Chu Liushan and Kong Feng both had their auras fluctuating ominously, poised and ready to strike at any moment. Guo Nu wore a troubled expression — though he had no wish to oppose the Landlady, things had already come to this, and he had no choice but to stand on Chu Liushan's side. He let out a soft sigh and said, "Junior Sister Lan, why must it be this way!"
Yang Kai's expression was grim. If a fight truly broke out here, the Landlady and the others would undoubtedly suffer the worst of it. Though both the Landlady and Yue He were Sixth-Order Open Heaven masters, they were severely outnumbered. Setting aside the fact that Chu Liushan and the rest were all Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivators whose strength was in no way inferior to the Landlady or Yue He, even those Fourth-Order and Fifth-Order cultivators who were currently inspecting the Flying Ship represented a force that could not be ignored.
In short, if combat erupted, the First Inn's side would be the one to suffer losses.
The thought of bringing suffering upon the Landlady, Yue He, and the others because of him was something Yang Kai could not accept. He sighed inwardly — weakness was a truly bitter thing. Even when one obtained something of value, it was impossible to hold onto it.
Was he really going to sell off that Seventh-Order inner core? Yang Kai was profoundly unwilling. Everything he had gathered along his journey — every scrap of cultivation resources — had come through tremendous fortune and no small amount of luck.
His Wood-attribute power had come from the Ageless Tree he obtained in his early days — a natural and smooth process. His Fire-attribute power had been snatched from the Golden Crow's corpse right under the noses of a host of Open Heaven realm masters — a narrow escape from certain death. The Earth-attribute power had been acquired through a frightening but ultimately safe ordeal when he found and refined the inner core of an Earth-attribute Dragon, though that was only possible because he carried the Dragon Clan's origin. His Water-attribute power had come from refining Moon Essence in the Taixu Realm, after which he was chased relentlessly by that bastard Kun Shark. His Yang-attribute power came from refining the Seventh-Order Primordial Yang Ginseng, though at considerable cost.
He had invested so much effort, battling and scraping his way along the path toward becoming a Supreme-Order Open Heaven cultivator — and for what, if not a brighter future, a vaster world, and more magnificent horizons?
Obtaining this Seventh-Order Gold-attribute inner core had been nothing but a stroke of extraordinary luck.
Who knew if such an opportunity would ever come again? What perils would he face the next time he sought the resources he needed, and how much longer would he have to wait?
Now, if he could only refine this Seventh-Order inner core, he would be just a single step away from advancing to the Open Heaven realm! To fall short at the very last step — how could Yang Kai possibly accept that!
Yet what could he do, no matter how unwilling he was? Under the present circumstances, unless he handed over that Seventh-Order inner core, a full-scale battle was unavoidable — and in the end, it would always be the First Inn's side that paid the price.
The standoff had reached a knife's-edge tension, a great battle seemingly on the verge of erupting at any moment.
Yang Kai hardened his heart. Even if he had to destroy the Seventh-Order inner core, he would never sell it to Xuantian Dongtian, nor would he allow the Heavenly Sword Alliance to get their hands on it.
At that moment, Senior Brother Mao, who had been silent all this while, suddenly spoke up. "Kid — do you have a Seventh-Order inner core on you?"
Yang Kai looked up and said evenly, "I don't."
Senior Brother Mao nodded slightly. "Since you don't, then there's no issue. You may leave." With that, he waved his hand.
Everyone was stunned.
Kong Feng blurted, "Brother Mao!"
Senior Brother Mao replied with an icy expression, "Do you have some counsel for me, Brother Kong?"
Kong Feng said, "That boy definitely has a Seventh-Order inner core. You absolutely cannot let him walk away like this — he'll become a major threat in the future!"
Senior Brother Mao said, "He just told you he doesn't have one, and yet you insist he does. Would you like to grab his space ring and check for yourself?"
"That…" Kong Feng was left speechless, thinking to himself that he simply could not do something that shameless. Yang Kai was, after all, still a junior — for a Sixth-Order Open Heaven master to seize someone's space ring in front of everyone, what kind of spectacle would that be? He still had some sense of propriety, which was exactly why he had contacted Yang Kai via voice transmission earlier to ask for the inner core rather than demanding it outright.
"Junior Sister Lan, forgive the offence." Senior Brother Mao cupped his hands toward the Landlady, then called out to those on the Flying Ship, "Are you done with your inspection? If you're done, get back here — all of you!"
The group who had boarded the ship earlier hurriedly jumped back down. Senior Brother Mao swept his great sleeve and declared, "Let them pass!"
When he gave the order, no one dared object. Chu Liushan and Kong Feng exchanged a glance — though they were displeased at heart, they had no desire to cross swords with Senior Brother Mao. The cultivators of Da Zhan Tian were not people to be trifled with.
"Thank you, Senior Brother Mao!" The Landlady offered a graceful bow toward Senior Brother Mao, then guided the Flying Ship toward the Domain Gate.
Just before departing, Yang Kai felt a stirring and heard a voice transmission from Senior Brother Mao: "Take care of yourself, kid."
Yang Kai nodded in silent thanks, knowing full well that if Senior Brother Mao had not spoken up at that critical moment, today's affair could never have been resolved so easily.
Once the Flying Ship passed through the Domain Gate and vanished from sight, Chu Liushan finally said, "Brother Mao, I hear that several Da Zhan Tian Disciples had some dealings with this Yang Kai inside the Blood Demon Cave Heaven?"
Senior Brother Mao cast a glance at Chu Liushan and said flatly, "You're very well-informed, Brother Chu. But rather than concerning yourself with the affairs of a few of my Da Zhan Tian Disciples, you might do better to think of a way to track down that Black Crow Divine Lord."