Xu Yi had only just begun to walk the path of martial cultivation, far from reaching Yang Kai's level where sleep and food were unnecessary. So after a tiring day, he quickly drifted off to sleep once night fell.
Yang Kai's figure appeared silently beside his bed, quietly watching him.
The boy slept deeply, his expression peaceful, his breathing remarkably even. He had no way of noticing that another person had materialized right next to him.
After merely the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, Yang Kai clearly sensed the faint spiritual energy within the boy's body beginning to circulate along the circulation route of the Great Desolation Scripture.
Despite having suspected as much, Yang Kai still wore a look of surprise.
The boy had truly begun cultivating the Great Desolation Scripture in his dreams—and it was actually effective! This was nothing short of astonishing. After all, consciousness during sleep was chaotic, like shattered space with no order to speak of, yet Xu Yi seemed to possess some kind of unique instinct that allowed him to do things others simply couldn't while dreaming.
Yang Kai observed quietly through the entire night and discovered that each complete circulation cycle within the boy's body took roughly three double-hours.
So over the course of one night, Xu Yi's spiritual energy completed fewer than two full cycles. Even so, that faint spiritual energy had noticeably increased.
When Xu Yi woke the next morning, he was in reasonably good spirits.
Since the boy had already begun cultivating the Great Desolation Scripture in his sleep, there was naturally no further need to restrict him. So when he heard from his master that he was officially allowed to begin his training, the youth was overjoyed.
Yang Kai sat nearby, offering guidance.
But he quickly noticed a peculiar issue. In his dreams, the boy cultivated the Great Desolation Scripture almost without any obstacle at all. Yet when left to cultivate while awake, the boy stumbled along haltingly.
After an entire day of effort, he hadn't even completed half a single circulation cycle, and several times he nearly went astray in the route.
The boy was mortified by his own performance, his face flushed red the whole time, and he redoubled his efforts without pause.
The half-year deadline arrived before long, and Li Yuanwang came personally to collect Yang Kai. He asked what findings Yang Kai had made, and Yang Kai simply said he had sensed the power of the Dao of Time within the disciples who had undergone their advancement. Beyond that, he had observed nothing of particular note.
Li Yuanwang did not press further. The various Caves and Blessed Lands had been studying the Great Desolation Scripture for far more than a year or two without finding any clear leads. Yang Kai had only been at it for half a year, so naturally he hadn't uncovered much either.
Originally, once the matter with Langya was settled, Yang Kai should have returned to Lingxiao Domain to cultivate in seclusion. He also needed to arrange for his own Open Heaven Realm cultivators to take turns training in the Minor Source Worlds of the various Caves and Blessed Lands. The matter of the Xuan Yin Bamboo demanded attention as well, and his hundred-year agreement with Qu Huashang was drawing near.
But because of Xu Yi, he had no intention of departing in a hurry. Instead, he remained in Langya, staying on Gu Pan's Spirit Boat.
Another month passed, and Xu Yi's cultivation had fallen into a proper routine.
However, the Xu Yi of the daytime and the Xu Yi of the nighttime were virtually two different people.
During the day, his performance was lackluster. Though he kept working hard, his low aptitude meant that his daily cultivation yielded only modest gains.
At night, conversely, his progress was astonishingly fast. Each night in his dreams, the spiritual energy within his body would strengthen markedly, and Yang Kai discovered that as time went on, the speed at which he cultivated the Great Desolation Scripture while dreaming grew ever swifter.
Yang Kai had never expected that the third disciple he had taken on would turn out to be so peculiar.
It was as if the boy possessed two completely different sets of aptitudes. One was his daytime talent—even after Yang Kai's nurturing, it could only be considered below average. But the talent and aptitude he displayed during sleep were exceptional. Perhaps they couldn't rival a prodigy like Zhao Ya, but they were nonetheless remarkable.
In just one short month, Xu Yi had already stepped into the Kaiyuan Realm.
A person's aptitude couldn't simply change. The only explanation, then, lay in the time Xu Yi spent within his dreams.
The boy himself had said that each time he entered a dream, it felt as though he had lived through many days inside it. In other words, the time he spent cultivating in his dreams was far longer than what he spent during the day—which was precisely why his progress was so much faster while dreaming.
Could this be his talent in the Dao of Time? To be able to make use of so much more time within his dreams.
Yang Kai had a nagging sense that he might have taken on a truly extraordinary disciple.
He was suddenly very eager to see what Xu Yi would become once he had fully grown.
A dozen days later, Gu Pan returned from her training journey.
Though she was still only Sixth-Grade, Yang Kai could clearly feel that her foundation had been greatly strengthened. He couldn't help but sigh with admiration—the Minor Source Worlds really were something extraordinary. The fact that the Caves and Blessed Lands had stood firm for so long and dominated the vast expanse of heaven and earth owed no small part to the Minor Source Worlds.
Without lingering any longer, Yang Kai took his leave.
There would be no immediate way to glean much more from Xu Yi's situation. In any case, the boy was cultivating within his own Small World. During the process of his growth, Yang Kai would inevitably come to understand everything he wanted to know.
He had arrived in the company of a great procession of upper-grade Open Heaven cultivators, but he returned alone. Yang Kai was long accustomed to such circumstances, so he felt no loneliness.
During this period, he had been continuously cultivating the Xuan Yin Bamboo within his Small World. With the Ink Force reappearing in the world, the Xuan Yin Bamboo would inevitably be in demand far beyond supply in the future. At the very least, every one of his own Open Heaven Realm cultivators would need it.
The various Caves and Blessed Lands would certainly place bulk orders through Lingxiao Domain as well.
However, the Xuan Yin Bamboo had one drawback. As one of the Twelve Minor Pillars of Heaven and Earth, no matter how it was cultivated, its effects could never rival the Four Great Pillars of Heaven and Earth, and only upper-grade Open Heaven cultivators were qualified to possess it.
Below the upper-grade Open Heaven Realm, one's Small World had not yet transitioned from ethereal to corporeal, making it impossible to cultivate Xuan Yin Bamboo within one's own Small World.