Martial Peak

Chapter 2780, Small, But Complete

Although nothing could be predicted from arranging a Space Array in the short term, it would have a huge impact on both Sects in the long run.

That was also one of the reasons why Yang Kai agreed to become one of Azure Sun Temple’s Elders back then, he would be given his own Spirit Peak if he became one, and thus, making it much simpler for him to arrange this array.

However, after his recent experience with Gao Xue Ting, Yang Kai had no choice but to reconsider his plans.

If she learned about this matter, then Ji Ying might end up as the exclusive Alchemist of the temple in the future. Consequently, High Heaven Palace would lose its Chief Alchemist.

For the time being, it seemed as though it would be better for this matter to be carried out in secret as it would not be too late to reveal the truth once the time was right.

Half a day later, a brand-new Space Array was completed. Using the Jade Elder Token to mobilize the power of Spirit Sword Peak’s Earth Vein to conceal the Space Array, even Wen Zi Shan would not be able to sense its presence unless Yang Kai allowed it.

Inserting Source Crystals into the array to activate it, Yang Kai disappeared in a flash of light.

In the next moment, his figure appeared above the Space Array in High Heaven Palace.

Another moment later, he found Ji Ying on the Medicine Pill Peak, one of the Main Peaks of High Heaven Palace.

Ji Ying seemed surprised to meet Yang Kai again and commented, “Brother Yang, why are you back so soon?”

“Heh,” Yang Kai looked annoyed. Accepting the tea from Ji Ying’s First Disciple before he sat down and dispiritedly said, “It isn’t worth mentioning.”

Ji Ying smiled lightly. Although he did not know what had happened to Yang Kai, he could tell that the latter was in a bad mood. Therefore, he casually took out a jade bottle and tossed it to him.

Yang Kai caught the bottle and asked curiously, “What’s this?”

“Dragon Blood Pills,” Ji Ying explained, “These are the Spirit Pills created from the Dragon Blood Flower you obtained previously. It should be of some use to you, Brother Yang.”

“Oh? These are the Dragon Blood Pills?” Yang Kai sounded extremely surprised as he opened the jade bottle and poured out three blood-red pills. Each pill was about the size of a fingernail; moreover, they exuded a bloody smell that was surprisingly not pungent. The scent alone was able to stimulate Yang Kai’s blood, roiling it slightly.

From the looks of it, these Dragon Blood Pills were Emperor Grade Low-Rank Spirit Pills.

“This is my first time refining this kind of pill, so it is inevitable that I am not familiar with the method yet. In the end, I only managed to produce three. Please forgive me, Brother Yang,” Ji Ying said remorsefully.

Yang Kai laughed in response, “You are too humble, Brother Ji. Successfully refining three pills is already a great achievement.”

Although Ji Ying was not just an Emperor Alchemist, he was also a Legacy Disciple of the Wondrous Pill Great Emperor. The ability to produce three pills during his first attempt to refine this type of Spirit Pill was enough to demonstrate his profound Alchemy skills. An ordinary Emperor Alchemist could never have performed as well as Ji Ying had.

Ji Ying repeatedly waved his hands dismissively with a wry smile, “You praise me too much, Brother Yang.”

In front of Yang Kai, who had defeated him fair and square in an Alchemy competition, Ji Ying could not bring himself to be proud of his achievements.

Pausing for a moment, he continued, “Back to the topic at hand… I have entered High Heaven Palace, but what exactly do you want me to do, Brother Yang? A few days ago, I met with Head Manager Hua; however, she simply asked me to rest for a while and did not assign any tasks to me. I can’t just laze around now that I am the Chief Alchemist of High Heaven Palace, right? After all, I don’t have any other talents aside from my Alchemy skills.”

Yang Kai smiled and replied, “It is precisely your Alchemy skills that I am interested in, Brother Ji. Here, take a look at this.”

While speaking, he tossed the ring that Gao Xue Ting had given to him over to Ji Ying.

Ji Ying caught it and scanned it with his Divine Sense before calling out in some surprise, “So many Emperor Grade spirit medicines!”

Yang Kai replied, “Refine them as you see fit, Brother Ji. You don’t need to rush; just go at your own pace.”

“Not a problem. I will live up to your expectations, Brother Yang.”

“There’s something else I’d like to ask of you, Brother Ji.”

“What is it?”

Yang Kai’s expression suddenly became solemn as he continued, “How much do you know about the Flesh Incarnation Pill, Brother Ji?”

“The Flesh Incarnation Pill?” Ji Ying’s expression froze for a moment, and his breathing became a little uneven, “Could it be… Do you have the Flesh Incarnation Fruit, Brother Yang?”

Yang Kai thought to himself, [I don’t just have the Flesh Incarnation Fruit; I even have the Flesh Incarnation Fruit Tree! However, the ripe fruits on that tree have already been picked, so I’m afraid it will take a long time for the rest of the fruits to mature.]

He didn’t conceal the truth from Ji Ying, stretching out his hand and summoning a Flesh Incarnation Fruit into his palm.

Ji Ying’s eyes brightened in response. He hurriedly got up and carefully accepted the Flesh Incarnation Fruit from Yang Kai. Studying it with his Divine Sense and looking it over carefully, Ji Ying became more and more elated the more he stared at the fruit. He couldn’t help nodding as he commented, “It’s really the Flesh Incarnation Fruit! It’s exactly like what is recorded in the ancient books. Didn’t this go extinct a long time ago? How is it possible for it to appear here?”

He studied the Flesh Incarnation Fruit while mulling over it, seemingly completely obsessed with it.

“Spirit Herbs are only classified as extinct when nobody can find them. I just stumbled upon this by accident.”

The Flesh Incarnation Fruit wasn’t the only ‘extinct’ item that Yang Kai owned. Therefore, he had a deep understanding of this subject.

Meanwhile, Ji Ying raised his head abruptly, “Brother Yang, are you asking me to refine the Flesh Incarnation Pill?”

“Yes,” Yang Kai nodded and added embarrassedly, “I thought about refining it myself since I’ve almost gathered all the necessary materials; however, I can’t help feeling that it’s inappropriate for me to do so. What if I fail in the refining process? This is the only Flesh Incarnation Fruit in the world after all, that’s why I wanted to know what Brother Ji’s probability of successfully refining the pill was first.”

Ji Ying frowned and considered the question seriously, answering after a while, “Less than thirty percent.”

[Thirty percent… That’s very low…. Even Ji Ying only has a thirty percent chance of success. The difference should be negligible even if I have a slightly higher probability of succeeding. In hindsight, I made a wise decision when I decided not to rashly try my hand at refining the Flesh Incarnation Fruit.]

“Do you think you can ask the Great Emperor to help?” Yang Kai asked solemnly.

“Honored Master?” Ji Ying lifted his head and pondered over it before breaking into a smile, “He stopped taking outside Alchemy requests a few thousand years ago, but if it’s the Flesh Incarnation Fruit… He might make an exception. I will need to return to Medicine Pill Valley and inform Honored Master about this matter. As for whether he will help… that will be up to the Heavens.”

“Then, I shall trouble you with that, Brother Ji. This matter is not urgent. You can go back whenever you are free.”

“I’ll go immediately,” He stood up. It seemed he felt the Flesh Incarnation Fruit would be very attractive to the Great Emperor, otherwise, Ji Ying would not be in such a rush.

Naturally, Yang Kai did not try to stop Ji Ying from leaving.

After seeing Ji Ying off, he went looking for Hua Qing Si. He wanted to discuss the Mountains and Rivers Projection with her.

Needless to say, Hua Qing Si knew about Mountains and Rivers Projections; however, she wasn’t sure how one was created. She had only broken through to the Emperor Realm in recent years, after all, so many things had been completely out of her purview until now.

“Nanmen Da Jun should know about this subject, right?” Hua Qing Si suddenly thought of somebody who might have the necessary knowledge. The Mountains and Rivers Projection was most likely a type of Spirit Array, so as an Emperor Array Master, there was no reason why Nanmen Da Jun would be unaware of its workings.

“Call him over.”

Immediately, Hua Qing Si took out a communication artifact and sent word to Nanmen Da Jun.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, Nanmen Da Jun appeared in front of them.

“Palace Master, Head Manager. Were you looking for me?” Nanmen Da Jun smiled and asked, seeming to be doing quite well for himself recently. At the moment, his face was ruddy and glowing with vitality, the depression from before swept far away.

He had been fascinated by Yang Kai’s Space Array in the past and agreed to join High Heaven Palace for ten years in order to gain access to its Array Charts. The truth was that he had been unhappy about this, but he seemed to have resigned himself to his fate as time passed.

He gradually adapted to his position as the Chief Array Master, especially after Yang Kai handed the full authority of arranging all Spirit Arrays in High Heaven Palace to him. These days, he spent his time investigating and repairing the Spirit Arrays around High Heaven Palace and used up countless materials in the process. The profligate spending gave Nanmen Da Jun an inexplicably wonderful feeling.

Although he had the freedom to roam as he pleased in the past, unfettered to any one force, Nanmen Da Jun’s financial resources had also been limited. As a result, he could not arrange many sophisticated Spirit Arrays he conceived of even if he wanted to. However, he was now backed by High Heaven Palace, so all the grand arrays that only existed in his mind were being gloriously brought to life by him and his subordinates, one by one.

Nothing could make Nanmen Da Jun happier than that.

All of a sudden, it seemed as if joining High Heaven Palace had been a good choice.

Naturally, freedom was still the most important aspect!

He might be the Chief Array Master of High Heaven Palace in name, but essentially, nobody bothered him, leaving him completely free to do as he pleased. Therefore, he leisurely lived his days with an ambitious goal in his heart. He was going to use a long time to set up a gigantic array in the High Heaven Palace, one that when completed, would even be able to defend against one or two attacks from a Great Emperor!

With such a Sect Defending Array, all attacks from Emperor Realm Master would be doomed to fail as long as the array was activated.

[It’s not as if my dream is impossible to achieve. Unfortunately, that is only possible provided High Heaven Palace has sufficient financial resources to support my actions; however, I believe High Heaven Palace does have the resources to do so. After all, a Cross-Territory Space Array is a huge money-making opportunity.]

Therefore, he immediately put down whatever he was doing at the moment and rushed over without hesitation the moment he heard Yang Kai calling for him.

Hua Qing Si said, “Palace Master wants to set up a Mountains and Rivers Projection for the palace. Can you do it?”

“Head Manager Hua, are you looking down on me?” Nanmen Da Jun glanced sideways at her, hot air blowing out of his nostrils, “How can I call myself an Array Master if I can’t even arrange something like a Mountains and Rivers Projection?”

Yang Kai nodded in satisfaction, “Good. Then, I will leave this matter to you and Head Manager Hua.”

Nanmen Da Jun suddenly scratched his face and said, “Unfortunately, I can’t arrange a Mountains and Rivers Projection alone.”

“Why?” Yang Kai frowned. [This guy was so arrogant just now, looking as if he was second only to the Heavens, yet now he is faltering. What does he mean by this?]

Nanmen Da Jun replied, “The thing is… a Mountains and Rivers Projection can be said to be a very simple, but also very difficult piece to create, Palace Master. Not only does it require an Array Master, but it also requires an Artifact Refiner. These two must work together to arrange one.”

“An Artifact Refiner?”

“Yes. Strictly speaking, a Mountains and Rivers Projection is an artifact; therefore, it is only natural that it requires an Artifact Refiner to complete. Moreover, the requirements for the Artifact Refiner are very high. An ordinary Artifact Refiner cannot possibly produce a Mountains and Rivers Projection. At the very least, you need a Dao-Source Grade High-Rank Artifact Refiner.”

“Such requirements are indeed quite difficult to meet,” Yang Kai rubbed his chin as he pondered. It seemed like it would be difficult to proceed with this, but that couldn’t be helped. Although High Heaven Palace was still small, it had everything it currently needed. Be it Alchemists, Array Masters, or even puppets. The only thing really missing was a competent Artifact Refiner.

What Nanmen Da Jun said made Yang Kai realize that he had an issue he could not ignore. It was time for High Heaven Palace to recruit or cultivate its own Artifact Refiner.

After all, all kinds of talents were indispensable in a big Sect.