Chapter 869: Who Doesn’t Have Secrets?
Every attack from the Ancient Demon clansmen cut off a limb or head from their enemies, causing blood to spray out.
The black Demonic Qi released by them seemed to take on a life of its own and like a giant beast slammed into the crowd with overwhelming force, destroying what little will to resist the remaining Shattering Mystical Palace and the War Spirit Temple cultivators had, their screams of terror ringing out as they died in despair.
The pure and pristine Snow Mountain Range has become a purgatory filled with blood that flowed like meandering streams, with residual flesh and bones scattered about.
Soon, the disciples of these two forces were all either dead or dying.
Zhang Ao, Cao Guan, and the other Saints had become desperate, madly shouting as they tried to resist but in front of Li Rong and the other Ancient Demon Clan Saints, they were helpless, their struggles only serving to prolong their suffering.
The human race Transcendent Realm masters soon fell too.
The four Saints were also gradually losing ground.
Zhang Ao continued to display extraordinary strength, the aftermath of each of his attacks killing several low-level Ancient Demon clansmen, infuriating Li Rong who only intensified her assault.
Yang Kai was indifferent to all of this as he deeply understood the law of the jungle.
Time passed quickly, and soon the battle subsided.
Dead bodies filled the area and the victorious Ancient Demon clansmen howled towards the Heavens, seemingly finding it difficult to accept that the battle was over, their Demonic Qi and thick killing intent clouding the sky, causing the entire region with gloom.
Of Shattering Mystical Palace and War Spirit Temple’s four Saint Realm master, three had been killed in battle and only Zhang Ao remained.
Li Rong bound him with a thick blood-red energy rope, completely restricting his movements and strength, before dragging him over and tossing him in front of Yang Kai.
Standing at the center of this Shura purgatory, Yang Kai closed his eyes and activated the Demon Eye of Annihilation in his Knowledge Sea, swiftly absorbing all the scattered Soul remnants from the recently deceased cultivators.
Zhang Ao waited with trepidation, wondering what kind of fate he would face, cold sweat dripping down his back as he stared at Yang Kai in horror.
Only after a while did Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes and looked down at Zhang Ao in front of him.
“Holy Master Yang… regardless of anything else, this Zhang is still a powerful master. I ask you to show mercy and spare my life, and in exchange, this Zhang is willing to become Holy Master Yang’s servant and faithfully obey any command given to him!” Not waiting for Yang Kai to speak, Zhang Ao hurriedly stated, fearing he would immediately be executed.
Seeing him act so timid and weak, Li Rong and others couldn’t help revealing looks of disdain.
“A powerful master… good, you did manage to pursue me for several months,” Yang Kai nodded lightly, “But I apologize, I have no interest in you, I already hold enough strength in my hands. Moreover, keeping you around doesn’t bring me any advantage.”
“Holy Master Yang, please wait, no matter what it is you want…” Noticing Yang Kai’s murderous intent, Zhang Ao was really afraid, hurriedly turning to the nearby Wu Jie and shouting, “Sect Master Wu, out of respect for our many years of friendship, please help me say a few words.”
Wu Jie sighed deeply and shook his head, “Brother Zhang… A single misdeed may be forgiven, but a series of them may not… this Wu advised you two years ago to take a step back, but you insisted on acting ruthlessly. Now that the situation has reversed, what more can this Wu say? Also, it was only thanks to Sir Holy Master’s assistance that this Wu managed to maintain his feeble existence, how could I speak against him now?”
Seeing Wu Jie refuse his request, Zhang Ao was somewhat dejected but hurriedly recovered and said, “Holy Master Yang, I have a secret. As long as you promise not to kill me, I can tell you all about it.”
“A secret?” Yang Kai chuckled, “Who doesn’t have secrets? Does your secret even have any value to me?”
“This secret may be related to the legendary Starry Sky, and I think Holy Master Yang should be interested. You are the Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land, sooner or later you will reach the peak of the Third Order Saint Realm, the only thing left for such a powerhouse to pursue is the path to the Starry Sky!” Zhang Ao explained.
Yang Kai’s brow rose slightly, truly feeling somewhat interested, bending down slightly as he stared at Zhang Ao, “How do you know your secret is related to the mystery of the Starry Sky?”
“Because this Zhang personally experienced it once, as if I was floating amidst an endless blackness with faint stars far off in the distance, a very unusual scene…”
“Master, this guy is just trying to stall for time by making up wild stories,” Han Fei shouted coldly.
Yang Kai raised his hand to calm her before gesturing to Zhang Ao, “Continue.”
Seeing that Yang Kai really seemed to be interested, Zhang Ao suddenly felt a lot more spirited and quickly said, “There was also a very strange force in the surroundings. Even though this Zhang was already a Second-Order Saint at the time, it was still somewhat difficult to resist that pressure. It felt almost as if my entire body would be crushed to pieces in the next moment. I believe that only a Third Order Saint would be capable of bearing that horrible force with their flesh.”
Yang Kai frowned slightly. What Zhang Ao just said matched almost perfectly with his own experience in the Starry Sky, adding greatly to the latter’s credibility. Only those who had experienced the Starry Sky in person could describe it so accurately.
After hesitating for a moment, Yang Kai grinned, “You said you had some secret yes? What does it have to do with the Starry Sky? How do you know that what you experienced was actually the Starry Sky?”
“Speaking truthfully Holy Master Yang, at first this Zhang didn’t pay much attention to all of this, until one day I obtained a very strange stone inside the Sect. That stone didn’t belong to this realm… over the following years, this Zhang often managed to obtain some scattered stones from that place until one day I discovered something far more valuable.”
“Oh? What?” Yang Kai asked dryly.
“That thing is in this Zhang’s Universe Bag, feel free to check for yourself. After seeing it, you will know if this Zhang is making up stories or not,” Zhang Ao said.
Yang Kai glanced over at his Universe Bag and reached out for it but just as he was about to open it, Li Rong quickly stepped forward, “Master, allow me.”
She clearly distrusted Zhang Ao and feared he had left some kind of trap behind in his Universe Bag.
Hearing this, Yang Kai nodded and handed the Universe Bag to Li Rong.
Li Rong accepted the Universe Bag and immediately opened it, but before she could even begin to examine it, a strange burst of energy shot from it and sank into Li Rong’s forehead.
Li Rong’s movements went stiff and her tender body trembled slightly, seemingly suffering a great deal of pain.
“There really was a trap!” Han Fei’s expression became even colder, patting her hand towards Zhang Ao in the next instant, shattering half the bones in his body.
“Don’t kill him yet!” Yang Kai hurriedly stopped her, his expression quite gloomy as he hurried over and examined Li Rong’s injury.
If Li Rong had not suddenly interceded, it was likely he would be the one writhing in pain right now!
“I’m fine… it was just an attack by a wisp of his Divine Sense,” Li Rong held her forehead and whispered, “It contained a kind of enslavement command, I’ve already resolved it.”
As an even more powerful Second-Order Saint, Zhang Ao’s secret arrangements obviously were ineffective against Li Rong.
Zhang Ao immediately looked dispirited and somewhat unwilling.
What he didn’t know was that even if this attack had been taken by Yang Kai, it would not have had any effect.
He had used all his cunning to try to lure Yang Kai into exploring his Universe Bag so he could control him in one fell swoop, but unfortunately for him, he had failed.
After suffering Han Fei’s attack, Zhang Ao could only lie spread out on the ground, his entire body screaming out in pain as he glared around at his captors.
Yang Kai chuckled lightly as he stood up and walked over to Zhang Ao, nodding lightly, “It seems you have more courage than I gave you credit for! Tell me, how do you want to die?”
Zhang Ao’s eyes blazed with hatred and helplessness, refusing to say a word, obviously knowing there was no longer any hope of escape this time.
After watching him for a while, Yang Kai waved his hand impatiently, “Kill him!”
Zhang Ao roared at that moment, “Kill me and you’ll never learn that secret!”
He made his final effort.
The only answer he received though was Han Fei’s fatal strike.
Unnoticed by anyone though, Zhang Ao’s Soul remnant which leaked from his Knowledge Sea was absorbed by Yang Kai.
Sending his Soul Avatar into his Knowledge Sea, Yang Kai carefully placed the Spiritual Energy remnant which belonged to Zhang Ao into a separate corner, preparing to examine it later when he had some free time.
Yang Kai was actually quite interested in the secret Zhang Ao was talking about before he died.
Now, there was no one left from Shattering Mystical Palace and War Spirit Temple, only Wu Jie remained standing, wearing a complicated look upon his face, feeling a tinge of sadness but also a great sense of fortune. Thankfully he had taken the initiative to speak with Yang Kai two years ago and negotiate for peace, otherwise he and his Netherworld Sect’s elite would definitely be amongst the field of corpses spread out before him.
“Wu Jie, are there any dead from your Netherworld Sect?” Yang Kai turned and asked.
Wu Jie slowly shook his head, “Before I made my escape I sent a message to my Vice Sect Master telling him to take our people and leave; Zhang Ao and the others were only interested in chasing you so they didn’t bother with them. The only dead here belong to Shattering Mystical Palace and War Spirit Temple, even those guys from Ancient Moon Cave Heaven and Luo Sheng Sect seemed to have abandoned them.”
“En, very good,” Yang Kai nodded gently.
“My people haven’t left very far…” Wu Jie sensed, “Sir Holy Master, can I call them over?”
Yang Kai nodded, not preventing him.
“Senior Li…” The newly-promoted Yin Ya and Xue Ji flew over, holding a Universe Bag in their hands and reporting, “What remains of Coffin Slave Senior have been collected.”
Li Rong’s expression became gloomy as she accepted the Universe Bag.
Yang Kai glanced over at her and softly spoke, “Please restrain your grief, Coffin Slave Senior faithfully completed his long mission and can now rest.”
“En, it is as Master says.”
“Tonight, we’ll rest here and allow all of you to adapt to the outside world. We’ll clean up and leave tomorrow morning.”
“Yes!” Li Rong took the lead and began organizing the others.
It was only now that the Demon Crests which covered all of the Ancient Demon Clan gradually dispersed, the thick Demonic Qi which filled the air also dissipating, allowing the surrounding atmosphere to finally relax.
There were some casualties among the thousand Ancient Demon clansmen who fought in this battle, but the number was quite small, somewhere between twenty and thirty in total. Now that it came time to bury them, the living couldn’t help shedding some tears.
All of them had been waiting countless years to experience the outside world and had finally managed to come out from that Mysterious Small World today, but before they could even see any part of it, some of them had lost their lives. Their living companions naturally felt sorry for them.
But soon, the Ancient Demon Clan’s mood lifted, many of them staring up at the moon and stars in the sky, unable to peel their eyes away, a sense of anticipation filling their hearts, imagining just what the rising sun tomorrow would look like.