"This is a Qiankun Token, specially commissioned by the Sect Masters for you," Senior Sister Jin explained. "Presenting this token at any Qiankun Hall carries the same weight as the Sect Masters of the great Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands appearing in person."
"Is this my payment?"
Senior Sister Jin shook her head. "It's not payment. The Sect Masters hope that in the future, whenever you happen to visit a Qiankun Hall, you'll take the time to inspect the Qiankun Grand Formation as well. Should there be any deficiencies, they'd appreciate it if you could patch them up."
Yang Kai let out an exasperated laugh. "The Sect Masters certainly know how to work the abacus — they're turning me into free labor."
Senior Sister Jin's expression remained stern. "You may refuse. I'll need the token back."
Yang Kai tucked the token away. "Forget it. Since it was made especially for me, I'll keep it."
Senior Sister Jin gave a faint nod. "The matter of the Qiankun Halls is settled. I must return to Great War Heaven to report. Farewell!"
With that, she turned and departed without so much as a backward glance — a picture of effortless grace. Watching her retreating figure, Yang Kai chuckled softly. Regardless of everything else, they had spent nearly twenty years together, and for her to leave so decisively without dragging things out — Senior Sister Jin's temperament was truly magnanimous.
The Three Thousand Worlds were vast. Who knew whether they would ever meet again in this lifetime.
The Qiankun Hall affair had been an unexpected detour. Yang Kai hadn't anticipated spending so much time on it. When he had first felt the urge to leave his seclusion and go wandering, his original intention had been to handle a few matters. As it turned out, aside from making a stop at Langya Blessed Land, he hadn't managed a single one.
Even the trip to Langya Blessed Land hadn't resulted in a meeting with Ruoxi, which was a mild regret. Fortunately, he had told Hua Qingsi before leaving that he would return within a hundred years, so even with a prolonged absence, there shouldn't be any problems at the
He produced a Qiankun Map to check his route, confirmed his current position, and plotted a course. Then Yang Kai vanished from where he stood.
Several months later, he materialized calmly within the Black Domain.
This woman — the master of the Black Prison who had self-appointed herself Warden — had long since returned to the Black Prison after helping Yang Kai set up several spatial formations in the Lingxiao Domain. She had also brought back the hundred-or-so Open Heaven realm captives from the Heavenly Sword Alliance. Though the number wasn't large, their ranks were impressive — Fourth and Fifth Order cultivators could be found in abundance.
It was worth remembering that in the great battle at Lingxiao Domain years ago, casualties on both the Heavenly Sword Alliance and Void Land sides had been staggering. Those who survived that brutal war were hardly ordinary fighters.
Any other faction that had obtained over a hundred captives would have found them difficult to manage — executing them would be monstrous, releasing them would be foolish mercy. But in Luan Baifeng's hands, these prisoners served an extremely useful purpose.
The Black Prison's mining of black stone required nothing so much as mining slaves. The environment here was punishing in the extreme. The deeper one went, the more an invisible energy eroded one's Small Universe, steadily draining its foundations. Left for too long, one's cultivation base would collapse entirely.
Countless mining slaves had already perished in the Black Prison.
Outside her palace, Luan Baifeng regarded Yang Kai with an expression of displeasure. "Where have you been all these years? I sent
According to the agreement between her and Yang Kai, he should have visited the Black Domain more than a decade ago. There had been no word from him, however, and even Xin Peng's inquiries at the Star Boundary had turned up nothing. Even Hua Qingsi couldn't say where Yang Kai had gone.
Were it not for the Scroll of Loyalty and Righteousness linking them, Luan Baifeng might well have assumed Yang Kai had died somewhere.
"Ran into a few things," Yang Kai replied casually. "But here I am."
Luan Baifeng shot him a glare. "Do you want to rest before getting to work?"
"No need — no point in delaying. Let's get started." Yang Kai waved a hand.
The Black Domain's environment was harsh, true enough, but it was also extraordinarily rich in resources. Void Land under Yang Kai's command now possessed two major star markets — the Void Star Market and the Lingxiao Star Market. The former could rival the large star markets controlled by the great Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands, while the latter was an unprecedented super star market with tremendous foot traffic, not to mention sole dominion over an entirely new Great Domain. Their coffers were full, nothing like the lean days of old.
The two star markets and the new Great Domain could all be considered treasure troves, continuously generating vast quantities of resources sufficient to sustain the normal cultivation needs of both Void Land and Lingxiao Palace.
However, Yin-Yang attribute resources of Sixth Order and above were forever a bottleneck.
Forget the two star markets — even the new Great Domain didn't produce many such resources. The mining planets deep within the Black Domain, on the other hand, had a considerably higher yield of Sixth-Order-and-above Yin-Yang attribute materials.
Now that the Star Boundary had the World Tree's nourishment and Lingxiao Palace enjoyed favorable conditions in every respect, there would surely be no shortage of talent in the years ahead. Eventually, there might be many promising cultivators capable of advancing directly to the Sixth Order.
Every one of those advancements would require Sixth-Order resources. Yang Kai still remembered the hardships the Great Emperors had faced during their cultivation — the countless hours and efforts they had spent searching for Sixth-Order Yin-Yang attribute resources, only to finally find what they needed here, in the Black Domain.