Chapter 1261, Retreat Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain However, perhaps because it had absorbed a drop of his Golden Blood, these Blood Sword Grasses showed no hostility towards Yang Kai. Even if Yang Kai passed through them, they didn’t react at all. But except for Yang Kai, any living creature that entered this field would instantly be assailed and their bodies sliced apart. The sharp golden blades of grass seemed to give off a cold light that made any who saw it shudder. After this unexpected development, Yang Yan adjusted her attitude and immediately arranged a Spirit Array around the Blood Sword Grass region, preparing to turn it into a Restricted Area and even using these Blood Sword Grasses to create a huge trap. With such a field of Blood Sword Grass, even if an Origin Returning Realm master that broke into it did not die, they would surely be severely injured. Three days after Yang Kai returned, Shadow Moon Hall’s Qian Tong personally brought Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er to Dragon Cave Mountain to confirm that Yang Kai had really returned safely. Qian Tong also learned from Wei Gu Chang that in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, Yang Kai had saved his and Dong Xuan’er’s lives, so now, regardless of any other intentions he had towards Yang Kai, just this grace was enough for Qian Tong to be genuinely grateful towards him. Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er were the most talented disciples of Shadow Moon Hall’s younger generation; if the two of them had fallen in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, the loss would have been immeasurable. No one asked why Yang Kai only returned so long after the Flowing Flame Sand Field had closed, all of them just vaguely guessing that Yang Kai had run into some other kind of opportunity. In this way, Qian Tong was even more optimistic about Yang Kai and his attitude became friendlier. On top of that, Dragon Cave Mountain and Shadow Moon Hall were cooperating closely now. Yang Yan and the others had continued to purchase a massive amount of materials from Shadow Moon Hall, allowing Shadow Moon Hall to gain a hefty profit. So, for various reasons, Qian Tong now regarded Dragon Cave Mountain as a partner and ally. As they chatted, Yang Kai learned from Qian Tong that about the gains and losses the major forces on Shadowed Star had after the opening of the Flowing Flame Field. More than ten thousand cultivators had originally entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field, but less than seventy percent of them had returned safely. The various forces losing thirty to forty percent of their elite disciples was nothing less than tragic. Although this kind of loss saddened every force greatly, the harvests brought back by their surviving disciples were enough to make up for the loss. Almost everyone had some gains, and this was especially true of those Sects’ disciples who managed to obtain a piece of the Red Candle Fruit and all of them received rich rewards from their respective Sects. The appearance of the Red Candle Fruit set out a great storm on Shadowed Star. Several Alchemy Grandmasters from Medicine Pill Sect had frequently run out to visit the various forces which had obtained pieces of this Heaven defying spirit fruit, offering vast amounts of money and even free pill refinements to acquire these Red Candle Fruit pieces. But no one felt relieved handing over this incredible treasure to another, even if the other party were Medicine Pill Sect, so after running about for half a year, the Alchemy Grandmasters of Medicine Pill Sect could only return in defeat. This was probably the first time that the major forces on Shadowed Star had refused to give face to the Medicine Pill Sect and this incident caused quite a bit of disturbance for half a year. There were even several traitors in Shadow Moon Hall who attempted to steal the Red Candle Fruit piece, all of whom were exposed and executed. The situation in the other Sects which obtained a piece of the Red Candle Fruit was roughly the same, but after half a year, these disturbances gradually subsided. As for how the major Sects decided to deal with those Red Candle Fruit pieces, no one knew. After talking about this, Yang Kai took the opportunity to ask Qian Tong a lot of questions about the Saint King Realm and how one should cultivate. Qian Tong did not conceal anything and freely shared his cultivation experience with Yang Kai as Wei Gu Chang, Dong Xuan’er, and many of the others listened attentively nearby. Half a day later, Qian Tong and his party left. Before leaving, Wei Gu Chang and Dong Xuan’er told Yang Kai that after they returned to the Sect, they would enter retreat to break through to the Origin Returning Realm. Both had experienced growth in the Flowing Flame Sand Field, so now was the best time for them to attempt a breakthrough. Yang Kai knew in his heart that if they were not waiting for news of his safe return, they would have entered retreat long ago and it was only because of their concern for his wellbeing that they had actually missed their best opportunity to break through. However, despite being aware of the truth, Yang Kai did not bring it up. Before Dong Xuan’er left, she suddenly wore a mysterious smile, leaned over to Yang Kai, and whispered, “Senior Brother Yang, Big Sister Dai Yuan repeatedly sent messages to me over the past six months asking about your situation. Unfortunately, you had not shown up all this time so I could not give her any exact news. Now that you have returned safely though, I’m sure Big Sister Dai Yuan will feel more at ease.” “Dai Yuan...” Yang Kai froze for a moment as an extremely ugly face flashed across his thoughts, his expression suddenly becoming weird. Why would she be so concerned about him? Although the time they had spent together was not long, Yang Kai could feel that with Dai Yuan’s personality, it would be impossible for her to care so much about his wellbeing for no reason. Moreover, when they separated in the fourth layer, Dai Yuan seemed to want to say something to him but had stopped herself, piquing Yang Kai’s interest. She had also said at that time that she would come to say her thanks personally, and now it seemed she was not just speaking politely. While Yang Kai was contemplating this issue, Wei Gu Chang could not help chuckling, apparently misunderstanding what was going on and what had happened between Yang Kai and Dai Yuan in the Flowing Flame Sand Field Yang Kai did not bother trying to explain. Forget about the fact that there was really nothing between him and Dai Yuan, even if Dai Yuan was an incredibly beautiful woman, Yang Kai wouldn’t have been moved by her. He had seen many beauties in his life, and since entering the Star Field, only two had always been on his mind, so he didn’t have any thoughts about womanizing. Dong Xuan’er suddenly bit her lip and whispered softly, “Actually, Big Sister Dai Yuan isn’t what she seems!” After leaving this perfectly unclear statement behind, Dong Xuan’er hurriedly caught up with Wei Gu Chang who had gone on ahead. Only Yang Kai remained standing there, having no clue what Dong Xuan’er wanted to say. After not being able to figure anything out for a while, Yang Kai simply shook his head wryly and returned to his cave mansion. Over the next month, Yang Kai refined a large number of pills before calling Yang Yan and Wu Yi over and informing them that he would be entering retreat for a period of time and if it wasn’t something serious, not to disturb him. All other matters regarding Dragon Cave Mountain would be up to them to decide. As for the pills he had refined, Yang Kai naturally handed them over to the pair to let them distribute. There were a massive number of pills and many of them were designed to assist with cultivation. With these pills to assist them, everyone in Dragon Cave Mountain should be able to quickly increase their strength. Yang Yan and Wu Yi quickly nodded. Immediately after they left, Yang Kai entered his stone room and went into secluded retreat. He had too many things to do, such as seeing if the Flowing Flame Flying Fires could enhance the power of his Conflagrated Knowledge Sea, refining the Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead, studying the Demon Blood Thread technique, and consolidating his newly promoted Second-Order Saint King cultivation. Each of these tasks was time-consuming and not something that could be accomplished in just a day or two. However, in order to refine the Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead, Yang Kai first had to fully refine the Artifact Refining Furnace. Yang Yan is right, one had to sharpen their tools before going to work. Yang Kai had to thoroughly refine the Origin King Grade Artifact Refining Furnace first, in order to save himself a great deal of time in refining the Dragon Bone and Dragon Bead. Moreover, this Artifact Refining Furnace had an Artifact Spirit, so it could also be used as an offensive artifact. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚 After carefully sorting out the things he needed to do, Yang Kai got to work. The first thing he did was to refine the Artifact Refining Furnace. Although in the Earth Lung Fire Pond, he had subdued the Artifact Spirit, doing so and refining the Artifact Refining Furnace were two different things and could not be confused. However, conquering the Artifact Spirit would help him refine the Artifact Refining Furnace more efficiently. Taking out the Artifact Refining Furnace and placing it in front of himself, Yang Kai closed his eyes and poured his Saint Qi into it, covering the furnace in his Demonic Flame, allowing his aura to soak into it. Time passed by slowly, but cultivation knew no years, and in a flash, six months had gone by. Yang Kai had not once left his stone room since he entered this retreat, and no one knew what he was doing inside. Even Chang Qi and Hao An, who both successfully broke through to the Origin Realm inside the cave mansion, did not see Yang Kai when they emerged. The two of them had taken an Origin Condensing Pill each, and with the assistance of the Ten Thousand Year Incense and Nine Branch Jade Crystal Tree, they broke through without any difficulties, emerging from their respective stone rooms only half a month after they entered. After their breakthrough to the Origin Returning Realm, Shadow Moon Hall actually sent over some information about the Origin Returning Realm to help them cultivate, causing Chang Qi and Hao An to become overjoyed. Both had originally belonged to a small family force and obviously didn’t have access to such valuable materials, but taking Yang Kai’s face into consideration, Qian Tong had actually taken the initiative to assist them. Naturally, the two of them were extremely grateful and soon returned to their own houses to enter retreat and study the mysteries of Shi that only Origin Returning Realm cultivators could comprehend. After half a year, everything in Dragon Cave Mountain remained in good order with Wu Yi handling most of the administrative tasks such as the relationship with Shadow Moon Hall while Yang Yan remained in charge of arranging the various Spirit Arrays and barriers that protected Dragon Cave Mountain, improving its defence once again. As for the cultivators originally from the Hai Ke Family, all of them were immersing themselves in their own cultivation. If not for Yang Yan needed to continuously perform Artifact Refining and arranging Spirit Arrays to unlock the knowledge in her mind, with Dragon Cave Mountain’s current state, there was not really any need for anyone to do anything other than cultivate. Over the past six months, Yang Kai had also completely consolidated his cultivation. After refining two drops of Profound Yin Sunflower Water, his realm has risen to the peak of the Second-Order Saint King Realm and now that his foundation was stabilized, as long as he could prepare appropriately, he could attempt to break through to the Third-Order Saint King Realm. The Artifact Refining Furnace had also been completely refined by him. After refining the Artifact Refining Furnace, the Firebird Artifact Spirit could even freely enter and exit Yang Kai’s body and no longer need to perch on his shoulder as it had before. This little thing and the Stone Puppet seemed to have an inborn dislike of one another and every time they met they would get into a fight. For the first time, Yang Kai understood that the Stone Puppet’s combat effectiveness was not to be underestimated. Its natural armour was not afraid of the Artifact Spirit’s intense flames and though it looked lumbering and awkward, once it began fighting, its speed was actually quite astonishing. If not for the Artifact Spirit being able to fly, the Stone Puppet would not have been any less nimble. Regardless of this though, every battle the Stone Puppet and Artifact Spirit fought ended with a tie, neither one able to defeat the other.