Yang Kai blinked and smiled. "Who are you?"
Some random person had shown up out of nowhere to lecture him, demanding he let go of his Senior Sister — it was the most absurd thing he'd ever heard.
That Master Zhou held his head high, his complexion still pale but his posture ramrod straight, and declared with arrogance: "My name is Zhou Cheng. I can't compare to Palace Master Yang's fame across the Star Boundary — I'm merely one of the nameless masses."
A Grand Master Alchemist of the Dao Source Realm was hardly anyone to call "nameless." But that depended on the comparison. Measured against the Palace Master of Ling Xiao Palace, who had "suffered Qi Deviation" and "defected from the Star Boundary," his reputation was indeed far lesser.
Yang Kai scoffed. "If you're nobody, what gives you the right to tell this Palace Master what to do?"
Zhou Cheng spoke in a heavy tone: "I wouldn't dare. I'm merely offering well-meaning advice." He shifted into a posture of earnest solicitude. "Does Palace Master Yang not understand his own situation? He has already entered the Demon Realm, so why bother returning? In your absence, Master Xia's heart was as still as calm water, devoted entirely to alchemy. The pills she refined saved countless lives among our Star Boundary's people. Yet the moment you returned, you disturbed her composure and ruined a cauldron of Celestial Impermanence Pills. Do you have any idea how many rare medicinal ingredients that pill recipe requires? Palace Master Yang, if you cannot give Master Xia a future and happiness, why not simply let her go?"
Yang Kai looked at him with a half-smile. "If I can't give Ningshang a future and happiness, who can?"
Zhou Cheng glanced at Xia Ningshang, opened his mouth as if to say something, but couldn't bring himself to speak. He changed tack instead: "Must Palace Master Yang be so stubborn? You can barely protect yourself as it is — why drag others down with you? Do you want Master Xia to wander the world as a homeless fugitive with you? If you won't consider yourself, at least consider Master Xia. Why be so selfish?"
Yang Kai turned his head to look at Xia Ningshang. "Little Senior Sister, would you want to wander the world with me?"
Xia Ningshang nodded firmly, her beautiful eyes shining with startling intensity. "Wherever you go, I go."
"And the rest of you?" Yang Kai turned to Su Yan and the others.
Shan Qingluo smiled with seductive charm. "What kind of nonsense is my husband spouting? We sisters follow our husband through thick and thin — you'll never shake us off in this lifetime."
Su Yan and the others said nothing, but they all regarded him with gentle smiles. Never mind that they had just learned the truth of the matter — even if Yang Kai truly had defected from the Demon Realm, they wouldn't hesitate for a single moment.
Hearing these words, Zhou Cheng's expression grew even more pained.
He was about to speak again when Yang Kai's face suddenly turned cold. He glanced sideways and waved his hand. "Enough. This Palace Master has just returned to the Palace and has no desire to waste breath on irrelevant people. If you keep flapping your gums, I'll take your miserable life!" He then flashed a sinister smile. "You said it yourself — I'm a demonic sort, ruthless and merciless. Killing a person really isn't much of a challenge for me."
Under Yang Kai's gaze, Zhou Cheng felt a chill run down his spine, yet, surprisingly, he didn't retreat. Instead, he took a step forward. "If my death can open Master Xia's eyes to Palace Master Yang's true nature and free her from this suffering, then what does it matter if I die?"
Ji Ying frowned. "Zhou Cheng, stop this nonsense!" He didn't particularly like the man, but his status as a Grand Master Alchemist of the Dao Source Realm could not be ignored. With the war between two realms raging, the demand for spirit pills was immense. One more alchemist meant more pills, and that could save countless lives in a crisis.
Zhou Cheng shook his head slowly. "Master Ji, there is no need to say more. My mind is made up." He looked at Xia Ningshang once more. "Master Xia, I only hope you can be well. If so, I can die in peace."
Xia Ningshang's brows furrowed slightly, her beautiful eyes full of surprise. In the past, Zhou Cheng had been somewhat diligent about consulting her on alchemy matters, but she hadn't thought much of it — just normal exchanges between fellow practitioners. Only today did she realize something was off. This man apparently harbored feelings for her that went beyond the professional.
"If you want to die, this old man can accommodate you." A cold snort came from nearby — it was Meng Wuya.
Meng Wuya and the others had originally been preparing to leave, but Ji Ying had come striding over with over a dozen alchemists in tow, so they had stopped not far away. Seeing what was unfolding, Meng Wuya understood at once what was happening. Xia Ningshang was the girl he had raised from childhood — he regarded her as his own daughter. That she had joined hands with Yang Kai was a fine match in his eyes, and now some nobody was stirring up trouble? How could Meng Wuya tolerate that?
Though his cultivation was only at the Dao Source Realm and not much higher than Zhou Cheng's, Zhou Cheng was an alchemist, not a fighter. If it truly came to blows, Meng Wuya was fully confident he could destroy him.
Zhou Cheng shook his head slowly, ignoring Meng Wuya and looking only at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai's brows suddenly knitted — not because of Zhou Cheng, but because he had sensed something else. He turned his head to look in a particular direction, then addressed Su Yan: "Someone is attacking the Sect-Protecting Grand Array? Who has such audacity?"
Faint waves of energy were pulsing inward from outside — the telltale sign of the Grand Array being triggered. Yang Kai swept his spiritual sense outward and detected several hundred people gathered outside Ling Xiao Palace's gates, with a dozen or so among them each deploying secret techniques and wielding Artifacts to assault the array.
Su Yan said calmly: "It happens from time to time. No need to pay it any mind."
"It's happened before?" Yang Kai asked in surprise.
Zhu Qing explained: "Every so often, people come to cause trouble…" After her explanation, Yang Kai finally understood the situation. Because of him, the Great Emperors had ordered Ling Xiao Palace sealed, and its Disciples were forbidden from entering or leaving. The Great Emperors had done this solely to protect Ling Xiao's people, but the outside world didn't know the truth — they assumed something was truly wrong with the Palace. Over the past few years, Ling Xiao Palace's reputation had become thoroughly wretched.
If that were all, it would have been tolerable. But there were also those who sought to make a name for themselves by targeting Ling Xiao Palace. Though the Palace had been established only recently, it had first annihilated the Wen Qing Sect, then allied with the Ice Heart Valley, the Li Long Palace, and the Mi Tian Sect to unify the numerous major and minor sects of the Northern Domain. Its ranks were filled with powerhouses, making it one of the unquestionably supreme sects of the Northern Domain.