if Great General needed help.
Great General seemed to be familiar with this place as he went in a specific direction after arriving here and came to a barren mountain. In the middle of the mountain was a deep, dark cave that led to unknown depths. Wind whistled eerily at the entrance of the cave. Yang Kai scanned it with his Divine Sense, but he could not find the end of the cave, so it was certainly very deep.
Great General finally stopped when they arrived here and turned his head to Yang Kai and crowed.
Yang Kai nodded and looked back at Old Fang and the others, “I’ll go down with Great General and have a look. You all stay here and wait for me for a bit.” Although he believed that Great General would not harm him, it was better to be careful in this unknown place. If he went in alone, he would stand a chance to escape in case of danger, but it would be inconvenient to do so with Old Fang, Dié You, and Ah Sun.
Dié You hastily proposed, “We should all go down together.”
Yang Kai shook his head as he rejected, “Just wait for me.”
Saying so, he grabbed Great General and flashed into the cave. Old Fang and Dié You looked at each other helplessly, only able to wait for him outside.
The cave was unusually dry. The terrain was initially flat, but after a short distance, it suddenly turned down steeply, like it was leading to the underground. The more they went forward, the darker it became as no light could be seen. Fortunately, Yang Kai’s cultivation was not low, so the absence of light did not bother him.
After venturing into the cave for four hours, when Yang Kai wondered if they had come to the deepest place in the Universe Fragment, light began to pour into their surroundings.
They arrived at a surprisingly massive yet unremarkable underground cave, but after arriving here, Great General was obviously excited and jumped out of Yang Kai’s arms, flying around and crowing excitedly. The intriguing noises gave Yang Kai a vague sense of grief and longing.
Yang Kai frowned lightly as he did not understand why this place had caused such a great reaction from Great General.
However, before he could figure it out, he suddenly noticed an aura permeating from the depths of the cave.
[There’s something living down here?] Yang Kai did not realize it at all when he arrived. Frightened, he quickly concealed his aura and peered ahead.
He could not see anything, but Yang Kai clearly felt an aura coming to life, like a sleeping creature who was awakened by Great General’s call.
What sent shivers up Yang Kai’s spine was that the aura was overwhelmingly powerful. The sense of danger he felt was far more intense than the one he felt in Old Xu’s presence, which undoubtedly showed that the owner of the aura was stronger than Old Xu.
In the darkness, two points of light suddenly appeared.
Yang Kai’s blood froze, as if someone had used a binding technique on him. He was stiffened in place, staring at the two twinkling lights in terror.
These were no ordinary lights, but rather a pair of eyes, exceptionally huge eyes the size of houses.
Following the opening of these eyes, a layer of golden light slowly expanded in the dark cave. The golden light grew brighter and stronger, and soon filled the entire cave in shining gold radiance.
Yang Kai could not close his mouth for a long time as the shock in his heart was beyond measure.
If he had not seen it with his own eyes, he would not have believed that such a giant golden rooster was before him. The golden rooster looked exactly like the Ruler of the Dawn Great General, but its size was many, many times greater.
The awakening aura, the dazzling golden light, and the eyes as large as a house all belonged to this giant golden rooster.
At this moment, the Ruler of the Dawn Great General had rushed to the strange beast and crowed endlessly. The strange beast’s originally fierce eyes slowly became gentle, showing a hint of kindness. It then lowered its head and nudged Great General tenderly.
Great General crowed even louder as he flew up on top of the head of the strange beast, and combed its feathers with his beak.
Seeing this, Yang Kai understood that the giant golden rooster in front of him was a close relative of the Ruler of the Dawn Great General. He just had no idea whether it was his father or mother, but he guessed that it was most likely to be his mother.
Great General was here to seek his family!
He had long thought that Great General was not an ordinary golden rooster, but rather an exotic beast with an ancient bloodline. At this moment, he realized his guess was correct.
However, if Great General had family, how did he end up being a pet for Duan Hai in Fire Spirit Land? Moreover, by the looks of his mother, it was obvious that her strength was astonishing. Without a doubt, Duan Hai was no match for her, so how did Duan Hai take away Great General?
[Did Duan Hai abduct him?] As Yang Kai thought about it, it seemed to be possible. Otherwise, why would Great General ignore Duan Hai’s life and death earlier? Instead, he followed him to escape from Seven Wonders Land.
Just as he was lost in thought, Yang Kai suddenly heard a voice call out to him, “Junior, you have an aura that I detest!”
Yang Kai was taken aback!
The voice sounded directly in his mind. It was a soft and gentle female voice, but the meaning of the words was quite the opposite. Looking up, he saw the giant golden chicken looking down at him, and he could see his own figure in her house-sized eyes.
Yang Kai gulped and looked around anxiously, but in the end, he fixed his eyes ahead and asked carefully, “Are you talking to me?”
Ruler of the Dawn’s mother narrowed her eyes lightly as a dangerous aura flashed across them, “What do you think?”
Yang Kai’s face twitched visibly as he quickly cupped his fists, “Junior Yang Kai greets Senior. May I know how I should address Senior?”
“I am Mie Meng!”
“So it is Senior Mie Meng. I’ve long heard your name!” Yang Kai cupped his fists again. He was unsure whether Mie Meng was her name or her Race as he had never heard of it before; however, the Outer Universe was full of strange things, so it was normal to see something he had never seen before. The only thing Yang Kai knew for sure was that he did not want to mess with the Ruler of the Dawn’s mother.
However, even though she mentioned that he had an aura she detested, Yang Kai was not too worried. Because he brought Ruler of the Dawn back, his mother probably would not do anything to him.
Mie Meng examined Yang Kai quietly, with a hint of scrutiny in her huge eyes while on top of her head, the Ruler of the Dawn Great General crowed for a while. Mie Meng listened to him attentively, and nodded slightly after a long time, “I understand.”
Then she looked down at Yang Kai and spoke, “My child said that it is all thanks to you he could leave that place and return to me.”
Yang Kai replied sonorously, “Great General and I became fast friends at first sight. Such a small favour is nothing worth mentioning.” After a pause, he continued, “Senior, how did Great General end up in Seven Wonders Land?”
Mie Meng answered, “He was captured and taken away. My child was young and insensible, not understanding the dangers of the world outside, leading to him accidentally getting lost when he went out to play.”
“So that’s how it is!” Yang Kai nodded lightly. It was just as he thought. Since the Ruler of the Dawn had such a powerful mother, there was no way that he would end up in Seven Wonders Land as Duan Hai’s pet unless he was abducted somehow.
Perhaps, the Ruler of the Dawn Great General did not like Duan Hai either, so when Seven Wonders Land faced disaster, he did not care about the latter’s life or death at all but sought out Yang Kai instead.
At this time, Yang Kai received a communication from Old Fang. They were aware of the aura of Mie Meng from outside, and asked Yang Kai about his safety out of worry.
Yang Kai replied to him and asked them to stay outside, assuring them that he was safe.
Putting away the communication artifact, Yang Kai continued, “Senior, Ruler of the Dawn has returned to his home now, and Senior can finally reunite with your child. This Junior shall go now. I hope that we will meet again next time.”
To be honest, he truly wanted to receive some benefits from Mie Meng, for he had contributed more or less in bringing Ruler of the Dawn back; however, in the face of such a powerful existence, even if he knew that she would not harm him, he was still a little uncomfortable. It was better for him to leave as soon as possible. Although Mie Meng sounded gentle and reasonable, who knew what kind of temperament she really had. If he someone angered or offended her, he would not be able to leave here alive.
“There’s no hurry to leave!” Mie Meng sent a transmission hastily and declared, “I need you to do me a favour!”
Yang Kai was stunned, “May this Junior know what he can do for Senior?”
“Help me to leave this place!”
“Senior is trapped here?” Yang Kai was stunned. He did not notice it, but when he thought about it carefully, Mie Meng really did not move at all ever since his arrival. It seemed that she really was trapped. Still, Yang Kai could only reply hesitantly, “Junior may be strong in will, but he is lacking in strength to assist Senior.”
One must be stronger than Mie Meng to be able to trap her, and Yang Kai doubted that he could help her from the shackles imposed by such a being.
Mie Meng replied, “You can, as long as you are willing to.”
Since she said so, Yang Kai did not think that he could refuse her anymore. He was suddenly a little dispirited, and questioned with a frown, “What does Senior want me to do?”
Mie Meng did not answer, but the golden light on her body suddenly flickered endlessly. As the golden light twinkled, Yang Kai clearly saw many chain-like objects wrapping around Mie Meng’s giant body and sensed a familiar aura.
“A Dragon Clan Secret Technique?” Yang Kai’s brow rose in astonishment.
It had never occurred to him that the reason for Mie Meng to be trapped here was because of a Dragon Clan Secret Technique. Only a Dragon would be able to use Dragon Clan Secret Techniques.
When Yang Kai thought about this, he asked excitedly, “Has Senior met someone from the Dragon Clan?”
Mie Meng snorted coldly, “If not, how would this Queen be trapped in here?”
Although it was a little funny to hear a golden chicken claiming to be ‘this Queen’, Yang Kai was not in the mood to care about it at the moment and asked, “When and where did Senior meet that Dragon?” He queried eagerly.
He also possessed a Dragon Vein, so if he could find another Dragon in this Outer Universe, it would mean that he had found a backer, and would not have to travel around like a headless fly like now. Maybe he could use the power of the Dragon Clan to find the World Tree, making life a lot more convenient for him.
“I encountered him by chance in this vast Starry Sky and ended up in a conflict. I don’t know where that stupid Dragon is now, but none of you Dragon Clan are anything good!” Mie Meng snorted coldly.
Cold sweat beaded over Yang Kai’s face as he was scolded by Mie Meng for no reason. But in this way, he understood what Mie Meng wanted him to do. The Dragon Clan Secret Technique could only be executed or lifted by a Dragon. If Mie Meng wanted to get out of trouble here, he might really be able to help her.
However, there was only one thing that made Yang Kai curious.
“How does Senior know I’m a Dragon?” Yang Kai was pretty sure that he did not reveal any flaws about himself.
Mie Meng replied in a cold voice, “Your Dragon Clan aura is not detectable by ordinary people, but how can this Queen not be aware of it? This is also the reason why my child brought you here.”
A sudden realization dawned on Yang Kai. This explained why the Ruler of the Dawn Great General favoured him so much. He treated him differently compared to the others when they were in Fire Spirit Land, and even blocked Du Ru Feng’s blow for him later. Great General even went through all the trouble to bring him here. It turned out that he was aware of the Dragon Vein in Yang Kai’s body, and knew that he could help his mother.
Mie Meng stated again, “But you don’t seem to be a Pureblood Dragon. Whether you can help me or not will depend on the purity of your bloodline.”
Yang Kai frowned, “What does this Junior need to do?”
“I need your Dragon Blood!”
Yang Kai asked, “And what can this Junior receive in return?”
“What do you want?” A hint of ridicule flashed across Mie Meng’s eyes.
“It depends on what Senior can offer,” Although he got along with the Great General well, he was not close to Mie Meng. He probably would have to pay a great cost to help her this time, so he needed to secure some benefits in return.
Mie Meng looked at him solemnly for a while before she suddenly extended her beak out towards him.
Yang Kai was shocked and instinctively attempted to dodge. Unexpectedly, her movements were so quick that he did not even have the time to react before it was all over. At the same time, Yang Kai sensed something had left his body, as if he had gotten rid of a layer of shackles.
There was a strange noise and Yang Kai turned to look up. A struggling, pitch-black centipede with a hundred limbs was clamped firmly between Mie Meng’s beaks, emitting strange shrieks.
“Soaring Black Centipede!” Yang Kai widened his eyes and quickly examined himself, confirming that the centipede seal that originally existed on his Dao Seal had disappeared. He looked at the centipede in Mie Meng’s beak again and knew that she had removed Old Xu’s technique.
Overjoyed, Yang Kai cupped his fists, “Many thanks, Senior!”
Although Old Xu was dead, it was still disturbing to have such a thing curled up around his Dao Seal. Yang Kai had planned to get rid of it when he broke through to the Open Heaven Realm, but who knew that the Soaring Black Centipede would be easily removed through an unexpected encounter?
Mie Meng’s effortless move had made Yang Kai deeply aware of her strength. He could not help imagining how powerful the Dragon who trapped Mie Meng with this Dragon Clan Secret Technique was!
Mie Meng lifted her neck, and swallowed the Soaring Black Centipede with a single gulp before asking lightly, “Is this enough?”
“Enough, more than enough!” Yang Kai could not stop nodding. Mie Meng’s move was a great help to him, and he should repay her kindness. Therefore, without hesitation, he asked, “Please tell me what you want me to do.”
“I only need your Dragon Blood. The more, the better. I will deal with the rest. But before that, I have to see if your Dragon Blood is pure enough. If it is not pure enough, it won’t help even if I drain all your blood.”
Without delay, Yang Kai gently cut his fingertip and squeezed out a drop of blood. He then enclosed the droplet with his power and pushed it to Mie Meng.
Mie Meng gulped the blood and her eyes which were originally slightly narrowed suddenly widened. She looked at Yang Kai in shock for a moment before a hint of amazement flashed across her eyes.
“Does this Junior’s blood meet the requirements?” Yang Kai questioned.
“We can try!” Mie Meng nodded.
“So… what next?” Yang Kai looked at her.
Mie Meng instructed, “Apply your Dragon Blood on my chains, then leave the rest to me.” Saying so, the chains on her body reappeared.
Yang Kai examined the situation for a moment before he secretly rolled his eyes. Mie Meng’s body was massive, and there were several rounds of chains binding her. It would take a lot of blood if he wanted to coat all the chains.
However, since Yang Kai has received her favour, he would not back out now. He immediately took a deep breath and bellowed, “Dragon Transformation!”
Following a series of crackles, Yang Kai’s body quickly grew into a 2,000 metres tall Half-Dragon, making him no smaller than Mie Meng. Vigorous Dragon Aura radiated from his body from the tip of his horns to the end of his tail.
The hint of amazement in Mie Meng’s eyes intensified!
Yang Kai strode over to Mie Meng and cut open his palm roughly with his claw. Blood spurted as he grabbed a chain and smeared it with his Golden Dragon Blood.
As if being stimulated by the Dragon Blood, a faint Dragon Roar echoed from within the chain, its light flickering unsteadily.
Yang Kai ignored it, grasped another chain and repeated the process.
It was good to have powerful restorative abilities, but right now they made things a little awkward. The wound on his palm soon showed signs of healing, so Yang Kai had no choice but to cut himself over and over again while continuously draining his Dragon Blood.
More and more chains were soon covered with his Golden Blood, causing them to flicker even more intensely.
Excitement was revealed in Mie Meng’s eyes. She initially just wanted to give it a try, but it turned out that she might really stand a chance to escape the bindings which held her here all these years. How could she not be excited?
After half a stick worth of incense, the chains on Mie Meng were all covered with Yang Kai’s Dragon Blood. Even if Yang Kai had high vitality, it would take him a while to recover after such expenditure.
“It’s enough!” Mie Meng suddenly opened her mouth and shouted.
Yang Kai was relieved as he could no longer maintain the Dragon Transformation Secret Technique. His body rapidly shrunk, and soon turned back to his original appearance.
“Take my child out of here first,” Mie Meng turned to Yang Kai and ordered.
The Ruler of the Dawn Great General flapped his wings and flew towards Yang Kai, who caught him and summoned the Azure Dragon Spear before soaring upwards without delay.
The spear smashed everything wherever it passed, forcibly opening a path to the surface.
Yang Kai broke out of the ground in a rumble a short while later. Not far away, Old Fang and the others heard the noise and turned to look, but before they could ask for an answer, Yang Kai bellowed, “Run!”
Old Fang and the others were stunned but did not dare to question him as they immediately followed him into the sky.
After flying a long distance away, Yang Kai finally stopped and looked back at the still-silent Universe Fragment.
“What happened?” Dié You questioned.
“Great General’s mother is here. She is currently trying to break free of a binding technique which had her trapped,” Yang Kai said briefly, not having time for a detailed explanation.
“Great General’s mother?” Old Fang was bewildered as he stared at the silly chicken that was held in Yang Kai’s arms.
As soon as his voice fell, however, a loud noise came up from the distance. When he turned to look, his face paled.
The enormous Universe Fragment was trembling endlessly at the moment and a violent energy burst out from inside. Even standing so far away, they could clearly feel the overwhelming aura which made them feel as small as ants.
Old Fang was terrified, “Did Great General’s Mother do this?” Judging from Great General’s appearance, Old Fang had not thought highly of his mother; however, by the looks of it now, he realized Great General’s mother was extraordinarily powerful!
Before Yang Kai had time to respond, a loud boom resounded, and a violent power erupted. The Universe Fragment exploded into debris that scattered in all directions.
Among the scattered fragments, a dazzling golden light appeared.
When all the dust settled, a giant golden chicken was revealed in front of everyone’s eyes. She lifted her head and chest, looking around majestically, glowing as radiantly as a rising sun, her terrifying aura causing the world around them to tremble.
*Gudong…* Old Fang gulped hard as his teeth chattered, “Great General… Is she your mother?”
Great General ignored him.
In the distance, as soon as Mie Meng broke free, she spread her wings and looked up at her audience. Her sharp crow was ear-piercing and the invisible sound wave swept out endlessly, turned into a rampaging force that forced them all backwards.
Only after a long celebration did Mie Meng withdraw her wings and stop crowing. She then began striding towards them step by step.
Old Fang’s face turned pale, he whispered to Yang Kai, “How should I address her?”
“She calls herself Mie Meng!” Yang Kai replied.
Enlightened, Old Fang immediately cupped his fist before she reached them, and shouted, “Junior Fang Bi Qi greets Senior Mie Meng!”
Dié You and Ah Sun quickly followed after him and saluted.
Mie Meng swept her eyes across the crowd before stopping on Yang Kai. She nodded slightly as she sent him a Divine Sense transmission, “Many thanks little one.”
Yang Kai cupped his fists, “Senior is too polite. You’ve also helped this Junior greatly, so it was mutually beneficial.”
Mie Meng continued, “You’d better not let others know about your Dragon Vein!”
Yang Kai asked bafflingly, “Why?”
Mie Meng sneered, “Your Dragon Clan has many enemies in this vast world. What do you think will happen to you if you let those enemies know that you are a Dragon?”
Yang Kai was enlightened, and thanked solemnly, “Many thanks for your reminder, Senior, this Junior will remember your advice.” It seemed like he could not simply use his Dragon Transformation Secret Technique in the future, at least not before he got stronger, otherwise, he may bring himself some trouble.
Yang Kai learnt of the arrogance of the Dragon Clan back when he was still in the Star Boundary and guessed that the reputation of the Dragon Clan in the Outer Universe was not much better.
Mie Meng solemnly added, “However, your Dragon Clan is one with great unity. Although the Dragons are mysterious with their whereabouts, the others will certainly avenge you if you encounter disaster. Therefore, if you encounter any unavoidable danger, you might as well reveal your Dragon Vein as it may make others think twice before hurting you.”
Yang Kai cupped his fists, “This Junior has been enlightened!”
After a pause, he proceeded, “Does Senior know where I should look if I want to find other Dragons?”
Mie Meng snorted coldly, “Didn’t I just mention that every Dragon of the Dragon Clan is mysterious with their whereabouts? Most never lay eyes on one. However, it was said that the Dragon Clan lives in the Dragon Altar, which serves as both their homeland and origin. However, no one is sure where the Dragon Altar is as only members of the Dragon Clan can find it. Try to improve your Dragon Vein, and maybe one day you will be able to sense the location of the Dragon Altar.”
“Improve my Dragon Vein…” Yang Kai was slightly baffled. If he wanted to improve his Dragon Vein, he had to continue to assimilate the Golden Divine Dragon Source into his body. Although Yang Kai now possessed a 2,000-metre-tall Half-Dragon Form, he could feel that the Dragon Source in his body had not been fully integrated yet, and he still had a lot of room for growth. However, the growth of a Dragon was time-consuming and he could not afford to wait.
Great General jumped out of Yang Kai’s arms, flapped his wings, and flew up and down unsteadily towards Mie Meng. Mie Meng lowered her head, grabbed him with her beak, turned her head and place him on her back.
Great General crowed for a while, and Mie Meng listened to him attentively. Then, she looked at Yang Kai again, and sent him a message, “Little boy, take care of yourself. Here are three golden tail feathers sealed with three Divine Abilities of this Queen. If you run into danger, you can activate them to resist your enemy. Farewell!”
As she finished, a gust of wind so strong that everyone had to close their eyes blew and by the time they recovered, Mie Meng had already disappeared, leaving only a faint trail of golden light in the distance.
To Yang Kai’s surprise, three thirty-meter-long golden feathers were floating in front of him, as if they were made of pure gold without any impurities.
Yang Kai was stunned as he did not expect Mie Meng would leave such benefits to him. It was probably the result of the last request from Great General, because Great General did seem to be communicating with her before their departure.
Yang Kai reached out towards the feathers before they rapidly shrank down to palm length. He then stuffed them into his Space Ring. Looking in the direction of Mie Meng’s departure, he raised his hand and waved goodbye. After today, he probably would never see them again.
Old Fang stared at Yang Kai’s Space Ring fixedly. Although he was clueless about the use of the three golden feathers left by Mie Meng, he naturally saw that they were not ordinary. Following a gulp, he asked, “What did Senior Mie Meng tell you just now?”
Previously, Mie Meng and Yang Kai communicated through Divine Sense transmissions, so Old Fang and the others could not hear them at all.
“She didn’t say too much, just thanked me for helping her.” Yang Kai simply responded, looked at the crowd, and continued with a smile, “Where should we go now?”
All four of them were all relatively new to this Outer Universe, as although Old Fang and Dié You had left their Universe Worlds many years ago, they had been trapped inside Seven Wonders Land most of that time. Their understanding of this Outer Universe was no better than that of Yang Kai and Ah Sun.
Before, they still at least had a goal by following the guidance of Great General; however, with the departure of Great General, they truly were like headless flies with nowhere to go.
Ah Sun proposed shyly, “Do you want to go to a place with me?”
Yang Kai turned to look at her, “Where are you going?”
“Great Moon Province!” Ah Sun looked guilty.
“Where is that?” Yang Kai was puzzled.
Old Fang looked at Ah Sun thoughtfully, and explained slowly, “There are countless great forces in the Outer Universe. If these great forces are divided into three grades, the top are naturally the Thirty-Six Cave Heavens and Seventy-Two Paradises, where there are the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters. Below these Cave Heavens and Paradises, there are Second Class forces which are led by Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters like Seven Wonders Land. Further below, there are various Spirit Provinces, which have neither High-Rank nor Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm cultivators. In these places, there are only Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters. Great Moon Province must be one of them, “
Ah Sun nodded, then shook her head, “I’m not sure, but it should be.”
Old Fang chuckled, “It seems that Sister Ah Sun also has a good background. Otherwise, how could you know such a place as Great Moon Province?”
Ah Sun could not help sticking out her tongue, “I have a Senior from Great Moon Province. I just want to find him.”
Yang Kai asked curiously, “Ah Sun, didn’t you say that the Universe World you came from had collapsed and perished, and that you were its last survivor?” He remembered clearly what Ah Sun said when he first met her.
Ah Sun explained, “Yes, that world has indeed collapsed and perished, and I am the only one left. But hundreds of years ago, a Senior from our world returned once.”
This sounded familiar… It seemed like Fang Tai had said the same before.
“That Senior left me a Faith Token so that I could find him with it one day when I entered the Outer Universe!”
This sounded even more familiar… Yang Kai was speechless for a while.
Fang Tai showed his Faith Token to Duan Hai at that time, but unlike him, Ah Sun kept it a secret. Judging from the current results, Ah Sun undoubtedly made the right choice. Although Fang Tai was sentenced to death because of assisting Zhou Zheng and Xiang Yong in stealing the Spirit Fruit, Yang Kai believed that his background might be the main cause of his death.
Thinking about it, if the senior expert from Black River World found out that his descendant, Fang Tai, was baited to be a Worker in Seven Wonders Land in the future, he would never let such a matter slide. As such, Duan Hai ordered him to hunt down Fang Tai to avoid future trouble.
If Ah Sun had followed in Fang Tai’s footsteps at that time, perhaps she might have ended up the same.
While talking, Ah Sun took out a small fox. The fox seemed to be made from an unknown Spirit Jade the size of a palm. It was white and crystal clear, looking vivid, just like a living creature.
“Can we find Great Moon Province with this?” Yang Kai was puzzled.
Ah Sun stated, “I think my Senior left the path guide in this Faith Token.”
A sudden realization dawned on Yang Kai. He immediately remembered the jade ring Faith Token left by Fang Tai. They probably had similar functions that would guide their possessor. Relying on the guidance of these Faith Tokens, one could find a specific location. Yang Kai had stored the jade ring in the Small Sealed World, but now it seemed that he needed to get rid of it as soon as possible, otherwise it could be a problem.
However, it was not enough to just get rid of the Faith Token, for he still had a mark on his body. If the mark was not removed, once he met that senior expert from Black River World, the latter would surely know that he had killed Fang Tai.
“Since you have a place to go, why didn’t you mention it before and just followed us all this time?” Dié You looked at Ah Sun as she questioned.
Ah Sun stuck out her tongue again, “I didn’t dare to run around in the Outer Universe alone, and I didn’t know what kind of people you were before…”
“So do you know now?” Dié You giggled.
Ah Sun hugged Dié You’s arm and grinned, “At least you all are not bad people.”
Dié You glanced at Yang Kai helplessly, and Yang Kai remarked, “It’s always better to be careful in the outside world. What do you all think?”
Old Fang shrugged, “I have no opinion. I can go anywhere.”
Dié You replied, “You can decide.”
They let Yang Kai make the call.
Seeing the situation, Ah Sun immediately came to Yang Kai, and shook his arm vigorously, “Senior Brother Yang, please come with me. Ah Sun really doesn’t dare to run around alone, and after you get there, you can stay there if you find it suitable for you. My Senior seems to have some power in Great Moon Province, so it shouldn’t be a problem to take in a few people.”
“Don’t simply guarantee things for others!” Yang Kai chuckled and continued after pondering for a while, “Alright, alright, stop shaking my arm. Since we have no place to go anyway, we’ll come with you.”
“Thank you, Senior Brother Yang!” Ah Sun was overjoyed.
“You only thank him?” Old Fang asked faintly.
Ah Sun grinned, “Thank you, Senior Brother Fang, Senior Sister Dié You!”
Old Fang nodded, “Good girl!”
Yang Kai pressed on, “But we can only decide whether to stay after seeing the situation there.”
Ah Sun nodded repeatedly, “Ah Sun understands, but don’t worry, if Senior Brothers and Sister really want to stay, you won’t be treated like Workers.”
“Let’s go!” Yang Kai raised his hand and tapped his knuckles on her head.
Ah Sun did not mind it. She held the fox-shaped white jade in her palm, her face suddenly turning solemn as she started muttering something. They had no idea what she was chanting, but a power surged around her, which was then poured into the fox.
A white figure abruptly shot out of Ah Sun’s palm and turned into a six-meter-long Three-Tailed Fox. The fox turned its head and looked at the people with intelligent eyes, and after nodding, it started running swiftly.
Needless to say, the fox was guiding them towards Great Moon Province.
“Keep up with it!” Yang Kai gave a low cry and the four of them immediately followed after the fox.
Fortunately, the fox was galloping in the same direction as they were travelling before. In other words, they did not waste time travelling here with Great General to save his mother and now just needed to continue to follow this path.
It seemed there was a long way to go as the four of them followed the fox, speeding along through the void.
None of them knew where Great Moon Province was, so they could only follow the guide. One month had passed, and the fox-shaped guide was still leading the way for them ahead, and it wasn’t certain when they would reach their destination.
Initially, they were still calm and collected, but as time passed, they began becoming fidgety, especially Ah Sun. She even doubted whether the guide given to her by her Senior was useful at all. Otherwise, why hadn’t they arrived at their destination even now?
One day, a Territory Gate that was hanging in the void suddenly appeared in front of them. The fox guide shot forward and stopped right in front of the gate, then it turned its head to look at them.
“It seems that we have to go through the Territory Gate.” Yang Kai muttered out loud. He was familiar with Territory Gates as he had moved past several of them when he and Duan Hai were heading to Seven Wonders Land. However, one had to be powerful enough to pass through a Territory Gate; otherwise, the person would fall into danger. Yang Kai wondered whether they would be able to do it. It would be terrible if they came out of the other side of the gate dead.
Apparently, Old Fang and the others shared the same concern as well, so they stopped in their tracks and stared forward with a frown.
Just then, the fox guide suddenly swirled around and turned into a mass of white light before engulfing everyone in it.
They traded glances and put on smiles, thinking that the Senior Ah Sun had come across was truly considerate. He must be aware that, given Ah Sun’s strength, she wasn’t able to pass through the Territory Gates, which was why he had given her a guide that could act as a protector.
Without the need for a discussion, all four of them dashed into the gate.
Following that, the world could be seen spinning around them, and as their vision refocused, they realised that they were already in a different Great Territory. The Starry Sky around them had changed and none of them knew how far they had travelled by just passing through the gate.
After that, the white light around them turned back into a fox, but at this moment, the fox no longer looked bright; instead, it appeared to be dim. It seemed that it had cost the fox quite some energy to shuttle through the gate.
Still, the fox led the way for them at the front while they followed behind, dashing forward at full speed.
Half a month later, the fox once again stopped in front of a Territory Gate. With a similar experience in the past, they already knew what to do. After they gathered together, the fox once again turned into a beam of white light and engulfed them.
Yang Kai took the initiative and led the others into the Territory Gate. However, they weren’t as fortunate as the previous time. After entering the gate, Yang Kai realised that a power that seemed able to tear them apart was pressing down on them from all directions as the white light around them became increasingly dim.
A shocked Yang Kai realised that they were in trouble. This fox was given by a Senior to lead Ah Sun to Great Moon Province, but that Senior probably never expected Ah Sun to be heading there with three others in tow. As a result, the fox guide had to use significantly more energy to pass through the Territory Gates.
Great Moon Province was just a Third-Class force, the lowest possible rank in the Outer Universe according to Old Fang’s knowledge. The strongest masters in such a force would only be Third-Order Open Heaven Realm. Apparently, the power of that Senior was limited as well, so there was no way the guide he had left behind was very strong. After passing through two Territory Gates, it was running out of energy.
“Don’t resist!” Yang Kai yelled and summoned the Six Fated Paths Bag before enveloping the others inside.
Apparently, they also noticed that something was wrong with the guide, so upon seeing what Yang Kai was doing, they immediately realised his intention and relaxed their guard. With a flash, the three of them were put inside the Fated Paths Bag.
After they were gone, the speed at which the white light around Yang Kai was diminishing had indeed slowed down, but it still turned dim after a moment. Yang Kai was extremely nervous as he wasn’t sure how he would end up without the guide’s protection. He could do nothing but pray that they would leave the gate soon.
In the chaotic time and space, a light could be seen up ahead. A highly motivated Yang Kai hurriedly manipulated Space Principles to drive himself forward. It felt like a short while, but also like an eternity had passed. Yang Kai soon realised that the view around him had changed as he dashed out of the gate.
Turning around, all he could see was Starry Sky. This Territory Gate was identical to the ones in the Demon Realm in the sense that they were unidirectional. Maybe there were bidirectional ones, but Yang Kai hadn’t come across any.
Then, he lowered his head and realised that the white light around him had disappeared, which rendered him speechless.
After Old Fang and the others were released from the Fated Paths Bag, Ah Sun asked, “Where’s the fox?”
Yang Kai shook his head.
Ah Sun’s expression changed as she quickly fished out the Faith Token given to her by her Senior, only to see that the palm-sized fox-shaped white jade appeared dim and full of cracks, as though it would break apart at any moment.
Obviously, the Faith Token could never be activated again.
“Ah Sun…” Yang Kai felt his head aching. “Maybe we’ve caused you some trouble.”
If Ah Sun was on her own, the guide should have had enough power to safely bring her to Great Moon Province; however, with three more people along for the ride, the guide had expended too much energy when passing through the Territory Gates. Before they even reached their destination, the guide was gone, which was pretty embarrassing.
Ah Sun fell into a dazed state as she hadn’t expected this to happen. There were two reasons why she had invited Yang Kai and the others to head to Great Moon Province with her. Firstly, she believed that they were kind-hearted people. The second reason was also the main reason. Just like what she had said, she wouldn’t dare to roam around the Outer Universe alone as she had only condensed her Dao Seal. If she came across any danger, she wouldn’t be able to protect herself.
With the fox in her hand, Ah Sun forced a smile and shook her head, “It has nothing to do with you all. I was the one who asked you to come with me.”
“What should we do now?” Dié You looked at Yang Kai and asked.
It took them a lot of effort to finally decide on a destination, but now, both the guide and the destination were gone.
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai said, “The guide’s lead should be correct. Since it has brought us to this place, it means that Great Moon Province is in this direction. We just don’t know whether it is in this Great Territory. If it is, we’ll stand a chance to find it. If it’s not, it’ll be troublesome. We’d better ask around now.”
Old Fang put on a bitter smile. “How are you going to ask around? We’ve been roaming around for months, but we’ve never seen anyone else.”
“That’s because we didn’t look for other people. In any Great Territory, there must be great forces of different sizes. As long as we have the heart, we can find some people.”
“What if the great forces in this place are like Seven Wonders Land?”
“Consider us unlucky, then,” Yang Kai shrugged.
After he finished speaking though, Yang Kai caught a glimpse of a light flickering in the distance, which prompted him to turn his head. Realising that there was nothing over there, however, he frowned deeply. Just when he thought it was just an illusion, Dié You asked, “Did you see it?”
“You saw it too?” Yang Kai questioned.
Dié You nodded. “I saw something flickering in the distance.”
Old Fang craned his neck and looked in that direction, but he appeared puzzled, “I didn’t see anything. Were you mistaken?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “It might have been my imagination if I was the only one who saw it, but there’s no way two people would be mistaken at the same time. Something flickered over there.”
“Why didn’t I see anythi… Wait!” Old Fang suddenly exclaimed and pointed in that direction, “Look! Did you see that?”
He appeared as though he had discovered something strange, which shocked Yang Kai and the others as they looked in the direction he pointed. Initially, they couldn’t see anything, but when Yang Kai sharpened his vision and kept looking, his pupils suddenly contracted.
That was because he saw a building floating in the distant void.
After blinking a few times, Yang Kai could confirm that there was indeed a building over there. It was small with two flapping flags erected at the front of the door.
Upon seeing this, Dié You and Ah Sun appeared surprised as well.
“Is that a Small Universe?” Yang Kai frowned. When he came across Duan Hai in the past, the entrance to his Small Universe was a door in the void. Seeing this building now, he couldn’t help associating the two.
“I have no idea,” Old Fang replied and shook his head, “Why don’t we go over to have a look?”
Dié You and Ah Sun remained silent as they turned to look at Yang Kai, awaiting his decision.
Yang Kai looked around before bursting into laughter, “Well, we’ve finally come across other people, so it would be a shame if we don’t go over to have a look. However, we don’t know what’s going on over there, so we’d better observe it from a distance before making any decision.”
The three of them nodded at the same time, “Good.”
Upon making a decision, the group of four flew over and stopped in a spot that was far away from the building as they wouldn’t dare to go near. After concealing their auras, they started observing the building.
Soon, they were surprised because they could see people going in and coming out of the building. Even though there were not many people, the sight was pretty shocking in and of itself.
Some of them had companions while some of them were on their own. It wasn’t certain how powerful they were, but there was no way they were all Open Heaven Realm Masters. Some of them must be like Yang Kai and the others who had only condensed their Dao Seal as they were still trying to reach the Open Heaven Realm.
“Little Brother, look. There are characters on the flag,” Old Fang suddenly said.
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai realised that there were indeed words on the flags in front of the building. The character on the left flag was for ‘wine’, while the ones on the right flag read ‘First Inn’.
At that instant, Yang Kai’s expression turned stiff.
Dié You said, “Why does this place look like…”
“An inn?” Ah Sun widened her eyes.
“No way…” The corner of Old Fang’s mouth twitched.
“It’s possible.” Yang Kai fell into his thoughts. “Anything can happen in the Outer Universe. There are people going in and coming out of that building, and there are two flags in front of the door. What else is this place if it is not an inn?”
“Who would build an inn here?” Old Fang still couldn’t believe it. Could the owner earn any money by building an inn here? Was the owner expecting people passing by to stay for a meal and a rest?
“Well, we’ll only find out after we take a look.” Yang Kai clenched his teeth and turned to look at them.
A moment later, the group of four stood in front of what looked like an inn. There was an open space before the building, and the flags were erected on the ground. Even though there was no wind in the void, a rustling sound was heard as the flags flapped freely.
Now, they had nowhere else to go, and they knew nothing about the Outer Universe. More importantly, all of them were considered weak in this place. Now that they had finally come across what looked like an inn, they certainly had to take a look. It would be wonderful if they could find out where Great Moon Province was from the people here.
However, Old Fang appeared worried, “Little Brother, could this be a bandits’ inn?”
Yang Kai gave him a look and grinned meaningfully, “Even if it’s really a bandits’ inn, it’s too late for us to leave now.”
Upon hearing that, Old Fang turned pale as he looked up at the flags; however, before he could derive anything useful from the flags, a person stepped out of the inn with a bright smile on his face, “Welcome, honourable guests!”
Yang Kai turned his head, only to see a person who looked like a shop boy, flashing a fawning smile at them, a white towel draped over his shoulder. He looked just like the shop hands he had come across in the past.
At that instant, Yang Kai fell into a dazed state for a moment before he subconsciously activated his Divine Sense to find out about this person’s cultivation. However, he was stunned by the outcome as he couldn’t make out how powerful this shop hand was. Despite the bright smile on this person’s face, he didn’t seem to have existed at all, which was extremely peculiar.
Yang Kai believed that this person must have an artifact that could conceal his cultivation. Even if an Open Heaven Realm Master was standing in front of him, they probably wouldn’t be able to detect anything.
Since they had arrived at this place, there was no way they would just leave, so Yang Kai nodded gently and led his companions inside.
From the outside, there was nothing special about the inn as it was just a building that was made of red bricks and green tiles; however, upon entering, they realised that it was different from what they had expected.
The hall was spacious, easily accommodating over twenty tables. Besides that, there was a second floor.
Presently, it was hustling and bustling in the hall. Most of the tables had been occupied as the guests drank wine and chatted. The customers were dressed up in all different kinds of styles. Some of them were obviously from the same great force as they wore similar robes. Some of them were dressed up differently, but they were apparently from the same group.
There was a counter near the entrance, and behind it was an accountant who was loudly fiddling with a golden abacus. Inside the hall, shop boys could be seen moving around as the delicate dishes exuded an aromatic scent.
When Yang Kai and the others stepped into the hall, the accountant took one look at them and continued fiddling with his abacus.
The shop hand from before hospitably led them to an empty table and wiped it with the white towel on his shoulder before asking, “What would you like to order?”
“What do you have?” Yang Kai looked around and absent-mindedly asked.
The shop boy said proudly, “Whatever you want to eat, we’ll be able to prepare it for you.”
That was indeed a bold statement, so Old Fang grinned meaningfully and asked, “Are you able to prepare Dragon livers and Phoenix hearts?”
The shop boy replied, “We can get them for you, but you’ll have to wait as they’re out of stock now. If you’re not in the rush, you can stay for three to five years and we’ll definitely acquire the dishes for you.”
The corner of Old Fang’s mouth twitched as he muttered, “Are you serious?”
The shop boy said, “It depends on whether you’re patient enough to find out if it’s true.” He placed the white towel over his shoulder and declared, “Integrity is the key to our First Inn’s success; otherwise, we wouldn’t have survived until now. Don’t you agree?”
Yang Kai coughed, “We don’t need Dragon livers and Phoenix hearts. Just get us some of your signature dishes and some bottles of wine.”
“Good. I’ll be right back,” the shop boy replied and turned around to leave.
“It’s really an inn,” After the shop boy was gone, Old Fang looked around and spoke to Yang Kai via Divine Sense, his voice filled with disbelief.
Yang Kai nodded, “It doesn’t look like a bandits’ inn either. Maybe we can ask the shop boy whether Great Moon Province is in this territory.”
Ah Sun’s gaze brightened when she heard that and nodded her head repeatedly, “We certainly have to ask him about it.”
It was still noisy in the hall, and observing from the side, Yang Kai detected some auras that were clearly in the Open Heaven Realm. Apparently, there were Open Heaven Realm Masters present. However, some of those people were just like them who had only condensed a Dao Seal and had yet to reach the Open Heaven Realm.
After some observation, Yang Kai was finally able to set his mind at ease. This wasn’t a bandits’ inn, and the cultivation of the people coming in and out of the inn varied. In that case, they didn’t have to worry about their safety.
The workers in First Inn were pretty efficient and in just a quarter hour, the shop boy returned with four delicate dishes, a bowl of soup, and two bottles of wine, which were an ample meal for the group of four.
It wasn’t certain what the dishes were made of, but they looked appetising; moreover, the aromatic scent made them feel eager to have the food immediately. Ah Sun gulped repeatedly as though she hadn’t eaten anything for a few hundred years.
“All the dishes are ready. Please enjoy,” the shop boy said and wanted to leave.
Yang Kai quickly raised his hand, “Shop hand, there’s no rush. Can we get some information from you?”
The shop boy turned around with a smile on his face, “Our First Inn serves guests from all over, so we’ve gathered all kinds of information. We can sell the information to you, depending on what you want to ask.”
“Sell the information to us?” Yang Kai frowned, “Do we have to pay?”
The shop hand replied, “There are no free meals in this world. Regardless of what kind of information it is, it has some value in our inn.”
“How much do you charge?”
“It depends on what you want to ask. Some information is cheap, while some information is expensive.”
Yang Kai felt speechless at how profit-minded they ran their business, but after giving it a thought, he realised that it wasn’t surprising. In this Outer Universe, it was difficult to look for anyone to ask about any information. Since they were able to do this kind of business, they must have their own unique capabilities.
“I want to know the location of a certain great force,” Yang Kai said.
“Which great force?”
“Great Moon Province.”
The shop boy extended his hand, “One hundred Open Heaven Pills, please.”
Old Fang almost sprayed out the wine from his mouth, “O-One hundred Open Heaven Pills? Why don’t you just rob us?” Having served as a Worker in Seven Wonders Land, only receiving a wage of 3 Open Heaven Pills a year, Old Fan could not believe that this little piece of information cost 100 pills. Gazing at the dishes in front of him, he gulped. If such a piece of information was already so expensive, how much did these dishes cost? He subconsciously covered his Space Ring.
The smile on the shop boy’s face seemed to be eternal as he commented, “You’re free to decide whether you want to ask.”
After a nod, Yang Kai fished out a hundred pills from his Space Ring and passed them to him. The shop boy took them and gave Yang Kai a jade slip, “The location of Great Moon Province is inside. You just have to check it.”
Yang Kai infused his Divine Sense into the slip and immediately saw something like a Star Chart. Upon getting his bearings, he found their current location and that of Great Moon Province. After calculating the distance, he couldn’t help but be shocked.
“How is it?” Ah Sun asked anxiously.
Yang Kai passed the jade slip to her, “It’s not in this territory. We’ll have to go through two more Territory Gates before we reach the Great Territory that Great Moon Province is in.”
Ah Sun took a look and realised that just like what Yang Kai had said, Great Moon Province wasn’t in this Great Territory. If they wanted to go there, they still had a long way to go. That revelation made her feel dejected.
Yang Kai raised his head and stared at the shop boy, “How do we move past a Territory Gate?” As he spoke, he fished out another hundred Open Heaven Pills.
The shop boy replied, “Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters can pass through the gates as they please. People who are below that realm need to buy some defensive flight-type artifacts, which are sold in every Star City.”
“Is there a Star City in this place? Where is it?” Yang Kai passed a hundred pills to him again.
The shop boy gave him another jade slip, “Just follow this route and you’ll reach there in a month.”
Without the need to have a look, Yang Kai knew that it must be a map.
“Are all of you new to the Outer Universe?” The shop boy suddenly asked.
This wasn’t any kind of big secret; moreover, what Yang Kai had asked was all basic knowledge, so anyone could deduce that they were new to the Outer Universe. Therefore, he nodded, “En.”
“In that case…” The shop boy gave it a thought, “Since you’ve already paid for three pieces of information, I’ll give you some basics for free as a bonus.”
“Many thanks,” Yang Kai cupped his fists.
The shop boy went on to say, “Let’s talk about the First Inn first. Our business spans the entire Outer Universe, and we have a shop in every Great Territory. If you come across any trouble you’re unable to solve, like you’re being hunted down by your enemies, you can seek refuge in our inn. Inside our inn, no one is allowed to fight. Otherwise, the consequences would be dreadful for that person.”
A shocked Yang Kai asked, “Does your inn serve as a shelter as well?”
The shop boy smiled meaningfully, “Everyone who steps into our shop is our guest, so it is only natural we ensure they are provided a safe environment. If anything happens to our guests inside our inn, how would we continue running our business?”
Despite his nonchalant tone, Yang Kai understood the profound meaning behind his words. Initially, he thought that this was just an ordinary inn, but now it seemed that this business had some powerful backers. If that wasn’t the case, this shop boy wouldn’t have dared to say such a thing. It had to be noted that many people who roamed around the Outer Universe were Open Heaven Realm Masters.
“Let’s move on to the Great Moon Province…” The shop boy smiled gently, “Perhaps you won’t need to travel there yourselves. Just wait here for some time, and you may see some people from Great Moon Province.”
“Why?” Ah Sun hurriedly asked.
“Because something has happened in this Great Territory. Many people from different great forces have come to this place for a certain event.” The shop boy pointed at the hall, “Why else do you think so many people have come here?”
“What happened?” Yang Kai was curious as he reckoned that it must be something serious; otherwise, it couldn’t have attracted so many people to gather here.
The shop boy gave it a thought and heaved a sigh, “Forget it. Since you’re new here, you probably don’t have much wealth with you. I’ll give you the information for free.” Then, he passed one more jade slip to Yang Kai and swung the white towel across his shoulder, “Enjoy your meal. Call out to me if there’s anything else you need.”
After taking a few steps forward, the shop boy turned around, “By the way, we not only sell but also buy information. If you have any useful information in the future, you can sell it to any First Inn location. You can also sell some rare treasures to us. We have always been fair when doing business.”
After the shop boy left, the others stared at the jade slip in Yang Kai’s hand. Ah Sun asked, “What has happened in this place? Why did he say we might be able to meet people from Great Moon Province by waiting here?”
Yang Kai shook his head and infused his Divine Sense into the jade slip. A moment later, he arched his brow and appeared shocked. Gazing at the others, he passed the jade slip to them, “Have a look.”
After all of them took turns to see what was in the jade slip, they all appeared astounded and fell silent.
“A Sun Star is dying?” Dié You fell into her thoughts, “So, the glint of light we saw some time ago was the final radiance of the Sun Star?”
Yang Kai nodded, “I think so.”
When they left the Territory Gate some time ago, he and Dié You caught a glimpse of a bright light that flashed across their eyes, but the duration was short. At that time, they didn’t understand what had happened. Now, upon reading the content in the jade slip, they came to the realization that it was the final radiance of a Sun Star before its death.
The imminent death of a Sun Star was a major event in any place. If it was as simple as that, it wouldn’t have attracted so many great forces to come over though. The crux of the matter was that a Sun Star contained something called Sun’s True Gold. Usually, even an Open Heaven Realm Master wasn’t able to approach, much less dive into a Sun Star as the heat was simply too horrifying. However, a dying Sun Star was a different case. Given a chance, anyone could venture inside and have a look.
Even the lowest quality Sun’s True Gold was a Sixth-Order material. Moreover, it was one of the purest Fire Elements in existence. More importantly, on rare occasions, a Golden Crow Divine Palace could exist inside a Sun Star, and the reason behind a Sun Star’s imminent demise was that its Golden Crow was dying.
As the saying goes, men die for wealth just as birds die for food. If there was nothing to be gained in this place, no one would have come.
Be it the possible existence of Sun’s True Gold or the unlikely existence of the Golden Crow Divine Palace, it could attract great forces of different sizes from all the nearby Great Territories, which was why there were so many guests in this First Inn. Otherwise, no one would have stayed over and had their meals here in the void.
“Sun’s True Gold…” A glow radiated from Old Fang’s eyes, “If we can get just one piece of it, we’ll never have to worry about money again for the rest of our lives.”
According to the jade slip, Sun’s True Gold was at least a Sixth-Order material, making it worth at least 15 million Open Heaven Pills. Furthermore, it was so rare that if it was really sold, the seller could expect to get several million more pills on top of that.
Dié You pressed her lips together, “Even if we’re lucky enough to get our hands on such an item, we won’t live long enough to enjoy it.”
The great forces from the neighbouring Great Territories had gathered in this place as they stared fixedly at the dying Sun Star. It wasn’t hard to imagine that once the Sun’s fires really died down, countless people would go over to explore the Star. Given their strength, even if they were lucky enough to find a piece of Sun’s True Gold, they wouldn’t be able to leave with it alive.
When Old Fang heard what Dié You said, his expression dimmed as he thumped himself with a fist, “Damn it!”
“No one can tell whose side fortune will favour. We might stand a chance.” Yang Kai put on a smile, “In any case, we have to stay here and see if we’ll come across anyone from Great Moon Province.”
To the side, Ah Sun nodded repeatedly.
Compared to passing through two Territory Gates to head to Great Moon Province’s headquarters, waiting here was an easier option. If they were lucky enough, they might meet some people from Great Moon Province, and Ah Sun could reunite with them.
“So… we’ll try our luck, then?” Old Fang looked inquisitively at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai bowed his head, “That’s all we can do now.”
After the discussion, they finally relaxed and enjoyed the meal while chatting. It had to be said that the chefs in First Inn were truly skillful as the dishes were delectable. The group of four quickly finished everything that was served.
Then, the same shop boy passed them the bill. Upon seeing that the meal cost two hundred Open Heaven Pills, Yang Kai felt his hand shaking. Even though he had obtained several hundred thousand Open Heaven Pills previously, they would not last long if they continued to splurge like this.
After calming his nerves, Yang Kai asked the shop boy when the Sun Star was expected to perish. The shop boy had no idea unfortunately as the current situation had lasted for over three years, and may still take a few months to years before they would see any apparent results. After all, the death of a Sun Star was a gradual process.
The group of four had no other choice but to stay here. The accommodations were extremely expensive as well though. One room would cost five hundred Open Heaven Pills per night, and there was no negotiation on that price. The benefit of staying here was that they would provide free meals, and whether or not they ate, the price wouldn’t change.
Initially, they thought that they would just get one room for the four of them. They didn’t need to sleep anyway and just wanted to stay here because they were trying to come across anyone from Great Moon Province. Secondly, they wanted to observe the Sun Star. Given a chance, Yang Kai wouldn’t mind exploring it.
However, the shop boy wouldn’t agree to it. He told Yang Kai that one room could accommodate two people at most. They had to get another room if there were more than two people.
They had to obey First Inn’s rules since they were on their territory. Left with no choice, they booked two rooms. One room was for Old Fang and Yang Kai, while the other room was for Dié You and Ah Sun. They had to spend a thousand pills every day for a place to stay. Ah Sun had no idea what that number meant, but Old Fang and Dié You were heartbroken as they persuaded Yang Kai to just stay outside.
However, Yang Kai refused because all of them were too weak. By staying in this inn, they didn’t have to worry about their safety at the very least. If they stayed outside, they wouldn’t know what would happen to them. A lot of people came and went from the inn, so they might come across some wicked people if they lingered outside.
After they got the room cards from the counter, the shop boy hospitably led them to the inner court. Before the shop boy left, Yang Kai told him to take note of any news about Great Moon Province and immediately inform him if anyone from that great force came to this place.
The shop boy nodded.
The rooms were beside one another, so they could assist each other if anything happened. Then, they agreed to meet every three days and exchange information they had gathered. Yang Kai and Old Fang looked around and realised that the room was small with only a single bed, table, and chair. There was barely enough space for two people, and it really would be too cramped for four people to stay together.
Old Fang said, “Little Brother, you sleep on the bed while I take the floor.” Yang Kai had paid for everything, so Old Fang didn’t dare to request to sleep on the bed, nor would he want to do so.
Yang Kai didn’t turn him down as he directly sat down on the bed with his legs crossed. Then, he fished out the Shadowless Veil and started refining it.
The incident regarding the Sun Star was too complicated, as the major great forces would be gathering in this place. If Yang Kai wanted to participate in the upcoming exploration, he would need to become stronger. In that case, the Shadowless Veil was of utmost importance. When they were on the road previously, Yang Kai had been trying to refine it. However, this item seemed to be of high grade, making it difficult to refine, which was why he still hadn’t fully finished already. Certainly, he had to seize the chance to refine it as it might save his life at a critical moment.
In the blink of an eye, three days had passed and it was time for their first meet-up. After leaving the rooms, Yang Kai and the others met with one another in the dining hall as they chatted and exchanged some information.
In truth, there was nothing new to share. The people from Great Moon Province hadn’t arrived, and the Sun Star was still in a half-dead state as it shot out a dazzling light from time to time. No one knew when the Sun’s fire would truly die.
After they were done with their meal, they decided to leave the hall. They didn’t have to pay for the meal anyway as it was included in their accommodation fees.
And so, the group of four went on to stay in the inn for the next three months, thus making them some of the longest staying customers in the inn. With 1,000 pills a day as the fee, Yang Kai had to pay 30,000 pills for a month, 90,000 pills for three months. In other words, his wallet had shrunk by almost a third already.
They would still meet up every three days; however, they had been staying here for three months now and still hadn’t got any information they wanted, which made them feel dejected.
On the other hand, Yang Kai had familiarised himself with the shop boy and the accountant, securing a slight discount if he needed any information. Furthermore, he had discovered that there was an elusive lady boss in the inn. It had been three months since he started living here, but he had only met her three times. She was a charming woman who always kept a smile on her face. Every time she emerged from the rear court, she would greet every customer and ask how they were doing, so it was apparent that she was an adept host.
There were many kinds of customers. Some would drool over her beauty and flirt with her, but she would never become incensed. Instead, she could have a good laugh with them.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai had once seen a man attempt to molest her. In the end, he was thrown out of the inn, and even those from his great force were chased away. They were barred from entering the inn again, and not just this location, but all First Inns in the Outer Universe had blacklisted them.
It was because of this incident that Yang Kai managed to speculate about this woman’s true power. She was a Mid-Rank Open Heaven Master at the very least, but he wasn’t certain which Order she was in.
After giving it a thought, he came to the realisation that no matter how powerful First Inn’s backers were, a top Master needed to be stationed at each branch in order to deter miscreants and thugs.
Even though he hadn’t gotten any useful information for the past three months, Yang Kai had actually gained something. He had fully refined the Shadowless Veil, so he decided to move on to the Six Fated Paths Bag.
However, the Six Fated Paths Bag that he had obtained from Old Xu was clearly of a higher grade than the Shadowless Veil, which meant that it was even more difficult to refine. Fortunately, in the past, Old Xu had taught him how to refine it because he wanted Yang Kai’s help to smuggle him into Seven Wonders Land. Furthermore, Old Xu had assisted Yang Kai with the initial refinement, so Yang Kai managed to make quick progress with it. He reckoned that he wouldn’t take long to fully refine it.
It had been four months since they started staying in First Inn. One day, Old Fang, who was meditating on the ground, suddenly heard Yang Kai calling out to him, so he opened his eyes; however, before he could ask anything, he saw a shadow engulfing him.
A shocked Old Fang tried to dodge, but the shadow seemed able to seal off the space around him, which made him feel he was unable to flee. While he was in a dazed state, his vision darkened as he plunged into a pitch-black space.
After blinking, he came to the realization that he had been put inside the strange bag by Yang Kai. Recalling what Yang Kai had been doing recently, he hurriedly asked, “Little Brother, have you successfully refined it?”
Yang Kai replied, “I can use it with some effort now.”
On the bed, Yang Kai was holding the Six Fated Paths Bag as he furrowed his brow. In the past, he could only open and close the bag, which meant that he couldn’t activate the artifact’s power. After some refining, he could finally use it to fend off his enemies.
To him, this item felt just like his Sealed World Bead. Both of them could be used to suck people in, but depending on the enemy’s power, the energy needed to do so varied.
The only difference was that Yang Kai was the ruler of the Sealed World Bead, so after he put someone inside it, he could do whatever he wanted to them. Fated Paths Bag was no match for the Sealed World Bead in this regard. Nevertheless, the bag wasn’t only useful for keeping people. He could also activate some seals and killing arrays within it.
He experimented on Old Fang by putting him inside the bag, but he didn’t intend to use any seals, so he soon released him.
Old Fang stared at the bag in Yang Kai’s hand with an envious gaze, “It’s such a treasure.” He had lived for a long time, but he had never seen such an artifact before.
Without replying to him, Yang Kai got to his feet and said, “Let’s go out to have a look around.”
After they left the inner court and entered the hall, Yang Kai was startled. The hall, which was usually hustling and bustling, was extremely quiet now while all the tables were empty. Raising his head, Yang Kai realised that the accountant was still loudly fiddling with his golden abacus behind the counter, and the shop boy was taking a nap on a stool in the corner.
“What’s going on?” Old Fang looked around as he appeared puzzled.
An astounded Yang Kai walked up to the shop boy and patted him, “Wake up.”
The shop boy shuddered and raised his head, only to see that it was Yang Kai who patted him, “It’s you.” After he finished speaking, he lethargically lay down again.
After a few months, they had become familiarised with one another. The shop boy was no longer as hospitable as before, and he spoke in a more nonchalant manner.
“Where are all the others? Why are they missing?” Yang Kai asked.
The shop boy turned over and pointed at the door, “They’ve gone out.”
Yang Kai’s chest tightened when he heard that, “Has anything happened to the Sun Star?” The reason so many people had been staying at the inn was that they were waiting for the Sun Star to die. Now that everyone had gone out, it was apparent that something had happened.
The shop boy replied, “En. It seems that the Sun’s fire is about to die out. All of them have gone over to try their luck.” All of a sudden, he sat up and stared at Yang Kai, “By the way, the people from Great Moon Province have arrived as well. They’re over at the Sun Star now.”
With a solemn expression, Yang Kai gazed at Old Fang and said, “Call Dié You and Ah Sun.”
“There’s no need for that.” Dié You’s voice could be heard coming from behind. Yang Kai turned his head, only to see Dié You and Ah Sun stepping out of the inner court, “We’ve heard everything. What should we do now?”
Yang Kai turned to Ah Sun, “We’ll look for those from Great Moon Province first, then go from there.”
The Sun’s fire was dying out, so the time to explore the Sun Star had come; however, the four of them were too weak to participate on their own. If they could be protected by those from Great Moon Province though, they might stand a chance.
All of them agreed and set off on their journey.
The shop boy got to his feet and yelled, “Do you want me to keep the rooms for you?”
“Fuck off! I’ll never stay at this bandits’ inn again!” Yang Kai shouted as he didn’t even turn his head. He had spent over 100,000 pills just to stay in this inn for four months. If he hadn’t obtained a great fortune from some dead cultivators previously, he couldn’t have afforded to stay here. Whatever the outcome of their journey to the Sun Star, he would never come back to this inn again. He would even circumvent the inn if he had to return to this place!
The shop boy pointed at Yang Kai and roared, “Brat, I dare you to call our noble establishment a bandits’ inn to Proprietress! She’ll definitely skin you alive!”
However, Yang Kai was already nowhere in sight as he had fled from the scene.
After flying forward for a few days, they still hadn’t reached their destination surprisingly. They had come across some powerful people who were heading in the same direction, which frightened them, but nevertheless, this way, they could confirm that they were moving in the right direction.
A few days later, a dazzling light suddenly expanded in front of them and illuminated almost half of the Starry Sky. At the same time, a scorching power spread around like a ripple. Despite being far away still, Yang Kai could acutely sense how pure this power was. He became elated as he knew that the Sun Star might really contain Sun’s True Gold.
There were three reasons why he wanted to insert himself into this matter. Firstly, he wanted to join in the fun and have a look at the heritage of the different great forces in the Outer Universe. Secondly, he wanted to bring Ah Sun to reunite with those from Great Moon Province. The third reason was also the main reason. Now, he had condensed his Wood Element, and Wood sustained Fire, so he had to condense his Fire Element next. However, because of the high starting point of his Wood Element, he had to look for High-Rank Open Heaven materials; otherwise, it would be considered a waste. Nevertheless, it wasn’t easy to find such materials. There was no doubt that Sun’s True Gold could meet Yang Kai’s requirements. Despite the word ‘Gold’ in its name, it was a Fire Element material instead of a Metal Element one.
Yang Kai had set a new goal for himself, and that was to directly break through to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm at the very least. Only by achieving that could he make use of Open Heaven Pills to help him ascend to the Eighth Order or even the peak Ninth Order. Even the lowest grade Sun’s True Gold was a Sixth-Order material. If he was lucky, he might be able to find a Seventh-Order one. If not for the possible benefits, Yang Kai really wouldn’t have the guts to butt in on this affair when so many great forces taking part in it.
While they were flying forward, the group of four suddenly felt an immense pressure coming from behind. They became shocked as they turned their heads, only to see a giant ship coming at them at full speed.
The ship was apparently an extraordinary flight-type artifact with incredible speed. When they saw the ship, it was still in the distance, but in the blink of an eye, the gap between them had shortened by half. When they came to their senses, the ship was already right in front of them.
The ship didn’t slow down at all, as though the people it inside were not aware of their existence, and soon, it would collide with the four of them.
Yang Kai’s expression changed drastically as he shouted, “Scatter!”
All of them were fairly powerful as they had condensed their own Dao Seals; however, if they were struck by such a ship, they would certainly end up in a miserable state.
Even before Yang Kai finished shouting, all four of them separated to both sides, and the next instant, the ship flew past them and moved further into the distance. When they gathered together again, Old Fang said with a dark expression, “Which great force was that? This is outrageous! Can’t they see there are four of us here? Are they blind!?”
Dié You put on a helpless smile, “Alright, alright. At least all of us are fine. I guess they just have no regard for us at all.”
“How could they oppress us in such a way?” Old Fang was incensed.
Yang Kai heaved a sigh, “If we don’t want to let anyone oppress us, we have to grow stronger…” As he spoke, he suddenly knitted his brows because the gigantic ship had returned as it was coming towards them again.
Old Fang turned pale in an instant as he stammered, “W-What are they trying to do? Did they hear what I just said?”
Yang Kai said grimly, “If they intend to harm us, flee immediately.” Even though he had no idea why this ship had returned, he reckoned that they were up to no good. If they got into a conflict, the four of them were certainly no match for the other party, so their best option was to try to flee.
Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in a solemn manner.
Just then, the ship stopped in front of them. A tall and thin man emerged on the deck as he looked down at Yang Kai and the others in an aloof manner. The man looked like he was in his late twenties, and his arms were wrapped around two alluring ladies whose outfits were on the skimpy side as a large amount of their fair skin was exposed. Their eyes were attractive, and even the smell of their breaths was pleasant. Snuggling up to the man from both sides, they followed his gaze and looked down with a smile.
Seeing this, Dié You and Ah Sun started blushing.
The young man only shot a brief look at Yang Kai before shifting his attention to Ah Sun and Dié You as he said with a smile, “Ladies, are you going to the Sun Star?”
His smile appeared sincere, and paired with his outstanding appearance, he gave off a clean-cut feeling; however, judging from the fact that he was hugging two women in his arms, Dié You knew that he was a licentious fellow. The reason he had even returned must be that he was drooling over their beauty.
She wasn’t willing to speak to him, but refusing to reply to him might infuriate this man as they were on the weaker side, so she had no choice but to bow her head and curtly reply, “Yes.”
The young man said, “What a coincidence. This Young Master is heading to that place as well. Why don’t you two come with me? My flight-type artifact is pretty quick, much better than if you keep flying on your own.”
Dié You forced a smile, “There’s no need for that. I have some companions with me already, so we’re going there together.”
It was then the young man took a look at Yang Kai and Old Fang, upon which he put on a smile, “In that case, all of you can come onboard together. I don’t mind having two more people.”
“Well…” Dié You was at a loss for words as she regretted not rejecting him right away, which caused her to fall into a dilemma. Even though she had no idea what great force this man was from, she knew that they couldn’t afford to offend him, but if they boarded his ship, their lives would be his to control.
Just as she was worrying over how to turn him down, Yang Kai stepped forward and cupped his fists, “Many thanks for your generous offer, Sir, but we’ve just met so I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to bother you.”
Then, Yang Kai turned to look at his companions and declared, “Let’s go.”
The young man kept a smile on his face as he stared at Yang Kai and asked faintly, “Where do you think you’re going without this Young Master’s permission?”
Yang Kai frowned and stared back at him, “What do you want, then?”
The young man sighed, “There are always fools in this world who don’t appreciate other people’s kindness. Normally, people like that don’t live long.”
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai sneered, “I don’t know which great force you belong to, but we, the disciples of Great Moon Province, are not so easily bullied!”
It wasn’t the first time Yang Kai pretended to be someone he was not. Now that they were on the weaker side, they would be put at a disadvantage if they got into a scuffle with the other party; however, they were not familiar with the great forces in the neighbouring Great Territories, with Great Moon Province being the only one they knew, which was why he decided to pretend to be their disciple.
In any case, Ah Sun indeed had something to do with Great Moon Province, so Yang Kai wasn’t worried that they would be exposed. That was the reason he wasn’t flushing when claiming to be their disciple. On the other hand, Old Fang and the others appeared to be on pins and needles.
Upon hearing that, the young man frowned, “Are you really from the Great Moon Province?”
“Of course,” Yang Kai replied solemnly, and his expression remained calm.
In an instant, the young man’s expression turned awkward. Even though Great Moon Province wasn’t a powerful great force, he didn’t come from a formidable background either. The great force he was from and Great Moon Province were basically equals. Now that Yang Kai mentioned Great Moon Province all of a sudden, he became slightly wary. However, he would be unresigned if he had to leave just like this. It would make him look like he was afraid of Great Moon Province.
While he was in a dilemma, an elderly man stepped forward and said in a hushed voice, “Young Master, the Sun’s fire is about to die out completely. The matter over there is of utmost importance, so we shouldn’t get into any conflict at this point.”
The young man snorted and shot a cold look at Yang Kai and the others before disappearing from the deck. A moment later, the ship charged forward, moving thousands of kilometres in the blink of an eye.
After the ship was gone, Old Fang and the others let out a long breath as they were finally able to set their minds at ease. Dié You stared at Yang Kai and giggled with her mouth covered, “You’re really something.”
She admired Yang Kai for his resourcefulness as he was able to come up with this solution to get them out of trouble, which went to show that he was truly a quick-thinking person.
Yang Kai heaved a sigh, “Let’s go. Be careful.”
After bumping into such a group of people, all of them became more vigilant. They hadn’t frequently come into contact with those from the Outer Universe, so they had no idea what the people were like. Now, it seemed that the Outer Universe was the same as the Inner Universe, where strength was everything. With enough strength, one could do whatever they wanted without consequence. When one was weak, he could do nothing but choke down their grievances after being oppressed.
Fortunately, they didn’t come across another such incident again in their following journey. Even though many flight-type artifacts had moved past them, none of them seemed to have the time to find trouble with them. They must be eager to reach the Sun Star quickly, which was why no one intended to make a fuss.
As the group of four moved forward, a humongous Sun Star gradually came into their sight. It was a crimson Star that was surrounded by a scorching heat that even contorted a wide range of the surrounding space.
The Sun Star was dying, which was why it was no longer glowing so brightly that one couldn’t stare at it. Otherwise, no one would have the guts to go near it. The further they moved forward, the hotter they felt and they were left with no choice but to circulate their strength to protect themselves.
After a few days, Yang Kai’s group finally arrived at the periphery of the Sun Star. From afar, they could see that countless people were standing on their flight-type artifacts in the void. Apparently, they were from the great forces in the neighbouring Great Territories who intended to get a share of the treasures.
Yang Kai also saw some familiar faces that he had met in First Inn.
The Sun Star was gigantic, which was why its periphery was also expansive. Even though many people had arrived at this place, they were far away from one another. Now, all of them were waiting quietly, trying to avoid getting into conflict with others.
Given their low strength, Yang Kai and the others wouldn’t dare to get to close and stopped in a faraway spot. Turning his head, Yang Kai stared at Ah Sun, “The shop boy told me that those from Great Moon Province are here, but we’ll have to rely on you to look for them. Did that Senior tell you about any special symbol that represents their force?”
Ah Sun shook her head, “No.”
Yang Kai furrowed his brows, “Do you remember anything special about the Senior’s clothes when you met him? Are any of them here dressed up like that Senior?”
“There was nothing special… He was just wearing normal clothes. He only passed me the jade white fox and told me that I could look for him with the token when I went to the Outer Universe.”
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai and Dié You traded glances. Dié You said, “That’ll be troublesome. Without any clues at all, how are we going to look for those from Great Moon Province? It’s not like we can ask them about it one by one.”
Yang Kai shook his head. It would be a waste of time if they really asked all of them one by one. They would be fine if they came across people who were friendly; however, if they met someone ill-tempered or ill-intentioned, like those on the ship they had bumped into earlier, they might be beaten or even killed.
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai suggested by saying, “Let’s look around first. Maybe that Senior has also come to this place. In that case, Ah Sun will surely recognise him.”
Ah Sun nodded, “I can definitely recognise him if I see him.”
Once it was decided, they started looking around by circling the Sun Star. They wouldn’t dare to go near any of the great forces as they simply gazed at them from afar and ruled out those who were not the ones they were looking for.
After a few days, they still hadn’t found the people from Great Moon Province.
Nevertheless, they had come across many strange-looking flight-type artifacts. Ships were the most common ones, while some looked like palaces. This wasn’t so strange as the Flowing Time Temple was also an extraordinary artifact. After it was refined by Yang Xiao and Yang Xue, they could fly it around. Some people here were riding on very rare beasts which looked sturdy and tough. It wasn’t certain how they were tamed. Old Fang and the others were jealous because if they could also tame such beasts, they could go anywhere in the world without fear.
Ah Sun felt disappointed at the fact that their effort was futile. Yang Kai also found it pointless to look around aimlessly, so after giving it a thought, he said, “Ah Sun, can I have a look at the jade white fox?”
Ah Sun nodded and fished it out. After they passed through the second Territory Gate, many cracks appeared on the jade white fox, as though it would break apart at any moment. Furthermore, no illusory phantom would appear after it was infused with Spiritual Energy.
With the jade white fox in his hand, Yang Kai carefully infused his strength into it and he could feel that the fox was absorbing it, but no changes could be seen on it.
After trying for a while, he shook his head and passed the fox back to Ah Sun. Staring at the three of them, he said, “There’s no other choice now… We have to ask around. I reckon that we don’t need to ask many people. There must be people who know those from Great Moon Province or have met them before. As long as we can find someone to help us, we’ll be able to determine where those from Great Moon Province are.”
Dié You nodded her head, “That’s the only thing we can do now.”
While they were having a discussion, a bearded man, who was meditating inside a great ship’s room in the Sun Star’s periphery, suddenly opened his eyes, a glint of surprise flashing across his gaze as he grunted.
Then, he emerged on the deck and looked at a particular spot in the void.
“Martial Uncle Wei!” When the disciples on the ship saw the man appearing on the deck, they quickly cupped their fists at him. The man surnamed Wei waved his hand to motion for them to return to their own business as he kept staring in a certain direction.
A woman approached him from behind and followed his gaze as she asked curiously, “Senior Brother Wei, what are you looking at?”
The man turned to look at her and grinned, “Junior Sister Tao, do you remember that Junior I told you about before?”
The woman surnamed Tao gave it a thought and recalled something, “The one from your Universe World?”
The man nodded, “She should be the only survivor…”
The last time he returned to that world, it was already beginning to collapse. Now, the world must have ceased to exist, and after the Universe World was gone, he and his Junior were the only proof that it had once existed.
“What happened to her?” Junior Sister Tao asked in puzzlement, “Why do you mention her all of a sudden?”
Senior Brother Wei beamed, “She has come to this place. She must be somewhere near us.”
Junior Sister Tao covered her mouth, “Are you serious? How do you know?”
Senior Brother Wei said, “I just know that she must be here. Junior Sister Tao, will you please take care of everything here? I’ll be right back.” After he finished speaking, he stepped forward and disappeared into the distance.
On the other hand, Yang Kai and the others were wrapping up their discussion. Just when they were preparing to enact their new plan, a burly figure suddenly approached them.
A shocked Yang Kai quickly stood in front of the others and stared vigilantly at the bearded man. His outfit was quite casual and his muscles that were exposed appeared strong. He was the very definition of a scruffy, burly man. After scanning him with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai realised that this man was an Open Heaven Realm Master so, with his chest tightening, he cupped his fists and greeted, “Senior, how may I help you?”
Senior Brother Wei shot a look at Yang Kai and grinned meaningfully. Then, he tilted his head and gazed at Ah Sun, who was behind Yang Kai, “Xiao Sun’er, stop hiding. I can see you!”
Ah Sun shuddered, and then she appeared pleasantly surprised as she stepped away from Yang Kai and looked forward in disbelief. Upon making out the man’s face, she called out in a shaking voice, “Senior?”
“Hahaha. You’ve really come to this place. You’re really quite something.” Senior Brother Wei guffawed as his beard shook. It seemed that he was truly overjoyed.
Ah Sun’s eyes reddened in an instant as she recalled the grievances she had suffered recently, and then her tears slid down her face like pearls breaking off from a string.
Senior Brother Wei’s face twitched when he saw that, and then he put on a bitter expression, “Why are you crying? Please stop crying… Did Uncle Wei scare you?”
Right after he spoke, Ah Sun broke into tears and hung her head low before spreading her arms and crashing into the man’s embrace like a little bird returning to its nest. In an instant, her tears soaked the man’s clothes.
“Ah… em…” Senior Brother Wei’s big hands froze in the air as he had never expected that Ah Sun would react in such a way upon their reunion, which made him feel slightly uneasy.
Then, he coughed and said in a hushed voice, “Why are you crying? Has anyone bullied you? Tell Uncle about it and he will seek justice for you.”
Then, he shot a glare at Yang Kai and the others.
As they felt their skin tightening, Old Fang hurriedly waved his hands, “Senior, don’t get us wrong. We have never bullied Sister Ah Sun. Instead, we’ve been protecting her along the way.”
Senior Brother Wei snorted, “I don’t think you’d dare to bully her!”
“Senior…” Ah Sun uttered in a choking voice, “O-Our homeland is gone.”