Yang Kai hated being led around by others, his fate could only be forged with his own hands.

It was for this reason that he had always been extremely opposed to the idea of inheriting the position of Holy Master of Nine Heavens Holy Land, because this was not something he sought on his own. No matter how friendly the people of the Holy Land were to him, his intentions were simply incompatible.

However, when Yang Kai learned that Xia Ning Chang and Meng Wu Ya came here and arranged something around the Reflecting Moon Pond, Yang Kai’s resistance to Nine Heavens Holy Land noticeably decreased.

By preserving the foundation of Nine Heavens Holy Land, perhaps he could meet his Little Senior Sister again in the future!

He had already found Su Yan who was now staying in Ice Sect, concentrating on cultivation. As for Old Demon, Yang Kai wasn’t worried, that old Devil Lord was not someone good to provoke. It was only his Little Senior Sister that he would often worry about.

Now that he had found a concrete method to reunite with her, Yang Kai naturally didn’t want to see this hope dashed by some foreign enemies’ invasion.

Therefore he had taken the initiative to make this proposal to Xu Hui’s.

Soon, Xu Hui sent word and, just as Yang Kai had expected, after learning that there was a place that could safely house the Holy Land’s disciples, the various Elders and Protectors all expressed their willingness to temporarily evacuate in order to preserve their strength in antic.i.p.ation of retaliating one day.

However, regarding this place which could house six or seven thousand disciples, they were obviously curious and repeatedly inquired about. However, Yang Kai was unwilling to inform them and the issue was only resolved when An Ling’er stepped forward to mediate the situation, convincing the Elders to temporarily back off.

“Since you’ve decided to follow my suggestion, let’s move on to other matters. Tell me everything you know about that Monster Race Great Senior,” Inside a grand hall, Yang Kai looked across at the Elders and quickly said, “The more detailed the better.”

After coming to Tong Xuan Realm, Yang Kai had only ever met a single member of the Monster Race.

The Charm Monster!

That devilish woman could use her Spiritual Energy toxin to stimulate the basest desires buried inside a human’s heart. But aside from that, Yang Kai essentially knew nothing about the Monster Race. Now that he was planning to go see a Monster Race Great Senior, naturally he had to prepare himself.

“None of us have met that Monster Race Great Senior, but from what the old Holy Master told us, he is an Eighth-Order Monster Beast. What’s more, he is naturally capable of cultivating two different elemental attributes. His strength is quite impressive and he has a number of powerful inborn Divine Abilities.”

“An Eighth-Order Monster Beast…” Yang Kai frowned. In the past he had speculated that a Sixth-Order Monster Beast was equivalent to a human Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivator, while a Seventh-Order was equivalent to a Transcendent. So, an Eighth-Order was essentially a Saint.

In other words, the Monster Race Great Senior had strength on par with a Second Order Saint Realm master at least, most likely a Third Order!

“That Monster Race Great Senior also has a number of Eighth-Order Monster Beast subordinates who, while not as strong as him, are by no means weak. There are also a large number of Seventh-Order and Sixth-Order Monster Beasts who serve under him but those who have achieved human form only number around twenty.”

“Twenty or so, all of them at least equivalent to Transcendent, Seventh-Order and above…”

“They are naturally gifted in combat as well, so although they have not cultivated any Martial Skills, their strength in battle should not be underestimated.”

“They also don’t understand Spirit Arrays, so the World Energy where they live is not very rich and is completely determined by nature.”

Everyone began explaining what little information they knew to Yang Kai.

Yang Kai listened carefully to them, only asking curiously once they had finished, “The hatred between the two races is not shallow, so how did your old Holy Master manage to befriend that Monster Race Great Senior?”

Xu Hui chuckled and explained, “The Monster Race’s territory doesn’t have many Crystal Stone mines but it has an abundance of spirit gra.s.ses and spirit medicines. Once, the old Holy Master went out to search for a certain herb and coincidentally ran into that Monster Race Great Senior. The two of them fought for a while but neither of them could triumph over the other. After exchanging blows for a while, they apparently gained a kind of mutual respect for one another and negotiated a kind of trade deal. From then on, the old Holy Master would occasionally bring a large number of Crystal Stones with him to exchange for spirit gra.s.ses, spirit herbs, and some rare ores and materials from that side. They aren’t very proficient in Alchemy or Artifact Refining, so the artifacts and pills they use were basically supplied to them by the old Holy Masters.”

“So it’s like that…” Yang Kai nodded lightly, “Then, if that Monster Race Great Senior still respects that old friends.h.i.+p, I shouldn’t encounter any danger this time… En, that should be the case!”

“Why do you think so?” Xu Hui asked curiously.

“The old Holy Master fell almost two years ago. The Monster Race must have gotten word of such a big development a long time ago yet they haven’t taken any action. The only explanation is because the Monster Race Great Senior doesn’t plan on hitting Nine Heavens Holy Land while it’s down. If that weren’t the case, your Holy Land’s current situation would be far worse than it is now!”

Listening to Yang Kai’s explanation, everyone only thought about it slightly before nodding in agreement.

“I heard that the Monster Race has a magical ground called the Beast Transformation Pond, yes?” Yang Kai asked suddenly.

“En,” Xu Hui nodded, “The Beast Transformation Pond is the foundation of the Monster Race. I don’t know how it was created, but every place that has a Beast Transformation Pond has a large gathering of Monster Race powerhouses living nearby. On that side, whenever a Monster Beast breaks through to the Seventh-Order, it is eligible to enter the Beast Transformation Pond, and if it’s luck and opportunity is good enough, it can transform into human form. If not, those Monster Beasts can only forever remain in their beast form.”

“Something like that really exists?” Yang Kai suddenly became interested, unable to help himself from wanting to see one of these mysterious ponds.

Xu Hui however shook his head, “Not every Monster Beast that enters it can successfully obtain a human form, I’ve heard that many Monster Beasts fail in their attempt. But even if they manage to obtain a human form, many of the Monster Races chose to remain in their true form most of the time. As such, even though we only see around twenty of them at a time, it is quite likely that there are more members of the Monster Race, possibly even double that number.”

“Impressive!” Yang Kai praised liberally.

The entire Nine Heavens Holy Land only had about that many Transcendents, which meant that the strength of the Monster Race group just across the mountains was basically on par with the Holy Land even at its peak.

“Prepare some Crystal Stones first,” Yang Kai ordered, “Since I will be meeting the Monster Race Great Senior for the first time, as a Junior, it is only natural I bring some gifts, or else I probably won’t even be able to see him.”

“Good, I will arrange it,” Xu Hui responded and immediately went out.

An hour or so later, everything was prepared. Yang Kai took two Universe Bags filled with Crystal Stones and left the nine peaks in the direction of the jungle.

The Protectors and Elders of the Holy Land all watched him leave, complicated looks upon their faces.

“Great Elder, why does it feel like the att.i.tude of the new Holy Master has suddenly changed a lot?” s.h.i.+ Kun frowned.

“En, it’s as if he has become enthusiastic about protecting the Holy Land. He used to have an indifferent att.i.tude, but now…” Cheng Yue Tong also wrinkled her brow.

“I don’t know,” Xu Hui slowly shook his head, “But whatever the cause, it is a good thing. Him being concerned about the Holy Land today means he is more likely to succeed the position of Holy Master tomorrow.”

“Perhaps it’s related to the Reflecting Moon Pond,” An Ling’er muttered.

“Oh? Why do you say that?”

“Just a guess,” An Ling’er smiled, but couldn’t explain any further.

“Ling’er, can we really believe him? He said he knows of a place where so many Holy Land disciples can take shelter and has now suddenly left to meet with a Monster Race Great Senior, I can’t comprehend what he is thinking!” Yu Ying said worriedly.

“Weren’t we all prepared to fight to the death against the enemies outside our gates? If he succeeds, the situation may turn for the better, if not, we will simply have to act in accordance with our previous plans. Since that’s the case, what does it matter if we believe in him or not?”

“True,” Yu Ying smiled, feeling slightly relieved.

“But… if you’re asking me personally, I believe him,” An Ling’er’s face suddenly became solemn. “He is someone who can always survive through. Regardless of how hopeless the situation he is thrown into. Turning danger into safety, I think he can do so again this time.”

“If that’s the case, when all of this is over, whether he agrees or not, this old master will regard him as Holy Master!” Xu Hui firmly declared.

“It is exactly as Great Elder says,” The crowd nodded, their gazes filled with antic.i.p.ation.

…..

Yang Kai had only just left the nine peaks before he suddenly felt he was being watched.

Shattering Mystical Palace, War Spirit Temple, and Netherworld Sect had gathered a great many masters together and attacked Nine Heavens Holy Land half a month ago. Although they were forced to retreat, they had certainly not gone far and had obviously set up patrols nearby in order to monitor Nine Heavens Holy Land’s movements while they waited for the deadline they set to come.

Anyone who left the Holy Land’s territory would definitely be spotted by them.

However, Yang Kai wasn’t the slightest bit fl.u.s.tered. With his powerful Divine Sense, the cultivation levels of his pursuers were clear to him.

A single First Order Transcendent, and a dozen Immortal Ascension cultivators!

Such a team wasn’t even enough to fill the gaps between Yang Kai’s teeth.

After chasing him for an hour through the mountains, those people lost Yang Kai’s trail.

The Transcendent Realm leader’s expression became solemn as he came to a halt and signaled his Immortal Ascension Boundary subordinates to gather around and carefully probe their surroundings; however, no matter how they searched, none of them could perceive Yang Kai’s position.

“Senior, where did that little brat go?” From amongst the team, a young man with a square head asked.

The Transcendent Realm master slowly shook his head, his expression becoming even more dignified as he said, “This boy is somewhat strange, we should fall back.”

“He didn’t look very old so his strength shouldn’t be too high, right?” The young man sneered, thinking this Senior was being too cautious.

“What do you know? Do you think that all young people in this world are as useless as you? That boy might look younger than you, but since he can escape from my perception, it’s obvious his strength is not to be trifled with. Perhaps… he already noticed us and was simply trying to lead us into a trap up ahead.”

The youth who had been scolded and slandered seemed to be slightly dissatisfied, grumbling under his breath, “I don’t think he’s that strong.”

The Transcendent Realm master sneered and no longer spoke any nonsense, simply saying, “If you think you’re stronger than him, go chase him yourself, I’d like to see if you can come back alive.”

Saying so, he turned around to leave.

This team was made up of cultivators from a number of forces. Because the region around Nine Heavens Holy Land they needed to monitor was vast, a large number of people were required so the groupings had become somewhat messy. After the youth was reprimanded by someone from a different Sect, he was naturally unhappy, but although his words were somewhat impertinent, since this Senior planned to leave, naturally he wouldn’t stay behind by himself. And so, with a sullen expression, the youth also followed behind the crowd silently.

The moment the youth turned around though, he saw the First Order Transcendent who was leading their team suddenly come to a stop again. Glancing at this Senior’s face, the youth noticed the former had a terrified expression and was s.h.i.+vering in fright.

“What happened?” The young man who had been reprimanded before couldn’t help muttering, glancing towards where his Transcendent team leader was staring. What he saw there caused him to become dumbstruck.