Chapter 715, Starry Sky
Amidst the void, Yang Kai and Di Yao suddenly appeared. The moment they emerged, Di Yao quickly summoned a defensive artifact and a beige light curtain wrapped both him and Yang Kai. With a solemn expression, he hastily called out, “Brother Yang, don’t leave the scope of my artifact, or you’ll be in grave danger.”
Yang Kai didn’t answer though as he was completely focused on the scene in front of him.
Up and down, left and right, there was absolutely nothing but a seemingly endless abyss.
All around there were bright stars while slightly closer by there was a great sun that gave off waves of heat and a pale moon that radiated a cold light, making Yang Kai wonder if he was dreaming.
Although this void was not completely pitch black, have essentially no point of reference and not being able to see where it began or where it ended caused a type of uneasiness to well up in Yang Kai’s heart.
There was no ground beneath his feet and no force pulling him down, he was simply drifting about randomly. The Ascending Heaven Cliff and the Thousand Year Demon Flower had vanished and all Yang Kai could see in his immediate surroundings was something that resembled a dark cave entrance.
Naturally, this was a Void Corridor.
The Thousand Year Demon Flower’s pistil seemed to be an entrance to a Void Corridor and Yang Kai currently didn’t know where it had sent him.
“Where are we?” Yang Kai asked quickly.
“The Starry Sky!” Di Yao took a deep breath and said with an excited expression, gazing around at his surroundings in wonder.
“The Starry Sky?” Yang Kai’s brows jumped as he couldn’t help asking, “Are the legends really true?”
“Of course they’re true,” Di Yao nodded repeatedly, “Most of the world’s masters have heard rumours about the Starry Sky, and there are also many products from the Starry Sky in Tong Xuan Realm, but no one has ever arrived at the Starry Sky or knows what it truly looks like; but who would have ever thought that the Thousand Year Demon Flower was actually a doorway to the Starry Sky?”
“Is this really the Starry Sky and not just some Mysterious Small World?” Yang Kai was still unable to believe it; he was more inclined to believe this was some magical Mysterious Small World.
“Why would I need to lie to you?” Di Yao smiled, “Master told me this place is indeed the Starry Sky; see the large star over there bursting with vitality? That is our Tong Xuan Realm!”
Yang Kai turned in the direction Di Yao pointed and indeed saw a huge star; of course, from where he was standing, this star only appeared about the size of a fist, as if he could hold out his hand and tightly grasp it.
His mood was hard to describe.
“Why is it round?” Yang Kai frowned, he had never expected the so-called Tong Xuan Realm to be spherical in shape.
Wouldn’t the people on the backside fall off? Yang Kai felt deeply worried.
“I don’t know why,” Di Yao shrugged his shoulders.
As the two were talking, their expressions suddenly changed and they quickly turned their gazes to the Void Corridor behind them.
Di Yao manipulated his defensive artifact and brought Yang Kai back a short distance.
The next moment, from the Void Corridor, two more people appeared.
The two men were the Alchemists from the other two teams they had been collaborating with, and as soon as they stepped out of the Void Corridor, the two Alchemists assumed a fighting stance.
Obviously, they also knew that in order to obtain the medicinal liquid of the Thousand Year Demon Flower they would have to first defeat Yang Kai and Di Yao.
These two Spirit Grade Top-Rank Alchemists weren’t young and their cultivations weren’t low, both of them First Order Transcendents; however, because they specialized in Alchemy, their combat power was only slightly higher than that of Peak Immortal Ascension cultivators, incomparable with true Transcendents.
But facing two kids like Yang Kai and Di Yao, they showed no fear and firmly believed they would be the ultimate winners.
Yang Kai snickered and was about to respond to their provocation when Di Yao reached out and stopped him, slowly shaking his head and grinning, “There’s no need to fight with them.”
“Huh? Why?” Yang Kai was confused.
Di Yao just laughed in response, “Because they’re already dead.”
Saying so, he turned to the other party and shouted, “Friends, you should summon your own defensive artifacts or your deaths will be quite miserable.”
The two men were stunned by these words and were quite doubtful but after noticing their current situation and location, their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Obviously, they had never anticipated that after entering the Thousand Year Demon Flower they would arrive at the Starry Sky.
This vast and endless abyss greatly frightened them.
Worse though, before they could compose themselves, the two of them felt a powerful destructive force tearing at their bodies.
Their faces changing drastically, neither of them hesitated to summon their most powerful defensive artifacts to protect themselves from this strange energy.
Alchemists were never poor, so their artifacts weren’t bad, the two of them both possessing Spirit Grade Mid-Rank or Top-Rank grade defensive artifacts. This level of the defensive artifact was enough to withstand the full blow of a Third Order Transcendent master.
Unfortunately for them though, in the Starry Sky, such artifacts could only slightly delay their time of death.
The strange energy in their surroundings continuously impacted their defensive artifacts, causing their radiance to quickly flicker and dim like candles in the wind that could be snuffed out in the next instant.
“Where is this?” One of them cried out.
“Who knows,” Di Yao wouldn’t kindly dispel their doubts and simply waved goodbye to them before gradually drifting away with Yang Kai.
The two men were stunned but quickly recovered and immediately took action, not daring to remain a moment longer. But when they prepared to return the way they came, they noticed that the Void Corridor behind them had already closed. Turning around once more, wanting to seek Di Yao and Yang Kai’s help, they noticed that this pair of youngsters had also disappeared. Their eyes went dull as their minds were overcome with terror.
Vaguely, Yang Kai thought he heard some miserable screams in the distance and upon looking back, he saw the two men disintegrate, not leaving behind any bones. Even the two Alchemist’s defensive artifacts broke down into dust and were quickly scattered.
“Does some kind of powerful destructive energy permeate the entire Starry Sky?” Yang Kai quickly realized the seriousness of the problem. The light barrier created by the defensive artifact that Di Yao had summoned also showed traces of being attacked, but this artifact’s grade was obviously incredibly high so there was no need to worry about it collapsing.
“En, the power flowing through the Starry Sky is not something we can resist. Master almost died here a thousand years ago; if it wasn’t for him coincidentally having a powerful defensive artifact at the time, there would be no Old Man of Heaven’s Keep. Master said that in order to withstand the destructive force of the Starry Sky, one’s physique needs to be at least on par with that of a Second Order Saint or have a comparable defensive artifact.”
Yang Kai nodded slightly, now quite curious about the Starry Sky.
He had never known that the legendary Starry Sky would be so dangerous, even just standing in it was life-threatening.
As he spoke, Di Yao’s movement suddenly stopped and he grinned, “Found it.”
As he spoke, he pointed his finger forward.
Yang Kai turned to look in the direction Di Yao pointed and his eyes couldn’t help flashing, “The Thousand Year Demon Flower?”
A short distance away, there was a flower that looked exactly the same as the Thousand Year Demon Flower Yang Kai had seen before floating in the sky, the only difference was that this Thousand Year Demon Flower was countless times smaller
“En, this is the real Thousand Year Demon Flower!” Di Yao nodded lightly, “In fact, the Thousand Year Demon Flower we saw atop Ascending Heaven Cliff is just a projection. The real Thousand Year Demon Flower and Tong Xuan Realm have some kind of inexplicable connection, and through it, the Demon Flower can absorb energy from Tong Xuan Realm. During this process of absorption, its image will be magnified many times and appear atop Ascending Heaven Cliff, but the World Energy it absorbs actually flows here.”
At this moment, the Thousand Year Demon Flower appeared a vibrant green colour and in the centre of its blooming petals, there were a few drops of crystal clear, jewel-like liquid that gave off an intoxicating fragrance, calming the minds of anyone who smelt it.
“Brother Yang, go ahead and take them, condensing this medicinal liquid doesn’t require any special method, as long as one can find the real body of the Thousand Year Demon Flower, they can take it away. These drops of liquid are the essence of the Thousand Year Demon Flower, the wondrous medicine that can greatly enhance a Transcendent’s chances of breaking through to the Saint Realm!” Di Yao explained.
Yang Kai nodded lightly and moved in front of the Thousand Year Demon Flower before carefully counting, soon revealing a happy smile because he found a whole six drops of crystal liquid.
“There are a lot of them, it seems Brother Yang’s luck is quite good,” Di Yao smiled, “Last time, when Master came here, there were only three drops. I was originally worried there wouldn’t be enough for your Martial Uncles and Martial Aunt to use but now it seems there are actually two extra drops.”
“You take these two drops,” Yang Kai said as he took out a jade bottle and carefully collected the medicinal liquid.
“I don’t need them,” Di Yao shook his head, “We made an agreement before that all of the medicinal liquid would belong to you and to me it really isn’t something important. Master is already a Saint, and with regards to myself… En, I want to break through to the Saint Realm through my own efforts and not by external factors.”
Yang Kai looked at him for a moment before nodding, “Then I won’t be polite.”
Di Yao was obviously confident in himself and believed that with his natural aptitude, even if he had no external assistance, he would one day successfully become a Saint.
This was exactly the same as Yang Kai!
When Yang Kai broke through each Great Realm, he never used external forces and relied solely on his own sentiments and efforts. In doing so, his foundation would be more stable. On the contrary, if he relied on external forces, he might actually limit his future potential.
(Silavin: Well, you basically took what you need from other’s death. Haha.)
However, unlike Di Yao, who only had Old Man Li, Yang Kai had many friends and family members, so these extra two drops would definitely come in handy one day.
After collecting the six drops of medicinal liquid, Yang Kai was in a good mood and asked, “How do we go back now?”
“There is another Void Corridor nearby which leads back to Tong Xuan Realm, as long as we find it we can go back, but Master didn’t mention anything about its location and told me to seek for it myself,” Di Yao suddenly grinned, “But even if I find it, I’m in no hurry to go back.”
“Why is that?” Yang Kai couldn’t help asking.
“This is an incredibly rare opportunity Brother Yang,” Di Yao said in an excited voice, “This is the Starry Sky, and we are currently surrounded by the power of the Starry Sky which contains countless traces of Heavenly Dao Laws. Cultivating here for a single day is equivalent to cultivating back on Tong Xuan Realm for half a year, and if you can comprehend anything while in this place, it will bring you a lifetime worth of benefits!”
Hearing all this, Yang Kai’s eyes lit up and he eagerly asked, “Is that true?”
Di Yao nodded firmly.
“Then what are we waiting for?” Yang Kai was impatient to get started and quickly sat down before circulating his Secret Art.
Seeing this, Di Yao was dumbfounded and couldn’t help chuckling, “There’s no need to rush, right now my Saint Grade artifact is blocking the ambient energy of the Starry Sky, wait a moment and I’ll let some of it inside so we can cultivate.”
Saying so, Di Yao’s expression suddenly became dignified as he controlled his defensive artifact and opened a small crack in its light barrier.