The Heavenly Sky Sect and Elder Du treated Yang Kai quite well, but if they found out about his connection to the Ancient Demon Clan, they would probably try to persuade him to scheme the clan's annihilation!
Yang Kai had no desire to see that happen.
During his time at the Demon God Fortress, he had been cared for by Li Rong and Han Fei, among others. He rather liked the Ancient Demon Clan.
After some idle chatter, everyone settled down to rest.
The night was deep and silent. In this remote wilderness, only the faint glow of the campfire flickered.
Mina quietly tugged at Yang Kai's clothes. He opened his eyes and regarded her with puzzlement.
"Come with me," Mina whispered, crouching low as she headed into the darkness.
Yang Kai rose and followed at an unhurried pace.
After walking a few hundred zhang, they reached a large tree. Mina sat down, her back against the trunk, and patted the spot beside her, gesturing for Yang Kai to sit as well.
"What is it?" Yang Kai asked, bewildered.
"Nothing really, I just want to chat. Talking over there would disturb the others." Mina flashed him a bright smile.
"What do you want to talk about?" Yang Kai plucked a blade of grass and twirled it between his fingers.
"Anything." Mina stretched her legs out flat and let out a lazy yawn, gradually relaxing. She turned her head and asked, "Where exactly did you learn your alchemy? How come you're younger than me yet already a spirit-grade top-tier alchemist?"
"What if I said I was self-taught? Would you believe me?" Yang Kai chuckled.
Mina pulled a face, clearly not buying it.
"Then I've got nothing for you." Yang Kai shrugged.
"Elder Du says there must be a top-tier alchemist behind the scenes guiding you. Someone far more skilled than he is."
"I suppose that's fair." Yang Kai nodded slightly.
His alchemy could be considered something the Great Demon God had left behind. His skills could be called self-taught or traced back to the Great Demon God's inheritance—either description fit.
"Then it's real! Elder Du would love to meet this person," Mina said, eyes widening. "But Elder Du also knows that someone of that caliber wouldn't show themselves easily, let alone meet a stranger."
"Heh..." Yang Kai gave a dry laugh. He understood why Elder Du wanted to meet this supposed expert—his own alchemy had probably hit a bottleneck, and he hoped to glean some experience, to see if he could break through to the next level in his lifetime.
Their trip to Floating Cloud City likely had the same goal, given that so many exceptional alchemists would be gathering there.
"If the opportunity arises, could you introduce Elder Du to them?" Mina looked at Yang Kai with hopeful eyes.
Yang Kai fell silent and said nothing for a long time.
This was a request he simply couldn't grant.
"Why won't you speak?" Mina saw his silence and worried she had overstepped, not knowing what to do.
"Ah, the person who taught me alchemy... is already dead."
"Oh!" Mina clapped a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"It's fine..." Yang Kai shook his head.
Just then, the expressions of both of them changed abruptly. They stared intently ahead. A fierce wave of Divine Sense was hurtling toward them, and in the blink of an eye it had arrived directly above Yang Kai and Mina.
Mina, treating it like a mortal enemy, hastily summoned all her Artifacts to guard herself.
Her combat experience was thin, but her reaction speed was quite sharp. In a flurry of panic she still managed to seal herself in an airtight defense.
Yang Kai gave her a peculiar glance, then turned calm, his gaze growing cold as he looked into the void.
He sensed something odd about this Divine Sense—it felt different from a typical Divine Sense attack.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, the mass of Divine Sense circled them several times, then plunged straight into Yang Kai's sea of consciousness and vanished without a trace.
"Yang Kai!" Mina blanched and cried out.
Yang Kai's eyes went vacant, and he sat motionless.
Swish, swish, swish...
The commotion drew the others from several hundred zhang away. Cang Yan arrived first, asking in a low voice, "What's happening?"
A moment ago he had felt the eruption of Divine Sense energy. Hearing Mina's shout, he rushed over immediately but found nothing out of the ordinary.
Mina, flustered and panicked, hurriedly recounted what had just occurred.
"Soul possession?" Li Wan's expression shifted as he keenly grasped the truth.
A powerful expert must have died nearby, his spirit fleeing his body. By sheer coincidence he had stumbled upon Yang Kai and was now attempting to seize his body.
"Soul possession, huh?" Fei Yu covered her lips and giggled. "Then there's nothing to worry about."
Cang Yan also relaxed visibly and nodded.
Li Wan and Fei Jian let out cruel chuckles.
"You... why aren't any of you worried?" Mina was nearly in tears. She knew what soul possession meant and what could happen afterward. If things went wrong, Yang Kai's soul could be utterly destroyed.
Yet these four powerful members of the Heavenly Sky Sect not only showed no concern—they all wore matching smirks of schadenfreude. Mina simply could not understand it.
Elder Du smiled gently. "Mina, settle down."
"Elder Du, but they—" Mina stamped her foot.