Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain
After walking far away, the man who invited Yang Kai to accompany him looked back, a strange expression upon his face as he muttered to himself, âA First-Order Saint King can stand the heat here without using his Saint Qi? How strange...â
Even he, a Third-Order Saint King, was having some difficulty coping with this environment, his clothes quickly become soaked in sweat. When he saw Yang Kai looking perfectly fine, on the other hand, he had sent out an invitation.
Because he subconsciously felt that Yang Kai wasnât as simple as he seemed.
However, the other party seemed a bit impersonal, simply declaring he wasnât interested before refusing to say anymore. In this kind of place, a casual slip of the tongue could lead to oneâs death, so acting cautiously was for the best. Who knew what kind of character that First Order Saint King had? If he were to say something to annoy the other party, it might have even turned into a fight. The Flowing Flame Sand Field had last opened over four hundred years ago, so it could be said that treasures were everywhere, what was most important right now was to search for benefits.
After this man left, Yang Kai stood in place for a while, thinking that the voice of the cultivator who had just invited him sounded familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before, but Yang Kai was sure he hadnât met this person until now.
How could he know the voice of someone he had never met?
Thinking about it for a while but unable to come up with anything, Yang Kai put this issue aside and took out the Yuan Magnetic Compass from his Space Ring.
There seemed to also be some Divine Sense fluctuations coming from the communication artefact. It should be Wei Gu Changâs message. Yang Kai examined this message and confirmed his suspicions. In fact, not only had Wei Gu Chang sent out a message, Dong Xuanâer and several other Shadow Moon Hall disciples were also exchanging messages, seemingly trying to determine each otherâs whereabouts and where to meet up.
Yang Kai directly ignored these messages and threw the communication artefact into his Space Ring. Then he confirmed which way led deeper into the Flowing Flame Sand Field with the Yuan Magnetic Compass before departing.
About three hundred kilometres away from Yang Kai, Wei Gu Chang stood below a large mountain. This mountain was very conspicuous, and even if one was far away, they would be able to see a trace of its outline. He and several Core Disciples from Shadow Moon Hall had agreed to rendezvous here, believing that as long they werenât idiots they would be able to quickly find this place.
Dong Xuanâer actually appeared the closest to him so after a half cup of teaâs time, she arrived first.
âSenior Brother!â Dong Xuanâer shouted happily as she landed, a pale blue halo surrounding her body. This halo was emitting a faint cold aura completely isolating her from the surrounding heat. It was obviously created by the Origin Grade Low-Rank defensive artefact Yang Yan had refined for her.
Wei Gu Chang, like Yang Kai, did not immediately use any artefacts or Saint Qi to protect himself, standing tall in the hot air, even seemingly enjoying the temperature. After seeing Dong Xuanâer arrive, he immediately smiled mildly.
âSenior Brother, the few Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters who were supposed to accompany us to the Treasure Area all responded quickly, but Senior Brother Yang hasnât sent any reply. Could he have appeared too far away, outside the range of our communication artefacts?â Dong Xuanâer asked with some worry.
âProbably not,â Wei Gu Chang shook his head, âOur communication artefacts were refined by Grandmaster Ge Lin himself, the distance they can relay messages across is over five hundred kilometres. There wasnât much time between when we and he entered, so even if we were all scattered, he should still be nearby. Brother Yang not responding... is probably intentional.â
âSenior Brother, do you mean Senior Brother Yang wants to act alone? Heâs not willing to join us?â Dong Xuanâer was also a beautiful and intelligent woman. Listening to Wei Gu Changâs words, she immediately understood Yang Kaiâs plan.
âThose who are skilled like to adventure alone!â Wei Gu Chang grinned.
âDoes Senior Brother want to act on his own as well? To wander about freely?â Dong Xuanâer asked faintly.
Wei Gu Chang laughed, âSenior Brother naturally wants to travel together with you! The two of us love and understand one another, so spending time with each other even in this Forbidden Zone naturally makes me happy!â
Hearing what he said, Dong Xuanâer couldnât help spitting out her tongue cutely, but even that couldnât hide the happiness on her face.
However, Wei Gu Chang soon snorted coldly, âOf course, if it were possible, Iâd rather it just be the two of us, but thereâs no way we can do that. Martial Uncle Wang and Martial Uncle Yan specifically ordered me to take good care of those Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters so I canât just leave them behind. Itâs truly ridiculous, when I invited Brother Yang before, all of them were obviously dissatisfied. How could they understand Brother Yangâs true strength? I would rather go travel together with Brother Yang than have to look after those burdens.â
âWhen you belong to a Sect, there are always some unsatisfactory responsibilities one needs to deal with, Senior Brother shouldnât let it bother him!â Dong Xuanâer comforted softly.
This was Dong Xuanâerâs greatest strength, and what Wei Gu Chang liked most about her. She could always find the right words and the right timing to soothe his heart. Every time he fell into a foul mood, she only needed to say a few words to calm him down immediately.
âOf course I understand. Forget it, letâs not discuss it any further, they should be arriving soon, itâll be bad if they heard,â Wei Gu Chang smiled and shook his head, instead discussing what course and direction they should take next with Dong Xuanâer.
At this moment, Yang Kai was encountering his first Fire Spirit Beast.
He had thought that Fire Spirit Beasts would be the same as Monster Beasts, easy to discover, so he had been searching around ever since he entered, eager to see what kind of strange being this creature unique to Flowing Flame Sand Field was like. On top of that, he was interested to learn what was so special about that Fire Crystal Stones these creatures carried.
With no clue where to find Fire Spirit Beasts, Yang Kai had simply been searching randomly when suddenly a burst of fire came from the ground beneath his feet and a fiery tiger-like Fire Spirit Beast appeared in front of him.
Yang Kai didnât rush to attack and observed it carefully.
Just as Wei Gu Chang had said before, this Fire Spirit Beastâs body seemed illusionary and ethereal, its aura perfectly matched with the atmosphere inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, so even though Yang Kai had been incredibly vigilant, he hadnât detected it until it leapt from the crack beneath him.
This tiger-like Fire Spirit Beast looked weak and fragile though, probably as strong as a Fifth-Order Monster Beast at best. Fifth-Order Monster Beasts were equivalent to human race Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivators. In fact, this creature didnât even have a complete body, only a majestic tiger head and half a body while the rest was only a ball of fire.
Yang Kai was immediately disappointed. Seeing this tiger-like Fire Spirit Beast take the initiative to attack, Yang Kai simply threw out a casual punch, Saint Qi spewing from his fist.
In a burst of flame, the tiger-like Fire Spirit Beast disappeared and a dark red grain of sand replaced it.
Yang Kai reached out and grabbed it.
Was this the Fire Crystal Stone he had heard about? Even if Yang Kai was seeing it for the first time, he was able to recognize it at a glance as Wei Gu Chang had enthusiastically described it to him.
However, this thing was too small, and while the aura contained in it was pure enough, the amount it had stored was quite pitiful. Yang Kai casually circulated his Saint Qi and absorbed the energy inside it clean.
Shaking his head with dissatisfaction. Yang Kai estimated that the size of the Fire Crystal Stone should be directly related to the level of the Fire Spirit Beast.
The higher the level of Fire Spirit Beast, the larger the Fire Crystal Stone would be. This sand sized Fire Crystal Stone was just the crystal of a Fifth-Order Fire Spirit Beast. Sixth-Order Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order First Crystal Stones may be different.
The outermost region of the Flame Area posed no challenge to him, so Yang Kai quickly lost interest in carefully investigating it. Concentrating for a moment, a burst of wind and thunder manifested and a pair of beautiful wings suddenly opened behind Yang Kai. These wings were somewhat transparent and faint arcs of lightning rippled across them. It was the Wind and Thunder Wings that Yang Kai had not used for a long time.
Back on Tong Xuan Realm, the Wind and Thunder Wings had helped him many times, but after obtaining the Star Shuttle flight type artefact, the usefulness of the Wind and Thunder Wings had gradually decreased.
After arriving in the Star Field, he had never used his Wind and Thunder Wings again.
Yang Kai hadnât expected they would come in handy in such a place.
Injecting Saint Qi into his Wind and Thunder Wings, the intensity of the wind and thunder increased, allowing Yang Kaiâs speed to soar as he transformed into a streak of light, disappearing from where he once stood.
Yang Kai looked pleased. He found that his conjecture was actually correct. Although Star Shuttles couldnât be used and cultivators couldnât fly inside the Flowing Flame Sand Field, his Wind and Thunder Wings were usable. As long as he didnât leave the ground, he wouldnât receive any kind of suppression.
However, once Yang Kai tried to fly, an incredible pressure would force him back down.
After a few fruitless attempts, Yang Kai gave up and simply relied on the Wind and Thunder Wings to improve his running speed.
This Forbidden Zone was quite strange. Yang Kai couldnât tell what kind of profound laws of Heaven and Earth were at work here, but the number of restrictions they applied wasnât small.
Along the way, Yang Kai didnât meet anyone, as if he was the only one exploring this huge Flowing Flame Sand Field. Of course, he knew that this was just an illusion. The Flowing Flame Sand Field was simply too large. As a giant circular boundary, the outermost layer was obviously broader, meaning there was less of a chance of running into people, but as he dove further inside, the chances of him encountering other cultivators would naturally increase. After all the elites gradually migrated towards the centre regions, meetings with others would become commonplace and conflicts would also start occurring.
Fire Spirit Beasts were indeed a common existence in this Flame Area. As Yang Kai hurried along, from time to time, one or two Fire Spirit Beasts of varying strength would pop up from the cracks in the ground. Some of these beasts tried to hinder his progress while others were simply wandering about.
Yang Kai didnât have any interest in killing these Fifth or Sixth-Order Fire Spirit Beasts so for the most part he ignored them.
The further he went, the higher the ambient temperature became. Not only was did the temperature rise though, causing the stinging sensation on Yang Kaiâs skin to become stronger, but even the fire poison contained in the air also became more potent. Through Yang Kaiâs pores, this poison slowly began seeping into his body, hindering his physical functions and the circulation of his Saint Qi.
This fire poison was incredibly resilient and even if Yang Kai circulated his Secret Art, he couldnât refine it. If he continued allowing it to accumulate, it would pose a significant danger, so Yang Kai could only force it out of his body.
As the temperature and heat increased, Yang Kai was forced to use his Saint Qi to protect his body while simultaneously resisting the intrusion of the fire poison.