Martial Peak

After a period of extranxiety, Yang Kai discovered that he was showing no signs of being refined. Still, the environment around him seemed to be rather strange. He could not quite describe his surroundings at the moment. It felt as though he had slipped into the Void, with bits of fluorescent lights scattered around like stars twinkling in the sky. Distance had becan extremely vague concept in this place, causing the flickering fluorescent lights to seem both extremely far away yet simultaneously close at hand.

More importantly, Yang Kai could keenly feel that he was either being immobilised by something which prevented him from moving a single muscle or he was wrapped in a mysterious force that shackled him in place. He couldn’t help feeling rather depressed by his circumstances.

[Am I inside the Universe Furnace?] He couldn’t help sinking deep into thought.

The various indications proved that he had indeed been dragged into the Universe Furnace, so there was no doubt about that. Nevertheless… It seemed rather bizarre. It was hard to believe that there was a vast World inside the Universe Furnace! That was something that never crossed his mind before.

In his imagination, the Universe Furnace was nothing more than an Alchemy Furnace which produced the mysterious Innate Open Heaven Pills. Although the projection of the Alchemy Furnace he saw previously was larger than he expected, he had not been overly surprised since the size difference was within the limits of his imagination. On the other hand, the fact that the Universe Furnace contained an independent World was truly astonishing.

Upon further consideration, it did not seem out of the ordinary for the Universe Furnace to contain a Sealed World. The Universe Furnace was the most mysterious SuprTreasure in existence. Furthermore, it was capable of producing Innate Open Heaven Pills which could overcthe limitations of the established Heavenly Way.

Collecting his thoughts, Yang Kai decided not to spend too much tdeliberating over such trivial matters. His biggest concern at the moment was how he could protect himself. He was dragged into the Universe Furnace because his actions had touched upon the essence of this SuprTreasure. Although there were no signs to indicate that he was being refined at the moment, it was necessary to have countermeasures in place.

[First, I need to figure out a way to break free from these bindings…]

Yang Kai immediately began to draw upon his power to escape this place; however, he discovered that he couldn’t even move a single finger no matter how hard he struggled. The mysterious force holding him in place did not give off a sense of strength, but it was extremely resilient. The more power he exerted against the force, the stronger the force becin response. Thus, he was kept completely immobilised.

Not feeling discouraged, Yang Kai began to push his Space Principles and attempted to leave this place via Instantaneous Movement. Unexpectedly, the omnipotent Dao of Space was completely ineffective here. The Space around him seemed to have frozen solid, creating an unbreakable prison.

Urging TPrinciples next, Yang Kai tried to wither whatever it was holding him in place, but it proved futile. He then tried urging Spear Principles, but his efforts remained ineffective.

There was no saying how much thad passed by the the finished cycling through all the Dao Strengths of the Grand Daos he mastered so far, but none of them helped with his situation whatsoever. The sheld true even when he simultaneously activated TPrinciples and Space Principles and then merged them together to form the mysterious Space-TStrength.

His heart was flooded with a sense of frustration. At this point, he was certain about one thing, he could not move a single muscle. Like a prisoner, he was trapped in this inexplicable cage with no means of escape.

[What a disaster!] Yang Kai never imagined that he would suffer such treatment just because he touched upon the essence of the Universe Furnace. Moreover, he not only failed to discover the hiding spot of the Universe Furnace’s true body, but he also failed to take the opportunity to finish off Mo Na Ye!

There were no signs that the Universe Furnace was attempting to refine him, so judging by the situation, he had no reason to worry about his safety at the moment. The Universe Furnace might not necessarily even be for refining foreign objects. Naturally, just to be on the safe side, it was better if he remained vigilant of any unexpected occurrences.

[I might be safe for now, but how am I supposed to leave this place?]

Composing himself, Yang Kai put away the slight sense of anxiety brewing in his heart and carefully began to perceive his surroundings. If he wanted to leave this place, then he had to break free of the force restraining him. Only by comprehending this force could he take the necessary measures to break free from his shackles.

When his Divine Sense spread out like a tidal wave, Yang Kai instantly noticed something that was out of the ordinary. There was a large amount of Dao Essence contained within the Universe Furnace! The abundance of the invisible and intangible Dao Essence that interweaved and accumulated inside the Universe Furnace was almost impossible to imagine. There were no exceptions anywhere his mind extended.

He couldn’t help feeling overwhelmed by the discovery. For sreason, it felt as though he had accidentally fallen into a treasure trove.

The most intuitive manifestation of a cultivator’s Grand Dao was the amount of Dao Essence they possessed. Needless to say, that was not something that could be quantified precisely as it was nothing more than a vague concept.

Take Yang Kai for example. His highest attainments were in the Grand Dao of Space, so the Space Dao Essence was the most abundant in his Small Universe. That was how there were Dao Temple disciples who could inherit his blessings and cultivate the Dao of Space.

The Dao of Tcnext; however, thanks to the improvement of the Dragon Vein in his body, Yang Kai’s Dao of Twas now equal in level to the Dao of Space. Naturally, the Spear Dao cthird…

There were many other Grand Daos as well. Apart from the Alchemic Dao and the Dao of Artifact Refining that he spent tand effort cultivating, the rest were the results of his harvest from the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon.

When he was being hunted by the Royal Lord, Yang Kai had been forced to flee for over a decade. In the end, he dove into the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon and encountered an inconceivable harvest. He only managed to gain so much in the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon because of the Grand Dao Rivers that were found inside; after all, flowing in those rivers were countless Dao Essences that had been refined and absorbed by him.

Yang Kai never expected to discover so many Dao Essences inside the Universe Furnace. Not to mention, they were many times richer than the Dao Essences found in the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon!

[Is this the carrot after the stick treatment?]

The Universe Furnace had dragged him here and ruined his plans to kill Mo Na Ye, but it turned out that such benefits were waiting for him. It truly was as the saying went, ‘Good fortune cafter a catastrophe’.

In any case, there was indeed an amazing opportunity in front of him. Yang Kai immediately calmed down and opened his Small Universe to absorb and refine the Dao Essence, but a short while later, he frowned deeply. Opening his Small Universe once more, he sensed something flowing out of his Small Universe. The something that he sensed flowing out of his Small Universe was none other than the Dao Essence that he had just absorbed.

After a quick try, Yang Kai discovered that the Dao Essence permeating the entire Universe Furnace could not be refined or absorbed whatsoever. This discovery immediately made his wonderful mood sink to the bottom of the abyss. Nevertheless, he refused to accept this reality and tried to absorb the Dao Essence into his Small Universe once more. Following several failed attempts, he finally confirmed that the Dao Essence inside the Universe Furnace could not be refined. He also vaguely grasped the reason that prevented him from doing so.

If it was said that the Dao Essence flowing in the Grand Dao Rivers of the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon he encountered back then could be classified as an orderly form of Dao Essence, the Dao Essence found here could be classified as disordered and chaotic. It was the most primitive form of Dao Essence… Forcibly refining this kind of Dao Essence would not be beneficial for him.

The most superficial explanation was the difference between uncooked rice and cooked rice. The Dao Essence here was uncooked; on the other hand, the Dao Essence flowing in the Grand Dao Rivers of the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon was cooked. Yang Kai would only need to consand digest the cooked rice to transform it into the foundation of his strength. Conversely, he could not do that with pure uncooked rice. If he forcibly tried to consthe uncooked rice, he might even cause harm to his body.

The realisation left him slightly dumbfounded. In his perception, the amount of Dao Essence accumulated inside the Universe Furnace was rich beyond comprehension. Be that as it may, he could not benefit from the Dao Essence in front of him. There was nothing more tortuous in this world than staring at something he wanted but could not have.

[Why is the Dao Essence inside the Universe Furnace so strange?] Yang Kai frowned pensively.

Thinking about it carefully, the answer becobvious. The Sealed World inside the Universe Furnace was probably in its most primitive form. That would explain the chaos and disorder of the Dao Essence in this place. The world here was not like the world outside, which had undergone countless years of evolution and development. It was only natural for the Dao Essence in this place to remain in its most primitive state.

[Maybe… this is the reason why the Open Heaven Pills produced by the Universe Furnace can help cultivators break through their limitations?]

It was like 99% of the Grand Dao had been integrated into the Universe, leaving out the final 1%. As a result, the Open Heaven Realm Method that the 10 Martial Ancestors gained enlightenment about based on the formation of the Universe itself was naturally incomplete. The final missing piece could only be found in a place that preserved the most primitive environment from before the formation of the Universe, the Universe Furnace! Perfection could only be obtained when both were combined!

Following that thought, Yang Kai suddenly had a realization, [The Universe Furnace itself might be the Human Race’s biggest shackle!]

At this moment, the fluorescent lights around him suddenly began to flicker wildly. His attention was immediately drawn towards them, and he quietly observed his surroundings. The fluorescent lights were innumerable, and Yang Kai did not know what these wisps were, but they looked like countless fireflies at first glance. Moreover, he couldn’t even judge how far these fluorescent lights were from him under the unique environment inside the Universe Furnace.

When the countless lights started flickering, the extremely abundant but disordered and chaotic Dao Essence began to be absorbed by them.

Yang Kai was stunned by the sight. He had tried refining the irregular and chaotic Dao Essence earlier, but it proved impossible for him. In comparison, these fluorescent lights were easily absorbing the Dao Essence here.

[What are these lights?]

Over time, the Dao Essence absorbed by the fluorescent lights increased steadily. Then, nine distinct fluorescent lights among the sea of fluorescent lights gradually began to grow larger and glow brighter than the rest. The amount of Dao Essence they absorbed also increased sharply in response.

Yang Kai’s attention was attracted by these nine distinct fluorescent lights. During the brief interval between flashes, he vaguely noticed that these fluorescent lights seemed to display the outlines of Spirit Pills…

[Innate Open Heaven Pills!] The realisation cto him abruptly. These twinkling fluorescent lights were the Innate Open Heaven Pills produced by the Universe Furnace! They were the legendary Spirit Pills that could allow a cultivator to break free of their innate limitations just by consuming one!

[Are there nine such Pills?]

It made sense; after all, nine was the limit. For the Universe Furnace to produce nine of these Heaven-defying Spirit Pills was an amazing feat in itself. It was not a small number, to say the least. If all of them could be obtained by the Human Race, they could immediately produce nine new Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. That would definitely be extremely beneficial to the upcoming war with the Black Ink Clan!

But… If those nine fluorescent lights that glowed brighter than the rest were the legendary Innate Open Heaven Pills, then what were these countless bits of fluorescent light around them? They were also absorbing the disordered and chaotic Dao Essence inside the Universe Furnace, so apart from the amount of Dao Essence being absorbed and the intensity of their brightness, there was not much difference between them and the nine brightest lights.

Yang Kai couldn’t help recalling the Innate Open Heaven Pills that he obtained from the Blood Monster Cave Heaven and the doubts he harboured in the past… [Could it be that the Innate Open Heaven Pills inside the Universe Furnace had different Grades?]