Chapter 1257 - Completely Spent

Luo Qing was sent here by Qian Tong and had stayed in case there was any news about Yang Kai. Now that Yang Kai had returned safely, he naturally had to send back word to Elder Qian as quickly as possible to put him at ease.

Yang Kai did not try to stop Luo Qing and simply sent him off politely.

After Luo Qing left, Yang Kai said, “Let’s also go back, the changes here are so extensive, you’ll have to explain everything to me, or I may accidentally touch some Spirit Array in the future.”

Yang Yan smirked, “Naturally I’ll tell you about all them, but you can rest assured that none of the arrays will react to you.”

The group chatted happily as they walked back to the centre of Dragon Cave Mountain.

Yang Yan, Wu Yi, Yu Feng, Chang Qi, and Hao An gathered outside the cave where Yang Kai originally used to meditate at a table that had been specially set up. On top of this table was a circular disk that showed a complete picture of Dragon Cave Mountain in astonishing detail. Every tree, every blade of grass was present. On this disk there were also a few dozen bright and dark spots, some of which were moving, some of which were stationary. These spots represented the people moving about inside Dragon Cave Mountain.

This thing was a combination of Yang Yan’s Artifact Refining and Spirit Array techniques. The Heaven’s Eye Plate was a special artifact with no attack and defense capabilities, it could only be used to monitor the movement around Dragon Cave Mountain.

It was by using this Heaven’s Eye Plate that Yang Yan was able to determine Yang Kai had returned.

Yang Kai seemed like a country bumpkin who had just come to the big city for the first time. He was very curious about this Heaven’s Eye Plate and kept pointing at things and asking about how they related to Dragon Cave Mountain’s current condition. Yang Yan and the others explained to him patiently and after about an hour or so, Yang Kai gained a comprehensive understanding of the current Dragon Cave Mountain.

At the same time, he was truly shocked by the huge changes Dragon Cave Mountain had undergone this past year.

Dragon Cave Mountain now had countless offensive and defensive Spirit Arrays arranged around it. Even if an Origin Returning Realm cultivator broke into this place, they would not be able to easily leave. According to Yang Yan, unless several Third Order Origin Realm masters collaborated, it would be impossible to break through Dragon Cave Mountain’s grand Spirit Array.

But how could a Third Order Origin Returning Realm master suddenly run over to attack Dragon Cave Mountain, much less several of them? No one would waste so much effort for so little gain. Moreover, the Dragon Cave Mountain’s grand Spirit Array was still only in its prototype phase and had yet to be perfected. If there was enough financial support, Yang Yan was confident she could enhance it further.

After understanding the changes of Dragon Cave Mountain, Yang Kai sighed to himself as he once again realized bringing Yang Yan back from Heavenly Fate City was one of the best decisions he had ever made.

She was able to turn this small Dragon Cave Mountain into an inviolable fortress, so if Yang Kai was to ever bring his friends and family out from Tong Xuan Realm and establish a proper Sect, would the role she could play be even bigger?

“However, arranging all of this cost quite a few Saint Crystals,” Wu Yi said while frowning and complaining slightly to Yang Kai, “The hundred million Saint Crystals you gave us before you left have been completely spent, and even the thirty million Saint Crystals brought back by Foreign Elder Chang have been used up. After purchasing so many materials from Shadow Moon Hall though, Dragon Cave Mountain has become Shadow Moon Hall’s most valuable customer.”

“Foreign Elder Chang brought back thirty million Saint Crystals?” Yang Kai raised his brow as he turned to look at Chang Qi, but he quickly remember how Chang Qi acquired so many Saint Crystals, he must have mined all of them from the underground lode in the Flowing Flame Sand Field.

It seems that after Yang Kai left him there, Chang Qi had been mining non-stop until the Flowing Flame Sand Field closed, otherwise he would not have been able to obtain such an amazing amount.

“Junior will have to borrow these Saint Crystals from Foreign Elder Chang for now, but he will surely repay them in the future.”

Chang Qi put on a frown and pretended to be annoyed, “Yang Kai, you saying such things makes it seem like this Chang is an outsider. If you had not brought this old man to find that Saint Crystal Lode, how could he have ever obtained those thirty million Saint Crystals? At least half of these Saint Crystals should belong to you in the first place, not to mention that without you, this old man and Old Hao would not be homeless. So, what if I had so many Saint Crystals? With my strength, it would only bring disaster to myself. I would have no way to protect such a fortune regardless of the circumstances. In the end, I would have to join some other force to protect myself, at which point I would be forced to hand over those Saint Crystals.”

Hao An also echoed, “Indeed, Yang Kai, you accepted this old man and Old Chang before the opening of Flowing Flame Sand Field, giving us brothers a place we can return to and call home. Extending your hand to us when we were at our lowest point is something, we brothers will always be grateful for; it is more than enough. These Saint Crystals are Old Chang’s way of showing his thanks, so do not try to refuse. In any case, we brothers cannot live much longer and have neither children nor family, so what use would we have for so many Saint Crystals anyways? Now, Dragon Cave Mountain has become a famous treasure land that many cultivators without Sects or families dream of entering, yet Old Chang and I were able to join it without any effort, that much is already enough to satisfy us, there’s no need for you to say anymore.”

Yang Kai smiled bitterly, knowing that if he were to try to refuse again it would only have the opposite effect, so he cupped his fists and nodded, “Then I will offer my thanks for two Foreign Elders’ consideration.”

Chang Qi laughed, “Very good. We brothers being able to live out our last years in peace here, dying in a warm bed, is our final wish.”

To this though, Yang Kai shook his head and said, “I’m afraid that your wish won’t be realized for some time. After you break through to the Origin Returning Realm, your lifespan will naturally increase.”

“Origin Returning Realm…” Chang Qi’s eyes lit up, suddenly remembering about the Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree, but he soon sighed sadly, “Even if there is that thing, Old Hao and I may not be able to break through.”

“Leave everything up to this Junior. Two Foreign Elders should rest for the next few days and adjust your conditions to their optimum state,” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully.

Chang Qi and Hao An glanced at each other, their hearts unavoidably growing inspired but not saying much as they just silently began looking forward to the future.

With Dragon Cave Mountain’s finances being so tight, Yang Kai naturally would not be stingy, handing over the few million Saint Crystals he had mined in the underground lode to Wu Yi for distribution.

The ordinary Artifact Refining materials he had found in the stone chambers of the Earth Lung Fire Pond were also taken out by Yang Kai and handed over to Yang Yan.

Yang Yan was delighted when she saw these materials and quickly swept all of them into her Space Ring.

With this injection of funds, in the short term, Dragon Cave Mountain would not need to worry about Saint Crystals or materials. If Yang Yan did not continue spending so wantonly, it should be enough to support them for a long time.

Because Yang Kai had just returned from the Flowing Flame Sand Field, even though everyone had much they wanted to discuss, they didn’t want to disturb him for too long so after chatting about Dragon Cave Mountain’s future development issues, everyone departed.

Yang Kai returned to the stone room where he lived.

The original cave of Dragon Cave Mountain had become a Restricted Area now with Yang Yan and the Stone Puppet remodeling it into a massive secluded cave mansion.

There were numerous stone chambers specifically constructed for Yang Kai’s exclusive use. The cultivators from the Hai Ke Family lived in the newly constructed buildings outside, satisfying everyone greatly.

The World Energy aura was naturally strongest inside this cave mansion.

Soon after Yang Kai sat down cross-legged, the nearby ground bulged slightly, and a small head popped out from underground. This head was sharp and angular, and its nose and mouth looked slightly strange. Only its eyes seemed lively and intelligent.

“Stone Puppet!” Yang Kai’s thoughts flashed, and he beckoned to it, causing the Stone Puppet to leap up from its newly dug hole and scramble over, climbing up Yang Kai sit on his shoulder, displaying a kind of innocent affection.

Yang Kai took a closer look at the Stone Puppet and quickly noticed that after not seeing it for a year, this little fellow had also changed a lot.

When it was born, its surface was grey and it looked like an ordinary rock, but now, its surface was a solid crystal-like structure, as if it were wearing an exquisite layer of natural armour.

Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to inspect this armour and was secretly shocked to discover that the Stone Puppet’s skin had become incredibly tough. Even if Yang Kai were to punch this armour with his full strength, it likely wouldn’t break.

Did the Stone Puppet evolve on its own or was this change also thanks to Yang Yan?

Just when Yang Kai was pondering over this matter, the Stone Puppet seemed to remember something, scratched its head before opening its mouth and spitting out a stream of Space Spirit Crystals.

In the blink of an eye, thousands of pieces of Space Spirit Crystal were piled up in a hill in front of Yang Kai.

Yang Kai did not know where the Stone Puppet had stored all these things. Yang Yan had said before that Stone Puppets had a natural ability to store minerals in their stomachs so they could continuously devour and refine more. It was an innate ability.

“These are the last of the Space Spirit Crystals produced by that underground Space Spirit Crystal lode.” A pleasant voice came from the side. Yang Yan had appeared inside the stone chamber at some unknown point.

Yang Kai was not bothered or surprised by her presence as he had sensed her arrival a while ago. Nodding, he put these Space Spirit Crystals into the Black Book Space.

“I took about a third of them for myself, hehe,” Yang Yan came over with a grin and sat cross-legged in front of Yang Kai.

“You have some use for Space Spirit Crystals?”

“Naturally, I have a use for them!” Yang Yan smiled sweetly, trying to be mysterious by not answering directly.

Yang Kai does not pursue the issue. In any case, these Space Spirit Crystals should be enough for him to cultivate his Space Force for some time.

“What did you call me over for? Did you obtain some good things that aren’t convenient to show everyone else?” Yang Yan’s eyes showed a hint of cunning as she speculated.

“Exactly. There are some things I prefer not many to know about,” Yang Kai nodded, but instead of taking out his gains, he stared fixedly at Yang Yan for a moment before abruptly saying, “Yang Yan, I have a question to ask you. Please answer honestly.”

This was the first time she had seen Yang Kai act so seriously, so Yang Yan could not help feeling a bit stunned, but after thinking about it for a moment, she nodded, “Alright.”

“Are you the true master of this body?” Yang Kai narrowed his eyes as he stared deeply into Yang Yan’s, as if he was trying to see into her soul.