Translator: Silavin & Tia
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Ten days later. Yang Kai leisurely appeared in a city somewhere. After so many days, he finally figured out where he was. He was in the Western Territory! The Western Territory was said to be the most barren and desolate of the four domains in the Star Boundary.
Despite coming to Star Boundary for so many years, Yang Kai had yet to step foot into the Western Territory. He never thought that he would accidentally come here upon escaping from the Revolving World and did not know if there were mysterious and unseen forces at work behind the scenes.
Ten days ago, he had left the oasis and went to slay a Monster Beast, a giant snake. It was a Twelfth-Order Monster Beast, which was comparable to a Second-Order Emperor Realm Master. It considered the people living in the oasis food and would devour one or two of them from time to time. Unfortunately, the people living in the oasis were powerless, even if they wanted to escape. Anyone who dared to venture any further than five kilometres from the oasis would die a horrible death.
Even though that Twelfth-Order Monster Beast was a terrifying nightmare to those people, it was nothing to Yang Kai; thus, he got rid of it in passing. It was also to return a favour to those people. He did not return to the oasis again afterwards, leaving straight away without another word. He was certain that the people in the oasis would discover that the giant snake causing trouble for them had been slain within a few days.
He then chased after Zhu Qing and her brother but did not find traces of them anywhere, so he concluded they must have returned to Dragon Island or gone back to High Heaven Palace. At this point, Yang Kai was no longer in a rush to search for them. Travelling across the mountains and the rivers, he enjoyed the unique customs and sceneries of the Western Territory in a leisurely manner.
It was a rare opportunity for him to come to the Western Territory; hence, he wanted to find a remote and hidden location to set up a Cross-Territory Space Array. That way, it would be more convenient for him to come to the Western Territory again in the future. However, he couldn’t find a suitable place for his use despite searching for several days, leaving him feeling somewhat helpless.
The Western Territory might be relatively remote and barren compared to the other three territories, but relative was still just relative. Having said that, it contained many famous lands which were cultivation paradises rich in World Energy.
The famous Shadow Killer Palace was also located in the Western Territory. Shadow Killer Palace was the Hegemon of the Western Territory and was led by a Great Emperor. It was established by none other than the frightening Night Shadow Great Emperor.
Compared to other Great Emperor Sects, Shadow Killer Palace was undoubtedly the most mysterious one. That was because even the local cultivators in the Western Territory were not sure as to where the Sect was situated, nor how many disciples it had. Even so, it did not prevent Shadow Killer Palace from standing supreme in the hearts of the Western Territory’s cultivators.
If one were to say that Star Soul Palace was the Holy Land in the hearts of the Southern Territory’s cultivators, then Shadow Killer Palace held the same status in the Western Territory.
As Great Emperors were Masters among Masters, a Great Emperor who was proficient in the way of assassination was even more terrifying. There were rumours in the Western Territory that although there were no obvious differences in strengths among the Great Emperors, the most feared one was none other than Night Shadow Great Emperor. That honour was not something ordinary people could ever grasp.
The city Yang Kai entered was not that small, and he immediately made his way into a tavern, found a table by the window, and sat down. Then, the shop-hand immediately came over and greeted him enthusiastically, “Hello, what would you like to order?”
“Do you have any Sword Wine?” Yang Kai asked.
The shop hand grinned meaningfully in response, “You came to the right place, Sir. There are thousands of shops in Star Point City, but only ten of them sell Sword Wine. This small shop happens to be one of them.”
Yang Kai waved his hand magnanimously, “Bring me a hundred bottles to quench my thirst!”
The Western Territory was not just famous for Shadow Killer Palace and the Night Shadow Great Emperor. It was also famous for the Sword Wine, a wine brewed by a place known as the Sword Villa. The brewing process of the Sword Wine was extremely complicated and time-consuming. More importantly, it required a Master proficient in the Sword Dao to pour their insight into the wine. For that reason, every bottle of it was extremely precious.
The Sword Wine was very beneficial for cultivators, and consuming it long-term could improve cultivation, especially for those cultivating the Sword Dao. It could help cultivators comprehend the concepts of the Sword Dao better and it was precisely because of the Sword Wine’s existence that there were more Sword Masters in the Western Territory compared to the other three territories.
When Yang Kai first met Zhu Qing, she kept pestering him non-stop to be ‘friends’, which annoyed him to no end. Hence, he sent her to the Western Territory to obtain some Sword Wine in order to escape from her pestering. He originally did that just to make things difficult for her, but to his surprise, she actually managed to obtain a bottle of Sword Wine in rather short order.
Recalling the unfamiliarity and repulsion between them in the beginning, Yang Kai couldn’t help sighing in amazement at the thought that they were now husband and wife. It truly was impossible to predict the future. Fate is decided by the Heavens, and everything in life is part of a never-ending cycle. Zhu Qing herself probably never expected the two of them to end up as a couple either.
Now that Yang Kai had experienced the Western Territory for himself, the first thing he thought about was the Sword Wine. If he could obtain large quantities of the Sword Wine, it would be helpful to the future development of High Heaven Palace. More so since his relatives and friends back on Shadowed Star were not strong enough. When the time came for him to bring them to the Star Boundary, it would surely be easier for them to cultivate if they had the assistance of the Sword Wine.
[Perhaps, I should visit Sword Villa to find a way to cooperate with them. At any rate, I am an Emperor Rank Alchemist, so I’m sure Sword Villa won’t be able to deny my request if I can meet their requirements.]
As those thoughts flashed through Yang Kai’s mind, mocking laughter sounded from the table next to him, “Which rock did you crawl out from under? What do you take the Sword Wine for? I can’t believe you tried to order a hundred bottles. You sure don’t know your own limits!”
Yang Kait turned his head to look in the direction of the sound and saw a burly man with his chest exposed looking at him mockingly. He had a bulb-like nose and a toad-like mouth, making him look extremely ugly. He wore a string of skulls around his neck that originated from some sort of unknown beasts. Each skull was approximately the size of a fist and gave off a chilling aura, which only served to set off his ferociousness even more.
That person’s appearance might be rather horrendous, but Yang Kai was more surprised to discover that that man was a Second-Order Emperor. Moreover, two other First-Order Emperors shared a table with that man.
Yang Kai couldn’t help frowning. According to his observations, Star Point City was not considered a big city, so it did not make sense for so many Emperor Realm Masters to be here.
However, the truth was that there seemed to be two other Emperors in this tavern aside from those three at that table. Stealthily extending his Divine Sense outward, Yang Kai studied his surroundings and instantly discovered that something was wrong. These Emperor Realm Masters seemed to be waiting for something here.
When their gazes met, the brawny man slammed his fist against the table and sternly roared, “What are you looking at?! I was talking about you, you country bumpkin!”
[What a nasty temper!] Yang Kai chuckled secretly. He couldn’t be bothered to pick a fight with that man while on the other hand, the other two Emperor Realm Masters sharing the same table as him hurriedly piped up, “Senior Xiong, please calm down. Why are you trying to reason with a country bumpkin like him? We should focus on business instead.”
“That’s right!” The other person fervently agreed.
The burly man with the surnamed ‘Xiong’ snorted coldly at those words. Yang Kai showing weakness seemed to stroke his ego and vanity so he threw a disdainful look at him before picking up his wine and draining the contents with a smug expression.
Seeing that a storm had passed, the shop-hand nearby wiped away his cold sweat and tentatively glanced at Yang Kai to ask, “Does Sir come from afar?”
“You have a good eye, little guy!” Yang Kai smiled gently without denying it.
Generally speaking, servants working in these kinds of crowded environments would develop an excellent eye for people. They could pretty much figure out the origins and status of a person with a single glance. Besides, there were subtle differences between Yang Kai’s clothes and the clothes of the Western Territory’s cultivators and he was also covered in dust from his travels. If the shop hand failed to notice these details, he would be unqualified for his job.
The shop hand smiled and said, “Then, I can’t blame Sir for not knowing. I’m sure you know that Sword Wine can only be produced by Sword Villa; therefore, the amount produced every year is limited. This shop may sell Sword Wine, but we have a limited supply of it. I’m afraid something like a hundred bottles of Sword Wine… Is beyond what we can sell.”
Yang Kai understood and asked, “How many bottles can I buy?”
The shop hand answered embarrassedly, “One bottle.”
“Only one bottle?” Even though Yang Kai was somewhat mentally prepared, he was still taken aback by the answer. It seemed as though the Sword Wine was not something one could drink casually even in the Western Territory. [I wonder how Zhu Qing obtained the Sword Wine back then?]
Despite his curiosity, Yang Kai didn’t care too much so he simply nodded, “Oh well. One bottle it is, then. I want the best one you have.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the burly man by the side sneered again, “Is the best Sword Wine something that you are worthy of drinking? Why don’t you look at yourself in the mirror? What a shameless fool.”
Another person at the same table laughed, “There are all kinds of people out there in the world. Senior Xiong, why do you care about what he does?”
That burly man shook his head, “I can’t stand these useless good-for-nothings that have nothing to them aside from their good looks. I get the urge to beat them up every time I meet one.”
Meanwhile, Yang Kai turned a deaf ear to those words and simply addressed the shop hand again, “Can you explain it to me?”
The shop hand felt even more embarrassed as he explained, “The Sword Wine can be categorized into three classes: Low-Rank, Mid-Rank, and High-Rank. This shop only sells Low-Rank and Mid-Rank Sword Wines. On the other hand, only one bottle of the High-Rank Sword Wine is sold each day and those can only be bought by participating in the auction.”
“An auction?!” Yang Kai looked surprised but soon realized that this was a way for the shop to solicit customers; after all, special goods always sold better. He immediately asked, “About today’s auction…”
“It ended this morning.”
Yang Kai nodded and pondered in silence for a moment, “I see, get me a bottle of Mid-Rank Sword Wine then.”
“Good! Please wait a moment!” The shop hand seemed relieved to see that Yang Kai was being so reasonable; thus, he turned around to leave after responding.
Yang Kai turned to look out the window then, watching the weaving flow of people as the urge to visit Sword Villa grew stronger.
At that moment, a quiet conversation entered his ears. One person said, “The Wind and Cloud Pavilion has gone all out this time around and issued a wanted order for that little girl. If anybody manages to kill her, they will receive a reward of 10 million High-Rank Source Crystals. The reward for capturing her alive is even more remarkable. They are offering a reward of 20 million High-Rank Source Crystals for that!”
The voices came from the table by the side where those three Emperor Realm Masters sat. They believed that their voices were soft enough that nobody else could hear them; however, Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was extremely powerful so he could hear their voices clearly regardless of how softly they spoke.
A reward ranging from 10 to 20 million High-Rank Source Crystals was very tempting to these Emperor Realm Masters; after all, even Fire Dragon Palace, a top Sect in the Northern Territory, only made 50 million High-Rank Source Crystals a year. Moreover, that was the income of the entire Sect. What was distributed to the individuals within the Sect was much less than that. For that reason, 10 million to 20 million High-Rank Source Crystals was quite astonishing in comparison.
