Two updates today — it's the end of the month, so I'm calling for monthly votes!!
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Deep within the valley, Yang Kai stared at the golden dragon head that had suddenly materialized, his emotions churning.
The tingling sensation on his back had intensified to its peak. Accompanied by a resonant dragon roar, the golden dragon pattern branded on his back shot outward, hurtling straight toward the dragon head in the sky.
In an instant, golden light blazed so brilliantly it was almost blinding.
Once everything settled, Yang Kai found himself standing in a world bathed in shimmering gold. Vast currents of energy swirled around him, and a golden dragon — only a few zhang long — was ceaselessly devouring that energy.
Yang Kai extended his senses slightly and immediately felt relieved.
This small golden dragon carried his own aura. It had to be the pattern that had always been branded on his back. For reasons he couldn't fathom, it had now manifested physically. And as it consumed the golden energy, its form was undergoing subtle changes — growing larger by the moment, its aura deeper and more profound.
A heavy thud sounded behind him. Yang Kai turned and saw a pale-faced boy of about fourteen or fifteen who had collapsed to the ground, staring at him in sheer terror.
Yang Kai frowned.
He'd been so consumed by the upheaval here that he hadn't even noticed when this boy was pulled in.
The kid was only at the seventh layer of the Zhenyuan Realm — with that level of cultivation, he was practically an ant in front of Yang Kai.
Yang Kai released his divine sense and slowly shook his head. Something strange had happened to this place — his divine sense was trapped within the ocean of golden energy and couldn't probe the surroundings at all. And as far as he could see, there was nothing. At this moment, in this place, it was just him and the boy.
With a faint smile, Yang Kai stepped toward him.
He had plenty of theories. Might as well ask this boy to confirm a few.
As Yang Kai approached, the boy's terror reached its breaking point. Before Yang Kai even got close, the kid's eyes rolled back and he passed out cold.
"Surely not?" Yang Kai said, taken aback. He knew he wasn't exactly handsome, but he wasn't exactly the type to scare people half to death either. This kid's nerves were something else.
With no other option, Yang Kai sat cross-legged and waited quietly, all the while examining his surroundings.
The entire area was blanketed by the golden ocean of energy. The golden dragon manifestation from the pattern on his back was still busily devouring it. Yang Kai tried to break through the energy barrier but found himself powerless.
The golden energy encasement was as solid as a fortress. Yang Kai doubted he could punch a hole through it even after entering a Demonic Frenzy.
Tearing through space might work, but the golden dragon pattern was still here, and Yang Kai couldn't recall it. All he could do was accept the situation and make the best of it.
After all, the people outside probably couldn't get in either.
He'd also examined the boy's condition and been surprised to discover that the cultivation method the kid practiced was yang-attributed — the same as his own. The zhen yuan flowing through the boy's body wasn't particularly dense, but it was decent enough. At least at his cultivation level, it wasn't bad.
A full half-day passed before the boy finally came to.
His eyelids fluttered open. For a moment, he seemed confused about what was happening. Then he saw Yang Kai sitting cross-legged before him with an easy smile, and his face drained of color. He scrambled backward, watching Yang Kai with sharp wariness.
Those eyes were full of apprehension.
Yang Kai chuckled softly. "Relax. I just have a few questions for you."
The boy remained on guard, adopting the posture of a rabbit squaring up against a hawk. His zhen yuan surged within his body.
A glint of approval flickered across Yang Kai's face.
In a sense, this boy reminded him of who he'd used to be — someone who, when facing a vastly stronger opponent, instinctively refused to back down.
"If I wanted to kill you, it'd take nothing more than a flick of my hand. You couldn't stop me even if you tried!" Yang Kai flashed a grin, revealing a row of sharp white teeth.
The boy seemed to realize this was no exaggeration. He heaved a heavy sigh, his posture deflating into one of resignation. He slapped the dust off himself, stood up, and said with a wave of nonchalance, "Senior, feel free to ask whatever you like."
"Senior?" Yang Kai blinked. It was the first time anyone had addressed him that way. He gave a slight nod, thinking that it was fine — he was far stronger than this kid and nearly a decade older, so it wasn't exactly unfair.
"What faction are you from?" Yang Kai asked after a moment's thought.
The boy's gaze flickered. After a brief hesitation, he answered, "Dragon Phoenix Manor… doesn't Senior know?"
"Dragon Phoenix Manor… So it is," Yang Kai murmured, drawing a quiet breath. When he'd noticed something unusual about the golden dragon pattern on his back, he'd already suspected as much. Now the boy's words had simply confirmed it.
Dragon Phoenix Manor. Back when he'd been at the Ice Sect, Ice Lord Qing Ya had told him about it.
Qing Ya had said that the inheritance he and Su Yan received might be connected to Dragon Phoenix Manor. Long ago, Dragon Phoenix Manor had been a mighty power, no weaker than their Ice Sect. But due to a catastrophic accident, their lineage was severed, and they gradually declined.
A centipede dies but never falls flat — though they'd fallen from grace, their legacy had never truly been extinguished.
Dragon Phoenix Manor wasn't the only faction to suffer such a fate. On the mainland, several others had experienced something similar.
At the time, Yang Kai had secretly resolved to visit Dragon Phoenix Manor someday when he had the chance. But after leaving the Ice Sect, he'd been swept into one troublesome situation after another.
Until today, when a coincidental spatial tear had brought him here.