Along the way, he had collected nearly a hundred pieces of resources, and after sorting through them all, Yang Kai was overjoyed.
They were all Fifth-Order or above!
Fifth-Order resources were rare, making up only about ten percent of the haul. Sixth-Order accounted for thirty to forty percent, Seventh-Order likewise thirty to forty percent, and there were even some Eighth-Order pieces.
However, Eighth-Order pieces were just as scarce as Fifth-Order ones.
Most of these resources seemed to cluster between Sixth and Seventh-Order, but when he thought about how they were formed, the result made perfect sense.
The scattered power of Zhuozhao and Youying permeated the entire Chaotic Dead Zone, clashing against each other in a fight to the death. Every collision diminished their respective power by a fraction!
At their origin, they possessed at least Ninth-Order power. But after weakening each other over such a prolonged period, their grade naturally dropped.
Once their power weakened to Sixth or Seventh-Order, one side would typically emerge victorious, leaving behind Sixth and Seventh-Order Yellow and Blue Crystals.
If the victor prevailed more quickly, Eighth-Order crystals would remain.
If the battle dragged on longer, with more mutual weakening, only Fifth-Order crystals would be left.
So Eighth and Fifth-Order pieces were scarce—Sixth and Seventh-Order were the norm in this Chaotic Dead Zone.
Yang Kai gripped an Eighth-Order Blue Crystal in his hand, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
An Eighth-Order Yin-aspected piece! He had never imagined he would one day obtain such a precious item. Even among the various Great Cavities and Blessed Lands, resources of this grade had to be exceedingly rare!
If converted to Open Heaven Pills, this single Eighth-Order Yin-aspected piece alone would be worth at least two billion Open Heaven Pills. And such items were priceless—one could never buy them at any price.
The benefits such a resource could bring to a Upper-Order Open Heaven cultivator were immense. If he could assemble a complete set of Yin-Yang Five Elements materials, refine and absorb them, it would dramatically strengthen his Small Universe's foundation.
For the various Great Cavities and Blessed Lands, Sixth-Order Yin-Yang-aspected resources served as strategic reserves, since there were always talented Disciples who could advance directly to Sixth-Order and would need such materials. Naturally, they needed to stockpile them.
But Seventh and Eighth-Order materials didn't fall into that category.
Even if there were exceptional Disciples who could advance directly to Seventh-Order, such a heaven-defying genius appeared only once in countless ages—stockpiling two or three sets would suffice.
As for Eighth-Order, no one had ever advanced directly to that grade. It was a feat never accomplished since ancient times. Even someone as formidable as Yang Kai had only set his sights on Seventh-Order—the Dao Seal refined at the Emperor Realm simply couldn't withstand the impact of Eighth-Order resources.
That being the case, there was no need to maintain Eighth-Order materials as strategic reserves. For Upper-Order Open Heaven cultivators, both Seventh and Eighth-Order materials were simply cultivation resources. Refining Open Heaven Pills was far too slow—nothing compared to refining a complete set of cultivation materials.
So once Upper-Order Open Heaven cultivators assembled a complete set of resources, they would proceed to refine and absorb them. The Upper-Order cultivators of each Great Cavity and Blessed Land also regularly traded among themselves.
A Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivator could refine Seventh-Order resources. Likewise, a Seventh-Order cultivator could refine Eighth-Order. Compared to refining resources of the same or lower grade, doing so yielded far greater benefits—provided one's Small Universe could withstand the impact of higher-grade materials.
Most could handle it. It was just that ordinarily, even Upper-Order cultivators couldn't easily obtain abundant, high-quality resources, so they had to settle for less—either patiently refining Open Heaven Pills or absorbing resources a grade below their own. Over time, their Small Universe's foundation would still grow.
Yang Kai was already not far from Seventh-Order Open Heaven. Now that he had these Sixth and Seventh-Order Blue and Yellow Crystals, as long as he was willing to invest them, the time needed to advance to Seventh-Order would be greatly shortened!
With Yin-Yang-aspected resources in hand, would he have trouble obtaining Five Elements resources? Even if he used these Yellow and Blue Crystals to trade, the various Great Cavities and Blessed Lands would welcome it enthusiastically.
Before that, however, he couldn't let this opportunity go to waste.
This was the only chance he would ever have to follow a Giant Spirit into the Chaotic Dead Zone. Naturally, he wanted to reap as much benefit as possible.
He stored away his haul and looked up to see that the Giant Spirit A-er had already devoured nearly all of the fragmented world before him.
In the meantime, Yang Kai had seized the opportunity during A-er's movements to collect several nearby Yellow and Blue Crystals.
Just as Yang Kai was eagerly waiting for A-er to continue, he saw the Giant Spirit suddenly reach down and pat his belly, wearing an expression of smug satisfaction.
A sense of foreboding immediately washed over Yang Kai!
The next moment, A-er's massive body settled onto the void, and he closed his eyes.
Thunderous snoring filled the air!
Yang Kai wanted to curse.
This fellow had eaten and drunk his fill, and now he was going straight to sleep.
A single fragmented world was enough to fill you up? Where was that universe-sized appetite?
Yang Kai's brow furrowed deeply. If A-er wasn't moving, where would he go to collect more Yellow and Blue Crystals?
Moreover, he had no idea how long A-er would sleep. The Giant Spirit's body was enormous, his strength unfathomable. If he slept for a thousand or even eight hundred years, it probably wouldn't be surprising.
But how could Yang Kai afford to waste a thousand or eight hundred years here? If he disappeared for that long, Void Land and Lingxiao Domain would descend into chaos for certain.
He absolutely could not let him fall asleep! He needed to get him moving right away.
Yang Kai shifted his position, scaling the Giant Spirit's body as if climbing a mountain. He quickly made his way to A-er's ear, and standing before the enormous, cave-like ear canal, he took a deep breath, his chest and belly swelling outward. Channeling his power, he unleashed a roar like a dragon's cry: "Wake up!"
A-er irritably rolled over, nearly flinging Yang Kai off.
Yang Kai steadied himself and continued bellowing into the ear canal.
"A-er! Your big brother A-da is here! Wake up!"