MARTIAL ADVERSITY, VOLUME 8 - Season 12 Episode 16

Yang Kai waited outside for a while, thinking about how to resolve the embarrassment between him and Yang Yan.

He was a man, being thick-skinned wasn’t a problem, and honestly, he didn’t mind about what just happened, he could simply laugh it off and move on, but Yang Yan was different. She looked like a woman with very little worldly experience and may never have been so close to a man before.

She was the complete opposite of Xue Yue, who could be completely naked in front of him and remain calm and composed, even having the frame of mind to negotiate and plot against him.

What if because of this matter, Yang Yan was too embarrassed to speak with him again, or worse, became angry out of shame and fled?

Losing some materials or treasures wouldn’t faze Yang Kai, but losing Yang Yan was absolutely unacceptable, she was an invaluable talent. It had not been long since Yang Kai came to Shadowed Star, and he didn’t know many people, if he really wanted to use this place as a springboard to spread his name throughout the Star Field, it wouldn’t be enough to use strength alone. He needed to assemble a great force around himself and superb talents would be required for that.

Should he make an apology with some honeyed words? Yang Kai hesitated; Yang Yan was quite innocent, and he felt that a few sweet words would relax her mood significantly, but Yang Kai was worried she would subsequently misunderstand his intentions, which would only end up hurting her in the end.

[Ah! This is so frustrating!] Yang Kai scratched his head and grumbled.

As he struggled with himself, Yang Yan, wearing her usual black robe after having washed her body, suddenly ran out of the cave and flew straight over towards him.

“Yang Kai, Yang Kai… come with me!” Yang Yan’s face showed a seemingly eager and excited expression as she rushed over to Yang Kai, grabbed his hand, and tried to drag him back to the cave.

“What happened?” Yang Kai suddenly couldn’t keep up with the situation. He hadn’t expected Yang Yan wouldn’t even bother with the awkward situation just now and instead seek him out on her own. He had been prepared for Yang Yan to hide in the cave for a few days without seeing him.

“I think I’ve found something, important, come see quickly,” She didn’t explain clearly and simply kept pulling Yang Kai towards the cave, soon arriving at the position where the two had been just now and pointed to the small hole in the ground, asking, “What did you see appear here a moment ago? Did you see clearly what it was that popped up and startled me?”

Seeing her shining eyes as she stared towards the small hole, even releasing her Divine Sense constantly to examine it, a thought occurred to Yang Kai, “Do you know what it was?”

If Yang Yan didn’t know, she wouldn’t have shown such a big reaction.

“I may know what it is!” Yang Yan nodded, “But it may not be what I think it is. Can you trace the position of that creature through this small hole? If we catch it, I can study it properly.”

“What do you think it is?” Yang Kai hurriedly asked.

Yang Yan shook her head, her pretty brow furrowing slightly, “Before I’m certain, I wouldn’t dare make any claims. I only caught a glimpse of it, but after thinking about it carefully, it really did seem quite similar to what I have in mind. Can you trace it?”

“There’s no need for that.”

“There is!” Yang Yan misunderstood Yang Kai and instantly grabbed his arm, shaking it while begging “Help me track it, I’m really curious about it! If you can help me track it down, I… I…” Yang Yan stuttered as her face became red again, seemingly remembering something, gritting her teeth and declaring, “I won’t hold you responsible for the matter just now!”

“I’m not responsible for what happened just now,” Yang Kai said flatly, thinking that women really were unreasonable creatures.

Yang Yan pouted miserably. Although she knew that Yang Kai really wasn’t responsible for what happened just now, and that it was clearly she who leapt into his arms and pressed herself against him, in the end, he was the one who had gained all the benefits, so she couldn’t help feeling she was the one who had been wronged.

“Just help me this once, I’ve done so much Artifact Refining for you already…” Yang Yan could only continue to plead.

“There’s really no need to trace it,” Yang Kai shook his head, “I’ll just call it over.”

“Call… Call it over?” Yang Yan froze up and looked at Yang Kai in a stunned manner, not quite understanding what he meant.

However, a moment later, a burrowing sound came from beneath the ground again. Either Yang Yan’s bravery had grown several times, or she was simply looking forward to it that much, but this time she no longer panicked and instead stared towards the spot where the sound was coming from.

A small hole suddenly appeared on the ground, and the square grey head carefully popped out of it.

Seeing it clearly this time, Yang Yan’s expression was even more excited, her breathing becoming rapid.

The little Stone Man seemed to be a bit scared of Yang Yan who had slapped him just now. Although its intelligence was quite low and it basically just followed its instincts, he could still remember who had hit him.

As soon as he saw this face in front of him, the little Stone Man immediately climbed out of the hole, its actions a bit uncoordinated, and quickly ran over to Yang Kai’s feet before climbing up his clothes.

Yang Yan stared dumbfounded at this, her gaze fixed on the little Stone Man as it climbed all the way up to Yang Kai’s shoulder and hid behind him. In the next instant, she let out a shout, “Stone Race!”

Yang Kai noticed that her pretty face was now quite out of shape, seemingly too excited to maintain any semblance of composure.

After screaming once, Yang Yan seemed to realize that she wasn’t behaving appropriately and immediately covered her mouth, releasing her Divine Sense again to carefully examine the little Stone Man.

“Stone Race?” Yang Kai frowned, taking the little guy off his shoulder and placing it on his palm while asking, “Do you recognize it?”

Yang Yan looked up at Yang Kai and nodded rapidly, suddenly realizing something and asking, “Is this Stone Race yours?”

If it wasn’t Yang Kai’s, how could he have caught it so easily? Why would it take orders to come over to him? Suddenly, Yang Yan felt a little dizzy, thinking she had once again underestimated Yang Kai’s heritage. He had so many precious materials and so many high-grade artefacts. He could easily kill Saint Kings while only being a Saint, and now he even possessed a Stone Race, a Heaven defying existence. Just what kind of a freak was he?

Also, why hadn’t she seen this Stone Race before?

“It’s mine. Now, tell me, what is this Stone Race?” Yang Kai asked with interested. He had been studying the secrets of the little Stone Man these days, but it seemed that rather than doing that, he should have just asked Yang Yan.

“Can you let me take a closer look? I’m still not quite sure!” Yang Yan stared at the little Stone Man expectantly.

Yang Kai nodded and tossed it over; he trusted Yang Yan’s character, and he also was depending on her to explain everything to him.

Yang Yan caught the little Stone Man with both hands and shot Yang Kai a vicious glare, seemingly blaming him for being so rough.

Quickly replacing her scowl with a gentle expression, Yang Yan held the small Stone Man in front of herself and examined him closely.

Facing this woman who had inexplicably slapped him earlier, the small Stone Man seemed a bit afraid and stood up several times wanting to return to Yang Kai’s side. Yang Kai eventually ordered him to stay put.

“It’s a Blood Essence Stone. It’s real! It’s really a Stone Race. Heavens! Didn’t this race go extinct already? Who could have imagined there were actually survivors left in this world?!” Yang Yan observed for a while before excitedly talking to herself, holding on tight to the little Stone Man, seemingly unwilling to let go.

Yang Kai’s face turned black and he quickly snatched it back from her.

“I haven’t observed it enough, let me see it again!” Yang Yan no longer cared about the embarrassing situation which had happened just moments ago between her and Yang Kai, all her thoughts now focused on this little fellow, as if he held some kind of extremely strong appeal to her.

“Since you recognize it, explain its origins to me clearly. After you’ve explained, you can do whatever research on it you want,” Yang Kai stated, still waiting for her to give him an answer.

“It’s yours, but you don’t even know what it is?” Yang Yan looked at Yang Kai in surprise.

“Why should I know about it?” Yang Kai looked at her lightly.

Yang Yan’s lips twitched, not sure if she wanted to laugh or cry, gritting her teeth for a long time before muttering, “The Heavens are unfair, why did they give this little thing to him instead of me?”

After a period of indignation, she finally began explaining, “It is a Stone Race!”

“I’ve heard you say that already, but what is the Stone Race?”

“En,” Yang Yan nodded angrily, “It’s also called a Stone Puppet. Since you own it, you should already know that its thoughts are very simple, right? It can be said that it has almost no sentience and its actions depend entirely on its own instincts and the orders of the one who has subdued it. So even if it is a kind of living creature belonging to its own race, it can still be thought of like a puppet!”

Yang Kai gently nodded, already knowing what Yang Yan was saying was correct as they corresponded perfectly with the observations he had made over the past few days.

“They are born only under very special conditions. Their initial form is a small black sphere that emits not trace of vitality, but as long as it is allowed to absorb enough mineral essence, it can slowly mature. En, you can think of it as a slightly different kind of egg.”

“In order to hatch this egg though, you need a special treasure, a Blood Essence Stone! Blood Essence Stones are the hearts of the Stone Race. Without a Blood Essence Stone, no matter how much mineral essence a Stone Race absorbs, it cannot truly come to life. This red stone on this little fellow’s chest is a Blood Essence Stone, so there’s no doubt it is a genuine Stone Race!”

Sure enough, just like Yang Kai had guessed, the Blood Essence Stone was acting at this little guy’s heart!

“The Stone Race is very few in number, but the role they can play is unimaginable. Long ago, as long as a Stone Race appeared, it would cause countless people to chase after it, wanting to obtain it and make it their exclusive Stone Puppet!”

“What kind of use does it have?” Yang Kai asked quickly.

Yang Yan laughed, “They grow by absorbing mineral essences, so they are extremely sensitive to rare minerals. As long as there is any kind of good mine nearby, they will discover it immediately. Is this use good enough? With a Stone Puppet, you can uncover an unlimited number of mineral lodes, even ones Origin Kings are unable to find.”

Yang Kai’s eyes brightened as he took a second look at this little fellow. Originally, he had thought it had no use and was rather dim-witted, but now he realized it actually possessed such an astonishing ability.