"Is that so!" Yang Kai's face was a picture of astonishment after hearing this. He truly had no idea that the identity tokens of Qingyang Temple disciples came in different grades.
If that was the case, then the Qingyang Gold Token Gao Xueting had given him really was something special — a clear sign of both her trust in him and her recognition of his strength.
"Young Master Yang really doesn't know anything about this…" Ye Qinghan couldn't help but laugh bitterly.
"It's just a token," Yang Kai replied casually. He poured his divine sense into the token to send a message to Gao Xueting, then put it away. "Let's go."
Ye Qinghan wiped the complicated expression from her face, replaced by a hint of excitement, and nodded. "Alright!"
The moment she finished speaking, Yang Kai had already wrapped his arm around her and executed a single teleportation, arriving at a spot outside the city. After that, he brought out his wooden boat Artifact, stepped aboard it, and waved to Ye Qinghan. Once she flew up and steadied herself, he formed a hand seal with one hand, and they shot forward with the speed of lightning.
The boat wasn't large, but it could easily accommodate two people standing on it. What was more, it was a Dao Source Grade high-tier flying Artifact — just a single step below an Emperor Treasure — so its speed was extraordinary, covering a thousand zhang in the blink of an eye.
Before this, Yang Kai had heard the name Thousand Leaf Sect somewhere before, but he knew nothing about it.
Taking advantage of the journey, Yang Kai casually asked Ye Qinghan for some details about the Thousand Leaf Sect.
According to her, the Thousand Leaf Sect had once been a major sect in the Southern Domain. While it couldn't compare to first-rate sects like the Qingyang Temple or the Tianwu Holy Land, it hadn't been far behind. However, ever since the entrance to that Secret Realm had been sealed, the sect could no longer receive a bountiful supply of spiritual energy. Coupled with the loss of many of the sect's techniques and secret arts, it had rapidly declined. As time went on, its power waned further, until in the generation of Ye Qinghan's father, Ye Hen, it had already become a name of no consequence. In the entire sect, only Ye Hen himself was a Dao Source Third Stage martial artist — making it even weaker than the Jade Feather Sect.
The Jade Feather Sect might not have had any Emperor Realm cultivators either, but when Yang Kai had visited, it had at least boasted four Dao Source Third Stage powerhouses.
The last time the Four Seasons Realm opened, the Jade Feather Sect had received two entry slots, while the Thousand Leaf Sect had received none. That alone showed the gap between them.
The Thousand Leaf Sect was located on Thousand Leaf Mountain in Jiangzhou of the Southern Domain, approximately half a month's journey from Maple Leaf City.
Maple Leaf City originally had a Space Array providing direct passage to Jiangzhou City, but since the last incident when demonic energy had besieged the city and Old Drunkard Weng had destroyed the array in a desperate last stand, it had never been repaired.
After all, Maple Leaf City was far too small. Duan Yuanshan and the others were of little influence and couldn't summon a suitable Array Master to restore the Space Array.
But that probably wouldn't be a concern for much longer. Once the Spirit Lake Palace matters were settled, Xiao Yuyang and the others would surely have their respective sects' Array Masters restore the array to pristine condition.
Maple Leaf City was destined to become one of the great cities of the entire Southern Domain, and that Space Array would undoubtedly be connected to cover every city in the region.
Yang Kai figured that next time he wanted to return to Maple Leaf City, it would be quite simple — he'd only need to find a reasonably sized city, activate the Space Array there, and teleport directly over.
Along the way, Yang Kai chatted idly with Ye Qinghan.
Only then did he learn that the Thousand Leaf Sect was a sect focused on crafting and commanding puppets, and most of its disciples practiced puppet arts — quite a remarkable thing.
This was the first time Yang Kai had encountered such a sect in the Star Boundary. There were three thousand Great Paths, all leading to the Emperor Realm. The puppet arts were not inherently weak; they were simply difficult to cultivate because the conditions required were extremely demanding, and crafting puppets was an enormously complex endeavor. As a result, very few could achieve anything of note in this field. But if one could master the puppet arts to their ultimate limit, they would be an incredibly powerful force.
"Since your Thousand Leaf Sect focuses primarily on puppet cultivation, why have I never seen you use one?" Yang Kai asked in confusion.
Even during their last encounter beneath the Eighteen Spirit Eyes, when they had been in mortal danger, Ye Qinghan hadn't used any of her puppets.
Hearing Yang Kai ask this, a hint of embarrassment appeared on Ye Qinghan's face. She fidgeted and said, "I won't be ashamed to tell Young Master the truth. Our Thousand Leaf Sect was indeed once famous throughout the world for its puppet arts. But after that particular generation's Sect Master carried many of the texts and secret arts into the Secret Realm, several of the methods for crafting and commanding puppets were lost. The puppets we can craft now at the Thousand Leaf Sect… aren't much use."
As she spoke, she pursed her red lips gently. Her hands formed a set of seals, and suddenly a small azure bird appeared in her palm.
Yang Kai looked closely and found the bird to be remarkably lifelike — every feather was clearly layered with natural coloring, indistinguishable from a real creature. But after probing it with his divine sense, he could clearly tell that this little bird was not made of flesh and blood, but was simply a puppet crafted from various materials.
Yang Kai's eyes lit up with wonder. He felt that if one didn't use divine sense to carefully examine it, one might truly be unable to tell whether it was a living thing or an inanimate object.
Ye Qinghan then shifted her hand seals again and extended a slender jade finger, tapping the little bird's body.
In the next instant, light rippled across the azure bird's body. It fluttered its wings a few times, tilted its head, and suddenly took flight, circling around Ye Qinghan continuously. Not only that — it even produced bird calls that were virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.
Yang Kai watched in amazement, nodding ceaselessly as he praised, "Your sect's puppet arts are truly remarkable."
Ye Qinghan flushed red. "Young Master flatters us. Our sect's puppet arts can really only craft puppets like these these days — useful for scouting and reconnaissance, but completely useless in actual combat. Because of this… some of the sect's elders have already switched to cultivating other techniques and secret arts, feeling that the puppet arts serve no purpose."