The group of people had obviously learned about what had happened at the Plain Palace on their way here. At this moment, a solemn look appeared on their faces as a piercing sound rang out. Everyone turned to look and Wen Zishan said, “Yang Kai is here.”
This was not the first time Lei Hong and Xue Zhengmao had met Yang Kai. The last time Yang Kai had entered the Five Colored Pagoda to train, everyone had seen him, so naturally they were no strangers to him. At this moment, all of them couldn’t help but click their tongues in amazement. If it weren’t for Xiao Yuyang stating this in advance, none of them would have believed that the matter of Plain Palace was actually saved by Yang Kai.
He had actually managed to pull in so many powerful reinforcements in just a single day and even seemed to be able to arrange a Space Array to cross regions. Such a talent was simply astonishing. Thinking back to when he had gone to Star Soul Palace’s Five Colored Treasure Pagoda to train, Lei Hong and Xue Zhengmao had not paid much attention to him, but at this moment, they regarded him as an equal.
“Temple Master, Holy Master Ma, Golen Envoy Xiao…” Yang Kai landed, cupped his fists, and greeted Lei Hong and Xue Zhengmao.
Lei Hong and Xue Zhengmao looked at each other before suddenly bowing to the ground, “Elder Yang has turned the tide and saved many of our fellow cultivators from the Southern Domain. We, the Star Soul Palace, are extremely grateful.” Protecting the Southern Domain was originally Star Soul Palace’s responsibility, but who would have thought that Star Soul Palace would be completely ignorant of the Plain Palace's conspiracy, causing the Southern Domain to suffer heavy casualties and a great blow to Star Soul Palace’s prestige and reputation. If the Plain Palace's scheme were to succeed, Star Soul Palace would not only lose face, but even the foundation of the entire Southern Domain would be shaken.
At this moment, their gratitude was sincere.
Yang Kai raised his hand and said, “The two of you are too polite, it’s my duty.” He then sighed, “Unfortunately, this incident happened too suddenly and I was unable to complete my task, causing my Southern Domain to suffer heavy injuries.”
Xue Zhengmao shook his head and said, “If it weren’t for Elder Yang, the Southern Domain would have been in big trouble. Being able to protect so many people is all thanks to Elder Yang alone.”
Yang Kai smiled modestly, “It’s all thanks to my friends, I don’t dare claim credit.”
Xue Zhengmao and Lei Hong were silent. Previously, the two of them had looked down on Yang Kai, and even when Yang Kai had gone to Star Soul Palace the last time, they hadn’t taken him seriously. The main reason was that Star Soul Palace’s other Elder, Tan Junhao, had died at Yang Kai’s hands. Regardless of whether or not Tan Junhao had really done something wrong, he was still an Elder of Star Soul Palace and had a friendship with the two of them. Yang Kai killing Tan Junhao was equivalent to slapping Star Soul Palace’s face. The Great Emperor was tolerant and wouldn’t care about such things, but Xue Zhengmao and Lei Hong couldn’t ignore him, secretly hating Yang Kai’s actions.
It was only today that their impression of him had changed. He was neither arrogant nor impetuous, and his temperament was extraordinary. It was no wonder he was able to walk faster and further than his peers.
“Are all the people from Star Soul Palace here?” Yang Kai glanced at the group of people not far away. Among them, there were at least a hundred Emperor Realm. With so many of them, it was obvious that Star Soul Palace wasn’t the only one. There should also be other Sects.
Xue Zhengmao said in shame, “After hearing the news, we traveled day and night to get here. On the way here, we called some people from other Sects, but we were still a step too late.” The main reason was that Star Soul Palace was quite far from here, and the person who had gone to deliver the news had been delayed for a few days, so they had to wait until now.
Coming here to take a look, the matter had already been resolved and he had made a wasted trip, but he couldn’t just return home like this. It was true that the Plain Palace's scheme had been destroyed, but this time, he still had to investigate thoroughly.
“What about the Great Emperor?” Yang Kai asked suspiciously.
He actually didn’t see the Great Emperor. Logically speaking, for such an important matter, it was impossible for the Great Emperor to not make an appearance. He had sent people to Star Soul Palace to inform them, hoping that the Great Emperor would make a trip here. As long as the Bright Moon Great Emperor made an appearance, Lei Gu and the others would be nothing.
As soon as these words came out, Wen Zishan and Ma Qing also revealed puzzled expressions. Ma Qing said, “That’s right, how come we don’t see the Great Emperor?”
Xue Zhengmao replied, “The Great Emperor heard that the matter here has been resolved, so he returned to Star Soul Palace.”
Everyone was speechless when they heard this. Since he was already here, why didn’t he come and take a look? After all, this matter was no small matter, so he had to personally investigate it. But the Great Emperor had actually returned halfway, but no one dared to say anything about it.
Yang Kai casually asked, “Is Princess Lan Xun also not here?”
Lei Hong replied, “Her Highness is currently in seclusion today, I’ll have to trouble Elder Yang.”
Yang Kai nodded.
Xue Zhengmao said, “Although the Great Emperor hasn’t come, the Great Elder and I can handle this matter. There are some things we need to ask Brother Yang.” He quietly changed the way he addressed Yang Kai to Brother Yang, but in a much more friendly manner.
Yang Kai cupped his fists and said, “Feel free to ask anything, I will tell you everything I know.”
Xue Zhengmao said, “I’ve already heard about the general situation from Elder Xiao, but I don’t know anything about what happened on your side. If Brother Yang doesn’t mind…”
Yang Kai smiled lightly, “It’s not a big deal. The last day of the Martial Meeting, I suddenly received a message from Elder Luo Chen, asking me to go out…”
He briefly explained how he had been led out by Luo Chen and didn’t try to hide anything, including being ambushed and assassinated.
“Actually, I have something I would like to ask all of you,” Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled as he thought back to that night’s experience, still feeling some lingering fear.
Xue Zhengmao asked thoughtfully, “What is it?”
Yang Kai said, “The person who tried to assassinate me in the night was silent, so much so that I didn’t even notice when he was close behind me. After my counterattack, his figure became like a ghost, dissipating into a puff of smoke, completely unable to resist. Such a character is definitely not unknown, I wonder if anyone has any impression of him? When did my Southern Domain produce such a character?”
If there were any fish that had escaped from the net this time, that assassin would be the only one. Yang Kai had been seriously injured by him, but he hadn’t even been able to see his face clearly. He didn’t even know if the other party was a man or a woman. This was quite a big loss.
Yang Kai was certain that this person had the cultivation of a Third-Order Emperor Realm master and was extremely proficient in the Dao of Assassination. Yang Kai even suspected that this person was an existence close to the Great Emperor Yang Yan had mentioned before.
According to Yang Yan, there were still some old monsters in this world whose cultivations had reached the Transformation Boundary and were unable to improve in the slightest. However, the capacity of the World Bottles was limited, so they were unable to pry into the Dao of the Great Emperor and were stuck at bottlenecks. Most of these old monsters lived in seclusion in the mountains or cultivated in seclusion, so ordinary people couldn’t see them. If such a character were to take action, it would be understandable. However, Yang Kai didn’t sense any Demonic Qi from that person. In other words, that assassin hadn’t gone mad, so why would he collude with the Plain Palace?
Everyone frowned when they heard this, and Ma Qing said, “Such methods are unheard of.” Turning to Wen Zishan, he asked, “Do you have any impression?”
Wen Zishan also slowly shook his head.
Xue Zhengmao said, “Perhaps… it wasn’t done by someone from my Southern Domain.”
Lei Hong was stunned, “You mean…”
Yang Kai looked at them and frowned, “Do you have any guesses?”
Xue Zhengmao pondered for a moment before saying, “Such a mysterious assassination method is not something that can be cultivated overnight. As far as I know, there is a place in this world that can cultivate such a character.”
As soon as these words came out, Ma Qing and Wen Zishan also seemed to have thought of something and asked in shock, “No way?”
Yang Kai also suddenly understood, “Brother Xue means…”
Xue Zhengmao immediately raised his hand and said, “Without concrete evidence, I dare not jump to conclusions.”
Yang Kai knew what he was worried about, so he didn’t say anything, but after being reminded by him, he felt that it was quite possible. That assassination technique was extraordinary, and ordinary people wouldn’t have such ability.
The cultivation of the 3rd order Emperor Realm and his proficiency in the Dao of Assassination, all of these signs pointed towards that force.
However… how could the matters of the Southern Domain be related to them and the Demon Race?
Lei Hong frowned and said, “It shouldn’t be, that place is still a Great Domain, how could it do such a thing?”
“Let’s not talk about this for now. If anyone has any intentions in the future, please pay more attention and don’t let down your guard. Brother Yang being able to escape this calamity is truly a stroke of luck. If that person harbors malicious intentions towards others…” Xue Zhengmao didn’t finish his words before he shivered.
Enemies hidden in the shadows were the most terrifying. The one who attacked Yang Kai was proficient in the Way of Assassination, so if he was really targeted, he would have to sleep with his eyes open.
However, since Yang Kai was able to escape from this man’s hands, it shouldn’t be a problem for a few 3rd order Emperor Realm, but just because he was fine didn’t mean his fellow disciples were fine. How many Third-Order Emperor Realm were there?
There were too few clues, and Yang Kai had only exchanged blows with that man for a moment, so he couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman, let alone someone else.
Next, Yang Kai briefly explained what had happened after that. After learning that Yang Kai was really able to arrange a Space Array for crossing domains, everyone was amazed. Although they had already gone to investigate that Array, guesses and verification were two different things.
However, thanks to the Space Array, Yang Kai was able to gather so many helpers in a single day to resolve the crisis of the Plain Palace.
What he said was no different from what Xiao Yuyang and the others knew. The only difference was that they didn’t know about Yang Kai’s experiences. After learning that Yang Kai and Lei Gu had arrived at the Southern Swamp and set up a trap to kill him, everyone sighed.
There weren’t many Third-Order Emperor Realm masters anywhere, and both of them had a deep friendship with each other. Lei Gu had been possessed by Demonic Consciousness and had lost his ability to think, resulting in a tragic end.
The next step was to settle the survivors of the various great Sects of the Southern Domain. As time passed, news of what had happened here had gradually spread throughout the entire Southern Domain, and the experts from the various great Sects who had stayed behind all rushed over to Plain Palace to investigate the situation, as well as to confirm the casualties of their own people.
Almost every day, there would be people entering and exiting the Plain Palace. In less than ten days, the Plain Palace had become quiet and the people who were supposed to leave had basically all left. After this incident, the Southern Domain would likely fall into a state of recuperation for a long time.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Martial Peak