Chapter 193

: Endless Sea Islands’ Hidden Secret     Gradually, more and more cracks appeared on the stone door; it was obviously close to breaking.

But suddenly, a loud piercing eagle cry rang out.
All the Red Cloud Sect cultivators who were attacking the door suddenly jumped.

It’s that giant eagle!
A man cried out in panic,
the same giant eagle that had ripped apart Grand Elder Huo!

How could they not panic; before, when they had been led by Huo Xiang Lan to explore Hidden Island, things had been much smoother.   A few days ago, they had come across a nest on a cliff and inside there was an immature young bird.
Although it was not fully grown, from its outstanding aura, one look was enough to tell it was not a low grade Monster Beast.
Huo Xiang Lan’s desire was stimulated, and so she flew up and captured the young bird, intending to tame and keep it, she didn’t realize that doing so would provoke a crisis.  Less than half a day after catching the young bird, they were discovered by its parents; two enormous, extremely terrifying, sixth-order giant eagles.
Even though Huo Xiang Lan was an Immortal Ascension Boundary master, and dealing with a single one of these giant eagles might be possible, but when faced with two of them who were enraged at having their child stolen, under their combined attacks, Huo Xiang Lan could only hold on for less than half an hour, before being shredded alive.
(Faux: Karma is a btch)
(Skoll: Actually, Karma is a League of Legends champion.)
At the time, Yu Xiu Ping and the others were so terrified their souls nearly left their bodies, desperately hiding in the woods and not daring to appear, let alone trying to fight.  They watched as the giant eagles tore Huo Xiang Lan limb from limb, circled the skies for what seemed like forever before they slowly flew off.
Yu Xiu Ping and others thought at that moment they had escaped, but they did not expect the two beasts would be so vengeful, finally rooting them out today.
As soon as the eagle cry rang out, Yu Xiu Ping and the others felt as if they had been doused in cold water. After a moment, they heard another far off eagle cry, seeming to be responding to the previous one.  Looking around, they spotted something approaching from opposite sides, two black spots which rapidly grew larger as they approached.

Hurry, hurry up and break this stone door!
  Yu Xiu Ping roared hysterically,
if we don’t open it now we’ll all die!

Two sixth-order Monster Beasts, with their True Element Boundary cultivations fighting would be suicide, the only result would be death.
Even without Yu Xiu Ping’s reminder, how could the other Red Cloud Sect cultivators not know to increase the strength of their bombardment on the stone door?  But although the stone door began to crack faster and faster, it still stood upright, blocking their way.
With the giant eagles quickly approaching, one of the True Element Boundary masters couldn’t hold down his fear of death, quickly activating his movement skill to flee.

Come back!  Junior Brother Zhang get back here!
Yu Xiu Ping roared,
If we pour in all our strength, we can break this stone door, even if you run and hide now, where will you go?

But how could this Junior Brother Zhang be willing to stay?  Swift as the wind, he ran down the mountain.
Everyone here was losing hope, and with Junior Brother Zhang as a catalyst, another cultivator began to escape, hastily shouting,
Retreat, we won’t be able to open this stone door in time, if we run now, we might have a chance!

Finished, he hurriedly ran down.
They were lacking strength to begin with, and now two had abandoned them, the others who were left behind instantly became more hopeless.
Those who had remained till now bitterly cursed then quickly spread out, each escaping separately.
Yang Kai could only choose to tightly conceal himself, not daring to move.
Quietly looking up, he soon saw the figures of two giant eagles appear in the sky, even if they were separated by a few thousand feet, he could tell that they were both extraordinary and majestic.  If he were to guess, Yang Kai estimated that they were at least 15 to 20 meters in height.
Two pairs of sharp eagle eyes glared at the fleeing Red Cloud Sect cultivators.  A moment later they swiftly dove towards them.
In the next instant, a shrill cry reached Yang Kai’s ears, letting his blood run cold.  Meanwhile, when the sound reached the ears of the Red Cloud Sect cultivators, every fiber of their beings trembled in fear.
He knew, someone had met a tragic end in the talons of the giant eagles.
Just as that scream came to a stop, another ran out.
A second person had been killed by the giant eagles.
A True Element Boundary master, in front of this sixth-order king of the sky, was powerless, like a newborn baby, completely incapable of resisting.
Yang Kai did not dare to breathe, desperately concealing himself in silence for a whole day, only then was he certain that the two giant eagles and the Red Cloud Sect cultivators had left, he slowly emerged from his hiding place.
His face was still holding a look of fear!
Fortunately, he had not relied on his Flaming Yang Wings to fly around, or else if he had encountered those two giant eagles, if would have been disastrous.
Frowning towards the stone door in front of him, Yang Kai examined the numerous cracks, circulating his Yuan Qi, and throwing a punch.
The stone door shook, the cracks becoming more obvious, the glowing light which encompassed it not as brilliant as before; it gave the feeling of a lamp running out of oil.
Aware of this, Yang Kai’s spirits lifted, punching even harder towards the stone door.
However, after throwing a few hundred punches, this stone door remained standing, refusing to crumble.  
How strange!
Yang Kai’s brow wrinkled.
Thinking for a while, he then called out with his mind.  Shortly after, a buzzing sound came; it was the swarm of insects which had followed Yang Kai.
These insects had been not far behind Yang Kai, if there was any sign of danger, he could call them out to help, but he had not thought they could be used here.
Ordering several of the giant insects forward, he let them spit out the corrosive fog onto the stone door; Yang Kai wanted to see if this strange fog could erode it.
Those few giant insects quickly obeyed, flying in front of the stone door, and then spraying out a stream of white mist from their mouths.
Snap Crackle Pop … bursts of cracking sounds came; the stone door really could be melted.
Seeing this, Yang Kai nodded in satisfaction, ordered the giant insects to keep spitting, then sat down to restore himself.
After a little less than an hour, Yang Kai suddenly heard a crashing noise; opening his eyes, the stone door had been broken, revealing a dark cave.
Yang Kai did not immediately rush in; instead letting a group of insects scout ahead.
Half a day later, the group of insects returned safely.
After confirming that there was no danger, Yang Kai walked forward.  Once inside, he ordered the insects to guard the cave’s entrance, letting the giant insects spit out a layer of fog to block it from the outside.
With these insects on guard and the fog barrier, Yang Kai believed that even if a few of the Red Cloud Sect cultivators had escaped the eagles’ slaughter, and then returned here, they would never be able to enter.
Moving inside, the cave was not straight, but seemed to spiral downward.  From in front of him, Yang Kai felt a soothing atmosphere, like the World Energy in the depths of the cave was extremely strong.
The further he went down, the stronger this feeling became.
After descending a few thousand feet, Yang Kai guessed he had come to the bottom of the solitary peak, only then seeing the end of the path.
Below him was a huge and spacious cave, the walls were dotted with a trace of light, giving it a magnificent style.
On both sides of the path, there were rows of stone shelves all with many layers, each layer holding some items.
Yang Kai walked forward, arriving in front of a stone shelf, and with the aid of the weak light observed what was on top.

Supreme Solitary Sect
Yang Kai looked at the name inscribed on the stone shelf, recalling that he had heard about this Great Sect before.  He would occasionally hear about it while he was traveling around Sea City; it was one of the few Sects in the Endless Sea Islands comparable to the Han Dynasty’s Eight Great Families with countless disciples and numerous experts, famous far and wide.
How was this great Sect related to this remote place?
On top of this engraved stone shelf there was a stone box; opening it, Yang Kai saw a piece of treasure.  Picking it up, the weight was not light, this treasure was obviously made from a precious material, and he could tell, this treasure was definitely an artifact.
Examining it, Yang Kai found at the base of the artifact the words
Supreme Solitary
inscribed on it.
This really was an artifact from the Supreme Solitary Sect!  But why would it appear here?
With a trace of doubt, Yang Kai set it down and proceeded to the next shelf.
This stage shelf was similarly engraved, and it was similarly another great Sect Yang Kai had heard of.

Ancient Cloud Island!

Although the strength of this Sect was not as prominent as the Supreme Solitary Sect, it could also be regarded as an Endless Sea Islands first-class force.  This time it was a Secret Art which was placed on this stone shelf.
As Yang Kai quickly skimmed over it, he found that this Secret Art was not simple, obviously not low quality; it was at least Heaven Grade.  But for Yang Kai who cultivated the True Yang Secret Art, and the Yin-Yang Joyous Unification Art, this Secret Art was unnecessary, and was also readily put back.
Continuing on, Yang Kai became even more confused.
On each of the stone shelves was the name of a great Sect, accompanied by some valuable item.  There were martial skills, Secret Arts, artifacts, keepsakes, rare ancient treasures, and so forth.
These Sects were all first-class and second-class Endless Sea Islands forces, more than a dozen of them.  Others like the Red Cloud Sect, a third-class force, simply were not qualified to appear on the stone shelves.
If you looked carefully, each of the items placed here really were treasures which belonged to these great Sects, but how did they all come to be gathered here?
Contemplating for a time, Yang Kai suddenly remembered something.
It was an anecdote he had heard in a teahouse in Sea City.
It was said that three hundred years ago, there was a man who visited all the great Sects in the Endless Sea Islands, hoping to worship into one of them as a disciple, but his aptitude was extremely poor, causing them all to refuse and cast him out.  Some of the great Sect disciples were even crueler, directly beating him.  His perseverance was admirable, eventually visiting every great Sect, but he was never successful.
Disheartened, this man despaired, but also grew to hate those great Sects for refusing to accept him, swearing to the heavens he would find another way to cultivate.
At the time, it was only a trivial matter.  For these famous great Sects, how could they keep track of the countless cultivators they rejected each year, he was just one of them.
But three decades later, there was a huge uproar in the Endless Sea Islands.  The Supreme Solitary Sect’s Sect Master Seal was lost.  Somehow, a thief had managed to sneak into the Sect’s inner sanctum and had stolen it.
Shortly after, the news came from other Endless Sea Island Great Sects, each claiming a treasure had been taken; some of these things were very valuable while some were merely symbolic, but each of these things was their respective Sect’s Hallowed Treasure.  All the great Sects were panicked, constantly on edge, fearing that this godly thief was eyeing their own Hallowed Treasure.  However, no matter how prepared they were, none of them could avoid the fate of being robbed.