Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain
With a look of despair upon his face, Li You Nan nearly collapsed to the ground. Thinking the Red Candle Fruit was about to be destroyed felt as if a blade was being pierced through his heart.
Although the power of the energy beam had been significantly weakened, it had still not been completely dispersed, and under everyone’s horrified gaze, it struck the Red Candle Fruit, making everyone feel as if they were the ones being hit.
*Xiu…*
The Red Candle Fruit, which has not been affected by the fighting so far, under the impact of this energy blast, flew straight out of the mountain valley.
To everyone’s surprise, this seemingly fragile, thin, and soft spirit fruit was completely unscathed by this blow.
Everyone was overjoyed and immediately used their movement skills to rush out of the mountain valley, signalling the start of an even more dangerous battle.
Just now, as the Red Candle Fruit sat in the mountain valley and red energy filled the air, everyone had stood atop their individual mountains while trying to snatch it. There had not been any direct confrontation yet, but now that the Red Candle Fruit had left the mountain valley, the situation had become far more chaotic with all the elite disciples from the various Sects struggling against one another.
Atop Shadow Moon Hall’s hill, Wei Gu Chang glanced over at Yang Kai and saw that he still showed no signs of opening his eyes, causing him to feel somewhat distressed.
While wondering if he should let Dong Xuan’er stay here and protect Yang Kai, the latter suddenly said, “You three go, don’t worry about me!”
Hearing this, Wei Gu Chang smiled happily and nodded before rushing off together with Dong Xuan’er and Dai Yuan. As long as Yang Kai wasn’t completely immersed in his meditation, there was no need to worry that he would suffer a sneak attack.
After Wei Gu Chang and the others left, Yang Kai opened his eyes happily, a brilliant and joyful light flashing across their depths.
He had made clear the vague thoughts he was contemplating at the last moment before the Red Candle Fruit matured. Although he felt that his control over Saint Qi had not risen to a new level, now was not an appropriate time to verify his gains.
Casting his eyes a few hundred metres away, even Yang Kai, who had experienced many great storms, couldn’t help furrowing his brow at the scene he saw.
Several dozen Third-Order Saint King elite cultivators were desperately unleashing their Martial Skills and pushing their artefacts as they fought in groups of three to five against one another. All of them acted ruthlessly, without the slightest hint of mercy. Although the scene was extremely hot, every force had at least one or two people paying attention to the situation of the Red Candle Fruit.
What was strange was that since the Red Candle Fruit had been blasted away from the mountain valley by the Star Emperor Sect disciple, it hadn’t fallen to the ground. Whenever it seemed it was about to fall into the hands of a certain cultivator, there would always be some subtle energy fluctuations that swept it aside, allowing it to continue flying through the air.
The performance of the stern-faced man from Star Emperor Sect was particularly eye-catching in this scuffle. Fang Tian Zhong, Wei Gu Chang, and Qu Chang Feng had formed a kind of temporary alliance and were cooperating to block him from seizing the Red Candle Fruit, but this stern-faced man was able to display incredible power, confronting three people on his own without falling into a disadvantage. Although this wasn’t quite a life or death fight, it was still amazing to be able to fight against these three rising stars all by himself.
Yang Kai watched secretly and immediately realised that this man who came from Star Emperor Sect was not affable.
After observing the situation for a moment, Yang Kai knew that if nothing unexpected happened, the Red Candle Fruit’s ownership wouldn’t be decided for some time. At least a few people would first need to die before everyone really put forward their best after which there was a chance for things to be decided.
But who would be the ultimate winner was impossible to tell.
Yang Kai wasn’t uninterested in the Red Candle Fruit; after all, this was an Origin King Grade High-Rank spirit fruit, something even he had never encountered before. Using it in Alchemy would definitely be of great benefit to the growth of his Alchemy skills, and after being refined into a pill, it really might be able to help a Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator break through to the Origin King Realm, such a spirit fruit in the hands of a suitable master may be able to create four or five Origin Kings.
Unfortunately, this battle was simply too chaotic.
Yang Kai estimated that even if he were to participate, he didn’t have more than a one in ten chance of obtaining the Red Candle Fruit. For such uncertain benefits, it simply wasn’t worth acting.
What’s more, this thing was currently a hot potato that only one of a few true elites could take away. If the Red Candle Fruit fell into his hands, someone without a stronger backer, it would only lead to disaster!
Therefore, he had already made up his mind not to fight for the Red Candle Fruit. It was because of this that he had focused all of his attention on his comprehension just now.
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However… Although he didn’t intend to join the competition for the Red Candle Fruit, it didn’t mean Yang Kai had no other plans.
Glancing down at the mountain valley filled with red energy, Yang Kai grinned and while everyone’s attention was attracted by the Red Candle Fruit, silently slipped into the cloud of red mist and disappeared.
The Red Candle Fruit was indeed rare and precious, but the plant which gave birth to it was also a great treasure.
The root of the Red Candle Fruit was called the Red Candle Stalk, and if it was planted in a place with rich World Energy, it could absorb that aura and produce a spirit fruit similar to the Red Candle Fruit.
Of course, the fruit produced this way wasn’t a genuine Red Candle Fruit and did not possess the magical ability to help an Origin Returning Realm cultivator break through to the Origin King Realm, but it did have the ability to help a cultivator temper their body.
What Yang Kai was after was precisely this ability.
The benefits of a more powerful physique were self-evident. Yang Kai’s body was countless times stronger than that of an average cultivator in the same realm. Even ordinary Low-Ranked Origin Realm cultivators couldn’t compare with him in terms of pure physical strength.
With the improvement of his own strength, and as he encountered stronger and stronger cultivators, Yang Kai found that the strength of his physique was now somewhat hindering him. He had suffered a number of injuries in these past few days which was enough to raise some alarm.
Moreover, when tearing space, he needed a strong physical body otherwise he wouldn’t be able to resist the strain of traversing The Void.
If he could obtain the Red Candle Stalk and consume the spirit fruits it produced from time to time to temper his body further, he could solve this issue. As long as he was given enough time, he could raise the intensity of his physique to new heights.
At that time, when fighting against others and tearing space, he would become much more relaxed.
He couldn’t use the Red Candle Fruit for the time being, and he believed that with his own ability, and in conjunction with everything he currently possessed, breaking through to the Origin King Realm shouldn’t be a problem; all that he was lacking was the accumulation of time. However, the Red Candle Stalk was something he needed right now, so instead of participating in the competition for the Red Candle Fruit, he focused on stealthily taking away the Red Candle Stalk.
Yang Kai plans seemed just right, but it turned out that someone else had the same idea and had acted first.
When Yang Kai snuck into the mountain valley in order to search for the Red Candle Stalk amidst this bank of red mist, he immediately discovered a blurry figure happily collecting something into his Space Ring.
Who this person was, Yang Kai didn’t know, but he was certain that what they had just taken away was the Red Candle Stalk.
Staying behind and collecting the Red Candle Stalk at such a time indicated that person had a deep understanding of the Red Candle Fruit. Dai Yuan was currently fighting outside and so was Li You Nan of Medicine Pill Sect, so it was impossible for it to be one of them.
The most likely candidate was one of the other Medicine Pill Sect disciples, most likely instructed by Li You Nan long ago to remain behind in order to obtain this treasure.
Just as Yang Kai found this man, he too found Yang Kai. In shock, this man pushed his Saint Qi violently, but before he could launch an attack, a loud sound rang out and after a short, pitiful scream, the valley fell silent.
As a bloody scent spread, Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed and he immediately summoned his Wind and Thunder Wings as he soared forward towards the figure that had taken away the Red Candle Stalk, snatched his Space Ring, and then swiftly withdrew.
Yang Kai’s actions were extremely fast, but in that brief moment of contact, he saw a creepy scene.
The one who had taken away the Red Candle Stalk was indeed a disciple of Medicine Pill Sect, but at this moment he had an arm through his chest, one that was holding his still beating heart.
Moreover, this arm was very unusual and looked extremely dry, like a piece of dead wood, and it was sucking the blood essence out of this unfortunately Medicine Pill Sect disciple. Before Yang Kai stepped back, he clearly saw the body of this Medicine Pill Sect disciple wither and turn into a dry corpse.
There was a third person here!
No matter who this third person was, any cultivator that could launch such a perfect sneak attack on a Third-Order Saint King and instantly kill them couldn’t only be described as extraordinary.
Almost as soon as he snatched the Space Ring, the other party’s hand also touched it, but they only managed to grab empty space, causing them to call out in surprise.
*Pu…*
The sound of something bursting echoed, and in front of Yang Kai, the body of the Medicine Pill Sect disciple exploded, leaving nothing behind. The third person who had killed him disappeared strangely, seemingly completely blending into the surrounding environment.
In this mountain valley filled with red energy, with vision that has been incredibly limited, one could barely see anything a metre in front of them.
Yang Kai released his Spiritual energy without hesitation, creating a web of Divine Sense threads all around him, without letting off a single spot, but what startled him was that this third person seemed to have truly disappeared. Even with Yang Kai’s powerful Divine Sense, he couldn’t find a single trace of the other party.
However, Yang Kai knew that this man had not left. Since he had come here, he must have been after the Red Candle Stalk, and since that was now in Yang Kai’s hands, if the other party wanted it, he would certainly come to him.
Suddenly, a single thread of Divine Sense that Yang Kai had spread out sent back some slightly inconsistent sensations. In normal times, Yang Kai would not pay this any mind, but right now, it was enough to cause his hair to stand on end. Quickly turning around, Yang Kai condensed his Demonic Flame onto his fist and sent out a fierce punch towards the seemingly empty space.