The Heaven-Slaying Sword had consumed a vast number of precious materials during its forging, including several sixth-grade components. Strictly speaking, this made it at least a fifth-grade Artifact, and quite possibly sixth-grade!
Naturally, Yang Kai was extremely satisfied with the result. Though the investment had been considerable, the returns were equally substantial.
After putting away the Heaven-Slaying Sword, Yang Kai returned to the star where Master Fanlan had already begun forging the Celestial Net Umbrella.
The Heaven-Slaying Sword was an offensive Artifact, while the Celestial Net Umbrella was a defensive one — one for offense, one for defense, and only then would the Nine Heavens Grand Formation truly come into its own. With these two Artifacts, the Void Territory's Nine Heavens Grand Formation would finally have its soul.
The minimum requirements had been met. It was a pity that Yang Kai had originally intended to have Master Fanlan refine his Shadowless Veil further, but it seemed he couldn't bring that up now. The Celestial Net Umbrella and the Heaven-Slaying Sword had cost the Boss Lady one favor and Yang Kai one promise to persuade Master Fanlan to take on the work.
Asking him to refine the Shadowless Veil on top of that would be pushing his luck. Yang Kai had no desire to sour his relationship with this master refiner.
The forging of the Celestial Net Umbrella proceeded without incident, though it took longer than the Heaven-Slaying Sword — a full half-year. Since ancient times, defensive Artifacts had always been valued higher than offensive ones, the reason being that their crafting costs and difficulty were that much greater.
Even with the entire Blessed Land's legacy and resources, the Celestial Net Umbrella was only fully completed after half a year.
Yang Kai had let out another large quantity of dragon blood...
The Celestial Net Umbrella's grade was comparable to the Heaven-Slaying Sword — both sixth-grade Artifacts, with formidable defensive capabilities.
With both Artifacts complete, Master Fanlan immediately shooed them away, showing not the slightest intention of playing host. Forging two sixth-grade Artifacts in succession had taken no small toll on him, and for someone who detested bother, it was nothing short of torture. He naturally wanted to rest as soon as possible.
The Boss Lady took her leave with Yang Kai and retraced their route.
The journey there had taken considerable time, but the return was far simpler — a few transfers through the Void Temple, and they were back at the Void Territory within a single month.
From the time Yang Kai and the Boss Lady had departed, roughly a year had passed. In that year, the changes to the Void Territory were not particularly noticeable — after all, setting up the Nine Heavens Grand Formation was an immensely difficult task, and they hadn't even reached the halfway point yet.
When Yang Kai saw Master Wuliang again, the man looked haggard and gaunt, his face sallow and thin, but his eyes burned with an almost frightening brightness. The entire man radiated fierce determination. Upon learning that Yang Kai had obtained two sixth-grade formation Artifacts, he threw his head back and laughed, striding away. His voice drifted back from a distance: "Rest assured, Lord True Master — even if this old man has to give his life, I'll set up the Nine Heavens for you!"
Yang Kai watched with concern, worried the man might push himself too far and keel over halfway through. If that happened, all the earlier investment would be wasted. After all, the Nine Heavens Grand Formation was being constructed entirely by Master Wuliang — even if they brought in another formation master, that person would likely be unable to fully grasp its intricacies.
The Void Territory had gained some additional manpower — several thousand people Yue He had brought from the Emerald Palace. Their cultivation levels were all quite low, none above the Emperor Realm, but they were perfectly capable of helping with odd jobs.
The entire Void Territory remained a hive of activity.
In the central hall of the Earth Spirit Ground, Yue He reported to Yang Kai on the expenditures of recent months, her face etched with worry: "Young Master, the cost of setting up this Nine Heavens Grand Formation is truly staggering. Should we discuss modifying the formation with Master Wuliang?"
Yue He managed the Void Territory's entire treasury, and seeing massive quantities of materials consumed day after day was painful for her. Though Yang Kai had struck it rich in the Great Ruins and acquired Xu Huang's hidden cache, even he couldn't sustain this level of spending indefinitely.
The Nine Heavens Grand Formation was only half complete, and the resources obtained from the Great Ruins had already been depleted by over thirty percent. If the formation were to be completed in full, Yang Kai's fortune would be drastically reduced.
Not to mention the enormous expense of forging the Heaven-Slaying Sword and the Celestial Net Umbrella — both of which were destined for use within the Nine Heavens Grand Formation.
The Nine Heavens alone was set to empty Yang Kai's treasury.
"No." Yang Kai shook his head slowly. "Stick to the original plan."
He had mentally prepared himself when he agreed to Master Wuliang's terms, so this level of consumption didn't catch him off guard. The greater the investment, the greater the return. The Void Territory was his foundation in the Three Thousand Worlds — how could he afford to be careless?
Resources spent could always be earned again. But if a powerful enemy ever came calling and the Void Territory couldn't hold, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
Add to that what the Boss Lady had told him earlier, and his determination to see the Nine Heavens Grand Formation completed only grew firmer.
He intended to ascend directly to the High-Rank Open Heaven realm, and the path would inevitably be fraught with obstacles. He might face successive rounds of suppression from the various Great Paradises and Blessed Lands. When that time came, the Void Territory would be his capital for maneuvering against them.
"Whatever Master Wuliang needs, provide it. If any resources are lacking, send people out to purchase them in advance. Don't we still have over three billion Open Heaven Pills?"
Three billion Open Heaven Pills was a staggering number. Nearly half of that sum had come from the Sword Pavilion Master's spatial ring. The man had lorded over the Sword Pavilion for countless years, flexing his authority and accumulating wealth for the better part of his life — all of which had ended up in Yang Kai's hands. And there had been the tens of thousands of spatial rings from the Sword Pavilion itself, many of which also contained Open Heaven Pills.