"You needn't worry about his safety. I won't harm a hair on his head — I only wish to borrow his strength for a certain matter," the old man explained patiently to Gao Xueting. After finishing, he glanced toward the palace again. "Your disciples are still inside. Though their spiritual souls haven't suffered too much damage, they've still taken some shock. It would be best to get them out of here as soon as possible and let them recover properly."
"Thank you for the reminder, Senior!" Gao Xueting said hastily.
"Mm." The old man gave a faint nod, then turned his gaze to Yang Kai and said warmly, "Young friend, come with me."
With that, he waved his hand, and Yang Kai immediately felt a gentle force envelop him. Against his will, he was drawn to the old man's side, then followed behind him as they shot off rapidly in a direction.
Gao Xueting opened her mouth, as if wanting to say something more, but the old man and Yang Kai had already vanished without a trace. In the span of a single breath, they were gone.
Staring in the direction they had disappeared, Gao Xueting furrowed her delicate brows.
She knew that with the old man's heaven-defying cultivation and strength, there was absolutely no need for him to lie to her. If he truly harbored any ill will, he could crush her into dust with a mere flick of his finger. But the way he had simply whisked Yang Kai away without explanation still left her uneasy. She had no idea what strength the old man wanted to borrow from Yang Kai, or what matter he intended to settle.
After pondering for a while, she knew there was nothing she could do about this situation — she couldn't even track the old man's movements. All she could do was head to the palace first, rescue Xia Sheng and the others, then use a secret technique to send a message to Wen Zishan, asking him to find a way on the outside to retrieve their spiritual soul bodies.
……
The wind howled past their ears as the landscape blurred and raced beneath them.
Yang Kai's expression was solemn.
This old man beside him was the first Great Emperor-level powerhouse he had ever encountered! Before this, he had only heard of Great Emperors' existence but had never laid eyes on one in person.
Of course… Yang Yan might count as a Great Emperor, though that was only a possibility.
But even if Yang Yan was a Great Emperor, during the time she had spent with Yang Kai, her strength hadn't been all that high. Only after she returned to the Star Boundary would her cultivation gradually recover.
He had never truly witnessed a Great Emperor's means.
But today, he finally had the chance to fulfill that long-held wish.
Grandmother You's Emperor Realm Third Stage desperate strike had been like a gentle breeze against this old man — utterly insignificant.
And right now, the speed at which the old man was traveling with him was dozens of times faster than what Yang Kai could achieve by using his Space Secret Art to teleport…
Yang Kai couldn't even observe the scenery passing by.
Deep in his heart, he was profoundly shaken. Only now did he understand just how far above the rest the height of a Great Emperor truly was — it was simply beyond the reach of ordinary warriors.
Along the way, Yang Kai kept silent. He didn't ask the old man what exactly he needed him to do, because asking at this point would have been meaningless. When the time came, he would find out naturally.
The other party harbored no hostility, so there was no need to think about escape. He simply focused on silently perceiving the Emperor Intent and Emperor Might radiating from the old man's body, using it to temper his own willpower.
He said nothing, and the old man didn't seem inclined to speak either, simply pressing onward in silence. Occasionally, a complicated expression flickered across his face.
After an entire day had passed, the old man brought Yang Kai to a valley.
Only upon arriving did the old man slow his speed.
Yang Kai looked around and found that the valley was shrouded in a thick fog. Once inside, he couldn't even see his own hand in front of his face, and this fog was clearly not ordinary — even when he extended his divine sense into it, it vanished without a trace, as a stone dropped into the sea.
Shortly after, the two alighted on a flat stretch of ground within the valley.
The gentle force that had been wrapping around Yang Kai finally dissipated.
Once free, Yang Kai surveyed his surroundings.
He quickly discovered that this spot appeared to be the only place in the valley not engulfed by the fog. The area wasn't large — all he could see was a simple wooden cabin, and in front of it stood some twenty or thirty burial mounds. Before each mound stood a wooden plaque, inscribed with a single name.
Yang Kai's blood ran cold.
Though he knew these mounds couldn't possibly contain any corpses — they might well hold nothing at all — the moment he laid eyes on them, he was struck by an inexplicable sense that many earth-shaking, legendary figures lay buried here.
His gaze swept over the names one by one, but he didn't recognize a single one.
The calligraphy on each plaque was bold and flowing, every stroke and every line rendered with an elegance that seemed to carry the rhythm of the Heavenly Dao within it, sending tremors through his heart and mind.
"Young friend, what is your name?" the old man suddenly asked, looking at Yang Kai with a kindly expression.
Yang Kai quickly clasped his fists and introduced himself.
"So it's Young Friend Yang. A pleasure to meet you." The old man gave a slight nod.