The Void Spirit Sword Sect was thriving, with everything developing steadily. Time flew by, and another month passed.
Yang Kai emerged from his cave dwelling. A month of bitter cultivation had raised his cultivation level by another stage, bringing him to Heaven Grade Stage Three. However, the red jade Miao Hong had given him was completely depleted. The Void Spirit Sword Sect had accumulated a fair amount of black jade by now, and after testing it, Yang Kai discovered that it was just as Miao Hong had said—once cultivation reached the Heaven Grade level, using black jade for training became highly inefficient, far less satisfying than using red jade.
It was time to find cultivation resources.
Yang Kai sighed softly at the thought, though it wasn't really a major problem for him. He was now a Heaven-Grade Pill Master and had mastered the recipe for the Ten-Turn Mindless Pill. Accumulating some supplies would be easy enough.
All he had to do was spread the word that he could refine the Ten-Turn Mindless Pill, and hordes of martial artists would line up to have him refine pills for them. In this Divine Weapon World, the number of martial artists stuck at the peak of Earth Grade was enormous.
He had anticipated this long ago, which was why he had hinted to Miao Hong when leaving Tianwu City that he might return before long.
Compared to the Void Spirit Sword Sect, the forces in Tianwu City were far larger, and the flow of people was much greater. Yang Kai had already planned to return to Tianwu City and set up a Pill Hall—helping others refine pills while collecting the cultivation resources he needed. With enough resources, he could advance to the pinnacle of Heaven Grade as quickly as possible.
As for the Hundred-Turn Mindless Pill needed to advance from Heaven Grade to Spirit Grade, he would have to figure that out when the time came. There was no rush—things would work themselves out.
With these thoughts in mind, he walked out of his cave dwelling and looked up, only to pause in surprise.
Outside the cave dwelling, Wan Yingying sat nearby, watching Li Zhengqing warily. The latter stood some distance away with a helpless expression on his face, seemingly waiting for Yang Kai to emerge from seclusion. However, the old man was clearly in bad shape—his face was slightly pale as though he'd been beaten, and one of his arms appeared to be broken, supported by a cloth sling across his chest.
At the sound, Wan Yingying and Li Zhengqing both looked over. The former jumped up joyfully and bounded over in a few steps, standing obediently at Yang Kai's side: "Senior Brother!"
Yang Kai nodded gently and patted her head. Wan Yingying immediately blushed, dodging his hand and pouting: "Senior Brother, I'm all grown up now! Stop treating me like I'm a child!"
Though she said that, her expression was clearly one of pure enjoyment.
Yang Kai chuckled and nodded: "Noted, I'll keep that in mind next time." He looked up at Li Zhengqing: "What happened? Who hurt you?"
Li Zhengqing's face was full of shame as he bowed: "Reporting to my lord, this subordinate doesn't know who attacked me. The attacker's movement technique was extremely refined—I couldn't even see them clearly."
Yang Kai was taken aback: "You're at Heaven Grade now, and you couldn't even see who hit you?"
Although he hadn't seen Li Zhengqing for a month, Yang Kai could sense that the old man had already advanced to Heaven Grade.
Li Zhengqing's aged face flushed red: "I truly couldn't see them. This subordinate is incompetent."
"What exactly happened?"
Li Zhengqing quickly recounted the events—which was exactly why he'd been waiting here. Before entering seclusion, Yang Kai had ordered that no one was to be disturbed, which was why Wan Yingying had been standing guard outside the cave dwelling the entire time, not even allowing Li Zhengqing to approach.
After hearing his account, Yang Kai learned that roughly half a month ago, a Heaven-Grade powerhouse seemed to have infiltrated the Void Spirit Sword Sect. No one knew who it was—whether the intruder was male or female was impossible to determine, let alone their purpose.
Li Zhengqing and Zhuang Juhe had both recently advanced to Heaven Grade and took the matter extremely seriously. They personally led search parties and eventually found some clues, following the trail to the intruder's hiding spot—only to be taken down in two or three moves. Even joining forces, Li Zhengqing and Zhuang Juhe were no match, and both were injured.
Fortunately, the intruder didn't seem intent on taking lives, merely injuring the two leaders before vanishing into thin air. Otherwise, whether these two newly advanced Heaven-Grade cultivators could have survived at all was questionable.
Now, aside from those left behind at the black jade mine to continue mining, everyone from the Heavenly Net Manor and the Tiger Roar Sect was searching for the mysterious intruder's trail—though so far, not a single lead had turned up.
Li Zhengqing had been standing guard here specifically to report the situation to Yang Kai the moment he emerged from seclusion.
"A mysterious person..." Yang Kai frowned. "What do you think their purpose is?"
The intruder didn't kill anyone, appeared and vanished like a ghost, and could easily injure two newly advanced Heaven-Grade cultivators—clearly not weak. At minimum, they were at Heaven Grade Stage Three or Four. Coming here meant they had some objective.
Li Zhengqing replied: "I discussed this with Brother Zhuang, and we both think this person likely came for the black jade mine. After all, the only thing at the Void Spirit Sword Sect that could interest a Heaven-Grade powerhouse would be that mine."
Yang Kai nodded slightly: "That's possible. Has anything happened at the mine?"
Li Zhengqing shook his head: "That's precisely what's most puzzling—there's been no trace of this person at the mine at all."
"Is this person still within our Void Spirit Sword Sect?" Yang Kai narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Most likely!" Li Zhengqing nodded. "This person relied on their superior cultivation, and even after being discovered once, they didn't leave immediately. Just yesterday, Brother Zhuang spotted traces of them again, but they disappeared shortly after."
"Interesting!" The corner of Yang Kai's mouth curved upward. Having a Heaven-Grade powerhouse mysteriously appear at the Void Spirit Sword Sect and constantly hide their tracks was naturally unsettling. Until they figured out the person's purpose, the entire sect remained under a cloud of threat.
"Mm, I'll handle this personally—" Yang Kai hadn't finished speaking when he spotted a burly man rushing toward them from the distance.
"That's someone from our Heavenly Net Manor," Li Zhengqing explained.
The burly man arrived before Li Zhengqing and cupped his fists: "Greetings, Manor Master! Greetings, Sect Master!"