Translator: Silavin & Tia
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
“Of course, I know… Obviously!” Gu Kang Ning roared, the corners of his eyes twitching violently, “Are you certain the person you killed is Zhang Yu Lin!”
“There’s no doubt!” Yang Kai nodded.
The Great Elder slumped down in his chair, all the colour in his face draining away. If that was what Yang Kai said, then there could be no mistake. Besides, there was a long-standing grudge between Zhang Yu Lin and Yang Kai. It was impossible for Yang Kai to mistake Zhang Yu Lin for somebody else.
[Zhang Yu Lin has been killed! It’s over! It’s all over! It’s over for Void Spirit Sword Sect!]
Even Su Chang Fa and Hong Xiu were unable to react for a time. They could not understand why Yang Kai would cause such a catastrophic disaster. Zhang Yu Lin had been killed; how could Zhan Bo Xiong possibly forgive such a thing? Who in Void Spirit Sword Sect could stop a Seventh-Step Earth Realm Master like him!?
“Judging from the situation, it’s not that there is no response from Tian Luo Hall. Rather, they’ve already taken action.” After a long time, Hong Xiu finally said softly.
Upon hearing those words, Su Chang Fa and Gu Kang Ning looked at her and suddenly seemed to understand something.
They had been wondering why Tian Luo Hall had seemed disinterested in the Black Jade mine. It would now seem that they were not unresponsive; rather, they had already taken matters into their own hands and were planning to use Yang Kai as their excuse to attack.
As the Eldest Disciple of Void Spirit Sword Sect, Yang Kai represented the face of Void Spirit Sword Sect in the outside world; therefore, they sent Zhang Yu Lin to stir up trouble with Yang Kai in order to use the grudges between the younger generation as a catalyst to start a war between the two great forces. It was all a conspiracy to obtain the Black Jade mine.
They probably never imagined that Yang Kai would have the guts to kill Zhang Yu Lin though.
It would seem that Tian Luo Hall had a larger appetite than Roaring Tiger Sect. Roaring Tiger Sect had only sent a letter to ask for a share of the pie. In contrast, Tian Luo Hall had secretly plotted from the shadows. Their intention to devour and eliminate Void Spirit Sword Sect could not be more obvious.
After considering all this, both Su Chang Fa and Gu Kang Ning gave a soft sigh. Even without the incident involving Zhang Yu Lin, Tian Luo Hall would have come up with a different method to oppress Void Spirit Sword Sect. It was just that Yang Kai had killed Zhang Yu Lin, which gave them an even better excuse to attack.
“This incident is not your fault. They were already planning on attacking our Void Spirit Sword Sect!” Su Chang Fa waved his hand lightly.
Hong Xiu furrowed her brow tightly, “As things stand, our only option left is to cooperate with Roaring Tiger Sect. Perhaps, we can borrow Roaring Tiger Sect’s strength to stop Tian Luo Hall.”
Yang Kai was extremely perplexed by the flow of the conversation; thus, he couldn’t help asking, “Honoured Master, Elders, what are you talking about?”
Gu Kang Ning and Hong Xiu exchanged a glance, and after a moment of consideration, Gu Kang Ning explained, “As the Eldest Disciple of Void Spirit Sword Sect, you have the right to know. It’s like this… We discovered a Black Jade lode with abundant reserves on Ash Mountain recently. It’s just that the information was leaked out somehow. Roaring Tiger Sect has sent us a letter stating their intentions to help us develop the mineral lode, and it’s likely that Tian Luo Hall tried to start trouble with you due to the mineral lode.”
“A Black Jade lode!?” Yang Kai’s expression changed. Aside from absorbing World Energy, cultivators in this world could also consume certain resources to improve their cultivation. It was similar to the Star Boundary in this regard. The most common type of cultivation resource here was Spirit Jades. Spirit Jades contained dense World Energy inside them; hence, they could increase a cultivator’s cultivation efficiency by a large margin.
Spirit Jades could be divided into several grades. From the lowest, a Spirit Jade could be classified as a White Jade, Black Jade, Red Jade, and finally Gold Jade. The difference in the value and the World Energy contained within the Spirit Jade varied about 1,000 times between the same portion of Gold Jade and White Jade.
Yang Kai checked his memories and, in the past, it seemed he had used Spirit Jades to enhance his cultivation. Be that as it may, he only had the privilege to obtain White Jades for his cultivation. Although he would occasionally receive a few pieces of Black Jade, these were extremely rare. Furthermore, they were things that Su Chang Fa had specially saved up for him.
If this was the case for the Eldest Senior Brother of the Sect, then there was no need to mention the Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters; therefore, it was very shocking for a Black Jade lode to appear in the Ash Mountain!
A single Black Jade lode was enough to allow the strength of an Earth Realm great force to soar within a few dozen years. Generally, only Heaven Realm great forces could monopolise such a thing, so it was no wonder Roaring Tiger Sect and Tian Luo Hall were eyeing the Black Jade lode greedily.
Su Chang Fa continued, “The Black Jade lode is too valuable, so Void Spirit Sword Sect does not have the strength to monopolise it. We initially wanted to see how things went between Roaring Tiger Sect and Tian Luo Hall, but now…”
Yang Kai immediately understood, “Now that I’ve killed Zhang Yu Lin, Void Spirit Sword Sect can only borrow the strength of Roaring Tiger Sect to resist Tian Luo Hall.”
“That’s right!” Su Chang Fa nodded.
Feeling slightly stunned, Yang Kai clicked his tongue and muttered, “I would have left him alive if I had known earlier.”
Su Chang Fa shook his head, “Tian Luo Hall’s actions clearly indicate that they wish to monopolise the Black Jade mine; otherwise, they could have openly sent a message to this Old Master without creating an excuse by instigating a fight between the younger generation. Therefore, even if you had not killed Zhang Yu Lin, Tian Luo Hall would not have given up so easily.”
Gu Kang Ning waved his hand dismissively, “Now that you know these things, you should know how to be grateful. But, there’s no need to think too much about this. With your current strength, there’s no point worrying about these matters. Even if the sky collapses, you have us to hold it up. We will protect you. You’ve already wasted a whole year, so it is better if you focus on your cultivation for now rather than worry about things you cannot change.”
Yang Kai quickly said, “Yes. After this incident, this Disciple has realised how lacking his strength is. I will cultivate seriously from now on.”
Su Chang Fa and the two Elders stared at Yang Kai in amazement. Then, Su Chang Fa nodded, “It’s good that you have such thoughts.”
Yang Kai added, “This Disciple would like to request for some cultivation resources. I hope you will allow it, Honoured Master.”
Su Chang Fa immediately tossed the Sect Master Token to Yang Kai and declared, “Go and collect them from your Martial Uncle Chang yourself. You can take as much as you want.”
In any case, if Void Spirit Sword Sect survived this disaster, they would have more than enough resources in the future. On the other hand, if they failed to survive this disaster, then it was a waste to leave those resources untouched.
“Many thanks, Honoured Master!” Yang Kai took the token and turned to leave.
“Is there something else, Ying Ying?” Hong Xiu glanced at Wan Ying Ying, who remained standing below them.
Wan Ying Ying opened her mouth and was tempted to say that her Eldest Senior Brother had not only killed Zhang Yu Lin today but also four other Eighth-Step and Ninth-Step Mortal Realm Masters; however, she did not know how to express the words that were at the tip of her tongue. [Nobody will believe me if I said something like that. Besides, now that I think about it, I can’t be sure whether those attendants were really in the Eighth-Step and Ninth-Step Mortal Realm…]
“It’s… It’s nothing. I’m going to cultivate,” she mumbled and quickly took her leave.
Following a discussion between Su Chang Fa and the two Elders in the Main Hall, they eventually decided to cooperate with Roaring Tiger Sect. They hoped to borrow Roaring Tiger Sect’s strength to block Tian Luo Hall’s advances. Zhang Yu Lin had been killed, so it was conceivable that the retaliation from Tian Luo Hall would soon come. Void Spirit Sword Sect would be powerless to resist without the help of Roaring Tiger Sect. The survival of a 1,000-year-old Sect was currently hanging by a thread thanks to the unexpected appearance of a single Black Jade lode!
Standing in front of the Sect’s storehouse, Yang Kai took the Sect Master Token and came to the Martial Uncle in charge of this place. The Martial Uncle had the surname ‘Chang’, and although he was getting on in years, he was still stuck in the Ninth-Step Mortal Realm due to insufficient aptitude. In terms of hierarchy, he belonged to the same generation as Su Chang Fa.
Martial Uncle Chang naturally had no objections when he saw the Sect Master Token and readily allowed Yang Kai to pass.
Yang Kai entered the storehouse and began walking around aimlessly, grabbing anything and everything that could help with his cultivation. It didn’t take long before he walked out with a large bundle in his hands.
After Yang Kai departed, Martial Uncle Chang entered to check the storehouse and immediately felt his vision go black. He nearly fainted on the spot. That was because not a single Spirit Jade remained in the storehouse. Several dozen bottles of elixirs purchased from other Sects at a high price had also been cleared out. Even the spirit flowers and spirit herbs for Alchemy were gone.
It could be said that anything with the slightest value inside the storehouse had been taken away by Yang Kai. The entire storage was cleaner than a rice field devoured by locusts. Thus, it gave him such a shock that he hurriedly went to the Sect Master to report about this matter.
…..
Carrying his huge bundle, Yang Kai stood in front of a statue and looked up at the several-metre-tall carving of a man. The statue was exquisite and highlighted the charming features of this person clearly. He was extraordinarily brave and heroic and his gaze was powerful. Of particular note was the sword he wore on his waist. This was a statue of Void Spirit Sword Sect’s Ancestor who became the True Void Sword Lord.
In Yang Kai’s memory, he had walked past this statue on countless occasions, but this time he seemed to discover something interesting about the statue. After staring at the statue for a long time, he finally grinned and headed towards his residence with his large bundle in hand.
As the Eldest Disciple of Void Spirit Sword Sect, it was only natural that Yang Kai had a private residence. He entered the secluded home and put the bundle down before taking off his shirt to check his wounds.
In addition to being stabbed in the abdomen by Zhang Yu Lin, his arms had been reduced to a bloody mess from him overusing them during his battle against the attendants. Even so, his injuries were already showing signs of recovery. He quietly examined his wounds for a moment before raising a brow.
“Is it the power of my Dragon Vein?” Yang Kai could clearly sense faint traces of his Dragon Clan bloodline flowing through his body and his meridians. It was precisely because of these faint traces of the Dragon Clan bloodline that his injuries could heal so quickly.
It would seem that although he could not mobilise his Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm strength, the Divine Armament World was also unable to fully isolate him from the power of his bloodline.
The power of the Dragon Vein flowing through his body was extremely weak, to the point that it was barely perceptible, but this power was enough to make a Fourth-Step Mortal Realm Master undergo Earth-shaking changes.
Furthermore, he had the vague sense that the power of the Dragon Vein within him would become more and more powerful as his strength gradually increased and the endurance of his body was enhanced.
[At present, what I urgently need to do is to cultivate hard and increase my strength. It doesn’t matter whether it’s for the Divine Armament Tournament or for the imminent danger I will face… I’m running out of time!]
Yang Kai sat down cross-legged and carefully went through the information in his mind.
The sword was the foundation of Void Spirit Sword Sect. They cultivated a Secret Art known as the Void Spirit Art paired with the Void Spirit Sword Art. What he used when fighting Zhang Yu Lin’s attendants back then was the Void Spirit Sword Art; however, it was a version that he had modified and improved. With his rich experience, modifying and improving a simple Sword Art was not a problem.
It would now seem that the Void Spirit Art also had room for improvement. He immediately activated the Spirit Qi flowing in his body and slowly changed the cultivation route in his body.
In less than an hour, Yang Kai finished improving the Void Spirit Art. After a series of experiments, he discovered that both the cultivation speed and absorption of the World Energy of the improved Void Spirit Art were at least 20% percent higher.
