Having finished dealing with the Formation Plate, Yang Kai picked up the jade bottle in front of him once more.
What the jade bottle contained was nothing other than the Life Elixir he had obtained in the Emperor's Garden! Only, in Yang Kai's estimation, this was a diluted version of the Life Elixir.
To verify his guess, Yang Kai opened the jade bottle and, without the slightest hesitation, tilted his head back and took a swig.
If anyone saw Yang Kai acting like this, they would likely curse him for being the biggest spendthrift under heaven. The Life Elixir could extend a warrior's lifespan, enhance the vitality of one's blood, and possessed miraculous properties capable of bringing dead wood back to bloom. For those Return Void Realm powerhouses whose lifespans were running short, it was enormously attractive — a single sip could add a hundred years to one's life. Yang Kai had just downed roughly a hundred years' worth of lifespan in one gulp; it was practically a criminal waste.
The taste was clear and mellow, even slightly sweet, like fresh spring water from a mountain stream. Once the elixir reached his stomach, it immediately dissolved into wave after wave of pure energy that circulated through his limbs and bones.
Yang Kai silently observed the changes within himself, and a look of delight appeared on his face.
He discovered that the vitality of his blood was surging wildly. The blood throughout his body was on the verge of boiling. Soon, the massive surge of blood vitality reached a kind of limit, and with nowhere to vent the excess, Yang Kai's face flushed red and his neck swelled — he looked as though he might explode at any moment.
But Yang Kai showed not a hint of panic. He silently circulated his profound art, channeling his Holy Energy to guide the seemingly explosive blood vitality toward a specific point within his body.
As the blood vitality gathered, the blood flowing through him seemed to be drawn along, and various essences separated from the blood and converged at that same location.
Time trickled past. Barely half a shichen later, Yang Kai suddenly heard a soft drip echo from the depths of his consciousness.
He raised an eyebrow, sent his Divine Sense outward to observe, and then his expression shifted with a start before breaking into a look of joyous surprise.
He found that a single drop of golden blood had appeared inside his body!
Not the blood that flowed through his flesh, but true golden blood — the kind that could be refined into Golden Blood Threads.
Yang Kai had never possessed much of this golden blood to begin with. When he had first arrived on the Dark Star, he had over ninety drops, but over the years, through constant use in battle, nourishing the Divine Tree, and various other purposes, the quantity had dwindled by nearly a third.
And ever since Yang Kai learned how beneficial golden blood was for the Divine Tree, he had been feeding it a drop every few months. Over the long term, that was no small expenditure.
Now that he had mastered the Golden Blood Thread secret technique, a single drop of golden blood could produce only one golden thread. Even if Yang Kai refined every last drop into threads, he would have only a few dozen — far short of what his grand plan required.
Although Yang Kai could replenish this golden blood through painstaking cultivation, each new drop required three full months of accumulated effort. He had verified this long ago.
Yet here he was, unexpectedly finding that the Life Elixir could give rise to new golden blood within his body.
It wasn't hard to understand, really. After all, the Life Elixir was one of the Three Great Divine Waters, and its very purpose was to enhance a warrior's blood vitality — which was the single most important factor in the birth of golden blood.
Suppressing his excitement, Yang Kai continued circulating his technique, refining the Life Elixir's effects.
Half a shichen later, a second drop of golden blood materialized within him.
By the time the third drop had taken shape, the Life Elixir's effects had been completely exhausted.
A single sip of the Life Elixir had produced three drops of golden blood. A full bottle, then, should yield at least thirty drops — roughly enough to make up for all the losses over the years.
Yang Kai was overjoyed. Steeling his resolve, he drank one mouthful after another, continuously refining the Life Elixir's power into golden blood.
He didn't feel even a twinge of regret. The Life Elixir might be a life-saving treasure for those powerhouses nearing the end of their years, but for him, anything that could accelerate the production of golden blood was of the greatest use.
Even so, Yang Kai could now confirm that the Life Elixir he had obtained was indeed merely a diluted product. The true, undiluted Life Elixir must possess far more potent effects — and it was hidden somewhere within the Emperor's Garden!
At the thought of this, Yang Kai's heart blazed with excitement. If he could truly enter the Emperor's Garden and get his hands on that Life Elixir, he would never need to worry about the quantity of golden blood again. At that point, replacing all the blood in his body with this pure golden blood might not even be an impossible dream.
With the powerful vitality and recovery ability contained in this golden blood, even if he were injured in the future, he would be able to heal at astonishing speed.
In barely two days' time, the entire bottle of Life Elixir was consumed. Yang Kai still felt it wasn't quite enough, but he didn't push the matter. Instead, he closed his eyes and grasped an Empty Spirit Crystal in his hand, beginning to absorb the energy within.
In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.
During those six months, Yang Kai had not set foot outside the Stone Mansion even once. The only things he did fell into three categories.