At the very center of Biluo Pass rose a solitary peak, towering a thousand zhang into the sky. Atop this peak stood a grand hall, magnificent and imposing.
For the tens of thousands of soldiers garrisoning Biluo Pass, this solitary peak was both forbidden ground and a pillar of support — it was the place where the Ancestor secluded himself for quiet cultivation. Without summons, no one dared casually set foot here and cause disturbance.
A streak of light shot upward from below and arrived before the grand hall in moments, alighting to reveal none other than Zhong Liang, the West Army Corps Commander.
His gaze swept the area, and he spotted several familiar figures standing guard before the hall, but Yang Kai was nowhere among them.
Not here? Zhong Liang was somewhat stunned.
He had practically turned all of Biluo Pass upside down just now and still hadn't been able to track down Yang Kai. The only place he hadn't dared to probe was this solitary peak — the implications were too great, and he couldn't very well peep around at will.
If there was anywhere Yang Kai could still be hiding, it had to be this place.
Yet now that he'd come to look, there was still no sign of the man.
That gave him quite a headache. If Yang Kai wasn't hiding here, then where else could he have gone?
Zhong Liang bowed from a distance toward Senior Brother Sun, who stood guard before the hall, and turned to leave.
Senior Brother Sun suddenly spoke up: "Junior Brother, you've come here looking for that Yang Kai?"
Zhong Liang stopped and nodded: "That's right!"
Senior Brother Sun smiled: "If that's the case, Junior Brother can wait here."
Zhong Liang asked, puzzled: "Why?"
Senior Brother Sun said: "That Yang Kai has been summoned by the Ancestor and is inside the hall. He should be coming out soon."
Zhong Liang's jaw practically dropped, his face frozen in disbelief.
Yang Kai had actually been summoned into the hall by the Ancestor. This… this was absolutely hopeless. There was no way he could charge into the hall and drag Yang Kai out. In other words, as long as Yang Kai stayed inside the hall and didn't come out before the deadline, he would lose this bet outright.
The little rascal was cheating!
Though come to think of it, his own earlier move of spreading out his Small Universe across the entire pass had been rather shameless too. An eye for an eye, it seemed.
"Why would the Ancestor suddenly summon him?" Zhong Liang asked with a bitter smile.
Senior Brother Sun chuckled: "I don't know either. The boy suddenly showed up here just now, in quite a hurry, as if something urgent had come up. The Ancestor then summoned him inside to speak."
Zhong Liang's teeth itched with fury. Inwardly he cursed the kid for being cunning — after severing the thread of spiritual sense that Zhong Liang had locked onto him, the boy had almost certainly headed straight here.
Though Yang Kai himself probably hadn't anticipated the Ancestor summoning him at a time like this. His original plan had likely been to simply use the unique properties of this place to block the pursuit.
As for Senior Brother Sun's remark about Yang Kai being in a hurry with some urgent matter — there had been quite the commotion just now, and while Senior Brother Sun was stationed here guarding the Ancestor's seclusion, he had surely already pieced together what had happened. Otherwise, he wouldn't be smiling with such amusement.
Zhong Liang suddenly thought of something and asked urgently: "Has the Ancestor's injury healed?"
He did a quick mental calculation — it had been eight years since the Ink Clan had last been repelled. The Ancestor had been secluded in healing for this long, so it was possible the injuries had fully recovered.
Senior Brother Sun shook his head: "I don't know. But this is the first time in recent years that the Ancestor has sent word to the outside."
Zhong Liang immediately understood. The Ancestor likely hadn't fully healed — after all, recovering from injuries at the Ninth-Order Open Heaven level was no easy matter. But things must have improved somewhat, otherwise he wouldn't have summoned Yang Kai inside.
He glanced back toward the great incense stick outside the West Army Corps Hall. Only about two or three tenths remained, so there was still a little time left.
Leaving now would be unbearable. Since there was still some time, he could only stay here and see whether Yang Kai would emerge before the deadline.
The area before the grand hall fell silent.
Inside the hall, Yang Kai sat cross-legged before an old man whose hair and beard were entirely white.
The elder was thin and gaunt, wearing a dark robe. His silver hair was like snow, and even his beard was a pristine white. He was barefoot, and his body carried none of the imposing aura that a Ninth-Order Open Heaven master ought to possess.
Yang Kai couldn't sense the slightest fluctuation of power from him. Had they met without prior knowledge, Yang Kai would have taken this man for nothing more than an ordinary old fellow, not a peak Ninth-Order Ancestor whose cultivation had reached the apex.
The Ancestor's cultivation had likely reached that realm of returning to simplicity and truth — otherwise, he wouldn't give off this impression to Yang Kai.
Being suddenly summoned by the Ancestor had caught Yang Kai off guard as well. Though he had intended to seek an audience with the Ancestor from the very first day he arrived at Biluo Pass, the Ancestor had been healing at the time, and there had been no opportunity.
At this moment, Yang Kai was demonstrating the birth of the Purifying Light before the Ancestor, as the Ancestor had requested.
The Ancestor watched with intense focus. Once the Purifying Light had taken form, he reached out and drew that sphere of radiance into his palm for careful examination.
Yang Kai didn't dare speak and simply waited in silence.
After a moment, the Ancestor gave a slight nod, then gestured for Yang Kai to extend both hands, examining the marks on the backs of his hands.
Yang Kai didn't know what the Ancestor had gleaned, but the old man's inspection was meticulous, his expression deeply solemn.