Martial cultivators pursued their path for years, striving ever onward — and wasn't the goal always to reach the next peak of the martial dao?
It could be said that no Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivator could remain unmoved upon seeing a Top-Grade Open Heaven Pill. This was only human nature, not the result of greed or selfish desire.
However,
Besides, it was never theirs to begin with.
Yang Kai had anticipated that Ouyang Lie would refuse the Top-Grade Open Heaven Pill, but he hadn't expected the senior brother to reject it so decisively and absolutely.
This only reinforced Yang Kai's conviction that his decision to gift the pill was the right one. To make such a resolute judgment the very instant he recognized the pill — that kind of resolve was beyond ordinary people.
Yang Kai lightly patted the back of Ouyang Lie's hand and said, "Senior Brother, just hear me out..."
Ouyang Lie shook his head like a rattle-drum. "I'm not listening. You refine this thing right now. We'll guard you while you break through to Ninth-Order. Once you do, we go slaughter every last one of those Monster Clan bastards. With the Monsters out of the way, won't all the good stuff be ours?"
Zhan Tianhe and the others nodded in agreement from the side. "Senior Brother Ouyang speaks sense."
Yang Kai didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had no choice but to say, "If this thing were of any use to me, I would have found somewhere to refine it long ago. Why would I have held onto it until now?"
Ouyang Lie froze, confused. "What do you mean? This thing is useless to you... Could it not be what I think it is?" He hadn't misread the aura — it was undoubtedly a Top-Grade Open Heaven Pill. Had he been mistaken after all?
Yang Kai said, "It is what you think it is. Unfortunately, it truly is of no use to me."
Ouyang Lie frowned. "If it's really that thing, how can it be useless to you? Don't try to fool me — I won't believe a word you say."
Yang Kai didn't know what else to say. Helplessly, he replied, "That's exactly why you need to let me finish..." At this point, he switched to voice transmission, recounting how he had obtained the Three-Part Reunion Art from
This Thunder Shadow Great Emperor, who hailed from the Myriad
The story sounded absurd no matter how you heard it, yet Yang Kai spoke with such solemn sincerity that Ouyang Lie didn't know whether to believe him.
He couldn't detect even a shred of Yang Kai in Lei Ying. How could that possibly count as a clone?
A moment later, Yang Kai continued, "Senior Brother, I understand the human race's situation better than you do. If I could break through to Ninth-Order with this pill, I wouldn't hesitate for a second. To speak immodestly, if I were to reach Ninth-Order, my contribution to the human race would far exceed that of any other Eighth-Order cultivator's breakthrough. In times like these, with such an opportunity before me, how could I possibly give it away? But Senior Brother, this pill truly is of no use to me. Setting everything else aside — when you first saw it, did you feel a somewhat unusual resonance from your Small Universe barrier?"
Ouyang Lie nodded slightly.
The moment that hazy, iridescent glow had spread outward, the Small Universe barrier that had restrained him for years had indeed shown signs of loosening. It was precisely for this reason that he had been able to confirm it was a Top-Grade Open Heaven Pill.
In all the world, only a Top-Grade Open Heaven Pill possessed such miraculous efficacy.
Yang Kai said, "But I don't have one. That's why this pill is useless to me."
These words left Ouyang Lie's expression awash with complex emotions. After a long silence, he finally asked, "You're not lying to me?"
Yang Kai laughed softly. "After everything I've just said, how could I possibly deceive you in the slightest? Please, Senior Brother, refine this pill as soon as possible and break through to Ninth-Order. Only then can we bolster the human race's prestige and crush the Monster Clan."
Just as Yang Kai had said — if the pill truly were of use to him, whether for personal reasons or for the sake of the human race, he would never have yielded this opportunity to another.
Yet in truth, the pill was indeed of no use to him.
The two of them pushing the pill back and forth left Zhan Tianhe and the other two watching on, dumbfounded.
They hadn't heard what Yang Kai had transmitted to Ouyang Lie, but regardless of what was said, that was still a Top-Grade Open Heaven Pill. No Eighth-Order cultivator could remain unmoved in its presence.
The opportunity to ascend to Ninth-Order lay right before them, and yet these two were modestly deferring to each other. Zhan Tianhe and his companions could only silently praise their senior brothers' lofty character...
The wooden box containing the Top-Grade Open Heaven Pill remained clutched in Ouyang Lie's hand. Though it was only a small object, he found it extraordinarily heavy.