Chapter 1268 - Setting Out
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain
In a loft in Dragon Cave Mountain, Dai Yuan sat by the second-floor window and gazed out across the scenery, resting her head on her hand as she breathed lightly.
Dragon Cave Mountain was always quiet and peaceful because there were not many cultivators living here, only a few dozen people. Although each of their cultivations was not very high, they were all extremely hard working and spent most of their time in secluded retreat. Only those who were responsible for maintaining and guarding Dragon Cave Mountain could be seen walking around from time to time.
Today was the day Yang Kai had agreed to give her a response, so Dai Yuan had woken up from her meditation at dawn and sat here uneasily, hoping to see Yang Kai’s figure.
Although she knew that this would likely not turn out how she hoped, she could not bring herself to give up.
The sun had risen, and the warm sunshine had made Dragon Cave Mountain look even more beautiful than normal. This place was indeed a paradise for secluded cultivation, not much worse than Dai Yuan’s Thousand Illusion Peak back in Coloured Glass Sect.
She really could not figure out how these few people had changed a barren mountain into something like this. Dai Yuan had heard that there was no one interested in this land before but now it had become famous as a local cultivation holy land with many people clamouring to join it.
However, the cultivators here did not accept outsiders, nor did they show any intention to grow or develop their forces, they all simply live and cultivated here.
This was a wise approach. After all, this place was inside Shadow Moon Hall’s jurisdiction. If they really tried to establish a force here, Shadow Moon Hall would not just sit back and ignore them.
Considering all this, Dai Yuan laughed lightly. With Yang Kai in charge here, given his intelligence and means, he would certainly not engage in this kind of self-destructive practice, making her worries superfluous.
After indulging in some flights of fancy for a while, Dai Yuan found her mood much calmer, raising her head up to observe the early morning sky. Bringing her gaze back down though, she still saw no trace of the figure she was waiting for.
Dai Yuan sighed, knowing that she was waiting here for nothing; however, she did not have any feelings of resentment or unwillingness and only a slight bitter smile crept onto her face while her heart filled with helplessness. Just as she was preparing to leave though, her expression suddenly changed, and she looked back out the window again.
In that instant, Dai Yuan’s eyes brightened, shock and joy flashing across their depths as she stared down below at the approaching figure.
“Sister Dai Yuan, good morning!” Yang Kai stood outside with a smile on his face and waved up at her.
Dai Yuan was stunned for a while but soon adjusted her expression and gently nodded to Yang Kai, “Good morning to you as well, Junior Brother Yang. Please wait a moment, I’ll be right down!”
Saying so, she quickly turned around and walked down to the first floor of the loft. Although her expression was calm and steady, her swift gait showed her inner tension.
She did not know what kind of answer Yang Kai would give her, but if he was simply planning on rejecting, was it necessary to show up so early in the morning? On the other hand, his perfunctory manner the other day was obvious, so even if Yang Kai refused her, Dai Yuan wouldn’t be surprised.
But if he was here to agree to her request, what had changed? Dai Yuan did not believe she had done anything to convince him at all.
As conflicting thoughts filled her heart, Dai Yuan soon reached the first floor of the loft but after meeting eyes with Yang Kai, she suddenly found herself at a loss for words.
“Sister Dai Yuan, do you have anything to clean up? If not, we should set off!” Yang Kai smiled to her warmly.
“Ah?” Dai Yuan froze for a moment, too startled to respond.
Yang Kai chuckled and continued, “What’s wrong? Didn’t Sister Dai Yuan want me to accompany you back to Coloured Glass Sect? Perhaps Dragon Cave Mountain’s scenery has captivated you and you do not want to leave right away? If so, why not stay a few days longer.”
“No no, it’s not that!” Dai Yuan responded hastily while waving her hands, her eyes filled surprise, “Although the scenery here is quite beautiful and I admire it greatly, it’s just...”
“It’s just that Sister Dai Yuan is wondering why I’m agreeing to go with you?” Yang Kai looked at Dai Yuan with a smile, laying bare her doubts.
Dai Yuan couldn’t help looking a little embarrassed. She originally asked Yang Kai to go with her to Coloured Glass Sect, but now that he had agreed, she was acting suspicious which came off as a bit rude.
“It’s simple actually,” Yang Kai had already prepared an excuse and fluidly said, “After returning from the Flowing Flame Sand Field, I’ve been in secluded and I felt that now was a good time to go out and move around. I have reached a bottleneck in my progress so just remaining in seclusion won’t be of help to me. You are also clear about my origins, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’m curious about the various great Sects on Shadowed Star. Now that I have such an opportunity to observe one up close, naturally I don’t want to miss it.”
Hearing this, Dai Yuan’s doubts were easily dispelled, and she smiled warmly, “I understand. My Coloured Glass Sect is not weak on Shadowed Star, but it is also not comparable to Heaven Battling Union or Thunder Typhoon Sect. Another day, when Junior Brother Yang has an opportunity to look at Heaven Battling Union and Thunder Typhoon Sect, you will understand that my Coloured Glass Sect is still a bit lacking. However, Junior Brother Yang having reached a bottleneck in his cultivation really emphasizes your amazing aptitude.”
Dai Yuan’s words were completely heartfelt. When she and Yang Kai had traveled together in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, he was just a First-Order Saint King. Although she did not know what happened to him after they separated, obviously Yang Kai had been able to break through. It wasn’t too surprise for him to have reached the Second-Order Saint King Realm, but now, apparently, he had reached the peak of the Second Order.
It seemed that the opportunities Yang Kai obtained in the Flowing Flame Sand Field were not small. How else could his cultivation have grown so fast? Dai Yuan thought secretly.
But when one reached a bottleneck, going out for a walk was the right course of action.
Understanding all this, Dai Yuan smiled and said, “I have nothing to clean up, so we can set out immediately. Coloured Glass Sect isn’t close so even if we make use of a Space Array, the journey will take about a month.”
“That is fine, my main objective for going out is to relax, so time isn’t a problem. Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you, I’m not the only one who will be going with you, Yang Yan will also be joining me. That won’t be a problem, will it?” Yang Kai suddenly asked.
“Sister Yang Yan? Naturally, there’s no problem for her to come.” Dai Yuan heard this and immediately agreed, turning her head, and seeing the black robed Yang Yan standing nearby like a dark yet delicate flower.
Yang Kai took the initiative to explain, “My Junior Sister is very interested in Spirit Arrays so she was hoping to come with me to see some of the grand Spirit Arrays of your noble Sect and try to learn something from them. You understand don’t you, woman are... ahem, I couldn’t convince her otherwise so I can only take her with me.”
Yang Kai originally wanted to say that women never stopped nagging, but just as the words were leaving his mouth he realized he had made a critical mistake and hastily choked them back down, causing Dai Yuan to give him a somewhat accusatory look.
He had forgotten for a moment that Dai Yuan was also a woman.
Yang Yan’s external identity was Yang Kai’s Junior Sister, which Yang Kai had previously mentioned to Qian Tong.
With Dai Yuan easily agreeing, Yang Kai did not hesitate and beckoned to Yang Yan, all three of them summoning their own Star Shuttles and rushing out of Dragon Cave Mountain soon after.
With both Yang Kai and Yang Yan out of Dragon Kai Mountain, Wu Yi was left in charge, but with the token to control all the Spirit Array’s Yang Yan had arranged in advance, Wu Yi shouldn’t have a problem defending this place unless a truly powerful enemy came to attack. But this was unlikely, as Dragon Cave Mountain simply had no great enemies.
Soon, the trio arrived in Heavenly Fate City.
When Dai Yuan came here, she had flown directly from Coloured Glass Sect without using any Space Arrays. Her saying to Yang Kai three days ago that no one knew she had come here was not a lie. In fact, not even Wei Gu Chang or Dong Xuan’er who were in retreat had any idea Dai Yuan had come to Dragon Cave Mountain.
It was because she had flown all the way from Coloured Glass Sect that it took her so long to arrive.
Fortunately, Shadow Moon Hall had good relations with Coloured Glass Sect and Dai Yuan held a certain amount of status, so it was not too difficult for the three of them to use Heavenly Fate City’s Space Array. After paying a certain amount of Saint Crystals, the Space Array was opened to the three of them.
After passing through the Space Array of several cities in succession, Dai Yuan lead Yang Kai and Yang Yan the rest of the way via Star Shuttle.
The trio’s pace was as swift as lightning, but the journey itself was quite dull.
Dai Yuan was not one for conversation in the first place. If she had not been seeking help from Yang Kai, she would not have tried to make friends with him in the Flowing Flame Sand Field. Yang Yan, on the other hand, seemed to be innately timid, afraid of being seen or talking to others, so as a result, these two women remained silent most of the time, only speaking a few words to Yang Kai now and again as they rushed forward.
Realizing this, Yang Kai also turned silent and focused on continuing to cultivate his Golden Blood Threads while secretly urging the power of the Artifact Spirit and the Origin Grade Artifact Refining Furnace to speed up the process of refining the dragon bone and Dragon Bead.
Along the way, he did not waste any time, making full use of every moment.
The more he refined his Golden Blood Threads, the more interested Yang Kai became in Demon Blood Temple’s Demon Blood Thread technique. This Divine Ability seemed to be tailored specifically for him, so it was a shame he had only managed to obtain the first half of it.
However, he had established a relationship with the Demon Blood Temple disciple Deng Ning before, so in the future, he might have an opportunity to obtain the second half of this technique, but that was something to consider only after he became much stronger.
A month quickly passed by as the trio hurried along with their journey being smooth and unremarkable.
On this day, while Yang Kai was sitting on his Star Shuttle, silently refining his Golden Blood Threads, and urging the power of the Artifact Refining Furnace, Dai Yuan, who was leading the way, slowed her Star Shuttle to a stop.
Seeing this, Yang Kai stopped what he was doing and brought his Star Shuttle to a halt as well with Yang Yan following suit. The two of them hovered shoulder to shoulder as they stared towards the distance where they saw the vague outline of a vast mountain range. Yang Kai’s anticipation rose as he knew that Coloured Glass Sect should be situated amongst these mountains.