Entering inside, Yang Kai immediately felt a scorching heat on his face.
“Alchemist Yang, please take some time to familiarize yourself with the various pill recipes. There is no need to rush to begin Alchemy, just proceed when you are fully prepared.” Kang Si Ran was afraid that Yang Kai would become hasty and could not help emphasizing.
Yang Kai nodded before asking, “By the way, Shopkeeper Kang, what kind of Spirit Pill does the store need most right now?”
“Source Condensing Pills. There are countless Origin Kings in Maplewood City, so the demand for our Source Condensing Pills is great, often causing them to sell out the moment they are refined,” Kang Si Ran Replied proudly.
“En, I understand,” Yang Kai nodded lightly, having already figured so in his heart.
…..
There were countless herbs and medicines in this world, and the number of pills which could be refined from their various combinations were simply unknowable. However, if one asked various cultivators which Spirit Pill was in highest demand, if one excluded healing and restoring Spirit Pills, the answer in the Star Boundary would be Source Condensing Pills!
Using Source Condensing Pills was the standard practice amongst Origin Kings for countless years now, and all Origin Kings had a great demand for this Pill because it could promote the transformation of Saint Qi into Source Qi in the body.
Maplewood City was not very big, and there weren’t many Dao Source Realm masters, but there were many, many Origin Kings, so the demand for Source Condensing Pills could easily be imagined.
It was impossible to open a pill shop in Maplewood City and not sell Source Condensing Pills.
The Source Condensing Pill recipe of Spirit Pill Plaza was also improved by an Emperor Grade Alchemist, so compared to ordinary Source Condensing Pills, it had a roughly ten percent stronger efficacy which earned it much praise and many accolades.
Countless cultivators wanted to buy Source Condensing Pills from Spirit Pill Plaza, and every time a new batch of Source Condensing Pills was refined, people would go all out to snatch them.
This was even after Kang Si Ran placed limits on the number of purchases an individual could make.
If he did not limit the purchase quantity, customers would likely be even more aggressive!
Currently, the Source Condensing Pills of Spirit Pill Plaza were out of stock, which naturally aroused the dissatisfaction of many old customers.
Outside the Alchemy Room, Kang Si Ran paced back and forth, feeling extremely restless. His strength and mental fortitude were not low, and he had trained himself to maintain composure at all times as a shopkeeper, but at this moment, he was still as anxious as an ant on a hot wok.
If he listened carefully, he could even hear the impatient urges of the Origin Kings outside the shop, demanding Spirit Pill Plaza open.
*Deng deng deng…*
A series of footsteps rang out from above.
Kang Si Ran did not even need to look up to know it was one of the shop-hands who had raced over.
Stopping his pacing, before the shop-hand could even speak, Kang Si Ran spat angrily, “Didn’t I order you to comfort those customers!? Why have you come down here again!?”
“Shopkeeper Kang, the situation is growing out of control! Our Pill Shop should have brought out a new batch of Source Condensing Pills yesterday, so many old customers have been waiting in line for an entire day now but delaying for so long has made them very dissatisfied.”
“So what if they are dissatisfied? Do you want this old master to make pills appear out of thin air? Make them wait again!” Kang Si Ran replied impatiently.
“We have explained the situation many times, but they refuse to listen,” The shop-hand said with a nervous expression. “And, and…”
“And what?” Kang Si Ran’s face sank.
“And I don’t know who spread the rumour, but some are beginning to say our Spirit Pill Plaza will no longer be selling pills in the future, so some customers lost patience and left already,” The shop-hand replied quietly.
“Zhuo Ning Si! You cheap slut!” Kang Si Ran almost crushed his own teeth in frustration.
Although he did not see it with his own eyes, with his shrewdness, he knew that Zhuo Ning Si had instigated people to spread such rumours. Naturally, this vicious woman would not miss this opportunity to add insult to injury, hoping she could close down Spirit Pill Plaza even one day sooner.
Although enraged, Kang Si Ran was really helpless.
If a new batch of Source Condensing Pills was not brought out for sale in short order, the customers who did not know the truth would most likely believe those rumours and many of them would leave, dealing a huge blow to Spirit Pill Plaza.
But in this situation, what could Kang Si Ran do?
Turning his head, he stared eagerly towards the Alchemy Room that was closed shut and could only pray in his heart that Yang Kai would not disappoint him.
“Shopkeeper, is that Alchemist Yang really credible?” The shop hand didn’t seem to have much confidence in Yang Kai. He had met many Alchemists in his life, but none of them had as high a cultivation as Yang Kai. What’s more, Alchemists normally had extremely sloppy images and because they dealt with herbs all the year-round, there would be a rich medicinal fragrance lingering about them. From his previous contact with Yang Kai, Yang Kai did not fit the image of an Alchemist at all.
“How should I know?” Kang Si Ran replied feebly.
It had been ten days since Yang Kai entered the Alchemy Room. The first two days were spent studying the various pill recipes while on the third day Yang Kai had requested a large number of herbs for refining Source Condensing Pills. After that day, the Alchemy Room’s door had been closed and was not opened once since then.
Kang Si Ran really wanted to rush in and see how many Source Condensing Pills Yang Kai had refined and how many herbs he had wasted!
Every Alchemist would have some rate of attribution in Alchemy. This was unavoidable. No matter how skilled the Alchemist was, there was no guarantee that they could refine every furnace of Spirit Pills successfully.
Depending on the Alchemist’s own abilities, however, the herb attrition rate could be vastly different.
Among the three Alchemists Spirit Pill Plaza used to employ, the best one had an attrition rate of thirty percent, which meant out of every ten furnaces, seven would be successful while the remaining three would be wasted.
This was already quite a remarkable feat. Fan Hong for example had a material loss rate of about fifty percent.
Even so, Kang Si Ran had to treat him with great respect. Who made him an Origin King Grade Alchemist?
What kind of attrition rate would Yang Kai have? Sixty percent? Seventy?
Even if it was eighty percent, Kang Si Ran felt he could accept it! As long as some Source Condensing Pills could be refined to alleviate the current situation, everything else was immaterial.
What he worried about now was that Yang Kai had not produced a single Source Condensing Pill yet! Were it not for it being taboo to disturb an Alchemist while they were performing Alchemy, Kang Si Ran would have rushed inside the Alchemy Room long ago.
The noise from the crowd outside grew more intense by the moment, only fueling Kang Si Ran’s anxiety.
*Kacha…*
Suddenly, a soft sound rang out.
Kang Si Ran was taken aback for a moment but was immediately overjoyed as he stared at the door to the Alchemy Room open.
Before it even fully opened, Kang Si Ran rushed in.
Ignoring the blistering heat inside the Alchemy Room, Kang Si Ran rushed over to Yang Kai’s side before swiftly sweeping his eyes around, quickly discovering a pile of medicine slag in one of the corners not far away.
These were naturally the burnt remnants of failed Spirit Pills.
Fortunately, the amount was not too great, probably just ten percent of the total herbs he had delivered earlier.
As for what he had delivered exactly, Kang Si Ran had given Yang Kai a hundred sets of ingredients for Source Condensing Pill’s seven days ago.
Now the only question was how many of those sets of materials had Alchemist Yang consumed. If he knew that, Kang Si Ran could estimate the herb attrition rate.
“Alchemist Yang…” Kang Si Ran forced a smile onto his face, cupped his fists, and asked, “Have you refined the requested Spirit Pills?”
“En, they’re all here,” Yang Kai stretched out his hand and waved, producing more than thirty jade bottles from his Space Ring.
*Si…*
Seeing this scene, Kang Si Ran could not help drawing a sharp breath as he stared at the jade bottles on the ground stupidly, his whole body frozen in shock.
Yang Kai looked at him in amazement, and called out, “Shopkeeper Kang?”
Only then did Kang Si Ran recover, twist his stiff neck, and stare at Yang Kai, “Alchemist Yang, are these all Source Condensing Pills?”
“Of course, Shopkeeper Kang can check them if he wants.”
Hearing what he said, Kang Si Ran did not hesitate anymore, stretched out his hand, swept up a few of the jade bottles, and began uncapping them one by one, discovering that the contents were really all Source Condensing Pills with pure coloured exteriors and fragrant aromas.
Each bottle had ten pills, and there were more than thirty bottles here, which meant there were at least three hundred Source Condensing Pills!
This number appeared in Kang Si Ran’s mind and pounded down on his brain like a hammer, making him dizzy and unable to think.
[How could this be? How is this possible? Is this all a dream?]
In just seven days, one person had refined more than three hundred Source Condensing Pills. That was equivalent to the results all three Alchemists Spirit Pill Plaza had employed before could produce!
Was Yang Kai more competent than all three of those Alchemists put together? Kang Si Ran completely lost his ability to think and was unable to regain his composure for a long time. Everything in front of him subverted his understanding of common sense.
Seeing this scene, Yang Kai could not help cursing in his heart.
It seemed he had still taken out too many. If he had known earlier, he would have pocketed another hundred for himself.
Refining Source Condensing Pills was actually not difficult for Yang Kai; after all, it was only an Origin King Grade Mid-Rank Spirit Pill while Yang Kai had been capable of refining Origin King Grade High-Rank pills for quite some time. It was just that he had never refined this particular Spirit Pill before as he lacked the appropriate recipe.
As such, after a few initial failures, things had progressed smoothly.
The number of pills he could produce per furnace was also gradually improving.
At first, he could only refine two or three pills from a single set of materials, but as time passed, condensing four or five per furnace became the norm. Out of the hundred sets of materials, Yang Kai had refined almost all of them into pills successfully, so he wound up with roughly four hundred finished pills.
Yang Kai secretly pocketed a hundred Spirit Pills so his performance did not look so shocking.
But now, it seems that there would have been no problem with him pocketing two hundred.
He needed Source Condensing Pills himself, and a large amount of them at that. Even if he could not use them all up, he could still sell them. There was no need to worry about finding a customer for Source Condensing Pills.
Kang Si Ran’s expression, which was a mix of joy and shock, annoyed Yang Kai greatly.
But… Fortunately, he had kept all the Source Condensing Pills which formed Pill Veins for himself, which was a small comfort.
After a long time, Kang Si Ran let out a burst of slightly awkward laughter.
Yang Kai seemed to understand Kang Si Ran’s mood a bit, so he remained silent.
After all, Kang Si Ran had not expected Yang Kai’s performance to be so outstanding. A one-time refinement had actually resulted in the same number of pills, if not more than all three of the Alchemists he had hired before. Kang Si Ran had originally only prayed that Yang Kai wouldn’t waste too many herbs, so this result was a huge surprise.
The violent ups and downs his emotions had experienced these past few days made it impossible for Kang Si Ran to restrain the joy in his heart or express it properly, so he could only let out this feeble laughter.
“How is that possible? Old Ghost Kang actually brought out more than thirty bottles of Source Condensing Pills? Are you sure?” Inside Pill Pavilion, Zhuo Ning Si’s pretty face was extremely gloomy as she stared at the First-Order Origin King in front of her and questioned.
The short and chubby cultivator nodded hurriedly, “Subordinate is certain! Those thirty bottles of Spirit Pills were indeed all Source Condensing Pills. Once they were taken out, they were snatched up by all the customers rapidly. Subordinate was only able to obtain three pills after exerting all his effort before returning as promptly as possible.”
Saying so, he respectfully took out a jade bottle containing three Spirit Pills and presented it to Zhuo Ning Si.
Because the Source Condensing Pills of Spirit Pill Plaza were so popular, Kang Si Ran had stipulated that all customers could only buy three of them at once.
Three Source Condensing Pills were enough for one Origin King Realm cultivator to use between ten days to half a month. Once a cultivator had used up their supply, they would need to return to Spirit Pill Plaza to purchase more Source Condensing Pills.
This selling method was also an important reason why Spirit Pill Plaza’s Source Condensing Pills were so popular.
Because of the tight supply of Source Condensing Pill, this kind of Spirit Pill also appeared on the black market of Maplewood City frequently, and although the price was often more than twenty percent higher there, they were still snatched up immediately.
Many Origin Kings did not care about the extra twenty percent charge as they were more concerned about converting their Saint Qi to Source Qi as soon as possible.
“They’re really Source Condensing Pills?” Zhuo Ning Si poured out the three Spirit Pills and furrowed her brow even further.
“Shopkeeper, were these Spirit Pills refined by that man named Yang Kai?” The chunky cultivator asked.
Zhuo Ning Si snorted coldly, “Do you think he is capable of refining so many Spirit Pills in just ten days? What kind of Alchemy Grandmaster do you think he is? Even an average Dao Source Grade Alchemist would not have such ability!”
“It is as the shopkeeper says, this subordinate was mistaken,” The short and fat cultivator thought about it and quickly agreed. Although he was not an Alchemist himself, he still knew about how Spirit Pills were refined and how many pills would come out per furnace, as well as how many pills one Alchemist could refine in such a limited time.
Even if there was technically enough time to refine more than three hundred Spirit Pills in ten days, doing so would be impossible because of the consumption of strength required.
“It seems Old Ghost Kang still had some hidden inventory,” Zhuo Ning Si muttered thoughtfully, “That old dog is really not easy to deal with.”
“What shall we do then? Subordinate has heard that Violet Source Chamber of Commerce has already dispatched two Alchemists to Maplewood City, and they will arrive within two months. If we cannot force Spirit Pill Plaza to close down within that time, we will lose this chance.”
Zhuo Ning Si heard these words and gently nodded, a cold murderous intent flashing across her pair of beautiful eyes.
When this murderous intent bloomed, the chubby cultivator couldn’t help shuddering slightly.
“Go keep watch over Spirit Pill Plaza, if there are any disturbances, report to me immediately,” Zhuo Ning Si waved her hand.
“Yes.”
After the fat cultivator left, Zhuo Ning Si picked up one of the Source Condensing Pills again with a puzzled expression. Sniffing and observing it carefully for a time, she could not help whispering, “Strange, this pill doesn’t look like it has been stored for a long time; rather, it looks freshly refined…”
She had noticed this almost immediately; after all, although Zhuo Ning Si was not an Alchemist, she dealt with Spirit Pills all year round.
The three Spirit Pills had a radiant lustre to them and bright, pure colours, indicating their quality was quite high. What concerned Zhuo Ning Si the most, though, was that these Spirit Pills seemed to have been refined recently.
[Could these really be from that Alchemist named Yang Kai?]
As soon as she had this thought though, Zhuo Ning Si rejected it.
No matter what, she did not dare to believe that one person could refine so many Spirit Pills in such a short period of time. She would rather believe that these were hidden away by Old Ghost Kang some time ago in preparation for an emergency and just now taken out.
After pondering for a moment, she stretched out her slender jade fingers and tossed one of the Spirit Pills into her mouth, swallowing it down before beginning to refine the medicinal efficacies.
She had reached the pinnacle of the Origin King Realm, and all of her Saint Qi had been transformed into Source Qi already, so she didn’t need the assistance of Source Condensing Pills anymore. She only did this to test the medicinal efficacies of these Spirit Pill.
Initially, Zhuo Ning Si’s expression was completely normal, but as time passed and the medicinal efficacies surged through her body, her face changed slightly. Opening her beautiful eyes, she called out in alarm, “This is…”
She discovered that the medicinal power contained in this Source Condensing Pill was actually stronger than the Source Condensing Pills previously sold by Spirit Pill Plaza.
Although this increase was quite subtle, hardly noticeable, it was nonetheless there.
“Did Old Ghost Kang ask some Grandmaster to improve the pill recipe?” Zhuo Ning Si suddenly thought of a possibility.
The Source Condensing Pill recipe that Spirit Pill Plaza used was something Zhuo Ning Si was extremely envious of and also the main reason she had not hesitated to poach the three Alchemists from her opponent.
Those three Alchemists, for various reasons, refused to leak the pill recipes they used back in Spirit Pill Plaza, but there was no problem with them using it themselves. As long as Zhou Ning Si was able to poach them for her Pill Pavilion, the Source Condensing Pills she sold would be the same as the ones sold by Spirit Pill Plaza at worst. At that point, the only advantage Spirit Pill Plaza had would evaporate and suppressing them would be even easier.
As such, today’s discovery angered Zhuo Ning Si greatly.
Old Ghost Kang was simply too cunning. He must have known about her plan long ago and decided to change the pill recipe again, increasing the efficacy of Spirit Pill Plaza’s Source Condensing Pills once more.
This way, Spirit Pill Plaza would still occupy an advantage in terms of medicinal efficacies.
Zhuo Ning Si’s breathing became hurried as she fumed internally. With things as they are, what point was there in her spending so much effort to poach those three Alchemists?
“Old Ghost Kang, just you wait! In a few days, the Star Envoy of the Star Soul Palace will arrive in Maplewood City. Let us see how you fight against this Mistress then!” Zhuo Ning Si muttered to herself.
At the same time, inside Spirit Pill Plaza’s underground Alchemy Room.
Yang Kai was sitting cross-legged as he reviewed the Alchemy he had performed over the past few days, analysing his results and mistakes.
After refining so many furnaces of Source Condensing Pills, he had naturally obtained some benefits other than the hundred Source Condensing Pills he had pocketed. His perceptions and insights into the Alchemic Dao had also increased somewhat.
A few years ago, he had triggered the Grand Alchemic Dao Tone on Water Moon Star, and since then he had a unique advantage over others when it came to the Alchemic Dao. That time, the Grand Alchemic Dao Tone had given him a significant boost in terms of his fundamental Alchemy talent.
If he was being blunt, his current Alchemy aptitude was not inferior to the Sacred Spirit Medicine Body of Xia Ning Chang, even superior in some respects.
It was for this reason that he was able to so easily use the new pill recipes he just received and even refine better Spirit Pills than normal.
Zhuo Ning Si had guessed wrong. The Source Condensing Pill recipe of Spirit Pill Plaza had not changed; what was different was that when Yang Kai refined pills, the medicinal liquid he condensed was far purer, so the end products had slightly better efficacy.
And this was only the beginning. Yang Kai believed that as he refined more Spirit Pills, the quality of pill he could produce would only continue to increase.
Kang Si Ran had delivered Yang Kai another hundred sets of Source Condensing Pill materials but had also insisted that Yang Kai take a few more days to rest before refining any more.
He was far more concerned about Yang Kai’s physical condition than Yang Kai was himself!
Now, inside Spirit Pill Plaza, Yang Kai was the only available Alchemist, but he was as good as the three previous Alchemists combined, so how could Kang Si Ran possibly show any neglect? After taking the three hundred or so Source Condensing Pills that day, Kang Si Ran’s attitude towards Yang Kai became even friendlier and more respectful, to the point where he was willing to accept any request Yang Kai made.
Having said that, Yang Kai did not really seem to have any special requests.
Right now, Yang Kai was digesting the Alchemy insights he gained over the past few days while using Source Condensing Pills to transform his own body’s power.
A few days passed in a hurry before Yang Kai once again began refining pills.
A hundred sets of materials were divided up and prepared as Yang Kai sat solemnly in front of his Purple Origin Furnace. Conflagrated Spiritual Energy burst from his Knowledge Sea to heat the furnace as he placed the various herbs into it, using his powerful Divine Sense to burn away the impurities while condensing medicinal liquid. Simultaneously, he portrayed one auxiliary Spirit Array after another to enhance the refinement process.
Yang Kai’s movements were light, fluid, and extremely skilful, without the slightest stiffness, while his mastery of heat would make even an Emperor Grade Alchemist nod in approval.
The improvement of his innate talent had made Alchemy even easier for Yang Kai.
Refining pills was now akin to eating and drinking, a near instinctual task to him. He clearly knew when to portray what kind of Spirit Array, which kind of Spirit Array would work best, and what level of heat various herbs should be subjected to in order to best refine them.
When Alchemy became natural, failure became something that required conscious effort.
Supplemented by his powerful Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, a natural advantage all Alchemists dreamed of, Yang Kai had already walked far ahead of many masters on the Alchemic Dao.
All of this was despite him not putting much time and effort into this profession.
The Dao was a long and dark road, one that was all but impossible to see far ahead on, and only a few lucky individuals could traverse smoothly.
Yang Kai was one of these lucky few.
As pill fragrance began to diffuse, Yang Kai’s expression became more focused, not taking any refinement lightly because of his own skill, instead taking things even more seriously.
Inside the Purple Origin Furnace, various medicinal liquids blended together and underwent a magical transformation under the manipulations of various Spirit Arrays and Yang Kai’s Conflagrated Spiritual Energy.
When the pill fragrance reached a certain concentration, Yang Kai’s hands suddenly moved.
Forming a series of mysterious seals with both his hands, he sent a subtle but profound stream of light into the Purple Origin Furnace, one that swiftly formed a strange pattern before disappearing.
An ancient and desolate aura suddenly permeated the air, one that did not seem to belong to the current era and was clearly evoked by Yang Kai’s movements
However, despite this, the method Yang Kai was using seemed to perfectly coincide with the Alchemic Dao and contained an infinite mystery.
While using this technique, Yang Kai’s Qi and Spiritual Energy flooded out in a great torrent and were consumed rapidly.
Nine Heavens Profound Pill Method!
This was an extremely profound Pill Condensing Technique, an Art which had no use in cultivation but was extremely important for Alchemists when they were condensing pills.
There were countless ways and methods to condense pills in this world, and each one had its own advantages. Grandmaster Zuo De, who had competed with Yang Kai in Water Sky City once, used his own Red Lotus Divine Hands Method to condense pills, a method which many Alchemists from Yang Kai’s native Star Field drooled over.
In the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture, there was also an extremely advanced Pill Condensing method that Yang Kai had once studied.
However, this Nine Heavens Profound Pill Method was not from the True Alchemy Enlightenment Scripture, but rather came directly from the Grand Alchemic Dao Tone.
As the last moment of the contest between Yang Kai and Zuo De that day, he had received this Pill Condensing Technique from the Grand Alchemic Dao Tone.
That Pill Condensing Technique was the prototype of the Nine Heavens Profound Pill Method and was the culmination of all Yang Kai’s knowledge and comprehension of the Alchemic Dao.
With the aid of the Grand Alchemic Dao Tone, an omnipotent and omnipresent manifestation of the Heavenly Way, Yang Kai had managed to comprehend this Pill Condensing Technique.
As such, the Nine Heavens Profound Pill Method could essentially be regarded as a crystallization of the Alchemic Dao and Heavenly Way.
The Heavens worked in mysterious ways and only those who were predestined could realize something from it directly, but the benefits of doing so were unimaginable.
Yang Kai’s Nine Heavens Profound Pill Method was a product of the Heavenly Way itself, one he was only able to spy upon by coincidence.
Even if he wanted to teach this technique to others, it would be impossible as it was imparted specifically to him, and created for him, by the Grand Alchemic Dao Tone.
At that time, Yang Kai felt that this Pill Condensing Technique was extremely abstruse and mysterious, not something he could achieve mastery of in a short time.
Now looking at it, its difficulty makes sense. After all, the Nine Heavens Profound Pill Method, which Yang Kai had obtained in his native Star Field, was still considered an extremely high-end technique in the Star Boundary.
Every furnace of pills he refined, Yang Kai used the Nine Heavens Profound Pill Method to condense.
At this moment, it was once more time to condense the Spirit Pills.
As Yang Kai began using the Nine Heavens Profound Pill Method, the pill fragrance inside the Alchemy Room became more and more intense and once a certain critical limit had been reached, a popping sound rang out from the Purple Origin Furnace.
Realizing that the time had come, Yang Kai reached out and patted the Purple Origin Furnace, causing the lid to fly off and six small Spirit Pills to shoot out.
Yang Kai took out a pre-prepared jade bottle immediately and stuffed these pills inside it.
“Only six!” Yang Kai frowned slightly, seemingly a little dissatisfied.
Theoretically speaking, one set of Source Condensing Pill materials could be condensed into nine pills, which was also the absolute limit of a single batch of Spirit Pills. Although Yang Kai had excellent Alchemy aptitude and a unique Pill Condensing Technique like the Nine Heavens Profound Pill Method, he was still just an Origin King Grade High-Rank Alchemist in the end, so condensing six pills at once was his limit.
Nine was perfection, so he was three pills short!
However, this was already quite remarkable. Few Alchemists could condense the maximum number of Spirit Pills per furnace, and all who could were Grandmasters whose names echoed across the entire Star Boundary!
Even for those Grandmasters though, there were times when things went wrong, so it was impossible for them to always achieve success.
Six was a number impossible to reach for most ordinary Dao Source Grade Alchemists, so Yang Kai being able to accomplish this was mostly thanks to his Nine Heavens Profound Pill Method.
This was also why Alchemists would fight and even kill to obtain excellent Pill Condensing Techniques, because a superb Pill Condensing Technique meant that they could refine more pills per furnace, in essence saving materials, time, and energy.
When Yang Kai first began refining Source Condensing Pills, he was only able to condense two pills per furnace, but after just a dozen days or so, he could consistently condense six per batch, a terrifying accomplishment no one would believe possible.
Although it seemed that he was not far from the limit of nine, sometimes taking even a single step forward was all but impossible. In order to reach the upper limit, Yang Kai would require an enormous amount of practice and experience.
Yang Kai spent seven days consuming all one hundred sets of materials.
As usual, he deliberately failed to refine more than a dozen furnaces to avoid Kang Si Ran having doubts.
In fact, according to his current skill, even if Yang Kai closed his eyes and only half paid attention, he could still successfully refine a furnace of Source Condensing Pills.
When Kang Si Ran received the summons to pick up the finished pills, his whole being exuded an aura of excitement and happiness.
Even though he had already had such an experience once, Kang Si Ran still couldn’t believe that Yang Kai was able to refine a hundred furnaces of Spirit Pills in such a short time.
In terms of quantity, there was almost no difference from the previous time: three hundred pieces.
The difference this time was that Yang Kai had pocketed more than two hundred Source Condensing Pills!
“Alchemist Yang, it is this old master’s honour to work with you!” Kang Si Ran looked at Yang Kai with a smile on his face, “If it had not been for Alchemist Yang’s presence, my Spirit Pill Plaza would really have been forced to close. Thanks are not enough to express this old master’s gratitude. If Alchemist Yang has any need of this old master’s assistance in the future, he needs to simply ask and this old master will do his utmost to help.”
“This is just a simple business transaction; Shopkeeper Kang is far too serious.” Yang Kai smiled lightly.
Yang Kai’s humility and kindness made Kang Si Ran smile even more heartily. He had never before met such a young, capable, yet humble Alchemist.
Which of the three previous Alchemists in Spirit Pill Plaza’s employ had not been a difficult character to work with?
Every time Kang Si Ran would come to collect pills from them, the three Alchemists would have gloomy expressions on their faces, like he owed them millions of Source Crystals. Even if his cultivation was higher than theirs, Kang Si Ran always had to wear a flattering smile and act cautiously around them.
Kang Si Ran also had to provide them with special rewards!
For example, every time Fan Hong finished a round of Alchemy, Kang Si Ran would have to arrange a beautiful virgin for him to ‘relax’ with, and the cultivation of this virgin could not be lower than the Origin Returning Realm!
There were indeed many cultivators at the Origin Returning Realm in Maplewood City, but the price Spirit Pill Plaza had to pay in order to so frequently find women who met Fan Hong’s requirements was not low! The demands of the other two Alchemists were even more outrageous. One of them needed to drink a bottle of Ten Thousand Safflower Wine, which was only available in the City Lord’s Mansion, while the other required a Demon Flame Fruit which grew only in the depths of the Demon Flame Marsh!
That Ten Thousand Safflower Wine cost a thousand Source Crystals for a single cup! What’s more, it was an exclusive product of the City Lord’s Mansion and wasn’t generally sold to the public. If not for Kang Si Ran having some specific connections, he would not have been able to acquire this drink.
The Demon Flame Fruit was even rarer. Only a few fruit trees that produced the Demon Flame Fruit grew near the centre of the Demon Flame Marsh. Only occasionally would some adventurers be able to return with a few of these Demon Flame Fruits. Naturally, something so rare was expensive. Five thousand Source Crystals to obtain a single fruit was considered a bargain, while seven or eight thousand was entirely possible! What was worse was that this fruit did not serve any purpose in cultivation and could only be eaten to appreciate its taste.
Whenever he thought back on those times, Kang Si Ran’s heart felt like bleeding.
What’s more, this Alchemist Yang was not only friendly, he also had no strange extra conditions, just a few pill recipes were enough to satisfy him.
Compared to Yang Kai, with his noble and righteous character, those other three Alchemists were simply trash!
Now, those three Alchemists were that cheap slut Zhuo Ning Si’s, problem to deal with. Thinking this way, Kang Si Ran’s mood was bolstered greatly.
“Alchemist Yang, would you like to rest for a few more days? With the Source Condensing Pills you have provided this time, Spirit Pill Plaza won’t need to worry about supply for at least half a month,” Kang Si Ran saw Yang Kai working so hard and felt quite moved, so he took the initiative to make such a proposal.
“Oh? If there are enough Source Condensing Pills, are there perhaps other Spirit Pills that need to be refined?” Yang Kai asked.
Kang Si Ran chuckled, “The demand for other Spirit Pills isn’t very large, so this old master has some in stock still. Please take a rest, Alchemist Yang, there’s no need for you to overwork yourself.”
“All right, I’ll take a rest for a few days,” Yang Kai thought for a while before nodding.
“That would be best. By the way, Alchemist Yang only came to Maplewood City recently, yes? Would you like to accompany this old master tomorrow?”
“Where to?” Yang Kai looked at Kang Si Ran curiously.
Kang Si Ran smiled slightly and said, “Actually, a Star Envoy has come from Star Soul Palace and is now staying in the City Lord’s Mansion. This old master was fortunate enough to be invited to accompany Sir Star Envoy tomorrow on his mission and has been allowed to bring one person with him.”
“A Star Envoy from Star Soul Palace?” Yang Kai raised his brow.
Seeing his expression, Kang Si Ran secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Yang Kai wasn’t so ignorant and uninformed that he didn’t even know about Star Soul Palace. After all, this was the overlord of the entire Southern Territory, the Sect where Bright Moon Great Emperor assumed command.
Bright Moon Great Emperor was one of the Ten Great Emperors.
As the representative of Star Soul Palace, any Star Envoy was obviously highly respected.
“Why would a Star Envoy from Star Soul Palace come to Maplewood City?” Yang Kai frowned; after all, Maplewood City was not prosperous enough to attract the attention of such a character.
But soon, Yang Kai seemed to understand, “Is it because of Clear Jade Mountain?”
“Indeed,” Kang Si Ran nodded and said, “A Luan Feng appeared at Clear Jade Mountain, so during this time, many foreign masters have come to visit Maplewood City in order to investigate Clear Jade Mountain. Alchemist Yang, you have been busy with Alchemy here day and night, so it’s understandable you don’t know what’s happening outside. Sir Star Envoy coming here is naturally because of that Luan Feng, otherwise, how could a tiny Maplewood City attract so many masters?”
“Who else has come?” Yang Kai suddenly became curious.
Yang Kai was not one for gossip, but the movements of the various great forces of the Southern Territory was of interest to him.
Hearing this question, Kang Si Ran explained everything he knew.
“The news of the Luan Feng’s appearance spread very quickly, so most of the top Sects from the Southern Territory have sent representatives. This old master knows that Heavenly Martial Holy Land, Orthodoxy Temple, and Azure Sun Temple have sent Elders. In addition, it seems that our Violet Source Chamber of Commerce and Seven Glories Chamber of Commerce have dispatched masters. However, this old master is only responsible for running a small business, so he was not notified of who the chamber of commerce was sending,” Kang Si Ran said without hesitation. “There are also countless small and medium-sized great forces who have sent their own envoys. The current Maplewood City… is a gathering of dragons and tigers.”
“Do they want to track that Luan Feng’s whereabouts?” Yang Kai looked stunned.
“Naturally not!” Kang Si Ran laughed in surprise, “That Luan Feng is an Ancient Divine Spirit, an existence even the Ten Great Emperors might not be able to take down on their own, so who would dare try to trace its whereabouts? It is just… After all, it was a Divine Spirit that appeared, so it has attracted much attention. Moreover, all the great forces knew that trying to trace her would yield no results, but they could not just ignore her either. Most Sects have not deployed their top-level powerhouses but instead sent out some personnel to make an appearance while also sending some of their promising youths in order for them to gain some life experience.”
“So that’s how it is!”
“Although our Spirit Pill Plaza is nothing worthy of note, it is still the property of Violet Source Chamber of Commerce and a business that Sir City Lord has taken good care of, so this time, in order to welcome and accompany Sir Star Envoy, this old master was added to the invitee list. Is Alchemist Yang interested in travelling together to see the place where the Divine Spirit appeared in Clear Jade Mountain? This old master has heard that the black flames there are still burning and that not even Dao Source Realm cultivators can enter too deep. However, even from the outskirts, it would be a chance to expand one’s horizons, and if one is able to comprehend anything from those World Extinguishing Black Flames, it would be a great profit.”
[I’ve already deeply experienced those black flames,] Yang Kai thought to himself.
When that Luan Feng first appeared, Yang Kai was in Clear Jade Mountain.
It could be said that among the cultivators who were able to observe the Luan Feng up close and personal, only Yang Kai had survived, all the others had perished.
As such, Yang Kai was naturally not interested in Kang Si Ran’s proposal.
And so, he declined Kang Si Ran’s invitation. Although Shopkeeper Kang felt it was a pity, he did not say much; after all, not everyone was interested in showing their face to Sir Star Envoy in hopes of somehow currying favour with him. Everyone had their own ambitions and preferences, so Kang Si Ran didn’t force the issue.
Kang Si Ran even somewhat admired Yang Kai’s free and easy disposition, so he simply encouraged him to take a few days to rest before taking his leave.
Yang Kai cleaned himself up and then left Spirit Pill Plaza to return to the secluded home he had rented in Maplewood City.
The next day, a magnificent, extremely large, and luxurious flying ship set out from the City Lord’s Mansion and headed towards Clear Jade Mountain. Emblazoned on the side of this ship was a shining moon symbol.
This was naturally the insignia of the Southern Territory’s Supreme Sect, Star Soul Palace.
All of Maplewood City was simply abuzz at the mere sight.
Yang Kai, on the other hand, ignored all this and went to rent a White Jade Dragon Horse carriage before ordering the coachman to head to a certain street in the west of the city.
Even if Maplewood City was a small, unknown city in the Southern Territory, it still occupied an extremely vast area, and since flying and flight type artifacts were not allowed inside the city, if cultivators wanted to save time on the road, they could only rent one of the White Jade Dragon Horse carriages. These White Jade Dragon Horses were rumoured to have the blood of ancient dragons flowing through their veins, but this bloodline was extremely thin. These Monster Beasts had a gentle temperament and were easy to domesticate while possessing great speed, so they were well suited for pulling carriages.
After just half an hour, Yang Kai arrived at his destination.
Yang Kai paid for the ride before getting off the carriage and moving to a remote alleyway where he took out a set of clothes he had prepared in advance from his Space Ring and donned them. With his face and figure covered by these black robes, Yang Kai walked straight out into the bustling street ahead.
This was the location of the black market in Maplewood City!
Although he had not been in Maplewood City for long, Yang Kai had already inquired about the existence of this black market.
The black market here was a place that could not openly exist, but its existence in this street was essentially condoned by Maplewood City’s City Lord’s Mansion. Here, spoils people obtained after killing others and robbing them, as well as certain other items which could not be sold aboveboard could be found.
There were also many items of unknown origin sold in this place.
The cultivators who streamed in and out of the black market all abided by certain unspoken rules, the most important of which were that no one asked the origin of any item, no one asked for any names, and after transactions were settled, there were no refunds.
In this kind of place, it was easy to find treasures, so it is very popular among Maplewood City’s cultivators and was always crowded.
However, because of the customs here, it was also easy for substandard and counterfeit goods to be mixed in with genuine ones. This was a kind of test of a buyer’s vision and knowledge. If someone was deceived because of their greed or ignorance, they had no one to blame but themselves.
Yang Kai was originally worried that his black robes and covered hat would draw too much attention; after all, hiding one’s appearance was a clear indication that one was up to no good.
But when he entered the street where the black market was located, he found that his worries were unnecessary.
There were many cultivators dressed similarly to him, so Yang Kai was quickly able to relax.
As soon as he entered the street, an old man with shifty eyes quietly came up to him, glancing around, acting all mysterious as he tugged on Yang Kai’s clothes and motioned him over.
“Speak quickly,” Yang Kai said coldly.
“Little Brother, this old master wants to tell you about something good, not something that can be discussed out here in the open; after all, the walls have ears in this place.” As the old man spoke, he glanced around vigilantly, as if someone really was watching.
“Then don’t talk about it,” Yang Kai naturally knew these kinds of people would linger in a place like this, so he didn’t want to waste any time on this old man.
Saying so, he stepped forward and walked off.
“Ah, Little Brother, don’t go!” The old man hurriedly caught up and blocked Yang Kai’s path, gritting his teeth as he said, “Alright, Little Brother seems to be a busy man, so this old master won’t waste your time; here, take a look at this!”
Saying so, he took out a crumpled piece of animal skin from his chest pocket. This animal skin looked very old and was clearly made from some kind of Monster Beast leather. Some subtle energy fluctuations were coming from this animal skin and a series of complex lines crisscrossed its surface, making it look extremely profound.
The old man showed the animal skin paper to Yang Kai quickly before hiding it away in the next instant, speaking with some slight grief in his tone, “This old master will speak frankly, this is a hidden treasure map that has been passed down through this old master’s family for generations. This old master’s ancestors once served Heaven Devouring Great Emperor and this treasure map leads to Heaven Devouring Great Emperor’s hidden treasury! This old master’s strength is weak, however, so he is unable to make use of this map. Today, this old master was fortunate enough to see Little Brother and instantly knew he was a man of great destiny, one who would be worthy of obtaining this treasure map! What does little brother think? Will he purchase this map?”
“Heaven Devouring Great Emperor?” Yang Kai raised his brow.
“En!”
“The Great Emperor who cultivated the Heaven Devouring Battle Law?”
“Who else but him?” The old man looked at Yang Kai with joy, “It turns out that Little Brother even knows about the Heaven Devouring Battle Law. That is a peak-level Secret Art that is not tolerated by Heaven and Earth. Speaking truthfully, this Secret Art is very likely inside the hidden treasury. If Little Brother can obtain this Secret Art, his rise to the Ten Great Emperors will be just around the corner!”
“Hehe, I already know the Heaven Devouring Battle Law, so I am not interested in your hidden treasury. You should find someone else.”
“This old master will sell this big opportunity to Little Brother for just five thousand Source Crystals! Is little brother really willing to pass up such a fortuitous encounter?” The old man shouted from behind towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai didn’t even bother with him anymore.
The old man suddenly put on an angry face and spat, “Smelly brat, if you don’t want to buy it then just say so instead of boasting so shamelessly! Saying he already knows the Heaven Devouring Battle Law; does he take this old master as a fool?”
After shouting out loud, the old man muttered to himself, “Is this trick too easy for others to see through…? Should I use a different approach?”
As this old man was worrying he wouldn’t be able to deceive anyone for a few months and would really wind up penniless, he suddenly saw another cultivator walk up the street, a young girl who looked less than twenty years old. This girl was a great beauty with an outstanding figure, but a large crescent-shaped birthmark that covered her right cheek ruined her overall beauty, causing many who saw her to sigh.
The girl was skipping around the street, like a playful spirit, an innocent look covering her face.
Upon seeing this, the old man immediately greeted her with the kindest smile he could muster on his face.
“You… what do you want?” The girl was startled and immediately stepped back from the old man warily.
“Don’t be afraid, Little Girl! This old master has no malicious intent!” The old man smiled more and more kindly.
“Then what do you want to do?” The girl looked the old man up and down, with a trace of instinctive vigilance still apparent in her clear, beautiful eyes.
The old man chuckled while pretending to be mysterious, “This old master seems to share some destiny with this little girl, so he would like to deliver you a big opportunity!”
When the girl heard this, her beautiful eyes brightened and she asked happily, “A big opportunity? What kind of big opportunity? Hurry up and talk about it!”
She was excited from the bottom of her heart as she secretly thought that the legendary stories that Aunty Feng told her when she was a child were true. Opportunities and fortuitous encounters were something real! In those childhood stories, ordinary cultivators would sometimes receive guidance or benefits from mysterious elders, allowing them to soar up into the sky and become supreme existences, worshipped and adored by countless others.
When she was young, she had loved listening to these stories but after coming out for the past half-year, she had not encountered any such situation, causing her to think that her Aunty Feng was simply making them up.
Now, though, there was a mysterious old man who wanted to give himself a big opportunity standing right in front of her! The young girl was so excited that suddenly, in her eyes, the old man who was clearly an old trickster now looked like a powerful hidden master who was stealthily searching for an appropriate inheritor to his legacy in this crowded place!
Now, this old master had seen that she was a peerless genius, one in hundreds of millions, so he had chosen her.
As for his casual… or rather his sloppy appearance, shouldn’t a powerful master who was trying to hide themselves look like this?
“Heh heh heh…” The old man flashed his big yellow teeth as he reached into his chest pocket to take out a crumpled animal skin…
…..
“Grandma, is there a shop that deals in Spirit Pills around here?” Yang Kai stood in front of a stall, looking at the silver-haired, trembling old woman, and asked.
“One for five hundred Source Crystals, they were refined by this old woman personally,” The old woman looked at Yang Kai with a smile on her face and pointed to the pile of odd objects Yang Kai could not even identify in front of her.
Yang Kai frowned and asked again, “I asked if there are any pill shops around here!”
“Oh, if you buy two, this old woman can give you a small discount, just nine hundred Source Crystals,” The old woman raised her hand and swung it lightly, as if she was offering him a great bargain.
“Don’t pretend to be deaf and dumb with me. Do you think I won’t smash your stall?” Yang Kai spat viciously at the old woman in front of him before releasing his Third-Order Origin King aura.
The old woman’s complexion changed and her senility from just now disappeared, her eyes becoming cold and stern as she spat, “Little Brat, don’t you know how to respect your elders? So impolite.”
“A First-Order Origin King pretending to be deaf, do you think I’m a fool?” Yang Kai looked at her contemptuously.
“Go there, don’t block this old woman’s business. These years, business has been getting harder and harder,” The old woman pointed her finger in a certain direction before blinking and restoring her feeble, frail look.
Following the instructions of the old woman, Yang Kai quickly arrived at the door of a shop.
The shop hand here was a normal person, unlike the old women and the old man he had met before, so after seeing Yang Kai, he greeted him enthusiastically before arranging a room for him as well as serving some tea then drawing back.
Yang Kai was not in a hurry, so he waited quietly while tasting the fragrant tea.
The reason why Yang Kai had come to the black market was that he had no other choice.
Right now, he had more than three hundred Source Condensing Pills on him.
These Source Condensing Pills were secretly pocketed by him and there was no way he could use them all up personally. Keeping them around would be a waste, so selling them off was the best option, but… he had no good channel to go about this; after all, the origins of these Source Condensing Pills was not ‘legitimate’.
Yang Kai could not openly sell these pills as that would only draw problems from Spirit Pill Plaza.
As such, he could only come to this black market.
This was the best and most suitable place to pawn off these illicit goods.
Yang Kai basically did not have any Source Crystals on hand, so after selling this batch of Spirit Pills, he would have some emergency funds.
A short while later, a fat man opened the door and walked in. This fat man literally jiggled as he walked and the floor beneath him creaked. There was so much excess flesh on his face that his eyes were nothing more than narrow slits.
As soon as he entered, the fat man cupped his fists enthusiastically and said, “Jin Fu Gui, greets this Young Lord.”
He knowingly did not ask Yang Kai’s name, because people who came here didn’t like others inquiring about themselves.
Yang Kai stood up and returned the courtesy, “Shopkeeper Jin is too polite.”
Sweeping his eyes over this fat man, Yang Kai quickly discovered that he was also a Third-Order Origin King, and the aura fluctuations coming from him were extremely powerful. It seemed this Jin Fu Gui had fully converted his Saint Qi into Source Qi. Masters like this, while not a frequent sight in Maplewood City, still existed in a substantial number. Kang Si Ran and Zhuo Ning Si, for example, could be considered masters in Maplewood City.
Jin Fu Gui quickly sat down, the chair beneath him groaning under the sudden stress.
Smiling widely, he looked at Yang Kai and said, “I’ve heard from my shop-hand that Young Lord wishes to sell a batch of Spirit Pills, yes?”
“Indeed!”
Jin Fu Gui heard this response and his slit eyes flashed, “Dare I ask what kind of Spirit Pills Young Lord wishes to sell? This Jin is a well-known figure in Maplewood City, so Young Lord can rest assured that this Jin will offer a fair price and will never reveal any information about their origin.”
“Shopkeeper Jin saying so puts me at ease,” Yang Kai nodded, reached out, and took out a bottle from his Space Ring before pushing it over to Jin Fu Gui and saying, “Shopkeeper Jin should see for himself what type of Spirit Pill I have come to sell.
Jin Fu Gui nodded to Yang Kai before picking up the jade bottle and un-capping it.
The next moment, Jin Fu Gui could not help raising his brow and muttering in some pleasant surprise, “Source Condensing Pills?”
Source Condensing Pills were always in short supply, especially on the black market. Even if there were not 10,000 customers looking for Source Condensing Pills each day, there were at least 8,000. This kind of Spirit Pill was always snatched up as soon as it appeared, whether it was above or below-board.
Therefore, Jin Fu Gui was extremely satisfied with the goods Yang Kai had brought.
“How many would Young Lord like to sell?”
Yang Kai silently gestured a number.
Jin Fu Gui couldn’t help showing a stunned look this time as he asked unconsciously, “Three hundred? Young Lord was able to obtain three hundred Source Condensing Pills?”
One Source Condensing Pill could be used for ten days by a First-Order Origin King while a Second-Order Origin King would use it up in about six or seven days. As for Third-Orders, three to four days was the norm.
As such, while three hundred Source Condensing Pills may not seem like a large number, it was definitely not small either. Any Origin King who was able to obtain so many Source Condensing Pills would not have to worry about converting their Saint Qi to Source Qi for several years at least.
What Jin Fu Gui was wondering was where Yang Kai had obtained such a large number of Source Condensing Pills!
However, such information was obviously confidential, so he didn’t press for an answer.
After pondering for a moment, Jin Fu Gui said, “Three hundred is no small number, but regarding their quality…”
Yang Kai smiled and said, “Shopkeeper Jin can try one himself.”
Jin Fu Gui did not refuse and nodded. “Then please forgive this Jin for his rudeness.”
Saying so, he poured out a Source Condensing Pill from the jade bottle, stuffed it into his mouth, and silently circulated his Secret Art to refine it. After a while, his fat face shook slightly as a light of surprise flashed across his eyes.
This was a Source Condensing Pill that Yang Kai had refined using the pill recipe provided by Spirit Pill Plaza, so its quality was even better than the Source Condensing Pills previously sold by Spirit Pill Plaza.
Jin Fu Gui was also a Third-Order Origin King who had dealt with Spirit Pills for many years, so how could he not be able to judge this difference?
Secretly shocked, he quickly realized that the origins of these Source Condensing Pills in Yang Kai’s hands were likely quite extraordinary.
The room fell silent for a while as Fatty Jin tapped his hand on the tabletop, as if contemplating something.
After a long silence, he finally spoke, “The quality of this batch of Source Condensing Pills need not even be questioned. En, what does Young Lord think of this price?”
As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and gestured.
Yang Kai couldn’t help sneering, “Shopkeeper Jin, is my batch of Source Condensing Pills only worth such a price in your eyes? If that is the case, I’ll be taking my leave now.”
Jin Fu Gui lightly coughed. “Young Lord, please wait a moment. This batch of Source Condensing Pills is indeed top-notch goods, but selling them in my humble establishment will require some manpower and labour. Young Lord does not intend for this Jin to make no profit at all, right?”
“What Shopkeeper Jin says makes sense,” Yang Kai nodded. “But there is never a need to worry about customers for Source Condensing Pills. I don’t even need to go to any store, all I need to do is stand in the street and shout and I will be able to sell my entire inventory in no time. Shopkeeper Jin, are you sure you want to give up this opportunity to profit?”
Jin Fu Gui’s fat cheeks twitched as he grit his teeth and gestured again, “Then how about the price!”
Yang Kai glanced at him, “Raise it another five hundred and perhaps we will have an opportunity to collaborate again in the future!”
Jin Fu Gui frowned when he heard these words, but soon made a decision and nodded, “Then we will follow Young Lord’s suggestion. I hope that Young Lord will patronize my humble establishment first if he ever has more Source Condensing Pills in the future.”
“Naturally,” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully. “By the way, besides Source Condensing Pills, I have some other pills here. Please give me an estimate of their worth, Shopkeeper Jin.”
The other pills Yang Kai mentioned were naturally the ones he had on hand from performing Alchemy in Blue Feather Sect. There were a variety of different pills, but their grade and popularity naturally could not be compared with the batch of Source Condensing Pills.
Of course, Jin Fu Gui did not care about this. To him, as a black market businessman, as long as he could make money, it was enough.
After bargaining back and forth a bit, Jin Fu Gui collected most of the Spirit Pills Yang Kai had on hand while Yang Kai received nearly 170,000 Source Crystals!
This number finally allowed Yang Kai to relax somewhat.
He had performed Alchemy for nearly a month in Blue Feather Sect, but only earned 30,000 Source Crystals.
Now, in just half a month, he had earned 170,000. The biggest reason for this was because Source Condensing Pills were high demand products.
After leaving Jin Fu Gui’s shop, Yang Kai continued to wear his black robes as he was not in a hurry to return and instead began touring around the black market.
Good deals could be found in this kind of place, but the probability was very small; after all, there weren’t many cultivators who didn’t know what the quality of the goods they owned was and listed and sold some rare treasure as garbage.
Yang Kai walked around but gained nothing.
Just as he was about to go back home, he suddenly heard a somewhat familiar voice from not far away, one that was filled with a trace of anger and grievance as it shouted, “Why must you be so unreasonable!”
Yang Kai was startled when he heard this voice and the image of a cute, innocent girl flashed across his mind.
[Is that possible?] Yang Kai thought to himself. He had only come to Maplewood City a few days ago and wasn’t familiar with many people here, so there was no way he would mistake this voice for someone else.
Curious, he hurriedly over.
Not far away, a crowd of people was standing around watching a small group of people.
Yang Kai made his way through the crowd and looked inward.
In an instant, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
In front of him was a young girl in a long green dress with a slight frown on her face. This girl’s stature was quite petite, but her chest was plentiful. She had a graceful figure, delicate features, and snow-white skin, but her most notable characteristics were the large crescent-shaped birthmark on her cheek, and the few bulging cloth bags hanging on her waist.
[Mo Xiao Qi!]
Yang Kai couldn’t believe his eyes.
It turned out to be Mo Xiao Qi, the innocent girl he had met in Clear Jade Mountain.
[She actually survived?]
Yang Kai could not help breathing a sigh of relief inexplicably when he saw this little girl alive and well, the lingering guilt in his heart disappearing in an instant.
Back on Clear Jade Mountain that day, when the furious Ancient Divine Spirit Luan Feng had released its World Extinguishing Black Flames and wiped out all life within a few hundred kilometres, Mo Xiao Qi had disappeared. Yang Kai was certain she had died and could not help feeling guilty. If he was close enough to Mo Xiao Qi, he could have pulled her into the Sealed World Bead to escape before she was burnt to ashes.
Just because of some discomfort he felt around her, Yang Kai allowed this innocent girl to be killed under the Luan Feng’s anger.
At that time, Yang Kai indeed felt a little guilty. Although he and Mo Xiao Qi weren’t familiar with one another, his impression of her was still quite good. There were very few girls like Mo Xiao Qi in this world.
Seeing her again now, while Yang Kai was delighted, he was also quite curious about how she managed to escape at that time. After all, the Luan Feng’s indiscriminate attack was simply too terrifying. If it were not for his Sealed World Bead, Yang Kai was certain he too would have died that day.
However, when he thought carefully about how the origins of this girl were extremely mysterious and about her dazzling array of high-end artifacts, perhaps… she had an extremely powerful artifact that had somehow allowed her to escape that crisis.
Thinking so, Yang Kai’s evaluation of Mo Xiao Qi rose even higher!
After all, an artifact that could withstand the furious attack of a Luan Feng needed to be at least Emperor Grade. Mo Xiao Qi being able to possess an Emperor Artifact proved that her background was simply unimaginable.
However, at this moment, this young girl with such a strong background was once again involved in trouble.
Opposite her, a group of cultivators stood around a young man like stars surrounding a bright moon. This young man had a jade carved face and a suave appearance, but his pair of wicked eyes kept sweeping over Mo Xiao Qi unscrupulously, lingering quite a bit on her full peaks that could draw the attention of any man.
However, when his gaze shifted to Mo Xiao Qi’s face, he could not help flashing a regretful expression, as if he hated the unfairness of the Heavens and was about to shed tears of blood!
“Why are you being so unreasonable? I saw this thing first and even paid for it, so why should I give it to you?” Mo Xiao Qi was holding something behind her back, facing off against a group of a dozen men without the slightest fear.
“Girl, there are some things beyond your control. Since my Young Lord is interested in this item, he must have it. We will pay you double the Source Crystals you bought it for so please hand it over and we can avoid any unpleasantness,” On the other side, a man coldly snorted and as he spoke, he intentionally released his aura in a threatening manner.
“What would I need your Source Crystals for?” Mo Xiao Qi pursed her lips, turning her head to the elderly stall owner and saying, “Tell me, did I buy it from you first?”
The old man could not help frowning as he glanced between Mo Xiao Qi and then dozen or so menacing men and awkwardly laughed, “I… I guess?”
“What do you mean ‘you guess?’” Mo Xiao Qi looked at him in amazement, “Didn’t I give you the Source Crystals already? I even gave you some extra as a sign of gratitude, but you didn’t even thank me.”
The old man’s mouth twitched as he fell silent.
The young man who had been surrounded by cultivators on the other side suddenly chuckled and turned to the old seller, “Old man, how many Source Crystals did this girl pay you?”
The old man’s expression became embarrassed as he hesitated for a moment before stating, “Eight thousand!”
“Eight thousand, en, not too many. This Young Lord will pay you ten thousand, so why not sell that item to me?” The young man looked at the old man with a smile.
“Ten thousand?” The old man was overjoyed when he heard this and nodded hurriedly, “Good, good…” After agreeing, he looked embarrassed again though, “But this thing has already been bought by this girl…”
“So what? This is business: The one who offers the higher price wins,” The young man smiled heartily and looked at Mo Xiao Qi. “Girl, you should understand clearly now. This Young Lord will buy this thing for ten thousand Source Crystals, please hand it over…”
“The higher price wins?” Mo Xiao Qi grit her teeth angrily and before the young man could finish, she shouted, “Good, then I’ll pay twenty thousand for it.”
Hearing this, the old seller was both surprised and delighted, never having expected that one of his items would sell for such a high price. At the same time, he was a bit annoyed with himself. Since these two parties were willing to fight so vigorously over this item, clearly it was quite valuable, but he himself was unable to recognize it and had just sold it as an ordinary trinket, allowing others to pick up a bargain.
The young man frowned, a ruthless expression appearing on his face as he shouted, “This Young Lord will pay thirty thousand then! You think you have more Source Crystals than this Young Lord?”
“Fifty thousand!” Mo Xiao Qi threw out a number lightly, but they pounded down on the young man’s head like a hammer, causing him to even shrink his neck slightly.
The young man lost all patience at that moment and roared, “Girl! Do you know who this Young Lord is? How dare you try to steal from me!”
“I don’t know who you are,” Mo Xiao Qi looked at him with clear disgust, “Besides, aren’t you the one trying to steal from me? You’re a liar!”
“Good! You little skank. It seems you will not regret unless you see your coffin! If so, this Young Lord will let you understand, I am Flying Saint Palace’s Young Palace Master, Ning Yuan Cheng. If you understand your place now, hand over that thing and then scram, if you don’t… Heh heh heh, this Young Lord will make both you and that thing stay behind!”
Ning Yuan Cheng smiled deviously as he shot a malicious look towards Mo Xiao Qi.
“Flying Saint Palace!”
“He’s Ning Yuan Cheng?”
“That girl is in big trouble.”
After Ning Yuan Cheng’s voice fell, before Mo Xiao Qi could even respond, the surrounding crowd began to whisper among themselves slightly.
After all, while Flying Saint Palace was not a first-class force in the Southern Territory and could not be mentioned in the same sentence as Heavenly Martial Holy Land, Orthodoxy Temple, or Azure Sun Temple, it still had some reputation and was far stronger than the forces around Maplewood City.
As Flying Saint Palace’s Young Palace Master, Ning Yuan Cheng’s reputation was also not small. At least in the Southern Territory, he was a somewhat known figure.
During this period of time, because of the appearance of a Luan Feng, many great forces had sent representatives to Clear Jade Mountain to investigate the situation, Flying Saint Palace was no exception, and the leader of its delegation was none other than Young Palace Master Ning Yuan Cheng.
However, after exploring Clear Jade Mountain for some time and gaining nothing, Ning Yuan Cheng had decided to stop over in Maplewood City briefly, ultimately leading to this encounter in the black market.
Ning Yuan Cheng had a smug expression on his face, thinking that after announcing his name and the great force behind him, this little woman who did not know the immensity of Heaven and Earth would bow down and apologize, perhaps even offering herself to him to garner his forgiveness.
[En, although this little girl has that ugly birthmark on her face, her figure is really outstanding, especially her chest. They’ll be great fun to play with.]
Once it was night, after the clothes were removed and the lights were extinguished, what one’s face looked like made no difference.
“Flying Saint Palace? What is that? I’ve never heard of it,” Mo Xiao Qi frowned slightly, a blank look on her face.
Ning Yuan Cheng’s proud expression instantly stiffened while the other Flying Saint Palace cultivators wore gloomy faces.
“Bold! How dare you insult my Saint Palace! Capture her! This Young Lord will let her know what Flying Saint Palace is!” Ning Yuan Cheng shouted with a fierce expression on his face.
A dozen or so Origin Kings took action without hesitation.
Maplewood City was a small, out of the way town, whose City Lord was only a Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator. As for the two Vice City Lords, they were just First-Order Dao Sources, making for three Dao Source Realm masters in total, not a force Flying Saint Palace needed to put in their eyes. What’s more, this was the black market of Maplewood City, so even if violence was used, no one would dare raise any fuss.
So what if the City Lord’s Mansion investigated later. Would they dare oppose Flying Saint Palace?
Out of the dozen or so people who rushed out, three of them moved faster than the rest and arrived around Mo Xiao Qi in an instant, two of them reaching for her delicate shoulders while one patted his palm towards her lower abdomen.
From their respective palms, power surged.
They had been ordered by their Young Lord to capture Mo Xiao Qi, not to kill her, so they held back.
The onlookers all exclaimed as they showed looks of pity.
After all, a group of men were acting together to bully a little girl. Although this little girl was also clearly a Third-Order Origin King, just the situation alone was enough to arouse the sympathy of others.
Yang Kai also could not bear to watch what he knew was about to happen and turned his eyes aside.
However, his pity was not aimed at Mo Xiao Qi, but rather at the Flying Saint Palace cultivators who had attacked her.
What happened on Clear Jade Mountain that day was still fresh in Yang Kai’s memory…
Even though he had cultivated the Five Elements Indestructible Sword Tempering Art and had a physique many times more powerful than cultivators in his realm, his hand had been bloodied when he touched Mo Xiao Qi, so what fate awaited these three was quite obvious to him.
What’s more, Yang Kai had only wanted to lead Mo Xiao Qi away with him at that time and thus did not use any of his strength, but these three actually attacked her, so the consequences…
“Ah…*
Sure enough, a series of screams rang out, causing all the surrounding cultivators to stare dumbfounded at the scene before them, their jaws dropped to the ground.
The two cultivators who had grabbed towards Mo Xiao Qi’s shoulders were thrown through the air the moment they laid hands on her, their palms bloodied and torn apart to the point where their bones were visible.
As for the cultivator who palmed towards Mo Xiao Qi’s lower abdomen, he was even more miserable. After his palm landed, while Mo Xiao Qi stumbled backwards a bit from the force, the man actually let out a pitiful scream as he fell backwards, his hand feeling like it was on fire.
Looking closer, at some point, a distorted, horrifying looking face seal had appeared on this man’s hand. As for the man himself, a terrifying howling sound echoed throughout his Knowledge Sea.
The cultivator froze in place instantly as a huge phantom face appeared in his Knowledge Sea and began to drain his Spiritual Energy at an astonishing pace, all the time showing a wicked and intoxicated expression.
This man was completely unable to resist and the light in his eyes quickly dimmed.
“What?” Ning Yuan Cheng saw this scene and immediately cried out in shock.
Everything that happened in front of him here was beyond his ability to understand.
It was clear that his three subordinates were the ones attacking Mo Xiao Qi while she had just stood there, her face flustered, as if she did not even know how to defend herself, but while she was perfectly fine. His three subordinates were the ones who had suffered severely.
Two serious injuries and one death, this kind of result made Nin Yuan Cheng doubt his eyes.
Just what kind of Secret Technique had she used?
Was this girl just playing pig to eating a tiger?
Could she actually be an old witch who had lived for thousands of years and was hiding her cultivation while pretending to be innocent here?
Various thoughts flashed across Ning Yuan Cheng’s mind, causing cold sweat to drip down his back.
“Retreat!” At that moment, the rest of the cultivators who were rushing towards Mo Xiao Qi heard a loud shout in their ears.
All of them realized how precarious their situation was and reacted extremely quickly, not daring to attack Mo Xiao Qi as they scurried back in fright.
A man then walked out from behind Ning Yuan Cheng with a gloomy expression on his face. He was a middle-aged man who had an unassuming look to him and had been standing behind Ning Yuan Cheng silently until now, a calm look on his face. However, now, he actually had to stand in front of Ning Yuan Cheng to protect him.
As the Young Palace Master of Flying Saint Palace, Ning Yuan Cheng had one or two real masters protecting him while he was out travelling.
This middle-aged man was a master from Flying Saint Palace who was responsible for protecting Ning Yuan Cheng, a Second-Order Dao Source Realm master named Liu Yi Zhi.
As a Second-Order Dao Source Realm master, his vision was naturally sharp, so it only took him an instant to realize that Mo Xiao Qi had some kind of extraordinary background. Just now, he had seen that the situation was bad and ordered the other Flying Saint Palace disciples to fall back.
As he stood in front of Ning Yuan Cheng, blocking all angles from which he could be attacked, Liu Yi Zhi stared at Mo Xiao Qi solemnly, seemingly trying to peer through her secrets.
“You… you… what do you want to do?” Mo Xiao Qi didn’t come back to her senses until this moment and though obviously still frightened, tried to put on a strong act and shouted, “You… don’t come here, I’m not good to provoke, if you’re not careful… I’ll punch you!”
The surrounding crowd could help rolling their eyes when they saw and heard this.
[You not being good to provoke is obvious… Why bother saying it yourself?]
Liu Yi Zhi frowned slightly. Although he instinctively felt that Mo Xiao Qi’s expression didn’t seem to be fake, nor like an old witch concealing her cultivation and pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger, he still did not dare to take her lightly.
After thinking for a while, he asked in a deep voice, “Dare I ask this Young Lady’s honoured name?”
Mo Xiao Qi just grit her teeth and stared at him without answering.
Liu Yi Zhi frowned more severely after seeing this. The other party not saying anything put him in an embarrassing position, but under the circumstances, he could only ask again, “Then dare I ask this Young Lady where she hails from? Upon closer inspection, Young Lady seems somewhat familiar, like a certain acquaintance of this old master’s. Perhaps… our two great forces have some kind of connection. If that is really the case, please enlighten us so that we can avoid an awkward conflict between allies and family members.”
He obviously wanted to make big things small and make small things nothing; after all, Mo Xiao Qi’s strange performance made Liu Yi Zhi unable to see through her. Anyone he could not see through was someone not to be provoked easily, lest it invite disaster to the Sect.
This was especially true for the current Maplewood City, as there were dragons and snakes mixed into the crowd everywhere, with various great forces coming from far and wide. Liu Yi believed that Mo Xiao Qi was very likely a disciple from some super force.
As long as someone with a little bit of experience was faced with Liu Yi Zhi’s rhetoric, they would know how to act and cooperate of their own accord.
But Mo Xiao Qi obviously did not have such experience and had no idea what Liu Yi and Flying Saint Palace was trying to do, so she bluntly said, “How could we be friends or family? I have never even heard of your Flying Saint Palace, so how could that be possible? How could my Spirit… I have any connection with you?”
Liu Yi Zhi’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot as he secretly scolded Mo Xiao Qi for not understanding how to cooperate here, really wondering if this girl in front of him was faking it or was truly just that ignorant.
However, some clues revealed by Mo Xiao Qi just now really shocked Liu Yi Zhi.
Mo Xiao Qi just now had clearly wanted to say she came from ‘Spirit’ something, but in the Star Boundary, there were only a few great forces whose names began with ‘Spirit’. However, none of these forces were ones Flying Saint Palace could afford to provoke, so for a time, Liu Yi Zhi found himself in the same awkward situation of not being able to infer Mo Xiao Qi’s true origins.
Just as he felt like he was riding a tiger, a strange cry suddenly came from the crowd.
“Who?” Liu Yi Zhi was already irritated and turned to bark at the source of the sound with no trace of politeness.
Over there, he saw a black-robed figure walking out from the crowd. This individual had their face concealed, but from the voice, it was apparent it was a man, and from the aura fluctuations, this man seemed to be a Third-Order Origin King, the same as Mo Xiao Qi.
The black-robed man was naturally Yang Kai.
He really could not stand to watch anymore.
Others might not understand Mo Xiao Qi’s temperament, but he did, and he knew that if this was not handled well, even if Flying Saint Palace had scruples about the situation, they would still attack Mo Xiao Qi in order to maintain their Sect’s face.
Once that time came, Yang Kai was not sure if Mo Xiao Qi would be able to resist. Although there were many magical treasures on her body, the other party was a Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator who could inspire the surrounding World Principles to bolster his strength, so it was questionable whether Mo Xiao Qi’s artifacts would be enough to protect her.
Facing Liu Yi Zhi’s question, Yang Kai actually completely ignored him and instead hurriedly walked over to Mo Xiao Qi and said, “So this is where you were, Young Lady! You really made it difficult for this subordinate to find you.”
“Young… Young Lady?” Mo Xiao Qi instinctively stammered in panic, thinking her whereabouts had been revealed and her father had sent someone to catch her, subconsciously taking something out from her Space Ring as she prepared to flee.
However, in the next instant, she felt something was wrong.
Because this person’s voice was actually somewhat familiar.
The next moment, Yang Kai showed her a little of his appearance.
Mo Xiao Qi was taken aback, and a light of pleasant surprise flashed across her beautiful eyes as she called out, “Ah! It’s you! You didn’t die!”
Yang Kai covered his face again, grinned wryly, and said, “Young Lady, please hold back a bit next time. Although this subordinate is quite resilient, he is still not able to completely block your certain-kill strike. Subordinate had to rest and recover for many days to finally restore himself.”
As he spoke, Yang Kai shot Mo Xiao Qi a meaningful glance, fearing that this little girl who was so lacking in common sense would blow his cover. Not confident still, Yang Kai quietly sent her a Divine Sense Message telling her not to speak.
Mo Xiao Qi nodded her head like a chicken pecking rice.
The onlookers heard this conversation and could not help wearing sympathetic looks as they gazed towards Yang Kai, like he was really a subordinate responsible for protecting the safety of this Young Lady. Not only did he seem to have the thankless job of working as a nanny, he also seemed to have to withstand attacks from his Young Lady…
“Hm? Young Lady, what’s going on here?” Yang Kai pretended to finally notice the unusual situation and began sweeping his gaze around, in the next moment shouting furiously, “Who dares to attack my Young Lady!? You must be courting death!”
Yang Kai was just a Third-Order Origin King, so in front of a Second-Order Dao Source Realm master, he had no choice but to put on a fierce appearance in hopes of deceiving him. Not showing the slightest fear, Yang Kai wore a vicious expression on his face as thick murderous intent burst from his body, causing many of the people in the surrounding to pale slightly.
“Good good good, it seems there are really some who don’t know how to fear the Heavens! Heh heh heh, even if Sir Star Envoy comes now, he won’t be able to save you!” Yang Kai grit his teeth as he directed a piercing gaze, like that of a mad beast, at the surrounding crowd.
If Yang Kai’s fearless appearance alone was not enough to convince him, the sudden revelation he had just made was enough to cause Liu Yi Zhi’s will to resist to collapse.
Even Sir Star Envoy Sir would not be able to resolve this situation? Just what kind of background did these two people have? Was this girl the direct descendant of some Elder of Star Soul Palace?
With Liu Yi Zhi being so alarmed and afraid, Ning Yuan Cheng need not even be mentioned.
He thought he would be able to walk sideways in a small place like Maplewood City as Flying Saint Palace’s Young Palace Master, with no one daring to offend him.
How could he have known he would suddenly provoke a far nobler existence that even Sir Star Envoy would need to yield before?
In that instant, Ning Yuan Cheng’s face had turned pale as his legs trembled and he stared at Liu Yi Zhi imploringly.
Although the latter was a powerful cultivator at the Second-Order Dao Source Realm, when facing those peak level great forces, what did his cultivation matter? Any random Elder from Star Soul Palace could grind Flying Saint Palace into dust.
Secretly gulping, Liu Yi Zhi summoned his courage, cupped his fists, and spoke, “This friend, please calm yourself. This is just a small misunderstanding between your Young Lady and my Young Lord. Just now, a few of my Flying Saint Palace’s blind disciples offended this Young Lady, but they have already suffered punishment for their impropriety. In light of this, I ask this friend to show magnanimity.”
“Is that so?” Yang Kai squinted at Liu Yi Zhi.
“It is indeed. This friend, please see for yourself, your Young Lady is completely unharmed.”
“Hmph, if the Young Lady was hurt, do you think you would still be standing there spouting off nonsense to me?” Yang Kai sneered.
Liu Yi Zhi felt deeply angered in his heart; after all, there was a huge gap between his and Yang Kai’s cultivation. No Origin King had ever dared speak to him like this, but Liu Yi Zhi did not dare show any signs of dissatisfaction on his face, because the other party’s origins were clearly far above his own. What’s more, clearly there wasn’t just one Third-Order Origin King protecting this girl.
There were likely even more powerful masters secretly watching from nearby!
As this man covered in black robes was talking to him, Liu Yi Zhi noticed him making a few inexplicable gestures with one hand towards a certain direction, seemingly informing his companions of something.
Upon discovering this, Liu Yi Zhi felt cold sweat drip from his forehead.
Because under his Divine Sense perception, he could not perceive the existence of any master observing him. There was only one possibility in this situation to explain this: The masters hidden in the dark were far stronger than him.
“Dare I ask this friend… Where he come from?” Although Liu Yi Zhi was frightened by Yang Kai, he was still a little unwilling to let this matter just drop, so after hesitating for a moment, he cautiously tried to probe Yang Kai’s origins.
“Hmph!” Yang Kai sprayed heat from his nose as he swept his eyes over him and instead of answering asked, “You’re from Flying Saint Palace?”
“Yes,” Liu Yi nodded, wondering what Yang Kai was asking this for.
“You want to know where we are from? Fine, come here, I’ll tell you, but there will be a price to pay.” Yang Kai smiled slightly as he said in a low voice, “Within three days, there will be no Flying Saint Palace in the Southern Territory. I wonder, can you afford the price?”
Liu Yi Zhi’s whole body shivered as his face went pale.
“Do you still want to know?” Yang Kai asked coldly.
“It was this Liu who misspoke, please do not take offence!” Liu Yi Zhi was completely scared now, so how could he dare utter anything else?
“A group of pitiful weaklings, frogs at the bottom of the well. This King won’t waste his time with you. Since the Young Lady has not suffered any harm, we will spare you this once, but if there is another offence…” Yang Kai glared angrily at Liu Yi Zhi and emphasized, “You understand.”
Liu Yi Zhi was already dripping with sweat, so at this moment he could not be concerned about the Sect and even his own face and quickly cupped his fist, “Many thanks for showing mercy.”
Saying so, he quickly turned around, grabbed the still frozen Ning Yuan Cheng, and shouted hastily, “Move!”
The remaining disciples of Flying Saint Palace didn’t dare to remain, quickly gathering up the corpses of their fellow Sect mates off the ground and fleeing after Liu Yi Zhi.
“Young Lady, we should be on our way as well.” Only now did Yang Kai breathe a sigh of relief and said to Mo Xiao Qi.
At this moment, this little girl was staring at Yang Kai with sparkling eyes, a look of pure admiration on her face.
“Let’s go!” Seeing her look like this, Yang Kai could not help but urge in a low voice.
After all, Liu Yi Zhi was a Second-Order Dao Source Realm master, so while Yang Kai’s bluff might be able to fool him for a while, there was no telling how long it would last. If he were to realize something was amiss and come to investigate, the situation would rapidly deteriorate.
After acting so presumptuous in front of a Second-Order Dao Source Realm master, how could their fate be good once they were exposed?
“Wait! What about those fifty thousand Source Crystals?” The old seller called out rather desperately.
“You still dare ask for fifty thousand Source Crystals? Do you believe I’ll take your life instead!” Yang Kai glared at the old man, causing him to hurriedly back up.
“Let’s go!” Yang Kai grabbed Mo Xiao Qi’s wrist and prepared to take her away from here.
The next moment, he released Mo Xiao Qi like he was shocked, as blood dripped from his palm.
“Ah, I’m sorry, Big Brother Yang…” Mo Xiao Qi finally recovered and started to apologize in a fluster.
Maplewood City, Yang Kai’s secluded home.
Yang Kai and Mo Xiao Qi sat across from each other at the table.
After leaving the black market, Yang Kai took Mo Xiao Qi and fled back here in a hurry, deliberately checking to make sure no one was following them while also making several detours along the way.
After confirming they were not being followed, he returned to his rented secluded home.
“Big Brother Yang, you’re amazing!” Mo Xiao Qi held her cheeks in both hands and blushed crazily as she stared at Yang Kai with bright eyes, not even trying to conceal the look of worship and admiration on her face. “With just a few words, how were you able to frighten all those bad guys away?”
Yang Kai chuckled dryly.
If it had been someone else praising him like this, Yang Kai would definitely think that the other party was just spouting flattery, but coming from Mo Xiao Qi’s mouth, Yang Kai knew it was genuine.
“They just overthought the situation themselves,” Yang Kai casually said.
Today’s matter was indeed Flying Saint Palace letting their thoughts run wild, and also a result of the current situation in Maplewood City. If it weren’t for the current Maplewood City being a mix of hidden dragons and snakes, whether Yang Kai’s rhetoric would have been useful was really questionable.
But right now, in Maplewood City, there were representatives from many great forces, and although Flying Saint Palace was not bad, it was certainly not a top Sect, so Liu Yi Zhi had some scruples.
“But enough about that. Xiao Qi, you… how are you here?” Yang Kai changed the subject quickly.
“I’ve been here the whole time.” Mo Xiao Qi looked at Yang Kai curiously, wondering why he would ask something so silly. “Right, the secluded home I rented is very close to Big Brother Yang’s! En, but why haven’t I seen you around before now then?”
“I wasn’t living here before and only returned today.”
“Oh.”
“But what I wanted to ask was, Xiao Qi, how did you escape from Clear Jade Mountain last time…?” Yang Kai looked curiously at Mo Xiao Qi.
After all, when he came out of the Sealed World Bead, he had searched for Mo Xiao Qi but was unable to find any clues at all and assumed she had died without leaving behind even ashes.
But now, a month or so later, they had actually run into each other again in Maplewood City.
“That day… I used this thing to escape,” Saying so, Mo Xiao Qi took out an object from her Space Ring and placed it in front of Yang Kai.
“This is…” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes as he stared at what appeared to be a piece of animal skin that was exuding some subtle energy fluctuations.
These energy fluctuations were quite familiar to Yang Kai though as, surprisingly, they were Space Force fluctuations.
This animal skin was only about the size of two side-by-side palms and had a number of mysterious lines and runes drawn on it, forming a type of profound Spirit Array.
Yang Kai stretched out his hand to touch and examine it carefully.
After a while, he was shocked as he muttered aloud, “Does this thing have the effect of short-distance teleportation?”
Mo Xiao Qi heard this and looked at Yang Kai with a big smile, “Big Brother Yang really has cultivated the Dao of Space! He can even detect this.”
“You knew I cultivated the Dao of Space?” Yang Kai looked at her in surprise.
“En, when you fought with those people in Clear Jade Mountain, didn’t you use Space Force? I recognized it because when you used your power it gave a similar feeling to when Uncle Li fights.”
“Uncle Li?”
“En, Uncle Li Wu Yi. He also cultivates the Dao of Space and is very, very strong. This thing was made by him as a life-saving artifact for me,” Mo Xiao Qi didn’t have the slightest vigilance around Yang Kai and spoke about herself openly. It seemed that like how a leopard does not change its spots, one’s personality was difficult to change. Since Yang Kai had never done anything bad to her, she seemed to trust him implicitly.
Continuing on, Mo Xiao Qi explained, “Uncle Li said that this thing can open a Void Corridor at a critical moment, so it is very suitable for escaping. I originally had two, but since I used one back in Clear Jade Mountain, I only have this one left…”
Mo Xiao Qi expressed some reluctance as she spoke.
[This Spirit Array can open a Void Corridor directly?]
Yang Kai was stunned.
Although his attainments in the Dao of Space were extremely high, this was a feat he was absolutely unable to replicate at the moment. In terms of teleportation, he could use his Space Force to accomplish this, but if he received too much of a disturbance, he would be unable to execute his technique.
Once the surrounding World Energy became too unstable, Yang Kai’s teleportation technique would not be able to play much of a role.
This was related to his personal strength, his comprehension of the Dao of Space, and the World Principles of Star Boundary. The Star Boundary’s World Principles were countless times stronger than his native Star Field’s, so Yang Kai’s ability to teleport was greatly suppressed in the Star Boundary.
However, this Li Wu Yi was able to refine this simple-looking animal skin into a tool that could directly open a Void Corridor. Obviously, Li Wu Yi’s attainments in the Dao of Space far outstripped Yang Kai’s.
“Big Brother Yang, I’m sorry,” Mo Xiao Qi suddenly apologized with a look of guilt.
“Why would you apologize so suddenly?” Yang Kai looked over at her curiously.
“Last time, when we were in danger, I wanted to take you with me, but that Luan Feng’s attack came too fast, and I could only… I could only… Later, I went back to see if I could find you, but I couldn’t go too deep into the mountains and thought… you died.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai laughed.
It seemed that both he and Mo Xiao Qi had similar thoughts. Both of them thought the other party must have died under the World Extinguishing Black Flames while unaware they both had means of escape.
“Then Big Brother Yang, how did you escape?” Mo Xiao Qi asked.
“I’m proficient in the Dao of Space,” Yang Kai said vaguely.
“Oh, en, Uncle Li said that people who are proficient in the Dao of Space are the best at escaping,” Mo Xiao Qi suddenly realized.
Seeing the look on her face, that showed not the slightest bit of doubt, Yang Kai inexplicably felt a deep sense of guilt…
Next, the two chatted casually for a time.
However, under Yang Kai’s subtle probing, he discovered that the Li Wu Yi Mo Xiao Qi mentioned was an Emperor Realm master! He didn’t inquire about Mo Xiao Qi’s background though, as sometimes, the less one knew, the better.
Mo Xiao Qi’s origins were obviously extraordinary, this was something Yang Kai was well aware of.
“Big Brother Yang, if you have nothing to do now, would you like to go treasure hunting with me?” Mo Xiao Qi suddenly suggested enthusiastically.
“Treasure hunting?”
“En en!” Mo Xiao Qi nodded happily as she took out a piece of animal skin from her Space Ring and said, “I bought this treasure map today, and the person who sold it to me said it leads to the hidden treasury of Heaven Devouring Great Emperor! There might even be a record of the Heaven Devouring Battle Law in it!”
“Why does this thing… look so familiar?” Yang Kai wore a suspicious look as he picked up the animal skin and observed it carefully, the next moment his face turning black.
“How many Source Crystals did you buy this for?” Yang Kai looked up at Mo Xiao Qi.
“Seven thousand!” Mo Xiao Qi triumphantly, “Not expensive, right? If we can really find the Heaven Devouring Battle Law, we’ll have struck it rich!”
“That damn swindler!” Yang Kai couldn’t help cursing in a low voice.
“Big Brother Yang, what did you say?”
“It’s nothing,” Yang Kai lightly coughed, pondered for a moment before saying earnestly. “Xiao Qi, when you go out, you need to remember that people can be sinister and not everyone you meet is as honest and kind as you. You need to be careful around others.”
“I know, Aunty Feng used to tell me that.”
“In the Star Boundary, there is much intrigue, so not all people can be believed.”
“I know that too.”
“En, since you know, then… this treasure map, it’s fake,” Yang Kai sighed softly, having no way other than to state it bluntly as expecting this little girl to realize on her own was just asking to embarrass himself.
“What? How can that be? That old man vowed that this was really a map to Heaven Devouring Great Emperor’s treasury and was handed down in his family by a Great Emperor himself!” Mo Xiao Qi looked at Yang Kai with an incredulous expression and asked, “Could it be that a Great Emperor would lie?”
“I don’t know if a Great Emperor would lie, but the person who sold you this thing definitely lied to you.”
Mo Xiao Qi was taken aback, but after thinking about it for a while, she vaguely began to understand and cursed, “That hateful swindler, he dares to trick me! I have to go find him!”
“Forget it, that person must be long gone, where would you even start looking for him?” Yang Kai hurriedly stopped her.
Mo Xiao Qi suddenly pursed her lips and stomped her feet as she waved her small fists, “So vexing! That old swindler better not let me see him again or I’ll make him pay.”
After putting out a few ruthless words, her mood seemed to be much calmer. After pausing for a moment though, Mo Xiao Qi began taking out a bunch of animal skin maps from her Space Ring and asked, “Then Big Brother Yang, take a look at these things, are any of them fake?”
Yang Kai swept his eyes over these ‘treasure maps’ and couldn’t stop his face from twitching.
“Then what about this one?” Mo Xiao Qi took out another thing, a pitch-black stone.
“Haha…” Yang Kai gave a dry laugh.
“What about this peerless Secret Art?” Mo Xiao Qi threw something out again.
Yang Kai swept his eyes over it and his body shook.
This booklet indeed had old, yellowed pages, and on its front, the three words ‘Peerless Secret Art’ were written in a fanciful font!
It was as if the seller was afraid others wouldn’t know this was a ‘Peerless Secret Art’.
A single innocent girl had strolled through the black market and purchased so many useless things! If everyone in the world was as naïve as Mo Xiao Qi, wouldn’t all swindlers be wealthy by now?
Yang Kai’s silence made Mo Xiao Qi extremely depressed as she buried her head in her chest, a dark shadow seemingly looming over her.
Seeing her look like she had taken a devastating blow, Yang Kai sighed slightly and was just about to comfort her while also letting her take this as a lesson to not be swindled so easily in the future when suddenly, Mo Xiao Qi lifted her head again, giggled, and said, “This thing is definitely not fake!”
Saying so, she carefully took out a pale, oval stone and placed it on the table.
Seeing the look of confidence on her face, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a bit interested and released his Divine Sense to inspect this stone, but try as he might, he couldn’t perceive even the slightest fluctuations from it, like it was a real stone.
However, while this thing looked like a stone, and Yang Kai couldn’t sense anything inside of it, he did notice an inexplicable force on its surface which was blocking the probing of his Divine Sense.
“What is this?” Yang Kai frowned and asked.
Mo Xiao Qi smiled mysteriously and said, “A beast egg!”
“This is a beast egg?” Yang Kai was shocked, “How do you know it’s a beast egg?”
“I just know,” Mo Xiao Qi replied with a triumphant face, “In any case, I’m certain about this, I just don’t know what kind of Monster Beast egg it is, but I can feel it is very powerful.”
“Do you have some kind of Secret Technique that allows you to perceive that?” Yang Kai looked at her thoughtfully.
“En, that’s why I was fighting with that Flying Saint Palace guy just now. Perhaps he also saw it was extraordinary and wanted it.”
“Since you’re sure it is a beast egg, then take care of it carefully,” Yang Kai did not know much about caring for Monster Beasts, but since Mo Xiao Qi had some kind of Secret Technique that she could use to perceive such things, obviously she wasn’t mistaken.
This was probably the only thing she gained from her visit to the black market.
“By the way, Xiao Qi, do you know anything about the Heaven Devouring Battle Law?” Yang Kai suddenly remembered something and asked.
“Heaven Devouring Battle Law… En, it’s the Secret Art of Heaven Devouring Great Emperor, of course I know about it,” Mo Xiao Qi nodded, “Heaven Devouring Great Emperor relied on this supreme Secret Art to reach the pinnacle of the Emperor Realm. In his time, Heaven Devouring Great Emperor was extremely powerful, even among the Ten Great Emperors, he could rank amongst the top three.”
“Oh? Then Heaven Devouring Great Emperor is now…”
“Heaven Devouring Great Emperor has already fallen,” Mo Xiao Qi smiled slightly, “It is rumoured that the Heaven Devouring Battle Law was an affront to the laws of Heaven and Earth, so Heaven Devouring Great Emperor was ultimately rejected by the Star Boundary’s World Principles, causing a fatal dissonance in his cultivation, but I know…” At this point, she suddenly smiled mysteriously and whispered. “That story is fake.”
“Then what is the truth?”
“Heaven Devouring Great Emperor was besieged and fell in the Shattered Star Sea,” When Mo Xiao Qi said this, her expression suddenly became extremely solemn.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and said in a serious tone, “The strength of the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor could be ranked amongst the top three of the Ten Great Emperors, so the only ones who would dare to attack him are…”
“Shhh…” Mo Xiao Qi raised her finger to her mouth and motioned, “This is a really big secret. I also only heard a few words about it when Uncle Li and Aunty Feng were chatting. Big Brother Yang, make sure you don’t talk about this outside, otherwise, it will very likely lead to deadly consequences. There are definitely not many people in this world who know this secret.”
“I understand this naturally, it’s just… Those Seniors, why would they suddenly besiege Heaven Devouring Great Emperor?”
“I don’t know this,” Mo Xiao Qi shook her head.
With Mo Xiao Qi’s character, if she really knew something, she would not conceal it, so since she said she didn’t know, it meant she really didn’t know. As such, Yang Kai did not ask her anymore.
However, Yang Kai instinctively felt that the reason Heaven Devouring Great Emperor was besieged might have something to do with the Heaven Devouring Battle Law.
It looked like he would need to spend some time studying this Heaven Devouring Battle Law! Even though Yang Kai knew that Wu Meng Chuan had taught him the Heaven Devouring Battle Law with malicious intent, it was still the Secret Art of one of the Ten Great Emperors, so it would be a shame to just toss it aside.
The two chatted for a while before Mo Xiao Qi left.
Before leaving, Mo Xiao Qi gave Yang Kai a Communication Bead and told Yang Kai that he only had to pour his Divine Sense into it if he wanted to find her.
Yang Kai nodded and accepted.
Although Mo Xiao Qi was naïve and innocent, she clearly possessed an extraordinary background and had knowledge and experience in some respects that were far beyond Yang Kai’s, so perhaps there would come a day when he needed to draw on her strengths.
Yang Kai naturally did not refuse her kindness.
What’s more, both of them were currently staying in Maplewood City, so having a way to contact one another made it convenient to cooperate in case there was an accident.
The function of Communication Bead was similar to ordinary communication artifacts, but Mo Xiao Qi’s Communication Bead was specially crafted and far superior to ordinary messaging tools. Just from the subtle energy fluctuations it gave off, Yang Kai judged that it was an Origin King Grade High-Rank artifact.
After seeing Mo Xiao Qi off, Yang Kai took out a large number of Source Crystals inside his secluded home and used them to open all the various protective barriers at his disposal, ignoring the cost.
Right now, he had a lot of Source Crystals on hand, so he was not going to be stingy.
After ensuring safety and privacy, he summoned the Sealed World Bead and entered.
Inside the Small Sealed World, there was complete tranquillity. Yang Kai quickly released his Divine Sense, allowing him to see the situation inside at a glance.
In the medicine garden, the herbs he had previously obtained from the Severed World were thriving. These herbs were all Origin King Grade, and if they were refined into Spirit Pills, they would be a great benefit to the growth of any Origin King.
Yang Kai was reluctant to use them before because each of these herbs was extremely rare and precious in his native Star Field, but now that he had come to the Star Boundary, where resources were far more abundant, these herbs were not anything special.
As such, he decided to refine these herbs into Spirit Pills so he could quickly enhance his cultivation.
It just so happened that he could also use these herbs to refine Spirit Pills to enhance his Alchemy techniques and see if he could impact the bottleneck of the Dao Source Grade. If he was successful, he could become a Dao Source Grade Alchemist.
In the Star Boundary, Origin King Grade Alchemists were not anything special, but Dao Source Grade Alchemists were quite valuable.
Yang Kai was not very strong right now, so if he had the identity of Dao Source Grade Alchemist as a shield, it might be able to save his life in a crisis.
A short time later, Yang Kai had collected all the Origin King Grade herbs in his possession and began sorting them into various categories, preparing them for pill refinement.
Inside the Small Sealed World, in addition to the herbs in the medicine garden, there was also the Monster Insect Queen that he had collected earlier, as well as the Ice Flower he obtained at the bottom of the Ice Cliff.
In the region where the Ice Flower and Ice Fruits were located, the cold was almost unbearable, but the Monster Insect Queen actually chose to sleep there, seemingly absorbing the Ice Attribute Energy which was emitted by the Ice Flower and Fruits to strengthen itself.
After this period of recuperation and fusion, the Monster Insect Queen, which had been transformed into a Blood Beast, had recovered quite a bit, with all the big and small wounds which had originally marred its body showing obvious signs of healing.
The Monster Insect Queen’s body was indeed dead, but Yang Kai’s pure Golden Blood had an incredible restorative ability.
What surprised Yang Kai the most was that the blue and purple dual swords Mo Xiao Qi gave him before have actually merged together with the Monster Insect Queen’s body.
The dual swords were each individually Origin King Grade High-Rank artifacts, so when combined, they were comparable to an ordinary Dao Source Grade artifact. What’s more, these dual swords were Ice Attribute artifacts, making them perfectly suited to the Monster Insect Queen. On that day, after obtaining these dual swords on Clear Jade Mountain, Yang Kai had simply tossed them into the Small Sealed World and forgotten about them.
Looking at them now, though, the two swords had actually merged together with the forelimbs of the Monster Insect Queen, becoming a part of its body.
This was quite a strange sight, to be honest. Yang Kai had only wanted to find a suitable weapon for the Monster Insect Queen, so he had given it these dual swords without hesitation.
Thinking about it carefully, even though the Monster Insect Queen was now one of his Blood Beasts, its true form was that of a Sentient Sword Intent, so it had an affinity for sword-shaped artifacts.
A Blood Beast, Sentient Sword Intent, and dual sword artifacts had all been completely kneaded together, making Yang Kai unsure of how to describe this Monster Insect Queen exactly.
Unfortunately, the Monster Insect Queen didn’t have a true consciousness and wasn’t a living creature, otherwise, Yang Kai would be looking forward to just how much it could grow.
After observing the Monster Insect Queen for a while and confirming that it was well, Yang Kai found a comfortable spot, sat down cross-legged, and took out a Source Condensing Pill to refine before sinking into contemplation.
He wanted to comprehend the Heaven Devouring Battle Law taught to him by Wu Meng Chuan!
Back in the Bone Prison, although he had slightly perused this Secret Art and felt that it was extremely powerful and profound, Yang Kai had not had much time to study it carefully.
Moreover, after Yang Kai learned the origins of this Secret Art, he deeply felt that Wu Meng Chuan had given it to him for some nefarious reason, so he was not willing to cultivate it.
However, not cultivating it did not mean it was useless to him. A stone from a foreign mountain could still be used to polish one’s own jade. Perhaps Yang Kai could gain some insights by studying this Secret Art.
Yang Kai quickly entered a meditative state.
Since he first began cultivating, Yang Kai had come into contact with a lot of Secret Arts and Secret Techniques, so he had a wide breadth of insight and experience.
After comprehending it for some time though, Yang Kai found that this Heaven Devouring Battle Law was far more mysterious and powerful than any Secret Art or Secret Technique he had ever encountered.
One could use this Secret Art to swallow and refine anything that had energy within it and turn it into their own strength. When one reached the peak, they could even use it to swallow the sun, moon, and stars!
Yang Kai was shocked.
The Heaven Devouring Great Emperor who created this Secret Art was definitely an unparalleled madman!
He even wanted to devour the stars themselves!
However, at the same time, Yang Kai deeply admired this Heaven Devouring Great Emperor as, no matter how crazed he might have been, he was without a doubt equally talented. Otherwise, he would not have been able to create such a Secret Art.
Rumour had it that the Heaven Devouring Battle Law was not tolerated by the Heavens and Earth, and this was not exactly untrue.
Such a Secret Art really could not be tolerated by the World, nor by other Great Emperors. As such, Heaven Devouring Great Emperor was finally besieged by the other Great Emperors and died in the Shattered Star Sea.
However……
Yang Kai was keenly aware of the drawbacks of this Secret Art.
While it sounded tempting to be able to devour and refine all creation and use it to strengthen oneself, and doing so really could rapidly enhance one’s strength, this kind of unrestrained swallowing was bound to be accompanied by massive hidden dangers.
The different and even conflicting energies one swallowed into their body would only cause Cultivation Dissonance if one’s body wasn’t strong enough to contain and refine them.
The most obvious example of this was Wu Meng Chuan.
That old man’s disposition was nothing less than cruel and violent. Even his loyal followers were killed and refined by him without so much as a second thought. Obviously, this evil temperament had something to do with him cultivating this Secret Art.
Moreover, if this Secret Art was really so profound, Wu Meng Chuan would not still be a Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator.
He would have long ago broken through to the Emperor Realm.
“Such a waste!” Yang Kai sighed.
This peak level Secret Art had just fallen into his hands, but it seemed he had no choice but to throw it away, making Yang Kai feel like it was a great pity.
Regardless of how tempting it might be, he could not take such massive risks with his future by cultivating this Heaven Devouring Battle Law.
In the end, there was not just one road to becoming an Emperor.
Just as Yang Kai was feeling deep regret over this Heaven Devouring Battle Law, he had a sudden flash of inspiration and an exciting thought came to him.
The Heaven Devouring Battle Law was able to swallow anything with energy in it and refine it for one’s own use.
The Stone Puppet Clan’s innate Divine Ability allowed its clansmen to devour and refine various ores, remove the waste, and use the essence to strengthen themselves.
The two were surprisingly similar…
Moreover, Stone Puppets had incredibly intrepid physiques which in terms of adaptability and endurance were all but peerless! For instance, Xiao Xiao was even able to swallow and refine the Sun’s True Essence.
What would happen if a Stone Puppet were to cultivate the Heaven Devouring Battle Law?
Generally speaking, the Stone Puppet clan could not cultivate any Secret Arts because, although they were innately powerful, their sentience was too low, and they couldn’t comprehend the mysteries of a Secret Art, let alone cultivate one.
The Heavens were fair in all things, giving the Stone Puppet Clan powerful physical bodies and great destructive power, but lowering their sentience proportionally.
If the Stone Puppet Clan were also highly intelligent, surely they would be a race comparable to the Ancient Divine Spirits, an extremely terrifying thought.
But… Yang Kai had his Embodiment!
The Embodiment was originally transformed from the Golden Stone Puppet and had already integrated the entire floating continent. It was the physical host of Yang Kai’s Soul Clone, equivalent to Yang Kai’s second body!
The Stone Puppet Clan could not cultivate Secret Arts, but that did not mean Yang Kai’s Embodiment couldn’t.
Thinking about it, Yang Kai’s blood began to boil as he suddenly discovered that, with regards to the Heaven Devouring Battle Law, his Embodiment had a unique advantage and ability to cultivate it.
Hurriedly pushing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai took back his Soul Clone which was currently residing in his Embodiment and poured the Heaven Devouring Battle Law and all his current insights into it.
His Soul Clone flew out once again and poured into the mountain-like Embodiment.
Immediately afterwards, the Embodiment assumed a solemn posture and began to cultivate the Heaven Devouring Battle Law with a serious look on its face.
Initially, there were no changes, but as time passed, a cracking sound rang out from the Embodiment’s massive body, causing Yang Kai to be slightly surprised. He thought something had gone wrong, but after carefully perceiving the situation of his Soul Clone, he discovered that this was not the case.
The cracking sounds continued and grew louder until a large swath of rocks fell from his Embodiment at a certain point. When these rocks hit the ground, they instantly turned to dust and scattered about.
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up and he could not help grinning.
The Heaven Devouring Battle Law was truly extraordinary, and this supreme Secret Art seemed tailor-made for the Stone Puppet Clan!
What had fallen from his Embodiment just now were impurities and waste that served no purpose. The Embodiment had originally integrated the entire floating continent, and it had been using the innate Divine Ability of the Stone Puppet Clan to refine its mass over the past few years. Unfortunately, the progress was extremely slow, leaving it with a massive body that was quite inconvenient to move around.
Yang Kai had engaged in many battles since he obtained the Embodiment but rarely brought it out to help him for precisely this reason.
Its body was simply too big, and trying to bring it out of the Sealed World Bead required a massive amount of his Spiritual Energy, so how could Yang Kai be willing to do so unless it was his last resort?
According to the previous rate of progress, Yang Kai had estimated it would be at least ten or twenty years before the Embodiment gradually shrunk to only a hundred meters or so in height. Only then could it be used at will.
But by that time, Yang Kai’s strength would certainly be far greater than the Embodiment’s strength now, so how much help could his Embodiment, which was currently comparable to a Third-Order Origin King, provide?
In fact, Yang Kai had been having a headache about what to do with his Embodiment, but since he had no good solutions to the problem, he could only put off dealing with it.
But now, with the Heaven Devouring Battle Law, it seemed all his problems were solved.
The Heaven Devouring Battle Law, combined with the innate Divine Ability of the Stone Puppet Clan, allowed his Embodiment to refine the remaining impurities in its body at a much more rapid pace. Countless discarded impurities fell from the Embodiment, leaving behind only the pure essence. It was as if the Embodiment was shedding its skin and being reborn.
Perhaps it would not be long before his Embodiment could become another big helper to him.
But that was not the end of it!
What excited Yang Kai the most was that, now that his Embodiment had a compatible Secret Art, it could cultivate and become stronger. The Stone Puppet Clan could not cultivate and could only improve its strength by devouring rare ores.
Xiao Xiao had grown up in this manner.
Now though, Yang Kai’s Embodiment not only had the innate Divine Ability of the Stone Puppet Clan, but it also had the assistance of the Heaven Devouring Battle Law. With these two factors combined, as long as Yang Kai could supply it with enough materials, his Embodiment would be able to rapidly improve its strength in a very short time.
*Xixilili…*
Where the Embodiment sat, it was like a meteor shower, with countless bits of impurities falling off it, quickly creating a thick layer of dust around it.
With his Soul Clone presiding over his Embodiment’s cultivation, Yang Kai did not need to pay it any attention at all.
And so, Yang Kai quickly set about cultivating, focusing on transforming his Saint Qi into Source Qi.
He had used up all the starlight in his body, so if he wanted to promote the conversion speed of his Saint Qi, Yang Kai could only use Source Condensing Pills.
Although the effect was slower than using the starlight, the Source Condensing Pills refined by Yang Kai were of excellent quality, so the results were still quite good. What’s more, he consumed Source Condensing Pills far faster than normal Origin Kings for some reason.
An ordinary Third-Order Origin King would need about three days to refine the medicinal efficacies in a Source Condensing Pill.
But Yang Kai was able to do this in just one day.
After some thought, Yang Kai figured that it was because he was a Star Master. Star Masters were able to absorb starlight from the Starlight Corridor, and convert their Saint Qi into Source Qi far faster than ordinary Origin Kings, so Yang Kai assumed the same was true for Source Condensing Pills.
However, this was not a bad thing. Right now, he did not need to worry about Source Condensing Pills and could simply refine more if he ran out. His priority was to fully transform his Saint Qi as soon as possible, improving his combat effectiveness and bringing him one step closer to breaking through to the Dao Source Realm.
Time flew by and soon, seven days had passed.
Yang Kai left the Sealed World Bead.
After scanning around with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai immediately noticed that someone had entered the detection array around his secluded home. When he went to check who it was, Yang Kai could not help raising his brow. Taking out his Identity Token, he deactivated all the Isolation Arrays and barriers.
Outside his secluded home, a man dressed as a shop-hand was standing there with an anxious look on his face, holding a communication artifact in his hand, seemingly sending constant messages with someone else. Suddenly, Yang Kai’s voice rang out, “Come in.”
The shop hand was stunned for a moment but immediately flashed an overjoyed smile as he hurriedly opened the door and entered.
“Greetings, Alchemist Yang!” The shop-hand hurriedly saluted.
“En, Shopkeeper Kang asked you to come see me? Is something wrong?” Yang Kai asked lightly.
This shop-hand was an employee at Spirit Pill Plaza, so Yang Kai naturally recognized him.
“Yes, Shopkeeper said that he would like to request Alchemist Yang’s presence at the pill shop in order to discuss a certain matter.”
“Shopkeeper Kang is already back?”
Kang Si Ran had been invited by the City Lord’s Mansion on its investigation of Clear Jade Mountain where the Luan Feng had appeared. Yang Kai knew about this, but with the World Extinguishing Black Flames still covering that region, there really wasn’t anything to be discovered other than ashes.
Calculating the time, it actually made sense that the investigation team had returned.
“Shopkeeper returned yesterday and immediately tried to contact Alchemist Yang but was unable to reach your esteemed self. Please accompany this humble one back to the pill shop to speak with Shopkeeper. Shopkeeper has urged this humble one several times already, so the matter is certainly important.” The shop hand smiled and said in an accommodating manner.
“Sure,” Yang Kai nodded.
Although he did not know why Kang Si Ran was so eager to find him, he knew something big must have happened. Otherwise, Kang Si Ran would not have had a shop-hand camp out outside his secluded home.
With no need to pack or arrange anything, Yang Kai immediately left the secluded home and rushed over to Spirit Pill Plaza with the shop-hand.
Not long after entering the pill shop, Kang Si Ran immediately pulled Yang Kai into a back room.
Seeing him put such an emphasis on secrecy, Yang Kai could not help asking, “Has something happened, Shopkeeper Kang?”
Kang Si Ran chuckled and replied, “Alchemist Yang, something good has happened.”
“And what is this good thing?”
“Sir Star Envoy has delivered us an opportunity!”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai frowned as Kang Si Ran was still being vague in his explanation.
“The situation is this,” Kang Si Ran poured a cup of tea for Yang Kai as he explained, “In three days, Sir Star Envoy will open the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda here in Maplewood City!”
“Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda?” Yang Kai was now even more confused, “What is that?”
Kang Si Ran’s jaw dropped slightly, seemingly quite surprised that Yang Kai hadn’t even heard of the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda, but when he remembered Yang Kai’s completely ignorant performance from before, he quickly adapted and explained, “It is this Kang’s fault for not being clear, please don’t take offence, Alchemist Yang.”
Yang Kai’s expression was a bit embarrassed as he knew Kang Si Ran was just trying to give him face, but he quickly composed himself and listened attentively.
“The Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda is an Emperor Artifact!”
“An Emperor Artifact?” Yang Kai’s interest was piqued.
“Indeed, and a very high-level existence among Emperor Artifacts at that!” Kang Si Ran smiled slightly, seemingly satisfied with Yang Kai’s look, “What’s more… The Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda is a very special type of Emperor Artifact. It does not have any offensive or defensive ability at all.”
“No offensive or defensive ability? Then what is it for? Is it used for cultivation?” Although Yang Kai was ignorant and uninformed about the goings-on of the Star Boundary, he still had common sense. The most common functions of artifacts were to attack or defend, but since this Emperor Artifact was not used for either of those, its only use could be for cultivation.
“In a certain sense,” Kang Si Ran chuckled and said. “The Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda is used to provide life experience, a training ground exclusively for Star Soul Palace’s disciples.”
“So what Shopkeeper Kang means is… This Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda is a Small Sealed World?” Yang Kai immediately thought of a possibility.
Kang Si Ran looked at Yang Kai in surprise and said with obvious admiration, “Alchemist Yang is truly sharp. En, the Five Coloured Treasure Pagoda is indeed a self-contained world, a very profound and mysterious one at that.”