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Translator: Silavin & Sara
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
“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.
Yo
Beast, you good?
Yeah mate we’ve all been worried