Although the Cosmos Furnace had produced a considerable number of mortal-grade Open Heaven Pills, only nine were of supreme grade.
Yang Kai had already planted hidden markers within those nine supreme-grade Open Heaven Pills ahead of time. By leveraging the Sun and Moon Records, he would be able to sense the location of these spirit pills as long as he was within a reasonable distance.
So he figured that as long as his luck wasn't too terrible, this trip would yield at least something. As for how many supreme-grade Open Heaven Pills he could obtain, that was anyone's guess.
Still, he hadn't expected that the first supreme-grade Open Heaven Pill would come into his hands so smoothly. He'd simply spotted a Mo Race Domain Lord, quietly followed him, and ended up not only securing the spirit pill but also reuniting with his demon body.
The next step was to reunite with his human body. Once all three bodies joined forces, he would have the strength to fight even a Mo Race Pseudo-King.
Looking around at the current state of the Cosmos Furnace, the only beings that posed a genuine threat to him were those Mo Race Pseudo-Kings, and possibly the Chaos Spirit Kings that might exist — beings even more powerful than Pseudo-Kings, essentially equivalent to a Mo King or a human Ninth-Grade powerhouse.
But whether Chaos Spirit Kings actually existed or not, even the human race's intelligence couldn't say for certain. After all, the source of that intelligence was Blood Crow, who had only been speculating.
Regardless, for Yang Kai, there were only two objectives for him in the Cosmos Furnace from now on: first, to hunt for supreme-grade Open Heaven Pills, and second, to find traces of his human body.
He quieted his thoughts and carefully examined the object in his hand.
The spirit pill's appearance was extraordinary — radiant light overflowed from its surface while its Dao essence remained contained within. It truly was a fine treasure, worthy of its reputation as the greatest opportunity under heaven.
Though he had personally witnessed the birth of this supreme-grade Open Heaven Pill, at the time he'd been unable to move or exert any force, so he didn't actually know much about them. The moment they took shape, they had scattered in all directions and vanished from sight, dashed by Yang Kai's hope of gaining an advantage from proximity.
Lei Ying was nearby, observing with curiosity. Her amber beast-pupils reflected Yang Kai's contemplative expression, and she spoke up with a note of concern: "That thing isn't meant to be swallowed. It needs to be directly fused into your Small Universe for refinement."
She was worried Yang Kai might not understand the subtleties involved — if he simply opened his mouth wide and swallowed the spirit pill, it would be quite the farce.
According to the intelligence Blood Crow had provided, the Open Heaven Pills born within the Cosmos Furnace were fundamentally different from those refined by the human race. Although the latter were said to have originated from the former — human ancestors had studied their medicinal properties and, through countless years of trial and error, developed the method for refining Open Heaven Pills — at their core, man-made Open Heaven Pills and those born of the Cosmos Furnace were two entirely different things.
Man-made Open Heaven Pills only needed to be swallowed and refined, gradually bolstering the foundation of a warrior's Small Universe. But those born of the Cosmos Furnace were different.
They needed to be fused into the Small Universe itself, using its power to absorb and digest the spirit pill's mysteries.
Take Yang Kai for instance. He had already reached the peak of his martial path. Beyond the borders of his Small Universe lay an invisible barrier, making further expansion nearly impossible.
Yet if he leveraged the potency of the spirit pill in his hand, that invisible barrier could be completely dissolved, allowing his Small Universe — which could no longer expand — to continue growing.
Expansion of territory meant increased volume, and with that, an enhanced foundation. This was the correct way to use the Cosmos Furnace-born Open Heaven Pills, and it was the fundamental reason these spirit pills could help warriors break through their shackles.
Yang Kai had already learned all of this from the jade slip Liao Zheng had given him, so he naturally wouldn't act rashly.
Lei Ying spoke again: "That said, is this thing actually useful to you?"
Yang Kai sighed: "It seems not."
Though he hadn't refined the Open Heaven Pill, he genuinely sensed that it held no benefit for him. Even if he truly fused it into his Small Universe, it wouldn't help him break through to the Ninth Grade.
Because even now, with the pill in his hand, the barrier around his Small Universe's borders showed not the slightest reaction. If it were truly useful, the invisible barrier would have at least stirred under the spirit pill's aura.
This likely had to do with the shortcomings of the Open Heaven Method, as well as the Three Parts Return to One Technique that Wu Kuang had passed down to him.
The Open Heaven Method was imperfect, but this was no fault of the Martial Ancestors. They had comprehended the Open Heaven Method using the power of the World Tree and transmitted it to humanity, giving the human race the means to stand against the Demon Beasts and the Mo Race in that ancient era. Without Martial Ancestors like Cang and the others, the human race as it existed today would never have come to be.
However, the Great Dao encompassed fifty portions. The Martial Ancestors had comprehended forty-nine, but one portion had slipped away — and that elusive one was hidden within the Cosmos Furnace, beyond the Martial Ancestors' ability to grasp.
Supreme-grade Open Heaven Pills could fill in what was missing from the Open Heaven Method, completing the Dao and allowing warriors to break through their shackles.
But the Three Parts Return to One Technique that Wu Kuang had taught him had been devised through years of painstaking deduction. Among the ten Martial Ancestors, Shi possessed the greatest powers of deduction — otherwise, the Heaven Devouring Battle Art, that heaven-defying evil technique, would never have come into being.
The Three Parts Return to One Technique was the method Shi had deduced to resolve the shortcomings of the Open Heaven Method. Therefore, once Yang Kai had cultivated this technique, he had embarked upon a path of the Great Dao fundamentally different from the Open Heaven Method.
The supreme-grade Open Heaven Pills that could fill in the missing one of the Great Dao had thus become meaningless to him.
Realizing this, Yang Kai didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He genuinely couldn't tell if Wu Kuang had played him for a fool.
If he had never cultivated the Three Parts Return to One Technique, never created his human body and demon body and whatnot, then with this spirit pill in hand and a suitable location found, there would have been an opportunity to break through to the Ninth Grade. With his formidable foundation at that level, he could have swept through the entire world within the furnace — Mo Race Pseudo-Kings, Chaos Spirit Kings, none of them would have been any threat at all.
But as things stood, even with such a priceless treasure in his possession, all he could do was sigh in resignation.