Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Wei Que easily obtained a Sunâs True Fire, which could be traded for over 100,000 Open Heaven Pills. That was the reason he was grinning from ear to ear.
More importantly, for a great force like Great Moon Province, having a Fourth-Order material didnât only mean a lot of pills, but also a chance for a Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master to be born, which would increase their overall power.
While Wei Que was still laughing, the sounds of something breaking through the air could be heard coming from a distance. In the blink of an eye, two figures abruptly appeared in front of them. Both of these men exuded Open Heaven Realm auras and were clad in matching light blue robes, indicating they were from the same force.
Following that, a large group of cultivators appeared behind them. Apparently, they came from the same great force as the two men. However, these people were obviously not Open Heaven Realm Masters. Just like Yang Kai and the others, they had only condensed their Dao Seals.
Right after the two men appeared, they stared fixedly at the Sunâs True Fire in Wei Queâs hand. Wei Que immediately stored the container and shot them a stern look, âSo it is Still Winds Provinceâs Ge Brothers? Whatâs wrong?â
âGreat Moon Provinceâs Wei Que.â One of the brothers with a pair of grim-looking eyes apparently recognised Wei Que.
The other brother grinned and continued, âBrother Wei, thatâs not very honourable of you.â
Wei Que frowned, âWhat do you mean by that? I donât know what youâre talking about.â
The person said, âYou should know. We were the ones who discovered that Sunâs True Fire in your hand first; however, something went wrong when we were capturing it, which is why it escaped. We didnât expect that you would catch it without our permission.â
Tao Rong Fang scoffed, âRidiculous. Ge Yan, you said that you were the first to discover the Sunâs True Fire. How do you prove that?â
The person called Ge Yan said, âThe fact that we were chasing after it is the best evidence. What else do you need? Otherwise, why would we have come all the way here?â
Tao Rong Fang snorted, âCould that even be considered evidence?â
Wei Que raised his hand to stop her, then he grinned at the Ge Brothers, âFellow brothers, even if you really discovered the Sunâs True Fire first, itâs now in my hands, so it belongs to me. Things without owners belong to those who are capable of claiming them, so do you want to snatch it from me? In that case, this Wei doesnât mind, weâll fight for it here and the Sunâs True Fire will go to the winner. What do you think?â
Upon hearing this blatant provocation, the Ge Brothers furrowed their brows and traded glances before one of them spoke, âBrother Wei, many great forces have come to this place and weâve only started exploring this Star where many more rewards undoubtedly await us. I donât believe we should get into a conflict at this point.â
âWhat nonsense are you spouting here, then?â Wei Que arrogantly patted his Space Ring, âThe Sunâs True Fire is right here. Why donât you call out to it and see whether it responds to you? If it choses you, this Wei will give it to you freely. If it refuses, then it belongs to me.â
âBrother Wei, stop being so haughty. Weâre not afraid of you, we just donât want to fight pointlessly and let others take advantage of us. That thing is indeed in your hands now, but we expended great effort and energy chasing after it. How about this, you give us some benefits and weâll allow you to keep the Sunâs True Fire.â
âYou want to obtain some benefits from us?â Wei Que snickered in amusement, âThis Wei will say it one more time, whatâs in my hands belongs to me, if you want it, try taking it!â Then, he raised his arm and shouted, âBrats, these people are trying to snatch our things, what should we do?â
In an instant, the disciples from Great Moon Province became incensed and roared, âKill! Kill! Kill!â
At the same time, they all assumed some kind of Formation as their auras surged, staring ferociously at the enemy.
Yang Kai and his group were all dumbfounded as they thought that these disciples had been affected by their Elder. Wei Que was a fierce and straightforward man, so even his disciples had turned out to be just like him.
The expressions of the Ge Brothers darkened, but after pondering for a moment, Ge Yan snorted, âWei Que, just you wait. Iâll make you pay for what youâve taken from me today!â Then, he waved his hand and shouted, âLetâs go.â
It really wasnât that he was afraid of those from Great Moon Province, but rather just as he had said, the powers of both parties were equally matched as there were two Open Heaven Realm Masters on either side. Therefore, no one could tell which party would turn out to be the winner, only that injuries and possibly deaths would result from a conflict, forcing them to withdraw from this exploration prematurely. If that happened, they wouldnât even be able to dream of getting any benefits from this place. Wei Que seemed brainless and overbearing, so the Ge Brothers didnât want to get dragged down with him.
As the people from Still Winds Province left, Wei Que remained silent, and only after they were out of sight did he quietly signal to Tao Rong Fang in a meaningful way.
A puzzled Tao Rong Fang asked in a hushed voice, âWhat happened?â
Wei Que pointed at the ground, âThereâs one more down below.â
âReally?â Tao Rong Fang was shocked at first, then she became surprised, âAnother Sunâs True Fire?â
Wei Que nodded, âI saw it when I was in the magma pool, but I hadnât managed to capture it. Iâll dive down once more. Junior Sister, get ready with these brats to prevent it from fleeing.â
âGood. Senior Brother, please be careful,â Tao Rong Fang uttered.
âDonât worry.â Wei Que laughed and disappeared into the magma.
On the surface, Tao Rong Fang led the disciples to seal off a radius of several dozen metres around the area as they arranged an array while performing a set of complex hand seals.
Yang Kai and the others were newcomers and werenât familiar with this Spirit Array, which was why they couldnât participate, so instead, Tao Rong Fang told them to stand guard in the four corners.
The magma roiled as bubbles burst from time to time, exuding a pungent smell. The disciples fell silent as they waited patiently, but even after a long silence, Wei Que hadnât returned.
Tao Rong Fang frowned as she had a feeling that Wei Que must have come across some trouble. She wanted to look for him, but she was also worried about her disciplesâ safety. Without an Open Heaven Realm Master around, they might fall prey to unexpected dangers.
While she was feeling anxious though, she saw the magma pool in front of her boiling as a strong energy fluctuation could be felt rising from it.
Tao Rong Fang turned solemn as she exclaimed, âPrepare yourselves!â
Right after she spoke, a beam of light suddenly shot out of the magma, surrounded by a scorching aura as it soared away. Wei Queâs figure emerged from the magma right behind it and yelled, âDonât let it flee!â
In fact, as soon as the Sunâs True Fire appeared, the disciples already started making a move as they performed their hand seals, after which the area was engulfed in a Heaven sealing, Earth locking power.
Tao Rong Fang raised her slender hand and lightly pushed out her palm at the Sunâs True Fire.
The fire seemed to possess spirituality as it dodged the attack and whizzed past Tao Rong Fang. Following that, it attempted to crash into a disciple behind her.
The discipleâs expression changed drastically as he hurriedly summoned out a mirror artifact. A profound light shot out from the mirror and struck the fire, engulfing it in an instant and freezing it mid-air. It seemed that the mirror was a powerful binding artifact.
Seeing this, the other disciples heaved a sigh of relief; however, before they could even relax, the light that had engulfed the fire wisp melted and the flame which seemed able to burn down everything in existence reached the disciple who had summoned the mirror in a flash, causing his face to contort with fear and panic.
âSolidify!â At the critical moment, Yang Kai shouted and surged his Space Principles, binding the Sunâs True Fire in place for a second time.
However, Yang Kai didnât relax in the slightest as he could feel the fire wisp quickly breaking free of his restriction, causing him to yell, âSenior Tao!â
Tao Rong Fang had already appeared in front of the disciple with a transparent container in her hand. The container looked just like the one Wei Que had used earlier and she swiftly captured the fire wisp with it.
The crimson glow dampened at that moment as Tao Rong Fang managed to seal the container with the fire wisp inside. After she completely secured it, she turned to look at the disciple and asked, âAre you alright?â
The disciple had turned pale as he was still reeling from the shock, but even though his vision was still blurred, he shook his head and declared, âIâm fine. Many thanks for your concern, Martial Aunt.â
Tao Rong Fang nodded gently.
Right then, Wei Que dashed towards them and bellowed, âDamn it! This thing almost fled. It obtained a very high level of spirituality, almost being a living creature of some sort.â If it wasnât because the disciples had set up an array beforehand, the Sunâs True Fire would have escaped.
Then, he turned to look at Yang Kai and commended, âKid, you did a great job.â
Even though that disciple wouldnât have been killed even if he was struck by the fire wisp, he wouldâve gotten seriously injured. Fortunately, Yang Kai managed to make a move at the last moment and prevented such a tragedy.
Yang Kai replied politely, âSenior is too polite.â
Wei Que pondered on an issue for a moment before asking, âDid you just use Space Principles?â
âEn.â Yang Kai nodded as he couldnât hide it anyway, and since he had decided to make a move, he wasnât worried that his skills would be exposed.
âIncredible.â Wei Queâs gaze brightened, âThe Dao of Space is abstruse and esoteric. This Wei has only ever heard of it but has never witnessed anyone wielding it. Youâve broadened my horizons today.â
Tao Rong Fang appeared joyful as well, âIt seems that weâve taken in a treasure.â She seemed to have already regarded Yang Kai as a Great Moon Provinceâs disciple and Yang Kai certainly couldnât refute her at this point.
Wei Que patted Yang Kaiâs shoulder, âWork hard and youâll definitely become an Open Heaven Realm Master. When that time comes, youâll be free to explore anywhere in this wide universe.â
âYes,â Yang Kai replied respectfully.
Then, Wei Que gazed at the other disciple, âLittle brat, why havenât you thanked your Junior Brother Yang? Where are your manners? Is this what Iâve taught you?â
It was only then that the disciple came to his senses and walked up to Yang Kai before saluting him in a serious manner, âJunior Brother Yang, many thanks for saving me just now.â
âSenior Brother need not mention it. Weâre all supposed to help each other. It was the least I could do.â Yang Kai returned the gesture.
After the incident, Yang Kai realised that the other disciples had become more amiable towards him, and it seemed that they had acknowledged him to be one of them.
They couldnât be blamed however. Previously, these people were not familiar with Yang Kai and the others yet. They hadnât grown up together or gone through life-or-death moments with one another, so they found it hard to acknowledge them; however, things were different now as they had become closer.