The Saint Realm wasn't considered a particularly powerful level on this bountiful Rain Waterfall Star. You could grab a handful of cultivators at that level in any crowd.
Yang Kai stood on a slight rise, a wineskin in hand, drinking as he surveyed the scene.
He had no intention of stepping in. He'd made up his mind to simply watch the show.
That warrior was clearly no match for the Green-Eyed Fire Dragon Beast. His entire body was slick with blood, his appearance wretched, narrowly escaping death several times over. His defensive Artifact had been smashed to pieces, and his abdomen had been pierced by the horn on the beast's forehead, blood streaming from the wound.
Yang Kai, figuring the warrior was as good as dead and growing bored with the spectacle, was about to leave when the battle took a sharp turn.
The eighth-rank demon beast, which had held an absolute advantage, began retreating again and again, howling in fury.
After every last one of the warrior's defensive Artifacts had been destroyed, he burst forth with unimaginable power, abandoning all defense, charging at the Green-Eyed Fire Dragon Beast with a posture that knew no fear of death.
Half an hour later, the Green-Eyed Fire Dragon Beast lay dead on the ground, its internal organs and blood spilled across the earth.
The Saint Realm warrior was barely clinging to life, stuffing recovery pills into his mouth by the handful, but no matter what he did, he couldn't suppress his injuries. Blood gushed from his body in torrents as his life force rapidly drained away.
The gap in their strength had been too vast. Though the warrior had ultimately slain the Green-Eyed Fire Dragon Beast, the best he could achieve was mutual destruction — that was the absolute limit of what he was capable of.
Yang Kai walked over with the wineskin, standing above the fallen warrior and gazing down at him.
The warrior's dim, panicked eyes seemed to flare with a spark of light. With tremendous effort, he extended a hand toward Yang Kai, as if reaching for his own lifeline, but his fingers kept grasping at empty air.
His face was filled with a desperate longing to live.
Yang Kai took a sip of wine, crouched down, and without a word, forced a single drop of golden blood from his fingertip into the warrior's open mouth.
The Demon God's Golden Blood possessed extraordinarily powerful restorative properties. Yang Kai had relied on it several times to cheat death himself.
But he always felt that his own supply of Demon God's Golden Blood was nowhere near the same caliber as what the Great Demon God had once possessed!
A single drop of the Great Demon God's golden blood contained boundless power, concealing all manner of profound mysteries. From one such drop, Yang Kai had been able to glimpse one of his cultivated divine abilities, and even Demon General Xueli had gained tremendous benefit from a single drop of Demon God's Golden Blood.
Though the quality was vastly different, it still had at least some healing effect.
In an instant, the warrior was enveloped in a faint golden glow. An expression of disbelief crossed his face as he felt his condition improve dramatically — the encroaching aura of death gradually receded. He had confidence in his survival once more.
He gazed at Yang Kai in bewilderment, not understanding why this passing stranger would save his life.
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Yang Kai flashed him a grin. "Don't thank me — I should be the one thanking you. Well, this is all I can do for you. Whether you live or die now depends on your own fortune."
With that, he tossed the half-full wineskin onto the ground and strode away, his hearty laughter drifting back.
A long time later, the warrior finally managed to sit up with tremendous difficulty. He stared in the direction Yang Kai had departed, his face full of confusion. He had no idea what Yang Kai could possibly be thanking him for and figured the young man had to be out of his mind!
But the fact remained that the other party had saved his life — that was beyond dispute. With gratitude on his face, he snatched up the wineskin Yang Kai had left behind and took a deep swig to celebrate his narrow escape. The strong liquor burned as it went down, making him grimace and break into a cold sweat all over. Not daring to push his luck any further, he immediately began circulating his cultivation technique to heal his injuries.
In the valley, Zong Ao was hard at work refining pills. He no longer used his old method of churning out quantity; instead, he'd adopted Yang Kai's approach, selecting the finest pill furnace and using the technique Yang Kai had taught him.
Every time a pill emerged bearing a pill pattern, the old man's face would bloom into a chrysanthemum of wrinkles — layer upon layer folding together, looking downright terrifying, yet he was utterly delighted and couldn't get enough.
It wasn't like anyone was going to come to this godforsaken place. Yang Kai had already left, and the only other outsider was still unconscious. No one was around to see his horrifying expression, so there was no need for restraint.
Right in the middle of a critical moment, Zong Ao's expression suddenly shifted. "He's back?" he murmured.
He sensed a life force approaching rapidly, without the slightest concealment, at tremendous speed.
On the Rain Waterfall Star, besides Yang Kai, no one had the audacity to move like this — not even Lin Mufeng or Harika.
Hurriedly wrapping up what he was doing and not bothering to check whether the pills had come out successfully, Zong Ao waited in anticipation.
A moment later, Yang Kai walked in.
Zong Ao squinted and was visibly startled. The words already forming on his lips immediately stuck in his throat.
He had been planning to console Yang Kai, to tell him to accept life and death with equanimity. Instead, Yang Kai was beaming from ear to ear, his entire being radiating an indescribable quality.
Zong Ao studied him for a long while before identifying that quality as confidence.
Slowly shaking his head, Zong Ao put on a pleasant smile and asked, "Found a solution?"
"Nope!" Yang Kai answered cheerfully.
"If you haven't found one, what are you so happy about?" Zong Ao was thoroughly baffled.
"Not finding one means I can't be happy?" Yang Kai shot back. "I haven't found a solution yet, but I feel like it's going to work."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zong Ao was getting dizzy trying to follow Yang Kai's logic. No solution — so how could it succeed? He grabbed Yang Kai's arm and demanded, "Explain yourself more clearly!"