"A deal?" Yang Kai furrowed his brows. "What deal?"
"You haven't really forgotten, have you?" Xue Yue looked at him with a cold, mocking smile. "I see — it seems back then you were too busy flirting with that vixen from the Di Chen to remember what I said."
Yang Kai pursed his lips. "Why do I smell something sour…"
"Stop messing around!" Xue Yue snapped in irritation.
"Still, how did you know she was from Di Chen? Did you go and look into her background afterward?" Yang Kai tilted his head, regarding her.
"So what if I did?" Xue Yue lifted her chin slightly and let out a disdainful hum. "Where else could that shameless vixen possibly be from besides Di Chen?"
"So you really did dig into her…" Yang Kai muttered to himself. "Fine, let's not get into that. I do remember the deal you mentioned."
"Good. Then where is it?"
"You mean the thing inside that stone tablet?"
"That's right!"
Yang Kai frowned slightly. He naturally remembered that scene, as well as the deal he had struck with Xue Yue. She had said that if he handed over the stone tablet from within the stele, all the enmity between them would be wiped clean, and she would never trouble him again.
At the time, Yang Kai had agreed. But before he could hand the stone tablet over, the Di Yuan had closed without warning, and the deal had gone unfulfilled.
It was only later that Yang Kai learned the stone tablet contained an astonishing secret art — the Star Refining Art!
It was a supreme technique that allowed a cultivator to refine the origin essence of a star and become its Star Lord. The reason Little Senior Sister Xia Ningshang had been able to refine the origin essence of the Tongxuan Continent while at the Saint King Realm owed not only to the Tongxuan Continent's declining state, but also in great part to the Star Refining Art.
Without it, given Xia Ningshang's cultivation level at the time, she might not have been able to successfully refine the origin essence and become the Star Lord of the Tongxuan Continent.
This was undoubtedly a secret art powerful enough to shake the entire Star Domain — one that could drive its experts to slaughter and carnage. Its value was simply beyond estimation.
It would have been one thing never to have known of the Star Refining Art's existence, but now that Yang Kai did, there was no way he would hand it over lightly. Not even to Xue Yue.
The nature of their relationship was still somewhat tangled and unclear. How could he casually hand over such a secret art to her?
"Do you know what's recorded inside that stone tablet?" Yang Kai countered.
"I don't!" Xue Yue shook her head.
"You don't even know what it is, and you still want it?"
"Though I don't know exactly what's recorded inside, I do know it's the key to helping my father advance to the third level of the Void King Realm! So I must have it!"
"Guild Master Ai Ou?" Yang Kai raised an eyebrow.
Xue Yue's father was none other than Ai Ou, the president of the Henduo Chamber of Commerce. Yang Kai had heard plenty about this illustrious figure of the Star Domain, though he had never met him. He knew Ai Ou was a second-level Void King Realm powerhouse who had thus far been unable to break through the barrier to the third level. Even so, backed by the Henduo Chamber of Commerce, Ai Ou was not someone to be taken lightly.
"Yes. So I hope you can give me that stone tablet and let me pass it on to my father!" Xue Yue gazed at Yang Kai with earnest sincerity.
"How can you be sure that whatever's recorded inside will definitely be the key to his advancement? You don't even know what it does."
Xue Yue smiled. "Our Henduo Chamber of Commerce has existed for so many generations — we naturally possess certain pieces of intelligence that others don't. There's no need for me to tell you the details."
Yang Kai nodded, sinking into thought.
In a sense, what Xue Yue said was correct. The Star Refining Art could very well be the key to Ai Ou's breakthrough to the third level. Given Ai Ou's longstanding status and accumulated foundation as a Void King Realm cultivator, combined with the Star Refining Art, it was entirely possible that he could refine the origin essence of a Cultivation Star. Once he succeeded, with the feedback and nourishment from the star's origin essence, his breakthrough would surely follow.
Of course, there would inevitably be risks that could not be avoided. In the worst case, it could mean the total annihilation of body and soul.
Having come to this understanding, Yang Kai was quietly amazed at the intelligence network the Henduo Chamber of Commerce possessed. The Star Refining Art had been sealed within a stele deep inside the Di Yuan. Even before he shattered that stele, Yang Kai hadn't sensed anything inside — yet the Henduo Chamber of Commerce had somehow known about it in advance.
"I hope you can give that thing to me!" Xue Yue looked at Yang Kai with complete earnestness. "Even if it's just a copy, that would be fine. What's recorded in that stone tablet is some kind of secret art, isn't it? I don't need the original stone tablet itself — I just need you to make a copy."
"I'll need to think about it," Yang Kai replied after a moment's consideration.
"No problem," Xue Yue agreed readily. "But before that, you'll have to travel with me."
Yang Kai chuckled. "With Ni Guang around, it's not like I could slip away from you even if I wanted to."
"Who knows? You're a slippery one — take your eyes off you for a second and you'll vanish." Xue Yue gave a light huff. "That's exactly why I had Uncle Ni invite you along."
This was the real reason Xue Yue had asked Ni Guang to bring Yang Kai along! The moment she had seen him arrive, she had known that the unfinished task from all those years ago was finally within reach.
"Since we've come to an agreement, let's head back for now. The entrance should open before long, and once we're inside, don't go wandering off on your own," Xue Yue cautioned, unable to hide her worry.
"Got it."