Chapter 3998: Drowning Sorrows in Drink

Getting into the city posed one particular problem — Little Black and Little Red were both far too large, and their appearances far too fierce and terrifying. There was no way they could be brought inside.

Yang Kai didn't dare use the Mysterious Heaven World to house them either. He'd tried before, and found that the Mysterious Heaven World could only contain beings below the Open Heaven Realm. Forcibly storing anything with the power of Open Heaven within it risked the entire dimension collapsing.

From Yang Kai's perception, both Little Black and Little Red possessed the power of Open Heaven — they simply couldn't fully unleash it within the unique environment of the Taixu Realm.

Fortunately, he had the Six Harmonies Treasure Bag. It would be a tight squeeze, but they'd just have to bear with it for a while.

He stuffed the two massive creatures into the bag without waiting for their consent. Yue He watched with unconcealed wonder — even out here in the Outer Expanse, artifacts capable of storing living beings were exceedingly rare and precious. She couldn't fathom where Yang Kai had obtained such an artifact.

With that settled, the group of six made their way toward the city gates at a leisurely pace.

As expected, they were stopped at the entrance and charged a fee of one hundred Open Heaven Pills per person.

For any Emperor Realm cultivator, one hundred Open Heaven Pills was no small sum. Meng Hong nearly had a heart attack over the cost. In the past, Yang Kai himself wouldn't have had many Open Heaven Pills to spare. Fortunately, after killing Xu Lao of the Tempest Auction House last time, he had claimed the man's space ring. As a Fourth-Order Open Heaven cultivator and a person of real authority within the auction house, Xu Lao had been considerably wealthy.

Six hundred Open Heaven Pills in entry fees still posed no real burden for Yang Kai. He paid promptly, and the group entered the city with ease.

Once inside, everyone couldn't help but pause in surprise. The city within still bore all the hallmarks of a Star Market — the streets teemed with people shoulder to shoulder, shops lined every side, and numerous stalls were set up along the roads, displaying all manner of peculiar and exotic goods.

Had it not been for the events of the past few days still fresh in their minds, they might have thought they had wandered into some ordinary Star Market rather than being deep within the Taixu Realm.

As they walked along, Yang Kai extended his spiritual sense in all directions, purchasing any medicinal ingredients he needed along the way.

It was rare to find a place where cultivators gathered in such numbers, so naturally he intended to stock up heavily. The Dragon Blood Flower had already been harvested, and it needed to be refined into Dragon Blood Pills as quickly as possible to preserve its potency. Yang Kai estimated he would be spending quite a long stretch of time in this city, doing nothing but pill refining.

After sweeping through several streets' worth of medicinal shops, his haul was substantial.

Along the way, through conversations overheard and observations made, the group learned that the city was currently controlled by a force called Red Star. Red Star, like Thunder Light, had been one of the three major powers already established within the Star Market before everything changed. They had been luckier than most — after their Star Market was swallowed into the Taixu Mist and deposited here, they hadn't encountered any significant disruption. The handful of beast attacks that came their way were repelled by their forces, and they accumulated considerable goodwill in the process. They seized the opportunity to take control of the area, establishing themselves as the ruling power.

Now Red Star's people maintained order throughout the Star Market, set the rules, and collected fees at the city gates. To command such a territory within the Taixu Realm — even just sitting back and reaping the benefits — was an enormous source of profit for Red Star.

And within this city, Red Star's members were practically local emperors. No one dared provoke them.

After spending the better part of a day exploring and purchasing nearly all the medicinal ingredients the city had to offer, Yang Kai finally led the group to an inn to settle in.

He had originally intended to book six premium rooms, but rooms in this place were in short supply. In the end, he could only secure three.

He would take one for himself, naturally — he needed to focus on pill refining for the foreseeable future and couldn't be disturbed. Yue He and Chen Yue, as the two women, would share a second room, leaving Meng Hong and the two Great Yue Sect Disciples to share the third.

With arrangements made, everyone retired to their respective rooms. Before parting ways, Yang Kai handed all his remaining Open Heaven Pills to Meng Hong, instructing him to spend his time browsing the Star Market whenever he had the chance and purchase any medicinal ingredients he came across that Yang Kai might need — so long as the price wasn't outrageously excessive.

Meng Hong agreed without hesitation. It wasn't exactly a difficult task. As for the ingredients Yang Kai needed, he had been traveling alongside the man for long enough that by now he could recognize them from memory.

The following days passed quietly.

Yang Kai shut himself inside his room, setting down layer upon layer of protective restrictions, and devoted himself entirely to refining pills. Day after day, several batches of Dragon Blood Pills emerged.

During the refining process, he didn't remain idle either. He periodically consumed Dragon Blood Pills to advance the power within his own bloodline, and the benefits extended even to Little Black and Little Red, still tucked away inside the Treasure Bag.

Every seven or eight days, Meng Hong would make a trip over, delivering the medicinal ingredients he had collected and leaving them for Yang Kai to continue his work.

Only during these brief intervals would Yang Kai pause to rest a while, chat casually with Meng Hong, and get a sense of the situation outside.

From Meng Hong's reports, Yang Kai learned that Red Star had been managing the Star Market well. Many people had come to know of this place within the Taixu Realm — not only did it serve as a gathering point for cultivators, but it was also safe. As a result, in recent days, nearly every day saw new arrivals flocking to join the settlement.

The most obvious indicator was that inn prices had been climbing steadily. In less than a month, rates had gone up three times. The cost of a single room was now more than double what it had been when they first checked in, and yet every day the place remained fully booked.

Red Star's influence continued to swell. Many people wanted to join its ranks but simply couldn't find a way in.

Since the Star Market sat within the Mist Forest, the surrounding resources were abundant and rich. No matter which direction one traveled after leaving the city, a bit of luck would yield something of value.

It was said that some people had already obtained Fifth-Order and even Sixth-Order Open Heaven materials here! As for Fourth-Order materials, they turned up constantly. For any Emperor Realm cultivator, this was an irresistible lure. Compared to other forms of treasure — whether medicinal pills or precious natural resources — nothing compared to the practical value of ranked Open Heaven materials.

What Emperor Realm cultivators needed most were exactly these Open Heaven materials. Advancing to the Open Heaven Realm within the Taixu Realm was indeed impossible, but as long as one could accumulate enough power here, the moment one stepped outside, achieving the Open Heaven body and joining the ranks of true powerhouses would be instantaneous.

That was why every day, countless cultivators ventured out in groups to explore and train, hoping to acquire the resources they needed for their own Cultivation.