Yang Kai had never visited the Universe Temple in this particular Great Domain, but Lu Xue had.
According to her, before joining Red Star, she had roamed the world with her sword, living as a vagrant for over a hundred years. During that time she had traversed many Great Domains and left her imprint in a great number of Universe Temples.
That made things much more convenient. Yang Kai and Guo Ziyan entered the Six Harmonies Myriad Bag, and with Lu Xue carrying the bag and activating the Universe Escape Art, they arrived at the Universe Temple in the blink of an eye.
The Universe Temple was different from a Star Market. The latter primarily served as a venue for traveling cultivators to trade and exchange information, while the former held tremendous strategic value—which was precisely why the Universe Temples were firmly controlled by the various Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands.
That said, the Universe Temple also carried some of the functions of a Star Market. Traveling cultivators could rest here and replenish their supplies, though the cost was generally on the higher side, and the variety of goods was far less comprehensive than what one would find at the Star Markets.
Upon arriving, Lu Xue released Yang Kai and Guo Ziyan from the bag, and the three immediately located an inn to settle in, planning to rest for a few days before continuing on their journey.
Meanwhile, in a certain shop within the Universe Temple, a thin, sinister-looking middle-aged man was haggling with the shopkeeper. The two seemed to be acquaintances who had done business several times before, so even though they negotiated prices, there was no real tension—everything was calm and unhurried.
The shopkeeper was confident that the middle-aged man urgently needed his merchandise and didn't fear the price being driven down, so he matched wits with leisurely ease.
Suddenly, the middle-aged man's expression shifted slightly. He uttered a soft "hmm" and turned his head to look in a certain direction.
The shopkeeper glanced at him and chuckled lightly. "Hei Hei, it's not that I'm trying to squeeze extra profit out of you—it's just that the cost price is what it is. At your proposed price, I'd be taking a loss. We've known each other for over a hundred years; have you ever caught me gouging you on price? I really don't make much from our deals."
The middle-aged man called Hei Hei had a strange flash in his eyes. He turned back, nodded, and said, "Fine. We'll go with your price."
The shopkeeper was stunned—he hadn't expected Hei Hei to agree so readily. After all, this batch of goods was worth a pretty penny, and there had been room to haggle further. He'd been prepared for a drawn-out back-and-forth, but before he'd even pushed his full effort, Hei Hei had capitulated.
Still, this was what he wanted, so he beamed. "Brother Hei Hei, what a straightforward man! Just wait a moment—I'll go get the goods."
With that, he rose and headed toward the storage room.
Before long, he returned with a spatial ring. Both parties inspected their respective sides, and once everything was confirmed, the deal was settled—goods exchanged for payment. Hei Hei didn't linger. He left the shop directly and navigated the winding paths of the Universe Temple until he arrived before a certain inn. After gazing up at it for a moment, he strode casually inside.
Inside the inn, Yang Kai's group had rented a room. Before they could even settle in, Lu Xue hurried off—she needed to find someone to help repair her Windmill Artifact as soon as possible. After all, she would be relying on this Artifact to travel between Great Domains going forward. Without it, the cost of transit would be far too great.
Yang Kai and Guo Ziyan remained in the room, sitting in meditation and recovering their energies.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye. All three had mostly recovered from their injuries. Lu Xue's Artifact was still undergoing repairs, but it would take at least another half-month before she could retrieve it.
Though Yang Kai was anxious to return to the Star Boundary, there was no point in rushing under the circumstances. He might as well settle his mind and wait. Besides, having come to this Universe Temple, he naturally intended to leave his own imprint here as well.
He took Guo Ziyan and Lu Xue out of the inn and headed toward the central formation.
For a cultivator to leave their imprint in a Universe Temple, they had to spend ten thousand Open Heaven Pills. This price was universal across the Three Thousand Worlds—no more, no less.
Ten thousand Open Heaven Pills was no small sum, but in certain situations, that imprint could save your life. As long as a cultivator had some financial means, they were generally willing to part with the money for this.
The problem was that no cultivator would leave their imprint in only a single Universe Temple. At ten thousand per location, the expenses added up considerably.
The amount Yang Kai had spent on Universe Temples thus far had to be at least a million Open Heaven Pills. In other words, he had left his imprint in over a hundred different Universe Temples.
Truthfully, he found the Universe Temples quite fascinating. They were connected to the Laws of Space, enabling long-distance teleportation. While he himself could also teleport, his range was far inferior to the Universe Escape Art.
Within any Great Domain where a Universe Temple existed, the Universe Escape Art could resonate with it across any distance—something his personal teleportation could not match, even with the Void Spirit Bead. The Void Spirit Bead had its own range limitations.
Yang Kai had a premonition that if he could decipher the mysteries of the Universe Temple, his attainment in the Dao of Space would leap forward considerably.
However, every advantage came with its drawbacks. The Universe Escape Art was wondrous indeed, and anyone could cultivate it, but activating it required a certain amount of time.
Yang Kai had personally witnessed a Seventh-Order Open Heaven master use the Universe Escape Art—the very owner behind the First Rest. Even someone of his caliber needed several breaths of time to complete the activation.
In the heat of a life-or-death crisis, who would grant you that long to flee?
Time was one issue; pressure was another. The farther one was from a Universe Temple, the greater the spatial pressure exerted during the Universe Escape Art. If it exceeded one's limits, even a successful activation could result in death during transit!
This was not without precedent. Many cultivators, forced by dire circumstances, had activated the Universe Escape Art in moments of crisis. They had escaped the immediate danger, but what arrived at the Universe Temple was a mangled corpse.
Yet despite all its drawbacks, the Universe Escape Art had become a widely practiced secret technique across the entire Three Thousand World, trusted by countless cultivators as both a means of travel and a last resort for survival.
Spending twenty thousand Open Heaven Pills in total, Yang Kai and Guo Ziyan each left their imprints in the Universe Temple.
After exiting the temple, they had no urgent reason to return to the inn. With nothing pressing to do, Yang Kai led the other two on a casual stroll around the area.