Half a day later, the three of them stopped in the void and waited in silence.
The flying Artifact pursuing them from behind was simply too fast. Even with Lu Xue pushing herself to her absolute limit, she had only managed to buy them half a day.
Looking back the way they had come, a colossal lotus blossom was rapidly unfolding across their field of vision, soon filling an enormous swath of the void. At the same time, a sharp, feminine shout rang out from within the lotus: "Old ghost Mo Yu, let's see where you'll run to this time! This place will be your burial ground!"
Yang Kai winced. As he'd suspected—it really was people from the Heavenly Pivot Pavilion and the Flying Flower Skiff. Otherwise, they wouldn't have shouted something like that. He just wasn't sure which faction had caught up to them.
Fortunately, during the half day they'd had to prepare, he had scattered a great number of Void Spirit Pearls throughout the void. If things went south, he could teleport away at any moment. Besides, he wasn't actually Ancestor Mo Yu, and he'd even saved Shangguan Yu's life. Surely the pursuers wouldn't attack indiscriminately?
He cleared his throat and called out in a deep voice: "Which friends have come looking for us? We are not disciples of the Mo Yu Sect. I'd suggest you look carefully before acting."
The moment those words left his lips, the enormous lotus suddenly halted a short distance ahead. After a brief silence, more than a dozen figures flashed out from within it.
Every single one of the figures was an Open Heaven cultivator, several of them mid-tier. They were men and women, old and young alike.
These were nothing like the battered remnants of the Mo Yu Sect. The Mo Yu Sect had been attacked by two great powers—the Heavenly Pivot Pavilion and the Flying Flower Skiff—and after a dozen or so battles, countless of its experts had been killed or wounded. Even Ancestor Mo Yu himself had sustained serious injuries.
But these dozen-plus people before him all radiated sharp, imposing auras. Their cold gazes were fixed on Yang Kai and his companions, carrying an appraising quality.
The woman at the front, dressed in a palace-style gown, gave Yang Kai a feeling comparable to Zhao Baichuan himself!
In other words, she was likely a peak Fifth-Order Open Heaven expert, just a single step away from breaking through to the Sixth Order.
"Who are you? Where is that old ghost Mo Yu?" Shangguan Long's elegant brows furrowed. Her beautiful eyes swept over the block of ice, and when she saw her daughter was safe and had successfully executed the secret technique she'd taught her years ago, the worry she'd been carrying finally eased. But Yang Kai and the others were unfamiliar faces, which stirred her suspicion.
Especially Lu Xue—a Fifth-Order Open Heaven presence. That baffled her even more.
The only Fifth-Order Open Heaven in the Mo Yu Sect was Ancestor Mo Yu himself, so who was this woman? If they weren't from the Mo Yu Sect, then why had Yu'er ended up in their hands?
"Yang Kai of Void Land, greetings, Madam!" Yang Kai offered a slight cupped-fist salute. "Might I ask whether you are from the Heavenly Pivot Pavilion or the Flying Flower Skiff?"
"Void Land?" Shangguan Long's brow creased slightly. It was a faction she had never heard of. But the fact that this Emperor Realm youth faced her—a Fifth-Order Open Heaven—with neither servility nor arrogance, showing not the slightest unease despite the vast gap in their strength, was rather remarkable.
What surprised her even more was that these two men and one woman seemed to be led by this very Emperor Realm cultivator. Whether it was the Fifth-Order woman or the Third-Order man, both appeared to serve as mere guards.
This young man must have some notable background!
With that thought, Shangguan Long's expression softened somewhat. Though she had never heard of Void Land, the Three Thousand Worlds were simply too vast for anyone to claim knowledge of every faction. And using the word "Land" in one's name undoubtedly marked it as a second-tier power.
That put it on equal footing with the Flying Flower Skiff.
"I am Shangguan Long, Master of the Flying Flower Skiff!"
Yang Kai's eyes lit up with recognition: "So it's Madam Long!" He'd already noticed the resemblance between her and Shangguan Yu and had harbored a suspicion. Now he could confirm it.
"You say your name is Yang Kai, so I'll call you Young Brother Yang," Shangguan Long said softly. Her features were lovely, but her lips were thin and sharp as a blade's edge, lending her a somewhat severe air.
Yang Kai smiled. "As Madam pleases."
Shangguan Long nodded. "Then let me inform you, Young Brother Yang, that this young lady beside you..."
"Oh, I almost forgot." Yang Kai slapped his forehead and reached out to push the block of ice encasing Shangguan Yu toward them. "This is your daughter, I presume? She was like this when I found her. I didn't know how to rescue her and didn't dare act rashly. I'd originally intended to escort her to the Flying Flower Skiff myself, but since we've run into you here, the matter is easily resolved."
The ice drifted toward Shangguan Long. A Fourth-Order Open Heaven man stepped forward to catch it, then cast a long look at Yang Kai before turning and flying back toward the tower ship with Shangguan Yu in tow, never once looking back.
Shangguan Long, however, looked surprised. "So you're saying it was you who saved my foolish daughter?"
Yang Kai smiled modestly. "I wouldn't claim such credit. I simply happened to be there at the right time."
"And that old ghost Mo Yu?" Shangguan Long asked.
"The remnants of the Mo Yu Sect have all been eliminated by us—not a single one escaped. You have nothing to worry about, Madam."
The words sent a ripple of astonishment through the crowd.
They had been chasing the Mo Yu Sect's battered survivors through this endless void for a full two years. On several occasions they had nearly succeeded, only for Ancestor Mo Yu to slip away. They knew all too well how cunning and difficult that old ghost was. Now, to suddenly hear from Yang Kai that every last member of the remaining Mo Yu Sect had been killed—their feelings were complicated.
Part disbelief, part profound relief. After all, they were utterly exhausted from the pursuit.