Chapter 680, Why Didn’t You Say so Earlier? Although the act of searching another’s Soul could allow one to spy on some of their memories, it was not a comprehensive technique, so Duan Hai and Xu Qi did not want to use this method to deal with Yang Kai if they could avoid it. They needed Yang Kai to take the initiative to cooperate. Moreover, in their view, Yang Kai had come from some remote backcountry and was quite young, so his will certainly wouldn’t be too strong. However, after actually trying to implement their plan, they quickly discovered that Yang Kai was a difficult bone to gnaw, completely intractable and unwilling to compromise in the slightest. No matter what threat or enticement they offered, Yang Kai refused to say a word about the Coffin Carrying Man’s secrets. For Duan Hai’s part, he was actually being quite truthful; he really wasn’t willing to offend such a promising young Alchemist. Initially, he had wholeheartedly wanted to absorb Yang Kai into Bright Thunder Spirit Religion. As long Yang Kai officially joined the Sect, Duan Hai would have plenty of opportunities to inquire about these secrets from him. But after fully understanding that Yang Kai had no such intentions, Duan Hai immediately decided to seize the initiative. In any case, Yang Kai would leave sooner or later and may never be of any use to his Spirit Religion, so there was not much harm in offending him. “Why are you looking for the Coffin Carrying Man in the first place? What kind of benefits are you hoping to obtain from him?” Yang Kai stared at Duan Hai and asked. Duan Hai frowned but only hesitated for a moment before replying, “It is said that the Coffin Carrying Man guards a terrifying secret, and whoever can grasp that secret can control tremendous power.” Yang Kai chuckled, there would be no wind in the house without a hole in the wall, Duan Hai obviously knew next to nothing about what kind of secret the Coffin Carrying Man was guarding, but in a certain sense, his words weren’t wrong. The Ancient Demon Clan was indeed a tremendous force, but this clan was not something just anyone could control. “Honoured Guest Yang, if you know something, could you disclose it to us?” Duan Hai stared at him with a burning gaze. In response though, Yang Kai once again just shook his head, “You’re asking the wrong person, I really don’t know anything.” “Senior Brother!” Xu Qi apparently had really run out of patience, calling out angrily as he shot a meaningful look towards Duan Hai. Duan Hai nodded slightly and said in a heavy tone, “Honoured Guest Yang, pardon our offence.” Xu Qi grinned fiendishly and walked over, muttering in a cold tone, “Since you refuse a toast then you must drink a forfeit, once this old master’s Soul Searching technique is applied, it’s quite possible your Soul will be destroyed and you will turn into an idiot! Pray your luck isn’t so bad.” Yang Kai showed a look of panic on his face at just the right moment, causing Xu Qi’s expression to become became more and more self-satisfied. Stepping in front of Yang Kai, Xu Qi stretched out his hand and placed it on top of Yang Kai’s head, his Second Order Transcendent Spiritual Energy gushing out. In an instant, Yang Kai’s look changed. Yang Kai had thought this would be an opportunity. Although his True Qi was sealed and he was no match for Xu Qi in terms of cultivation, if it was a contest of Spiritual Energy, Yang Kai was confident he wouldn’t be inferior to anyone. As long as Xu Qi’s Soul dared to break into his Knowledge Sea, Yang Kai could instantly make him pay with his life. Great Demon God’s Demon Eye of Annihilation couldn’t be resisted by Saint Realm masters much less Xu Qi who was merely a Second Order Transcendent. Once he killed Xu Qi and then used his Demon God Transformation, there was a chance he could break through the seal that was binding him. Then with only Duan Hai, a Second Order Transcendent, blocking him, Yang Kai was confident he could escape. But when Xu Qi started, Yang Kai found that his opponent’s Soul did not intrude into his Knowledge Sea and instead, Xu Qi’s Spiritual Energy intertwined with the surrounding Spirit Array and formed an invisible vortex that created a huge suction force which was directly trying to pull his Soul out of his Knowledge Sea. Inside Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea, the scene was turbulent, waves rolled and everything became extremely unsettled. An unspeakable pain erupted and Yang Kai’s expression immediately twisted, blue veins on his forehead popping up as teeth ground fiercely. Pain inflicted on one’s soul was more than a hundred times stronger than the pain inflicted on one’s flesh. “Hm?” Xu Qi was also slightly surprised, sneering dismissively, “Don’t bother trying to resist, the more you resist, the more you’ll suffer, just let go of your Knowledge Sea’s defences and let me extract your memories, that way you won’t have to endure this kind of pain.” Contained within his words, there seemed to be an invisible force that was trying to break down Yang Kai’s will and force him to obey. Perceiving this, Yang Kai became even more vigilant. “Foolish stubbornness!” Xu Qi became angered and increased the output of his Spiritual Energy, causing the suction force to grow even stronger. Although Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was comparable to a Transcendent’s, there was still a gap between him and Xu Qi, and there was also Duan Hai staring at him from close by, so even if Yang Kai continued to resist with all his might, he would eventually lose. Quickly considering all this, Yang Kai gave up resisting and instead actively sent out his Spiritual Energy, changing it into an invisible attack that shot towards Xu Qi. Seeing this, Xu Qi laughed contemptuously, “Don’t be so presumptuous!” “Junior Brother, be careful!” Duan Hai’s face suddenly changed as he cried out. At that moment, he noticed a blazing hot aura filling the air. This heat gave him a terrifying sense of crisis, forcing him to hurriedly retreat and open up some distance between him and Yang Kai. *Hu...* A bolt of scalding hot energy shot through the void and Xu Qi’s smug expression instantly stiffened, his face contorting in pain as he gripped his head and screamed pitifully. “Conflagrated Divine Sense?” Duan Hai’s eyes went round as he stared at Yang Kai in disbelief. The shrieks of pain only lasted for a moment before Xu Qi again composed himself. A moment ago, he had been caught off guard and was thus wounded by Yang Kai’s Conflagrated Divine Sense; fortunately for him, his Spiritual Energy was stronger than Yang Kai’s, otherwise his life would have been in danger. Even so, Xu Qi was still covered in cold sweat. He had nearly brought about his own destruction! “Honoured Guest Yang, do you actually have a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea?” Duan Hai’s expression became incomparably complex as he stared at Yang Kai. Yang Kai remained indifferent, a look of hatred and hostility filling his eyes as he glared at the two men before him, not saying a word. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?” Duan Hai face was filled with grief and annoyance, “If you had said you possessed a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, I would never... bah...” Grumbling so, he slowly shook his head and sighed. If he had known that Yang Kai was an Alchemist with a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, Duan Hai absolutely would not have offended him so easily simply to seek the secrets of the Coffin Carrying Man from his mouth. After all, these secrets were all just rumors and legends. Whether the Coffin Carrying Man truly guarded some amazing treasure only the Heavens knew, Duan Hai was also just gambling. On the other hand, a talented Alchemist with a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea was an immense, tangible asset! The world’s greatest living Alchemist, The Old Man of Heaven’s Keep, had only achieved his current fame thanks to his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea! Whether it was amongst Humans, Demons, or Monsters, The Old Man of Heaven’s Keep held supreme prestige; anyone who met him treated him with the utmost respect and courtesy. If they had known Yang Kai also possessed a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea like The Old Man of Heaven’s Keep, Duan Hai would have exhausted every possible means to win him over, using whatever method at his disposal to let him join Bright Thunder Spirit Religion, even if he had to directly hand over the position of Great Elder, Duan Hai would have readily agreed. What an Alchemist with a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea represented, every master in Tong Xuan Realm knew. At this moment, Duan Hai was filled with regret and frustration. “Senior Brother, what’s done has been done, trying to settle things peacefully with him now is unrealistic,” Xu Qi stared at Yang Kai angrily. He had just eaten a small loss and did not dare to use his Soul Searching technique again, a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea was not something he could easily touch. Duan Hai stared at Xu Qi coldly, a strong desire to slap his Junior Brother to death welling up inside him! Back then, when he had successfully invited Yang Kai to be an Honoured Guest of Bright Thunder Spirit Religion, Duan Hai had been in an exceptionally good mood, thinking to himself that Yang Kai had a bright future ahead of him and feeling determined to cultivate him well. It was only because of Xu Qi’s incitement and persuasion that he had taken such rash actions for some uncertain profits. Now that things had reached this point, there really was no possibility of resolving their grievances peacefully. “I didn’t know he had a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea,” Xu Qi’s expression also slowly became depressed, “If I had known...” “There’s no need to say any more,” Duan Hai shook his head and turned his attention back to Yang Kai, “Honoured Guest Yang, you won’t forgive our actions today, will you?” “Let me go and I’ll pretend none of this ever happened, how about it?” Yang Kai’s mouth curled into a mocking arc. Duan Hai slowly shook his head and stretched out his hand, sending out a few strands of True Qi that transformed into ropes that bound Yang Kai, solemnly saying, “Then pardon our offence once more.” Inside a dungeon cell, Yang Kai sat imprisoned. This dungeon was construction from a special type of ore that had a mysterious energy flowing through it while the walls were covered in exquisite runes that flickered every now and then. This cell was strong enough to hold Transcendent Realm masters, so Duan Hai and Xu Qi weren’t worried about Yang Kai suddenly escaping. Yang Kai tried several times to break through the seal that was restricting his True Qi, but each attempt ended in failure; using his True Qi was so painful it was simply unbearable. Although his situation was bleak, Yang Kai did not become flustered. He had experienced worse situations than this before and had even had several bushes with death, but every time he managed to find an opportunity to save himself and had grown stronger after overcoming such adversities. A chance to survive would eventually present itself; Yang Kai firmly believed this and only had to wait for that opportunity to arise. Moreover, Duan Hai and Xu Qi did not want to kill him. After learning that Yang Kai had a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, their attitude towards him also changed subtly. Perhaps they now didn’t know what they should do with him, they were reluctant to kill him, but keeping him alive was also a big problem. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞 For a few days, Yang Kai lived in this dark dungeon, unable to see the sun or moon. On this day, with a heavy sound, the door to the dungeon was opened, and a light shone in. Yang Kai blinked and stared towards the door, his expression suddenly becoming confused. A tall, beautiful figure walked in slowly from the outside and approached his cell, her beautiful eyes staring towards Yang Kai with a complicated look. Ji Meng! After a long silence, Ji Meng squatted down and put down some things she had been carrying with her, softly saying, “I brought you some food. Although these things may not be necessary, I prepared them attentively so their flavour should be quite good.” “Did Duan Hai tell you about my matters?” Yang Kai stared at her curiously, an unreadable smile adorning his face. “En,” Ji Meng nodded. “What does he want you to do?” “Persuade you!” Ji Meng replied in a low voice, “In Bright Thunder Spirit Religion, only I am somewhat familiar with you, so only I could come.” “Then what do you plan on doing?” “Persuade you!” “Good, since you’ve come personally, I suppose I can only choose to compromise, go tell Duan Hai that I agree to join Bright Thunder Spirit Religion,” Yang Kai chuckled. Of course, Ji Meng just shook her head lightly, “Your words are so cheap that only three year old children would believe them. If you can’t fool me then obviously Elder Duan won’t believe them.” Silavin: Yo, sorry for the delay of 679. I actually posted the past 4 chapters earlier than expected (wrong scheduled date). That’s also the reason why there are a few comments down below before the actual date posted.