Chapter 2184, Young Heroes Gather
In the face of Yang Kai’s persuasion, Zhuang Bu Fan turned a deaf ear and his perpetually calm face took on a hint of madness as he roared, “In this Zhuang’s world, the word ‘surrender’ does not exist!”
“Fine then!” Yang Kai shouted as his golden light shone even brighter and at the same time, his figure shook and Source Qi erupted even more fiercely from his body, “Since that’s the case, I will respond in kind!”
*Hong…*
With a thunderous eruption, the golden light completely suppressed the white aura and swallowed it up, causing the already deep pit where Zhuang Bu Fan stood to enlarge rapidly, sending rock and earth flying along with an explosion of wind and light.
From this dazzling light, a figure suddenly shot out and stood steadily in the void, panting heavily, covered in blood.
The several Orthodoxy Temple disciples stared forward, their hearts filled with shock.
Although they couldn’t see who was standing mid-air, they were able to infer from this person’s posture and the residual Source Qi around them that it was Yang Kai.
Turning their gazes back to the giant crater, they next saw Zhuang Bu Fan kneeling on one knee, his clothes shredded and his hair a mess as blood dripped from all over his body, an extremely miserable sight to behold.
“Senior Brother Zhuang!” All of them shouted.
Zhuang Bu Fan seemed to not even have the strength to respond to them and simply held his stance, his body trembling unceasingly. Only after a long pause did he manage to stagger to his feet and lift his head towards Yang Kai, his gaze filled with many complicated emotions.
“It was an honour!” Yang Kai cupped his fists and quickly said.
Zhuang Bu Fan did not reply and instead sat down cross-legged directly before wiping his Space Ring and taking out a number of pills, stuffing them into his mouth, and entering a state of meditation to adjust his breathing.
Seeing this, the disciples of Orthodoxy Temple immediately shot flame-filled gazes towards Yang Kai, but in addition to anger, there was also a strong shock and even fear in their eyes!
Because just now, Yang Kai, a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, had defeated their Senior Brother Zhuang Bu Fan in a competition of Source Qi right in front of them. Even though the final outcome seemed to be a loss for both sides, victory was still victory!
Had this unknown young man really just done this? Had their Senior Brother Zhuang actually lost to him in the domain he was most proud of?
If it had been Xia Sheng or Wu Chang here instead, would they have been able to achieve such a result?
All kinds of thoughts flashed across the minds of these disciples but one thing remained consistent. None of them dared to underestimate Yang Kai now. In their eyes, Yang Kai was already an existence that could stand on par with Zhuang Bu Fan! In fact, this young man was even more terrifying than their Eldest Senior Brother, because right now… he was just in the First-Order Dao Source Realm. If this young man reached the Third-Order, in this world, would there be any Dao Source Realm cultivator who could be his opponent?
Perhaps this young man… would be a bright new star in the Star Boundary, one that would one day rise and become the most dazzling nova in the Star Boundary!
On the other side, Yang Kai also slowly landed and sat down cross-legged, taking a number of pills out of his Space Ring and stuffing them into his mouth.
Although his situation seemed to be much better than Zhuang Bu Fan’s in that he only needed to restore himself somewhat, after such an intense battle, he needed to quickly recover in order to cope with whatever troubles may arise next.
As for Zhuang Bu Fan, Yang Kai figured he would not try to fight with him anymore. This man was honest and upright, so since he had been defeated in a fair battle, he would definitely not covet the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus anymore. Regarding this point, Yang Kai was quite confident.
“Oh…” Suddenly, a cry sounded from nearby and a figure appeared. This newcomer swept their gaze around and laughed casually, “I was wondering who was raising so much ruckus, but it turns out to be you two!”
“Hm?” Hearing this voice, Yang Kai immediately opened his eyes and flashed a faint smile as he slowly called out, “So, the second one to arrive was you… Brother Xia!”
He didn’t need to look over to know that the one who had arrived was Xia Sheng.
At that moment, Yang Kai couldn’t help but relax slightly.
He was really afraid that Wu Chang would suddenly appear at this time because he still needed some time to recover. If Wu Chang really had come, things would have become a bit troublesome, but Xia Sheng was different. No matter the case, he at least knew Yang Kai so the situation wouldn’t become too messy.
“If it’s not me, who else could it be?” Xia Sheng smiled slightly and said, “Seeing that the exit is about to close, this Xia wanted to arrive first to wait for his Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters in order to go back together, but I didn’t expect to suddenly see a Heavenly Manifestation here as well as a big fight. I flew over to join the fun but…”
As he spoke, his eyes narrowed slightly as he quickly said, “It seems that the battle between the two is already over and was quite fierce…”
His tone was filled with undisguisable shock.
Because he hadn’t expected that Yang Kai’s strength was actually on par with Zhuang Bu Fan. Before, although he had thought highly of Yang Kai, Xia Sheng had still felt there was a big gap between Yang Kai and characters like himself. Only a few people could stand on par with him, but among those few, Zhuang Bu Fan was definitely one.
Yet now, it seemed Yang Kai had the ability to fight Zhuang Bu Fan on even terms, a shocking reality.
Although he didn’t know who had the upper hand in the battle just now, the aftermath he was observing was enough for him to infer Yang Kai’s strength, and it made him realize he had greatly underestimated him before.
As Xia Sheng spoke, his gaze turned to the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus and his eyes lit up as he thought aloud, “Huo… this must be something good. Xiao Bai, do you know what it is?”
His last words were obviously addressed to Xiao Bai Yi, who had followed behind immediately.
It was unclear when the two of them had met up, but clearly, they had at some point and now they appeared together with Murong Xiao Xiao.
“I don’t know, I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Xiao Bai Yi stood nearby and spoke concisely.
“I don’t know either!” Before Xia Sheng asked her, Murong Xiao Xiao took the initiative to answer.
Xia Sheng shrugged helplessly before his eyes glanced between Yang Kai and Zhuang Bu Fan, a sly grin appearing on his face as he said, “If nobody knows, then we can just swallow it and find out. En, which one of you discovered this thing first?”
Before Yang Kai could even speak, Zhuang Bu Fan, who had apparently recovered a bit of strength, said, “When this Zhuang came here, Brother Yang was already defending this place and it seems he expelled a number of others already.”
“Brother Yang found it first?” Xia Sheng raised his brow and muttered softly, “Then this is somewhat difficult. If Brother Zhuang found it first, it wouldn’t be a big deal to just snatch it… but since Brother Yang found it first… Ha… although Brother Yang is not the disciple of my Azure Sun Temple, we did come here together, if I just snatch it now, it would be a bit awkward…”
Yang Kai’s face went black as he snapped, “Brother Xia, I can hear everything you’re saying.”
Xia Sheng came back to himself at that moment and laughed, “It’s fine, it’s fine. I wasn’t trying to hide anything anyways. Brother Yang, how about we discuss this. Whatever this thing is, would asking to split it half and half be excessive?”
“It would!” Yang Kai replied solemnly.
“Then I’ll just have to snatch it,” Xia Sheng replied solemnly.
Yang Kai glanced at him before saying blankly, “Brother Xia is free to act!”
“Why you…!” Xia Sheng looked at him helplessly and smiled bitterly, “Why are you so sure I won’t just do that?”
Yang Kai grinned meaningfully and was about to answer when suddenly he frowned and turned his eyes towards the horizon as he muttered, “Why have so many people appeared already?”
At the edge of his perception, in all directions, many cultivators were approaching, obviously all attracted by the Heavenly Manifestation here.
With an awkward expression on his face, Yang Kai asked blankly, “Aren’t there two days before the entrance appears… With so much time left, why has everyone suddenly come back?”
“Right, you wouldn’t know about this,” Xia Sheng shook his head and explained, “There is an unwritten rule that every time the Four Seasons Realm opens, all the disciples from the various Sects will return to the exit two days before it closes in order to exchange information and treasures. Counting the days, it’s just about time for everyone to return.”
“There’s such a tradition?” Yang Kai looked surprised.
“Otherwise why do you think we came here so early?” Xiao Bai Yi glanced at Yang Kai faintly, “Seems your troubles just got bigger.”
Yang Kai had a bitter face as he nodded in agreement, “Indeed!”
He had thought that there were still two days before the exit closed, so even if the Heavenly Manifestation was quite eye-catching, it wouldn’t attract too many people, and when the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus matured tomorrow, the phenomena would naturally disappear. But it seemed like Yang Kai’s plans would not come to fruition…
Now that so many people were approaching, once a fight broke out, the situation would grow beyond his ability to control. Even though Yang Kai was confident in his strength, in the end, two fists can’t block four strikes…
In just a few breaths, accompanied by the sound of rushing wind, one cultivator after another appeared in the surroundings, and all of them stared towards the Extraordinary Treasure Lotus with surprise and greed.
But at this moment, Zhuang Bu Fan and Xia Sheng were standing closest to this treasure so no one dared to run up and try to snatch it. However, many were exchanging glances with their neighbours and allies, clearly forming their own plans.
Seeing this, Xiao Bai Yi snickered.
Suddenly, Xia Sheng’s brow furrowed as his expression turned serious and he quickly said, “Brother Yang, you’d best prepare yourself, a troublesome one is approaching…”
As soon as he spoke those words, from the horizon, a familiar roar reached Yang Kai’s ears.
“Don’t let me catch you, or I’ll make you taste the worlds most terrible torture!”
There was endless anger and murderous intent in this voice and when it sounded, all who heard it couldn’t help feeling a terrifying chill.
“Wu Chang!” Someone muttered as they recognized the owner of this voice. With just this one shout, many cultivators began to show fear and anxiety.
It could be seen that even amongst the Southern Territory’s countless young rising stars, Wu Chang’s presence had a particularly strong deterrent.
However, Wu Chang’s words were also quite puzzling and many wondered just who he was chasing. From the words he spoke and the anger with which he spoke them, it seemed Wu Chang had been pursuing whoever it was for some time now.
