Thinking of this, Yang Kai said with an apologetic expression, "I've made you suffer all these years. When I brought you out of that small Mysterious World back then, I promised you that one day I would definitely find a place for you to settle down. But after all these years of running around everywhere, I've never had a stable place to call home."
The Divine Tree, upon hearing this, actually waved its two palm-shaped leaves in a gesture of dismissal. "I know. You don't need to worry about it."
"Mm." Yang Kai nodded gently, then suddenly grinned. "But things are better now. There's finally a place where we can put down roots. If you're willing, you can come out for the time being. And when I eventually leave this place, I'll take you with me again. Of course, the choice is yours."
The Divine Tree stopped in its tracks, a hint of joy appearing on its subtle features. "I can go outside?"
It seemed that after being kept in the Black Book's space for so long, it was yearning for the sunlight outside.
"Mm." Yang Kai nodded firmly.
"Then let's go out. When you leave this place, I'll come along with you."
With their agreement reached, Yang Kai immediately stepped out of the stone mansion. Outside, all was quiet. Several dozen Heike Family disciples appeared to be deep in cultivation, and even Chang Qi and Hao An were nowhere to be found. Only a few warriors assigned to monitor Dragon Cave Mountain's movements were still about.
Upon seeing Yang Kai emerge from seclusion, their expressions turned solemn. They hurried over and took the initiative to pay their respects.
Though they had left the Heike Family to follow Wuyi, they all knew who truly held authority in this place.
"Where's Yang Yan?" Yang Kai turned to look around but couldn't find Yang Yan anywhere. Even when he probed with his Divine Sense, there was no trace of her aura. Wuyi was also absent.
"Miss Yang Yan and the Young Miss went to Mohai City together," one of the sharper-looking warriors quickly replied.
"Mohai City? Which faction does that belong to? What are they doing there?" Yang Kai asked in surprise.
"Mohai City is a subordinate city of the Qiantian Sect. They went to attend the Treasure Gathering Pavilion's auction."
"Another auction!" Yang Kai raised an eyebrow. Seeing his puzzled expression, the warrior quickly launched into an explanation. After listening, Yang Kai finally understood — apparently, the fact that he had put up quite a few valuable items for auction last time had left an impression on the Treasure Gathering Pavilion's Yan Pei. So before this auction was held, Yan Pei had specifically sent Qian Tong to deliver an invitation.
Dragon Cave Mountain happened to be short on Holy Crystals for purchasing materials, so Yang Yan had taken several Artifacts she had forged herself to put up for consignment, hoping to raise some funds.
Learning all this, Yang Kai quietly furrowed his brow. Yang Yan was spending Holy Crystals far too quickly. The several million Holy Crystals and materials he had brought back last time must have all been used up by now. Yang Kai wasn't frowning because of her lavish spending — no matter how many Holy Crystals and materials Yang Yan consumed, she was using them to set up protective restrictions for Dragon Cave Mountain.
What concerned Yang Kai was that consigning items for auction to raise Holy Crystals was not a sustainable long-term strategy.
Yang Yan could put up her own crafted Artifacts for auction once or twice to keep funds flowing, but doing so regularly would inevitably attract trouble. And the pills he refined couldn't be consigned for auction forever either. After all, Dragon Cave Mountain currently had no major power backing it. Though the Shadow Moon Hall maintained good relations with them, that was entirely due to Qian Tong's personal efforts. There was no guarantee that someone within the Shadow Moon Hall wasn't watching this place with designs of their own.
If too many high-grade Artifacts and pills flowed out from here, it would surely draw the attention of those with ulterior motives.
Setting others aside, there was Xie Hongwen's father — Yang Kai figured he wouldn't ease up his surveillance of this place. Xie Hongwen had died in the Liuyan Sandlands, and though his father didn't know exactly who had killed his son, he certainly wouldn't let the matter rest. Once he found an excuse, he might well come here looking to pick a fight.
"How many days have they been gone?" Yang Kai asked again.
"Three days. By our reckoning, they should be back soon. Young Master Yang, do you need us to go find them? If so, we can make the trip."
"No need." Yang Kai waved his hand. "Get back to your own duties."
"Yes." The warriors acknowledged and were about to disperse when Yang Kai suddenly added, "Oh, and when they return, tell them not to take any more Artifacts to auction."
After issuing his instructions, Yang Kai soared into the sky and flew freely over Dragon Cave Mountain. He had the token Yang Yan had given him — a token that could not only activate the restrictions within the stone mansion but could also turn on and off all of Dragon Cave Mountain's grand formation arrays. With the token in hand, none of the mountain's restrictions posed any obstacle to him.
He beheld the various remarkable formations Yang Yan had set up. The Mirage Stone had been placed at the heart of an illusion array. Without Yang Yan's token, Yang Kai feared he might have stumbled in and never found his way out.