After Hou Yu said that, the three Monster Kings finally noticed Yang Kai’s presence and hurriedly cupped their fists and saluted him, looking extremely embarrassed.
Ying Fei nimbly and swiftly put the dice cup and the dice on the stone table away.
All three Monster Kings and one Emperor Artifact Refiner were not doing their jobs properly. Instead, they had gathered here to gamble and were caught red-handed by Yang Kai. It truly was too outrageous.
“En, I sensed that you were all here, so I came to see what was happening,” Yang Kai replied nonchalantly.
Xi Lei hurriedly asked, “Young Master Yang, do you have any instructions for us?”
“Nope!” Yang Kai did not mention anything about their gambling as he reached out his hand and captured Hou Yu who was trying to sneak away.
“Palace Master… I won’t do it again…” Hou Yu was being held like a chicken in Yang Kai’s hand. Hence, she forced an ingratiating smile on her face, “Please forgive me just this once. I will go back to Artifact Refining immediately. Didn’t you bring back many precious materials for me recently? Don’t worry; you can leave it all to me.”
Yang Kai released her and asked, “What do you do when you encounter a bottleneck in your cultivation and cannot break through?”
“Huh?”
“A bottleneck?”
“What bottleneck?”
The three Monster Kings stared at Yang Kai in puzzlement. They had not expected him to ask such an off-topic question out of the blue.
Ying Fei replied, “We never encounter bottlenecks.”
Yang Kai stared at Ying Fei in surprise, “Not even once?”
Xi Lei chuckled, “Young Master Yang, we of the Monster Race are dependent on our bloodline and our Sources. We are different from Humans. Our bloodline and our Sources basically determine the height we can achieve in our lives. Of course, there are some outliers and unexpected opportunities, but generally speaking, those from the Monster Race do not experience bottlenecks in their cultivation.”
“Indeed,” Xie Wu Wei nodded in agreement, “The cultivation of those of the Monster Race are basically based on our innate talent. It’s different from the Secret Arts cultivated by Humans, so the term ‘bottleneck’ doesn’t hold any meaning for us.”
“Right, I forgot that part about the Monster Race!” Yang Kai nodded before glancing at Hou Yu, “What about you?”
“Me?” Hou Yu had yet to recover from her panic and fear, so when she saw Yang Kai focusing on her, she smiled in embarrassment, “Palace Master, I am an Artifact Refiner so I don’t pay much attention to my cultivation. I don’t even know how I managed to become an Emperor Realm Master… So, this question of yours… is a little out of my realm of expertise…”
“So, you’ve never encountered a bottleneck before?” He glanced at her incredulously.
“No, I have, I think…” she dived into her memories for a moment before nodding, “En, I did.”
“How did you break through?”
“I just waited, I guess. I practised Artifact Refining or gambled… When the time was right, I naturally broke through to the next realm.”
Yang Kai groaned in response before nodding lightly.
“Young Master Yang…” Ying Fei looked at Yang Kai and hesitated.
“It’s nothing. You can continue,” Yang Kai smiled before he flickered and instantly disappeared out of sight. Just like how he had appeared silently, he left without a trace either.
“Did Young Master Yang encounter a bottleneck in his cultivation?” Xi Lei murmured thoughtfully.
“Probably,” Xie Wu Wei nodded, “I heard that he has been cultivating in retreat over the past few days, but his cultivation remains unchanged, so it might be true that he has encountered a bottleneck.”
Ying Fei remarked, “Humans have Secret Arts and Secret Techniques to help in their cultivation so their strength generally increases much faster than we of the Monster Race; however, they might not be able to move forward if they encounter a bottleneck that is very difficult for them to break through. I hope Young Master Yang will not be stuck in the First-Order Emperor Realm.”
Xi Lei added, “He is still young. It’s not a big deal for him to encounter a bottleneck. Besides, who doesn’t suffer from setbacks in life? With Young Master Yang’s talent and fortitude, he would surely make it through this ordeal.”
“Hopefully.”
“Are we still gambling?” Hou Yu glanced at the three Monster Kings pitifully, clearly itching to continue.
Xi Lei glanced sideways at her and asked, “What else do you have that you can afford to bet?”
Hou Yu considered it for a moment but found that she had no answer to that statement.
…..
Medicine Pill Peak was one of the Main Peaks of High Heaven Palace. Both the landscape and the World Energy were not inferior to that of High Heaven Peak. It was also the place where Ji Ying, the Fifth Disciple of Wondrous Pill Great Emperor and the Chief Alchemist of High Heaven Palace, lived.
Yang Kai heard a gentle voice when he arrived. It sounded like somebody was preaching the Alchemic Dao. Glancing over, he saw a person who was speaking eloquently and passionately while sitting cross-legged at the top of the peak. In front of that person sat more than ten cultivators of different realms. They were listening attentively with pensive expressions.
These cultivators were disciples of Thousand Leaves Sect who were interested in learning the Alchemic Dao and who had come here to study the craft from a true Master. It was too bad that Ji Ying’s status as one of the few Emperor Alchemists in the Star Boundary made it impossible for him to teach them. Even if he had the heart to do so, chances were they wouldn’t understand what he meant.
At this moment, the person giving the lecture was a disciple of Ji Ying. Yang Kai greeted him, knowing that he was a Dao Source Grade Alchemist with a solid foundation.
“Brother Yang, you’re here! Please come in quickly!” Ji Ying’s voice suddenly sounded in Yang Kai’s ears. It was obvious that he had noticed Yang Kai’s presence.
Yang Kai smiled slightly and walked into a large hall that was filled with heat waves from a Pill Fire that was burning brightly. Ji Ying was standing next to an Alchemy Furnace that stood in the middle of the hall with a smile on his face. When he saw Yang Kai approaching, he cheerfully exclaimed, “Brother Yang, you came at just the right time! I was looking for you recently, but Manager Hua told me that you were cultivating in retreat and I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“Do you need something from me, Brother Ji?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
“It’s like this. I’m preparing to refine the Nine Heavens Good Fortune Pill, but there are some obscure elements regarding the condensing of the medicinal liquid and the engraving of the pill arrays, and I wanted to ask you for some advice.”
“The Nine Heavens Good Fortune Pill?!” Yang Kai was surprised to hear what Ji Ying said. Needless to say, he knew of this Emperor Grade Pill. It was one of the most difficult Spirit Pills to refine, and even if an Emperor Alchemist went all out, they might not succeed. Although Ji Ying was the Fifth Disciple of Wondrous Pill Great Emperor, he was obviously not on the same level as his Master; thus, he was not certain he would succeed in refining such a difficult Spirit Pill. Yang Kai was the only person he could discuss such topics with in the entire High Heaven Palace.
“I don’t dare to give advice, but I happen to have some time on my hands. Why don’t we study the problem together?” Yang Kai said modestly.
“I was hoping for that. With your help, Brother Yang, refining this Spirit Pill shouldn’t be a problem,” Ji Ying was overjoyed.
Three days later, Yang Kai walked out of Medicine Pill Peak looking tired, but his eyes were extremely bright.
As he walked off, his expression suddenly changed into a wry smile. [I came here to ask Ji Ying about the way to overcome a bottleneck in cultivation but instead got dragged into studying the refinement process of the Nine Heavens Good Fortune Pill. I can’t believe I even forgot about what I wanted to ask…]
Ji Ying had already started the Alchemy process, so it wasn’t convenient to bother him at this point. Besides, he might not have an answer even if he was asked about this matter. Ji Ying’s situation was similar to that of Hou Yu’s after all, where his focus was not his realm, but the Alchemic Dao. Neither of these two probably thought much of it even if they did encounter a bottleneck during their cultivation, so they would not have much experience in this area.
Sighing, Yang Kai raised his gaze and looked around. [Even though High Heaven Palace is so large, I don’t have anybody I can talk to.]
At that moment, several beautiful figures flashed across his mind and a wave of loneliness washed over him.