Chapter 1085, Malicious Invitation
The deaths of so many of their comrades and their excessive consumption had gradually cooled the two parties’ heads, restoring their ability to reason. Now, both sides no longer completely disregarded their safety and were fighting in a cautious and reserved manner.
Seeing this development, after having spectated for so long, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed.
If no one else died, he couldn’t reap any benefits, so staying here any longer would just be a waste of time.
As such, he quietly left the asteroid he was hiding behind and prepared to continue on his way while processing the Soul remnants of the dozen or so Saint King Realm cultivators he had previously absorbed.
Both groups of cultivators were far too busy dealing with their remaining opponents so no one noticed him.
After the time it would take to make a cup of tea, Yang Kai was already a few hundred kilometres away from the battlefield and was preparing to summon out his Star Shuttle when a subtle yet mysterious energy fluctuation behind him suddenly caught his attention.
Yang Kai quickly turned around just in time to see a bright light flash amidst the field of asteroids, one that faded and disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
Yang Kai stopped as a look of astonishment appeared on his face. The energy fluctuation just now gave him a very familiar feeling; it was clearly a fluctuation due to the manipulation of space. In other words, it is very likely that someone had torn space at the point where he had spotted the flash of light.
This discovery immediately drew Yang Kai’s attention. It had been a few years now since he came to the Star Field and he had learned that out of the nearly infinite number of cultivators out there, those proficient in the Dao of Space were incredibly few.
The Dao of Space itself was an esoteric field of study, one that was difficult to become introduced to, and even more difficult to master. As for reaching the pinnacle of comprehension, that was neigh impossible.
Having inadvertently stumbled upon such a location related to the Dao of Space, Yang Kai was inclined to explore it to see who the person who tore space was and whether or not he could hold a dialogue with them, preferably gaining an opportunity to learn from one another.
Releasing his, Divine Sense, Yang Kai soon swept the area in front of himself all the way up to the previous battlefield, yet to his surprise, he found no human figures in the place from a moment ago, only a faint distortion in space.
[What happened?]
Yang Kai couldn’t repress his curiosity and decided to rush back and investigate more thoroughly.
After a short while, Yang Kai once again arrived at the previous battlefield and looked around. There was indeed no one here, the several cultivators who had been fighting up until a moment ago all seemingly having disappeared, with no bodies or corpses nearby.
Yang Kai followed the distortion in space to a mountain-sized asteroid upon which a gate-like structure had been built. This gate was extremely simple, and at first glance was obviously quite old. Also of note was the fact that this gate was covered in a thick layer of Space Spirit Crystals.
At the base of the gate, there were two grooves where Saint Crystals could be placed. Looking down, Yang Kai noticed two High-Rank Saint Crystals which had been thoroughly exhausted of energy.
“A Space Array?” Yang Kai’s eyes widened as he exclaimed.
He hadn’t expected this kind of development. The slight distortion in space had clearly not been created by someone tearing space, but had instead propagated as a result of this Space Array being activated.
The two drained Saint Crystals were a clear sign that the Space Array had been turned on.
But why was there a Space Array in this place? Did this mean that what the two sides who had been fighting before were constantly looking for was this Space Array?
Where did this Space Array lead to?
The two groups having gone missing must be because they entered this Space Array and were teleported away. Yang Kai stood in front of the Space Array, his expression changing frequently as he weighed his options.
After a while, Yang Kai pulled out the two spent Saint Crystals from the Space Array’s base and replaced them with fresh ones, the Qi stored inside them quickly pouring into the array and starting it up.
A bright light suddenly appeared and rippled appeared at the centre of the gate, after which an illusory image gradually began to form.
Yang Kai sent Divine Sense threads into the gate and using his own Dao of Space comprehension sent them out ten thousand kilometres in every direction.
He didn’t see anyone, only a strange and wild piece of land with lush vegetation and bright sunlight. At a glance, Yang Kai could tell this place was a vibrant mainland.
Yang Kai withdrew his Divine Sense threads and without hesitation stepped into the Space Array.
In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai appeared in the strange world he had never seen before.
The World Energy aura around him was rich to a shocking degree; Yang Kai even estimated that it was denser than the average aura on Rainfall Star. Although it couldn’t be compared to the floating continent, it was definitely much better than other Cultivation Stars.
The Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchid on his chest finally began playing its proper role, its gloomy face actively drawing massive amounts of the ambient World Energy into Yang Kai’s body.
Yang Kai couldn’t help revealing a look of happiness; he even considered entering secluded retreat here until the Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchid’s medicinal effects ran out.
The Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchid was too rare. Ha Li Ka would not have given this precious treasure to Yang Kai if it weren’t out of consideration for Xue Yue’s face, and although its effect would gradually disappear over two or three years, only half that amount of time had passed so far.
Yang Kai really didn’t want to waste this opportunity.
Thinking about it for a moment though, Yang Kai suddenly cursed in frustration.
While flying through the Starry Sky, Yang Kai could perfectly hide, but in this strange continent, it was a different story. Even if he could conceal his own aura, the Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchid’s constant inhalation of World Energy would easily be noticed.
Sure enough, no sooner had these worries occurred to him did the cultivators who had arrived here first fly over to investigate.
There weren’t many of them left, only three or four from each side. They seemed to be quite wary of others entering this place.
It didn’t take long for all of these cultivators to assemble, the two groups who had been locking in a life or death struggle now all staring curiously at Yang Kai, everyone wondering which side he belonged to.
The monster race man named Di Ji wore a stunned look and let out a chuckle a moment later, “Kid, how did you arrive here?”
The woman who had been following beside Di Ji also stared at Yang Kai strangely, her eyes filled with a look of vigilance, apparently thinking Yang Kai had been tailing them.
“Don’t misunderstand, I don’t know them, I just happened to meet them once while travelling across the Starry Sky,” Yang Kai ignored the Di Ji and explained himself to the other group of people who were eying him dangerously.
The head of the other group was also a man who appeared to be in his late forties. This man was a Third Order Saint King, possessing similar strength to Di Ji.
This middle-aged man stepped out from his team and loudly interrogated, “How did you find this place?”
Yang Kai shrugged and responded plainly, “I was passing by when I saw some flashes of light amidst the Asteroid Sea. I followed those lights to investigate but I never expected to find a Space Array and out a curiosity, I decided to activate it and see what was on the other side. If your groups have business in this place, you should go about it with a free hand, no need to pay any attention to me. Now that I’ve had a look, I’ll leave.”
While he spoke, Yang Kai was secretly on guard. Although the number of cultivators left in these two groups had shrunk greatly, both sides still had Third Order Saint Kings and were paying close attention to him. One wrong word would land him in a dangerous situation.
He had to adopt a submissive stance here. Yang Kai was trying to find a way to have these two groups continue their previous fight, hopefully resulting in their mutual annihilation. As long as all of these people died, he would then be free to explore this strange continent and see if there was anything good to pick.
The middle-aged man stared at Yang Kai deeply, as if he wanted to look into the depths of his Soul, only nodding after a long time, his eyes suddenly flashing as he wore a kind smile, “I believe you.”
“Many thanks,” Yang Kai nodded.
“Kid, since you’ve found your way into this place, you don’t need to be in such a rush to leave,” Di Ji laughed, “Before, in the Starry Sky, Father here didn’t want to stir up any unnecessary trouble so I didn’t bother acting against you there, but here, I’d like to see where you can flee!”
Saying so, he turned and yelled at the middle-aged man, “Gui Che, you and I have consumed the vast majority of our restorative pills and Saint Crystals, but this brat is a fat sheep. The last time we met, he gave us a thousand pieces of High-Rank Saint Crystal without even blinking an eye. I’m certain there are more Saint Crystals in his Space Ring, how about we split them fifty-fifty?”
“That’s a good proposal,” The middle-aged man named Gui Che nodded slightly, looking at Yang Kai with a chuckle.
Yang Kai also stared back at him with a smile, the look on his face indifferent.
Di Ji laughed, “Gui Che, although I despise you, I do admire your easy-going personality. Since it’s settled, do you want to do it, or should I? Either that or we could both do it to avoid there being anything suspicions between us after the fact.”
Gui Che slowly shook his head, “I won’t.”
Di Ji gawked for a moment, but before he could understand what Gui Che was playing at, the middle-aged man turned to Yang Kai and said, “Little brother, would you like to join us?”
“Join you?” Yang Kai frowned, “Join you to do what?”
“To explore this place of course. No one has been here for a very long time, and there are no doubt many good things waiting for us to find. As long as you follow us, you’ll be able to obtain some benefits, how about it?” Gui Che asked in a seemingly sincere manner.
After hearing what he said, everyone looked stunned, not able to understand why Gui Che would invite a measly Third Order Saint Realm brat to join them. Not just those on Di Ji’s side, but even Gui Che’s allies were equally suspicious.
Only Di Ji, who seemed like a brute but actually had quite a sharp wit, was able to instantly understand Gui Che’s intentions, cackling as he openly said, “Gui Che, aren’t you being too shameless? If you want to let this kid explore the way for you when you come across some kind of danger, just come right out and say it, don’t use some petty trickery to win him over. Kid, don’t listen to his nonsense, I can guarantee that if you agree to his proposal, not only will you not obtain any benefits, you’ll definitely die without a complete corpse.”
When Di Ji exposed the truth, everyone understood what was going on.
Gui Che didn’t show the slightest bit of embarrassment however and instead wore an even more sincere expression as he nodded and said, “Indeed I had such ideas, but little brother, with your low strength, how could you obtain benefits without paying a little price? If you follow me, you’ll still have a chance to survive, I won’t make you go into places that are clearly too dangerous. On the other hand, if you follow Di Ji, en, I guarantee you won’t live to see tomorrow.”
“Can I act alone? Just pretend you never even saw me,” Yang Kai said with a distressed look.
Everyone let out a burst of mocking laughter.
“Good, it looks like if I don’t choose a side, I’ll die right here and now, right?”
Di Ji and Gui Che did not speak; the former snickering menacingly with his intentions obvious.