Not long after walking, a huge mountain gorge that seemed to span the entire world appeared before him. A gust of wind blew in his face, nearly flipping Yang Kai over.
Yang Kai came to his senses and looked up, immediately stunned.
How could it be here? This gorge before him, over a thousand zhang wide, almost bottomless in depth, and of immeasurable length, was precisely the most dangerous and mysterious place of Lingxiao Pavilion—Kunlong Gorge!
The very existence of this gorge was strange. The place where Lingxiao Pavilion was built was not on a mountain range, but on a flat plain. This gorge was less a ravine and more like a crack in the earth, only this crack was far too large.
Kunlong Gorge—Lingxiao Pavilion's non-restricted forbidden ground! It was extremely dangerous; fierce winds howled, and a single misstep could send one falling down. Once you fell, there was absolutely no chance of survival.
Kunlong Gorge was also where Lingxiao Pavilion exiled rebellious disciples and traitors. Over the past few hundred years, whenever someone in Lingxiao Pavilion committed an unforgivable crime, their cultivation would be crippled and they would be exiled into Kunlong Gorge.
Yang Kai couldn't understand this. If they were truly that heinous, why not just kill them outright? Why choose exile? Crippling their cultivation and throwing them down here was as good as dead anyway.
Of course, aside from being a place to exile traitors, Kunlong Gorge was also the preferred spot for many love-struck individuals to commit suicide for love.
Many such stories circulated within Lingxiao Pavilion, mostly about tragic yet heroic tales—after their lover died, they couldn't bear to live on alone, and leaped from Kunlong Gorge in a touching act of devotion.
Among the male disciples of Lingxiao Pavilion, almost every one of them kept one or two such stories in mind to use when the time was right to pick up girls. As long as they could move the beauty to tears and make her look like a rain-beaten pear blossom, then the male disciple would just show off his broad chest and warm arms—it absolutely never failed and was a sure win.
These touching tales had helped bring about countless romantic trysts. They were truly beloved in the hearts of the male disciples of Lingxiao Pavilion!
The information about Kunlong Gorge flashed through Yang Kai's mind. He slowly stepped forward a few paces and glanced at the bottomless gorge, filled with doubt.
How could there be Yang Qi inside here? And it was different from what he had just sensed. Down below there wasn't just a dense amount of Yang Qi, but at this moment, that Yang Qi was continuously emanating upward. Even standing at the edge of the gorge, Yang Kai could feel a trace of warmth in the air.
This warmth was not the power of the sun, yet it was countless times purer than sun power.
After thinking for a moment, Yang Kai simply sat down on the ground. He stopped worrying about the reason and instead focused on absorbing it. When cultivating the True Yang Technique, the more Yang Qi in the environment, the faster the cultivation speed.
Now, his Yuan Qi was scarce and his True Yang Technique operated slowly, but with this Yang Qi to assist him, his cultivation speed should be much faster.
It was near evening, the sun setting behind the western mountains. Although there wasn't much sunlight, Yang Kai still felt that his current cultivation efficiency was indeed much higher than in the previous days.
He went on cultivating like this for an entire night. When dawn came the next day, Yang Kai opened his eyes to check his cultivation results.
With Yang Qi and without, the difference was like night and day. Before, even when cultivating under the sun, it took him three days to produce just a bit of Yuan Qi. But now, he had achieved in one night what used to take three days—the efficiency was astonishing.
The Yuan Qi within his body had also grown stronger. It no longer resembled a candle flickering in the wind like a few days ago.
Moreover, as the Yuan Qi grew, Yang Kai found it much easier to control than before.
It was a new day. Yang Kai didn't continue cultivating the True Yang Technique. Instead, he stood up and practiced the Tempering Body Chapter for half an hour.
By the side of Kunlong Gorge, Yang Kai was sweating profusely, but despite having cultivated all night, he didn't feel the least bit tired. Instead, he was brimming with energy.
After finishing the Tempering Body Chapter, Yang Kai completed his duties as a sweeping apprentice before trotting back.
After all, his Three-Leaf Residual Soul Flowers and Desolate Wood Grasses were mostly used up, and the incense burner was temporarily useless. Of course, the only choice left was to cultivate here.
Originally, Yang Kai wanted to go find Su Mu and the others to have a fight, but oddly enough, since that night, Su Mu and his group seemed to have vanished from Lingxiao Pavilion, nowhere to be seen.
Although Yang Kai had some clashes with them, it wasn't really to the level of a deep grudge. He only bothered with them as a way to have some fun and test his own growth. He also didn't take their night-time ambush seriously.
If it were him being bullied, as long as he had the strength to retaliate, he would probably also find a way to pay them back.
Seating himself again beside Kunlong Gorge, ignoring the wind that could blow a living person away, Yang Kai focused his mind. The little Yuan Qi he had surged through his meridians, flowing over and over, circulating again and again.
The circulation of Yuan Qi seemed to draw forth a mysterious force, causing the pores all over his skin to open wide. The Yang Qi permeating the air, like a cat catching the scent of fish, eagerly drilled into his body.
His whole body felt warm, as if he were taking a hot bath. Yang Kai relaxed completely in comfort.
Two days quickly passed. Yang Kai had reaped a bountiful harvest.
With these two days of cultivation, the Yuan Qi within Yang Kai's body had grown significantly. Moreover, there was now a gentle force of blazing sun within his Yuan Qi.
This was the most obvious characteristic of cultivating the True Yang Technique. Since the Yuan Qi inside was formed by absorbing yang energy, it naturally belonged to the yang attribute.