On the road, Shen Shitao finally thought to probe into Yang Kai's origins. After some roundabout questioning, she learned that Yang Kai was not a disciple of the Yingyue Palace, nor a disciple of any great clan. Instead, he lived alone on a small mountain called Dragon Cave Mountain — something of a self-appointed king.
Simply put, Yang Kai was an independent cultivator with no sect, no faction, no backing, and no patron — someone who relied entirely on himself. In any land, there were plenty of cultivators like this. Their path was incredibly difficult. First, without a talented master to guide them, they were bound to go astray during cultivation sooner or later. Second, without a good cultivation environment or cultivation resources, their progress was slow. Third, if they were bullied, there was no one to stand up for them. So generally speaking, cultivators like this had no future. Despite their vast numbers, those who actually achieved anything were vanishingly rare — and those who did were invariably recruited by major sects and clans.
For someone like Yang Kai to have cultivated to the second stage of the Sovereign King Realm was already quite remarkable.
So when she learned all this, Shen Shitao actually felt a deep admiration for Yang Kai. Wang Yuhan, on the other hand, wore an expression of disdain — clearly, in his view, Yang Kai's life was as good as it would ever get. He might have a chance to advance to the third stage of the Sovereign King Realm, but reaching the Void Return Stage was absolutely impossible.
It wasn't just Shen Shitao who admired Yang Kai; even her younger brother Shen Fanlei had taken a great interest in him. The young man was actually quite nice, not scheming at all, and seemed brimming with energy and vitality — still lively even while injured. He kept pestering Yang Kai with questions about what he'd encountered in the Flowing Flame Sandy Land. Yang Kai picked out a few insignificant things to talk about, and the lad actually listened with relish, asking relevant questions at just the right moments.
As they traveled together, the atmosphere turned out to be surprisingly cordial. Among the four of them, aside from Wang Yuhan — who rubbed Yang Kai the wrong way — the other three were all easy to get along with.
Half a day later, the six of them finally left Burial of Heroes Valley. Until this point, Yang Kai had not detected any sign of those special entities from the Corpse Den tracking them. He breathed a deep sigh of relief, believing the matter should be settled for now.
Another day passed, and a small mountain range appeared ahead. Several peaks rose within it, and while the ambient spiritual energy wasn't particularly dense, it wasn't sparse either. Yang Kai's heart stirred at the sight. He halted and cupped his fists toward Shen Shitao and the others. "Friends, I don't know where you're headed, but I think this is where we part ways. I have some matters to attend to with my companion and will need to stay here for a few days."
"Stay for a few days?" Shen Shitao's eyes lit up. "Perfect! We were looking to rest for a few days too. As you can see, Fanlei and Senior Brother Wang haven't properly recovered since they were injured. Why don't we all rest here together?"
"You're staying here too?" Yang Kai furrowed his brow slightly.
"What? Doesn't Young Master Yang welcome us?" Shen Shitao shot him a reproachful look.
"Not at all. This land doesn't belong to me — it's just an unclaimed mountain range. Anyone can come and go as they please."
"Good." Shen Shitao smiled. "Besides, since you came from the direction of Tianyun City, you'll surely be heading back there, won't you?"
"Mm, naturally."
"Hehe, this place is quite far from Tianyun City, you know. Just flying on your Star Shuttles, it would take at least two or three months. If something happens along the way and you get delayed, it could take even longer."
Yang Kai looked at her thoughtfully. "I wonder if Miss Shen has a way to save us that time?"
"What could I possibly do? Naturally, we'd use the Spatial Formation. Young Master Yang probably doesn't know, but Black Crow City — five days' travel from here — has a Spatial Formation that connects directly to Tianyun City."
"Is that so?" Yang Kai turned to look at Yang Yan, only to find her looking equally blank — she clearly didn't know about it either.
"Would I deceive you?" Shen Shitao smiled, pressing her lips together. "Black Crow City is an unclaimed city that doesn't belong to any faction. The Spatial Formation inside isn't as strictly regulated as those belonging to major powers, but it's not open to just anyone either. However… Fanlei seems to know an elder who guards the Spatial Formation. With his guarantee, letting you use it shouldn't be a problem at all. Though using it does require a hefty payment in Saint Crystals."
"Saint Crystals are no problem — as long as it's usable." Yang Kai's expression brightened, and he immediately looked toward Shen Fanlei.
Shen Fanlei grinned. "Don't worry, Brother Yang. I did a small favor for an elder who guards the Spatial Formation before. Asking him to make an exception shouldn't be an issue. Besides, you're not exactly someone of uncertain origin."
"In that case, I'll have to trouble you then, Brother Shen." Yang Kai quickly expressed his gratitude. After that, he gazed down at the small peaks below. "Then let's stay here for a few days first. Once we're done, we can head to Black Crow City together."
Shen Shitao and the others naturally had no objections, and they all flew toward the small mountain range.
Shen Shitao and Lü Ying hadn't been injured in the fight against the Silver Night Thunder Beast, but their Saint Yuan reserves had been heavily depleted. They hadn't had any chance to recover along the way and would need to meditate. As for Shen Fanlei and Wang Yuhan, they needed to heal their wounds as soon as possible. So the four of them found one of the smaller peaks and flew toward it, quickly disappearing from sight.
Yang Kai and Yang Yan, meanwhile, flew toward a more remote peak.
Moments later, the two arrived at their destination. Yang Kai immediately channeled his Saint Yuan and carved out a temporary dwelling inside the mountain.
With his current cultivation level, creating such a place was no trouble at all. In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, a simple stone dwelling had taken shape.