Yang Kai's gaze shifted between Gui Che and Di Ji for a good while before he finally pointed at Gui Che and said, "I'll go with you guys."
Gui Che nodded in satisfaction.
Di Ji wore an indifferent expression. While having an extra hand to scout ahead wouldn't be bad, Yang Kai's strength was far too low for him to take seriously. At the Entering Saint Stage Three level, a single brush with any real danger would cost him his life. What use was he?
The only thing Di Ji found regrettable was the Saint Crystals in Yang Kai's Space Ring. But with the rich spiritual energy in this place, the Saint Crystals didn't really matter. He snorted and said to Yang Kai in a mocking tone, "Kid, you're going to die a terrible death. Don't blame me for not warning you."
"Following you would only get me killed faster," Yang Kai retorted without mercy.
He feared neither group. Even if he couldn't beat them, he could certainly hide. The idea that Gui Che at Saint King Stage Three could capture him was nothing but a pipe dream. The only reason Yang Kai had agreed to compromise was that he wanted to use these people to explore the mysteries of this place.
They were all searching for this place, which meant they clearly knew something about it.
"I'll be waiting to collect your corpse!" Di Ji pointed at Yang Kai, then waved his hand and shouted, "Let's go!"
Saying that, he led the few remaining people at his side and flew off in one direction. He didn't have many people left and clearly had no desire to start another fight with Gui Che's group.
"Let's go as well." Gui Che had no intention of stopping them. He said with a smile and headed in another direction. The other three followed closely behind, and Yang Kai fell in with them, bringing up the rear.
They traveled in silence. Gui Che and the others seemed to be in no mood for conversation. The earlier battle had killed and injured countless of their people, and everyone was still immersed in the grief of losing friends and loved ones. Naturally, they couldn't be bothered with an outsider like Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was happy enough with that. He followed behind the four, silently observing his surroundings.
Of the group, besides Gui Che who was at Saint King Stage Three, there was also a man with a face covered in hideous scars who was at the same level. Gui Che called him Gan Ji.
There was also a young woman dressed in fine clothes, with a pair of alluring peach-blossom eyes that sparkled invitingly. The last was a tall, thin young man who appeared to be roughly the same age as Yang Kai. Both were Saint King Stage Two cultivators, and Yang Kai didn't yet know their names.
With this lineup, Yang Kai had absolutely no chance in a direct confrontation. But if he wanted to run, he was fully confident in his ability. He had observed carefully — the thin, bamboo-pole-like young man was the one who had been searching around on the meteorite earlier. The spatial formation must have been what he found.
As they traveled, the young man occasionally produced what appeared to be an ancient piece of beast-hide parchment. The parchment was covered with countless strange patterns and lines — it was most likely a map.
Everyone advanced onward under this young man's lead.
This continent was brimming with spiritual energy, so naturally its resources were abundant as well. Medicinal herbs several hundred to a thousand years old were everywhere, and Yang Kai gleefully collected as many as he could.
Gui Che didn't stop him. On the contrary, he and the others also gathered herbs, placing them into their own Space Rings.
Yang Kai gave them a few pointers, explaining which herbs should be collected using which method to best preserve their medicinal properties. This immediately made the four look at him in a new light.
"Are you an Alchemist?" the young woman couldn't help but ask.
"Yes." Yang Kai nodded.
Alchemists were few and far between. Generally speaking, alchemists focused primarily on alchemy, with their own cultivation being secondary, and their combat ability quite low. Hearing Yang Kai say this, the four visibly relaxed their vigilance.
"What grade of pills can you refine?" the young woman asked, even more curious now.
"Saint Grade Upper-Quality, I suppose."
"Not bad at all." Gui Che chimed in with a smile. "At the Entering Saint Stage Three level, being able to refine Saint Grade Upper-Quality pills — it looks like in a few more years you'll be refining Saint King Grade pills. An alchemist like you would be fought over by many powers. Keep it up, kid."
Yang Kai chuckled and nodded.
"I'm quite curious — why does your body keep absorbing heaven and earth spiritual energy? And at such speed. Did you take some kind of pill?" The warrior called Gan Ji eyed Yang Kai suspiciously, his face full of puzzlement.
It wasn't just him — the others were equally curious. The anomaly in Yang Kai's body was quite obvious. He clearly wasn't circulating any cultivation technique, yet the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy continuously poured into his body, helping him strengthen his cultivation.
This filled them with both curiosity and intense desire, and naturally they wanted to get to the bottom of it.
"I didn't take any pills. It's thanks to this." Yang Kai voluntarily pulled open his clothes to reveal his chest. Four pairs of eyes locked onto it, and they could see the image of a ghost infant there. The ghost infant's mouth opened and closed, and with each cycle, a large amount of heaven and earth spiritual energy was being drawn in.
"What is this?" The young woman couldn't help but reach out and touch it, but she didn't notice anything unusual.
"Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchid?!" Gui Che's expression shifted slightly, and he exclaimed in a low voice. He had recognized the mystery at a glance.
"Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchid?!" The other three exclaimed in unison. The thin young man's eyes blazed with excitement as he shouted, "That extraordinary treasure that aids cultivation? He consumed a Heavenly Spirit Ghost Orchid?!"