Chapter 4265
Translator: Silavin & Tia
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
After Yang Kai finished speaking, he carried Qu Hua Shang on his back once more and took several steps forward without even bothering to turn around, “Excuse me. Please continue your fight.”
*Hong hong hong...*
Earth-shaking noises rang out once more from behind him. It was the gorilla and the wolf continuing their vicious battle. Yin Xin Zhao nearly coughed up blood at the sight because while these two beasts were fighting between themselves, their battlefield was gradually moving towards him.
“Run!” He shouted and hurriedly escaped with his two Junior Brothers in tow. They quickly travelled across hundreds of kilometres before searching for a way around to continue their pursuit. Nevertheless, he knew that it would be difficult for him to trace Yang Kai’s whereabouts again after this delay.
At this moment, Yang Kai was desperately running with Qu Hua Shang on his back. Although he had borrowed the two powerful Sixth-Order Monster Beasts to temporarily get away from Yin Xin Zhao and the others, he was certain the other party would not give up so easily, so he had to continue fleeing for his life.
As he ran, he suddenly had the feeling that the terrain in this place was somewhat familiar. It vaguely felt like he had seen it before. After pondering deeply for a bit, the realisation struck him all of a sudden. He quickly stopped in his tracks and took out an animal skin map from his Space Ring. Studying the map carefully and comparing the places he passed by with the places marked on the map, he couldn’t help feeling surprised. [Isn’t this the route marked on the map?]
This animal skin map was something he obtained from the first cultivator he encountered in this place. The cultivator had tried to ambush him in the swamp when he first entered the Blood Monster Cave Heaven, only to be ambushed himself by a toad Monster Beast. At the time, Yang Kai had studied the map and discovered that it was probably part of a route in the Blood Monster Cave Heaven. It was just that he had no idea what was waiting for him at the final destination.
Yang Kai originally planned to check out this place as the map looked ancient and might just lead to some hidden treasure. It was just that he met Bu Lian Zhong and the others along the way. Afterward, he encountered Blood Monster Divine Monarch’s Dao of Blood inheritance and was delayed as a result. Who could have known that he would arrive at the route marked on the map by accident whilst fleeing for his life?
Taking a good look around, he found that the final destination marked on the map was located not far away from here. It would take him another four hours at most to arrive, so his eyes flashed in anticipation. Putting the map away, he headed in the indicated direction.
He was not going there in search of treasure though; rather, both he and Qu Hua Shang were currently in a condition where they were in dire need of a safe place to recuperate from their wounds. Regardless of whether the final destination turned out to be a hidden treasury or something else, it would surely be well-hidden!
Four hours later, Yang Kai arrived in front of an enormous lake. He took out the map, checked his location, and confirmed that this was indeed the final destination, but he just stared at the lake with a speechless expression. [What am I supposed to do if this is the final destination!?]
The reason he strove so hard to come here was to find a place to hide and recuperate from his injuries; however, the terrain around the lake was completely unobstructed. Forget being chased by Yin Xin Zhao and the others, even encountering a Monster Beast here would be troublesome.
Yang Kai angrily put the map away. At this moment, he could only conceal himself within the Sealed World Bead and hide the Sealed World Bead in a secluded place. It was not as if he had not considered hiding inside the Sealed World Bead earlier, it was just that every corner of the Blood Monster Cave Heaven was fraught with danger. It would be perilous if the Sealed World Bead was discovered by a cultivator or a Monster Beast.
This lake turned out to be a pretty good spot though. He could sink the Sealed World Bead into the lake, assuming that there were no ferocious Monster Beasts swimming inside of it.
Upon considering all this, Yang Kai felt slightly better. His efforts to travel here were not completely in vain. He walked over to the edge of the lake and swept his Divine Sense out to investigate the situation.
The next moment though, his expression changed drastically! There was something strange about this lake! If he looked with his eyes, the lake was incredibly realistic. Light shimmered on its surface in a perfectly natural manner; however, he noticed something strange about it when using his Divine Sense to probe it.
[There’s a Spirit Array here! The lake is actually an extremely brilliant and sophisticated Illusion Array! The lake does not exist at all!] Yang Kai had only just figured this out when a black shadow suddenly came leaping at him from the surface of the lake. The shadow blocked out the sky and loomed over him.
He was startled. Just as he was about to flutter backward, a chill ran down his back at that very moment. Caught unguarded, he hurriedly turned around with a roar and viciously smashed his palm forward.
There was a loud explosion and his palm seemed to strike a person, drawing a grunt of pain from their lips. Then, a ghostly figure appeared in his field of vision. What he sent flying turned out to be a man with short stature.
The man looked like he had seen a ghost. It seemed that he had not expected Yang Kai to be so strong; after all, Yang Kai looked to be severely injured. Who could have expected that he would not be Yang Kai’s opponent even when the latter was in such a state? Nevertheless, this short man had achieved his goal.
Yang Kai was pushed back by the force of the impact and involuntarily staggered, only to fall headfirst into the black shadow coming from the lake. Immediately after that, he felt a mighty restraining force wrapping around him from all directions, trapping both him and Qu Hua Shang who was lying in his arms, together.
What came leaping out at him from the surface of the lake turned out to be a large net. At this moment, he and Qu Hua Shang had clearly fallen into an artifact trap. The large net tightened rapidly, causing him to feel extremely uncomfortable.
“That brat is tough. Quick! Use the Firm Yuan Nail!” The short man who was sent flying by Yang Kai earlier shouted.
*Chi chi chi...* Several cold lights came flying over and Yang Kai felt a slight pain in his body when they stabbed into his body. Following that, he stopped struggling against the net with a look of surprise.
The so-called Firm Yuan Nail turned out to be a strange artifact that could restrain the Qi in a cultivator’s body. From what Yang Kai could tell, there was a cold force seeping into his body that sealed his meridians and caused his strength to become obstructed!
Yang Kai hurriedly surged the Power in his Dao Seal to let the Golden Crow’s True Fire course through his veins and the Firm Yuan Nails were immediately burned to ashes, allowing his Qi to flow smoothly again.
*Xiu xiu xiu...*
More than ten figures landed from all directions, surrounding him in the middle, but Yang Kai remained calm. Carrying Qu Hua Shang in his arms, he glared at his surroundings coldly. [If these people believe that my strength has been sealed by the Firm Yuan Nail, then they are in for a rude surprise.]
Nevertheless, what piqued his curiosity was that these people seemed to have no intention of killing him. Be it the restraining net or the Firm Yuan Nails, they were both only meant to subdue their enemies. Even the short man who attacked him from behind was only attempting to force him into the large net. These people had not displayed any murderous intent from the start.
[Who are these people?] Yang Kai initially assumed that they were the disciples of some random Sect; however, it did not seem likely now that he had taken a good look at them. That was because they were dressed strangely. Slightly differently from everything he had seen before.
The young man in the lead was charismatic and handsome with a jade-like face. As he turned to glance at the short man, he asked, “Are you okay?”
The short man shook his head, “His paltry strength is not enough to harm me.”
The young man coldly snorted, “That guy is severely injured. Did you think you’d be safe otherwise?”
The short man looked unconvinced, “I didn’t use my full strength either.”
The young man ignored the short man and swept his gaze over Yang Kai, “An Outer World visitor?”
“Huh?” Yang Kai frowned, not quite understanding the question.
The young man pointed at the sky, “Are you from the outside world?”
Yang Kai asked curiously, “Aren’t you?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he suddenly recalled something. The Proprietress once mentioned that the Blood Monster Cave Heaven not only contained Monster Beasts but also some natives!
Blood Monster Divine Monarch had placed these people into his Small Universe so that they could thrive and reproduce in order to strengthen the vitality of his Small Universe.
The Small Universe of a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master would transform from ethereal to corporeal and become essentially no different from a genuine Universe World, so it was capable of sustaining living creatures. For that reason, the Small Universes of many High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters would contain living creatures in them. It was just that these living creatures were bound by certain restraints and could never advance into the Open Heaven Realm, not unless they could somehow escape the Small Universe they lived in.
[Could it be that these people in front of me are the natives of the Blood Monster Cave Heaven? That must be it! No wonder they are dressed differently from those of us from the outside!] Upon realising this, Yang Kai immediately nodded in response, “That’s right. My companion and I both came from the outside world.”
The other party did not seem to be malicious, so he had no reason to make things difficult for himself. Besides, he had only just escaped from the clutches of two different enemies, so he truly could not afford to fight another battle at the moment. What he needed was a good rest to heal from his injuries.
“Has it been 200 years already...” The young man muttered under his breath and looked up at Yang Kai, “Don’t be scared. We won’t kill you, but you will need to come with us.”
Yang Kai retorted in his heart. [I’m not scared!]
In any case, the other party did not seem to be malicious so it wouldn’t hurt to follow them. He could also take the chance to go to where these people were located to have a good rest. It was not difficult for him to recover, but the main issue was Qu Hua Shang. Her injuries this time were rather severe.
While the young man was speaking, he raised his hand and retrieved the large net. However, he said nothing about the Firm Yuan Nails inside Yang Kai’s body. In his opinion, Yang Kai couldn’t even think about escaping as long as the Firm Yuan Nails were there.
The group of ten or so people immediately escorted Yang Kai towards the lake. The young man waved the token in his hand and a burst of light flashed across the surface of the lake. Following that, ripples spread across the space in front of them and a city came into view.
Yang Kai was slightly taken aback by the sight. Although he had discerned that the lake was an Illusion Array, he never imagined that an entire city was hidden behind it. [I brought Qu Hua Shang right to the gates of their city. No wonder they discovered my presence.]
At this point, he finally understood something. The place marked on the animal skin map that he obtained from somebody else’s Space Ring was this city! It was not some sort of hidden treasure trove. The person in question probably obtained the map from somewhere else and had no idea about the mysteries behind this place. If that person had found his way here, he would definitely be facing the same situation as what Yang Kai was experiencing right now.
...
Upon walking into the city, Yang Kai discovered that it was not very large, probably capable of accommodating a few thousand people at most. Great walls surrounded the entire city, all of them equipped with various large-scale ballista-like artifacts. There were also a few artifacts somewhat similar to the cannons of a Starship. Furthermore, the sturdy city walls were covered in bloodstains that had turned black with time. Parts of the city walls had collapsed and people were working on repairing them.
This place was clearly not some sort of paradise as there were various signs that it was constantly under attack. It was no wonder that they placed an Illusion Array on the outside to confuse one’s sight.