Di Yao used a perfect mix of courtesy and force, his expression calm the whole time.
Hearing his words, the other side’s expressions all became solemn. When they scanned this group of newcomers, they realized that the situation was not good; although their numbers and cultivations were more or less even, in the end, their side was still made up of two different teams so acting in unison would be difficult. On the other hand, Cang Yan’s side were one whole, so if a fight were to really start, their side would clearly be at a disadvantage and would likely be the ones ultimately forced to withdraw.
The masters from the two teams glanced at each other and quickly reached a consensus.
The two teams merged together, opening up a spot for Yang Kai’s group.
Di Yao’s expression brightened, appearing somewhat pleasantly surprised. He had just been speaking casually before and had not anticipated things would go so smoothly, quickly saying, “Thank you!”
As he spoke, their team settled into the open space.
Stepping onto the broad petal, Yang Kai had a strange feeling.
Although the Thousand Year Demon Flower was purely composed of energy and had no physical substance to it, the energy itself was so rich it was no different from a solid form.
“We’ve given you a spot as agreed, now why don’t you tell us how to condense the medicinal liquid?” Once of the masters from the other two teams stared at Cang Yan vigilantly while asking Di Yao.
“Just wait,” Di Yao smiled and didn’t answer.
The masters from the other two teams suddenly looked uncomfortable, silently circulating their True Qi and raising their guard, preparing to take action at any moment.
After about ten breaths of time though, at the very pistil petals, a ripple of energy visible to the naked eye appeared, attracting everyone’s attention and causing them to become even more alert.
Di Yao suddenly leaned over to Yang Kai and whispered something into his ear; Yang Kai nodded silently in response.
Immediately after, Di Yao went around to all the others in the group and told each of them something.
This little action didn’t go unnoticed by the other two teams of course, and one of their masters soon angrily called out, “What are you doing? If you dare try to deceive us, we’ll make you pay a steep price!”
Di Yao just laughed however and casually said, “Rest assured, I will tell you how to condense the Demon Flower’s medicinal liquid, I won’t deceive you.”
“You better!”
As the two were speaking, the ripples from the pistil became more and more pronounced, as if small stones were constantly being thrown into a calm lake.
From the pistil, where the ripples were originating, a mysterious energy began appearing and spreading out.
“Go!” Di Yao suddenly shouted and together with Yang Kai, rushed towards the epicentre.
The two’s speed instantly reached an extreme and in the blink of an eye they had already arrived at the centre of the ripples.
In the next instant, a shocking scene took place; the two young men dove into the ripples and, as if they had fallen into a deep pool of water, completely disappeared.
Although the masters from the other two teams had been on full alert, none of them had anticipated such a strange and sudden development, and by the time they came to their senses were too late to stop it.
These masters instantly became furious and were just about to attack when Cang Yan suddenly said, “Wait a moment.”
“You group of lying bastards, what do you want to say at this point!?”
“I can let your Alchemists go in, only on the other side is it possible to condense the medicinal liquid, but all of you must stay behind and help us guard this entrance. You don’t want any other opponents to break in, right?” Cang Yan said calmly while still holding his Saint Grade sword covered in flames, exerting an invisible pressure on them.
All of the other teams’ masters were somewhat stunned by this proposal but with no time to think it through, they simply nodded, “Good!”
“Thank you!” Cang Yan gestured.
The Spirit Grade Alchemists from the two teams quickly followed after Di Yao and Yang Kai and dove into the pistil, their figures disappearing in the next moment.
Four Spirit Grade Alchemists suddenly disappearing into the flower had naturally attracted a lot of attention from the surrounding teams.
Although none of them understood what was happening, all of them were keenly aware of what needed to be done and faintly felt that this occurrence was related to how to condense the Thousand Year Demon Flower’s medicinal liquid.
Dozens of sharp gazes focused on the pistil and in the next instant, countless teams rushed over.
Cang Yan grinned fiercely and the Saint Grade sword in his hand suddenly transformed into a roaring Fire Dragon that shot towards the incoming crowd.
*Xiu xiu xiu…*
Fei Jian pulled open his bow and shot out a barrage of powerful, yet invisible arrows skewering several of the incoming opponents.
Li Wan’s short body suddenly radiated a dazzling golden radiance and in an instant, his barely adult-sized body transformed into a massive giant towering over everyone else.
Fei Yu’s red lips parted as she blew a watery mist from her seemingly delicate mouth. This mist morphed into a giant serpent that bore its fangs and struck like lightning towards nearby cultivators. Each of its victims immediately became red faced and disoriented, as if they were completely drunk and incapable of even standing up straight.
In the air, there was suddenly a strong smell of wine which was both fragrant and intoxicating.
The four masters from Soaring Heaven Sect suddenly bursting out their complete strength sent a cold chill down the backs of the other Transcendents beside them guarding the Demon Flower’s pistil.
None of them dared hold back either, whether it was the Transcendents from the other two teams or the six guards sent by the City Lord’s Mansion, they also displayed their most formidable Martial Skills and artifacts.
In an instant, Martial Skills and artifact strikes flew out atop the petals of the Thousand Year Demon Flower and an earth-shaking battle began.
Although the Soaring Heaven Sect Protectors, City Lord’s Mansion guards, and the masters from the two unfamiliar teams totalled eighteen masters altogether, and each of their individual strengths was no low, a few fierce tigers were still unable to beat back a massive pack of wolves. Facing hundreds of Transcendent Realm masters, they quickly fell into a disadvantageous position.
After less than twenty breaths, all of them had suffered varying degrees of injury. Li Wan, who was at the forefront, had already been beaten bloody by the countless attacks he had endured.
Cang Yan’s expression was incredibly solemn as he fought while keeping a thread of Divine Sense locked on the pistil, making sure not to miss any changes that occurred.
After the four Spirit Grade Alchemists entered, the ripples spreading from the centre of the petals began slowing, and as time passed they began fading.
Soon, the ripples stopped propagating at all.
“Retreat!” Cang Yan shouted, no longer daring to stick around, grabbing Li Wan and fleeing as swift as the wind and quick as lightly.
Fei Yu, Fei Jian, and the six guards from the City Lord’s Mansion were close behind.
The remaining two teams were stunned, unable to understand why their allies had suddenly abandoned their position, but without Cang Yan and the others, it was impossible for them to continue guarding this place so they too hurriedly escaped.
At the pistil, the guards had left and the door was wide open.
The cultivators who had just arrived were overjoyed and hurriedly tried to escort their own Alchemists forward in order to have them follow after Yang Kai and Di Yao.
But to their dismay, now that the ripples had ceased, no matter how hard they tried, no one else was able to enter the flower.
For a time, countless shouts and curses rang out.
Meanwhile, Cang Yan and the others had already returned to the base of the mountain, each of them bathed in blood and panting heavily for breath, even the beautiful Fei Yu was a complete mess as a tinge of fear still gripped her heart.
Fortunately, all of them had only needed to guard the entrance for about thirty breaths of time, if they had to remain any longer, it was possible none of them would have survived.
All of them had received quite heavy injuries with Li Wan being the most severely wounded. After dispelling his golden giant form, he immediately collapsed to the ground.
Old Man Li quickly stepped forward and gave everyone a pill.
Cang Yan and the others expressed their gratitude before hurriedly swallowing the healing pills.
A short time later, all of them felt significantly better and Li Wan’s injuries had also been stabilized, at least, there was no immediate threat to his life.
“Old Man Li, is this all right?” Cang Yan opened his eyes and turned to look at the Thousand Year Demon Flower which was still floating gently in the sky. Even now, atop its giant petals, there were countless masters looking for a method to enter.
“En,” Old Man Li nodded lightly, “The rest will depend on their own good fortune.”
“Two other Alchemists also managed to go in, we were powerless to stop them,” Cang Yan muttered somewhat dissatisfied.
“No problem, even though they went in, they won’t be able to obtain anything,” Old Man Li laughed, obviously he had great confidence in Di Yao.
“Fair enough,” Cang Yan nodded lightly. With Yang Kai there, those two Alchemists obviously wouldn’t be able to make any waves, that kid had even been able to kill Second Order Transcendents.
“We really must thank Old Man Li for everything,” Fei Yu said, still somewhat distressed, “If it weren’t Old Man Li’s instructions, we would be no better than headless flies like everyone else.”
Who could have thought it would be so difficult to condense the medicinal liquid of the Thousand Year Demon Flower. All of them had originally thought that when the flowers blossomed, the nearby Alchemists would simply need to refine it and that would be it. If it weren’t for some lucky coincidences causing Yang Kai and Di Yao to meet and befriend one another, thus allowing them to obtain Old Man Li’s advice, the four Protectors were certainly they wouldn’t have been able to complete their task here so smoothly.
“Hoho, I’ve just lived a little longer than all of you, nothing more,” Old Man Li laughed lightly, “Good, there’s no need for us to wait here, let’s head back to Floating Clouds City, it will be more than a few days before they come out again.”
Everyone nodded and turned towards Floating Clouds City with Old Man Li.
Along the way, Cang Yan found that Old Man Li seemed to be quite interested in his Little Martial Nephew and asked a lot about him. Although there were outsiders present, in the face of Old Man Li’s inquiries, Cang Yan answered as much as possible.
“Oh, so you say he is from a very remote place?” Old Man Li suddenly smiled, “I see.”
“We were also quite surprised, never had I thought such an amazing talent like that kid would emerge from such a small place,” Cang Yan smiled and shook his head. Compared with Yang Kai’s performance, the so called Elite Disciples of Soaring Heaven Sect were mediocre at best.
“You should not underestimate those who are born in lower levels of our world. There are many talented people from all places, but because of various constraints, their development is limited; however, if any of them manage to rise up even in such a harsh environment, they can often ascend to great heights,” Old Man Li lightly said.
“What Old Man Li says is absolutely right,” Cang Yan smiled and nodded, “I would never have believed so before, but after seeing Little Martial Nephew, I am thoroughly convinced. I even heard Little Martial Nephew say he has two Senior Sisters who came out from his homeland who are no worse than him, possibly even better in certain aspects.”
“He has two Senior Sisters?” Old Man Li raised his eyebrows.
“En, Little Martial Nephew has been looking for them, but unfortunately he has no clue where to start. Haa… it truly is difficult to find two individuals in such a vast sea of people.”
