Half a day later, the Dragon Blood Flowers in Yang Kai's spatial ring had already reached over a thousand stalks, and he had essentially scoured the entire Spirit Island.
Li Jiao had also picked a few flowers under Fu Ling's watchful glare, his hands trembling without cease — whether from excitement or fear, he felt an almost intoxicating thrill.
Suddenly, Yang Kai's gaze locked onto a certain direction, drawn by two Dragon Blood Flowers growing there.
Those two flowers were visibly different from the ones he had collected so far. Both were crystalline and translucent, their blood-red hue rich and rounded, their dragon essence pure and refined. The wisps of crimson qi drifting from them were coalescing into the shapes of dragons, vivid and lifelike.
"Supreme-grade Dragon Blood Flowers?" Yang Kai's eyes narrowed. He had never seen supreme-grade Dragon Blood Flowers before, but the instant he laid eyes on them, he recognized them for what they were.
"Brother-in-law, those two flowers—" Fu Ling's voice grew urgent.
Supreme-grade Dragon Blood Flowers were something even on Dragon Island that were nearly impossible to come by. Only the Elders had ever been qualified to consume them. These two supreme-grade Dragon Blood Flowers already had owners, and were to be harvested in two months' time and presented to the Grand Elder and the Second Elder. Now that Yang Kai had set his sights on them, there was no way they could be kept.
Even knowing they were beyond saving, Fu Ling still had to try.
"Out of my way!" Yang Kai brushed her aside with a wave of his hand and strode up to the two Dragon Blood Flowers, his gaze blazing.
He reached down and plucked them, and the crimson dragon shadows on the blossoms let out a faint, resonant roar.
Fu Ling let out a sigh, knowing that she was truly finished. Once word of what had happened here got out, the only fate awaiting her was exile into the Dragon Tomb.
Another hour passed, and every mature Dragon Blood Flower on the Spirit Island had been swept clean by Yang Kai.
"Stay here and guard the island. I'll call for you when I need you. Try your best to keep what happened here from getting out," Yang Kai instructed Fu Ling as he walked off the Spirit Island.
"I know," Fu Ling replied listlessly, inwardly wishing she could smack Yang Kai dead with one palm. He had created this enormous mess and still expected her to clean it up after him — the sheer audacity was beyond words.
Yang Kai nodded, then flew off together with Li Jiao.
Although Li Jiao was somewhat weakened, Yang Kai's timely rescue had prevented any real damage to his foundation. He would simply need to rest and recuperate for a while to recover, with no risk of his cultivation or realm falling.
Along the way, Li Jiao repeatedly opened and closed his mouth, as if wanting to speak but holding back.
"San Niang is fine," Yang Kai said, knowing what he wanted to ask. He decided to bring it up first.
Li Jiao's expression turned somewhat complicated at the news, but he finally said, "Thank you, Brother Yang, for looking after her."
Yang Kai nodded. "San Niang is a good person. What happened back then wasn't her fault."
Li Jiao replied, "I know, it's just..." He let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head repeatedly.
Though Lü Sanniang had been entirely innocent in those old events, such matters were not something any man could easily let go of.
Yang Kai understood his feelings, so he only said a few casual words before dropping the subject. After a moment's thought, he added, "You're a dragon descendant — too conspicuous a target. If other dragons were to discover you, it could cause all manner of trouble. Better to go somewhere safe."
Li Jiao asked suspiciously, "Where?"
Yang Kai stopped in his tracks, turned, and struck him with a palm strike. "Don't resist!"
Li Jiao was startled and instinctively moved to fight back, but hearing Yang Kai's words, he immediately relaxed. He trusted that Yang Kai meant him no harm.
A wave of dizziness washed over him, and Li Jiao found himself in a very strange world...
Having returned to Fu Chi's Spirit Island, Yang Kai found Lü Sanniang and her daughter. Without much explanation, he placed them both into the Small World and had them reunite with Li Jiao, then flew out toward the depths of the ocean.
Just as before, once he plunged into the sea, Yang Kai immediately brought out the Mysterious World Bead and slipped inside the Small World.
Time was running short — at best he had about twenty days left, and he could not afford to waste a single moment.
After checking his supply of medicinal herbs, Yang Kai pulled out all the auxiliary ingredients needed for refining Dragon Blood Pills and stacked them beside him.
He had no shortage of spiritual flowers and rare herbs, so crafting Dragon Blood Pills was not an issue. But with over a thousand Dragon Blood Flowers collected, he could theoretically refine over a thousand batches.
His auxiliary ingredients, however, were far less plentiful — enough for at most twenty more batches before they ran out. He would need to plan carefully.
Of the thousand-plus Dragon Blood Flowers, a good one to two hundred were mid-grade, twenty to thirty were high-grade, and only two were supreme-grade.
To maximize the medicinal efficacy this time, Yang Kai directly used the high-grade Dragon Blood Flowers to refine the Dragon Blood Pills.
He summoned the pill furnace, controlled the flame, inscribed the spirit formation, and fed in the ingredients...
One hour later, the first batch of Dragon Blood Pills was complete.
The results were passable — four Dragon Blood Pills, neither few nor many. Their quality, however, was noticeably superior to before, as they had been refined from high-grade Dragon Blood Flowers. The previous batches were simply no comparison.
Yang Kai's expression remained as still as an ancient well. He recovered briefly, then immediately began refining the second batch of pills.
Then the third, the fourth...