"You can stay here, but it'll cost you a thousand Source Crystals per day," the woman continued.
Yang Kai's mouth twitched. "Didn't we already pay for passage?"
He wasn't exactly short on Source Crystals at the moment, but the woman's approach still rubbed him the wrong way. Charging for a room on top of the fare? She was practically obsessed with money.
"Passage is passage, room fees are room fees. There are free rooms available — would you rather take one of those?"
"What's the difference?" Yang Kai genuinely didn't understand. Why would rooms on this ship be divided into paid and free tiers? The room in front of him didn't even look particularly impressive, so what justified the charge?
The woman explained, "There's a special Purification Spirit Formation installed in this cabin. It can neutralize the Dissolving Force of the Desolate Void Secret Realm. The grade isn't anything special, but it's enough for Cultivation."
Cultivation? Yang Kai perked up, finally understanding how the warriors aboard this ship managed to maintain their cultivation bases.
So it was thanks to these Purification Spirit Formations. He had tried cultivating in this world once before and knew full well what happened when that mysterious force pervading heaven and earth infiltrated a warrior's body. So that mysterious force was called Dissolving Force.
A single brief sentence from the woman had cleared up a great deal.
In that case, charging for the room made sense. The Purification Spirit Formation installed in the cabin neutralized that strange Dissolving Force, which meant warriors inside could freely absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
But Yang Kai quickly noticed something was off — the spiritual energy inside this room was extremely thin, nowhere near comparable to the ambient spiritual energy outside.
It seemed the Purification Spirit Formation wasn't omnipotent. While it purified the Dissolving Force, it also obstructed the inflow of spiritual energy from heaven and earth.
Cultivating in this kind of environment meant he wouldn't suffer the torment of Dissolving Force, but maintaining his cultivation base was still impossible. It could only slow the rate of decline — unless he had some other method of restoring Source Power, like Source Crystals, for instance.
No wonder every warrior aboard this grand vessel seemed lacking in vitality. Despite their Dao Source Realm cultivation bases, Yang Kai had observed that none of them could actually wield their due strength.
"Are you going to stay or not?" The woman asked impatiently when she noticed Yang Kai had drifted off.
"Stay, of course I'll stay!" Yang Kai nodded quickly. The Purification Spirit Formation's grade was low and the room wasn't much, but at least it could neutralize the Dissolving Force. That was better than nothing.
Besides, he wasn't short on Source Crystals. After killing Yao Changjun, the Source Crystals he'd harvested from the man's spatial ring numbered in the hundreds of millions.
"Pay for one month upfront. Refunds or supplements later as needed." The woman extended her hand toward Yang Kai.
Yang Kai had no objections. He produced forty thousand Source Crystals and handed them over.
The woman swept the Source Crystals into her spatial ring with lightning speed, then cautioned, "Don't go wandering around without cause. We're on a mission this voyage. Once it's complete, we'll bring you all back to Tongtian Island."
Yang Kai nodded. "Understood."
The woman turned to leave. Just as she reached the doorway, she paused and looked back at him. "You're probably wondering why I specifically brought you to this room to collect Source Crystals."
Yang Kai blinked, uncertain what she meant by that.
The woman let out a snort and said nothing further. Instead, she held out her hand again. "Give me one more Source Crystal, and I'll tell you why."
A vein throbbed at Yang Kai's temple. He was beginning to think this woman was a certifiable miser — everything came with a price tag.
He calmly produced a single Source Crystal and tossed it to her.
The woman caught it with a casual flick of her wrist. A mocking smile crept across her face. "Watch closely."
With that, she hurled the Source Crystal straight out of the room.
*Ting—*
The Source Crystal landed on the corridor floor.
What made Yang Kai's expression change was the sight that followed: the Source Crystal began dissolving at an alarming rate. In less than ten breaths, an entire lower-grade Source Crystal had vanished without a trace, transforming into spiritual energy and dissipating into nothing.
The woman let out a cold snort. "If you're new here, then just say so. Stop pretending to be some seasoned veteran!"
With that, she walked out and shut the door behind her.
Yang Kai's face flushed red, realizing his lie had been completely seen through. She must have figured out he wasn't from this world back outside, when he'd gone to retrieve Source Crystals to pay her. Otherwise, how could he possibly be ignorant of even this much common knowledge?
"Senior Brother..." Liu Xianyun's delicate face had also paled. "That Source Crystal..."
Yang Kai sighed ruefully. "Source Crystals can't be exposed outside the Purification Spirit Formation. They'll dissipate far too quickly."