It was one thing to have struck the old woman — she had it coming for her arrogance and her foul mouth. But Madam Rong was, after all, the woman of the Nether Soul Great Emperor. If she were to be struck by Yang Kai on Spirit Beast Island, the island itself wouldn't suffer much, but Yang Kai would likely find himself in real trouble.
He couldn't wrap his head around it. Why would the Nether Soul Great Emperor send two women like these to conduct an interrogation? Had the Nether Soul Palace run out of people?
"You dare look down on me?" Madam Rong's face was so dark it seemed ready to drip ink. Li Wuyi's words had been cloaked in indirection, but how could she possibly fail to grasp their meaning? He was plainly saying she was no match for Yang Kai.
She was a woman, yes, but she was still a Third-Order Emperor Realm cultivator. Yang Kai was merely Second-Order. How could she possibly be inferior to him? Li Wuyi had only stepped in to shield the brat.
"Now I understand why Yao Lin's temper is so dreadful," Yang Kai said with a cold snort. "With a mother like you, it would be a miracle if she turned out any better." From the looks of it, Yao Lin and this Madam Rong not only shared a resemblance in appearance — their personalities were practically inherited. Truly, a doting mother ruined her children.
Madam Rong gritted her teeth. "How my Lin'er conducts herself is not for you to judge." She turned to Li Wuyi. "Are you going to move or not?"
Her posture made it clear she had every intention of teaching Yang Kai a lesson.
Li Wuyi lowered his eyelids slightly and said in an even tone, "I trust the madam has heard of the recent annihilation of the Yellow Springs Sect and the Brahma Sacred Ground."
Madam Rong's delicate brows furrowed. She couldn't fathom why Li Wuyi would bring this up at a time like this, and replied impatiently, "So what?"
Li Wuyi continued, "How would the madam rate herself against Fubo and Xu Changfeng?"
Madam Rong's voice dropped. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Li Wuyi let out a sigh and fixed her with a long, deep stare. This woman was truly impossible to reason with — utterly dense beyond repair, good-looking and nothing more. He honestly couldn't figure out what the Nether Soul Great Emperor saw in her. Anyone with half a brain would have caught on by now, but here she was, still looking completely lost.
"The Yellow Springs Sect and the Brahma Sacred Ground were indeed destroyed by the Ahan Hall. But the root cause was that the experts of both powers were wiped out entirely — and the person responsible is standing right in front of you."
"Me?" Madam Rong hadn't caught on yet. She stared at Li Wuyi in bewilderment, wondering why he would have attacked the cultivators of the Yellow Springs Sect and the Brahma Sacred Ground. Had they provoked him somehow?
The old woman, on the other hand, flashed a look of shock. She glanced at Yang Kai, then hurried to Madam Rong's side and whispered a few words.
Madam Rong's expression shifted. At last, she turned her attention to Yang Kai.
"Does the madam still wish to make a move? If so, please be my guest. But you'll bear the consequences yourself — I won't intervene again." Li Wuyi regarded her calmly.
Madam Rong's face twisted with conflict. In the end, she swept her sleeve and declared, "I have no interest in bullying the young." She had to be joking — the man who could annihilate so many Emperor Realm experts across two great powers was not someone she could handle. Insisting on a fight would only end badly for her. She shot Yang Kai a venomous glare. "I will remember today's events, boy. Watch yourself. We're leaving!"
With that, she strode out, the old woman in tow.
Before departing, the old woman shot Yang Kai a look so filled with hatred it might have bored holes through him, as though searing his face into memory forever. She had never suffered such a humiliation in her life, and her spirit was far from settled. Though she was advanced in years and only a Second-Order Emperor Realm cultivator, with the Nether Soul Palace backing her and Madam Rong as her patron, everyone in the Eastern Region treated her with the utmost deference. She had never been slapped in the face — let alone had her teeth knocked out.
Inside the great hall, Yang Kai and Li Wuyi exchanged a look, both rendered speechless.
They had known for days that the Nether Soul Palace would send someone to interrogate him, but neither had expected things to develop this way — it had all been so senseless.
Li Wuyi smiled ruefully. "What grudge do you have with that Madam Rong?"
Yang Kai shook his head. "It's the first time I've ever met her. What grudge could I possibly have?"
Li Wuyi looked puzzled. "Then why was she so hostile toward you the moment she laid eyes on you?" If she hadn't come in with such a preconceived notion, the conversation wouldn't have gone this badly. In truth, nothing useful would have come of it regardless — Yang Kai had already told Mo Huang everything he knew, and Mo Huang had relayed it to the Nether Soul Palace.
Yang Kai considered for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "It may have something to do with Yao Lin. I crossed paths with her once before and nearly killed her. She must have told Madam Rong about that incident, which is why Madam Rong took such an immediate dislike to me."
Hearing this explanation, Li Wuyi nodded. "That makes sense. A woman's grudge, I suppose." Though Yang Kai had once had a conflict with Yao Lin, that was ancient history. Yao Lin had been captured this time, and anyone with sense would have carefully questioned him about the circumstances rather than flaunting their arrogance the moment they arrived.
Still, since Madam Rong had brought this upon herself, the fault did not lie with Yang Kai. The old woman had been struck, and that was that. The Nether Soul Great Emperor was unlikely to stick his neck out over one old servant. Right now, he should be focused on tracking down Yao Lin's whereabouts.
Yang Kai had lingered on Spirit Beast Island primarily to wait for the envoy from the Nether Soul Palace. Now that the matter was settled, it was time to head home.
He paid one final visit to Mo Huang to bid him farewell, then stepped onto the spatial formation, with Li Wuyi, Mo Xiaoqi, and Jiu Feng seeing him off.
The void shifted. His vision blurred, and when it cleared, he had materialized in the Northern Region at Lingxiao Palace.
The disciple guarding the formation noticed the disturbance and turned to look. Upon seeing Yang Kai, he immediately bowed, while another sent a message to Hua Qingsi to report his return — this had been Hua Qingsi's explicit instruction: the moment Yang Kai came back, she was to be notified at once.