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Several thousand miles away, in Maplewood City.
The few hundred thousand cultivators in the city didnât get to rejoice over surviving the calamity, and they all looked in fear in a certain direction.
Intense energy ripples and deafening explosion sounds were reverberating from there.
Duan Yuan Shan, the Drunkard, Qin Zhao Yang, as well as various great familiesâ Dao Source Realm Old Ancestors were all standing atop the city wall. Those peopleâs gazes penetrated the void, seemingly trying to see and get some clues about this affair.
âCity Lord, who is fighting over there?â The Liang Familyâs Old Ancestor Liang Peng Le asked in surprise.
Duan Yuan Shan mulled it over for a moment and said, âOn the way back, I ran into the Heavenly Martial Holy Landâs Senior Chen and another two seniors, and they are likely behind this disturbance.â
âIs it Senior Chen, Chen Wen Hao, who had once visited our City?â The pupils of the Xin familyâs Old Ancestor Xin Gao Jie contracted.
âItâs precisely him!â
âThen who is their enemy?â An astonished look was apparent on Xin Gao Jieâs face.
Chen Wen Hao and his two companions were all Emperor Realm Masters, and they had even joined hands, yet they still ended up fighting so intensely against that said enemy and couldnât take victory in a short time.
The enemyâs great power could be discerned through this!
âI have no idea,â Duan Yuan Shan shook his head.
But at this moment, Yang Kaiâs image suddenly ran across his mind.
At that time, seven Great Dao Source Realm Masters brought Qin Yu with them to repair the seal, yet they slipped up. Zhuang Pan had escaped before the battle, while the Black Tortoise Seven Sections Array collapsed by itself, Du Li Shen suffered a miserable death on the spot and Qin Zhao Yang sustained heavy injuries and lost consciousness.
When Yang Kai had been corrupted by Demon Qi, he stood in his place motionless, and it looked like he was on the verge of turning into a demonâŚ
If Yang Kai had lost his mind, then he could really become a demon.
But, even if he became a demon, could someone at his level contend against three Emperor Realm Masters?
Duan Yuan Shan shook his head and threw this ridiculous thought to the back of his mind.
Moreover, the strange Ancient Demon Qi had already disappeared, and the demonic beings, who had been corrupted and lost their minds, had also recovered, so Yang Kai had obviously also recovered.
Rumble!
A loud thunderclap reverberated in the sky, and it was shortly followed by an unusual phenomenon. The worldâs Yuan Qi was attracted by something and it converged toward a certain direction.
âWhat happened?â Xin Gao Jie responded ahead of others and looked in surprise at a certain place in Maplewood City.
Duan Yuan Shan turned his head around and observed that said location for a while, then said out of delight, âSomeone in the city is advancing into the Dao Source Realm, whose familyâs disciple is it?â
The various Old Ancestors looked at each other in dismay, then shook their heads. They all expressed that it wasnât their familiesâ disciple.
âLetâs go over there and have a look, our Maplewood City has just gone through a great calamity, and this is a good omen,â Duan Yuan Shan shouted loudly and he conveyed his voice with the help of his Source Qi, and it was so loud that all cultivators in the city could hear him clearly.
He was the City Lord and he obviously had to pacify people, and the breakthroughâs phenomenon gave him more assets to use.
It didnât matter who was advancing, as he had managed to prompt the worldâs Yuan Qiâs change, and this was good news for Maplewood Cityâs cultivators who had just gotten a new lease of life.
After a short while, the crowd landed in front of a top-notch cave mansion.
An elderly woman, a pretty middle-aged woman, and a young girl were standing in front of the cave mansion, guarding it.
âMiss Xiao Qi?â Duan Yuan Shan cast a glance at the young girl with a surprised look plastered on his face.
It wasnât so strange for him to recognize Mo Xiao Qi. After all, they had fought together against the demonic beings and Demon Qi who enveloped the city, and even though Mo Xiao Qi was only a Third-Order Origin King, he didnât belittle her or look down upon her.
After all, Duan Yuan Shan had discovered through his short contact with the young girl that her origins were quite mysterious and all techniques studied and employed by her were all so profound.
The crux was that Mo Xiao Qi was seemingly only sixteen or seventeen years old.
A sixteen or seventeen years old Third-Order Origin King, even a Great Force like the Heavenly Martial Holy Land couldnât raise such outstanding talent, and it was a feat possible only by the Star Soul Palace.
Duan Yuan Shan had even taken Mo Xiao Qi for a secret disciple of the Star Soul Palace for a moment.
He didnât dare to belittle her!
âCity Lord Duan, seniors!â Mo Xiao Qi revealed a smile and greeted them.
âMiss Xiao Qi, the person making a breakthrough isâŚâ Duan Yuan Shan didnât beat around the bush and got right to the point. He questioned her directly!
âItâs the Spirit Pill Plazaâs Shopkeeper Kang.â Mo Xiao Qi didnât plan to hide anything from him.
âKang Si Ran?â Duan Yuan Shan revealed a surprised look and the various familiesâ Old Ancestors had also widened their eyes in shock, as if they had just heard some implausible news.
The Spirit Pill Plaza was an industry of the Violet Source Chamber of Commerce, and Maplewood Cityâs masters obviously knew it, and they also knew Kang Si Ran, yet they were confused mainly because they knew him.
How could Kang Si Ran make a breakthrough to the Dao Source Realm?
His martial path had already reached its end, and his aptitude wouldnât allow him to go farther than the Third-Order Origin King Realm. They didnât dare to claim that he would never reach the Dao Source Realm, but that said the probability wouldnât be any higher than one in ten thousand.
Yet, they had just heard a disturbance made by Kang Si Ranâs breakthrough into the Dao Source Realm, and they were all astounded.
A peculiar light flashed past Duan Yuan Shanâs eyes and he said with a smile, âTurns out itâs Shopkeeper Kang. We must congratulate him.â
His disappointment was apparent through his words.
Even though Kang Si Ran resided in Maplewood City, he didnât belong to it due to his origin and status. Furthermore, his advancement wouldnât be of any help to Maplewood City. Thatâs why Duan Yuan Shanâs feelings about this affair changed so drastically.
âShopkeeper Kang probably had some outstanding fortuitous encounter.â Xin Gao Jie wore a pensive look.
If he didnât get a fortuitous encounter, then Kang Si Ran wouldnât be able to advance to the Dao Source Realm just through his efforts due to his poor aptitude, and timewise, it looked like he had gone into seclusion when the city got enveloped by Demon Qi.
Since he dared to go into seclusion and make a breakthrough at this critical juncture, then he was obviously fully confident in his success.
âSeniors, after Shopkeeper Kang leaves seclusion, you can question him yourself,â Mo Xiao Qi replied with a smile.
Duan Yuan Shan nodded and said, âThatâs a matter of course.â
As they exchanged several words, the phenomenon in the sky became fully visible and its heavenly might erupted. The World Energyâs baptism started and lightning descended from the dark clouds in the sky. The lightning cleaved open the void and struck Kang Si Ranâs body.
Inside the cave mansion, Kang Si Ranâs miserable cries reverberated out, as if he was bearing excruciating pain and any personâs scalp would turn numb upon hearing those shrill cries
âŚ
Sword Qi ran amok, nine suns enveloped the land and a flood dragon phantom image formed by spear light danced around.
In the face of three Great Emperor Realm Mastersâ joint attack, Yang Kaiâs Demon Qi billowed ceaselessly, and he fought desperately without retreat even though his body had been thoroughly covered by wounds, as if he couldnât feel even an ounce of pain.
Those were wounds inflicted by Emperor Realm Masters and Emperor Artifacts, so even the Demon Qi and Golden Bloodâs great recovery ability couldnât heal them in a short while. Those wounds contained World Principle power and it was gnawing at Yang Kaiâs life force, and his injury state was only turning for the worse.
As his blood spluttered around, the blood-soaked Yang Kai only fought more bravely.
The three Emperor Realm Masters had joined hands and managed to suppress and inflict wounds upon him, yet they were getting more surprised the more they fought.
It was fortunate that three of them had arrived here, if only one of them faced this demon, none had any confidence that they could contend against him.
This was the most vicious and bloodthirsty demon they had seen in their lives!
As the battle reached its climax, a resonant cry resounded from a distant land.
*Shriek!*
This clear cry travelled across the void and fell upon their ears. It sounded like an Ancient Phoenix Divine Spiritâs cry and its voice betrayed its great anxiety and anger.
When the voice reached them, Yang Kai who was fighting toe-to-toe against the three great Emperor Realm Masters came to a stop, as if he had been struck by lightning, and the Demon Qi enveloping his body turned unstable.
Upon seeing this, Chen Wen Hao and the others moved back anxiously and got on the alert. They didnât know whether Yang Kai was only putting on an act and they didnât dare to rashly advance.
When experts exchanged blows, any careless move might cost them their lives.
âWhatâs that noise?â Feng Ming asked.
Chen Wen Hao and Gao Xue Ting shook their heads slowly.
The three people looked ahead and witnessed Yang Kai looking in a certain direction. They all followed his gaze and looked at the horizon. A scarlet dot was quickly closing in on them!
âShe has come!â
In the Small Sealed World, the Embodiment had also seen everything clearly through the projection and he was overjoyed by the turn of events.
âWhatâs that?â Hua Qing Si had good eyesight, yet still couldnât see through that scarlet lightâs nature. She could only feel that it contained unimaginable power!
âItâs his Artifact Spirit,â the Embodiment replied
âArtifact Spirit?â Hua Qing Si furrowed her brows and said in surprise, âDid his Artifact Spirit take on a physical form?â
Artifact Spirits were intangible beings and their life and death depended upon their artifact.
But, this Artifact Spirit had surprisingly taken a physical form, and it was obviously no ordinary Artifact Spirit.
Hua Qing Si suddenly recalled that according to the intel she got in her investigation, an Artifact Spirit with a physical form had been auctioned off in Maplewood City a year ago.
[Could it be this one?]
But, it was only a trifling Artifact Spirit, how could it reverse this deadlocked situation?
Hua Qing Si couldnât understand why this huge rock was so overjoyed.
âI hope that your⌠Emergence can awaken my main bodyâs consciousness,â the Embodiment prayed inwardly.
Yang Kai had fallen into a disadvantageous position in his fight against the three Emperor Realm Masters, yet he still fought them stubbornly. This was anything but good news, and the Embodiment had been trying all along to awaken his main body and make him leave and escape, yet he couldnât awaken him despite exhausting all his means.
Liu Yan had now arrived suddenly, and she probably might be able to help him cause she had a mental link with the main body.
As a matter of fact, this matter unfolded as the Embodiment had expected. When Liu Yan emerged in the distance, Yang Kaiâs Divine Senseâs fluctuations descended into chaos, and he stood quietly in his place, gazing upon the closing scarlet light in the distance. His eyes were first engulfed by confusion, then his inner struggle quickly showed up in them.
Shriek!
The resonant cry wasnât any different than a sharp sword stabbing at Yang Kaiâs heart, and that scarlet light wasnât any different than a spark setting a prairie afire, setting Yang Kaiâs consciousness afire. At this moment, the close mental link between him and the Artifact Spirit played a crucial role.
Yang Kaiâs mind got sober for a moment!
In the next moment, he realized his current dire straits and he couldnât help but furrow his brows.
âThe situation has changed, letâs end this battle.â Chen Wen Hao had realized that something was amiss with Yang Kai and he immediately let out a shout and got ready to use his ultimate move and end this battle as soon as possible.