"Master, they've stopped." An Elder-level Fourth-Order Open Heaven cultivator suddenly called out.
The others looked up and saw that the Windmill Artifact had indeed halted at the outer perimeter of Seven Arts Land, going no further.
"Hmph. It seems they really do have some connection to Seven Arts Land. They think that with Seven Arts Land's protection, they'll be safe?" Shangguan Long snorted coldly.
Tong Yuquan said in a low voice, "Yu'er's safety is what matters most. After all, our Flying Flower Barge was in the wrong this time. Let's not stir up any more trouble."
"I know!" Shangguan Long replied, her face flushed with irritation.
While they were speaking, the Windmill Artifact up ahead was suddenly put away, revealing Yang Kai and the others. They stood there quietly, gazing toward the Flying Flower Barge. Shangguan Yu was right beside Yang Kai, clearly not being treated harshly. Moreover, after this period of rest, her complexion had regained its rosy glow.
Tong Yuquan let out a quiet sigh of relief upon seeing this.
"Come. Follow me down for a closer look." Shangguan Long swept her sleeves together and strode outward. The many powerhouses of the Flying Flower Barge followed close behind.
Before long, they arrived just outside the Lotus Artifact. The moment they steadied themselves, they heard Yang Kai speak with a warm smile: "Welcome, everyone, to Void Land!"
The group of Open Heaven cultivators from the Flying Flower Barge exchanged bewildered glances. Some produced their Universe Charts and compared them against the surroundings, verifying their location.
Shangguan Long frowned. "Void Land? Isn't this Seven Arts Land? How is it Void Land?"
Yang Kai smiled. "Lady Long is correct. This was indeed Seven Arts Land before, but I've since renamed it Void Land."
At those words, everyone was shocked!
A second-rate power had no reason to suddenly change its banner and name. After all, that name represented thousands upon thousands of years of accumulated reputation and prestige. Rebuilding that from scratch was no easy feat — unless the original power no longer existed.
"What do you mean?" Shangguan Long's narrow eyes narrowed further, the unease in her heart reaching a fever pitch.
"Seven Arts Land has been conquered by me. From this day forward, there is no more Seven Arts Land in this world — only Void Land!" Yang Kai explained patiently.
The Open Heaven cultivators erupted in uproar. Though they had already harbored suspicions, hearing Yang Kai say it so openly still left them struggling to believe it.
Seven Arts Land — that was a second-rate power on par with the Flying Flower Barge. Not one of those third-rate powers that sprouted up like bamboo shoots only to be cut down again, but a lineage stretching back thousands of years. How could it simply be conquered? Even the Flying Flower Barge, throwing everything it had into the assault, couldn't take Seven Arts Land. Despite their roughly equal strength, an attacker needed an overwhelming disparity in power to breach a defender.
Did Yang Kai really possess such ability?
"What about the Seven Arts Heavenly Lord?" Shangguan Long asked.
"Dead, of course," Yang Kai replied cheerfully.
Shangguan Long was stunned, unsure whether she should believe him. In theory, this young man was making such bold claims right outside Seven Arts Land, which clearly meant he had something to back them up. If the Seven Arts Heavenly Lord were truly still alive, he would never let this pass without response.
But deep down, Shangguan Long didn't want to believe it. She had been plotting to marry her daughter to Yang Kai and then slowly absorb Void Land into her own domain. If he truly had this kind of capability, who knew who would end absorbing whom when the time came. And hadn't Yang Kai said that all of Void Land had only five Open Heaven cultivators?
Five Open Heaven cultivators conquering Seven Arts Land? What a joke. The Seven Arts Land cultivators weren't pushovers — the Seven Arts Heavenly Lord was a Fifth-Order Open Heaven, and several of his Land-Protecting Venerables were Fourth-Order.
Unless... Void Land had someone above the Fifth-Order!
At that thought, Shangguan Long's heart lurched, and her gaze shot toward the space behind Yang Kai.
There, within a surge of brilliant light, two figures shot forward.
The pair moved at extraordinary speed. Barely five breaths after appearing, they landed beside Yang Kai and revealed their true forms.
One was a stunningly beautiful woman. The other was a massively obese man.
The fat man was obscenely bloated — practically a rolling ball of flesh. His facial fat was piled so thick that his eyes were nearly buried. Yet despite his corpulent frame, he radiated the unmistakable aura of a genuine Fourth-Order Open Heaven cultivator.
His presence alone would have been startling enough, but the woman was the real shock.
She was a Sixth-Order Open Heaven!
Every gaze from the Flying Flower Barge settled on her, and every cultivator tensed as though facing a mortal enemy. Shangguan Long's phoenix eyes widened, shock written across her face.
Void Land truly did have someone above the Fifth-Order!
"Greetings, Master!" Under the weight of everyone's stares, the fat man was the first to bow, his face split with an obsequious grin. He behaved as though he were greeting not an Emperor Realm cultivator but a supreme Open Heaven powerhouse, every gesture dripping with deference. "Master, you must be exhausted from your journey."
"Young Master!" The woman curtsied gracefully, offering a delicate bow.
Cold sweat cascaded down the foreheads of every Flying Flower Barge cultivator. There was no wind in the void, yet all of them felt a bone-deep chill surge from the soles of their feet straight to the crown of their heads.
The mere appearance of a Sixth-Order Open Heaven had already shaken them to their core. But now this very Sixth-Order — a being they themselves had to look up to — was calling Yang Kai "Young Master"?
Whose young master was this? What manner of young master could make a Sixth-Order Open Heaven willingly abase herself like this?