That the Boss could offer such praise spoke volumes about Yang Kai's considerable abilities.
Chen Tianfei weighed his words carefully: "The Boss means..."
"Wait and see!" The Boss turned and headed toward her seclusion chamber, her voice drifting back. "There'll be time to deal with him once we leave the Great Ruins. He's only an Emperor Realm cultivator."
Chen Tianfei cupped his fists in a bow. "The Boss is wise!"
Magnetite Mountain was tens of thousands of kilometers from Red Star's stronghold, far beyond the territory they controlled. Yang Kai and Yue He raced through the air for over an hour before reaching their destination.
Ahead lay a chain of rolling mountains of indeterminate length. They weren't particularly tall, with peaks scattered at irregular intervals. Through his Divine Sense, Yang Kai could detect the auras of many cultivators active within.
Before they even drew close, Yang Kai sensed an extremely peculiar force swirling around him. It had a metallic quality to it, yet not entirely so—utterly bizarre. The force was erratic and unpredictable, sometimes pushing, sometimes pulling, and at other times spinning with a rotational energy.
Yang Kai raised an eyebrow. "Is this the Magnetite Force?"
Yue He nodded. "The Magnetite Force is incredibly unpredictable. If one could use a Magnetite Divine Stone to refine Metal Element power, it might even be possible to comprehend a divine ability based on it."
These words made Yang Kai's eyes light up. He became even more certain that he had yet to fully unlock the potential of the Tree of Time and the Golden Crow True Fire, and his anticipation for what Magnetite Mountain had to offer grew stronger.
A figure soon approached from the front—none other than Guo Ziyan. He had clearly received word and come specifically to greet Yang Kai and Yue He.
As they drew near, Guo Ziyan cupped his fists in greeting. "Sixth Captain! Seventh Captain!"
Yang Kai gave a slight nod. "How's the situation?"
Guo Ziyan replied, "We've made some progress, though not much. All we've found are Third Grade and below Magnetite Divine Stones."
"Let me see." Yang Kai extended a hand.
Without a word, Guo Ziyan placed a grinding-stone-sized rock into Yang Kai's palm. Yang Kai looked down. The thing was pitch-black and, at first glance, nothing special. But upon careful inspection, he could feel the abundant Metal Element power contained within.
The Magnetite Force he had sensed earlier was even more obvious and tangible within this stone.
Yang Kai nodded slightly and handed the Magnetite Divine Stone back. He looked down and saw figures bustling about below, hard at work.
Guo Ziyan spoke in a low voice, "Captains, word has already spread. Many people are heading this way. I've gathered all the nearby manpower to this location, but we only have thirty-odd people at the moment, which severely limits the area we can search. Should we send word to the other captains to bring more people for support?"
Yang Kai glanced at him and said flatly, "No need. Since the news has already spread, they'll come if they want. Sending word to those who don't would be pointless."
Guo Ziyan thought that was fair. Many people already knew about Magnetite Mountain. The other captains might well have heard the news too, but none had shown up yet. Perhaps they simply didn't want to come, or perhaps they were still on their way.
After flying a short while with Guo Ziyan, they landed on a mountaintop where many people were hard at work. All thirty-something subordinates under Yang Kai had gathered here. Numerous pits and holes of varying depths had been dug into the mountain, and the clinking of tools echoed from within—clearly everyone was putting in their best effort to find Magnetite Divine Stones.
Yang Kai turned to Guo Ziyan and asked, "How were profits distributed in the past?"
Guo Ziyan answered, "All earnings were pooled together and assessed, then distributed according to each person's contribution. However, as a general rule, the captains would take more than half!"
Yang Kai nodded slightly.
More than half—reasonable enough. But he clearly had no intention of following suit.
"Pass down the order: any Magnetite Divine Stone below Fifth Grade may be kept. No need to hand them in. I only want Fifth Grade and above. Anyone caught hiding one will be killed without mercy!"
Guo Ziyan's expression turned grave. "Does the Sixth Captain truly mean this?"
While Yang Kai's demand for Fifth Grade and above might sound like robbery at first glance, it was worth noting that after searching here for so long, they hadn't found a single Fifth Grade stone—only a few Third Grade ones.
In other words, Yang Kai was taking the risk of returning empty-handed, while the thirty-something people could keep any stone they found below Fifth Grade.
From another perspective, this was incredibly favorable for those thirty-odd people. After all, if Yang Kai had followed the Poison Maiden's old practices, even if they found a Fifth Grade stone, they wouldn't have gotten a share.
Yang Kai said, "I told you to pass down the order, so pass it down. Stop yapping."
Guo Ziyan quickly cupped his fists. "Understood!"
The order spread quickly. All thirty-odd people were thrilled and redoubled their efforts in the search. Even Guo Ziyan vanished into one of the pits.
Yue He turned to look at Yang Kai and asked, "What do you want Fifth Grade stones for?"