Martial Peak

Chapter 1730, This Star

All things were born, grew old, and then died; stars were no exception.

Although Yang Kai did not know what caused this star to become a Dead Star, he could tell from the materials brought back by Xiao Xiao that this place was obviously rich in resources and had a beautiful scenery long ago! The ruins in front of him were also clearly a great Sect’s headquarters.

A beckoning sound from nearby interrupted Yang Kai’s train of thought and turning to look, he saw Xiao Xiao motioning him to follow.

Yang Kai nodded lightly and with a flicker chased after him.

Along the way, Yang Kai was mindful of his surroundings, but soon discovered that his caution was unnecessary. Because there was no World Energy aura here, even if there were intact Spirit Arrays in these ruins, they could not activate.

In other words, this ruin was perfectly safe.

Soon after, Xiao Xiao brought Yang Kai to a large storehouse where a massive amount of ore was piled up along with many jade bottles and some other miscellaneous items.

The contents of the jade bottles were obviously pills.

Yang Kai picked up a few jade bottles to investigate but found that all the pills here had lost all their efficacy and crumbled into ashes, so he no longer bothered with them. There were also traces of withered herbs that had also lost their medicinal properties many years ago and become little more than garbage.

There was a large amount of Saint Crystals here as well, but these Saint Crystals had basically lost all their internal energy due to improper preservation. The Saint Crystals devoured by Xiao Xiao were probably the only useful ones left.

Inside this storehouse, the only thing of value that remained was the ore!

Ores were durable, and even if they were not preserved in a special way, their properties would not degrade.

Inside the storehouse, there was still several times more ore than had been consumed by Xiao Xiao, all of which was rare and valuable.

Yang Kai stretched out his hand and collected all the ore into his Space Ring with a wave before bringing Xiao Xiao to continue exploring the area.

A day later, Yang Kai had made a sweep of the entire ruin.

Unfortunately, Yang Kai did not have any more gains, as everything of value was probably stored in that storehouse. Even Space Rings, which he found on some remains, had collapsed due to the lack of World Energy support, destroying everything inside of them.

However, Yang Kai did discover that, in this massive underground space, this ancient ruin was only the tip of the iceberg.

This underground region was like an entire expansive world, its area was extraordinarily vast!

Yang Kai decided to do some exploration.

After leaving the ruins, Yang Kai flew forward for only half a day before he came to a desolate mountain range that was pocketed with countless tunnels that appeared to be mine-shafts.

After arriving here, Xiao Xiao, who had been following Yang Kai the whole time, showed an expression of eagerness, as if he was very interested in the interior of this mountain range.

“Are there more ores in here?” Yang Kai turned his head and asked.

Stone Puppets were particularly sensitive to ore, and the more valuable the ore, the more it stimulated their appetite. Just like how wolves were sensitive to the smell of meat, Stone Puppets had a unique sense for ore!

Hearing Yang Kai questioning, Xiao Xiao nodded quickly.

“Then we should go take a look!” Yang Kai laughed before stretching out his hand, wrapping Xiao Xiao up in his Saint Qi, and rushing into the mountain range.

Soon, Yang Kai’s voice rang out from one of the mines, “An Annihilation Crystal lode!”

Sure enough, there was a mineral lode here, and of the extremely rare Annihilation Crystal!

Annihilation Crystal could not be used to refine artifacts because it naturally repelled World Energy, like fire and water. If it were used to refine artifacts, no one would be able to use them.

However, this ore was still extremely precious.

Because it naturally repelled World Energy, it could be used to arrange certain types of Spirit Arrays! A Spirit Array arranged with Annihilation Crystal could suppress a cultivator’s Saint Qi, meaning that if one were trapped inside, they could only rely on their physical strength to survive, just like on Shadowed Soul Island!

The famous Annihilation Isolation Array required Annihilation Crystal for its Array Core.

Without being able to use Saint Qi or artifact’s, could a cultivator really still be called a cultivator? The residents of Shadowed Soul Island used Shadowed Heaven Pills to temper their bodies so they could survive in that place, but not every cultivator had access to things like Shadowed Heaven Pills, and not every cultivator would focus on Body Tempering.

The Annihilation Isolation Array was a deadly trap for almost all cultivators, even Origin Kings who fell into it would find themselves in great difficulty.

Although this Spirit Array was indeed quite powerful, Annihilation Crystal was extremely rare and difficult to find!

However, there was actually an Annihilation Crystal lode here, and judging from the exposed crystals dotting the mine walls, it was a rich mineral lode!

Mineral lodes could be roughly divided into third categories, rich, ordinary, and poor! Each category had its own standard.

Generally speaking, a mineral lode that had reached the rich grade could be mined at will, making it a resource of extraordinary value as well as one that was extremely rare.

Yang Kai did not expect that he would actually find a rich Annihilation Crystal lode here.

Xiao Xiao had already rushed forward and was swallowing down pieces of ore rapidly, taking a large amount of Annihilation Crystal into his belly.

Yang Kai also did not hesitate, rushing forward and joining in the mining efforts.

Although this place was affected by the Annihilation Crystal ore, making it difficult for Yang Kai to use his Saint Qi, with his intrepid physical strength, his mining speed was only a little slower than Xiao Xiao’s.

In less than a day, Yang Kai had mined at least five hundred pieces of Annihilation Crystal. As for how much had been swallowed by Xiao Xiao, that was impossible to calculate.

Five hundred Annihilation Crystals were enough to set up a Spirit Array covering an entire small Sect. Of course, no Sect would be stupid enough to do this, because if they did, no one would be able to cultivate inside its perimeter anymore.

Without being able to sense World Energy, how was one supposed to cultivate?

Annihilation Crystal was most suited for arranging Spirit Arrays in some special locations, such as Restricted Areas or traps!

Despite Xiao Xiao and Yang Kai’s wanton mining though, this mineral lode did not seem to have decreased in supply at all. Releasing his Divine Sense, Yang Kai could not help but sigh. Him wanting to mine this place fully by himself was simply unrealistic.

He would have to delay his efforts here for several years in order to finish such a project.

After grumbling for a moment, Yang Kai ceased his efforts and recalled Xiao Xiao before diving further into the mountain range to explore.

Another day later, under the guidance of Xiao Xiao’s sharp senses, Yang Kai came to another mountain range and after examining the situation inside of it, Yang Kai could not help calling out in surprise, “Heaven Grasping Jade!”

This place turned out to contain a Heaven Grasping Jade lode, an ore that could nourish one’s Soul!

Heaven Grasping Jade was a very special type of jade that had a deep green colour. Once stimulated with enough Saint Qi or World Energy, this jade released a soft energy that could nourish one’s Soul and strengthen their spiritual energy.

This was a natural process somewhat similar to the effects of Yang Kai’s Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, but it was far less effective.

The Soul Warming Lotus could exist inside a cultivator’s Knowledge Sea and constantly nourished their Soul. The reason Yang Kai’s Soul was so much stronger than average was because it had received the nourishment of the Soul Warming Lotus for so many years.

However, the Soul Warming Lotus was an incredibly rare supreme treasure, so how could it possibly be obtained easily? This was a treasure that even Origin Kings would covet.

Heaven Grasping Jade was different. Even though it was far less effective than the Soul Warming Lotus, that did not make it any less valuable as it was the best material for gently enhancing one’s Soul. Heaven Grasping Jade would appear on the market occasionally, but each time it did there would be a mad scramble to obtain it.

Heaven Grasping Jade was an incredibly valuable cultivation material!

But here, there was a mineral lode of Heaven Grasping Jade.

Judging from the scattered green light, this Heaven Grasping Jade lode wasn’t too rich, but it was also not barren, firmly placing it into the normal mineral lode category.

While Yang Kai was stunned, Xiao Xiao had already begun to devour the nearby Heaven Grasping Jade.

Yang Kai also quickly collected a hundred or so pieces of Heaven Grasping Jade before stopping and bringing Xiao Xiao to continue his exploration.

He faintly felt that this Dead Star he had accidentally landed on was a massive, untapped source of wealth!

Three days later, Yang Kai found a Blue Phoenix Tear Iron lode.

One month later, Yang Kai had discovered a total of eight mineral lodes, with one of them being a Saint Crystal lode!

He did not continue to explore at this point, as after a month he had vaguely understood that this Dead Star was actually once an Ore Star.

Each Cultivation Star had its own World Principles, and these World Principles were all roughly the same, but there were still some subtle differences.

These differences would lead to vastly different materials being produced on that Cultivation Star.

Some stars were better suited to growing herbs, resulting in them being classified as Medicine Stars.

On a Medicine Star, a herb which normally took a hundred years to reach maturity may only take fifty, thirty, or even just ten years to mature.

Other stars naturally formed ores at a higher frequency than average; these stars were known as Ore Stars.

On an Ore Star, there would be a dazzling variety of rare and precious ores in rich quantities.

In the Star Field, the most powerful forces all controlled a certain number of Ore Stars and Medicine Stars. For example, the Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce that Xue Yue belonged to had more than one Ore Star and Medicine Star. It was precisely because of this kind of heritage that Heng Luo Chamber of Commerce was able to do business throughout the entire Star Field and become so famous and powerful.

This Dead Star that Yang Kai stumbled upon was undoubtedly an Ore Star, and judging from the quantity and quality of the mineral lodes he had discovered so far, even amongst Ore Stars, this star was considered superior.

Right now, what needed to be done was to develop this place!

If High Heaven Sect could control this Ore Star, how could it not grow strong in the future?

Yang Kai’s heart pounded slightly faster as he became excited at such prospects.

Without any hesitation, Yang Kai immediately began to set up a Space Array just outside the location of the Saint Crystal lode he was at to connect with the one he had arranged in the mountain valley on the surface.

Because this was not a Cross-Cultivation Star Space Array, Yang Kai only needed about a day to complete it and after standing on it, he inserted enough Saint Crystals to activate it and teleported back to the mountain valley on the surface.

Without delay, Yang Kai took out another batch of Saint Crystals and inserted them into the Cross-Cultivation Star Space Array at his feet, locked onto the light in the distance of The Void that represented Shadowed Star, and activated the array.