Chapter 4804
“Then how do you know?” Kai asked, puzzled.
The man chuckled. “Fellow Daoist Chen, that is my secret. I’m afraid I can’t share it with you.”
“Even if the sixth floor holds vast resources and fairy mines, you and I lack the strength to reach it.”
Kai shook his head.
Even Yun Li could barely remain on the fourth floor for a short time. Now, they wanted to ascend to the sixth? That would be anything but easy.
Kai had come to climb the Ladder to Heaven mainly to temper himself and perhaps gain some resources along the way.
He had never truly considered using it to ascend to the heavens.
Despite his strength surpassing his cultivation realm, Kai was not so arrogant as to believe he was already invincible in the heavenly world.
“If we join forces, we might—”
“Forget it. I’m not interested in reaching the sixth floor, nor do I want to cooperate. I’m leaving.”
Without waiting for the man to finish speaking, Kai leaped down from the building and left with Lin Keting and the others.
As he disappeared into the distance, a flicker of disappointment crossed the man’s eyes.
“He refused?”
At that moment, a woman in a fiery red robe, her entire figure resembling a burning flame, approached.
Like the man, she wore a mask, concealing her face.
The man shook his head before turning to her. “Senior Sister, don’t you recognize him?”
The woman hesitated, then shook her head. “No. This should be my first time seeing him… but he looks strangely familiar—just as he did to you.”
The man slowly removed his mask, revealing a face etched with the traces of time and hardship.
It was Ning Zhi.
The very person Kai had been speaking to all along—the same Ning Zhi who had relentlessly pursued him, seeking his death.
But now, his aura was different. It was as if he had become an entirely different person.
“Friend?” Ning Zhi murmured, gazing out the window.
“Friend or foe, sooner or later, I will kill you. But for now… I’m still not your match.”
“Junior Brother, Master has forbidden you from removing your mask in public. How dare you disobey?”
The woman’s voice was cold as she reprimanded Ning Zhi.
“Senior Sister, I was wrong.” Ning Zhi quickly put the mask back on.
She studied him for a moment before asking, “Why are you so determined to kill him?”
“My father’s death is an irreconcilable grudge,” Ning Zhi said, his eyes burning with hatred. “Senior Sister, you’ll help me, won’t you?”
“Of course…”
A powerful aura radiated from the woman, revealing her cultivation at the second level of the Immortal Realm. Flames flickered across her fiery red cloak.
“He can fight beyond his level. But so can we…”
Ning Zhi’s lips curled into a cruel smile.
“Kai, if you knew that the woman you loved most would be the one to kill you, would you feel despair?”
The woman standing before him was Su Yuqi—the very person Kai had been searching for.
After she was taken by the Flame Demon, Su Yuqi had harnessed the power of her fire spirit body to rapidly advance her cultivation.
Now, she too could battle opponents beyond her level.
When Ning Zhi was summoned by the Flame Demon, he was stunned to find Su Yuqi among them. Upon learning that she had completely lost her memory, a bold idea took root in his mind.
He would have Su Yuqi help him kill Kai.
And when Kai lay dying, he would realize that it was the woman he loved most who had delivered the final blow.
That kind of cruel irony would finally appease Ning Zhi’s years of festering hatred.
At first, he had even entertained the thought of using Su Yuqi as a way to torment Kai further.
Unfortunately, she was far stronger than him. The moment he tried anything, she nearly beat him half to death.
From then on, he never dared to harbor such thoughts again.
“Let’s go,” Su Yuqi said. “Until the Ladder to Heaven appears, it’s best not to provoke Kai unnecessarily. No need to cause trouble too soon.”
“There will be plenty of chances once we’re inside.”
With that, Su Yuqi turned and left the tavern, Ning Zhi following close behind.