When Yang Kai had previously barged into the Treasure Gathering Tower with Liu Qianyun, quite a few people had witnessed it. These idle warriors naturally wanted to watch the spectacle. Afterward, when the bald brawny man shut the tower's front doors, the crowd could no longer see what was happening inside.
Though they couldn't see, the violent fluctuations of energy and the clanging commotion filtering out were unmistakably real.
In the span of just a short while, the gathering of spectators had swelled to several thousand.
At that moment, Yang Kai pushed open the doors and walked out, immediately drawing the gazes of several thousand pairs of eyes.
Not a single person could believe what they were seeing. They had all thought Yang Kai was hopelessly reckless, daring to provoke the Treasure Gathering Tower right here in Gao City — if that wasn't seeking death, what was? Setting aside the fact that the Tower's backing was the City Lord himself, the Tower's own warriors were formidable in their own right, and the Grand Steward had cultivation at the peak of the Dao Source Realm. Had it not been for his age — his meridians and flesh worn down by time — he would have been fully qualified to attempt a breakthrough to the Emperor Realm.
And Yang Kai was young. Even if he possessed some strength, it couldn't possibly be that impressive.
They had been certain he was going to suffer a devastating loss.
But the reality left every last spectator stunned.
Yang Kai strolled out of the Treasure Gathering Tower, not only completely unharmed but with not a single wrinkle on his clothes. Meanwhile, inside the Tower, several corpses lay scattered in twisted positions, blood pooling across the floor. The bald brawny man and the Grand Steward were both deathly pale, their auras feeble and withered — it was immediately obvious their cultivation had been crippled.
A collective hiss of sharply drawn breath rippled through the crowd. Many of the warriors finally looked at Yang Kai with new eyes, realizing that this young man was probably not someone to be trifled with — very likely an Emperor Realm cultivator himself.
After all, how long had he been inside? The whole thing had taken barely a few dozen breaths. To reduce the Treasure Gathering Tower to this state single-handedly in such a short time — if that wasn't the work of an Emperor Realm powerhouse, what else could it be?
As Yang Kai walked out, the spectators closest to him instinctively retreated, their eyes filled with wariness and dread.
Yang Kai swept a cold gaze across his surroundings, let out a derisive snort, and paid them no further attention. He simply led Liu Qianyun across the street and into the teahouse on the other side, returning to their table on the third floor and ordering a fresh pot of spirit tea.
He had rampaged through the Treasure Gathering Tower, injuring and killing its people — and instead of fleeing, he had settled into the teahouse across the street for a cup of tea. The onlookers who witnessed this were struck speechless once again.
Secretly, they couldn't help but admire Yang Kai's sheer audacity, concluding that he was either powerful enough that Pang Guang didn't faze him, or backed by an influence so great that even Pang Guang would think twice.
But since they had no personal connection to Yang Kai, they naturally couldn't be bothered to concern themselves with it. What did catch their interest, however, was the now wide-open Treasure Gathering Tower.
The warriors who haunted Gao City were, for the most part, ruthless sorts who treated human life like grass. They couldn't care less about who was right or wrong in this matter. What mattered was that the spirit herbs, rare medicines, and exotic treasures displayed inside the Treasure Gathering Tower were now completely unguarded. It was the perfect opportunity to strike.
Sure, the Tower was Pang Guang's property — but men died for wealth and birds died for grain. At a time like this, there were always those whose greed got the better of them.
After a brief moment of silence, a figure suddenly shot out from the crowd and charged directly into the Tower, scooping every last spirit herb and medicine off the display shelves into his spatial ring in one sweeping motion.
The others saw this and could contain themselves no longer, scrambling to follow suit. In an instant, warriors flooded into the Treasure Gathering Tower like carp rushing across a river, looting everything in sight. Within a remarkably short time, the entire Tower had been emptied — anything of even marginal value had vanished. Once there was nothing left to take, the looters scattered and disappeared without a trace.
From his seat in the teahouse, Yang Kai watched the scene unfold with an expression of complete indifference. Still, he came away with at least a partial understanding of how warriors in Gao City operated.
"Senior Brother..." Liu Qianyun, on the other hand, was squirming in her seat, completely ill at ease. She spoke hesitantly, "Maybe we should leave."
It wasn't that she doubted Yang Kai's strength. It was just that they had caused such a massive upheaval, and the whole thing had started because of her. She didn't want to drag Yang Kai into conflict with even more powerful enemies on her account.
"No need." Yang Kai smiled faintly and poured her a cup of spirit tea. "How did you end up in a place like this, when it's so chaotic?"
He was genuinely curious about what Liu Qianyun had been through these past few years. After they had escaped from the Jade Bamboo Sect together, he had split his remaining wealth with her and the two had gone their separate ways. He had ended up in Mapleleaf City and had been fighting his way forward ever since. He never expected to run into her here in Gao City while passing through.
"I've been here for quite a few years now." Liu Qianyun gave a bitter smile and gave a brief account of her experiences.
There really wasn't much to tell.
After parting ways with Yang Kai, she had drifted aimlessly through the Southern Domain like a headless chicken, only finding a measure of stability once she reached Gao City. The city was chaotic, certainly, but there were plenty of nearby locations suitable for her to temper herself.
She could venture into those places to gather resources for her Cultivation. Over the course of several years, life had been harsh, but she had managed to advance to the Dao Source Realm.
Not long ago, she had stumbled upon a spirit herb at a place called the Desolate Void Ridge nearby and had brought it back to sell for source crystals. She planned to use the proceeds to purchase some Origin Condensation Pills. Thinking the Treasure Gathering Tower was backed by the City Lord and therefore trustworthy, she had gone there — only for the Tower's people to offer her a mere ten thousand low-grade source crystals for the herb.
Liu Qianyun didn't know exactly what the spirit herb was or what it did, but instinct told her it was worth far more than that pittance. She refused to sell. After a heated argument, the other party had simply attacked her outright. Everything after that, Yang Kai already knew.