Chai Hao was a very patient teacher. Since he knew about Yang Kai’s proficiency in Artifact Refining, he naturally taught him from the beginning.
Yang Kai studied diligently.
One of them was a serious student while the other was a meticulous teacher, both of them getting along quite well.
Whether it was in terms of Martial Dao or Alchemy Dao, Yang Kai displayed extraordinary talent, but in terms of Artifact Refining, his aptitude was far inferior.
Fortunately, he now had the cultivation of a Seventh Order Open Heaven master, and the Dao of Alchemy and Artifact Refining shared many similarities, so although his talent in Artifact Refining was somewhat lacking, his attainments in Artifact Refining were gradually improving.
However, in his current situation, it was impossible for him to reach the peak of Artifact Refining. At some point, he would encounter an insurmountable bottleneck, and that bottleneck was the limit of his lifetime’s Artifact Refining.
Fortunately, Yang Kai didn’t want to raise his skill in Artifact Refining to any extent. This time, it was all for the sake of obtaining information in the future, he only need a certain skill in Artifact Refining.
Chai Hao couldn’t understand why Yang Kai was suddenly so interested in Artifact Refining. After spending so much time with him, he could feel that Yang Kai was ravenously absorbing the various mysteries of Artifact Refining without eating or sleeping. With such diligence, his proficiency in Artifact Refining had greatly increased. After all, with his profound cultivation, no matter what he did, he would achieve twice the results with half the effort.
Day after day, year after year.
Yang Kai had practically lived in the Artifact Refining Hall for a long time and had not taken a single step away from it, even delaying his own cultivation. Fortunately, his Small Universe's foundation had been constantly increasing due to the number of living creatures he had kept inside his body, compared to a normal person, his cultivation would not fall behind too much.
For a full ten years, it was only when Chai Hao felt there was nothing he could teach that Yang Kai ended this special training session.
Chai Hao couldn’t teach him, not because Yang Kai’s attainments in Artifact Refining had surpassed his, but because he had already taught him everything he knew about Artifact Refining. How far Yang Kai could walk on this path in the future would depend on his own talent.
With a master teaching the Dao, one would be able to cultivate on their own. The same cultivation technique, different people, the achievements would also be different. The Dao of Artifact Refining was the same as cultivation.
According to Yang Kai’s categorization of Dao, his ten years of diligent cultivation had only allowed his skill in Artifact Refining to rise from the entry level to the third level.
For a Grandmaster Artifact Refining master like Dongguo Anping, his attainments in Artifact Refining were at least the seventh level, technique precedes outstanding heroes.
Only after reaching this level would one have the ability and qualifications to refine the Palace Artifact, and there weren’t many Artifact Refiners at this level in the entire Blue Sky Pass.
For example, Chai Hao, who had taught Yang Kai for ten years, Yang Kai estimated that his attainments in Artifact Refining should be at the fifth level.
The further one progressed in their Dao, the more difficult it became. It was probably even more difficult than the improvement of Open Heaven Stage rank.
Compared to Chai Hao, Yang Kai was two levels lower, and compared to Dongguo Anping, he was a full four levels lower.
In his lifetime, if he spent enough time and effort on Artifact Refining, he might be able to catch up to Chai Hao’s current realm, but it was impossible for him to reach the level of a Great Grandmaster like Dongguo Anping. This was the limit of talent and poor manpower.
On the Yin-Yang War Zone side, Black Ink Disciple was already developing the Palace Artifact. It seemed that the Black Ink Disciple’s attainments in Artifact Refining were only a step away from becoming a Great Grandmaster. According to Yang Kai’s estimations, he should be at the sixth level right now.
If he had enough time, Yang Kai would be more willing to further improve his Artifact Refining Dao. At the very least, he would have to reach the fourth level of mastery.
However, he had been delayed in the Artifact Refining Hall for ten years and Zhong Liang had come to visit him many times. Although he had not said anything, Yang Kai could feel his anxiety.
The longer they delayed here, the more likely it was that the Black Ink Clan would be able to refine a true palace artifact. Ten years was indeed not a short time.
Therefore, when Yang Kai suddenly appeared in front of Zhong Liang, Zhong Liang couldn’t help being stunned for a moment.
However, he quickly came back to his senses and put down the document in his hand before asking, “Are you ready?”
“Sorry for making you wait!”
Zhong Liang slowly shook his head, “This trip is dangerous, if you don’t want to go, no one will force you.”
Yang Kai smiled, “Ten years of honing my sword, just for this moment, how could I back down?”
Zhong Liang’s eyes were filled with gratification and praise, “If all my Human Race’s soldiers are like you, why worry about not being able to accomplish great things? Did you greet the Dawn Squad?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “There’s no need. The matter of the Black Ink Clan’s Palace Artifact hasn’t been made public yet, right? I don’t know when I’ll be able to return, so I won’t be able to explain myself, so I won’t say anything. Besides, without me, Dawn will be able to fight and kill the enemy, so they will take care of themselves. There’s no time to lose, Disciple will head to Yin-Yang Pass now.”
Zhong Liang nodded slightly, “Very well, come with me. The other side has been urging us several times already, if you don’t go over now, that old fogey Tang Qiu will probably start cursing.”
Saying so, he stood up and led the way.
Halfway down the road, Zhong Liang handed a jade slip to Yang Kai, “Inside this is some basic information about Yin-Yang Pass and the Yin-Yang War Zone. Take a look.”
Yang Kai reached out to take it, but instead of immediately examining it, he first put it into his Small Universe.
Along the way, Zhong Liang rambled on like an old father sending his son to the battlefield, his words filled with worry about Yang Kai’s future situation.
Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling warm inside.
Soon, the two of them arrived at the Super Space Array. This place was heavily guarded, but since it was Zhong Liang who had brought him here, they naturally let them pass.
Inside the main hall, inside the giant Spirit Array, Yang Kai stood alone.
There are more than a dozen Seventh Order Open Heaven around the corners of the big spirit array, each of which was filled with precious materials.
Every time this Super Space Array was activated, a massive amount of resources would be consumed. The higher the cultivation of the target, the more resources would be consumed.
This was also one of the reasons why the various human passes were able to interact with one another but rarely interact with one another.
The last time the Eighth Order masters from the various Human Race passes had gathered at Blue Sky Pass was because of the Expelling Black Ink Battleship. The Purification Light storage need Yang Kai's work in person.
“This is a token that the Old Ancestor handed to you, and it is marked with the Old Ancestor’s personal seal. When you arrive at Yin-Yang Pass, if someone ask, take it out, it will prove your identity.” Zhong Liang handed over a Spirit Jade-like object to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai accepted it solemnly.
“No matter what, you must come back alive!” Zhong Liang sternly warned, “In times of crisis, don’t bother with any missions, only by staying alive will there be hope.”
Yang Kai cupped his fists, “I will not fail!”
Zhong Liang nodded and stepped out of the array. Looking around, he shouted, “Activate the array!”
The dozen or so Seventh Order Open Heaven that had been prepared for a long time immediately activated their own strength, causing the great array to hum and emit a brilliant light. The precious materials placed on the various formation eye were quickly drained of their energy and reduced to dust.
Space twisted and distorted, and when the four poles shook, the world seemed to collapse.
After a while, everything became calm.
Around the Great Array, the dozen or so Seventh Order Open Heaven masters were all pale and their auras were heavy, obviously having consumed a great deal of energy, but Yang Kai was nowhere to be seen.
Even though Yang Kai was proficient in the Space Law, this long-distance teleportation still made him feel a bit dizzy. As he flew through the void, he felt like a fallen leaf in the wind, drifting along with the wind, but he didn’t know where he would end up. This unsettling feeling made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
Fortunately, after a while, this feeling disappeared.
By the time Yang Kai came back to his senses, he was already inside another big spirit array. The light around him gradually faded, revealing several figures standing nearby.
The few of them glanced at each other before communicating with their Divine Senses. Soon, one of them stepped forward and cupped his fists, “Junior Brother, this one is Jing An of Yin-Yang Pass. May I ask where Junior Brother is from?”
Those who could be teleported through the Super Space Array were naturally from the Human Race’s passes, but these Open Heaven masters who were responsible for guarding the Array couldn’t tell where Yang Kai came from, so they naturally had to ask first.
Yang Kai shook his head and regained his senses. After confirming that this place was the Yin-Yang Pass, he replied, “Greetings Senior Brother, this one is Yang Kai from Blue Sky Pass.”
Hearing this, Jing An’s spirits rose, “Junior Brother is from Blue Sky Pass?”
“Yes!” Yang Kai nodded.
Jing An hurriedly said to his companion, “Quickly send a message to Martial Uncle Tang Qiu, tell him that the person he was waiting for has arrived.”
The other person beside him immediately reacted and quickly sent out a message.
Jing An looked at Yang Kai and smiled, “Junior Brother Yang, you’ve finally come. Martial Uncle Tang has always been thinking about you, and almost every month he sends a message asking if anyone from Blue Sky Pass has come. If you hadn’t come, I’m afraid we would have all been dismissed.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai couldn’t help laughing, “What does this have to do with Senior Brothers?”
Jing An smiled bitterly, “Martial Uncle Tang can't be reason with. It seems like it’s our fault that you didn’t come. Junior Brother doesn’t know this, but we all looked forward to your arrival, and now you’ve finally come.”
The people around him nodded vigorously, indicating that Jing An was right. At the same time, they also looked at Yang Kai curiously, not knowing why Tang Qiu had been waiting for him. However, from the looks of it, there was nothing special about Yang Kai, his cultivation was the same as theirs, only at the Seventh Order.
Looking at their reactions, Yang Kai secretly guessed that the news that the Purification Light came from his own hands must have been sealed off in Yin-Yang Pass, so other than a few people who knew about it, the others didn’t know about it, otherwise these people wouldn’t have not mentioned anything about it.
Yang Kai’s name was known to almost everyone in Blue Sky Pass. After all, he had personally used the Purifying Light to expel the Ink Force from those cultivators, so it was impossible to conceal this fact.
However, things were different here at Yin-Yang Pass. Although everyone knew that there were four Expelling Black Ink Battleships inside the Pass, and that the Purification Light was sealed inside, the Regiment Commander didn't tell them where it came from.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Why not YK practice artifact refining in his Small world, x4 of year