"Young friend, please agree to this."
"Very well! Since you, Senior, have asked, this junior naturally obeys."
Only then did Duan Hongchen nod. "Cultivate well. With your aptitude, you may be able to catch up. When that future arrives, you and I may yet fight side by side."
He chatted with Duan Hongchen for a while longer, updating him on the recent affairs of the Green Sun Temple and the continuing developments at
"Can you shut up?" Yang Kai looked at Duan Hongchen's projection with undisguised disdain. He had been having a perfectly pleasant conversation — what was this fellow butting in for?
Wu Kuang smiled, carrying a hint of something sinister, and glanced outward. "Where is your Stone Avatar?"
"What about it?" Yang Kai eyed him warily. It was hardly surprising that Wu Kuang knew about the Stone Avatar — they had encountered each other before, and both cultivated the Heavenly Devouring Battle Art, which allowed them to sense one another.
"My Heavenly Devouring Battle Art is actually ill-suited for human cultivators. It pairs remarkably well with that Stone Avatar of yours. I had intended to bestow a gift upon it if you had brought it along. Since it's not nearby, never mind."
Before the words had even left his mouth, the Avatar materialized.
Fortunately, after the Avatar had entered seclusion and devoured the Stone Fire Origin, it had learned to assume a human-sized form — otherwise, the room would never have contained it.
"Space abilities — truly marvelous," Wu Kuang praised. Even he hadn't detected how Yang Kai had brought the Avatar out, only vaguely guessing that the young man must possess some kind of spatial Artifact.
The moment the Avatar appeared, it sensed Wu Kuang's aura and immediately braced itself as though facing a mortal enemy, the crimson flames in its eye sockets flickering wildly.
"He says he wants to give you something," Yang Kai said.
The Avatar rumbled: "What thing?"
Yang Kai shrugged.
Wu Kuang smiled faintly and reached out toward the Avatar. The Avatar hesitated for a heartbeat but did not resist. An instant later, Wu Kuang's large hand pressed against the Avatar's angular head, and a wave of strange energy rippled outward. The Avatar froze in place.
Yang Kai appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly he was on high alert.
Who knew what Wu Kuang was really after? He was prepared to strike the moment anything seemed amiss, yet from beginning to end, the Avatar appeared to suffer no ill effects.
After a short while, Wu Kuang withdrew his hand. Yang Kai looked at the Avatar and saw that a contemplative expression had appeared on its stony face.
Yang Kai extended his divine sense and immediately understood what Wu Kuang had bestowed upon the Avatar. After all, the Avatar was a manifestation of his own divine sense, and communication between them encountered no obstacles whatsoever — if he willed it, Yang Kai could even feel everything the Avatar felt.
The essence and cultivation insights of the Heavenly Devouring Battle Art!
Wu Kuang had actually transmitted his lifetime of experience in cultivating the Heavenly Devouring Battle Art directly into the Avatar's consciousness. It was an extraordinary gift. The Heavenly Devouring Battle Art had been created by Wu Kuang himself, and he possessed absolute authority over it. Tens of thousands of years' worth of accumulated experience and cultivation insights constituted a treasure beyond imagination.
He had transmitted them just like that, without the slightest reservation!
Even Yang Kai, who had always harbored deep enmity toward Wu Kuang, could not help but feel moved.
Was this a gag fee? But wasn't the price a little too steep?
One could imagine that the Avatar, having received these essences and insights, would find smooth sailing on its future path of cultivation. Perhaps it could even reach the height of the Heavenly Devouring Great Emperor — or even surpass it. After all, the Avatar was a Stone Avatar by nature, and it had devoured the Stone Fire Origin power, giving it a starting point far higher than Wu Kuang's own had ever been.
Perhaps noticing Yang Kai's suspicion and astonishment, Wu Kuang chuckled. "Perhaps one day, we can all turn from enemies into friends."
"Don't even think about it!" Yang Kai snapped, though his tone had softened noticeably.
There was no helping it. Having eaten another's food, one's words lose their edge; having taken another's gifts, one's hands lose their resolve. He was not so shameless as to accept such an enormous benefit and then immediately bare his teeth again. As for turning from enemies to friends — that was almost certainly impossible. Wu Kuang was a rat that every cat in the
It was said that in the face of profit, there were no permanent enemies. But Wu Kuang's deeds had long since exceeded anything that self-interest could justify. Befriending him? Yang Kai would have to have something seriously wrong with his head.
"Nothing is absolute," Wu Kuang said, entirely unbothered. "Why not wait a hundred years, a thousand years, and then see?"
Yang Kai recalled the Avatar and grinned. "That only works if you're still alive by then." His gaze drifted meaningfully to Wu Kuang's neck, as though contemplating the most suitable place to strike.
Then his expression shifted abruptly, turning deadly serious. "Wu Kuang, since you've entertained the thought of turning over a new leaf, I'm not unwilling to give you the chance to lay down the butcher's axe and become a Buddha right where you stand."
Wu Kuang smiled pleasantly. "Tell me more. I'm listening."