With Yang Kai’s current cultivation and Alchemy skills, it was largely thanks to luck that he had refined five Extraordinary Pills in one furnace.
He originally thought he would only be able to create three pills, so the results had given him a pleasant surprise.
The only part that Yang Kai felt was a pity was that not a single pill with Pill Veins had appeared amongst the five Spirit Pills. This was understandable though as Extraordinary Treasure Pills were difficult to refine in the first place, and it would truly be too heaven-defying if Pill Veins had also been formed.
Over the next few days, Yang Kai remained on Soaring Swallow Peak and calmly focused on cultivation while patiently waiting for news from the Azure Sun Temple.
Searching for the Tribulation Fruit wasn’t something that could be done in one or two days. Yang Kai had given the three-month time limit entirely out of consideration for Qin Yu, as any longer and she would not be able to survive.
Azure Sun Temple was her and Yang Kai’s only hope.
Soaring Swallow Peak was in a remote location in Azure Sun Mountain Range, so it was quite quiet and nobody came to bother Yang Kai.
However, Yang Kai didn’t expect that a surprising guest would come to visit him a few days later.
The visitor was actually Gao Xue Ting.
He was surprised, but he did not neglect courtesy and performed the duties of a host by inviting Gao Xue Ting in and attending to her politely.
He originally thought that Gao Xue Ting had some business with him, but it didn’t happen the way that he expected. This icy Emperor Realm Master spent more than half a day with Yang Kai, but she simply acted like a Senior inquiring about her Junior’s cultivation while also asking Yang Kai some questions about his own Martial Dao.
Yang Kai carefully thought things over as he answered each question, having no idea from Gao Xue Ting’s unchanging expression if she was satisfied with the answers or not.
It was rare to have a chance to be so close to an Emperor, so Yang Kai also took the opportunity to ask some things that he didn’t understand. Gao Xue Ting didn’t hold back any knowledge she had and did her best to explain everything in an easily understandable manner.
Yang Kai learned a lot.
Before she left, Gao Xue Ting mentioned that she wanted to test how strong Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was.
Although Yang Kai didn’t understand why, he didn’t refuse, gathering his Divine Sense before sending it out towards Gao Xue Ting.
She naturally received it without any difficulty; however, she did send a meaningful glance towards him, as if she could tell that he hadn’t used his full strength.
In the end, Gao Xue Ting gave Yang Kai a gift before she left.
After Yang Kai saw off Gao Xue Ting, he still felt confused about why she had come to visit him. Judging from his interaction with her back at the Four Seasons Realm, Gao Xue Ting wasn’t the type who actively tried to get along with others.
It wasn’t that she had a violent temper or a bad personality, rather it was just her innate icy nature and the cold look she kept on her face that seemed to tell strangers that they should remain a thousand kilometres away from her.
Yang Kai could actually sense that Gao Xue Ting wasn’t a bad person.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow slightly as he glanced at the item in his hand while muttering to himself, “This doesn’t make sense at all. What was she doing?”
He was holding the gift that Gao Xue Ting gave him before she left, a small shield the size of a palm. Light swirled around this shield, giving it a mystical appearance, and the aura fluctuations it gave off were definitely not weak. Gao Xue Ting had called this artifact the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield!
This was actually a Dao Source Grade Low-Rank artifact!
Not only that, it was a Soul-type artifact, something quite out of the ordinary!
Soul-type artifacts were typically created from rather special materials, and they could only be driven by a cultivator’s Divine Sense. Source Qi was completely useless on these artifacts.
They were also several times rarer and more expensive than ordinary artifacts.
So, even though this shield was only Dao Source Grade Low-Rank, its true value wasn’t any less than a Dao Source Grade High-Rank artifact, and in fact, it might even be more valuable than the latter.
This small shield was obviously a defensive artifact, and if one could refine it in their body, they would be able to use it to protect their Knowledge Sea and Soul from foreign threats.
Yang Kai actually didn’t have any Soul-type artifacts. Back when he was still quite weak, he did have an offensive Soul-type short sword artifact, but he had long since stopped using it as his strength improved.
He had also learned the Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique, and its offensive prowess far exceeded that of the majority of Soul-type artifacts, which was why he had never considered finding such an artifact before.
Gao Xue Ting’s gift indeed compensated for one of his shortcomings…
With this artifact protecting his Knowledge Sea, and with Yang Kai’s already strong Soul, it would be quite difficult for someone to injure him with a Divine Sense attack.
There was a saying that one shouldn’t refuse gifts from an Elder, so although Yang Kai wasn’t a disciple of Azure Sun Temple, Gao Xue Ting was still an Emperor Realm Master and technically his Elder. That was why Yang Kai had simply thanked her and accepted the gift without even thinking about it when she gave him this artifact.
After looking it over, he figured it wouldn’t take too long to refine.
Since he had nothing to do apart from waiting for news on the Tribulation Fruit, Yang Kai decided to start refining it right away.
Yang Kai no longer hesitated, sat down cross-legged, and sent his Spiritual Energy towards the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield.
More than ten days passed by slowly.
Over these ten-plus days, Yang Kai remained sitting in his room without moving, working diligently to refine the Purple Sun Profound Light Shield.
Thanks to his persistence during this time, he had completed about a third of the refinement process and was now barely able to activate some of this artifact’s power.
However, completely refining it would require more accumulation over time.
As expected of a Dao Source Grade Low-Rank Soul-type artifact, this Purple Sun Profound Light Shield seemed to possess impressively strong abilities. Even in its current state of refinement, it was able to form a purple light barrier that covered the outside of Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea, adding a powerful layer of protection.
Anyone who wanted to harm Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea would first have to break through this purple shield.
Since Yang Kai hadn’t finished refining it yet, he didn’t know if it had other abilities. Still, just this alone was more than enough for him to look forward to.
On this day, Yang Kai suddenly sensed something, so he hurriedly opened his eyes and looked outside. Right when he opened his eyes, someone spoke up in a loud voice, “Brother Yang, I’m here to see you.”
Upon hearing this voice, Yang Kai knew that the one who came to see him was Xia Sheng.
Right when Xia Sheng spoke, he immediately pushed the door open and entered.
Someone else spoke up right after, “Senior Brother, he hasn’t invited you in yet, what if you disturbed his cultivation by doing this?”
This person was Xiao Bai Yi.
“En en, perhaps Junior Brother Yang was studying some Secret Technique. Senior Brother, don’t be so reckless!” Murong Xiao Xiao’s voice also chimed in, conveying some worry with it.