Chapter 854, Re-Entering The Snow Mountain Range
In a blink of an eye, three months had passed.
During this time, Yang Kai had remained inside the Alchemist Guild, teaching Wu’er and Mi Na while simultaneously polishing his own Alchemy technique.
Yang Kai watched as Wu’er’s skills rapidly grew, causing him to become even more enthusiastic about teaching her. Yang Kai had a very favourable impression of this slightly eccentric, energetic young girl.
One day, as Yang Kai was making himself busy inside the pill room, he suddenly noticed some movements behind him, quickly stopping what he was doing and turning to look at the exit only to find Old Man Du walking in with a worried look upon his face.
The three Juniors quickly got up to offer greetings.
Old Man Du waved his hand to stop them and said, “This old master has something to say. If you don’t have a compelling reason, in the near future, don’t go outside.”
“What happened?” Mi Na asked.
“The situation outside is somewhat turbulent…” Old Man Du said in a dignified tone, “If you exit rashly, you might find yourself in trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?” Mi Na was puzzled.
Yang Kai also frowned and suddenly asked, “Is it related to the influx of outsiders in Grand Boulder City?”
Du Wan glanced over at Yang Kai in surprise, soon continuing, “En, it seems that you also noticed. A few months ago, many foreign cultivators suddenly appeared in Grand Boulder City and set up a temporary camp. They seem to have come here searching for something and have been recruiting others since they arrived.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
Although Yang Kai had basically not left the Alchemist Guild since arriving here three months ago, the changes in Grand Boulder City did not escape the investigation of his Divine Sense.
Various groups of outsiders would frequently enter Grand Boulder City, buy up living materials and cultivation supplies from the various shops, and then rush out again. It was an unusual phenomenon.
Especially in the recent period, more and more foreigners were seemingly using Grand Boulder City as a transit point, staying for a while to re-supply before leaving just as quickly as they came.
It seemed like they were exploring the endless Snow Mountain Range.
Considering all this, Yang Kai couldn’t help but frown and ask, “Old Man Du, have you heard anything specific about all this?”
Du Wan gently nodded and, “I know a bit. Today, Ancient Moon Cave Heaven’s Ran Jing and Luo Sheng Sect’s Mao Da came to me and asked for my help refining a few Dispelling Poison Pills. When I casually asked them what for, the two of them said they were going to the depths of the Snow Mountain Range in order to search for something, the Dispelling Poison Pills were just a precaution… En, I assume whatever it is they’re searching for is related to something poisonous.”
After one took a Dispelling Poison Pill, one would temporarily be able to resist various types of toxins, and if the one to refine such a pill was a Grandmaster like Du Wan, it would basically make one immune to all poisons throughout the world. Although it was expensive, it was well worth the money.
As for Ran Jing of Ancient Moon Cave Heaven and Mao Da of Luo Sheng Sect, Yang Kai was familiar with their names.
Centered around Grand Boulder City, there were four fairly prominent forces.
Soaring Heaven Sect, Bright Thunder Spirit Religion, Ancient Moon Cave Heaven, and Luo Sheng Sect.
Yang Kai has even served as an Honoured Guest in Bright Thunder Spirit Religion for a time.
When Yang Kai first came to Grand Boulder City, Du Wan had explained to him the various strengths and weaknesses of these four forces. Excluding Soaring Heaven Sect, the remaining three forces were similar in strength and composition, none of them possessing Saint Realm masters. Ran Jing and Mao Da were both Third Order Transcendents, similar in strength to Religion Master Xia Cheng Yin who had recently died.
Not only had many outsiders flooded into the Snow Mountain Range, but the nearby Ancient Moon Cave Heaven and Luo Sheng Sect had also gotten involved.
Listening to Du Wan, Yang Kai suddenly thought of something, his expression changing dramatically, immediately pushing his Divine Sense to its limits, forming it into a thread which contained a short message he sent thousands of kilometers away.
After a long time, his eyes shook as he took back his Divine Sense, his expression becoming extremely solemn.
“Old Man Du, I have to go out!” Yang Kai suddenly said.
“Ah?” Du Wan was stunned. He had deliberately come here to warn these three to not go outside but now Yang Kai had suddenly told him he needed to do just that. After thinking about it for a moment, he asked, “The matter these outsiders have come here to handle, is it related to you in some way?”
Yang Kai smiled bitterly as he said, “I hope I’m mistaken, but from what I can tell, that seems unlikely.”
Du Wan was deeply confused as he stared at Yang Kai for a while before finally relenting, “You must pay close attention to your safety. It would be best if you went back to Soaring Heaven Sect first and find your four Martial Seniors. As long as you have their protection, you shouldn’t encounter any danger.”
“En, I’ll do that,” Yang Kai replied casually before rushing out.
After he left, Du Wan slowly shook his head and grumbled, “If I knew it would turn out like this I wouldn’t have said anything…”
Mi Na’s brow furrowed deeply as she asked, “Old Man Du, what exactly is going on? What relationship does it have with Yang Kai?”
“I don’t know… I just hope he stays safe,” Du Wan replied, somewhat annoyed. If he had known this would happen, he would have pressed Ran Jing and Mao Da for details, as they surely knew more than they told him.
……
After leaving the Alchemist Guild, Yang Kai shot out like a bolt of lightning, bypassing Soaring Heaven Sect and flying straight towards the vast Snow Mountain Range.
With the news he heard from Du Wan, coupled with his own investigation, Yang Kai had vaguely guessed what was happening here.
He had never expected something so dramatic to happen though.
Waiting until there was no one around, Yang Kai unfurled his Wind and Thunder Wings, flew high up into the clouds, and boosted his speed to its limit, wrapping himself in his own Spiritual Energy to conceal his aura.
As he soared through the sky, from time to time, down below, Yang Kai spotted cultivators shuttling back and forth across the tundra.
Three days later, Yang Kai had traveled deep into the Snow Mountain Range.
An endless chain of mountains wrapped in glistening snow and ice stretched out in every direction.
Quietly releasing his Divine Sense to investigate his surroundings, Yang Kai soon discovered a faint response, grinned, and flew off in that direction.
Half a day later, Yang Kai hid himself inside a small snowy mountain as he stared off in a certain direction.
In that direction, a large group of cultivators, numbering several thousand in total, were gathered, many of whom had come here from Grand Boulder City recently.
Among these thousands of people, Yang Kai noticed a particular Spiritual Energy fluctuation which had some subtle connection to his own Soul.
In that direction, Yang Kai silently sent out a Divine Sense message.
At the same time, inside a large tent, several Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivators were silently cultivating. Although they had all reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary, the temperatures here were simply too cold and their consumption of True Qi just to stay warm was massive so they had no choice but to frequently restore themselves like this.
One of the youths who had been meditating suddenly opened his eyes as his aura fluctuated unstably.
When they noticed his strange behaviour, several other people inside the tent also opened their eyes and looked at him, quickly discovered that the young man had gone completely pale, as if he had just encountered something terrifying.
“Liu Gui, what happened?” One person hurriedly asked.
The young man named Liu Gui didn’t respond at first, his expression changing back and forth between bitter and helpless, only a while later replying, “It’s nothing you need to worry about, I just need to go out for a moment.”
“You want to go out now? We’re scheduled to go out tomorrow to search a new region, if you exit now, how will you support yourself later?” Someone else said.
Liu Gui however did not respond, simply getting up and walking out.
Seeing this, everyone in the tent slowly shook their heads and stopped paying attention to him.
All of these people belonged to the same force and were familiar with one another. The former youth called Liu Gui didn’t possess very good aptitude and was actually several minor realms below them not long ago, but for some unknown reason, over the past two years, his cultivation had soared, reaching the Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary, putting him on the same level as all of them.
This time they had come to journeyed tens of thousands of kilometers into the endless Snow Mountain Range just to seek out a single person. But amidst this seemingly infinite expanse of snow and ice, with no clues as to where that person was hiding, none of them thought they had a high chance of succeeding.
Liu Gui shuttled through the snow and after a while arrived in front of a different tent following the instructions he had just received.
This tent was very different from the others nearby. It was large and luxurious with subtle traces of light flashing around its perimeter. Obviously a Spirit Array had been placed around it, blocking anyone from probing inside it with their Divine Sense.
The only things people could notice about the inside of this tent was a faint green aura which lingered about it and the eerie cries which leaked out from within, causing everyone nearby to shudder unconsciously.
Standing outside the tent, Liu Gui couldn’t help swallowing hard, glancing around anxiously to make sure no one was paying attention to himself while trying to work up the courage to speak. However, before he could say a word, the tent’s entrance suddenly split open and a large hand grabbed Liu Gui, dragging him inside in the next instant.
Even with his Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivation, Liu Gui wasn’t able to put up the slightest bit of resistance and could only stare helplessly as he felt the hand of death reach out towards him, his eyes filled with terror.
A strange laughter suddenly filled his ears as Liu Gui stared at the person in front of him, a man wrapped in a black robe covered in an eerie green aura. This man was currently staring at him coldly, his eyes seemingly pulsing a green light, making him appear extremely scary.
“Little brat, you’re quite courageous, actually daring to spy on This King’s tent!” The person wrapped in the green aura chuckled menacingly as he said, “Tell me, how would you like to die? This King will grant you this final request.”
Liu Gui’s face paled as he desperately squeezed out his words, “Forgive me, Senior Wu Jie, this Junior had no intention of spying…”
“Then why are you sneaking around outside my tent? Were you ordered by your War Spirit Temple’s Cao Guan to come here?” Wu Jie coldly snorted.
“No, Senior,” Liu Gui fell to his knees and hurriedly said, “This Junior was simply entrusted to deliver a message to Senior.”
“Entrusted? By who?” Wu Jie frowned.
“This…” Liu Gui hesitated, seemingly not daring to reveal the identity of his employer.
Wu Jie sneered, “What do you want to say to me?”
Liu Gui didn’t dare dally and hurriedly said, “He said… he wants to see you. As for his identity, he said that as long as I said the words ‘tearing space’, Senior would understand.”
As soon as Lui Gui spoke those words, Wu Jie’s expression changed dramatically, immediately waving his hand and activating all the barriers around his tent, completely isolating it from outside investigations, frowning as he stared at Liu Gui and said, “How are you related to him?”
Liu Gui let out a pained laugh, “Can I not say?”
“Then, let me ask you this. What are your thoughts on this?” Wu Jie stared at him coldly.
Liu Gui sighed helplessly and explained.
After understanding how Liu Gui was connected with that young man, and why he could receive orders from him, Wu Jie laughed raucously, causing Liu Gui a great deal of discomfort, as if his Soul was being stripped from his body.