“Sect Masters doesn’t need to worry too much. Although an Emperor Artifact’s power is unfathomable, because of the limits of the user’s cultivation, it is not as dangerous as you might think. After using it to deliver a single blow, it essentially cannot be used again in quick succession. You have experienced it personally, so you should understand this better than anyone else,” Seeing the anxious look on Yang Kai’s face, Ye Xi Yun comforted him lightly.
“That’s true,” Yang Kai gently nodded, the fear on his face greatly dispersing as he felt relieved.
The power an artifact could display was always linked to its wielder’s strength, so even if the artifact’s grade was high, if the cultivator using it wasn’t strong enough, it wouldn’t be able to display much might.
The Verdant Dragon Bone Sword was like this. Although Yang Kai could use it quite flexibly now, he could tell that it had great untapped potential.
The reason he could not access this potential wasn’t because of the Dragon Bone Sword, but rather because of himself.
His strength was limiting the performance of the Dragon Bone Sword.
“If Sect Master plans on acting, you might as well bring this Queen along. Star Emperor Mountain has already strayed from its proper path, so this Queen cannot just stand idly by, and… I also want to meet with a few old friends and settle our accounts.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai raised his brows, suddenly becoming somewhat curious.
He had always wondered why Ye Xi Yun had left Star Emperor Mountain all those years ago; after all, she had been the Sect Master of the greatest power on Shadowed Star, possessing the pinnacle of status and respect. If not for extreme difficulties, she definitely wouldn’t have given such a position up to live in seclusion for a hundred years.
However, this kind of issue was quite difficult to ask about. If Ye Xi Yun was willing to explain, Yang Kai would certainly be willing to listen, but if she didn’t, no good would come of prying.
The only thing Yang Kai could be sure of now was that there was deep grievance between Ye Xi Yun and Star Emperor Mountain.
After pondering for a moment, Yang Kai didn’t bother dwelling on the subject and instead said in a serious tone, “I have a plan, but I’d like Great Elder to listen and give her input if she notices any errors or deficiencies…”
And so, Yang Kai explained his battle strategy.
After an hour, Yang Kai left Hundred Flowers Peak and returned to First Heavenly Palace.
Inside the silent palace, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged and took out the Feather Spirit Arrow before beginning to pour his Saint Qi into it to recharge it.
This artifact he obtained in Fallen Emperor Mountain was extremely powerful, and although it could only be used a limited number of times in any single battle, that did not detract from its utility. With this artifact’s power, a Second-Order Origin Returning Realm cultivator could instantly be killed, while even a peak Third-Order Origin Returning Realm master like Qu Zheng would not dare take its strike head-on.
During the battle in Fallen Emperor Mountain, Yang Kai had exhausted the Feather Spirit Arrow’s energy, so he needed to recharge it now.
Half an hour later, the Feather Spirit Arrow was fully recharged.
Yang Kai carefully put away this strange artifact, but just as he was about to start making some other preparations for the upcoming action, his expression suddenly changed as he turned his gaze towards a certain spot on the ground and grinned, waiting quietly.
A moment later, a small head appeared strangely from the ground, its body filled with rough edges and a bulky build; however, this creature’s two eyes were extremely bright and flexible.
Stone Puppet.
When Yang Kai went out this time, he had not brought the Stone Puppet with him and instead left it in the Sect.
For one thing, Yang Kai hadn’t expected that there would be so many twists and turns on this trip or any kind of great battle; if he had expected a fight, he would have brought the Stone Puppet along to help him.
Secondly, the Stone Puppet currently had another task.
The Stone Puppet was now responsible for caring for the stone embryo of the other Stone Puppet. After leaving the Emperor Garden last time, Yang Kai merged the Blood Essence Stone he found with the stone embryo, hoping to give birth to a second Stone Puppet. He had left Xiao Xiao the duty to watch over the stone embryo at that time.
Now that Yang Kai had returned to Sect, Xiao Xiao noticed his presence and immediately rushed over to First Heavenly Palace.
Not knowing what kind of progress the second Stone Puppet had made, Yang Kai was full of expectations.
However, when he observed the Xiao Xiao closely, Yang Kai could not help frowning and quickly asked, “What happened?”
The Stone Puppet’s originally clear and bright eyes were now showing signs of panic. As soon as he rushed out of the ground, he immediately scrambled over in front of Yang Kai with his hands and feet before reaching out and pulling on his shirt, letting out some incomprehensible sounds as he eagerly tried to drag Yang Kai out.
“What happened?” As Xiao Xiao’s owner, Yang Kai could naturally feel his anxiety and restlessness; however, the Stone Puppet had a low level of sentience to begin with. Yang Kai had only given him a single drop of Golden Blood when it was born, so he couldn’t clearly tell what he was thinking.
“You want me to come with you?” Yang Kai asked again, to which the Stone Puppet nodded repeatedly.
“Lead the way!” Yang Kai gently nodded, letting the Stone Puppet drag him outside.
Soon, the Stone Puppet brought Yang Kai outside High Heaven Sect’s headquarters and to the depths of the continuous mountain range.
High Heaven Sect’s headquarters stood where the ancient Supreme Profound Sect’s ruins were. The Supreme Profound Sect’s ruins covered an extremely wide range though, so High Heaven Sect, with its tiny population, only occupied a small portion of it.
The place the Stone Puppet took Yang Kai could also be regarded as the headquarters of the Supreme Profound Sect, just a different, far away peak.
This peak was extremely tall, towering up into the clouds, and had extremely beautiful scenery.
An hour later, the Stone Puppet led Yang Kai to the top of this mountain, where a spacious platform like a square and a gorgeous palace stood.
Obviously, this palace had been built by Supreme Profound Sect before, but it was now empty.
As soon as they entered the palace, Yang Kai spotted a strange blood-red stone about the size of a washbasin sitting on the floor. There were visible wisps of World Energy being absorbed into this stone.
There were even loud, rhythmic thumping sounds, similar to the beating of a heart, coming from the blood-red stone.
Naturally, it was the second Stone Puppet stone embryo!
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up.
The stone embryo had been well taken care of by Xiao Xiao, and after integrating the Blood Essence Stone, it now possessed its own life force, but strangely, the creature inside, despite clearly being alive, had yet to break through its shell. From the strength of the aura it was emitting, Yang Kai estimated it should have been born some time ago.
Yang Kai frowned.
With his eyesight, he could naturally see that something was wrong with the stone embryo, it was no wonder Xiao Xiao had become so frantic.
After arriving here, Xiao Xiao rushed over to the stone embryo, circling it anxiously, scratching his ears and cheeks, making him look like a monkey that had an itch he just couldn’t scratch no matter how hard he tried.
“Let me see, don’t worry,” Yang Kai comforted. Hearing these words, Xiao Xiao became obedient and immediately sat aside, watching eagerly.
The birthing process for the stone embryo is the same within its kind, so even if Xiao Xiao’s intelligence was not great, he could still understand how to care for members of his own race.
Yang Kai walked up to the stone embryo and scanned it with his Divine Sense, his face changing slightly as he did.
An unimaginable amount of energy had been condensed inside the stone embryo, and it was actually constantly being strengthened. It seemed like because the World Energy here was so rich that the stone embryo was simply continuing to draw it in without reserve.
The heartbeat sound became more and more obvious as well, but no matter how Yang Kai probed it, the unborn creature inside still showed no signs of trying to emerge from its shell. Yang Kai was not even able to sense any kind of Soul fluctuations.
The absence of Soul fluctuations meant that this life-form had yet to achieve sentience.
Yang Kai was confused.
He did not know how to handle this situation.
It was only because Yang Yan had explained the strange Stone Puppet race to him that Yang Kai even understood this kind of creature existed, but as for how to ensure it could be born safely, he had no clues.
Perhaps if Yang Yan was here, she could provide some assistance.
Unfortunately, Yang Yan had now merged with the Great Emperor’s true body and had fallen into a deep slumber since returning from the Emperor Garden. Even if Yang Kai went to her, he would not be able to get any help.
After thinking about it carefully, Yang Kai reached out and touched the stone embryo.
In any case, the energy stored inside the stone embryo at this moment was simply too immense, to the point where it was dangerous. The stone embryo failing to be born smoothly or produce sentience was likely related to this.
Too much of a good thing was dangerous.
Yang Kai wanted to guide away some of the energy inside so as not to cause any further harm to the fragile stone embryo.
However, when his hand touched the stone embryo, a complicated pattern suddenly appeared on its surface. This pattern began whirling and glowed brilliantly as a terrifying burst of energy began to surge from inside.
Yang Kai’s complexion changed drastically, and he hurriedly withdrew.
With a thunderous bang, the burst of energy erupted and shot directly into the sky.
After a few breaths, a hole appeared in the clouds up above, as if a hole had been pierced through the sky.
Yang Kai was thoroughly shocked and did not dare act rashly anymore.
Xiao Xiao stared at him and began uttering some inexplicable words again, as if begging him to do something, his eyes filled with sadness.
Yang Kai could only shake his head slowly though.
At this point, he was truly helpless, only able to allow nature to take its course.
As if understanding Yang Kai’s thoughts, Xiao Xiao’s expression became despondent as his head drooped down, just sitting there stupidly and staring at the stone embryo in front of him.
As time passed slowly, the energy contained in the stone embryo became greater and greater, and the throbbing heartbeat became more and more rapid, so rapid that it even began to cause Yang Kai’s own heart to throb.
This heartbeat, despite being rapid, was extremely regular, like someone beating a drum in a steady rhythm; however, the light patterns on the stone embryo’s surface were now flickering randomly.
This situation continued for a full five days, only changing on the fifth day.
The blood-red light coming from the stone embryo suddenly increased in intensity and at the same time, a sensational energy fluctuation burst out from the stone embryo.
Yang Kai opened his eyes wide and stared at this strange phenomenon.
In the next moment, the light patterns on its surface began to dim and the rapid heartbeat also fell silent. At the same time, the terrifying energy fluctuations contained inside the stone embryo seemed to instantly disappear.
Yang Kai’s heart sank, and he released his Divine Sense to probe the stone embryo, but doing so only caused his expression to darken.
Even the strong life aura which had been coming from the stone embryo had now vanished, now making it seem like any ordinary rock one would find by the roadside.
Xiao Xiao was also aware of this and quickly rushed over to the stone embryo, patting it gently with both hands, crying out incoherently. Quickly, he picked up the stone embryo and rushed over to Yang Kai, lifting his arms up, obviously begging him to think of something.
Yang Kai opened his mouth to say something, but unable to find any words, he could only let out a deep sigh.
