Before the council hall, conversation and laughter flowed freely.
Whether they were familiar with Yang Kai or not, everyone came forward to chat. There was no other reason—they all knew what the purpose of this gathering was. Yang Kai had obtained nine imprints from Brother Yellow and Sister Blue and was going to distribute them, which meant they would all owe Yang Kai a favor.
Moreover, the Sacred Spirits all had their suspicions—the origin imprints of Brother Yellow and Sister Blue were probably not as simple as merely activating the Purifying Light. They might also have the effect of purifying bloodlines.
In order to select the bearers of these imprints, the Sacred Spirits had previously gone through a selection process, ultimately settling on these nine.
"Enough chatter. Yang Kai, come in first so we can begin the meeting."
Xiang Shan's voice rang out from within the hall, clearly seeing through Yang Kai's intention to dawdle outside.
Yang Kai gave a bitter smile and cupped his fists toward the gathered Sacred Spirits. "I'll catch up with you all later. Please, make yourselves comfortable."
The Sacred Spirits had no objections.
Yang Kai stepped into the hall, and in an instant, dozens of gazes swept toward him in unison, as though studying something novel.
Every single person in the hall was an Eighth-Stage Open Heaven—no exceptions.
Some were faces Yang Kai recognized, others were not. The one seated in the seat of honor was Xiang Shan.
Yang Kai remained composed. After all, he too was now Eighth-Stage. In terms of strength, the people present were not necessarily stronger than him—with the exception of Xiang Shan.
Just how powerful Xiang Shan truly was, Yang Kai wasn't entirely sure. After all, the two had never crossed blows. But Big Head Xiang had broken through and rebuilt himself all those years ago—his strength was probably greater than ever. He was one of the very top Eighth-Stage Open Heaven cultivators among all of humanity.
Facing the crowd, Yang Kai cupped his fists and said, "Junior Yang Kai greets all his seniors."
That's right—he was merely a junior. He might have strength, but he lacked experience and was ill-suited for heavy responsibilities!
This petty scheme of his clearly didn't escape Xiang Shan's notice. Big Head Xiang glanced at him with an ambiguous half-smile but said nothing.
One of the Eighth-Stage cultivators chuckled, "Junior Brother, you're too modest. You're Eighth-Stage now as well, at the same cultivation level as us. You can't keep calling us seniors—we should address each other as fellow disciples!"
Another Eighth-Stage nodded. "For warriors like us, cultivation level is all that matters, not age—unless we happen to share the same master. Junior Brother, you've reached Eighth-Stage Open Heaven at such a young age, and just recently you slew three Innate Domain Lords on the battlefield. Your future potential is limitless!"
"Indeed, indeed. We old fogeys all have high hopes for you."
…
A wave of praise washed over him—they were practically calling Yang Kai the hope of humanity's future.
Yang Kai sighed inwardly and gave Xiang Shan a long, pointed look. If anyone thought these Eighth-Stage cultivators weren't acting on secret instructions from Xiang Shan, Yang Kai wouldn't believe it even if you beat him to death.
These Eighth-Stage cultivators were flattering him so heavily that some of them had already reached the point of brazenly spouting bald-faced lies. They clearly had an agenda.
The pressure on Yang Kai only grew heavier.
Sighing in his heart, knowing that an arm could never twist a thigh, he could only go along with it and cup his fists. "Senior Brothers flatter me. This junior merely had a bit of luck—he doesn't deserve such praise."
"If you want to exchange pleasantries, save it for later. Yang Kai, find a seat first," Xiang Shan spoke up.
The crowd quieted down. Yang Kai looked around and spotted Ouyang Lie waving him over, so he immediately headed that way and sat down just below him.
This was a perfectly routine meeting of humanity's high command. Across the dozen or more battlefronts, the powerhouses from the General Command would regularly visit each one personally to inspect the situation. The Xuanming Realm had nearly fallen previously, so the General Command couldn't afford to take it lightly. Xiang Shan coming personally this time carried that weight of attention as well.
Every Eighth-Stage cultivator present was a backbone of the Xuanming Army, responsible for holding different defensive lines. They naturally knew the Ink Race situation in the Xuanming Realm like the back of their hand.
Now they needed to report the situation in the Xuanming Realm to Xiang Shan.
As time passed, one Eighth-Stage cultivator after another spoke up, and Yang Kai gained a much deeper understanding of the Xuanming Realm's situation.
However, what struck him as strange was that these Eighth-Stage cultivators were being overly detailed in their reports. Every battle each army had fought over the years, how many enemies killed, how many losses suffered, how many troops remained, and where they were stationed—all of it was laid out in meticulous detail.
Yang Kai was thoroughly baffled. This sort of grassroots intelligence was something everyone already knew among themselves—was there really a need to report it all to Xiang Shan?
He turned his head to glance at Xiang Shan, only to find him sitting ramrod straight, listening with meticulous attention, nodding from time to time.
Even Yang Kai had to inwardly acknowledge the man's leaderly bearing.
Humanity needed a leader like Xiang Shan—only then could they unite as one in the war against the Ink Race.
Yang Kai had made up his mind to simply listen and not speak. In truth, there was no place for him to talk anyway—he had only recently arrived in the Xuanming Realm. During this time he had either been spending his days with the women in the palace or activating the Purifying Light to repair the warship formations. There was nothing particularly noteworthy to share.
The pleasures of the boudoir were truly inexhaustible. After nearly a thousand years of solitude in the Ink Battlefield and another four thousand in the Great Sea Phenomenon, those millennia of loneliness were not something one could easily put into words. Now that he was back, he had naturally let himself loose—indulging to his heart's content.
These past days, all the women had been sporting rosy cheeks every morning. Ru Meng had stopped being troublesome too, and right now she couldn't have been more gentle and considerate.
"Yang Kai, do you have anything to add?" Xiang Shan suddenly turned to look at him.
Yang Kai snapped back to attention and shook his head like a rattle-drum. "Nothing at all!"