The atmosphere throughout Void Land was one of extreme solemnity. Everyone was cultivating with desperate intensity, hoping to play their part in the great battle that was to come.
For the low-ranking Disciples of Void Land, this was a war that would decide the fate of their home — one that could erupt at any moment. Their cultivation might not be high, but they were willing to spill their blood for Void Land without hesitation.
Yang Kai had brought them out of the Star Boundary at great effort, opening their eyes to the vast world beyond the Heavens and Earth, showing them its dazzling splendor, giving them a place to settle and a stable environment in which to cultivate.
Now someone wanted to destroy all of that, and no one was going to stand for it! Anyone who tried would have to march over their corpses first!
And yet, contrary to everyone's expectations, a month passed without incident. Then two months, then three — still nothing.
This was exactly what the Void Land Disciples wanted. They would have been more than happy to have even more time to cultivate, though the resources distributed to them were growing thinner by the day.
The Void Star City's popularity had taken a hit. Every day, large numbers of merchants departed, and the once-bustling streets now lay quiet and sparse, most of their storefronts tightly shuttered.
Over the span of several months, seventy percent of the merchants who had set up shop in Void Land had departed — a higher figure than Mo Mei had initially estimated.
The loss of foot traffic and merchants meant that the Star City's income had plummeted, and the rate at which cultivation resources could be gathered had slowed to a crawl.
Though the Star City had accumulated considerable wealth for Void Land over the past few years, it wouldn't last more than a handful of years at this rate. Thinking long-term, Bian Yuqing, as Void Land's second administrator and the person in charge of all resources, naturally made the decision to shift the allocation of resources in her hands.
A large portion of resources was prioritized for those who had promising prospects of advancing to the Open Heaven Realm in the near future — the Great Emperors and Pseudo-Emperors, for instance. As a result, the low-ranking Disciples received even less.
The tens of thousands of resource sets Yang Kai had brought back from Black Prison had been deposited into Void Land's treasury, alleviating much of the future scarcity. Those Yin-Yang attribute Sixth-Order materials — enough for ten people to advance — were a welcome surprise to Bian Yuqing.
Combined with the three sets Void Land already possessed, the stockpile was now sufficient to support thirteen people advancing to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. It was foreseeable that in the coming period, Void Land would gain over a dozen Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivators.
Not to mention that operations at Black Prison were still ongoing. The half-mining-star Yang Kai had gone to considerable lengths to bring back would undoubtedly yield considerable harvests over the next two or three years. Once the mining slaves in Black Prison had fully extracted everything from that half-mining-star, Void Land's resource situation would improve dramatically.
Zuo Quanhui had continued to hold his position without making a move. Months had passed with no indication that he intended to attack Void Land, which only reinforced Yang Kai's conviction that he intended to wage a war of attrition.
This was exactly what Yang Kai wanted to see. Void Land had risen only recently, and what it needed most right now was time. The Disciples needed time to grow, and the Great Emperors needed time to advance.
Under normal circumstances, any force facing such a situation would be thrown into an extremely passive position. With the Star City's popularity waning and no resource income, they would be burning through reserves with nothing to replace them. Eventually, every last resource would be exhausted, and at that point they would have no choice but to venture out in search of cultivation resources.
That timeline might be five years, ten years, twenty years, or even fifty years…
Zuo Quanhui could afford to wait! Open Heaven Realm cultivators had vast lifespans — even a hundred years was but the snap of a finger. All the more so when targeting a newly risen power like Void Land. In Zuo Quanhui's estimation, within five years at most, Void Land would be drained of its wealth. Once the resources for cultivation ran dry, morale would crumble, and the entire force would be his to mold as he pleased.
He didn't even need to blockade all the Domain Gates leading into the Void Domain. All he had to do was maintain a posture, spread some rumors, and he could cut off Void Land's financial lifeline, leaving them to sit on pins and needles!
Such a plan would work against any second-rate force. If Zuo Quanhui employed this method against the Heavenly Sword Alliance, they wouldn't be able to hold out either. This was the might of a High-Rank Open Heaven cultivator — one man's power could rival ten thousand.
However, Void Land was not an ordinary second-rate force. That was something Zuo Quanhui had not anticipated.
In his private chambers, Yang Kai sat cross-legged, simultaneously refining Open Heaven Pills while contemplating the mysteries of the power of Space and Time. Behind him, faint images of the blazing sun and full moon alternated in a shimmering dance.
The Sun Moon Divine Wheel was a divine ability he had comprehended after advancing to the Open Heaven Realm. In terms of raw destructive power alone, it might not surpass the Golden Crow Forges the Sun by much, but its mastery over the power of Space and Time was extraordinarily profound — even he himself had only scratched the surface.
If divine abilities were likened to divine artifacts in the Artifact World, the Golden Crow Forges the Sun was unquestionably a top-tier weapon — the kind that could punch clean through a person's body with every strike.
The Sun Moon Divine Wheel also possessed the weight of a divine artifact, but unlike the Golden Crow Forges the Sun, it was a weapon steeped in lethal poison! Not only could it punch a hole through someone, but it could also seal their throat the instant blood was drawn — a combination that vastly amplified its lethality.
It had not been long since his advancement to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, and moreover, he had advanced by consuming a World Fruit. While he had gained tremendous benefits from the Gale Wind ability and the Small Source World, bolstering his foundation considerably and making him far more powerful than an average Sixth-Order cultivator, the Seventh-Order realm still remained a considerable distance away.
Without reaching the Seventh-Order, he would be unable to stand against Zuo Quanhui. And the only weapon currently in Yang Kai's arsenal that could pose a threat to Zuo Quanhui was the Sun Moon Divine Wheel. In this regard, not even the Golden Crow Forges the Sun could compare.
If the day came when he had to face Zuo Quanhui in open battle, he alone would be the one to stand against the enemy, and the Sun Moon Divine Wheel would be absolutely critical.
Yang Kai swallowed handful after handful of Open Heaven Pills, lost entirely in the mysteries of the power of Space and Time.
Currently, all of Void Land's cultivation resources were under strict control. The authority over their distribution had been fully entrusted to Bian Yuqing, who was heavily favoring the cultivators preparing to advance to the Open Heaven Realm. The goal was clear — ensure that Void Land had as many Open Heaven Realm cultivators as possible when the great battle arrived.