The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment.
At this moment, Zhao Tian Ze finally understood why Qian Tong had said before that seeing he was someone who cannot be judged by his appearance, he was clearly referring to this!
However, what could a mere Second-Order Origin Returning Realm boy do? Even if he could fight others above his realm, he couldn’t change their current situation. His arrival wouldn’t help them at all! At most, he could barely be considered another helper.
Zhao Tian Ze’s mood suddenly deflated.
But at any rate, he was a City Lord, and he had a good relationship with Qian Tong, Lin Yu Rao, and the others, so he wouldn’t allow his disappointment to show through too obviously. With a forced smile on his face, he cupped his fists and said, “This Zhao greets Sect Master Yang, Sect Master Yang… en, is a young and promising man.”
The insincerity of this compliment was apparent to everyone.
Yang Kai replied politely as well, not taking any offence. Qian Tong and Lin Yu Rao looked at each other and also didn’t bother to explain.
They clearly knew how powerful Yang Kai was. It could be said that Yang Kai being here was the same as having a peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master to assist them! This gave them enough confidence to remain here.
“Hah, it’s just a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm brat!”
“This boy actually managed to survive inside the Blood Prison for so long, his luck must be quite good.”
“However, his luck has just run out, I’ll bet he won’t survive the day.”
“Hmph, an ignorant boy who doesn’t know how to spell ‘death’, actually daring to come to Domain Stone Mountain!”
“This little brat must be an idiot. His arrival not only doesn’t help his companions but actually adds a weakness instead, they’re finished.”
Whispers suddenly sounded all around as countless cultivators focused their attention on Yang Kai, most of them wearing disdainful or mocking expressions while some just felt it strange.
Around Domain Stone Mountain, there were more than a hundred Origin Returning Realm masters, all of them at the Third-Orders.
Yang Kai was the only Second-Order present, making him stand out like a crane amongst chickens, so he became the topic of everyone’s attention and discussion.
Yang Kai remained perfectly calm, not caring about everyone else discussing him at all. Zhao Tian Ze’s expression, however, became more and more uneasy.
Originally, with just him, Qian Tong, and Lin Yu Rao here, even if some people were eyeing them with ill intent, they still had enough strength to maintain the status quo for a while, but the moment Yang Kai showed up, their location immediately became the focus of attention. Divine Senses swept toward them constantly as strong auras began pressuring them, causing Zhao Tian Ze to grow nervous.
The arrival of this young man named Yang Kai seemed to have made their situation more difficult.
Glancing around at their surroundings, Zhao Tian Ze began leaking sweat from his forehead.
“Yang Kai, those two over there have been eyeing us for a while now,” Qian Tong moved to Yang Kai’s side and whispered, gesturing towards a nearby spot as he spoke.
Following his gaze, Yang Kai quickly noticed two Third-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivators who were constantly observing them. Seeing Yang Kai’s gaze, one of these two stared back and grinned maliciously.
The other person, holding a communication artifact in his hand, was still communicating with someone.
“I see,” Yang Kai nodded slightly, a trace of suspicion flashing across his face.
He vaguely felt that the robes worn by these two people were familiar, as if he had seen them somewhere before.
However, he had been living on Shadowed Star almost the entire time he had been in the Star Field and had rarely interacted with cultivators from other Cultivation Stars, so he couldn’t recall where he had seen such uniforms before.
[Was it in the Emperor Garden?] Yang Kai thought to himself as the Emperor Garden was the only place where he had frequently dealt with cultivators from other Cultivation Stars.
“By the way, what is this place and what is that huge Domain Stone? How come so many people have gathered here?” Yang Kai withdrew his gaze and asked the questions which had been bothering him since he arrived.
He had hurried over to this place after receiving a message from Qian Tong, but he still knew nothing about Domain Stone Mountain.
“This is Domain Stone Mountain,” Qian Tong replied, “We only know that this thing has always existed inside the Blood Prison, as for the specifics, you’d best ask Brother Zhao instead, he knows much more about it.”
“Then I’ll have to bother City Lord Zhao,” Yang Kai cupped his fists and bowed to Zhao Tian Ze.
“Sect Master Yang is too polite,” Zhao Tian Ze laughed dryly. Although he was still a little uneasy, it wasn’t a problem to explain about Domain Stone Mountain to Yang Kai.
Hearing what he said, Yang Kai suddenly became interested.
“So, the chances of Domain Stone Mountain appearing are very small?”
“Naturally, it has only appeared a handful of times when the Blood Prison Trial has opened in the past. Normally, it is surrounded by a terrifying Domain, making it impossible to approach,” Zhao Tian Ze nodded.
“And no one has ever thought of trying to take it away?” Yang Kai stared at the huge Domain Stone with scorching eyes.
Even Origin Kings would go all out to acquire such a large piece of Domain Stone, right? As long as they placed it in their Sect, it would become a core treasure that could produce many Origin Kings!
The gentle Domain aura it exuded was an incredible cultivation treasure.
“Sect Master Yang surely jests.” Zhao Tian Ze said as the corner of his brow twitched, “Without even mentioning how heavy this Domain Stone is, making it impossible to move, even if someone had the strength to carry it off, none would dare touch it arbitrarily.”
“Why not?” Yang Kai was startled.
“If one triggered a powerful wave of Domain, who could possibly resist?” Zhao Tian Ze spoke solemnly as he stared at Yang Kai with a strange expression.
He wanted to scold Yang Kai for asking such an ignorant question, but was too embarrassed to actually speak such words.
“So that’s how it is!” Yang Kai gently nodded, finally understanding the peculiarities of this Domain Stone Mountain. Staring at it earnestly for a moment, Yang Kai suddenly grinned, “But this is indeed a Heaven-sent opportunity! Since we’re here and occupy a good place, let’s not waste any time. We need to hurry up and cultivate, there are already many doing so apparently.”
“Uh, relying on just the few of us?” Zhao Tian Ze was astonished.
“Are we waiting for someone else?”
“We’re not expecting anyone else, but with so few of us, if we were all to sit in meditation and were suddenly sneak attacked while we were in the midst of some critical comprehension, the consequences would be disastrous…” Zhao Tian Ze worried, pointing to the group with the largest number of people in the distance, “Sect Master Yang, look over there. There are many of them so they can separate into two different groups, one to stand guard while the other meditates, but with just the four of us…”
“I’ll stand guard then, the three of you meditate,” Yang Kai said freely.
“This…” Zhao Tian Ze was stunned and showed a trace of gratitude. Although he was a little disappointed with Yang Kai’s arrival, Yang Kai offering to stand guard for them while they benefited was still a touching gesture.
Regardless of his strength, this young man had an upstanding character.
“Sect Master, I can stand guard,” Lin Yu Rao took the initiative to ask.