Chapter 1976, Maplewood City

Maplewood City was more prosperous than any city in Yang Kai’s native Star Field. Even Water Sky City of Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce could not compare.

But in the Star Boundary, it was just one of the countless unknown cities when taking the giant Southern Territory into account.

This was an eye-opening sight for Yang Kai.

The only thing that made him cringe slightly was that he actually needed to pay ten Low-Rank Source Crystals to enter the city!

This made him feel extremely distressed.

He was no longer a filthy rich man like back in his native Star Field. Now, every piece of Source Crystal was precious to him, so he did not dare to use them up casually.

The Source Crystals he had on hand were all from the Space Rings of the Blue Feather Sect disciples he had killed, and they amounted to only a few thousand in total.

There were originally four Space Rings Yang Kai obtained, even one belonging to a First-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator, but Yang Kai had given Liu Xian Yun three of them and only kept one for himself.

In addition to the few thousand Source Crystals in this ring, there were only two artifacts that were of relatively low grade and some miscellaneous materials that were not of any use to him.

After entering Maplewood City, Yang Kai did not hurry to find a place to live but instead began walking around, listening to the various conversations of the surrounding cultivators to obtain information that was beneficial to him.

Just one day was enough to reap significant gains.

As he had expected, the average level of the cultivators in Maplewood City wasn’t very high, while the small great forces around it also didn’t possess strong masters.

City Lord Duan Yuan Shan was a Second-Order Dao Source Realm cultivator while the two Vice City Lords were both First-Order. The three of them worked together to govern all of Maplewood City. As for the small families in the city, all of them had at most one Old Ancestor at the First-Order Dao Source Realm.

Most of the surrounding great forces also had only one or two First-Order Dao Source Realm masters, with Raging Fire Temple being the exception possessing a Second-Order Dao Source Realm Sect Master, allowing them to be put on part with the City Lord’s Mansion of Maplewood City.

But Yang Kai knew that Temple Master Luo of Raging Fire Temple had been killed in Clear Jade Mountain, so that status was likely to change soon, together with the distribution and disposition of the various great forces in and around Maplewood City.

Word of the incident at Clear Jade Mountain had spread to Maplewood City and even across the Southern Territory at an extremely fast speed, but that was not a surprise as a Divine Spirit Luan Feng had appeared. Such an event would likely even attract true masters to come and investigate.

Of course, Yang Kai did not need to care about such things. All he needed to worry about was whether Maplewood City could become his temporary foothold.

And from what information he had gathered, it seemed this place would do for now.

If there were not many strong cultivators around, it meant he wouldn’t encounter many great threats, giving him plenty of time to grow his strength.

So, after gathering enough information, Yang Kai immediately decided to settle down in Maplewood City for the time being. At the very least, he had to complete the conversion of his Saint Qi into Source Qi before making other plans.

As night fell, Yang Kai arrived at the administrative building next to the City Lord’s Mansion and talked to the staff about getting an Identity Token.

After some bargaining back and forth, Yang Kai spent another three thousand Source Crystals to complete all the procedures, grinding his teeth the whole time he was there.

Although the cost was high, he would now be able to live in Maplewood City with peace of mind for a year and even had a secluded home all to himself.

A number of secluded homes were built and managed by Maplewood City’s City Lord’s Mansion, and any foreign cultivator could rent one, but depending on the quality of the secluded home, the price would vary.

Yang Kai decided not to be stingy in this regard because he knew that a good environment was necessary to cultivate quickly, so he directly rented a high quality secluded home.

Leaving that administrative building, Yang Kai quickly arrived at the location of the secluded home he had rented.

Using the Identity Token he had acquired, Yang Kai opened the secluded home’s protective barrier and entered.

While it was called a secluded home, in reality, it was just a well-built house with a number of good Spirit Arrays arranged around it to prevent others from spying on or disturbing the occupant.

Yang Kai checked around and was quite satisfied. The World Energy aura in this secluded home was much richer than that of the city, obviously due to some form of World Energy gathering Spirit Array, and there were also several rooms with different functions for Yang Kai to use.

Yang Kai did not have very high demands though, as long as he had a secure place to live, everything was fine.

Sitting cross-legged, Yang Kai meditated for the night, slowly converting his Saint Qi to Source Qi as he restored his strength.

The next morning, Yang Kai walked out of the secluded home.

Walking down the streets, looking at the different kinds of cultivators coming and going, Yang Kai’s thoughts turned rapidly.

When Yang Kai first entered the Star Field, he had felt a rich sense of curiosity and a deep desire to explore everything around him while growing stronger step by step.

Back then, he was able to succeed, and this time, he was confident he could do the same!

Thinking so, Yang Kai’s vision became firm.

The only worry he had… was about his two big helpers. Ai Ou, Gui Zu and the others were also somewhere he did not know about, but if they weren’t separated, they would be able to pool their strength to protect themselves.

Yang Kai shook his head and did not think about it anymore as he walked straight ahead.

Not long after, he stopped in front of a shop called ‘Spirit Pill Plaza’, and after a moment of pondering, he walked inside.

The shop hand immediately walked up to greet him, “May I ask what this guest is looking for? Not to brag, but this Spirit Pill Plaza has a wide variety of pills for sale and always offers fair prices. Moreover, Spirit Pill Plaza has the support of Sir City Lord, so guest can rest assured there are no counterfeit goods here.”

This shop hand spoke the last sentence in a hushed voice, as if trying to act mysterious.

Yang Kai smiled slightly, knowing that he must say this to every guest who arrives here, but if that was the case, the City Lord might really be an investor in this Spirit Pill Plaza, otherwise, this shop hand would not dare make such a claim in Maplewood City unless he was eager to lose his life that is.

“I’m not here to buy Spirit Pills,” Yang Kai waved his hand.

“Then what is this guest interested in?” The shop hand had good training and continued to ask with a smile, “Spirit Pill Plaza only sells finished pills, nothing else.”

“Do you have pill recipes for sale?” Yang Kai frowned.

The shop hand furrowed his brow slightly upon hearing this and smiled awkwardly, “This… I really cannot take responsibility for. If this guest does not mind, I can consult with the shopkeeper.”

Yang Kai nodded.

The shop hand immediately turned around and went to the back of the store.

The reason why Yang Kai had come here to buy pill recipes was related to his experiences performing Alchemy in Blue Feather Sect.

Although his little shop had gained great popularity in Blue Feather Sect thanks to his exquisite Alchemy techniques, and his services were sought after greatly by Blue Feather Sect’s disciples, in many cases, Yang Kai had actually never heard of the pills his cultivators came to request, much less refined them before.

After all, the variety of materials available in the Star Boundary was far greater than in his native Star Field, with many herbs existing here that were unheard of back in Yang Kai’s home. This of course led to there being many more types of pills in the Star Boundary. With Yang Kai’s Alchemy knowledge, he was able to stand at the peak of the Star Field’s Alchemic Dao, but it was not even enough to be mentioned in the Star Boundary.

If he wanted to cultivate, he needed to earn Source Crystals, and the easiest way Yang Kai could think of was to return to his old career of Alchemy.

Increasing his repertoire of pill recipes was just preparatory work; after all, without sharpening one’s axe first, it would be difficult to cut wood efficiently!

Moreover, Yang Kai was also in urgent need of a pill recipe for the Source Condensing Pill!

The role of the Source Condensing Pill was to help Origin King Realm cultivators transform their Saint Qi into Source Qi. Once reached the Origin King Realm, breaking through again became increasingly difficult, requiring both skill, opportunity, and accumulation. Compared to breaking through, converting one’s Saint Qi to Source Qi was actually a relatively simpler and easier method to increase one’s combat strength.

Origin King Realm cultivators would naturally need a large amount of Source Condensing Pills to assist them in shortening the time it took to convert their Saint Qi to Source Qi.

When Yang Kai broke through to the Third-Order Origin King Realm, the remaining starlight in his body was completely consumed, causing the speed at which he could convert his Saint Qi to Source Qi to slow down dramatically. In order to increase this speed of conversion again, he could only turn to Source Condensing Pills.

Moreover, among Origin Kings, this pill was extremely popular, not too expensive, and didn’t seem to require any particularly rare ingredients, so as long as Yang Kai could obtain the appropriate pill recipe, he was confident he could refine them himself.

Even if he only refined Source Condensing Pills, Yang Kai felt he would be able to make a lot of money.

While waiting, Yang Kai browsed around Spirit Pill Plaza’s wares and saw many Spirit Pills he had never heard of, some with strange and intriguing effects that greatly sparked his curiosity.

As an Alchemist, he naturally desired the pill recipes for these pills and secretly began planning how to acquire them here.

Soon after, the shop hand from before came back with a smile on his face and spoke. “Humble Guest, our shopkeeper has asked me to invite you inside for a discussion!”

Yang Kai raised his brow with some surprise; after all, he was only here to buy some pill recipes and had never met this shopkeeper before, so why was he being received so warmly? However, after thinking about it carefully, Yang Kai nodded lightly, “Alright, lead the way.”

“This way, please!” The shop hand eagerly beckoned and soon brought Yang Kai to one of the back rooms of the shop where he stood to the side and bowed.

Yang Kai raised his hand and knocked on the door before a somewhat aged voice called out from inside, “Please come in!”

Pushing open the door, Yang Kai entered a room that was made from fine sandalwood and had some simple decorations. An elderly man stood inside with his hands behind his back. After seeing Yang Kai, this man quickly cupped his fists with a smile and said, “This old master is Spirit Pill Plaza’s shopkeeper Kang Si Ran. May I ask this guest’s honoured name?”

“Yang Kai greets Shopkeeper Kang,” Yang Kai smiled back.

Kang Si Ran nodded, swept his eyes over Yang Kai after which they flashed slightly, “Young Master Yang is quite young.”

Yang Kai naturally knew that he was saying this because he saw through his cultivation and realized that both of them were Third-Order Origin Kings.

However, Yang Kai could feel the aura fluctuations from this Kang Si Ran were quite pure and even. Obviously, this old man had finished converting his Saint Qi into Source Qi, and if he had enough opportunity, would be able to break through to the Dao Source Realm.

Receiving praise from the other party, Yang Kai naturally acted humble.

“Please come in, Young Master Yang. Have a seat and try this old master’s Maple Rain Tea!” Kang Si Ran enthusiastically poured Yang Kai a cup of steaming tea as he spoke, causing a rich fragrance to fill the room.

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Kang Si Ran pushed the teacup in front of Yang Kai enthusiastically.