With a loud bang, the dust returned to the earth and Lei Gu exploded into a bloody mist, scattering across the sky.
The expressions of Fan Wu and the other two went cold, all of them moved by his decisiveness. Even though they knew he was doomed to die, there were probably not many people in this world who would choose to self-destruct. If it was them, the three of them would definitely fight like trapped beasts. Although the final outcome was certain, if they didn’t fight, who would know the result?
Were the Demon Race all so cruel? The three of them couldn’t help shuddering.
Just as they were feeling suspicious, Yang Kai flew down with a weak look on his face and began searching the rubble.
Luan Feng frowned and flew down lightly, saying angrily, “If you’re not healing your injuries, what are you looking for?”
Yang Kai coughed lightly, “If the Demon Heart is not destroyed, the Demon Race will not die!”
In the Thousand Illusion Dream World, he had interacted with the Demon Race for many years and knew how tenacious the vitality of a powerful Demon Race was. Even if their physical body was destroyed, as long as their Demon Heart was not destroyed, they would be able to magically revive.
If he wanted to kill this Demon Race, he had to completely destroy his Demon Heart.
Although Lei Gu had decided to self-destruct, Yang Kai still had to guard against him trying to escape. Fortunately, after searching for a while, he didn’t find anything similar to the Demon Heart. It seemed that after being possessed by the Demonic Will, he was somewhat different from ordinary Demons.
After letting Liu Yan burn this area, Yang Kai let out a sigh of relief. Even if Lei Gu had really planned to escape, under the burning of Liu Yan’s Phoenix True Fire, he probably wouldn’t have had a chance to be reborn.
The Embodiment snuck over from the side. Originally, it had been hiding below to prevent Lei Gu from escaping, but who would have thought that it wouldn’t even have a chance to fight. However, thanks to its connection with Yang Kai, it had been able to set up a trap and catch Lei Gu off guard.
If not for this, how could Yang Kai have easily agreed to follow Lei Gu alone? The Embodiment was his greatest reliance.
The few of them gathered together and didn’t say anything. Yang Kai was seriously injured and was in urgent need of healing, while the mess in the Plain Palace had to be cleaned up. The thirty-two Monster Kings were still there, and without the three Holy Spirits, who knew what kind of trouble they would cause. Although they behaved like obedient children in front of Yang Kai, in reality, they were all unruly.
Everyone had no intention of staying here any longer and immediately returned.
Yang Kai, on the other hand, handed the Mysterious Boundary Bead to Liu Yan for safekeeping while he hid inside the Mysterious Small Boundary to heal himself. The existence of the Mysterious Boundary Bead was his greatest secret and trump card, but as his strength increased, there was no need to deliberately keep it a secret.
Fan Wu and the other two definitely wouldn’t publicize this matter, so it didn’t matter if it was exposed in front of them.
After Liu Yan and the others returned, Yang Kai went to the medicine garden and sat down cross-legged under the Eternal Tree. Mu Zhu and Mu Lu both used their Secret Techniques to extract some essence from the Eternal Tree to heal him.
In the past, Yang Kai had used the Eternal Tree to heal himself many times, but most of the time, he had directly taken the leaves and consumed them. The Eternal Tree didn’t have many leaves in total, so after Yang Kai had picked it a few times, it was almost completely bare. As for the few remaining leaves, Yang Kai didn’t dare touch them lest it damage the foundation of the Eternal Tree.
However, the amazing methods of the Wood Spirit Race allowed them to extract the vitality from the Eternal Tree without harming it and pour it into Yang Kai’s body.
Coupled with Yang Kai’s powerful physique and recovery ability, it only took three days for him to fully recover. This speed made Yang Kai extremely happy. Without the assistance of the two Wood Spirits, it would have taken him at least a month to fully recover.
In his joy, he naturally praised Mu Zhu and Mu Lu’s amazing methods without restraint, causing their faces to flush red with embarrassment.
Now that he had recovered, Yang Kai had time to deal with Gao Xueting.
Gao Xueting had been corroded by the Demonic Qi, causing her body and mind to enter a demonic state. Previously, she had been under Lei Gu’s control and had nearly self-destructed. Fortunately, Yang Kai had pulled her into the Mysterious Small World in time to suppress her, otherwise she would have been reduced to nothing.
In a flash, Yang Kai arrived at the pavilion where Gao Xueting was suppressed.
Pushing open the door and walking in, Yang Kai was slightly startled, because when she noticed someone approaching, Gao Xueting suddenly turned her pair of pitch-black eyes towards him and let out a strange sound from her throat, her expression fierce, as if she wanted nothing more than to eat Yang Kai’s flesh and drink his blood.
This change caused Yang Kai to frown, because according to his previous observations, there were two types of Demon Race in the Plain Palace. One was like Lei Gu and Feng Ming, who had been possessed by Demonic Consciousness. This type of Demon Race was a pure Demon Race with their own thoughts, dedicated to the Demon Race.
The other type was like Gao Xueting and many other cultivators from the Southern Domain who had been corrupted by the Demonic Qi. This kind of Demon Race didn’t have their own consciousness and had to be controlled by the previous type of Demon Race.
But now, Gao Xueting clearly had some self-awareness, but it was not Gao Xueting’s own consciousness. From her fierce expression, it was clear that she had been possessed.
Yang Kai arrived in front of Gao Xueting and looked at her with a complicated expression, calling out a few times, but Gao Xueting didn’t react at all, only growling and struggling. If it weren’t for the suppression force restricting her, she would have already pounced on him.
Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a bit suspicious. Could it be that as time passed, those Demon Race people who had no self-awareness would become like this, relying on their instincts to act?
If that was the case, then it would be troublesome for the Plain Palace.
Without any further hesitation, Yang Kai’s aura suddenly changed, becoming ancient and desolate, as if he had walked out from an ancient world painting, forming a seal with his hand as he chanted.
A beam of light shot into Gao Xueting’s body.
This was the Bloodlust Technique. Although it was one of the most commonly used and low-grade spells, it proved that it could resist the corrosion of Demonic Qi.
In an instant, a bright red light flashed and the Blood Essence in Gao Xueting’s body was stimulated. It was as if her entire body was covered in a dark red curtain of light and a look of pain flashed across her face.
At the same time that the red light flashed, a boundless black aura also spread out from Gao Xueting’s body, intertwining with the red light and dispersing it, causing Gao Xueting’s expression to change rapidly.
As soon as he uttered these words, Yang Kai used his Demon Expelling Technique.
A cool light descended from the sky, cleansing Gao Xueting’s body and mind. With a sizzling sound, wisps of black smoke leaked out from Gao Xueting’s body, as if it had met her nemesis and was fleeing for its life.
Yang Kai stood in front of Gao Xueting with a solemn expression, impatiently performing an Exorcism.
As time passed, the Demonic Qi leaking from Gao Xueting’s body became thinner, and the flickering black and red lights gradually began to assimilate.
Finally, at a certain moment, the darkness in Gao Xueting’s eyes faded and she blinked her eyes blankly, focusing her vision and immediately seeing Yang Kai standing in front of her with a smile, his aura ancient and strange.
“Junior Brother…” Gao Xueting called out softly, appearing extremely weak.
“Senior Sister Gao, you’ve woken up.” Yang Kai breathed a sigh of relief. After such a long delay, he was really afraid he wouldn’t be able to save Gao Xueting. Fortunately, ancient wizard technique was the nemesis of Demonic Qi, so his efforts had not been in vain.
“How did you…” Gao Xueting still couldn’t understand the situation, only feeling that her entire body was weak and her meridians and flesh still had some extremely uncomfortable residual energy.
“Does Senior Sister remember what happened before?” Yang Kai asked.
“What happened before…” Gao Xueting frowned, lost in thought.
“Southern Domain Martial Meeting, Plain Palace!” Yang Kai reminded.
Hearing this, Gao Xueting was stunned for a moment before her pupils shrank and she hurriedly said, “The Plain Palace is plotting something, Junior Brother should quickly inform the Temple Master!”
Yang Kai said, “Senior Sister Gao, please calm down. The scheme of Plain Palace has been shattered, Lei Gu and Feng Ming have also been executed.”
“Lei Gu and Feng Ming are dead?” Gao Xueting’s expression changed before quickly asking, “What are they plotting?”
Yang Kai asked back, “How much does Senior Sister know?”
Gao Xueting slowly shook her head, “I’m not too sure. That night, Junior Brother Luo and I received an invitation from Feng… Feng Ming, and we went to his residence to discuss cultivation insights. There were more than twenty people who went with us, but after drinking some things, they fell asleep.”
Yang Kai nodded slightly, understanding that the reason Gao Xueting and the others had fallen into the Demonic Qi was probably because of the things they drank. He had been wondering how a group of Emperor Realm could fall into the Demonic Qi so easily. As long as they sensed something was wrong, they should be able to resist it with just their Emperor Qi, or at the very least, inform others.
From the looks of it now, Feng Ming had used a similar method to poison Gao Xueting and the others, causing them to be corroded by the Demonic Qi. Naturally, they were unable to defend themselves.
They probably hadn’t expected Feng Ming to do such a thing. After all, they all knew each other well, and their friendship wasn’t one or two years old. Naturally, they were easily caught off guard.
“Where is Junior Brother Luo?” Gao Xueting asked.
“I’m not sure,” Yang Kai shook his head. He really hadn’t seen any trace of Luo Chen before, but now it seemed Luo Chen was probably dead.
“Then what is this place?”
Yang Kai smiled and said, “It’s a small world. Senior Sister Gao should focus on recuperating, we’ll soon return to the Plain Palace.” Saying so, he took out a bottle of healing Emperor Pills and placed it beside her. She had been corroded by the Demonic Qi and had suffered a great deal of damage. Previously, she had been controlled by Lei Gu and had nearly self-destructed. Although she had been suppressed by Yang Kai, she had still suffered some damage.
Gao Xueting didn’t stand on ceremony with him as she picked up a jade bottle, took out a Spirit Pill, and stuffed it into her mouth. As she refined the medicinal efficacies, she asked, “What happened?”
“It’s a long story,” Yang Kai sighed and sat down cross-legged in front of Gao Xueting, briefly explaining what had happened in the past few days. Gao Xueting’s expression also changed greatly, not having expected the Southern Domain Martial Meeting to involve such a shocking conspiracy.
Although Yang Kai’s words were calm, how could she not have thought that if Yang Kai hadn’t followed them this time and used some kind of mysterious method to pull in a group of powerful reinforcements from the Northern Domain and the Eastern Domain, the Southern Domain would have been finished. If the Plain Palace's scheme had succeeded, hundreds of Demon Emperor Realm masters and tens of thousands of elite cultivators would have been scattered throughout the entire Southern Domain. In time, the entire Southern Domain would have become a den of demons.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Martial Peak