The incident had caused quite an uproar back in its day among the overseas sects, humiliating each and every one of them. More than ten major sects had their treasures stolen in succession, and that only fueled their collective rage.
Representatives from every faction gathered together, and even those old monsters who had been sealed away in seclusion for years emerged, all determined to track down the thief and reclaim the stolen goods.
Hard work eventually paid off. After months of investigation, the sects finally managed to pick up a trail of clues. All signs pointed to the same person—someone they had expelled from their sect thirty years ago.
No one knew what kind of fortuitous encounter this person had stumbled upon, but in just thirty years, they had cultivated their strength to a level that was virtually unattainable for others.
Only then did the major sects understand why someone had targeted their treasures. It was nothing more than a grudge—a lesson from the man they had cast aside, a man who wanted to teach these snobbish sects a thing or two.
The experts from those sects confronted the thief and demanded the return of their treasures, but he refused. Words turned to blows, and a desperate battle erupted across the open sea.
Alone, this single individual faced the combined assault of experts from over a dozen major sects. In that battle, several remote islands were shattered, and the sect experts suffered devastating casualties. As for whether the thief survived or perished, no one knew for certain.
The experts who returned from that battle refused to speak a single word about what had happened.
Some claimed he had been killed, others said he had fled with grievous injuries. The truth remained a mystery.
As time wore on and all the experts who had participated in that battle eventually passed away, the matter slowly faded into obscurity. Yet the stolen treasures were never recovered.
Yang Kai had always assumed this was nothing more than an exaggerated tale spun by storytellers. After all, many of today's so-called extraordinary anecdotes were fabricated by those same storytellers just to make a living. Out of every ten such stories, having three that were even partially true would be generous. And even those three, passed through countless retellings, gradually lost their original flavor and became bloated with embellishment.
But now, seeing all of this with his own eyes, Yang Kai finally understood that the story was no legend—it had actually happened.
The sect seal of the Taiyi Sect could only become a formidable killing artifact when activated through the Taiyi Sect's unique cultivation technique. There it sat, on the very top shelf of the stone rack, buried under layers upon layers of dust.
Gu Yun Island's supreme cultivation method, Shura Sect's treasured artifact, Falling Flower Sect's Thousand-Petal Blood Begonia...
Which one of these wasn't priceless? Which one didn't hold profound and immense significance for its respective sect?
Even if some items on these stone shelves weren't particularly valuable in themselves, the simple fact that they were placed here made them immeasurably precious in the eyes of those sects.
So this was where all those stolen items had ended up—every last one of them stored in this very place!
Yang Kai's heart surged with emotion. He could only imagine the shockwave that would ripple through the overseas powers if any of these treasures were ever brought to light.
"Hmm, these artifacts are of half-decent quality. Young Master, would you like to take a few for self-defense?" Earth Demon suddenly spoke up.
There weren't many artifacts here—only three, in fact. Aside from the Taiyi Seal, which required a matching cultivation technique to activate, Yang Kai could actually use the other two if he truly wanted them. These artifacts were at least Heaven Grade, and naturally, Yang Kai was tempted.
But if he used them out in the open and someone sharp-eyed noticed, it would only bring endless trouble. So Yang Kai hesitated.
He ignored Earth Demon's question, placed the item back on the stone shelf, and then proceeded step by step deeper inside.
After walking for a short while, a dense and pure surge of heaven and earth energy washed over him. Not far ahead, colorful radiance shimmered, captivating the heart.
Yang Kai's spirits lifted, and his pace quickened considerably.
Rounding a corner, he entered what looked like a living quarters, and the multicolored glow was emanating from within.
Looking up, Yang Kai saw a lotus roughly the size of a washbasin, hovering in midair. Surrounding the lotus was something that resembled a liquid, enveloping the five-colored flower.
It looked like liquid, but it wasn't—instead, it gave Yang Kai an inexplicable jolt of dread, as though his very soul felt unstable and fluttery.
"The Warm Soul Lotus!" Earth Demon cried out in astonishment. "It's actually a Warm Soul Lotus! Heavens, a Warm Soul Lotus has appeared here—and a five-colored one at that!"
"A treasure?" Yang Kai licked his lips, a spark of excitement in his voice.
"More than a treasure—it's an absolute divine treasure, Young Master!" Earth Demon was so worked up he could barely string his words together. "This is the Warm Soul Lotus! The thing every martial artist under heaven dreams of obtaining. No matter how powerful you are, no matter how high your cultivation, this thing is of enormous use to you. Damn it all—how come I never found one back in my day?"
Yang Kai chuckled. "From the way you talk, it sounds like you can't collect it yourself?"
Earth Demon shuddered involuntarily. "You're joking, Young Master. I'm nothing but a wisp of soul now. Forget about collecting it—if that thing so much as touches me, it'll absorb me instead."
"Then tell me—what exactly does it do? You're supposed to be some ancient demon lord, so stop carrying on like a startled child."