No one knew what kind of catastrophe had struck this valley. Zong Ao's palace lay in ruins, the thousand-acre herb field had ceased to exist, and the grand formation surrounding the valley had been completely destroyed.
As for Zong Ao himself, he sat on the ground looking as though he'd lost his soul—covered in dust from head to toe, eyes blazing with fury.
Only Yang Kai sat cross-legged among dozens of furnaces and rubble, perfectly still.
"What happened here?" Halika and the others were dumbfounded.
This was the forbidden zone of the entire Rain Waterfall Star. Ordinarily no one dared set foot here. No matter how they racked their brains, they couldn't fathom why this place looked as though it had been ransacked.
The group exchanged glances, steeled their courage, and flew down to land beside Zong Ao. Halika called out cautiously, "Elder Zong, what happened here?"
Lin Mufeng shouted angrily, "Some blind fool came here to cause trouble, didn't they? Just tell us, Elder Zong, and we'll make sure they pay!"
The middle-aged woman beside them nodded vigorously, her lovely eyes sharp with killing intent.
Zong Ao looked up, his gaze vacant as he stared at them. After a moment he sprang to his feet, pointing toward Yang Kai and snarling, "That bastard destroyed my herb fields and ruined my palace! I don't even have a place to sleep anymore, and a hundred years of carefully cultivated herbs are completely gone! If you really want to vent my anger, then kill him for me!"
Spittle sprayed all three of them in the face. They stood frozen, expressions utterly priceless.
A long while passed before Halika managed an awkward laugh and tried to calm him down. "Elder Zong, please calm down, please calm down. What on earth happened? Weren't you refining healing pills for Lord Xue? When I came by a few months ago everything was perfectly fine—how could this happen in just a few months?"
He'd already figured out that although Zong Ao was flying into a rage and telling them to go kill Yang Kai, it was all just talk. Yang Kai was currently meditating and looked extremely weak. If Zong Ao truly wanted him dead, why would he need someone else to do it? Yang Kai at his peak wouldn't have been a match for Zong Ao, let alone now.
"Who told you I was the one refining pills?" Zong Ao shot them a sidelong glance.
"If it wasn't you, could it possibly have been Young Brother Yang?" Lin Mufeng laughed dryly.
Zong Ao rolled his eyes but didn't bother to explain. He knew that even if he told the truth, no one would believe it! If he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes today, Zong Ao himself would have dismissed it as idle gossip.
But the pill in the jade bottle in his hand was undeniable proof—this kid had actually managed to refine a Saint King-grade pill bearing pill patterns, with a cultivation base of only the third layer of the Saint Entry Realm.
"Get lost! All of you, get lost!" Zong Ao waved his hand impatiently. "I've lived here alone and at peace for a hundred years, and one stinking brat was all it took to turn everything upside down! If any of you dare come within a hundred li of here again, I'll twist your heads off!"
The three Return to Void Realm experts instinctively shrank back and retreated in a sorry state, not daring to linger a moment longer.
They hadn't gone far before Zong Ao's voice rang out behind them again. "Wait!"
Halika turned around with an ingratiating smile. "Does Elder Zong have further instructions?"
Zong Ao pointed at the ruined palace. "Find some people and build me a new residence! Not a shred of situational awareness among you—do you expect me to sleep out in the open?"
Halika immediately began barking orders. They had brought quite a few warriors along this time. He left about a dozen behind and arranged for them to help Zong Ao construct a new dwelling before bowing his apologies and departing.
Those dozen or so warriors scattered in different directions, presumably to gather building materials.
Zong Ao glanced at Yang Kai, still unconscious, then down at the Li Fire Pill in the jade bottle in his hand, and a look of dejection crept across his face.
It took a full three days before Yang Kai finally came to.
A deep, pervasive weakness radiated from every part of his body. Yang Kai blanked for a moment, then immediately recalled everything before he had lost consciousness. He couldn't help but smile bitterly as his mind sank into his sea of consciousness to examine it.
The sea of consciousness was dim. The vast, surging tides of before were gone, replaced by only a thin layer of liquid. The Six-Colored Warm Soul Lotus was doing its utmost to nourish his soul, but it would take at least ten more days before the sea of consciousness was full again.
Every muscle in his body ached terribly, and his Sacred Yuan had been massively depleted.
Yang Kai had never experienced anything like this. You could call it an injury if you bent the definition, or say he wasn't injured and that would be equally valid. Nothing but overwhelming weakness enveloped him, as though a portion of his life force had been siphoned away, filling him with an inexplicable sensation of aging.
With considerable effort he rose to his feet and looked around. His eyes immediately found Zong Ao standing not far away, glowering at him with bristling fury. The old man's complexion was frighteningly dark, and his gaze burned with the light of someone who wanted to devour him whole.
Yang Kai sniffed, unable to fathom why the old man was putting on such a terrifying display.
Once he took in his surroundings, he understood immediately.
Rather than poke the hornet's nest, he searched through the rubble for a while and found Xue Yue—who had been left utterly neglected—still lying under several wooden boards. He lifted her out, carried her to a comfortable spot on a peak a few li away, and sat down.
Before he could even catch his breath, Zong Ao materialized silently at his side.