"Go on," Yang Kai said, momentarily setting aside his thoughts of subduing a sixth-rank demon beast as he looked at Leng Shan.
Leng Shan nodded. "Out of thirty-something people, nearly ten died. Except for one person who escaped with his own formidable strength, the rest were all implanted with Soul Control Bugs and taken under Zi Mo's control."
One had escaped — Yang Kai didn't need to ask who. Aside from Wu Chengyi, no one else could have pulled that off.
"Why didn't they kill you?" Yang Kai asked, suspicious. Killing a warrior and taking their Blood Bead yielded far better results than hunting demon beasts, especially since those people were all Zhenyuan Realm experts.
"They want to extract the secret techniques and cultivation methods of our respective sects, so they haven't killed us — for now." Leng Shan let out a bitter laugh. "Every one of us is an elite disciple. The martial arts and cultivation techniques we practice are naturally the best our sects have to offer. The people from the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom came specifically for that."
Yang Kai turned to look at Zi Mo. She shrugged. "Don't look at me. I didn't do anything to those people. The only ones under my control are Leng Shan and Jin Hao. And I hadn't even gotten around to interrogating them about their techniques before you subdued me."
Leng Shan continued, "After the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom's forces won decisively, Zi Mo's senior brother Chi Xue departed alone with his sixth-rank demon beast to pursue Wu Chengyi. Then those three got into some kind of massive argument, and Jin Hao and I were assigned to Zi Mo and sent away from the group."
As Leng Shan recounted these events, Zi Mo was gritting her pearly teeth off to the side, sneering coldly, her expression full of indignation.
Yang Kai glanced at her and said with a cold smile, "It seems you and your two fellow disciples don't get along too well."
"Don't your sects have rivalries within them?" Zi Mo shot Yang Kai a look. "We came here for training with three objectives. The first is to obtain Blood Beads to strengthen ourselves. The second is to coax martial techniques and cultivation methods out of you Han Dynasty warriors. The third is to find the legendary Sulfurous Liquid and Soul-Cleansing Dew. Every objective is directly tied to our own futures. The more we accomplish, the more benefits we'll receive when we return to the sect."
"Your two fellow disciples teamed up against you — they didn't want you getting any of the spoils, right?" Yang Kai pieced it all together in an instant.
They had captured so many people, yet Zi Mo was only given two. Even if she managed to extract secrets from Leng Shan and Jin Hao, she'd only be getting the exclusive techniques of Ghost King Valley. In comparison, the resources in the hands of her two fellow disciples were far more substantial.
This was the kind of competition between disciples that existed in every sect.
"They're from the same family, so of course they'd shut me out!" Zi Mo said through gritted teeth, resentment burning silently in her heart.
Yang Kai's eyes shifted. "Want me to get justice for you?"
The grudges among the three Senluo Hall disciples from the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom could definitely be exploited. They were all in this foreign realm, and sooner or later they'd run into each other. If Yang Kai wanted to live well, he had to strike first — eliminating those two Senluo Hall warriors before anything else. Besides, they also had a senior brother who controlled a sixth-rank demon beast. That man, like Wu Chengyi, was among the most dangerous enemies. Before encountering him, Yang Kai needed to remove every source of instability.
Zi Mo's eyes flickered. She glanced at Yang Kai, frowning. "Even though my life is in your hands, I am still a citizen of the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom, a disciple of Senluo Hall! I will not do anything to betray my sect. You can kill me if you want, but don't expect me to help you fight them!"
Yang Kai looked at her with some surprise. He hadn't expected this woman to have such strong principles.
He didn't press her. With a smile, Yang Kai said, "I was just saying. If you don't want to, forget it."
Zi Mo's expression turned to one of bewilderment. She had steeled herself for punishment after refusing his proposal, only for him to brush it off so lightly.
"You're being awfully reasonable?" Zi Mo had no idea what Yang Kai was plotting and eyed him warily.
"What did you expect?" Yang Kai scoffed softly.
Zi Mo batted her large eyes and gave a charming smile. "If you're really that reasonable, why not remove the restriction in my mind?"
"In your dreams!"
Over the following days, Yang Kai trained alongside Leng Shan and Zi Mo in the foreign realm.
By now, they rarely encountered enemies, though the occasional demon beast would show up. Fourth-rank ones were killed on the spot and their Blood Beads harvested. Fifth-rank ones were placed under Zi Mo's control with Soul Control Bugs. However, over the course of several days, they had encountered only a single fifth-rank demon beast.
Yang Kai didn't take any of the Blood Beads, distributing them entirely between Zi Mo and Leng Shan. He had no shortage of the energy contained in those beads. What he wanted most right now was to continuously temper the Yuan Qi in his meridians and dantian, pushing himself toward the Zhenyuan Realm.
Their training was now primarily focused on searching for the legendary Soul-Cleansing Dew. Zi Mo's senior brother Chi Xue, so she said, was also looking for it.
Neither Zi Mo nor Leng Shan knew much about the Soul-Cleansing Dew, so they had no idea where to look.
Yet what truly baffled Yang Kai was that these days, Zi Mo had been constantly flirting with and stoking his desires — both in her actions and her words — far more brazenly than when they first met. Even the icy Leng Shan would "accidentally" reveal glimpses of her captivating beauty and an alluring, tantalizing charm.
Occasionally, Yang Kai caught a flash of sympathy and satisfaction in their eyes.
What the hell is going on? Yang Kai couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he thought.
After another half day of continuous walking, the three of them found a place to rest. Only half of the dozens of demon beasts they had accumulated remained with them — the rest had been dispatched to scout the area.
Yang Kai sat in meditation, eyes focused on the tip of his nose, mind centered, recovering his strength. Then two wafts of fragrant scent drifted toward him, and Zi Mo and Leng Shan settled down on either side of him.