"Yang Kai?" Shi Tianhe froze for a moment, then cried out in shock, "Senior, you're that person…?"
Yang Kai smiled. "That's right. I'm the one the Wenqing Sect has been searching for."
Hearing Yang Kai admit it openly, Shi Tianhe could only laugh bitterly.
She had previously heard those rumors and had even harbored private complaints about Yang Kai being unprincipled. After all, the root cause of Ice Heart Valley's current calamity was none other than Yang Kai himself. He had killed Feng Xi in the Star Fragments Sea, which enraged Feng Xuan and triggered the subsequent chain of conflicts, ultimately plunging the Northern Region into its current state of chaos.
Shi Tianhe had never imagined that one day, the very culprit behind the Northern Region's turmoil would appear before her in the flesh.
As she continued thinking, a new wave of shock washed over her.
She suddenly recalled that Feng Xi had been killed in the Star Fragments Sea only a few years ago. In other words, Yang Kai had been in the Star Fragments Sea at that time too — and only warriors below the Emperor Realm could enter it.
Did that mean Yang Kai had been only at the Dao Origin Realm a few years ago? At most, he was now at the First-Order Emperor Realm.
Yet despite being at the same First-Order Emperor Realm, these Elders from the Mysterious Thunder Hall — and even the City Lord of Taiping City — had been utterly no match for him.
The cultivation base Yang Kai had displayed before was his true cultivation. He hadn't hidden a single shred of it!
If she hadn't witnessed it with her own eyes, Shi Tianhe would never have believed such a thing. Since when had the First-Order Emperor Realm become so easy to kill?
She had once fantasized that if she ever found the man called Yang Kai, she could capture him and hand him over to the Wenqing Sect to resolve her sect's crisis. But now? She wouldn't dare entertain such thoughts.
"Bai Yu is done for!" Yang Kai suddenly spoke.
Shi Tianhe quickly looked up. A blinding radiance erupted from that direction as bone-piercing cold swept across heaven and earth. Accompanied by a flash of sword light, the battle there finally came to its conclusion.
The light faded. Ji Yao stood perfectly still, giving her long sword a casual flick, her expression as calm as a gentle breeze.
Before her, at some point, a chunk of ice had appeared. Frozen inside it was a person — Bai Yu, the Master of the Mysterious Thunder Hall.
Encased in the ice, Bai Yu's face was frozen in a mask of terror and disbelief. He still couldn't accept that he had lost — lost completely, without the slightest ability to fight back.
Whoosh…
The block of ice plummeted downward. Upon hitting the ground, it shattered with a deafening crash.
And Bai Yu, frozen within, shattered along with it — not a single intact piece remaining.
Just as Ji Yao had promised, she had indeed shredded him to pieces.
In a flash, Ji Yao appeared at Yang Kai's side. She glanced left and right but didn't bother asking where the other four enemies had gone — the blood and shredded flesh strewn across the ground told the whole story. She nodded at Yang Kai and said, "Master. Let's hurry back to the valley!"
Before she hadn't known the state of Ice Heart Valley, but now that she'd heard from Shi Tianhe about the valley being surrounded, Ji Yao was burning with urgency to return. She wished she could be back instantly to share the hardships with her sisters.
"Mm." Yang Kai nodded and shot a meaningful glance at Shi Tianhe.
Shi Tianhe was quick on the uptake. She immediately spun around and flew out to retrieve the space ring from Bai Yu's remains.
Ji Yao had already produced her small tower ship. The three boarded the deck one after another, and Ji Yao formed a hand seal. The tower ship shot forward like the wind.
"Senior Yang, this is for you." Shi Tianhe extended the space ring, still frozen in a block of ice and attached to a severed finger.
Yang Kai took it, channeled his Emperor Yuan, and melted the ice away. He tossed the finger aside and then handed the ring back to Shi Tianhe.
"Senior Yang, what are you—" Shi Tianhe stared at him in confusion.
"This is your Third Martial Uncle's spoils of war. Since she has no use for it, you keep it. When you return to Ice Heart Valley, cultivate diligently and don't let your Master down again." Yang Kai smiled.
Shi Tianhe said gratefully, "Thank you, Senior Yang. Thank you, Third Martial Uncle…"
"What 'Senior Yang'!" Ji Yao glared at her. "I already told you — this is your Grandmaster!"
"Yes. Thank you, Grandmaster." Shi Tianhe's expression shifted and she quickly corrected herself, though she didn't know how to explain the situation to Ji Yao. She stole a quiet glance at Yang Kai and found him wearing a helpless smile as well.
…
Two days later, three thousand li from Ice Heart Valley, atop a certain snow-covered mountain.
Snow drifted down from the heavens, and the air was bitterly cold. Yang Kai and the others stood at the mountain's peak, gazing into the distance.
Ji Yao's entire body trembled with barely contained excitement. Taking in the familiar scenery, breathing the familiar air, feeling the goose-feather snowflakes land upon her and melt against her skin — she felt as though she had been reborn. The joy surging through her was simply beyond control.
Perhaps there was also a touch of nerves about returning home, for a hint of apprehension and worry flickered in Ji Yao's eyes.
"There are a lot of people," Yang Kai exhaled softly, a plume of white breath billowing before him.
From this vantage point, they could clearly see warriors patrolling back and forth outside Ice Heart Valley in constant rotation. These warriors were obviously not disciples of the valley. Some gathered in groups of three to five, others in clusters of ten, twenty, or more — all positioned to guard every path leading in and out of Ice Heart Valley.