Outside the cave’s entrance, the Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect disciples along with the Hu Sisters silently waited with an air of anxiety lingering about them.
Since Yang Kai had begun his retreat it had already been half a month, yet he had still yet to appear. Instead, an area stretching out tens of meters from where he was secluding himself was now completely covered in a thick layer of ice.
“How come Brother Yang still hasn’t emerged yet? He couldn’t have had an accident, right?” Cheng Ying paced back and forth as he nervously muttered.
However, as soon as he had spoken these words, Cheng Ying felt three cold piercing gazes fall upon him, which caused his neck to shrink up before an awkward sneer appeared on his face.
Chen Yi helplessly grinned, “Unfortunately, none of us has reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary. If someone amongst us could use their Divine Sense we could find out what happened inside.”
Tao Yang in reply just shook his head and said, “No, even if one of us could use their Divine Sense I’m afraid whatever thread they sent out would be frozen solid before discovering anything.”
Listening to this remark, everyone couldn’t help but feel shocked, and all of them grew more and more worried.
After what seemed like an eternity, all of the ice around the Yang Kai’s cave suddenly began to crack. Immediately afterwards, the entire ice-field shattered and transformed into a burst of brilliantly shimmering crystals which fluttered about the cavern.
Seeing this, everyone wore a smile and hurriedly called out.
“You finally came out; if you’d stayed in there much longer we wouldn’t have been able to stop ourselves from barging in!” Chen Yi saw Yang Kai and let out a burst of laughter.
Yang Kai smiled lightly, after taking a quick look around the crowd, and said, “Sorry, I’ve worried you all.”
“Since you’ve come out, we should leave here quickly. The situation around the Evil Cavern is a bit uneasy right now.” Leng Shan said, a hint of urgency apparent in her voice.
Tao Yang also nodded in agreement.
With such a powerful energy fluctuation having emanated from the Evil Cavern, two of the Four Monsters and Demons having fallen inside, and the news of the emergence of a true devil, numerous Immortal Ascension Boundary masters had arrived to investigate the situation while Yang Kai had been in retreat.
Staying here any longer would undoubtedly be troublesome.
Thirty kilometers away from the Evil Cavern’s entrance.
A group of youths stopped to rest.
Chen Yi finally couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked, “Brother Yang, the Four Monsters and Demons all wound up heavily wounded or dead, so how come you managed to emerge unscathed? On top of that, it looks like you even profited quite a bit.”
Hearing this, everyone couldn’t help but turn their eyes towards Yang Kai. They too wanted to know exactly what had happened.
Yang Kai simply grinned and said, “A just managed to pick up some small benefits after those four old guys and that devil fought. Both sides were severely injured, so I got lucky and managed to gain something after they both retreated.”
“Uh…” Chen Yi stuttered, and a wry grin spread across his face, “Sure enough, Brother Yang’s luck is too good, seems like such ridiculous things can actually happen in this world.”
Tao Yang chuckled and added, “It looks like those Four Monsters And Demons taking you in with them was actually them sending you a gift. Those old bastards went to steal a chicken but ended up losing their rice, haha!”
“How come they didn’t pick me to go?” Cheng Ying grumbled, clearly envious.
Leng Shan snickered, “Besides Yang Kai, if any one of us had been captured, they’d have certainly died. Do you really think gaining such a chance is that easy?”
Cheng Ying simply laughed, “I just said it casually.”
How could anyone not understand that Yang Kai obtaining such benefits was more difficult than ascending to the Heavens? Although he didn’t elaborate, everyone knew he must have faced numerous unknown dangers, and even keeping his life after falling into the Four Monsters And Demons’ hands could be considered as astonishingly good fortune.
During their brief time together, all of them had witnessed Yang Kai’s formidable strength and shocking methods many time,s and knew that he was by no means an ordinary True Element Boundary cultivator.
“Anyways,” Chen Yi smiled warmly and patted Yang Kai’s shoulder, “During this time’s trip to the Evil Cavern, my Ghost King Valley owes Brother Yang many lives. In the future, if there is ever something that Brother Yang needs, although I can’t guarantee anything else, my fellow brothers and I will offer our utmost to help, even if it means laying down our lives!”
All the other Ghost King Valley disciples also nodded firmly.
Tao Yang also laughed and said, “Count us in as well! Although we brothers and sisters aren’t the strongest fighters, when it comes to artifacts, heh… If Brother Yang ever needs an artifact refined, just come to Treasure Instrument Sect and look for me.”
“Good!” Yang Kai nodded happily.
“We’re not far from Ghost King Valley right now. If it’s convenient, why doesn’t Brother Yang come join us for some fun for a few days?” Chen Yi enthusiastically invited.
“He can’t come.” Leng Shan stated neither warmly or coldly.
“Junior Sister, you’re being too cold.” Chen Yi sighed, suddenly suffering from a headache. He wanted to communicate more with Yang Kai to deepen their friendship, but he hadn’t thought Leng Shan would suddenly not give him the slightest bit of face.
“What do you know? I’m saying this for his own good.” Leng Shan glared back at him, “Master knows him, if he goes to Ghost King Valley, he won’t live to see the sun rise tomorrow.”
Chen Yi was startled for a moment but quickly remembered that their elder Gui Li and High Heaven Pavilion’s Sect Master had a massive grudge between them.
Thinking so, he dared not bring Yang Kai back with them. He shook his head and turned to Tao Yang instead, “How about you, what are Brother Tao’s plans?”
Tao Yang laughed, “Isn’t Brother Chen going to invite us to travel with you? I’m also a bit curious about what kind of place Ghost King Valley is. I wonder if it would be possible for us to visit?”
“I’d like nothing more.” Chen Yi laughed heartily.
“Then I guess we’ll be separating here, you take care of yourself.” Leng Shan glanced towards Yang Kai and said.
Yang Kai simply smiled and nodded.
“Let’s go. Brother Yang, two Young Ladies, may we meet again!” Chen Yi called out on behalf of everyone and cupped his fists towards Yang Kai and the Hu Sisters.
“En, take care of yourselves.” Yang Kai cupped his fists in return as he watched his new friends from Ghost King Valley and Treasure Instrument Sect leave together.
“These so-called devil’s path cultivators aren’t all bad,” Hu Mei Er suddenly said once it was just the three of them left, “At least, these people from Ghost King Valley are very good.”
Hu Jiao Er also nodded deeply and remarked, “Good or bad is only a matter of perspective.”
Yang Kai glanced towards her with a dull smile, causing Hu Jiao Er’s face to blush slightly as she glared back at him, “Smelly brat! I haven’t forgiven you yet.”
“Forgiven me? For what?” Yang Kai was suddenly confused.
Looking at him bitterly, Hu Jiao Er didn’t have the nerve to bring up his previous slights towards her and simply shook her head, “Never mind, where do you plan to go now?”
Yang Kai suddenly couldn’t help but feel somewhat hesitant and stood there awkwardly for a moment wondering where he should go.
Looking at his vacant, confused eyes, the Hu Sisters couldn’t help feeling a twang of pain in their hearts.
This powerful and mysterious young man in front of them was no longer the domineering and confidant warrior who stood before them inside the Evil Cavern but was more like a lost child, not knowing where he was or which road he should take next.
Affected by his change in mood, Hu Jiao Er and Hu Mei Er also felt somewhat lost.
“We should leave the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land first.” Hu Jiao Er hurriedly broke the silence, somewhat unable to bear the sight of Yang Kai being so dispirited.
“Good!” Yang Kai’s eyes soon restored their former clarity and firmness. Although he didn’t know where he would go next, what he could affirm was that he must keep growing stronger. Seeking the peak of the martial dao was something he had always been clear about, and nothing that happened would ever cause him to falter in his pursuit of it.
Pausing for a moment, he then asked, “Where are you two going? Back to Blood Battle Gang’s territory?”
“No,” Hu Jiao Er smiled wryly, “We can’t go back until the war is over. If we do, things will become difficult.”
Their Blood Battle Gang and the nearby Storm Hall were both implicated because of the incident regarding High Heaven Pavilion and were forced by the Great Han Dynasty’s various great forces to participate on the frontlines of the war. If they went back at this time they would only cause more trouble for Blood Battle Gang.
“Then let’s find the others from the gang.” Hu Mei Er suggested, “Fifty or so of our members were deployed to the same region where we were fighting, they should still be there now.”
“What about you?” Hu Jiao Er glanced over at Yang Kai.
“I’ll follow your lead.” Yang Kai shrugged his shoulder. He also wanted to find a place with people he could ask about High Heaven Pavilion’s current situation, especially about Ling Tai Xu and Su Yan.
Glancing at the Hu Sisters, he suddenly grinned, “But before that, you two should disguise yourselves.”
“Hm, what do you mean?” Hu Jiao Er wrinkled her brow.
“Haven’t you learned your lessons yet after being targeted by those guys from Free and Unfettered Sect?”
Suddenly understanding, Hu Jiao Er first blushed then angrily glared at Yang Kai, “Being beautiful isn’t our sister’s fault! If there weren’t so many horny men like you out there how could we be so troubled!? All of you going about provoking us sisters, bothering us no matter where we go, it’s all so annoying!”
In spite of their resentment, Hu Jiao Er and Hu Mei Er still followed Yang Kai’s suggestion.
After all, this was the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, the number of unscrupulous characters was definitely higher than in the outside world.
A short while later, the two beauty’s stunning faces were covered up a lot. Although they didn’t have any suitable tools on the hand and couldn’t do a perfect job, the sisters had at least made it so they wouldn’t be coveted on first sight.
The elder sister now looked something like a dirty villager, her hair a mess and her clothes quite sloppily arranged, while the younger sister’s face was now full of pockmarks, no doubt deterring most people’s appetites.
Finished with their disguises, the two sisters looked at each other and couldn’t help but laugh.
Although their enchanting faces were now covered up, it was still difficult not to notice the exquisite lines of their perfect figures.
The three proceeded cautiously as they traversed the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land, doing their best to avoid contact with people.
Yang Kai’s greatly enhanced Spiritual Energy played a huge role at the moment, allowing him freely use his Divine Sense to scout an entire thirty kilometer radius around them in a single breath. By periodically sweeping the area around them, Yang Kai could almost always detect danger long before encountering it, which gave him and the Hu Sisters plenty of time to either hide or avoid.
Without him, the Hu Sisters would never have been able to escape the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land so easily.
After an entire month of time, having traversed several thousand kilometers, the trio finally left the Ash-Grey Cloud Evil Land.
One month of constant running, fighting, and hiding had pushed Yang Kai and the Hu Sisters to the brink of physical and mental exhaustion.
Although this trip had its fair share of perils, fortunately, the most dangerous incident was only meeting an Immortal Ascension Boundary Fourth Stage expert. Using Yang Kai’s Soul Skill to catch this expert off guard, the trio managed to deal a heavy blow to him, and then quickly fled, escaping relatively unscathed.
During that battle, Yang Kai was also seriously injured; however, under the care of the two sisters and after consuming a number of drops of Myriad Drug Liquid, he managed to make a full recovery after only two or three days.
Having passed this one month together with him, the Hu Sisters gradually became more dependent on Yang Kai, believing in and trusting him almost absolutely.
Even the more aggressive Hu Jiao Er didn’t dare to treat Yang Kai like the little brat she had met two years ago. After witnessing him not hesitate to stand before them and protect her and her sister, creating one miracle after another, her perception of this youth had slowly changed.
Without his protection, Hu Jiao Er couldn’t imagine what kind of horrible fate would have befallen her and her little sister.