Yang Kai was completely unaware of Qu Zheng and Fang Peng's secret plotting. At this moment, he was still hurtling through the air toward the Shadow Moon Sect's location, entering every city he came across as always and frantically purchasing whatever useful pills and medicines he could find.
The Saint Crystals in his Space Ring were shrinking at a staggering rate, but in exchange, all manner of pills and medicines of varying grades piled up in their place.
The harvest was enormous.
Three months later, Yang Kai hovered in midair, gazing at a city not far away.
Tianyun City!
His eyes shifted to a small mountain range roughly fifty li outside the city — battered and scarred, its peaks broken and forlorn. Dragon Cave Mountain!
That had been his first stop after arriving on the Dark Star, and it was there that he had made many friends and earned more than a few enemies, allowing himself to grow little by little. Regrettably, this small mountain range that Wu Yi, Yang Yan, and the others had cultivated into something truly unique had been utterly destroyed in that great battle.
Times change. Yang Kai gazed at the desolate Dragon Cave Mountain, and it was as though he could see his own rapid growth over the past decade reflected back at him.
For a long moment, he simply shook his head slowly, gathered his thoughts, and headed straight for Tianyun City.
He had flown all the way from the Flame Sky Sands to reach this place. Though the journey had taken a full three months, the time had not been wasted. Cultivation was out of the question while traveling, but there was no reason he couldn't spend the time contemplating the various gains he had obtained from Emperor's Garden.
The lower half of the Demon Blood Thread secret art he had already fully digested. Given sufficient time to practice, he could expand the transformation possibilities of his Gold Blood Threads and increase the devastating power they wielded in battle.
He also periodically took out the Pill Dao Compendium to read through it, and each time he found new insights.
These three months had been incredibly fulfilling.
As Yang Kai approached the towering and majestic City Lord's Manor, he had barely drawn near before the guards posted outside blocked his path. The lead warrior sized Yang Kai up, and his expression changed abruptly. He cupped his fists and said with deep respect, "Chen Qi of Tianyun City greets Sect Master Yang."
"Oh? You recognize me," Yang Kai said with an amused smile, somewhat surprised.
The warrior called Chen Qi scratched his head and replied deferently, "When Sect Master Yang caused that great commotion in Tianyun City, I happened to catch a glimpse of you from afar, so…"
"I see." Yang Kai nodded gently. Since someone recognized him, that would make things easier. He said, "Is City Lord Fei in? I've come to discuss something with him."
As he spoke, he strode straight toward the entrance.
But Chen Qi stepped in front of him, his expression awkward. "Forgive me, Sect Master Yang, but the City Lord happens to be away from the city at the moment."
"Away?" Yang Kai blinked, caught off guard. He hadn't expected to have traveled all this way only to find no one home, and a flicker of frustration crossed his mind. After a moment, he asked, "What about Elder Qian?"
"Elder Qian isn't here either," Chen Qi said, looking even more embarrassed.
"Where exactly did they go?" Yang Kai asked, his expression one of pure exasperation. He had barely returned from Emperor's Garden not long ago — surely these two should be examining their own spoils rather than running off somewhere.
"The Elder and the City Lord left together for Emperor's Fall Mountain," Chen Qi quickly answered.
"What are they doing at Emperor's Fall Mountain?" Yang Kai frowned.
Chen Qi looked puzzled. "Hasn't Sect Master Yang heard about the strange changes at Emperor's Fall Mountain?"
"What strange changes?" Yang Kai's interest was immediately piqued.
Half an hour later, Yang Kai departed Tianyun City. He summoned his Star Shuttle and shot off in the direction of Emperor's Fall Mountain.
From Chen Qi, he had finally gotten a grasp of the situation.
Ancient martial practitioners' cave dwellings had appeared in massive numbers within Emperor's Fall Mountain — and rumors even spoke of an entire Sect's ruins hidden inside! The news was nothing short of explosive. Once word spread, it had drawn enormous numbers of martial artists from across the Dark Star to explore the mountain.
Moreover, this was no false rumor. It was the real deal.
Some had uncovered heaven-defying Cultivation techniques inside, others had stumbled upon vast quantities of treasure, and a few had even laid their hands on peerless-grade Artifacts.
It was said that even Void King-grade Artifacts had been unearthed.
Of course, that last claim was likely somewhat exaggerated. Void King-grade Artifacts were rare treasures on any star — simply because there were far too few Artificers capable of forging them.
But there was no denying it: Emperor's Fall Mountain had become the focal point of the entire Dark Star's attention.
Yang Kai had been to Emperor's Fall Mountain once before — that very trip with Fei Zhitu and the others when they had gone to rescue Qian Tong. The mountain range bore its name because of the legend that the Starry Sky Emperor had perished there.
The Emperor's Might that had always permeated the depths of Emperor's Fall Mountain lent infinite credibility to that claim.
The deeper one ventured, the stronger the Emperor's Might became!
Before Emperor's Garden had emerged, many martial artists on the Dark Star who had broken through to the Return Void Realm would enter Emperor's Fall Mountain. They used the Emperor's Might within to temper and refine their own aura. The deeper they went, the more powerful that Emperor's Might grew.
Not a single martial artist had ever reached the innermost depths of Emperor's Fall Mountain, because no one could withstand the crushing pressure of the Emperor's Might.
But after Emperor's Garden had appeared, the Emperor's Might that had always shrouded Emperor's Fall Mountain had vanished without a trace.