Chapter 2513
Purple Mountain City, located near the Purple Mountain Range, was an unremarkable city among the thousands of cities in the Eastern Territory. Due to the harsh surrounding environment and barren land, it was not a bustling place.
It only served as a transit station for cultivators to enter the Purple Mountain Range. Many cultivators chose the Purple Mountain Range as their training spot, and therefore, Purple Mountain City became the ideal resting place for them.
The overall strength of the cultivators in the city was mediocre, though slightly stronger than in Maplewood City. The city was mostly populated by Saint Kings, but even though there were no Emperor Realm Masters here, there were still many Dao Source Realms.
Yang Kai and Zhang Ruo Xi had travelled here all the way from the depths of the Purple Mountain Range, and worn out from the journey and covered in dust, they casually found an inn to lodge at for the night.
The Phoenix egg had been taken away by Jiu Feng and Li Wu Yi. Yang Kai did not worry about Liu Yan's safety, as both Jiu Feng and Li Wu Yi were famous Masters of the Star Boundary, who also happened to be the Martial Beast Great Emperor's subordinates. In addition to his relationship with Mo Xiao Qi, Yang Kai believed that Jiu Feng would definitely take good care of Liu Yan and would not harm her in any way.
His only worry was about the refinement of the Phoenix True Fire, which might not go well.
However, he was now anxious to find Xiao Xiao's whereabouts and had no time to accompany Liu Yan, otherwise, he would certainly travel to the Spirit Beast Island together with them and stay there for a year or two.
This was the first time Zhang Ruo Xi travelled together with Yang Kai in the open. Before now, Yang Kai always kept her in the Small Sealed World wherever he went and allowed her to cultivate in solitude.
But now, Zhang Ruo Xi was a powerful Third-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator and was capable of protecting herself.
Cultivation was not just a process of remaining behind closed doors. Yang Kai, who had to sail through stormy seas and adversities his whole life, had a deep understanding of this concept. Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, he decided to take Zhang Ruo Xi with him. In this way, the little girl of the Zhang Family could gain more insights into the local customs of the Star Boundary, which would definitely benefit her future growth.
Needless to say, Zhang Ruo Xi was exhilarated, her face flushed with excitement along the entire journey, like a bird released from its cage, fascinated by every new finding.
Yang Kai had been sharing all of his cultivation experiences with Zhang Ruo Xi in the past few days, and despite the usual naïve look of this little girl, her talent in cultivation always took his breath away.
Zhang Ruo Xi often brought up numerous important questions that if not for his solid foundation, Yang Kai might not have been able to answer. Still, he had to rack his brains repeatedly in order to not make a fool of himself in front of her.
While teaching Zhang Ruo Xi, Yang Kai did not neglect his own cultivation.
He had just broken through to the Emperor Realm and barely earned the title of 'Master'. Although the Emperor Qi in his body has been fully transformed due to various previous accidents, he was ultimately just a newly promoted Emperor Realm Master, and there was still a world of difference between him and the veteran Emperors of the world when it came to the application of his power and comprehension of the Emperor Realm.
The more he cultivated, the more Yang Kai felt the boundlessness of the Martial Dao, and the greater his admiration and enthusiasm became.
This was especially true whenever he recalled the battle between the two Great Emperors. The monstrous power and astonishing control each of their moves displayed was such that even if Yang Kai wanted to, he would be unable to stop a single one.
He was looking forward to the day when he achieved the same level as them, and even surpassed them.
When Yang Kai reached Purple Mountain City, he randomly picked an inn and asked for two rooms to stay in. He then casually placed some restrictions in his own room.
There were not many experts in Purple Mountain City, and Yang Kai was the only Emperor Realm Master here, so he was not worried about anyone causing him trouble, but it was still unpleasant to be disturbed during cultivation, so arranging a barrier was still a standard procedure.
After arranging the barrier, Yang Kai took something out of his Space Ring.
It was a blue stone, approximately the same size as a longan with an extremely irregular shape. At first glance, there was nothing special about it, other than its slightly unusual colour. This stone even lacked any substantial energy fluctuations, looking like a small chunk of cheap Artifact Refining material.
But this blue stone came from Li Wu Yi.
The blue stone was the object Yang Kai grabbed previously from the stream of light Li Wu Yi had thrown at him.
During the journey from the Purple Mountain Range, Yang Kai did not have the time to examine what kind of mysteries were hidden in this stone. Only now did he have the chance to put down his burdens and try to figure this out.
With the stone sitting on the palm of his hand, Yang Kai released his Divine Sense with a solemn face. Soon, he was startled and his Divine Sense surged out like strands of formless filaments, enveloping the stone. His face changed drastically from shock to amazement, to excitement, to admiration.
Under the investigation of his Divine Sense, the surface of this blue stone seemed intact, but its interior was fragmented.
The reason for this was that its inside contained countless tiny hair-like Void Cracks.
It was almost impossible to detect these Void Cracks with just the naked eye. Fortunately, Yang Kai had an outstanding Divine Sense, otherwise, he would have missed them.
The Void Cracks in the stone were certainly not crafted by Li Wu Yi in advance. He probably only did this when Yang Kai asked him to teach him.
Even so, it was enough to astound Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was also proficient in the Dao of Space, so he naturally knew how difficult it was to form countless tiny Void Cracks in a stone without damaging it. This required exceedingly precise control of the Space Principles and a deep understanding of the Dao of Space.
Yang Kai possessed various Space Techniques, including Moon Blade, Exile, and Nihility. He could even use the local Space Principle to instantly freeze a certain region of space. He learned all these applications of Space Principles by himself without any guidance.
He thought he had profound attainments in the Dao of Space.
But after observing the blue stone, only then did Yang Kai realize that he was just someone with very limited insight; a frog at the bottom of the well.
At the very least, he could not emulate what Li Wu Yi had done to this stone.
He was not able to control Space Principles so delicately as to create so many Void Cracks in the stone yet not destroy its surface, keeping it intact.
[How amazing!] Yang Kai was thrilled. Even though he had long heard that Li Wu Yi from Spirit Beast Island of the Eastern Territory was the most proficient Master in the Dao of Space in the entire Star Boundary, Yang Kai always assumed that he was not far behind him.
However, he finally gained a true understanding today.
If their comprehensions of the Dao of Space were compared to painting, Li Wu Yi would be a famous artist whose paintbrush danced across the canvas with finesse and grace, presenting a masterpiece in front of Yang Kai. Each stroke was natural and smooth, yet powerful and profound. Yang Kai could not help beholding this work of art in awe. Of course, Yang Kai could paint too… but he was nowhere as good as Li Wu Yi.
He still had a long way to go!
Every tiny Void Crack in this stone contained Li Wu Yi's comprehension of the Dao of Space, and the mysteries and profundities that lay within gradually intensified from the outside in. The Void Cracks on the outside were relatively rough and seemed dreadfully unstable, as if they might collapse at any time, but became more subtle and stable the deeper Yang Kai ventured into the stone.
Yang Kai inspected the stone layer by layer, prying into the mysteries of the Void Cracks. He soon realized that Li Wu Yi was presenting his own growth process in the Dao of Space perfectly in front of him without any concealment.
These Void Cracks were simply the fruits of Li Wu Yi's lifetime efforts!
He unreservedly turned them into Void Cracks, branded the stone with them, and handed it to Yang Kai.
This stone was more precious than any lesson from Li Wu Yi as it was equivalent to Li Wu Yi passing down his own mantle to him, but how much Yang Kai could understand from it depended on his own talent and effort.
All of a sudden, Yang Kai's expression changed as he used his Divine Sense to explore the most central part of the stone.
His breathing stopped at once and his heart beat wildly.
He discovered that there was a tiny black hole in the centre of the stone.
It was similar to the black hole that he formed with his Exile Secret Technique, but its size was shrunk countless times.
Although this black hole was so small that it was invisible to the naked eye, it still managed to create an image of a beast, devouring everything in sight. Yang Kai's Divine Sense was also being devoured completely as it approached.
Such incredible skill!
If the previous Void Cracks were enough to stun Yang Kai, the appearance of this black hole truly horrified him. He truly acknowledged the huge gap between himself and Li Wu Yi at this moment.
In the Dao of Space, Li Wu Yi was indeed far ahead of him now, and Yang Kai had no hope of matching him with his current achievements.
Yang Kai was awestruck.
An inconspicuous stone could actually contain so many mysteries that were beyond his wildest imagination.
After his astonishment, Yang Kai focused his full attention on studying the stone like a madman.
He wanted to peel off each and every layer of mystery that was held in the stone to absorb all of Li Wu Yi's accomplishments in the Dao of Space.
Yang Kai immediately put all distractions aside and immersed himself in the mystery of the stone, unable to extricate himself.
He examined the Void Cracks one by one, feeling their stability and hidden mysteries, experiencing their formation process.
It was as if he was dissecting Li Wu Yi's Soul, studying whatever he wanted.
One day, two days, five days, ten days…
While studying the stone, Li Wu Yi's own comprehensions of the Dao of Space seemed to appear vividly in front of Yang Kai. It was as if he was inside Li Wu Yi's head, witnessing him display his prowess first hand. During the process, Yang Kai felt that he was growing stronger, gradually reaching the same level of mastery as Li Wu Yi.
At the very beginning, Yang Kai was still comprehending Li Wu Yi's attainments in the Dao of Space and learning his subtle techniques, but as time passed, Yang Kai was no longer content with learning from others.
He would first comprehend Li Wu Yi's attainments and understanding embedded in each Void Crack, then throw himself into emulating and improving in order to turn this new knowledge into his own capital.
Yang Kai skipped meals and sleep, completely neglecting everything else around him to study the stone.
Although his cultivation did not grow stronger, and there was now a deranged look on his face with dark circles under his tiring red eyes, his vision was exceptionally bright and sharp, unable to conceal the excitement he felt.
During this period of time, the growth in his comprehension of the Dao of Space had surpassed his growth in this Dao for the previous ten to twenty years.
He clearly felt that he had taken a huge step forward.
