Chapter 2009, Doesn’t Feel Right

After listening to Zhang Gao Xuan’s words, Yang Kai nodded and replied, “This request is reasonable, so I can agree, but… Are you not afraid I won’t keep my promise?”

Zhang Gao Xuan smiled bitterly, “What use would fear have now? I will die soon, and there is no one here I can trust, so either that Dao Source Fruit remains as a prize to be sought for future generations that enter this Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda and my Zhang Family has no chance to obtain any benefits, or I can take a chance. Unfortunately, I do not have a Soul Contract with me, otherwise, I would not need to worry so much.”

“Then do you want me to swear an oath?” Yang Kai grinned.

Zhang Gao Xuan glanced at him and said lightly, “Forget it, swearing an oath… hah, what use is that? What’s more, I can see that this friend’s temperament is fairly good, so I’d like to request that friend remains a guest in my Zhang Family for ten years after this place closes!”

“Ten years?” Yang Kai frowned deeply, “Friend, your offer is a bit excessive, is it not?”

“Is ten years too much?” Zhang Gao Xuan looked at Yang Kai with a surprised look, “You must know, what I am offering you is a Dao Source Fruit. To an ordinary cultivator… even if they spend their entire life and fortune, they would never obtain such a treasure. With it, friend’s chances of breaking through to the Dao Source Realm will increase by at least forty percent. As long as friend’s aptitude is not too bad, breaking through is almost guaranteed.”

Yang Kai said lightly, “I don’t need a Dao Source Fruit in order to break through, so it doesn’t have much attraction to me.”

“Friend’s tone is quite bold!” Zhang Gao Xuan was a little shocked, but as he looked up and down Yang Kai, trying to see if he was idly boasting, all he saw was calm and steady confidence.

After a long while, he sighed and said, “It seems friend’s aptitude is extraordinary, even a Dao Source Fruit cannot move your heart. In that case, forget ten years, three years will be enough.”

However, Yang Kay still shook his head.

Zhang Gao Xuan’s expression darkened as he said with some dissatisfaction, “Then what do you want? It is only three short years. For a Third-Order Origin King like you and I, this is but a brief moment. This condition is already quite generous.”

Yang Kai chuckled and said, “It is not a question of ten years or three years, I simply do not want to be fettered, even if it is only a single year, because I do not know how long I will remain in Maplewood City. If, for some reason, I need to leave Maplewood City, fail to comply with this request, and it creates a heart demon, what would I do? I won’t make such a causal agreement.”

“Well.. this is…” Zhang Gao Xuan was startled but soon smiled lightly. “It seems that this Zhang’s decision was correct. Friend should be a man who keeps his word.”

Yang Kai bargaining back and forth with him now was evidence he really planned on abiding by their agreement. If that weren’t the case, why would he even bother arguing? Yang Kai could simply agree then ignore his promise after.

Hearing Yang Kai mention the formation of a heart demon gave Zhang Gao Xuan much more confidence in him.

If Yang Kai was not a man who valued his word, it would be impossible to form a heart demon because he broke an agreement.

“Alright, I can promise you that I will assist your Zhang Family while I remain in Maplewood City, assuming it is within my power. If your Zhang Family asks for something impossible, I will not agree, and… they will only be able to request my assistance three times,” Yang Kai thought about it and proposed.

“Three times…” Zhang Gao Xuan mulled over the idea for a long time before raising his head and nodding, “Good, three times it is. However, in addition, I will need you to bring a message to my Zhang Family. “

“That’s fine.” Yang Kai nodded.

After the two reached an agreement, Yang Kai stood waiting quietly while Zhang Gao Xuan took out a jade slip and poured his Divine Sense into it, obviously recording some last words.

Soon, everything was in order. Zhang Gao Xuan handed the jade slip to Yang Kai and watched him take it away solemnly before letting out a long breath and saying, “I will entrust everything to this friend.”

“The location of the Dao Source Fruit…” Yang Kai asked.

Zhang Gao Xuan smiled slightly and stretched out his hand, “Do you see the hill on the opposite side? The Dao Source Fruit is over there, the exact location…”

At this point, Zhang Gao Xuan’s voice went silent while his lips continued moving, using his Divine Sense to convey the final instructions.

Yang Kai quickly understood.

“Friend, take this Zhang’s Space Ring back to the Zhang Family, I have no need of it anymore,” Zhang Gao Xuan slowly withdrew the Space Ring from his hand and threw it to Yang Kai.

…..

After an hour, Yang Kai came to the opposite mountain and according to the hints given by Zhang Gao Xuan, he found the place where the Dao Source Fruit was hidden.

“He was quite careful about this,” Yang Kai muttered to himself.

The Zhang Family Patriarch had not only hidden the Dao Source Fruit elsewhere but also put up a simple Spirit Array where the fruit was stored. This barrier needed a drop of his Blood Essence to open safely, and it would destroy the Dao Source Fruit inside if it was forcefully broken.

In other words, if someone had really acted against Zhang Gao Xuan and forced him to spit out the whereabouts of the Dao Source Fruit, without him actively cooperating to take out a drop of Blood Essence, it would be impossible to obtain it.

However, Zhang Gao Xuan was seriously injured already, so after taking out a drop of Blood Essence, his situation only became worse.

Yang Kai estimated that he would be lucky to live another day, while he would most likely pass on in less than half a day.

Yang Kai poured the drop of Blood Essence into the barrier and followed the method Zhang Gao Xuan had provided him with to open it.

A short time later, the barrier broke and a beautiful wooden box appeared.

Yang Kai stretched out his hand and lifted the wooden box before he slowly opened it. Before his eyes, a fist-sized golden fruit appeared, a fragrant aroma wasting from it that seemed to contain a kind of magic power that allowed Yang Kai to more clearly sense the World Principles around him.

Dao Source Fruits were the primary ingredient for refining Dao Source Pills which could promote the chance a cultivator had of breaking through to the Dao Source Realm, so it was not surprising that it had such an effect.

However, Yang Kai found that this Dao Source Fruit was a bit dry and seemed to have been picked some time ago. On top of that, the medicinal efficacies had clearly been somewhat depleted.

“Heavenly Martial Holy Land…” Yang Kai slowly shook his head, cursing this great force that ranked in the top echelon of the Southern Territory’s hierarchy.

Previously, the cultivators of Maplewood City heard that Heavenly Martial Holy Land had contributed three Dao Source Fruits to the opening of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, which had set off a wave of praise and jubilation, but now that he had actually obtained one, Yang Kai discovered that this Dao Source Fruit was actually a spoiled good from Heavenly Martial Holy Land’s stores.

However, thinking about it logically, if it had been high quality, freshly harvested Dao Source Fruit, Heavenly Martial Holy Land would not have been willing to take it out.

Even if it was a spoiled product though, it was still a genuine Dao Source Fruit and there was absolutely no problem using it to refine Dao Source Pills. The only issue would be that the number of pills produced would be slightly lessened.

After carefully storing the Dao Source Fruit, Yang Kai leapt up and flew off.

Two days later, Yang Kai arrived at a barren valley under the guidance of the Heaven Escaping Bat.

After arriving here, the little beast seemed to be extremely happy and with a flicker it dove into the ground and shot off, only sometime later re-appearing near a slight embankment.

Yang Kai frowned and released Divine Sense to perceive the area carefully, but before he could see any clues, Mo Xiao Qi’s voice reached his ear, “Big Brother Yang!”

Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and followed the voice to determine the location of Mo Xiao Qi, but even then, he still could not see her at all. She seemed to have used some kind of powerful Secret Technique to completely hide her whereabouts.

When he was in Clear Jade Mountain, Yang Kai discovered that Mo Xiao Qi had cultivated an extraordinary concealment Secret Technique, but now it seemed he had still underestimated her methods.

The question was, why was she acting so stealthily?

Shaking his head, Yang Kai displayed his Nihility Secret Technique, concealed his aura, and walked forward cautiously.

After a while, Yang Kai arrived at the embankment and after looking around carefully, he finally found what he was looking for and couldn’t help smiling, “Xiao Qi, why are you hiding here?”

“Shhh…” Mo Xiao Qi put a finger to her lips and motioned Yang Kai to look in a certain direction.

Yang Kai felt suspicious as he squatted down quietly and followed the direction of Mo Xiao Qi’s finger.

At a glance, Yang Kai felt quite surprised.

Because in a spot about ten kilometres away was a large group of cultivators gathered around. A rough count put this group’s number at a few dozen with all of them sitting down cross-legged in groups of three to five, using their own methods to pour their strength towards a central point.

“What are they doing?” Yang Kai asked in a low voice.

“I don’t know. It seems that they have found some kind of barrier and are trying to break it open together,” Mo Xiao Qi replied softly.

“Oh?” Yang Kai suddenly became interested, “If there is a barrier, doesn’t that mean there are treasures? Why didn’t you join in the fun?”

Mo Xiao Qi frowned and shook her head lightly, “Something doesn’t feel right. Behind that barrier, there might not be treasure.”

“If it’s not treasure, then what is it?” Yang Kai was surprised.

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m just watching for now,” Mo Xiao Qi answered naturally.

Yang Kai was speechless, but he was also curious about what this barrier that required so many Origin Kings working together to crack was hiding.

Generally speaking, the greater the power of a barrier, the more extraordinary the thing hidden inside was. Since this barrier required several dozen Origin Kings to crack it, the treasure inside must at least be Dao Source Grade, possibly even Emperor Grade.

No wonder so many people were willing to work together.

“How do you know something is wrong?” Yang Kai thought for a while and asked.

With just ten kilometres separating them, and with so many cultivators gathered together, Yang Kai didn’t dare to release his Divine Sense to investigate lest his whereabouts be exposed.

“I can’t say for certain, but the closer I got to the other side, the more unsettled I felt, as if there is something dangerous over there,” Mo Xiao Qi replied seriously.

“Are you certain?” Yang Kai’s expression changed.

Generally speaking, cultivators had innately sharp senses. This kind of sense was unclear and difficult to describe, but once it appeared, it was not something that could simply be written off or ignored.

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Mo Xiao Qi came from an extraordinary background and had both profound knowledge and ability, so since she felt a sense of foreboding, it was very likely this barrier was actually a seal that was suppressing something dangerous.

“I still feel a sense of crisis even now,” Mo Xiao Qi patted her chest with his small hands, “What’s more, Xiao Fu feels the same way.”