After arriving here, Yang Kai's attention had been fixed on that strange egg-shaped entity, his mind preoccupied with Brother Huang, Sister Lan, and Zhang Ruoxi, so he hadn't noticed anything else amiss.
Moreover, he hadn't expected to be ambushed in a place like this, and the attacker's aura was identical to the surrounding mist—providing a kind of natural, perfect camouflage.
It wasn't until the figure struck that Yang Kai suddenly became aware.
The attacker moved with extraordinary speed, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. When Yang Kai finally got a clear look at the attacker's face and figure, surprise flickered across his features.
What had attacked him was none other than a Little Stone Clan member. It wasn't particularly large—only slightly taller than a normal human. At first glance, it looked as though someone were wearing a suit of stone armor.
What the hell was this Little Stone Clan member?
He had seen hundreds of millions of Little Stone Clan members on his way here, but not a single one had paid him any attention. Yet here, this one had suddenly charged at him. Yang Kai had no idea what had rubbed it the wrong way.
The attacker's assault seemed simple enough—it was, after all, a species with limited intelligence. Once it closed in, it threw a powerful punch straight at Yang Kai's face.
Yang Kai casually raised one hand to block.
The strength of a Little Stone Clan member was directly correlated with its size—the larger it was, the stronger it was. Those that rivaled Eighth-Order Human Race cultivators were built like small giants.
Under normal circumstances, a Little Stone Clan member only slightly larger than a human would, at most, possess strength equivalent to a Fifth or Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivator.
With Yang Kai's current cultivation and capabilities, he could brush off such an attack without breaking a sweat.
But in the next instant, he realized he was wrong. After the punch connected, Yang Kai actually stumbled, and a dull ache radiated from the palm that had been struck. If he hadn't instinctively boosted his own strength the moment he sensed something was off, he would have been sent flying.
Before he could even process what had happened, the Little Stone Clan member threw another punch—its speed was inhuman.
"What the hell is this thing?" Yang Kai was genuinely startled, parrying the Little Stone Clan member's attacks while circling warily.
Moments later, Yang Kai's shock had grown beyond words.
This peculiar Little Stone Clan member was nothing like any he had known. Judging purely by the force and speed of its punches, it was not inferior to an ordinary Ninth-Order Human Race Open Heaven cultivator.
Was this still a Little Stone Clan member?
Though Yang Kai had no idea what had caused this particular Little Stone Clan member to undergo such a transformation, one thing was certain—it was not your run-of-the-mill Little Stone Clan member.
Up until now, the strongest Little Stone Clan members cultivated by Zhuo Zhao and You Ying had been equivalent to Eighth-Order Human Race cultivators. Yang Kai had once imagined that if Brother Huang and Sister Lan could one day produce Ninth-Order Little Stone Clan members, the boost to the Human Race's forces would be immense.
But that had remained nothing more than a fantasy. Producing Little Stone Clan members comparable to the Eighth Order was already the absolute limit of Brother Huang and Sister Lan's abilities. Creating Ninth-Order ones was nothing short of a pipe dream.
Yang Kai had once asked them about this. The answer he received was that all Little Stone Clan members were cultivated using either pure Yang or pure Yin power. The Solar Little Stone Clan members were created by Brother Huang, and the Lunar Little Stone Clan members by Sister Lan.
As the saying went, pure Yang cannot give birth, and pure Yin cannot grow. The Little Stone Clan members cultivated individually by either of them carried an inherent, fundamental deficiency—it was impossible for them to advance to the Ninth Order, no matter how much power they consumed.
The only way to remedy this was if their powers could converge, Yin and Yang harmonizing into one, achieving a true state of balance. Only then would there be a sliver of possibility.
It had been so many years since Yang Kai last visited the Chaotic Dead Zone. This time around, not only had he witnessed the rampage of hundreds of millions of Little Stone Clan members, but he'd also been chased and beaten by one comparable to the Ninth Order. Truly, the affairs of life were profound and unpredictable.
But the appearance of this Little Stone Clan member before him undoubtedly proved that they could indeed produce existences comparable to the Ninth Order!
How had it been done?
Yang Kai couldn't help but recall the peculiar mist-shrouded entity he had just seen, and vague conjectures began forming in his mind.
With Zhang Ruoxi's Heavenly Punishment Bloodline as the core, the Yin and Yang powers of Brother Huang and Sister Lan had been harmonized. Within that mist, Yin and Yang converged and merged, fulfilling the conditions necessary for a Ninth-Order Little Stone Clan member to be born.
This discovery exhilarated Yang Kai. If the Little Stone Clan could produce Ninth-Order members, they would undoubtedly become a tremendous asset to the Human Race. It seemed that taking the time to visit the Chaotic Dead Zone had been the right call after all.
However, with the Little Stone Clan member's low intelligence, it simply hammered away at Yang Kai relentlessly, and since striking back against something that clearly wasn't thinking straight felt somewhat undignified, the situation grew rather awkward.
"Fortunately, fortunately," Yang Kai muttered under his breath. Because of its low intelligence, the Little Stone Clan member only knew how to throw wild, flailing punches—its attack pattern was extremely monotonous. Despite possessing strength and speed comparable to the Ninth Order, it lacked the corresponding level of combat awareness; otherwise, dealing with it would have been genuinely troublesome.
The very moment this thought crossed his mind, the Little Stone Clan member that had been chasing him suddenly stopped in its tracks. Then, it did something that took Yang Kai completely by surprise.