Three days later, Yang Kai was in the middle of refining pills when he suddenly heard Yang Yan shout excitedly, "Complete!"
The next moment, the earth shook and the mountains trembled. Pebbles and debris trickled down from the stone chamber walls. Soon everything settled, and thunderous cheers erupted from outside.
What in the world? Yang Kai was bewildered. He cleaned up the pill furnace, medicinal herbs, and finished pills, then walked out in curiosity.
No sooner had he stepped out of the cave than Yang Kai saw several dozen people standing outside, beaming with joy, as if something wonderful had happened. Even Wu Yi, whose spirits had been low for some time, wore a broad smile. And Yang Yan was something else entirely—she wore a look of supreme arrogance, as though she were the sovereign of all creation. Yu Feng stood beside her, shamelessly flattering her with such enthusiasm that even Yang Kai found it hard to bear. Yet neither of them had the slightest self-awareness.
"What's going on?" Yang Kai walked over to Wu Yi and asked.
"Oh, Yang Yan finished setting up the defensive formation," Wu Yi answered with a smile.
"Is it done?" Yang Kai turned to look around. He didn't see anything particularly different outside—in fact, it looked just the same as before. But faintly, he sensed that something about this area had changed. He just couldn't pinpoint what.
His expression immediately turned grave. He realized he had somewhat underestimated Yang Yan's mastery of formations. This defensive formation she had set up—he couldn't make heads or tails of it at all.
"Yang Yan, how powerful is this defensive formation?" Yang Kai called her over.
"Do you want to go in and try?" A glimmer of mischief flashed in Yang Yan's beautiful eyes as she goaded him. "Go on—I'll show you everything clearly."
Yang Kai studied her for a long moment before shaking his head. "If I go in there, wouldn't that be humiliating?"
"That's hard to say. Aren't you impressive? You can kill someone at the third stage of the Holy King Realm. Maybe you'll break my formation effortlessly?" Yang Yan swayed her head back and forth, putting on a mysterious air.
Yang Kai chuckled and observed even more intently.
Formations couldn't be judged by common sense. Sure, he could kill warriors at the third stage of the Holy King Realm, but once caught in a profound formation, he might find no path to heaven and no door to earth.
Though Yang Yan's words were ambiguous, her confidence was plain for all to see. Yang Kai was certain that if he went in, he would absolutely make a fool of himself.
With so many pairs of eyes watching, he wasn't about to do something that embarrassing.
Seeing that Yang Kai seemed to be observing carefully, Yang Yan pouted but didn't mind. She had immense confidence in the formation she had laid out. Unless someone was well-versed in formations, once they fell into it, no matter how strong they were, they wouldn't be able to make a single ripple.
It was just a pity that time had been tight and materials insufficient. The formation she had set up now could only defend—it couldn't kill. If she had enough time and materials, she could turn the entire Dragon Lair Mountain into a forbidden zone. Anyone who entered within a thousand li of the mountain without her permission would be a lamb awaiting slaughter.
Yang Kai clearly knew nothing about formations. It would be a miracle if he could spot anything just by looking. She wasn't worried at all.
Indeed, Yang Kai couldn't discern anything. When his Divine Sense swept into the area, it sank like a stone into the ocean, not disturbing a single ripple. This greatly surprised him. That stretch of space before him seemed to be capable of devouring Divine Sense!
One had to understand that his Divine Sense was far from ordinary. Although his realm had only just reached the Holy King Realm, his Divine Sense cultivation was at least equivalent to the Return Void Realm. If even his Divine Sense couldn't detect anything, one could only imagine how extraordinary this formation truly was.
His expression grew even more serious. Yang Kai steeled himself, forced a drop of blood from his fingertip, and smeared it on his left eye.
Ever since he had refined the Great Demon God's World-Destroying Demon Eye, he had only used it once—back on the Profound Continent, against that powerhouse of the Bone Race. He never imagined he would need to use it again just to peek at Yang Yan's formation.
The golden blood merged into his pupil, and in an instant, Yang Kai's left eye turned gold—a gold suffused with overwhelming majesty, as if it could devour a person's soul. Yang Yan and Wu Yi, standing beside him, instinctively shrank back, not understanding why they suddenly felt a chill.
Using the World-Destroying Demon Eye, Yang Kai finally managed to detect traces of the formation.
The World-Destroying Demon Eye was an innate ability of the Great Demon God, truly wondrous beyond measure—it could see through all illusions in the world. Yang Yan's formation was indeed cleverly concealed and masterfully designed, but it was not entirely without traces.
Looking out, he could see that within a radius of nearly a thousand zhang centered on the cave, streams of subtle energy flowed covertly in the darkness. This energy was invisible to the naked eye, imperceptible to Divine Sense, but it could not deceive the perception of the World-Destroying Demon Eye.
From those flowing currents of hidden energy, Yang Kai sensed a dangerous aura!
Being able to discern some clues didn't mean he could break the formation. He was inwardly alarmed, and his evaluation of Yang Yan immediately jumped up a level. He realized the girl he had brought back was not merely a treasure—she was an absolute gem!
"Yang Kai, are you going in or not? Hurry up! I want to see how powerful my formation really is!" Yang Yan, seeing that Yang Kai still hadn't moved, couldn't help urging him on.