MARTIAL ADVERSITY, VOLUME 7 - Season 8 Episode 57

Looking at An Ling’er’s half angry, half ashamed expression, Yang Kai couldn’t help laughing wickedly, “Your Majesty the Saintess, how do you feel?”

As he spoke, he deliberately breathed right next to her delicate earlobe, causing An Ling’er already blushing face to dye even redder and her heart to pound, something Yang Kai could feel due to their ‘close’ contact.

The Nine Heavens Holy Land Saintess had grown up since birth in the Holy Land and spent almost all of her time cultivating and being instilled with a certain mentality.

That was that she was born to serve the Holy Master and everything she possessed and obtained was for the Holy Master’s sake.

In Nine Heavens Holy Land, the Saintesses were symbols of nobility and holiness, so they were never allowed close contact with any man.

Now, wrapped around this essentially unknown man’s body, An Ling’er’s thoughts were in a state of confusion, the only thing she was certain of was that she deeply regretted provoking such a hateful bastard.

What was worse though was that this wicked person had not only passed her test but was even able to instantly comprehend three of the Nine Heavens Divine Skills.

[The Heavens must really be blind!] An Ling’er bit her lip hard in an effort to stop herself from shouting something unladylike.

Seeing her truly aggrieved appearance, Yang Kai no longer bothered teasing her and simply maintained the status quo as he swam upwards.

A while later, the two youths burst out of the sea and returned to the surface.

An Ling’er, quickly separated herself from Yang Kai like a frightened rabbit, gasping for a breath while glaring at him with a look of resentment.

“I’ll say this to you now, everything you saw down there, you must not mention in front of anyone from Nine Heavens Holy Land, or else I won’t hesitate to permanently silence you. In exchange, I assure you that I will never do anything to harm your Nine Heavens Holy Land, nor will I tell another soul about your Sect’s secrets! Good, from now on, it would be best if we never meet again, both for our sakes,” Yang Kai said seriously.

“I understand, you don’t need to mention that again,” An Ling’er nodded lightly.

“Very good, I hope you find your new Holy Master soon!” Yang Kai smiled before quickly departing.

Staring at his disappearing back, An Ling’er’s expression became complicated.

She had never thought that someone would refuse such a good deed which was practically handed to him on a platter; she always thought that when she found someone qualified to become the next Holy Master, that person would be in utter joy. He would not be able to contain himself, and ask when he will be able to arrive back to the Holy Land with her. A place filled with wealth and riches. However, Yang Kai’s reaction and attitude had completely shattered her previous preconceptions.

When he left, he didn’t show the slightest regret; it was obvious he was completely unwilling to become the Holy Master.

“Oh no!” An Ling’er suddenly cried out, only now remembering that she had been missing for so long. Uncle Qian and the others were probably losing their minds with worry by now.

Above the archipelago, a think sense of tension filled the air.

The people from the Seven Family Alliance and the disciples of Nine Heavens Holy Land had almost turned the nearby islands inside out over the past one and a half months.

But to this day, the whereabouts of the Saintess were still unknown.

Facing the ever increasing anger of Nine Heavens Holy Land, each member of the Seven Family Alliance trembled in fear.

The masters of the Seven Families were currently all gathered together in a giant palace originally reserved for the Nine Heavens Holy Land delegation, each of them leaking cold sweat from the their brows.

Qian Ning’s face was gloomy to the extreme as he stared at these people and muttered angrily, “After more than a month, none of you has been able to find the slightest clue to the whereabouts of the Saintess. I will give you three more days, if I can’t see the Saintess standing in front of me within three days, I will personally flatten all your islands!”

“Protector Qian, please calm your anger, we will assign more people to the search and will definitely find Her Highness the Saintess!” A First Order Transcendent cultivator continually wiped the sweat from his forehead and shouted.

Nine Heavens Holy Land visiting their territory was a great honour for their Seven Family Alliance, but who could have predicted such a crisis would befall them.

“Protector Qian, is it possible Her Highness the Saintess accompanied the exploration group from some time ago?” Someone guessed.

“That group that went treasure hunting at the bottom of the sea?” Qian Ning coldly snorted, “How could Her Highness the Saintess do something so ridiculous?”

“But in with the exception of the seabed, we have searched everywhere…”

“Didn’t those who went to explore the seabed return three days ago? There was no trace of Her Highness the Saintess among them, if she really had been with them, she would have returned by now.”

“But… down there, there were many casualties, perhaps Her Highness the Saintess…”

“Impudence!” Qian Ning roared furiously, “What kind of characters is Her Highness! Even those low born vagabonds could come back alive, how could she possible have had an accident? I don’t care what method you use, or how many people you need to call, if I don’t see the Saintess within three days, you know the consequences! Get out!”

The leaders of the Seven Family Alliance were secretly annoyed at being treated this way but they didn’t dare show so on their faces. Their small alliance was really not worth mentioning in front of Nine Heavens Holy Land so they naturally couldn’t provoke Qian Ning.

However, before they could even leave the palace, a maid suddenly rushed over with a giant smile upon her face as she shouted, “Protector Qian, Protector Qian, Saintess, she… she’s returned!”

“She’s back?” Qian Ning raised his head and rushed out to meet the maid, eagerly asking, “Where?”

The maid quickly led the way, followed closely by Qian Ning, and soon arrived in front of An Ling’er.

Qian Ning’s face filled with tears and was so happy he was unable to speak, the great stone which was weighing on his heart this whole time finally lifting.

When An Ling’er walked over, everyone in the palace quickly bowed, “Greetings, Saintess!”

An Ling’er nodded lightly before somewhat guiltily saying, “Uncle Qian, this time I’ve caused you to worry, I’m truly sorry.”

“No no, as long as Saintess is safe, all it well,” Qian Ning smiled, obviously much more relaxed then just now, “Have you been hurt in any way?”

An Ling’er shook her head slowly.

“May I ask, where has Saintess been these days?”

“While I was out, I suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment, so I found a secluded place to retreat, I didn’t think I would be in seclusion for more than a month,” An Ling’er whispered, her attitude seemingly unnatural if one were observing closely.

Qian Ning did not miss this point and narrowed his eyes slightly, realizing that she was likely lying, but since the Saintess didn’t want to explain and she was safe and sound, he decided to simply count it as a blessing and let it pass, nodding happily as he shouted, “Good, very good!”

Turning around he said to the nearby maid, “Bei’er, take Her Highness to have a good rest.”

“En,” The maid, Bei’er nodded quickly.

The leaders of the Seven Family Alliance all exchanged glances upon seeing this scene play out and breathed a sigh of relief.

…..

On one of the island in the archipelago, Yang Kai found a cultivation room for rent, paid a few Crystal Stones, and stepped inside.

This room was owned and operated by the Seven Family Alliance and was designed for cultivators to use when they needed retreat and the cost to use it was far higher than an average inn’s room.

However, this cultivation chamber came with many isolation barriers that allowed a cultivator to avoid any kind of external interference; on top of that, the Seven Family Alliance placed guards around the area who would ensure the safety of those cultivating here, so it was worth the additional expense.

As such, these rooms were quite popular with foreign cultivators.

Cultivation rooms like these existed in most large cities; after all, there were always cultivators who suddenly gained insights into their practice and would need a place to retreat.

Inside the cultivation room, Yang Kai first inspected the various barriers, quickly determining that their quality wasn’t bad and could withstand a certain amount of impact as well as serve as alarms against outside intrusion. Finished with his inspection, Yang Kai sat down and took out the Pill Cloud pill and placed it atop his palm.

He wasn’t in a rush to leave this place partly because he couldn’t wait to see how this pill was refined and partly because he wanted to stay and monitor An Ling’er’s movements.

It wasn’t that he wanted to think the worst of her, but there were some things that required him to exercise an abundance of caution.

In the unlikely event that An Ling’er sold him out, he would probably become an enemy of Nine Heavens Holy Land. Such a colossus, once provoked, would bring him endless trouble.

Yang Kai had learned three of the Nine Heavens Holy Land’s Divine Skills in that inexplicable situation. These Divine Skills belonged to Nine Heavens Holy Land’s core inheritance and obviously couldn’t remain in the hands of outsiders. Once they knew the truth, they would have only two options, kill Yang Kai or force him to become their new Holy Master.

Taking An Ling’er’s Soul brand was something he was helpless about.

Although he had her Soul brand now, it didn’t allow Yang Kai to know everything she did, but he could at least notice any big changes in her mood, so it was possible to monitor her somewhat as long as they were close by.

Without thinking about it any further, Yang Kai immersed himself in studying the pill before him.

It was a Saint Grade Pill! A Saint Grade Mid-Rank pill to be more exact.

Alchemist who could refine Saint Pills were uncommon in any age.

Du Wan was a famous figure throughout Tong Xuan Realm and was still only a Saint Grade Low-Rank Alchemist, with his methods, he couldn’t refine a Saint Grade Mid-Rank pill unless he was extremely lucky.

Among the people Yang Kai had met, only The Old Man of Heaven’s Keep, Li Rui, could easily refine Saint Grade pills.

An excellent Alchemist could infer the level and skill of another by observing the traces left behind on one of the latter’s pills.

Staring at the Saint Pill in his hand, Yang Kai was deeply impressed.

Although Yang Kai’s experience was not incredibly rich, he could still see that the one who refined this pill had done so in a smooth and natural matter, with no rough traces left behind from either the purification or condensing stages of Alchemy. The skill of this Alchemist had obviously reached a superb height, possibly even comparable to that of Old Man Li’s.

However, too much time had passed. It was impossible to determine which ancient force those ruins belong to so obviously it was unrealistic to discover the identity of this Alchemist.

The most valuable thing about this Saint Pill though was obviously the Pill Cloud which enshrouded it. The rich aura from this cloud not only maintained the medicinal efficacies of this pill but also continuously gathered the surrounding World Energy to nourish it, strengthening its properties as time passed.

After so many thousands of years of accumulation, the energy contained inside this Saint Pill was simply immeasurable.

Yang Kai estimated that even if a top Saint Realm master were to swallow this pill, they would likely be unable to bear the energy contained within it.

A pill like this was simply something from legend.

Yang Kai immersed himself in studying this pill, savouring the technique used by the Alchemist who had refined it.

While doing so, it was as if he could see a scene from countless years ago, yet at the same time the finer details were hazy, covered in clouds.