"Give it a rest," Big Brother Huang snapped irritably. He could see right through what Yang Kai was after. "The Small Stone Clan reproduces quickly. As long as the Stone King exists, they'll never face extinction. There's no need for you to trade anything."
That said, Big Brother Huang still added, "Go ahead and collect them."
Yang Kai was so grateful he could have wept: "Thank you both!"
Before long, Yang Kai came flying back in a wretched state, a massive army of Small Stone Clansmen trailing behind him. Blazing suns and crescent moons flickered in and out of existence as they bombarded him relentlessly.
The Small Stone Clan's lack of intelligence was precisely what made them troublesome. They acted purely on instinct. Normally, because of their differing elemental affinities, they clashed and fought one another. But now that Yang Kai had moved to collect them, he had disrupted that balance, and they had banded together to attack him en masse.
The worst part was that Yang Kai couldn't fight back. These creatures were all potential allies against the Ink Clan—he wanted to capture them, not kill them.
So within moments, he had been reduced to a sorry state.
"Do either of you have any suggestions?" Yang Kai asked urgently. As it turned out, the moment he flew back toward Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan, the pursuing army halted at a distance, clearly having sensed the two's presence.
For the Small Stone Clan, Zhuo Zhao and You Ying were their creators—the very origin of their power. With the two of them present, the Small Stone Clan naturally wouldn't dare act recklessly.
Big Brother Huang said irritably, "Are you stupid? Can't you use the Sun Mark and the Moon Mark?"
It suddenly dawned on Yang Kai. The Sun Mark and the Moon Mark were manifestations of Zhuo Zhao and You Ying's primal power. If he wanted the Small Stone Clan to obey, activating those two marks was the best approach.
Earlier, Yang Kai had been struck by a flash of insight and used those two marks to drain the energy from two armies of Small Stone Clansmen, fusing them into the Purifying Light to use against the Ink Clan Royal Lord. The principle was the same.
Armed with this knowledge, Yang Kai turned and charged back toward the two Small Stone Clan armies. Before he even got close, he activated the Sun Mark and Moon Mark. This time, they didn't attack him, and he successfully collected the two armies—each numbering roughly tens of thousands—into his Small Universe.
To prevent them from causing trouble inside his Small Universe, Yang Kai specifically partitioned two separate areas within it, each sealed off using the might of Heaven and Earth. One area was designated for the Sun Small Stone Clan under Big Brother Huang's charge, and the other for the Yin Small Stone Clan under Big Sister Lan's charge.
This kept him occupied for several months, as army after army of Small Stone Clansmen were collected by Yang Kai, the total number reaching a staggering several tens of millions.
Among them were the hundred-zhang Small Stone Clansmen, each as powerful as a human Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivator—there were about a hundred of them.
Such Small Stone Clansmen were rare; typically only one existed per army of a million.
Yang Kai had initially worried that his Eighth-Order Small Universe wouldn't be able to accommodate the hundred-zhang Small Stone Clansmen. After all, if it were a true human Eighth-Order cultivator standing before him, he wouldn't be able to take them in either.
Each person's Small Universe had a limit to its capacity. Only higher-Order Open Heaven cultivators could take lower-Order Open Heaven cultivators into their Small Universe—those of the same Order were beyond one's ability.
But after some experimentation, Yang Kai discovered that collecting the hundred-zhang Small Stone Clansmen posed no problem.
It made sense when he thought about it. Those Small Stone Clansmen weren't true Open Heaven cultivators. Although their strength was comparable to a human Eighth-Order, that was all it was—raw power. They couldn't be compared to a real human Eighth-Order cultivator.
Yang Kai practically dug three feet into the ground, collecting virtually every Small Stone Clan army in the Chaotic Death Domain before he finally stopped.
Several months later, Yang Kai came to bid farewell to Zhuo Zhao and You Ying. Before he could even speak, Big Brother Huang said with a pained expression, "Just leave already."
The first two times Yang Kai had visited were manageable, but this time he had practically emptied the entire Chaotic Death Domain. Even Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan were struggling to keep up.
Setting everything else aside, those Small Stone Clan armies had been their accumulated effort over more than a thousand years. Cultivating them again wouldn't happen overnight.
Yang Kai knew he had been somewhat excessive this time, but for the sake of humanity, he had no choice but to be thick-skinned. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "I'll come visit you again when I have the chance."
Big Brother Huang rolled his eyes. "Don't you dare come back."
Yang Kai gave an awkward but polite smile, then turned to leave. Suddenly, he stopped and asked, "Oh, by the way—do either of you know how to find the Giant Spirit Gods?"
The Giant Spirit Gods he knew of were two in number. One was Ah Da, who had appeared outside the Star Boundary years ago. The other was Ah Er, who had bravely led him into the Chaotic Death Domain.
Ah Er had recently appeared in the Void Domain, locked in an endless battle with the Ink-colored Giant Spirit God.
But Ah Da had vanished without a trace.
There were two Ink-colored Giant Spirit Gods, and with Zhuo Zhao and You Ying unable to leave the mountain, Yang Kai felt it was best to find Ah Da. That way, humanity would not be at a disadvantage in the clash between the most powerful forces.
Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan both shook their heads upon hearing this, saying they didn't know.
However, Big Sister Lan added, "As for the Giant Spirit Gods, you don't need to go out of your way to search for them. If the nature of the Ink Clan is truly as you've described, then no matter where the Giant Spirit Gods are hiding, they'll inevitably be drawn out by the Ink Clan sooner or later."
Yang Kai considered this for a moment and realized it made sense. He clasped his fists and said, "I understand. Take care, both of you. I'll be going now!"