There came a moment when the noises outside the private room died down as Pei Bu Wan was heard saying, “It’s your turn.”
Yang Kai opened his eyes and slowly got to his feet.
The door was pushed open from the outside. A man was standing at the door as he cupped his fists, “Shopkeeper Pei, I’m here to bring your challenger to the arena.”
Pei Bu Wan nodded and waved his hand, “Bring him with you.”
The man scanned the private room and stared fixedly at Yang Kai; then, he stepped aside and extended his hand, “Please.”
“Sir Yang, you must be careful,” Luo Hai Yi said from behind him.
Without turning his head, Yang Kai waved his hand and followed the man out of the room.
After he was gone, Pei Bu Wan hinted at a shop hand beside him with his gaze. The shop hand gulped and asked, “Sir Shopkeeper, how much would you like to bet?”
“Everything!” Pei Bu Wan said firmly.
Upon hearing that, the shop hand turned pale in an instant, “Sir Shopkeeper, please don’t act on a whim! You’ve tried very hard to borrow the money to balance the accounts already. If you lose, you won’t be able to explain yourself to the headquarters.”
“If you dare to keep spouting nonsense, I’ll rip your mouth off!” Pei Bu Wan bellowed.
The shop hand immediately covered his mouth.
“Cut the crap and make the bet now!”
The shop hand looked through the gap between his fingers and asked apprehensively, “Do you want to bet it all on that Yang Kai?”
“Are you going to bet on Yu Luo Sha, then?” An infuriated Pei Bu Wan directly kicked the shop hand out of the room and turned around to look at the arena. With a hideous expression, he suddenly grinned and turned to gaze at Luo Hai Yi, “Whether this King makes a fortune or falls into the gutter depends on this brat now. He must win this.”
Although he was the shopkeeper of Hundred Refining’s Hall, he was inept at running a business. Furthermore, he was addicted to gambling. While he was in charge of the shop in this city, he lost a lot of money instead of making any profit.
Soon, those from the headquarters would come over to check the accounts, so if he couldn’t come up with a way to fill the discrepancy, he would be punished. Although he had borrowed money from everyone and even put up his own artifacts as collateral for some loans, there was still a huge discrepancy.
With not much time left, he decided to attempt making a fortune in the Asura Arena.
Although the winner of a fight in the arena could get a reward, it was nothing compared to the bets outside of the arena. Otherwise, Pei Bu Wan wouldn’t have looked for competent people to fight in the arena. Some time ago, he had found a suitable candidate, but that candidate was defeated by Yang Kai with ease, which made Pei Bu Wan realise there was a way he could make some quick money.
As long as Yang Kai could win the battle, not only could Pei Bu Wan fill the discrepancy in the account books, but he could also clear his debts. He wouldn’t become wealthy, but at the very least, he wouldn’t be sleeping on pins and needles anymore.
However, if Yang Kai lost, that would mean the end of the world for Pei Bu Wan. He had made a bet with his future and fate on the line. Earlier, he didn’t tell Yang Kai about it because it wasn’t necessary, and he was worried that Yang Kai might feel pressured.
Upon seeing his hideous smile, Luo Hai Yi turned pale as she didn’t know how to reply.
On the other hand, Yang Kai followed the man to pass through a passageway and reach the end where there was a closed door that blocked his way.
Yang Kai turned to look at the man, who flashed a smile at him, “Just wait here.”
At the same time, he could hear thunderous cheering coming from the other side of the door. It was apparent that the spectators in the arena were fervent.
The arena must be on the other end of the door. Presently, someone was introducing Yu Luo Sha in an enticing manner. Despite the noises, Yang Kai could still clearly hear the introduction. Yu Luo Sha had a record of one hundred and seventy-two wins, eight draws, and one loss. This kind of record could be said to be horrifying, and she could be considered a top cultivator in the same realm.
Furthermore, sixty percent of Yu Luo Sha’s opponents were killed in the arena and thirty percent of them became crippled, leaving just ten percent of them alive and healthy.
Following that announcer’s enthusiastic introduction, the cheers in the arena became increasingly louder.
The next instant, the announcer introduced the other participant in a loud voice, “The challenger today is a rookie, Yang Kai!”
Right after he finished speaking, the door in front of Yang Kai slowly lifted, which allowed the light to shine in. Following the thunderous cheering, the arena came into sight.
The announcer went on to rile up the crowd, “Is he fearless because he knows nothing? Or is he a powerful challenger? We shall see!”
“Let’s go,” The man, who was standing beside Yang Kai, smiled.
“Many thanks,” Yang Kai cupped his fists and shuffled forward.
The man behind him said, “Kid, you can admit defeat if you can’t win the battle. It won’t be fun anymore if you lose your life.”
Upon entering the arena, Yang Kai realised that he was standing on a platform. A thousand metres away there was another platform where another figure stood.
Apparently, this was Yang Kai’s opponent, Yu Luo Sha. Yang Kai raised his head and realised that, just like what he had expected, his opponent was a woman.
When he saw the name Yu Luo Sha earlier, he had a feeling that the person was a woman; after all, no man would use such a name. Now, he was proven right.
Yu Luo Sha was a tall woman with fair skin and a rich figure. Her clothes were simple as her tight-fitting outfit perfectly outlined her curves. Her arms, which were as fair as white jade, were exposed as they dazzled the beholder. Although she was just standing there in silence, Yang Kai could feel a murderous intent wafting from her.
Apparently, this woman had killed many people.
As their eyes met, Yang Kai nodded gently at her, while she sported a dispassionate expression. There didn’t seem to be any emotion behind her alluring gaze.
Just then, the view around them started changing. The stands around them disappeared as they were blocked by a barrier, and in the next instant, the terrain weltered as a scorching aura permeated the air.
In just a short moment, the entire arena had turned into a desert.
Yang Kai lifted his head and saw a bright sun hanging in the sky. The heat was so blistering that the air seemed to warp. At that instant, he was astonished. He had heard Pei Bu Wan mention that the terrain in the arena could be changed, but he hadn’t expected that they could even make a sun appear.
Apparently, the desert was the battlefield that had been selected randomly. Things were now easier for him as there was basically nothing in the desert, not even a place to hide. No one could use any dirty tricks in this kind of environment, making a head-on clash the only option.
Next, Yang Kai caught a glimpse of a figure flashing across his eyes, and the next instant, a gale was swept towards him, causing him to burst into laughter and mutter, “Why do all of you love to launch attacks without even saying hello?”
This was a repeat of what he had experienced in Hundred Refining’s Hall just yesterday; however, Yang Kai soon came to the realisation that extreme methods were permitted in this arena, so Yu Luo Sha’s actions couldn’t be considered a sneak attack. On the contrary, it was his fault for reacting too slowly.
Still, as Yang Kai said his first word, he immediately flew backwards, and when he was done saying the last word, he already pushed out a fist.
Yu Luo Sha could be seen parrying the attack with a palm, but just before their two attacks came into contact, her arm started twisting like it was a boneless viper as it wrapped around Yang Kai’s fist and struck for his chest.
Although Yang Kai was surprised by the move, he wasn’t really caught off guard by it. With a grin, he didn’t even try to dodge her attack as the energy around his fist surged.
The next moment, both of them were struck as they were sent flying backwards. Yang Kai grunted as he felt the vitality in his chest roiling. At the same time, a kind of malevolent Qi penetrated his meridians and physique through the point of impact.
With a frown, Yang Kai hurriedly circulated his strength to resolve this Qi as he gritted his teeth. It might have looked like a draw just now, but he knew he was the one who suffered a loss in reality. The fist he landed on his opponent’s shoulder didn’t harm her one bit. As soon as his fist came into contact with her body, she subtly withdrew her shoulder and used a mysterious power that made him feel like he had punched a pile of cotton.
Realising that he had come across a tough opponent, Yang Kai finally became serious. His biggest advantages were his intrepid physique and immense strength. No cultivator in the same realm could be sturdier than he was; however, when faced with an opponent like Yu Luo Sha, it was difficult to make use of his advantages.
On the other hand, Yu Luo Sha did a backflip in mid-air and lifted her hand, upon which a blood-coloured bow appeared. Then, she drew her other hand backwards, whereupon a blood-coloured arrow took shape. The next instant, the arrow left the bow and broke through the air.
Both the bow and the arrow were not artifacts. Instead, they had been materialised from her own power, so she hadn’t broken the rules of the arena.
The sound of something cutting through the air was heard as her blood-coloured arrows blocked all the ways Yang Kai could flee and closed in on him.
[Her arrows are quite quick!] Yang Kai turned solemn as he flicked his fingers, whereupon his dark Moon Blades greeted her blood-coloured arrows, collapsing them on impact. When the last arrow broke apart, Yu Luo Sha suddenly appeared in front of him as though she had ignored the barrier of space and used Instantaneous Movement.
Her slender hand lightly reached for Yang Kai’s eyes, like she was about to pick some flowers or peaches.
Yang Kai was taken aback when he saw her trying to dig out his eyes and instinctively, all his energy surged to protect himself while at the same time, he faced upwards.
Her slender hand was slightly hindered, but she soon turned her claw into a blade and slashed at his neck.
Although it was just a fair hand, it was just as sharp as any sword. Despite the fact that Yang Kai had a Dragon physique, his head would be severed from his body if he was struck by this blade hand.
With no other way to dodge the attack, Yang Kai clenched his teeth and quickly used Nihility, merging his figure with the Void.
Yu Luo Sha’s hand penetrated his figure, but she realised that she hadn’t struck a real body. A tinge of surprise flashed across her eyes, which were usually as calm as an ancient well. The next instant, she exerted more force with her hand and shattered the surrounding space.
Yang Kai grunted again as his figure materialised. Following that, he stomped his feet on the ground to widen his gap with this aggressive woman.
Instead of immediately launching another attack though, Yu Luo Sha just watched him in silence. When he managed to stabilize himself, she gently nodded and said, “Not bad.”
Her tone was calm and without a hint of mockery. She seemed to be sincerely complimenting him, but one could hardly tell whether that was true from her tone.
Yang Kai looked away and spat out a mouthful of blood. Although he had used Nihility to dodge the attack at the critical moment, he was still harmed as he felt all his organs shift slightly. Then, he said with a grin, “You’re not bad either.”
The woman indeed had a lot of combat experience. She did live up to her status as a disciple from Asura Cave Heaven. He didn’t even have the time to take a breather since the battle began, which had never happened in the past.
The series of attacks from Yu Luo Sha were successive and clean-cut, which dazzled her opponent. It was no wonder that she could make a name for herself in the Asura Arena and achieve such a high rank.
Given the moves she had showcased, rarely anyone below the Half-Step Open Heaven Realm could parry her attacks, and any slight negligence would cause her opponent to lose their life.
Yang Kai felt his blood boiling suddenly. Since he arrived in the Outer Universe, he had not had a proper fight. The people he had come across were mostly far more powerful than he was, so there was no chance he could defeat any of them. The only opponent that was in the same realm as him was Fang Tai, but at that time, Yang Kai was just tagging along with two Open Heaven Realm Masters, so there was no question about the outcome of that battle. It was the same case in Hundred Refining’s Hall on the previous day.
For someone like Yang Kai who had grown his power through constant battles, he felt quite constricted after a long time of not fighting.
Although he had suffered a setback in the first exchange, Yang Kai’s gaze had brightened instead of dimming. It was as though his fighting spirit had been ignited. After brushing away the blood from his mouth, he lifted his hand and beckoned to Yu Luo Sha. With his chin up, he appeared quite haughty.
Seeing that, Yu Luo Sha narrowed her eyes and there was a faint smile on her usually emotionless face.
No one had challenged her in such a brazen way before in the Asura Arena, not even the three people ranked above her. Although she was 4th on the Mortal Rankings, she was just as strong as the three people above her. Any one of them would have to use their full strength when dealing with her.
However, at this moment, there was this rookie, whose name wasn’t even on the Mortal Rankings, who dared to be so impudent in front of her. She stuck out her tongue and licked her lips as though she had come across a delicious dish which stimulated her appetite.
The next instant, the sand erupted and a crater was left on the ground. Yu Luo Sha had charged forward like an arrow leaving a bow. Her afterimages flickered in the air as she appeared behind Yang Kai. With Emperor Qi swirling around her leg, she raised her leg and swept it at his head.
The power of her kick was horrifying. Even a mountain would break apart if it was struck by her foot.
As though a pair of eyes had grown on the back of his head though, Yang Kai raised his hand and grabbed her ankle, then he chuckled in a small voice, “Where do you think you’re going?”
Right after he finished speaking, his expression changed because the ankle in his hand became slippery and slid out of his grip. Following that, he felt a warm body crawling on his back. Although the body was soft, it gave off a terrifying feeling. It was as though a python had climbed onto his back instead of a woman.
Her legs and arms contorted in an inconceivable way as she forced him into submission, making it impossible for him to use his power effectively.
Then, he felt a hot breath on his ear. Despite her soft voice, she sounded more like the reaper of death as she whispered, “How would you like to die?”
Before Yang Kai could reply to her, she widened her mouth and attempted to bite his neck.
It was the first time Yang Kai had come across such a move in this kind of life-or-death battle, filling his heart with awkwardness; however, that didn’t stop him from raising his hand to grasp at her hair and forcefully pull on it.
Yu Luo Sha grunted as she failed in her attempt to bite his neck, and then she became unable to lift her head again due to the pull. A cold glint flashed across her eyes as she infused her Emperor Qi into her hair and forcefully straightened it.
After a gasp, Yang Kai quickly retracted his hand, but it was too late as countless cuts had formed on his palm. Nevertheless, it was thanks to this moment of breather that he managed to surge his Qi.
An immense power gushed out from him and pushed Yu Luo Sha away; however, she was relentless as she wrapped herself around him. Her slender hands turned into countless shadows and her hair flapped in the air as she launched an attack on him from all possible angles.
Looking from afar, Yang Kai seemed to remain in the same spot as a figure swirled around him from every angle.
Loud bangs were continuously heard as his clothes were torn apart in an instant.
Although he appeared to be at a disadvantage as he had suffered multiple setbacks since the beginning of the fight, he remained calm and collected, which went to show that his temperament was truly sturdy. Despite the fact that Yu Luo Sha could hurt him, her force was limited. Unless she could damage his vitals, she wouldn’t be able to severely injure him.
On the other hand, if he managed to land a fist or a kick on her body, she would fall into a miserable state.
Inside the private room, Pei Bu Wan stood by the window with his hands behind his back as he watched attentively. The shop hands of Hundred Refining’s Hall beside him kept cheering as they seemed mesmerised by the match.
“Shut up! Why do you keep making noise!?” Pei Bu Wan suddenly bellowed.
The shop hands shuddered and immediately covered their mouths.
A worried Luo Hai Yi asked, “Shopkeeper Pei, do you think Sir Yang can win?” Given her vision, she could only see that Yang Kai was at a disadvantage, but she wasn’t sure about what was really going on in the battlefield.
Pei Bu Wan chuckled, “No one can be certain about it before the end of the battle. He’d better win; however, if he cannot shake off Yu Luo Sha, it’ll be difficult for him to defeat her.”
Right after he finished speaking, Pei Bu Wan suddenly arched his brow and grinned, “He’s really something.”
Following a loud boom in the arena, Yu Luo Sha was sent flying backwards as she sprayed out a mouthful of blood in mid-air before landing on the ground and staggering.
They were finally separated.
Yang Kai appeared dishevelled and battered, but Yu Luo Sha wasn’t any better off. There were times when she was negligent as she wrapped herself around him, and after getting punched hard, she found her five viscera and six organs shifted.
“A draw huh.” Yang Kai shot her a glance before grinning wildly, “Well, it’s my turn now.”
He didn’t seem to make a move, but he suddenly appeared in front of her like he was a ghost as he extended one finger towards her.
Yang Kai’s movement was so light that it was as though he hadn’t exerted any force with his finger, but Yu Luo Sha’s pupils contracted as she stomped her foot on the ground and flew backwards. A blood-coloured flower appeared on the spot she was standing earlier. The flower looked so vividly red that it was as if it had been fertilized with fresh blood. At the same time, a malevolent aura wafted from it.
For every step she took, a flower would appear on the ground. After ten steps, all ten flowers took shape on the golden desert. The flowers appeared so ferocious that it was as though they were ready to devour any prey they came across.
Yang Kai followed Yu Luo Sha closely, and when he moved past the flowers, all of them withered in an instant.
The expression on her face finally changed as she performed a hand seal with one hand, causing the withered flowers to fall apart and the scattered petals to rain down on Yang Kai. Every petal seemed able to cut through metal and jade.
Yang Kai stood his ground as Space Principles surged around him. He was surrounded by innumerable Void Cracks, but they were almost imperceptible to others. Before the flower petals could approach him, they were cut to pieces by the Void Cracks.
Next, he extended a finger, whereupon a Moon Blade shot towards Yu Luo Sha.
The distance between them was short, so it was impossible for her to dodge the attack; thus, she bit her tongue and sprayed out a blood mist, which immediately transformed into a blood-coloured barrier that blocked the Moon Blade.
Seizing the chance, she hurriedly stomped her foot on the ground to widen the gap between them.
Earlier, it was Yang Kai who had to be wary of her, but it was the other way around now. It could be said that the wheel of fortune had been reversed, and the situation was now in Yang Kai’s favour.
Presently, they were several dozen metres apart. As their eyes met, Yang Kai looked smilingly at Yu Luo Sha while her expression was solemn.
It wasn’t until this moment she realised that her opponent was more complicated than she thought. He wasn’t an arrogant pushover like what she had imagined. Since it was difficult to deal with him through close-quarters combat, she decided to use her Secret Techniques instead.
After letting out a breath, she used a hand seal as Blood Qi surged around her figure. A blood-coloured flower suddenly appeared beneath her feet. The flower looked similar to the ones she had condensed earlier, but it was much larger. She appeared as light as a feather while standing on it.
Across from her, Yang Kai quickly lifted his hand and sent out over ten dark Moon Blades at her.
Yu Luo Sha remained unfazed, and when the Moon Blades came near her, the flower beneath her feet suddenly brightened. Following that, a blood-coloured light barrier shot up from the ground and surrounded her.
Whooshing sounds were heard as the Moon Blades slashed at the light barrier and formed many ripples on it, but they were unable to break through.
Upon seeing that, Yang Kai was lost for words as he was fully aware of the power of his Moon Blades. He wondered what this blood-coloured flower was as it was able to fend off his Moon Blades. It seemed that that barrier was truly sturdy.
Yu Luo Sha used a different hand seal next as she chanted under her breath. When she spread her arms, countless gigantic blood-coloured flowers appeared and filled the entire arena.
At that instant, Yang Kai was engulfed in a sea of flowers. Other than a sky full of redness, there was nothing else he could see. Even Yu Luo Sha seemed to have disappeared.
He immediately activated his Divine Sense to scan the surroundings, but he was unable to locate her.
There came a moment when a strange noise was heard. As the flower petals swirled, a blood-coloured spear broke through the air at the speed of lightning. The spear was made from flower petals, and although it gave off an enchanting fragrance, it was filled with murderous intent.
Yang Kai surged his strength to parry the attack with his palm, whereupon the spear collapsed. Before he could heave a sigh of relief though, Yu Luo Sha abruptly appeared amidst the swirling storm of flower petals. There was only a distance of one metre between them.
She pushed out a palm that seemed to contain a power that could destroy the Heavens and shatter the Earth.
Yang Kai was well prepared, however, so he wasn’t surprised by her move. With a grin, he pushed out a fist and struck right at her figure. However, the next instant, he furrowed his brow because it felt like he hadn’t hit a real body. Following that, he could see that she broke into countless flower petals.
After that, he felt a gale coming from behind him. His pupils contracted as he manipulated Space Principles and disappeared from the spot.
When he reappeared, he was already several dozen metres away. He looked at his previous spot and saw that Yu Luo Sha had appeared with a flower petal in her hand. Using the petal, she shattered her own afterimage.
As their eyes met, they could see the fighting spirit and the desire to win behind each other’s gazes.
Nevertheless, just a moment later, she fell apart again and turned into an innumerable number of flower petals. That was also not her real body!
The people in the stands around the arena were unable to see what was going on in the battlefield as the entire arena had been engulfed in blood-coloured flowers. They could only faintly see two figures flying around and hear some noises.
Despite that, it didn’t stop them from becoming even more fervent as they kept cheering. Many people were chanting Yu Luo Sha’s name, so it was apparent that she was popular in this arena.
She was a powerful woman with an alluring face and an hourglass figure, which was why she had many male supporters.
Inside the private room, Pei Bu Wan stared fixedly at the battlefield with a grim expression. Given the fact that he was a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he could clearly see what was going on in the battlefield. Considering Yang Kai’s current cultivation, if he were in his shoes, he would have no other choice but to admit defeat. Presently, Yang Kai couldn’t even find out the whereabouts of Yu Luo Sha’s real body, so how was he going to win the battle?
He would only stand a chance to win the match by finding her; however, did he have such sharp vision?
Meanwhile, in the arena, Yang Kai found himself in a dilemma. Unless it was necessary, he didn’t want to reveal his trump cards; after all, many people were watching the battle and some of his methods might invite trouble for him.
However, Yu Luo Sha wouldn’t even reveal her whereabouts now, which made him powerless to do anything.
Thus, he lowered his head as the fringe of his hair cast a shadow on his forehead. Despite the fact that the flower petals were coiling around him and a murderous intent permeated the air, he remained unperturbed.
A strange noise was heard again as the flower petals surged and formed into a Killing Array before striking at Yang Kai. Behind the array, Yu Luo Sha’s figure was faintly visible, her gaze void of any emotions.
It wasn’t until the sea of flowers came near him that Yang Kai abruptly lifted his head and surged his Qi. In an instant, Void Cracks swam around him like fish.
The sea of flowers collapsed while the Void Cracks dispersed. Following that, Yu Luo Sha raised her hand and landed a palm on Yang Kai’s chest.
Ignoring her attack, Yang Kai suddenly turned his head to look in a particular direction, a golden glow radiating from his left eye as he grinned, “Is it so fun to keep hiding?”
After he finished speaking, he charged in that direction as he raised his hands, rapidly forming a set of hand seals. At the same time, he muttered, “Time Flows on Infinitely, like a Mighty Stream, Like an Unending Dream!”
Then, he pushed out his palm. Presently, Yu Luo Sha was hiding among the sea of flowers. Her pupils contracted to the size of needles as though she had come across something horrifying. She couldn’t understand how her opponent managed to find out her whereabouts.
Lifting her head, she realised that his left pupil had become a golden slit. His pupil appeared so majestic that it was as though it could look deep into her Soul and dig out all her secrets, which caused her to feel incredibly unnerved.
It was then she realised that he must have cultivated a profound Eye Technique. It was no wonder he could achieve such a thing.
She wanted to dodge the attack, but her mind suddenly turned blank for a moment. When she came to her senses, his palm was already right in front of her. Following a deafening howl, the sea of flowers seemed to have received an order as they spiralled around her to form a protective layer.
When the Time Flies Seal struck, the sea of flowers collapsed and revealed Yu Lu Sha’s real figure. There was a tinge of fluster on her face.
If it was the Time Flies Seal he had initially cultivated, it might not be able to exhibit such a might; however, Yang Kai had witnessed the battle between Flowing Time Great Emperor and Mo Sheng countless times in the ancient battlefield, allowing him to observe and emulate many profundities and incorporate their essence and experience to form his own Martial Truth. Currently, Yang Kai dared to say that he had mastered the Time Flies Seal, making him a match for Flowing Time Great Emperor when using this particular Secret Technique.
“You’re dead,” Yang Kai grinned at her. Right after he spoke, a white lotus flashed across his Demon Eye of Annihilation.
Blossoming Lotus!
Yu Luo Sha fell into a dazed state as her Knowledge Sea defences became as weak as a piece of paper. A gigantic lotus could be seen expanding in her vision while at the same time, her Spiritual Energy was rapidly draining.
Although Yu Luo Sha had also condensed her own Dao Seal, she was still in the Emperor Realm; therefore, she was no match for Yang Kai when it came to Soul cultivation. With the nourishment from the Soul Warning Lotus over the years, Yang Kai’s Soul was much stronger than that of the cultivators in the same realm. Also, after plucking Yu Ru Meng’s Primordial Yin in the past, his Soul had been enriched, and his Spiritual Energy surged in both quantity and quality.
Although the power of his Soul might not be comparable to that of an Open Heaven Realm Master, it was definitely on par with that of a Half-Step Open Heaven Realm Master.
Feeling an excruciating pain in her head, Yu Luo Sha roared and instinctively pushed her Spiritual Energy to resist; however, as she tried to exert her Divine Sense, the white lotus only expanded even more rapidly. In the blink of an eye, the lotus had fully bloomed, appearing as clean as a jade and other-worldly beautiful.
There was more to come, however, as a golden glint flashed across Yang Kai’s Demon Eye of Annihilation as he used a different Secret Technique.
Sealed Lotus!
Blossoming Lotus absorbed the opponent’s Spiritual Energy like nutrients to allow itself to bloom. On the other hand, Sealed Lotus caused the white lotus to close and wrap up the opponent’s Soul, cutting off the connection between the enemy’s Soul and body.
It could be said that once a person was struck with Sealed Lotus, they would become a living dead until they could resolve the Secret Technique.
The white lotus rapidly folded and engulfed Yu Luo Sha’s Soul in it. If she was still at the peak of her strength, she might have been able to break free of this seal; however, she had been struck with Blossoming Lotus just now, which siphoned off a good portion of her Spiritual Energy. Therefore, she wasn’t able to free herself.
Yu Luo Sha’s vision dimmed, as though she had plunged into an endless darkness. She kept falling like there was no end.
The sea of flowers disintegrated, whereupon those around the arena could finally see what was going on. Presently, Yang Kai and Yu Luo Sha were slightly apart from one another in the desert. Both of them remained unmoving.
Seeing that, no one could tell who had won the battle.
Certainly, Luo Hai Yi was unable to make any judgement as well. Since the sea of flowers appeared, she had become unable to see anything. Unable to hold it in anymore, she asked, “Shopkeeper Pei, did Sir Yang… win?”
All of a sudden, Pei Bu Wan turned his head, which shocked Luo Hai Yi. That was because, in just a short moment, his eyes had turned bloodshot.
She couldn’t help but take a few steps back and tense up.
With a ferocious grin, Pei Bu Wan said, “He won.” Then, he guffawed, “Hahaha! He actually won!” He excitedly raised his hands as though he was the one who had defeated the opponent.
It couldn’t be helped, as he already had no money left. Although he had borrowed some money to balance the accounts, it was still not enough. Left with no choice, Pei Bu Wan resorted to gambling, but he hadn’t expected that he’d really turn the situation around.
Now, he wouldn’t have to worry about those from the headquarters coming over to check the accounts anymore.
While he was laughing ecstatically, Yang Kai, in the arena, raised his hand and gently tapped his finger on Yu Luo Sha’s forehead, causing her to collapse to the ground. Her eyes were wide open, but her gaze had lost all light.
Before she could resolve the Sealed Lotus, she couldn’t reconnect her Soul with her body and regain her senses.
Seeing this, the spectators immediately realised what had happened as they broke into a commotion. Yu Luo Sha, the number 4 on the Mortal Rankings, had been defeated by an unknown brat. The problem was that they couldn’t even see how she lost the match.
Those who had bet a lot of money on Yu Luo Sha started cursing and claiming that those from Asura Arena had used some dirty tricks behind the scenes. Naturally, those from Asura Arena ignored them.
Soon after, the announcer proclaimed Yang Kai the winner.
The terrain in the arena changed as the desert disappeared, upon which two platforms on both ends reappeared. A woman dashed into the arena and shot Yang Kai a glare. After that, she carried Yu Luo Sha up and left hurriedly. It seemed that she was eager to treat her.
A calm Yang Kai returned to the passageway he came out of earlier. Inside the passageway, the man, who had led him to this place, nodded slightly at him.
Yang Kai saluted him back before re-entering Pei Bu Wan’s private room.
“Senior Yang!” Those shop hands from Hundred Refining’s Hall immediately approached him as they appeared passionate and even slightly obsequious.
Yang Kai scanned his surroundings and frowned, “Where’s your shopkeeper?”
Presently, Pei Bu Wan was nowhere in sight in the private room. Could he have run away? That wasn’t possible though as Hundred Refining’s Hall was still in the city, so there was nowhere else he could go. Moreover, he had sworn on his Martial Dao, so he wouldn’t go back on his word.
Luo Hai Yi hurriedly explained, “Shopkeeper Pei left the room to collect his winnings.”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai was shocked.
Luo Hai Yi took a look at those shop hands and explained, “Shopkeeper Pei placed a bet on Sir Yang’s victory. Since Sir Yang won the match, Shopkeeper Pei also made some money.”
Yang Kai burst into laughter, “Was he so confident in me? How much did he bet?”
Luo Hai Yi shook her head as she had no idea.
Seeing that, Yang Kai gazed at those shop hands. One of them said with a fawning smile, “It was quite a bit.”
A relentless Yang Kai questioned, “How much?”
In response, the shop hand stuck up one finger.
Yang Kai arched his brow, “1 million?”
The shop hand shook his head.
“10 million?” Yang Kai was astounded.
It was then that the shop hand nodded.
Yang Kai tutted as he couldn’t help but admire Pei Bu Wan’s boldness. He wasn’t familiar with Yang Kai, but he had the guts to bet 10 million Open Heaven Pills on him winning this match.
Following that, Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and asked with a frown, “What were the odds?”
In an instant, the shop hand became embarrassed and scratched his face. He wasn’t willing to talk about it, but it was impossible to hide this as Yang Kai could find out about it after leaving the room. So in a small voice, he muttered, “Four to one.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai gasped and clenched his teeth, “Seems he made a great fortune!”
With the odds four to one against Yang Kai winning, Pei Bu Wan made 40 million from his 1o million bet.
It was no wonder that Pei Bu Wan was so generous when he promised a million pills to Yang Kai if he could win a match in the Asura Arena. After winning so much, Pei Bu Wan could not only easily afford the 10 million pill repayment, but even throw in an extra 1 million.
1 million was nothing compared to 40 million. It seemed that Pei Bu Wan had already done some calculations in advance. At that instant, Yang Kai felt frustrated as he was the one who risked his life to fight against his opponent in the arena while someone else gained most of the benefits. However, there was nothing he could do as everything had been agreed upon beforehand. He couldn’t change a thing now.
“Senior Yang, Sir Shopkeeper said that he wouldn’t come back so soon, so he wants us to return to Hundred Refining’s Hall first. Don’t worry. He’ll definitely give you the 11 million.”
Yang Kai snorted, “He wouldn’t dare to go back on his word!”
After they waited in the main hall of Hundred Refining’s Hall for one hour, Pei Bu Wan was heard laughing riotously from outside, “Where’s Little Brother Yang? Where is he?” Previously, he called Yang Kai ‘brat’, but after making a great fortune, he started calling him ‘Little Brother’.
Before he even finished his words, he stepped into the hall and stared at Yang Kai with a pair of glowing eyes. Then, he walked up to him and heavily patted his shoulders, “Little Brother, you’re my lucky star!”
Yang Kai snorted, “I think I’m more like your saviour.” He couldn’t help admiring this thug’s courage. How did Pei Bu Wan have the gall to bet ten million on him? What if he lost the match?
“Same thing!” Pei Bu Wan waved his hand and took a look at Yang Kai’s tea cup before frowning, “Take this cup away and get him the best tea!”
“Enough nonsense, just give me the money now!” Yang Kai cut him off with no trace of politeness and extended his hand.
Yang Kai didn’t want to have anything to do with this thief again, so he was eager to take the money and leave quickly.
“Don’t worry. You won’t get one pill less. I’ve got the money,” Then, Pei Bu Wan took a seat and put down a Space Ring on the table before pushing it forward.
After picking up the ring, Yang Kai scanned it with his Divine Sense and started counting.
To the side, Pei Bu Wan looked smilingly at him, “Little Brother Yang, I never expected that you’re so good at fighting. Even Yu Luo Sha was easily defeated by you. Are you interested in taking part in more matches?”
Yang Kai multitasked by counting the pills and shooting him a cool glance.
Pei Bu Wan went on to say, “Yu Luo Sha was only ranked 4th on the Mortal Rankings. Although she’s not bad, she’s still no match for the three people above her. If you’re interested, I’ll make an arrangement for you to fight with those guys. If you can win those matches, you’ll earn a lot of money.”
In response, Yang Kai waved the ring in his hand and declared, “I have money now. So, no thanks.”
Pei Bu Wan replied with a smile, “Do you seriously think you have a lot of money? You have to hand in 10 million, so you’re only left with 1 million. If you listen to me and win more matches, I’ll give you 20% of the winnings.”
Ignoring his suggestion, Yang Kai rose from the chair and said, “The issue has been settled, so I’ll take my leave now. You don’t have to see me off.” Then, he led Luo Hai Yi to shuffle out of the hall.
“Wait a moment, there’s room for negotiation! I can give you thirty percent!” Pei Bu Wan hurriedly stood up and said.
Seeing that Yang Kai didn’t show any signs of stopping, he quickly offered a higher percentage, “Forty percent! That’s the maximum. I’ll have to bear the risk of losing my capital, so you can’t expect to get fifty percent of the money. That would be outrageous.”
Oblivious to him, Yang Kai disappeared from the place.
“This brat…” Pei Bu Wan pressed his lips together. If Yang Kai were someone else, he would’ve forced him to stay as he was practically a money tree. If he could make good use of Yang Kai, he could easily gain lots of money from Asura Arena. However, Yang Kai was from First Inn, so he couldn’t force the issue. Since Yang Kai wasn’t willing to take part in more matches, there was nothing Pei Bu Wan could do.
After Yang Kai was gone, he felt slightly dejected, but he soon became overjoyed because of the fact that he had won a massive amount of money today; then, he took a seat and started counting his winnings.
He had made a bet of 10 million, and he had won 40 million! After giving Yang Kai 11 million, he still had about 30 million left. Not only could he make up for the discrepancy in the shop’s accounts, but he also had a lot leftover to play with. The trouble that had been haunting him for days had finally vanished, so he was naturally joyful.
…..
After leaving Hundred Refining’s Hall, Yang Kai passed a Space Ring to Luo Hai Yi. Seeing as she was staring puzzledly at him, he explained, “I’m returning what I borrowed.”
It was then she took the ring, but upon scanning it, she exclaimed, “It’s too much, Sir!” When Yang Kai was buying a Universe Chart some time ago, she had lent him 20,000 pills, but after only one day, he gave her 30,000 in return, which was a lot of money for her.
Yang Kai replied with a smile, “Any excess is your compensation.”
“That’s still too much.” She shook her head, “I can’t take it, Sir. My service isn’t worth so much money. Please take it back.”
Then, she tried to return the ring to him.
Yang Kai examined her, and upon realising that she was serious, he burst into laughter before deciding to respect her wishes, “Good. Deduct the money you’ve lent me and then return the remaining to me.”
Luo Hai Yi nodded and started getting busy. A moment later, she returned the remaining pills to him.
After taking it, Yang Kai realised that it was still early in the day, so he said, “Why don’t we visit more shops?”
“En, this Mistress won’t have anything to do if I go home. We can visit as many shops as Sir wants today.”
After he stepped into Hundred Refining’s Hall on the previous day, Yang Kai was made to fight against Yu Luo Sha in Asura Arena, so he hadn’t managed to visit more shops. He reckoned that it would still take him three to four days to finish this errand.
For the following shops, Yang Kai didn’t come across any thugs like Pei Bu Wan again. After he presented a notice of debt, expressed his purpose of visit, and fished out the Proprietress’ Faith Token, most shopkeepers treated him politely.
As usual, they were given a time limit of one month and in the blink of an eye, night had descended upon them again.
The previous night, Yang Kai had no money and didn’t want to return to First Inn, which was why he stayed over at Luo Hai Yi’s residence. Now, he had earned 11 million pills, and he was eager to let the Proprietress know about the good news, so he told Luo Hai Yi to go home first.
Soon, he reached First Inn and realised that the place was still crammed with customers. Several shop boys were moving around while the accountant was loudly fiddling with the abacus behind the front counter.
Noticing that someone had entered the inn, the accountant said without raising his head, “We’re fully booked now. Please go somewhere else.”
Yang Kai tapped on the table, “Where’s Proprietress?”
It was only then that the accountant lifted his head, “It’s you. I thought it was a customer.” He pointed at the rear court with his lips pouting, “She’s in her room.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Alright. You can continue doing your things.”
Then, he shuffled towards the backyard.
The accountant watched him leave as he shivered slightly while muttering under his breath, “Why did he even decide to come back at this point? It’s like knocking on the gates of Hell. What’s wrong with him?”
Upon stepping into the rear court, he saw someone in the corner who repeatedly squatted and got up. There seemed to be something on his shoulders.
An amazed Yang Kai walked over and realised that the person was Bai Qi.
As their eyes met, Bai Qi flashed a smile at him and panted, “You’re back.”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded and looked curiously at him, “What are you doing here?”
“N-Nothing!” Bai Qi got up with difficulty as he almost didn’t have the energy to finish his words. It was apparent that the thing on his shoulders was very heavy, “I’m cultivating.”
“Here?” Yang Kai became puzzled as he wondered whether Bai Qi had lost his mind. Even if he wanted to cultivate, he should look for a suitable place instead of doing it in the rear court where the Proprietress lived.
“Is Yang Kai back?” The Proprietress’ voice was heard coming from a room where the candlelight flickered.
“Yes, I’ve returned!” Yang Kai yelled and took a glance at Bai Qi. After shaking his head, he stopped paying attention to him and knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
Yang Kai pushed the door open, but before he could let the Proprietress know about the good news, he saw a white shadow rapidly approaching him. Shocked, he tried to flee; however, the white shadow was unbelievably swift as it grabbed his collar and pulled him into the room. Following that, the door was slammed shut.
An anxious Yang Kai thought that someone had launched a sneak attack on him, but after a glance, he realised that it was the Proprietress who was standing in front of him. It wasn’t so surprising as this was her room, so who else could it be?
At this moment, she was staring coldly at him with a pair of glacial eyes.
Yang Kai shot her a glare, “What’s wrong?” He didn’t think he had offended this crazy woman in any way, but she looked like she was about to skin him alive.
“How do you still have the gall to ask?” After a sneer, the Proprietress extended her hand into the void and fished out something that looked like a feather duster. Then, she attempted to strike Yang Kai with it.
A shocked Yang Kai hurriedly lifted his hand to fend it off. Nevertheless, there was a huge gap between their strength, so his attempt was futile and the feather duster directly hit his head.
It hurt so much that his eyes turned bloodshot, and with his hands on his head, Yang Kai bellowed, “What are you doing?”
“Can’t you see I’m hitting you?” Then, she directly pushed out the feather duster and poked right on his stomach.
[That’s not what I meant. I was asking why you’re hitting me!] Yang Kai wanted to speak, but he was unable to do that as he felt his stomach churning as he bent his back.
The Proprietress landed another strike on his shoulder.
A horrified Yang Kai jumped up and leapt backwards in an attempt to dash out of the room; however, she just grabbed the air and directly pulled him back.
The huge gap in their powers dictated that Yang Kai was totally unable to resist. Presently, he felt humiliated and enraged. In all his life, he had never been hit by anyone in such an insulting way before. More importantly, he didn’t even have the foggiest idea about why he was beaten.
After getting struck several times again, he felt immensely incensed. Infuriated and emboldened, he barked, “Crazy woman, I dare you to lay your hand on me one more time!”
“Crazy woman?” The Proprietress was so enraged that she started laughing. The next instant, her feather duster turned into countless shadows and engulfed him.
At that moment, Yang Kai kept jumping up as he was hit. Gritting his teeth, he reckoned that a man had to yield when it was necessary. Regardless, he had to find out the crux of the problem first, so he hurriedly yelled, “Stop hitting me! Let’s talk it out!”
“I’m a crazy woman, so I’m unreasonable. I can do whatever I want,” Then, she landed more whips on him.
After getting refuted, Yang Kai was unable to even get mad at her anymore; thus, he squatted in one corner and covered his head with his hands.
Seeing that, the Proprietress finally stopped.
Slowly raising his head, Yang Kai looked through the gap between his fingers with a vigilant gaze.
A condescending Proprietress looked down at him with an indifferent expression, “Spill it. Where were you last night? Why didn’t you come back?”
An incensed Yang Kai bellowed, “Did you hit me just because of that?” He slowly stood up.
Seeing her smacking the feather duster into her palm, Yang Kai shrunk back again and secretly swore that if when he ascended to the Open Heaven Realm one day, he would retaliate and make her go through an ordeal that was a hundred times more gut-wrenching than what he had suffered.
“Cut the crap and answer my question!”
Yang Kai snorted, “I was staying over at a friend’s house.”
“A friend?” The Proprietress sneered, “It’s only been a few days since we arrived in this Star City. When did you make friends here? Was this friend a man or a woman?”
[What does that have to do with you?] Yang Kai wanted to refute her, but he was worried that he would infuriate her again, so he replied, “A woman.”
Right after he finished speaking, the Proprietress struck him with the feather duster again. There was a resentful look on her face as she barked, “You’re so young, but you’ve already learned to hook up with random women! You’ve been here for only a few days, but you’ve already stayed over at a woman’s house?!”
[I’m young?] Yang Kai was speechless at that comment, thinking that he was already about 200 years old, but he was still treated like he was a little kid. Nevertheless, he recalled that the Proprietress had lived for many times longer, so had the right to act this way.
However, even if she wanted to reprimand him, she shouldn’t have made a move against him.
An enraged Yang Kai bellowed, “Stop hitting me. Otherwise, I’ll resist.”
The Proprietress stopped what she was doing and gazed nonchalantly at him, a faint smile on her face as she asked, “How are you going to resist?”
Yang Kai parted his lips, but he was unable to say anything because he couldn’t defeat her; otherwise, he would’ve counterattacked and made her beg for mercy long ago.
“I’ll only give you one chance. If you dare to stay over at some random person’s house again, I won’t let you off!” The Proprietress snorted and kept the feather duster.
Seeing that, Yang Kai slowly got to his feet and moved his body a little. Still furious, he muttered, “You’re so ruthless.”
Her lashes just now were immensely painful; however, she had exquisite control over her strength, so she was able to make him suffer excruciating pain while leaving no marks on his body.
“If you do it one more time, I’ll show you the true meaning of ruthless.” The Proprietress sneered, “Come with me!”
Yang Kai wondered what she was up to. Although he was apprehensive, he had no choice but to follow her. Soon, they reached the yard and walked up to Bai Qi.
With a fawning smile, Bai Qi called out, “Proprietress…”
“Shut up!” The Proprietress shot him a glare, whereupon he hurriedly kept his mouth shut.
Then, she shifted her attention to Yang Kai and pointed at the spot beside Bai Qi, “Stand right there.”
The corner of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched as he finally realised what the Proprietress was trying to do and the reason Bai Qi was squatting in the yard in the middle of the night instead of sleeping.
“Proprietress, is this even necessary?” Yang Kai shot her a glance.
She giggled and lifted her hand, at which point the feather duster appeared.
After a gulp, Yang Kai hurriedly nodded, “Good. You’ll regret this!” Then, he stood beside Bai Qi.
“Why do you always have so much nonsense to spew?” The Proprietress snorted and extended her hand into the void. After fishing out a wooden rod, she placed it on his shoulders.
In an instant, Yang Kai’s figure shrank. The wooden rod looked ordinary and was only about a metre long, but it weighed at least a hundred thousand kilograms. It was no wonder that Bai Qi was panting while carrying it on his shoulders.
Apparently, the wooden rod was a kind of rare material that could be used for Artifact Refining.
“If you dare to not come back again, you won’t be standing here. I’ll definitely throw you out on the streets.” The Proprietress snorted and swung her sleeve before shuffling into her room.
A fawning Bai Qi said, “Have a good night’s sleep.”
Ignoring him, the Proprietress slammed the door shut.
The breeze whisked through the yard as the Brothers who were suffering together respectively carried a wooden rod on their backs and looked dazedly at one another.
“She’s crossed the line,” Bai Qi suddenly said. “I just didn’t come back for two nights. Why was she making a fuss over it?”
After shooting him a glance, Yang Kai scoffed and closed his eyes to focus his mind. Although he was indeed in an embarrassing situation, no one else could see them at the very least, so he simply regarded it as a cultivation session.
He had intended to inform the Proprietress about the fact that he had collected a debt of 10 million already, but he wasn’t in the mood to do that now. To the side, an infuriated Bai Qi kept muttering on and on. Eventually, an enraged Proprietress struck the air and landed a slap on Bai Qi, which caused Bai Qi to collapse to the ground. He became quieter after the incident.
In the latter half of the night, most of the customers were gone. The accountant, the chef, and the other shop boys had nothing else to do, so they came to the backyard and watched Yang Kai and Bai Qi, which made them feel exasperated.
At the break of dawn, Yang Kai said, “Proprietress, we have to go out to demand repayments.”
“Scram!” She was heard bellowing from the room.
After trading glances, Yang Kai and Bai Qi hurriedly put the wooden rods down on the ground and dashed out of the inn.
Since that horrible experience, the two of them became much better behaved. For the next few days, they would always return to First Inn in the evening to serve customers before going out to demand repayments in the morning.
After a few days, they visited all the shops on their respective lists and all that was left was to wait for the one-month deadline to pass. Yang Kai had fully paid Luo Hai Yi’s fees and treated her to a meal to thank her.
In fact, he had the intention to help her join First Inn. Presently, business was booming in the inn, and the shop hands were swamped with work, so a new helper would ease their burden. If Luo Hai Yi could enter First Inn, it would be good for her as well. Regardless of whether her salary would be better than what she would get as a local guide, she would have a shelter at the very least; after all, no ordinary people would dare to offend the shop hands from First Inn.
However, he realised that he didn’t have the right to make any decision in the inn. Moreover, the Proprietress seemed to have something against him recently, so it would only produce the opposite of the desired result if he brought it up at this point.
Yang Kai reckoned that he should collect all the debts first before mentioning it to the Proprietress. It would be wonderful if she would agree to it, but if not, he wouldn’t suffer any losses. Also, he didn’t inform Luo Hai Yi about his intention as it still wouldn’t be too late to tell her about it after it was confirmed. Certainly, she wouldn’t turn him down.
The following days were peaceful. In the morning, Yang Kai would serve the customers in the main hall. After the customers were gone at night, he would have some time to cultivate.
During this period of time, Pei Bu Wan from Hundred Refining’s Hall visited the inn several times. After greeting the Proprietress, he would directly look for Yang Kai. Naturally, he wanted Yang Kai to take part in more matches in Asura Arena to make more money.
Yang Kai wasn’t interested, as although he had defeated Yu Luo Sha, he had also exposed his Demon Eye of Annihilation at that time. If those from Myriad Demons Heaven found out about it, he wouldn’t even know what the consequences would be.
Moreover, he wasn’t lacking money at the moment as he hadn’t even touched the 1 million pills he had earned from the last match. In any case, the things he wanted couldn’t be bought with money. Seventh-Order and above materials couldn’t be gauged in monetary terms. Also, he wasn’t in the rush to return the 16 million to the Proprietress, so it wasn’t necessary for him to go to the Asura Arena anymore.
In the blink of an eye, one month had passed. Yang Kai calmly stepped out of the inn and followed the path he had walked down one month ago to demand repayments from the various shops.
His mission could be regarded as successful. Those from Second Class forces couldn’t afford to offend First Inn, so after they sent a message to their headquarters and confirmed that their top cultivators were indeed involved in First Inn’s destruction, most of them generously paid the debt of 10 million. After six days, 13 out of 19 shops had repaid the debts. The remaining 6 shops were also willing to pay up, but 10 million was a lot of pills, so they needed more time to prepare them.
Yang Kai wasn’t a ruthless man, so he agreed to their requests and extended the deadline. He would only visit them again when the time was due.
A few days later, he stepped out of a shop after getting the repayment from them. While he was walking on a street, he heard someone calling out to him. Lifting his head, he saw Bai Qi beckoning to him from the second floor of a restaurant.
It was such a coincidence. This Star City was apparently just a mid-sized city, but it was the first time he came across Bai Qi while collecting debts. Certainly, he was more than happy to grab a drink with him.
Seeing that Bai Qi was drinking on his own by the window, Yang Kai took a seat across from him and told the shop hand to get him a bowl and a pair of chopsticks. Then, they had a small celebration together.
After eating and drinking for a while, Bai Qi asked, “How are you doing with the debt collection?”
While picking up some vegetables, Yang Kai replied, “There are two shops left. We’ve agreed on a time to collect the debts. What about you?”
Bai Qi pressed his lips together, “Most of them are willing to pay up, but there’s one shop that is particularly difficult to deal with.”
“Which one?” Yang Kai was surprised. They would always leave a notice of debt before demanding repayment, but there were still some people who had no regard for First Inn, which was why he was curious.
Bai Qi replied, “Wind and Cloud Auction House.”
Yang Kai frowned, “Is that a business of Wind and Cloud Paradise?” Although he wasn’t aware of all the great forces in the Outer Universe, he was familiar with all Thirty-Six Cave Heavens and Seventy-Two Paradises at the very least. Wind and Cloud Auction House was obviously an industry of Wind and Cloud Paradise.
“En,” Bai Qi nodded.
“What did they say?” Yang Kai asked.
Bai Qi snorted, “They said that they have no money. If I want any repayment, I should get the Proprietress to visit them.”
“Did they really say that?” Yang Kai was shocked. He had visited the shops owned by several Paradises before, and although the shopkeepers were not obsequious, they were still polite to him.
What was wrong with those from Wind and Cloud Auction House? Why would they humiliate a shop hand from First Inn?
Apparently, Bai Qi was frustrated over this issue. He couldn’t tell others about it, but since he had come across Yang Kai, he decided to vent his frustration to him, “What do you think I should do? It’s not like I can really get the Proprietress to go over. It will make me look useless. However, they are unwilling to give me the money, and I can’t explain myself to the Proprietress.”
“Have you explained what happened to them?” Yang Kai stared at him.
Bai Qi replied, “Of course I have. I even met their shopkeeper twice, but after that, they refused to let me in again.”
“They’re pretty brazen of them,” Yang Kai sneered. Whatever the case, he was also part of First Inn now, which was why he shared Bai Qi’s fury.
Bai Qi took a look at him and darted his gaze around; then, he said with a grin, “Yang Kai, why don’t you visit them on my behalf? They have never met you before, so they won’t shut you out.”
With a frown, Yang Kai replied, “It might not be useful even if I go.” Just like Bai Qi, he was also a shop hand from First Inn. Since Bai Qi couldn’t demand any repayment from them, it was pointless for him to go over as well.
“Regardless of whether it’s useful or not, please give it a try. If that doesn’t work, we’ll just inform the Proprietress about it.” Seeing as Yang Kai was hesitant, he decided to push a little harder, “She has said that you’ll get five percent of the money you collect to put towards your debt. The debt you collect from Wind and Cloud Auction House will be considered yours. There’s no harm in trying.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai decided not to turn him down as he nodded, “I’ll give it a try, then.”
An elated Bai Qi immediately filled the cup for him, “You’re a good friend! Let’s drink!”
After they were done with the meal, they walked out together.
Wind and Cloud Auction House was a huge building that was located in the centre of the city, which was a key location.
When they arrived at the auction house, they were shocked to realise that there were many people outside the building. The shop hands from the auction house hospitably welcomed everyone into the hall while a well-dressed elderly man greeted these important guests.
“What’s going on?” Yang Kai furrowed his brows.
After giving it a thought, Bai Qi suddenly realised something, “I think they have an auction going on today… En, they indeed have one scheduled for today. No wonder there are so many people.”
“An auction?” Yang Kai’s interest was piqued. In the past, he had entered many auction houses, but it was the first time he came across an auction in the Outer Universe. He wondered if there were any good treasures that were up for auction, which was why he was interested.
Anyway, an auction house was a place where rich people fought against one another with their wealth. Although he had 1 million with him, it was obviously not enough for him to get anything good. Furthermore, he had a task to carry out now.
“That’s the shopkeeper of Wind and Cloud Auction House, Yun Zhen Hua.” Bai Qi pointed at the elderly man who greeted his guests at the door. Since he was here to demand repayment, he certainly had met the shopkeeper before. That was why Bai Qi could recognise this man at first glance. The first two times Bai Qi came here, Yun Zhen Hua was still willing to meet him, but after that, he refused to show up again, which made Bai Qi feel exasperated.
“Let’s go talk to him,” Yang Kai said before he and Bai Qi shuffled towards Yun Zhen Hua.
Presently, Yun Zhen Hua was standing in front of the entrance with a smile on his face. He was from Wind and Cloud Paradise, and he was given the task to take charge of this auction house; however, their guests on this day were all important people in the city whose cultivation and status were on par with or even greater than his own. Therefore, he had to show up at the entrance to greet the guests to show that they were sincere.
While he was telling a shop hand to lead a certain guest into the venue, Yun Zhen Hua heard a firm voice coming from the side, “First Inn’s Yang Kai greets Manager Yun.”
Yun Zhen Hua frowned and turned his head. After he took a look at both Yang Kai and Bai Qi, a tinge of impatience flashed across his eyes, “Why are you here again?”
Bai Qi cupped his fists, “Manager Yun, please forgive me. I’m just here following orders. If you don’t pay up your debt, I won’t be able to complete my task.”
Yang Kai also cupped his fists, “Manager Yun, can we get in and have a talk?”
There was a grim expression on Yun Zhen Hua’s face. On any other day, he would have directly ignored these two brats; however, it was an important day for the auction house, so he couldn’t make a fuss at the entrance. In light of that, he nodded his head, “Go in and wait for me. This Old Master will meet with you soon.”
Then, he told a shop hand to lead Yang Kai and Bai Qi into the auction house.
After entering a side room, the shop hand left.
Bai Qi and Yang Kai were seated across from one another. Then, Bai Qi spoke to him via Divine Sense, “You see now? That shopkeeper doesn’t have the intention to pay up at all.”
With a frown, Yang Kai replied, “Have you clearly explained the incident to him?”
Bai Qi snorted, “What do you mean by that? I told him all the details on my first visit, but he paid no attention to me. What could I do?”
Yang Kai nodded his head as he could feel Bai Qi’s frustration. Judging from Yun Zhen Hua’s attitude, it was apparent that they would have a hard time getting the repayment from Wind and Cloud Auction House; however, since they were here, they had to give it a try.
Then, they went on to wait for an hour, but Yun Zhen Hua was still nowhere to be seen. More outrageously, they were not even given tea or water.
Yang Kai’s face fell as time passed. Although he and Bai Qi were weak and not famous in the city, they were here as representatives of First Inn after all. Obviously, Yun Zhen Hua had no regard for them or their background.
[Why is he so arrogant? Just what is his status and backing?] The first shop Yang Kai visited was Gathering Virtue Emporium, which was an industry of Nine Stars Paradise yet the shopkeeper, Gong Sun Hong, had repaid him in full a few days ago. On the other hand, Yun Zhen Hua was completely arrogant and aloof. If Yang Kang hadn’t already known it, he would have thought that the auction house was a business of a Cave-Heaven.
After another quarter hour, Yun Zhen Hua pushed the door open and entered. Seeing that, Yang Kai and Bai Qi hurriedly rose from the chairs.
Without giving them a chance to speak, Yun Zhen Hua said, “This Old Master has no idea what really happened regarding your inn’s destruction, nor do I know whether any top cultivators from my force have anything to do with it. You’ve found the wrong place if you’re here to demand compensation. There’s an important auction going on today, so this Old Master doesn’t have the time to hold a discussion with you. Leave!”
Then, he turned around and left without sparing them a glance.
Right after he finished speaking, two men in tight-fitting clothes pushed the door open and stared coldly at them.
These men exuded majestic auras as their World Force undulated. It was apparent that they were Open Heaven Realm Masters.
“Manager Yun! Manager Yun!” Bai Qi yelled and raced after him, but before he even reached the door, one of the men landed a palm on Bai Qi’s shoulder, which made it impossible for him to move again.
Under the man’s pressure, Bai Qi slowly lowered his figure, and it seemed that he was about to kneel.
Seeing that, Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and pushed out a fist. The other man charged forward and gently raised his hand to block Yang Kai’s fist. With a grin, he said, “How dare you make a move in Wind and Cloud Auction House? You’re courting death!”
Yang Kai said through clenched teeth, “I dare you to make a move on me then. We from First Inn are not so easily bullied!” He was just here to demand repayment, but he hadn’t expected that things would turn out this way, which was why he was furious.
At the mention of First Inn, both of the men finally became wary. The man, who was pressing his hand against Bai Qi, released him, which spared him the embarrassment of kneeling.
“Both of you, please,” One of the Open Heaven Realm Masters gestured with his hand.
Bai Qi rubbed his shoulder and glared at the man who almost made him kneel. With bloodshot eyes, he said through gritted teeth, “A Second-Order Open Heaven Realm Master? Very good! I’ll remember you. When I ascend to the Open Heaven Realm one day, I’ll make you kneel and beg for my mercy!”
“Shut your mouths and leave; otherwise, you shall stay here forever.” The man grinned, apparently unafraid. It wasn’t easy to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm. Even if one managed to fully condense the Power of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements, they would still have to take a huge risk to split Heaven and Earth apart within their body. If one wasn’t careful enough, they would explode into pieces. There were no second chances. Moreover, the higher the Order one attempted to initially reach, the greater the risk became; therefore, for a cultivator, it wasn’t like the higher the Order they were trying to achieve, the brighter their future would become. Instead, they had to assess their own capabilities and act accordingly. If one thought they could only become a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, they were best off only refining Fourth-Order materials. If they forcefully tried to refine Fifth or Sixth-Order materials, it wouldn’t be beneficial to them.
Although Yang Kai and Bai Qi were incensed, they had to make a concession. That was because these two men were much stronger than them, and they were in someone else’s territory.
Under the escort of the two Open Heaven Realm cultivators, they were thrown out of the auction house through the back door.
Standing on a street that was crammed with people, Bai Qi yelled, “Let’s go back and look for the Proprietress!”
Yun Zhen Hua had made his stance clear, so shop hands like them were unable to settle the issue. The Proprietress would have to come over to deal with it.
After Bai Qi finished speaking, he turned around and headed in the direction First Inn was located. Soon though, he realised that Yang Kai wasn’t following him, so he turned his head and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Can you endure this insult?” Yang Kai shot him a glance.
“I can’t. That’s why I’m going to look for Proprietress.” Previously, he didn’t want to ask the Proprietress for help because that would make him look useless; however, he had no other choice now.
“We don’t necessarily have to look for her.” Yang Kai darted his gaze around before he stared at the enormous auction house and fell into his thoughts.
“Do you have an idea?” Bai Qi returned to him. It would be wonderful if Yang Kai was able to collect the debt without letting the Proprietress know what had happened.
With a grin, Yang Kai beckoned to him. Bai Qi approached him, whereupon Yang Kai whispered into his ear.
A moment later, Bai Qi gaped at him in disbelief, “That’s so wicked! If we really do that, the reputation of their auction house will be ruined.”
Yang Kai scoffed, “When did you become such a kind man? We were polite to them at first, but they treated us with disrespect in return. We have no choice but to use a dirty trick on them now.”
Still, Bai Qi was hesitant, “But we don’t have the money…” Before he finished his words, he suddenly realised something.
Yang Kai looked around and said, “Let’s not think about that for now. At the very least, we have to come up with a way to sneak into the auction house.”
They had just been thrown out of the place through the back door, so it was impossible for them to enter now. If they couldn’t even enter the auction house, there was no point thinking about using any tricks.
Things would have been easier if Yang Kai was on his own as over the past month, he had been refining Seven Faces every night. He had almost fully refined it, so he could start using it now. After summoning Seven Faces and transforming into someone else, Yang Kai could easily sneak into the venue; however, since Bai Qi was around, he was unable to do that.
Just when he was pondering on whether he should act on his own, Yang Kai’s gaze suddenly brightened. Then, he beckoned to Bai Qi, “Come with me.”
There was a group of people coming over from across the street and the one at the front was a burly man with hideous facial features. He was none other than the shopkeeper of Hundred Refining’s Hall, Pei Bu Wan.
Recently, life had been wonderful for Pei Bu Wan. With the help of Yang Kai, he had earned close to 30 million Open Heaven Pills. Not only was he able to pay off his debts, but he could also balance the accounts in the shop. Those from the headquarters were unable to find any problem in the books and instead, they complimented him by saying that he was adept at running a business, so he should work harder to make greater contributions.
While he was ambling forward, he was greeted by a familiar figure. With a huge grin on his face, he called out, “Yang Boy!”
“Shopkeeper Pei!” Yang Kai cupped his fists, “It has been a few days since we last met, and you’re still so energetic.” Although this thug had gone to First Inn to look for him and asked him to take part in more matches in Asura Arena, Yang Kai had decisively turned him down. After getting rejected several times, Pei Bu Wan stopped showing up. Yang Kai hadn’t expected that he’d bump into him on this day.
“Hahaha! It’s all thanks to you!” Pei Bu Wan patted his own belly and guffawed.
“Shopkeeper Pei, there’s something I need you to help me with. Will you…”
Before he finished speaking, Pei Bu Wan waved his hand and said, “Just tell me what you want. I’ll lend you a hand if I can do it.”
Yang Kai looked around and replied in a small voice, “Please come with me.”
There was a doubtful look on Pei Bu Wan’s face as it seemed that Yang Kai was up to no good. With his interest piqued though, he led his group of people to follow him.
After entering a back alley, Pei Bu Wan told his subordinates to guard the entrance before turning to look at Yang Kai, “Why are you acting so mysteriously? What’s wrong?”
With a grin, Yang Kai replied, “I just want to know whether you’re here to take part in the auction.” If that wasn’t the case, nothing else needed to be said. If Pei Bu Wan was indeed going to enter the auction house though, Yang Kai could ask for his help to allow him to sneak in.
“En, this King is here today to take part in the auction.” Pei Bu Wan nodded.
[He really is!] An ecstatic Yang Kai cupped his fists, “In that case, I’d like to ask for Shopkeeper Pei’s help.”
Pei Bu Wan chuckled, “Just say it.”
“Please bring us into the auction house.”
Hearing that, Pei Bu Wan burst into a fit of laughter, “This auction house is not a Restricted Area, just go in if you want to. There are two entrances over there. One is for important people in the Star City who have VIP invitations and the other for those who are general participants. As long as you can show them that you’re wealthy enough, they will let you in. You’ve already made a fortune, so you totally have the right to enter.”
Yang Kai had realised earlier that there were two entrances for those who were invited and those who were not; however, that meant nothing for Yang Kai and Bai Qi because they wouldn’t be allowed to get into the venue if they directly stepped into it. By following Pei Bu Wan though, they stood a chance of sneaking into the place.
Realising what was going on, Pei Bu Wan knitted his brow and examined Yang Kai, “Have you caused some kind of trouble?”
With a harmless smile, Yang Kai replied, “What are you talking about? We’re honest and well-behaved people, so how is it possible that we’ve caused any trouble? Shopkeeper Pei is overly worried.” This thug indeed didn’t have any integrity to begin with. He had just promised to lend Yang Kai a hand, but he didn’t immediately agree to his request.
Pei Bu Wan’s expression suggested that he didn’t believe him.
Left with no choice, Yang Kai said, “Good. You’ve always wanted me to take part in another match, right? If Shopkeeper Pei lends us a hand today, I’ll follow you to Asura Arena one more time.”
At the mention of Asura Arena, Pei Bu Wan’s expression changed drastically as he quickly waved his hands, “No, we’re not going there again!”
[What’s going on?] A puzzled Yang Kai stared at him. Pei Bu Wan had visited the inn several times to persuade him to go to Asura Arena, so why did he look so terrified when this topic was brought up now?
Yang Kai thought that this thug had lost a lot of money in the arena and was now worried about going back, but he had no idea that it was the Proprietress who had warned him.
She had seen Pei Bu Wan looking for Yang Kai several times, so she found a chance and had a chat with him. Upon learning that Pei Bu Wan had brought Yang Kai to Asura Arena, she became infuriated and almost broke his arms. Then, she warned him against taking Yang Kai to the arena again; otherwise, she would trample his Hundred Refining’s Hall flat.
If that hadn’t happened, Pei Bu Wan wouldn’t have given up this means of making more money. That was the real reason he had stopped looking for Yang Kai.
With a frown, Pei Bu Wan pointed at two shop hands who had tagged along and ordered, “Take off your clothes.” Although he had no idea why Yang Kai wanted to follow him into the auction house, he knew that the latter must be up to no good. After that, he stared at Yang Kai, “It’s fine that you want to tag along, but we’ll part ways after we get into the venue.”
“Alright. Many thanks, Shopkeeper Pei.” Yang Kai and Bai Qi traded glances and grinned.
Soon, they changed into new clothes and hid among the group of people. After that, they followed Pei Bu Wan to shuffle towards the auction house.
In front of the entrance, Yun Zhen Hua was nowhere in sight. He must be busy handling other matters since the auction was about to start, which allowed Yang Kai and Bai Qi to heave a sigh of relief. If Yun Zhen Hua was still around, they wouldn’t stand a chance to get in, but now that the latter was nowhere to be found, they might be able to sneak in.
Reaching the entrance, Pei Bu Wan presented the invitation card to the shop hand, who extended his hand to welcome them in. Pei Bu Wan directly strode into the venue, while Yang Kai and Bai Qi hung their heads low as they followed the rest of the group.
After entering the auction hall, Yang Kai thanked Shopkeeper Pei in a small voice before he and Bai Qi scurried off in a different direction.
Soon, they reached the main hall and saw many people moving around. Rows of chairs had been placed in the venue hall that was so spacious that it could accommodate at least a few hundred people.
On the second floor, many private rooms were seen around the hall.
The chairs in the hall were for individual bidders, while those private rooms were for people like Pei Bu Wan who had high social status.
At this moment, half of the seats in the hall had been taken. Yang Kai and Bai Qi secretly observed for a while and realised that these individual bidders could take any seat they wanted, so they decided to take a seat in the last row.
There was still some time before the auction began as the guests were still streaming into the venue, so an apprehensive Bai Qi asked, “Yang Kai, why don’t we forget it and just watch the auction? We’d better not make a scene here.”
Yang Kai shot him a glance, “Do you really want to ask Proprietress for help?”
Bai Qi sighed, “We have no other choice. If we make a fuss here, we’ll end up miserable.”
Yang Kai grinned, “That’s only if they have the guts.”
A hesitant Bai Qi gave it a thought and said, “There’s a problem with your idea.”
“What do you mean?”
“What if they demand payment on the spot?”
Hearing that, Yang Kai furrowed his brow as that was indeed a problem. In that case, his plan wouldn’t work, but what Bai Qi had said might not be the case as well. After pondering on it for a bit, he said, “We’ll see how things go. If there’s a chance, we’ll make a scene. If there isn’t, we’ll just watch the auction in silence. Everything is up to Heavens now.”
Bai Qi clenched his teeth and said, “Good. It’s decided, then. However, I think we’d better sit in different places; otherwise, it’d be too conspicuous.” Then, he looked around and pointed in a direction, “You stay here, and I’ll go over there.”
After he finished speaking, he rose from his chair and walked away.
Yang Kai didn’t stop him. Looking around, he realised that there were many Emperor Realm cultivators as well as a few Open Heaven Realm Masters in the hall. However, those were all lone Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters who basically had no future; otherwise, they would have been invited into the private rooms instead of staying in this crammed hall.
While he was looking around and observing the crowd, Yang Kai suddenly heard someone calling out to him, “Sir Yang?”
Yang Kai turned his head and broke into laughter, “Luo Hai Yi?”
She seemed to be looking for a seat, and seeing as there was an empty one beside a person in the back, she decided to come over. It wasn’t until she got close that she realised it was Yang Kai.
Having bumped into a familiar face here, she was apparently elated. Then, she took a look at the seat beside him and asked, “Is that seat taken?”
“No. Have a seat,” Yang Kai flashed a smile at her.
It was then she took a seat beside him. There was a pleasant scent wafting from her body that could make anyone feel refreshed.
“Are you here to buy something?” Yang Kai asked, thinking she was probably here to take part in the auction.
Luo Hai Yi nodded her head, “I heard that some Grand Dao Pills have appeared, so I’m here to try my luck.”
She hadn’t condensed her Dao Seal yet, so she was in desperate need of Grand Dao Pills. Yang Kai had heard her mention this before.
Upon that realization, Yang Kai asked with a smile, “Do you have enough pills? I can lend you some if not.”
A bashful Luo Hai Yi put on a smile, “I should have enough to buy two pills.”
Yang Kai nodded his head, “Then, good luck.”
Through his contact with Luo Hai Yi, he realised that she was an independent woman who did not like owing others favours. Previously, she had rejected any money that was more than what had been agreed upon beforehand, so it was apparent that she stuck to her principles.
The pair were familiar with one another and had many common interests, so they had fun chatting together. One hour later, all the seats in the hall were finally filled.
This fact alone suggested that Wind and Cloud Auction House was truly influential in this city. There wasn’t even a single empty seat in the hall, which went to show that the auctions that were held here were attractive to the citizenry.
Right then, a bell rang out and all the lights turned dim. Following that, a spotlight was cast on the stage. Following the movement of the spotlight, a figure sashayed forward from the backstage. Standing in the spotlight, she became the centre of attention in the venue.
She was a young woman in her thirties with a curvy figure and an alluring face. After reaching the podium, she introduced herself in a soft voice, an amiable smile on her face.
After a typical opening speech, the auction officially began.
Naturally, the things that were up for auction first were not rare treasures and were things only Emperor Realm cultivators would need. While the honoured guests in the private rooms and the Open Heaven Realm Masters in the hall were unfazed, the Emperors fervently bid for the things and caused the prices to soar.
All the items were carefully selected, so none of them were left unpurchased.
Yang Kai watched coldly and realised that Bai Qi’s worry was needless. The successful bidder wouldn’t have to make payment on the spot. After the winning bid, the item would be taken away and payments would only be made after the auction was over.
Those from the auction house were not worried that someone would refuse to pay up. Given their auction house’s power and influence, who would have the guts to do that?
[Interesting…] Yang Kai grinned in silence and shot a glance at Bai Qi, who was on the other side of the hall. Bai Qi got his hint as a tinge of ferocity flashed across his eyes. It seemed that he was ready to make a scene.
After an hour, 8 items had been sold off and the auctioneer had become increasingly high-spirited, “The next items are the Spirit Pills that every Emperor Realm cultivator yearns for…”
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai could see Luo Hai Yi straightening up. If he wasn’t mistaken, the Spirit Pills the auctioneer had mentioned were supposed to be Grand Dao Pills.
As expected, ten maidservants with different styles of beauty emerged from backstage, each of them holding a tray on which a jade bottle sat.
The auctioneer went on to say with a smile, “Grand Dao Pills can help a cultivator comprehend his or her own Grand Dao and condense their Dao Seal. As all of you know, only by condensing a Dao Seal can a cultivator stand a chance to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm. I’m sure many Emperors have gathered in this place for these Grand Dao Pills, so I’ll not dally.” Then, she pointed at the bottles behind her, “We have ten batches of Grand Dao Pills here with two pills in every batch. We’ll start the bidding for the first batch now. The starting price for the next batch will be the second-highest offer of the previous batch. We’ll begin now. The starting price is 5,000, with minimum additional bids of 500!”
As soon as she finished speaking, Yang Kai heard Luo Hai Yi yelling, “5,000!”
Unfortunately, many people in the hall scrambled to bid for the same item, so her voice was immediately drowned out and no one could hear her.
Yang Kai turned to look at Luo Hai Yi, who appeared bashful under his gaze.
Luo Hai Yi had said that a Grand Dao Pill could be bought at a price that was between 10,000 to 20,000. This price was nothing to Yang Kai, but it was a hefty sum for an ordinary Emperor Realm Master. It was probably all the money a person at the bottom of the social hierarchy could earn after hundreds of years of work.
Despite that, the auction price still soared from the base price of 5,000. In just ten breaths’ time, the price had broken the 10,000 mark. Luo Hai Yi appeared anxious as she had failed in her attempt to make a bid twice. Many people were heard bidding for the Grand Dao Pills, which went to show that the pills were truly popular among the Emperors present.
Soon, the price hit the 20,000 mark and was about to reach 30,000.
A moment later, Luo Hai Yi clenched her teeth and made an offer of 30,000, but the next instant, someone else made a higher offer, which caused her to feel dejected. Then, she stopped making any offers as she had apparently given up on this one. After all, there were 10 batches of Grand Dao Pills, so she still had a chance.
After the price hit the 30,000 mark, fewer people were heard bidding for the pills. It seemed that Luo Hai Yi was right. A Grand Dao Pill was worth about 10,000 to 20,000. A price of 30,000 for two pills had exceeded the budgets of many Emperor Realm Masters present, which was why few people bid for it now.
When someone made an offer of 34,000, no one else was heard offering a higher price. The person who made the offer was a young man who was seated just in front of Yang Kai. Presently, he appeared nervous as he balled up his fists and yelled at the auctioneer, “No one else is making an offer now. Bang the gavel quickly!”
Hearing that, the auctioneer flashed a smile at him and lifted the gavel. Then, she looked around and asked smilingly, “The highest bid for the first batch of Grand Dao Pills is 34,000. Is there a higher offer?”
Right then, Yang Kai raised his hand, “40,000.”
In an instant, the cultivators around him turned their heads and gazed at him in disbelief. The young man who made an offer of 34,000 was especially fuming.
It couldn’t be helped. Although the price soared quickly as the Emperors bid for the same item, every additional offer was only about 500 to 1,000 more than the previous price; after all, it wasn’t easy for them to earn Open Heaven Pills, so they were reluctant to offer an exorbitant price.
However, Yang Kai directly raised the price by 6,000, which was unprecedented.
To the side, Luo Hai Yi also turned to look at him in shock. She was aware that he had condensed his Dao Seal, so Grand Dao Pills were practically useless to him; therefore, she hadn’t expected that he’d bid for the pills. At that instant, she looked away and started blushing. Apparently, she had misunderstood something.
“This friend has offered 40,000 for the first batch of Grand Dao Pills. Is there a higher offer?” The auctioneer asked with a smile, and upon confirming that no one else made a new offer, she gave a three count and banged the gavel.
“The starting price for the second set is 34,000. Please make your offer now.” The auctioneer extended her hand. She had mentioned before that the starting price for the next batch would be the second-highest offer of the previous batch. Since the second-highest offer for the first batch was 34,000, the starting price for the second batch would be the same. The auction house wouldn’t want to make a loss.
“34,000!” The young man in front of Yang Kai clenched his fists and shouted, making the same offer as earlier.
A nonchalant Yang Kai lifted his hand, “40,000.”
Just like the incident earlier, the same thing happened again. The young man turned his head and glared at Yang Kai, who didn’t even spare him a glance.
Gritting his teeth, the young man shouted, “41,000!” This was the highest price he could possibly offer. He wouldn’t be able to make an additional offer if someone else offered a higher price.
“50,000,” Yang Kai said dispassionately.
“You!” The young man turned his head with a hideous expression. It seemed that he had the urge to bite off a piece of flesh from Yang Kai.
The other Emperor Realm Masters around him appeared hostile as well. Many of them were here for the Grand Dao Pills, so Yang Kai directly raising the price to such an unprecedented level would make them suffer losses as well. Some of them even suspected that he was hired by the auction house to hike up the prices. Nevertheless, this was unlikely as Wind and Cloud Auction House had a good reputation, so they probably wouldn’t do such a despicable thing.
Other than the young man and Yang Kai, no one else had made an offer for the second batch, so it was soon sold.
Following that, it was the third batch’s turn, but before the auctioneer could finish her words, Yang Kai raised his hand again, “50,000.”
The young man in front of him was unable to hold it in anymore, so he bellowed, “What’s the point of buying so many Grand Dao Pills? If your aptitude is not good enough, it’s useless no matter how many pills you buy!”
Generally, if a cultivator was lucky enough, all it took was one Grand Dao Pill for him or her to successfully condense a Dao Seal. Most of the cultivators would need two pills. If the cultivator was diffident, they might need three to four pills. Any additional pills would be of no help.
Yang Kai had bought two batches, so it was more than enough for himself. Supposedly, he didn’t need to bid for the third batch.
“I have too much money to spend, and it’s none of your damn business what I do,” Yang Kai scoffed.
The young man felt his lungs almost exploding as he thought that Yang Kai was immensely detestable. If it weren’t because fighting was forbidden here, he would’ve taught him a lesson.
“51,000!” Just then, someone was heard making a bid. Apparently, that person couldn’t take it anymore either. Yang Kai had bought the first two batches, and he seemed determined to purchase even more. There were only ten batches in total, so if all of them were bought by Yang Kai, there would be none left for them.
Although the price was unreasonably high, that person still grit his teeth and made a bid for the sake of his future. Right after he finished speaking though, Yang Kai said impassively, “60,000.”
In an instant, gasps were heard around him. Many Emperor Realm cultivators thought that this guy must be out of his mind. They had never seen anyone offering 60,000 for two Grand Dao Pills before.
In Private Room A6 on the second floor, the corner of Pei Bu Wan’s mouth twitched as he looked down at the hall and tutted, “As expected, this brat is up to no good.”
Earlier, he had figured that Yang Kai must have caused some trouble, which was why the latter needed his help to get into the auction venue. Now, it seemed that this brat was trying to make a scene by bidding maliciously; however, what was the point of doing that? He would have to fork out a large amount of money in the end regardless.
On the other hand, Luo Hai Yi was dumbfounded as well. Initially, she thought that Yang Kai had taken part in the bidding to buy the Grand Dao Pills for her, but now, that didn’t seem to be the case. Why had he even bid for three batches of pills?
She speculated that Yang Kai might have some friends and family members who needed a large quantity of Grand Dao Pills, and realising that it was just her wishful thinking that he was buying the pills for her, she felt her face burning.
The third batch of Grand Dao Pills was sold for 60,000, and when it was time for the fourth batch, the auctioneer directly stared at Yang Kai and looked nowhere else. Unexpectedly, as soon as she finished speaking, the young man in front of Yang Kai directly said, “60,000!”
The young man turned to stare fixedly at Yang Kai when he made the offer through clenched teeth. He seemed determined to go up against him.
With a smile, Yang Kai took a glance at him and fell silent for a long time, which caused the young man’s forehead to be drenched in a cold sweat. 41,000 was the highest price he could offer. The reason he even made a bid just now was to irritate Yang Kai.
Just then, Yang Kai spoke to him via Divine Sense, “How will you end up if I don’t make an offer?”
Hearing that, the young man gulped and turned pale. He couldn’t possibly fork out 60,000 Open Heaven Pills. If he really had to pay up, he would become broke. By then, he could only offer up his only life-saving artifact as collateral.
As their eyes met, the young man pleaded with him with his expression.
“60,000 going once, going twice…” The auctioneer’s voice sounded like a curse from Hell, which caused the young man’s face to become increasingly ashen.
With a faint smile, Yang Kai raised his hand at the last moment and said, “70,000.”
Hearing that, the young man immediately let out a long breath and became paralysed on his chair. It was as though he had just escaped from death’s door.
When it was time to bid for the fifth batch, someone was heard offering a price of 70,000.
Upon hearing the voice, Yang Kai became amused because that person was Bai Qi. He must be thinking that it was outrageous for Yang Kai to purchase so many pills in one go, which would attract immense hatred and attention; therefore, he decided to help him share his burden.
Yang Kai was fine with that. Since Bai Qi had made a bid, he decided to fall silent. For the remaining batches, Yang Kai and Bai Qi basically dominated the scene. The other cultivators stopped offering any bids as these two directly obtained the pills after they made a bid.
Soon, all ten batches were sold. Yang Kai had purchased six while Bai Qi had bought four.
The auctioneer on the stage couldn’t even stop smiling; after all, a price of 70,000 for two Grand Dao Pills was inconceivable. Normally, two such pills would’ve been sold for 30,000 at most, but the price had more than doubled now. Although such an amount of money was nothing to the auction house, they were more than happy to see such fierce competition. After this incident, the bidders would become more fervent for the next items that would be put up for auction.
As expected, the price for the item after the Grand Dao Pills soared quickly as well. The item was a rare defensive artifact that could block a Low-Rank Open Heaven Master’s all-out attack, so it was definitely a life-saving treasure. Therefore, besides the Emperor Realm Masters, even the Low-Rank Open Heaven Masters started bidding for it as well. The competition was rather fiery.
On the other hand, Yang Kai appeared calm and collected. He only started joining in the fun when the price was high enough, and after a few rounds, he defeated all his competitors and obtained the treasure for an unusually high price.
At that instant, many people stared at Yang Kai with weird gazes. When they saw Yang Kai bidding for so many Grand Dao Pills earlier, they thought that he was just a fool with lots of money. Now, it wasn’t certain if he was really a fool or not, but he was definitely wealthy.
Moreover, he hadn’t even reached his limit.
One hour later, the atmosphere in the venue became extremely awkward. Even the auctioneer on the stage had stopped smiling as she furrowed her delicate brow. That was because over ten items had been obtained by Yang Kai and Bai Qi in the past hour; moreover, every item was sold for a price that no one else could bid against.
Could these two Emperor Realm Juniors really possess such immense wealth? After making some calculations, anyone would’ve realised that they had respectively bought over a million pills’ worth of goods. To put it in a different perspective, the average Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master wouldn’t be able to take out a million pills even if they sold all their belongings. How did these two Emperor Realm Juniors possess so much money?
Earlier, the young man who was almost framed by Yang Kai couldn’t help turning his head to look at Yang Kai with a doubtful look on his face.
Although Luo Hai Yi had no idea why Yang Kai was madly bidding for the items, she wasn’t worried at all. She was aware that he possessed a million Open Heaven Pills that were given to him by Pei Bu Wan some time ago.
The auction went on as the auctioneer said in a clear voice, “The next item is a Sun’s True Fire. I’m sure many of you have heard that a Sun Star died in a particular Great Territory some time ago. This Sun’s True Fire is from that dead Sun Star.”
After she finished speaking, a maidservant emerged from the backstage with a round bowl in her hands. A flame could faintly be seen flickering from the bow as a hot wave swept across the hall.
Upon hearing what the auctioneer had said, everyone in the hall broke out into a commotion. Yang Kai could also feel that many powerful Divine Senses shot out from the private rooms and scanned the Sun’s True Fire.
In fact, Yang Kai was surprised as well. He had never expected that a True Fire from that Sun Star would appear here; after all, this place was quite far away from that Great Territory. After giving it a thought though, he realised that it wasn’t so surprising; after all, many people had obtained Sun’s True Fires at that time. Wind and Cloud Auction House was backed by one of the Seventy-Two Paradises, so they naturally had the power to obtain a Sun’s True Fire to be put up for auction.
However, a Sun’s True Fire was at minimum a Fourth-Order material while there were also Fifth-Order ones. It wasn’t certain what Order the True Fire, which would be up for bidding, was in.
Shopkeepers like Pei Bu Wan and Gong Sun Hong were only in the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm while there was a possibility that a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master could be raised using a material in the same Order, which was why they paid extra attention to it.
Yang Kai realised that the items that were up for auction earlier were just things that those Emperor Realm cultivators, who hadn’t condensed their Dao Seals, needed. The items that were up for auction now were the things that people like him craved.
“A Fourth-Order Sun’s True Fire. The starting price is 100,000 with the minimum increase being 5,000.” The auctioneer extended her hand with a smile.
Following that, seven to eight people were heard making offers. All of them sounded eager to obtain this item, which surprised Yang Kai. He thought that only those in the private rooms would be interested in the item that was up for auction now, but he hadn’t expected that those individual bidders in the hall had the money to bid for the item as well.
Soon, their voices were suppressed by someone from a private room, “150,000!”
Hearing that, everyone in the lower hall fell silent.
For a Fourth-Order Open Heaven material, 150,000 was the average price. When Yang Kai was in Seven Wonders Land, Dié You had told him that a First-Order material was worth about 150 pills, while the price of a Second-Order material was ten times more than that of a First-Order material, and the price of a Third-Order material was ten times more than that of a Second-Order material.
The Stainless Golden Dew he bought in Seven Wonders Land was a Third-Order material, which cost him 15,000 Open Heaven Pills.
However, in an auction, items were generally sold for above-average prices. If there were any wealthy people who weren’t lacking money, the prices could be pushed much higher, not to mention that 150,000 was just the average price.
As expected, someone else from another private room then made an offer of 160,000. The people who were seated in the private rooms were all big shots in the Star City, so it was expected that they had more than a million Open Heaven Pills with them for this auction. They were all Open Heaven Realm Masters, so they didn’t need the Sun’s True Fire, but their disciples and family members could use it. It was rare for a Fourth-Order material to appear in an auction house, so they wouldn’t want to miss it.
The Sun’s True Fire was so popular that the two guests in the private rooms soon pushed the price to the 200,000 mark. Presently, the first person in the private room had fallen silent. Apparently, the price had exceeded his limit.
It wasn’t that he didn’t have the money; however, in order to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm, a cultivator had to condense all seven of the Yin, Yang, and Five Elements. If one material cost 200,000, all seven materials would be 1.4 million. Furthermore, the cultivator might not even succeed in the end, so it was too hefty a price to pay.
“Shopkeeper Sun, you have my respect.” The second person from the private room was heard guffawing.
Shopkeeper Sun snorted and fell silent.
“Bang the gavel now,” the person was heard saying again.
With a smile, the auctioneer looked around and raised the gavel, “200,000 going once, going twice…” For some reason, she subconsciously took a look at Yang Kai and wondered whether he’d make an offer at the last moment. Earlier, he and another guy had basically stolen the show. They had bought all the items that came after the Grand Dao Pills, and no one else could outbid them.
However, after she counted to two, she realised that Yang Kai didn’t seem to have the intention of making a bid. She smiled helplessly and wondered what was wrong with herself. Since he had bought Grand Dao Pills, it suggested that he hadn’t condensed his Dao Seal; therefore, it was pointless for him to buy a Fourth-Order material. Even though he was wealthy, he wouldn’t squander his money in such a way.
Right when she thought so though, Yang Kai raised his hand and called out, “300,000.”
The auctioneer’s gavel froze mid-air as she stared at Yang Kai in disbelief. The people in the hall also broke into a furor as well.
Earlier, Yang Kai and Bai Qi practically dominated the auction, allowing no one else to bid against them; however, those items were not valuable, so only the Emperor Realm cultivators were trying to snatch them. The amount of money was nothing in the eyes of the truly rich people here.
Nevertheless, this time was different. Yang Kai directly offered an increase of 100,000. Was he trying to make things difficult for himself or something?
“Brat, which great force are you from?” The Open Heaven Realm Master, who made an offer of 200,000, was infuriated. Looking down from the private room, he found Yang Kai to be loathsome. This brat gave him a surprise at the last moment, which greatly humiliated him.
Without even turning his head, Yang Kai refuted, “Make an offer if you can, if you don’t have the money, shut your mouth. Which great force I’m from has nothing to do with you.”
The person in the private room was rendered speechless, but as a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, it was inappropriate for him to bicker with a mere Emperor Realm Junior.
The young man in front of Yang Kai became increasingly doubtful as he turned his head to look at him.
The auctioneer became startled for a long time before she came to her senses and let out a hollow laugh, “300,000 going once, going twice, going three times!”
She banged the gavel and confirmed that the item was sold. Without stopping, she went on to say, “The next item will be a Fourth-Order material as well…”
Before she could finish her words, someone was heard making a bid from the hall, “300,000.”
The auctioneer became frustrated as she was at a loss for words. With a furious expression, she glared at Yang Kai and wondered what was wrong with him. He should’ve waited for her to finish speaking first at least, but this young man directly made an offer of 300,000 before even finding out what the material was. Could he be out of his mind?
Everyone in the hall and the private rooms fell silent as they stared fixedly at Yang Kai. To his side, Luo Hai Yi felt like she was on pins and needles. With a worried look, she said in a hushed voice, “Senior Yang, that’s an exorbitant price.”
“It’s fine,” Yang Kai put on a smile.
“Do you really have that much?” Just then, someone was heard speaking. It was the young man who was seated in front of Yang Kai. Presently, he was gaping at him with a sneer, “You’ve bid for so many items. Do you even have enough to pay up?”
The reason he took part in the auction was for the Grand Dao Pills. He thought he would be able to purchase one batch at least, but after Yang Kai messed everything up earlier, he had lost all hope. Although he was spared the trouble by Yang Kai later, he was still resentful. Upon seeing that Yang Kai unabashedly bid for so many items, he even suspected that this guy was here to stir up trouble. Unable to hold it in anymore, he decided to speak up.
As long as he could prove that Yang Kai was here to make trouble, the Grand Dao Pills would be put up for auction again, and he would still stand a chance.
With this thought in mind, he rose from the chair and cupped his fists at the podium, “Seniors present today, I suspect that this ill-intentioned person is bidding maliciously. I urge all of you to probe him to find out whether he is really capable of paying for the items he has bid on!”
“I second that,” Someone was heard speaking from a private room. He was the one who had lost the Sun’s True Fire to Yang Kai.
“That’s a good idea. It’s highly probable that this boy is here to make a scene,” someone else from a different private room was heard saying. It wasn’t that Yang Kai had offended them, but if they allowed him to keep raising a fuss, they would have no hope of getting the items they wanted. The reason they took part in the auction was to buy things they needed. Moreover, the items that would soon be put up for auction were materials that were in the Fourth Order and above.
Therefore, after the young man finished speaking, many people in the private rooms seconded his suggestion.
In Room A6, the corner of Pei Bu Wan’s mouth twitched, “This brat is so sinister. Why didn’t I realise it before?” Now, it was apparent to him that Yang Kai was indeed here to create trouble. He wondered what grudges Yang Kai had against this auction house that the latter had to do such a thing during an auction. Yang Kai had basically humiliated them, so there was no way they would let him off.
Yang Kai’s real fortune would be exposed if he was probed, and although Pei Bu Wan had given him a million pills as a reward, the things that he had bid for had exceeded that amount already.
However, Pei Bu Wan wasn’t worried about his safety; after all, Yang Kai was from First Inn. The worst that could happen was that he would be kicked out of the auction house, and his reputation would be ruined.
On the stage, the auctioneer appeared to be in a dilemma as she looked in a particular direction behind her. An elderly man was seated over there. Since the start of the auction, he had remained unmoving with his eyes closed. He wasn’t Yun Zhen Hua, but he was also a Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master from the auction house. The reason he was seated there was to prevent anyone from making a scene.
Certainly, he could hear all the demands to probe Yang Kai; thus, he slowly rose from the chair and walked onto the stage.
Just then, someone was heard speaking from a private room, “Old Yu, please check this boy and find out whether he really has the capital to act so wildly.”
Hearing that, the elderly man furrowed his brow. They had never probed anyone during an auction in the past; after all, they were a powerful great force, so no one would have the guts to refuse making payment. All the bidders would only make offers that were within their means.
However, Yang Kai’s actions were indeed suspicious, so he intended to find out the truth as well. After a nod, he moved and directly appeared in front of Yang Kai. Then, he slightly nodded his head at him, “Little friend, please.”
Yang Kai remained seated on the chairs with his hands placed on the armrests. Lifting his head, he stared at the elderly man and grinned at him, “What’s wrong? Is this how you treat a guest in your auction house?”
The young man turned his head and bellowed, “Stop spouting nonsense and let Old Yu inspect you! You don’t look like a man of wealth at all.” If Yang Kai possessed such an immense fortune, he would have had a private room instead of sitting in the lower hall.
The voice from the private room earlier was heard saying again, “Boy, stop wasting our time. If you’re really here to stir up trouble, I suggest that you stop now and leave. At the very least, your reputation will be preserved. If you wait until Old Yu makes a move, you won’t be spared the punishment.”
“Little friend, please take no offence.” Old Yu extended his hand and stared fixedly at Yang Kai as though he was attempting to look deep into his Soul.
To the side, Luo Hai Yi turned pale and balled up her fists as she was anxious. She wasn’t certain if Yang Kai could pass this inspection, but he most likely couldn’t; however, she didn’t have much on her. Otherwise, she could lend him some first.
On the other hand, Yang Kai appeared calm and collected. Faced with a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he still sported a nonchalant smile, “Is there such a rule in the Wind and Cloud Auction House? Why am I not aware of it?”
Hearing that, Old Yu knitted his brows. There wasn’t such a rule in the past because everyone behaved themselves; however, this brat was apparently up to no good, so how did he have the gall to talk about rules? Furthermore, how dare a mere Emperor Realm Junior act so impudently in front of him? That was the reason Old Yu was furious and spoke forcefully, “Little friend, please cooperate.”
“Brat, stop spouting nonsense. Scram if you don’t have the money and stop embarrassing yourself.”
“Heh heh, isn’t it too late for him to leave? How can he leave just like this after making a scene?”
“Old Yu, it’s pointless to be polite to him. Just make a move against him.”
…..
Many voices were heard coming from those private rooms. Obviously, they wanted the auction house to kick Yang Kai out as quickly as possible so that the auction could go on.
Yang Kai looked slightly away as his intention was indeed to make trouble in this auction house. That was because they refused to pay up and treated him disrespectfully; however, he hadn’t expected to attract public outrage in the process. If he were in their shoes though, he probably would have also thought that his actions were annoying; therefore, despite the fact that those from the private rooms were acting spitefully, he remained unperturbed. Staring fixedly at Old Yu, he said, “I don’t mind cooperating with the inspection, but what if I do have enough to pay for the items I’ve bid for?”
Hearing that, Old Yu frowned, “In that case, the auction will go on.” Despite what he had said, he didn’t believe Yang Kai possessed such an immense fortune. Everyone was required to showcase their wealth before entering the venue. If Yang Kai were so wealthy, he would’ve been given a private room.
Barely anyone sitting in the lower hall had more than a few hundred thousand Open Heaven Pills.
Yang Kai replied impassively, “What you’re trying to do will stain my reputation. Do you think you can get away with it by just resuming the auction after such disrespect?”
“What do you want, then?” Old Yu frowned, thinking that this brat was difficult to deal with.
Yang Kai sneered at him, “Don’t you think you need to apologise for making a mistake?”
Instantly, Old Yu became incensed. If they weren’t in the auction house, he would’ve let Yang Kai know the consequences of talking to him in such a manner. However, even though Yang Kai was suspected of causing trouble, he couldn’t possibly make a move on a guest in his house in public. That would make him look like he was oppressing a Junior and it would greatly damage the auction house’s reputation; therefore, regardless of how infuriated he was, Old Yu could only hold it in.
Yang Kai went on to say, “I can cooperate with the inspection. If you can prove that I don’t have enough capital, you are free to do as you please with me; however, if I pass the inspection, you will apologise and give me some compensation.”
A sharp glint flashed across Old Yu’s eyes, but after giving it a thought, he nodded, “Good.” [He’s just bluffing. Does he think he can make me back down just like that? He’s still too young and naive.]
While Old Yu was lost in his own thoughts, Yang Kai suddenly put on a faint smile, “Old man, I hope you won’t go back on your words.”
After he finished speaking, he fished out a Space Ring and passed it to Old Yu.
Old Yu hadn’t expected that Yang Kai would directly take out a ring for inspection, so he frowned and wondered whether this brat was really so wealthy.
Doubtfully, he took the ring and scanned it with his Divine Sense, only for him to stiffen in place with his hand trembling so hard he nearly dropped the ring. Quickly, he composed himself and narrowed his eyes, but upon scanning the ring again, he widened them in disbelief.
He almost couldn’t believe his eyes as mountains of Open Heaven Pills were sitting inside the ring, so many it was impossible to count them all immediately.
No one could possibly do that in an instant as there were too many pills. Old Yu was a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, and he had been in charge of the auction house for a long time now, so it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen transactions worth millions before; however, he really hadn’t ever come across such massive mountains of Open Heaven Pills before.
How many Open Heaven Pills were there in the ring? 100 million was the minimum, but it was likely closer to 200 million. It was no wonder that Yang Kai never even batted an eye when he bid.
With so many pills with him, he could have bought every item on auction today for just a small fraction of his fortune. Not to mention that the items were only worth several ten thousand to several hundred thousand so far.
[Who is he? Why does he possess so many Open Heaven Pills? He’s still quite weak, but he has the guts to walk around with such an immense fortune! Although those from Great Battle Heaven would ensure everyone’s safety in the city, isn’t he worried that an accident might happen?]
He was flabbergasted as he became rooted to the spot with the ring in his hand.
Just then, someone was heard saying from a private room, “Old Yu?”
They were all preparing to mock and ridicule Yang Kai, but Old Yu was unmoving after the inspection. Many of the Open Heaven Realm Masters were sharp-eyed, so they could see the shock behind Old Yu’s gaze, and they wondered what had happened. What was it in the ring that could make a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master lose his composure so completely?
In Room A6, Pei Bu Wan suddenly recalled something and muttered, “This brat is truly brazen.”
Some time ago, he had given Yang Kai 11 million Open Heaven Pills, 10 million of which was the compensation for First Inn. He thought that Yang Kai had already handed the Open Heaven Pills over to Madam Lan, but it now seemed that it was still in his hands. It was no wonder that this brat remained calm and collected when he was required to go through this inspection.
Since the beginning, the things Yang Kai had bid for were worth only 2 million in total. With 11 million in possession, he didn’t have to worry about anything.
After giving it a thought though, Pei Bu Wan realised that something was off. Even if the ring contained 11 million Open Heaven Pills, it couldn’t have made Old Yu lose his cool. Then, he recalled that he wasn’t the only one who had to pay compensation to First Inn. There were probably a few dozen shops that respectively owed the inn 10 million pills.
At the thought of this, Pei Bu Wan gasped and speculated that there were probably over 100 million pills in the ring. Although he couldn’t believe it, he reckoned that his speculation was right after examining Old Yu’s expression.
“So?” Yang Kai stared at Old Yu.
It was only then that Old Yu came to his senses and stared at Yang Kai with a conflicted gaze. After returning the ring to him, he nodded his head, “This little friend indeed has the right to take part in the auction. This Old Master has made a mistake, please forgive me.”
Yang Kai put on a grin, “Can the auction continue, then?”
After a nod, Old Yu moved and appeared at the back of the stage again.
It was then the auctioneer snapped back to reality and raised the gavel before shouting, “300,000 going once, going twice, going three times… Sold!”
The corners of the young man’s eyes twitched as he stared at Yang Kai in puzzlement. If Yang Kai was so wealthy, why was he seated with the rest of the commoners in the lower hall? Seeing as Yang Kai was looking smilingly at him, he hurriedly turned his head and looked down.
In the young man’s mind, regardless of what Yang Kai’s cultivation was, the latter must be backed by a powerful great force to have so many Open Heaven Pills in his possession. The young man couldn’t afford to offend him, so before the auction was over, he resolved to find a chance to flee.
From that point on, the auction became boring as Yang Kai became unhinged. For the following items, no one made a bid again as they were all purchased by Yang Kai. It was as though the auction was specifically set up for him, and the rest of them were just there to serve as props.
Since no one else would make an offer, the auctioneer was swift with banging the gavel. In just a quarter-hour, over ten Fourth-Order materials were bought by Yang Kai. Bai Qi had fallen silent as well. Since Yang Kai would do all the bidding, it wasn’t necessary for him to make an offer.
“The next few items are the most valuable of our auction today. If anyone is interested, please make an offer.” The auctioneer appeared slightly awkward on the stage. That was because only one person was heard making a bid in the entire venue for the past quarter hour, so it was meaningless for her to even act as a host.
Then, a maidservant went on stage and presented the item. The auctioneer said in the most enthusiastic voice she could muster, “A Fifth-Order Sun’s True Fire. The reserve price is 1 million. Please make your bids.”
After she finished speaking, the atmosphere in the venue finally became lively again as those from the private rooms released their Divine Senses to scan the item.
Generally, Open Heaven materials that were up for sale were Fifth-Order at best. Sixth-Order materials couldn’t ordinarily be bought with Open Heaven Pills, unless one was extremely fortunate.
Although these wealthy VIP’s were interested in the Fourth-Order materials, they could do without them; however, they were determined to get their hands on a Fifth-Order material.
Such an item was a hot cake wherever it was sold. Even the Cave Heavens and Paradises wouldn’t refuse owning more of such materials.
Therefore, as soon as the auctioneer finished her words, someone yelled, “1.2 million!”
“1.3 million!”
“1.4 million!”
…
In Room A6, just when Pei Bu Wan was about to make an offer, a familiar voice was heard again, “3 million.”
Rendered speechless, Pei Bu Wan scratched his head and cursed, “This brat must be out of his mind!”
The average price for a Fifth-Order material was about 1.5 million Open Heaven Pills. Even though the prices in an auction house were generally marked up, the maximum should be no more than 2 million. Yang Kai directly offered a price that was two times the average price, so how were others supposed to continue bidding? He didn’t seem to have the intention of allowing others to buy anything at all today.
“Brat, are you still not done with your nonsense? Don’t go too far!” An enraged voice was heard saying.
“That’s right. Boy, aren’t you worried you’ll attract trouble after purchasing so many items?”
“It’s obvious that he’s here to create trouble!”
If Yang Kai hadn’t ultimately won all the previous items, they would have thought that he was hired by the auction house to push up the prices; however, it was now apparent to everyone that he was here to raise a commotion. But, what was the point of doing that? Although the auction house’s reputation would be harmed if all their items were obtained by only one person today, he would also have to pay a hefty price. Not only was he causing damage to the other party, he was also harming himself.
“Old Yu, does this little brat really have so many Open Heaven Pills?” Someone questioned.
Even the auctioneer turned to look at Old Yu. The things that were up for auction earlier were worth several hundred thousand at most, but 3 million was ten times more than the price of any previous item, which was why everyone was doubtful.
However, Old Yu didn’t say anything after inspecting Yang Kai, so no one knew how many Open Heaven Pills he had in possession.
Faced with the stares, Old Yu hung his head low and remained unperturbed. Secretly, he smiled bitterly and thought that a few million was basically nothing as this brat had almost 200 million in his ring.
After the Fifth-Order Sun’s True Fire was won by Yang Kai for the price of 3 million Open Heaven Pills, the next two Fifth-Order materials also fell into his hands, which surprised no one.
The auction, which had attracted many people to attend, ended in an awkward atmosphere. Be it the individual bidders in the hall or the shopkeepers in the private rooms, they had their horizons broadened on this day.
They had never attended such an auction before. Other than the first few things, the rest of the items were purchased by only one person. More surprisingly, he was just an Emperor Realm Junior, yet he had spent over 10 million pills in total.
All of them wondered which great force Yang Kai was from and why he possessed so many Open Heaven Pills? Those shopkeepers at the scene could only control a few million pills, and they didn’t have the right to use any amount that was over 10 million freely.
Only a small number of them could recognise Yang Kai; after all, he had been demanding repayments from 19 shops recently, and he had met several shopkeepers in the process. Some of those shopkeepers had attended the auction on this day.
In a room that was reserved for important guests in Wind and Cloud Auction House, Yang Kai and Bai Qi were seated across from one another as they tasted the aromatic tea they were served. Many things had already been placed in front of them. Despite that, maidservants continued streaming into the room and putting down more items.
These were the items they had bid for during the auction. The rule in the auction house was that they would only collect the Open Heaven Pills after the event. Since the auction was over, it was time for the successful bidders to pay the bill.
The auctioneer with a curvy figure was standing in front of them. Every time an item was sent into the room, she would smilingly introduce it to Yang Kai and inform him of the price he had offered.
To the side, there was a man who looked like an accountant who continuously made calculations with his abacus as he added all the prices up.
As the maidservants entered and left the room, more and more items were placed in front of them. Although Bai Qi was drinking tea, he kept stealing glances at Yang Kai as he felt guilty.
That was because he had never done such a thing before, to say nothing of the fact that they were in an auction house. He couldn’t even imagine how they would end up once this was all over.
A moment later, the accountant was finally done with the calculations and reported them. The auctioneer then looked smilingly at Yang Kai, “Sir, the total price for the things you’ve bid for is 11,360,000.”
Then, she turned to look at Bai Qi, “Sir, the total price of the things you’ve bid for is 930,000.”
Compared to Yang Kai, Bai Qi had bid for far fewer things, which were mostly some cheaper items. That was because Yang Kai was swift every time he made an offer, so Bai Qi didn’t have a chance to make a bid.
“Pack them all up together,” Yang Kai didn’t even bat an eye.
Hearing that, the auctioneer took a look at someone beside her, whereupon a shop hand put all the things into a Space Ring. The auctioneer held the ring with both hands and presented it to Yang Kai.
After taking it, Yang Kai didn’t even bother to take a glance at it. As he rubbed his fingers together, a tinge of Space Principles undulated, upon which the ring disappeared.
Following that, he rose from the chair and spoke to Bai Qi, “Let’s go.”
The smile on the auctioneer’s face froze as she stood in his way and said politely, “Sir, have you forgotten something?”
Yang Kai looked around and stared at her, “I don’t think so.”
The auctioneer forced a smile and said in a soft voice, “You’ve forgotten to pay the bill.” There was an aggrieved look on her face.
“I have no Open Heaven Pills,” Yang Kai stared frankly at her while Bai Qi, who was standing behind him, had the corner of his brow twitch.
After batting her eyes, the auctioneer suddenly covered her mouth and giggled, “Sir, you’re too funny.” Old Yu had inspected Yang Kai and confirmed that he had enough Open Heaven Pills to bid for the items; otherwise, he would’ve been kicked out of the auction house. No one would believe him if he said he had no Open Heaven Pills at this point.
“I’m not joking.” Yang Kai looked dispassionately at her, “Your auction house owes us 10 million Open Heaven Pills, so I’ll just regard these items as collateral. I’ll only return them to you when you pay me the 10 million you owe.”
The auctioneer became rooted to the spot as she gaped at Yang Kai and asked hesitantly, “Sir, what do you mean by that?”
She was just an auctioneer, so she had no idea what had happened behind the scenes. That was the reason she was puzzled now. She didn’t even know that the auction house owed someone 10 million.
“Your shopkeeper understands what I’m talking about. Right, Manager Yun?” Yang Kai shouted the last sentence at the door.
Although he couldn’t detect Yun Zhen Hua’s aura, he reckoned that the shopkeeper must be just outside the room; after all, not long after he and Bai Qi were kicked out of the auction house, they managed to sneak back in. Furthermore, they had swept most of the items into their pockets with exorbitant prices during the auction. As the shopkeeper of this auction house, there was no way Yun Zhen Hua wasn’t aware of such an incident.
In that case, there was no doubt he was waiting outside the room at the moment.
With a creak, the door was pushed open from the outside; however, the person who entered the room wasn’t Yun Zhen Hua. Instead, it was Old Yu, who had inspected Yang Kai earlier.
Presently, there was a grim expression on Old Yu’s face. He placed one hand behind his back and his other hand on his belly as he stared fixedly at Yang Kai, “Little friend, I suggest that you don’t risk ruining your future.”
He only found out about who Yang Kai and Bai Qi were after the inspection he performed; after all, it was inconceivable that a mere Emperor Realm cultivator would be carrying 200 million Open Heaven Pills on him, so he secretly informed Yun Zhen Hua about it. Yun Zhen Hua furtively came over to have a look and realised that the bidders causing trouble were the two shop hands from First Inn.
Furthermore, they had demanded repayment from him right before the auction.
After that, Old Yu immediately knew that these two guys were ill-intentioned; however, it was already during the latter half of the auction, and Yang Kai indeed had enough Open Heaven Pills to bid for the items, so it was inappropriate for him to do anything. He decided to see how things went after the auction. Now, seeing as these two brats had no intention to pay up, Old Yu became incensed.
“We have the right to demand repayment from you because you owe us Open Heaven Pills. Since you’re not willing to pay up, we have no choice but to extract compensation from you through other means,” Yang Kai looked smilingly at him.
Old Yu said coldly, “No one has dared to make a scene in our auction house before. Are you sure you want to do this?”
“There’s someone now,” Yang Kai showed no fear. Although the auction house was backed by a powerful great force, he also had the support of First Inn; therefore, he was confident that the inn could compete against the auction house. Furthermore, those from the auction house were in the wrong, so he wasn’t afraid when facing Old Yu.
“Bold!” Old Yu snorted, “But courage is far from enough. Do you think you can get away with this outrage?”
Yang Kai shot him a glance, “What do you want to do, then? Detain us?”
Old Yu scoffed and waved his hand, “Search them.” He secretly mocked these two brats for thinking that they could do whatever they wanted just because they were backed by First Inn. He would retrieve the items first before settling the score with them.
Upon receiving the order, the shop hands beside him marched forward.
Hurriedly, Bai Qi got into a defensive pose, “Don’t come near me. I’ll fight!”
Yang Kai lifted his hand and pressed it against Bai Qi’s shoulder, “Let them.”
In puzzlement, Bai Qi turned a strange look at him. They had spent the past month collecting Open Heaven Pills from many places. Besides Yang Kai, he also had over 100 million with him as they hadn’t handed the Open Heaven Pills to the Proprietress yet.
Yang Kai kept them with him because he was struck by the Proprietress with a feather duster when he returned to the inn to tell her the good news some time ago, which irked him. On the other hand, Bai Qi hadn’t handed it over to her because he had never seen so many pills before, so he wanted to keep it for a longer time.
However, before coming to this place, Yang Kai had told Bai Qi to pass everything to him, so Bai Qi didn’t even have a single Open Heaven Pill with him. There was practically nothing in his pockets right now.
That was why he wasn’t worried about the inspection, but it was a different story for Yang Kai. However, since Yang Kai had said so, Bai Qi lowered his guard despite his puzzlement. More importantly, they couldn’t defeat the people around here as it was enemy territory. Apart from the shop hands around them, Old Yu was able to defeat them with a wave of his hand, so any resistance was futile.
In total, four shop hands walked up to them. Two of them searched Bai Qi, while the other two inspected Yang Kai.
A moment later, they couldn’t find anything, so they turned to look at Old Yu and reported, “There’s nothing with them.”
“Impossible!” Old Yu’s expression changed. He didn’t seem to have made a move, but he directly appeared in front of Yang Kai as he grabbed his shoulder with one hand and searched his body with the other hand.
How was it possible that there was nothing on Yang Kai? Besides the ring that contained almost 200 million Open Heaven Pills, the items that he had bid for were taken away by him not long ago.
How could the items have disappeared for no reason?
After the inspection, there was indeed nothing with Yang Kai. Following that, Old Yu released his Divine Sense and carefully examined every part of Yang Kai’s body. There wasn’t even a single pill with him, let alone any Space Rings. Those items from the auction had disappeared into thin air as well.
Then, he pondered on it for a moment and recalled sensing a faint Space Principle fluctuation when he was outside the room earlier. It felt similar to the fluctuation when the Universe Transference Law was used.
His chest tightened as he exerted more force with his hand and questioned through clenched teeth, “Where have you put the items?”
Old Yu was a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so he was especially forceful when he was fuming. Yang Kai could hear a cracking sound coming from his shoulder, as though some of his bones had broken.
His expression changed as he held in the urge to groan in pain; then, he stared coldly at Old Yu and said, “I’ve said that the reason we’ve done such a thing is that you refuse to pay what you owe us. As long as you give us the Open Heaven Pills we demanded, I’ll return the items to you.”
“Little bastard!” Old Yu roared. Although the items in the auction were generally expensive, it was a failed event for the auction house. This couldn’t be helped, as most of the things were purchased by only one person, which would affect the auction house’s reputation negatively. When others talked about it in the future, they would say that there were problems with the organisational skills of those from the auction house. Otherwise, such a laughable incident wouldn’t have happened.
It had been many years since Wind and Cloud Auction House was established, so they could still bear the slight damage to their reputation; however, if word got out that they had even lost the items from the auction without receiving any payment, they would become a laughing stock.
An enraged Old Yu released his Fourth-Order Open Heaven pressure and forced Yang Kai to lower his figure. At that instant, Yang Kai felt as though an entire world had been pressed against his shoulder. This couldn’t be helped, as there was a huge gap between their powers. Now that he was captured, he was completely powerless to resist. If it weren’t because he was resolute enough, he would’ve fallen on his knees instantly.
“You dare make a move against him!” Bai Qi bellowed. Seeing as Yang Kai almost couldn’t breathe, he surged the Five Elements in his body and pushed out a palm at Old Yu.
As soon as he extended his hand, he realised that he was no match for the old man. He became infuriated because he saw Yang Kai being oppressed, and by the time he came to his senses, it was already too late for him to retract his hand.
“Get lost!” Without even looking, Old Yu landed a palm on Bai Qi’s chest. Following a loud crack, Bai Qi grunted and was sent flying backwards. After he crashed into the wall, the entire room seemed to shake.
Yang Kai turned his head, only to see that Bai Qi had turned pale. Blood was streaming down from his mouth, and there was an indent in his chest. With his head slumped to the side, he remained unmoving. An enraged Yang Kai roared, “Old dog, you must be sick of living!”
He activated all the power in his body and straightened up against the pressure. Following that, he quickly performed a hand seal with both hands before pushing out a palm at the older man.
“What?” There was a tinge of surprise on Old Yu’s face. It wasn’t that Yang Kai’s strike was powerful, but when he was faced with the attack, he realised that his mind had turned blank for a moment as though time had stopped temporarily.
[Has this brat comprehended the Dao of Time?]
Despite this astonishing feat, Yang Kai was still at a great disadvantage because he was much weaker than his opponent, so after a snort, Old Yu raised his hand and pushed out his palm again.
With a loud boom, Yang Kai was sent flying backwards as well. Time Principles swirled around Old Yu’s hand, which caused it to contort and wither; however, just a short moment later, his hand was restored to its original state. There was a huge gap between their powers, so he was able to dispel the Time Principles with ease. Otherwise, he would’ve suffered severe damage.
It wasn’t until Yang Kai hit the wall that he grunted and suppressed the roiling blood in his body. Looking down, he realised that his hand, which was used to trade moves with Old Yu, was trembling violently as the bones in his wrist had broken.
Old Yu shot him a glare, “No one has dared to steal from our auction house before. Those who have the guts to try must die.”
“I dare you to try killing us then!” Despite the fact that Yang Kai was at a disadvantage, he still lifted his chin and appeared haughty.
A murderous intent flashed across Old Yu’s eyes, but after shooting him a glare, he turned around and flicked his sleeve, “Keep watch over them. Don’t let them flee.” Then, he shuffled out of the room.
The auctioneer gave Yang Kai a dismissive look and left the room as well. Before leaving, the shop hands closed the door. It was apparent that they intended to place Yang Kai and Bai Qi under house arrest.
Outside the door, Yun Zhen Hua ran through his beard with his fingers and scowled. Seeing Old Yu, he slightly nodded at him and ambled towards a secret room with him.
After they entered the secret room a moment later, Yun Zhen Hua frowned, “Since they’re injured now, things have become complicated.”
Those two brats were from First Inn. They were rude, and it wasn’t wrong for Old Yu to teach them a lesson, but that didn’t change the truth that he had injured them. Recalling a certain crazy woman who knew no restraint, Yun Zhen Hua felt a headache coming on.
Still infuriated, Old Yu barked, “They’re clearly in the wrong as they stole from our auction house. So what if I beat them up?”
Knowing that Old Yu was an arrogant and hot-tempered man, Yun Zhen Hua shot him a glance before falling silent. Although Old Yu was just a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he was extremely ambitious. He couldn’t be blamed for having grandiose aims, but puny abilities as there was a possibility that he could’ve reached the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm in the past. However, when he was ascending to the Open Heaven Realm, he was deceived by a scoundrel, which was why he ended up in the Fourth Order. It was the biggest regret of his life.
Moreover, it hadn’t been a long time since he became an Open Heaven Realm Master, so Old Yu hadn’t heard of how infamous that woman was. That was the reason he was unafraid of her.
Nevertheless, it shouldn’t matter as these two guys were just shop hands. That woman probably wouldn’t make a fuss for two mere shop hands. In any case, it seemed they had to repay 10 million Open Heaven Pills; otherwise, it would give her a reason to flare up.
At the thought of this, Yun Zhen Hua fished out a communications bead and told his subordinate to prepare 10 million pills. He also told someone else to invite Madam Lan to come over to settle the issue.
Certainly, he was ready to repay the money, but the two shop hands had created trouble by bidding maliciously and sweeping up most of the items during the auction, so he had to deal with Madam Lan now.
While Bai Qi had passed out and Yang Kai bled, a young woman dashed into First Inn. Seeing that, a shop hand of the inn approached her and asked with a smile, “Welcome to First Inn. Are you here to rent a room or have a meal?”
The woman replied anxiously, “I’m looking for your Proprietress, Madam Lan.”
The shop hand sized her up and said smilingly, “I’m sorry, honoured guest. Our Proprietress isn’t meeting guests right now. If there’s anything you need, you can tell me about it, and I’ll pass on your words to her.”
“Sir Yang asked me to come over and said I must directly speak to your Proprietress!” The woman replied.
“Sir Yang? Who are you talking about?” The shop hand appeared puzzled. There were countless people in Star City with the surname Yang.
“Sir Yang Kai!”
The woman who had just sprinted into the inn was none other than Luo Hai Yi. When the auction was over, she immediately left the auction house because Yang Kai had secretly made a request of her, which was why she rushed over to First Inn.
“Yang Kai told you to come over?” The accountant, who had been doing some calculations behind the counter, lifted his head and stared at her.
Luo Hai Yi nodded repeatedly, “Yes!”
“What’s the matter? Where is he?” The accountant asked.
Luo Hai Yi shook her head and pressed her lips together.
Seeing that, the accountant broke into laughter. The woman was weak as she hadn’t even condensed her Dao Seal, but she was rather innocent and adorable. She only wanted to look for the Proprietress because Yang Kai had told her to do so, and she wouldn’t answer anyone else’s questions before she accomplished her objective.
Since Yang Kai had told her to come over, there must be something urgent, so the accountant said, “Bring her to meet Proprietress.”
The shop hand nodded, “Yes. Miss, please come with me.”
Then, he led the way for her towards the rear court.
A moment later, upon reaching the Proprietress’ room, the shop hand slightly bent his back and called out, “Proprietress, this young lady is looking for you. She said that Yang Kai told her to come see you.”
“Show her in,” the Proprietress was heard saying.
“Please,” The shop hand extended his hand.
After taking a deep breath, Luo Hai Yi thanked him and pushed the door open, whereupon a delicately decorated woman’s room came into her sight. A pleasant scent permeated the air, and turning her head, Luo Hai Yi saw a curvy woman who was seated by a dressing table. Her jet-black hair hung loose on her shoulders, and the mirror reflected her breathtakingly alluring face.
As their eyes met, the Proprietress asked, “Where’s that brat?”
[That brat…] Luo Hai Yi slightly stuck out her tongue as she knew that the Proprietress was talking about Yang Kai, then she said, “When we parted ways, he was still in Wind and Cloud Auction House.”
With a frown, the Proprietress combed her hair and asked, “Why was he there?” Then, she recalled that the auction house also owed them money, so he must have gone over to demand repayment.
Then, she remembered that not long after they arrived in the Star City, Yang Kai didn’t return to the inn for the entire night. When she questioned him about it later, he said that he had stayed over at a woman’s house.
The Proprietress sized Luo Hai Yi up more carefully and furrowed her brow. Although this woman could be considered pretty, she was obviously weak and destitute. Moreover, she appeared timid and inexperienced. Did that brat really stay over at her house that night?
“Why did he tell you to look for me?” The Proprietress asked.
Hurriedly, Luo Hai Yi stepped forward and revealed the things she had firmly held in her hands, “He told me to pass these things to you.”
The Proprietress turned her head and saw three Space Rings. One of them exuded Yang Kai’s aura, and the other had Bai Qi’s aura on it. These were apparently their rings. The last one seemed to have no owner.
After taking the rings, the Proprietress activated her Divine Sense and inspected Yang Kai’s ring first. Then, she arched her brow and said, “Hmph!”
There were countless Open Heaven Pills in the ring. These were obviously the money he had collected recently. Instead of handing the money to her right away though, that brat had told an outsider to pass the ring to her.
Then, she scanned Bai Qi’s ring and realised that there were just as many pills inside it.
[Those little bastards! I’ll teach them a lesson when they come back!] The Proprietress secretly cursed at them, then she took a glance at Luo Hai Yi, “Do you know what’s inside these rings?”
These two rings contained nearly 400 million Open Heaven Pills, so how could Yang Kai trust a mere Emperor Realm cultivator, one who hadn’t even condensed her Dao Seal, to send them to the inn? Wasn’t he worried that something would happen? Although no one dared to steal in this Star City, Accidents still occur.
Luo Hai Yi shook her head, “I never looked inside of them.”
It was then the Proprietress’ gaze softened. Regardless of whether Luo Hai Yi had looked into the rings, the fact that she had delivered them to the inn suggested that she was a trustworthy person.
The Proprietress didn’t explain anything to her as there was a huge gap between their powers and statuses, so it was pointless to do so. Then, she took a look at the third ring, which contained all sorts of random items. There were many precious things inside, but that only puzzled the Proprietress as she passed the ring to Luo Hai Yi and asked, “Where did he get all these things?”
After taking the ring, Luo Hai Yi scanned it and pressed her lips together, “These are the things he bid for during the auction.”
Luo Hai Yi had no idea why these things were inside this ring. Upon receiving Yang Kai’s order, she left the auction house and waited in a quiet, secluded place nearby. Before leaving, Yang Kai passed her a bead and told her that some items would be sent to her shortly, and that after she received them, she had to pass them to the Proprietress of First Inn as quickly as possible.
And so, not long ago, with a glow from the bead, three Space Rings appeared out of thin air before her.
“He took part in the auction?” The Proprietress was startled.
After a nod, Luo Hai Yi replied, “Sir Yang basically purchased all the items.”
“That little bas…” The Proprietress stood up straight. Just when she wanted to call him a wastrel, she suddenly realised something.
As a myriad of expressions came over her before she exclaimed, “Damn it!”
After taking back the ring from Luo Hai Yi, she dashed out of the room. She didn’t even have the time to tidy up her hair first.
Luo Hai Yi became rooted to the spot, but she soon raced after her; however, the Proprietress was already nowhere to be seen. An amazed accountant stuck out his head from the counter and asked a shop hand, “Proprietress seemed to be in a rush. Where is she going?”
The shop hand shook his head to indicate that he had no idea.
Seeing Luo Hai Yi, the accountant hurriedly called out to her and asked some questions. As his expression changed repeatedly, he had a feeling that a thorny issue had come up.
Inside a room in Wind and Cloud Auction House, the brothers in suffering grimaced in pain. They were in a miserable state because they were injured.
In comparison, Bai Qi’s injuries were more serious. His chest was caved in, and his five viscera and six organs were damaged. A trace of blood was also seen at the corner of his mouth. On the other hand, Yang Kai only suffered a fracture in his wrist. With that said, these were not fatal injuries for either of them. They just needed some time to recuperate.
Bai Qi sat down with his legs crossed, and just when he was about to meditate to heal his wounds, Yang Kai suddenly grabbed his clothes and hoisted him, “Don’t.”
“What are you doing?” Bai Qi’s forehead was covered in cold sweat. He didn’t understand why Yang Kai stopped him at this point.
Yang Kai showed him his fractured wrist, “What do you think those from Wind and Cloud Auction House are doing now?”
“How should I know?” Bai Qi barked. He wasn’t in the mood to venture a guess when he was barred from treating his own wounds. It was the first time he was placed under house arrest, which was the biggest humiliation in his life. That was the reason he was fuming.
“Did you leave your brain behind when you left the inn this morning?” Yang Kai pointed at his own head, “You can easily figure it out by giving it a thought.”
Bai Qi couldn’t help glaring at him, but after pondering on it for a moment, he soon realised something and exclaimed, “Oh, no! They’re going to inform the Proprietress about this!” They were shop hands from First Inn, after all. Although those from the auction house had a valid reason for harming them, they would certainly look for the Proprietress to settle the issue.
At that instant, Bai Qi appeared frustrated and sighed, “I shouldn’t have done this.” He wouldn’t want the Proprietress to find out about it; after all, demanding repayment was just a trivial matter. Failure to do so just meant that he wasn’t strong or influential enough; however, if the Proprietress had to step in to handle the matter, it would make him look useless, which was embarrassing.
Upon lifting his head, he saw that there was a faint smile on Yang Kai’s face though, so with a frown, he asked, “Did you do it on purpose?” Finally, he realised Yang Kai’s intentions. They engaged in malicious bidding during the auction and purchased most of the items. When the event was over, they intended to leave without paying. How was it possible that they would be allowed to leave? The current outcome was bound to happen and those from the auction house would certainly inform the Proprietress about it. He thought that Yang Kai had an excellent idea to get away with this act, but he hadn’t expected this to happen.
Yang Kai grinned at him, “Have you only realised it now?”
Bai Qi was perplexed, “Didn’t you say that you didn’t want the Proprietress to know?”
Yang Kai slowly shook his head, “This time is different. Previously, it might not be useful even if the Proprietress was asked to come over. If those from the auction house were determined to renege on their debt, it wasn’t like the Proprietress could rob that amount from them. She said that it would be good if these shops were willing to pay up, but if they refused, she didn’t mind going to their headquarters to reason with them. I have no idea where Wind and Cloud Paradise is, but it’s definitely not nearby. Why would we want the Proprietress to embark on such a long journey?”
“But now…” Bai Qi’s gaze brightened as he had a clearer idea about Yang Kai’s plan.
Yang Kai grinned in a wicked manner, “Now that we are severely injured and close to dying, the Proprietress has a reason to flare up. In order to appease her, they will have to give her the 10 million pills.”
“Severely injured and close to dying?” The corner of Bai Qi’s mouth twitched. He looked at the cunning man before his eyes as though he had just discovered his true colours.
“It’ll be worth it if we can get the 10 million after all the pain we’ve gone through. By then, we might even be able to demand some compensation from them.”
[Not only is he cunning, but he’s also black-hearted!] Despite his thoughts, Bai Qi said, “You should’ve told me in advance. I thought you were going to flee after snatching the items.”
A speechless Yang Kai gazed at him, “Two Fourth-Order cultivators are overseeing this place, how were we supposed to run away?” In fact, it wasn’t that they didn’t stand a chance. Since he was able to send three rings to Luo Hai Yi, he could also flee with Bai Qi in an instant; however, those from the auction house knew that they were from First Inn, so if they really ran away, all their efforts would go to waste.
“If I’m not mistaken, Yun Zhen Hua should’ve sent someone to invite…”
Before Yang Kai could finish his words, he heard a familiar voice bellowing from outside the room, “Yun Zhen Hua, roll out here now!”
The brothers in suffering widened their eyes and traded glances. They could see the shock behind one another’s gazes.
“Proprietress arrived so soon…”
At the same time, they collapsed to the ground. Bai Qi stuck out his tongue like he was a dying dog as his aura weakened. On the other hand, Yang Kai landed a few palms on himself and coughed up some blood to make himself look pitiful.
In another room, Yun Zhen Hua and Old Yu, who were seated across from each other, were astounded as well. Supposedly, Madam Lan shouldn’t have come so soon; after all, it hadn’t been long since they sent a shop hand out to First Inn.
Whatever the case, since she had arrived, they had to reason with her and tell her to discipline her subordinates.
Upon trading glances, they rose from the chairs at the same time and walked towards the door. Regardless of their feelings on the matter, they were facing a Sixth-Order Master, so they didn’t dare to offend her.
However, not long after they started moving forward, they felt an immense pressure descending from the sky. A murderous intent seemed to have materialised and caused the entire auction house to tremble.
Yun Zhen Hua felt horrified as there was a crawling sensation on his scalp. With a solemn expression, Old Yu resisted the pressure with all his might, but his bones still started cracking upon impact.
They had no idea why Madam Lan’s anger had erupted all of a sudden. Although she had spoken to them in a rude manner just now, it was understandable as she was a powerful Sixth-Order Open Heaven Master. Nevertheless, how could she directly pressure them? Did she seriously think they were afraid of her?
Both Yun Zhen Hua and Old Yu were enraged. [Our auction house is not where you can make a scene as you please!]
Just then, some shrieks were heard coming from the backyard, and following that, some cracking sounds were heard as though a door had broken apart.
Yun Zhen Hua took a glance at Old Yu and yelled, “Let’s go!”
They dashed out of the room and reached the place where the incident happened. It was the room where Yang Kai and Bai Qi were detained. Presently, many people were lying on the ground in the backyard. They were the shop hands from the auction house who were ordered to stand guard in front of the room.
At the moment, they were groaning in pain after getting beaten. Apparently, it was Madam Lan who made a move on them. Faced with a Sixth-Order Master, these weaklings were completely powerless to resist.
Yun Zhen Hua and Old Yu widened their eyes in fury. Whatever the case, they were now in Wind and Cloud Auction House. Even though Madam Lan was a Sixth-Order Master, she shouldn’t have injured so many of their people, and judging from their injuries, it would take these shop-hands at least six months to a year to recuperate.
The two old men sprinted towards the room where the door was broken and saw a curvy figure that was facing away from them. Presently, she was squatting and checking on the two little brats.
“Proprietress…” Old Bai muttered under his breath and spat blood, “I… I’m worried that I don’t have much time left… M-Many thanks for taking care of me over the years. This Old Bai will always remember it and repay you in my next life.”
The Proprietress was squatting in front of them with her hair covering her eyes. Although Yang Kai and Bai Qi were unable to see her expression, they could hear her grinding her teeth.
“Shut up!” The Proprietress lifted her hand and clenched Bai Qi’s chin. While he stared at her in disbelief, she directly knocked him out.
Then, she slowly shifted her attention to Yang Kai as her lips curved into an inscrutable smile, “Both of you are really something else.”
Yang Kai let out a hollow laugh as he had no idea how to reply to her.
The Proprietress was truly incensed. After Luo Hai Yi sent her the rings in a hurry, she immediately realised what had happened and rushed over to the auction house. Initially, she intended to have a proper discussion with Yun Zhen Hua to settle the issue, but as soon as she arrived at this place, she detected that Yang Kai and Bai Qi had been confined, and that their auras were unstable.
Upon this realization, she became enraged and stormed into the place; however, after she checked them more carefully, she realized it was all a sham. These two brats were indeed weak and wounded, but their injuries were nowhere near as serious as she had imagined. They just needed a little time to recuperate.
At the same time, she secretly heaved a sigh of relief because they only suffered from minor injuries. After she finished speaking, she slowly got to her feet and hung her head low. A cold aura swirled around her, which caused the temperature in the place to drop significantly. Even Yang Kai couldn’t help but shudder.
“Who injured them?” As she asked the question, she slowly turned around and swept a cold glance over Yun Zhen Hua and Old Yu.
Faced with her stare, they felt as though a blade had been pressed against their necks and they had a premonition that something terrible was about to happen.
Yun Zhen Hua suppressed the anxiety in his heart and asked with a frown, “Are you Madam Lan? We can discuss this…” He had only heard about how crazy this woman was in the past, but he had never seen her before. The alluring woman in front of him seemed to be different from the rumours about her.
“Who injured them?” The Proprietress ignored him and repeated her question, her gaze even colder than before.
Hearing that, Yun Zhen Hua became incensed. He was a Head Shopkeeper from Wind and Cloud Paradise who had been stationed in this auction house. Although Madam Lan had a powerful background, she shouldn’t be so arrogant.
To the side, Old Yu snorted, “These two reckless brats didn’t understand the immensity of Heaven and Earth and dared make a scene in our auction house. It was already magnanimous of this Old Master to have spared their… Ah!”
Before he could finish his speech, Old Yu condensed all his strength and pushed out his palm. This couldn’t be helped, as he could see the woman in white pushing out a palm against him. She was engulfed in a malevolent aura as though she was some kind of ferocious beast.
[How dare she make a move on me!?] Old Yu was both shocked and incensed. Earlier, he had harmed Yang Kai and Bai Qi, and now, Madam Lan had injured many shop hands from their auction house. It didn’t really matter as they were all insignificant people; however, it would be a different story if two Open Heaven Realm Masters traded moves in the Star City. There was no way those from Great Battle Heaven would ignore it.
[Is this woman out of her mind?] That was the idea that had flashed across Old Yu’s mind.
While Old Yu was still consumed with his thoughts, Madam Lan from First Inn had dispelled his Divine Ability as her slender hand was about to reach his chest. His expression changed drastically as he was aware that he was no match for her; after all, she was a Sixth-Order Master while he was only a Fourth-Order cultivator. At that instant, he flew backwards as the illusory phantom of a Small Universe appeared behind him.
World Force erupted as the illusory phantom lasted for a short moment before disappearing. Simultaneously, the Proprietress chased after him with a cold gaze.
Old Yu felt his neck tightening and realised that all his energy had stagnated. When he came to his senses, he was hoisted into the air as a whip had been wrapped around his neck. Madam Lan was just one step away from him, and she was grabbing the handle of the whip. A glacial aura was seen swirling around her.
[How is that possible!?] Old Yu widened his eyes and felt deeply horrified. He knew that he was no match for Madam Lan as she was two Orders above him, but he hadn’t expected her to be this overwhelming.
He thought that even though he couldn’t defeat her, he could trade a few moves with her. By then, Yun Zhen Hua would also lend him a hand. As long as the fallout of the battle spread, those from Great Battle Heaven would show up.
When that happened, the battle would be stopped immediately, upon which they could have a proper discussion.
However, faced with an absolute gap in power, Old Yu realised that all his thoughts were just wishful thinking.
[Is she really just a Sixth-Order? It’s almost like she’s as powerful as a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master!] Although Old Yu was only in the Fourth Order, he had seen some High-Rank Masters taking action before. From that experience, he had a feeling that Madam Lan possessed a power that surpassed that of an average Sixth-Order Master.
On the other hand, Yun Zhen Hua’s expression changed drastically as he shouted, “Madam Lan, please don’t harm him!”
It wasn’t that he reacted too slowly, but rather that Madam Lan was too swift. She managed to capture Old Yu in less than a breath of time, so he was unable to lend him a hand. Seeing Old Yu lifted off the ground with a whip wrapped around his neck, Yun Zhen Hua was both shocked and incensed.
In the corner, Yang Kai, who was holding his fractured wrist with his other hand, was dumbfounded as well. While his blood was boiling, he was also shocked by the Proprietress’ audacity. [Bold! How does she have the guts to make a move inside the Star City? She’s practically slapping the face of the auction house. What if those from Great Battle Heaven show up? After all, this city is their territory…]
It had to be said that the sight before Yang Kai’s eyes helped him vent out his anger. Unfortunately, Bai Qi had passed out; otherwise, he would’ve been able to watch the show together with him.
“How many of your ribs are broken?” The Proprietress suddenly asked.
Everyone was startled as they had no idea what she was talking about.
“I asked how many of your ribs are broken?” The Proprietress turned her head and stared at Yang Kai.
It was then Yang Kai realised that she was talking to him, so he hurriedly replied, “Three!”
The Proprietress nodded and suddenly pressed her palm against Old Yu’s chest, whereupon he shrieked and sprayed out a mouth of blood before flying backwards, a cracking sound coming from his chest.
Yun Zhen Hua’s pupils contracted as he charged forward and supported Old Yu’s weight. They were standing alongside one another as they glared at her.
The Proprietress swung her sleeve, whereupon her whip shrunk like a snake and disappeared. With a dispassionate expression, she said, “You’ve broken three ribs of my subordinate, and I’ve done the same for yours.”
While Old Yu gritted his teeth, Yun Zhen Hua glared at her, both of their gazes filled with fire.
Standing behind her, Yang Kai couldn’t help shrinking up slightly. In truth, he was the one who had broken his own ribs. Old Yu had only fractured his wrist. [Things are getting out of hand…]
“Now, we can talk,” The Proprietress lifted her blemish-free chin as she stood in front of Yang Kai, as majestic and imposing as a mountain. It was as though she was able to fend off all storms for him.
Undoubtedly, she was replying to Yun Zhen Hua’s original request. When she was checking on Yang Kai and Bai Qi earlier, Yun Zhen Hua had said that they could talk it out.
Unfortunately, she ignored him and directly attacked Old Yu, breaking three of his ribs. It wasn’t until now that she gave them a chance to discuss the situation.
A talk wasn’t necessary anymore though. Old Yu had never been humiliated in such a way before, so at this moment, the fury in his heart was weltering like a volcano that was about to erupt. If it weren’t because he was no match for her, he would’ve pounced on her to get his revenge. He didn’t care about the fact that blood was still streaming down from his mouth as he stared fixedly at the woman in white with a gaze filled with hatred.
Yun Zhen Hua fell silent as well. He had never expected that Madam Lan would be even more unreasonable than what he had heard about her, showing them not the slightest respect even in their own home. Presently, he felt extremely bitter in his heart.
He had sent a message to the headquarters to inquire about First Inn’s destruction and confirmed that a Senior from their force was involved. They indeed had something to do with destroying the inn.
However, he was on bad terms with the person who had made that move. Although both of them were from Wind and Cloud Paradise, they hated each other deeply. He didn’t want to make compensation for someone else’s mistake; moreover, he was the shopkeeper of the auction house in this city, and the profit he made would affect his chances of getting promoted. 10 million Open Heaven Pills was a big amount. If he had to fork out such a fortune, it would mean that his efforts in the past year would be wasted.
Therefore, he directly rejected Yang Kai and Bai Qi as he didn’t have the intention to make up for someone else’s mistake. He had even decided that if Madam Lan came over, he would still ignore her. In any case, he wasn’t the one who had made a move in First Inn, so there was no way she could force him to pay up. She would have to head over to their headquarters to look for that person who had caused trouble to demand compensation.
Nevertheless, it had never crossed Yun Zhen Hua’s mind that doing so would invite such big trouble to himself.
Old Yu was an arrogant man and had not hesitated to injure First Inn’s shop hands. Therefore, Yun Zhen Hua had told someone to get 10 million Open Heaven Pills ready to settle the issue, but he had still underestimated Madam Lan’s insanity.
“It’s fine even if you don’t want to talk. Yang Kai, explain what happened,” Madam Lan said in a dispassionate voice without turning her head.
With his hand pressed against his chest, Yang Kai gathered his thoughts before beginning. He explained how he came across Bai Qi on the street, and upon learning about his frustration, they came to meet Yun Zhen Hua together. He also recounted Yun Zhen Hua’s response at that time.
Hearing that, the Proprietress snorted, “Manager Yun, integrity is of utmost importance to a business person. Why did you renege on your debt?”
Yun Zhen Hua clenched his teeth and fell silent. He wanted to refute that he wasn’t the one who owed her, but it was probably pointless to say that in front of this crazy woman, and doing so would just give her another reason to lash out.
“Continue!” The Proprietress commanded, “Since they’re not willing to pay up, why did you still take part in the auction and bid for so many items?”
A meek Yang Kai replied, “Proprietress, I was just thinking that since they were not willing to repay their debt, we wouldn’t be able to complete our task. We were not powerful enough to go against them, so I thought that if we could get some of their items that were up for auction we could use it as leverage, that is how…”
He felt apprehensive about having caused such huge trouble because of his rash decision. His intention was to create a reason for the Proprietress to demand repayment from them, but he hadn’t expected that she would react so intensely as soon as she arrived at this place. Things had come to a point where the issue wouldn’t be solved easily.
He wondered whether the Proprietress would blame it all on him at a later time.
“Very good. You came up with an excellent way to settle this matter.” The Proprietress turned her head to flash a smile at him, “If I were you, I would’ve done the same.”
At that instant, Yang Kai was dumbfounded.
Unable to take it anymore, Yun Zhen Hua rebuked, “Madam Lan, how can you condone what your subordinates have done?”
“What do you mean by that?” The Proprietress shot him a cold glance, “They have every right to demand repayment from you. Why should I not condone their actions? Moreover, do you think any stray cat or dog can harm this Queen’s subordinates?”
[Did she just call them stray cats and dogs!?] Yang Kai widened his eyes in disbelief as he had the urge to cover her mouth. It wasn’t until this moment that he realised what a sharp-tongued person Madam Lan was. What she had just said had naked humiliation.
As expected, as soon as she finished her words, the expressions of Old Yu and Yun Zhen Hua sank. They were Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, and although they were not the top cultivators in the Outer Universe, they still belonged to Wind and Cloud Paradise. No one had ever dared to call them stray cats and dogs before.
Having just been humiliated, Yun Zhen Hua was still able to suppress his fury somehow, but Old Yu was trembling violently. His eyes had turned bloodshot, as though he was ready to risk his life to battle against the Proprietress.
“You want to fight? This Queen will gladly oblige. Or are you only brave when you are oppressing two little brats? Why don’t we head to the Asura Arena and wager our lives? This Queen wants to see if you have the guts to do so,” the Proprietress rebuked.
As soon as she finished speaking, Old Yu sprayed out a mouthful of blood as his aura weakened. Apparently, he was so enraged that his blood flowed in reverse.
Yun Zhen Hua said through clenched teeth, “Enough, Madam Lan. We admit that the punishment is deserved. You can leave with them.” If he allowed this woman to keep making a scene here, he was worried that Old Yu would agree to her challenge. By then, Old Yu would lose his life in vain. No one could get revenge for a person who was killed in the Asura Arena, as that would be equivalent to insulting the dignity and honour of Asura Cave Heaven.
“This Queen will certainly bring them away, but what about the Open Heaven Pills you owe my First Inn?” The Proprietress glared at him.
After gnashing his teeth, Yun Zhen Hua tossed a Space Ring to her. He had already figured that there was no way he could keep these 10 million pills, so he had told someone to gather them up, which proved to be useful at this point.
The Proprietress took it and directly stored it in her sleeve. She believed that Yun Zhen Hua wouldn’t dare to pull any tricks on her.
Seeing as she had taken the Open Heaven Pills, Yun Zhen Hua said, “Since you’ve accepted it and harmed our people, you should return our property to us.”
“You mean these?” The Proprietress fished out a different ring and shook it, whereupon a few dozen items dropped onto the ground. These were the items that were sold in the auction.
[Why are these things in her hands?] Yun Zhen Hua was confused. He thought that Yang Kai had just hidden them somewhere.
“Yang Kai, they’ve injured you two. Although this Queen has extracted some interest, this matter is not settled yet. Pick some things from here and regard it as Manager Yun’s compensation for you and Bai Qi.” Although she was speaking to Yang Kai, she was staring fixedly at Yun Zhen Hua, whose face twitched when he heard that, but he wouldn’t dare to say anything. Just like what he had heard about her from the rumours, Yun Zhen Hua realized that she was a crazy woman who was completely unreasonable.
At that instant, he was remorseful of his decision. If he knew this would be the outcome, he would’ve coughed up the 10 million pills from the start and avoided all this trouble.
[She’s even demanding compensation from them…] It wasn’t until this moment that Yang Kai realised how difficult it was to deal with the Proprietress, leaving him speechless. However, he couldn’t weaken her authority at this point, so he stepped forward and rummaged through the items before picking up ten bottles.
He had only taken the ten bottles of Grand Dao Pills. His rationale was that since Luo Hai Yi had helped him out, and she needed these pills to condense her Dao Seal, he could give them to her.
Just when he was ready to get up, the Proprietress declared impassively, “As a member of First Inn, you need to be more ambitious.”
The corner of Yang Kai’s brow twitched as he understood the hidden message behind her words. She was basically saying that he was a good-for-nothing for only taking worthless items. Gritting his teeth, he picked up the Fifth-Order Sun’s True Fire.
Seeing that, Yun Zhen Hua felt extremely heartbroken. This was one of the finale’s items that was up for auction and was worth nearly 2 million Open Heaven Pills. [This crazy woman has gone too far!]
Nevertheless, he was no match for her, and he had witnessed how insane she could be, so he remained silent despite his fury.
Since the Proprietress hadn’t spoken, Yang Kai couldn’t stop what he was doing. After picking up the Sun’s True Fire, he went on to take the other two finale items.
“Just take what we deserve, don’t cross the line,” The Proprietress finally spoke.
Yang Kai secretly heaved a sigh of relief and hurriedly stood beside her. Across from them, Yun Zhen Hua almost spat blood.
[Hasn’t she crossed the line by taking the three most valuable items from this time’s auction!? Although there are only three such items, their combined value is half of all the items that were up for auction. Why doesn’t she just take everything away with her?]
“Manager Yun, you seem unresigned,” The Proprietress shot him a dispassionate glance.
Yun Zhen Hua said through clenched teeth, “We’ll definitely meet again, Madam Lan. This Yun will remember what you’ve done to Wind and Cloud Paradise. When we next meet, I hope you’ll still be so aloof!”
“Hmph!” The Proprietress snorted, “You have no right to represent Wind and Cloud Paradise.”
Then, she swung her sleeve and yelled, “We’re leaving!”
Hurriedly, Yang Kai went over and hoisted the unconscious Bai Qi over his shoulder. Upon straightening up, he followed the Proprietress and strode out of the room. Two pairs of fiery eyes were staring at him from behind like leeches biting on him.
Only after the Proprietress was long gone did Old Yu spray out another mouthful of blood.
“Brother Yu!” Yun Zhen Hua’s expression changed as he quickly made him sit, “How are you?”
Old Yu waved his hand with a crestfallen expression, as though he had aged by several hundred years. Sitting there, he chuckled and said in a grim voice, “She’s really something.”
Then, his expression suddenly turned hideous as he yelled, “This matter is not over yet!”
Yun Zhen Hua nodded his head, “Of course, it’s not over yet. We’ll have to make that woman pay! I’ll inform the headquarters about this incident in detail. By then, they’ll send someone to deal with her.”
After a nod, Old Yu asked with a frown, “Brother Yun, why is that woman so strong? I’ve seen High-Rank cultivators make a move before, and while not on that level, she’s definitely stronger than a Sixth-Order Master should be.”
Following a sigh, Yun Zhen Hua replied, “Brother Yu has only advanced recently so you’re not aware of her story yet. In the past, she had actually had a chance to ascend directly to the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm, but because of a certain incident, she ended up having to settle for the Sixth Order. Although the Sixth-Order is still within the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm, her foundation was still there; therefore, no one below the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm is a match for her.”
“What was it that made her give up the chance to become a High-Rank Master?” Old Yun was stunned. Although a Sixth-Order cultivator was just one step away from the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm, the gap was akin to the distance between the Heavens and Earth. If one wasn’t left with no other choice, they wouldn’t have given up such a bright future. That woman still had a chance to ascend directly to the High-Rank, yet something made her abandon that ambition. Achieving the High-Rank all at once wasn’t just about having greater immediate strength, but also about having greater room for improvement.
Yun Zhen Hua shook his head, “I’m not sure about it, but I’ve heard that it was because of a man.”
“Hmph!” Hearing that, Old Yu snorted, “Love can cause a person to turn blind and make irrational decisions.” As though he had recalled something in the next moment though, his expression turned dejected.
Seeing that, Yun Zhen Hua realised that Old Yu must have recalled a sorrowful memory. It was such a coincidence. In the past, Old Yu had a chance to ascend to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, but because of a certain woman, he ended up becoming a Fourth-Order cultivator instead. In a certain sense, his experience was similar to that of Madam Lan’s.
…..
With Bai Qi on his back, Yang Kai followed the Proprietress in silence, the people on the street staring at them as they passed.
Since she remained silent, he didn’t have the nerve to say anything as he felt guilty. It was the first time he had witnessed how overbearing the Proprietress was; however, he hadn’t expected that things would become so serious, so he felt guilty and wondered whether he had invited any trouble to her.
Just then, a figure approached them. It was none other than Luo Hai Yi. Seeing as Yang Kai appeared battered, and Bai Qi had become unconscious, she exclaimed with her mouth covered, “Sir Yang, are you alright?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “I’m fine. Many thanks for your help today.” If Luo Hai Yi hadn’t gone so quickly to First Inn, the Proprietress wouldn’t have arrived at the auction house so promptly.
Luo Hai Yi replied, “You don’t have to thank me. It was the least I could do.”
As they spoke, the Proprietress had gone further away. Seeing as she didn’t have the intention of stopping, Yang Kai hurriedly said, “Take these. I’ll look for you at a later time.”
Then, he stuffed three bottles in Luo Hai Yi’s hands and dashed towards the Proprietress.
After he was gone, Luo Hai Yi took a look at the jade bottles and opened their caps, whereupon she exclaimed. That was because these bottles contained the Grand Dao Pills she had always craved. There were two pills in a bottle, so there were six pills in total. These were the things that were put up for auction earlier.
With a grateful look, she gazed in the direction Yang Kai had left and cupped her fist. She swore that she would always remember his favour, and would surely repay him in the future.
When they arrived at First Inn, the accountant and the chef came over to check on them. Upon seeing that Yang Kai and Bai Qi appeared beaten and bruised, they became infuriated and said that they would help them retaliate against those from the auction house.
Yang Kai was worried that they would really do that, so he hurriedly waved them off. The Proprietress had just made a fuss in the auction house, and not only did they get the 10 million debt they were owed, but they had also taken some stuff as interest. In fact, it was those from the auction house who had suffered losses today, so Yang Kai didn’t dare to let these two aggravate the situation.
“Are you two blind? Take Old Bai to rest, now!” The Proprietress glared at the accountant and the chef.
The accountant shuddered and hurriedly took the unconscious Bai Qi over from Yang Kai.
Then, the Proprietress turned her head and said to Yang Kai, “Take a rest to recuperate. Your health is the most important.”
It was the first time she spoke to him in such an amicable manner, so Yang Kai wasn’t used to it. Despite that, he still hurriedly promised her that he would quickly treat his wounds.
“I’m tired,” The Proprietress yawned and shuffled towards the rear court while swaying her hips gently, mesmerising the customers in the hall with her charm.
It was then that Yang Kai realised that she hadn’t even tied up her hair as it hung loosely over her shoulders. After she was gone, the silence in the lobby was replaced by much hustle and bustle.
Yang Kai grimaced in pain and said, “I’ll take a rest now.”
After this farce, he was exhausted as well.
For the following days, Yang Kai finally had a taste of what it felt like to be treated well in the Outer Universe. Every day, the chef would personally send him some dishes that could replenish his vitality; moreover, the chef was excellent at his craft, so Yang Kai would always gobble everything up.
According to the chef, it was as though the dishes had been devoured by a starving dog.
After a few days of eating these nourishing dishes, Yang Kai felt his blood boiling slightly, so he didn’t eat anymore. However, the chef rejected his request and told him that it was the Proprietress’ order, so he had to watch him finish everything. It was the same case for Bai Qi as well.
Left with no other choice, Yang Kai finished all the food he was served. With these nourishing dishes and his own restorative abilities, it took him only a few days to recover to his peak. Although Bai Qi’s condition was worse, he would also get well in no time.
Since they were injured, they didn’t have to serve the customers in the lobby. They practically had nothing to do every day. After going through an ordeal together, they had become closer to each other, so when they were free, they would come together and chat.
However, Bai Qi was apprehensive because, over the years, he had never seen the Proprietress treat any shop hand so well. He kept suspecting that the Proprietress might have given them carrots first before revealing her stick, which was why he had been on pins and needles over the past few days. Even the food sent to him by the chef tasted bland to him.
Initially, Yang Kai was completely at ease, but after hearing what Bai Qi had said, he became worried as well.
They had collected all the debts from the lists of shops, and although the incident in Wind and Cloud Auction House was kept a secret, word still got out in the end. No one knew how the news was leaked, but most of the shopkeepers in the Star City had found out that the Proprietress from First Inn had gone over to Wind and Cloud Auction House to demand repayment. While there, not only had she injured the Shopkeeper Yun, but she had also taken many things from them as additional compensation.
All of them became anxious in an instant. The shopkeepers of the remaining shops that still owed First Inn money hurriedly came to the inn and presented 10 million pills to her. They were worried that the Proprietress would visit their shops when she was in a bad mood on any given day.
Including the shops Yang Kai and Bai Qi had demanded repayments from, the great forces that were involved in First Inn’s destruction had respectively repaid 10 million Open Heaven Pills.
Therefore, Yang Kai had been relieved of 10 million of his debt, leaving just 6.2 million.
One day, when Yang Kai was going through the Universe Chart in his room, he suddenly heard the Proprietress calling out to him. Gritting his teeth, he got off the bed and left the room.
Upon knocking on the door of the Proprietress’ room, he heard a languid voice coming from inside, “Come in.”
Yang Kai pushed the door open, whereupon his face twitched. Presently, the Proprietress was lying on her side on her bed. With her head resting on her palm, she appeared languid. It wasn’t certain what kind of incense it was, but the scent was able to soothe one’s mind.
“Proprietress,” Yang Kai walked up to her and hung his head low.
Without looking at him, the Proprietress tossed something at him.
After taking it, Yang Kai became elated because it was his Shadowless Veil. Not long after he joined the inn, the veil was taken away by her. One month later, he finally got it back.
When the Proprietress took it away from him in the past, she only said that she would keep it for some time. Naturally, Yang Kai didn’t dare to reject her.
The Proprietress had kept the Shadowless Veil for a month. With the veil in his hand, Yang Kai arched his brow and said, “Proprietress, this…”
He had a feeling that the veil had become different, but he was unable to figure out how.
The Proprietress replied in a laid-back manner, “I found someone to refine and upgrade it for you; however, this artifact is quite well made, so there was little room for improvement.”
“You found someone to upgrade it?” Yang Kai was surprised. He had experienced the abstrusity of the Shadowless Veil before, and it was truly an amazing artifact. The person who further refined it must have been a Grandmaster Artifact Refiner. Although the Proprietress had a powerful background, she must have paid a hefty price for this.
[Why does this woman treat me so well?] Yang Kai was puzzled. She stood up for Bai Qi and him a few days ago because she had to protect the inn’s reputation; however, he couldn’t explain why she would help him upgrade this veil.
With the veil in his hand, Yang Kai carefully asked, “How much is it?”
She had demanded 5 million from him by just lending him Seven Faces, while it must have cost a fortune to refine the Shadowless Veil. Would she make him pay for it? In that case, he wasn’t even certain how long it would take him to repay all his debts.
Upon hearing that, the Proprietress slightly opened her eyes to stare at him for a moment before she closed her eyes again.
[What does that mean?] Yang Kai was perplexed. Since she didn’t say how much it cost, he would just refrain from asking about it again and regard it as he didn’t have to pay for it. With an elated expression, he asked, “Can it avoid the inspection of Mid-Rank cultivators now?”
“In your dreams!” The Proprietress scoffed.
“Could it even be considered an upgrade, then?” Yang Kai was startled. In the past, the Shadowless Veil was unable to conceal him from the sense of Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm cultivators who were actively searching for him, but it could keep him hidden if they weren’t careful enough in their probing. That was what had happened in the Golden Crow Divine Palace. Yuan Xiao Man and the other Fourth-Order Masters were focused on exploring the palace, so they didn’t realise that he was hiding nearby.
The Proprietress replied impassively, “I told you that there was little room for improvement. Given the same conditions, if there was a 70% chance that a Mid-Rank cultivator could see through the veil in the past, it’s now just 30 or 40%.”
Yang Kai grunted and put on a smile. It was indeed an upgrade to have the chance of seeing through the veil lowered. At the most critical moment, it might save his life.
“Many thanks, Proprietress!” Yang Kai thanked her from the bottom of his heart, “Is there anything you need me to do?”
The Proprietress lay on her stomach and rested her chin on her hands, highlighting her long legs and rather plump bottom. There was also an amazing arch on her waist. In an indolent manner, she said, “My shoulders feel sore.”
[Is she trying to make me give her a massage?] Yang Kai batted his eyes.
After taking a glance, he realised that the sight before him was quite seductive. He felt his throat turning dry as he scratched his face, “I don’t think it’s appropriate…”
It was already awkward enough that a man and a woman were in a room alone. Others might misunderstand them if they saw him giving her a massage.
While the Proprietress remained silent, Yang Kai stayed in the same spot and hesitated for a moment; then, he directly walked over and took a seat on the bed before grabbing her shoulders.
Why should he care if she clearly didn’t? He would just regard it as a gesture of gratitude.
With this thought in mind, Yang Kai became at ease and stopped restraining himself as he gently massaged her shoulders. With a layer of clothes on her skin, he couldn’t feel anything anyways. Presently, her eyes were closed, but judging from her expression, he reckoned that she was completely relaxed.
Time slowly went by in silence.
“I want to eat some Heavenly Snow Fruits…” The Proprietress suddenly muttered.
“What?” Yang Kai was in a dazed state when she said that, but when he came to his senses, his expression changed drastically, “Heavenly Snow Fruits?”
He still remembered vividly what had happened in the past. After he brought back the Heavenly Snow Fruits from the Nine Nether Continent for her, he was forced to drink ridiculously potent wine with her in her room. In the end, both of them became inebriated and after he awakened, he was lectured by Bai Qi and the others. The chef had even almost cut him into quarters using his kitchen knife.
The images of the incident flashed across his mind as though it had just happened, which was why he instinctively felt repulsed by the mention of Heavenly Snow Fruits.
According to Bai Qi and the others, every time the Proprietress ate Heavenly Snow Fruits, she would become crestfallen for a long time and drink heavily. Yang Kai had no idea why she wanted to eat those sour fruits at this point.
The corner of his mouth twitched as he forced a smile, “What are you talking about? We don’t have Heavenly Snow Fruits here.”
“I want to eat them…” The Proprietress turned her head and stared fixedly at him.
Yang Kai chuckled, “Well, we don’t have the fruits here. It’s a local product of Nine Nether Continent, so it’s not sold anywhere else.”
Without saying a word, she continued staring at him with her alluring eyes.
Ignoring her, Yang Kai continued with the massage, then he suddenly frowned, “Are you… asking me to go to Nine Nether Continent?” That Universe World was located in the Great Territory where the original First Inn was, so it was very far away from this place. Previously, it took them half a year to travel all the way here to this Star City. Although Yang Kai could use the Universe Transference Law now to shorten the trip, it would still take him at least two months to make a round trip.
The Proprietress batted her eyes to mean yes.
“In your dreams!” Yang Kai bellowed. Just because she suddenly had the urge to eat some fruits, she wanted him to go to such a faraway place to pick them for her, which was outrageous.
“Are you going or not?” The Proprietress glared at him.
“No!” Yang Kai replied resolutely.
“Are you really not going?” She propped up her head with one hand and straightened up a little.
“You’ll have to beat me to death first!” He scoffed.
As soon as he finished his words, he felt an immense force on his waist, whereupon he was kicked to the ground.
“Lan You Ruo!” Yang Kai got to his feet and glowered at her, “Don’t go too far!” Besides making him give her a massage, she also wanted him to head all the way to Nine Nether Continent. Did she really want to boss him around like he was just another shop hand?
The Proprietress batted her eyes, “How do you know my name?” She had never revealed her true name to him, and Bai Qi and the others were not loose-tongued. Soon though, she came to the realization that one of the shopkeepers in the Star City must have told him about it.
“What’s wrong? Can’t I know your name?” Yang Kai patted his backside and grinned, “I’ll take my leave now. If you want to eat those fruits, go to Nine Nether Continent yourself!”
Following that, he shuffled out of the room and slammed the door shut.
As the night breeze whisked across Yang Kai as he slowly calmed down and realised that he had reacted too fiercely earlier. Then, he recalled that when he and Bai Qi were confined in Wind and Cloud Auction House, it was the Proprietress who came to rescue them in an imposing manner. Her peerless pressure caused the two Fourth-Order cultivators to suffocate and concede defeat in the end. Although he had no idea what price she had to pay, he knew that her actions were not without consequences.
Looking up at the stars, Yang Kai cursed before flying off.
Inside the room, the Proprietress said through clenched teeth, “What an ungrateful brat!”
One hour later, Yang Kai appeared outside the Spirit Province of the Star City.
There was no one else in the expansive void around him as he kept using different hand seals to activate the Universe Transference Seal. Soon, he could feel a faint connection being established. That was his connection with the Universe Temple in this Great Territory.
Just then, a Spirit Array appeared beneath his feet and swirled around. Space Principles could be felt expanding from the array.
Following Yang Kai’s move, the speed at which the array whirled around increasingly quickened. Over ten breaths later, a buzzing sound was heard, and a light engulfed him.
After the light faded, Yang Kai had also disappeared. When he reappeared, he was already in a hall that was unfamiliar to him. There were about twenty Arrays in the hall, and they looked identical to one another. The Arrays looked similar to the Spirit Array that appeared beneath his feet earlier and presently, he was standing in the centre of one of them.
A glow would radiate from another array from time to time, and every time that happened, a person would appear.
Universe Temple!
It was the first time Yang Kai used the Universe Transference Law, so he found it quite novel. He had always wanted to experience the abstrusity of this technique, but he hadn’t had a chance in the past.
Now, it seemed that although the Universe Transference Law was wondrous, it also had a huge downside. Given his current strength, it took him over ten breaths to get transported to this place. In a life-or-death battle, ten breaths was long enough for his opponent to cut him down over a thousand times.
Furthermore, Yang Kai was a Master of the Dao of Space, so other cultivators in the same realm who couldn’t use Space Principles would undoubtedly require even longer to execute this technique and would likely suffer other serious drawbacks.
Presently, Yang Kai felt slightly dizzy; after all, the distance he had to pass through was too great, so it was difficult for him to bear.
The other cultivators who emerged from the Arrays were in a worse state. They were standing there with their eyes firmly closed, their faces pale and their foreheads drenched in sweat. It was especially serious for the weaker cultivators.
Although there was a downside, the Universe Transference Law had other hugely beneficial points, such as its universality. As long as one had cultivated the Secret Technique, he or she could leave a mark in any of the Universe Temples in the 3,000 Worlds and shuttle back and forth between them to save time when travelling great distances.
Yang Kai decided to take a quick rest to adjust his state, and when the time was right, he left the array.
Without staying in the Universe Temple, he fished out his Universe Chart to identify his location and route before leaving.
Half a day after he left the Universe Temple, he arrived at a Territory Gate that led to a different Great Territory.
Staring at the gigantic Territory Gate in the void, he fell into a dilemma.
One had to endure immense pressure to pass through a Territory Gate. If he wasn’t powerful enough, he would be torn apart by the force of the Void. Bai Qi had said that Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm cultivators could rely on their own strength to pass through these gates without having to worry about any injuries, but those below the Mid-Rank had to purchase a flight-type artifact to resist the tearing force.
Just now, Yang Kai had forgotten about this particular problem and left the inn on a whim. It wasn’t until he reached this place that he remembered it.
[What should I do? Go back? Or should I wait here and see if anyone with the same destination could give me a lift?]
It wouldn’t matter if he went back to the inn now as the Proprietress wasn’t aware that he had left, so it wouldn’t be embarrassing. On the other hand, if he waited here, he might not even come across anyone with the same destination.
However, since Yang Kai had arrived at this place, he wasn’t willing to go back without achieving anything first.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t passed through a Territory Gate without any protection before. After he left Seven Wonders Land with Dié You and the others, they had passed through several Territory Gates, and at the last moment when Ah Sun’s jade white fox had run out of energy, he had endured the pressure with his own strength.
Recalling the feeling during the incident, Yang Kai felt that he could move through a Territory Gate without any protection; after all, he was an expert in the Dao of Space, and his figure was much sturdier than that of the average cultivator.
At the thought of this, he stopped hesitating and took a deep breath before flying towards the gigantic Territory Gate.
A powerful pull was felt coming from the gate, and before he even went near it, he realised that he already couldn’t stop in his tracks. The harder he tried to resist, the more he felt that his attempts were futile. With his brows furrowed, Yang Kai decided to stop resisting and went with the flow, allowing it to pull him into the gate.
The world seemed to be spinning around him as he was sucked into the gate and a terrifying shearing force was felt coming from all directions. He also felt extremely dizzy and was unable to identify his direction. All his bones were cracking under pressure.
Yang Kai didn’t dare to be careless as he hurriedly pushed his Space Principles to resonate with the Principles that were fluctuating in the Territory Gate. In an instant, he felt that the pressure had been significantly reduced. Upon feeling this, he became ecstatic as his speculation proved correct. His mastery over Space Principles could help him mitigate the pressure inside the Territory Gate. In that case, he had more confidence in moving through them.
Focusing his mind, Yang Kai allowed his body to flow along with the current as he protected himself with his Space Principles.
Some time later, the tearing force around him diminished, and his body felt significantly lighter. He was able to control his body again, and looking around, he put on a wide grin.
Supposedly, he was in a different Great Territory now. In other words, he had successfully passed through the Territory Gate; however, as soon as he moved his body, he realised that his entire figure ached. Looking down, he was shocked to see that his body was full of small cuts, and his figure was drenched in golden blood. His clothes had also become tattered.
At that moment, he was reeling from shock as he realized that Bai Qi was right to say that only Mid-Rank Open Heaven cultivators could forcefully transit through a Territory Gate. Anyone below the Mid-Rank wouldn’t be able to do so without external aids.
Yang Kai couldn’t have achieved this if it weren’t because his body was sturdy and he was a Master of the Dao of Space.
These flesh wounds didn’t really bother Yang Kai though as they would heal on their own after a short time, so after changing into new clothes, he fished out the Universe Chart to identify his location and began moving in a particular direction. From time to time, he would also drop a Space Beacon in his wake.
Since arriving in the Outer Universe, he had always wanted to test the maximum distance two Space Beacons could be separated by and still function.
Space Beacons were wonderful as they worked in the same way as the Universe Transference Law, but the range within which they could work was far more limited. Yang Kai was aware of this fact, but he hadn’t tested where the limit was.
He hadn’t had the chance in the past, so this was the perfect opportunity for him to do some experiments.
A few days later, Yang Kai clenched the Space Beacon in his hand and fell into his thoughts.
During this period of time, he had dropped several Space Beacons, and after a number of tests, he realised that the maximum workable distance between two Space Beacons was about the same distance he could cross in two days of continuous flight.
Should the distance be any further, he wouldn’t be able to detect his Space Beacon anymore, which meant that he could not transfer himself between them.
The distance between two spots that would take him two days of flight to cross could be considered pretty far apart; however, in terms of the distance of transportation, Space Beacons were no match for the Universe Transference Law. At the very least, as long as a person was within the same Great Territory, the Secret Technique would always work.
It wasn’t surprising as the foundation of the Universe Transference Law was the various Universe Temples. There was a Universe Transference Seal that was supported by many Grand Arrays inside those temples, which explained why the workable distance was greater than that of his independent Space Beacons.
Many days later, Yang Kai arrived at a place that he was familiar with. It was Nine Nether Continent.
Just like the previous time, after he broke through the World Barrier and entered the Universe World, he could feel the Divine Senses of the local Great Emperors scanning him.
Following that, an elderly man abruptly appeared in front of him. Upon lifting his head, he appeared surprised as he asked, “Envoy Yang?”
The person was none other than the Sect Master of Heavenly Mountain Sect, Bao Ze Tong. He was the one who had greeted Yang Kai previously.
“Sect Master Bao,” Yang Kai cupped his fists.
A curious Bao Ze Tong asked, “Envoy Yang, why are you here? Has Madam Lan given any orders?”
After a sigh, Yang Kai explained, “There aren’t any orders. It’s just that she’s craving Heavenly Snow Fruits again, so she’s told me to come here to get some.”
Upon hearing that, Bao Ze Tong was shocked, “Madam wants to eat the fruits again?”
“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai gazed at him in puzzlement.
Bao Ze Tong hurriedly waved his hands, “There’s nothing wrong. Please come with me.”
Bao Ze Tong wondered why Madam Lan wanted to eat Heavenly Snow Fruits again so soon. In the past, she wouldn’t want the fruits regardless of whether ten or twenty years had passed. She would only get someone to come over to pick the fruits whenever she passed by this world; however, it had only been half a year since Yang Kai last came to this place. Despite his doubts, Bao Ze Tong wasn’t in any place to question further. After apologising to Yang Kai, he grabbed his arm and arrived on Heavenly Mountain in an instant.
Then, he called out to a woman and told her to get some Heavenly Snow Fruits prepared. Just when he was about to invite Yang Kai to enter the hall, the latter said, “Let’s go together.”
Hearing that, Bao Ze Tong nodded his head, “Good.”
It was then the three of them flew towards a particular spot on Heavenly Mountain. A moment later, they reached a mountain valley that was slightly narrow. Yang Kai could feel that a powerful cultivator was keeping guard in this place. Although it wasn’t a Great Emperor, this individual had reached the limit of his realm. Moreover, multiple Spirit Arrays had been arranged around the valley, which went to show that they highly valued this place.
Inside the valley that was about several thousand square metres, fifty or sixty trees about twice as tall as an average man had been planted. Yang Kai had never seen such trees before, but he was familiar with the fruits hanging on them. The baby fist-sized fruits were of a colour that was a mixture between red and black. These were none other than the Heavenly Snow Fruits.
Yang Kai had tasted these fruits before and realised that they were both bitter and sour, which was an unpleasant flavour. Although it was a spirit fruit, he reckoned that they were not valuable at all. These fruits were only useful for cultivators below the Saint King Realm; in other words, the grade these fruits were in was pretty low.
Certainly, Yang Kai didn’t have to personally pick the fruits as the woman from Heavenly Mountain would choose ripe fruits that were of appropriate size. In the meantime, Bao Ze Tong accompanied Yang Kai as they walked around the fruit garden.
All of a sudden, Yang Kai stopped in front of a certain fruit tree and asked, “Sect Master Bao, there’s something I don’t understand. Will you please enlighten me?”
Bao Ze Tong replied, “Please ask, Envoy Yang.”
“Do these Heavenly Snow Fruits…” Yang Kai pointed at the fruit tree, “Have any special meaning to Proprietress?”
He could already feel it the last time he was here, but he wasn’t in any place to ask about it at that time.
Bao Ze Tong looked around as he seemed to be reminiscing about the past before he began explaining, “To be honest with you, these fruit trees were planted by Madam.”
Yang Kai arched his brow, “She planted them personally?” He suddenly realised something, “Is she from Nine Nether Continent?” Otherwise, why would she have planted the trees here?
“En.” Bao Ze Tong nodded gently and appeared proud, “She was the 43rd Sect Master of Heavenly Mountain.”
Finally, Yang Kai realised why the Proprietress favoured these Heavenly Snow Fruits; she basically missed her hometown. However, after giving it a thought, he felt that something was off. If she missed her hometown, she should have come back to have a look. Nevertheless, when the ship was anchored in the void at that time, she didn’t seem to have the intention of stepping into her hometown. She only told him to get her some fruits.
“Sect Master Bao, did something happen in the past involving these fruits and Proprietress?” Yang Kai asked.
However, Bao Ze Tong didn’t answer his question as he shook his head, “I have no right to tell you about Madam’s matters. If you want to find out, it would be best for you to ask her yourself.” Then he paused for a moment and said, “Envoy Yang, this Old Master has a request that he isn’t certain he should mention.”
“Please tell me.”
Bao Ze Tong went on to say, “This Bao hopes Envoy Yang will take good care of Madam.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai broke into laughter, “Proprietress is a powerful Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, while I’m just an Emperor Realm cultivator, so how am I supposed to take care of her? With that said, she does take good care of us.”
Bao Ze Tong smiled and fell silent.
After walking for a bit, Yang Kai said, “Can I bring a fruit tree with me? Is there any problem with it?”
Upon pondering on it for a moment, Bao Ze Tong replied, “En. There are several dozen fruit trees here, so I’m sure Madam won’t blame us for giving one of them to you.”
Yang Kai thanked him before he began digging up the tree. This wasn’t a difficult task and he soon completed it.
This time, the Proprietress became crazy and told him to head to Nine Nether Continent to pick Heavenly Snow Fruits. If she went mad again in the future, he would have to come back again; therefore, Yang Kai decided to transfer the fruit tree into his medicine garden. It shouldn’t be hard to nurture this plant. He’d just tell the two little Wood Spirits to handle it. Given their capabilities, they would be able to grow several dozen to over a hundred such fruit trees in a year or two. By then, he wouldn’t have to come here again.
After he was done with this, the Heavenly Snow Fruits were ready as well. The woman approached him and passed him the basket of fruits.
Upon rejecting Bao Ze Tong’s request to stay for a time, Yang Kai immediately embarked on the journey back to the inn.
It took him over twenty days to reach this place, and it took him about the same time to go back. In total, he had left the inn for a month and a half.
When Yang Kai walked into First Inn, he was stopped by Bai Qi who said in a hushed, anxious voice, “You dare come back? Where have you been lately?”
“Proprietress told me to go out to do something for her,” Yang Kai replied.
“Nonsense.” Bai Qi shot him a glare, “She blew her top because she couldn’t find you.” If he’d gone out to carry out a task for the Proprietress, why wasn’t she aware of it?
“Leave now and don’t ever come back again, if she finds out you’re here…” As Bai Qi spoke, he pushed Yang Kai towards the door, but he soon froze on the spot and grit his teeth, “It’s too late!”
He could hear the Proprietress’ voice in his mind. Apparently, she had detected Yang Kai’s aura.
Yang Kai had no time for Bai Qi’s nonsense, so he directly shuffled further into the inn, “I’ll go see her.”
Unable to stop him, Bai Qi traded glances with the accountant. Recalling how terrifying the Proprietress had been recently, they couldn’t help shuddering.
Reaching the Proprietress’ room, Yang Kai knocked on the door, whereupon a dispassionate voice was heard coming from inside, “Come in!”
Yang Kai shrank his neck, knowing that Bai Qi didn’t lie to him. The Proprietress seemed to be in a terrible mood. Just her voice was enough to send a chill down his spine.
However, he was given the order to go out to do something for her, so he wasn’t afraid. At the thought of this, he pushed the door open and said, “Proprietress, I’m back.”
Inside the room, the Proprietress was seen seated on a chair. With a cold expression on her face, she shot him a glance and scoffed, “How dare you still come back? How do you have the gall to come back!?”
She landed a palm on the table and bellowed, “Why didn’t you get killed outside?”
[You’re the one who told me to get you some Heavenly Snow Fruits! Why are you reprimanding me now!?] Yang Kai was infuriated as he clenched his fists. Just when he was ready to refute her, he suddenly recalled the fact that she had rushed over to Wind and Cloud Auction House to save Bai Qi and him previously. Suppressing his anger, he stepped forward and said, “Proprietress, I’ve brought back what you wanted.”
“What I wanted? What do you mean?” The Proprietress questioned through gritted teeth. Her expression suggested that she had the urge to bite a piece of flesh off this shameless man. Right after she finished speaking though, she widened her mouth and stared dazedly at the bamboo basket on the table.
The basket was filled with reddish black fruits the size of a baby fist, and they exuded a pleasant scent. They also looked fresh, which suggested it hadn’t been a long time since they were picked.
“Heavenly Snow Fruits?” A shocked Proprietress’s anger was replaced with confusion as she fell into a dazed state and asked, “Where did you get them?”
Yang Kai scoffed, “Where else could it be?”
A flabbergasted Proprietress stood up straight, “You went to Nine Nether Continent.”
An exasperated Yang Kai replied, “You don’t say. These fruits are exclusive to Nine Nether Continent. Where else could I get them from?”
“You went missing for over a month because you went to Nine Nether Continent?” The Proprietress widened her eyes in disbelief.
“Where did you think I went?” Yang Kai gave her a dismissive look, but he was stunned to see a tinge of guilt and fear behind her gaze. He wondered what she was guilty and fearful of.
“How did you get there?” She asked.
“How else? I…” He paused as he suddenly realised that he was unable to explain himself. He didn’t have a flight-type artifact that could resist the tearing force of the Territory Gates, so how could he have gone to Nine Nether Continent? If he told her that he traversed the Territory Gates with just his body, she probably wouldn’t believe him; therefore, he decided to not give any explanation as he waved his hand, “Just eat them now. They won’t stay fresh if you just leave them out for too long. I’ll take a rest now.”
After cupping his fists, he turned around to leave.
As soon as he lifted his foot though, Yang Kai felt his collar getting grabbed from behind. Turning his head, he realised that the Proprietress was already standing behind him with her hand clutching his clothes.
“What… Hey! Why are you taking off my clothes?” Yang Kai became flustered. This couldn’t be helped, as the Proprietress directly threw him onto the bed, held him down with one hand, and used her other to take his clothes off.
[What has gotten into this woman now?] He wanted to resist, but faced with a Sixth-Order Master, he couldn’t even circulate his power, let alone block her. In just a moment, he was stripped down to his underwear.
“Are you out of your mind?” Yang Kai bellowed as his eyes seemed able to spit fire. It was the first time a woman had pinned him down on the bed and forcefully unclothed him.
He shot her a glare, only to see that she had fallen into a dazed state as she stared fixedly at his bare chest and abdomen. Then, she extended her hand and touched his skin.
Her hand was warm and ticklish, which caused him to grunt uncontrollably. At that instant, he quit being resolute to resist her. Suddenly, he gasped as she irritated his wounds.
Although his body was robust, and he had made use of Space Principles to mitigate the risk when passing through the Territory Gates, he was still injured in the process. With that said, these were not serious injuries as he only looked battered. It would only take him a few days to recuperate fully.
He had returned to First Inn in a hurry and directly met the Proprietress, so he didn’t have the time to heal his wounds.
“Did you forcefully pass through the Territory Gates?” The Proprietress gaped at him in disbelief.
Yang Kai pushed her away and got off the bed. Then, he put on his clothes and snorted, “What else could I do?”
“Are you insane!?” She exclaimed, “Do you know that your action was dangerous? What if… What if…”
“You told me to go,” Yang Kai adjusted his clothes with his head still hanging low.
“I…” The Proprietress was lost for words. She had indeed told him to head to Nine Nether Continent to get some Heavenly Snow Fruits for her, but she never intended for him to forcefully pass through the Territory Gates. If he had agreed to it, she would’ve prepared a flight-type artifact for him; however, he had rejected her at that time, so she hadn’t expected that he would head to the continent on his own. She thought that he had just left the inn without her permission, so she had been blowing her top recently.
“Is there anything else you need me to do? If not, I’ll take a rest now. I’m exhausted from all the travelling,” Yang Kai cupped his fists and asked. Seeing as she was rooted to the spot, he ignored her and nodded his head before leaving the room.
Upon opening the door, he paused for a moment as he saw the accountant fiddling with his golden abacus in the backyard. Bai Qi and the chef gathered together and muttered among themselves with serious expressions. The chef would bow his head from time to time.
[Don’t they have anything better to do?] Yang Kai scoffed and closed the door before leaving.
While he was shuffling towards his room, Bai Qi approached him and directly warned him, “Don’t bother the Proprietress for the next three days. Otherwise, you’ll suffer terribly.”
With a solemn expression, Yang Kai nodded his head. He still vividly remembered the previous incident, so he wouldn’t make the same mistake. Secretly, he decided that he wouldn’t see the Proprietress even if she summoned him.
After returning to his room, he started meditating to recuperate. Over one month of travelling was indeed exhausting. Presently, Yang Kai wanted to do nothing else apart from having a good night’s rest.
It was a quiet night.
The next morning, Yang Kai stepped out of his room and started working with Bai Qi and the others. Business had been good as the inn would always be crammed with people in the afternoon. In fact, First Inn’s information business was incredibly profitable, so they didn’t have to rely on selling food and beverages to earn an income. The reason they had set up an inn was to find out all sorts of secret information; after all, people from all walks of life would gather in an inn, which was how information was traded, the food and wine were just to make things livelier.
Half a day later, Yang Kai finally had some time to take a rest, so he stayed behind the counter and had a chat with the accountant.
It had only been a short time since those from First Inn arrived in this Star City, but their ability to gather information was truly unrivalled. He found it interesting as he listened to the accountant’s narration of the stories about those big shots in the city.
He was most concerned about what happened to Wind and Cloud Auction House, so he asked the accountant about it. Upon learning that they didn’t seem to have taken any action, Yang Kai reckoned that they had truly conceded defeat.
As the accountant sorted out the finances, he asked, “I heard that you went to Nine Nether Continent some time ago?”
Yang Kai nodded his head, “Proprietress said that she wanted to eat Heavenly Snow Fruits, which was why I left the inn.”
The accountant stared at him, “Proprietress didn’t even know where you were headed. She thought that you had run away or something had happened to you, so she visited every corner of the Star City to search for your whereabouts, but she didn’t get any leads.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai burst into laughter, “Was she really so concerned about me?”
The accountant shook his head in a solemn manner, “I’m not sure about others, but she’s definitely concerned about you.”
“What do you mean?”
The accountant shook his head again, and then he said, “Our Proprietress is a sharp-tongued but kind-hearted person. In fact, she suffered a lot in the past, so while she might appear imposing to others, that isn’t what she’s really like. She has always treated all of us from the inn extremely well. It’s just that she can be hot-tempered at times…” All of a sudden, he stopped speaking and looked behind Yang Kai with his mouth widened.
With a clang, a plate fell to the ground and broke into pieces. Yang Kai turned to his left, only to see that Bai Qi was rooted to the spot with his hand frozen in the air. Besides the broken plate pieces around his feet, the dish also scattered everywhere.
The other shop hands in the inn were also frozen as though someone had used a Binding Technique on them. All of them, including the customers in the lobby, were staring in a particular direction.
A horrified Yang Kai felt a chill running from his feet to his head, and after a gulp, he turned around creakily, whereupon his pupils contracted.
Presently, the Proprietress was standing in a nearby spot. Her hair had been tied into a bun, which was decorated with some fine jewellery. In particular, there was a Gilded Phoenix Hairpin that was stuck into her bun. As she stepped forward, the Gilded Phoenix flapped its wings gently as though it was about to take off. Her well-fitting clothes made her look elegant and demure. One would especially take note of her radiantly pinkish face. It was as though it had been greatly nourished.
At this moment, the Proprietress was ambling forward with a faint smile on her face. All the men in the lobby couldn’t move their eyes away from this alluring lady.
She visited every table and greeted all the customers. From time to time, she would laugh in a sweet, silver-bell-like voice. She had even filled the cups for the customers at a particular table. The men at the table were clearly mesmerised by her charm. If it weren’t because they were wary of her astonishing strength and status, they would’ve made her stay to have a drink with them.
Soon, she walked up to the front counter and knocked on the table, “Stop spacing out and get back to work!”
The accountant grunted and remained unmoving. It was apparent that he still hadn’t come to his senses.
The Proprietress took a glance at Yang Kai and flashed a smile at him, “Come see me at a later time. There’s something I need to tell you.”
Yang Kai also grunted and became alarmed. [Why is this crazy woman smiling at me?]
“Clean the mess and mop the floor. Why were you so careless?” The Proprietress said to Bai Qi.
Bai Qi kept nodding like a chicken pecking at rice.
Following that, she turned around and touched her hair before asking Yang Kai and the accountant in a small voice, “Do you think I’m too old to wear this hairpin?”
“No, not at all!” The accountant hurriedly replied, “This hairpin perfectly matches your age!”
Then, he landed a thump on Yang Kai’s arm, which prompted him to come to his senses and shout hastily, “Yes, yes, it suits you perfectly!”
“That’s very sweet of you. I’m flattered,” With a delightful smile, the Proprietress shuffled towards the inner court. After she was gone, the atmosphere in the lobby became lively again.
“What’s going on?” Yang Kai stared at the accountant, who appeared clueless as well. It was said that every time the Proprietress ate Heavenly Snow Fruits, she would become crestfallen for at least three days. Why was it so different this time?
“Did you see that? The Proprietress was wearing ‘that’ hairpin,” Bai Qi couldn’t bother to clean the floor as he approached them and spoke in a hushed voice. His expression had been transformed by terror as though he had recalled some horrible memories.
How could they not have seen it? The Proprietress had intentionally touched her Gilded Phoenix Hairpin and asked Yang Kai and the accountant what they thought of it.
“What’s wrong with that hairpin?” It had only been a short time since Yang Kai joined the inn, so he didn’t understand them.
“That hairpin…” The accountant frowned, “Was given to her by a very important person. She hasn’t worn it for a long time.”
“Moreover, there’s something off about her attitude as well,” Bai Qi looked in the direction of the rear court.
“Something fishy must be going on.” The accountant conjectured.
“So, should I go over?” Yang Kai asked. Earlier, the Proprietress told him to look for her later as there was something she needed to tell him. Initially, he had decided that he wouldn’t meet her for the next 3 days, but now, he had fallen into a dilemma.
“Of course, you have to go.” Bai Qi grabbed his arm and lugged him towards the rear court, “Can you even refuse?”
“Will anything happen?” Yang Kai was worried that the Proprietress would get him drunk again. He wouldn’t want that embarrassing incident to happen again.
“Cut the crap and go now!” Bai Qi yelled impatiently.
Left with no choice, Yang Kai shuffled towards the rear court.
After he was gone, Bai Qi returned to the counter and stared in the direction Yang Kai had left. Following a sigh, he said, “So many years have passed. It’s time she left the past behind.”
The accountant lowered his gaze, “It’s a blood feud for her, so it’s not easy for her to leave the past behind; however, it’d be good if there’s someone who can cheer her up. By the way, have you carefully checked Yang Kai’s background? There’d better not be any problem in the end.”
Bai Qi replied, “I’ve personally investigated his background, so there won’t be any problem. It has only been a short time since he arrived in the 3,000 Worlds, so there’s nothing much to find out. Moreover, I really appreciate his temperament. He doesn’t look like he’s from that place.”
“That’s good, then.” The accountant let out a breath, “If that incident were to be repeated, she wouldn’t be able to get back up again.”
They traded glances and sighed.
Inside her room, the Proprietress was seen seated on a chair. Upon entering, Yang Kai felt as though he was on pins and needles. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any wine bottles or fruit pits on the ground. It appeared that she didn’t drink the previous night.
“I’ll give it to you. Be sure to diligently refine it.” Without engaging in any small talk, the Proprietress directly gave him a shuttle-shaped object.
After taking it, Yang Kai arched his brow and asked, “Is this a Territory Shuttle?”
He had seen similar artifacts before. When he visited the shops in the Star City to demand repayments, he had seen many things that were on sale. Territory Shuttles were among those items.
Just like what its name suggested, this thing was an artifact that was used specifically for passing through Territory Gates. Yang Kai saw such items in Hundred Refining’s Hall before. Like most artifacts, they came in different qualities and ranks.
The lowest rank and quality one sold for 100,000 Open Heaven Pills, while the higher rank ones could cost from several hundred thousand up to a few million. The better the quality, the more expensive it was, and the more durable.
The lowest rank Territory Shuttles could only bear three to five transits through the Territory Gates. When its limit was reached, the artifact wouldn’t be able to bear the pressure when going through the Territory Gates again, and it would be crushed if it was forcefully used.
The highest rank Territory Shuttle could be used infinitely without suffering any damage. Naturally, the price for such a shuttle was exorbitant.
Yang Kai had no idea what rank this shuttle was, but he believed that the Proprietress wouldn’t give him a cheap one.
“It’s good that you can recognise it.” The Proprietress smiled, “In fact, previously… Forget it. Don’t forcefully cross a Territory Gate again. You’re not an Open Heaven Realm Master yet, so it’s dangerous for you to do so. Refine this thing and use it when you have to pass across Territory Gates in the future.”
That was indeed something Yang Kai needed, so he didn’t turn her down as he nodded, “Many thanks, Proprietress.”
The Proprietress laughed, “You don’t have to thank me. You’re a shop hand from my inn, so I have to ensure your safety. Good, you can get back to work now.”
Then, she waved her hand.
Yang Kai cupped his fists and turned around. After only taking a few steps forward, he suddenly recalled something and whirled around, “Proprietress, do we still need more employees for the inn?”
The Proprietress gave him a look and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“If we still need another employee, I’d like to recommend someone. She’s helped me a lot; however, she has been struggling in the city because she’s weak and lacks a strong background.”
After giving it a thought, the Proprietress asked, “You mean the one who came to the inn to pass me the rings previously?”
“En, her.” Yang Kai nodded his head, “Her name is Luo Hai Yi, and she was born in this city. She has never joined any great force before. If you’re still worried, you can investigate her background first.”
“No need. Just tell her that if she wants, she can come work for me. I don’t mind having one more person to help out around here.”
Yang Kai hadn’t expected that she would agree to it straight away, so he thanked her and walked off.
After he returned to the lobby, Bai Qi approached him and looked worriedly at him, “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Anyway, I have to go out now,” He stuffed a white towel, which was on his shoulder earlier, into Bai Qi’s hands and strode out of the inn.
He had stayed over at Luo Hai Yi’s house before, so he still remembered where it was. Upon reaching the outskirts of the Star City, Yang Kai took some time to find her home that was hidden among the disarrayed buildings; however, Luo Hai Yi wasn’t home at the moment.
Fortunately, he still had a means of communicating with her, so he fished out a communication artifact and sent her a message.
A moment later, Luo Hai Yi replied and told him to wait for a bit as she would be back soon.
After an hour or so, Luo Hai Yi returned to her home in a hurry. Seeing Yang Kai, she appeared amazed, “Sir Yang, why are you here?”
Since the incident at Wind and Cloud Auction House, she hadn’t seen Yang Kai again, nor did he contact her. She thought that he had forgotten about her, so it had never crossed her mind that he would look for her one month later.
With a smile, Yang Kai asked, “What’s wrong? Can’t I come see you?”
Luo Hai Yi quickly waved her hands, “That’s not what I meant. It’s just that when I looked for you some time ago, those from First Inn said that you were missing.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai broke into laughter, “It’s just a misunderstanding…” Then, his expression turned solemn as he asked with some surprise, “You’ve condensed your Dao Seal?”
Just like the last time they met, she was still an Emperor Realm cultivator, but there was now a different kind of aura about her body, which suggested that she had successfully condensed her Dao Seal. She could now hope to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm.
Luo Hai Yi replied, “It’s all thanks to the Grand Dao Pills Sir Yang gave me; otherwise, I wouldn’t know how much longer it would have taken me to condense my Dao Seal.” Some time ago, she visited First Inn to look for Yang Kai in order to thank him; however, she was told that Yang Kai had gone missing, and because of that, the Proprietress had become infuriated, which was why she hurriedly left the place. Recently, she had been trying to find out Yang Kai’s whereabouts as well, but she hadn’t gotten any leads.
“It was the least I could do.” Yang Kai waved his hand. He had taken the pills from the auction house as personal compensation, and they were useless to him, so he had intended to give them to her anyway, “Also, stop calling me Sir Yang. If you see me as a friend, just call me Big Brother Yang.”
Since they were going to work together, it would be better for her to change the way she addressed him; otherwise, it’d be very awkward.
“No, no…” Luo Hai Yi waved her hands.
Just when Yang Kai was ready to say something more, he heard an eccentric voice coming from a nearby spot, “I was wondering why a cheap slut like you dumped this Young Master all of a sudden. So, you’ve come here to meet your little lover! It seems you have no regard for this Young Master at all!”
When Luo Hai Yi heard those words, her expression changed.
Yang Kai frowned and looked at the source of the voice, only to see three people approaching them from a nearby spot. The person walking in front was a young man clad in expensive robes. His demeanour suggested that he was from a wealthy family. He was followed by a middle-aged man and an elderly man, who seemed to be his bodyguards.
In fact, Yang Kai had detected them when they first appeared, but he hadn’t expected that they were looking for Luo Hai Yi.
After examining them, Yang Kai was slightly surprised as the young man at the front was only a Dao Source Realm cultivator. It was inconceivable that this young man wasn’t even an Emperor. How weak must his aptitude be to have only ascended to the Dao Source Realm in the Outer Universe?
However, the auras of the middle-aged and elderly man behind him were profound. They were apparently Open Heaven Realm Masters. Judging from their auras, Yang Kai could tell that they were just as powerful as Wei Que from Great Moon Province.
In other words, they were Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
[What is this guy’s background?] As a Dao Source Realm Junior, he actually had two Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters as bodyguards. Moreover, he seemed to know Luo Hai Yi, which puzzled Yang Kai.
“Cheap slut, this Young Master paid you to serve him, not to let you have fun with your lover. How do you want to settle accounts now?”
Although the young man appeared elegant and good-looking, all he said were malicious words. Without even sparing Yang Kai a glance, he stared fixedly at Luo Hai Yi and berated her.
Luo Hai Yi shuddered and hurriedly explained, “Young Master Hai, you’ve misunderstood me. Sir Yang and I are old acquaintances. He’s here to look for me, and I didn’t mean to leave you behind. I’ll apologise to you now. Please forgive me.”
The person called Young Master Hai shot a look at Yang Kai and snorted, “Sir Yang? How dare a piece of trash like him call himself Sir in front of this Young Master? Ridiculous!”
A displeased Yang Kai thought that he hadn’t offended anyone, and it was the first time he had met this Young Master Hai, but the latter directly called him a piece of trash. His face fell as he retorted, “Little friend, can you behave yourself? If you can’t, I don’t mind disciplining you on your parents’ behalf.”
Yong Master Hai scoffed, “Friend? I’m not your friend. How dare a piece of trash like you act impudent in front of this Young Master?” The Third-Order cultivators behind him stared coldly at Yang Kai as well. Following that, they released their pressure to threaten him.
“Who is this person that’s barking here?” Yang Kai turned to look at Luo Hai Yi.
Luo Hai Yi secretly spoke to him via Divine Sense, “I don’t know where this Young Master Hai is from, but it seems that his background is powerful. It’s the first time he’s visited the Star City, so he hired me as a local guide.”
Yang Kai grunted in acknowledgement. He thought that this Young Master Hai was close to Luo Hai Yi, but it turned out that he was just her client. It was just like what he had done previously. He wasn’t familiar with the city, so he looked for a local guide to take him around.
It was no wonder Young Master Hai claimed that Luo Hai Yi had dumped him. It seemed that it was Yang Kai who should be blamed instead. He sent her a message to say that he had something to tell her, so she must have decided to return home in a hurry. That was why the displeased Young Master Hai raced after her to find out what was going on.
Certainly, Yang Kai could see that this Young Master Hai came from a wealthy family. That was why he had two Third-Order cultivators as his bodyguards.
Not in the mood to argue, Yang Kai said, “Young Master Hai, right? She has something else to do now, so she can’t continue to be your local guide. Please look for someone else.”
Hearing that, Young Master Hai sneered, “Do you think you can turn down this job for her as you please? Have you even asked for my permission?”
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes, “What do you want, then?”
In a grim voice, Young Master Hai said, “She has taken this Young Master’s money, so how can she run away without satisfying me first? There’s no free lunch in this world.”
“How much money has he given you?” Yang Kai turned to look at her.
Luo Hai Yi hung her head low and replied, “Three pills.”
After a nod, Yang Kai tossed three pills at them, “Young Master Hai, here are three Open Heaven Pills. She has returned your money, so she has nothing to do with you anymore.”
Be it Young Master Hai or the two Third-Order Masters, they didn’t take the pills, nor did they bother to shoot them a glance as they let the pills drop on the ground.
Young Master Hai grinned, “Open Heaven Pills? This Young Master can have as many of them as he wants. Even my dog eats more than three pills a day. Do you think I even care about that?”
With a frown, Yang Kai said, “There are countless guides in this city, and you can easily look for them. Why are you forcing her to serve you?”
“So what if I want to force her?” Young Master Hai looked arrogantly at him, “Fuck off if you want to live. It has nothing to do with you. If you want to die, this Young Master doesn’t mind sending you to Hell.”
“What can we do so that you can let her off?” Yang Kai was displeased with this arrogant Young Master’s haughty behaviour, but with two Third-Order bodyguards, Young Master Hai indeed had the capital to be arrogant.
“She only needs to spend the night with me, and I’ll forget what has happened today; otherwise, you’ll bear the consequences.” Young Master Hai pointed at her.
Hearing that, Luo Hai Yi shuddered as his intention was very obvious now. At that instant, her face turned ashen.
The reason she hurriedly went home upon receiving Yang Kai’s message was that when she was introducing the city to Young Master Hai, he kept giving her implicit hints with his words, which was why she didn’t feel secure.
Therefore, right after she saw Yang Kai’s message, she apologised to Young Master Hai and returned his pills before heading back to her home. However, she hadn’t expected that this bastard would relentlessly stalk her.
Yang Kai’s expression turned cold as well.
Young Master Hai was pleased to see the expression on his face. [How dare two pieces of trash go against me? I’ll show them the consequences of offending this Young Master!]
Apparently, Luo Hai Yi was someone who came from the bottom of the social hierarchy. She didn’t have anyone’s support, nor was she personally very strong. No one would stand up for her even if she was killed. The young man beside her didn’t look like he was from a powerful background either. Judging from his clothes, it was obvious that he was just a shop boy at an inn or a restaurant.
Although Young Master Hai was interested in Luo Hai Yi, he didn’t necessarily have to get her. He was from a wealthy family, so if he wanted, even Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm women would be willing to climb into his bed and take off their clothes to get some benefits from him, not to mention that Luo Hai Yi was just an Emperor Realm cultivator who had only recently condensed her Dao Seal.
Therefore, even though he was just a Dao Source Realm cultivator, he had bedded more than ten women in the Open Heaven Realm.
He was used to everyone bowing to his demands and catering to his whims. Now that some people had disobeyed him, he was naturally furious.
Seeing as Yang Kai had hung his head low with a dark expression, he mistakenly thought that Yang Kai was afraid of him, so he snorted, “Brat, scram if you don’t want to die. This Young Master can’t be bothered to talk to a piece of trash like you.”
Following that, he pointed at Luo Hai Yi, “Capture this cheap slut now!”
Right after he finished speaking, the middle-aged man from his left stepped forward, which caused Luo Hai Yi to shudder and turn pale. Just when she was hesitating between fleeing and begging for mercy, a figure flashed across her eyes and stood in front of her.
Yang Kai lifted his head and yelled, “Who dares make a move on her?”
“Capture her!” Young Master Hai bellowed.
Ignoring Yang Kai, the middle-aged man extended his hand towards Luo Hai Yi. Although Yang Kai was standing in front of her, she still felt her vision turning dark as though all the light had been shaded from her.
“We work for Madam Lan of First Inn. I dare you to try making a move against us!” Yang Kai shouted.
The middle-aged man froze as his impassive expression changed abruptly. With a horrified look on his face, he asked, “First Inn? Madam Lan?”
Before he could speak any further, Yang Kai suddenly grabbed Luo Hai Yi’s wrist, after which they disappeared in an instant.
“What a cunning brat!” The middle-aged man snarled, knowing that he had been tricked. The reason Yang Kai said such things was just to distract him so that they could flee.
“Come out!” Right then, the elderly man, who was standing beside Young Master Hai, pushed out his fist towards the Void with a ferocious force.
Up in the air, two figures abruptly appeared. They were none other than Yang Kai and Luo Hai Yi, who had just disappeared. Upon being struck, they sprayed out a mouthful of blood each and fell to the ground.
A horrified Yang Kai couldn’t believe that this old man dared make a move inside the Star City. The city was governed by Great Battle Heaven, and fighting was strictly prohibited. Bai Qi had told him about it when they arrived at the city.
The reason those from Great Battle Heaven were not aware of the fact that the Proprietress had made a move in Wind and Cloud Auction House was that there was a barrier around the building, and the battle lasted for only a breath, so the fallout didn’t spread far away. Furthermore, those from the auction house felt humiliated by the incident, so they wouldn’t spread word of it.
However, there were no barriers in this place. If those from Great Battle Heaven came over, all of them would suffer.
It wasn’t until this moment that Young Master Hai came to his senses. He stomped his foot on the ground and barked, “How dare you try to flee from this Young Master!? Break his legs for me now!”
The middle-aged man appeared gloomy as he was infuriated by the fact that he had been tricked by Yang Kai; therefore, he directly stepped forward and attempted to land a kick on his thigh, not holding back his strength at all. Given his power as a Third-Order Master, Yang Kai would have his leg crippled even though he had a Half-Dragon Body.
Just when Yang Kai was hesitating whether he should use the last Mie Meng golden tail feather to kill these three, a voice was suddenly heard shouting from the distance, “Who dares cause trouble here!”
As the sounds of something breaking through the air were heard, 8 figures whooshed towards this place. In the blink of an eye, they had surrounded Yang Kai and the others.
Seeing these people, Yang Kai heaved a sigh of relief. Each of these men were clad in armour, so it was apparent they were from Great Battle Heaven. In the light of that, he didn’t have to use the golden tail feather anymore. This thing could even be used to fend off the Proprietress, so it would be wasteful if he used it on this trash.
The person leading the new group of soldiers was clad in silver armour, and although he didn’t seem to be more powerful than the Third-Order Masters beside Young Master Hai, he was obviously more ruthless. Moreover, his aura seemed to be tinged with blood, making it apparent he had gone through countless life-or-death battles.
Yang Kai gave it a thought and recalled that when they were passing through the dock in front of the city, Bai Qi told him some of the things about Great Battle Heaven.
Just like an army, there were strict rules in their great force. They were divided into different military ranks as well. The one guarding the dock was a High General.
A General was actually a Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master in Great Battle Heaven. A Fourth-Order cultivator was a General, and a Fifth-Order cultivator was a High General. As for a Sixth-Order cultivator, he was a Great General. There were Marshals and Grand Marshals above them, and below them were soldiers in silver armour.
The lead soldier in silver armour was a Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Master while the people who came with him were all Open Heaven Realm cultivators as well, but they were apparently weaker than he was. However, Yang Kai could feel that all of their auras were connected, which suggested that they were using some kind of Formation.
A group like them would even be able to counter a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
While Yang Kai was shocked by Great Battle Heaven’s heritage, he also admired their swiftness. Not long after the fluctuation of the battle was spread, this soldier in silver armour rushed over with a group of people. They were truly efficient.
Finally, he was able to set his mind at ease as he looked at Young Master Hai and his bodyguards with glee. Since those from Great Battle Heaven had arrived, these three would undoubtedly suffer.
With his hands behind his back, the soldier in silver armour swept a formidable glance over the people at the scene and eventually stared fixedly at Yang Kai and Luo Hai Yi. Then, he snorted, “Who did this?” Apparently, he was asking who hurt them.
The middle-aged man and the elderly man fell silent as there was no way they would admit it at this point.
On the other hand, Young Master Hai said arrogantly, “They accidentally fell to the ground.”
Hearing that, the soldier in silver armour shot him a glance.
Young Master Hai went on to say, “You can ask them about it.”
In response, the soldier in silver armour directly landed a loud slap on his face. Upon impact, Young Master Hai flew backwards, tumbling through the air several times before smashing into the ground.
“Young Master!” The middle-aged man and the elderly man were shocked upon seeing that. Just when they were preparing to rush over to help, they felt many ferocious auras locking them down. If they dared to move a muscle, they would be faced with a storm of attacks, so they remained on the spot with dark expressions.
Although the soldier in silver armour had sent Young Master Hai flying away with a slap, he still acted as if nothing had happened. In an impassive manner, he said, “Do I look like a fool to you?”
The soldier in silver armour didn’t exert much force with his hand, but Young Master Hai was only in the Dao Source Realm, so he was unable to bear such an attack, which had broken half of his teeth and caused his face to swell.
After getting to his feet with difficulty, he covered his face with his hand and stared at the soldier in silver armour in disbelief. In an unclear voice, he stuttered, “Y-You dare hit me?”
Since he was a child, no one had ever reprimanded him before, let alone laid a hand on him; however, on this day, half of his teeth had been knocked from his mouth, which greatly humiliated him. At that instant, he was trembling in fury as he stomped his foot on the ground and bellowed, “Why are you standing there like two fools? Kill them now!”
After he finished speaking, the expressions of the two Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters changed drastically as they motioned for him to calm down with their gazes. Both of them might not even be a match for these people, and even if they could defeat them, they wouldn’t dare to make a move here. The Star City was governed directly by Great Battle Heaven, and these soldiers were disciples from that great force. If they were killed here, the great force behind them wouldn’t let the murderers off. Even though Young Master Hai had a powerful backer, they couldn’t afford to bear the consequences of such actions.
However, Young Master Hai was oblivious to their hints as he kept throwing a tantrum.
The soldier in silver armour eventually shot him a cold glance, “If you dare to say another word, it won’t be just another slap you get.” A faint murderous intent exuded from his gaze.
Young Master Hai couldn’t help but shudder. As though he had finally realised that he was in a perilous situation, he didn’t dare to open his mouth again.
Seeing that, Yang Kai was extremely gleeful. It was the first time he saw those from Great Battle Heaven at work. He couldn’t help but admire them as these soldiers were indeed steadfast and ruthless.
Knowing that he was safe, he stepped forward and cupped his fists, “Sir, many thanks for coming to our rescue; otherwise, my companion and I would’ve suffered terribly. These guys drooled over my companion’s beauty and threatened her in broad daylight. She wasn’t willing to accept their demands, so they tried to force us. Please punish them accordingly.”
The soldier in silver armour shot him a dispassionate glance and snorted. Without responding to him, he waved his hand and ordered, “Take all of them away.”
“Sir?” Yang Kai was dumbfounded. What was going on? It was understandable that the soldier in silver armour wanted to take Young Master Hai and his subordinates away, but why did he attempt to capture Luo Hai Yi and him as well?
While Yang Kai was still confused, those from Great Battle Heaven made a move by tossing artifacts that looked like ropes at them. Just like very agile snakes, the ropes soon firmly tied all of them up.
A flustered Yang Kai exclaimed, “Sir, we’re the victims!”
“We’ll find out the truth ourselves, your testimony is irrelevant.” The soldier in silver armour didn’t even turn his head.
“Sir, we’re from First Inn,” Yang Kai hurriedly said. He was trying to threaten them by mentioning the Proprietress.
The soldier in silver armour stopped in his tracks and turned his head, “You’re from First Inn?”
Hurriedly, Yang Kai nodded his head, but before he could say anything, the soldier in silver armour directly landed a fist on his belly. In an instant, his five viscera and six organs shifted as he curled up in pain.
“If Madam Lan were here, I might have given her some face, but you’re just a shop hand, so how dare you threaten me here?”
As Yang Kai listened to the cold voice of the soldier in silver armour, he clenched his teeth, knowing that he had to admit defeat as it wasn’t useful at all to mention First Inn. Those from Great Battle Heaven were more stalwart than he had imagined.
“Take them away!” The soldier in silver armour demanded again and led the way. Behind him, the other soldiers escorted Yang Kai, Luo Hai Yi, Young Master Hai, and his subordinates.
“Big Brother Yang, are you alright?” Luo Hai Yi was on the brink of tearing up as she blamed herself for dragging Yang Kai into this mess, which caused him to be injured. She hadn’t expected that Young Master Hai was such an oppressive person. In fact, she had returned his money to him, but he still chased after her and even attracted the attention of those from Great Battle Heaven, which caused all of them to be captured.
If she knew this would be the outcome, she wouldn’t have returned home in a hurry. When she received Yang Kai’s message, she thought that he had an urgent matter, and as she was disgusted by Young Master Hai’s conduct, she left in a rush.
“I’m fine,” Yang Kai shook his head. The soldier in silver armour didn’t exert much force with his fist, so he wasn’t injured; he had only endured a short moment of pain.
“It’s all because of me…” Luo Hai Yi’s eyes turned bloodshot.
Yang Kai replied, “Don’t say that. Blame it on those pieces of trash.”
Turning his head, he saw Young Master Hai and his subordinates shooting him hostile glares. They came from a powerful great force, so despite the fact that they were captured by those from Great Battle Heaven, they were not worried. They just needed to pay some fines before they would be released. However, it was a different cause for Yang Kai and Luo Hai Yi. They didn’t seem to have any Open Heaven Pills, so they would certainly get punished.
Yang Master Hai secretly swore that he would retaliate against Yang Kai and let the latter know the consequences of offending him.
Luo Hai Yi lived on the outskirts of Star City. It was a dirty area with lots of disarrayed buildings, and only the people at the bottom of the social hierarchy lived there; therefore, there were not many people on the streets as they moved forward. However, as they got closer to the downtown, countless people on the streets stopped in their tracks and pointed fingers at them. They wondered what these guys had done that prompted those from Great Battle Heaven to detain them.
They had no idea about the rules in other Star Cities, but in this Star City, Great Battle Heaven ruled over everything. Anyone who dared to make a fuss here, regardless of how powerful they were, would end up miserable. Once, there was a Fourth-Order cultivator who got into a scuffle in this city, only to be quickly besieged and killed by those from Great Battle Heaven. The Fourth-Order cultivator was an Elder from a Second Class great force, but not a word was said from that great force after the incident.
Since then, no one had the guts to make a scene in the city anymore. If there were any blood feuds, they could sign a contract and hack each other to death in the Asura Arena, but they absolutely couldn’t get into a fight in the city proper.
Young Master Hai and his subordinates were humiliated as it felt terrible to be paraded through the streets in front of so many people. They wished they could get a piece of cloth to cover their faces. On the other hand, Yang Kai and Luo Hai Yi felt embarrassed as well. Yang Kai was in a better mental state as they were not in the wrong. It was the arrogant Young Master Hai who caused all this trouble; however, Luo Hai Yi was a woman after all. Faced with the stares and the gossip about her that was mingled with much foul language and disdain, she couldn’t help but hang her head low.
Nevertheless, those from Great Battle Heaven seemed determined to establish their authority as they led the captives through the most populated streets. Moreover, they walked in a slow and calm manner. Soon, they almost roamed around half of the city.
When the soldier in silver armour lectured Young Master Hai earlier, Yang Kai secretly cheered for him and started admiring Great Battle Heaven; however, now, all he felt was nothing but hatred towards these guys.
About an hour later, they finally reached a gigantic building that looked like a palace. It was the Governor’s Mansion that was located in the centre of the city.
It had been quite some time since Yang Kai arrived in this city, so he knew a thing or two about the Governor’s Mansion. This place was established by those from Great Battle Heaven to oversee this city. An extremely powerful Governor was in charge of this place. Normally, no one would visit this mansion as only the disciples from Great Battle Heaven would move in and out.
Following that, the soldier in silver armour led them into the building. After going through a checkpoint, they kept walking downwards until they reached a prison.
The place was dim and damp. What was worse was that a rancid smell permeated the place.
“One cell for each of them. Throw them in!” The soldier in silver armour waved his hand, whereupon the captives were separated and respectively pushed into their cells.
Luo Hai Yi had never experienced such a thing before, so the colour immediately drained from her face. Although Yang Kai kept consoling her, she was still emotionally unstable.
After the door was shut with a loud clang, Yang Kai stood in his cell with an awkward expression.
They had really put him behind bars! It wasn’t the first time he had been imprisoned, and fortunately, his cultivation wasn’t sealed, so upon scanning the surroundings with his Divine Sense, he realised that the jail wasn’t even very sturdy. One could easily break free from it. Nevertheless, it was futile to do so as he wouldn’t be able to flee, and it would only make things worse.
Now, he could only hope that those from Great Battle Heaven would really be impartial and quickly release Luo Hai Yi and him.
Across from them, Young Master Hai and the two Third-Order cultivators shot them cold glances. Young Master Hai kept cursing at Yang Kai and threatened that he would make him pay for this. Yang Kai just ignored him.
Soon enough, someone from Great Battle Heaven came over and landed a whip on Young Master Hai through the gap of the bars, which caused him to cry in pain and stop making a fuss.
After putting the whip away, that person glared at Young Master Hai and snorted. Then, he looked around before striding towards Yang Kai. After opening the door, he demanded, “Get out! The Chief Disciplinary Officer will question you now.”
Yang Kai took a look at him and calmly walked out of his cell.
“Big Brother Yang…” Luo Hai Yi looked worriedly at him through the gaps of the door.
Shaking his head, Yang Kai motioned for her to calm down.
After leaving the prison with the disciple from Great Battle Heaven, Yang Kai reached a hall and saw the so-called Chief Disciplinary Officer. He was an elderly man with a grim expression. Presently, he was seated behind a table with his hands kept inside his sleeves.
Yang Kai cupped his fists and started answering his questions. The questions were nothing special as the elderly man just wanted to find out the cause of the conflict and what had happened. Yang Kai honestly told him the details, neither exaggerating nor embellishing the truth.
After the session was over, the elderly man told someone to take Yang Kai away and bring Luo Hai Yi to see him. She didn’t know what awaited her, so she looked inquisitively at Yang Kai, who in return just told her to speak the truth.
Hearing that, Luo Hai Yi gave a nod.
Meanwhile, someone was knocking on the door of a room in the rear court of First Inn in an anxious manner. After the door was opened, the Proprietress stared at Bai Qi and the chef with a frown, “Why do you look so flustered?”
With a solemn expression, Bai Qi explained, “Yang Kai was captured by one of Great Battle Heaven’s patrol teams.”
The Proprietress’ expression changed, “When did that happen?”
“Just now! Chef saw it when he left the inn.”
To the side, the chef nodded repeatedly, “I saw it with my own eyes.”
“Did you see it clearly?” The Proprietress asked.
The chef replied, “Besides him, the woman who came to the inn to pass on his words some time ago was also captured. There were also three more guys that I didn’t know. I have no idea what happened.”
Bai Qi said, “Proprietress, what should we do? Those Great Battle Heaven people are all crazy. There’s no way Yang Kai will be treated well in their captivity.”
The Proprietress replied, “I’ll go have a look.” Then, she dashed out of the room and disappeared.
After trading glances, Bai Qi and the chef sighed. It hadn’t been a long time since Yang Kai came to the Outer Universe, so he wasn’t familiar with Great Battle Heaven; however, the two of them knew how ruthless this great force was, so they knew that even though the Proprietress went over to negotiate with them, Yang Kai would still have to suffer. It wasn’t certain whether he would be able to bear the punishment.
A moment later, in a hall of the Governor’s Mansion, a middle-aged man was seen going through some documents on his desk. He was seated there with a posture that was as straight as a spear, and he appeared majestic despite his calm expression. There was a golden crown on his hair, and his eyes looked as bright as stars. Although he was just sitting there, a ferocious aura seemed to be swirling around him. It was as though he had just emerged from a sea of corpses.
He was none other than the Governor from Great Battle Heaven who ruled over this Star City, Ye Tian Xiong.
Just then, a soldier in silver armour dashed into the hall and bent his back, “Governor, Madam Lan from First Inn requests to meet you.”
The Governor raised his head, whereupon a flash of light seemed to have crossed his eyes. His hand, which was holding a pen, froze in the air as he narrowed his eyes, “Madam Lan? What does she want?”
The soldier in silver armour replied, “I believe it’s because of what happened to a shop hand from her First Inn.” Then, he briefly reported to the Governor about the fact that they had captured some people making trouble earlier. It had been a long time since they last captured anyone as no one had the guts to make a scene in the city; therefore, the incident earlier was soon spread among everyone in the Governor’s Mansion.
Hearing that, Ye Tian Xiong put down his pen, “Tell her to come in.”
“Yes,” the soldier in silver armour replied and turned around to leave.
Just a while later, a white shadow dashed into the room. The Proprietress brought with her the cold wind from outside as she approached the Governor and landed a palm on the table. Then, she bellowed through clenched teeth, “Ye Tian Xiong, release my shop hand!”
Upon impact, countless cracks appeared on this solid table, and the documents all flew into the air.
Following that, armours were heard clanging as a group of disciples from Great Battle Heaven streamed into the hall. They surged their auras and summoned their artifacts as they stared fiercely at the curvy figure in front of the table.
At that instant, the atmosphere became intense as the hall was filled with murderous intent.
Despite that, the Proprietress was oblivious to them as she stared fixedly at Ye Tian Xiong, who only slightly moved his body, whereupon the documents fell back on the table and landed on the exact same spots. Then, he waved his hand at his subordinates.
The disciples, who had rushed into the hall after seeing this, left the place in an instant. They were truly swift and disciplined.
It was then that Ye Tian Xiong slowly lifted his head and took a glance at the Proprietress, “Madam Lan, we haven’t met for 300 years, but you’re still as charming as ever. I’ve heard that you’ve opened a shop in this Star City. Initially, I thought that it was just a rumour, but now, it seems to be true.”
The Proprietress ignored his small talk and demanded, “I’m not here to reminisce about the past with you. Release my subordinate now!”
Ye Tian Xiong asked, “Who are you talking about?”
“Don’t give me that!” The Proprietress landed another palm on the table, “My subordinate was captured by your people. Don’t tell me you’re not aware of it.”
“I haven’t heard of it,” Ye Tian Xiong replied dispassionately, then he pointed out something, “However, my subordinates will never capture innocent people. If your subordinate didn’t commit any crime, he wouldn’t have been detained.”
The Proprietress refuted, “I don’t care whether he has committed any crime. He’s in your captivity now, and I want you to release him.”
Ye Tian Xiong narrowed his eyes, “Madam, where do you think this place is? Do you think he can leave this place as he pleases?”
“Are you going to release him or not?” The Proprietress looked straight into his eyes and questioned.
With his lips curving into a smile, Ye Tian Xiong lowered his head and continued going through his documents.
Turning around, the Proprietress said, “Good, then I’ll tell the public what happened in the bamboo forest of Purple Jade Cave Heaven 800 years ago.” As soon as she finished speaking, a figure abruptly appeared in front of her. It was Ye Tian Xiong who had blocked her way.
As their eyes met, the Proprietress raised her chin with a smug smile on her face. On the other hand, Ye Tian Xiong’s face twitched slightly.
A long time later, he said, “You’re still as shameless as before. I’ve never seen a woman as peculiar as you.”
There was a faint smile on the Proprietress’ face, “If you don’t want others to find out what happened, you shouldn’t have done it in the first place. What do you say now?”
Ye Tian Xiong replied, “Before we find out the truth, no one can break the rules of this city. Otherwise, our authority will be damaged.”
“So, you’re not going to release him?” The Proprietress slowly narrowed her eyes.
To which Ye Tian Xiong said, “If this incident really has nothing to do with your subordinate, I’ll handle it in an impartial manner.”
After giving it a thought, the Proprietress nodded her head, “Good, I’ll wait here and see how you’re going to handle it impartially.” Then, she took a seat on a chair beside her and directly landed a palm on the table, “Why has no one served me tea yet? Is this how the people from Great Battle Heaven treat your guests?”
A tinge of helplessness flashed across Ye Tian Xiong’s eyes. After he clapped his hands, someone sprinted into the hall and cupped his fists, “Yes, Governor?”
Ye Tian Xiong pointed at the Proprietress, “Get her some tea.”
That person turned to look at Madam Lan in disbelief, but he still replied, “Yes.” Following that, he turned around and left.
After that, Ye Tian Xiong released his Divine Sense and talked to someone else.
Just a moment later, an elderly man stepped into the hall and saluted the Governor. He was the Chief Disciplinary Officer who had questioned Yang Kai and the others earlier.
Ye Tian Xiong asked, “Have you interrogated the ones we recently detained?”
The disciplinary officer cupped his fists, “I have.”
“What exactly happened?”
Although the disciplinary officer wondered why the Governor would even care about such a trivial matter, he wouldn’t dare to ignore his question, so he narrated the incident to him. He had questioned each of those involved, so he had figured out what had happened.
While Ye Tian Xiong remained unfazed, the Proprietress started blowing her top, “Did you hear that!? It was those three who ignored the rules of Great Battle Heaven and created trouble in the city. My shop hand just decided to lend the victim a hand, so how could you capture him without a valid reason? I won’t let you off if you can’t give me an explanation.”
The disciplinary officer couldn’t help but take a glance at the Proprietress as he was shocked to see that someone had the guts to be so brazen in front of the Governor. What was stranger was that the Governor didn’t seem to be mad at her.
Ye Tian Xiong gently tapped on the table and waited for her to finish speaking before saying impassively, “In this world, there is never just one party involved in trouble.”
Hearing that, the Proprietress coldly asked, “What do you mean by that?”
He replied, “Whatever the reason, your shop hand has caused some trouble in my territory, and he shouldn’t dream about getting off without paying a price.”
She sneered, “Ye Tian Xiong, do you insist on doing this?”
He said, “Don’t worry. It’s just a small punishment.”
“Nonsense!” The Proprietress rejected him resolutely. She knew how horrible the punishments from Great Battle Heaven were. Yang Kai was just an Emperor Realm Junior. Whatever the punishment, he would end up in a terrible state.
“No one can tell me what to do in my territory!” Ye Tian Xiong snorted as he was running out of patience. Then, he shifted his attention to the disciplinary officer, “The man and the woman will each receive a strike from the Dragon Fang Whip.”
“You dare?!” The Proprietress said through clenched teeth.
Ye Tian Xiong shot her a glare, “Lan You Ruo, do you think I’m not aware of what happened in the Wind and Cloud Auction House? I only chose to ignore it to avoid causing a scene with you!”
Although there was a barrier around the auction house, the fact that the Proprietress had made a move there couldn’t be hidden from powerful cultivators like Ye Tian Xiong.
At that instant, the Proprietress was lost for words. After glaring at him for a long time, she stomped her foot on the ground, “I’ll remember what you’ve done here today!”
…..
After Yang Kai and Luo Hai Yi were interrogated, they were sent back to their cells again. Just a while later, someone came over and took them away.
A puzzled Yang Kai asked the disciple from Great Battle Heaven what was going on, but that person directly ignored him.
As they moved forward, they eventually left the Governor’s Mansion.
An elated Yang Kai thought that the matter was finally over; after all, he and Luo Hai Yi were the victims, and they didn’t have the intention to cause trouble in the city. It was Young Master Hai and his subordinates who had made a move on them.
Just when he was ready to thank the disciple, he saw a familiar figure and became pleasantly surprised, “Proprietress, what are you doing here?”
With a conflicted gaze, the Proprietress sighed, “Just try to endure it, and this matter will be over.”
“What do you mean by that?” A perplexed Yang Kai asked, but before he could figure out what was going on, two disciples came over and grabbed his arms before stringing him up to a cross-bar.
A shocked Yang Kai instinctively tried to resist, but the Proprietress dissuaded him from doing so; therefore, he gave up and let the disciples do whatever they wanted. A moment later, he was firmly shackled.
Presently, countless people had surrounded the entrance of the Governor’s Mansion. Some people had even flown into the air to get a clearer look.
At the same time, discussions about him were heard coming from the crowd.
“What has this guy done? It seems that they’re going to punish him.”
“My goodness. No one has had the guts to create trouble in the city for years. He is truly brazen.”
“The Dragon Fang Whip from the Governor’s Mansion can even kill! Thirteen years ago, a Second-Order cultivator was tied here and died on the spot after just ten whips. I wonder how many whips this brat will have to endure today.”
“Judging from his aura, he’s only an Emperor Realm Junior. He can take three whips at most. Any more than that will cause him to lose his life.”
…..
As Yang Kai listened to their discussions, he couldn’t help but turn ashen as he finally realised why he was tied here. Turning his head, he saw the disciplinary officer he had met earlier coming over slowly with a whip in his hand. There were barbs around the whip, and its tip looks like two Dragon teeth.
A horrified Yang Kai thought that if he was struck by such a whip, he would end up in a miserable state.
Then, he looked to the side and saw Luo Hai Yi tied to another cross-bar. She must have heard the discussions around her as well, so the colour already drained from her face.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but plead with the Proprietress with his gaze, only to see her shaking her head slowly. Realising that even the Proprietress was unable to help him, he became incensed.
He and Luo Hai Yi were the victims. If it weren’t because of Young Master Hai and his subordinates who threatened them, they wouldn’t have been dragged into this mess; however, they were now the ones who had to be tied here and were being punished in public. Were those from Great Battle Heaven idiots?
Soon, the space in front of the Governor’s Mansion was crammed with people and countless stares focused on Yang Kai and Luo Hai Yi.
The disciplinary officer stepped forward with the Dragon Fang Whip in his hand. After looking around, he yelled, “These two people have caused trouble in the Star City and broken our rules. The Governor has given the order that they will each receive one whip to serve as a warning to others.”
Just when Yang Kai was about to refute him, he heard a whoosh coming at him. Following that, he felt an excruciating pain in his back that almost prompted him to scream.
The pain was indescribable as he felt his very Soul trembling. The words he was about to say were replaced by a howl. He could clearly feel that as the whip struck him, the clothes on his back tore apart. His flesh must have been torn as well as he felt blood flowing out of his body.
The Dragon Fang Whip must have been made using a special technique, which could make the person getting struck feel ten times more pain. If it weren’t because Yang Kai had strong willpower, he would’ve passed out.
Since he started cultivating, he had gone through countless life-or-death battles and suffered numerous serious injuries, but he had never felt as much pain as he did this time.
He widened his eyes as his eyeballs seemed to be trembling in his eye sockets. While his vision had turned blurry, he heard the Proprietress speaking in an anxious voice, “It’s done. Release him quickly!”
“W-Wait!” Yang Kai clenched his teeth and yelled.
A worried Proprietress asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I’ll take the whip for her,” Yang Kai turned to look at the disciplinary officer.
Hearing that, the Chief Disciplinary Officer sported an awkward expression, “Are you sure?”
No one had ever dared to take another strike after having a taste of the Dragon Fang Whip. Yang Kai’s willpower was truly admirable.
The Proprietress couldn’t believe what she had heard, “Are you insane!?”
Yang Kai forced an ugly smile, “Proprietress, Sister Luo is a woman after all. How is she going to lift her head again if she’s whipped in public?”
After getting struck, his clothes became tattered and his back was bloodied. If Luo Hai Yi was whipped, regardless of whether she could take it, her body would be exposed to the public. Any woman would feel greatly humiliated if such a thing happened to her.
The Proprietress was torn between laughter and exasperation, “I can’t believe you’re still concerned about someone else at this point.”
Yang Kai grimaced in pain, “All this happened because of me.” If he hadn’t messaged Luo Hai Yi in a rush, all this wouldn’t have happened.
Then, he turned to look at the disciplinary officer, “Do it now.”
Without saying a word, the disciplinary officer shot him an impassive glance and lashed his whip at him with a whoosh.
Following a loud crack, Yang Kai straightened up as the Soul-wrenching pain came over him again. The flesh on his back seemed to have been peeled off. After holding it in for a long time, he eventually let out a howl.
The Proprietress slashed at the ropes with her fingers and untied Yang Kai. Without the restriction, he couldn’t even support his own weight as he collapsed into the Proprietress’ embrace.
“Sir Yang…” Luo Hai Yi turned to look at him as tears streamed down from her bloodshot eyes. Unfortunately, she was unable to move as she was still tied there.
“I-I’m fine!” Yang Kai gasped in pain but still gritted his teeth to endure it.
“Shut up!” The Proprietress shot him a glare and picked him up before sprinting towards First Inn.
Her speed was incredible as she managed to return to the inn in just a few breaths’ time. Bai Qi and the others, who were standing in front of the entrance, couldn’t even see it clearly when the Proprietress dashed into the building.
All of them traded glances as their chests tightened; then, they hurriedly entered the inn.
Inside the room, the Proprietress put him down on the bed and told him to lie on his stomach. Then, she tore his clothes apart and clenched his chin before throwing a pill into his mouth, “Swallow it.”
Yang Kai gasped and gulped down the pill as he was told.
The next instant, he felt a hand on his back. He wondered what she was applying on his skin, but the cooling sensation soon alleviated his pain.
As he caught a whiff of a pleasant scent, he realised that this was the Proprietress’ room. Feeling bashful, he said, “Proprietress, I’m sorry for troubling you.”
Without saying a word, she focused on applying ointment to his back.
Hearing some footsteps, he turned his head, only to see Bai Qi, the chef, and the accountant streaming into the room and watching him.
A worried Bai Qi asked, “Are you alright?”
Yang Kai forced a smile, “I’m fine.”
The chef tutted, “He took two whips… Those people are so ruthless.”
After a sigh, the accountant asked, “Why did you get into a conflict with someone else in this city? There are strict rules in this Star City that is ruled by Great Battle Heaven. No one has the guts to make a scene in their territory.”
The Proprietress snorted, “He was fighting with someone else for a woman. Men… Hmph! All of you are the same!”
“A woman?” Bai Qi was shocked.
A wronged Yang Kai hurriedly said, “Don’t listen to her. That wasn’t what happened. It was just some guys who made a scene and oppressed the weak.”
“Did I say anything wrong?” The Proprietress sneered, “You even took a strike from the Dragon Fang Whip for her, how dare you still say you were not fighting with another man for her? I think even your Soul has been taken away by that enchantress!” After finishing her words, she landed a palm on his back.
In an instant, Yang Kai turned ashen as his Soul almost left his body. Seeing that, Bai Qi and the others gulped.
At that moment, it was completely silent in the room. A long time later, the Proprietress stood up and said, “Just stay here to recuperate and don’t go anywhere. These are just flesh wounds, so you’ll be healthy again in a few days.”
“Thanks, Proprietress.” Yang Kai thanked her and hesitated for a moment, “But, this is your room. If I recuperate here, where will you stay?”
“Cut the crap and heal your wounds.”
While Yang Kai wouldn’t dare to say one more word, Bai Qi and the others were chased out of the room by the Proprietress.
“Stay right here. I’ll be right back,” she said and turned around to leave.
After a while, the door was pushed open from the outside, and rapid footsteps were heard. It didn’t sound like the Proprietress’ footsteps, so he turned his head. Seeing that person, he was surprised, “Sister Luo?”
The person was none other than Luo Hai Yi. After giving it a thought, he realised that the Proprietress must have brought her to this place. Otherwise, she couldn’t have entered the inner court of First Inn.
Presently, Luo Hai Yi’s eyes were all red. The traces of tears on her face suggested that he had cried. Approaching the man, she asked in a shaking voice, “Senior Yang, are you alright?”
Yang Kai flashed a smile at her, “Don’t worry. These are just flesh wounds. The Proprietress has applied some ointment on me, so I’ll be healthy again in a few days.”
Her eyes were drenched in tears as she said, “If it weren’t because of me, you wouldn’t have had to endure the punishment. You even took the whip in my stead. I don’t know how I can repay your favour.”
Yang Kai waved his hand, “That was the least I could do. There was no way I’d let you get whipped in public. Anyway, both of us are not in the wrong. It was Young Master Hai who had crossed the line, and those from Great Battle Heaven couldn’t tell right from wrong. We’ll remember what they’ve done to us and get even with them one day.”
Seeing as she still appeared to be blaming herself, he changed the topic by saying, “By the way, how did you come here? Did the Proprietress tell you to come over?”
Luo Hai Yi nodded her head, “Madam Lan said that you took a whip in my stead, so I have to take care of you.” She paused for a moment, “By the way, she has also agreed to let me join First Inn. From now on, I’m also a part of the inn.”
Yang Kai chuckled, “I’ll have to congratulate you, then. You don’t have to go around the city looking for jobs anymore.” He thought that the Proprietress was indeed a sharp-tongued but kind-hearted person. She just called Luo Hai Yi an enchantress, but the next moment, she let her join the inn.
Luo Hai Yi went on to say, “She also told me that the reason you looked for me was to invite me to join the inn. You have saved my life and done so much for me. If there’s anything you want me to do in the future, I’ll never turn you down regardless of the tasks.”
“It’s not so serious.” Yang Kai broke into laughter, “You’ve helped me a lot as well. We’re even now.”
She slowly shook her head, “That’s different.”
It was indeed different. Previously, she led the way for Yang Kai because he had hired her to be his local guide. She passed on his message to the Proprietress after leaving Wind and Cloud Auction House as that was the least she could do. However, Yang Kai had given her Grand Dao Pills, which allowed her to condense her own Dao Seal. On this day, he had taken a whip in her stead and recommended she join First Inn so that she wouldn’t have to worry about putting food on the table again. All these were huge favours. For someone at the bottom of the social hierarchy like her, what Yang Kai had done had practically given her a new life.
While they were chatting, the Proprietress was seated on a chair in the lobby of First Inn with a dispassionate expression. The inn wasn’t open for business on this day, so there was no one else in the lobby. Presently, only the accountant and the chef were standing by her side.
A moment later, Bai Qi sprinted into the inn.
The Proprietress lifted her head and asked emotionlessly, “Have you found out everything?”
Bai Qi replied, “I have. He’s the Son of an Elder from Clear Mind Heaven.” He frowned, “Proprietress, the issue is pretty thorny. They’re from a powerful background.”
Hearing that, the Proprietress snorted, “I don’t care what background they have. Anyone who dares to harm my people will have to pay the price.”
Then, she slowly rose from the chair and said impassively, “Perhaps I’ve stayed quiet for far too long. All of them think that I wouldn’t dare to kill again.”
Bai Qi and the others traded glances. As though they had recalled a horrible memory, they couldn’t help shuddering.
“Keep an eye on them. If they ever leave Star City, inform me immediately.”
Bai Qi parted his lips in an attempt to dissuade her from doing that, but he gave up in the end. After cupping his fists, he said, “Yes.” He knew that those guys would definitely end up in a terrible state. The Proprietress hadn’t been so incensed for ages. It seemed that this matter couldn’t be resolved easily.
For the next few days, Yang Kai stayed in the room to recuperate. The Proprietress would show up sometimes and chide Luo Hai Yi. It seemed that she had a bad impression of her.
Luo Hai Yi was a timid woman, so she wouldn’t dare to say anything whenever she was reprimanded. She just kept apologising, which made it impossible for the Proprietress to vent her anger.
Seeing that, Yang Kai was terrified as he wondered what had gotten into that woman again. Recently, she had been finding fault with Luo Hai Yi.
After a few days, most of his wounds had healed. Feeling bored of being in bed, he decided to help them out in the lobby.
After Yang Kai worked for half a day, he realised that both the Proprietress and Bai Qi were nowhere in sight. Curious about where they were, he went to the counter and asked the accountant about it, “Where are Proprietress and Old Bai?”
The accountant took a glance at him and quickly looked away, “There’s something they have to do.”
Yang Kai knit his brow before nodding and going back to work.
Meanwhile, across from a particular inn in the Star City, Bai Qi was seated by the window on the second floor of a teahouse. There was a pot of tea and plates of fruits on the table. As he drank tea and ate fruits, he stared fixedly at the inn that was across the street.
In fact, he had been keeping watch here for a few days now. This was a task assigned to him by the Proprietress, so he wouldn’t dare to slack off.
Right then, three people stepped out of the inn. They were a young man, a middle-aged man, and an elderly man. Presently, the elderly man was leading the way for them while the middle-aged man was supporting the young man’s weight. The young man’s pale face suggested that he had been severely injured, and there was a trace of blood on his back. Besides him, the middle-aged man and the elderly man seemed to be injured as well.
After looking around, they shot into the air and headed to the Star City’s dock.
Bai Qi stared in the direction they left with a conflicted gaze and only a long time later did he let out a long sigh and fished out a Communication Artifact. Upon pushing his Divine Sense, he sent out a message.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the void outside the Spirit Province where the Star City was located, an alluring woman abruptly opened her eyes. Her gaze appeared so cold that it was as though it could even freeze space itself.
This woman was none other than the First Inn Proprietress.
Time seemed to tick by slowly, but just a moment later, a ship artifact flew over and came into her sight. The ship was moving in the direction she was standing.
Seeing that, the Proprietress clenched her fists as her knuckles cracked.
When the ship was close enough, she suddenly pushed out a fist, whereupon a dazzling light expanded and made the world turn pale.
Following her attack, the ship, which was still several dozen kilometres away from her, cracked and exploded.
Three battered figures emerged from the broken ship and an old voice was heard bellowing, “Who dares!”
When the middle-aged and elderly man made out who had destroyed their ship, their pupils contracted. On the other hand, the young man had no idea what was going on, so he started throwing a tantrum again, “It hurts! What’s wrong with you two? Wastes! How can you let this Young Master suffer such injustice!”
Yang Kai had received two whips from the Dragon Fang Whip in front of the Governor’s Mansion for simply being a victim, so as the ones who had stirred up trouble, the punishment for these three was much more severe. Each of them had to get five lashes. Young Master Hai was weak, so he only received one whip while the remaining four he was due were evenly shared by his bodyguards. Despite that, just one stroke had caused him to be seriously injured.
For the past few days, he had been hiding in an inn to recuperate. After consuming many elixirs, he finally managed to escape from death’s door. Not daring to keep staying in the Star City, he was eager to leave; however, as soon as he left the port, his flight-type artifact was attacked and blown apart. The impact irritated his wounds and caused him to feel excruciating pain.
After he was done with the cursing though, he realised that there was a horrified look on the faces of his subordinates as they stared fixedly at the front. He followed their gaze, whereupon his eyes brightened and he shouted, “Where is this woman from? She’s so beautiful!”
When the middle-aged and elderly man heard that, their expressions changed drastically as they secretly cursed at this fool for landing them in trouble. Although they had no idea who this charming woman was, her aura was so deep that they couldn’t even understand its true depth. In short, they were absolutely no match for her.
She was undoubtedly a Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master, or possibly even stronger. How could their foolish Young Master not understand something so simple and dare to profane a top cultivator like her in such a way?
Nevertheless, Young Master Hai wasn’t aware that he was in a perilous situation, and as he grew fonder of her, he ignored the pain on his back and put on a grin, “Quick! Capture her for this Young Master. Tonight, I shall have her serve me in bed!”
With a dark expression, the middle-aged man bellowed, “Young Master, hold your tongue!”
The elderly man then hurriedly stood in front of the young man and cupped his fists at the alluring woman, “Greetings, Madam. May this old man know why your honourable self has blocked our way and destroyed our ship?”
There was a faint smile on the Proprietress’ face as she retorted, “When you were oppressing this Queen’s shop hand, did you not find out who his backer was?”
“Your shop hand?” The elderly man furrowed his brows, but as he recalled something, his expression was filled with terror as he stuttered, “F-First Inn’s… Madam Lan?”
The Proprietress snorted, “Old thing, at least you’re not senile yet.”
The elderly man couldn’t help but gulp as there was a bitter taste in his mouth. After looking around, he realised that this place was already quite far into the void, so it wouldn’t be easy for them to flee. Being blocked in this place, their fate would probably be terrible. With his forehead drenched in sweat, he cupped his fists and bowed deeply, “Madam Lan, forgive this old man for failing to recognise your esteemed self!” He paused for a moment before hesitantly continuing, “We are from Clear Mind Heaven, and our Young Master is the Grandson of Elder Hai.”
The Proprietress replied impassively, “I know.”
“You know?” The elderly man appeared even more horrified now. Since she was aware of their identity, how dare she still block their way and even destroy their ship? Was she insane?
“This Queen has been waiting for you here for some time now,” The Proprietress snorted and raised her slender hand. It was blemish-free, as if carved from the finest piece of white jade, but when she lifted it, the elderly man felt a sense of crisis descend upon him, as though the entire world was being turned upside down around him.
“Take Young Master back to the Star City!” He roared.
Hearing that, the middle-aged man immediately sprayed out a mouthful of Blood Essence and grabbed Young Master Hai before retreating with all haste.
“You think you can flee?” The Proprietress scoffed, “Only this Queen may lay a hand on the shop hands of First Inn. Anyone else who dares must die!”
After finishing her words, she pushed out her palm. In an instant, space really did flip and collapse.
When she retracted her hand, the void became serene again, while Young Master Hai, the elderly man, and the middle-aged man were nowhere to be seen.
She had killed three people from Clear Mind Heaven, but acted as if nothing had happened. Flicking her sleeve, she looked towards a particular spot in the void and asked coldly, “Was the show interesting?”
Just then, a ripple spread across the void, whereupon a Golden Armour General appeared. He was clad in a helmet and had a long sword strapped to his waist.
If Yang Kai were here, he would’ve recognised that this Golden Armour General was the one who had been guarding the Star City’s dock. He was a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, just one Order below the Governor of the Star City, Ye Tian Xiong.
The Golden Armour General frowned, “Why did you do this? You could’ve just taught them a lesson. Killing them won’t bring you any benefits.”
The Proprietress shot him a glance, “So what if this Queen kills them? Not just them, this Queen will also settle the score with that bastard Ye Tian Xiong in time.”
At that, the Golden Armour General was rendered speechless, “For a mere shop hand…” Although he had been guarding the dock all this time, it didn’t mean he wasn’t aware of what had been going on in the Star City. Two days ago, the Proprietress left the dock with a gaze filled with murderous intent. He just had to ask around to find out what had happened.
“Not just a shop hand, a shop hand from my First Inn!” The Proprietress snorted.
The Golden Armour General nodded repeatedly, “Yes, yes, yes. He’s a shop hand from First Inn, and he’s more precious than the other shop hands in the city.” He sighed, “But, they’re from Clear Mind Heaven…”
His words suggested that she should have only lectured them instead of killing them.
“Why don’t you tell Hai Ping Le about it now and see whether he dares to retaliate against me?”
The Golden Armour General stared fixedly at her and let out a sigh, “You’ve been living in seclusion for nearly 1,200 years now. Are you going to make a fuss again? You won’t always be so fortunate.”
After glowering at him for a moment, the Proprietress swung her sleeve widely, “If others don’t provoke me, I won’t provoke them!”
Upon finishing her words, she shot towards the dock. The Golden Armour General gazed at her figure and shook his head. A woman like her was more hard-edged than most men, but it wasn’t certain whether she could avoid ending up in a miserable state.
…..
The Proprietress’ return didn’t cause a commotion. Yang Kai didn’t even know when she had come back. He just saw her appearing in the lobby one day and hospitably greeting the customers in the inn.
As time passed, all of them lived a peaceful life. Besides helping out in the inn, Yang Kai spent most of his time refining his new Territory Shuttle.
From time to time, he would also try to find out any information regarding the World Tree and Earth Element materials, but there hadn’t been any gains so far.
He had also visited Wind and Cloud Auction House several times. The Proprietress had made a fuss in the auction house to save Bai Qi and him, but he had Seven Faces, which was how he could enter the building without anyone recognizing him.
No one in the auction house seemed to have any idea about the World Tree, unfortunately. There were some Earth Element materials, but they were all below the Fifth Order, which were useless to him.
The Wood Element he had condensed from the Immortal Tree and the Fire Element he had condensed from the Golden Crow’s True Fire were all High-Rank materials. Yang Kai couldn’t stand the thought of squandering an impeccable foundation, so he was extremely picky when looking for an Earth Element material. At the very least, it had to be Seventh-Order; otherwise, it would be impossible for him to achieve greater heights in his power.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t easy to look for a High-Rank Earth Element material. It was just a coincidence that he had acquired the Golden Crow’s True Fire, so it was unrealistic to think that such an opportunity would simply fall into his lap again.
That was the reason Yang Kai had been a bit anxious of late.
If he couldn’t ascend to the Open Heaven Realm, he would remain weak in the Outer Universe. Even the two Third-Order Masters, who worked for Young Master Hai, were enough to oppress him to death.
However, Yang Kai was too embarrassed to ask the Proprietress about it. Moreover, if he really did that, he would expose his secret. Although the Proprietress had been treating him well, they were not close enough to share such secrets; therefore, he had been suffering from a headache recently.
One day, Yang Kai was busy serving customers when the Proprietress called out to him via Divine Sense. After telling Luo Hai Yi to be more attentive to the customers, he shuffled towards the rear court.
After knocking on the door and opening it, he was surprised to see Bai Qi inside the room as well.
Presently, Bai Qi appeared excited as a glow radiated from his eyes. He had also clenched his fists tightly.
Yang Kai cupped his fists to the Proprietress before turning his head, “You look radiant and thrilled. Is there any good news?”
Bai Qi grinned meaningfully at him, “That’s right. There’s some good news.”
A puzzled Yang Kai batted his eyes, “What is it?”
There was a proud smile on Bai Qi’s face as he declared, “I’m going to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm.”
A surprised Yang Kai asked, “Really?” This was indeed some extremely good news for a cultivator who spent his entire life pursuing the Martial Dao. In the Outer Universe, the Open Heaven Realm was like a dividing point. Those who were Open Heaven Realm Masters and those who were not could be considered entirely different beings.
A cultivator, who relentlessly pursued the Martial Dao, would transform into an entirely new person after reaching the Open Heaven Realm!
Then, Yang Kai recalled that when Bai Qi made a move in Wind and Cloud Auction House some time ago, he had seen traces of the Five Elements swirling around him. Apparently, he was already a Half-Step Open Heaven Realm Master. Now, it seemed that he was just a short distance away from the Open Heaven Realm. He must have condensed six Elements, and just needed the last one to achieve his goal.
“Congratulations!” Yang Kai cupped his fists at Bai Qi as he was truly happy for him. At the same time, he was envious that Bai Qi was going to make a name for himself soon. On the other hand, he wasn’t even sure when he would be able to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm.
A high-spirited Bai Qi guffawed and landed a gentle pat on Yang Kai’s shoulder, “When we go out together in the future, people like Yun Zhen Hua will never dare to find fault with us again.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai arched his brow, “What Order are you going to promote to?”
Bai Qi’s words suggested that he wouldn’t have to be afraid of Yun Zhen Hua anymore. Yun Zhen Hua was a Fourth-Order cultivator, so since Bai Qi was confident of defeating him, he must be going to achieve an Order that was above the Fourth Order.
With a grin, Bai Qi raised his hand and showed his palm.
“Fifth-Order!” Yang Kai said.
To the side, the Proprietress snorted, “You’re not even close to achieving the Open Heaven Realm. If you keep bragging now, aren’t you worried that you’ll fail?”
Bai Qi pulled a long face and said, “Proprietress, please don’t give me such a curse. I’ve been cultivating diligently for the past thousand years, so there shouldn’t be any problem.”
A solemn Proprietress replied, “On the Martial Dao, the slightest negligence can result in all your previous efforts going to waste. If you’re going to deal with the ascension with this kind of attitude, you’d better wait another 100 years first.”
Upon hearing that, Bai Qi sported a serious expression and bent his back, “Many thanks for your guidance, I will sincerely remember it. When the time comes, I shall put forth my best, and the Heavens will decide whether I succeed.”
The Proprietress stared fixedly at him and spoke in a softer tone, “I’ve personally trained you, and you’ve built a solid foundation. Just remain calm and focused, and I’m sure there will be no problem with your breakthrough.”
“Yes,” Bai Qi replied respectfully.
“Get ready now. We’ll leave in three days.” The Proprietress waved her hand.
After a nod, Bai Qi bowed and left the room.
There was an envious look on Yang Kai’s face as he watched Bai Qi leave when all of a sudden, the Proprietress said, “You get ready as well. We’ll leave together in three days.”
“Me?” Yang Kai was stunned, but he soon realised her intention. It was rare for a cultivator to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm, and most people wouldn’t be able to witness such a magnificent scene. She intended to bring him with her to observe the process. With such an experience, the process would be much smoother for him if he ever had the chance to attain the Open Heaven Realm in the future.
An elated Yang Kai flashed a smile at her, “Many thanks, Proprietress. I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me, and will definitely repay your favour one day!”
“All you know is how to flatter me. Get out now.” The Proprietress snorted and swept him out of the room with her sleeve.
Three days had passed in the blink of an eye.
In the morning, the Proprietress was standing outside First Inn as she told the accountant and chef to take care of the inn. Then, she led Bai Qi and Yang Kai to shoot into the sky. After they passed the dock, she summoned her ship and sailed it towards the void.
Unlike how excited he was three days ago, Bai Qi had calmed down considerably. In fact, he had never been calmer before in his life.
The Proprietress was standing on the dock as she rested her hands on the gunwale and watched the splendid view. Yang Kai and Bai Qi stood just behind her as the ship moved forward.
Half a day later, the Proprietress didn’t seem to have the intention of stopping the ship, so a curious Yang Kai asked, “Proprietress, where are we going?”
Presently, the Proprietress’ hair flapped in the wind, and without turning her head, she replied, “We’re looking for the last Open Heaven material.”
A stunned Yang Kai said, “Old Bai hasn’t obtained the last material?”
When he saw Bai Qi appearing so excited a few days ago, he thought that the latter had collected all the necessary materials, so he couldn’t believe that they were only looking for the last one now.
Bai Qi explained, “Fifth-Order Yang Sprites are very rare. Once they appear, countless people will come to snatch them up. We have informants everywhere in the Outer Universe, and one of them has found out that Fifth-Order Yang Sprites have appeared in Golden Rainbow Territory. That’s why we’ve embarked on such a long journey.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai finally realised what was going on. He thought that they were going somewhere quiet so that Bai Qi could achieve his breakthrough without worrying about being disturbed, but it turned out that they were instead going to acquire the last material he needed. Furthermore, judging from what Bai Qi had said, he lacked a Yang Element material.
With a frown, Yang Kai asked, “In that case, won’t we have to compete against others for the treasure?”
Bai Qi grinned, “We’re heading to a very hidden place, one most people don’t know about and fewer can find. So, I’m sure there won’t be any competition. I’ll just have to go there and absorb it.”
In response, Yang Kai nodded.
All of a sudden, the Proprietress asked, “What Order do you want to achieve?”
Yang Kai replied, “The higher, the better.”
To which she replied, “We all want to achieve a higher Order, but you need to have a clear assessment of your capabilities. Everyone’s limit is different. Just because a person has absorbed high-quality materials doesn’t necessarily mean they can achieve a higher Order. You have to work within your ability.”
“I’ll remember.”
Bai Qi took a glance at him and asked, “By the way, what are the Orders of the materials you’ve absorbed so far? How many Elements have you condensed?”
At that, Yang Kai was lost for words. If he was asked this question a few months ago, he would have lied without batting an eye; however, now, he wasn’t willing to deceive these people, but he also didn’t want to reveal his secrets just yet. Besides, if he told them that he had absorbed materials from the Eighth Order and even the Ninth Order, they wouldn’t believe him.
Seeing as he remained silent, the Proprietress suddenly turned to look at him and smiled, “You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to. All of us have secrets anyway.”
“Many thanks for your understanding, Proprietress.”
With an awkward expression, Bai Qi examined Yang Kai and said in a hushed voice, “If possible, I suggest that you tell the Proprietress about it. With her help, it won’t be difficult for you to achieve the Fifth Order. Besides me, the chef and the accountant are also going to ascend to the Fifth Order in the future. Only by attaining the Fifth Order would we stand a chance to reach the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm in the future. In the Outer Universe, we’ll always be inferior if we can’t ascend to the High Rank.”
The cultivation of a cultivator wasn’t fixed after their initial breakthrough into the Open Heaven Realm. By consuming Open Heaven Pills, they would still be able to improve their Order by up to two Orders. That was the reason Bai Qi had said so.
“I know,” Yang Kai flashed a smile at him.
Seeing as he wasn’t willing to reveal anything, Bai Qi stopped forcing him. After apologising to the Proprietress, Bai Qi returned to the cabin to have a rest.
As they moved forward at full speed, they would leave the ship from time to time to utilize the Universe Transference Law to shuttle between Universe Temples.
Ten days later, the trio arrived at Golden Rainbow Territory.
The Second Class great force Golden Rainbow Province ruled over this territory, hence its name.
Upon reaching their destination, the Proprietress fished out something that looked like a compass as she scanned the surroundings before adjusting their heading. Obviously, the compass could lead them to where the Yang Sprites were located.
Three days later, a cloud of white mist suddenly appeared in the void. The mist looked elusive and translucent. One would have neglected it if they didn’t search for it carefully.
Seeing the mist, the Proprietress straightened her face and said, “We’ve arrived at our destination.”
Hurriedly, Bai Qi lifted his head and looked in that direction. Although he had suppressed his emotions, he could still barely contain his excitement. This couldn’t be helped, as he had been waiting for this moment for a hundred years now. Compared to the Five Elements, it was much harder to find Yin and Yang Element materials. As such, within the same Order, Yin Yang materials were always more expensive than Five Elements materials. Moreover, at higher Orders, they couldn’t even be purchased for Open Heaven Pills.
First Inn could be considered a powerful great force, but over the years, they hadn’t managed to help Bai Qi find a suitable Yang Element, which went to show how scarce such materials were. If it weren’t because of this special opportunity, Bai Qi would have had to wait for even longer.
In the blink of an eye, the ship reached the white mist.
Upon closer inspection, Yang Kai realised that it wasn’t a mist at all, but he couldn’t make out what it was either. It looked like a pile of cotton, but a clear aura of spatial fluctuations could be felt coming from it.
It was then he came to the realisation that this thing that looked like a mist or a pile of cotton was actually the entrance to a Sealed World, and the Yang Sprites must exist inside.
It was no wonder that Bai Qi said rarely anyone could find this place. Yang Kai was thinking that if Fifth-Order Yang Sprites had appeared, there was no way no one else could detect them; after all, many people would hack each other to death to get their hands on such treasures.
Now, it seemed that he was mistaken.
Standing in front of the mist, the Proprietress examined it for a brief moment before forming a hand seal. Following that, she stuck out a finger. As though the mist had received her order, it separated to the sides and revealed a passageway.
“Let’s go,” she ordered as she engulfed the others in her World Force and dashed towards the passageway. After they entered, the mist closed again.
At that instant, space seemed to be spinning around Yang Kai, and when he came to his senses, he realised that he had reached a different world. Before he could even scan the surroundings, he could clearly feel that this place was filled with very potent Yang Element Power.
“It’s a Sealing Yang Domain.” The Proprietress arched her brow as she was evidently surprised, “It’s no wonder Fifth-Order Yang Sprites could be born here. This place is incredible.”
A puzzled Yang Kai asked, “Proprietress, what’s a Sealing Yang Domain?”
To which she explained patiently, “A Sealing Yang Domain is a very special type of Sealed World where Yang Qi gathers and does not leak out, growing richer and denser over time, which gives rise to Yang Sprites. As time passes, the Order of the Yang Sprites will become greater as well. Even if you take all of them away at once, new Yang Sprites will be born again after eight hundred to a thousand years. It could be said that the Yang Sprites here were inexhaustible. There were other Sealing Yang Domains in the 3,000 Worlds, but all the known ones were controlled by powerful great forces. The Yang Sprites were either used by their own disciples or traded for other resources with other great forces.”
An agitated Bai Qi said, “Proprietress, we’re rich! If we can control this place, we don’t have to worry about finding Fifth-Order Yang Element materials again!”
In response, the Proprietress nodded her head, “I’ll look around after we’re done. If this place is truly valuable, I’ll come up with a way to control it.”