Martial Peak

Chapter 721, Unexpected Clue

After a long silence, Yang Kai’s eyes suddenly became clear again, and with a thoughtful look upon his face, he summoned out his pill furnace while taking a few herbs from his Black Book space.

Next, his Conflagrated Divine Sense burst forth and wrapped up the herbs, quickly using his blazing hot Spiritual Energy to condense them into medicinal liquids and then depositing them into the pill furnace.

His Conflagrated Knowledge Sea then penetrated the pill furnace and manipulated the various medicinal liquids, combining and refining them in an orderly fashion.

A moment later, a fresh pill fragrance filled the air.

With a light whooshing sound, a round pill flew out of the pill furnace and Yang Kai grabbed it in his hand before carefully examining it, soon revealing a smile on his face.

A Saint Pill! It had been far simpler and straightforward to refine this pill compared to using his True Qi to do so, all while requiring less time. On top of all that though, Yang Kai felt that if he became more skilled at using his Conflagrated Divine Sense in this manner, the average quality of the pills he refined would increase as well.

Using his Conflagrated Divine Sense for Alchemy was on a completely different level than using his True Qi.

Throughout the process, Old Man Li and Di Yao were also completely engrossed.

Di Yao was thoroughly amazed. Even though he had seen his Master refine pills using his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea many times, he still couldn’t help feeling a sense of wonderment each time it was done. Regarding this unique advantage Yang Kai possessed, naturally he was quite envious.

Old Man Li also gave a firm nod, his eyes flashing brilliantly, the comprehension ability and aptitude Yang Kai just displayed made him feel that sharing his own experiences with this young boy was worthwhile.

This youth will certainly be able to thoroughly understand his many experiences and from there form his own unique opinions and insights.

“Many thanks for Old Man Li’s guidance!” Yang Kai stored away the pill and cupped his fists once more.

“Ho ho, little brother is too polite, this old master teaching you these things also comes with a condition,” Old Man Li smiled.

“Old Man Li, please name it.”

“This old master wants to ask, how did you acquire your Conflagrated Knowledge Sea? Also, I sense that the strength of your Conflagrated Knowledge Sea seems to be no worse than this old master’s. It is difficult for me to imagine, at your age, you being able to cultivate your Conflagrated Knowledge Sea to this level. If it is convenient, can you dispel this old master’s doubts?”

Yang Kai paused to organize his thoughts for a moment before replying, “En, about the first question, it was actually an unexpected accident. I once acquired a piece of Yang Crystal Jade which had given birth to a True Spirit. Hoping to enhance my own cultivation, I attempted to absorb and refine that Jade True Spirit, but I had never anticipated that during the process I would acquire a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea.”

“A Jade True Spirit?” Hearing this, Old Man Li’s expression changed greatly, “You’re courage isn’t small, actually daring to absorb such a thing.”

“At the time, I didn’t think too much of it, but looking back now, I realize just how reckless that act was,” Yang Kai grinned wryly, “Fortunately, the Jade True Spirit was not too strong, or there would be no me here today.”

Old Man Li nodded slightly and contemplated for a moment before saying, “Refining a True Spirit indeed could allow one to give birth to a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, but this method is a bit too dangerous.”

Old Man Li asking this was obviously for Di Yao’s sake, the former very much wanted his apprentice to acquire a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, but Yang Kai’s approach was obviously not suitable.

Even setting aside all the danger involved in refining a Jade True Spirit, at the end of the day there was no guarantee this method would allow Di Yao to acquire a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, the fact that Yang Kai could was simply a coincidence.

“About the second question…” Yang Kai slowly said, “My Conflagrated Knowledge Sea’s intensity being comparable to Old Man Li’s is probably because I swallowed someone else’s Conflagrated Knowledge Sea rather than because of my own efforts in cultivating it.”

“Swallowed the Conflagrated Knowledge Sea of another?” Old Man Li’s brow wrinkled slightly.

“Old Man Li misunderstands, I did not rob someone of their Knowledge Sea. In a certain place, I found the sealed Conflagrated Knowledge Sea remnants of a number of cultivators. Since their Spiritual Energy had been relatively well preserved, it allowed me to swallow and refine them to enhance my own.” Yang Kai explained.

“Your opportunities really make others jealous!” Di Yao said without trying to hid his intense envy.

In this world, cultivator with mutated Divine Senses were incredibly rare, to the point it could be said that the only high-level Alchemists with Conflagrated Knowledge Sea in Tong Xuan Realm were Yang Kai and Old Man Li.

There may be others with Conflagrated Knowledge Seas, but most if not all were not proficient in Alchemy and could only use their mutated Divine Senses to fight.

“En, this old master understands,” Old Man Li nodded lightly, “Thank you, little brother, for answering this old master’s questions, the information you provided has been quite helpful.”

“Old Man Li is too polite, Junior has benefited greatly from Old Man Li already,” Yang Kai quickly said, pondering for a moment before asking, “Senior, is there anything else you wish to tell me?”

Before, Old Man Li had correctly guessed that Yang Kai had only joined Soaring Heaven Sect recently but had not revealed his reasoning behind this assumption which intrigued Yang Kai.

Someone of Old Man Li’s status would never make random guesses or say meaningless words, since he had made a point of asking this question, there was obviously something more to it.

“En, this may or may not be related to you,” Old Man Li smiled before handing over a pill to Yang Kai.

Yang Kai accepted the pill and after carefully inspecting it took asked, “Isn’t this the pill I refined?”

This pill was the one he had refined in the inn when he was competing with Di Yao, the one with Pill Veins.

“If it is convenient, could little brother portray the Spirit Arrays you used to refine this pill?” Old Man Li said, quickly adding, “Rest assure, this old master is not trying to spy on your secrets, I just have some doubts about your methods.”

“It’s not inconvenient at all,” Yang Kai smiled. Regarding people like Old Man Li, Yang Kai felt completely relieved sharing his knowledge, quickly using his True Qi to inscribe the Spirit Arrays he had used into his pill furnace.

Soon, the Spirit Arrays had been completed and Yang Kai handed over his pill furnace.

Accepting it, Old Man Li carefully inspected the Spirit Arrays, a thoughtful look appearing on his face after a moment before handing it to Di Yao and saying, “Have a look.”

Di Yao wore a confused expression but still followed his Master’s instruction, a short time later also revealing an interested look.

“How is it?” Yang Kai asked, confused by the reactions of this Master, apprentice pair.

“Interesting,” Di Yao looked at Yang Kai with a smile, “The Spirit Arrays used by Brother Yang have some subtle differences from the ones we use now, they seem more ancient.”

“En,” Old Man Li nodded lightly, “These are very old Spirit Arrays, ones that have been lost to time, and they are definitely superior to the ones we use now.”

“I learned them from a very ancient book,” Yang Kai explained, “If Old Man Li wants, I can portray all of the Spirit Arrays I have learned for you.”

Old Man Li chuckled lightly in response, “There’s no need, this old master asking you about this is not because I want to acquire your methods, but because this old master and Yao’er have encountered these Spirit Arrays before, so I thought that incident might be related to little brother.”

Yang Kai’s brow wrinkles, “I’d like to hear the details please!”

“Brother Yang, it’s like this,” Di Yao began narrating, “I have been cultivating with my Master in the mountains since birth, studying the Alchemic Way for an entire twenty years. Just a few years ago, Master decided to take me out of the mountains and experience the world. I had always thought I was invincible among my peers in the field of Alchemy, but in this Floating Clouds City, I lost to Brother Yang… And before that, I lost to another person two years ago!”

Hearing this, Yang Kai was shocked, “Is there someone out there in our generation who is superior to Brother Di in Alchemy?”

“Good, what made me feel especially depressed was that she was a young woman!” Di Yao looked at Yang Kai with a grin.

Yang Kai was stunned, but suddenly remembering something, his eyes brightened as he eagerly asked, “What kind of woman?”

“I don’t know, her face was covered with a veil but she wore a small sapphire on her forehead and her eyes were exceptionally bright and pure, she should be a great beauty with innocent and cute looks.”

Yang Kai’s breathing gradually became hurried and his voice trembled as he asked, “Was there a somewhat lewd looking old man with her?”

“Lewd?” Di Yao’s expression became bewildered, “En, there was an old man with her who had a bit of a rascally look in his eyes.”

“Was that old fogey surnamed Meng?” Yang Kai took a deep breath and asked.

“Sure enough, they really are related with little brother,” Old Man Li gently nodded, “When I saw some traces of the Spirit Array little brother used to refine this pill, this old master had some guesses, but was unsure. Now it really seems like little brother and that young miss are from the same Sect, yes? After all, the Spirit Arrays you use are identical.”

“En, she is my Senior Sister!” Yang Kai nodded repeatedly.

There could be no mistake. Two years ago, the young woman who beat Di Yao in an Alchemy competition must have been Xia Ning Chang! In this world, only Xia Ning Chang could accomplish this, of that Yang Kai was certain!

“Which insanely fierce Sect are you from?” Di Yao was dumbstruck, “That woman seemed to have some kind of special constitution that allowed her to use not only her own True Qi but the surrounding World Energy to perform Alchemy. She could even produce Pill Veins at will! I lost all three matches I had with her miserably, it was quite a heavy blow to my confidence. Then there’s you who is even more of an anomaly, you even have a Conflagrated Knowledge Sea. I can’t compare with either of you Senior Sister and Junior Brother pair.”

“She does have a special constitution, one related to Alchemy,” Yang Kai nodded, a great excitement filling his heart, after looking for so long, he had finally found a useful clue to his friend’s whereabouts.

“The Sacred Spirit Medicine Body!” Old Man Li suddenly said, “No wonder… she possess the Sacred Spirit Medicine Body! In time, her achievements will definitely surpass this old master’s. Meng Wu Ya, that old bastard, actually trying to be mysterious and refusing to disclose such an important matter to this old master.”

Yang Kai expression changed. From the way he referred to Meng Wu Ya, he could infer that Old Man Li and Treasurer Meng were old acquaintances and may even belong to the same generation of masters.

“Senior, when you met them, was there anyone else with them? I have another Senior Sister and a friend who should have been together with them.”

“Are they also proficient in Alchemy?” Di Yao asked worriedly.

“No,” Yang Kai shook his head.

“Unfortunately no, at the time, this old master only saw Meng Wu Ya accompanying that little girl surnamed Xia.”

Yang Kai’s complexion immediately became bad as his heart began to pound.

If Meng Wu Ya was with Xia Ning Chang, what about Su Yan and Old Demon? Where had the two of them gone?

Yang Kai wasn’t too worried about Old Demon; after all, the latter was originally from Tong Xuan Realm and had occupied the body of a Demon General. Except for Saint Realm masters, no one would be able to hurt him, but Su Yan was different. A young woman all alone in this world, with her weak strength and great beauty, what would become of her if she encountered some kind of danger?

What reason was there for her to separate from Meng Wu Ya, or what accident she had she encountered?

Yang Kai’s heart suddenly sank to the bottom of a valley as all kinds of negative thoughts swirled about his head.