Chapter 2924, Refuse a Toast Drink a Loss
Translator: Silavin & Raikov
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
It was a bright day. Under the cloudless azure dome of a sky, a streak of light was flying forward. Naturally, it was the light from a flight type artifact. Only, the speed was so fast that it was simply impossible for the ordinary populous to notice.
This artifact was Yang Kai’s Flowing Clouds Shuttle, a flight type Emperor Artifact refined by Hou Yu that performed excellently. Even though its interior was small, fitting four people was no problem.
Yang Kai released the control restrictions so the group of four could take turns controlling it and travelling at full speed towards the fading mark Yang Kai set to track Gong Yue.
Gong Yue was much more difficult to deal with than he had anticipated. The four Emperors had left the Ancient Cave Mansion a month ago, but they still hadn’t caught a single glimpse of him. Worse, Yang Kai’s ability to sense the mark was growing weaker and weaker as time went on. If this continued to drag, then they might really lose Gong Yue’s trail.
This made Yang Kai very anxious. At one point, he suddenly opened his eyes.
Gao Xue Ting, who was controlling the Flowing Clouds Shuttle, seemed to have noticed and turned to him, “It cut off again?”
Yang Kai gently nodded, revealing a helpless expression. For the first half of the month, his connection with the mark, while weak, was at least constant. But during the latter half, the connection would somehow be interrupted from time to time, making him lose track of Gong Yue’s direction.
Even though Gong Yue’s consciousness had been in a chaotic state and he did not detect what Yang Kai did at the time, Yang Kai didn’t dare to be too careless. So, the mark he left on him was not too strong. There was no way for him to sense it if it was too far away; however, thanks to his comprehension of Space Principles, he had managed to persist until now.
“Do you think Gong Yue noticed anything? In the end, he’s still a Second-Order Emperor.” Gao Xue Ting asked with a frown.
Yang Kai responded, “Whether he noticed or not, we should all be thankful he didn’t take advantage of the situation to cause trouble.”
Even though Gong Yue had escaped for two months, he hadn’t done anything to harm anyone else yet. He just kept on going in circles, seemingly looking for something, or perhaps hiding from someone.
No one knew whether Gong Yue was acting on instinct, if he had managed to restore his consciousness, or if his mind was completely taken over by the Demon Spirit.
Nobody knew his current condition, and they would only be able to tell when they saw him face-to-face.
Feng Ming coldly snorted, “Since he has already gone through demonification, though this world is big, there’s nowhere for him to hide. We’ll find him eventually.”
Chen Wen Hao suddenly said, “Do you two still remember the incident in Maplewood City?”
Upon hearing this, both Gao Xue Ting and Feng Ming nodded, “Naturally.”
Chen Wen Hao sighed, “After that incident, this Chen went back to the Holy Land specifically to check through many ancient books, and it turns out that these situations were extremely rare in ancient history. However, they seem to be happening more and more frequently in recent years.”
“So?” Feng Ming wondered why he suddenly brought this up.
“It seems the Demons are stirring,” Chen Wen Hao said in a solemn voice. “Similar situations have happened in the past, and despite there only being vague records, every time they did, it was always a bad sign.”
The other three were slightly stunned by his words.
Feng Ming chuckled, “Even if that’s true, it’s not up to us to worry about it. If the sky falls, those above us will be there to hold it up.”
Gao Xue Ting and Chen Wen Hao had no opinion about his carefree attitude.
Feng Ming changed the topic as he stroked his chin, “By the way, this Old Master is quite curious. What will Gong Yue look like after demonification? Will it be similar to those guys the three of us encountered outside of Maplewood City back then?”
“Back then? There were many suspicious things about what happened back then.” Chen Wen Hao frowned.
Gao Xue Ting nodded in agreement. Back then, the three of them entered into a great battle with a Demon Lord, and as a result, they were inexplicably dragged into a pitch-black environment. By the time they restored their sight, their enemy had disappeared without a trace. They were unharmed, but it was as if the Demon let them off intentionally.
None of them could say for certain what really happened during that time, so the three of them returned to their Sects after carefully examining themselves to make sure they had no issues. Even so, after all these years, memories of that event were still fresh in their minds.
Hearing them mention what happened during that time, Yang Kai silently shut his eyes and tried to track down Gong Yue’s traces while controlling the Flowing Clouds Shuttle.
After another day, Yang Kai suddenly opened his eyes and shouted, “I found him!”
“Where?” Gao Xue Ting and the others opened their eyes at the same time and asked.
Yang Kai pointed in a certain direction, “Three thousand kilometres that way.”
Feng Ming’s eyes lit up at his words, “That close? Let’s see where he can run now!”
For ordinary mortals, three thousand kilometres may be too far to walk even over the course of a lifetime. However, for an Emperor Realm Master, three thousand kilometres was just barely out of arm’s reach.
The group had been tracking Gong Yue for a month, and they had never been this close to him, so when they heard this news, they were all excited.
In just a short while, the Flowing Clouds Shuttle arrived at that place.
The Flowing Clouds Shuttle stopped, and four figures were revealed in the air. They did not try to hide their auras, so the Emperor Pressure that was as vast as the sea filled the void, causing even the ground below to shake.
This was a small mountain peak that was only a thousand metres high. A pavilion stood at the top of it, and even though the scenery was not bad here, the World Energy was not very rich.
Yang Kai swept a glance around and understood that the Earth Vein here wasn’t good, making it impossible for Sects and families with any kind of heritage to pay attention to it. Only those who had no background and cultivated alone would choose to stay here.
But looking at the situation on that peak, it seemed there was actually a small Sect here.
There were about fifty to sixty people gathered there, but the strongest among them only gave off the aura of the Origin King Realm. A small Sect such as this was nothing to look at in the Southern Territory.
This place was very remote, so rarely would any Masters come here.
The strongest cultivator in this small Sect’s disciples was a Third-Order Origin King, so for Yang Kai’s group of four to suddenly appear here was extremely shocking to them.
Today, four Emperor Realm Masters suddenly descended upon their Sect, and each of them was from a top Sect of the Southern Territory. As if the Heavens and Earth had flipped, there was a surge of shock in everyone’s hearts.
They did not have the ability to recognize that these four Masters were all in the legendary Emperor Realm, but the almost suffocating pressure made it clear to them that these four people had the ability to kill them at will.
On that mountain peak, the fifty to sixty cultivators in the houses and forest trails were pale-faced and shivering as they looked up in awe.
They were just like a group of ants with an elephant standing before them, and the elephant had raised its foot. They could only pray that this foot would not step down on them as there was nothing they could do to resist.
Yang Kai and his group took in the situation of these cultivators, and they began to spread out as soon as they showed up, each taking a different direction to block off the mountain.
Feng Ming then said aloud, “This King is Orthodoxy Temple’s Elder Feng Ming. Fellow cultivators, this King has joined hands with his fellow Daoists to chase down an evildoer, and we hold no malice towards your Sect. If you cooperate and do not move about at will, we will make sure your lives are unharmed. Disobey us at your own risk!”
With his status, it was kind enough for him to warn this group of cultivators who had not even reached the Dao Source Realm. So, he did not say anything more after finishing that announcement.
Naturally, the cultivators didn’t dare to move an inch after hearing his words. In fact, they had already stopped moving before Feng Ming said anything. In front of the suffocating Emperor Pressure, it felt like their movements were being restricted by an invisible force, making their bodies feel stiff, and even their thoughts had stopped. The only thing left inside of them was panic and horror.
The four Emperor Realm Masters glanced at each other before each summoning their Emperor Artifacts.
Chen Wen Hao cultivated the Sword Dao and his skill in it was nearly at the point of perfection. With his sword in one hand, the aura he gave off was awe-inspiring. Light flashed brilliantly through his Flowing Water Sword, which had been with Chen Wen Hao for over a thousand years. Man and sword merged as one.
Gao Xue Ting summoned her own Emperor Artifact, the Radiant Sun Mirror. The mirror appeared simple and unadorned, hardly worth noticing, but it was actually the Emperor Artifact she spent her life refining.
Feng Ming held his Flying Thunder Spear in hand. His seemingly old body suddenly looked much taller, and his body gave off a brave and heroic aura that seemed even more imposing than those at the height of their youth.
Yang Kai was holding his Myriads Sword, but compared to Chen Wen Hao’s Flowing Water Sword, the broad longsword was simply not up to par.
However, Chen Wen Hao still took a glance at the Myriads Sword. As another Emperor who cultivated the Sword Dao, Chen Wen Hao could intuitively sense the might of the Myriads Sword.
After the four Emperors got into position, Feng Ming shouted towards the tallest building on the peak below, “Gong Yue, show yourself! There’s nowhere for you to run!”
After arriving here, he had already detected a clear energy fluctuation even without Yang Kai’s reminder, which was closely linked with Yang Kai’s aura. It was clearly the mark that Yang Kai previously placed on Gong Yue.
If the mark was here, then Gong Yue should naturally be here as well.
He shouted loudly, but received no answer.
Feng Ming brandished his spear and sneered, “Since you refuse a toast, you must drink a loss. We originally planned to leave your corpse whole, but since you insist on being stubborn, don’t blame this Old Master for not showing mercy!”
At the end of his sentence, a cold glint flashed and Feng Ming’s spear shot out like a soaring dragon.
There wasn’t too much splendour to this move, Feng Ming’s strike was as simple as it could be. The disciples of this small Sect were unable to grasp much of its mysteries, but the other three Emperor Realm Masters could appreciate Feng Ming’s amazing skill.
He gathered all of his power into one point without the slightest leak.
The spear thrust seemed to leap over space and the mountain peak shook violently as if it was about to collapse while the building atop it began to vaporize.
“Hm?” At that moment, Feng Ming frowned as if he had discovered something.
Yang Kai quickly shouted, “Elder Feng, don’t kill that man!”
Feng Ming’s hand shook, and the power he shot out instantly dispersed by as much as eighty percent. The remaining twenty percent of the power was also directed in elsewhere.
With a rumble, the building fully collapsed, revealing the figure of a stiff elderly man who was shaking like a leaf in a storm. The elderly man had a miserable appearance, his face as pale as a sheet of paper and he stood alone in the ruin, covered in dust.