Void Land, Wood Spirit Province. Mountains rose in succession, their peaks jagged and strange. Upon one spirit peak, Yang Kai sat cross-legged, his burning gaze fixed on another spirit peak a hundred li away.
He had been sitting here for over two months.
A radius of several hundred li centered on those two spirit peaks had been designated a forbidden zone—no one was permitted to approach.
A streak of light shot toward him and landed at his side, carrying a waft of fragrant fragrance. It was Yue He.
Their eyes met, and Yang Kai gave a slight nod. Yue He stood quietly beside him, glancing into the distance before asking in a low voice, "Young Master, how are things?"
"There shouldn't be any major problems for now. It all depends on when Lord Iron Blood can fully refine that Yang-attribute resource. Once it's fully refined, he'll be able to open heaven and earth." After a pause, he asked, "Is everyone in place?"
Yue He replied, "All arranged. The Second Steward is bringing them over right away."
Yang Kai nodded.
Two months ago, Great Emperor Iron Blood had claimed the last Sixth-Order Yang-attribute resource and begun his full-scale attempt to advance to the Open Heaven Realm. Yang Kai had made extensive preparations for this, specifically summoning many Open Heaven cultivators to brief Iron Blood on the matters to watch out for during the breakthrough. This kind of firsthand experience from those who had walked the path was exactly what Great Emperor Iron Blood needed—with it, he could avoid many detours and bypass a great deal of risk.
It had been roughly two months since Iron Blood began refining that last Sixth-Order Yang-attribute resource. Judging by the time, the result should be revealed before long.
He would be the first among the many warriors who had come from the Star Boundary to advance to the Open Heaven Realm. This held tremendous significance for Void Land as it currently stood, and for the people from the Star Boundary alike.
That was why Yang Kai had arranged for people to come and witness the ceremony. They were all preparing to advance to the Sixth-Order themselves, and personally observing Iron Blood's breakthrough would prove enormously beneficial for their own future cultivation.
Back when Old Bai had advanced to the Fifth-Order, the Boss Lady had specifically brought Yang Kai to observe, for exactly that reason.
As they were speaking, a large group of figures swept toward them from the distance. Once they drew near, the crowd touched down—more than twenty people in all.
At the very front were naturally the Great Emperors from the Star Boundary: Duan Hongchen, Beast Martial, Nether Soul, Flower Shadow, Ice Feather, Celestial Pivot, and Wonderful Pill.
Behind them came the pseudo-Emperors: Yang Yan, Li Wuyi, Bing Yun, Sheng Yuzhu, and others.
After them were the wives: Su Yan, Xia Ningshang, Shan Qingluo, Xue Yue, Yu Rumeng, and Ji Yao.
Yang Xue, Mo Xiaoqi, Lin Yun'er, as well as Xiang Ying and Fang Yue had all come as well.
The group exchanged greetings, but there was no time for lengthy pleasantries. Every pair of eyes turned toward the direction of Great Emperor Iron Blood.
After watching for a moment, Duan Hongchen frowned. "What's the situation over there?"
Yang Kai answered honestly, "He should still be refining. But judging by the time, it shouldn't be long now—the outcome will be clear within half a month."
Duan Hongchen gave a slight nod, then suddenly laughed. "Who would have thought that people like us would actually get to advance to the Open Heaven Realm?"
They had once been confined to the Star Boundary, ignorant of the vastness beyond the heavens. Only after leaping out had they realized how narrow the vision of frogs at the bottom of a well truly was. But everyone understood that the person most responsible for what they had today was none other than Yang Kai. Without his unlimited supply of cultivation resources, even after leaping beyond the heavens, they might well have achieved nothing.
Since coming from the Star Boundary, the Great Emperors rarely gathered together. Normally they were all busy with their own cultivation, and had Yang Kai not asked them to come witness the ceremony, they would undoubtedly still be secluded in their respective retreats.
Now that they had gathered in one place, there was naturally much to discuss, and before long they had fallen into animated chatter.
Yang Kai paid them no mind. Instead, he caught his wives' eyes with a meaningful glance and walked off to the side. The women understood and followed him.
Though Yang Kai regularly set aside time to offer guidance on the cultivation of Su Yan and the others, most of the time they too were in seclusion, and opportunities to meet were rare. Each of them carried the ache of longing.
With so many people gathered here, it was hardly a place for tender reunion. Yang Kai simply inspected each woman's cultivation progress one by one, providing detailed answers to the problems each had encountered in her practice. The women all found it highly instructive.
Three days passed in this manner. Then, while Yang Kai was still talking with the women, he suddenly turned his head toward Great Emperor Iron Blood's direction, his expression shifting as he called out in a low voice, "It's begun!"
The murmuring on the spirit peak fell silent in an instant, and every gaze turned that way. On the platform atop that distant spirit peak, Great Emperor Iron Blood sat cross-legged as strands of an extraordinarily profound aura began to ripple outward from his body.
"Is the Star Market arrangement in order?" Yang Kai turned to ask.
Yue He promptly replied, "Everything is set. Mo Mei is watching over it personally—there won't be any mistakes."
Yang Kai nodded. "Activate the formation!"
Yue He acknowledged the order and produced the formation jade token. Her hands moved in a blur, and a deep rumbling echoed as the Nine Heavens Grand Formation roared to life.
The Nine Heavens Grand Formation blanketing Void Land possessed formidable power, but the more powerful the formation, the greater the energy and resources required to activate it.
For that reason, the Nine Heavens Grand Formation was never fully activated under normal circumstances—especially now, with Void Land running short on supplies.