The universe was vast and boundless, and there were many cultivators in it. Lu Xue had traveled far and wide for many years, so although she could be considered experienced and knowledgeable, how could she recognize a stranger?
Needless to say, Guo Ziyan was only a Second Order Open Heaven Stage cultivator, so his knowledge was limited.
“But Sir, that person is at least a Fifth Order Open Heaven Stage master,” Lu Xue said solemnly.
Although the middle-aged man didn’t release any aura, making it impossible for others to accurately determine his cultivation, Lu Xue still felt a faint pressure in front of him. Lu Xue herself was a Fourth Order Open Heaven Stage cultivator, so for her to feel such pressure, he was at least a Fifth Order.
Yang Kai nodded solemnly. With Lu Xue and Guo Ziyan’s strength, it was impossible for them to resist a Fifth Order Open Heaven Stage master. If they really wanted to harm him, it would be quite troublesome.
This was the most conservative estimate. If that person was a Sixth Order, it would be even more troublesome.
“Although the chances aren’t high, we must take precautions,” Yang Kai muttered to himself for a moment before secretly sending a message to Lu Xue and Guo Ziyan. The two immediately nodded and left.
Half a month later, Lu Xue retrieved her Windmill Carriage Artifact, but she was in no hurry to leave.
Two months later, the three of them left the inn and set out.
A few days later, a huge Domain Gate appeared in front of them and the Windmill Carriage quickly disappeared.
But less than an hour after Yang Kai and the other two entered the Domain Gate, a streak of light suddenly flew over from the distance and landed in front of the Domain Gate.
This man was none other than the middle-aged man Yang Kai had occasionally seen in the Universe Temple. Staring at the Domain Gate, the middle-aged man muttered to himself, “Did you enter? Hmph, I’m sure you won’t be able to escape from my grasp.”
Saying so, he plunged into the Domain Gate, and the World Force transformed into a powerful barrier to resist the pressure of the Domain Gate.
There were some risks involved in traversing the Domain Gates. Generally speaking, only those who had reached the Mid Rank Open Heaven Stage would be able to travel through the Domain Gates with their physical bodies without borrowing any external objects. Under the Mid Rank Open Heaven Stage, if one didn’t borrow the power of a secret treasure or secret technique, it was extremely likely that they would be crushed to death, the Domain Gates is filled with terrifying pressure.
However, even though this middle-aged man’s cultivation was only at the Fifth Order Open Heaven Stage, when he was shuttling through the Domain Gate, his Soul was still shaken and he felt slightly dizzy.
He had already experienced this kind of situation countless times, so he didn’t panic. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, he didn’t use any kind of artifact. Soon, his vision blurred and the middle-aged man knew that he had arrived in another Grear Domain.
However, before he could stabilize himself, a sword light suddenly slashed towards him from the side.
The middle-aged man’s face drained of color as he quickly realized that he had been ambushed, and the cultivation of the person who had attacked him was no weaker than his own.
Who? Who would ambush him here?
The middle-aged man didn’t have time to think about this carefully and quickly retreated, but the sword light was like a maggot clinging to his bones.
Under normal circumstances, with his foundation, it wouldn’t be a problem for him to resist such an attack. After all, his strength wasn’t weak, but the moment he passed through the Domain Gate, his Soul and Dao Seal were slightly shaken and his strength was reduced by at least thirty percent.
The sword light directly tore through his defences and struck his body.
The middle-aged man’s clothes were torn and blood splattered everywhere as a foot-long wound immediately appeared on his chest. His flesh was torn and his bones were visible.
He felt a lingering fear in his heart. If it weren’t for the fact that he had seized the opportunity to retreat and stall for time, allowing him to use a defensive Secret Technique, this sword light would have taken half his life.
Even so, at this moment, he was in a terrible state. The wound was filled with Sword Intent and he had to divert his attention to suppress it to prevent it from worsening.
At this moment, another figure rushed out from the side, holding a Dragon Marks Giant Shield in his hand as he ruthlessly attacked.
The middle-aged man was caught off guard and staggered from the impact. The massive force caused him to tumble and spit out a mouthful of blood.
The sword light flashed again, transforming into a rain of swords that rained down on him, each one of them filled with killing intent!
However, after a while, the middle-aged man managed to recover. With a furious roar, he summoned a shovel-like artifact and used the World Force to smash the sword light into pieces.
In the end, he was still an experienced Fifth Order Open Heaven Stage smaster. Although he had suffered a great loss from the sneak attack, after stabilizing his position, he immediately displayed his powerful foundation.
The other man raised his shield and smashed it down again.
The middle-aged man flew into a rage, “A mere Third Order dares act so presumptuously in front of this King!”
Although he couldn’t see who had ambushed him, with his Divine Sense spreading out, he could sense that the one fighting him was a Fifth Order, and a Third-Order.
It was one thing for the one who have similar Fifth Order cultivation like him, but this Third Order Open Heaven Stage cultivator actually dared to act so arrogantly, causing him to fly into a rage.
Raising his hand in the air, a whip-like artifact appeared in his hand. From this whip came the sound of surging river water and the rich power of water element. This artifact was obviously refined from a large river.
Hei He whip flew through the air and ruthlessly smashed into the giant shield, causing it to let out a painful groan. Cracks immediately appeared on its surface, and the owner of the giant shield was sent flying like a ragdoll, his figure tumbling through the air as he bled profusely.
Third Order Open Heaven Stage fighting a Fifth Order Open Heaven Stage was simply too difficult. If it weren’t for the fact that the giant shield was a powerful defensive artifact, he would have died on the spot.
At this moment, although his life was no longer in danger, under the attack of the enemy, his Dao Seal was constantly trembling and he had temporarily lost the ability to fight.
On the other hand, his sacrifice wasn’t without value. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the fragmented sword light once again blossomed with a strange light, leaving a series of sword scars on the middle-aged man’s body.
Blood splattered everywhere as the middle-aged man was terrified.
One wrong step led to another. He had been ambushed while traversing the Domain Gate, causing him to lose all initiative in the battle and fall into a disadvantageous position.
Just who was it that had ambushed him here?
Blood flowed down his forehead and his eyes became blurry. The middle-aged man looked around and soon saw a figure standing not far away.
His eyes couldn’t help narrowing as he cried out, “It’s you!”
This person was actually Yang Kai!
Yang Kai stood there calmly, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing a mocking smile, “Hei He, this King has been waiting for you for a long time!”
Seeing him call out his name, the middle-aged man became even more furious, “How do you know this king origins?”
Yang Kai smiled and said, “It’s not like you don’t know anyone in the Universe Temple, just asking around will reveal your background.”
After returning from the jewellery shop that day, Yang Kai had Lu Xue and Guo Ziyan inquire about it. Both of them were old veterans, so it wasn’t difficult for them to obtain some information.
The truth left Yang Kai stunned.
The one who wanted to have a drink with him was actually Heavenly Monarch Hei He (Black River)!
Yang Kai had never seen or heard of Heavenly Monarch Hei He before, but the name Hei He (Black River) made him wary.
If his guess was correct, there might be some kind of grudge between him and this Heavenly Monarch Hei He, and the source of this grudge was Fang Tai, who he had met in the Seven Skillful Land Fire Spiritual Land.
Fang Tai was a servant of the Fire Spiritual Land and had also been abducted by Duan Hai along with Yang Kai. This fellow claimed to be from the Black River World and had a token left behind by his ancestor.
He had broken free from the world's shackles and come to this 3000 Worlds naturally because he wanted to use this token to seek out his Elder and obtain his protection, but unfortunately, he had fallen into the Seven Skillful Land and was unable to escape.
Duan Hai had obviously heard of the name of Heavenly Monarch Hei He and had lured his descendant to become a servant. If this matter were to spread out, Heavenly Monarch Hei He would definitely not let him off so easily. In order to avoid future trouble, he had planned to let Fang Tai escape from the Seven Skillful Land and then order Yang Kai to pursue him.
Yang Kai still remembered that two Low Rank Open Heaven Stage masters had accompanied him to find Fang Tai in the Universe World. Yang Kai had fought him alone and killed him.
It was also at that time that Yang Kai encountered Xu Huang, which led to the Seven Skillful Land's upheaval.
Xu Huang was a Fifth Order Open Heaven Stage master, when Yang Kai killed Fang Tai, he had been hiding nearby and had seen everything clearly. After discovering some insider information, he had told Yang Kai that there was a seal in Fang Tai’s body, and whoever killed him would leave behind a hidden mark. Unless Yang Kai advanced to Open Heaven, it was impossible to remove this seal.
The greatest use of this mark was to identify the culprit. In the future, if the owner of this mark were to encounter it, they would be instantly detected.
All this time, Yang Kai hadn’t paid much attention to this matter. After all, the universe was so big, so how could he coincidentally encounter the owner of this mark?
But who would have thought that things would be so coincidental? When Yang Kai learned the name of Hei He Heavenly Monarch, he immediately reacted.
Fang Tai came from the Black River World, and that guy was the Heavenly Monarch Hei He (Black River). It was possible that he was the one who had planted the mark on Fang Tai.
If that was the case, then the matter of him killing Fang Tai would be exposed. This Heavenly Monarch Hei He seemed to have chosen the same piece of jewelry as him in the jewelry shop, he was definitely trying to get close to him and get to the bottom of it.
Since he knew this, how could Yang Kai not take precautions?
Originally, he had planned to leave the Universe Temple in half a month and continue forward, but he had forcibly stayed in the Universe Temple for two more months in preparation.
The result of his preparations was also obvious. The ambush had actually caused Heavenly Monarch Hei He to be unable to raise his head.
Contrary to Yang Kai’s calm and composed attitude, Heavenly Monarch Hei He was both shocked and angry at this moment. He was angry because he had been shrewd all his life and had unknowingly fallen into someone’s trap. He was shocked because the auras of the two Open Heaven Stage masters beside this boy were different from what he had sensed before.
When he had first met these three people, Heavenly Monarch Hei He had secretly investigated the cultivation of the two people beside Yang Kai. The woman was definitely a Fourth Order Open Heaven Stage cultivator while the other man was only a Second Order. As for Yang Kai himself, a mere Emperor Realm was nothing to him.
However, after this exchange, he realized that he had made a huge mistake. The man was not a Second Order, but a Third Order! Not only that, but the sword-wielding woman was actually a Fifth Order!
TO BE CONTINUED...
Martial Peak