After hurrying about for an entire day, most of the Holy Land’s immediate concerns had been dealt with.
As night fell, clouds gathered overhead, blocking out the starlight, causing a heavy aura to cover the sky above the Holy Land.
The various Protectors and Elders of Nine Heavens Holy Land gathered to discuss how to deal with the crisis which would befall them half a month later.
The various masters, led by the Holy Land’s neighbouring three forces, had already declared that after half a month, they either surrender the previous generation’s Saintess or hand over current generation’s Saintess, otherwise it would be war.
The three forces who had been suppressed by Nine Heavens Holy Land, daring to make such a bold statement obviously indicated how great their confidence was, otherwise their attitude wouldn’t have been so intractable.
Handing over the previous generation’s Saintess was impossible for Xu Hui and the other Elders, they didn’t even know where Saintess Nan was right now. Likewise, it was impossible for them to hand over the current generation’s Saintess. A battle half a month later was essentially inevitable.
Not even knowing what this meeting was about or what intentions this group of Elders had, Yang Kai was dragged over and forced to attend by An Ling’er.
As the various Elders were discussing matters, Yang Kai remained silent, showing no intention to express his own opinion.
Yang Kai had enough self-knowledge. Although this group of Saints continuously expressed their expectation that he inherit the Holy Master’s position, at this critical juncture, he had no decision-making power. In all of their opinions, Yang Kai was still too young.
Therefore, Yang Kai just chose to remain silent.
After listening for a while, Yang Kai was surprised to discover that no one here had any thoughts of escaping, they were all determined and stay behind and fight to defend the honour of the Holy Land.
Yang Kai shook his head secretly, deciding not to pass judgement on this decision.
Although he also knew that by fleeing to the mountains one didn’t need to worry about having firewood to burn, Yang Kai was also aware that a large force like Nine Heavens Holy Land wanting to migrate was not an easy task. Even if Xu Hui and the other Elders could safely evacuate, the common disciples would likely be abandoned.
Right now, the most crucial thing was how to console the foreign masters that were gathered together by Shattering Mystical Palace, War Spirit Temple, and Netherworld Sect. As long as they could make these masters withdraw, even with its current weakened strength, the Holy Land could easily repel the three local forces.
After discussing this matter at length yet not reaching any kind of consensus, everyone’s eyes suddenly turned to Yang Kai who was sitting to the side drinking his tea.
“What are you looking at me for? I’m used to wandering freely, I don’t have any experience about such matters. You talk, I’ll just listen.”
“Heh heh…” Xu Hui let out a hollow laugh and calmly said, “Though that may be the case, surely little brother has some opinions of his own, yes? Please share them with us, perhaps a fresh perspective will help us find a solution.”
The other Elders in the room all turned looks of anticipation towards Yang Kai as well, seeming curious about what he would say.
Yang Kai wrinkled his brow, and although he was somewhat unwilling to contribute, he still reluctantly asked, “How many Saint Realm masters are there among the three forces stirring up trouble?”
Xu Hui’s expression brightened as he quickly replied, “These three forces are not very powerful, each of them only possessing two Saint Realm masters, all of which as basically First Order. The only one we need to pay attention to is Zhang Ao from Shattering Mystical Palace, that old bastard’s cultivation is the same as mine, Second Order Saint. If the two of us were to really fight, it’s not certain who would win.”
Yang Kai expression moved slightly. Each of the three local forces possessing two Saints meant there was a total of six Saint Realm opponents, five of which were First Order while one of them was Second Order.
This lineup was the same in terms of number and cultivation as the current Nine Heavens Holy Land.
Right now, Nine Heavens Holy Land had one Second Order Saint and five First Order Saints.
This was not counting the forces which had been roped in by the three forces though; there were surely a number of powerhouses among this group. Having just suffered an attack from Saintess Nan, Nine Heavens Holy Land wanting to repel such a force was indeed unrealistic.
Moreover, if it really came down to a fight, even if Nine Heavens Holy Land survive, it might never be able to rise up again.
There were simply too many forces involved in this matter.
They had never wanted to become enemies with so many forces, but the trouble caused by Saintess Nan was undeniable so naturally Nine Heavens Holy Land’s had to take some responsibility.
“Haven’t you thought about asking for help? Nine Heavens Holy Land has existed for so many years so shouldn’t you have some allies?” Yang Kai suggested hesitantly, “Can’t you ask your allies for help during this crisis in exchange for a favour down the road?”
When Yang Kai spoke these words though, everyone else in the room wore an awkward embarrassed.
Seeing this, Yang Kai immediately understood. Nine Heavens Holy Land really had no allies! When the old Holy Master was alive, they were conceited, thinking that no force in the world could stand on the same level as their Holy Land, but as a result, now that their Sect had encountered a crisis, obviously no one would come to their aid.
Yang Kai rubbed his forehead for a while, rendered absolutely speechless by this fact.
He could ask Soaring Heaven Sect for help. His three Marital Uncles and his Martial Aunt would definitely respond, but there simply wasn’t enough time for that. By the time Yang Kai returned to Soaring Heaven Sect, Nine Heavens Holy Land would likely already be destroyed.
Suddenly, Yang Kai’s eyes lit up, solemnly saying, “That Monster Race Great Senior… Have you ever thought about asking him for help?”
“The Monster Race Great Senior?” Xu Hui’s complexion changed.
“En, since he is a Great Senior, his strength and the strength of his subordinates is certainly not weak.”
“You must be joking,” Shi Kun frowned, “Those Monster Race powerhouses only regard us humans as eyesores. If we were to ask for help from them and they accepted, once word of it spread out, Nine Heavens Holy Land would immediately become an enemy of the entire human race and never be able to rise again.”
“Exactly,” Yu Ying gently nodded, agreeing with Shi Kun’s statement, “No matter how bad the situation becomes, it is impossible for us to ask for reinforcements from the Monster Race. In addition, none of us have ever met with that Monster Race Great Senior, only the old Holy Master has some friendship with him, there’s very little chance we could convince him to help even if we did ask.”
Yang Kai was stunned, never having expected his proposal to be so firmly rejected; only not understanding that he had greatly underestimated the degree of hatred between the different races.
He was not a native of Tong Xuan Realm and although he had been in this world for a number of years now, the deep-rooted prejudices of this world had not affected him much.
Before coming here, Yang Kai hadn’t even known about the existence of difference races like the Demon Race and Monster Race.
“There is a person who, if he can be found, may be able to easily resolve the Holy Land’s crisis,” Xu Hui suddenly fell into contemplation and whispered softly.
“Does Great Elder mean that man?” Cheng Yue Tong seems to remember something and immediately asked.
“En.”
“What man?” Yang Kai was curious, not knowing who they were talking about, but surmising he was some extraordinary master.
“An old man with mysterious origins, we don’t know anything specific about him, but he should be an old friend of the previous Holy Master. Half a year before the old Holy Master fell, that old man suddenly came to visit him and stayed a few days in the Holy Land. During that time, the old Holy Master was very courteous towards him, so the relationship between them shouldn’t be just a casual one. If we can find him, he would surely help us.”
“En, that old man had a profound aura around him, as if he was impossible to see through. Moreover, I have never seen the old Holy Master act so politely towards another individual before, so he obviously isn’t some average person,” Yu Ying followed up.
“An old man with mysterious origins?” Yang Kai was stunned, “Do you have any idea where he is now?”
Everyone shook their heads.
“However, he should return to the Holy Land again at some point,” Xu Hui suddenly said confidently.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because when he came to my Holy Land, the little girl accompanying him left something behind on one of the nine peaks. After he left, the old Holy Master told me to pay special attention to that place and not allow anyone to approach or damage it. I assume after a certain period of time that old man and little girl will come back here and retrieve whatever it is they deposited there.”
“En, after that little girl set up some kind of array in that place, I had a casual look once,” Meng Tian Fei nodded, somewhat helplessly confessing, “Whatever it is she did though, has made the place uninhabitable. If one stays there too long, they’ll freeze, even I couldn’t stand being there for very long.”
Listening to their words, Yang Kai suddenly understood what they were talking about.
When he was opening the Nine Peaks Spirit Array and barrier with Xu Hui during the day, he indeed came across an odd place. That region was particularly cold, and not just in a temperature sense. There was some kind of unusual chill in the air that caused one to feel quite uncomfortable.
At the time, Yang Kai thought it was a natural occurrence, some kind of restricted zone in Nine Heavens Holy Land, but apparently that was not the case.
However, suddenly hearing about an old man accompanied by a little girl, a certain familiar pair emerged in Yang Kai’s mind.
Chuckling to himself, Yang Kai shook his head, thinking there was no way such a coincidence could possible happen.
With a smile on his face, he asked casually, “That old guy you mentioned, he wouldn’t happen to be a geezer that tries to put on a sagely appearance yet has a wandering obscene gaze?”
Xu Hui didn’t have time to respond before Yu Ying and Cheng Yue Tong both nodded, Yu Ying even gritting her teeth as she grumbled, “Exactly! That old bastard’s eyes were always staring at places they shouldn’t be.”
Cheng Yue Tong also chimed in, “En, en, at his age yet still acting so wantonly, Yu Ying and I somehow managed to treat him politely, but in truth we couldn’t wait to dig out his eyes!”
The breathing of the two beautiful women both became rough, seemingly still quite angry with that old man.
Xu Hui, on the other hand, smiled dumbly, “Aren’t you two perhaps mistaken? When one reaches a certain height, their eyes are naturally filled with ‘life’.”
Yu Ying and Cheng Yue Tong both glared coldly at Xu Hui at the same time.
“Ahem, just pretend I never said anything,” Xu Hui’s immediately retreated.
Yang Kai’s expression, on the other hand, became cramped, his pulse slightly accelerating as a sense of excitement and expectation filled his chest, continuing to ask, “Was that little girl wearing a veil, making people unable to see her true appearance, but still giving off a pure, and innocent aura?”
Everyone in the room turned to look at Yang Kai with amazement, Xu Hui asking in a shocked tone, “Holy Master, you… *ahem*, little brother, how did you know?”
“Seriously?” Yang Kai suddenly felt a little dumbfounded, quickly confirming his suspicions, “Did she also wear a light blue gem on her forehead?”
