Zhu Qing stood perfectly still upon the Spatial Formation, her expression serene and unruffled, as if the person she had just sent flying was not a Monster King at all, but some nameless grunt.
Her beautiful eyes shifted, settling on Xie Wuwei. "Were you planning to teach me a lesson too?"
Cold sweat poured down Xie Wuwei's forehead, and he shook his head so violently it looked like a rattle.
Ying Fei, grinning from ear to ear, bowed and said, "May you two have a safe journey!"
Yang Kai rubbed his forehead and shot Zhu Qing a look of helpless resignation before activating the Spatial Formation and teleporting away.
It was a good while before Xie Wuwei finally poked Ying Fei, still shaken to his core, and asked cautiously, "That girl… what's her background?"
Going toe to toe with Xi Lei head-on and sending him flying with a single punch — forget about humans, even most Monster Kings couldn't pull that off. Could she be another Holy Spirit?
Ying Fei's lips moved, silently mouthing two words.
Xie Wuwei heard them and froze as though turned to stone.
…
Biting cold. Snow and ice as far as the eye could see.
The moment Yang Kai materialized on the Ice Heart Valley's Spatial Formation, he saw someone squatting right in front of him, bent over with their rear in the air, nose practically pressed against the formation's base as they studied it with intense concentration, muttering under their breath without the slightest awareness of the two people who had appeared behind them.
Wasn't that Nanmen Dajun? The entire Ice Heart Valley was populated by women, yet here was a man — and one whose silhouette was all too familiar. How could Yang Kai fail to recognize him?
Frowning, Yang Kai listened for a moment, but couldn't make heads or tails of what the man was rambling about. He couldn't help asking, "What exactly are you doing?"
"Don't bother me!" Nanmen Dajun didn't even turn around, snapping the words out in an irritable mutter while maintaining his position.
But almost immediately, it seemed as though something clicked. He sprang to his feet and spun toward Yang Kai.
Their eyes met, and Yang Kai startles — the man's hair was a tangled mess, his face unwashed, his eyes bloodshot, looking for all the world like he had gone mad.
Nanmen Dajun, for his part, broke into a look of elation. He lunged forward at once and hissed excitedly, "Master Yang, you're finally back! I've been waiting for ages!"
"Waiting for me?" Yang Kai was genuinely surprised. "Waiting for me for what?"
Nanmen Dajun declared with boundless enthusiasm, "Waiting to discuss the Dao of Formations with you, of course! Come, come, let's find somewhere to sit down and have a proper chat!"
"What would I even talk about with you?" Yang Kai rolled his eyes.
Nanmen Dajun put on a solemn face. "Master Yang, you really shouldn't say that. The Dao of Formations is vast and profound, stretching back through the ages. As the old saying goes, a stone from another mountain can carve jade. If we exchange pointers, it would benefit us both!"
"But I don't want to."
Nanmen Dajun was dumbstruck.
Yang Kai glanced at the Spatial Formation on the ground and remarked flatly, "You haven't been able to figure out anything meaningful about this Spatial Formation, have you?"
Nanmen Dajun flushed and shook his head. "How could that be! This formation may be remarkable, but I've already worked out its structure and operating principles. Give me a little more time and I'll crack it completely — rebuild one from scratch."
"Great, then keep at it!" Yang Kai clapped him on the shoulder, turned, and walked away.
"Wait, wait, wait…" Nanmen Dajun seized Yang Kai's sleeve.
"Let go!" Yang Kai turned his head and glared at him.
Nanmen Dajun's face crumpled with misery. He hung his head and admitted, "Master Yang sees right through me. This Spatial Formation… I really can't make much headway with it. Please, Master Yang, enlighten me!"
"Let go first!" Yang Kai eyed the sleeve in the man's grip.
Nanmen Dajun finally released it, flashing an obsequious grin while subtly positioning himself to grab Yang Kai again at the slightest hint of escape.
Yang Kai reached down to flick the wrinkles out of his sleeve, then looked at Nanmen Dajun sidelong. "Want to learn?"
Nanmen Dajun nodded frantically, bobbing his head like a chick pecking rice. His eyes blazed with an almost desperate thirst for knowledge.
"I can teach you," Yang Kai said with a slight smile.
Nanmen Dajun immediately straightened, smoothed his robes, and dropped into a deep bow. "Please accept my respects, Master Yang!"
"But what can you give me in return?" Yang Kai countered.
Nanmen Dajun smiled ruefully. "What is it you want? I have quite a few Source Crystals on hand…"
"Source Crystals? I've got plenty," Yang Kai said dismissively.
"Then… I can trade you other formations. I have some passed down from antiquity — infinite in power, unpredictable in their variations…"
"Not interested!"
Nanmen Dajun's face fell. "Then what do you want?"
Yang Kai stroked his chin and murmured to himself, "My Lingxiao Palace is only just getting off the ground. As it happens, I'm in need of a chief formation master…"
At those words, Nanmen Dajun's expression changed drastically. He shook his head in rapid succession. "That won't do, that won't do! I've always been a free spirit — a lone cloud and a wild crane. If I were to join a sect, I'd only cause trouble for you and your esteemed Palace…"
"Then forget it." Before he could finish, Yang Kai turned and walked off.
"Master Yang, Master Yang, let's talk about this properly!" Nanmen Dajun lunged for his sleeve again.
"Think it over yourself. Things happen naturally — I won't force anyone." Yang Kai's figure flickered, and he was gone in a flash. Though both were First Stage Emperor Realm cultivators, Nanmen Dajun's expertise lay in formations — he was no match for Yang Kai in a straight chase.
Nanmen Dajun stood gazing at Yang Kai's retreating figure, unable to stomp his foot in frustration, his face twisted with regret.