Chapter 695, I’ll Go
Cang Yan sent a large number of herbs to Yang Kai the following day and the latter immediately began diligently performing Alchemy.
When he grew tired from Alchemy, Yang Kai would meditate and rest for a while, restoring his spirit before once again continuing to refine pills.
Serene Resplendent Peak was truly a quiet place. There was only Yang Kai and Fei Yu on this entire mountain, and while Yang Kai was performing Alchemy or cultivating, Fei Yu would never bother him, allowing him to completely relax and immerse himself in his efforts.
All three meals Yang Kai ate each day were prepared from rare Monster Beast meat and medicinal herbs, providing him with massive nutritional supplements, although with Yang Kai’s current cultivation, he could go months or even a year without eating anything, Fei Yu still insisted on sending him this food every day.
These meals would be placed in front of his door every day and if Yang Kai needed it, all he had to do was take it.
Occasionally, when Yang Kai left the stone chamber, the four Protectors would get together and share with him their own insights and understanding of the Heavenly Way and Martial Dao.
Here, Yang Kai felt a deep and meticulous care he had not previously experienced.
Soaring Heaven Sect provided him with the best possible environment for both cultivation and Alchemy.
For all of this, Yang Kai was incredibly grateful; although he knew that part of this was due to his own aptitude and his identity as an Alchemist, it was still the truth that his four Martial Seniors really were good to him.
Several months later, Yang Kai’s Alchemy skill had once again improved and he had even successfully refined a Saint Grade Low-Rank pill without the help of a supplementary Spirit Array!
This brought him one step closer to his goal.
During these past few months, Yang Kai had spared no effort to refine a large number of pills for Soaring Heaven Sect. The sheer number, quality, and grade of these pills shocked his four Martial Seniors greatly.
Originally, they had only know Yang Kai was certified as a Spirit Grade Low-Rank Alchemist by the Alchemist Guild and hadn’t thought much about it, so one could imagine their surprise when he continuously refined Spirit Grade Mid-Rank and Spirit Grade Top-Rank pills.
On top of that, many of the pills Yang Kai refined even had Pill Veins!
The four Protectors quickly realized the seriousness of this situation and after some simple deliberations, Yang Kai’s existence and abilities were quickly listed as one of Soaring Heaven Sect’s highest level secrets. Soon after, Fei Yu almost became Yang Kai’s exclusive bodyguard and atop Serene Resplendent Peak, she was never far from his side.
Yang Kai only met with Fei Yu several times over this period, but every time he did, this beautiful woman would inevitably be drunk, as if her greatest love in life was drinking. Every time she drank, she would display none of the style a Martial Aunt should have and would often entangle Yang Kai in her revelries, making the latter not know whether to laugh or cry.
Afterwards, when Fei Yu woke up from her drunk stupor, she wouldn’t remember a thing about her embarrassing performance, so Yang Kai was helpless to stop the cycle from repeating itself.
Occasionally, when he went out to relax, Yang Kai would visit Chu Ling Xiao and listen to his teachings.
Since he began cultivating, Yang Kai had always been forging his own path and never received formal instruction from anyone. There was a great difference between having someone enlighten him about the Martial Dao and groping around on his own was.
Fortunately, Yang Kai had acquired the Demon Eye of Annihilation which allowed him to absorb the insights and comprehensions of the Martial Dao and Heavenly Way of the masters he killed, benefiting his understanding greatly.
The only thing that made Yang Kai feel somewhat depressed about was that although Chu Ling Xiao had asked people to inquire about Su Yan and Xia Ning Chang, there had thus far been no news about them.
Tong Xuan Realm was incredibly vast; searching for two people amongst this sea of people was undoubtedly more difficult than looking for a needle in a haystack.
One day a few months after his arrival, while Yang Kai was practicing his Alchemy, he suddenly heard a set of soft footstep outside his door.
Naturally it was Fei Yu.
She had never bothered Yang Kai while he was performing Alchemy but now she had deliberately made some noise to alert him to her presence so it was obvious she had something important to discuss with him.
Yang Kai did not pause the movements of his hands, focusing on the task he was performing, and an incense worth of time later, he took a Spirit Grade Top-Rank pill out of his furnace.
Storing the pill into a jade bottle, Yang Kai stood up and opened the door to the stone room; looking at Fei Yu who was waiting out, he quickly asked, “Does Martial Aunt have a matter to discuss with me?”
“Did I disturb you?”
Yang Kai shook his head.
“That’s good,” Fei Yu let out a light sigh of relief before continuing, “Cang Yan is looking for you, he’s outside.”
“I’ll go greet him then,” Yang Kai said and hastily walked out.
A moment later, Yang Kai saw his Martial Uncle. This time though, not only was Cang Yan present, but so too were Li Wan and Fei Jian, the expressions on each of their faces somewhat dignified.
Yang Kai glanced around at them curiously, wondering what had happened to cause these three to suddenly seek him out with such stern faces.
“Martial Nephew.” Seeing Yang Kai appear, Cang Yan greeted him.
“I heard that Martial Uncles were looking for me?”
“Have a seat first,” Cang Yan waved.
Once everyone took a seat, Yang Kai waited quietly for his Seniors to speak.
After a brief silence, Cang Yan asked, “Martial Nephew, not that your Martial Uncle is suspicious of you, but I must ask you to confirm, what grade of Alchemist are you now?”
From Old Man Du, Cang Yan knew that Yang Kai was a Spirit Grade Low-Rank Alchemist.
However, his performance during his brief stay in Soaring Heaven Sect far exceeded that of a mere Spirit Grade Low-Rank Alchemist. Refining Spirit Grade Mid-Rank and Top-Rank pills constantly indicated that Yang Kai’s true ability was far greater than Spirit Grade Low-Rank.
Old Man Du would not lie to Cang Yan, so the only possibility the latter could think of was that Yang Kai had hidden his true abilities when he took the Alchemist Guild’s test.
Fei Yu’s beautiful eyes flashed suddenly as she stared towards Yang Kai and let slip, “A few days ago, I remember you even successfully refined a Saint Pill!”
Hearing this, Cang Yan’s complexion changed greatly as he unconsciously asked, “Is that true?”
“En,” Yang Kai took that Saint Grade pill out and replied, “My luck was good; the pill was refined successfully.”
Cang Yan took it quickly and examined it carefully, unable to help himself from feeling somewhat excited, “Can you even refine Saint Grade pills now?”
“I should be able to,” Yang Kai nodded. When he refined that Saint Pill he did not use a supplementary Spirit Array or the Myriad Drug Milk and only relied on his own skill.
Spirit Arrays could increase the success rate of Alchemy and the Myriad Drug Milk could improve the quality of a pill.
If both of these boosts were also counted, Yang Kai could easily refine Saint Grade Low-Rank pills.
“Doesn’t that mean you’re a Saint Grade Alchemist now?” Li Wan exclaimed.
Everyone else also wore astonished expressions.
“Reluctantly so. But I still mostly consider myself to still be a High-Rank Spirit Grade Alchemist,” Yang Kai replied modestly.
The four Protectors all sucked in a deep breath as the glanced around at each other, Fei Jian flashing his crooked teeth in a grim smile as she shouted, “We may have hope yet!”
“Indeed!” Cang Yan also nodded repeatedly.
“Do Martial Uncles and Martial aunt want me to help you refine a pill?” Yang Kai asked.
“In a manner of speaking,” Cang Yan replied, “First of all, Martial Nephew, have you heard of the Thousand Year Demon Flower?”
Yang Kai shook his head.
Wrinkling his brow for a moment, Cang Yan suddenly smiled awkwardly, “Right, I forgot that you came from that world so you not having heard of it is completely normal. Regarding Tong Xuan Realm’s current situation, you should know that the Human, Demon, and Monster races form a delicate three-way balance, yes?”
“En, I know at least that much,” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“Human Territory, Demon Land, and Monster Domain, these are the names given to each of the regions occupied by the three races, with the Human Territory being the largest and most widely occupied, followed by the Demon Land, and then the Monster Domain. There is also a neutral zone which stands in the middle of all three of these territories.”
Yang Kai had heard about this from Shui Ling when he first arrived on Tong Xuan Realm.
“In the neutral zone, there is a place called Ascending Heaven Cliff! It is an incredibly tall mountain atop which the only Thousand Year Demon Flower resides. This special flower only blooms once every thousand years, and even then only for two hours of time before it begins to wither.”
“What profound use does the Thousand Year Demon Flower possess?” Yang Kai keenly grasped the key to the problem and asked.
“For you, nothing. In fact, for most people in this world, it has no use at all, but for the four of us, it is incredibly precious.”
“It can help us understand the mysteries of the Saint Realm. With the assistance of the Thousand Year Demon Flower, we will have a good chance of breaking through our current bottleneck and ascending to the Saint Realm,” Fei Yu said with some excitement.
Yang Kai couldn’t help showing a shocked expression.
“However, because of the special nature of the Thousand Year Demon Flower, a skilled Alchemist is required to condense its medicinal liquid when it blooms. The minimum grade of Alchemist required is Spirit Grade Top-Rank.”
“So you need my help for this?”
“Exactly!”
“The Sect should have Alchemist more skilled than me thought, right?” Yang Kai asked, slightly confused.
Soaring Heaven Sect was an incredibly powerful Sect and possibly had a true Saint Grade Alchemist in its employ. But even if the Sect did not have a dedicated Saint Grade Alchemist, there would definitely be a few Spirit Grade Top-Rank Alchemists. These Alchemists were no doubt much more experienced than Yang Kai.
“That might be the case, but those people are all Honoured Guests of the Sect and this trip will be very dangerous, so they won’t necessarily agree to accompany us. On top of that, even if their Alchemy techniques are superior to yours, their combat prowess is definitely worse.”
“I understand,” Yang Kai nodded, “What Martial Uncle means to say is that there will be many people after the Thousand Year Demon Flower, right?”
“More than you can imagine!” Cang Yan’s expression became solemn as he sighed slightly, “As this opportunity only comes about every thousand years, people will naturally be paying attention to the Thousand Year Demon Flower’s situations. Since we can receive news that it is about to bloom, others naturally can as well. As long as one hopes to break through to the Saint Realm, they will definitely fight for this chance.”
“Martial Nephew, this time will really be quite dangerous, if you don’t want to go, we won’t force you,” Fei Yu looked towards Yang Kai and said sincerely.
“I’ll go!” Yang Kai smiled and replied immediately, “If it can help Martial Uncles and Martial Aunt break through to the Saint Realm, no matter what kind of dragon’s den or tiger’s cave it is, I definitely have to go!”
Fei Yu’s beautiful eyes shimmered as she smiled towards him gratefully.
Cang Yan and the others were also moved.
“Good kid, Martial Uncle has not cared for you in vain!” Li Wan laughed.
“Then you prepare yourself, we’ll leave five days from now, we still have plenty of time so there’s no need to feel rushed,” Cang Yan declared.
Yang Kai quickly nodded.
The three men quickly left. In order to cope with the upcoming journey, they had their own preparations to make.
“This time, whether or not we succeed, I must thank you,” Fei Yu said softly.
“Martial Uncles and Martial Aunt have looked after me a lot, this is something I should naturally do,” Yang Kai shook his head.
Fei Yu stared at him calmly, seemingly wanting to see thought his true intentions, smiling brightly after a long silence, “I’m going to take a bath, do you want to join me?”
Yang Kai’s face immediately became black, “Have you been drinking again?”
“Hmph, no fun at all!” Fei Yu curled her lips mischievously, her tender body flickering before she quickly disappeared.
Yang Kai could only shake his head. His Marital Aunt’s unrestrained behaviour was very difficult to deal with, and she would often say some astonishing things that would leave him at a loss for words.
Over the next five days, Yang Kai didn’t make any special preparations and was instead continuing his usual routine of pill refining as always.
Five days later, after putting everything in order, Yang Kai walked out of the stone room and met Fei Yu who was waiting outside. Seeing him appear, she smiled warmly and gently beckoned to him.
“What about Cang Yan Martial Uncle and the others?” Yang Kai asked.
“They’re all waiting outside.”
Leaving the cave, Yang Kai saw Cang Yan, Li Wan, and Fei Jian standing under the waterfall, staring up at it somewhat excitedly.