Chapter 2286 - I Won’t Sell It for Now
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
“Oh, really?”
Upon hearing all of this, a stupefied look appeared on Yang Kai’s face. He didn’t know that the Identity Tokens of Azure Sun Temple’s disciples were divided into several grades.
It looked like the Azure Sun Golden Token given to him by Gao Xue Ting was anything but ordinary, and it was a symbol of her trust in him, as well as her recognition of his potential.
“Young Master Yang, you really didn’t know anything?” Ye Jing Han laughed bitterly.
“It’s just a token,” Yang Kai replied casually before he infused his Divine Sense into the token then sent a notification for Gao Xue Ting before placing it back. “Let’s go!”
The complex look apparent on the face of Ye Jing Han was quickly replaced by excitement and she nodded, “Okay!”
As her voice fell, Yang Kai’s power had already enveloped her and they teleported outside the city. Soon after, Yang Kai took out the wooden boat Artifact and stepped on it then beckoned to her, waiting for her to get on before weaving a set of hand seals and setting off.
The wooden boat wasn’t big, but it was still more than enough to accommodate two people standing on it. Besides, this was a Dao Source Grade High-Rank Flight Artifact, an artifact close to Emperor Grade, so its speed was quite outstanding.
Prior to this ordeal, he didn’t even remember where he had once heard the name of Thousand Leaves Sect and he had no understanding of it. That’s why he briefly questioned Ye Jing Han about it on the journey.
According to what Ye Jing Han had said, the Thousand Leaves Sect had been one of the first-class Sects of the Southern Territory long ago. It hadn’t been on par with peak-level sects such as Azure Sun Temple and Heavenly Martial Holy Land, but it still wasn’t too far from them.
However, since the entrance to its Sealed World had been sealed, the Sect lost access to abundant World Energy, as well as numerous pieces of its core inheritance. As a result, it had quickly declined and it grew weaker with each passing year.
In the current generation of Ye Jing Han’s father, the Sect had already declined thoroughly and the only Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator remaining was Sect Master Ye Han. In other words, they were weaker than the Blue Feather Sect!
Blue Feather Sect didn’t have an Emperor Realm Master assuming command, but it still had four Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivators the last time Yang Kai visited it.
In the previous opening of the Four Seasons Realm, Blue Feather Sect had still been awarded two entry quotas, while Thousand Leaves Sect didn’t even have one. One could clearly see the disparity between them from this.
Thousand Leaves Sect was located in Thousand Leaves Mountain Range in the Southern Territory’s Jiang Province, and it was around half a month’s journey away from Maplewood City.
Previously, Maplewood City had a Space Array leading to Jiang Province, but it had been destroyed by Drunkard during the desperate fight against the Demon Qi shrouding the city and it hadn’t been repaired since then.
After all, Maplewood City was quite small and the words of Duan Yuan Shan and his companions counted for little. They couldn’t invite competent Array Masters to repair the Space Array.
But, this wasn’t an issue any longer. After settling the Spirit Lake Palace’s affairs, Xiao Yu Yang and the other Emperors would surely dispatch Array Masters from their Sects to repair the Space Array.
Maplewood City would become one of the greatest cities of the Southern Territory and its Space Array would surely be connected to every major city it could.
Yang Kai reckoned that it would be easy for him to return to Maplewood City next time as he would just have to seek any medium-sized city and use its Space Array to instantly travel into Maplewood City.
Along the way, Yang Kai and Ye Jing Han spent their free time chatting, and he learned that the Thousand Leaves Sect was actually a Puppet Refinement Sect, and most of its disciples cultivated the Dao of Puppetry.
This was the first time Yang Kai had run into such a type of Sect in the Star Boundary. There were three thousand Daos which comprised the Martial Dao. Puppet Techniques weren’t weak, but they had strict cultivation requirements and refining puppets was a pretty complex process, which was why few people had any good achievements in this Dao.
But, if one cultivated the Dao of Puppetry to its pinnacle, then they would also be extremely powerful.
“Since your Thousand Leaves Sect mainly cultivates Puppet Techniques, why haven’t I ever seen you use them?” Yang Kai asked in confusion.
When they had run into danger below the eighteen Spirit Springs, Ye Jing Han didn’t use her puppets once.
Upon hearing Yang Kai’s question, an embarrassed look appeared on Ye Jing Han’s face and she said awkwardly, “If I tell you, then you would laugh at us. Our Thousand Leaves Sect is known for its Puppet Techniques, but we lost most of our core Puppet Control Techniques after the Sect Master of that generation brought numerous Secret Technique Manuals and books into the Sealed World. As a result, the puppets refined by our Thousand Leaves Sect currently... Aren’t very useful.”
Saying so, she pursed her rosy lips and weaved some hand signs, summoning a little blue bird into her palm.
Yang Kai observed the bird carefully. This was a perfect lifelike imitation of a bird and even had distinctive feathers that gave off a natural lustre. But, if one observed it with their Divine Sense, they would realize that this bird didn’t have a body of flesh and blood and it was just a puppet crafted out of various materials.
Amazement surfaced in Yang Kai’s eyes. If he didn’t observe the bird carefully with his Divine Sense, then he wouldn’t have been able to distinguish it from the real deal.
Soon after, Ye Jing Han weaved hand seals again and pointed her jade-white finger at the bird.
In the next moment, the bird shone brightly and it flapped its little wings, turning its head around and flying up into the air before it started circling around Ye Jing Han, letting out authentic-sounding chirps.
Upon seeing this, Yang Kai gasped in amazement and nodded at her with praise, “Your Noble Sect’s Puppet Techniques are outstanding.”
Ye Jing Han’s face got flushed, “Many thanks, Young Master Yang, for the undeserved praise. Our Sect’s current Puppet Techniques could only craft puppets like the one before your eyes. They are useful for gathering intelligence and stealthily tracking, but they are pretty much useless in real battles. This is why... Some of the Elders of our Sect have already started cultivating other methods and Secret Techniques as they believe Puppet Techniques are useless.”
Yang Kai sneered and said, “They are all just too short-sighted.”
Ye Jing Han’s eyes lit up, “Young Master Yang, do you truly believe the Dao of Puppetry is good?”
Yang Kai said firmly, “I haven’t delved into this Dao, but I still know that powerful puppets shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s said that the Star Boundary has some pretty strong puppets, ones so strong that even Emperor Realm Masters would avoid fighting them if they could.”
Upon hearing this, Ye Jing Han smiled bitterly, “I don’t aspire to craft such strong puppets, I just wish to halt the decline of our Thousand Leaves Sect. But it’s a pity... The crux of Puppet Refining is the availability of Spirit Energy Hearts and our Sect doesn’t have any methods left to craft High-Grade Spirit Energy Hearts. If we could at least obtain such a method, then regaining our former glory wouldn’t be so impossible.”
“Spirit Energy Hearts?” Yang Kai raised his brow as he suddenly recalled something. Stretching out his hand, he summoned several egg-sized crystals which emitted a strange radiance into his palm.
Ye Jing Han cried out in alarm and without waiting for him to explain anything shouted, “Spirit Energy Hearts? Young Master Yang, why do you have such objects in your possession?”
“I obtained them in the Four Seasons Realm,” Yang Kai replied.
In the Flowing Time Temple, the first trial faced by the crowd was numerous puppets, and after Yang Kai had defeated said puppets, he collected their Spirit Energy Hearts. He only had a few of them though and hadn’t decided what to do with them yet.
“The Four Seasons Realm...”
Upon hearing this, Ye Jing Han’s expression turned gloomy, but she quickly recovered and asked excitedly, “Young Master Yang, can I have a look at those Spirit Energy Hearts?”
Yang Kai cast a glance at her lightly before tossing one of them over.
Ye Jing Han caught it in delight and started playing with it in her hands while observing it carefully like a little kid who had just gotten a new toy. The woman’s delight was apparent on her face!
“The Spirit Arrays engraved on this Spirit Energy Heart look very old, the techniques to engrave the Spirit Veins have already been lost, but this Spirit Energy Heart’s grade is pretty high. If I’m not mistaken, this should have belonged to a Dao Source Grade Puppet, yes?”
Yang Kai nodded and said, “That’s right, you’re still able to appraise and identify them accurately it seems.”
“Young Master Yang, please don’t make fun of me. I have been involved in the Dao of Puppetry since my childhood and I have studied it ever since then. If I have this Spirit Energy Heart, then I can craft a Dao Source Grade Puppet...”
Saying so, she clenched the Spirit Energy Heart tightly and looked expectantly at Yang Kai, “Young Master Yang, I have a presumptuous request.”
“Since you know it’s a presumptuous request, don’t raise it,” Yang Kai knew very well what she wanted to ask and swiftly snatched the Spirit Energy Heart back from her, grinning as he said, “I have only a few of these and I want to keep them.”
“Young Master Yang...” Ye Jing Han wore a sorrowful look, as if Yang Kai had now thoughtlessly abandoned her after casually sleeping with her, “Why don’t you sell it to me? This object is pretty much useless to you.”
Now, she was only a Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, the same as Yang Kai, but if she could refine a Dao Source Grade Puppet, then she would be able to raise her combat strength significantly. This wasn’t any different than a Heaven-sent blessing for a person who was engrossed in Puppet Techniques since her childhood.
Moreover, it wasn’t limited to just this. She could still study the internal structure of this Spirit Energy Heart and might be able to comprehend some of its secrets, ultimately enabling her to reproduce it. If she could achieve this feat, then she would be able to raise the power of Thousand Leaves Sect by several-fold.
“Young Master Yang, can you sell one of them to me? I beg of you.”
Upon noticing that Yang Kai was turning a deaf ear to her pleas, Ye Jing Han gripped Yang Kai’s arm and started shaking it repeatedly like a little girl throwing a tantrum.
Yang Kai curled the corners of his lips and revealed an evil grin, chuckling as he said, “Young Lady Ye, we’re now in a desolate area, so is it really appropriate for you to stick so close to me?”
Upon hearing this, Ye Jing Han’s face got flushed and she immediately realized how inappropriate her current actions were. She quickly let go of him then asked piteously, “Young Master Yang, what do you want in exchange for one of them?”
“I won’t sell it for now,” Yang Kai replied.
“For now?”
Upon hearing this, Ye Jing Han raised her brow and she took keen notice of the implication behind Yang Kai’s words, her eyes suddenly lighting up as she asked, “Then when will you sell them?”
Yang Kai chuckled, “That depends on the situation. I may not ever sell them, or I may decide to sell them at a passing opportunity.”
“You’re so...” Ye Jing Han was so enraged that she stamped her feet. She had no way to deal with Yang Kai.
She didn’t get to finish her words though as Yang Kai’s expression suddenly turned grave and he stopped the boat. Ye Jing Han who had been standing behind him almost knocked into his back, but she reacted pretty quickly and used her Source Qi to keep her balance. Afterwards, she couldn’t help but ask angrily, “Young Master Yang, what are you up to?”
Yang Kai didn’t reply and just looked coldly into the void in the vicinity with a mocking grin on his face.
“What’s wrong?”
Upon seeing this, Ye Jing Han couldn’t help but question him, while a chill suddenly ran down her spine, as if she was being eyed by some dangerous beast.