When she heard this, Du Sisi looked at Cai He with gratitude.
Had Cai He not been quick-eyed and quick-handed, pulling her back at that moment, she would have surely gone through the white spatial array gate together with Ning Xiangchen and the others. With her level of cultivation, heading over there would have meant more danger than safety.
Don't be fooled by Lian Guang's safe return — after all, the man was skilled in the art of puppet manipulation, and at a critical moment, he could have a puppet shield him from catastrophe. Du Sisi had no such ability.
Though she had also encountered a puppet at the black spatial array gate, it had been a close call with no real harm in the end, and she'd only had to fight the one battle.
After several fierce encounters, Fei Zhitu and the others had stumbled into a frigidly cold secret chamber. Inside, they found an ice-crystal jade coffin in which the vague form of a person could be seen lying. But before they could determine who was inside, they accidentally triggered a restriction.
What happened next, everyone including Yang Kai already knew — the rules of heaven and earth within the Emperor's Garden took effect, repelling all of them and teleporting them to a location ten thousand li from Emperor's Fall Mountain.
It now seemed that the jade coffin was the source of this anomaly. Fei Zhitu and the others had activated the restriction near the coffin, which resulted in everyone being expelled. Afterward, the Emperor's Garden had manifested in the sky.
But as for who lay inside the jade coffin, Ning Xiangchen couldn't say for certain — he only knew the person was likely a woman.
At this, Yang Kai raised an eyebrow, a thoughtful look crossing his face.
Both times he had been repelled by the laws of heaven and earth, he had glimpsed a slender, jade-like palm. That palm clearly belonged to a woman — and here, inside the Emperor's Garden's ice-crystal jade coffin, lay a woman completely devoid of life force. Whether there was any connection between these two things, Yang Kai had not the slightest idea.
Moreover, what possible link could exist between the Scorching Sand Flats and the Emperor's Garden? That was an even deeper mystery.
Unable to puzzle it out, Yang Kai silently shook his head.
What's more, many things on the Dark Star were shrouded in mystery. There were no Void King Realm cultivators here. Even the highest-grade alchemists and artifact refiners had only reached Void Grade Low Tier, as if some force was suppressing them — preventing those who had reached their bottleneck from breaking through their limitations. Yang Kai couldn't help but feel that this star was not as simple as it seemed.
The journey was uneventful, and in just a few days the group returned to the vicinity of Tianyun City. Cai He, Du Sisi, and Lian Guang each said their farewells, while Ning Xiangchen stayed behind for a moment to chat amicably with Yang Kai.
Knowing what was on his mind, and mindful that Ning Xiangchen had looked after him quite well along the way, Yang Kai certainly wouldn't be stingy. He immediately told him that whenever he had time, he was welcome to visit Dragon Cave Mountain as a guest, and if he ever needed any Artifacts repaired, he had only to ask.
Receiving this promise, Ning Xiangchen's face lit up with delight. After expressing his profuse gratitude, he departed in a hurry — presumably to make preparations. After all, repairing Artifacts required gathering certain materials, and he couldn't very well expect Yang Kai to foot those costs as well.
Standing outside Tianyun City, Yang Kai lifted his gaze to the sky.
The Emperor's Garden seemed to have stabilized, hovering somewhere above the Dark Star. Its size appeared unchanged, but the Emperor's Might had completely dissipated — likely because it was now too far from the ground.
He wondered how Fei Zhitu and Qian Tong's investigation was progressing. But Yang Kai suspected that in the years to come, every major faction on the Dark Star would be thrown into turmoil.
After all, the appearance of the Emperor's Garden was of tremendous consequence. No faction could remain indifferent. When the time came, everyone would want to enter and claim their share, which would inevitably breed friction and conflict.
After gazing for a while, Yang Kai's expression suddenly darkened.
He hadn't paid much attention before, but now, looking at the Emperor's Garden again, he realized with a jolt — it was hovering directly above Tianyun City. Or rather, it was hovering directly above Dragon Cave Mountain.
This...
Yang Kai nearly burst into curses. If the Emperor's Garden remained here, Dragon Cave Mountain might enjoy the advantage of proximity — but it would also attract no end of unnecessary trouble. The powerhouses of every major faction on the Dark Star would inevitably come to investigate. They wouldn't dare provoke Shadow Moon Hall, but Dragon Cave Mountain was another matter entirely. Even with Qian Tong's protection, there would be no peace.
A dark expression settling over his face, Yang Kai stood in place for a moment, thinking. Then he stamped his foot, his figure flickering as he soared toward Dragon Cave Mountain.
There was no point worrying about it now. He didn't possess the heaven-defying means to relocate the Emperor's Garden. What he needed to focus on was strengthening Dragon Cave Mountain's defenses — so that when a motley crowd of opportunists came knocking, the place wouldn't fall prey to their schemes.
Cursing the Starry Sky Emperor under his breath, Yang Kai flew homeward at top speed.
Before long, he arrived before Dragon Cave Mountain's protective grand formation. He produced the token Yang Yan had given him and channeled Holy Yuan into it. The next moment, a beam of light shot from the token and surged into the formation.
The hazy expanse before him suddenly resolved into a straight corridor. Yang Kai's expression remained impassive. He stored the token and stepped forward. Once he was inside, the corridor vanished again, and all of Dragon Cave Mountain was once more shrouded in mist and clouds — from the outside, nothing could be seen.
The moment he entered, several figures flew toward him. Upon recognizing Yang Kai, their faces brightened, and they cupped their fists in greeting.
Yang Kai didn't remember their names — he only knew they had originally been disciples of the Hackett Family. When Wu Yi had left the family and joined Dragon Cave Mountain, they had come along. At the time, their strength had been uneven, and their cultivation levels quite low.
But with Dragon Cave Mountain's astonishing financial resources behind them, every single one of them had made tremendous progress. The one leading the group had now reached the Saint King Realm, while the rest had all entered the third stage of the Saint Entry Realm.