"Forget it, this is boring!" After watching for a while, Pei Wenxuan suddenly flung his sleeves and strode toward the stone tablet. "Play among yourselves—I won't be keeping you company."
Seeing him leave, Qu Huashang let out a quiet sigh of relief. If that guy had kept pushing, someone would have gotten badly hurt today. But if Yang Kai had actually killed him, the trouble would have been far worse.
She turned to face Yang Kai with a radiant smile, her eyes seeming to speak volumes, brimming with a hint of indescribable delight. Her voice was as sweet and soft as ever: "Junior Brother Yang, what are the odds of running into you here?"
Yang Kai cupped his fists. "It's been years, Senior Sister, and your grace remains as stunning as ever. I should also thank you for stepping in just now."
Qu Huashang covered her mouth and laughed. "If anyone deserves thanks, it isn't you—it should be that jerk thanking me." She waved her hand dismissively. "Never mind that. How did you end up with people from Great War Heaven?"
She studied Bu Lianzhong and the others with open curiosity, her beautiful eyes full of suspicion.
Bu Lianzhong answered: "Senior Brother Yang saved our lives. The five of us had stumbled into a desperate situation, and Senior Brother Yang intervened to rescue us."
Only after his explanation did Qu Huashang understand. "Is that so? But you really don't need to feel burdened by it. Junior Brother Yang has always been the chivalrous type—he's saved countless people. I owe him my life too, and I've half a mind to repay him by devoting myself to him." Back in the Taixu Realm, if Yang Kai hadn't used the Minor Mystic World to ferry the Bearers out at the last moment, those of them who lost the competition would have faced the wrath of the Sacred Spirits head-on. At least half of them would have died.
Bu Lianzhong and the others exchanged bewildered glances, never having imagined that Yang Kai had even saved someone as prominent as Qu Huashang of the Yin-Yang Grotto-heaven.
Yang Kai, for his part, nearly choked hearing her talk about devoting herself to him. This woman really would say anything. He couldn't help but laugh: "Senior Sister, please don't jest."
Qu Huashang giggled behind her hand, every gesture radiating feminine charm.
Even though Bu Lianzhong and the others hailed from Great War Heaven and prided themselves on their composure, they found themselves staring, thinking that their senior brother's warning had been right—women from the Yin-Yang Grotto-heaven really were all walking disasters...
"I still need to ask, Senior Sister Qu—what exactly is the situation here? Why have so many people gathered, and what is that palace in the middle of the lake?" Yang Kai deftly changed the subject before the woman could go any further off the rails.
Qu Huashang composed her expression. "That lake palace should be one of the Blood Demon Divine Sovereign's inheritance sites."
Yang Kai and the others stiffened, barely able to believe it. "An actual inheritance?"
When that other person had mentioned it before, even he couldn't be certain—he'd only said it was possible. But now that Qu Huashang was saying the same thing, it might very well be real.
Qu Huashang shook her head. "The Blood Demon Divine Sovereign was an eighth-rank Open Heaven cultivator of immense power. In life, he had mastered the Blood Path and the art of taming demon beasts. Beyond that, his accomplishments surely spanned many other fields. Although there should be an inheritance of his here, which specific aspect it covers remains unknown. Most people believe it's related to the Blood Path."
"Why that speculation?" Yang Kai asked.
"The blood lake is one reason," Qu Huashang said, gesturing toward the stone tablet by the shore. "But the biggest evidence is the Great Extension Indestructible Blood Radiance Scripture. That's what led everyone to this conclusion."
"The Great Extension Indestructible Blood Radiance Scripture!" Yang Kai's mind jolted. If he recalled correctly, this technique had been one of the Blood Demon Divine Sovereign's primary cultivation methods in life. The jade slip the Boss Lady had given him contained records of it—the Blood Demon Divine Sovereign's ascent to the eighth rank of Open Heaven owed much to this very scripture.
Bu Lianzhong exclaimed: "Senior Sister Qu, are you saying the methods of the Great Extension Indestructible Blood Radiance Scripture are inscribed on that tablet?"
Qu Huashang nodded gravely. "Exactly. Before you arrived, I was over there contemplating its mysteries." With that, she beckoned. "Come—let's take a look together."
Yang Kai and Bu Lianzhong exchanged a glance and didn't hesitate. They followed Qu Huashang to the base of the stone tablet.
A crowd had gathered around the tablet, but it was large enough that even through the press of people, its contents were clearly visible. Sure enough, at the very top of the tablet was a line of characters that appeared to have been written in blood: The Great Extension Indestructible Blood Radiance Scripture!
Yang Kai quietly caught his breath. This was one of the Blood Demon Divine Sovereign's primary cultivation methods—everyone had always speculated it must be hidden somewhere within his inheritance. After all, it was a technique that had propelled an ancient powerhouse to the eighth rank of Open Heaven. Who wouldn't covet it?
Yet here it was, displayed without any concealment beside a blood lake, open for anyone who came to study and comprehend.
What was the Blood Demon Divine Sovereign playing at?
But the tablet bore only those few characters and nothing else.
Suppressing his doubts, Yang Kai raised his head and focused his gaze. In an instant, his consciousness was seized by an invisible force and pulled into the stone tablet.
A cascade of bizarre, kaleidoscopic images surged unbidden into his mind—maps of meridian circulation patterns flashing before his eyes with lightning speed. Startled, Yang Kai quickly stumbled back several steps.
The moment he moved, his concentration broke and he immediately broke free from the tablet's pull.
Qu Huashang's voice came to his ear: "Within this tablet lies the circulation method of the Great Extension Indestructible Blood Radiance Scripture. If you can fully comprehend it, setting aside everything else, you'll at least obtain the method for circulating this Blood Radiance Scripture!"
Yang Kai shook his head, bewildered. "Senior Sister Qu, the technique seems rather incomplete..."