The Shattered Heaven — a lawless expanse where opportunity and peril coexisted. Rumor held that Countless treasures lay hidden within, and so, no matter how treacherous it was, it still drew hordes of desperate souls willing to risk their lives.
In a tavern inside the Shattered Heaven's Star Market, Yang Kai sat by a window on the second floor overlooking the street below, gazing down at the throng of people pressing shoulder to shoulder, clicking his tongue in amazement.
The last time he had come here, it had been to enter the Shadowless Heavenly Domain to rescue the Madam. He had only stayed briefly and hadn't bothered to look around much.
This time, he discovered that although the Shattered Heaven's Star Market looked chaotic and disorderly on the surface and wasn't particularly large, it was absolutely brimming with good things on the inside.
Of course, that might also have had to do with his cultivation. Last time he had been here, he was merely at the Emperor Realm. Now he was a Sixth Order Open Heaven master — with a different level of perception, what he saw was naturally different as well.
"I heard the Shattered Heaven was formed in an ancient era when powerful cultivators clashed and shattered several neighboring Great Domains," Yang Kai mused. "But what could have possibly driven those ancient powerhouses to fight so ferociously?"
Across from him, a sullen-faced, middle-aged man with sharp, brooding features took a long swig of his wine, looking thoroughly uninterested in conversation.
Yang Kai turned to look at him and grinned. "Still pouting at your age?"
Wu Kuang snapped angrily, "Let's see you spend twenty-odd years trapped in that space, unable to move a single muscle!"
Yang Kai chuckled. "Plans just couldn't keep up with reality. Who knew repairing the Heaven and Earth Temple would take so long?"
The trip from the Star Boundary to the Black Domain and the ruins of the Great Evolution Blessed Land hadn't taken much time at all — it was the Heaven and Earth Temple repairs that had consumed nearly twenty years.
During that entire period, Wu Kuang had been hiding inside the Six Harmonies Prosperity Bag, carried around by Yang Kai.
After all, Wu Kuang still technically held the status of a Myriad Demons Heaven Disciple. Moreover, Yin Xinzhao and Pei Wenxuan had both died at his hands, their entire cultivations devoured by him. Hiding in the new Great Domain was one thing — as long as he kept a low profile, the people from Myriad Demons Heaven and Xuanyuan Heaven wouldn't find him. But if he showed his face freely, there was a good chance Yu Huan of Myriad Demons Heaven would detect his trail, and that would be very hard to explain.
So when Wu Kuang learned Yang Kai was heading to the Shattered Heaven, he had insisted on finding a way to bring him along.
Yang Kai had immediately thought of the Six Harmonies Prosperity Bag. His own Little Universe couldn't hold a fellow Sixth Order cultivator, but the Six Harmonies Prosperity Bag could.
In the past, Yang Kai had used it to store Yue He, who had also been Sixth Order. But even this Artifact had its limits — for a Sixth Order Open Heaven cultivator, it could only hold a handful of people at most.
Yang Kai had never been able to figure out what material the Six Harmonies Prosperity Bag was forged from, that it could even contain a Sixth Order Open Heaven master.
There was no going back to Myriad Demons Heaven for Wu Kuang. The Thirty Thousand Worlds in general had no place for him either. The Shattered Heaven was the perfect destination — this cursed place was tailor-made for robbing and killing, and how could a great demon lord like Wu Kuang not love it?
Yang Kai hadn't anticipated that, before their departure, Xu Linggong would take him to the Heaven and Earth Temple for repairs, and that the work would drag on for twenty years.
As a result, Wu Kuang had been sealed inside the Six Harmonies Prosperity Bag for over two decades. Anyone in his shoes would have found it hard to bear, yet he had endured his days in captivity without daring to make a move. If he had burst out of the bag and been caught red-handed, not only would his own future be uncertain, but he would drag Yang Kai down as well.
Wu Kuang took another enormous gulp of wine, then slammed his cup down and stood. "I'm leaving!"
He turned and strode off in long, purposeful steps.
Yang Kai raised his cup and said softly, "Don't go and get yourself killed somewhere for nothing."
Wu Kuang seemed not to hear, merely waving a hand over his shoulder without looking back. This departure was like a tiger returning to the mountains, a dragon plunging into the sea — the heavens and earth stretched wide, and he would roam free!
On the crowded street, a young man in immaculate white robes walked with an air of refined poise and striking bearing. Wherever he passed, the surrounding pedestrians were pushed a foot away by an invisible pressure.
Yang Kai felt a stirring and glanced toward the man, who happened to halt at the same moment and look upward.
Their eyes met, and both brows furrowed slightly.
For reasons he couldn't explain, even though he was certain this was his first time seeing the white-robed youth, Yang Kai felt an inexplicable wave of loathing well up from the depths of his heart — as though the feeling were only natural, the most ordinary thing in the world. It had never happened before. He wasn't the arrogant or overbearing type. For a first meeting — just a single exchange of glances, without a single word spoken — what basis could there be for hatred or fondness?
Judging by the white-robed youth's expression, the feeling was clearly mutual.
Neither of them was the type to seek unnecessary trouble. The white-robed youth clearly had matters to attend to and quickly averted his gaze, following the flow of people out of the Star Market.
A moment later, Yang Kai paid his tab and descended the stairs at a leisurely pace.
"Young Master, what did you see? You look a bit unhappy," said a petite girl who had been trailing behind the white-robed youth outside the Star Market. Her expression was innocent and guileless, and she carried half a peach blossom branch in her hand, a few tender pink buds dotting it. She bounced around the young man like a cheerful little monkey.
The white-robed youth said coolly, "Nothing. I just saw someone I don't like."
The girl blinked. "If the Young Master doesn't like him, then I'll go kill him!"