Martial Peak
chapter-4734

High Heaven Palace was monopolising the New Great Territory, so the Cave Heavens and Paradises were bound to hold some resentment. Unfortunately, given the existence of the Star Boundary’s World Tree, they could not voice their objections. They wanted to use the feedback from the Star Boundary’s World Tree to nurture the disciples of their respective Sects after all. Be that as it may, an uproar was bound to break out if news of the Profound Yin Bamboo’s existence were to leak out.

“What’s so special about this Small Stone World?” Yang Kai asked again, “Sir Martial Beast mentioned that the situation here is similar to the Star Boundary. Why don’t I detect anything?”

Yue He and Zhou Ya glanced at each other, then Yue He pursed her lips and smiled, “Young Master, why don’t you try refining the World Force of the Small Stone World?”

“Refine the World Force?” He looked surprised to hear those words, but soon a bold guess suddenly formed in his heart, “Don’t tell me, this place…”

Yang Kai closed his eyes while saying so and focused his mind. He then activated his power to refine the World Force belonging to this world.

A short while later, his expression became filled with astonishment. That was because he discovered that the World Force in this world could be refined and absorbed directly. What was even more surprising was that there was no backlash from doing so.

It had to be said that every Universe World had its own unique World Force. That was because their Heavenly Way and World Principles were different, so the World Force would also contain some subtle discrepancies. These subtle discrepancies were the deciding factors as to whether the compatibility between a Universe World and an Open Heaven Realm Master’s Small Universe was high or low.

If an Open Heaven Realm Master wanted to refine the World Force of a Universe World to enhance their heritage, then they had to choose Universe Worlds that were highly compatible with themselves.

Refining the World Force of a Universe World that was incompatible with them would not enhance their heritage. On the contrary, the World Force they absorbed would become an impurity that would damage their foundation. For non-severe cases, they would need to spend some time to remove these impurities. Not only was doing so a waste of time and energy, but they would also have nothing to show for all their efforts. For severe cases, the impurities might even cause their Small Universe to become unstable and their Order to regress.

However, the Small Stone World was obviously different. Yang Kai had only refined a small amount of the World Force, but he could clearly sense that the World Force that he refined just now was extremely compatible with his own Small Universe. There was not the slightest hint of discomfort.

“How is this possible? Is it the same for you?” Yang Kai asked curiously.

Yue He and Zhou Ya nodded in unison.

Yue He then explained, “It’s because the Small Stone World has such a unique cultivation environment that we come here to cultivate whenever we have the time. As for why this World is like this, we have been unable to figure out the reason yet.”

Yang Kai suddenly recalled Hei He’s reluctance to leave earlier. He now understood the reason for Hei He’s reaction. The Small Stone World was an excellent cultivation paradise. Refining the Small Stone World’s World Force for one’s own use was much faster than refining various cultivation resources or consuming Open Heaven Pills. It was no wonder that Hei He wished to remain here to cultivate and increase his strength. Unfortunately, he had to return to the Star Boundary for his duties and could not stay here for long.

It was just as Mo Huang had mentioned before, the situation in the Small Stone World was similar to the Star Boundary!

Nevertheless, the limitations in the Star Boundary were certainly greater when comparing the two. That was because only the Great Emperors who were born in the Star Boundary and received the acknowledgement of the Star Boundary’s Will could absorb the Star Boundary’s World Force without any reservations to enhance their Small Universe’s heritage. Other people did not get to enjoy this privilege.

In comparison, the Small Stone World was open to all. Anybody could cultivate here without any worries.

Although the Small Stone World had its advantages, it also had its disadvantages.

When Yang Kai compared these two Universe Worlds, he could clearly sense that the World Force in the Small Stone World was not nearly as abundant as the Star Boundary. That was only to be expected though as the Star Boundary had the World Tree providing nourishment to it at all times. It was only natural that the Small Stone World could not compare in this regard.

Be that as it may, both Universe Worlds had their respective advantages and disadvantages.

Yang Kai was overjoyed, but also a little worried, “How long have you been cultivating here? Has the World Force in this world changed in any way?”

Logically speaking, the World Force of a Universe World was not inexhaustible. The Star Boundary was an exception to this rule thanks to its unique circumstances, but while the Small Stone World’s World Force might be amazing, there was a high possibility that the heritage of this World would be lost and it would be exhausted if the Open Heaven Realm Masters were to cultivate here over a long period. If that were to happen, this place would become a dead World.

The foolish act of killing a chicken for its eggs was naturally something Yang Kai wanted to prevent.

“This place was discovered 40 years ago,” Yue He replied, “We soon realised that this place was a little different from other Universe Worlds. As an experiment, we had eight Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters cultivating here together. If I really have to say, the Small Stone World’s World Force has indeed gotten a little weaker compared to 40 years ago, which was why we decided 20 years ago that only two Sixth-Order Masters can cultivate here at the same time. There have been no changes to the situation in the Small Stone World over the past 20 years since we implemented such a system.”

Yang Kai nodded at her response, “In other words, the World Force created by the Small Stone World itself is enough to support the continuous cultivation of at least two Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters without decreasing. What about three people? Have you experimented before?”

Yue He nodded, “We experimented with three and four people. We did not detect anything with three people, but we noticed a slight reduction in the Small Stone World’s heritage with four people. To be on the safe side, we decided that we would only have two people per group, taking turns to rest and cultivate here.”

Yang Kai rubbed his chin with a pensive look, “The production of a Universe World’s World Force is mainly driven by the proliferation of the living beings within. The more prosperous these lives are, the more intense the World Force. The reason why the Small Stone World is so unique must be related to the living beings of this world.” Abruptly looking up, he asked, “Are there any special living beings in this world?”

Yue He nodded, “En. Please follow me, Young Master.”

She turned to lead the way while saying so, and Yang Kai followed behind her. They headed towards the foot of the Spirit Peak, and when they reached the base of the mountain, Yue He pointed in a certain direction, “Look there, Young Master.”

Yang Kai looked in that direction only to see a cave entrance that was as tall as a person at the bottom of the mountain. There were obvious signs of excavation around the cave; nevertheless, what surprised him was not the cave but the situation at the cave entrance. There was a bunch of strange-looking creatures going in and out of the cave-like ants

These living creatures looked like the Stone Spirit Clan that Xiao Xiao belonged to at a glance. Their entire body seemed to be made from rocks, but they were smaller and more delicate than Xiao Xiao. Every one of them was only around fifteen centimetres tall.

Not only had Yang Kai never seen this Race before, but he had never even heard about such a Race. It could be certain that there was no such living creature in the 3,000 Worlds, but they were right there in front of him. Under his Divine Sense’s perception, Yang Kai could be certain that these little ones were living creatures indeed. Each of them had their own distinctive aura.

“We call these little ones the Small Stone Race. That’s where the Small Stone World’s name came from.” Yue He explained from the side.

“What are they doing?” Yang Kai asked curiously.

In his field of vision, these fifteen-centimetre tall Small Stone Race clansmen stood with their arms raised, holding rocks of varying sizes above their heads. Seeming to come from various directions, they lined up neatly in a long queue to carry the stones into the cave. There were also some Small Stone Race clansmen walking out of the cave in a line. They were walking in the opposite direction, heading outward. It was obvious they were going to transport rocks again.

Strangely enough, those rocks were the most ordinary ores with no cultivation value. They were not cultivation resources either. The rocks came in varying shapes and sizes, with the largest ones almost as big as a woven basket. Even so, the Small Stone Race clansmen carried them with ease.

“They seem to feed on these ores,” Yue He beckoned to Yang Kai and strode towards the cave.

“Won’t we disturb them?” He asked worriedly.

To which Yue He pursed her lips into a smile, “We won’t. Don’t be fooled by their small size. They are very brave.”

During their conversation, they had already arrived at the cave entrance. It might be that the two of them were blocking the path of these Small Stone Race clansmen, so the Small Stone Race clansman nearest to Yang Kai held up a rock and glared at him. A strange shouting noise came from his mouth.

Yang Kai’s expression was strange, “Is this guy… angry?”

Yue He covered her mouth and giggled, “I’m afraid he is more than just angry…”

Before she could finish her sentence, the Small Stone Race clansman let out a shout and smashed the rock down hard. The rock hit Yang Kai on the toe.

Yang Kai quickly shifted sideways to let the Small Stone Race clansman pass. Only then did the Small Stone Race clansman pick up his rock again and march into the cave triumphantly as though he was a General who had won a war.

“They are quite hot-tempered indeed!” Yang Kai nodded. All of a sudden, he noticed a commotion at his ankle. He looked down to see a Small Stone Race clansman that wanted to exit the cave pushing hard against him. He quickly stepped to the other side, trying to stick to the wall so as not to block their path again.

These little ones didn’t seem to pay much attention to the two tall and large Humans in front of them; it was not a problem as long as these two did not block their way.

“Young Master, have you ever seen an ant’s nest?” Yue He asked from where she stood pressed against the other side of the wall.

“I’ve never seen one, but I’ve heard of them.”

She nodded and continued, “The nest of the Small Stone Race is very similar to an ant’s nest. An ant’s nest consists of the Queen, the soldier ants, and the worker ants. Similarly, there is a clear hierarchical structure in the nest of the Small Stone Race.”

“Let’s go inside and have a look,” Yang Kai said.

Before the two of them could continue further inside, Yang Kai detected another series of movements. The ground was trembling slightly, as though many things were rushing in this direction from somewhere.

The Small Stone Race clansmen who were transporting the rocks also seemed to have noticed something. At this moment, they retreated into the interior of the cave in an orderly manner. It didn’t take long for all of them to vanish out of sight.

A short while later, in the direction where the strange noises had been coming from, a large swarm of menacing Small Stone Race clansmen suddenly appeared in Yang Kai’s field of vision!

What surprised him was that the Small Stone Race clansmen who just appeared were distinctly different from the Small Stone Race clansmen earlier. The Small Stone Race clansmen from earlier were only fifteen centimetres tall and the colour of their body surface was relatively dull.

On the other hand, the Small Stone Race clansmen who just appeared were approximately thirty centimetres tall. The rocky surface of their body was noticeably brighter and shinier. Even the edges and corners were more distinct! More importantly, they had a mouthful of sharp teeth that resembled the serrated fangs of a shark. Their fangs gleamed with a cold light.

“Young Master, what we saw earlier were the equivalent of worker ants. The ones that just appeared can be considered soldier ants!” Yue He explained.

“Are they… having a war?” Yang Kai tutted in amazement.

While he was speaking, a strange sound also reverberated from within the cave. The Small Stone Race clansmen inside the cave had also dispatched their soldiers who were in charge of the battle.