Yang Kai recognized many familiar faces — all people he had seen by the lake before.
The four young women from Myriad Flower Palace were obviously among them, and in addition there were disciples from Heart Inquiry Palace, Water Moon Hall, Nine Star Sword Sect, Blazing Fire Cult, Flying Feather Pavilion...
Disciples from various sects and factions had gathered here, totaling roughly thirty people, all of them the cream of their respective forces.
However, none of them looked to be in particularly good shape at the moment. Their True Yuan reserves were heavily depleted, and many bore injuries of varying severity.
They had just finished a fierce battle, and most of the thirty-odd people had hurriedly sat down to meditate and recover. Only one person was moving through the battlefield, collecting the blood beads left behind by the slain demon beasts.
A gaze swept toward Yang Kai. Following it back, he saw a young man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, staring at him with an icy expression.
The young man was tall and powerfully built, standing out from the crowd. Though his clothes were torn in many places, they were still tidy, without a single wrinkle. Bloodstains covered much of his body, adding to his fierce and cold bearing. He stood there quietly, like an unsheathed sword — its edge sharp, its aura piercing the heavens.
After a brief exchange of gazes, the young man calmly looked away and began talking to the person who had been collecting blood beads on the battlefield, taking the gathered beads into his own hands.
Chen Xueshu and Shu Xiaoyu walked over, both wearing expressions of people who had just survived a disaster.
"What's going on?" Yang Kai asked with a frown. He truly couldn't figure out how this situation had developed. The young generation from the major powers had come here to train in this foreign land, and they were natural rivals and competitors. Unless something extraordinary had happened, they wouldn't have joined forces even if they weren't actively fighting each other.
"It's a long story!" Chen Xueshu gritted his teeth and gestured for Yang Kai to sit down.
Seeing that he was badly wounded with blood still flowing, Yang Kai reached into his pouch, pulled out a small bottle, and poured out several pills to hand over.
"Healing pills..." Shu Xiaoyu's eyes lit up.
Chen Xueshu quickly gave her a look and whispered, "Brother Yang, put those away quickly!"
Yang Kai's frown deepened. Though he didn't understand why, he quietly slipped the bottle back into his pouch and placed the pills that had been poured out into Chen Xueshu's hand.
He was thoroughly confused. They were just a few healing pills — why was Shu Xiaoyu making such a fuss? Any young disciple entering a place like this for training would naturally bring along several bottles for emergencies.
Inside his Cosmos Bag, he had over a dozen bottles of pills, all prepared by his grandmaster Ling Taixu beforehand, though he had never needed to use them.
Shu Xiaoyu glanced around, then stuck out her tongue sheepishly, looking embarrassed.
"Senior Brother Chen, how did all of you end up gathering together?" Yang Kai asked quietly. This was his biggest question.
"We had no choice," Chen Xueshu said with a bitter laugh.
"Did someone threaten you?" Yang Kai's expression turned cold.
"No, nothing like that." Chen Xueshu shook his head repeatedly. "We came together voluntarily, and for self-preservation. Without grouping up, survival here is simply impossible."
"Are you saying something dangerous appeared here that forced you to team up?" Yang Kai asked, alarmed.
"Mm." Chen Xueshu nodded.
"Was it people or demon beasts?"
"People — and demon beasts." Chen Xueshu let out a long sigh. He looked up and asked, "Do you remember that group by the lake whose clothes and appearance were a bit different from our Han Dynasty warriors?"
How could Yang Kai forget? He had vivid memories of that group. He nodded immediately. "They were warriors from the Celestial Wolf Kingdom."
Chen Xueshu stared at him in astonishment. "Brother Yang, you actually know where they're from? It cost us a great deal just to find out that group wasn't from our Han Dynasty."
"My grandmaster told me beforehand."
Chen Xueshu was stunned, his face full of admiration. "Senior Ling is truly well-informed."
"What do they have to do with those Celestial Wolf warriors? They're certainly strong, but there are only four of them. Are you all really afraid of just four people?" Yang Kai was puzzled and couldn't help but frown.