“M-M-Madam Lan?” Teng Wang’s voice coming from Room A5 rose by an octave.
“It is this Queen. Do you have something you wish to say?”
“N-No, of course not. So it is Madam Lan… haha. Since you have interest in this item, Madam Lan… This Wang will respectfully withdraw.” His voice sounded a little bitter and reluctant.
Although his Disciple required the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill, the price of 35 million Open Heaven Pills was simply too expensive for him. Even if he had somebody helping him from the shadows, they had reached the limit they could afford. He was powerless to continue pushing forward. Rather than offending Lan You Ruo, it was better to take this opportunity to earn her favour.
Besides, there was no guarantee that his Disciple could successfully advance into the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm even if he did manage to win the bid on the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill. Any investment was bound to come with certain risks. If his Disciple were to fail in the advancement process, the loss of several millions was enough to shake Clear Heart Palace’s foundation.
Now that the price for the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill and its pill recipe had been raised to 35 million in one go, Teng Wang had no choice but to withdraw from the bidding. Even Ye Jian from Room B2 fell silent.
On the stage, the old man from Red Clouds Auction House waited for a short moment before asking, “The gentleman from Room A3 has placed a bid of 35 million Open Heaven Pills. Are there any higher offers?”
The entire venue was silent.
The old man probably knew that the price of this item had reached its limit. The auction house’s original valuation of this item was only 20 million Open Heaven Pills while the current price had nearly doubled that estimation. Thus, he no longer hesitated and shouted, “35 million, going once! 35 million, going twice!”
Inside Room A3, Yang Kai was silently making plans. Once he obtained the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill and its pill recipe, he could immediately begin his research to see if he could fully understand its recipe and refine it.
If he succeeded, then there was no need to worry about the Void Land’s finances again in the future. A Spirit Pill that could increase the chances of success of a cultivator breaking through to the Open Heaven Realm was an all but non-existent commodity, even in the 3,000 Worlds. Void Land’s wealth would soar in a short period of time just by selling a few such Spirit Pills for several million Open Heaven Pills each. Besides, he had quite a lot of World Source Liquid that was required to refine this Spirit Pill.
“This Ye has something to say. Please temporarily halt the auction!” Just as the old man was about to call out the final confirmation, Ye Jian’s voice rang out from within Room B2.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow and couldn’t help glancing in the direction of Room B2.
[What is Ye Jian up to?] He instinctively sensed that the bidding for this auction item would not go smoothly. Fortunately, he currently had more than 1 billion Open Heaven Pills in his possession. It could be said that he was very rich, so he was not worried even if Ye Jian managed to borrow some money or find somebody to help provide funds.
The old man on the stage said, “Hall Master Ye, please speak if you have something to say.”
The door to room B2 opened all of a sudden. A fair and beardless middle-aged man walked out of the room with a solemn expression. Yang Kai guessed that that man was Ye Jian.
Ye Jian arrived on the stage in a few steps. He cupped his fist at the old man and handed over a Space Ring. His lips wriggled slightly as though he was silently whispering something to the old man.
The old man looked suspicious at first, but his expression stiffened when he heard what Ye Jian said to him and soon revealed an expression of great astonishment instead. Immediately after that, he checked the contents of the Space Ring and looked up at Ye Jian again, “Hall Master Ye, are you certain? This item is extraordinarily valuable!”
Ye Jian gently nodded with a look of determination.
The old man continued, “If you insist, Hall Master Ye, this Old Master will not persuade you otherwise. Please wait a moment.”
After saying that, his Divine Sense surged as though he was communicating with somebody else. A long while later, he nodded and said, “Red Clouds Auction House has agreed to your request, Hall Master Ye. Please return to your seat for now.”
“Many thanks!” Ye Jian cupped his fists with a serious expression. Turning around, he bowed in the direction of Room A3, “Madam Lan, this Ye would like to apologise in advance. Please don’t take offence at my following actions.”
The Proprietress stared at the stage calmly before she suddenly whispered, “Brat, you’ve met a real challenger. You’d best prepare for some heavy bleeding.”
“What do you mean?” Yang Kai had yet to understand what was going on.
At that moment, Ye Jian returned to Room B2 and immediately shouted, “40 million!”
After hearing that shout, Yang Kai finally understood what the Proprietress meant.
Ye Jian had increased the price by 5 million Open Heaven Pills in one go. This not only required great courage but also immense wealth. Moreover, he had never increased the price by such a large margin before when he placed his bids previously. It was almost as though he was a different person altogether.
Hence, Yang Kai felt his teeth hurting.
The old man on the stage lifted the Space Ring in his hand up high, “For your information, Hall Master Ye has just pledged an item to the auction house. Please forgive this Old Master for not disclosing the value of this item. However, Hall Master Ye has the ability to bid and provide payment.”
He provided an explanation because he was worried that other people might misunderstand. The price of the auction item was terrifyingly high after all, so he might be suspected of deliberately driving the price up otherwise.
Yang Kai slowly let out a breath and gazed towards Room B2 pensively. [The Space Ring in that old man’s hands contains the item that Ye Jian pledged just now. Just what did he pledge for him to have the courage to raise the price by 5 million in one go? More importantly, where is his bottom line?]
He might have over a billion Open Heaven Pills in his possession, but he did not wish to waste his money for no reason. [If only I knew Ye Jian’s bottom line, then I can minimise my losses to the best of my abilities. Unfortunately, I don’t even know what item he pledged. How can I figure out his bottom line?]
“Hall Master Ye placed a bid of 40 million! Are there any others with a higher bid?” The old man shouted.
Yang Kai considered for a moment and cautiously threw out a bid, “41 million!”
“45 million!” Ye Jian followed up without hesitation.
Yang Kai was stunned.
The Proprietress commented, “There is a difference between a Disciple and a Son after all. It looks like Ye Jian is determined to compete with you.”
Teng Wang’s Disciple required the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill, as did Ye Jian’s Son. It was just that Teng Wang pulled out of the competition when the price reached 35 million. On the other hand, Ye Jian was still stubbornly trying to win. It was obvious that he loved and cherished his Son deeply. Also, he believed that his Son would definitely advance into the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm as long as he had the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill. Why else would he be so fixated upon this item, even if they were Father-and-Son?
“Why don’t you discuss with him to each pay half? You take the pill recipe while he takes the Spirit Pill. I’m sure he won’t reject your offer.” The Proprietress suggested.
Yang Kai considered for a moment before shaking his head, “The Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill has never appeared before. In order to refine this Spirit Pill, the results will be different if I can study a finished product first. Once the Spirit Pill falls into his hands, it will be difficult for me to research the Spirit Pill again.”
“There is no other way then.”
With the Spirit Pill in hand, the hopes of refining a Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill would increase significantly. Although it would cost him a lot of Open Heaven Pills, this investment was undoubtedly worth the money.
“46 million!” Yang Kai raised the bid once more.
“50 million!” Ye Jian’s voice trembled slightly. Even if he could afford to pay this amount, the terrifyingly high price was still heartbreaking. After placing his bid, he added, “Madam Lan, my Son is young and foolish. He made a huge mistake and desperately needs this Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill. Only then will he have the hope of progressing forward. Madam Lan, please listen to my request!”
The Proprietress pretended not to hear and said nothing in response; after all, she was not the one who was participating in the auction, it was Yang Kai. Although she used her identity to scold Teng Wang earlier, it was only her way of helping Yang Kai. How could she say anything under these circumstances?
Seeing that there was no response from Room A3, Ye Jian felt his heart sinking to the bottom of the abyss. Sure enough, a voice soon came from that direction to place a higher bid. The price was increased by just half a million.
Inside Room B2, Ye Jian’s expression crumbled, looking like he had aged several dozen years. Beside him, a young man with large eyes and thick brows smiled bitterly, “Father, let’s forget it. This price… is far too high.”
Ye Jian clenched his fists tightly, “No! I have not lost! I can still continue!”
The young man said, “It’s enough, Father. Even if the item we pledged far exceeds 50 million in value, that is a treasure that belongs to the Sect. If the losses we suffer are too high, it will be difficult for us to provide a sufficient explanation when we return. Father, let’s stop here!”
Ye Jian muttered painfully, “I am aware of that. How can I not be? But, you…”
The young man smiled bitterly, “Don’t worry, Father. In the worst case, I will simply never advance into the Open Heaven Realm. Who knows? Things might change in the future. There is no need to waste so much money at this juncture, especially since everyone else in the Sect also requires a lot of resources for cultivation. You don’t need to worry too much about me.”
Ye Jian opened his mouth to speak but finally let out a heavy sigh.
The old man on the stage called out the countdown. Finally, the bidding for the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill and its pill recipe came to an end. The auction item was sold at a terrifyingly high price of 50.5 million Open Heaven Pills.
The old man presiding over the auction had maintained a stiff expression on his face throughout, but his complexion was quite ruddy at the moment. He felt as though he had gotten the greatest bargain in the world.
This round of bidding also caused countless people to become hooked to the excitement. Be it the regular cultivators in the hall or the Open Heaven Realm Masters in the private rooms, they had never witnessed such a brutal and unexpectedly complex bidding war before.
When the price first hit 20 million Open Heaven Pills, everybody thought that it would be the limit. Who could have known that Teng Wang and Ye Jian would secretly receive funding from others? Thus, the price rose to 30 million. By the time the price exceeded 30 million, everybody thought that it was the end. Who could have expected somebody to appear out of nowhere and forcibly compete with Ye Jian for the auction item? The price was raised to 50 million as a result.
Throughout the history of all the auctions in the 3,000 Worlds, the only other time an auction could beat this round of bidding in terms of price was when High-Rank resources appeared in the world.
This was only halfway through the auction as well. The second half of the auction had yet to take place, so who could say what other good things might appear?
It might have been that the auction had reached a climax, so the auction house decided to take a short break. During the break, Red Clouds Auction House delivered the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill and its pill recipe over. Yang Kai paid the 50.5 million Open Heaven Pills and received his items.
Nobody had ever seen the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill before, so they were very interested in the item. The jade bottle was passed around between the Proprietress, Old Bai, and Yue He. On the other hand, Yang Kai carefully studied the pill recipe.
After some investigating, he was secretly speechless. It was apparently not difficult to refine the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill. He was confident he could refine the Spirit Pills with his abilities. It was just that many ingredients were required. There were a total of 9 main ingredients. Leaving aside the World Source Liquid, there were 8 others. In addition, there were a total of 72 kinds of adjuvants and many were herbs he had never even heard of before.
Yang Kai handed the pill recipe to the Proprietress for a look, and after a while commented, “The 72 auxiliary ingredients are quite common. Aside from the World Source Liquid, the remaining eight main ingredients are all pretty rare, but they can be found if you are determined to find them. It’s just the price… won’t be cheap.”
Yang Kai asked, “Proprietress, how much do you think it will cost to refine this Spirit Pill?”
She pondered for a moment, “At least a 100,000.”
The production cost of a Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill was 100,000. That was not inclusive of the failures during the refining process. If the costs of the failures during the refining process were included, then it would double the price at the very least. So, it would be 200,000.
Naturally, that was just the cost of the other materials excluding the World Source Liquid. If the cost of the World Source Liquid was included… World Source Liquid had practically gone extinct as it could only be formed when new Worlds were first created. Therefore, the value of something like that could not be measured.
In any case, the cost was extremely high. One could not be fooled by Yang Kai’s current spending where he could move several tens of millions at a time. For most cultivators, accumulating Open Heaven Pills was an extremely difficult task. Even Third-Class great forces could not accumulate more than several tens of millions of Open Heaven Pills with the strength of their entire Sect.
However, if he could successfully refine the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill, then the price of a single Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill would not be measured in just 1 or 2 million Open Heaven Pills. Just like how Teng Wang was willing to increase the price to 30 million for a Spirit Pill, not to mention Ye Jian who was willing to quote a terrifying price of 50 million Open Heaven Pills.
Needless to say, this price was only feasible because this was an auction. Moreover, the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill was the only one in existence. The price would not be as high if the Spirit Pill was mass-produced for sales. Be that as it may, selling the Spirit Pill for several million was not an issue. Which great force would not have several highly valued disciples? Just by spending several million on a Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill, they could ensure that their disciple had a smooth advancement, which would result in the enhancement of the Sect’s future hope and strength.
Yang Kai’s eyes brightened, as though he could see the Grand Dao of Fortune right in front of him. In addition, if the refinement of this Spirit Pill were successful, it would be highly beneficial to Void Land in the future!
Instructing Yue He to bid at her discretion during the subsequent auctions, Yang Kai picked up the jade bottle and took out the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill. Then, he carefully scraped off a layer of Pill Powder and began to examine it carefully.
As time passed, the auction started up again.
Yang Kai completely immersed himself in the research of the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill, constantly deducing the refinement process in his mind. He paid no attention to anything else, unable to extricate himself from his research.
He did not know how long had passed when he suddenly heard a gasp of exclamation coming from beside him. Unable to help himself, he pulled his mind back to the present and looked to the side. Old Bai was staring at the stage with an expression of shock, almost as though an amazing item had appeared on the stage. Even Yue He and the Proprietress looked solemn.
Yang Kai frowned, not knowing what was going on. Just as he was wondering about the situation, he heard the old man on the stage say something, “Ladies and gentlemen, you have not misheard. This Old Master is holding a map of the Blood Monster Cave Heaven. Although it is not complete, it should cover at least 20% of the entire Blood Monster Cave Heaven’s territory. It might be even more. The auction house has made a total of 100 copies of this map. They will be sold in batches of ten during the auction. The starting price is 500,000 Open Heaven Pills. Please place your bids!”
The moment the old man finished speaking, numerous voices calling out various bids rang out incessantly from the private rooms. Even the Proprietress joined in.
Yang Kai was confused, “Old Bai, is the Blood Monster Cave Heaven part of the Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens?”
It had not been long since he first arrived in the Outer Universe, but it had not been a short time either. There were countless great forces in the 3,000 Worlds, so he might not be familiar with most of them, but he had at least heard of each of the Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens and Seventy-Two Paradises. Upon further consideration, he had never heard of the name ‘Blood Monster Cave Heaven’ before.
Old Bai licked his lips and said, “The Blood Monster Cave Heaven is not one of the Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens. It is a Universe Cave Heaven!”
Yang Kai was stunned; then, he immediately exclaimed in a loud voice, “A Universe Cave Heaven!?”
He had just heard the Proprietress mentioning the existence of the Universe Cave Heavens and Universe Paradises. She claimed that a Universe Cave Heaven was the Small Universe left behind after the death of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master while a Universe Paradise was the Small Universe left behind after the death of a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. There was a high possibility that they contained the wealth of a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master accumulated over their lifetime. Anybody who could encounter one was bound to experience leaps and bounds in their growth.
Yang Kai had taken a great interest in this topic when listening to the Proprietress’ previous explanation, but he never expected that such a lucky coincidence would fall into his lap. Red Clouds Auction House was auctioning off the map of a Universe Cave Heaven! This shocked him very much!
[If Red Clouds Auction House can produce such a map of the Blood Monster Cave Heaven, doesn’t that mean that they’ve already entered it before?]
Old Bai’s gaze was burning intensely, “You don’t understand. The Blood Monster Cave Heaven is an extremely special Universe Cave Heaven in the 3,000 Worlds. It is the legacy left behind after the death of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master by the name of Blood Monster Divine Monarch. Unlike other Universe Cave Heavens and Universe Paradises that are concealed from outsiders, the Blood Monster Cave Heaven is a Sealed World known across the 3,000 Worlds. Moreover, it opens once every 200 years. Any cultivator under the Open Heaven Realm can enter the Blood Monster Cave Heaven. If you are lucky, you can obtain all sorts of precious resources. You might even obtain the inheritance of Blood Monster Divine Monarch!”
Yang Kai jumped in surprise, “The inheritance of Blood Monster Divine Monarch!?”
The Small Universe left behind after the death of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would contain his entire lifetime’s worth of assets and his true inheritance. It was only natural that it would attract countless people’s attention.
Even if he was currently rich enough to buy a country, Yang Kai couldn’t help coveting those riches. He was tempted to rush into the Blood Monster Cave Heaven right now to explore the place thoroughly!
“Although the Blood Monster Cave Heaven has opened countless times since the death of Blood Monster Divine Monarch and many of the resources have been taken by others before us, there are many who obtained great benefits each time the Blood Monster Cave Heaven opened. It generally resulted in their strength soaring. Calculating the years, the Blood Monster Cave Heaven is indeed about to open again. Red Clouds Auction House planned this all out!”
The Blood Monster Cave Heaven was about to open and Red Clouds Auction House suddenly brought out a map for this auction. It was obvious that they were planning to use this opportunity to earn a huge fortune!
Yang Kai licked his dry lips, “How long before the Blood Monster Cave Heaven opens?”
Old Bai said, “Around half a year or so.”
Yang Kai suddenly recalled something when he heard those words. Glancing at the Proprietress, he asked her a question, “Proprietress, you previously asked me to wait for half a year for an opportunity. Could it be related to the Blood Monster Cave Heaven?”
When he asked her to help him keep an eye out for High-Rank resources, she had returned a less than optimistic answer. She only told him that he had to wait for half a year for a possible opportunity. Judging by the situation, it was most likely related to the Blood Monster Cave Heaven.
Sure enough, the Proprietress nodded, “Somebody once found a Seventh-Order material inside the Blood Monster Cave Heaven. That place might have what you need.”
Yang Kai’s eyes couldn’t help blazing with excitement.
Thinking about it again, it was not surprising. That was the Small Universe left behind after the death of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master after all. It contained all the wealth accumulated by Blood Monster Divine Monarch during his lifetime, what were Seventh-Order materials in comparison? There might even be Eighth-Order materials inside!
While they were conversing with each other, the first round of bidding for the map of the Blood Monster Cave Heaven ended. The cultivators in 10 of the private rooms had won the maps, though everybody was very restrained in their bidding. The starting price was 500,000 and the final price was only 700,000. Red Clouds Auction House had brought out a hundred copies after all, so there was no need to compete too hard.
After several rounds of auction, all 100 copies of the map had been sold. The entire process had only taken an hour or so. They were basically sold at prices ranging from 7 to 8 hundred thousand Open Heaven Pills each.
Yang Kai silently made some calculations. Just from the map alone, Red Clouds Auction House obtained a profit of close to 70 million Open Heaven Pills. Thus, he couldn’t help feeling extremely envious. If Void Land could have such skills one day, then he had nothing to worry about anymore.
Right after the map was sold, the old man on the stage took out a piece of jade that was one part of two halves, “This is the next item for auction. It might be an Array Jade; it might also be a key. This jade came from the Blood Monster Cave Heaven!”
As soon as those words rang out, the audience was shocked. The auction house had first sold off 100 copies of the Blood Monster Cave Heaven’s map. Then, they brought out this jade from the Blood Monster Cave Heaven to auction. Anybody could tell that the Blood Monster Cave Heaven was probably about to open.
“This jade might come from the Blood Monster Cave Heaven, but nobody knows what it is used for. That is why this Old Master mentioned that it might be an Array Jade or even a key. We don’t even know what kind of benefits one will obtain after this jade plays its role. Nothing might come from it. It might be a complete waste of money. But… what if it turns out to be the key to Blood Monster Divine Monarch treasure house?”
Upon hearing that sentence, many people secretly scolded the old man for being a treacherous old dog. He obviously knew that the Blood Monster Cave Heaven contained the wealth accumulated by Blood Monster Divine Monarch throughout his life. The value of his treasure house could only be imagined. It would be amazing if this jade turned out to be the key to the Blood Monster Divine Monarch’s treasure house.
“One unknown piece of jade. The starting price is 1 million! Ladies and gentlemen, please place your bids!”
The old man had only just finished speaking when Yang Kai immediately shouted, “10 million!”
Inside the private room, the Proprietress and the others turned around in unison to stare at him as though they were looking at a fool.
“What’s wrong?” He scratched his nose awkwardly.
The Proprietress sighed and explained, “Since Red Clouds Auction House is willing to auction off this jade, then they must have sent their own Disciples to test its uses before. It is only after confirming that the jade cannot be used for anything that they are willing to bring it out. How can you start off bidding 10 million…”
Yang Kai couldn’t help looking blank.
She teasingly continued, “It doesn’t matter. You have a lot of money, so you can act as you please.”
Yang Kai did not understand, “What do you mean?”
She gave him an amused look, “You can be willful because you are rich.”
He was rendered speechless. As if to verify her words, nobody else in the auction house placed a bid, aside from him.
The old man waited for ten breaths and quickly said, “Room A3 has placed a bid of 10 million Open Heaven Pills! Are there any higher offers? 10 million going once! 10 million going twice! Congratulations to the gentleman in Room A3!”
The transaction was finalised!
Yang Kai nearly spat blood. Only then did he understand that he had been overly eager. Leaving aside whether or not the jade would be useful, even if it turned out to be useful, there was no guarantee what kind of benefit it would bring. It could be said that this was an extremely risky investment. Aside from someone extremely rich like him, who would purchase this jade at such a high price?
If the price was only 1 million Open Heaven Pills, the other great forces might have been willing to take a gamble; however, he had directly offered 10 million from the beginning. Who would be willing to follow up his offer?
The corners of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched but he soon comforted himself in his heart, [Who knows? I might be able to obtain something great from this. Even if I don’t… Well, it’s not… that expensive.]
The jade was the final item. The old man on the stage gave a polite speech on the stage, thanking everybody who participated in the once more. Only then did he announce the successful conclusion of the auction.
Many of the cultivators in the hall stood up and left.
However, the Proprietress remained motionless. She simply sat there calmly, as if waiting for something.
Yang Kai was puzzled but did not ask any questions; instead, he began to take stock of what he had obtained from this auction. He had bid for quite a few things. Aside from the Sixth-Order Scarlet Yin Sand and the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill, he purchased many Fourth-Order materials. He also, of course, won the auction for the jade at the end of the auction.
While he was researching the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill, Yue He had made a move several times to bid for several Sixth-Order resources. The auction house had delivered those items a long time ago.
All in all, he had spent around 150 million Open Heaven Pills. These expenses were not a small sum to other people, but it was within an acceptable range for Yang Kai.
Be that as it may, no High-Rank resources had appeared even in such a high-end auction, so he couldn’t help feeling a slight sense of disappointment. Even the Sixth-Order materials were not many. It could be seen that his hopes of finding the High-Rank resources he needed in places like various auction houses were not very realistic.
Yang Kai soon finished taking stock of his newly-acquired items and then returned to working on the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill. He had already finished studying the pill recipe. Be it in terms of the materials or the refining process, the technique was not very difficult for him. There should be no problem as long as he practised diligently and overcame a few failures to accumulate experience.
At present, he was studying the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill itself. In the eyes of others, a Spirit Pill was nothing more than a Spirit Pill that could be consumed and used for different purposes depending on the medicinal efficacies it contained. However, for an Alchemist, a finished Spirit Pill contained an extensive amount of information. An accomplished Alchemist could even deduce the pill recipe for refining a particular Spirit Pill just from studying a finished Spirit Pill. They might not be able to decipher everything, but it was not difficult to deduce an almost complete pill recipe.
Although Yang Kai was devoted to the Martial Dao, he also had deep attainments in the Alchemic Dao. Now that he had the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill and its pill recipe in hand, he could learn many things from these two items.
He placed the bit of Pill Powder that he scraped off from the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill earlier into his mouth and savoured the taste carefully. His expression changed continuously. From time to time, he would suddenly frown or show a look of epiphany. His mind was racing like crazy, creating sparks from the collision of his thoughts.
An hour later, he finally pulled his mind back to the present with much greater confidence in his ability to refine the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill.
At this moment, the door opened all of a sudden. The old man with a stiff expression who presided over the auction just now pushed open the door but did not enter the room. He simply stood at the entrance of the room while stretching his hand out in a polite gesture, “Madam Lan, please come this way.”
The Proprietress was not surprised and simply nodded lightly before standing up.
Afterwards, the old man turned around and led the way.
Yang Kai followed behind the Proprietress and asked curiously, “Where are we going?”
The Proprietress didn’t even turn around as she sent a Divine Sense transmission to him, “Didn’t you want to find some High-Rank materials? We’re going to try our luck. But, I can’t guarantee whether any High-Rank materials will appear or whether you can obtain them even if they do.”
He was stunned, “What do you mean?”
She said, “So many Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters came today. Did you really think they came here just for that auction?”
Upon hearing those words, Yang Kai immediately realised that the situation earlier was strange indeed.
Some good stuff had appeared in the auction, enough that they could even cause the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters to compete for those resources. Even so, most of the people in the private rooms had not made any bids from beginning to the end. Aside from the second to last round when they bid for the map of the Blood Monster Cave Heaven, they mostly remained as nothing more than spectators throughout the entire auction.
Most of the Open Heaven Realm Masters in those private rooms came from various far-flung Great Territories with some being trillions of kilometres away. There was no need for them to put so much effort into coming here just to end up as a spectator, right?
“If they’re not here for the auction, then what are they here for?” He wondered.
The Proprietress replied, “They only joined the auction to take part in the excitement since they were already here. They are actually here for the exchange meeting after the auction!”
“An exchange meeting!” Yang Kai raised his brow at those words, gaining a vague understanding of the situation.
“There are many who obtain treasures but do not have a use for them, nor do they wish to put them up for auction. Even if they obtained Open Heaven Pills, they would still need to go out and search for the items that they really need after all. As such, they prefer to exchange items with each other in private. For example, if I need a Sixth-Order Earth Element treasure but only have a Sixth-Order Fire Element treasure, I can trade with somebody else during this exchange meeting. Since both items are Sixth-Order materials, their prices are pretty similar. In this way, the exchange can be carried out and everybody is happy with the exchange.”
“I got it.” Yang Kai nodded.
“But, you should not get your hopes up. High-Rank materials are hard to find. Even if they appear, you might not get your hands on them.”
Yang Kai grinned, “The only thing I fear is that they won’t appear. If they do appear, then I will get my hands on them even if I have to use money to beat them into submission.”
The theoretical price of a Seventh-Order material was around a 150 million Open Heaven Pills. Naturally, that was just in theory. If one were to include a premium for its rarity, it was acceptable for its price to range from 170 to 180 million. Would those people refuse to sell if Yang Kai threw out 200 or 300 million Open Heaven Pills at them?
In any case, those were Open Heaven Pills he won through gambling. It was not heartbreaking to spend them. Thus, Yang Kai was secretly looking forward to the exchange meeting.
Under the old man’s guidance, the group of four passed through several corridors and came to a secret room. There were quite a few people already waiting inside and they were clearly the Open Heaven Realm Masters who sat in the private rooms during the auction earlier.
When those people saw the Proprietress, many of them nodded at her lightly.
Inside the secret room, everybody was randomly seated. There was a large table in front of them and several platters of Spirit Fruits were placed there to enjoy. The seating arrangements formed a circle with a one-metre-high platform placed right in the middle. The platform was made entirely of flawless white jade.
“Madam Lan, please make yourself comfortable!” The old man spoke briefly before turning around to leave. He was probably going to invite others to this place.
The Proprietress led Yang Kai and the others over to an empty spot and sat down before taking a look around. There were already quite a few Open Heaven Realm Masters inside the secret room. Some of them were alone while some of them arrived with several people in tow, just like the Proprietress. Yang Kai also saw many Emperor Realm cultivators like himself, looking around curiously just like him. These Emperor Realm cultivators were probably the Juniors or Disciples of the Open Heaven Realm Masters. They were probably using this opportunity to learn more about the outside world.
While he was looking around his surroundings, Yang Kai saw two familiar figures. It was a man and a woman, one young and one old. They were none other than Old Zhou and Yu Luo Sha of Asura Heaven. Thinking about it again, it was not strange. Red Clouds Auction House and Asura Arena both had establishments in Thousand Birds Territory’s Star City. It was only natural that they were invited to participate in an auction here.
In Thousand Birds Territory’s Star City, these two were not the only businesses belonging to First-Class great forces. Wind and Cloud Auction House was an industry of Wind and Cloud Paradise, Gathering Virtue Emporium was an asset of Nine Stars Paradise, and even Hundred Refining’s Hall was supported by one of the Paradises. At this moment, the representatives of these First-Class great forces gathered inside this secret room.
Old Zhou of the Asura Arena smiled and nodded at Yang Kai. Yang Kai returned the greeting with a bow. Yu Luo Sha was looking at Yang Kai with a complicated expression, but she also nodded in greeting. There was no hostility in her demeanour; rather, her fighting spirit was burning.
Thus, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a sense of respect for this woman. He believed that she would definitely achieve great things in the future. The previous battle had not affected her Martial Heart negatively in any way; instead, it became the driving force for her to strive to become even stronger.
There was no sign of Pei Bu Wan anywhere as he probably lost everything the other day, so he did not have the money to participate in this exchange meeting.
During this waiting period, countless people kept entering the secret room, found seats, and sat down.
All of a sudden, a middle-aged man with a golden crown on his head appeared at the entrance. He was dressed in luxurious robes and the aura around him was extremely powerful. A tall girl with picturesque features followed behind him. Her cultivation was not high. Like Yang Kai, she was only in the Emperor Realm. Her intelligent eyes studied her surroundings with great curiosity, giving her an ethereal feeling.
Many young Juniors couldn’t help glancing in her direction with a look of admiration and adoration on their faces. Likewise, Yang Kai glanced over in that direction just in time to see the middle-aged man leading the tall and slender girl in their direction. The middle-aged man arrived not far from him within a few steps.
The Proprietress stood up and gave an elegant bow, “Senior Brother Guo!”
Old Bai also respectfully greeted the middle-aged man, “Greetings, Senior Guo!”
Surprised, Yang Kai and Yue He hurriedly got to their feet. Judging from the tone of the Proprietress and Bai Qi’s voices, they seemed to be familiar with this middle-aged man surnamed Guo. Their relationship also seemed to be rather intertwined; otherwise, the Proprietress would never address the man with the title ‘Senior Brother’. It had to be said that most Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters were the ones to greet the Proprietress first when they encountered her. After all, the order of etiquette also served to represent the level of their respective statuses.
In other words, this man surnamed Guo was more powerful than the Proprietress. Yang Kai was secretly speechless. Judging by the way the Proprietress addressed this man, could it be that they had a Senior Brother-Junior Sister relationship with each other?
Senior Brother Guo smiled slightly, “Junior Sister Lan, there is no need to be so polite. Please take a seat.”
After saying that, he took the lead and sat down. Only then did the Proprietress return to her seat.
He then said, “It has been several dozen years since we last saw each other. You have a noble bearing as usual, Junior Sister Lan. It is truly gratifying.”
She replied with a slight smile, “Many thanks, Senior Brother Guo. You are as handsome as usual.”
He laughed, “I’ve gotten old. I can’t compare with the younger generation anymore.” Suddenly, he turned to look at Yang Kai with a measuring gaze. Then, he narrowed his eyes and asked, “Isn’t this the boy who defeated Yu Luo Sha in the Asura Arena?”
Yang Kai suddenly had the illusion that he was being stared at by the ancient Ominous Beast under that measuring gaze. For a moment, he felt as though he was being crushed under the pressure of a dozen mountains and could barely breathe as a result.
Fortunately, that terrifying pressure soon dissipated into nothing, almost as if the feeling just now had been nothing more than an illusion. Yang Kai bowed, “Greetings, Senior Guo!”
“Yes, it’s very similar!” Senior Brother Guo nodded repeatedly.
Yang Kai was taken aback. He didn’t quite understand what those words meant at first, but he soon understood. Senior Brother Guo was referring to his appearance. It was the reason why the Proprietress had taken such good care of him in the past, as well as why Yue He addressed him as ‘Young Master’. Apparently, his appearance was very similar to that of the Proprietress’ younger brother, Lan Ting Yu.
One’s appearance was determined by the Heavens, so he was unable to change anything about his appearance. Besides, there were trillions upon trillions of living creatures in the 3,000 Worlds. It was not surprising that some people would look similar to each other. Yang Kai did not feel that his appearance had caused him any trouble; rather, it could even be said that it had brought him great luck. If not for that, how could a humble person like himself become acquainted with somebody like the Proprietress in this vast universe?
“They might look alike, but they are two different people.” The Proprietress smiled softly, “I was very shocked when I first met this brat.”
Senior Brother Guo gently nodded, “Once this matter is over, let me bring this boy back to meet the Old Man. His aptitude is not bad. If he is personally taught by the Old Man, he will surely have great accomplishments in the future.”
“The Old Man?” The Proprietress’ expression changed slightly, “Is that what he wants?”
Senior Brother Guo shook his head in response, “The Old Man has not heard about this yet. I only just learned about it myself when I arrived here.”
Her expression became gloomy and uncertain as she glanced at Yang Kai worriedly and shook her head, “Senior Brother Guo, this boy does not belong to First Inn. If you wish to bring him back to meet the Old Man, you will have to ask him for his opinion.”
“Not part of First Inn?” He seemed a little surprised by those words.
Yang Kai was a little confused by the flow of the conversation. He did not know who this ‘Old Man’ they were talking about was, but a person who could be addressed so formally by two Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could not be a trivial person.
Senior Brother Guo laughed, “Since he does not belong to First Inn, then there’s no need to ask you.” He turned to look at Yang Kai and continued, “Kid, do you have any interest in joining Xuan Yuan Cave Heaven?”
“Xuan Yuan Cave Heaven?” Yang Kai was shocked.
Each of the Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens and Seventy-Two Paradises were extremely famous. They had more than one Great Territory under their command; were known as First-Class great forces in the 3,000 Worlds; and every one of them was led by High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters. Out of all of them, Xuan Yuan Cave Heaven was ranked in the top ten even among the Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens.
Yang Kai had long since guessed that this person by the name of ‘Senior Brother Guo’ came from a very powerful background. There was a high possibility that Senior Brother Guo came from one of the Thirty-Six Cave-Heavens or the Seventy-Two Paradises. It wasn’t until this moment that Yang Kai learned that he belonged to Xuan Yuan Cave Heaven.
Did that mean that Xuan Yuan Cave Heaven was the great force behind First Inn? Why else would the Proprietress and Senior Brother Guo address each other as ‘Senior Brother’ and ‘Junior Sister’?
Senior Brother Guo said, “The aptitude of Yu Luo Sha from Asura Heaven is pretty amazing. The fact that you can defeat her in one move must mean that your aptitude is even more impressive. An aptitude like that is enough for you to join Xuan Yuan Cave Heaven. What do you think? If you are interested, you can follow me back to Xuan Yuan Cave Heaven once this matter is over.”
Yang Kai was dumbfounded. If a Cave-Heaven had tried to recruit him when he first arrived in the 3,000 Worlds, he might have joined them eagerly without a second thought; that way he could enjoy the cool shade under a big tree after all. Backed by such a powerful force like Xuan Yuan Cave Heaven, his future would be very promising. He wouldn’t even need to worry about his cultivation resources. He would only need to ask his Elders for what he needed and somebody would immediately satisfy his needs.
Unfortunately, the current Yang Kai was no longer the same person who just arrived at the Outer Universe. He was now in charge of Void Land and had more than 600,000 people under him. What would happen to Void Land if he left? Besides, his path to becoming a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master would most likely be cut off halfway if he joined Xuan Yuan Cave Heaven.
The Proprietress once mentioned that only those disciples with excellent aptitudes who were born into and grew up in the various Cave-Heavens and Paradises had the qualifications to achieve the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm directly. That was because the Cave Heavens and Paradises had no need to worry about their loyalty!
However, who would dare to allow the birth of a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master if they were an outsider? What if that person cultivated to the level of a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master? Who could suppress them then? Especially somebody like Yang Kai who only joined as a disciple halfway through. Nobody could guarantee his loyalty towards the Sect.
After considering all this, Yang Kai vaguely realised something. He had exposed his identity in the Asura Arena, so many people probably had their eyes on him now. Senior Brother Guo was just one of those people. It was only because he was an old acquaintance of the Proprietress that he took the lead to try and win Yang Kai over.
[If I agree to join Xuan Yuan Cave Heaven, I will only be allowed to achieve the Sixth-Order Heaven Realm at most! I will never be allowed to achieve the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm!] Yang Kai turned to look to the side and sure enough, the Proprietress was staring at him in anxiety and worry. He made up his mind seeing that and carefully said, “Many thanks for your praise, Senior Guo. Unfortunately, this Junior has too many obligations to fulfil and must regretfully refuse your kindness.”
Senior Brother Guo became livid upon hearing those words. His stern and majestic eyes suddenly transformed to become a bottomless abyss, almost as though he wanted to drag Yang Kai’s Soul into them!
[I can’t believe this Senior Guo immediately turned hostile the moment we disagreed. He truly is subject to shifting moods.] Yang Kai trembled for a moment, feeling his Dao Seal vibrating uncontrollably. Sparks danced in his vision as he grit his teeth and shouted, “Senior Guo, are you trying to silence the witness to your crime?”
He originally hoped to cause a scene large enough to attract the attention of the people around him so that this Senior Guo would be more mindful about taking action. This was Red Clouds Auction House’s territory after all so he would not be allowed to do whatever he wanted. To Yang Kai’s surprise though, his voice never came out. His mouth opened and closed like a goldfish stranded on land, making him look extremely funny.
“Senior Brother Guo!” The Proprietress let out a sharp cry.
All of a sudden, the terrifying pressure disappeared. The power that was tugging at Yang Kai’s Soul and Dao Seal also vanished without a trace. He came back to his senses and saw Senior Brother Guo looking at him with a smile, almost as though what he experienced earlier was all an illusion. But, cold sweat drenched his entire body and he knew that what he felt just now was not a figment of his imagination.
“Your appearance is similar, as is your attitude. I just hope that the path you walk won’t be that similar.” Senior Brother Guo uttered that sentence meaningfully, “Otherwise, the ending that will befall you won’t differ much either. Junior Sister Lan, you don’t wish to see history repeating itself, right?”
The Proprietress’ expression was extremely dark as she snapped, “Senior Brother Guo, please mind your own business. I will take care of this boy myself.”
“That would be for the best.” He nodded, “It took a lot of effort for the Old Man to settle that matter for you in the past. You wouldn’t want to cause trouble for him again, right?”
Rubbing his chin, he abruptly changed the subject, “Speaking of the Old Man, I suddenly remembered something. When the Old Man brought the Golden Crow’s carcass back, he was muttering about how most of the essence from its body was missing for some reason. It’s obvious now that it was the doing of this brat.”
Only then did Yang Kai finally realise who the Old Man Senior Brother Guo kept mentioning was. The Golden Crow’s carcass had fallen into the hands of the owner behind First Inn, an old man known as Si Tu Kong.
Before handing the Golden Crow carcass over, Yang Kai had absorbed most of the Golden Crow’s True Fire and to condense his Fire Element Power. He originally thought that he had been very secretive about what he did, but who could have known that his actions had been noticed so quickly?
Judging by the current situation, Si Tu Kong belonged to Xuan Yuan Cave Heaven and First Inn was indeed backed by the powerful force.
The Proprietress spoke firmly, “Please don’t speak nonsense, Senior Brother Guo.”
Senior Brother Guo sneered, “I was just speculating. What are you so nervous about, Junior Sister Lan? Even if it is true, the Old Man failed to notice the issue on the spot, so you don’t expect him to come after this brat after so long, right? What would come of the Old Man’s pride? At his age, what he cares about the most is face. He would not do something that would slap himself so terribly.”
His expression turned cold and his voice became solemn, “There is no evidence regarding this matter, but is your intention to take down the Golden Rainbow Province and the Boundless Altar, or is this also this Senior Brother talking nonsense?”
She replied calmly, “What are you talking about, Senior Brother Guo? This Junior Sister does not understand.”
He turned to look at her, “Don’t give me that nonsense! These two great forces held a grudge against you in the first place! It was only because the Old Man and the other great forces intervened in the past that this matter was settled calmly. Not too long ago, you caused another huge ruckus. Did you think you could hide the truth!? Do you think you can still stand here alive if the Old Man had not intervened again when you killed Yun Zhen Hua of Wind and Cloud Paradise!?”
She looked at him leisurely, “What do you know, Senior Brother?”
He said, “Even if Yun Zhen Hua provoked you first, you should not have killed him. He belonged to Wind and Cloud Paradise after all. In the end, the Old Man had to clean up your mess again when you killed him.”
She became angry, “Are you saying they are the only ones who can attack me and I can’t defend myself? What kind of logic is that!”
He retorted, “With your strength as a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, running away would be a piece of cake for you!”
“Why should I run? They dared to provoke this Great Aunt. In that case, this Great Aunt will dare to slice off their necks. I will cut down every single person they send after me. I’ll see just who in the 3,000 Worlds would dare to provoke me again!” She said furiously.
He slowly shook his head, “Stop causing so much trouble and manage First Inn properly.”
She stared at him fixedly, “Is that what the Old Man wants?”
He replied, “It’s what I want.”
“What the Hell do you count for?” She threw a contemptuous look at him.
He sighed, “The Old Man is getting on in age. How long more do you think he can continue to shelter you? What will you do when all your enemies come at you simultaneously following his death? Forget your enemies. Many people don’t like you even within the Cave-Heaven.”
“Let them come! I’ll take the opportunity to settle my grudges against them!” She gnashed her teeth together, “Damn it! The Old Man has lived for so long, why isn’t he dead yet!?”
His mouth fell open in shock and he looked speechless. After a long time, he angrily muttered, “Brainless woman!”
Then, he turned to the tall girl next to him and said, “Remember this Martial Aunt Lan of yours. Don’t be like her in the future; otherwise, you will never get married! Look at her; even now, nobody is interested in her. That’s the reason.”
The young girl pursed her lips and smiled. On the other hand, the Proprietress glared fiercely.
Senior Brother Guo ignored the Proprietress and pointed at Yang Kai. “Don’t forget this person’s face either. Don’t ever become his enemy. You should ask him to rescue you if you are ever in danger.”
The young girl nodded obediently. Her beautiful eyes stared at Yang Kai seriously for a moment before she replied softly, “I’ve memorised it.”
Yang Kai was stunned by those words. He did not understand the meaning behind Senior Brother Guo’s words. This young girl looked like one of Xuan Yuan Cave Heaven’s elite disciples at a glance. Also, what kind of danger would she face that he would need to rescue her from?
Senior Brother Guo stopped talking and simply sat there in inexplicable silence. The Proprietress also fell silent. Thus, the atmosphere sunk into an awkward silence.
Although Senior Brother Guo and the Proprietress had not said much to each other, they had, intentionally or unintentionally, revealed a lot of information.
The first piece of information was that Yang Kai’s identity had been completely exposed. It was most likely that many of the Cave-Heavens and Paradises were monitoring him. While it would not pose a problem in the short-term, nobody could say for sure what kind of attitude they would take against him after observing him in the long run. They might decide to suppress him or try to win him over. The only thing that could be certain was that nobody would want him to advance directly into the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Another piece of information was that the Proprietress truly intended to take down Golden Rainbow Province and Boundless Altar. It was just that these two Second Class great forces were not pushovers. She would definitely fail with her current strength if she really were to make a move against them.
Yang Kai would not simply sit back and watch if it came to that. But, what help could he provide with his current strength? Even if he brought all the Open Heaven Realm Masters in Void Land over to support her, his efforts would not play a decisive role. Not unless Zhu Jiu Yin was willing to help.
Unfortunately, this woman was not dependable. She might have agreed to become his Protector for 1,000 years, but it was only under the premise that his life was in real danger. She was not a fool, so how could she willingly follow him into such muddy waters?
Therefore, he couldn’t help feeling a sense of urgency and crisis. [Time is not going to wait for me!]
Just as his thoughts were swirling around in his head, he heard a familiar voice entering his ears, “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to participate in Red Clouds Auction House’s exchange meeting. Many of you are old acquaintances, but some of you are new faces. Nevertheless, this Old Master won’t go into details regarding the rules. I’m sure everybody has participated in similar exchange meetings before, so let’s not waste time. The exchange meeting will begin now.”
Many of the Open Heaven Realm Masters chuckled at those words.
Yang Kai looked up and the old man who presided over the auction earlier was standing on the round platform in the centre and bowing in all directions. Knowing that the exchange meeting had officially started, Yang Kai put aside all other thoughts and focused on the present.
Everybody here was in the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm, so those in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm and the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm were everywhere. They would surely have some good stuff in their possession. It was possible that they had the High-Rank materials he needed; however, how he was going to obtain those High-Rank materials from them would depend completely on his own abilities.
He secretly said a prayer in his heart and rolled up his sleeves eagerly.
“Then, this Old Master will start things off.” After the old man on the round platform finished speaking, he took out an item. It was a forearm-length piece of bamboo. The bamboo might have been harvested, but it was still brimming with vitality. The bamboo leaves on the stems were dense. More surprisingly, the bamboo was enveloped in slivers of electricity that constantly flashed between the branches and leaves while making a crackling sound.
“A Sixth-Order Echoing Thunder Purple Bamboo. It is a Wood Element treasure, but it also carries a Thunder Attribute. If one can refine this, they will have the power to produce such thunder with impressive destructive power,” the old man said slowly.
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up! [Amazing! This certainly is deserving of being a high-end exchange meeting.]
It was a complete night and day difference from the auction earlier. Sixth-Order materials like this one would have been auctioned as finale items during the regular auction. On the contrary, it was the first item to appear in this exchange meeting. Although this was also a means for Red Clouds Auction House to elevate the level of this exchange meeting, taking out a Sixth-Order material right from the start was enough to set the atmosphere.
“This Old Master has no special requirements. This item can be exchanged as long as the value is reasonable. Even Open Heaven Pills are accepted.” After the old man finished speaking, he did not say anything else. He simply stood quietly on the round platform and waited.
Yang Kai looked around and saw that many Masters around the platform were hurriedly taking out Space Rings and fiddling with them. Even Senior Brother Guo next to him was doing so.
The Proprietress sent a voice transmission to him to explain, “Place the item or items you want to exchange in a Space Ring and hand it over to the other party. The other party will check the item and filter out the choices. If he thinks that your price is suitable, he will exchange the item with you. If he thinks that the price is not suitable or does not satisfy his requirements, he will return it to you.”
Yang Kai immediately understood. Without any hesitation, he immediately took out a Space Ring and placed 20 million Open Heaven Pills inside. He had the goal of acquiring all kinds of cultivation resources, so it was impossible for him to use his own materials to trade for another. On the contrary, he had an abundance of Open Heaven Pills. Besides, the other party had also mentioned that Open Heaven Pills were also accepted as an exchange. 20 million Open Heaven Pills should be satisfactory.
Yang Kai handed the ring over and waited silently.
A short while later, all the cultivators who were interested in trading with the old man were ready. There were as many as more than 50 Space Rings in the old man’s hands. His requirements were not high, so everybody was willing to give it a try. There was no loss even if they were not selected after all.
The old man checked the rings one by one. After a while, he chose one of the rings and said, “Brother Xu of Divine Fire Union has offered the highest bid. This Old Master will exchange this Echoing Thunder Purple Bamboo with him.”
After saying that, he flung his hand out. Each Space Ring returned to their respective owners, leaving only the Space Ring belonging to that cultivator surnamed Xu from Divine Fire Union in his hand. The Echoing Thunder Purple Bamboo also flew to the other party’s side under the guidance of a gentle force.
The cultivator surnamed Xu received the Echoing Thunder Purple Bamboo with a look of joy. He cupped his fists and thanked the old man.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was a little stunned as he gripped his Space Ring in his hands. He had spent 26 million to buy a Sixth-Order Scarlet Yin Sand, but that was because it was a Yin Element material. Yin Element materials were much rarer, so their prices tended to be on the higher side.
Most Sixth-Order resources were worth around 17 or 18 million. Thus, he originally believed that he had a promising chance of obtaining the Echoing Thunder Purple Bamboo. Who could have known that the old man of Red Clouds Auction House would not choose him? It would seem that it was not a pricing issue. Rather, the Divine Fire Union probably offered something that the old man was more interested in.
The first transaction had gone smoothly and the old man stepped down from the platform after a few polite words.
A figure immediately flew up and stood on the platform. It was a petite woman. She bowed with a bright smile and lightly parted her red lips to speak, “The value of what this Mistress wants to exchange is not that great. Please excuse me, Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters.”
While saying so, she took out her item. Yang Kai looked up and his eyes immediately brightened. What she had taken out was a bug-like thing with a fiery-red body that was slightly more than a palm length long and as thick as an arm. When his Divine Sense swept over this item, Yang Kai could even sense the vitality coming from it. This worm was a living creature.
“A 10,000 Year Fire Silkworm. If fed properly, it will produce a 10,000 Year Fire Silkworm Chrysalis every 10 years. The Order of the Fire Silkworm Chrysalis is uncertain. It might be Third-Order, Fourth-Order, or Fifth-Order. There is even a possibility it will be Sixth-Order. It all depends on your luck.”
The woman looked down with a smile. She was smiling so brightly that her eyes were crescent-shaped, “This Mistress would like to exchange this item for a few Fifth-Order resources. The attributes are not limited and the number is… Naturally, the more the better.” She stuck her tongue out playfully.
The people below immediately showed interest in this item. The 10,000 Year Fire Silkworm was extremely rare. If one could get their hands on it, then they could harvest an Open Heaven material every ten years in the future. Although the Order was uncertain and completely based on luck, the winning factor lay in the fact that it was continuous. There would always come a time when it would produce Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order materials.
In the short term, this would definitely be a huge loss. But, in the long run, it would be a money-making business. It was just that this kind of item was not suitable for individuals; after all, the investment was bound to be big and the break-even cycle was very long. On the other hand, it was very suitable to become part of the heritage of a great force.
Yang Kai was also rather interested in this item. Void Land might have a Divine Medicine like the gourd vine that could continuously produce Fifth-Order materials, but there was no means of producing Third-Order, Fourth-Order, or Sixth-Order resources. If he could bring this 10,000 Year Fire Silkworm back with him, then it would help offset this deficiency.
“Junior Sister, what does the Fire Silkworm eat?” Someone asked.
She turned to look in that direction and smiled, “Naturally, it eats items of the Fire Attribute. It eats anything in the Fire Attribute and is not a picky eater.”
“Does it mean that the more valuable the food we feed it, the higher the Order of the Silkworm Chrysalis produced?”
“Theoretically, that should be the case, but it also produced a Fifth-Order Silkworm Chrysalis when I previously fed it with some broken Fire Crystals and Fire Jades. On the other hand, it only produced a Third-Order Silkworm Chrysalis when I occasionally fed it with some First-Order or Second-Order Fire Element materials. This Fire Silkworm is very naughty.”
“Many thanks, Junior Sister, for clearing up the confusion.” The speaker cupped his fists.
A few other people also asked some questions and she answered all of them, one by one. There were some questions that she herself had never encountered before, so she could not provide any answers.
A short while later, everybody made their bids. Yang Kai also handed over the Space Ring that contained the twenty million Open Heaven Pills from the previous round of bidding after consulting the Proprietress’ opinion.
Quite a few people were interested in this Fire Silkworm so the woman received more than a dozen Space Rings in total. After checking through the rings, she kept only one of them and returned the rest.
What left Yang Kai feeling speechless was that he had not been chosen either this time around. The price of 20 million Open Heaven Pills was definitely not a low price. Since the other party did not select his Space Ring, then it could only mean that she was more interested in the other bids.
Judging from this situation, it would seem that Open Heaven Pills were not omnipotent. It was true that Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters also needed Open Heaven Pills, but in comparison, they seemed to value various cultivation resources even more.
This discovery left Yang Kai feeling speechless. He originally hoped to throw a huge sum of Open Heaven Pills to bid for the High-Rank materials he needed if they appeared here. Who could have expected this situation? It stood to reason that he would definitely succeed if he was willing to harden his heart and throw out 100 million Open Heaven Pills in the transaction; however, he was not a fool. How could he possibly make such a money-losing move?
He secretly felt that this method of transaction was hugely advantageous for the person standing on the platform. That was because the bidders had no idea what the bottom line was like for the others. There was no way to tell what kind of item the others were offering in exchange, so there was no way for the bidders to up their offer. On the contrary, it would maximise the interests of the person standing on the round platform. Even if the bids offered were unsatisfactory, that person could simply choose not to trade with the others. There would be no loss for either party.
The woman’s 10,000 Year Fire Silkworm was successfully traded. After she stepped off the platform, many others consecutively stepped onto the platform. They would first display the items that they wanted to trade, then put forward their own requirements before waiting for the others to bid for their item. Most of them managed to trade their items for other items that they wanted. There were also some whose requirements were too high or too niche, which naturally led to the failure of their request.
Yang Kai even saw somebody driving up the prices. That person ultimately held on to two Space Rings, then he told the owners of the two Space Rings that he was very interested in the items inside these two Space Rings but could not choose between them. He also mentioned that it would be great if one of them could add a little something to the bargain… As a result, his remark egged the two owners of the Space Rings to quickly add more to their offer…
As time passed, Master after Master stepped onto the stage and the exchange meeting proceeded in an orderly manner.
In this exchange meeting, each person would only have one chance to take the stage during each round. Even so, some people would choose not to go up the stage. Hence, one round quickly ended in less than four hours even though there were so many Open Heaven Realm Masters present.
When the second round began, fewer people went up the stage to trade. Yang Kai watched the entire process with great interest and even got hooked on the excitement.
This exchange meeting was much higher-end than the earlier auction. Many precious materials appeared one after another. Aside from cultivation resources, there were also some pills and precious treasures. The experience greatly opened his eyes. Furthermore, the cultivation resources that appeared in this exchange meeting were at least in the Fifth Order. Even Sixth-Order materials could be found everywhere. The sight of these resources absolutely dazzled him.
Those participating in this exchange meeting were Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters after all. Nobody would bring out Low-Rank materials and invite the scorn of others upon themself.
All of a sudden, a tall, straight-backed, fair-faced, and beardless middle-aged man stepped onto the stage. Looking around, he cupped his fists in greeting.
Yang Kai immediately recognised this person as Ye Jian of Thunderclap Hall; thus, he could not help gnashing his teeth in secret. He had hoped to win the bid for the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill and its pill recipe for slightly more than 30 million Open Heaven Pills during the auction earlier.
It was this person who kept raising the price until it reached 50 million Open Heaven Pills, forcing him to spend an extra 20 million Open Heaven Pills for no reason. 20 million Open Heaven Pills was practically equivalent to the price of a Sixth-Order material. It was an unmistakably huge loss.
During the first round of trading, Ye Jian had already been on the stage once to trade for a Sixth-Order material with another Open Heaven Realm Master. For him to go up the stage once more showed that he had a lot of good stuff on hand.
Under everybody’s gazes, he took out a long box. The box was as white as jade; moreover, it exuded a hint of coolness the moment it appeared and enveloped the entire secret room with a slight chill. The box was around the length of half an arm and the width of four fingers. There were mysterious patterns continuously surfacing and changing on the box. It was very mystifying.
“Heavenly Yin Jade?” Somebody suddenly exclaimed. The expressions of the others in the room stiffened abruptly at those words and their gazes instantly became scorching.
“Brother Ye sure is extravagant! I can’t believe he made a mere box out of Fifth-Order Heavenly Yin Jade!”
Only then did Yang Kai know that this clean and flawless jade box was also a Fifth-Order material. It was most likely a Yin Element treasure. Otherwise, it would not have given off such a cool feeling when it was brought out.
Just this jade box alone was extremely valuable. There was no telling what was placed inside that jade box.
The Proprietress suddenly reached out and nudged Yang Kai, “What you are looking for may have appeared.”
“What?” Yang Kai was so stunned that he could not react for a moment.
She gestured towards the round platform with her mouth.
On the round platform, Ye Jian smiled slightly and responded to the person who spoke earlier, “You have a good eye, Brother Zhao. That’s right! This is a jade box made from Fifth-Order Heavenly Yin Jade! However, what this Ye wishes to exchange this time is not this jade box but what is inside!”
Saying so, he formed several hand seals before light flashed at his fingertips and flowed into the jade box. Then, the jade box slowly opened to reveal the item inside.
Everybody looked in that direction with great interest. The item inside the jade box was a ginseng that was as thick as a baby’s arm. The ginseng roots were dense and one could tell that it was very old at a glance. Moreover, this ginseng had already begun to take a humanoid-like form. A ginseng like this was undoubtedly an existence among the Ginseng Kings. That was not all. The entire ginseng was a strange pale gold in colour and exuded a strong Yang Element Power. It was a Yang Element Ginseng King!
Yang Kai felt his entire body stiffening in shock and his heart pounding wildly in his chest. His eyes seemed to have grown roots in the way he stared fixedly at the Ginseng King.
Many restrictions had been placed on the Ginseng King with numerous peculiar forces sealing the Yang Element Power that it was exuding from its body. Even so, these forces were unable to completely seal the Yang Element Power away, so bits of it constantly clashed with the power of the Heavenly Yin Jade.
While everybody was still in shock, Ye Jian’s voice sounded once more, “A Seventh-Order Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng in exchange for some Sixth-Order cultivation materials. If there are any interested parties, please place your bids.”
Yang Kai’s heart pounded even harder than before and his lips went dry. His brain buzzed with a loud humming sound, leaving only the words ‘Seventh Order’ echoing around in his head. His gaze was fixed intently on the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng and he could barely hold back the urge to throw his head back and laugh madly.
[A Seventh-Order Yang Attribute material! This Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng is a Seventh-Order Yang Attribute material! It really appeared in this exchange meeting!] During the first round of trading, he had not seen anything he really wanted; hence, he had already given up hope. Who could have known that his wish would come true during the second round of trading?
Forcefully composing himself, Yang Kai secretly gashed his teeth. [I have to obtain this Seventh-Order Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng, no matter what! Who knows when I will come across another chance like this if I let this opportunity slip through my fingers!?]
Whilst he was being absent-minded, a series of whispered discussions rang out in the secret room. Many people constantly released their Divine Sense to investigate the authenticity of the Seventh-Order Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng. Some of them even revealed a fanatical look. Yang Kai observed the situation around him and felt his heart sinking downward. [Looks like… there will be many competitors. But, regardless of how many competitors there are, I have to obtain this Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng!]
A gaze landed on Yang Kai from the side. Feeling the gaze, Yang Kai turned to look to the side and saw Senior Brother Guo smiling at him. Senior Brother Guo’s expression became extremely meaningful when their eyes met.
Yang Kai felt his heart thumping loudly, [This guy isn’t planning to get in my way… right?]
Senior Brother Guo’s previous words had been filled with the intention of recruiting and threatening. It was obvious that he knew Yang Kai was in need of Seventh-Order materials.
Yang Kai was not worried even if Senior Brother Guo tried to get in his way. It was just that he did not know how much money he would need to pay for no reason now. Nonchalantly withdrawing his gaze, Yang Kai began pondering how much he had to bid in order to impress Ye Jian.
Generally speaking, cultivators would never exchange High-Order materials for materials in a lower Order. That was because High-Order materials were much harder to obtain.
However, the Thunderclap Hall that Ye Jian belonged to was just a Second-Class great force. The strongest Master in Thunderclap Hall was only in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm and there were no existences in the Seventh-Order. Therefore, this Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng had little practical value to Thunderclap Hall unless one of them could advance into the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm in the future. As such, it was more practical to exchange it for some Sixth-Order materials that could be used for cultivation purposes.
Yang Kai suddenly recalled something. During the auction earlier, Ye Jian had pledged an item to Red Clouds Auction House. Afterwards, he had significantly increased his bid. From the looks of it, the item he pledged earlier had been the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng.
A Seventh-Order Yang Attribute material would be worth 200 million at least. Its value might be even higher than that, which certainly could give him enough confidence for his actions. If he had ruthlessly decided to continue bidding for the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill, the price might have been raised to 100 million between him and Yang Kai.
Fortunately, he decided to back down when it was only 50 million. Judging by the situation, he either did not wish to waste so many Open Heaven Pills or the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng belonged to the entire Thunderclap Hall and not just him alone.
Recalling the previous auction, Yang Kai’s eyes shone brightly. He secretly came up with a plan. Coincidentally, the Proprietress also secretly sent him a voice transmission at this time. Her idea happened to coincide with his own.
The reason Ye Jian bid for the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill was out of consideration for his Son. Yang Kai had already noticed the young man with thick eyebrows and large eyes standing beside Ye Jian. Their appearances were not that different from each other, so he was probably Ye Jian’s son.
Ye Jian’s willingness to spend 50 million to bid for the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill showed just how much he cared for his Son. It would certainly catch his attention if Yang Kai used the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill to trade with him. Needless to say, the value of a Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill was far from that of the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng.
Be that as it may, Yang Kai could make up for the difference. He originally planned to investigate the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill thoroughly later, but now that the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng had appeared, he could not afford to care so much. In any case, he had already scraped off some Pill Powder earlier, which was enough for research purposes.
The moment the thought came to mind, he immediately stuffed 200 million Open Heaven Pills in addition to the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill into a Space Ring. He was about to hand the Space Ring over when he decided to stuff another 20 million into the ring just to be on the safe side.
It was not suitable for an Emperor Realm Junior like Yang Kai to make such an offer. Even though all the Cave-Heavens and Paradises were basically keeping an eye on him by now, it was still too eye-catching for a mere Emperor Realm cultivator to participate in the transaction of a Seventh-Order material. Hence, he immediately handed the Space Ring to the Proprietress for her to trade on his behalf.
Following a brief moment of shock and discussion inside the secret room, those who were interested in trading for the Seventh-Order materials had already taken out their cards. Yang Kai looked around and saw that not many people were participating in the trade. There were only a dozen or so while the rest were merely spectators.
Yang Kai quickly understood the situation. Those who were participating in this trade were the representatives of the Cave-Heavens and Paradises. They were backed by First-Class great forces with High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters who could put these Seventh-Order materials to good use. There were many Open Heaven Realm Masters from various Second-Class great forces, but none of them could use the Seventh-Order materials; therefore, there was no point in trading for it.
As expected, Senior Brother Guo also handed a Space Ring over. The Proprietress turned to glance at him and he returned her look with a smile.
Yang Kai instantly got a bad feeling. He was becoming more and more certain that Senior Brother Guo was going to cause trouble for him; thus, he couldn’t help worrying about his gains and losses. [Should I have added even more Open Heaven Pills? 220 million Open Heaven Pills in addition to the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill… It’s certainly an amount on par with or higher than the Seventh-Order Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng, but who can say what the other bidders are offering? Right now, I can only hope that Ye Jian really cherishes his Son. That is the only way the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill can impress him.]
With more than a dozen Space Rings in hand, Ye Jian began to check their contents carefully. He was a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so his temperament was exceptional. The items contained within these Space Rings were extraordinary, but his expression remained as tranquil as an ancient well. It was difficult for others to guess what he was thinking from his expression alone.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was extremely nervous and secretly vowed that he would immediately increase his bid if Ye Jian did not select him! In the worst case, he would just spend even more Open Heaven Pills. It was no big deal. This Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng was going to be surnamed Yang today, no matter the cost!
In front of everyone’s eyes, Ye Jian stood on the round platform in the centre and carefully checked the Space Rings in his hand one by one. At a certain moment, he paused and looked up at the Proprietress. Even though he concealed his emotions very well, there was not a single person present who failed to notice the flash of joy in his eyes at that moment.
The memory of Room A3 and Room B2 fervently bidding for the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill during the auction earlier was still very fresh. For that reason, many people realised what had happened when they saw his action. First Inn had probably offered the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill from the auction just now.
This was certainly pandering to Ye Jian’s desires; after all, he had been extremely interested in the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill. This Spirit Pill would certainly be able to catch his interest. For a moment, many people secretly felt a deep sense of regret. They would have also competed for the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill had they known about this earlier. For all they knew, they could have used this Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill as bait to obtain a Seventh-Order material in exchange!
The old man from Red Clouds Auction House smiled bitterly. The one who regretted the most was none other than Red Clouds Auction House. They had brought out the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill for auction, but in the end, First Inn was using it against him by making it a bargaining chip to compete for the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng. The old man couldn’t help feeling as though he had lifted a stone only to smash his own foot with it.
On the round platform, Ye Jian composed himself. He returned most of the Space Rings, except for two. One of those Space Rings belonged to Yang Kai while the other was from an unknown party.
Yang Kai was secretly ecstatic upon knowing that he was only one step away from achieving his goal. Ye Jian had held on to the Space Ring belonging to Yang Kai. That could only mean that the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill had an impact on him. It could be seen from this incident that he really did cherish his Son.
Thinking about it, it was not that strange. The young man had condensed Sixth-Order Elements, so he had the hope of advancing directly into the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm in the future. That was not just his desire, it was the future hope of Thunderclap Hall! It was worth the extensive investment!
Yang Kai finally felt a sense of relief as the burden lifted from his heart. He had been most afraid that the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill would not impress Ye Jian. If that was the case, then the 220 million Open Heaven Pills would not have had much competitive ability either.
At present, there was only one more opponent left to defeat before he obtained the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng! But, he had to figure out the owner of that Space Ring before that!
Without waiting for Yang Kai to figure out the answer, Ye Jian gave a wry smile from where he stood on the round platform. He cupped his fist slightly at the old man from Red Clouds Auction House, “To be honest, between the two rings that this Ye retained… Red Clouds Auction House has provided a better offer in terms of value.”
Yang Kai was stunned. At the same time, he immediately understood that the other Space Ring belonged to Red Clouds Auction House.
It was not surprising if he thought about it. Red Clouds Auction House had known about the existence of the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng in advance when Ye Jian pledged this item during the auction. It was easy for them to guess that Ye Jian had brought this item with the intention of participating in the exchange meeting. Seeing as they had known about it in advance, then the auction house would definitely make preparations beforehand. It was only natural for them to bring out something that could impress Ye Jian.
On the other hand, the others had to quickly prepare their bids at a moment’s notice. It was difficult for them to compete with Red Clouds Auction House. It was only because Yang Kai had pandered to Ye Jian personally that he unexpectedly garnered a chance to stand against Red Clouds Auction House.
In other words, Red Clouds Auction House had provided the highest value offer out of all the other bids; however, Ye Jian suddenly turned the conversation around, “It is just that Madam Lan of First Inn has something that this Ye is deeply interested in. I apologise, but this Ye will be choosing Madam Lan’s offer.”
The old man from Red Clouds Auction House nodded, “You are free to trade with whom you please. Please don’t worry about it, Brother Ye.”
He regretted putting the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill up for auction and that feeling was only growing stronger. Although the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill had sold for a high price, Seventh-Order materials were not things that money alone could buy. The auction this time around was equivalent to giving First Inn a great opportunity in vain.
Then, Ye Jian turned to look at the Proprietress again and cupped his fist, “Madam Lan, this Ye is more inclined to choose your bid. But, this Ye has a request.”
The Proprietress nodded lightly, “Hall Master Ye, please speak.”
He continued, “Madam Lan, I know that you bought a large number of Sixth-Order materials during the auction earlier. This Ye wants those Sixth-Order materials. The remaining deficit can be made up with Open Heaven Pills. What do you say, Madam Lan?”
She pondered silently for a while until she received a reply from Yang Kai via transmission, “That’s not a problem!”
Although Yang Kai was a little reluctant to part with those Sixth-Order materials, he could not afford to care so much if he wanted to obtain the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng. Sixth-Order materials could be bought at large-scale auctions or exchange meetings like this one, but that was not the case for Seventh-Order materials. Comparing the two, this amount of sacrifice was worth it. It didn’t matter even if he suffered some losses.
“Good!” Ye Jian smiled and nodded.
Just when Yang Kai was secretly feeling elated over the assumption that the situation had been settled, he heard Senior Brother Guo’s voice coming from the side, “Please wait, Brother Ye. This Guo wants to make another bid.”
On the platform, Ye Jian couldn’t help showing a troubled expression, “I will be honest with you, Brother Guo. I have my own reasons for choosing Madam Lan. Even if your bid is more valuable than hers, this Ye…”
Senior Brother Guo smiled slightly, “You are free to choose whomever you want, Brother Ye. But, you might as well take a look at what I’m offering first. Who knows? You might turn out to be more interested in this Guo’s bid.”
Yang Kai glared furiously at Senior Brother Guo from the side, wishing that he could summon the Azure Dragon Spear and stab the other party to death!
[I knew this bastard was up to no good! I had the feeling that he was going to get in my way, but I can’t believe it really turned out like this!] Suppressing the rage in his heart, he sent a Divine Sense transmission to the Proprietress, “Is that allowed in this exchange meeting?”
Likewise, the Proprietress scowled, “The exchange meeting is all about freedom. Nothing is forbidden.”
Yang Kai immediately grit his teeth and secretly vowed to himself. [In the worst case, I can just throw out all the Open Heaven Pills I have on hand. I have to get my hands on the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng no matter what! I don’t believe that surnamed Guo can come up with something worth more than a billion Open Heaven Pills!]
On the round platform, Ye Jian nodded after hesitating for a bit. He was not in the position to embarrass Senior Brother Guo in public, “In that case, please go ahead, Brother Guo!”
Senior Brother Guo immediately threw a Space Ring to Ye Jian.
Under Yang Kai’s extremely nervous gaze, Ye Jian checked the Space Ring and immediately frowned. His expression wavered to reveal a look of indecision.
Yang Kai’s heart sank at the sight. He could tell that Senior Brother Guo’s bid had tempted Ye Jian. This bid had nothing to do with monetary value. Rather, it might be what Ye Jian required at the moment.
Yang Kai secretly cursed and swore in his heart. He was not sure what offer Senior Brother Guo had made; otherwise, he could have countered the offer.
Ye Jian smiled bitterly, “Brother Guo, this is extremely troubling.”
While speaking, he raised his head and glanced at his Son.
Senior Brother Guo responded with a small smile, “I believe you will make a wise choice, Brother Ye.”
Yang Kai seriously felt like punching that surnamed Guo at the sight of the latter’s smug expression. However, the more triumphant Senior Brother Guo looked, the more uneasy he felt. Based on his observation, the interval that Ye Jian’s eyes were lingering on Senior Brother Guo’s ring was becoming longer and longer. In other words, he seemed to be more interested in trading with Senior Brother Guo.
[The situation is bad!] Yang Kai’s heart sank. He was just about to ask the Proprietress to increase his bid when Yue He suddenly sent him a stealthy transmission. Her message startled him for a moment, then his eyes lit up. He had only been thinking about the difference in value between his bid and Senior Brother Guo’s bid; thus, he completely forgot the reason as to why he won the bid by surprise in the first place. The bid offered by Red Clouds Auction House had clearly been more valuable, but Ye Jian had still chosen to trade with him. That was because he had offered something that Ye Jian desperately desired.
If it were anybody else, they could only use this method once even with the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill in hand; however, he could use that very method one more time! It was fortunate that Yue He had reminded him about this, or else he would have forgotten that he still had a certain useful item in his possession.
He immediately prepared his bid and secretly handed a Space Ring to the Proprietress along with a transmission.
The Proprietress turned to glance at him, but did not ask further questions. She simply said, “Hall Master Ye, I wish to increase my bid as well!”
Ye Jian was currently caught in a dilemma and at a loss for what to do; therefore, he quickly replied when he heard those words, “Madam Lan, please go ahead!”
She tossed the Space Ring Yang Kai had passed to her over to Ye Jian. At the same time, she turned a meaningful look towards Senior Brother Guo, one filled with a look of authority and confidence.
Senior Brother Guo scratched his nose and turned to the side, seemingly feeling rather guilty.
“This… This is…” On the platform, Ye Jian let out an exclamation of shock after he checked the contents of the Space Ring. He widened his eyes that were blazing with excitement.
Everybody looked in his direction, feeling curious about what was contained inside the Space Ring. Unfortunately, they could not tell. Consequently, their curiosity gave them an itch in their hearts that they could not scratch.
Even the Proprietress did not know what Yang Kai had handed to her. Judging from Ye Jian’s expression at this moment, it was obvious that he had obtained something incredible; otherwise, how could a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master lose his composure like this?
“Hahahaha!” Ye Jian suddenly threw his head back and laughed wildly, “It’s true that the Heavens will always leave open a path! Good! Very good!”
While saying so, he immediately tossed the Space Ring belonging to Senior Brother Guo back to its owner and cupped his fist, “Brother Guo, forgive me. This Ye has decided to choose Madam Lan’s bid. For your information, this Ye’s choice is not a matter of value. It’s just that Madam Lan’s bid is something this Ye desperately needs!”
The audience went into an uproar. It was not until this moment that they learned something shocking. Even though Madam Lan had increased her bid, what Senior Brother Guo offered was still more valuable. It could be seen that Senior Brother Guo had offered a fortune in this trade. Even so, it was still not enough to win off Ye Jian.
Just what did Madam Lan offer for Ye Jian for him to be willing to give up on such huge benefits?
Beside the Proprietress, the extremely nervous Yang Kai clenched his fists and let out a great sigh of relief. There was an obvious look of glee and excitement when he met Yue He’s eyes.
Although the handover had yet to be completed, Ye Jian’s response indicated that the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng was as good as his unless somebody else could come up with an offer that would impress Ye Jian even more. It was just that the possibility was extremely unlikely.
Senior Brother Guo held his Space Ring and pondered for a while. Nevertheless, he was pretty carefree and did not continue to cause further trouble. He simply smiled and said, “Congratulations, Brother Ye.”
“Many thanks! Many thanks indeed! Hahaha!” Ye Jian’s expression was radiant. He was unbelievably happy, which made many people watch him curiously. Now that he made his decision, he no longer hesitated and immediately traded with the Proprietress.
According to Ye Jian’s previous request, Yang Kai took out all the Sixth-Order materials that he had purchased during the auction, then calculated the remaining deficit in value so that he could use Open Heaven Pills to make up the difference.
In less than an incense, the handover between both parties was completed and everybody involved was happy. The Proprietress nonchalantly put the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng away, as though nothing had happened.
In the meantime, the exchange meeting continued. It was just that the rest of the transactions were much more muted following the trade of a Seventh-Order material.
Yang Kai was so happy that he felt like he was floating among the clouds. He couldn’t wait to enter retreat in order to refine the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng, so he no longer had any mood to participate in the exchange meeting.
Approximately two hours later, the exchange meeting finally ended and many of the Open Heaven Realm Masters got up and dispersed.
The group of four from First Inn said their goodbyes to the old man of Red Clouds Auction House under the leadership of the Proprietress. Yang Kai walked along the streets in a good mood, trying hard to suppress his excitement.
Old Bai turned to look at Yang Kai, “Laugh if you want to. Why do you have to hold it in so painfully?”
Yang Kai immediately burst into laughter, causing other people to look sideways at him repeatedly as though thinking that this person had problems with his head.
The Proprietress pursed her lips, “I’m very curious about what you added into your bid at the ending that made Ye Jian so happy that he immediately decided to trade with you.”
Yang Kai shook his head lightly, “Proprietress, you are so beautiful and intelligent. Why don’t you take a guess?”
She reached out and flicked a finger at his forehead angrily, “Are you trying to test me?”
To which he replied unhappily, “Proprietress, I’m an adult. You can talk, but you should not resort to violence so often, okay?”
The moment the words left his mouth, her leg flew out from under her skirt to kick him in the calf. He immediately staggered and lost his balance. For a moment, he grimaced in pain and clutched at his leg while hopping around in agony.
She smiled lightly, “You first used the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill to impress Ye Jian. That’s what made him choose you. Judging by his actions, he cherishes his Son, Ye Zi Ying, very much. Otherwise, he would not have declined the offer from Red Clouds Auction House. I’m guessing that the item you offered at the last moment was also something that will be useful for Ye Zi Ying.”
Yang Kai and Yue He looked at each other, then Yang Kai gave the Proprietress a thumbs up.
“Ye Zi Ying’s problem is very simple. It’s a case of forcibly condensing Sixth-Order Elements despite not having enough aptitude, which caused his Dao Seal to become unstable as a result. He will face a huge risk during his advancement. While the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill can alleviate this situation a little, it cannot guarantee that he will succeed in his advancement. In that case, what you brought out… can also increase the success rate of his advancement?”
While saying so, the Proprietress smiled slightly, “But, precious treasures that can increase the success rate of advancing into the Open Heaven Realm are extremely rare throughout the vast universe. Normal people will never get the opportunity to come across these items. Nevertheless, you have one such item in your possession. So, I’m guessing that it is probably World Source Liquid.”
There was a slight pause, after which she frowned deeply, “That’s not right. The Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill is a Spirit Pill refined from World Source Liquid so they will have the same effect. Moreover, the effects will be stronger with the refined Spirit Pill. If I were Ye Jian, I would not have been interested in World Source Liquid since I already have the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill in my possession; after all, these things do not work under the principle of ‘the more the better’ for a cultivator. Under the premise that the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill works, World Source Liquid will not further improve the success rate of Ye Zi Ying’s advancement.”
Yang Kai nodded, “It’s not the World Source Liquid. Has Proprietress ever heard of the Divine Dao Water?”
“Divine Dao Water!?” She was taken aback by those words and stared at him in astonishment, “You actually have Divine Dao Water in your possession?”
She was very well-informed, so it was only natural that she knew about Divine Dao Water.
The Divine Dao Water that he possessed was something Zhu Jiu Yin had given to him in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary in order for him to strengthen his Dao Seal. Back then, he had used around a dozen drops to fortify his Dao Seal to its limit, but he still had some remaining. It was the perfect item to trade with Ye Jian for the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng.
“Ye Zi Ying’s Dao Seal is unstable. Compared to the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill, the effect of the Divine Dao Water will be more suitable for his situation.” The Proprietress was enlightened by the realization, “No wonder Ye Jian lost his composure and laughed so heartily. So that’s how it is.” Then, she glanced at him again, “You brat. You sure obtained quite a lot of good stuff in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary.”
Yang Kai just grinned meaningfully in response.
Old Bai sighed, “Now that Ye Zi Ying has the Divine Dao Water to strengthen his Dao Seal, all his worries have been eliminated. Furthermore, he also has the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill to aid in his advancement into the Open Heaven Realm. It looks like Thunderclap Hall will have an additional Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master in the near future!”
The Proprietress nodded, “Thunderclap Hall has always been one of the top Second-Class great forces in the first place. Once Ye Zi Ying becomes a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, the strength of Thunderclap Hall will soar once more. Not to mention… Ye Zi Ying is different from Ye Jian. He advanced into the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm directly, so he has the possibility of growing into an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master in the future. He will be much stronger than his Father.”
Bai Qi was very envious, “Thunderclap Hall is flourishing now. Ye Jian sure received a great bargain.”
Similarly, Yang Kai was also very envious. Thanks to him, Ye Zi Ying would now have a bright and promising future. [When will I be able to advance into the Open Heaven Realm? I managed to obtain the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng by chance today, so the problem regarding the Yang Element has been solved. But, what about the remaining Yin and Metal Elements? Maybe I should head to Golden Antelope Paradise to try my luck with a Metal Element treasure.]
When he first arrived in the 3,000 Worlds, Zhang Ruo Xi once told him that Golden Antelope Paradise was the only Paradise that was open to all cultivators. There was a Sealed World inside Golden Antelope Paradise and any cultivator was able to enter it as long as they were willing to pay a certain entrance fee.
There was a high possibility that he could find something like the Golden Blade Yuan Spirit inside the Sealed World. The Golden Blade Yuan Spirit was a Fifth-Order Metal Element treasure. Zhang Ruo Xi also mentioned that one could even find a Seventh-Order Metal Element treasure inside the Sealed World if they were lucky enough!
The reason she knew all this was that she had inherited the bloodline memories of her ancestor. As for how much one had to pay to enter the Sealed World, she did not say. It was probably not cheap.
On the other hand, it would be difficult to obtain a Yin Element treasure… Yin and Yang materials had always been scarcer and more valuable than those of the other Five Elements.
Take the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng that Yang Kai acquired for example. His initial bid was 220 million Open Heaven Pills, plus a Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill.
Although he paid 50 million Open Heaven Pills for the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill and its pill recipe, the true value of the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill was not that high. Even so, judging from the competition between Ye Jian and Teng Wang, the value of the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill could not be less than 20 million.
In other words, Yang Kai’s initial bid was worth at least 240 million Open Heaven Pills! Be that as it may, the bids from Red Clouds Auction House and Senior Brother Guo were even more valuable than that.
Including the two drops of Divine Dao Water that Yang Kai added at the last moment, the total value of his bid was more than 260 million Open Heaven Pills, possibly even higher. If he had only used Open Heaven Pills to bid, he might not have been able to buy the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng even if he tossed out 300 million Open Heaven Pills! In the end, these items were not things that could be bought just because one had a lot of money.
Yang Kai secretly decided that if he failed to gain anything from the Blood Monster Cave Heaven, he would immediately set off for Golden Antelope Paradise. He was going to enter the Sealed World to try his luck. The only problem he now faced was that his existence had been exposed to the various Cave-Heavens and Paradises. There was no saying whether Golden Antelope Paradise would be hostile towards him.
At the moment, he was still far from advancing into the Open Heaven Realm; therefore, the Cave-Heavens and Paradises were not in a hurry to suppress him. They might even entertain the idea of trying to win him over, like what Senior Brother Guo had tried to do at first. In any case, there was no point in worrying about the future. His top priority at the moment was to refine his Yang Element Power as soon as possible. Everybody was aware that First Inn had obtained the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng, so there was no saying what kind of unexpected situation might occur if he did not refine it quickly.
After returning to First Inn, Yang Kai immediately asked the Proprietress for a secret room and went into retreat. All the barriers in the secret room were activated and there were two Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters like the Proprietress and Yue He standing guard nearby. Therefore, the defence could be said to be impregnable. In addition, nobody would dare to act recklessly in the Star City under the jurisdiction of Great Battle Heaven.
Yang Kai sat down cross-legged and focused his mind.
Three days later, his mind was empty, free from distractions, and as tranquil as an ancient well. Only then did he finally take the Heavenly Yin Jade Box out of his Space Ring. A sense of coolness instantly permeated the entire secret room. The Heavenly Yin Jade Box itself was a Fifth-Order material. It was worth quite a lot, but it was nothing compared to the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng contained inside.
When Ye Jian first brought out the Heavenly Yin Jade Box, the Proprietress had told Yang Kai that what he was looking for had appeared. She had probably guessed that an item held inside a box made from Fifth-Order material would not be something trivial. It was most likely a Seventh-Order material. In the end, it turned out that her guess was correct.
Yang Kai took the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng out of the jade box and studied the item carefully. He did not know how long the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng had lived as it had already begun to take on a humanoid shape, which made it look extremely lifelike and vivid. With the roots spread across its entire body, it was as thick as a baby’s arm and approximately a forearm in length. Furthermore, it was exuding an extraordinarily pure and potent Yang Element Power.
Without any hesitation whatsoever, he took a bite. The taste was ordinary, almost like he was chewing on a normal carrot. There was a sense of crunchiness, but it was nothing special and even tasted slightly astringent. It was hard to imagine that this was a precious treasure he spent 200 to 300 million Open Heaven Pills just to obtain.
Yang Kai took a few consecutive bites, but at his third, his expression suddenly changed and he quickly resealed the rest of the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng in the Heavenly Yin Jade Box. Just as he finished doing that, he felt a burst of pure Yang Element Power erupting in his belly. The eruption of power caused his internal organs to shift. Looking inward, he saw that his body was filled with a golden energy. More importantly, that energy was still expanding madly without pause. He had clearly eaten too much!
He immediately knew that things were not looking too good for him. Although he had experience refining several High-Rank materials in the past, he had never eaten a High-Rank material to refine before. It was his first time and his lack of experience had led to an unfavourable outcome. He immediately fell into a dangerous situation.
Even so, he did not panic. If he were a normal cultivator, Yang Kai might have been injured by this mighty Yang Element Power. Fortunately, he had an intrepid physique thanks to his Dragon Clan bloodline, so how could he be scared of something like this?
He immediately adjusted his breathing and focused his mind. Mobilising his strength, he guided the Yang Element Power that was surging like a tumultuous sea in his body to flow into his Dao Seal. At the same time, he separated a thread of his consciousness to circulate the Defying Yin-Yang Five Elements Profound Universe Heart Scripture to maintain the stability of his Dao Seal.
Cultivators had to follow a certain step-by-step procedure when refining the Yin, Yang, and Five Element Powers. In order to maintain the stability of their Dao Seals. However, with the Defying Yin-Yang Five Elements Profound Universe Heart Scripture, Yang Kai could ignore the specific sequence of Elements. The price he needed to pay was that he needed to devote a thread of his consciousness to circulate this Secret Art at all times; otherwise, his Dao Seal would become unstable and result in endless negative consequences.
In the past, he had skipped the Metal Element Power and proceeded to refine his Water Element directly. He had already separated a thread of his consciousness for that purpose. In the long run, he was required to concentrate on two tasks at the same time no matter what he did. Now that he had refined the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng, he would be required to concentrate on three tasks at the same time in the future.
Fortunately, his Soul was very powerful, so splitting his consciousness to do three things at once was nothing to him. Even so, it would place a heavy burden on his mind if things were to continue in this state for a long time. At some point, it would probably begin to affect his ability to engage in combat.
Under the guidance of his Dao Seal, the pure Yang Element Power slowly poured into his Dao Seal. The original four colours now had an additional faint golden radiance added. The golden colour gradually blended into his Dao Seal and complemented the other four existing colours. It was an extremely mysterious sight to behold.
After making it through the most difficult part, Yang Kai gradually felt that his stomach was no longer bulging so painfully. He had almost finished refining the Yang Element Power and the most notable change was that the golden colour in his Dao Seal had increased significantly.
Taking the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng out of the Heavenly Yin Jade Box again, he determinedly took a few more bites. The golden Yang Element Power exploded in his body once more, squeezing his internal organs together painfully. The energy filled his entire body, along with his physique and meridians. It even made his entire body emit a faint golden light.
Mobilising the power of his Dao Seal again, he guided the Yang Element Power into it. Yang Kai simply repeated these steps over and over again. He did not know how long had passed but the Yang Element Power in his Dao Seal gradually became saturated while the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng he spent nearly 300 million Open Heaven Pills to obtain was completely consumed in exchange.
When the last bit of the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng’s medicinal efficacies dissolved into his belly and the Yang Element Power poured into his Dao Seal, Yang Kai suddenly felt an unusual change occurring in his body.
He immediately understood what had happened, his Yang Element had been completed. That meant that there were only two more steps left before he advanced into the Open Heaven Realm! Moreover, he had entered the Half-Step Open Heaven Realm.
Generally speaking, a cultivator could call themselves a Half-Step Open Heaven Realm Master once they condensed five Elements. This was not a Realm, but it was undeniable that they could exert more power than ordinary Emperor Realm Masters. Becoming a Half-Step Open Heaven Realm Master was of great significance to other cultivators. That was because they could look forward to advancing into the true Open Heaven Realm once they reached this point in their cultivation. In addition, their strength would also improve by leaps and bounds.
Unfortunately, it was useless to Yang Kai. That was because he was already on par with Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters in terms of strength when he had only condensed four Elements. Not to mention, he had to concentrate on three tasks at once now that he had refined the Seventh-Order Yang Element Power since he needed to operate the Defying Yin-Yang Five Elements Profound Universe Heart Scripture at all times to maintain the stability of his Dao Seal. Therefore, his strength had not increased by much.
It would not end at having to concentrate on three tasks at once. In the future, he might need to concentrate on four tasks at once upon condensing his Yin Element. The impact would be greater than what he was experiencing now. Hence, the best solution was for him to condense the Metal Element Power first. That way he could correct the sequence so that he no longer needed to work so hard to maintain the Defying Yin-Yang Five Elements Profound Universe Heart Scripture at all times.
It was just that… High-Rank resources were hard to come by. Who could say whether he would obtain a Metal Element treasure or Yin Element treasure first?
After calming down, Yang Kai checked his body and confirmed that there were no hidden dangers. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
A quick calculation indicated that he had taken almost two months to refine the Primordial Yang Profound Ginseng. This period of time could not be considered long. If it were any other cultivator, they would likely have taken a year or two to complete the refinement process and that was only if they actually succeeded in the end. It might even have taken them three to five years to complete the refinement process.
Condensing the Yin, Yang, and Five Elements placed an extremely heavy burden on one’s Dao Seal after all. If one were overly hasty in the process, there was a high possibility that it would cause unnecessary trouble down the road. Which cultivator would not be cautious when refining their Yin, Yang, and Five Elements, lest their Dao Seal become unable to withstand the internal pressures?
Only Yang Kai, who had such a strong foundation and had taken more than ten drops of the Divine Dao Water to strengthen his Dao Seal to the limit, could ignore such consequences.
Yang Kai waved his hand to remove the barriers around the secret room. After a while, the door to the secret room opened. Both Yue He and the Proprietress entered together, they must have been waiting outside all this time. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to arrive so quickly.
The Proprietress came to a stop in front of him and glanced at him, “Is it done?”
He nodded lightly.
She seemed slightly surprised, “That was fast.”
Meanwhile, Yue He did not seem surprised. Yang Kai had taken about the same amount of time to condense his Earth Element Power back when they were in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary.
“What about the items that I asked for?” Yang Kai looked at Yue He.
“It’s all in here.” She immediately held out a Space Ring.
He nodded and accepted the Space Ring from her. Then, he swept his Divine Sense to check the contents.
At the same time, the Proprietress placed a hand on his forehead. The power in her body surged silently as she checked the situation with his Dao Seal. After a while, she retracted her hand when she confirmed that there was nothing wrong with him. Her gaze was solemn as she stared at him, “Brat, the path you are threading is extremely dangerous. There’s a very high possibility that it will lead to your death. Even if your life is not in danger, you will still face countless obstacles in your way. You must consider this matter thoroughly.”
He just grinned meaningfully though, “Proprietress, you’ve warned me about this many times. Since I have these unique advantages, I might as well give it a try; otherwise, I would definitely regret it for the rest of my life. As for the dangers and obstacles that I will face… I’ll deal with them as they come!”
In the beginning, he had refined the essence of the Immortal Tree without knowing it. That had given him an extremely high starting point. He later obtained the Golden Crow’s True Fire, followed by the Earth Attribute Great Dragon’s Dragon Bead… With such powerful heritage and advantages, how could he not strive to advance into the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm? It was only natural for people to aim high just as it was the everlasting logic that water would always flow downward.
She nodded lightly and said nothing more.
He asked, “When will the Blood Monster Cave Heaven open?”
She tidied her sleeves and said, “I’ve already sent people to monitor the changes in the Blood Monster Cave Heaven carefully. There has been no news yet. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait for a few more months.”
“In that case, I’ll have to trouble you to continue keeping an eye on this matter, Proprietress. I will continue to cultivate in retreat. Let me know as soon as possible if you receive news regarding the Blood Monster Cave Heaven.”
“Don’t worry. I will not let you miss this opportunity.” She gave him a displeased look. Knowing that he had other things to do, she said a few more things before leaving with Yue He in tow.
Inside the secret room, Yang Kai reactivated the barriers and took a short rest for two days to recover from his fatigue.
Two days later, he summoned an Alchemy Furnace. He took out the Space Ring that Yue He had given him earlier and the pill recipe of the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill that he obtained from Red Clouds Auction House. He was going to refine the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill!
This item was extremely invaluable. Ye Jian and Teng Wang had been willing to place a bid of more than 20 million Open Heaven Pills just to obtain this Spirit Pill. Once he managed to refine this item, Void Land would never need to worry about cultivation or development resources again.
Two months ago, Yang Kai instructed Yue He to purchase all the necessary Alchemy ingredients according to the pill recipe. The Star City in Thousand Birds Territory was a large-scale one where almost anything could be found for purchase with some effort. Not to mention, they were backed by an intelligence network of First Inn. Acquiring the ingredients listed in the pill recipe had not been hard. At present, the Space Ring contained enough ingredients for him to refine 200 Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pills.
The Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill was meant for cultivators in the Emperor Realm to consume when advancing into the Open Heaven Realm. Therefore, it was not a High-Grade Spirit Pill. It was just that the main ingredient had gone extinct, causing the Spirit Pill to be lost with the passing of time.
With his Alchemy skills, Yang Kai was confident he could refine the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill; however, it was uncertain as to what quality he could produce. He was neither expecting to succeed on his first try nor to refine a Spirit Pill with Pill Veins or Pill Clouds. It would already be a huge harvest as long as he managed to successfully refine 10% of the two hundred portions of ingredients.
A short while later, he took out some of the Pill Powder that he previously scraped off from the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill, extracted a small pinch, and placed it in his mouth to savour the taste. In doing so, he slowly deduced the process of refinement from the medicinal efficacies. All sorts of thoughts flowed through his mind like a shower of sparks.
Half a month later, he finally formed a plan in his heart and began warming the Alchemy Furnace.
The Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill could increase the success rate of a cultivator when advancing into the Open Heaven Realm while World Source Liquid had the same effects. Back then, Old Bai had suffered from interference during his advancement and nearly died as a result. At the time, Yang Kai had used the World Source Liquid to pull him back from the brink of death.
In comparison, the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill which was refined with World Source Liquid as its main ingredient had even stronger effects. Not only did it have the effect of allowing a cultivator to experience the atmosphere of when a World was first born, but it also had the effect of stabilizing their Dao Seal. In addition, each Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill only needed one drop of the World Source Liquid.
Yang Kai had used two bottles of World Source Liquid to save Old Bai’s life back then, enough to produce several dozen Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pills. Therefore, World Source Liquid could not compare to the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill in terms of the consumption rate either.
Half a day later, Yang Kai frowned when he was concentrating on his Alchemy. He could smell something burnt coming from the furnace and sighed before stopping what he was doing.
When the furnace fire went out, he opened the pill furnace. The burnt smell became even more intense, to the point that it was almost pungent. His first attempt at refining turned out to be a failure. He had failed to grasp the heat at a critical moment, so all the materials in the furnace were ruined.
This was perfectly normal, however. Although Yang Kai was quite accomplished in the Alchemic Dao, it was still his first time refining the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill so he was unfamiliar with the various steps in the process. Still, he did not expect to succeed on his first try and was not discouraged as a result. After a brief rest, he reviewed what he had done wrong and started on his second attempt.
Another half a day later, the materials in the second furnace were also scraped as a similar scorched smell wafted from the pill furnace. He did not make the same mistake as he did previously though. This time he had failed to grasp the right timing for a certain critical step.
Alchemy has always been a rigorous process. The slightest error could lead to complete failure. That was also the reason why Alchemists were so widely sought after everywhere they went. Likewise, the worth of various rare Spirit Pills remained highly valued at all times.
In the following month, Yang Kai kept attempting to refine the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill. He built up his experience from his repeated failures, improved his techniques, and mastered the amount of heat required at every step of the process. Every failure would leave him reflecting over his mistakes for a long time and every mistake he made allowed him to grow further.
According to the Proprietress’ previous estimation, each portion of ingredients would cost almost 100,000 Open Heaven Pills without taking the cost of the World Source Liquid into account. If the value of the World Source Liquid was added, then the worth of the Spirit Pill could no longer be estimated. It would cost at least 1 million Open Heaven Pills.
Over this period, Yang Kai had failed more than a hundred times. In other words, he had suffered a loss of more than 1 billion Open Heaven Pills. Nevertheless, this kind of investment was worth it. As long as he could successfully refine the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill, it would turn into a steady stream of money in the future!
He couldn’t help but think about his Xia Ning Chang. Although he was certainly talented to a certain extent in the Alchemic Dao, his Little Senior Sister possessed the Sacred Spirit Medicine Body that was born for the sake of performing Alchemy. If she were here, she would definitely fare better than him.
It wasn’t until a certain day one month later that Yang Kai took out a Spirit Pill from the pill furnace. This Spirit Pill was no different from the Spirit Pill that he had bought from the auction house previously. He gently scraped off a layer of Pill Powder and tasted it. There was not much difference, be it in terms of taste or medicinal efficacies.
Yang Kai finally let out a soft sigh, knowing that he had succeeded in refining the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill at last. It had taken him more than a hundred failures and a whole month to successfully refine the first Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill. It had not been an easy feat.
This was only under the premise that Yang Kai had the pill recipe. Without the pill recipe, he was certain that he could never have refined a similar Spirit Pill in his life. He had to admit that refining the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill was extremely complicated compared to other Spirit Pills of the same Grade.
Everything was bound to be difficult in the beginning, but now that he had a successful experience in refining the Spirit Pill, the process would only become smoother and smoother. Likewise, his success rate would surely increase steadily. Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pills came out of the furnace one after another in a steady stream. By the time he finished the ingredients he had on hand, Yang Kai had more than 20 Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pills in his possession.
Out of a total of two hundred portions of ingredients, he managed to produce 20 Spirit Pills. That meant that he had a 10% success rate. Compared with his initial expectations, the results were barely up to the standard.
Be that as it may, it was only just the beginning. Yang Kai had completely scrapped more than 100 batches of ingredients at the beginning without producing even a single Spirit Pill. It could be said that these 20 or so Spirit Pills were completely refined out of the few dozen portions of materials left towards the end. Yang Kai firmly believed that his success rate in refining the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill would only increase with the accumulation of experience.
During the previous auction, Ye Jian and Teng Wang had raised their bids to more than 20 million Open Heaven Pills in order to compete for this Spirit Pill. That was only possible since it was during an auction. Not to mention, it was under the premise that this Spirit Pill was the only one in the world.
If Yang Kai were to actually sell this Spirit Pill, the price of 20 million Open Heaven Pills was slightly on the higher side. Still, according to his estimation, there would be many people scrambling to buy these Spirit Pills if they were priced at 10 million Open Heaven Pills. Even if a single Spirit Pill was only sold at 10 million Open Heaven Pills, selling more than 20 of them would mean a profit of more than 200 million Open Heaven Pills.
However, Yang Kai had no plans to sell this Spirit Pill for the time being. The first reason was that everybody knew that World Source Liquid was the main ingredient to refine this Spirit Pill. More importantly, World Source Liquid was extinct in the current world. If he brought these Spirit Pills out to sell, anybody would be able to guess that he had World Source Liquid in his possession. Even with First Inn as a shield, it might attract unwanted attention and greed. Hence, the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill would not be released for sale until Void Land had enough strength to protect itself from external threats.
The second reason was that Lang Qing Shan and the others had been following him since they were in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. Most of them had condensed quite a few Elements, so they were not far from their respective advancements into the Open Heaven Realm. They could use these Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pills. It should also be mentioned that Void Land would have a high demand for these Spirit Pills in the future.
In the end, the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pills had to first meet their own needs. Only the surplus would be sold to the public. That was also the reason why Yang Kai could not convert these pills into actual financial resources within a short period of time despite having access to such a huge fortune-making operation.
In the meantime, Yue He delivered more ingredients.
Yang Kai worked without food or rest to refine Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pills. When he saw batch after batch of pills leaving his furnace, he did not feel the slightest sense of fatigue. On the contrary, he became more and more energetic.
It wasn’t until he had almost accumulated 100 Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pills that the tightly-shut door to the secret room was opened from the outside without warning. The furnace fire in the pill furnace was affected by this unexpected disturbance and flared up all of a sudden. It was fortunate that Yang Kai quickly suppressed the flames in time; otherwise, the herbs in the furnace would have been scrapped again.
He turned to look in the direction of the door, only to see Yue He walking in and nodding lightly at him. He immediately understood. The Blood Monster Cave Heaven was about to open! She would not have entered the room and disturbed him otherwise.
Focusing his mind, Yang Kai finished refining the Spirit Pill inside the furnace before slowly getting to his feet.
Yue He stepped forward, “Young Master, Big Sister says that the Blood Monster Cave Heaven is showing signs of opening. She asks that you prepare to set off immediately.”
He nodded and strode out of the room. While walking, he asked, “Where are Guo Zi Yan and Lang Qing Shan?”
“They have all returned.”
After exiting the secret room, Yang Kai came to the backyard where he immediately saw Guo Zi Yan and the others standing in two rows. Every one of them was motionless and relaxed, but their entire bodies exuded the chilling sense of killing intent. When they noticed Yang Kai, they cupped their fists in unison, “Sir!”
Their combined voices were thunderous and the aura they gave off was extremely impressive!
Yang Kai swept his gaze over them and noticed that their exposed skin was covered in countless injuries. Lang Qing Shan even had a hideous scar that ran across his face, looking like a centipede baring its fangs fiercely. The wound stretched from his forehead and slanted downward to disappear around his lower jaw. Although Yang Kai did not know what caused Lang Qing Shan’s injury, he could tell that it had almost cost him his life.
Ever since arriving at Thousand Birds Territory’s Star City, Guo Zi Yan, Lang Qing Shan, and the others had been participating in the Asura Arena’s battles. Hence, they had experienced countless life-and-death fights over the past few months. The battles in the Asura Arena did not prevent casualties from happening, so every battle was fought with their lives on the line.
Lang Qing Shan was originally born with handsome looks. With the addition of this scar, his appearance suddenly became less handsome and more intimidating instead. The same was true for the others. Compared to how they were just a few months ago, they had all grown quite a bit. They resembled wild beasts that sprang out of the barren mountains and forests, ready to attack at any time.
Yang Kai grinned, “It looks like everybody had an exciting time over the past few months.”
Life-or-death battles were always the best catalyst for growth. He himself had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, so he had a deep understanding of this. Lang Qing Shan and the others had pretty good aptitude, and under his vigorous training, they were bound to have a bright and promising future ahead. It was just that they lacked the experience of surviving against all odds in desperate situations, as well as the courage to fight without regard for anything else in order to survive.
The few months of fighting in the Asura Arena had been enough to fully bring out their hidden potential. Compared to before, the strength of these people had definitely improved greatly! They had been little-known figures before they arrived at Thousand Birds Territory’s Star City, but now, they were all listed in the Heaven, Earth, and Mortal Rankings of the Asura Arena.
Guo Zi Yan cupped his fists, “Sir, you urgently called for us to come back. Do you have orders for us?”
Yang Kai replied, “The Blood Monster Cave Heaven is about to open. I’m planning to go on a rampage there. You can join me if you wish. If not, you can remain behind and continue your training in the Asura Arena.”
“The Blood Monster Cave Heaven!” Guo Zi Yan raised his brow in surprise. Similarly, everybody else’s eyes lit up at those words.
The fact that the Blood Monster Cave Heaven was about to open was not a secret. Rumours regarding this matter had been flying around the Star City for the past few months. They might have been fighting day and night in the Asura Arena, but it was not surprising they had also heard about it. It was just that they had no idea when the Blood Monster Cave Heaven would open or what kind of qualifications were required for them to enter.
They never imagined that Yang Kai called them for the Blood Monster Cave Heaven. Thus, they immediately became excited at the prospect. Fighting in the Asura Arena was certainly a worthwhile experience, but that was also the case for the Blood Monster Cave Heaven.
Lang Qing Shan said, “I’ve heard that elite cultivators from Great Territories all over the 3,000 Worlds will swarm into the Blood Monster Cave Heaven every time it opens. This is a grand event that involves the entire Outer Universe.”
The shaved-headed man chuckled, “It might have been dangerous if Open Heaven Realm Masters were to participate. But, only Emperor Realm cultivators are able to enter, so what is there to fear? Sir, I’m going with you.”
The others quickly responded, “I’m going too.”
“Only Emperor Realm cultivators are able to enter?” Yang Kai was stunned. He turned to look at Yue He and asked, “Is there such a thing?”
The only thing Yang Kai knew about the Blood Monster Cave Heaven was its existence. If the shaved-headed man had not mentioned this prerequisite, he would not have known either.
Yue He gently nodded, “The Blood Monster Cave Heaven is the Small Universe of Blood Monster Divine Monarch. It is said that he preserved his Small Universe in order to choose his own Legacy Disciple. Before his death, he placed a restriction on his Small Universe so that no Open Heaven Realm Masters could set foot inside. There have been people who tried to force their way in, but nothing good came of their attempts.”
Yang Kai frowned, “Blood Monster Divine Monarch is an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. He may have been amazing in his time, but it’s not as if there are no other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters among the Cave-Heavens and Paradises. Are you saying that the restriction placed by a dead man is too difficult for the living to handle?”
“A dead Master is naturally inferior to a living one.” The Proprietress’ voice came from the outside. He turned to look and saw her slowly making her way over from the hall. “However, Blood Monster Divine Monarch is an extremely decisive and ruthless man. Nothing will happen if his restriction remains intact. On the other hand, the Blood Monster Cave Heaven will immediately collapse the moment his restrictions are broken. In other words, even if somebody were to take great pains to break his restriction, they would never be able to enter the Blood Monster Cave Heaven.”
“So that’s how it is!” Yang Kai was stunned. It was true that nobody would waste their energy with a restriction like that in place; after all, cracking the restriction left behind by an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master after his death was no easy feat.
She continued her explanation, “The Blood Monster Cave Heaven only allows those under the Open Heaven Realm to enter for two main reasons. The first being that Blood Monster Divine Monarch is looking for his successor. The other being that he wants to prolong the existence of the Blood Monster Cave Heaven as much as possible.”
“Prolong its existence? What does that mean?” Yang Kai did not understand.
“If an Open Heaven Realm is allowed to enter the Blood Monster Cave Heaven, won’t they be able to refine and absorb the World Force contained within at will? How will the Blood Monster Cave Heaven exist without World Force to support it?”
He was surprised, “Does that mean that the World Force of Blood Monster Cave Heaven can also be refined and absorbed?”
She glanced sideways at him, “The Small Universe of a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master is no different from a real Universe World. Since the World Force of a real Universe World can be refined, then why not the Blood Monster Cave Heaven?”
After giving it some thought, Yang Kai felt that her words made sense. The Small Universe of a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master was no different from a real Universe World. Just like how Old Ancestor Mo Yu once targeted the Demon Realm, the Blood Monster Cave Heaven would have been long gone if Open Heaven Realm Masters were allowed to enter. It would not have existed until today.
“Are you all ready? If you’re ready, we can set off now. We will still need some time on the road and it will be too late if we set off any later,” The Proprietress called out.
Yang Kai turned to look at Lang Qing Shan and the others, who cupped their fists at him, “We will follow you to the end of the world, Sir!”
He said, “Let’s go then.”
Today, First Inn was closed for business. It even hung up a ‘Closed’ sign on its doors.
The chef and accountant were standing together in the hall. Luo Hai Yi was also standing next to them. The chef had packed many things. Heavens knew what was inside those bags, but he was holding his kitchen knife in his hand and grinned meaningfully when he saw Yang Kai approaching.
Meanwhile, the accountant turned his dead fish gaze towards Yang Kai, “You’re the slowest, kid.”
Yang Kai smiled, “Are you entering the Blood Monster Cave Heaven too?”
The accountant said, “What’s wrong? If you can go, then why can’t we? We’re also in the Emperor Realm. It’s a great opportunity for us to earn some riches.”
Yang Kai hurriedly cupped his fist, “Please take good care of me, Senior Brothers.”
The accountant snorted, “Brat, don’t worry. I will keep you safe inside the Blood Monster Cave Heaven!”
His reckless attitude seemed to say, ‘Below the Heavens and above the Earth, only I am supreme!’
The Proprietress kicked him in the shin, “Blabbermouth!”
He immediately clutched at his leg and hopped on the spot in pain.