The air was filled with endless, chaotic Dao Essence. It was as if Grand Dao had shattered in this area. Both Space and Time seemed blurred.
This was what it was like inside the Universe Furnace. It was an expansive World that was mysterious and unimaginable.
Yang Kai traversed through the void as he used his Great Sun and Moon Marks to locate the nine Open Heaven Pills. He was also familiarising himself with the environment.
He did not know much about the Universe Furnace, but based on what he experienced, he was able to confirm that the opportunity from the Universe Furnace was found inside it.
Thus, he surmised that both the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan would send a large number of Masters into the Universe Furnace, and Mo Na Ye, who was caught inside the Universe Furnace’s projection with him, would have probably entered the Universe Furnace World by now.
Yang Kai raised his brow ever so slightly. He was determined to give Mo Na Ye a hard time if their paths crossed. Had it been any other time, Yang Kai would not be able to hold his own against Mo Na Ye, but back when they were in the Universe Furnace projection, he had given Mo Na Ye a heavy beating, so it remained to be seen whether the latter could even wield a third of his power. If they did run into each other, Yang Kai might even be able to kill Mo Na Ye!
Alas, the Universe Furnace World seemed endless. It would not be easy to run into Mo Na Ye.
Yang Kai quieted his thoughts and continued surveying the Universe Furnace World.
He thought that this Sealed World would be empty on the inside; after all, this was merely the space inside the Universe Furnace. It did not experience the changes of the Heavenly Way like the many Great Territories outside. There was nothing but chaotic and disorderly Dao Essence inside this place, so what could possibly exist here?
However, as Yang Kai travelled through the Universe Furnace World, he realised how mistaken he was.
Exceptional scenery was found inside the Universe Furnace.
Mysterious sights could be found wherever the chaotic and disorderly Dao Essence gathered. These scenes could rarely be seen outside, and they were similar to the many Celestial Phenomena he had seen deep within the Black Ink Battlefield.
The largest of all these was a great river!
Yang Kai did not know where the Great River started or where it ended. It meandered on and on, and Yang Kai followed it as he observed the Universe Furnace World around him.
However, he had been travelling for three days and crossed a few billion kilometres already, yet the end of the river was nowhere in sight.
The great river was brimming with the chaotic Shattered Dao Essence. It seemed to be made entirely out of it, the kind that was impossible for cultivators to absorb and refine.
To Yang Kai’s even greater shock, strange living beings existed inside the great river.
When he first encountered the great river, he had approached it out of curiosity as he wanted to check what it was, but soon, he was attacked by an unidentifiable monster.
It was hard to describe the monster as, not only did it not have a fixed form, but even its presence was difficult to sense. It seemed to be one with the great river as Yang Kai did not detect it at all before it attacked him.
Even its strength was hard to ascertain; but fortunately, Yang Kai had his guard up the whole time since he was in an unfamiliar environment, allowing him to avoid the attack.
After Yang Kai’s abrupt encounter with this monster, he wanted to catch it and study it close up. A bout of intense fighting took place, but even though he managed to overpower the monster, it swiftly dove into the great river and vanished completely.
It was as if it had only been a wave that rippled out of the strange great river or a part of the river itself…
Following that encounter, Yang Kai made a few more probes and was finally able to confirm that unending dangers were hidden inside the seemingly peaceful great river. Those peculiar monsters were easily found everywhere as well.
[I can’t believe that such a peculiar living thing can be found inside the Universe Furnace!]
To avoid wasting time, Yang Kai did not enter the Great River again to do his inspection. He merely followed it.
Three days later, Yang Kai came across a strange scene. He looked up and saw a massive mountain range with towering peaks cutting through the void in front of him.
Yang Kai was awed by the fact that such things could be seen inside the Universe Furnace. Not only did he come across the great river that began and ended beyond his sight, but he was also now staring at a colossal mountain range.
[The mysteries of the Universe Furnace are far greater than I thought.]
He used his Great Sun and Moon Marks to see if he picked up on anything, but he did not. In other words, the nine top-quality Open Heaven Pills were not within his detectable range.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Yang Kai began heading towards the mountain range.
He knew too little about the Universe Furnace, so it was better for him to familiarise himself with his surroundings above all else.
Just like the great river that seemed to span the entire Universe Furnace World, the mountain range seemed perfectly ordinary when observed from a distance. However, upon closer inspection, Yang Kai realised that the mountain range was also made up of bountiful Shattered Dao Essence. It appeared to balance between the line of something that was material and immaterial.
[The great river was home to those strange monsters, so what about this mountain range?]
Divine Sense seemed to be severely hindered in this place, so even someone of Yang Kai’s calibre could not examine much further than his immediate surroundings. He experienced this firsthand when he scouted inside the great river, and it seemed to be caused by the interference from the Shattered Dao Essence.
Yang Kai moved around without finding anything useful, so he was just about to leave when he came to an abrupt halt and looked into the distance.
He noticed some kind of energy fluctuations coming from somewhere up ahead.
[There’s a fight happening over there!]
Yang Kai raised his brow and immediately dashed over. Soon, he saw the two parties engaged in a fight.
He was a little startled to find that neither one of the two was a friendly party to him. One was from the Black Ink Clan, and from the looks of his aura, he was a Feudal Lord. The other was one of the strange monsters that Yang Kai had encountered at the great river earlier.
[I didn’t think they’d be found in this mountain range either.]
It had been difficult for Yang Kai to determine the power of the monsters he encountered at the Great River, and the same applied to this one as well. Even though he could not detect any form of formidable power inside this monster, it was able to hold its own against a Feudal Lord and was even beginning to overpower him.
The monster did not have a fixed physical form. It was mysteriously able to transform into various shapes as the Shattered Dao Essence that formed its body kept flowing and moving about. It made the monster look like a mass of flowing water.
Shattered Dao Essence kept shooting out of its body and turning into streaks of bizarre attacks that made the Feudal Lord back away in defeat.
It was clear that the Feudal Lord had realised he could not defeat the monster, so after a brief tussle, he began showing signs of retreat. He began channelling Black Ink Strength and with a flicker of his body, a Black Ink Cloud exploded out of him before enveloping the monster. He used this distraction to flee at once.
However, he had not gotten very far when the space around him suddenly solidified and he felt a tight grip around his neck as someone effortlessly locked him in place.
The Feudal Lord was petrified as he turned around and looked right into a grinning face.
[A Human! An Eighth-Order Master!]
A terrifying name immediately popped up in the Feudal Lord’s head and he all but shrieked, “Yang Kai!”
His heart grew cold. He never would have thought he would be this unlucky. He had only just entered the Universe Furnace when he was attacked by that strange monster, and before he could even make a proper escape, he was caught by the Human killing star!
[How am I going to make it out of here alive?]
“Oh? You recognise me?” Yang Kai looked at the Feudal Lord with a smile before gently setting him down. He did not do anything to restrain the Feudal Lord, but the latter just stood in front of him in total submission without having even the guts to move.
The Feudal Lord knew that whether it was fighting back or running away, both were absolutely impossible in front of this Human Race Master who held the record for the most Black Ink Clan Masters killed. He nodded bitterly in response to Yang Kai’s question, “Of course I recognise you, Sir Yang Kai.”
Yang Kai nodded. His encounter with this Feudal Lord confirmed his earlier suspicion. The opportunity from the Universe Furnace would need to be found inside the Universe Furnace. Since the Black Ink Clan had entered, then the Humans would have come in as well; however, it was far too vast inside the Universe Furnace and the chaotic Dao Essence continued to cause interference with one’s Divine Sense, so it would not be easy to run into the other Humans.
[It’s just as well. I need someone who can tell me about the situation outside.]
As such, he swiftly said, “Since you recognise me, let’s not waste any time. Answer a few of my questions and I’ll make sure your end is painless.”
The Feudal Lord’s expression became even more bitter and melancholic, [I knew it. No good will come out of running into the killing star. I won’t be leaving with my life…]
Since he was going to die either way, he decided to ignore Yang Kai.
Yang Kai saw right through his thoughts and coolly remarked, “After so many years of war, with both sides going all out to kill each other, you from the Black Ink Clan have probably never seen what Humans can truly do. For instance, I have a method called Soul Extraction and Refinement. Death is not the most painful end out there. There are many fates that are far worse than death!”
As he spoke, Yang Kai stretched his hand out towards the Feudal Lord’s head, and with a flicker of his Divine Sense, he ripped through the protection around the latter’s Soul.
Yang Kai withdrew his hand a moment later, but the Feudal Lord had crumpled to the ground and was trembling violently. His eyes refused to close as they nearly bulged out of their sockets. He had just experienced pain and suffering so terrifying he had never even conceived of it before now.
What he felt for just the briefest moment was enough for him to understand what Yang Kai meant by ‘a fate worse than death’.
“I’ll ask and you’ll answer! You know what’ll happen to you if you lie to me or attempt to hide anything,” Yang Kai commanded as he looked down at the Feudal Lord.
The Feudal Lord nodded frantically. He dared not disobey Yang Kai any more.
“What’s the situation like outside?”
“I don’t know…” The Feudal Lord shook his head. His expression was timid as he said, “I came in from the entrance on the Barren Territory so I don’t know what’s happening on the other battlefields.”
This was also why he recognised Yang Kai right away. Since he came from the Barren Territory, he would have been stationed at the No-Return Pass not long ago, and Yang Kai had been loitering around outside the No-Return Pass for the past many years. The Feudal Lord had seen Yang Kai from a distance when the latter wreaked havoc at the No-Return Pass a while back.
Yang Kai frowned, “How many from the Black Ink Clan entered from the Barren Territory?”
“I don’t know exactly how many, but we had between 5 and 8 million clansmen at the Barren Territory, and once the entrance solidified, everyone came in as ordered by Sir Royal Lord.”
[Between 5 to 8 million… Let’s go with 7 million then. That’s still a significant number. Does the Black Ink Clan intend on starting a full-scale war inside the Universe Furnace?]
Then again, the Black Ink Clan might have even less of an understanding of the Universe Furnace than Yang Kai did, so they probably didn’t expect it to be this complex inside. Even though they threw in several million of their people, they wouldn’t be able to accomplish much.
Yang Kai quickly thought of something, “Since several million of you came in together, why are you here alone? Where are the others?”
The Feudal Lord shook his head and said, “As soon as I came in, I found myself alone and couldn’t see any of my other clansmen. The opening seems to have the ability to affect space. Everyone was separated.”
Yang Kai frowned the moment he heard this as a flicker of worry emerged in his heart.
If the Black Ink Clan Army had been separated despite entering from the same opening, then it must be the same for the Human Race Masters. In other words, everyone would have to proceed alone the moment they entered the Universe Furnace, or spend time seeking out allies as soon as possible.
However, it would not be easy to find an ally inside the Universe Furnace.
Most of the Humans who came in would be Eighth-Order Masters. If they ran into a Territory Lord alone, it would still be an even fight as both parties were on a similar footing. However, if they ran into a Pseudo-Royal Lord such as Mo Na Ye, then they would be in a disastrous situation!
There was no telling how many Human Race Masters would die in this bid for opportunities inside the Universe Furnace. However, it was possible that those at the Supreme Headquarters would have made some kind of arrangement. Yang Kai had been stuck inside a Universe Furnace projection ever since it appeared, so he did not have any contact with the Humans.
That being said, he was aware of Mi Jing Lun’s meticulous nature. The latter would surely gather as much information regarding the Universe Furnace as possible and come up with strategies to deal with all the possible scenarios.
[If I run into a Human who’s alone, I can lend a hand too.] Yang Kai eased his worries with this thought. Now that things had come to this, there was no point in worrying about it. The Humans who dared to enter the Universe Furnace in search of opportunities would have mentally prepared themselves for the possibility of losing their lives.
On the other hand, the Black Ink Clan who entered were separated too, and since their understanding of the Universe Furnace was a lot poorer than the Humans, they would not have expected this situation. This meant that for the time being, perhaps the Humans were not at a disadvantage when compared to the Black Ink Clan.
This Feudal Lord had been stationed at the No-Return Pass the whole time and had entered from the entrance in the Barren Territory, so he did not know much about the other Great Territory Battlefields. Yang Kai asked a few more questions, but he could not answer any of them.
Since there was no other useful information to glean from this Feudal Lord, Yang Kai did not want to waste any more time and slowly raised his hand.
Upon sensing Yang Kai’s motive, the Feudal Lord hurriedly cried out, “Sir Yang Kai! I will tell you a piece of information that’s useful to the Humans in exchange for my life!”
“Oh?” Yang Kai eyed him with interest, “Information that’s useful to the Humans? What is it?”
The Feudal Lord was sweating profusely as he gritted his teeth and said, “I know you are a man of your word, Sir Yang Kai. I’m sure you won’t go back on your promise…”
“Enough. I’ll spare your life if your information does prove to be useful!”
Yang Kai impatiently cut him off.
The Feudal Lord exhaled in relief and carefully explained, “It’s about the Open Heaven Pills that the Humans want!”
Yang Kai frowned and asked doubtfully, “You’ve seen the Open Heaven Pills?” He had used his Great Sun and Moon Marks not long ago and had not sensed anything, which meant that the nine Open Heaven Pills he marked were not in the vicinity, so where did this Feudal Lord see them?
Amid his puzzlement, the Feudal Lord pointed behind them and said, “One was devoured by that strange thing back there. I saw it with my own eyes! That’s why I got into a fight with it. I wanted to kill it and take the Open Heaven Pill!”
Yang Kai turned his head around and saw something floundering inside the Black Ink Cloud. It was the monster that came from this place.
Yang Kai’s lips twitched as he got the gist of it now.
The Feudal Lord did see an Open Heaven Pill, but it was not the kind that Yang Kai was hunting down. It was one of the lower-grade ones.
Yang Kai had witnessed the creation of the Open Heaven Pills, so that was how he knew there were two different Grades of Open Heaven Pills, but the Black Ink Clan did not. The Feudal Lord had immediately assumed that the Open Heaven Pill he saw was the opportunity the Human Race Masters wanted.
There was nothing wrong with his information, but… it barely mattered.
Yang Kai slammed his hand against the Feudal Lord and with a surge of World Force, the Feudal Lord was sent flying backwards. He spat out a mouthful of blood. He was certain that Yang Kai was reneging on the promise and that he was doomed to die, but to his surprise, he landed with his life still intact.
“Scram!” Yang Kai’s voice rang out from a distance.
The Feudal Lord felt as if he had been granted a Heavenly pardon, so he loudly called out, “Many thanks, Sir Yang Kai!”
Then, he turned into a Black Ink Cloud and fled at once in spite of his injuries.
A heavily injured Feudal Lord was severely weakened, so letting him go was not a big deal. Yang Kai was not someone who would easily choose to renege on a promise he made.
Moreover, he could even use this Feudal Lord to let the word get out that he, Yang Kai, had already gotten an Open Heaven Pill! Some from the Black Ink Clan would surely turn their attention onto him, which would ease the burden on the other Human Race Masters.
Even though he could not defeat a Pseudo-Royal Lord, he could still escape from one fairly easily.
At this moment, Yang Kai’s curiosity was mostly piqued by the monster; more specifically, why did it devour an Open Heaven Pill?
Yang Kai surmised that these peculiar monsters were common inside the Universe Furnace as he had seen a number of them in the great river and now encountered another one at the mountain range.
[Open Heaven Pills are created inside the Universe Furnace too. Do they benefit these monsters in some way?]
With a flick of his hand, the Black Ink Cloud left by the Feudal Lord dispersed to reveal the monster that was still stumbling around woozily.
Endless Shattered Dao Essence flowed and surged like water across its body which kept changing forms as a result.
Previously, Yang Kai did not pay much attention to this monster, but after hearing what the Feudal Lord said, he took a closer look and finally noticed something unusual.
There was indeed an Open Heaven Pill inside the monster. It was wrapped inside the monster’s Shattered Dao Essence and its aura occasionally peeked only to disappear again.
Yang Kai could not tell whether this monster counted as a living being or not, but judging by how a Black Ink Cloud from a Feudal Lord was enough to hinder it, it would not be a living being of high sentience, even if it was technically alive.
However, Yang Kai was a little puzzled as he wondered why it did not merge with the mountain range…
During his explorations back at the Great River, the monsters would merge with the Great River when they realized they could not defeat the one they were up against, which made it hard for Yang Kai to track or capture one.
Logically speaking, the monster in front of him now would also have the ability to merge with the mountain range. The foundation of both the monster and the mountain range seemed similar as they were both created from Shattered Dao Essence. It would be possible for them to completely merge together.
Alas, Yang Kai’s thoughts instantly turned into reality. As soon as he finished pondering, the monster showed signs of attempting to merge with the mountain range. He was about to stop the monster when he quickly halted.
Yang Kai watched as the monster tried to sink into the mountain range, but it was to no avail. It was as if the mountain range rejected it. The monster lay flat on the ground like a puddle of flowing water, and the Open Heaven Pill’s aura was exposed once more.
It was indeed a lower-grade Open Heaven Pill. Yang Kai had collected a few of these earlier, so they were not unfamiliar to him.
He could have claimed the Open Heaven Pill for himself if he wanted, but Yang Kai was curious to see what would happen, so he did not immediately act.
He had a gut feeling that it was more important to figure out why the monster devoured the Open Heaven Pill.
The puddle of water started moving and the Open Heaven Pill aura followed along as well. The monster kept trying to merge with the mountain range at different spots, but nothing worked.
After observing all of this, Yang Kai finally realized why that was the case.
The monster had absorbed a trace of the Open Heaven Pill’s medicinal efficacies, and the Shattered Dao Essence that it was made up of changed ever so slightly. That was the reason why it could not merge with the mountain range, though they were originally formed of the same substance.
Thoughts began coursing through Yang Kai’s mind.
[Does this mean it wasn’t pointless for the monster to devour an Open Heaven Pill? Was it an instinctive act? What happens if it completely absorbs the Open Heaven Pill?]
It was just a unique being that was born inside the Universe Furnace…
After mulling things over for a short while, Yang Kai abruptly stretched his hand out in a grabbing motion while opening a portal to his Small Universe.
With the restriction from Yang Kai’s use of Space Principles, he was able to grab the fluid-like monster from the ground and toss it into his Small Universe without giving it any time to react.
Then, with a single thought, Yang Kai used the power of the Small Universe to lock down the monster. At the same time, he used the Grand Dao of Time to control the flow of time inside a small restricted area.
Time raced forward in that small portion of his Small Universe. It was already 10 times faster than the outside world, to begin with, and with what he did now, time flew by even faster within the confined region.
Yang Kai went full force with this; thus, it was only a blink of an eye in the world outside, but the monster experienced an entire month of time.
The monster kept harnessing and refining the medicinal efficacies of the Open Heaven Pill. It was slowly absorbed into its body.
Yang Kai noticed that an unexpected change was slowly taking place with the chaotic and disorderly Dao Essence that originally formed the monster’s body.
The Dao Essence was gaining order and structure, and along with this, the monster’s form kept changing as well.
When Yang Kai first encountered these monsters, he could not even determine whether they were living beings or not because they did not have any of the characteristics found in living beings.
Yet, as the monster absorbed the medicinal efficacies of the Open Heaven Pill, its form changed as well, and it was slowly giving off the aura of a living creature.
The changes were becoming increasingly noticeable.
At last, when the Open Heaven Pill was fully absorbed and completely disappeared inside the monster’s body, the monster in front of Yang Kai was no longer a mass of free-flowing fluid.
Its form kept changing until a silhouette appeared. Then the silhouette continued refining itself until what finally appeared in front of Yang Kai’s eyes was a figure that looked similar to that of a Human.
The monster from the Universe Furnace was able to take on a humanoid physical form after devouring and absorbing the medicinal efficacies of an Open Heaven Pill.
It now had four limbs and a whole set of facial features. In fact, the monster’s outwardly appearance was around 60% to 70% similar to the Feudal Lord that Yang Kai let go…
Yang Kai began pondering on this. Such an appearance could not be a coincidence. [Could it be that this monster has a natural mimetic instinct? When it could finally hold a physical form, did it instinctively take after the Feudal Lord’s appearance because of the fight with him earlier?]
Yang Kai felt a little relieved that he did not interact much with this monster, or otherwise, it would feel pretty strange and uncomfortable if it suddenly assumed a form similar to his own.
With the existence of such strange beings, Yang Kai swiftly realized that the situation inside the Universe Furnace was quite likely a lot more complex than he originally thought.
Initially, he assumed that it would only be the Humans and the Black Ink Clan inside the Universe Furnace as they fought to gain opportunities with the Open Heaven Pills. Anyone he would encounter would either be his ally or his enemy; however, he now realised that perhaps there was a third party as well.
There was no denying that the Open Heaven Pills created by the Universe Furnace were of great use to these monsters who needed them by nature.
Since that was the case, it was going to be even more difficult for both the Humans and the Black Ink Clan to procure the scattered Open Heaven Pills.
Ever since the beginning, the Universe Furnace would create Open Heaven Pills whenever it surfaced. These native monsters would have greatly benefited from the production of these Open Heaven Pills in the past. They would have been able to escape from their chaotic state and gain a new life…
The monster that now had a physical form that looked similar to the earlier Feudal Lord was clearly a special kind of lifeform.
Yang Kai could sense some vitality, and the monster was partly sentient now. That was why it was carefully examining the world around it, but alas, it could not discover anything since it was in Yang Kai’s Small Universe.
There was a third Great Force inside the Universe Furnace, and no one knew how strong it was. This was not good news for the Human Race Masters who came in to search for opportunities.
[The strength of these native monsters… cannot be underestimated.]
A thought occurred to Yang Kai, and all of a sudden, his Soul Avatar manifested in front of the monster in his Small Universe and he slammed his palm against it. The fight broke out immediately.
Moments later, the dust settled. Yang Kai was standing still and staring at the monster’s meagre remains with a deep frown.
He encountered some of these native monsters in the great river and fought against them there too, but those monsters did not absorb the medicinal efficacies from the Open Heaven Pills and were fairly easy to deal with. The only tricky aspect was the way they merged with the Great River when they were on the verge of defeat, which made them untraceable.
However, after his latest probe, Yang Kai concluded that the monster that absorbed the medicinal efficacies of an Open Heaven Pill and gained a stable physical form was decidedly harder to deal with.
Its most significant characteristic was its endurance. Yang Kai was at the peak of Eighth Order and his strength far surpassed anyone in the same realm as him. He could even kill an Innate Territory Lord in three blows if he went all out.
However, he actually had to put in some effort to kill this monster. It seemed to have a naturally strong resistance to the World Force inside an Open Heaven Realm Master’s Small Universe. The efficacy of the attack was only about a third of its full strength.
Furthermore, these monsters’ physical bodies were odd and hard to injure.
Nevertheless, they had weaknesses too. Dao Strengths were able to restrain them significantly. Earlier on, Yang Kai harnessed his Dao Strengths as he attacked the monster. As a result, the monster howled in agony before disappearing like snow melting under the summer sun, leaving nothing but its destroyed remains behind.
Following all the experiments Yang Kai did, he came to one conclusion. It was going to be somewhat tricky to deal with these monsters from the Universe Furnace!
After taking the remains out of his Small Universe, he began to examine everything once more. He only stopped once he confirmed there would not be any lingering danger.
The most beneficial opportunities inside the Universe Furnace were the nine special Open Heaven Pills that would allow the Human Race Masters to reach the Ninth Order; however, the ordinary Innate Open Heaven Pills were clearly valuable too, so it would not do to pass up on them if found.
[Since there was an ordinary Open Heaven Pill here, there could be more.]
Yang Kai quickly began his search through the mountain range. It was formed solely of chaotic Dao Essence and it was not easy to search for treasure in a place like this. His Divine Sense was hindered and he could not inspect much further from where he was.
Thankfully, Yang Kai could move quickly and soon finished combing through the mountain range, finding two ordinary Open Heaven Pills.
Both of these had been swallowed by the native monsters, but due to this, they could not hide their presence and Yang Kai easily found them. With the surge of Dao Strengths directed at them, the two monsters swiftly turned into smithereens, and Yang Kai collected the Open Heaven Pills with great ease.
All of a sudden, he realised that native monsters shared a similarity with him. They were just as good at escaping as he was! That being said, as long as he was able to restrict their ability to flee, it would not be too hard for him to deal with them.
This applied to Yang Kai too, and he quietly mused to himself. [The Black Ink Clan probably thought of this solution to deal with me too, so that was why they had to set up that Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Grand Array.]
Once again, Yang Kai continued travelling along the meandering great river.
Throughout the journey, he saw many of the curious and intriguing sights of this Sealed World that were real eye-openers for him. He did also run into several Black Ink Clansmen who were alone.
The Black Ink Clan Army had been separated when they came in, but there were still millions of them, so it was unsurprising that Yang Kai ran into them.
There was not much to be said about dealing with them as Yang Kai just executed them on the spot as soon as he spotted them.
Space and Time in this place seemed to grow hazy as it was filled with chaotic Dao Essence. Yang Kai did not know how long he had been travelling, but after doing so for what must have been quite some time, he suddenly sensed disturbances from a fight taking place up ahead.
The cultivation realm of both parties… was not low by any means.
Yang Kai’s gaze hardened as he hid his aura and used Space Principles to fade into the Void before rushing straight for the fight.
Soon, he arrived and saw an Eighth-Order Master battling a Territory Lord.
The Territory Lord seemed to be an Acquired Territory Lord, and the Eighth-Order Master was an unfamiliar face. Yang Kai had never seen him before, so he figured that this person must have become an Eighth-Order Master fairly recently.
The two were evenly matched in battle, but both the Eighth-Order Master and the Territory Lord were clearly holding back, neither of them going all out.
This was not because they were averse to killing each other, but because a fight inside the Universe Furnace would naturally draw attention. If a newcomer was an ally, then it would be great, but if it was an enemy, then the situation would become dangerous.
By reserving some of their strength, they would be able to escape if they sensed that things were going south for them.
Thus, even though the fight was intense, it was unlikely to result in an actual death on either side. All in all, neither one could defeat the other in this kind of battle.
Yang Kai quietly observed for a brief moment before secretly communicating with the Eighth-Order Master. The latter was deeply shocked but he did not let it show on his face.
The next breath, he suddenly caught the Territory Lord unaware by launching an attack with full force. However, the Territory Lord had been on guard and swiftly counterattacked with full strength as well.
Just then, a figure popped up behind him like a ghost. Mysterious Dao Strengths flared as Space solidified and Time blurred…
Just as the Territory Lord’s perception was disrupted by Space-Time Strength, a large hand reached out to him from behind and smashed down on his head.
His head collapsed into his chest and his forehead split open.
The Eighth-Order Master also launched a series of Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques to kill the Territory Lord at once.
He was delighted from having killed a strong opponent and was about to greet Yang Kai when the latter’s expression changed. Yang Kai turned in a certain direction. The very next moment, his figure dashed off into the distance and disappeared.
“Stay here and wait for me!” The Eighth-Order Master heard a voice saying to him.
At first, the Eighth-Order Master was a little confused, but he soon realised what was happening and felt belated fear. He knew he would have been in a disastrous situation if Yang Kai had not come along and given him a hand.
After cleaning up the battlefield a little and consuming a Spirit Pill to replenish himself, he stood still and waited. A moment later, Yang Kai reappeared.
The Eighth-Order Master immediately cupped his fist and bowed, “Wolf Fang Army, Liao Zheng greets Sir Yang!”
They were both Eighth-Order Masters, but Liao Zheng looked rather excited. It was as if he was meeting someone he greatly admired.
In reality, that was exactly what was happening. Among the rising stars of the Human Race, no one was as famous or lauded as Yang Kai, not even Mi Jing Lun who oversaw the Supreme Headquarters or the new Ninth-Order Masters.
The Humans went through many crises and difficulties after the great evacuation all those years ago, and Yang Kai’s efforts largely contributed to the Human Race’s ability to hang on thus far.
Without Yang Kai, Profound Nether Territory would have been lost. Without Yang Kai, the rising stars would not have had a suitable place to temper themselves and cultivate. Without Yang Kai, the Human Race would not have Purifying Light, and the Black Ink Clan would not be hindered as much as they were now.
When these rising stars first started cultivating, their Seniors told them stories of Yang Kai’s many contributions. Their Seniors wanted them to know how everything the Human Race had now come to be, and for them to look up to Yang Kai and follow in his footsteps.
The respect and admiration they had for Yang Kai were seared deep into their hearts. It would not be affected no matter how much stronger they became in terms of cultivation.
Yang Kai nodded lightly and observed the Eighth-Order Master before saying with a smile, “We’re both Eighth-Order Masters. Just address me as Senior Brother. You don’t need to address me as Sir.”
At that moment, he suddenly understood what it must have been like for Wei Jun Yang and Ou Yang Lie when they met him back then in Profound Nether Territory.
Before he returned to Profound Nether Territory, both Wei Jun Yang and Ou Yang Lie were his Seniors, but upon meeting them again after becoming an Eighth-Order Master himself, they insisted on interacting with him as equals.
For Open Heaven Realm Masters, age was not the deciding factor in the way they interacted with and addressed each other. It was based on their cultivation!
Liao Zheng was visibly overwhelmed at being shown such respect. He could not bring himself to address Yang Kai as Senior Brother Yang.
Yang Kai wrapped Liao Zheng up in Space Principles and said, “This isn’t a good place to talk. Come with me.”
A few moments later, Yang Kai and Liao Zheng reappeared beside the great river. Liao Zheng fell into a daze when he saw the magnificent river. He exclaimed, “So, this is the Infinite River! It’s endless indeed!”
“Do you know about this river?” Yang Kai quipped puzzledly.
“Before we came in, we received information about what it was like inside the Universe Furnace,” Liao Zheng replied, “Senior Brother Blood Crow also shared some information with us, which included records of the Infinite River.”
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up, “How much do all of you know about the Universe Furnace?”
[Blood Crow was indeed someone who entered the Universe Furnace before. He must’ve gotten the Open Heaven Pills that were stolen and stored in Blood Monster Cave Heaven from the Universe Furnace.]
It would not be hard for the Humans to gather information about the Universe Furnace when they had Blood Crow who had firsthand experience.
This information was what Yang Kai urgently needed. Although the Universe Furnace sucked him in much earlier than everyone else, he barely knew anything about the situation here.
Liao Zheng quickly took out an empty jade slip, “Please give me a moment, Senior Brother. I will record everything that I know. Before we came in, Senior Brother Mi told us that if any of us runs into you, Senior Brother Yang, we must give you the information about the Universe Furnace right away.”
Yang Kai nodded and waited.
With a surge of Divine Sense, Liao Zheng soon added all the information he had into the jade slip before passing it to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai took the jade slip and began examining the information…
True enough, he saw the records of the Infinite River. He noted that the Humans intended to use this river as a means of regrouping. They knew beforehand that they would be separated upon entering the Universe Furnace and that it would be challenging for them to gather once more because the world inside the Universe Furnace was boundless. Even though they brought things that would aid them in communication, it would still be difficult to locate each other in such a vast, open space.
Though, if they were physically connected in some way, such as holding hands, before they entered the Universe Furnace, then they would be transported to the same place instead of getting separated. Apart from that, nothing else would work, not even if they used aura or a Secret Technique to maintain a connection.
However, the battle had been incredibly intense throughout all the Great Territory Battlefields, save for the three that the Black Ink Clan gave up on from the start. Liao Zheng had come from the Wolf Fang Territory Battlefield where the Black Ink Clan had the upper hand, so the Human Masters had to force their way past the Black Ink Clan’s defence lines to enter the Universe Furnace. Although they acted together, it was difficult for all of them to maintain physical contact with each other, so Liao Zheng entered the Universe Furnace alone.
Many Human Masters managed to enter in small groups of three to five, which meant that their safety was less of a concern. After learning this, Yang Kai heaved a small sigh of relief. He had been worried that the Eighth-Order Masters would suffer if they ran into any Pseudo-Royal Lords, but based on what he knew now, the situation would not be as bad as he thought. Groups of three to five Eighth-Order Masters could form Battle Formations that gave them a fighting chance against a Pseudo-Royal Lord.
For Masters who entered the Universe Furnace separately because they could not maintain physical contact with anyone else, Blood Crow suggested that they locate the Infinite River as soon as they arrived and follow it. That way, they would eventually run into allies no matter which direction they travelled. This was a way to meet up with other Human Race Masters who had been separated.
That was the reason why Yang Kai, who was also following the Infinite River as he had no better idea, picked up on the fight between Liao Zheng and the Territory Lord. Liao Zheng had been searching for the Infinite River to regroup with the others.
Yang Kai continued checking the information and saw some regarding the Open Heaven Pills created inside the Universe Furnace. It was just as he deduced. There were different grades of Open Heaven Pills. Based on the way Blood Crow categorised them, the nine best Open Heaven Pills were considered Supreme Grade while the rest were Ordinary Grade.
Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills could help the Human Eighth-Order Masters become Ninth-Order Masters, but these Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills were extremely valuable too. Consuming them would help a Master break through their bottlenecks and save time by forgoing many years of cultivating in seclusion.
However, Yang Kai began frowning at another piece of information. He looked up and asked, “The Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills might help a Territory Lord become a Royal Lord? Did Blood Crow explain why?”
All along, Yang Kai assumed that the Open Heaven Pills from the Universe Furnace were opportunities that belonged to the Human Race. Even if the Black Ink Clan Masters entered this place, they only did so to stop the Humans from gaining these opportunities. However, the information he now had stated that the Black Ink Clan could also benefit from these opportunities!
Yang Kai did not understand this. [Why is it that a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill can help a Territory Lord become a Royal Lord?]
Liao Zheng explained, “Senior Brother Xiang asked about this too, and Senior Brother Blood Crow couldn’t explain exactly why that might be the case. He speculated that this is due to the mysterious nature of the Open Heaven Pills. Anyone, regardless of whether they’re a Human or a Black Ink Clansman, would be able to break through their barriers if they consumed a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill.”
Yang Kai frowned as this was troubling news. The Black Ink Clan’s goal was to stop the Humans from gaining these opportunities, but this information meant that they had every reason to seize these opportunities for themselves too. [If a Territory Lord found one of the nine Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills and became a Royal Lord, then the Humans would not only lose a chance to gain a Ninth-Order Master, but would also gain a formidable opponent.
A gain for one meant a loss for the other. It would be a terrible loss for the Humans.
The good news was the fact that the Black Ink Clan barely knew anything about the Universe Furnace and even less about the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills. They probably had no idea that the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills were beneficial to them yet.
However, this would easily be discovered once a Black Ink Clan Master managed to get a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill. There was no way of hiding this information.
Yang Kai was even more concerned by the fact that the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills did not only work on the Humans and the Black Ink Clan, but even the native monsters would benefit greatly from them.
The information inside the jade slip included records of the strange monsters inside the Universe Furnace. They were called Chaos Entities, and these were the ones Yang Kai encountered in the Infinite River and at the mountain range.
Blood Crow did have a solid understanding of the situation inside the Universe Furnace, as expected of someone who had firsthand experience in the search for opportunities.
There were different types of Chaos Entities. The ones made up of chaotic Shattered Dao Essence were the simplest of the Chaos Entities. While it was not easy to deal with them, it was not difficult either, as long as the Masters attacked with their Dao Strengths they could be defeated.
Apart from the countless Chaos Entities, the Universe Furnace also had Chaos Spirits, which had some level of sentience and fixed forms!
If the monsters Yang Kai encountered in the Infinite River were Chaos Entities, then the one he shoved inside his Small Universe and took on a form that was similar to the Feudal Lord after absorbing the Open Heaven Pill’s medicinal efficacies was a Chaos Spirit.
Basically, Chaos Spirits evolved from Chaos Entities, and the only thing that separated the two was an Open Heaven Pill.
Blood Crow informed the Human Race Masters that it was not a big deal if they encountered a Chaos Entity. As long as they were not disturbed, they would not attack first as they were not sentient.
However, he warned them that if they encountered a Chaos Spirit, then they had to be extremely careful because each one would be capable of gathering a large number of Chaos Entities as their subordinates, and these Chaos Entities would preemptively attack anyone who was not the same type of being as them.
If the Humans did run into a Chaos Spirit, they would have to either defeat their opponent swiftly, or leave as soon as possible.
Yang Kai’s hair stood on end when he saw Blood Crow’s speculation that there could be Chaos Spirit Kings hidden inside the Universe Furnace!
What was a Chaos Spirit King?
Chaos Entities who devoured Open Heaven Pills would become Chaos Spirits. Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills created ordinary Chaos Spirits, whereas the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills created Chaos Spirit Kings!
This was not baseless guesswork either. The Universe Furnace had surfaced many times throughout history, and even if only nine Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills were formed each time, it was unlikely that every single one had been taken away by someone from the outside. There would have been extremely lucky Chaos Entities who managed to absorb and refine Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills.
Blood Crow did not know how strong a Chaos Spirit King was as he never came across one; however, when he previously entered the Universe Furnace in search of opportunities, he sensed an intense battle taking place in the void very far away from him. It was a fight between a Ninth-Order Master and some other Master. At the time, Blood Crow did not pick up on the aura of anyone from the Black Ink Clan which he was now familiar with…
If the Ninth-Order Master was not battling against someone from the Black Ink Clan, then it was clear what the implications were.
If Blood Crow was right about this, the so-called Chaos Spirit King would not be any weaker than a Ninth-Order Master or a Royal Lord. They all stood at the apex.
Yang Kai felt a little overwhelmed.
Although he had already figured out that there was a third Great Force inside the Universe Furnace, he never considered the possibility that they would be harder to deal with than he expected!
If the Humans did not handle the search for opportunities inside the Universe Furnace well, it could become a calamity instead!
The jade slip contained other information and reports about the Universe Furnace World, so Yang Kai read through everything and seared the information into his memory.
Then, he destroyed the jade slip and asked, “How many people from our side came in?”
“I don’t know precisely how many as the Supreme Headquarters made all the arrangements,” Liao Zheng replied, “But if we’re talking about just the Wolf Fang Army, around 600 of us came in. Less than 200 of us are Eighth-Order Masters. The rest are in the Seventh Order.”
Yang Kai was startled, “Seventh-Order Masters came in as well?”
However, he soon figured it out, “Is it for the Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills?”
Liao Zheng nodded, “Many of these Seventh-Order Masters have not reached their limit yet, but because they have not been cultivating for long, they are still facing bottlenecks despite having enough heritage. They’re not here for the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills, but they might be able to become Eighth-Order Masters a lot quicker if they find some of the Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills.”
Yang Kai more or less understood Mi Jing Lun’s arrangement.
At this point, the Humans kept having new High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters added to their ranks because they had two Open Heaven Realm Cradles, which were the Star Boundary and the Myriad Monsters World.
These were all rising stars who benefited from the World Tree clones, so they had a higher starting point. Many of them became Sixth-Order Masters from the get-go; however, even if they were now Seventh-Order Masters and had enough heritage in their Small Universes, it was hard for them to become Eighth-Order Masters within a short timeframe as they had not been cultivating for long.
Even someone like Feng Ying, an elite among the Humans who had been in countless battles on the Black Ink Battlefield, had to spend over two centuries cultivating in seclusion before she could go from Seventh-Order to Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, so what more need be said about others?
Most Masters would encounter a bottleneck of their own unless they were extremely fortunate or had exceedingly solid foundations, though the difficulty of breaking through the bottleneck always varied.
Once they reached the bottleneck, they could break through it within a century or two if they were lucky, but the unlucky ones might even take up to a few millennia if they ever succeeded at all.
The best thing to do was to let these Seventh-Order Masters look for the Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills inside the Universe Furnace. If they could gain some of these opportunities, then the Humans would have more Eighth-Order Masters around, which would be a huge boost in future battles against the Black Ink Clan or the Chaos Spirit Clan.
Compared to the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills, it was far easier to find Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills. Apart from the ones Yang Kai seized when the Universe Furnace emerged, he had also found two of them at the mountain range earlier.
Based on his earlier observations, there were quite a lot of Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills. The Human Masters would surely be able to find some unless they were extremely unlucky.
This meant that quite a number of the Seventh-Order Masters who came in would soon become Eighth-Order Masters!
“You mentioned Senior Brother Xiang earlier. Has he become a Ninth-Order Master?” Yang Kai asked.
Liao Zheng shook his head, “No, so Senior Brother Xiang came in this time too.”
[Xiang Shan didn’t break through to the Ninth Order?] Yang Kai was a little startled. He thought it would have been fairly easy for Xiang Shan to do so, but from the looks of it now, he was still heavily affected by the previous regression in his Order thanks to sacrificing a large chunk of his Small Universe. Otherwise, with his aptitude and talent, it was unlikely for him to fail to have a breakthrough after so many years of retreat.
The Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills might just be his only hope.
[Would Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills be useful for this situation?]
Xiang Shan had the aptitude to become a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. He was different from the others like Ou Yang Lie and Mi Jing Lun who started off in the Sixth-Order. He was now stuck at the peak of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm and could not go beyond this, so it could be considered a bottleneck. [Theoretically speaking, an Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pill would probably… be useful in his situation?]
In that case, the Humans would soon have a new Ninth-Order Master inside the Universe Furnace.
This was thrilling news for the Humans and a catastrophe for the Black Ink Clan.
Yang Kai was caught up in these thoughts of his. Meanwhile, in a different part of the Universe Furnace World, there was a terrain that appeared to be a dense forest.
At a glance, the dense forest was just like a regular one outside with towering trees and a variety of plants, but it did not have the sounds of nature and life.
Upon closer inspection, it became clear that this seemingly ordinary forest was entirely made up of Shattered Dao Essence, just like the Infinite River and the mountain range that Yang Kai found.
There were a lot of strange sights inside the Universe Furnace. It had everything that could be found in the outside world, but it also had things that could not be found anywhere else.
There was no denying that the space inside the Universe Furnace was exceedingly mysterious.
…..
At this very moment, a heroic-looking figure was sitting cross-legged under a large tree. This Human wore a deep red robe that was quite eye-catching. He did not hide his aura, which was that of an Eighth-Order Master at the peak of his realm. He readily allowed his aura to spread in all directions. Anyone who was nearby would instantly sense it.
He was none other than Xiang Shan!
Usually, Xiang Shang kept a pretty low profile, but he was now purposely announcing his presence because he wanted to attract the Black Ink Clan’s attention, as well as allow the Humans to locate him quickly.
He did not keep a high profile because he was full of himself. Instead, it was because he was confident.
After cultivating in seclusion for over 1,000 years and failing to break through his bottleneck, Xiang Shan realised that he could not rely on his own efforts alone to become a Ninth-Order Master. That was why he entered the Universe Furnace as well.
The Open Heaven Pills could aid him in his efforts to break through into the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, and he was not doing so for his own greed. If he became a Ninth-Order Master, the Humans would gain an even more powerful warrior who could deter the enemy.
Xiang Shan had already partaken in a fight earlier and his victory was seen in the form of the scattered remains of a Chaos Entity nearby who was destroyed by his Dao Strength.
As it was, he was fairly lucky. He ended up here when he entered the Universe Furnace and ran into a Chaos Entity who had consumed an Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pill right away. Naturally, Xiang Shan wasted no time and effort in killing the Chaos Entity and taking the Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pill for himself.
He consumed it at once and began refining it!
Moments later, Xiang Shan stood up and held his hands behind his back before letting out a weak sigh.
The Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pill could not help him with his present condition. Even though he figured as much already, he was still disappointed that he had been proven correct.
The real reason why he could not become a Ninth-Order Master was the drawbacks left behind when his Order fell in the past.
No one else knew about this, but he knew full well that his Small Universe never regained perfection after what happened back then.
If he wanted to resolve this, he would have to get a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill!
However, there were only a handful of Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills and it would not be easy to find one. Either way, all he could do was try, the rest was up to the Heavens.
With that thought in mind, Xiang Shan turned into a streak of red light and shot out of the dense forest. As he headed off into his distance, his formidable aura spread across the void and became even more prominent.
…..
Xiang Shan thought of the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills as something rare and almost ethereal. He did not know where to look for one, but somehow, there would always be lucky ones who would find what they wanted even without specifically looking for it.
An intense battle had just ended in another part of the void. The chaotic Shattered Dao Essence was disrupted by the aftershocks of the battle and space became strange and unpredictable.
Two figures stood together. One was a young man dressed in white. He had white hair and bright eyes. The other was a slender woman with delicate features.
As the two of them stood together, they gave off the feeling of a well-matched couple.
The young man and woman were Yang Xiao and Yang Xue from the Suppressing Black Ink Army.
When the Universe Furnace projection fully manifested at the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress, the Black Ink Clan Army charged through the opening in the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction in an attempt to keep the Suppressing Black Ink Army occupied, but after a frenzied battle, the Black Ink Clan suffered devastating losses. Even the two Royal Lords who took the risk to come out had been severely injured by Fu Guang with the help of his Dragon Bead. One of them nearly died on the spot.
The Black Ink Clan had no choice but to retreat, and the 50 Eighth-Order Masters from the Suppressing Black Ink Army who had been chosen to enter the Universe Furnace managed to do so at the very last breath.
Ever since the Suppressing Black Ink Army took up the responsibility of standing guard at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, they did not have any means of contacting the Supreme Headquarters directly. The distance between them was too great, so it was only Yang Kai who could travel back and forth freely, and he had already visited them once due to the Innate Territory Lords sneaking out of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
Due to this, Yang Xiao and Yang Xue did not know much about the Universe Furnace; hence, they had no idea that everyone would be separated once they entered.
That being said, despite not knowing about this, Yang Xiao did grab Yang Xue’s hand before they entered. He was not a naive young boy anymore. After all the years of fighting against the Black Ink Clan, he was no longer the mischievous child he once was. Now, he was able to stand alone and shoulder heavy responsibilities.
As a man, he was constantly protective of Yang Xue who was with him all the time; thus, he instinctively grabbed Yang Xue’s hand before entering the Universe Furnace.
This was how they were able to stay together upon entering.
Unfortunately, they had not been inside long before they ran into a Territory Lord.
The Territory Lords who entered the Universe Furnace were Acquired Territory Lords as basically all the Innate Territory Lords who were well and whole had taken part in the plan to create Pseudo-Royal Lords. The only Innate Territory Lords the Black Ink Clan had now were the ones who snuck out from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction or the ones with heavy wounds from battle.
These Innate Territory Lords were severely weakened, so they could not enter the Universe Furnace.
Even in a one-on-one fight, both Yang Xiao and Yang Xue could easily go up against an Acquired Territory Lord, so what more when they were up against one together?
The Territory Lord did not even have the chance to escape as the two of them joined forces and harnessed Time Principles, which turned the Territory Lord into dust.
The two of them came out of the fight completely unscathed!
However, Yang Xiao started frowning as he turned and stared into the distance.
Yang Xue noticed this and was a little anxious, “Are you hurt?”
Yang Xiao shook his head, “No, but… Little Aunt, I think there’s something over there.”
“What is it?” They were in the middle of an endless void, and after hearing what Yang Xiao said, Yang Xue was on edge. She felt as if someone was hiding somewhere and spying on them in secret.
“I don’t know,” Yang Xiao could not explain it either. He raised his hands and channeled the power of his Great Sun and Moon Marks, “When I used Purifying Light earlier, I sensed a vague connection to something over there. These two Marks are something that Adoptive Father gave me!”
Yang Kai had obtained 10 sets of Great Sun and Moon Marks, along with a large amount of Yellow and Blue Crystals from Chaotic Dead Territory. He gave them to 10 Divine Spirits which enabled them to supply the dozen or so Great Territory Battlefields with Purifying Light even when he was not present. This eased the awkwardness and pressure Yang Kai felt from being exhausted and stretched too thin.
This was why Yang Xiao had the Great Sun and Moon Marks from the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer.
Earlier on, when he was working together with Yang Xue to kill the Territory Lord, Yang Xiao used Purifying Light to attack the enemy, and it was this action that led to the two Marks on his hands sensing something.
[But, what could possibly interact with the Great Sun and Moon Marks inside the Universe Furnace?] Yang Xiao could not figure it out.
Yang Kai would not have thought that Yang Xiao would be the first to reap the rewards of him marking nine Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills. It could only be chalked up to a person’s luck, which was not something that could be calculated.
Yang Xue’s eyes brightened at once, “Could it be Big Brother?”
She made this guess because Yang Kai also had the Great Sun and Moon Marks, and if both were used, it was normal to sense a Mark from the same source.
Yang Xiao was shocked as well, “It could be. Come. Let’s go and take a look.”
“Why is there a desert here?”
An hour later, Yang Xue froze in a daze as she took in the odd scene in front of her. A barren desert had popped up in the middle of the boundless void, a startling sight for any who saw it.
The two of them quickly surveyed the place and soon realised that it was not a real desert, even though it looked identical to a real one. This seemingly enormous desert was entirely made out of the strange Shattered Dao Essence.
All they saw around them was golden sand that stretched as far as their eyes could see. There was even a fierce wind that blew through the area, and the sand dunes that rose high up to the sky looked majestic!
Anyone who saw this sight would immediately notice the peculiarity of the situation, as well as the danger; however, the closer they got, the clearer the reaction was from Yang Xiao’s two Marks. He could tell that they were getting closer to the source of the reaction.
“Is Big Brother here?” Yang Xue frowned.
“Either way, we’ll find out once we look!” Yang Xiao replied.
Yang Xue nodded, and with a flick of her hand, something flew out and started spinning. It turned into a small temple the size of an ordinary dwelling. The characters ‘Flowing Time’ were etched on the sign above its main entrance. This was what used to be the Flowing Time Temple that they had inherited from the Star Boundary’s Flowing Time Great Emperor.
Over the past few millennia, both of their cultivations improved and their understanding of the Dao of Time had long since surpassed that of Flowing Time Great Emperor.
However, Flowing Time Great Emperor was still their Honoured Master; thus, Yang Xue could not bring herself to simply discard the Flowing Time Temple that the Great Emperor left behind.
Over the years, the two of them exchanged countless Military Merits to seek out the help of an Artifact Refining Great Grandmaster from Divine Cauldron Heaven to strengthen and improve the Flowing Time Temple.
The Flowing Time Temple was vastly different now when compared to its original state. Although it appeared largely the same, its power was not any weaker than that of Dawn’s Dawning Light Warship!
Throughout the many years of charging through the various Great Territory Battlefields, Yang Xiao’s Squad often relied on the Flowing Time Temple to battle against the Black Ink Clan Masters.
This Mobile Palace Artifact had accompanied the two of them on their journey of growth and witnessed their rise. There were countless times when they had relied on it to flee for their lives, and to them, it was no longer just an artifact anymore as it was something that had its own meaning for existence.
After summoning the Flowing Time Temple, the two of them swiftly entered. Yang Xue waved her hand once more and an hourglass-shaped artifact appeared in her fair hand. It was Infinite Hourglass, an artifact they had also inherited from the Flowing Time Great Emperor.
10,008 grains of Flowing Time Sand were sealed up inside the hourglass, and as the sand trickled down, Time Principles encased the Flowing Time Temple. This allowed it to become out of phase with normal Space-Time and become virtually undetectable.
Yang Xiao and Yang Xue remained on high alert as they travelled into the depths of the desert.
A few days later, the Flowing Time Temple abruptly stopped as Yang Xiao triggered his Great Sun and Moon Marks to quietly sense the surroundings for a moment. He then looked up at the towering sand dune in front of him, “It’s coming from the inside of that!”
No matter how one dissected the situation, it was strange to find a sand dune several thousand metres tall in the middle of this unending desert floating in the chaotic void.
The moment they arrived, the two of them realised that Yang Kai could not have been the source of the reaction from the Great Sun and Moon Marks. If he had been here, he would have sensed their approach a long time ago and would not have stayed hidden.
“Let me try,” Yang Xiao said softly as he raised his hand.
The Time Dao Strength that permeated out of the Infinite Hourglass in Yang Xue’s hand grew even more concentrated as she became even more fully focused.
The void shook, and under the vibrations from the Dragon Force, a stretch of bright light shot towards the sand dune.
The forceful blow centred on the sand dune before shooting out in all directions and stirring up clouds of sand in the process. Meanwhile, the seemingly lifeless desert sprung to life all of a sudden as hundreds of millions of grains of sand swirled in the air to form a giant cloud of several thousand metres tall that was constantly shifting in shape.
[What’s that?]
Yang Xiao and Yang Xue were both terrified.
However, Yang Xue’s eyes soon lit up as she pointed at a specific spot in the sand dune, “An Open Heaven Pill!”
A multi-coloured light flickered momentarily amid the billowing sand. It had only shone through for the briefest moment, but Yang Xue still managed to spot the shape of a Spirit Pill, along with the mysterious aura which emanated from it.
The shackles that kept her at the peak of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation trembled ever so slightly just sniffing the aroma coming from it!
Yang Xiao had seen the same thing and could not resist laughing with glee, “We’ve found treasure, Little Aunt!”
He never thought they would stumble across an Open Heaven Pill this quickly after entering the Universe Furnace. He was a pure-blooded Dragon so he did not need an Open Heaven Pill. As long as he kept refining his Dragon Vein, he would be able to attain the body of a Divine Dragon. Naturally, this was no easy feat as, after all these years, the Dragon Clan had only birthed a handful of Divine Dragons.
However, Yang Xue needed the Open Heaven Pill.
In the past, Yang Xue had directly ascended to Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. At the time, the World Tree clone had only just begun blessing the Star Boundary and Yang Xue did not benefit much from it. The fact that she directly became a Sixth-Order Master was largely credited to her own aptitude.
If she had been born in the present era, Yang Xue’s aptitude and the blessing from the World Tree would have been enough for her to ascend directly to Seventh Order.
In any case, based on her current situation, reaching the peak of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation was her limit; however, if she could get the help of an Open Heaven Pill from the Universe Furnace, she could remove the shackles and reach the Ninth-Order!
Not only would she be able to reach the pinnacle of Martial Dao, but she would also provide a huge boost to the Human Race’s strength!
This Spirit Pill was the only reason why Yang Xiao accompanied Yang Xue into the Universe Furnace.
Technically speaking, Yang Xiao did not qualify to be one of the ones entering the Universe Furnace. There were over 400 Eighth-Order Masters in the Suppressing Black Ink Army and many of them were bound by the shackles which stopped them from rising into a higher realm. However, Fu Guang, who oversaw the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress, only allowed 50 of them to enter the Universe Furnace. This meant that a lot of careful thought and discussion went into deciding who could go in.
As part of the Dragon Clan, Yang Xiao did not need an Open Heaven Pill, so naturally there was no reason to waste a quota on him.
Fu Guang did not express any form of opinion on this either. The 50 Eighth-Order Masters were decided based on the discussion among the inner circle of Masters in the Suppressing Black Ink Army. Initially, they arranged for Su Yan, Yu Ru Meng, Shan Qing Luo, and Yang Kai’s other wives to enter the Universe Furnace.
Without Yang Kai, the Human Race would not have made it to this day. Furthermore, his Wives had slaughtered just as many of the enemy, if not more, so they had every right to enter the Universe Furnace.
However, if Yang Xue was included among them as well, nearly a fifth of all the openings would go to people who were closely related to Yang Kai.
The entire Suppressing Black Ink Army could only afford to allow 50 Masters to enter, which meant that it would be quite unfair to the others.
In the end, it was Su Yan who said that she and the other Wives would not be entering the Universe Furnace. Instead, Yang Xiao would accompany Yang Xue in the search for opportunities. It would be up to fate to decide whether or not their search would be a success.
Yang Xiao and Yang Xue could be considered childhood friends who knew each other extremely well. They had spent thousands of years together and had long since developed the connection that allowed them to be of one heart and mind. When they joined forces, they were able to wield strength that was far greater than that of simply two Eighth-Order Masters combined.
Allowing Yang Xiao to accompany Yang Xue was the best way to ensure her safety; after all, she was Yang Kai’s only blood-related Little Sister. How would anyone be able to face Yang Kai if something happened to her inside the Universe Furnace?
Thus, the two Yangs entered the Universe Furnace just like that.
Meanwhile, Zhao Ye Bai, Zhao Ya, and Xu Yi, who were also with the Suppressing Black Ink Army, all had the aptitude to become Ninth-Order Masters on their own, so they did not need to enter the Universe Furnace in search of opportunities.
Before entering, Yang Xiao had secretly made up his mind to do whatever it took to protect Yang Xue and obtain an Open Heaven Pill that would enable her to become a Ninth-Order Master.
The only difficult part of this was figuring out how to locate such a valuable treasure.
Never would he have imagined it possible for them to locate the precious Open Heaven Pill that countless Human Race Masters desired so easily!
At this moment, he was puzzled as to what the relationship was between the Open Heaven Pill created by the Universe Furnace and the Great Sun and Moon Marks that his Adoptive Father gave him. Why was there a faint connection between them?
He could not figure it out and did not have the time to dwell on it either. As he probed into the sand dune, it seemed to stand up like a living creature, and the hundreds of millions of grains of sand were tumbling around in a way that made it look as if the sand dune was attempting to flee. It was a rather comical sight.
However, in the very next breath, Yang Xiao could no longer smile. Amid the strange movement of the sand dune, a huge surge of sand rose from the desert surface out of the blue, and soon, a large hand stuck out from the sand. It pressed down hard on the surface and a large silhouette appeared.
The silhouette was over 1,000 metres tall. It had the form of a Human and the face of a Human too, but the enormity of the body made the proportions look uncanny. It was as if a baboon had been enlarged by over a dozen times its size and had a Human’s head.
That was not all. More large hands stuck out from the sand, and soon, two more silhouettes joined the baboon-like figure with a Human head.
One of the figures looked like a normal Human while the other looked like it was from the Black Ink Clan!
Yang Xiao’s expression hardened slightly. Although he could not detect the strength of the three strange creatures and had no idea what these three even were, he had the innately heightened senses of a Dragon Clan which made it obvious to him that these three were not to be easily messed with.
They seemed to be guarding the sand dune that had devoured the Open Heaven Pill and would be attacking anyone who approached without any mercy.
Following the appearance of the three Chaos Spirits, the enormous sea of sand seemed to come to life as well. A whole host of formless Chaos Entities made up of Shattered Dao Essence began surging towards the Flowing Time Temple.
“Little Aunt!” Yang Xiao called out.
Without saying anything, Yang Xue began unleashing the power of the Flowing Time Temple as it charged towards the three Chaos Spirits.
To defeat an army, one should defeat the leader first!
Although the two of them did not know the difference between a Chaos Entity and a Chaos Spirit, they could tell that the three Chaos Spirits were the main obstacle in their attempt to seize the Open Heaven Pill. As long as they got rid of the three of them, everything else would not be an issue, including the sand dune that was several thousand metres tall…
The Flowing Time Temple flashed forward and all the Chaos Entities in its path were knocked away. This was a Mobile Palace Artifact of comparable strength to Dawning Light while its defences were the best it could possibly be as Yang Xiao and Yang Xue had spent a hefty amount of their Military Merits on it.
A fierce battle broke out in the desert. It was so intense that the desert seemed to be on the verge of crumbling apart. Although it was Yang Xiao and Yang Xue’s first time dealing with Chaos Entities and the Chaos Spirit Clan, they were not flustered at all as they had fought countless battles on numerous Great Territory Battlefields for millennia now.
At first, they had a harder time as they had not figured out the best way to face off against their opponents, but as time passed, they began to take control of the fight.
Pure World Force, Dragon Force, and even ordinary Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities had limited effects when it came to injuring these monsters, but when the two of them worked together to unleash pure Time Principles in the form of Time Dao Strength, they were able to restrain their opponents.
The three Chaos Spirits with physical forms were as powerful as Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords, but the Chaos Entities without physical forms had varying levels of strength. Some were incredibly weak and were instantly exterminated under the rush of Time Principles, while others were able to put up a struggle for a little while.
However, there was a seemingly endless number of Chaos Entities amid this sea of sand made out of Shattered Dao Essence…
Thankfully, the two had decided from the start that they would be targeting the leaders first to win the battle.
One of them had the body of an Ancient Dragon and an abundance of strength, while the other was at the peak of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm and naturally possessed power that could not be underestimated. Furthermore, they had cultivated the Dao of Time since their youth, and after thousands of years of effort, the Dao Strength they wielded when they joined forces to harness Time Principles far surpassed what was to be expected from someone of their cultivation realm.
They expended a fair amount of effort and paid a big price to kill the three Chaos Spirits, but in the end, all that was left was a sand dune several thousand metres tall that was fleeing deeper into the desert…
While Yang Xiao and Yang Xue were busy battling against the Chaos Spirit Clan, Yang Kai and Liao Zheng were travelling together along the Infinite River. After asking about Xiang Shan and hearing that he did not manage to become a Ninth-Order Master, Yang Kai found it lamentable.
However, this meant that the moment the Black Ink Clansmen came across either him or a seasoned Eighth-Order Master like Xiang Shan, they would immediately target the two of them.
The Black Ink Clan would not want to let either one of them gain an opportunity inside the Universe Furnace which would allow them to become Ninth-Order Masters.
All of a sudden, Liao Zheng asked, “Senior Brother Yang, was a Black Ink Clansman spying on us in secret just now?”
He recalled the way Yang Kai shot off on a chase immediately after they joined forces to kill the Territory Lord earlier. It meant that Yang Kai had noticed something.
Yang Kai nodded, “There was one, but they fled soon after realising that the situation didn’t look good for them. I couldn’t figure out where they went.”
By the time he went over to chase that Black Ink Clansman down, all that was left was a tiny trace of the enemy’s aura. Even Yang Kai had difficulty ascertaining the direction in which the Black Ink Clansman had fled amid the endless Shattered Dao Essence inside the Universe Furnace, so he had to return without achieving his goal.
Had this been the world outside, there was no way Yang Kai would have allowed a Territory Lord to escape from right under his nose when he could use Space Techniques.
Alas, this was a unique environment that greatly increased the difficulty of doing things like searching, tracking, and investigating.
Liao Zheng could not help but feel a sense of belated fear when he heard this. He knew that if Yang Kai had not discovered him by coincidence, then the tables would have turned and he would have been the one to suffer the fate of the Territory Lord instead.
As they travelled, the two of them remained on the lookout for both Open Heaven Pills and other Human Race Masters.
Less than half a day later, Liao Zheng’s expression abruptly changed. He took out a communication bead and checked it before exclaiming happily, “Senior Brother Yang, there’s a Seventh-Order Master up ahead.”
It had to be said that the Supreme Headquarters, or perhaps more specifically Mi Jing Lun, had given a lot of thought to this operation and prepared everything in great detail. Naturally, this was also because the Humans had ample knowledge regarding the Universe Furnace World.
Mi Jing Lun knew that most of the Humans would be separated when they entered, so he had them stick to the Infinite River as they travelled. That way, they would be able to encounter other Humans regardless of which direction they moved in. Inside the Universe Furnace, the Humans had to team up in groups to defend themselves against the Pseudo-Royal Lords.
Furthermore, Mi Jing Lun even asked Divine Cauldron Heaven to create communication beads that would allow the Human Race Masters to contact each other and handed these out to all of them.
Previously, Liao Zheng had dedicated a thread of his Divine Sense to the communication bead at all times to see whether there were any communications happening nearby. He also sent out regular messages to the general region but he never got a response.
However, just moments ago, a Seventh-Order Master got in touch with him.
Since their communication beads made contact, it meant they were fairly close to each other.
Yang Kai nodded at once, “Let’s go and look for him. Also, tell whoever it is to not enter the river.” Even though he did not think that others would be as careless as he was, it was still better to give a warning anyway. There were a lot of Chaos Entities inside the Infinite River and for the time being, Yang Kai had not encountered any Chaos Spirits, but it was still dangerous for a Seventh-Order Master to enter the river.
Liao Zheng acknowledged his instructions and complied with a flicker of Divine Sense.
The two continued forward for a little while longer, and sure enough, they saw a figure approaching from the distance, a woman. She had not known that Yang Kai would be here as well when she contacted Liao Zheng, so when she saw him, she was visibly excited as she greeted respectfully, “Disciple Qu Ling Ling, greets Palace Master!”
“You’re a disciple of High Heaven Palace?” Yang Kai remarked in surprise.
Even though he had never met this Qu Ling Ling before, she had to have come from High Heaven Palace since she addressed him as Palace Master.
Similarly, those who addressed him as Dao Lord came from the Void Dao Temple.
High Heaven Palace was now of great renown among the Human Race. It was comparable to any of the Cave Heavens or Paradises. In fact, within the Star Boundary, its fame was actually greater than that of all other Great Forces.
This was because Yang Kai was the Palace Master of High Heaven Palace!
When the World Tree clone at the Star Boundary first exhibited the ability to nurture the World, the Cave Heavens and Paradises set up Dao Temples and split up the territory among them to gather disciples with good aptitude. High Heaven Palace did not stop this as Yang Kai knew that the Star Boundary would be filled with many great talents in the future. High Heaven Palace would not be able to take all of them in, so allowing the Cave Heavens and Paradises to set up Dao Temples of their own would ease High Heaven Palace’s burden and ensure that the talent of these Humans did not go to waste.
Thus, when the Cave Heavens and Paradises started dividing up the Star Boundary among themselves, High Heaven Palace had given its full cooperation.
At the time, the Humans of the Star Boundary were pretty open to the other Cave Heavens and Paradises as they were all the mightiest Great Forces in the 3,000 Worlds. Those who could join them would surely make something of themselves in the future too.
However, as Yang Kai’s prestige continued to rise over the years, his fame soared and High Heaven Palace became the symbol of the Star Boundary. If given a choice, the Humans born in the Star Boundary would choose to join High Heaven Palace.
Qu Ling Ling had turned red from the excitement she felt when she met Yang Kai. Her Palace Master was a legend among the Human Race, and even though she had been a part of High Heaven Palace for many years, so much so that she was now a Seventh-Order Master, she had never met Yang Kai in person before. She had only seen his statue back at High Heaven Palace.
She never thought she would run into him after entering the Universe Furnace.
Liao Zheng was quite amused by this sight. He also possessed peak Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation and was quite famous among the Wolf Fang Army, but when compared to Yang Kai, he was nothing but a flicker of light against the dazzling bright moon that was Yang Kai.
He could understand what Qu Ling Ling was feeling as he had also felt an instinctive sense of respect and awe when he met Yang Kai earlier. This was due to the seeds his Seniors had sown deep within him from the moment he started cultivating.
“Senior Brother Yang asked you a question, Martial Niece Qu.”
Liao Zheng had to prompt Qu Ling Ling when she failed to respond after quite some time.
That managed to snap Qu Ling Ling out of her reverie. She blushed and quickly replied, “Yes. I am a Disciple of the Hui Gu Divine Monarch, and before that, I was taught by the two Martial Ancestors on Bamboo Peak.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Hui Gu, huh…”
Hui Gu was the subordinate that Yang Kai had taken under his command at Yin-Yang Cave Heaven’s Prison Star. At the time, Yang Kai had used the strength of the Loyalty List to subdue Hui Gu, recording his name on the seventh page, so he was one of Yang Kai’s earliest subordinates. However, when Yang Kai decided to head off to the Black Ink Battlefield, he gave Hui Gu his freedom.
The moment he stepped onto the Black Ink Battlefield, Yang Kai would be caught up in a constant life-and-death war and he had no idea whether he would make it out alive. If he died, then those whose names were recorded on the Loyalty List would die as well, so before he left, he gave them all their freedom.
However, even when Yang Kai had these subordinates under his command, he never treated them harshly and was willing to form sincere connections with them. Thus, even though he gave them their freedom, none of them left. As Chen Tian Fei said, he did not possess great powers so he would not be benefiting from leaving Void Land. It was better for him to stay in Void Land; after all, thanks to his relationship with Yang Kai, he would never have to worry about cultivation resources.
During the great evacuation, Void Land combined with High Heaven Palace, and the people whose names had been recorded on the Loyalty List became Elders there.
Luan Bai Feng even formed an elite Squad with Su Yan and the others, and they fought hard together in Profound Nether Territory.
After thinking about Hui Gu, Yang Kai could not help but recall many of his old acquaintances. Throughout the past few millennia, he did return to High Heaven Palace from time to time, but he would always arrive in a flurry and leave in a rush, so he could not stop to meet them.
[Who knows how many more familiar faces will disappear by the time this calamity is over…]
As for the two Martial Ancestors that Qu Ling Ling mentioned, they were none other than Yang Kai’s parents. Although his Father and Mother did not possess exceptional power, they longed to join the battlefield and hunt down the enemy too, but Hua Qing Si would never allow that. If anything happened to them because she gave them her permission, she would not be able to face Yang Kai again.
Thus, she gave them a new responsibility to keep them occupied.
Their task was to teach the new talented disciples who had just begun their cultivation journeys and did not possess particularly noteworthy strength yet.
There was more than met the eye to this arrangement, however. These talented disciples would one day become the core pillars of High Heaven Palace, and the fact that Yang Yin Feng and Dong Su Zhu had once mentored them at the beginning of their Martial Dao meant that regardless of how powerful they became in the future, they would still feel gratitude towards the two of them for teaching them in the past.
Yang Kai quietened down his complicated emotions and smiled, “Has Hui Gu reached the Eighth Order?”
Hui Gu used to be called a Heavenly Monarch, but now, Qu Ling Ling addressed her Master as Divine Monarch, which was a step up. In the 3,000 Worlds, there was an unspoken rule that only High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters had the right to be called Divine Monarchs!
“Master is still in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, Palace Master,” Qu Ling Ling replied.
Yang Kai nodded in understanding.
Not all Divine Monarchs were the same. Since High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters could be addressed as Divine Monarchs, it applied to both Eighth-Order Masters and Seventh-Order Masters.
Moreover, he also then recalled that Hui Gu would not be able to become an Eighth-Order Master. The peak of the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm was his upper limit.
Hui Gu had been a Sixth-Order Master when Yang Kai took him under his command at the Prison Star all those years ago. It was unsurprising that he had become a Seventh-Order Master since then as he would not lack the resources for cultivation when he had Void Land and High Heaven Palace’s support.
Perhaps Hui Gu no longer had any goals of his own after reaching the limit of his Martial Dao, so he decided to take in a Disciple like Qu Ling Ling.
Meanwhile, Qu Ling Ling was at the peak of Seventh-Order and did have the ability to become an Eighth-Order Master. She entered the Universe Furnace to get an Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pill in order to break through sooner rather than later. That way, she would have an even better chance of survival in the coming war.
A rising star like Qu Ling Ling did not need to take the risk of entering the Universe Furnace if she had not wanted to break through to the Eighth Order sooner. She, along with other rising stars, could simply carry on focusing on their cultivation, and they would eventually do so.
Alas, time waited for no one. The appearance of the Universe Furnace changed the situation between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan. The curtain had risen, and devastating battles broke out across all the battlefields in existence. These were building up to the ultimate fight that would determine the fate of these two Races, and there was no stopping it this time.
Mi Jing Lun had realised this, which is why he arranged for many of the Seventh-Order Masters to enter the Universe Furnace. After all, the Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills were fairly readily found, so as long as the Masters were not completely down on their luck, they should be able to find a few.
Since Qu Ling Ling was from High Heaven Palace and Hui Gu’s Disciple, Yang Kai was not stingy with her. He took out a jade bottle and said with a smile, “Your Master helped me a lot back then, and you’re also a High Heaven Palace disciple. I didn’t prepare much, but since it’s our first time meeting each other, I’ll give this to you.”
He flicked the bottle and a gentle force made it float over to Qu Ling Ling.
Qu Ling Ling was a little flustered. She never thought that her Palace Master would be giving her a gift on their first meeting. She wanted to decline, but Liao Zheng remarked with a smile, “You should not refuse a gift from your Elder!”
Yang Kai’s lips twitched, [Elder…]
[Well, so be it. Even though I still look young, I have cultivated for several millennia now, and I’m the Palace Master of High Heaven Palace too. Elder it is.]
Qu Ling Ling paused briefly before accepting the jade bottle and bowing in gratitude, “Disciple thanks Palace Master for his generous gift!”
Yang Kai nodded and started moving again. He took the lead and headed in the direction Qu Ling Ling had come from.
Qu Ling Ling was about to put the bottle away as it would not be polite for her to check its contents in Yang Kai’s presence, but then, she heard a void transmission from him, “There are quite a few of them in there. You probably won’t need to use all of them. If there are any left, you can give the extras to people who need them.”
She was startled at first, but a thought soon struck her. She immediately abandoned all attempts at maintaining propriety and checked what was inside the bottle. When she saw that the bottle was filled with Spirit Pills, she was both shocked and thrilled.
[Have I just received the very thing that I came into the Universe Furnace for? Aren’t these the Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills that I’m looking for? Did I achieve my goal this easily?]
Liao Zheng had also spotted what was inside the bottle and could not help but sigh, [Senior Brother Yang is so efficient! I haven’t even gotten a single thing yet while he has already accumulated so much.]
With luck, this bottle of Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills would be enough to let two Seventh-Order Masters reach the Eighth-Order.
As they travelled, they were still on the lookout for other Humans, but Yang Kai also shared his experiences in finding these Open Heaven Pills with Liao Zheng and Qu Ling Ling.
In reality, it was not difficult to find these Open Heaven Pills. Setting aside the Open Heaven Pills that had not been discovered yet, the ones that had been devoured by the Chaos Entities could easily be found. If a Chaos Entity could not merge into the surroundings and hide, it meant that it had consumed an Open Heaven Pill. Also, it would take a lot of time for them to refine and absorb the medicinal efficacies of such a pill. Based on the test that Yang Kai did in his Small Universe, it would take a Chaos Entity decades to perhaps even over a century before they could fully absorb the Open Heaven Pill.
Therefore, as long as the Humans discovered Chaos Entities who were unable to hide their tracks, they would easily be rewarded with Open Heaven Pills. They did not need to worry about the loss of medicinal efficacies either as the Chaos Entities could not refine them in such a short amount of time.
Qu Ling Ling immediately let out a regretful expression. Earlier on, she had seen one such Chaos Entity inside the Infinite River, but she had been worried about the peculiarities of the terrain and dared not enter.
Thankfully, Yang Kai had her retrace her steps, and soon, they found the Chaos Entity again. Yang Kai personally caught it and killed it with great ease by flushing it with his Dao Strengths before collecting the Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pill it had devoured.
The trio continued moving forward. Now and then, they would stumble across a fellow Human, and the group slowly grew bigger.
The Humans kept making their way along the Infinite River and using the communication beads to get in touch with each other. The ones they met up with included both Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Masters.
Once there were 11 of them in total, Yang Kai, who was in the lead, stopped and turned around before saying, “Here’s where we’ll part, everyone.”
The group of 10 was made up of three Eighth-Order Masters and seven Seventh-Order Masters. There were two reasons for this unusual ratio. Firstly, when compared to the Eighth-Order Masters, a larger number of Seventh-Order Masters had entered the Universe Furnace. Secondly, Mi Jing Lun had also instructed the Seventh-Order Masters to search for the Infinite River the moment they entered, and meet up with other allies. Their only goal was to team up, then find Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills before breaking through to the Eighth Order inside the Universe Furnace.
Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills were extremely rare. Not only would they be hard to find, but even if one was found, they might have to fight the Black Ink Clan and the Chaos Spirit Clan for it, so not many would succeed.
However, if more Seventh-Order Masters became Eighth-Order Masters, it would be a great boost to the Human Race’s overall combat power.
The Eighth-Order Masters naturally hoped to gain their own opportunities, but some of them would still need to lend a hand in protecting the Seventh-Order Masters.
A group of 10 would be strong enough to protect themselves. Even if they ran into a Pseudo-Royal Lord, they would still be able to put up a fight, so Yang Kai no longer had to stay with them.
It was time for him to hunt down a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill.
Liao Zheng and the two other Eighth-Order Masters knew what Yang Kai wanted to do so they simply nodded and Liao Zheng said, “Go ahead, Senior Brother. Over the past few days, we have found many Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills. The three of us will help them find a safe place and let a few of them break through first before we decide what to do next.”
Yang Kai nodded, “That would be for the best. Remember that safety is your top priority. Nothing matters more than survival.”
He cupped his fists in a final goodbye, and with a flicker of Space Principles, his figure disappeared.
Once Yang Kai left, Liao Zheng and the others had a quick discussion. The three Eighth-Order Masters stuck around to protect the Seventh-Order Masters as they led them away from the Infinite River and into the endless void.
It would be challenging to find a safe place inside the Universe Furnace as their abilities to inspect and search the area around them were greatly restrained. No one knew when they might suddenly encounter a fearsome opponent.
Fortunately, the world inside the Universe Furnace was expansive, and as long as one was not severely unlucky, it would be alright to simply select a place at random.
Once they settled down somewhere, they took out the Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills and divided them among the Seventh-Order Masters who needed them. The Seventh-Order Masters quickly consumed the pills and refined them. Soon, the aura of one of the Seventh-Order Masters began to surge. It was a sign of an upcoming breakthrough.
Everyone gasped at the sight. Although the Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills could not help a cultivator break through their innate limits the way the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills could, they were still able to provide great help to cultivators facing a bottleneck.
From the looks of it now, there would be many new Eighth-Order Masters once this trip inside the Universe Furnace was over.
At the same time, Yang Kai was travelling through the void. Now and then, he would check for a reaction with his Great Sun and Moon Marks or check for any activity from the communication bead he had with him.
Liao Zheng had given him this communication bead. It was what the Human Masters used to reach each other in this space. It made it easier for the Humans to confirm where they were, and in a moment of crisis, they could ask for help.
Right now, Yang Kai was concerned as to how he was supposed to find the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills. Even though he left a mark on all nine of them, he still had not found any of them yet. He had no idea where they were either, so he had to rely on luck.
The information he received from Liao Zheng also made it clear to him that the situation inside the Universe Furnace was a lot more complex and perplexing than he thought.
The Chaos Spirit Clan could be found inside here, and there was also the possibility of Chaos Spirit Kings existing. Furthermore, the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills were useful to the Black Ink Clan as well. This possibility had never even occurred to Yang Kai in the past.
Thus, the number of obstacles between the Human Race and the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills was far above what Yang Kai originally suspected.
He was moving through the void when all of a sudden, he spotted something that looked like a grey fog in front of him. He broke out in cold sweat and had a look of belated fear.
It was just a tiny layer of grey fog that was about the size of a table. Yang Kai had nearly gone straight into it just now, but luckily, he noticed it in the nick of time and halted.
He used his Divine Sense to inspect the grey fog, and to his surprise, he found that there were Worlds inside the tiny blanket of grey fog.
It was no mere grey fog, after all, it was a sea of stars that was many, many times smaller than normal!
It looked like a tiny layer of grey fog, but it was treacherous on the inside. If anyone entered it by accident, he or she would be entering the sea of stars. That person could even lose their sense of direction and be stuck in there with no means of coming back out.
[Why would this be inside the Universe Furnace?]
However, upon thinking back now, Yang Kai realised that this was not the only time he encountered something like this. He had seen countless grey fog patches of varying sizes along the way but had not paid any attention to them earlier. He only realised how mysterious they were after studying this one more carefully now.
[The Universe Furnace is proving to be even more mystifying than I thought…]
Yang Kai quietened down his heavily thumping heart. As he stared at the grey fog in front of him, he could not help but consider a new possibility. [If I’m able to take this away, refine it, and summon it whenever I’m up against the enemy, wouldn’t it mean that I’d be invincible?]
Even a Black Ink Gian Spirit God would probably have a hard time escaping from the grey fog if he was stuck inside it, let alone a Royal Lord.
However, the moment Yang Kai began checking out this possibility, he gave up on his unrealistic idea.
He could not… take it with him.
It appeared to be just a tiny patch of grey fog, but it was actually colossal in volume. To take it away meant taking away an entire sea of stars, and the massive strength needed to accomplish that was not something he, an Eighth-Order Master, had. Not even a Ninth-Order Master could do it.
Even after racking his brains for quite some time, Yang Kai could not think of a way to get it done. He had no choice but to give up now as it was more important for him to find a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill. He could always return to this place and think of something later on if he had a chance.
However, before he started moving, he sensed something. He immediately turned around and stared into the distance, and at the very next breath, he melded into the Void with Space Principles.
A few breaths later, he saw a silhouette rushing towards him from a distance. The silhouette’s Black Ink Strength was prominent, clearly a Territory Lord. However, Yang Kai could tell that this was an Acquired Territory Lord as his aura was not as strong as that of an Innate Territory Lord.
Yang Kai could easily kill an Acquired Territory Lord without even breaking a sweat. He was waiting in secret to make his move when he noticed what the Territory Lord was holding.
After just a moment of hesitation, Yang Kai decided against attacking; instead, he hid his tracks and chose to tail the Territory Lord in secret.
It was because he saw the Territory Lord holding a miniature Black Ink Nest, and from the latter’s urgency, it was clear that he was heading somewhere in a rush.
Thanks to Yang Kai’s many years of experience battling against the Black Ink Clan, he knew that miniature Black Ink Nests were used for communication purposes. Back when he was hovering outside the No-Return Pass and the Innate Territory Lords were hunting him down, they used these miniature Black Ink Nests to pass messages between them.
However, that was not its only usage. If the Black Ink Clan were willing to pump in the resources, they could turn these into real Black Ink Nests.
Seeing as how the Territory Lord was grasping the Black Ink Nest and was moving in such a hurry, it was easy enough for Yang Kai to deduce that the Territory Lord must have made contact with his clansmen and was using the Black Ink Nest to lead him to them.
Instead of killing just one, it was better to root out a bunch of them. That was why Yang Kai decided against killing this Territory Lord immediately.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai was taken aback by the fact that the communicative function of the miniature Black Ink Nests was still working inside the Universe Furnace. However, the Territory Lord whom he and Liao Zheng joined forces to kill did not have a miniature Black Ink Nest with him.
After giving it some thought, Yang Kai realised the reason behind this.
The Black Ink Clan knew nothing about the Universe Furnace, so naturally, they would not be as well-prepared as the Humans. This Territory Lord must have had a Black Ink Nest with him because he was already carrying it around even when he was outside.
Even though Yang Kai was following the Territory Lord the whole time, the latter had no idea that a Human Master was tailing him. This was not only due to their power differential, but also due to the mysteriousness of the Dao of Space. As long as Yang Kai wanted to stay hidden, a mere Acquired Territory Lord would not be able to detect his presence from afar.
Yang Kai patiently tailed the Territory Lord as he pondered the possibilities of the situation taking place up ahead.
Since the Territory Lord was quite likely moving in a rush after being called upon by his clansmen, it was either because they had found something valuable or they had gotten into a fight with the Humans. Either one of these outcomes would still be bad for the Humans.
By following in secret, Yang Kai might be able to alleviate any dangers that had befallen his allies.
Yang Kai thought that the situation would only be one of the two possibilities, so when he suddenly felt a weak reaction from his Great Sun and Moon Marks, he was thunderstruck!
There was no denying that Yang Kai was deeply frustrated and upset over the fact that he had witnessed the creation of the nine Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills and had let them slip away from him.
Even though he left a mark on each of them, he did not get a reaction after all this time and was beginning to suspect that the mark he left might have dissipated; thus, he was stunned that he felt a reaction now by coincidence!
Yang Kai suppressed his exhilaration and carefully tried to sense the direction where the reaction came from. To his surprise, it was exactly where the Territory Lord was heading. Did that mean the Black Ink Clan discovered a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill?
Who were they fighting against to get it then?
Yang Kai had no clue now, but he would find out once he arrived at the battle.
After travelling for an unknown amount of distance, Yang Kai suddenly sensed the commotion of a battle up ahead, and it was a pretty intense one.
Yang Kai peered into the distance and was a little startled by what he saw.
A large part of the void was filled with countless jellyfish-like creatures of various sizes. They were giving off multicoloured light that glimmered and dimmed. Even the solidity of their forms kept changing which made them look incredibly peculiar.
Several figures were scattered among the sea of jellyfish. Some were fighting while others were moving around.
There was no sign of any Humans.
There was someone from the Monster Race though.
Its five-metre-long body shifted like flowing water. The leopard print on its skin was bright as it dazzled like reflected light. At times its form became phantom-like and at other times it solidified.
It was fighting against several Territory Lords alone.
Thunder Shadow Great Emperor!
Yang Kai never thought he would encounter his Monster Self here. Truth be told, when his Monster Self was in the process of becoming a Great Emperor back at the Myriad Monsters World, Yang Kai had specifically gone over to stand guard, but after that, he did not pay any attention to his Monster Self.
That was because he did not have to. As a Great Emperor, his Monster Self would have an easy, untroubled cultivation journey in the Myriad Monsters World.
From the looks of it now, that was precisely the case. His Monster Self’s cultivation had reached the peak of the Eighth-Order Monster Emperor Realm. Although his Monster Self was using Primal Art to train its Monster Core, just like Fang Tian Ci, it was still held back by Yang Kai, its true body’s limit. Right now, his Monster Self’s cultivation was also at the limit and he could not break through any further.
When Fang Tian Ci was breaking through to the Open Heaven Realm, he possessed everything needed to become a Seventh-Order Master, but in the end, he ended up as a Sixth-Order Master. This was because of Yang Kai. Regardless of whether it was his Human Self or his Monster Self, their cultivation journey was hindered by the limits of their true body.
When the Universe Furnace surfaced, Yang Kai knew that both his Human Self and his Monster Self would enter and reunite with him. Throughout this journey, apart from trying to track down the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills, Yang Kai had also been on the lookout for signs of his Monster Self and Human Self.
He had checked with Liao Zheng and the others too, but they had not seen anything either.
However, he did not expect to reunite with his Monster Self under such coincidental circumstances.
It was an unexpected pleasant surprise.
That being said, the biggest and most joyous surprise was the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill among the sea of jellyfish.
At the very centre of the huge swarm of jellyfish, there was one that was at least 10 times bigger than the others and it had clearly devoured a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill which could be spotted when its body turned translucent.
Yang Kai did not know whether it was his Monster Self or the Black Ink Clan who first discovered this Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, but it was evident that the fight had been going on for quite a while now. The Black Ink Clansmen could use the miniature Black Ink Nest to call for aid, but Yang Kai’s Monster Self was alone in a one-against-many fight.
Despite being alone, Thunder Shadow Great Emperor was not as disadvantaged as one might imagine; after all, in most cases, the average Monster Race Master was stronger than the average Human Race Master in the same equivalent realm, Monster Race Masters had far stronger bodies than normal, and Thunder Shadow himself had an Innate Divine Ability that allowed him to blend with the shadows and become hard to detect. By striking suddenly and powerfully now and then, Yang Kai’s Monster Self was just barely able to put up a fight against the group of Territory Lords.
Naturally, this was also thanks to where the fight was taking place.
The large swarm of jellyfish were most likely Chaos Entities, but they were different from all other Chaos Entities that Yang Kai had previously seen. Although they were still shifting through various states of solidness, they had fixed forms. They seemed harmless enough, but when someone else came into contact with them, the person would be hit with a peculiar attack.
Yang Kai saw a Territory Lord flying backwards after being hit by Thunder Shadow. When the Territory Lord crashed into a jellyfish, it looked as if he lost his consciousness as his eyes glazed over. It was a while before he regained mental clarity.
Thunder Shadow was about to kill the Territory Lord when another one came over and rescued his clansman.
The jellyfish-like Chaos Entities… were rather strange.
It was clear that Thunder Shadow had suffered at their hands too, so when it fought against the Territory Lords, it tried its best to avoid touching them. However, that meant it could not move around as freely as normal.
It appeared to be a fiery battle between the two sides, but in reality, both were seriously hindered by the environment and could not go all out.
The Territory Lord that rushed over had clearly received instructions beforehand. Upon arrival, he did not show himself at once and instead quietly crept towards the battlefield in an attempt to sneak up on Thunder Shadow and deal a deadly blow.
Unfortunately, he was not particularly skilled at keeping himself hidden. He had just approached the battlefield and had not even entered the swarm of jellyfish when Thunder Shadow noticed him with a single glance.
The Territory Lord was a decisive one however, and since he had been discovered, he openly revealed himself, but before he could do anything to Thunder Shadow, a Territory Lord stared behind him in shock and quickly shouted, “Watch out!”
All at once, the Territory Lord felt an overwhelming sense of danger envelop him, as if death itself had come. Before he could recover from his shock, he felt a sharp pain. He looked down and saw a spear sticking out of his chest, with World Force surging along it.
[Someone snuck up on me and attacked me!]
What was most terrifying was the fact that he had not noticed anything until the moment the person attacked.
[Who!? Who snuck up on me?]
All sorts of thoughts flashed across the Territory Lord’s mind as he tried to escape, but he could not move…
Space seemed to have solidified around him, and World Force flowed strongly from the spear in his chest…
A violent force erupted and the Territory Lord’s body exploded into a shower of bloodied scraps. The Black Ink Strength that escaped from his body leapt out like a wild horse and swiftly turned into a Black Ink Cloud.
An invisible force surged as the Black Ink Cloud dispersed to reveal a young man with a spear in hand. He flicked his blood-soaked spear and smirked.
“Yang Kai!” The Territory Lords gasped as the colour drained out of their faces. They were petrified and no words could describe the bitterness they felt right now.
How could things end well for them after running into the killing star here?
Most importantly, why did they run into him?
The Universe Furnace was vast and boundless and they had relied on the miniature Black Ink Nests to gather themselves here. No Humans had been drawn over even after their lengthy fight with this Monster Race Master; yet now, it was Yang Kai of all people who showed up.
Thunder Shadow was also taken aback. The lightning in its mouth flashed and crackled, but soon, a Human-looking grin broke out across his face.
He thought that this would turn out to be a fierce struggle between two evenly matched opponents and was fully prepared to flee if things took a turn for the worse. A Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill was valuable, but his life was even more so. He knew what his priorities were.
What he did not expect was Yang Kai’s arrival.
The situation was a lot simpler now. It was going to claim the lives of these Territory Lords and collect the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill.
Thunder Shadow was assured and confident, while the Territory Lords were panicking. As for the jellyfish-like Chaos Entities, they just shifted about, giving off their multicoloured glow which illuminated the different reactions from both parties.
Outside the battlefield, Yang Kai lifted his spear and pointed it in front of him as his voice boomed all across the place, “How dare you bully Third Brother?! You must have a death wish!”
Yang Kai’s abrupt appearance immediately changed the tides. Initially, the Territory Lords had the advantage in the fight due to their numbers, but they no longer had any inclination to continue fighting. All they could think of was to flee as far away as possible, lest they met their doom.
Nevertheless, they knew that it was futile for them to try and escape from Yang Kai alone considering his mastery over the Dao of Space. Thus, after a brief moment of panic, the Territory Lords quickly began grouping up to form a Battle Formation to try and put up a fight.
However, forming a Battle Formation in this bizarre environment was no easy feat. All along, they failed to form a Battle Formation due to the inconvenience of being surrounded by the swarm of jellyfish. One false move and they would end up making contact with the strange jellyfish, and when that happened, even Masters as powerful as these Territory Lords would fall into a brief trance.
Previously, they gave up on the idea of forming a Battle Formation and simply used their numbers advantage to gang up on Thunder Shadow, who would not have managed to hold out this long if that had not been the case.
They now wanted to attempt forming a Battle Formation again, but it was too late. Thunder Shadow, who deduced what they were trying to do, immediately charged at the nearest Territory Lord. His strong, agile form morphed into a ball of lightning and in the blink of an eye, appeared in front of the Territory Lord. The lightning shrouded him and his opponent so the others could not see what was happening. All they could tell was that powerful forces clashed within the lightning.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai had already raised his spear and charged into the swarm of jellyfish.
As soon as he entered the battlefield, he realised what was strange about these Chaos Entities. They kept oscillating between varying physical states. At times, they could be seen, but at others, they were invisible. They also kept moving around as if a swarm of jellyfish was floating along in the vastness of the Universe Furnace World, though there was no telling where their final destination was.
When they disappeared, even Yang Kai could not detect them. This resulted in him bumping into a jellyfish the moment he entered the battlefield, stopping him in his tracks.
Light flickered and the jellyfish reappeared. Yang Kai could sense a wave of jumbled, chaotic energy coming from the jellyfish, aimed straight at his Soul.
It finally dawned on Yang Kai as to why the Territory Lord who made contact with one of these jellyfish-like Chaos Entity ended up in a dazed, trancelike state.
If the attack landed, the target’s Soul would be hit by that strange energy, and it would indeed be hard to retain full control of one’s senses after taking such an unexpected hit.
A few of these attacks in rapid succession could very well damage one’s Soul.
These jellyfish-like Chaos Entities possessed an innate form of energy that allowed them to attack their opponent’s Soul.
This special characteristic of theirs hindered the Territory Lords and Thunder Shadow’s ability to fight, and from the looks of it, everyone in the battle had found out through firsthand experience.
When one of the nearby Territory Lords noticed what was happening, he grinned happily and charged straight at Yang Kai.
Even if they formed a Battle Formation, they might still fail to hold their own against the Humans’ killing star, but now that Yang Kai had accidentally allowed the jellyfish to attack his Soul, it was a rare and precious chance for them to land an attack.
However, the moment the Territory Lord reached Yang Kai, he realised something was amiss. Even though Yang Kai was standing stiffly as if he was in a trance, his eyes were bright and shrewd. It did not look as if he had lost consciousness at all!
By the time the Territory Lord noticed this, it was too late. He was a decisive individual, so immediately shoved both his hands forward and Black Ink Strength gushed out like a wave crashing onto the shore.
Yang Kai snorted and pierced through the attack with his spear. His Azure Dragon Spear turned into countless spear shadows before condensing into one again.
Black Ink Strength collapsed and dispersed, while the Territory groaned as his body flew backwards, black blood spurting out of a hole in his shoulder. His expression was one of someone who just had a narrow brush with death.
A silhouette appeared in the Territory Lord’s hazy peripheral vision. He looked up and was horrified as he saw Yang Kai pull back his fist.
The Territory Lord reacted in haste and crossed his arms in front of him. The moment Yang Kai’s fist made contact though, a surge of unstoppable force sent the Territory Lord flying backwards once more as his arms fell to the side to reveal the gaping hole in his chest.
Yang Kai was only a step away from becoming a Divine Dragon, so a mere Acquired Territory Lord could not withstand even such a simple attack from him.
The Territory Lord landed on a visible jellyfish-like Chaos Entity and the light faded from his eyes as the attack that battered his Soul made things worse for his heavily wounded body.
Yang Kai raised his hand once more and hurled the Azure Dragon Spear out, piercing right through the Territory Lord who was currently dazed.
The Territory Lord’s aura instantly swelled up before fading away entirely!
It had only been three breaths of time since the fight between Yang Kai and the Territory Lord began, but now the other Territory Lords were trembling with fear as they witnessed how easily Yang Kai had killed one of them.
The Azure Dragon Spear flew back to Yang Kai and he grabbed it before turning to Thunder Shadow, who was still fighting against his opponent, and snapped, “Why didn’t you warn me that these Chaos Entities can attack the Soul, Third Brother?”
Thunder Shadow growled and ignored Yang Kai.
[As if you needed a warning.]
These jellyfish could hinder everyone else, but Yang Kai, who had the protection of the Soul Warming Lotus, could pay them no mind. If his Soul was attacked, the Soul Warming Lotus would protect him. The Territory Lord assumed that it had been his best chance to strike because Yang Kai had fallen into a trance, but in reality, he was only delivering himself into the hands of the enemy.
[Also… Third Brother? What the Hell is that?]
An inexplicable sense of irritation washed over Thunder Shadow and his attacks became even more ruthless. The lightning that surrounded him and his opponent became even brighter as cries of agony and ferocious growls rang out.
Five Territory Lords had gathered here to gang up on Thunder Shadow, with a sixth nearly joining them before Yang Kai killed him.
Now that Yang Kai had killed the second Territory Lord and Thunder Shadow had pinned one down on his own, there were only three Territory Lords left.
While Yang Kai was dealing with the other Territory Lord, these three Territory Lords managed to gather together and join their auras to form the simplest Three Fortunes Formation.
Despite having successfully formed a Battle Formation, they did not feel any more assured about their chances. Yang Kai had killed a Pseudo-Royal Lord before, and during his time outside the No-Return Pass, he had regularly fought against four Innate Territory Lords who formed the Four Symbols Formation.
Thus, if the Territory Lords wanted to have a fighting chance against Yang Kai, they had to be in at least a Four Symbols Formation, and that also hinged on Yang Kai not employing his strange technique that could injure Souls.
If he did, then a Four Symbols Formation would be useless as well.
Since Yang Kai was inside the Universe Furnace, he was not going to use an artifact like the Soul Rending Thorn as doing so would harm him in the process and have lingering detrimental effects on him. That being said, a Three Fortunes Formation was not sufficient for these Territory Lords to put up a fight against him, so he had no worries in the first place.
The three Territory Lords were quick-witted enough. Once they formed the Battle Formation, they immediately tried to escape, as one of them roared, “Spare our lives, Yang Kai, and the Open Heaven Pill is yours!”
Yang Kai snorted, reached his hand out in their direction, and made a grabbing motion. With a flicker of Space Principles, he grasped something unseen and coolly remarked, “Do you think you can negotiate with me?”
As soon as he said those words, the three Territory Lords stiffened and froze in place against their will.
It was not due to the Space Secret Technique, however, but rather because they were surrounded by the jellyfish-like Chaos Entities. The undetectable Chaos Entities had now revealed themselves and were attacking the Souls of all three Territory Lords who came into contact with them. The Territory Lords instantly became dazed and disoriented.
Yang Kai caught the jellyfish-like Chaos Entities with his Space Secret Technique and teleported them into the Territory Lords’ path. These Chaos Entities could not do much physical damage, but their attacks on the Soul were nearly impossible to avoid, so he made good use of them.
Yang Kai slowly strolled over to the three Territory Lords, brushing away a few of the jellyfish-like Chaos Entities that appeared in his path with his bare hands.
The Territory Lords struggled hard against the relentless attacks on their Souls. Sometimes, they were able to gain clarity, but it would only be for a brief moment before they fell into a daze again. It looked as if the Chaos Entities had rooted them to the spot.
All three of them were now sitting ducks.
When Yang Kai got close to them, he raised his hands. World Force surged forward as he targeted all three and easily reaped their lives.
At the same time, the giant ball of lightning suddenly dissipated and Thunder Shadow walked out. Though he was wounded, his presence was just as strong and domineering as ever. There was a tattered body lying behind him though, looking like it had been torn apart by a hurricane.
Although Thunder Shadow was stronger than these Acquired Territory Lords, he did not have a Soul Warming Lotus to protect his Soul; thus, he still had to put in some effort to kill one head-on in this field of jellyfish.
Yang Kai turned to Thunder Shadow and grinned. There was no need for him to say anything. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of the largest Chaos Entity.
This Chaos Entity was many times bigger than its fellows, though it was uncertain whether it was naturally bigger in the first place or because it devoured an Open Heaven Pill.
The Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill only peeked through and gave off a multi-coloured light when the Chaos Entity’s form became translucent.
“There’s no telling what might happen if this takes too long. We’ll do it together!” Yang Kai shouted and immediately harnessed his Dao Strengths before blasting them at the jellyfish-like Chaos Entity.
Thunder Shadow bounded over and started harnessing his own Dao Strength as well.
Under their combined attacks, the enormous jellyfish-like Chaos Entity instantly started shrinking, as if it had met its mortal enemy.
It seemed to have an instinctive urge to flee from danger, but Yang Kai had used Space Principles to keep it locked in place. It could not move or leave, but its physical state started changing even more rapidly, and the invisible attack on the Soul was shooting out in all directions. Surprisingly, it was able to attack at a distance.
As for the swarm of smaller jellyfish-like Chaos Entities, they were also visibly affected. Their bodies were releasing chaotic energy which soon covered the surrounding void.
Thunder Shadow was affected by this as its Dao Strength would cut off now and then. Upon noticing this, Yang Kai had to channel his Spiritual Energy to protect Thunder Shadow, which saved him from a possible crisis.
Under the constant flow of Dao Strengths, the jellyfish-like Chaos Entity that devoured the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill kept shrinking until it completely disappeared.
Yang Kai reached out and took the Spirit Pill that was giving off a multi-coloured glow.
He now had a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, one which would allow him to break through his limits and become a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master!