Miao Hong glanced at the tightly shut vault door, smacked his lips, and asked Hua Rong, "What's Yang Alchemist's current cultivation level?"
Hua Rong gave him a sidelong glance. "Why do you ask?"
Miao Hong choked on his words, but Hua Rong was a Spirit Stage powerhouse. Though he himself was a city lord, he wouldn't dare act rashly before such a cultivator, so he could only manage an awkward smile.
Wan Yingying, perhaps unable to watch this any longer—after all, Senior Brother was borrowing her place and the red jade—whispered from the side: "Senior Brother has reached Heaven Stage Nine!"
Even though Miao Hong had already made a guess, he still drew a sharp breath.
Years ago, the first time he'd met Yang Kai, the young man had only been at Earth Stage Nine. Now, in roughly four years, he'd leapt all the way to Heaven Stage Nine—on par with Miao Hong's own cultivation!
Even if a Heavenly Alchemist never lacked spirit pills to aid his cultivation, this rate of progress was still terrifying.
He had never heard of anyone advancing from Earth Stage Nine to Heaven Stage Nine in such a short time. And now Yang Kai had come to borrow red jade to seclude himself for a breakthrough—it was obvious he was preparing to advance to the Spirit Stage!
The Spirit Stage… that was a realm Miao Hong had yearned for years to reach!
He had been stuck at Heaven Stage Nine for so long, his own accumulation already at its peak. The only thing he lacked was a single Hundred-Turn Unintentional Pill!
At that thought, Miao Hong's eyes lit up.
If he helped Yang Kai advance to the Spirit Stage and everything went smoothly, Yang Kai would surely be promoted to a Spirit Alchemist. Finding him to refine a Hundred-Turn Unintentional Pill would then be no trouble at all.
Perhaps the key to his own breakthrough to the Spirit Stage lay in Yang Kai's hands!
…
Inside the vault of Tianwu City, Yang Kai sat cross-legged, the mountain-like pile of red jade stacked beside him. He centered his mind and focused his spirit for a long while before finally pulling a jade box from his robes.
Opening it, a spirit pill the size of a dragon's eye came into view.
This single small pill had cost him a full ten thousand Contribution Points, and it was none other than the key to advancing to the Spirit Stage—the Hundred-Turn Unintentional Pill!
Half a year ago, when Hua Rong had advanced to the Spirit Stage, he'd spent his own Contribution Points to redeem one from the Mystic Pill Sect for her. Knowing he would certainly need one himself someday, he had prepared an extra one at the same time.
He wasn't short on Contribution Points within the Mystic Pill Sect these days—the various pill formulas and alchemy-related items he had submitted over the past few years had accumulated over a hundred thousand points in the Merit Hall.
Looking back, that decision had been wise indeed. Otherwise, he would have had to figure out how to refine a Hundred-Turn Unintentional Pill first before anything else.
Setting aside his thoughts, Yang Kai placed the spirit pill in his mouth and swallowed it. At the same time, he activated the Heaven-Devouring Battle Art, his body instantly transforming into a black hole that devoured all things. The spiritual energy contained in the surrounding red jade, drawn by some unseen force, surged toward his body in torrents.
His flesh squirmed. His meridians swelled. The spiritual energy accumulating inside him grew ever more vast.
Crackling sounds rang out without cease as chunk after chunk of red jade quickly exhausted its energy and crumbled to dust.
Half an hour later, Yang Kai's entire body had swollen noticeably, his robes and black hair flapping violently in an unseen wind. In that brief half hour, he had consumed over a hundred thousand pieces of red jade.
And this was only the beginning!
As time passed, more and more red jade was devoured clean. Beneath Yang Kai's skin, his meridians writhed and bulged like earthworms—a truly horrifying sight.
Inside his body, it felt as though an invisible lock existed, and under the battering of that immense power, the lock showed signs of loosening bit by bit.
A thin blood mist seeped out, wreathing Yang Kai's surroundings.
At this moment, Yang Kai was profoundly grateful that he had spent an extra year tempering and accumulating strength after reaching Heaven Stage Nine, awakening the power of his Dragon Bloodline.
Had he rushed headlong into the Spirit Stage a year ago, his body might not have withstood the onslaught of such tremendous energy.
The might unleashed by the Heaven-Devouring Battle Art was simply too terrifying, and it only grew stronger as one's cultivation rose. Without a sufficiently powerful physical body as a foundation, it would be impossible to endure the flood of energy pouring in.
Even now, Yang Kai could still feel his entire body aching and swelling with pain. He didn't need to check to know that his flesh had sustained multiple injuries.
He ignored it all, continuing to channel the Heaven-Devouring Battle Art, ceaselessly devouring the energy of the surrounding red jade. As vast quantities of red jade were consumed, Yang Kai felt himself drawing ever closer to that barrier.
At that moment, a sudden shout rang out from beyond the door, followed by several crashing sounds interspersed with muffled grunts.
Then the vault door exploded inward. Amid a shower of stone fragments, an elderly man stepped slowly into the vault with his hands clasped behind his back and gave a light snort: "Overestimating yourselves!"
His gaze swept forward, and his eyes narrowed sharply, his face draining of color with shock!