With Yang Kai's current level of cultivation and alchemist grade, being able to produce five Wondrous Mystery Pills in a single refining attempt was largely due to luck.
He had privately estimated that he would only succeed with three pills, so the final result was a pleasant surprise beyond his expectations.
The only thing Yang Kai found regrettable was that none of the five spirit pills displayed any pill patterns. That was understandable, though—Wondrous Mystery Pills were already extremely difficult to produce, and if any of them had also developed pill patterns, that would have been truly heaven-defying.
Over the following days, Yang Kai remained at Flying Swallow Peak, cultivating peacefully while patiently awaiting news from the Qingyang Divine Temple.
Searching for the Calamity Tribulation Fruit was no task that could be completed in a day or two. Yang Kai had given a three-month deadline entirely for Qin Yu's sake—her body and age simply could no longer afford to wait any longer.
And the Qingyang Divine Temple was her, as well as Yang Kai's, only hope.
Flying Swallow Peak was situated in a remote corner of the Qingyang Mountain Range, extraordinarily secluded, so no one came to disturb Yang Kai.
What he hadn't expected was that after just a few days, an unexpected guest paid him a visit.
The visitor turned out to be Gao Xueting.
This greatly surprised him, and he naturally did not neglect his duties, welcoming Gao Xueting into the main hall and attending to her with care.
He had assumed Gao Xueting had come to him on some matter, but that turned out not to be the case. The cold-tempered Emperor Realm powerhouse stayed at Yang Kai's place for the better part of the day, simply asking him questions about martial cultivation the way a senior would check on a junior's progress.
Yang Kai considered each question carefully and answered them one by one. From Gao Xueting's expression, he couldn't tell whether his answers had satisfied her.
Since rare opportunities to interact closely with an Emperor Realm powerhouse were few and far between, Yang Kai took the chance to ask about some matters he couldn't figure out on his own. Gao Xueting showed no intention of holding anything back, explaining things to him in the simplest, most accessible terms she could manage.
Yang Kai gained quite a bit from the exchange.
Before leaving, Gao Xueting proposed to test the strength of his Divine Sense.
Though somewhat puzzled, Yang Kai didn't refuse. He gathered his Divine Sense and sent it surging toward Gao Xueting.
She caught it effortlessly, of course, showing no reaction whatsoever. But she gave Yang Kai a meaningful look, as if she had seen through the fact that he hadn't used his full strength.
In the end, Gao Xueting left something with Yang Kai and departed gracefully.
After seeing Gao Xueting off, Yang Kai was left scratching his head in confusion, unable to figure out what this Elder Gao had really come for. Based on his previous experience traveling with her to the Four Seasons Realm, Gao Xueting was not the type of person who was easy to get along with.
Her difficulty wasn't due to a violent temper or a bad personality—rather, it was a naturally cold demeanor, her face perpetually wearing an expression that kept others at arm's length and warned strangers to stay away.
In truth, Yang Kai could sense that Gao Xueting was not a bad person.
Looking down at the object in his hand, Yang Kai frowned slightly and murmured to himself, "No beginning and no end—what is this all about?"
What he held was none other than the item Gao Xueting had given him before leaving. It looked like a small bell, roughly the size of a palm, with an ethereal glow flowing across its surface that gave it an air of profound mystery. From within it emanated a faint but noticeable energy fluctuation. Gao Xueting had called it the Purple Yang Mystic Light Shield!
It was a Dao Source-grade inferior artifact!
Moreover, it was no ordinary artifact—it was a soul artifact!
Soul artifacts were typically forged from exceedingly rare and special materials and could only be wielded by warriors through their Divine Sense. Source Force was utterly useless against such artifacts.
In terms of rarity and value, soul artifacts far surpassed ordinary artifacts by several tiers.
So even though this small bell was only Dao Source-grade inferior, its true worth was in no way inferior to an ordinary Dao Source-grade superior artifact—it might even exceed it.
Judging by the bell's form, it was clearly a defensive artifact. If refined and bonded into the body, it could protect the Sea of Consciousness and shield the soul from external harm.
Yang Kai didn't actually own any soul artifacts. Back when he was still weak, he had possessed a small offensive soul sword, but as his strength had grown, that thing had long since become obsolete and was no longer in use.
Furthermore, he had independently comprehended the Lotus Birth Secret Art, whose offensive power and sheer mystique surpassed those of most soul artifacts. So he had never really bothered to seek out artifacts of this type.
The item Gao Xueting had given him effectively filled a gap in his arsenal…
With this artifact providing protection, combined with his own formidable soul strength, anyone trying to injure his Sea of Consciousness through a sneak attack would find it exceedingly difficult.
As the saying went, a gift from an elder must not be refused. Though Yang Kai was not a disciple of the Divine Temple, Gao Xueting was still an Emperor Realm powerhouse, so when she presented him with this artifact, he hadn't thought twice—he accepted it with thanks.
Now, it seemed, he would need to spend some time refining and bonding it.
Since there was nothing else to do anyway and he was simply waiting for news, he might as well begin the refinement process.
With that thought, Yang Kai wasted no more time. He sat cross-legged, extended his Divine Sense outward, and enveloped the Purple Yang Mystic Light Shield.
Another dozen or so days passed leisurely.
Throughout those days, Yang Kai had been sitting cross-legged in his side chamber without once leaving, dedicating all his effort to refining the Purple Yang Mystic Light Shield.
Through these days of diligent work, he had only just managed to refine about a third of the artifact's restrictions. He could now store it within his Sea of Consciousness and barely unleash a fraction of its power.