The wilderness lay in complete silence. A gentle breeze swept across it, yet it carried with it an aura of killing intent.
Ye Qinghan was growing increasingly uneasy, though she couldn't pinpoint exactly what was wrong. She pulled her robes tighter around herself, her expression tense and anxious.
"Would you all like to reveal yourselves willingly... or do you want me to come drag you out?" Yang Kai suddenly sneered, shouting into the void.
"What? There's someone here?" Ye Qinghan cried out in alarm, finally understanding why she'd been feeling so uneasy. "What's going on?"
"We've been targeted." Yang Kai's expression was perfectly calm, without a trace of tension. After waiting a moment with no response, he sneered, "It seems you're all quite confident in your concealment techniques. Think I'm bluffing?"
The moment the last word left his lips, his figure suddenly blurred, and in the next instant he appeared thirty zhang ahead. One hand forming a palm, he slammed it down toward the void. Nebulae swirled in his palm as power radiated outward.
"Boom..."
With the thunderous explosion came a startled cry, and a figure tumbled out of the void, retreating over a dozen zhang before barely managing to steady itself.
After his strike, Yang Kai had already returned to his wooden boat, hands clasped behind his back, looking utterly composed. "There are more. Get out here, all of you. Don't waste my time. I don't want to drag you out one by one. We're all adults here—is this really necessary?"
Before three breaths had passed after his words, two more figures materialized in the sky around them. Including the one Yang Kai had already forced out, that made three in total.
Ye Qinghan stared in stunned silence.
Had Yang Kai not warned her, she probably would never have noticed anyone was hiding here. She'd always known the gap between her strength and Yang Kai's was enormous, but she hadn't realized it was this vast.
She was a Dao Source Realm second-stage cultivator, yet she'd been completely oblivious to the danger here. If these three had targeted her, then her fate would have been...
The thought sent cold sweat drenching her entire body.
"Heh heh..." Yang Kai suddenly chuckled. He didn't look at the three who had appeared, but instead turned his head toward an empty spot and said, "What? Does this friend think they're hidden well? Didn't you realize you're upwind from me? I could smell your presence from a mile away."
Sure enough, another figure appeared over there after his words.
"More?" Ye Qinghan's face went pale. Sending out her spiritual sense, she discovered that all four of these individuals had suppressed their auras, each one radiating formidable power—they were all at the Dao Source Realm third-stage level. Any one of them could crush her effortlessly, and now four had appeared at once. Even though she had a deep understanding of Yang Kai's strength, she couldn't help but worry whether he could handle all four at once.
The four of them were peculiar indeed—not a word had passed between them since appearing, and their faces were impossible to make out. All four wore horrifying ghost-face masks, which were clearly Artifacts capable of blocking spiritual sense probes. Yang Kai's spiritual sense was repelled the moment it touched the masks.
Beyond the masks, their attire was identical as well—black combat garb that looked sharp and efficient, each emblazoned with a single large character: Wind, Thunder, Fire, and Mountain!
The auras emanating from them were vastly different from one another, yet there seemed to be a subtle, intangible connection and resonance between them.
Noticing this, Yang Kai's expression darkened slightly. These four didn't seem like easy opponents—they had very likely cultivated some kind of combination technique.
"Wind, Thunder, Fire, Mountain?" Ye Qinghan furrowed her brows, a contemplative look crossing her face as though she had recalled something.
"You four have been waiting here for quite some time—what exactly are you after?" Yang Kai asked with a smile, regarding the four of them.
The four remained motionless at his words. After a long pause, the ghost-masked figure bearing the character Wind finally spoke: "Come with us."
Yang Kai raised an eyebrow. "Who are you, and where are we going?"
The martial artist bearing the Thunder character replied in a deep voice, "No need to ask. Come with us and you'll find out."
Yang Kai chuckled. "Sorry about that, but I'm a bit shy around strangers. Never met any of you before, so I'll have to pass on the outing. Perhaps we'll meet again someday."
As he spoke, he urged his wooden boat forward, ready to flee.
With a crackling burst of lightning, the Thunder-bearing martial artist transformed into a bolt of lightning, instantly blocking Yang Kai's path. He snorted coldly, "I'm afraid that's not for you to decide."
Yang Kai's eyes narrowed. This person's speed was astonishing—at such close range, it was arguably comparable to his own Instant Movement. Moreover, judging by the aura emanating from this individual, he had cultivated a lightning-element technique.
Lightning-element power was inherently domineering and swift, so this kind of speed was only to be expected.
Yang Kai's expression turned grim.
This person had clearly been hiding here for some time, and judging by their attitude and words, they had been waiting specifically for him.
But Yang Kai had no idea where these four came from or what they wanted with him.
The only factions he'd managed to offend recently were the Flying Holy Palace and the Evil Moon Valley, but neither of those Sects could possibly have martial artists this powerful. It definitely wasn't them causing trouble.
Yang Kai secretly suspected that this was most likely caused by the Million Sword in his possession.