Meng Hong slowly raised his head. His eye sockets were sunken deep, his face deathly pale, but those two eyes of his burned with startling brilliance as he looked at Yang Kai. The corners of his mouth twitched upward into a faint smile. "Heaven has blessed me!"
The heart Yang Kai had been holding in suspense finally settled, and he too broke into a smile. "Brother Meng, you have considerable fortune!"
A situation of nine deaths and one life, and Meng Hong had stubbornly carved out a future for himself. Yang Kai didn't know how Meng Hong had spent those eight days, but just seeing his current state and the condition of this chamber was enough to know that Meng Hong had been teetering on the edge between life and death these past few days.
After having him take a few Spirit Pills to recuperate for a while, Yang Kai sent him back to his room to rest.
He summoned the two Great Moon Sect disciples, and Meng Hong personally explained the whole situation to them. The two wore looks of lingering fear—one reprimanded his Senior Brother for taking such a huge risk without even saying a word, what if something had gone wrong? The other was indignant, shouting that he was going to go kill that slut Chen Yue right now to vent Senior Brother's anger.
After all the commotion, Yang Kai and Yue He stepped out, leaving the three disciples to talk amongst themselves.
Over the following days, Meng Hong's condition improved with each passing day. The Taiyi Purifying Spirit Water had stripped away the four Third Grade powers that originally existed within his Dao Seal, allowing him to return to the initial state before the Dao Seal was condensed—it was essentially a chance to start over. Such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was not something everyone could have.
And this time, Meng Hong would naturally not settle carelessly. He would seize this chance with everything he had.
Several days later, Yang Kai visited Meng Hong again and asked about his future plans.
Meng Hong said, "I abandoned my Third Grade foundation because I naturally aspire to achieve a higher grade. Fourth Grade is not in my considerations, and Sixth Grade is too far off and rare—not to mention something I couldn't handle. If I can achieve Fifth Grade Open Heaven, then my brush with death will not have been in vain."
Yang Kai nodded slightly upon hearing this. Fifth Grade Open Heaven—Meng Hong's ambition wasn't particularly great, but for a disciple of the Great Moon Sect, Fifth Grade would have been an outright pipe dream in the past. After all, any single Fifth Grade material was worth one and a half million Open Heaven Pills, and seven materials would cost at minimum ten million Open Heaven Pills. The Great Moon Sect could perhaps scrape together that kind of money by selling everything they owned, but without the connections to purchase them, it would be meaningless.
After all, even with the proprietress as such a powerful backer, Bai Qi had only managed to achieve Fifth Grade Open Heaven—and he'd been interfered with at a critical moment. If Yang Kai hadn't given him some Heaven and Earth Source Liquid, he would have long since perished, his Dao extinguished.
If Meng Hong could achieve Fifth Grade Open Heaven, then within his lifetime he could look forward to Seventh Grade, rather than being trapped at the Mid Grade Open Heaven level for his entire existence. He would also have the chance to experience the vista of High Grade Open Heaven.
Moreover, Meng Hong had said it himself—Sixth Grade materials were beyond what he could withstand.
People had told Yang Kai before that for a martial artist, condensing Open Heaven power wasn't simply a matter of higher grades being better. Everyone had their own threshold of tolerance. If that threshold was exceeded, materials of too high a grade could very well cost someone their life during the refinement process.
Meng Hong had positioned himself at Fifth Grade, which was the limit most martial artists could endure. Any higher, and neither body nor Dao Seal could withstand it.
"If it's Fifth Grade, then I can give Brother Meng a gift!" As he spoke, Yang Kai flipped his palm, and immediately a sphere of scorching light appeared on his hand, as though he were clutching a miniature sun in his palm.
Meng Hong's expression grew solemn. He exclaimed in a low voice, "True Solar Fire! This is... something obtained from that Sun Star?"
He had seen the True Solar Fire before. After all, when the Sun Star had been extinguished, a group of Great Moon Sect disciples had been present, following Wei Que to search for the True Solar Fire. So Meng Hong recognized it at a glance.
Yang Kai nodded. "That's right. It was obtained from the Sun Star."
Within the Sun Star, Yang Kai had not only seized the Golden Crow's corpse amidst the watchful eyes of numerous Open Heaven Realm cultivators—he had also harvested quite a bit of True Solar Fire before that. Some of it was Fourth Grade, some Fifth Grade, though the Fifth Grade quantity was small, only three portions. They had never been of much use, but since Meng Hong needed them, Yang Kai wouldn't be stingy.
Meng Hong stared blankly at the True Solar Fire. He wanted to refuse, but he truly couldn't bring himself to let it go.
The Great Moon Sect had previously obtained a portion of Fifth Grade True Solar Fire as well, but rather than letting their own disciples use it, they had traded it away for some Fourth Grade materials. Through such careful calculation, it was possible that in the near future, the Great Moon Sect would produce a Fourth Grade Open Heaven cultivator, which would give them a Mid Grade Open Heaven presence and barely qualify them as a second-rate power.
Reading his expression, Yang Kai smiled. "Brother Meng, just take it. Consider it a loan from me—whenever you have the opportunity, you can return it then."
At these words, Meng Hong felt he could no longer stand on ceremony. He nodded immediately. "A great kindness need not be spoken of. I, Meng, will not let you down, Brother Yang."
Channeling his power, he wrapped the True Solar Fire and received it. In an instant, a wave of heat surged into his face, and Meng Hong couldn't help but let out a muffled grunt, his expression shifting slightly.
He had been refining Third Grade materials all along, which had still been manageable. Now, upon first contact with this Fifth Grade material, he realized that these high-grade materials were indeed not something just anyone could refine. With slightly insufficient foundations, one could very well be burned to death by this searing power, to say nothing of achieving Open Heaven strength.
He silently congratulated himself for not being overly ambitious, setting his target only at Fifth Grade. Now it seemed that had been a wise decision indeed.
Leaving Meng Hong to refine the True Solar Fire and condense his Fire-attribute power, and summoning the two Great Moon Sect disciples to stand guard for him, Yang Kai finally departed.
As he passed through a corridor, he suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure sweeping fallen leaves in the courtyard beyond. He paused in mild surprise.
As though sensing his presence, Chen Yue looked up. When their eyes met, she quickly lowered her head and bowed. "Sixth Master!"