If An Ling’er had asked him to stay when she had first discovered him, Yang Kai would have left without any hesitation.

But instead she had actually encouraged him to go!

Obviously, she had done this completely out of consideration for him. An Ling’er being willing to go so far for him made Yang Kai reluctant to just abandon her.

After all, it appeared as if Nine Heavens Holy Land had suffered some kind of calamity!

Seeing Yang Kai take the initiative to stay, An Ling’er was particularly happy, hurriedly explaining what had transpired after he had entered the Holy Tomb.

Only now did Yang Kai learn that it had been nine whole months since he entered the Holy Tomb.

For the first six of those months, nothing of note had happened.

However, on a certain day roughly three months ago, the barrier around the periphery of Nine Heavens Holy Land’s nine spirit peaks had suddenly ceased functioning, catching all the Elders and Protectors somewhat unprepared.

No matter how they investigated though, they couldn’t discover what had gone wrong much less repair and re-activate the various Spirit Arrays which formed the barrier.

Just as everyone was at a loss, Saintess Nan, who noticed the disappearance of the barrier, attacked the Holy Land.

Together, the various Elders and Protectors managed to successfully repel Saintess Nan but the Holy Land suffered terrible damage in the process, many disciples suffering injuries or falling in the battle.

Immediately after that incident, foreign enemies appeared.

“Foreign enemies?” Yang Kai asked curiously.

“En, my Holy Land has been a peak force for many years, but what force doesn’t have enemies? When the old Holy Masters was alive, we could still deter these foes, but after his pa.s.sing two years ago, and with no new Holy Master succeeding his position, these enemies saw an opportunity. My Holy Land’s nine peaks is an excellent territory for cultivating, causing many people to secretly covet it.”

“So these enemies of yours decided to hit you while you’re down?” Yang Kai snickered.

“En,” An Ling’er nodded in agreement, looking somewhat low-spirited, “But it’s not like we have no blame in this matter. When the old Holy Master was alive, we held a dominant position, so it’s only natural they have some grievances with us…”

“Hmph, if it was just some trivial small forces, my Holy Land still wouldn’t even put them in our eyes, but…” Yu Ying followed up, frowning deeply as she lamented, “But for the past while, Saintess Nan has stirred up a great deal of trouble outside, so a few forces that have grudges against us took the opportunity to gather a large number of masters to pressure my Holy Land. These masters were either harmed directly by Saintess Nan, or had their loved ones killed by her, causing them to resent my Holy Land.”

“Seems like when it rains, it pours!” Yang Kai frowned and understood why the atmosphere inside Nine Heavens Holy Land was so bleak.

However, Nine Heavens Holy Land’s barrier failing three months ago coincided with when he obtained the Holy Master Spirit Ring.

[Could it be related to that?] Yang Kai secretly pondered, not entirely sure.

“Half a month ago, those people came to complain, demanding we turn over the previous generation’s Saintess to them, but in the battle three months ago, Saintess Nan was injured and fled far away. How are we supposed to find her now? Great Elder tried to explain the situation, but it didn’t help at all. The few forces coveting our nine spirit peaks continued to inflame the situation eventually leading to a fight. Both sides suffered multiple dead and wounded in that battle, worsening the situation, so not it is almost impossible to resolve this matter peacefully, haa…”

“Which forces are stirring up trouble?” Yang Kai asked.

“The ringleaders are the three nearby forces, Shattering Mystical Palace, War Spirit Temple, and Netherworld Sect!” Yu Ying said with a look of disgust and anger appearing on her pretty face, “These three forces are the main culprits. If it was just one of them, even though my Holy Land’s strength has declined greatly, we wouldn’t even bother paying attention to them, but the three of them are now working together and have simultaneously drawn in a large number of outside masters. Now, my Holy Land is facing almost half the world’s forces!”

“Is the situation really that bad?” Yang Kai was also taken aback.

However, upon remember what Saintess Nan had been doing these past two years, it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility for things to have reached such a point.

Wherever Saintess Nan went, death and destruction would follow, causing a huge problem for Nine Heavens Holy Land. As a Second Order Saint, Saintess Nan’s base strength was incredible; add to that her mastery of the Nine Heavens Divine Skills, only a Third Order Saint Realm master would be able to subdue her. In this world, there weren’t many such masters!

Yang Kai wasn’t even sure if Soaring Heaven Sect’s Chu Ling Xiao had reached such a level.

“It’s even worse than you think!” Yu Ying’s expression became cold, “These three forces aren’t just coveting the Holy Land’s resources and land, what they’re most interested in is Ling’er!”

Saying so, she unconsciously glanced over at An Ling’er.

Yang Kai’s thoughts turned quickly and suddenly understood, “They want to force you to join one of their Sects’ disciples together with her in order to obtain the inheritance of your Holy Master, right?”

Once they acquired the Holy Master’s inheritance, they could reach the sky in a single leap, it was a huge benefit that even if they struggled for a few hundred years they couldn’t obtain.

“Exactly!” Yu Ying nodded sternly, “When they drew back half a month ago, they gave us an ultimatum, hand over Saintess Nan one month later, or they would flatten our nine peaks! But later that day, the Great Elder received a secret letter saying that if the previous generation’s Saintess couldn’t be delivered, the current Saintess would be acceptable as a subst.i.tute!”

“They’ve thought this out quite well…” Yang Kai was genuine impressed with these force’s scheme. After pausing for a moment to absorb all he had just heard, he then asked, “So, are you planning to just sit here and wait for death?”

Yu Ying’s mood became depressed as she replied, “What else can we do? Although this world is vast, we have nowhere else to go. And there’s still half a month left until the deadline, Great Elder is even now trying to convince the forces who were roped to take a step back and negotiate. If only the three local forces remain, they won’t be able to cause any waves, and once my Holy Land recovers, we can slowly deal with them.”

“Your old Holy Master has really harmed you,” Yang Kai slowly shook his head. “Why didn’t he treat those three forces better before he died, at least to the point where they won’t come to cause trouble for you?”

“Hey! Which side are you on?” Yu Ying glanced over at Yang Kai somewhat disgruntled.

“I’m just telling the truth,” Yang Kai shrugged his shoulders.

“When the old Holy Master was alive, although he did treat them somewhat overbearingly and demanded they pay a certain amount of tribute each year in the form of cultivation materials, it was because of the Nine Heavens Holy Land’s shelter that their three forces could remain safe and sound,” An Ling’ Er explained, “Now they choose to repay that kindness with enmity, they’re nothing more than ungrateful wolves.”

“What do you mean? How did your old Holy Master shelter them?” Yang Kai was puzzled.

“I didn’t tell you? Our Holy Land is at the edge of the Human Territory, just over that mountain range is the Beast Sea Jungle which is the territory of the Monster Race. If it weren’t for the old Holy Master’s presence here, the Monster Race’s Great Senior over there would have already brought his forces to occupy this land.”

“Monster Race?” Yang Kai raised his brow and asked, “You mean to say that over there is the Monster Domain?”

“Yes!”

“Then why haven’t they taken action as well?”

Since the old Holy Master had fallen, the Monster Race making a move should have been given. The Three Clans all had irreconcilable enmity between them to the point where fights broke out simply by meeting one another. The Monster Race not taking advantage of such a superb opportunity didn’t make sense. Given this, Yang Kai keenly realized that there should be something more to this story than meets the eye.

An Ling’er glanced over at Yu Ying, seemingly seeking her opinion. Yu Ying’s pretty face wore a complex expression as she contemplated for a while before finally nodding lightly.

Only then did An Ling’er continue, quietly explaining, “The old Holy Master and that side’s Monster Race Great Senior seem to have some friends.h.i.+p… them not moving is probably for this reason.”

“Oh?” Yang Kai showed an interested look, sneering as he ridiculed, “Then it seems the Monster Race is actually more humane… That Monster Race Great Senior’s strength must not be weak, right?”

“We’ve never met him, but it’s more than likely that’s the case,” Yu Ying nodded.

“And that’s the current situation,” An Ling’er said, looking straight at Yang Kai, seemingly waiting for him to state his opinion. Yu Ying also looking at him anxiously, as if she was worried he would immediately leave after learning how dire things were.

If that were to really happen, Yu Ying would probably break down and cry.

Yang Kai being able to safely return from the Holy Tomb meant he must have pa.s.sed its test. That meant that as of right now, he was essentially the Holy Land’s Holy Master. With him a.s.suming command, it would be possible to stabilize the mood of the Holy Land’s disciples and it would become more convenient to handle various large and small affairs.

Two beautiful women, one young, one old, staring at him so fixedly made Yang Kai feel a certain helplessness, eventually forcing him to ask, “Where are Xu Hui and the others?”

Hearing him ask this, both An Ling’er and Yu Ying smiled joyfully, Yu Ying quickly replying, “I’ll take you to them!”

Saying so, she immediately turned around and led the way.

Yang Kai and An Ling’er followed close behind.

“Does… does this mean you’re willing to become the new Holy Master?” An Ling’er suddenly whispered.

“I didn’t say that, so don’t misunderstand. Right now… I can make some effort, as for if it will make any difference, I can’t guarantee. I can only say that I’ll do my best. If your Holy Land is still destroyed by this catastrophe, at least you won’t be able to complain about me not trying.”

“En, en,” An Ling’er smiled brightly, “I knew you were a good person, we really are friends, right?”

“En,” Yang Kai grinned, a mischievous glint flas.h.i.+ng across his eyes, “So you’d best not fall in love with me. If you do, I’ll leave, and we won’t be friends anymore.”

“Hmph, don’t be so arrogant!” An Ling’er blushed bright red, hitting Yang Kai a few times, grinding her teeth as she muttered, “You really think that all the women in the world will be attracted to you? Although you’re not bad, you’re not my type at all.”

“Oh? What kind of man is your type then?” Yang Kai asked curiously.

“Someone older than me, tall and handsome, kind and caring…” An Ling’er suddenly fell into a fantasy, quickly firing off a long list traits her dream man should have.

“Your vision is really lacking!” Yang Kai kept shaking his head, wearing an expression seemingly bloated with arrogance, causing An Ling’er to giggling.

As they flew forward, Yang Kai saw numerous broken buildings and traces of blood left behind from battle.

The busy Holy Land disciples who saw Yu Ying and An Ling’er all stopped and saluted respectfully, but when they noticed Yang Kai who was walking together with An Ling’er, they all, without exception, showed looks of shock, none of them able to believe their own eyes.

Up ahead, Xu Hui was busy directing people. Yu Ying shouted out to him, causing him to turn his head to answer her, but before he could utter a single word, his eyes suddenly bulged. It was like he had seen a ghost, causing his jaw to drop, rendering him speechless for quite some time.