Roughly half a day passed before Qian Tong finally arrived near the Flowing Flame Sandlands with over two hundred people in tow. After hurriedly relaying some instructions to his disciples and the warriors who had followed along, he went to find the two Return to Void experts from the Shadow Moon Palace.
It was as though everyone had coordinated in advance. As the Shadow Moon Palace contingent arrived, wave after wave of warriors continued to pour in. They scattered to find unoccupied ground, either clustering into tight factions or gathering in small groups of three to five.
Those in tight clusters were disciples of the major powers. The ones in small groups of three to five came from minor families and small sects. The outer perimeter of the Flowing Flame Sandlands drew a sharp, unmistakable line between the two camps.
In less than a day, the number of warriors gathered here had already exceeded two thousand. There were surely more who hadn't yet arrived — otherwise the figure would have been even higher.
Wei Guchang and Dong Xuan'er were nestled among the crowd of Shadow Moon Palace disciples, surrounded by nearly seventy people who orbited them like stars around the moon. Wei Guchang wore a solemn expression as he gave pointed instructions to his fellow sect members, and the men and women of the Saint King Realm nodded one after another.
Yang Kai didn't spot any disciples from the Thunder Platform Sect, the Battle Heaven Alliance, or the Glazed Gate here. They had likely entered through another entrance, because the Flowing Flame Sandlands had more than just this single way in. According to Wei Guchang, there were four entrances spread across the four directions, and each major power chose the one closest to them. That was why they weren't all gathered in one place.
Compared to the bustling crowds around him, Yang Kai sat cross-legged alone in a secluded spot, looking thoroughly isolated. But nobody came to bother him. Those who had witnessed his and Wei Guchang's imposing aura before naturally didn't dare cause trouble again, and the newcomers seemed to sense that Yang Kai wasn't someone to be trifled with — none of them approached.
As for the warriors from minor families, they were constantly surrounded by disciples from the major powers. These people's intentions were self-evident — they wanted to buy the Pass Tokens from the minor-family warriors.
However, with more and more people arriving, these major-power disciples no longer dared to bully others with their status the way Yin Jianzhong had done before. They spoke politely and offered sincerely generous prices, managing to convince a number of minor-family warriors to abandon their plans to enter the Flowing Flame Sandlands, selling their Pass Tokens instead.
Others remained firmly determined to enter the Flowing Flame Sandlands in search of fortune and opportunity. The major-power disciples hovering around them talked until their throats went dry without making a dent, leaving them utterly exasperated.
Yang Kai's gaze swept across the area and suddenly stopped at a particular spot. He let out a soft "hmm," slowly stood up, and began walking in that direction.
There, two aging men stood with bitter smiles on their faces. Like the other minor-family warriors, a few people had gathered around them, taking turns to cajole and tempt them with promises of profit, trying to buy their Pass Tokens.
"Fifty thousand — fifty thousand Saint Crystals. I can't go any higher! Go ask around if this price isn't fair! Fifty thousand Saint Crystals is no small sum for us either. What do you two think, seniors? If you feel it's about right, we'll call it a deal." The middle-aged man spoke with earnest, persuasive patience. Although his cultivation was at the same level as the two aging men — both at Saint King Stage Three — they were older after all, and he needed something from them, so addressing them as "seniors" was no great matter.
One of the two aging men cupped his hands lightly and said with a bitter smile, "Gentlemen, it's not that we're unwilling to give face, but we haven't even seen what these Pass Tokens look like yet. Our tokens are all still with Elder Qian of the Shadow Moon Palace and haven't been distributed."
"That's no problem," the middle-aged man said with a hearty laugh. "They haven't been handed out yet, but they should be soon. All you need to do is hand them over to me once you receive them. I can give you the Saint Crystals right now!"
The middle-aged man spoke with complete sincerity and, without missing a beat, was already about to start counting out the crystals.
The two aging men exchanged a glance, both wearing helpless expressions. Fifty thousand Saint Crystals was indeed a huge sum for them. But compared to that, they would far rather enter the Flowing Flame Sandlands.
Inside, they might die — but they might also reap enormous gains and break through to the Return to Void Realm!
They were old, with no sons or daughters. Their greatest wish in this lifetime was to decipher the secrets of the Return to Void Realm before they died. To fight for that wish, even at the cost of their lives — what did it matter?
They truly did not want to sell their Pass Tokens. And this opportunity to enter the Flowing Flame Sandlands was exceedingly rare — it was only by a stroke of fortune that the chance had fallen to them. If they failed to seize it, they wouldn't rest easy even in death.
But the man was already counting out the crystals. Refusing now would only enrage him. Even though they had come with the Shadow Moon Palace, they had no connections with anyone there. On the contrary, Elder Qian already found them particularly disagreeable. He hadn't caused them trouble and had even allocated them two spots to enter the Flowing Flame Sandlands out of sheer mercy — how could they expect the Palace to intervene in something like this?
Just as their anxiety peaked, a familiar voice suddenly reached their ears: "What's this? Someone forcing a sale again?"
The voice carried a hint of mockery. The middle-aged man who had been counting the crystals turned cold and looked toward the source. The moment he made out the newcomer's face, he immediately put on a smile, cupped his fists, and said carefully, "Friend, I'm nothing like those arrogant tyrants from the Green Sparrow Gate. I'm not forcing anyone to sell — I'm offering these two seniors fifty thousand Saint Crystals for their Pass Tokens. Go ask around anywhere you like if this price isn't fair."
He smiled apologetically while explaining hastily, his heart sinking with bitterness. Why on earth had this guy come to interfere? Did he have some connection with these two aging men?
He had watched the entire scene from beginning to end the day before — when Yang Kai and Wei Guchang had dealt with Yin Jianzhong. He knew perfectly well that this Saint King Stage One cultivator was not someone to provoke. If he truly angered him, fifty thousand Saint Crystals wouldn't settle things — it would take five hundred thousand!
Five hundred thousand... Just the thought of it made him shudder.
"Yang Kai?" The two aging men called out the moment they saw him, their expressions turning stiff and self-conscious.