However, compared to Kong Wendong, the young woman still held a slight initiative. After all, she had merely used Yang Kai — she hadn't directly opposed him. So after a brief spin of her eyes, she immediately called out in a sweet voice: "Young brother truly is remarkable! This lady knew all along that you would be perfectly fine!"
As if she had predicted it all along.
Yang Kai let out a scoffing laugh and strolled forward, speaking: "Let's skip the pleasantries. This lady — you still stand by what you said earlier, don't you?"
The young woman froze for a moment, then beamed with delight, nodding hastily: "Of course I do!"
"Good!" Yang Kai nodded with satisfaction. "In that case, once it's done, I want half of whatever we retrieve from that cave dwelling. If you agree, I'll step in and help you right away. If you don't agree, consider it unsaid."
"Half?!" The young woman stared at Yang Kai in shock, her expression souring immediately. She snapped: "Young brother, don't you think that's rather unfair?"
"Unfair how?" Yang Kai regarded her with an amused grin.
"You're only one person, and only at the first layer of the Return to Void Realm. But Ice Heart Valley has three of us here. Even if we split things evenly, you'd only get a quarter — or less. Half..." She gave a thin laugh. "Don't you think that's rather greedy?"
"Not at all!" Yang Kai replied with a serious shake of his head. "If I don't intervene, you won't get a single thing from inside. And if anything does come out, it'll be because I played a part. So half is perfectly reasonable for both you and me."
"Out of the question!" The young woman shook her head vigorously, her expression resolute. "I can't accept that offer. At most, I can authorize giving you a fifth. If you don't agree, then forget it."
"Oh?" The smile on Yang Kai's face deepened as he regarded her with keen interest. "Even if they get reinforcements arriving in a moment, you still won't agree?"
"What did you say?" The young woman's expression shifted.
"What I said — why don't you look for yourself?" Yang Kai replied casually.
The young woman was no fool. She immediately turned her head toward the four on the other side. After a moment, her beautiful eyes narrowed, and her expression turned cold. The reason was simple — she had spotted the first-layer Return to Void Realm warrior she had gravely wounded, secretly channeling his divine sense into a message compass. He seemed to be trying to contact someone, though she couldn't tell whether the connection had actually been established.
Seeing this, the young woman knew at once that she could stall no longer. Gritting her silver teeth, she called out: "Fine! Half it is! As long as we can obtain what's in that valley, this lady will absolutely not go back on her word!"
"I hope you mean that." Yang Kai gave her a deeply meaningful look. The young woman's heart clenched — for reasons she couldn't explain, a flicker of unease crept through her.
But she quickly banished the thought. Right now, the most important thing was dragging this brat into the fight. As for how to divide the spoils once they had obtained the valley's contents — that would be decided by her, wouldn't it? Give him ten or twenty percent, and that would be more than enough.
Half... laughable. She didn't even intend to burn the bridge after crossing it, so he should count himself lucky. If he failed to read the situation when the time came, dealing with him then would be no trouble at all.
"You can rest easy," the young woman said with a charming smile, her thoughts settled.
Throughout Yang Kai's entire negotiation with the woman, Kong Wendong had made no move to intervene. He understood well that he had already made an enemy of Yang Kai, and nothing he said now would change that. Only after they had finished did he let out a cold laugh: "Kid, you really think you're somebody?"
"Whether I am or not — let our fists do the talking." Yang Kai bared his teeth in a grin. He didn't bother going after Kong Wendong directly — after all, that man was the strongest of the four Fire Radiance Sect cultivators, and dealing with him would surely be troublesome. Instead, he fixed his sights on a half-aged old man at the second layer of the Return to Void Realm. The old man wore dark robes and had three long wisps of beard trailing from his chin, giving him an air of immortal elegance. Yet his face was ruddy and his skin was smooth and tender as a newborn's.
The Golden Blood Threads shot from Yang Kai's fingertips, streaking toward the dark-robed old man and enveloping him completely in their assault.
Seeing how decisively Yang Kai acted — without a shred of hesitation — and how he had chosen to target an opponent an entire layer above him, the three women of Ice Heart Valley all lit up with joy. The leading young woman let out a clear cry and moved to intercept Kong Wendong herself, while the other two each found their own opponents. Pairs formed, and the fighting began in earnest.
Among the Ice Heart Valley cultivators, only the leading young woman was at the third layer of the Return to Void Realm. One of the other two was at the second layer, and the last was at the first layer.
The Fire Radiance Sect side had cultivators of matching levels.
However, their first-layer warrior had already been gravely wounded by the young woman. Ice Heart Valley's cultivator could dispatch him without much effort — it was merely a matter of time. Once the outcome on this front was decided, reinforcements could be sent to the others.
A slight advantage could snowball into a crushing one. When that happened, the Fire Radiance Sect would surely collapse like an avalanche!
The young woman's mind raced through the predicted flow of battle in an instant. Her heart swelled with quiet satisfaction, but she also cast a worried glance toward Yang Kai. After all, this prediction hinged entirely on Yang Kai's ability to hold his own against the dark-robed old man.
If Yang Kai was cut down by the Fire Radiance Sect elder in short order, then this rosy forecast would crumble to nothing.
She would have to keep a close eye on Yang Kai.
She had assumed the fight on his end would be entirely one-sided — that Yang Kai would be struggling desperately and stretched thin. After all, the opponent he had chosen was a full layer above him in strength.