Liao Zheng was visibly flustered by the unexpected treatment, the words "Senior Brother Yang" sitting heavy on his tongue, unable to bring himself to say them.
Yang Kai activated the Dao of Space to envelop him. "This isn't a place for conversation. Come with me."
Moments later, the two appeared beside the great river. Taking in the magnificent, awe-inspiring sight of the vast waterway, Liao Zheng couldn't help but be mesmerized and blurted out, "So this is the Endless Long River! It truly lives up to its name!"
Yang Kai raised an eyebrow. "You know about this river?"
Liao Zheng replied, "Before we entered, we all received a dossier on the interior of the Primordial Cauldron. We also listened to Senior Brother Xue Ya's briefing on intelligence gathered from within, which included records of the Endless Long River."
Yang Kai's eyes lit up. "How much do you know about the Primordial Cauldron?"
As for that Xue Ya — so he had indeed been inside the Primordial Cauldron before. The Open Heaven Pills he had left behind in the Blood Demon Cave Heaven must have been his harvest from within.
With someone like Xue Ya — a firsthand witness — on the Human Race's side, gathering intelligence about the Primordial Cauldron had naturally been no great difficulty.
For Yang Kai, this was exactly what he needed most right now. Though he had been drawn into the Primordial Cauldron long ago, he was still in the dark about the specifics of this place, knowing precious little.
Liao Zheng hurriedly produced a blank jade slip. "Senior Brother, please wait a moment. I'll imprint everything I know right away. Before we entered, Senior Brother Mi gave us strict instructions — whoever encountered you, Senior Brother Yang, must hand over all intelligence on the Primordial Cauldron to you first and foremost."
Yang Kai nodded and waited.
Liao Zheng channeled his spiritual power and quickly imprinted everything he knew into the blank jade slip, then handed it over to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai reached out, took the jade slip, and probed its contents…
Sure enough, he found records of the Endless Long River within. Moreover, the Human Race had planned to use this great river to rally their forces. Having advance knowledge that they would be scattered upon entering the Primordial Cauldron, the question of how to regroup had been a pressing concern — after all, the space within the Primordial Cauldron was vast. Even with communication artifacts on their persons, finding one another across such a boundless expanse was far from easy.
Of course, if they had been physically connected before entering the Primordial Cauldron — holding hands, for instance — they would have appeared in the same location and avoided being scattered. But beyond that, whether through aura resonance or some other secret technique to link themselves together, nothing else worked.
But across the various Great Domain battlefields — excluding the three the Mo Clan had long since abandoned — not a single front wasn't locked in fierce contention. The Langya Domain battlefield, where Liao Zheng hailed from, was especially dire — the Mo Clan held the upper hand there. For Human Race powerhouses to enter the Primordial Cauldron, they inevitably had to break through the Mo Clan's defensive lines. Though everyone had moved in concert, there had been no opportunity for physical contact, and so Liao Zheng had entered the Primordial Cauldron utterly alone.
Many Human Race powerhouses had also entered together in groups of three to five, which naturally provided considerable protection for themselves. Reading this, Yang Kai relaxed slightly. He had been worried that the Human Race's Eighth-Order cultivators would suffer if they encountered Mo Clan Pseudo King Lords, but it seemed the situation wasn't too dire after all — three or five Eighth-Order cultivators joining forces in formation could hold their own against a Pseudo King Lord.
For those Human Race warriors who had been unable to enter the Primordial Cauldron with others and had been scattered, Xue Ya had proposed a plan: upon arrival, they should immediately seek out the Endless Long River, then use it as a reference point and follow its winding course. In this way, whether moving upstream or downstream, they would inevitably encounter companions pursuing the same objective, allowing the scattered Human Race powerhouses to regroup.
This was precisely why Yang Kai had sensed the commotion of Liao Zheng fighting a Mo Clan Domain Lord near the Endless Long River — Liao Zheng had been seeking the river in order to rendezvous with other members of the Human Race.
Yang Kai continued reading and came across intelligence regarding the Open Heaven Pills birthed by the Primordial Cauldron. Just as he had suspected, the pills were graded. According to Xue Ya's classification, nine of the pills were Supreme-grade, while all the rest were Common-grade.
Supreme-grade Open Heaven Pills could help Human Race Eighth-Order cultivators advance to the Ninth-Order Supreme realm, but the Common-grade pills were also immensely valuable — consuming one could help a warrior break through their own bottleneck and save years of secluded cultivation.
Another piece of information made Yang Kai frown. He looked up. "These Supreme-grade Open Heaven Pills can help Mo Clan Domain Lords advance to King Lords? Did Xue Ya explain the reasoning behind this?"
All this time, Yang Kai had assumed that the Open Heaven Pills birthed by the Primordial Cauldron were an opportunity meant for the Human Race alone. Even if Mo Clan powerhouses had entered, it was merely to obstruct the Human Race from seizing their fortune. But now it appeared that what was an opportunity for the Human Race was equally an opportunity for the Mo Clan!
Yang Kai couldn't quite wrap his head around it. How could a Supreme-grade Open Heaven Pill help a Mo Clan Domain Lord advance to King Lord?
Liao Zheng said, "Senior Brother Xiang had asked about this before. Senior Brother Xue Ya couldn't give a specific reason either — he could only speculate that the Supreme-grade Open Heaven Pills possessed some inherent mystery, such that whichever faction obtained one — Human Race or Mo Clan — could use it to break through their shackles."
Yang Kai couldn't stop frowning. This was anything but good news. Originally, the Mo Clan's objective had simply been to prevent Human Race powerhouses from seizing the opportunity. But now they had every reason to participate themselves. If some Mo Clan Domain Lord managed to obtain one of those nine Supreme-grade Open Heaven Pills and advanced to King Lord, the Human Race would not only gain another formidable enemy but also lose one chance at producing a Ninth-Order Supreme. The gains and losses would compound — the damage would be immense.
The silver lining was that the Mo Clan knew precious little about the Primordial Cauldron, and even less about the Supreme-grade Open Heaven Pills. There was a high probability they were still unaware of the pills' significance to them.
But once a Mo Clan powerhouse obtained a Supreme-grade Open Heaven Pill, they would figure it out on their own — that was not something that could be concealed.
What gave Yang Kai an even greater headache was that the Supreme-grade Open Heaven Pills were of great use not only to the Human Race and the Mo Clan, but to the native creatures of this place as well.