The hall doors were suddenly shoved open. A man shot to his feet and bellowed, "Who goes there!"
They were in the middle of deliberating important matters—who would dare barge in like this without so much as announcing themselves?
Looking up, they saw a young man striding inside. At first glance he looked somewhat familiar, as if they had seen him somewhere before, but they couldn't quite place him.
Just as they were puzzling over it, a gust of wind swept past them. Li Jiao stepped forward with delight. "Brother Yang!"
Lu Sanniang, Ruan Biting, He Yunxiang, and the others all rose to their feet and bowed.
With that, none of the others dared look down on Yang Kai in the slightest. Over the past month, most of them had witnessed the staggering power Li Jiao and his companions possessed. He Yunxiang was one thing—she seemed to be only at the third-stage Void King Realm, strong but not overwhelmingly so. But the other three, whether Li Jiao, Lu Sanniang, or Ruan Biting, each commanded unfathomable strength. Void King Realm cultivators were like children before them, easily crushed at will.
Someone treated with such gravity by these people could hardly be an ordinary figure.
Upon closer inspection, a few of them let out soft gasps of surprise.
They had clearly recognized Yang Kai. Years ago, Yang Kai had visited Shuiyue Star once before and crossed paths with many of them. Even after decades, that memory had not faded. Xue Yue's husband, the favored son-in-law of the Heng Luo Trade Association, the master of the Dark Star—any one of those titles was enough to command their attention. Yet they had never expected that he personally knew these extraordinary figures.
Moreover, judging by the attitude these great figures showed him, it seemed... they were rather respectful—even grateful.
They suddenly recalled a passing remark Li Jiao had once made—that the reason he and his companions had been weeding out the strong and helping the weak on Shuiyue Star was simply because someone had commissioned them to do so.
Now it seemed that person could only be Yang Kai.
In that instant, they were filled with excitement.
"Brother Yang, we've fulfilled our task. This Cultivation Star has been reclaimed, and all the riff-raff have been dealt with."
Yang Kai smiled faintly. "You've all worked hard. Well, I've come here because I need a favor."
Li Jiao laughed. "Whatever Brother Yang needs, just say the word. There's no need for the word 'favor.'"
Yang Kai rubbed his fingers together. "Lend me some money."
"What?" Li Jiao froze.
"Source Crystals. Lend me as many as you have. I'll pay you back once we're in the Star Realm."
Only then did Li Jiao realize he hadn't misheard. He let out an incredulous laugh, hurriedly removed his space ring, and with a series of gestures transferred all the Source Crystals within into another ring, which he handed to Yang Kai. "This is all I have."
Though he was the master of the Lilong Palace, he couldn't very well carry an enormous hoard of Source Crystals on his person. The Lilong Palace needed to develop, after all, and its Disciples required vast quantities of Source Crystals for their Cultivation. If he had taken all of them, the Sect would have been unable to function. Moreover, the Lilong Palace had previously owed the Lingxiao Palace an enormous debt—over ninety percent of the Sect's Source Crystals had been confiscated to settle it.
So his space ring contained fewer than a few hundred thousand high-grade Source Crystals. The mid-grade and low-grade crystals were somewhat more numerous, but even that was hardly befitting the status of a third-stage Emperor Realm powerhouse. In short, these past two years had been tight.
"I have some here." Lu Sanniang walked over and produced her own Source Crystals. Yang Kai didn't discriminate—he accepted everything.
Ruan Biting and He Yunxiang, however, were unable to help in this regard.
In truth, the Source Crystals Yang Kai had accumulated over the years in the Star Realm were practically incalculable, but the vast majority had been left behind at the Lingxiao Palace. Even what he had on hand was considerable, but for the plan he had in mind, Source Crystals were the more the better—no amount would ever be enough.
"Let me ask you something, Brother Li—do you have any knowledge of Formations?" Yang Kai tucked away the Source Crystals and spoke.
Li Jiao replied, "I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I know a thing or two."
"Good. Come with me." Yang Kai grabbed him by the arm and headed for the exit.
Li Jiao was speechless, not understanding why Yang Kai was in such a rush, but he didn't resist. He simply gave Lu Sanniang a look, signaling her to wait there.
Through the Space Array, Yang Kai and Li Jiao returned together to the Nine Heavens Holy Land.
"Come!" Yang Kai launched himself skyward.
Li Jiao followed close behind.
In no time at all, the two had flown to a height of a thousand li. Yang Kai pointed downward. "Take a look, Brother Li."
Li Jiao gazed downward and couldn't help but furrow his brow. As far as the eye could see, the entire Tongxuan Continent seemed to be shrouded in an unpleasant aura, and the surface of this Cultivation Star bore many obvious signs of corruption.
"What does Brother Yang want me to do?" Li Jiao had a vague sense of what Yang Kai had in mind.
Yang Kai said, "Is there any Formation that could rapidly restore this Cultivation Star's Yuan Qi?"
Li Jiao pondered for a moment. "I know of a Formation called the Du Tian Xuan Ling Formation. It may be of some help."
Yang Kai raised an eyebrow. "In that case, I'll have to trouble Brother Li to set up the Du Tian Xuan Ling Formation."
Li Jiao said, "The Du Tian Xuan Ling Formation comes in several variants—the Eighteen-fold, the Thirty-six-fold, the Seventy-two-fold, and at the highest level, the One Hundred and Eight-fold. Each variant requires vastly different amounts of materials, and the conditions for setting it up increase in difficulty with each tier. But the effects grow correspondingly better. If we were in the Star Realm, I could easily set up the One Hundred and Eight-fold version. But here..."
"I can help."
Li Jiao laughed helplessly. "Brother Yang, you know as well as I do that this world rejects higher-level power. We ourselves have to suppress our Cultivation just to operate here—and Formations are no different. The Du Tian Xuan Ling Formation already transcends this world. I'm afraid that even if we set it up, it might be useless."