Time flew, and it had already been over a month since Yang Kai arrived at the Jade Feather Sect.
That month had given him a rough understanding of the sect's internal affairs, and during that time, he and Liu Xianyun had lived uneventful lives. Aside from Cultivation, there was more Cultivation. No one came looking for trouble, and the sect issued no missions.
Judging by all this, choosing to join the Jade Feather Sect had turned out to be a decent decision. At the very least, it was a place to lay low.
But Yang Kai knew this was only temporary.
Any Disciple who joined a sect would have to contribute to it sooner or later. The reason he and Liu Xianyun were currently enjoying such leisure was that the Jade Feather Sect had yet to encounter any difficulties. Once the sect faced an outside enemy or some other crisis, people like them would have to join the fight.
He felt not the slightest sense of belonging toward the Jade Feather Sect, and naturally had no desire to spill his blood for such a place.
Moreover, somewhere deep in his intuition, Yang Kai always felt as though a pair of eyes was watching him and Liu Xianyun. Evidently, because the two of them had only just joined the sect, they were still in a probationary period.
Yang Kai didn't much care. He and Liu Xianyun hadn't done anything out of the ordinary during this time, behaving entirely by the book. Even if someone was surveillance, there was nothing to discover.
Inside the Jade Feather Sect, there was a bustling market district where disciples exchanged supplies or purchased goods. Within this market, locations with good access and open sightlines were naturally occupied by powerful and influential disciples, while more remote spots were left for ordinary ones.
Early in the morning, Yang Kai and Liu Xianyun had already arrived at the market and walked straight into a shop in an out-of-the-way corner with plain, unadorned decor.
Outside the shop, over thirty cultivators had already formed a long queue. Upon seeing Yang Kai arrive, they clasped their fists and exchanged pleasantries one after another.
"Junior Brother Yang, you're here early!"
"Junior Brother Yang, get started already! We've been waiting ages!"
"Junior Brother Yang, I was the first one here today, so refine mine first!"
These cultivators were mostly at the Void King realm, with a handful at the Return Void realm. Every one of them wore an amiable smile as they greeted Yang Kai of their own accord.
Yang Kai returned their smiles, clasped his fists, and said, "I'll begin right away. I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting, Senior Brothers and Sisters."
As he spoke, he moved to enter the shop.
Just then, a young woman with a voluptuous figure and stunning beauty sauntered over. Without the slightest regard for the odd looks from those around her, she looped her arm through Yang Kai's, pressing her full, ample chest against his elbow. She leaned in close and whispered by his ear, her breath warm and sweet, "Junior Brother, forget about them. Help your Senior Sister refine a batch of Nine Revolution Void Spirit Pills first, won't you? I was planning to go back and enter closed-door Cultivation."
"Uh... Senior Sister, this humble shop has its rules. We follow first come, first served." Yang Kai's face went dark as he subtly tried to withdraw his arm.
The young woman was relentless, clinging to him persistently. "It's fine. I'll go talk to them. They wouldn't dare refuse. And if you help me first, Senior Sister can..."
Leaning in, she pressed her red lips close to his ear and whispered a few words, the seductive glimmer in her luminous eyes nearly overflowing.
"There's such a good deal?" Yang Kai's eyes shot out a bright green light, his expression turning electric with excitement.
"Hmph!" Beside them, Liu Xianyun's beautiful face was ice-cold as she regarded Yang Kai with undisguised contempt, snorting a single meaningful syllable through her nostrils.
Yang Kai gave a dry, sheepish laugh. Reaching out, he patted the young woman's soft hand with an air of regret and said, "Senior Sister, rules are rules. I'm afraid I'm no help. But... if you're interested, you're welcome to visit my humble quarters some other day. We can have a proper chat."
The young woman, seeing that her seductive tactic had failed, pouted and huffed, "Won't even help with a tiny favor — what a cheapskate!"
With that, she flung his arm away, then shot Liu Xianyun a fierce glare as if blaming her for ruining her plans.
Liu Xianyun remained expressionless. She pulled a pre-made signboard from her spatial ring, planted it firmly on the ground before her, and announced in a flat voice, "Senior Brothers and Sisters, please queue in order and wait for your pills to be refined. Compensation and commission rates are written on the sign. Please prepare your materials in advance for whatever pills you need refined. If a refinement fails, no refunds!"
Everything she said was already written on the sign, so she didn't need to repeat it, but she went through it all anyway out of sheer responsibility.
While she was speaking, Yang Kai had already slipped stealthily into the shop. He took out his Purple Void Furnace, closed his eyes to quiet his mind, and prepared for the day's work.
After over a month of living together, his relationship with Liu Xianyun had grown increasingly harmonious. In this unfamiliar Star Boundary, even though they weren't from the same Star Domain, their many similarities meant they got along well enough.
Yet only a few days after arriving at the Jade Feather Sect, the two of them had discovered a problem — they had no way to obtain Cultivation resources!
Although they were already disciples of the Jade Feather Sect, the sect wouldn't simply distribute Cultivation resources to its disciples for no reason. If you wanted resources, you had to contribute to the sect, or find another way to get them on your own.
For Void King realm powerhouses, Saint Crystals were already useless. The energy stored within Saint Crystals was far too meager to satisfy the needs of a Void King realm cultivator.
In the Star Boundary, something called Source Crystals had taken the place of Saint Crystals.
The energy contained within a Source Crystal was countless times denser and richer than that of a Saint Crystal. It was sufficient even for Void King realm or Dao Source realm cultivators during their Cultivation.
Source Crystals, like Saint Crystals, were divided into three grades — upper, middle, and lower — with an exchange ratio of one to ten between each grade. They were the hard currency among cultivators!
In other words, if Yang Kai wanted to accelerate his own Cultivation speed, he had to find a way to obtain Source Crystals. Only then could he purchase the things he needed.
But being a newcomer in unfamiliar territory, he had no idea how to go about securing his own Cultivation resources.