Hearing this, Lei Gu sneered, “Why does this King need to do this?”
Gao Xueting was the best hostage in his hands, so there was no need for him to exchange her for Wen Zishan. If he really did so, the variables involved would be too great. Not to mention whether there would be any accidents during the process of the Demonic Qi infusion, just the fact that Wen Zishan’s cultivation was higher than Gao Xueting’s made it difficult to control.
If it weren’t for this, there wouldn’t have been no Third-Order Emperor Realm masters among the cultivators who had been corrupted by the Demonic Qi. It wasn’t that Lei Gu and Feng Ming didn’t want to, but rather that it was too difficult to implement, so they decided to take a step back and focus on the First-Order and Second-Order Emperor Realm.
“What exactly do you want?” Wen Zishan was no longer as unrestrained as he used to be, his expression becoming more serious than ever, “I only ask that she be safe, if you have any conditions, please state them!”
Lei Gu snorted, “I told you to let me go. When we reach a safe place, this King will naturally release her.”
“That’s impossible!” Wen Zishan slowly shook his head, “How can I believe that if there is no guarantee?”
Lei Gu calmly said, “If you want her to be safe, you can only take a gamble. At worst, we’ll both die together.” Releasing his Demonic Qi, Gao Xueting immediately let out a muffled groan.
“Stop!” Wen Zishan’s face changed dramatically as he raised his hand and shouted.
Just as Lei Gu was about to say something, Yang Kai suddenly said, “We can’t agree to your proposal, and neither can you agree to my proposal. How about this, we’ll each take a step back.”
Lei Gu turned to him and said, “Tell me about it.”
Yang Kai put his hands behind his back and said, “I’ll let you go, but I have to follow you. When you find a suitable place, you can hand over my Senior Sister Gao to me. This is my bottom line. If you can’t accept it, then there’s no need to talk about it anymore.”
Lei Gu didn’t answer, his eyes flashing as Wen Zishan’s heart jumped to his throat. He secretly circulated his Emperor Qi, preparing to act if anything went wrong. The scene in the mountain valley seemed to freeze, there was no sound or movement, time had never passed so slowly.
After an unknown period of time, Yang Kai took a deep breath and said, “It seems you don’t agree.” As he spoke, he raised his hand and shouted, “Monster Kings, listen up!”
Boom…
As the Monster Qi soared into the sky, the thirty-two Monster Kings’ figures flickered as they surrounded Lei Gu and Gao Xueting from all sides, completely sealing off their escape routes. Every Monster King’s eyes flashed with a bloodthirsty light as their eyes filled with eagerness.
“I’ll count to three. If he still doesn’t answer, go up and tear him apart!” Yang Kai stared coldly at Lei Gu, raised a finger, and firmly said, “One!”
Wen Zishan’s body tensed up, his fists clenching and unclenching, his heart filled with anxiety.
“Two…” The second finger straightened.
Thirty-two killing intents flew towards Lei Gu at the same time, each Monster King’s Monster Qi stirring. They didn’t care about Lei Gu or Gao Xueting; to them, these two were strangers. At this moment, they only listened to Yang Kai’s orders. Since he said he would tear Lei Gu apart after three counts, they would really rush up and tear him apart. They couldn’t care less about Gao Xueting’s life or death.
Enveloped by these thirty-two killing intents, the Demonic Qi around Lei Gu’s body surged. Even though he now had the cultivation of a Third-Order Emperor Realm master, facing the combined forces of these thirty-two Monster Kings, it was impossible for him to survive. It was likely that he would die without a burial in a single exchange. Lei Gu stared deeply into Yang Kai’s eyes, wanting to see the depths of his soul. He wanted to see even the slightest bit of hesitation and deceit, but to his disappointment, Yang Kai’s expression remained unchanged, his eyes filled with determination.
When the third finger was halfway up, Lei Gu said, “Only you are allowed to follow.”
“Of course!” Yang Kai put his hands behind his back and calmly said, but the group of people standing behind him could clearly see that his hand was trembling slightly, showing that his heart was definitely not as calm as it seemed.
They couldn’t help wondering, if Lei Gu hadn’t spoken just now, could Yang Kai really have allowed the thirty-two Monster Kings to rush over?
“Make way!” Yang Kai waved his hand.
The thirty-two Monster Kings surrounding Lei Gu immediately split up and opened up a path.
When Fan Wu, Cang Gou, and Luan Feng saw this, they couldn’t help but sigh. These were the Monster Kings under their command, when had it ever been a human’s turn to order them around? Yet these disappointing fellows actually obeyed without the slightest hesitation, simply infuriating them.
“Please,” Yang Kai extended his hand.
Lei Gu said unhurriedly, “You’d better keep your word. If this King discovers any traces you left behind for them to track, or if their auras are discovered by this King, bear the consequences yourself!”
“Put your heart into your stomach,” Yang Kai sneered.
Lei Gu coldly snorted and urged his Demonic Qi to wrap around Gao Xueting before rushing out of the encirclement, Yang Kai following closely behind.
In the blink of an eye, the two figures disappeared from everyone’s sight.
Staring in the direction the two of them had left, Wen Zishan’s face was filled with hesitation. Naturally, he was worried about Yang Kai chasing after him alone. He had originally planned to quietly follow behind them, but Lei Gu’s previous words had caused him to be cautious. If he accidentally exposed his aura and allowed Lei Gu to detect him, then Gao Xueting would be finished. He could also track them from a distance, but if he was too far away and couldn’t grasp their direction, Yang Kai wouldn’t have a chance to leave a mark.
Ma Qing sighed and patted his shoulder, “Brother Wen, since that little brat has made such a proposal, he will definitely be able to bring Elder Gao back. You… just wait and see.” After saying this, seeing that Wen Zishan didn’t respond, Ma Qing could only walk back and look at his wife and disciples, asking with concern, “Is everything alright?”
The group of disciples shook their heads.
However, Lady Qi just stared at him coldly, causing Ma Qing’s forehead to break out in cold sweat as she asked, “Madam, what’s wrong?”
With a flick of her sleeve, Lady Qi walked off to the side and coldly said, “When you get back, write a letter of separation to me. You Holy Master Ma is a righteous man, and as a woman, I might be a burden to you in the future. It’s better for us to go our separate ways, lest i ruin your reputation one day.”
The cold sweat on Ma Qing’s forehead became even more intense as he quickly chased after her, “Why would Madam say such a thing?” He knew that the words he had just said to Wen Zishan had hurt her feelings, but that was just a matter of fact, how could he be reasonable?
On the other side, Wen Zishan, who had remained silent for a long time, finally closed his eyes in pain.
After hesitating for so long, he still didn’t have the courage to chase after Yang Kai and Lei Gu, so it was too late for him to act now. All he could do now was pin all his hopes on Yang Kai, hoping he could bring Gao Xueting back in one piece, but the chances were too slim. Although Yang Kai’s strength was extraordinary, Lei Gu wasn’t someone to be trifled with. With the cultivation of a Third-Order Emperor Realm master, and the fact that Gao Xueting had fallen under his control.
He really couldn’t think of any way for Yang Kai to snatch Gao Xueting back.
Just as he was thinking this, he felt someone walk up to him and tug at his sleeve. Opening his eyes, he saw a seven or eight year old little girl looking up at him with clear eyes.
“You are…” Wen Zishan looked at her suspiciously. Although she was just an ordinary little girl, he didn’t dare to underestimate her at all, because when he saw this little girl make a move just now, the aura she exuded was so strong that even he felt a bit inferior.
He couldn’t understand how Yang Kai could have so many monsters around him. Not only did he easily mobilize three Holy Spirits and thirty-two Monster Kings, even this little girl was so powerful, but there was also that little black dog that could swallow Demonic Qi. Each one of them was more strange than the last.
“Want to chase?” Liu Yan asked.
Wen Zishan’s expression changed, “You can track them?”
Liu Yan shook her head, “I can’t.”
Wen Zishan’s eyes instantly dimmed, but unexpectedly, Liu Yan pointed to the side and shouted, “It can!”
Looking in the direction she was pointing, he saw a stone man about half the height of a man standing there quietly, winking at him.
“Him?” Wen Zishan’s face was filled with confusion. This Stone Golem seemed somewhat different from the other Stone Golems, appearing more spirited. Seeing Wen Zishan look over, the Stone Golem said, “Follow me!”
At the same time, he stretched out his hand and pointed at Fan Wu and the other three Holy Spirits, “The three of you come with me.”
Fan Wu and the others looked at each other but didn’t ask any questions, simply nodding.
Embodiment turned around and left while Liu Yan quickly followed. Wen Zishan no longer hesitated and quickly followed behind Liu Yan, followed by the three Holy Spirits.
Along the way, the Spirit Mountain and Great River flashed past beneath their feet. The group’s cultivation had almost reached the peak, so their flying speed was naturally not slow.
After flying for a while, Wen Zishan asked suspiciously, “They’re not going this way.”
“Shh!” Liu Yan turned her head, raised a pink finger, and blew on it.
Wen Zishan’s face twitched slightly, but he didn’t dare to say anything more and could only follow silently, hoping that the direction they were chasing was correct. As they continued forward, Embodiment led the way while the others tried their best to conceal their aura as they followed behind, turning left and right as if he was trying to track them down. However, apart from Liu Yan and Embodiment unwavering pursuit, Wen Zishan and the three Holy Spirits were completely confused. They hadn’t detected the slightest trace of Yang Kai or Lei Gu’s aura along the way, so they didn’t know if they were heading in the right direction.
What made Wen Zishan even more anxious was that the Embodiment would sometimes stop at a certain place for a long time before moving again. During this time, there was no trace of detection at all, simply flying wherever he wanted.
Ten thousand kilometers away, Yang Kai stood with his hands behind his back, leisurely strolling along the road, closely following behind Lei Gu. At first, Lei Gu wanted to rely on his speed to shake off Yang Kai, but after a few attempts, he realized that was impossible.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Martial Peak