"It is my duty, I dare not claim credit!" Yang Kai replied modestly. Compared to his clansmen who were fighting and bleeding on the front lines, his position garrisoning Biluo Pass was exceptionally safe. Everyone was contributing their strength to resist the Ink Clan — some had even perished in the process, their Dao extinguished.
His ability to purify and dispel the Ink Force had been bestowed upon him entirely by the grace of Zhuo Zhao and You Ying. It was not his own skill, so how could he dare claim credit for it?
Zhong Liang nodded. "It is good that you think so. However, you have rendered a great service this time, and great service demands reward — that is the rule. The battle outside the pass is fierce, and I cannot stay long. If you need anything, inform Feng Ying without hesitation. She will cooperate with you."
"Understood!" Yang Kai replied.
He watched Zhong Liang and the two rescued Ink Disciples depart, then sat cross-legged and turned his gaze inward to examine his Small Universe.
For some time now, he had been contemplating a single problem: how to find the opportunity to break through to the Seventh Order.
Unable to go to the front lines and fight, he could only garrison the central plaza passively, waiting for people to come seeking help. He truly did have quite a bit of free time. And by now, his cultivation had reached the very peak of the Sixth Order — refining further resources would have negligible effect. Moreover, his Small Universe already housed a great many living beings along with the Little Stone Clan, and the flow of time within it was several times faster than outside. He practically did not need to cultivate at all; every moment, the foundation of his Small Universe was growing stronger.
As of today, Yang Kai could faintly feel a sense of being stretched to capacity.
That was because his foundation had already exceeded the limit that his current rank could hold — like a belly stuffed with too much food. The Sixth Order's container was becoming somewhat inadequate to hold it all.
To resolve this situation, advancing to the Seventh Order was undoubtedly the best course.
Yet back in the Black Domain, Yang Kai had attempted seclusion specifically to break through to the Seventh Order, only to fail. He had not grasped even the slightest thread of opportunity.
A single failed seclusion attempt meant that trying again would likely prove equally fruitless. That elusive thread of opportunity was not something that could be seized through seclusion alone.
The Madam had spent over a hundred years in seclusion at Void Land in order to advance to the Seventh Order — a testament to just how difficult it was for an Open Heaven cultivator to ascend from the Sixth to the Seventh Order. It was, after all, a qualitative leap. Between the Middle Grade and the Upper Grade lay a seemingly impassable chasm. Since ancient times, countless prodigies had fallen before this chasm, remaining at the Sixth Order for their entire lives, never able to reach the Seventh.
In order to relieve the pressure within his Small Universe, Yang Kai had been using his excess foundation to cultivate Yin Xu Bamboo inside it.
It was a stopgap measure. His Small Universe's foundation kept growing, but his rank could not advance. Without consuming that excess foundation, the Small Universe would grow increasingly uncomfortable from the strain.
As a result, Yin Xu Bamboo had sprouted in vast quantities throughout his Small Universe, multiplying at a staggering rate.
He himself possessed the Heavenly Earth Spring, one of the Four Pillars of Heaven and Earth, so the Yin Xu Bamboo was of no particular use to him. But for the humans of Biluo Pass, it was immensely valuable. Growing more of it was hardly a bad thing.
He had gifted a batch to Feng Ying as well — not a large amount, only a dozen or so stalks, but it had sent her into a frenzy of joy.
She naturally knew of the fame of the Twelve Minor Pillars of Heaven and Earth. Among the Upper Grade Open Heaven cultivators in their ranks, many possessed one of the Twelve Minor Pillars — but Yin Xu Bamboo had never appeared among them before.
The other eleven of the Twelve Minor Pillars were unlike Yin Xu Bamboo in that they could not be cultivated in large numbers, nor could their benefits be shared with others.
Though all Twelve Minor Pillars offered roughly equivalent benefits, in the context of the war on the Ink Battlefield, Yin Xu Bamboo was undoubtedly the most useful — because it could continuously propagate. Given sufficient time, every Upper Grade Open Heaven cultivator would eventually be able to cultivate a bamboo grove within their own Small Universe.
The Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands had once expended tremendous effort searching for Yin Xu Bamboo, only to come up empty.
Feng Ying had never expected that Yang Kai would actually possess it. With this, as long as enough time elapsed, every Upper Grade Open Heaven cultivator at Biluo Pass could have their own Yin Xu Bamboo — an asset of enormous value against the Ink Force. When they next faced the Ink Clan, the human Upper Grade Open Heaven cultivators would surely be an unstoppable force.
However, with the battle currently at a fever pitch, now was not the time to address the Yin Xu Bamboo matter. Feng Ying suggested that after the fighting concluded, Yang Kai should bring it up with the Eighth Order Supreme Elders.
Yang Kai agreed readily.
When he asked Feng Ying about her own experience advancing to the Seventh Order, she reflected for a moment before answering. "I broke through while fighting the Ink Clan on the battlefield, when my life was hanging by a thread. That time, I was fortunate enough to survive. I hurried back inside the pass and went straight into seclusion, then broke through to the Seventh Order."
Yang Kai nodded slightly. Between life and death lay a great terror, but in that moment when one's life teetered on the brink, the mind grew clear, often allowing one to comprehend things that were impossible to grasp in ordinary times.
He himself had once broken through his own shackles in the space between life and death, so he did not doubt this account. Besides, Feng Ying had no reason to lie to him.
The days that followed were the same as always. He garrisoned the central plaza of Biluo Pass, and people continued to arrive seeking help. Under the light of purification, every manner of demon and specter was rendered as nothing.
Among those who came for assistance were naturally Seventh Order Open Heaven cultivators as well. After saving each one, Yang Kai would ask them about their experience of advancing to the Seventh Order.
These Seventh Order cultivators did not keep anything from him. Their lives had been saved by Yang Kai, and what he asked about was hardly a state secret — there was no need for concealment.
Moreover, everyone was eager to cultivate a relationship with Yang Kai, so they were happy to share every detail.
The circumstances of each person's breakthrough to the Seventh Order were somewhat different, but in broad summary, they fell into three categories.
The first was a natural culmination — many cultivators, having accumulated sufficient foundation, simply sensed the thread of opportunity on their own.
The second was self-directed seclusion — a breakthrough achieved during private meditation.
And the third was like Feng Ying's case — an epiphany born of the brink of death. And there were quite a few of those.