Yang Kai's gaze swept over the hundred-odd people before him, and he flashed a grin. "The Yellow Springs Sect, huh... truly stubborn ghosts that won't stay buried."
Among the crowd, about a dozen or so exuded an aura of extreme cold and yin, including the wizened old man surnamed Wu and the one who had previously attacked Qi Hai. They were clearly practitioners of sinister, dark cultivation techniques.
Their auras reminded Yang Kai of the exact same feeling he'd gotten from Yin Lesheng and Hua Feichen before.
So the identities of those dozen-plus individuals were practically spelled out.
In the Eastern Domain, other than the Yellow Springs Sect, there was likely no other group that cultivated such techniques.
Excluding those Yellow Springs Sect members, the remaining people varied wildly in strength. All of them were currently looking at Qi Hai with evident concern—they were almost certainly from the Qi Heaven Castle.
Before long, Yang Kai's gaze locked onto another elderly figure, and he furrowed his brow. "Elder Ban? What are you doing here too?"
This old man was none other than the guide who had led him and Ruoxi into the Ancient Land—Elder Ban.
Hearing Yang Kai's question, Elder Ban gave a bitter smile. "They wanted to enter the Ancient Land... When one is the fish on the chopping block, one has no say in the matter."
A single sentence laid bare all the helplessness in his heart.
"Shut your mouth, old thing!" A Yellow Springs Sect disciple beside Elder Ban immediately glared at him. Elder Ban's face changed, and he truly dared not speak again. However, he secretly transmitted his voice: "Young master, run quickly. These Yellow Springs Sect people seem to be searching for you specifically."
Who knew that the moment his words fell, the Yellow Springs Sect disciple who had just glared at him let out a sharp shout: "Old thing, you dare secretly transmit your voice? You're courting death!"
As the words left his mouth, a palm struck straight toward Elder Ban.
Elder Ban was only at the first level of the Dao Source Realm. Though his voice transmission had been extremely covert, the fluctuation of source power it produced was impossible to hide from this third-level Dao Source Realm Yellow Springs Sect disciple. Seeing that the old geezer refused to take the polite offer and insisted on the harsh alternative, the disciple immediately decided to teach him a lesson.
After all, the person the Vice Sect Master was looking for had already shown himself. There was no longer any need to enter the Ancient Land. And if they weren't entering the Ancient Land, there was no longer any need for a guide—killing the old man would hardly matter.
The palm strike was merciless. Wind howled, and Elder Ban's face went deathly pale.
Just as the palm was about to land on Elder Ban, another hand suddenly reached out from the front, meeting it head-on with eerie calm.
"Who goes there!" The attacking Yellow Springs Sect disciple was startled. Before he could even make out the face of the person who had intervened, their palms had already collided.
A surging force like a tsunami crashed into him. The disciple felt it tear through his defenses like a reed in a storm, invading his body and rampaging through his meridians without mercy.
Pfft...
A mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips. The Yellow Springs Sect disciple was flung backward, tumbling across the ground several times before coming to a stop.
After staggering back to his feet and conducting a brief internal check, his face turned ashen. "My meridians... my meridians have been destroyed!" he cried in despair.
He looked up and screamed hysterically. Only then did he finally see clearly—the one who had struck him was none other than that fellow called Yang Kai. His teeth ground together as he snarled, "You're cruel!"
Yang Kai pulled Elder Ban to safety and brought him back to where he stood, then regarded the Yellow Springs Sect disciple with a flat expression. "Kid. Didn't your elders ever teach you to respect the old and care for the young? Without even that basic virtue, destroying your meridians is merely a small lesson. In the future, when you encounter your elders, don't be so rude, got it?"
The disciple had already been on the verge of a breakdown. Hearing Yang Kai lecture him like this pushed him over the edge—he spat out yet another mouthful of blood, then spun toward the wizened old man surnamed Wu and cried, "Vice Sect Master! My meridians have been destroyed! You must seek justice for this disciple!"
The old man Wu snorted coldly: "Disgraceful. Get lost."
The disciple froze. He had never imagined the Vice Sect Master would be this heartless—not only refusing to help, but even berating him on top of it. He felt utterly hopeless. Rage surged to his head, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious on the spot.
The wizened old man Wu regarded Yang Kai with cold eyes and let out a soft hum. "First level of the Emperor Realm. Not bad for a cultivation base."
Yang Kai flashed him a grin and answered shamelessly: "Meh, it's passable."
As he spoke, he turned his head, the smile vanishing from his face. He fixed Qi Hai with an icy stare. "Brother Qi Hai, it seems you've done something to betray me. That really breaks my heart."
Qi Hai's face went through a wave of discomfort, full of shame and awkwardness. But he steeled himself and said, "Brother Yang, if it weren't out of desperation, I would never have done this. It's just that my wife's life hangs in the balance, and when Brother Yang possessed the Phoenix True Fire yet refused to lend a hand, I had no choice but to turn to others."
Yang Kai sighed and replied coolly: "Brother Qi, I truly admire your devotion to your wife. It's just a pity... even after you sold me out, this Vice Sect Master doesn't seem terribly grateful."
A bitter expression spread across Qi Hai's face.
The Yellow Springs Sect had previously come to the Qi Heaven Castle for no reason other than the fact that the castle was the local power player and knew far more about the Ancient Land than outsiders. At the time, Qi Hai had been furious at Yang Kai for being so stingy that he wouldn't even extend a hand to help. So he had agreed to the Vice Sect Master's demands without hesitation, bringing along several dozen Qi Heaven Castle disciples to search the Ancient Land for Yang Kai's trail.