After stowing the long shuttle artifact within his body, Yang Kai emerged from seclusion once and surveyed the current state of the Holy Land, finding that everything seemed normal.
The Holy Land's disciples had been training exceptionally hard ever since the last incident, and the elders had made considerable progress as well.
Under the supervision of Li Rong and the other commanders, the Ancient Demon clan had also learned to coexist peacefully with the people of the Nine Heavens Holy Land.
The only thing worth worrying about was the matter of cultivation resources.
Although Wu Jie had delivered a sizeable shipment of supplies last time, the Holy Land housed several thousand people, and consumption was rapid — expenditure was beginning to outstrip income. Before long, their reserves would be depleted entirely.
Previously, the Nine Heavens Holy Land's cultivation resources had come from disciples venturing out to gather them, tributes from the three nearby powers, or the former Holy Master traveling to the Demon Territory to trade crystal stones.
Now, however, that crystal stone vein had been exploited without restraint by the Demon Race for two or three years and was on the verge of exhaustion. They could barely sustain themselves, let alone trade with outsiders.
Yang Kai pulled out everything from the Black Book's space that he had no use for, but that could only provide temporary relief.
The Holy Land's elders wore worried expressions day after day, anxious about the future.
Seeing them in such a state, Yang Kai found it embarrassing to ask them to help him search for Heaven and Earth spiritual treasures.
Regardless of grade, every such treasure was extraordinarily rare and priceless. At a critical juncture like this, how could the Holy Land possibly have the resources to spare for that?
Yang Kai had no good solution either. He left the mess to Xu Hui and the others and entered the Holy Mausoleum once again to cultivate in seclusion.
Within the Holy Mausoleum, he contemplated the Heavenly Dao and the Martial Dao, groping for the path that lay ahead, and the days flew by.
When he grew tired from cultivation, Yang Kai would refine pills to ease both body and mind.
His original motivation for learning alchemy had been nothing more than to cultivate his Divine Sense.
The Alchemy True Scripture, which contained vast and precious information, existed within Yang Kai's mind, and without employing his Divine Sense, he could not even glimpse its contents.
But gradually, as he mastered a considerable amount of alchemical knowledge, he found himself walking further down this path.
He had never expected to go very far, yet he was already capable of refining mid-grade saint-grade pills. That made him more proficient than ninety-nine percent of all alchemists on the continent.
The Alchemy True Scripture deserved no small part of the credit!
Yang Kai had especially discovered that studying alchemy also provided tremendous assistance to his martial cultivation and mental temperament, and his understanding of the flame of Divine Sense had grown far more profound.
Yang Kai decided to genuinely treat alchemy as a supplementary branch of his martial cultivation!
And so, while advancing his own cultivation realm, he spared no effort in elevating his alchemical skill as well.
Unfortunately, since refining that mid-grade saint-grade pill at the Demon Ancient Fortress last time, he had run out of saint-grade materials.
At his current level, without refining saint-grade pills, he could not further his alchemical attainments — he would be stuck at a plateau forever.
After refining a handful of saint-grade pills in the Holy Mausoleum, his saint-grade herbs were completely exhausted, leaving him utterly frustrated.
Cultivation knew no seasons. By the time Yang Kai emerged from seclusion once more, three full months had passed.
The scenery of the Nine Peaks had undergone subtle changes.
In the great hall, the elders were discussing something. The atmosphere was heavy. When Yang Kai drifted in, their expressions brightened, and they hurriedly rose to greet him.
"Please, sit. I've just come out of seclusion and stopped by for a casual look — no need to pay me any mind," Yang Kai gestured.
Everyone nodded slightly and settled back down.
"Your arrival is most timely, Holy Master," Xu Hui began. "We were debating whether or not to sell off some of the valuable items within the Holy Land that we have no use for. Perhaps the Holy Master could offer an opinion."
"Sell what?" Yang Kai asked, taken aback.
"Some unused artifacts, and technique manuals and cultivation guides that don't belong to our Nine Heavens Holy Land," Xu Hui replied.
"Why sell?" Yang Kai swept his gaze across the room.
The elders all reddened slightly, glancing at one another, mumbling nothing.
Yang Kai grew even more curious.
Xu Hui smiled bitterly. "The main reason is that the disciples have been cultivating in the Holy Mausoleum these past months, achieving many gains and breakthroughs. Consolidating their current cultivation has consumed far too many resources. The Holy Land had already suffered severe losses before that, so… our cultivation supplies have fallen short. Selling those items could bring in quite a bit."
"Holy Master, please persuade the Grand Elder," Yu Ying chimed in. "He's even planning to sell the low-grade saint-grade artifact that the former Holy Master bestowed upon him."
Yang Kai was startled. "Has the Holy Land really fallen on such hard times?"
"It's my incompetence!" Xu Hui said, his expression awkward. "But once we weather this crisis, things will improve after a while."
"This isn't your fault." Yang Kai shook his head, then said thoughtfully, "The demonkin I brought back must play a part as well, haven't you? You've probably given them a good portion of the supplies."
Although Xu Hui and the others had never told him any of this directly, Yang Kai had been able to observe it on his own.