If Yang Kai hadn't picked him this time, this man would have been kicked out of the Blood Guard Camp in another six months, reassigned elsewhere to serve as an escort.
That was the eventual fate of most Blood Guards. The number who were actually chosen by Alchemists was small. Those who entered the Blood Guard Camp, exhausted their potential, and still hadn't been selected naturally wouldn't be allowed to stay and waste the Camp's resources. The Xuan Dan Sect was vast and powerful, with plenty of places that needed Heaven Grade bodyguards.
"What's your name?" Yang Kai gazed at the burly man half-kneeling before him, his eyes appraising.
The burly man answered in a deep rumble: "Blood Guards in the Blood Guard Camp have no names, only code names. I humbly request that the Lord bestow a name upon me!"
Yang Kai raised an eyebrow. "No name…" He paused in thought. "In that case, take my surname—Yang. You look quite sturdy, so I'll call you Yang Dazhuang."
"This subordinate thanks the Lord!" Yang Dazhuang clasped his fists with a resonant clang.
"I'm joking!" Yang Kai waved a hand. "Yang Huai. From now on, you are Yang Huai!"
"Yes!" Yang Huai answered respectfully, displaying remarkable adaptability to the name Yang Kai had given him, and without a hint of complaint.
"Do you know why, out of everyone in the Blood Guard Camp, I chose you alone?" Yang Kai asked, looking at Yang Huai before him.
Yang Huai shook his head. "This subordinate does not know. The Lord must have his own reasons."
Yang Kai smiled faintly. "I do have my reasons, but mainly—it's because you look sufficiently fierce!"
Yang Huai forced out a smile terrifying enough to stop a child's midnight wailing…
"I don't know what cultivation technique you practiced in the Blood Guard Camp, but it's clearly insufficient to develop your potential. Your frame is broad and powerful, your blood and qi are abundant—you should be practicing a technique focused on tempering the body. The second layer of Heaven Grade is absolutely not your limit. I have a technique I can pass on to you called the Flawless Tyrant Body Art. Cultivate it diligently."
Yang Huai's comprehension wasn't particularly high, but the Flawless Tyrant Body Art was straightforward and easy to understand—perfect for him. That said, the technique was originally designed for the Emperor Realm, so Yang Kai had trimmed and adapted it. The entire instruction took a full two hours.
The reason Yang Kai had singled out this Yang Huai was that he wanted to run an experiment. Although he could cultivate the Heavenly Devouring Battle Art in this Divine Weapon World, whether other techniques could integrate with this realm was still unknown. This was his first time entering a Minor Source World, and there would likely be other opportunities in the future—it was best to gather as much intelligence as he could while the chance was there.
If the experiment succeeded, he'd gain another capable hand at his side. Even if it failed, there was no great loss.
"The Flawless Tyrant Body Art requires certain medicinal preparations for body tempering as well. I'll prepare them for you when the opportunity arises. For now, focus on your own cultivation. In three days, I have a fight coming up, and I'll need you on the field!"
Yang Huai clasped his fists. "This subordinate is willing to fight and die for the Lord!"
After sending Yang Huai off to find a room in the cave dwelling to settle in, Yang Kai went out alone, asked for directions, and soon arrived at the Scripture Pavilion.
He wanted to look up records in the Scripture Pavilion about that person-fire he had absorbed in the Holy Fire Cavern—what exactly it was.
The Scripture Pavilion housed a vast collection of texts, divided into an Inner Hall and an Outer Hall. The Outer Hall was open to all Alchemists of the Xuan Dan Sect, and anyone could browse it at no cost.
However, to access the Inner Hall, one needed to spend a certain amount of Sect Contribution Points.
Yang Kai hadn't known this beforehand. He only learned about it upon arriving, and after inquiring further about the Sect Contribution Points, he discovered they were truly remarkable things.
Within the Xuan Dan Sect, with enough Sect Contribution Points, one could exchange them for practically anything—including the recipe for the Hundred Revolutions Heartless Pill!
This discovery thrilled Yang Kai. He had been pondering how to obtain the recipe for the Hundred Revolutions Heartless Pill after joining the Xuan Dan Sect, and it turned out all he needed was enough Contribution Points.
There were also many ways to earn them. Posting alchemy commissions at the Alchemy Inquiry Hall could earn Contribution Points as well—the amounts weren't large, but gathered over time they added up to something significant.
There were also various missions posted under the Xuan Dan Sect…
Yang Kai had only just joined the Sect, so he had no Contribution Points yet. But now that he knew, was there any reason to worry about not getting the Hundred Revolutions Heartless Pill recipe in the future?
He spent half a day browsing the Outer Hall of the Scripture Pavilion but found no information about the white fire he had absorbed. One volume, the Alchemy Fire Registry, recorded many types of person-fire, and several shared similarities with his white fire—but none of it could explain why his white fire could so effortlessly devour even Heavenly Fire.
Left with no choice, he headed back.
Over the next two days, Yang Kai sequestered himself in his cave dwelling, focusing entirely on refining the white fire he had absorbed in the Holy Fire Cavern. The white fire felt remarkably gentle to him, as if it possessed no tremendous power at all, and refining it was surprisingly easy. In two days he had already refined roughly eighty percent of it.
On the third day, a voice called out from outside the cave dwelling. Yang Kai heard it and went out to find a Heaven Grade cultivator he didn't recognize.
"May I ask if this is Alchemist Yang?" The Heaven Grade cultivator clasped his fists in greeting.