"Of course I know him… like hell I do!" Gu Kangning roared, the corners of his eyes twitching violently. "You're sure the one you killed was Zhan Yulin?"
"The real deal, no imposters," Yang Kai nodded.
The Grand Elder slumped back into his chair, all color draining from his face in an instant. If Yang Kai said so, then it must be true. Besides, Zhan Yulin had crossed paths with Yang Kai before—there was no way he'd mistake the man.
Zhan Yulin was dead! It was over, it was truly over. The Void Spirit Sword Sect was finished.
Su Changfa and Hongxiu were also momentarily stunned, unable to fathom how Yang Kai had landed them in such catastrophic trouble. Zhan Yulin was dead—would Zhan Boxiong let that slide? With his seventh-layer Earth Grade cultivation, who in the Void Spirit Sword Sect could possibly stand against him?
"It looks like the Celestial Net Hall didn't remain uninformed after all—they've already made their move," Hongxiu said softly after a long pause.
Su Changfa and Gu Kangning turned toward her, suddenly realizing the truth.
They had been wondering why the Celestial Net Hall had shown no reaction whatsoever regarding the black jade mine. Now it was clear—they hadn't been idle. They had already struck. It was simply that they had chosen Yang Kai's side as their entry point.
After all, Yang Kai was the Void Spirit Sword Sect's foremost disciple of this generation, and in the outside world, he represented the sect's face. Sending Zhan Yulin to provoke trouble, using a grudge between juniors as the spark to ignite a war between two major powers—that was their scheme to seize the black jade mineral vein.
They probably never expected that Yang Kai actually had the audacity to kill Zhan Yulin.
This made it abundantly clear that the Celestial Net Hall's appetite was far greater than that of the Tiger Roar Gate. The Tiger Roar Gate had at least sent word ahead, merely wanting a share of the spoils. But the Celestial Net Hall had struck in the shadows, their goal of swallowing and destroying the Void Spirit Sword Sect laid bare for all to see.
At this thought, both Su Changfa and Gu Kangning let out quiet sighs. Even without the Zhan Yulin incident, the Celestial Net Hall would have found some other way to pressure the Void Spirit Sword Sect. Yang Kai killing Zhan Yulin had simply given them a better excuse to act.
"This matter is not your fault. Our Void Spirit Sword Sect was simply destined to face this calamity," Su Changfa said, waving his hand gently.
Hongxiu's brows knitted tightly. "The trouble is, this leaves us with no choice but to ally with the Tiger Roar Gate. Perhaps we can borrow their strength to hold off the Celestial Net Hall."
Yang Kai had been listening from below in a fog, and couldn't help but ask, "What are Master and the two Elders talking about?"
Gu Kangning and Hongxiu exchanged a glance. After a moment's thought, the former spoke: "As our Void Spirit Sword Sect's foremost disciple of this generation, you are entitled to know. Here's the situation—a black jade mineral vein was recently discovered in the Ashen Mountains. The reserves are vast, but somehow word got out. The Tiger Roar Gate has already sent a letter offering to assist us in developing the vein. The Celestial Net Hall causing trouble for you this time is almost certainly because of this mine."
"A black jade mineral vein!" Yang Kai's expression shifted. The martial artists of this world cultivated not only by drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, but also by consuming spirit pills and elixirs—much like the Star Boundary. Beyond that, there was also spirit jade.
Spirit jade contained extraordinarily dense spiritual energy, capable of dramatically accelerating a martial artist's cultivation efficiency.
Spirit jade came in several grades, ranked from lowest to highest: white jade, black jade, red jade, and gold jade. White jade was the lowest, gold jade the highest. The difference in value and spiritual energy storage between a single unit of gold jade and white jade was over a thousandfold.
Yang Kai recalled that he had used spirit jade for cultivation before as well, though only white jade. Occasionally he'd managed to obtain a few pieces of black jade, but those were exceedingly rare—Su Changfa had saved them and given them to him personally.
If even he, the eldest disciple, had received so little, what about his juniors?
Yet somehow, a black jade mineral vein had been discovered in the Ashen Mountains!
A single black jade mineral vein was enough to dramatically boost an Earth Grade power's strength over a few decades to a century. Such a resource was typically monopolized only by Heaven Grade powers.
No wonder both the Tiger Roar Gate and the Celestial Net Hall were eyeing it covetously.
Su Changfa said, "The black jade mineral vein is far too valuable—our Void Spirit Sword Sect simply doesn't have the capacity to claim it. Originally, we had planned to sit on the fence between the Tiger Roar Gate and the Celestial Net Hall for a while, but now it seems…"
Yang Kai caught on. "Now that I've killed Zhan Yulin, our Void Spirit Sword Sect has no choice but to lean on the Tiger Roar Gate's power to stand against the Celestial Net Hall."
"Precisely," Su Changfa nodded.
Yang Kai paused, then smacked his lips. "If I'd known, I should have kept him alive."
Su Changfa shook his head. "The Celestial Net Hall is acting this way precisely because they want to monopolize the black jade vein. Otherwise, they could have simply sent word to me directly. There was no need to use you juniors as their entry point. So even if you hadn't killed Zhan Yulin, the Celestial Net Hall would not have let matters rest."
Gu Kangning waved his hand dismissively. "Just keep this information in mind—you don't need to dwell on it. With your current strength, worrying about it more won't help. If the sky falls, us old folk will hold it up. You've already wasted an entire year—go get back to your cultivation."
Yang Kai said solemnly, "Yes. After this incident, I realize just how weak my strength truly is. I should dedicate myself to cultivation for a proper stretch."
Su Changfa and the two Elders all regarded him with pleased expressions. Su Changfa said, "It's best that you think so."
Yang Kai continued, "This disciple would also like to request some cultivation resources. I hope Master will grant his permission."
Su Changfa immediately tossed out the Sect Master's token. "Go see Uncle-Master Chang yourself and take whatever you want—as much as you like." After all, if the Void Spirit Sword Sect survived this crisis, they would have everything they could ever need. If they didn't survive, the resources would be useless anyway.
"Thank you, Master!" Yang Kai caught the token, turned, and walked out.