Cloud Mist Mountain. Green shade formed dense forests, the scenery was beautiful, and the mountain range stretched in undulating waves. Spirit beasts and spirit birds moved among the peaks, lending the place an extraordinary air.
Outside the mountain gate, a Star Shuttle descended. The disciples guarding the mountain immediately came forward, staring at Xiang Fei with surprise. "Senior Brother Xiang, how come you're back? And these people are..."
Xiang Fei had no real backing within Cloud Mist Sect, nor had he ever earned the favor of any elder. Still, his cultivation at Void King Stage Three was an undeniable fact, so the guarding disciples naturally treated him with deference.
Xiang Fei stammered for a moment, unsure of how to explain. He had returned to the sect without a summons, which was already a violation of the rules. If he wanted to get inside, he needed to explain the situation to these disciples and have them relay the message.
The guarding disciples watched Xiang Fei with wary eyes, confused by his hesitation.
"Looking for someone!" Yang Kai was eager to see Su Yan and had no patience to stand around chit-chatting. With a casual sweep of his arm, he knocked the disciples aside and strode forward through the gate.
Xiang Fei's heart lurched when he saw this. Oh no, oh no—he had known things were going badly, but he never expected this fellow to be so crude and overbearing. If he had politely submitted a visiting card, entry might not have been impossible. But barging in like this? What was that supposed to accomplish?
If the sect blamed anyone for this, he would almost certainly be accused of colluding with outsiders!
Run? Or stay? If he stayed, he would certainly be punished by the sect. But if he ran, where could he possibly go?
His thoughts raced, and in the end he had no choice but to grit his teeth and hurry after Yang Kai, pleading desperately, "Senior Brother, please wait..."
He Yunxiang stepped sideways to block his path, offering a faint smile. "Your part in this is done. Consider this bottle of spirit pills a token of thanks." She tossed him a bottle of spirit pills and then chased after Yang Kai.
The guarding disciples stood frozen in shock for several moments before snapping back to reality. One of them immediately produced a message transmission compass and poured his divine sense into it.
Moments later, the alarm bell inside Cloud Mist Sect began to ring, its pealing voice soaring through the clouds.
Xiang Fei's face went white and he collapsed to the ground. The bottle of spirit pills in his hand suddenly felt scalding hot.
Shadows flickered as streaks of light rose from within Cloud Mist Sect, converging on the mountain gate from every direction.
Yang Kai quickly encountered his first obstacle—the Mountain Guarding Grand Array.
Every sect had its own Mountain Guarding Grand Array. On ordinary days it would not be fully activated, but it still offered a degree of defensive and alarm functionality. Without the proper method, one could not pass through it. In wartime, when the array operated at full power, it became a formidable shield.
An invisible wall blocked his path, and Yang Kai had no choice but to stop.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—one figure after another appeared around him, all wearing hostile expressions. Cloud Mist Sect might not have been a top-tier power, but it was hardly a soft persimmon that anyone could squeeze at will. This man had charged straight through the gate without so much as a通报, clearly treating Cloud Mist Sect's rules with utter contempt. For any sect, such behavior was a grave offense—an act of hostility.
"Halt! State your name!" A red-faced man stood at the front of the crowd, his voice deep and commanding. He cultivated at Dao Source Stage One and was obviously a formidable figure within Cloud Mist Sect, likely holding an important position, perhaps even an elder or hall master.
Yang Kai's brow was tightly furrowed—but not because of the Mountain Guarding Grand Array, and not because of Cloud Mist Sect's numbers.
He couldn't sense her!
Su Yan's aura was nowhere inside Cloud Mist Sect!
He and Su Yan had once shared a wondrous encounter. They had obtained the Yin-Yang Union Art and the Legacy of the Dragon Emperor and Phoenix Empress, studying the mysteries of Yin and Yang together. Their hearts were bound to one another—as long as they were within a certain distance, they could sense each other's presence.
Cloud Mist Mountain spanned only a few hundred li. If Su Yan were truly here, there was no way he would fail to sense her.
Since he felt nothing at all, it meant Su Yan was not inside Cloud Mist Sect.
Had he been mistaken? Was it really just a case of sharing the same name? Was the Su Yan inside Cloud Mist Sect not the same Su Yan he knew? But the way Xiang Fei had described her—the girl painted by his words was unmistakably the one he yearned for day and night.
Or perhaps Su Yan simply wasn't in Cloud Mist Sect at the moment? Hmm, that was possible.
The red-faced man was indeed an elder of Cloud Mist Sect. When his question went completely ignored before the eyes of all the watching disciples, a flush of embarrassment and anger rose to his face. He swept his divine sense downward and found that of the three people below, one was at Void King Stage Three, while the other two showed no trace of cultivation whatsoever. What surprised him even more was the presence of a little girl who looked about seven or eight years old.
Was this a family of three who had gotten lost while out on an outing?
"Are you deaf? This Elder is speaking to you—didn't you hear?" The red-faced man shouted again.
Yang Kai finally raised his head to look at him. As he lifted his hand, a phantom image suddenly materialized in midair, vivid and lifelike as a living person. Dark hair drifted in the wind, features painted like a masterpiece, her beauty exquisite, and a faint smile graced her lips—a sight that could make one dizzy with admiration.
Yang Kai looked at the red-faced man and asked, "Is this person in your sect?"
Before the red-faced man could answer, several Cloud Mist Sect disciples burst into commotion.
"That's..."
"That's Senior Sister Su!"
"She looks like Senior Sister Su—no, that IS Senior Sister Su!"
"Heavens, Senior Sister Su is this beautiful when she smiles..."
The image of Su Yan that Yang Kai had condensed from his yuan force was the face as he remembered it in his heart. But these Cloud Mist Sect disciples had never once seen Su Yan smile. The title of "Iceberg Beauty" was not given without reason, and as a result, they almost did not dare believe their own eyes.