Martial Peak
chapter-4737

The Small Stone Race was undoubtedly an extremely precious treasure to Yang Kai. Looking at the fearless Small Stone Race again, while incredibly innocent and naïve, they also had a certain glow of wealth about them now.

In order to achieve his goal, Yang Kai would need to migrate enough of the Small Stone Race into his Small Universe; hence, he did not hesitate and acted immediately.

The Small Stone Race had a massive population in the Small Stone World, with many clans of varying sizes scattered across the Universe World. The larger Clans might number from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. In contrast, the smaller Clans might number only a few hundred. The Small Stone Race Clan that he previously brought into his Small Universe could be considered a relatively small Clan.

In the following month, Yang Kai travelled around the Small Stone World and collected numerous Small Stone Race Clans into his Small Universe. The population of the Small Stone Race in his Small Universe had reached nearly 10 million by the time the month was over.

Once he reached this number, Yang Kai finally stopped. It was not that he did not wish to take in even more. If possible, he wanted to collect all of the Small Stone Race in the Small Stone World into his Small Universe; however, if he did that, then the treasured cultivation land that was the Small Stone World would lose its foundation. Such benefits could not be enjoyed by him alone.

What Yang Kai needed to figure out now was how to expand the Small Stone Race’s population. The growth of the various Small Stone Race Clans mainly depended on the reproductive abilities of the Stone King. In this aspect, they were similar to ants.

Yang Kai previously observed a Stone King devouring all kinds of ores and even the broken bodies of their own clansmen in order to gain the energy to reproduce; thus, it could be seen that the Stone Kings were not picky about their food. Even common ore could be eaten, so what else could they eat? What if they were fed with cultivation materials of varying Orders? Would that give the Stone King even greater reproductive abilities?

The Small Stone World probably contained cultivation resources in the past, it was just that all those cultivation resources had been eaten by the Small Stone Race. That was why Yue He and the others could not find anything of value in the Small Stone World. All they found was this strange existence they named the Small Stone Race.

Yang Kai split off a Soul Clone inside his Small Universe and stood inside the nest of the initial Small Stone Race Clan. With a flash of his thoughts, a piece of pale gold ore appeared in his hand. This was a Third-Order Metal Element material that was not that high in value.

He initially wanted to test if the Small Stone Race would be interested in such a material, but how could he have known that all the Small Stone Race clansmen in the nest would react as soon as he took out this item?

Countless Small Stone Race clansmen seemed to smell something in the air, and all of them turned their gazes in his direction. Even the Elite Guards patrolling around the Stone King stopped and looked his way. Meanwhile, the fat and bloated Stone King, who basically had no strength to move on his own, gave a strange cry that sounded extremely urgent.

Yang Kai couldn’t help raising his brow at the sight. Nevertheless, this situation proved that his conjecture was correct.

In the next moment, a dense wave of Small Stone Race clansmen poured towards him from all directions like the waves of the tide and surrounded him firmly in the blink of an eye.

Yang Kai hurriedly dropped the material in his hand.

Unexpectedly, there was not much of a scramble over the material as one of the Small Stone Race clansmen happened to raise a hand and caught the fist-sized material, which he then quickly rushed over to the Stone King.

A short while later, he arrived in front of the Stone King. Holding out the material in his hand high above his head as though he was offering a treasure, he delivered the material to the Stone King’s mouth. The Stone King took a bite, then following some crunching sounds, he swallowed.

Meanwhile, Yang Kai paid close attention to the changes in the Stone King. The effects were almost instantaneous! The Stone King quickly began trembling after consuming the Third-Order Metal Element material. Just like what Yang Kai had observed previously, he seemed to clench hard with great force and a moment later, a stone egg fell from his posterior that was suspended in mid-air with a light pop.

The Small Stone Race clansman who had been waiting below picked up the stone egg and placed it in the specialised cave.

However, the Stone King’s movements had not stopped. His fat body continued trembling, expanding and contracting in intervals. After a half cup of tea’s time, another stone egg popped out.

This cycle continued non-stop for the next two hours. It wasn’t until he produced nearly 40 stone eggs that he finally stopped.

Yang Kai watched in delight, feeling extremely excited inside. [As I guessed. The cultivation materials of various Orders turned out to be very useful for the reproduction of the Small Stone Race!]

If a mere Third-Order material was enough to stimulate the Stone King to produce some 40 stone eggs, then a Fourth-Order or Fifth-Order material would surely produce even more stone eggs. Therefore, Yang Kai took out a Fourth-Order material followed by a Fifth-Order material to feed to the Stone King.

The results of his experiments showed his conjecture was correct.

After eating the Fourth-Order material the Stone King produced more than 130 stone eggs. On the other hand, he reproduced non-stop for several days to produce more than 500 stone eggs after consuming a Fifth-Order material!

Hence, the reproduction issue of the Small Stone Race could be considered to be resolved. There was no need to worry about expanding the population of the Small Stone Race as long as the Stone King was given enough cultivation resources. Moreover, the increase in the Small Stone Race population would be highly beneficial to both the heritage of Yang Kai’s Small Universe and the Small Stone World.

Be that as it may, Yang Kai discovered something from his experiment. Feeding the Stone King Fourth-Order and Fifth-Order materials was not cost-effective.

When it came to materials of various Orders, the value of materials that were one Order higher was generally ten times the value of materials that were one Order lower. In comparison, the number of stone eggs produced by the Stone King after eating Third-Order, Fourth-Order, and Fifth-Order materials was far less than 10 times the difference.

When the Stone King consumed a Third-Order material, he had produced some 40 stone eggs. Conversely, with a Fourth-Order material he had produced slightly over 130 stone eggs, whereas with a Fifth-Order material, he had produced slightly over 500 stone eggs…

There was only a three to four-times difference between these results, which was vastly inconsistent with the difference between the value of the materials themselves.

By comparison, feeding the Stone King with Third-Order materials was the most cost-effective by far. That was because cost performance was higher and Third-Order materials were generally more abundant. Void Land itself had a huge demand for Fourth-Order and Fifth-Order materials. Whether it was for the disciples’ cultivation or advancement, these materials would all come into play.

Yang Kai did not have any First-Order or Second-Order materials in his possession, so he could not experiment with them. Nonetheless, judging by the Stone King’s appetite that never turned down anything, First-Order and Second-Order materials would definitely be useful too.

He collected almost 1,000 Small Stone Race Clans into his Small Universe one month ago, and seeing as each Clan had its own Stone King, there were over 1,000 Stone Kings in his Small Universe. If he wanted to nurture the Clans and expand their population through reproduction, then he would surely need large amounts of cultivation resources. Not to mention, the Small Stone Race in the Small Stone World also had to be nurtured.

Fortunately, High Heaven Palace and Void Land had large businesses and abundant resources, so what was this price compared to the benefits that could be gained in the future?

Besides, the Stone Kings were not picky towards cultivation resources. First-Order, Second-Order, and Third-Order materials could all be used. More importantly, materials below the Third Order were of little significance to Open Heaven Realm Masters. Yang Kai had originally thought of sending these materials to Great Evolution Paradise and tossing them all into the Good Fortune Divine Furnace to see if he could get materials of higher Order, but in contrast, it would now seem that using them to feed the Stone Kings was a much better choice. Tossing these materials into the Good Fortune Divine Furnace might not yield any profit in return, but feeding the Stone Kings would surely result in even more of the Small Stone Race.

Thankfully, Yang Kai had many materials already in his possession, so with a flash of his thoughts, he divided all the Third-Order materials among the 1,000 Stone Kings and placed these resources in their respective nests. Only then did he withdraw his Soul Clone.

Inside the bamboo building, Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes. Yue He and Zhou Ya were meditating and cultivating beside him.

He woke them both and said, “I’ve figured out the situation in the Small Stone World.”

The two women immediately looked at him in curiosity, so he explained his experiments and speculations to them. After listening to Yang Kai’s explanation, they revealed looks of understanding.

They had guessed that the unique cultivation environment of the Small Stone World was closely related to the Small Stone Race, but since there were no Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Void Land, they had no means of collecting the Small Stone Race into their Small Universe for observation and could not confirm their hypothesis.

Yang Kai’s words undoubtedly confirmed their previous speculations, and it was only at this moment that they finally understood the reason why the Small Stone World was so special. It was all because of the existence of the Small Stone Race.

“We need to expand the population of the Small Stone Race. In order to control their population, they even go so far as to wage war with each other to reduce their numbers. That indicates that they instinctively realise that the materials in this world would not support them for much longer. They have no means of leaving the Small Stone World to search for resources, but it would be different if we helped,” Yang Kai said a little excitedly, “I’ve already done some experiments. A Stone King births dozens of stone eggs after consuming a Third-Order material and over 100 stone eggs after consuming a Fourth-Order material. As long as the resources are in sufficient supply, it will not be a problem to help them expand their population.

“Once the Small Stone Race population in this world increases to a certain level, the World Force will also become more abundant. When that happens, this World will be able to support more than two Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters cultivating at the same time. It might even be possible for 10 or more Masters to cultivate here at the same time. This place will become a veritable cultivation paradise where any Open Heaven Realm Master can quickly improve their cultivation.

“Also, the benefits brought about by the Small Stone Race become even greater if we collect them and raise them in our Small Universe! Compared to raising the same number of other living creatures, they bring about ten times more benefit to the Small Universe!”

Both Yue He and Zhou Ya knew that Yang Kai’s Small Universe had fully materialized, so their beautiful eyes immediately brightened upon hearing those words.

Zhou Ya said, “We previously discovered one of the Twelve Minor Pillars, the Profound Yin Bamboo, in the New Great Territory, and now, we have the Small Stone Race. They are simply a perfect match!”

Similarly, Yue He nodded, “With the Profound Yin Bamboo supporting our Small Universes, they will become more stable. If we were to raise some Small Stone Race in our Small Universes on top of that, our heritage would increase steadily even without spending time to cultivate!”

The two women exchanged a glance with each other and could almost imagine the scene in the not-too-distant future where all the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Void Land and High Heaven Palace placed these two treasures in their Small Universes.

More importantly, both the Profound Yin Bamboo and the Small Stone Race could be cultivated, so as long as these resources were managed carefully, they could be said to be inexhaustible. With the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Void Land and High Heaven Palace enjoying such advantages, how could there be any worries for the future?

“That’s why you need to work harder and advance into the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm as soon as possible.” Yang Kai laughed, “But, the top priority at the moment is to obtain some supplies from High Heaven Palace.”

Yang Kai thus turned to look at Yue He, “Yue He, go and pay a visit to the Head Manager. Gather all the materials in the Third Order and below that are not being used by High Heaven Palace at the moment and bring them here.”