Since ancient times, man has been easily swayed by money and treasure. If it were just an ordinary treasure, then it may not be so, but this Tai Yi Soul Cleansing Water was extremely precious. The Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary itself was a giant natural treasure trove where nobody had set foot in for a thousand years, but nobody had heard of any Tai Yi Soul Cleansing Water emerging during these recent years.
It was only in the Primordial Land that they would have the opportunity to find it, so it was not surprising that so many people were fighting for it.
Not to mention, Yang Kai had Divine Medicines that had assumed human form on each of his shoulders.
Pu Bai Xiong and Little Mushroom had long since caught the eyes of the crowd, but those people were trapped previously and did not have the mind to think about it. Now that they were freed, greed immediately surfaced.
Two Divine Medicines that had assumed human form and a pool of Tai Yi Soul Cleansing Water. That was enough for anyone to lay their lives on the line!
Dozens of people made the first strike, each of them bearing an aggressive and unforgiving attitude. They clearly had the intention of killing Yang Kai and robbing his treasures.
The rest were slower to react, but they also followed suit, each one shouting at the top of their lungs.
Yang Kai stood in place, looking around him with cold eyes. He remained aloof even when he was being pounced on by dozens of cultivators and snorted indifferently, “If not for this King, you would still be trapped in that invisible cage. This King freed you, and I would not blame you if you had not thanked me, but now you’re even repaying kindness with enmity? Your lack of moral conscience disappoints this King greatly.”
A man laughed, “Little Brother is right, so hurry up and come with me! Don’t pay attention to these ungrateful people.”
He was the first to arrive in front of Yang Kai and try to grab him. Several Element Powers gathered in his palm, mutually reinforcing one another as they flew straight towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai did not even spare this man a glance though and simply lifted his finger to tap on his forehead.
An arrow of blood shot out from the back of the man’s head. He stood there with his hand outstretched, but he could not move, as if his body had been fixed in place.
Dozens of Divine Abilities rained down in the next moment. Yang Kai’s body shifted, and one by one, Dragon Shields surrounded him in mid-air. In the next instant, the sky was covered with light.
There was a rumble, and someone shouted, “Not so rough! Don’t ruin those two Divine Medicines!”
However, the shout obviously came a little late. When he saw Yang Kai’s figure disappear under the many Divine Abilities, the man’s face twitched. The two Divine Medicines could not have been saved under such a chaotic barrage. They had probably already been turned into dust.
As the Divine Abilities dissipated, a figure reappeared, which immediately changed the expressions of everyone present. They were all shocked that Yang Kai stood unharmed, without even a wrinkle on his clothes.
On the contrary, the first several dozen cultivators who jumped over were suddenly fixed in place. Following a puncturing sound, blood arrows shot out from the backs of these people’s heads before they fell face-first to the ground, the vitality draining from their bodies in an instant.
Each one of these cultivators had a bloody hole on their foreheads that went straight through their skulls, obliterating their Souls. Their eyes were still filled with shock and horror as if they had seen a terrifying sight before their deaths.
There were gasps, and the figures rushing in Yang Kai’s direction stalled in place, looking ahead with trembling eyes.
During that moment of chaos, nobody saw how Yang Kai had actually attacked. They only saw these dozens of people take the lead to attack, but all end up dead!
Pu Bai Xiong was shaking on Yang Kai’s shoulder, his face pale. Earlier, he thought he was dead when he saw Yang Kai being surrounded. Who knew that the several dozen people who attacked would all now be dead after just a single exchange? He sighed in his heart as he muttered, “This brat is actually this strong?”
He was a Divine Medicine that had assumed human form, so he did not know too much about the typical strength of Human cultivators; however, if Yang Kai could instantly kill more than a dozen people alone, then he was obviously strong.
Fresh blood spilled out, filling the world with the stench of iron as hearts pounded loudly.
Dozens of people lay dead on the ground, which left the remaining ones shocked and even disbelieving. The atmosphere felt extremely heavy for a while. Even though there were many people here, they were all loose sand. They had only united earlier to break out of the trap. Now, each of them naturally had their own thoughts about snatching Yang Kai’s treasures away, so it was difficult for them to work together with one mind.
Among the crowd, someone scrutinized Yang Kai’s face for a moment before his eyes suddenly bulged and he began shaking violently.
[It’s him! Scarlet Star’s Killing Star!]
Even though Yang Kai showed off his great power at Scarlet Star’s Star City and allowed many people to see his face at that time, he rarely appeared before others in recent years, so the ones who knew him were actually not many. Only those cultivators who had been there in Scarlet Star’s City from the beginning had seen his face before. The ones who came later only heard his name, but knew not his appearance.
However, that did not mean that nobody could recognize him.
There were more than a thousand people present, so inevitably one or two had been in the presence of Yang Kai’s fierce and noble bearing before. Previously, they did not care much while they were trapped in that invisible cage, but now that he looked carefully, they recognized Yang Kai.
At once, a few faces paled and they turned around in an attempt to run.
As early as a few years ago, Yang Kai had single-handedly killed off thousands of Thunder Light and Sword Pavilion members. After that, he massacred the entire Star City belonging to Sword Pavilion. What could they do to him here with just a thousand people?
If they really were to fight, it was still not known how many would actually survive. This was a great risk to undertake. Divine Medicines with human forms and the Tai Yi Soul Cleansing Water were certainly valuable, but what could be more important than one’s own life?
*Shua shua shua…*
Almost a hundred people swiftly left. It was not that they all knew Yang Kai, but they had each formed teams to search for treasure in this Primordial Land. As long as one person recognized Yang Kai, they would naturally call on their companions to hurry away from this place; otherwise, they would be in trouble.
The ones remaining had no idea why these guys would leave in such a hurry and just thought that they had been scared off by Yang Kai’s bizarre methods.
The old man who called on the rest of the cultivators to break the array earlier called out, “Don’t be afraid, he’s only one person! There are so many of us! We can easily drown him with our spit if each of us spits just one mouthful!”
Someone echoed his sentiments and nodded, “That’s right! This boy is alone, so there is nothing to fear! Who cares if those cowardly rats are gone? We just have fewer opponents to deal with now!”
With a compassionate face, the old man stroked his long beard, “Little Brother, the Heavens care for all living beings. If you are willing to leave the two Divine Medicines and the Tai Yi Soul Cleansing Water behind, then this Old Master and everyone else will also be unwilling to kill you ruthlessly. This Old Master can guarantee that we will allow you to leave in one piece. Are you willing?”
Yang Kai glanced at him, “There are so many of you, but I only have two Divine Medicines. What’s more, the Tai Yi Soul Cleansing Water is also not enough for all of you to share. What should I do? Why don’t you fight each other first, then when only two of you are left, you can come and share this King’s treasure. That way, there will be no problems.”
The old man smiled, “Things have already come to this point, so why is Little Brother still trying to sow discord?”
Someone shouted, “Leave your Space Ring too! This brat must have other good things with him.”
“Exactly! That way, we won’t have to worry about there not being enough to divide between us!”
Yang Kai said casually, “Indeed, there are many good things in my ring.” Saying so, he took out an object.
“Sixth-Order material!” Some people gasped.
“A Yuan Magnetic Divine Stone! If one were to refine this, then they would be able to cultivate the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light!”
Before this man finished speaking, Yang Kai took out another Sixth-Order material, fiddling with his hands.
Then came another shout, “Another Sixth-Order material! That must be a Blood Flame Jade. If refined, then one could cultivate the Soul Burning Blood Flame!”
“Another Sixth-Order…”
…..
There were constant gasps. One after another, Sixth-Order treasures appeared in Yang Kai’s hands. The crowd’s expression changed from their initial surprise to shock, then to endless greed.
In a short period of time, Yang Kai had brought out more than twenty kinds of Sixth-Order materials, and none of them were duplicates. Each one was different from the other!
A huge question came to everyone’s mind. Where did this brat get so many treasures from? It had to be known that they had all been in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary for ten years now. Even though they had gotten some good things themselves, most had never come across Sixth-Order materials before! Yet this young man was able to amass more than 20 different treasures of that Order, and those were merely the ones he had taken out to show them. How many more were left inside his ring?
This brat was simply a moving treasure vault!
A loud laugh erupted as a man looked at him with glowing eyes, nodding, “Little Brother does in fact have many good things. It is definitely enough to share.”
Yang Kai nodded, “My only worry is that you have the life to take it, but no life to spend it.” Looking towards the crowd, he grinned, “Does Brother Xiang also want to make things difficult for me?”
Xiang Ying stood there silently with a cold expression, not saying a word.
Yang Kai sighed, “After laying dormant for so many years, it seems the world has forgotten my prestige. Now even pitiful weaklings also dare to provoke this King’s majesty!” Putting away the treasures in his hand, Yang Kai said with a cold expression, “Enough nonsense. If you want treasures, then come and get them yourselves!”
The old man shouted, “Since Little Brother remains stubborn, then do not blame us for not showing mercy. Go!”
*Shua shua shua…*
One by one, the cultivators lunged towards Yang Kai. Almost a thousand people were attacking him at once in such a spectacular scene. Before they had even arrived, their Divine Abilities were already brought out.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes slightly, and he seemed to be standing in place as if he was scared silly. Pu Bai Xiong grabbed his hair nervously and shouted, “Hurry up and dodge!”
Little Mushroom shrank her neck and her entire body underneath her umbrella top.
A Heaven destroying and Earth shattering aura came over Yang Kai’s head. As their attacks were about to make contact, Yang Kai’s body suddenly shook, and raising his hand, a Golden Crow emerged from his fingertip.
The Golden Crow was small, only the size of one’s palm; however, it looked as exquisite as if it were a living creature.
The Golden Crow flapped its wings and let out a piercing cry before flying towards the Divine Abilities with flames blazing all around its body.
The Divine Abilities hit the Golden Crow’s body, but instead of breaking it into pieces, the power in the Divine Abilities was being sucked up by the Golden Crow, turning one into two, two into four, four into eight…
In the blink of an eye, Golden Crows filled the sky, swooping down on each cultivator while following the source of their Divine Abilities.
Many cultivators were shocked, and some retreated in a panic. Others resisted, forming protective barriers on the surface of their bodies.
However, the Golden Crow’s True Fire was overwhelming enough that even an Open Heaven Realm Master would not be able to resist it, let alone these Emperor Realms cultivators. Any cultivator touched by the Golden Crows instantly lit on fire and turned into a burning ball of flames, screaming incessantly.
One by one, the cultivators fell like dumplings into a pot of boiling water as they dropped out of the air, their vitality draining before long.
“This is… Golden Crow’s True Fire!?” The face of one cultivator changed dramatically as he exclaimed.
The little Golden Crows were so vivid and distinctive that it was hard for one not to recognize it.
Many cultivators were shaken and they hurriedly backed off, but how could they escape? The small Golden Crows swooped down and turned them all into burning balls of fire, leaving them to scream as they fell to the ground.
This cleared the scene at once!
Nearly half of the thousand were either killed or injured in this one exchange.
The cultivators who managed to survive all shouted in terror and tried to escape.
“Trying to run now? Too late!” Yang Kai coldly snorted. Space Principles rushed out and the surrounding thousand-metre radius with him at the centre was instantly placed under his control.
Some cultivators tried to look back as they fled, only to be met with a horrifying discovery. No matter how hard they tried to run, they could not move any further away from Yang Kai. It was as if they were stuck in place.
This scene was familiar to them as it felt just like their previous encounter in the invisible cage.
The invisible cage they had been caught in was just like this. They were all rushing desperately towards the white jade trough, but no matter how they tried, they could not get even a little closer.
[Could it be? The barrier reappeared?]
This thought had just come up in one of their minds when a Golden Crow swooped down, covering them!
Ten breaths later, charred corpses fell one by one, their vitality wiped from this world. Nearly a thousand cultivators fell here. Other than the hundred or so that escaped after recognizing Yang Kai, the rest were all burnt to death without burial.
Yang Kai exhaled a breath, not feeling too surprised; however, a look of contemplation soon appeared in his eyes.
It was naturally impossible for the barrier to reappear, and the reason why so many cultivators re-experience the same event where they could only run in place was because of Yang Kai manipulating the local Space Principles.
Unravelling the mysteries of folding space and expanding space allowed him to discover another method of utilizing the Grand Dao of Space, from which he benefited greatly.
When manipulating Space Principles, Yang Kai could now create a similar restriction. This technique was not a Secret Technique, nor a Divine Ability. It was just a flexible method of using Space Principles.
He had never thought of using them this way before, but this encounter opened a new window for Yang Kai that allowed him to further his attainments in the Dao of Space.
When he tested it out for himself, the result was truly remarkable.
Turning around, Yang Kai nodded lightly, “Many thanks, Brother Xiang, for the help!”
Previously, Yang Kai thought that Xiang Ying was also acting on greed and wanted to make things difficult for him, but when the others made a move against him, he realized he was wrong. Xiang Ying had been among the crowd, silently tapping his purple bamboo here and there, secretly attacking those people.
However, his movements were extremely stealthy and with everyone’s attention drawn to Yang Kai’s treasures, nobody even noticed when Xiang Ying secretly struck.
More than a dozen died by his hands during that time.
“My help was unnecessary.” Xiang Ying shook his head and put the purple bamboo away, “We shall part here. Surely, we will meet again!”
This Xiang Ying seemed to prefer solitude, and he only took action just now because he did not agree with these people bullying others with numbers. Only, after seeing Yang Kai’s strength with his own eyes, he realized that these people would not have been able to do anything to Yang Kai even if he did not interfere.
Looking at his back, Yang Kai watched him leave, thinking to himself that this guy was quite an interesting person. He had no idea where this man came from, or which Divine Spirit had chosen him to become their Bearer.
But no matter what, Xiang Ying was able to obtain the Purple Bamboo Divine Medicine and also had a Divine Spirit to help him with building a solid foundation. If he could leave the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary alive, then he will surely be able to gain a foothold in the 3,000 Worlds in the future.
As a matter of fact, every time the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary opened, many younger generation Masters were created. There were far too many treasures in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, and high-quality materials that were rare in the outside world were all over the place here. As long as one’s luck was not too bad, they would surely be able to gain some opportunities in this place and lay a solid foundation to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm.
However, the prerequisite to it all was to leave this place alive.
Thoughts churning, Yang Kai’s Divine Sense enveloped the area to scavenge the Space Rings left behind by the dead cultivators. Even though Yang Kai had many treasures already, these people had been working hard in the Grand Ancient Ruins for more than ten years, so they would surely have some good things on them. Yang Kai wasn’t about to toss away free wealth.
One by one, Space Rings flew in his direction and were tossed into his Small Sealed World.
“Em?”
All of a sudden, Yang Kai raised his brow and looked in a certain direction, surprised, “So there are still fish that slipped through the net?”
Flicking his wrist, a Moon Blade was sent flying in that direction.
His Divine Sense perceived a faint aura coming from that direction, so obviously, someone survived and was secretly hiding, which was unexpected to Yang Kai.
Only, they were not able to hide perfectly. Yang Kai’s Divine Sense was extremely powerful, so he was able to see traces the moment he did a proper scan of the area.
The Moon Blade cut through the air and sped off in that direction.
Below a charred corpse, a figure shot into the sky. The Moon Blade happened to brush past the bottom of his feet, almost severing them, but the man was unperturbed. Flipping in mid-air, they quickly disappeared into the distance with nimble movements.
Yang Kai laughed, “Still trying to run?”
Thoughts flashing, the folding space reappeared. In an instant, no matter how the person tried to run, they were unable to break free.
Yang Kai frowned. Despite seeing that the person was in fact stalled in place, they were still moving slowly forward. Even though it was very slow, they really were moving nonetheless.
Being affected by his controlled Space Principles, this person had no way of escaping from the ever-expanding space, but it seemed he was not as powerless as those from before.
[This guy… has some ability!]
Of course, this also was partly to do with Yang Kai himself. He had just learned this technique, so he was not too skilled with its use. He could bully some weaklings, but it was still lacking when he was facing a Master.
The man ran for a while and probably sensed that something was wrong, which caused him to turn back around to see Yang Kai approach him step by step. Knowing that he could not escape, the man sighed and simply decided to stop, laughing bitterly, “Is Senior Brother going to kill me now? I didn’t attack you earlier. I was just watching for fun.”
“Then the price you have to pay for watching the show is going to be a little high.” Yang Kai looked at him with a smirk.
The man shrugged, “I guess it is.”
Then, his face turned serious, “What do I have to do for Senior Brother to let me go?”
“Did I say…” Yang Kai raised his hand and palmed his fist, “I was going to let you go?”
As the cry of a Golden Crow broke out, it swooped down at the man.
The man’s face froze and he suddenly formed seals with his hands, shouting, “Stand Eternal as a Mountain!”
*Hou…*
A beastly roar resounded through the clouds, and immediately afterwards, this man’s body was surrounded by a khakis-coloured glow that radiated a potent Earth Element Power. The Earth Element Power was so dense and pure that it was almost comparable to Yang Kai’s Earth Element. It had to be at least a Seventh-Order Earth Element Power.
The Earth Element Power twisted and transformed into the illusory phantom of a giant tortoise that protected this unknown man beneath it.
The Golden Crow swooped down and hit the giant tortoise illusory phantom, but it did not hurt the man below in the slightest. It was completely blocked!
The Golden Crow’s True Fire failed. It was the first time that someone was able to block it!
Yang Kai exclaimed, “A Divine Manifestation!”
But soon, he realized that something was wrong. This giant tortoise illusory phantom had not reached the level of a Divine Manifestation yet. It should be merely a Divine Ability which this man had gained through the enlightenment of his own Earth Element Power, similar to Yang Kai’s own Dragon Shield.
*Chi la la…*
The Golden Crow’s True Fire clashed with the giant tortoise illusory phantom constantly. After a few moments, the Golden Crow dissipated, but the giant tortoise illusory phantom remained as solid as a rock.
The man wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and squeezed out a smile, “Senior Brother, when it is possible to forgive others, one should be forgiving.”
“You’re the Bearer for the Solid Earth Black Tortoise?” Yang Kai raised a brow.
He had seen all kinds of Divine Spirits outside of the Primordial Land before, some in their original forms, and others in human form, but Yang Kai did not see the Solid Earth Black Tortoise’s true body. He was obviously blending among the crowd in Human form.
Since the defensive Divine Ability used by the guy in front of him took on the image of the Solid Earth Black Tortoise, then, it clearly meant that he had received it directly from the Solid Earth Black Tortoise.
Zhu Jiu Yin told him before that the Divine Spirits would go to great lengths to strengthen their Bearers, and some would even divide some of the powers of their own Source and Monster Core to help their Bearers with condensing one of the Yin, Yang, and Five Elements, all so they could assist them in gaining victory in the Spirit Seizing war.
Zhu Jiu Yin’s Monster Core attribute was not suitable for this, so Yang Kai never asked her for such a thing.
However, the Solid Earth Black Tortoise was different. It was an Earth Element Divine Spirit, and its Monster Core contained a pure Earth Element Power. If it could give some of it to its Bearer, then they could gather a Seventh-Order Element.
These Bearers were able to use some of the Divine Spirit’s abilities from receiving part of the Element Power inside their Monster Cores, and it was very strong. Zhu Jiu Yin had warned him to be careful if he were to meet a Bearer like this, because it was hard to tell what sort of tricks they had up their sleeves. One wrong move could lead to death with them.
Yang Kai never expected to meet such a Bearer that received the inheritance of a Divine Spirit so soon.
The Solid Earth Black Tortoise’s other skills aside, its defensive ability was first class. This Bearer in front of him had received the power of his Divine Spirit, so he was naturally able to withstand the burning of the Golden Crow’s True Fire.
The man greeted him with an erect palm, “Fang Yue greets Senior Brother Yang. This Fang has long heard of Senior Brother’s great name, and seeing you now, Senior Brother is a noble man as expected! Little Brother sighs in awe!”
The grape called out, “Sir, this guy’s ass-kissing is too good!”
Meanwhile, Little Mushroom also nodded her head on his other shoulder, scowling at the other party.
Fang Yue remained serious though and said, “From the bottom of my heart, this one is not trying to kiss Senior Brother’s ass!”
Yang Kai raised a hand, knocking it on the giant tortoise illusory phantom around his body, which made a muffled knock, “Your tortoiseshell is quite hard.”
Fang Yue smiled, “The Solid Earth Black Tortoise specializes in defence, and this Junior Brother has inherited its skill. This Fang has embarrassed himself in front of Senior Brother.”
Yang Kai praised, “I’m afraid only the Divine Spirits can hurt you now in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary with this ability.”
Fang Yue sweated, “But Junior Brother is still not Senior Brother’s opponent. Senior Brother’s achievements in the Dao of Space are deep and profound, and there is nothing that the Golden Crow’s True Fire cannot burn. An ability to burn thousands in one move is truly awe-inspiring.”
“Hand over your Space Ring.” Yang Kai reached out his hand.
“Huh?” Fang Yue was stunned.
Yang Kai stared at him, not saying a word.
The grape then shouted, “Brat, are you deaf? Sir told you to hand over your Space Ring. Our Master is trying to rob you!”
Fang Yue’s mouth twitched as he quibbled, “Senior Brother, I thought we were like old friends the moment we met. We can sit down and talk about this, yes?”
“If you want to talk, we can talk later. Hand over your Space Ring. I’m sure you must have gotten a lot of good things from the Solid Earth Black Tortoise, right?” If not for his tortoise shell, then Yang Kai would be shoving his hand to the man’s nose.
Fang Yue fumed, “Senior Brother, how can you do this? You have so many treasures, so do you still need to covet these petty trinkets of mine? Even if you rob me, it still won’t increase your wealth by much!”
Yang Kai was indifferent, “If you do something wrong, then you must be punished.”
Fang Yue was angry, “I really didn’t do anything…” After a pause, he said weakly, “Fine, I secretly attacked you, but I didn’t have any intentions to kill you. I just wanted to see the gap between you and I!”
He should have recognized Yang Kai long ago, and he had also heard of Yang Kai’s various deeds. Even though he had received the nurturing of the Solid Earth Black Tortoise, and used its Monster Core to condense his Earth Element, he was still not confident in being able to beat Yang Kai. He only joined in with the crowd earlier to try and verify how much he had grown in these recent times.
However, who knew that this would be the result of that? He was devastated.
If he fought against such a person, would he be able to snatch that Innate Spirit Fruit and satisfy the requests of the Solid Earth Black Tortoise?
He sighed, “Senior Brother, you won’t be able to kill me. My rock seal is indestructible. With this seal, no one in the Primordial Land has any hopes of killing me.”
Yang Kai argued, “Indeed, your Divine Ability is not bad, but it must consume quite a lot of power to maintain, right? Without mentioning whether or not I can break your tortoiseshell, even if I can’t, I can still kill you by exhausting your strength. That is unless you have a way to escape from my hands, of course.”
Fang Yue’s face paled and he swayed as if he were about to collapse, “Senior Brother has a poisonous eye!”
Yang Kai was right. Even though the defence of this rock seal was incredible, it was true that a lot of power was consumed in order to maintain it, and it was quite taxing on his body, especially long term. Under his best efforts, he could at most be able to maintain it for an hour. After an hour, he would definitely be exhausted, and the rock seal would break by itself.
Worse, Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space, so there was no hope of escaping. Delaying was meaningless. It could be said that Yang Kai’s every word hit him right where it hurt.
Fang Yue’s expression wilted, “Junior Brother concedes. Senior Brother, please be merciful.”
Saying so, he heaved a big sigh and released the rock seal himself. Taking the Space Ring off his finger, he tossed it to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai took it and swept his Divine Sense through its contents before looking up at him, “There really are a lot of good things in here.”
Indeed, many good things could be found in the man’s ring. He even had two Sixth-Order materials. Fang Yue alone should not have been able to collect these, so it was probably the Solid Earth Black Tortoise that he got them from. These Divine Spirits in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary had lived for countless years here, and each of them had accumulated great wealth over the years. Since their chosen Bearers were expected to fight for the one and only opportunity to escape this place, the Bearers would naturally try and get some benefits from them, too.
Yang Kai was no exception. If not for Zhu Jiu Yin, how would he have been able to obtain the Divine Dao Water? And how would he be able to cultivate the Defying Yin-Yang Five Elements Profound Universe Heart Scripture?
Fang Yue saw Yang Kai take out treasure after treasure from his Space Ring, which made him so depressed that he was about to spit blood as he wailed, “Enough, enough! At least leave some for me, Senior Brother!”
But Yang Kai ignored him and continued going through the ring.
After a long time, he finally threw the Space Ring back to him.
Fang Yue caught it and checked its contents. At once, he let out a grunt and grabbed his chest with a grieving and painful expression on his face.
Even though the ring had not been cleaned out, all the good things had been taken away. Fang Yue felt like over ten kilograms of flesh had been shaved off from his body. It hurt so much that he could die.
Grabbing the Space Ring, he turned and left as far as he could, “We will part ways here. Farewell!”
He did not want to run into this guy called Yang Kai again. Though, he still accepted the result of this incident. Even though he was robbed of a lot of things, he did manage to keep his life.
Fang Yue ran for at least a thousand kilometres before turning back to look, and he discovered that Yang Kai did not chase after him. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and consoled himself, “If one survives a great calamity, they will surely be blessed later. Material possessions do not come with birth and are not kept in death. If it’s gone, then so be it!”
Landing on a boulder, he could not help but feel some trepidation as he recalled the previous encounter. They were both in the Emperor Realm, and he had been nurtured by the Solid Earth Black Tortoise for many years; however, he discovered that the disparity in strength between him and Yang Kai was still so overwhelming, and he could not help but feel a little discouraged because of it.
While he was feeling gloomy, the peculiarity of the boulder beneath him suddenly caught his eye. It resembled a lotus flower in bloom with layers upon layers of petals, and he was standing on the flower’s stamen. Raising a brow, he looked at the flower with interest.
In the next moment, the ground beneath him shook, and the stone lotus suddenly closed shut. Fang Yue was caught off guard and was trapped at the very centre of it, unable to break out, shocking him greatly. It was true what they said, when it rains, it pours. His ship sailed late and he was met with a headwind.
After swallowing Fang Yue, the stone lotus immediately uprooted itself. Its roots became two long legs that had actually begun to run off.
Within the stone lotus, Fang Yue shouted, “Stand Eternal as a Mountain!”
…..
Ten days later, Yang Kai climbed atop a tall mountain and was guided by Pu Bai Xiong to a certain spot on the peak.
When he arrived at the place, Pu Bai Xiong jumped off Yang Kai’s shoulder and shouted, “Little Bottle Gourd, Little Bottle Gourd, Old Pu is here to see you!”
The reason why he came to this place was that Pu Bai Xiong told Yang Kai that another Divine Medicine lived here.
In the Primordial Land, there were not many Divine Medicines that had assumed human form, but there were some. Pu Bai Xiong knew of at least seven different Divine Medicines, and each of them had extraordinary power and unique effects.
For example, the two that Yang Kai was in possession of. Pu Bai Xiong’s grapes had extraordinary medicinal efficacies. Not only could they heal wounds, they could also solidify one’s cultivation, so he could be said to be a very rare type. On the other hand, the Profound Multi-Coloured Illusionary Mushroom had the ability to create illusions. Once her invisible spores flew out, no ordinary cultivator could resist. When Yang Kai was caught in the fog, he had also accidentally fallen for its trick. In the end, it was with the combined help of the Demon Eye of Annihilation and the Soul-Warming Lotus that he kept his clarity.
Then, there was also Xiang Ying’s purple bamboo, which seemed to have an extraordinary ability to nullify all techniques.
Divine Medicines were not all used for consumption. When plants or herbs gained sentience and assumed human form, they became Divine Medicines.
According to Pu Bai Xiong, the Divine Medicine here was a gourd vine, and there were seven bottle gourds on that vine, corresponding to each of the Yin, Yang, and Five Elements. Its quality was also very good. If one could get their hands on this gourd vine, then they would have inexhaustible cultivation resources.
Only, despite all his hardships in getting here, Yang Kai did not sense any vitality with his Divine Sense in the area.
Pu Bai Xiong shouted again and scratched his head with his root arms, “Where did that bottle gourd go?”
Yang Kai frowned. Stepping onto a place, he observed some traces and said, “No need to keep shouting.”
Pu Bai Xiong rushed over when he heard his words and climbed onto his shoulder. Following his gaze, he saw traces left behind from a battle that was filled with different Elements and he immediately shouted, “Little Bottle Gourd has been fighting!”
Yang Kai nodded, “I’m afraid that someone else has gotten to him first.”
This was also the case when he went to get the purple bamboo. It was after that that he discovered that Xiang Ying was the one who obtained the purple bamboo. During the last ten days or so, Pu Bai Xiong had been pointing Yang Kai around to find the Divine Medicines that have assumed human form, but unfortunately, they came up empty at every turn. Those Divine Medicines had either gone into hiding or were taken away by others before they arrived.
This was already the third spot that Yang Kai had visited, but the three Divine Medicines, including the Little Bottle Gourd, were nowhere to be found.
Yang Kai was not sure what happened to the other Divine Medicines, but this one should have been taken away by someone. The signs of battle were scattered everywhere, which indicated that many people were fighting for one Divine Medicine. No matter how amazing the gourd vine was, it still could not block four strikes with two fists.
There were still many blood stains on the ground that had yet to dry, which should be from the injuries those cultivators sustained from the gourd vine.
Pu Bai Xiong was chagrined, “If I’d known this would happen, we should’ve come sooner. Don’t worry, Sir. I’ll take you to see Ah Ku. That guy lives only a three-day trip away from here.”
Little Mushroom shrank her neck, “Let’s not see Ah Ku. I get unlucky every time I see him.”
Pu Bai Xiong scolded, “Sir wants Divine Medicines, so when has it become up to you to tell me what to do?”
Little Mushroom pouted in anger and turned away from him.
Yang Kai shook his head, “No need. We have more important matters to attend to. Take me to the fruit tree instead.”
The Primordial Land had been flooded with people. Even though there had been numerous deaths and injuries during this period, most of them probably survived. These people were actively prowling all over the Primordial Land, so if there were any good things, they would most likely have found them. The Divine Medicines were the best example of that.
Yang Kai was afraid that if they delayed any longer, then even the Innate Spirit Fruit would be taken, then he would have nothing to bring back to Zhu Jiu Yin. At that point, Yue He and the others would be in danger.
“You want to see that old tree?” Pu Bai Xiong responded, “Good. However, Sir has to be careful. That old tree is not easy to provoke, and the place where he lives is covered in danger. One can easily fall if they aren’t careful.”
“Just lead the way!”
Pu Bai Xiong immediately pointed the way out to Yang Kai. After descending the tall mountain, Yang Kai sped along on his journey.
They did not stop along the way, but they did pass by many cultivators on the road, and there were also those that were fighting each other ceaselessly. Someone died in the Primordial Land practically every moment.
After travelling for only two days, Pu Bai Xiong said, “Sir, we’re almost there. You see that mountain up ahead? The old tree lives up there.”
Looking up, Yang Kai did in fact find a tall mountain in the distance, but it was too far for him to see it too clearly.
It was at this moment that Yang Kai discovered something. Turning his head to look in a direction, he saw a figure there that was also rushing in the direction of that tall mountain.
That person did not look very old, only in his early twenties, but his aura seemed extremely dense. He clearly had a solid foundation; however, that was not what Yang Kai was concerned about, but rather that object on the man’s shoulder.
It was a Divine Medicine!
The Divine Medicine looked like a bitter gourd with wrinkles all over its body. On the gourd was a face that looked gloomy with furrowed brows, as if all the misfortune under the sky were concentrated on it. It looked irreconcilably upset.
“Ah Ku!” Little Mushroom suddenly called out.
[So this is the Ah Ku that Grape and Little Mushroom mentioned?]
Yang Kai’s expression changed and he began observing the Divine Medicine, Ah Ku. He had no idea whether to laugh or cry, because the Divine Medicine’s appearance was truly terrible. He had no idea what sort of miraculous effects it had.
At that moment, Ah Ku heaved a heavy sigh, “I’m so sad!”
His sigh was so long that he seemed to be able to exhale all his five viscera and six organs.
Yang Kai’s heart suddenly felt shaken, and a feeling of depression overwhelmed him. He suddenly felt as if everything was meaningless. So what if he spent more than ten years in this Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and collected unimaginable wealth? They could pile up in his Space Ring, but they were merely dead things.
So what if he put his life on the line to search for the Innate Spirit Fruit in the Primordial Land? In the end, he was only doing it for Zhu Jiu Yin’s sake, and he could not even take a bite of the fruit.
What could he get in return for his efforts of escaping from this world and getting back to the Outer Universe, after narrowly escaping death so many times? Maybe by the time he found the World Tree, the Star Boundary would have already collapsed, and the trillions of lives living there would have vanished.
…..
All kinds of negative emotions hidden in the depths of his heart poured out along with the Divine Medicine, Ah Ku’s sigh that was almost able to drown his consciousness completely.
Yang Kai gradually slowed down; he had lost his goal of moving forward and fighting.
On Yang Kai’s shoulder, Pu Bai Xiong covered his face with a root tendril and sobbed, “I, Pu Bai Xiong, change my name to Pu Ninety-Nine Xiong from now on. How else am I going to face the world? Just let me die…”
Little Mushroom, who was sitting on Yang Kai’s other shoulder, bawled and cried, “What am I crying for? I’m so sad, wahhh…”
Yang Kai stifled a grunt and bit down the tip of his tongue ruthlessly. As the taste of blood spread out in his mouth, the Soul Warming Lotus protected his Soul and finally cleared his mind.
He was so shocked that his body was covered in a cold sweat as he looked at the Divine Medicine, Ah Ku, with fear.
This thing was truly bizarre. It was no wonder Little Mushroom was so afraid of him. She said that she felt extremely sad each time she saw this guy, and sure enough, that really seemed to be the case.
His sigh sounded like nothing out of the ordinary, but it had the strange ability to stir up the darkness in one’s heart, making it impossible for them to hold themselves up.
The one who obtained Ah Ku was a young man with a clean appearance. He did not look much older than Yang Kai, and he had a gloomy look on his face at this moment. Suddenly smashing his fist on Ah Ku’s head, he gritted his teeth and snapped, “Shut up! Don’t talk unless I tell you to!”
Ah Ku shrank his head when he was hit, and his wrinkled face furrowed even more as he sighed, “But I really am sad…”
The young man tumbled mid-flight and almost fell headlong into the ground. Without even looking at Yang Kai, he left in a hurry.
It was not until he left far away that Yang Kai breathed a heavy sigh. Grape and Little Mushroom had also recovered and wiped their eyes, blinking in confusion. They had no idea why they felt so sad just now.
“Did we run into Ah Ku?” Pu Bai Xiong asked in surprise.
Yang Kai nodded. Looking at the tall mountain in the distance, the young man seemed to be moving towards the same goal as him. He was able to come here so quickly because he received Pu Bai Xiong’s guidance, so that young man should have been led here by Ah Ku.
In that case, the group of people who obtained the Divine Medicines must also be able to receive directions from them. It would probably not be long until they all gathered here.
“I knew nothing good would happen if we ran into Ah Ku! That guy is just bad luck!” Pu Bai Xiong cursed.
“Are you sure the fruit tree is on that mountain?” Yang Kai asked.
Pu Bai Xiong answered, “I’m sure. The old tree has always been on the mountain. He’s never moved!”
Yang Kai breathed out, “It looks like we’re going to have to see that Ah Ku again.” With that, his body shifted, and he sped in that direction.
The destination was not too far away, but it was not close either. It was a whole 2,000-kilometre distance.
Pu Bai Xiong warned Yang Kai along the way, “Sir must be very careful. Nothing good comes out of meeting Ah Ku. He didn’t say anything to you, did he?”
Yang Kai said, “No, he just said he was sad.”
Pu Bai Xiong was relieved, “That’s good. It would have been bad if he said anything to you.”
Yang Kai did not understand, but he did not ask further.
After an hour, Yang Kai gradually approached the mountain when suddenly, his expression changed. Gazing towards its peak, he saw a lofty fruit tree with an imposing canopy so huge that it covered the entire mountain.
[The Innate Fruit Tree!]
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up. Pu Bai Xiong was right, the old fruit tree was really here. He just had to grab an Innate Spirit Fruit and bring it back to Zhu Jiu Yin in exchange for the safety of Yue He and the others. This was the main reason he was in this Primordial Land to begin with.
However, Yang Kai was a little surprised to find a very faint trace of World Force drifting from the top of the mountain! This caused his brows to furrow. Where was this World Force coming from?
It had to be known that within the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, the Small Universe within the Open Heaven Realm Masters was suppressed and sealed, so it could not be accessed. Naturally, World Force from a Small Universe could not be exerted; otherwise, Yang Kai and the other Emperor Realm cultivators would not have been able to shine. The Open Heaven Realm Masters would have robbed the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary clean already.
And, those who entered the Primordial Land were all Emperor Realm Masters. Having not split Heaven and Earth apart within their bodies yet, they were all incapable of possessing World Force, much less exerting it.
However, Yang Kai clearly felt a faint World Force coming from where that Innate Fruit Tree stood.
At this time, many cultivators had already gathered at the foot of the mountain, roughly a thousand in total. These people were all looking up at the peak of the mountain, watching the Innate Fruit Tree with greedy eyes.
Many cultivators were alone, but there were also those in small groups of three to five. A few larger cliques had formed, with the largest numbering in the two hundreds. They were obviously from the same great force.
Scanning the scene, Yang Kai saw several familiar faces.
Ah Ku and the young man that he saw on the road were there, standing alone at the side. The man stood with his hand behind his back, unaffected by the people around him.
There was also Xiang Ying, who was holding Purple Bamboo and nodded lightly at Yang Kai.
With Purple Bamboo leading the way, it was only natural that he could find his way here.
At this moment, Yang Kai felt something and suddenly turned his head to look in a certain direction. There, he saw a short but vigorous-looking young man retracting his gaze.
A vine was wrapped around the man’s body, where seven small bottle gourds hung.
Yang Kai frowned. Even though it was only for a moment, he sensed a hint of hostility from this man.
However, Yang Kai had never met this person before, nor did he know what he could have done to offend him.
What caught his attention was the vine wrapped around the man’s body. It was clearly a Divine Medicine, and it must be the Little Bottle Gourd that Grape mentioned before. The seven small bottle gourds represented each of the Yin, Yang, and Five Elements. The Power contained in each bottle gourd was different.
The short man was wounded and bloodied, which meant that he must have fought with someone. From his travel-worn appearance, he must have arrived not long ago.
“Brother Yang!” Someone suddenly called out to him.
Yang Kai turned around, only to see Xu Zhen walking over from nearby. The little fatty had a big smile on his face, and while walking over, he observed Pu Bai Xiong and Little Mushroom who were on Yang Kai’s shoulder with interest. When he was close, he commented, “So these are Divine Medicines?”
He was the Bearer that Zhu Yan chose, and he had also gotten many good things from Zhu Yan. Even though he had been cultivating hard in retreat all this while, he kept in contact with Yang Kai. In the entire Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, besides Yue He and the others, this man could be considered one of Yang Kai’s closest friends.
“Brother Xu!” Yang Kai greeted him.
Xu Zhen clicked his tongue in amazement, “I heard that there were only seven or eight Divine Medicines that had assumed human form in the entire Primordial Land, and Brother Yang alone has two of them. This is truly an amazing fortune worth admiring.”
“I just got lucky,” Yang Kai smiled.
Xu Zhen stared at the grapes on Pu Bai Xiong’s head with interest, “These grapes… What effect do they have when eaten?”
Pu Bai Xiong was furious, “Eat your head! Come over here you little fatty! Uncle Pu will fight you for 300 rounds!”
He moved his root tendrils like a fox assuming the majesty of a tiger, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws. Yang Kai had previously eaten one of his grapes, and he was still upset about it now. Seeing this little fatty eyeing his grapes upset him instantly.
“What an interesting little thing!” Of course, Xu Zhen would not lower himself to his level, so he just laughed.
“Brother Xu, if you have already found the Innate Fruit Tree, then why are you still here?” Yang Kai asked doubtfully.
Over a thousand people were gathered here, but they were all just looking at the fruit tree at the top of the mountain with nobody trying to go up. Yang Kai did not understand why this was.
Xu Zhen shook his head and sighed, “It’s not that simple. This mountain may seem calm and quiet now, but a murderous intent is hidden deep within. One will be fine if they do not enter the mountain, but once inside, great danger will descend upon them. Before this, a number of people went inside, but unfortunately, none survived.”
Yang Kai was surprised to hear this. Looking carefully at the mountain, he saw the bodies of many cultivators. Roughly counting their numbers, there were at least a hundred there.
These people died in a variety of strange ways. Some turned into stone sculptures, while others were burned until they were unrecognizable. There were also those whose bodies were covered in cruel wounds.
These must be the cultivators who had entered the mountain, but unfortunately met with their ends.
“But we can’t just wait here forever,” Yang Kai frowned.
Xu Zhen nodded, “Everyone is waiting. Nobody wants to be the bird that pokes its head out first, so we’re all at a stalemate now.”
Yang Kai understood. These people had probably gathered here because they wanted to observe for a while to see what methods could be used to get past the dangers of this mountain.
It was at that moment that a large group of people arrived. The overbearing man at the front was carrying a large sabre decorated with a monster head, and the group that he came with was very large. There were two or three thousand people in total, pouring in like a torrent with unstoppable momentum, causing all the cultivators gathered here to go pale.
“Emperor Heaven!” Someone whispered under their breath. They were able to recognize these people
At the same time, Yang Kai saw the face of the man at the front, Ding Yi.
Emperor Heaven was a group that sprang up in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and was founded by Ding Yi. He had gathered a lot of people these years, and under the exclusion of the Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Primordial Land, only those in the Emperor Realm could enter, which was a great advantage for Emperor Heaven as they were all in the Emperor Realm.
Previously, inside of the seven-coloured passage, Ding Yi led his Emperor Heaven subordinates to block the passage, causing many deaths and injuries.
However, he had suffered a loss under Yang Kai some years ago and almost lost his life. Since then, he had been very afraid of Yang Kai, so he always gave him face, whether it was at Yuan Magnetic Mountain back then or inside the seven-coloured passage.
Ding Yi’s body was also covered in injuries, so his journey here must not have been peaceful.
There were only a total of around a thousand people below the mountain, and now two to three thousand from Emperor Heaven appeared all at once, which was two or three times their number, so how could anyone not be wary? Such a huge great force could completely change the flow of the situation here.
In an instant, the people from Emperor Heaven reached the foot of the mountain. Ding Yi, who was carrying his ghost-headed sabre, swept his eyes all around him. Suddenly, his gaze was fixed on someone, and he bellowed, “Seems like I didn’t travel all the way here for nothing. You little thief! You dare to snatch my Divine Medicine? Now I’ve caught you. Let’s see whether you can stay alive or not!”
He pointed his sabre forward, targeting the short man who had obtained the gourd vine.
The short man frowned, obviously realizing the trickiness of this situation. If it were Ding Yi alone, then he would not be worried as the might of the gourd vine was extraordinary. Not to mention one Ding Yi, even ten or a hundred would just be nothing to fear; however, Emperor Heaven had too many people. If they really fought, then he would surely suffer a loss.
The short man thought for a moment before speaking back to him, “Ding Yi, this Divine Medicine is extraordinary, and among the presence of the able, it chose me, so it is fated to be with me. Why do you have to force it?”
“Fate my ass!” Ding Yi was furious, “If you hadn’t interfered, then this Divine Medicine would have been mine! You shameless thief! Snatching my Divine Medicine from me in secret, and now you still have the face to say such drivel?”
The short man coldly snorted, “You keep talking about it as if it was your Divine Medicine. Call out to it and see if it responds to you!”
Ding Yi fumed, “Call me Grandpa and see if I respond to you!”
The two were arguing so loudly that they attracted the attention of countless people. Even Yang Kai was surprised.
He was guided by Pu Bai Xiong and Little Mushroom to look for the gourd vine previously, but someone else had gotten there first. From the traces they saw there, a battle must have taken place, and it was between a good number of people.
Now, it seemed like it was Ding Yi leading his men from Emperor Heaven to fight against the gourd vine, only to be plucked away by this short man at a critical moment.
Anyone would be angry if they were to encounter such a thing, and they would not give up so easily.
Ding Yi, who led the group to this place, probably did not expect to meet this thief who stole his Divine Medicine, but now that he saw him, there was no way he would let him go so easily.
“Right now, the Divine Medicine is in my hands. What are you going to do about it?” Despite standing as one against the thousands from Emperor Heaven, the short man was not afraid.
Ding Yi snickered, “What else can I do? Naturally, I will kill you and get my Divine Medicine back! No one has ever taken advantage of me, Ding Yi, ever!”
Saying so, he flicked his cloak behind him and his thousands of subordinates immediately made their move. Emperor Heaven was founded more than ten years ago when the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary just opened. In these years, under the leadership of Ding Yi, the cultivators of Emperor Heaven had been active in all parts of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, experiencing countless battles, both big and small, even withstanding several Beast Tides. At this moment, they did not need their leader to say much as each of them would do their own job. In a moment, the short man was surrounded by thousands of people.
The short man’s face became grimmer.
“Ding Yi, the Innate Fruit Tree is right in front of our eyes. If we could gain the Innate Spirit Fruit, then would that not be a harvest worth more than a simple Divine Medicine? Why don’t we settle our grudge after we fight for the spirit fruit?” The short man suggested.
Ding Yi pointed his sabre at him, “My enemy stands before me. I don’t care about any spirit fruit. Speak! Do you want me to kill you in a single stroke, or do you want me to slice you up little by little?”
The short man shook his head and sighed, “Looks like there’s no way around this. Haiz, I do not wish to kill you, but since you take the initiative to court death, I will grant your wish.”
Saying so, he shook the gourd vine.
The seven small bottle gourds hanging on the gourd vine rolled down, instantly transforming into little people. Each one of these little people were wearing a leafy green shirt and had bare feet. A different coloured little bottle gourd lay atop each of their heads.
One bottle gourd raised a hand and said in a crisp voice, “I am Da Wa!”
Another bottle gourd took a half-kneeling stance, “I am Er Wa!”
Another bottle gourd came over, roofing his eyes with his hands in a monkey overseeing the ocean pose, “I am San Wa!”
The fourth bottle gourd stood with crossed arms and quickly said, “I am Si Wa!”
*Sou sou…* Two bottle gourds flew onto the shoulders of these four bottle gourds, one foot on each shoulder.
“I am Wu Wa!”
“I am Liu Wa!”
The final bottle gourd flipped in the air and stood atop the rest of the bottle gourds, laughing as he stood akimbo, “And I am Qi Wa!”
The bottle gourds then spoke in unison, “We are the Seven Bottle Gourd Brothers!”
Yang Kai was dumbfounded at this display. Next to him, the corners of Xu Zhen’s mouth were twitching, “This Divine Medicine… is quite interesting.”
Pu Bai Xiong snorted, “Playing cheap tricks!”
On the other hand, Little Mushroom shook her fists with starry eyes, “Big Brothers Bottle Gourds, be careful!”
The seven bottle gourds turned their heads and grinned meaningfully at Little Mushroom.
Ding Yi’s face darkened and he pointed at them with his sabre, “Kill that little thief, but don’t hurt the bottle gourds!”
As soon as he finished speaking, an overwhelming attack was launched on the short man.
The bottle gourds rolled together, and Da Wa rushed forward, shouting, “Look at my Stainless Golden Body!”
A golden glow emerged, instantly enveloping a ten-metre radius with a light barrier. Countless attacks fell on the light barrier, but it was able to block most of it.
Yang Kai’s expression changed, “A Fifth-Order Metal Element Power!”
The Power that Da Wa exerted was of the Fifth Order! The Metal Element Power had turned into a layer of protection that was as solid as gold.
Even though Emperor Heaven had strength in numbers, not many of them have condensed Fifth-Order Elements. The ones who condensed powers under the Fifth Order were only able to cause a light ripple on top of the light barrier.
Only attacks of the Fifth Order could cause a substantial impact.
However, there were too many such attacks, and the Metal Element barrier was not able to compete with them, only lasting a short time before it broke.
However, this short moment gave the short man enough time to prepare.
The rest of the bottle gourds each activated their own Element Powers, which was a layer of protection formed of all of Yin, Yang and the Five Elements, guarding the short man inside.
Once the seven layers were all broken, the attacks disappeared without a trace.
The short man coldly snorted and shook one of the gourd vines, shouting, “Go!”
San Wa and Si Wa instantly lunged at the group. In mid-air, they each sucked in a large breath of air and spat it back out.
San Wa spat out extremely pure Water Element Power, while Si Wa spat out Fire Element Power.
As water and fire came together, they caused a huge explosion. An incomparably large shockwave spread out from the centre.
There were screams as hundreds of cultivators from Emperor Heaven sustained varying degrees of damage. Then, they fell from the air like dumplings into a pot.
At the same time, the short man shook the gourd vine in his hand again. Liu Wa and Qi Wa formed a Yin-Yang beam, crossing like a huge pair of scissors, cutting through the men of Emperor Heaven.
*Chi chi chi…*
The sound of fresh blood splashing out could be heard as dozens of cultivators were cut off at the waist, their five viscera and six organs were tossed into the air before falling downwards uncontrollably. Some of the men in the air panicked and quickly tried to stuff their guts back into their abdominal cavities, but they could not regain their lost vitality.
All the cultivators who saw this were horrified.
Yang Kai was also appalled.
He did not expect the bottle gourd Divine Medicine to be this strong. Seven bottle gourds corresponded to the Yin, Yang, and Five Elements, each one of them Fifth-Order. Ordinary cultivators were simply unable to compete with this.
After this exchange, Emperor Heaven suffered a huge loss, losing as many as two hundred men.
It was no wonder why this short man was unfazed despite being surrounded by Emperor Heaven. It turned out he was prepared.
“Amazing!” Xu Zhen exclaimed, his eyes glowing as he looked at the gourd vine. Anyone would wish to get their hands on that.
However, even though the gourd vine was fierce, Emperor Heaven had many members who were all experienced in battle. Even though they suffered a stifling loss, they did not panic. In the face of the Yin-Yang scissors, the thousands of men took on battle formations with over hundreds in each group, pressing onward step by step to surround it tightly.
Another few hundred elites completely ignored the little bottle gourds, rushing toward the short man to attack him.
Three bottle gourds remained by the short man’s side, corresponding to the Metal, Wood, and Earth Elements.
Seeing the enemy approaching, the short man’s expression remained unchanged as he shook his gourd vine again.
Da Wa immediately turned into a golden light that rushed out.
In front of the battle formation, a cultivator reached a hand out to Da Wa, grinning meaningfully, “Little Bottle Gourd, you dare to throw yourself into the net?” He had seen the Stainless Golden Body used by Da Wa before, so he thought that this bottle gourd’s main power was in defence.
However, Ding Yi’s face changed as he shouted, “Watch out!”
His words had just come out when Da Wa swung a fist out.
There was a loud bang, and the cultivator at the front was hit by a powerful force, causing him to fly out uncontrollably. In mid-air, his arms burst open. Even his bones were shattered.
“Impressive strength,” Yang Kai sighed in amazement.
“The Metal Element has always been the strongest when it comes to killing. That man was too careless.” Xu Zhen shook his head and sighed.
After blasting the leader away, Da Wa suddenly began to spin. His hands and feet, as well as each and every part of his body, had transformed into unstoppable sharp weapons, slicing through the battle formation in the blink of an eye.
*Peng peng peng…* The sounds were endless as other than a dozen or so who were lucky, the rest of the cultivators in the battle formation were all badly injured. Blood splattered everywhere.
However, Da Wa did not stop. Turning into a golden drill, he crashed through them from behind.
Another battle formation came from the other side, and the leader shouted, “Heaven-Wielding Earth-Locking Net!”
A large net covered Heaven and Earth, coming down above Da Wa’s head.
The large net was tough and obviously made of very precious materials, and it was being activated by a battle formation formed by over a hundred people, so the power was truly extraordinary. They were actually able to trap the bottle gourd at the centre and make it so that it was temporarily trapped no matter which direction it tried to escape in.
The short man’s face darkened. He obviously did not expect the men from Emperor Heaven to be so hard to deal with.
Yang Kai also could not help but see them in a new light. He had always thought that Emperor Heaven was a group of loose sand; but now, it seemed like Ding Yi had some skill to work this rag-tag group of individuals into a relatively cohesive force.
Several more battle formations came over and rushed at the short man like a torrent, while the short man only had two bottle gourds left of the Earth and Wood Elements respectively.
However, he was still unfazed by his situation. He waited until he was about to be swallowed up by the torrent before forming hand seals. Then, with a yell, a khaki-coloured light suddenly emerged from the body of the Earth Element bottle gourd, enveloping the short man to form a barrier that was even more solid than Da Wa’s Stainless Golden Body.
The Earth Element was mainly a defensive attribute, just like the Earth Element Power that Yang Kai condensed, which allowed him to use the Dragon Shield Secret Technique, so it was not surprising that it had such might.
With a rumble, the attacks came one by one, but the light barrier blocked all of them.
The remaining Wood bottle gourd spun and drilled into the ground. Following that, the earth cracked apart and one by one, roots came up like Earth Dragons, stretching out below the surface, causing it to shake and crack.
*Sou sou sou sou..,*
One by one, the roots came out of the ground and penetrated one battle formation after another, causing great damage to Emperor Heaven in an instant.
There was still the Water bottle gourd and the Fire bottle gourd that performed another Water and Fire explosion technique, as well as the two Yin-Yang bottle gourds that shuttled through the air like giant shears, harvesting the lives of the cultivators.
With the help of the gourd vine and the seven small bottle gourds hanging off of it, the short man engaged in a fiery battle with Emperor Heaven.
Yang Kai was amazed at the power of this gourd vine as it was much stronger than he had expected. This was definitely the strongest Divine Medicine he had seen so far in a fight. Even Grape and Little Mushroom could not help but feel envious of the short man’s luck to be able to obtain such a Divine Medicine.
“What a shame. This guy’s luck is good, and his strength is also not bad, but it’s a pity that he bumped into Emperor Heaven,” Xu Zhen sighed at the side.
Yang Kai nodded in agreement. Even though the short man was performing amazingly, in the end, he was alone while Emperor Heaven had the strength of many. If this fight went on, sooner or later, he would lose.
The critical point now was how long that Earth bottle gourd could protect him.
As expected, in just thirty breaths of time, the Earth bottle gourd suddenly grunted with a flushed face, “I can’t hold on anymore!”
Its protection was now shaking and on the verge of collapse as it had sustained too much damage. Even though it was a barrier created from a Fifth-Order Earth Element Power, it was still unable to resist such endless impacts.
The short man’s face sank slightly.
Ding Yi suddenly shouted, “I’ve been waiting for this moment!”
He had been watching from the side without involving himself in the battle, remaining indifferent even when his subordinates died or were injured. He was obviously waiting for an opening to end things once and for all.
And now was the time for him to act.
As an incomparably hot power was released from his ghost-headed sabre, Ding Yi raised his blade and chopped it down fiercely with a cold and determined look!
The moment Ding Yi made his move, both Yang Kai and Xu Zhen could not help but let out a startled cry as they looked up at him, because the scorching power was something extraordinary.
Xu Zhen exclaimed, “Seventh-Order Fire Element Power!”
[This Ding Yi actually managed to condense a Seventh-Order Fire Element!]
A curious look flashed across Yang Kai’s eyes, but then realization dawned on him!
If one wanted to gather a Seventh-Order Element Power here in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, there were two options, be extraordinarily lucky, or borrow the power of a Divine Spirit! Zhu Jiu Yin told Yang Kai that it was true that many Seventh-Order treasures used to exist in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, but they had long since been depleted. Yang Kai could not even find a single Seventh-Order Metal Element material. Even when Zhu Jiu Yin commanded over a million of her subordinates to scour every corner of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, she still came up empty.
However, it was not impossible to condense Seventh-Order Element Powers without a Seventh-Order treasure. The Monster Cores that existed inside of the Divine Spirits’ bodies were all of the Seventh Order at the very least.
For Ding Yi to use a Fire Element Power of the Seventh Order obviously meant that he had received the help of a Divine Spirit. In other words, this guy was also a Bearer who had borrowed the power of a Divine Spirit’s Monster Core in order to condense this Seventh-Order Fire Element Power!
However, this was no surprise. The Divine Spirits would naturally seek out cultivators with great aptitude and potential to become their Bearers. Ding Yi was a nobody before entering the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, but he had since become a shining figure that founded Emperor Heaven.
It was only natural that one or two Divine Spirits would have their eye on him with the way he roamed the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary with his resounding reputation.
And, if he were able to condense the Fire Element Power, that had to mean that his Divine Spirit was of the Fire Attribute. Yang Kai had seen at least fifty Divine Spirits when they were all gathered outside of the Primordial Land, but those who were purely of the Fire Attribute were few. Still, he had no idea which one of them was Ding Yi’s Divine Spirit backer.
As he pondered, the ghost-headed sabre in Ding Yi’s hand glowed brightly. With a cry, a one-legged fire bird flew out from his sabre with a wingspan of a thousand meters and swooped down at a man with might that could seemingly burn the world.
“Bi Fang!” Yang Kai and Xu Zhen gasped in unison.
Everything was now clear. Ding Yi was Bi Fang’s Bearer. Bi Fang was a Fire Attribute Divine Spirit, so there was no problem for it to offer some of the power of its Monster Core to help Ding Yi condense a Seventh-Order Fire Element.
Still, Ding Yi was quite impressive. It was obvious that he had a solid foundation and strong heritage to be able to withstand the impact of a Seventh-Order Fire Element Power in his Dao Seal; otherwise, he would not be able to achieve such a thing even with Bi Fang’s help.
Rising stars were all showing off their extraordinary talents in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. In fact, every time the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary opened, countless Masters from the younger generation would rise up, and in the future, they would all grow to become powerhouses whose names could shake the 3,000 Worlds.
Bi Fang’s fire was of the Seventh Order, while the Earth bottle gourd’s power was only of the Fifth Order, so it was impossible for it to stop Ding Yi’s furious strike. The great Bi Fang only had to touch the Earth Element Barrier to shatter it with a loud rumble. The Earth bottle gourd fell to his butt and his eyes were listless as if he had been scared silly.
Seeing that he was about to be killed by this slash, the short man suddenly clenched his fist and slammed it out.
“Courting death!” Ding Yi laughed, seemingly thinking that it was all over.
However, his laughter stopped abruptly.
A golden light erupted from the short man’s fist as a dense Metal Element Power burst out. It was of the Seventh Order as well. The golden light transformed into a huge exotic beast that slammed straight into the fiery Bi Fang.
“Jin Wu!” Xu Zhen’s eyes widened.
A cold light flashed across Yang Kai’s eyes at that moment as he too recognized the origin of this exotic beast.
This was the image of the Divine Spirit, Jin Wu. When Yang Kai was being brought here to the Primordial Land by Zhu Jiu Yin, they were chased by Jin Wu and four other Divine Spirits, making it so that both he and Zhu Jiu Yin had to expend a lot of effort just to arrive alive.
It was unknown what sort of grudge existed between Jin Wu and Zhu Jiu Yin, but Jin Wu was the one who led the chase.
[So this short man is the Bearer that Jin Wu chose?]
Prior to this, Yang Kai had known that many Bearers were hiding their identities; after all, they were going to be participating in the Spirit Seizing War, so it was beneficial for them to remain anonymous for as long as possible. Other than a few Bearers whose identities were openly known, most of the Bearers were hiding under the water’s surface.
Since entering the Primordial Land, Yang Kai had already encountered several such lurkers.
Xiang Ying was one, Ding Yi was one, Fan Yue was one, and now, this short man in front of him was also one…
And these were merely the ones he encountered personally. What about the ones he had not met? Each one of these Bearers had been vigorously cultivated by the Divine Spirits behind them, and they all had their own heritage, which was clear to see just by watching the fight in front of them now. The Spirit Seizing War was destined to be a fierce struggle between evenly matched opponents!
Whether it be Jin Wu or Bi Fang, these were both veteran Divine Spirits who had been alive for countless years; thus they spared no effort in nurturing their chosen Bearers, even going so far as to consume the power inside of their own Monster Cores to help them condense one of the Five Elements.
The two Divine Spirits were similar in strength, causing Ding Yi and the short man to be evenly matched as well. In front of everyone’s eyes, the giant Jin Wu and Bi Fang met in mid-air. Their calls were unceasing and the golden light and the fiery light blended together to create a terrifying shockwave that spread outwards. Emperor Heaven’s crowd of people were all thrown off their feet while even the thousands of spectators were forced back from the fallout.
Ding Yi grunted and his face paled slightly. It was clear that the attack he performed caused a considerable amount of stress on his own body. The short man was also forced back several steps. One of his feet dug into the ground, and the ground beneath him cracked apart like a turtle shell, leaving a dense pattern like a spiderweb with him as its centre.
The moment he stabilized himself, the short man glared at Ding Yi and formed seals with his hand before pointing a finger out.
A great sense of crisis descended upon Ding Yi at that instant.
Ding Yi’s face changed dramatically as even though his aptitude was not bad, it was far from enough to withstand a Seventh-Order Fire Element Power. In order to give him a fighting chance at obtaining the Innate Spirit Fruit, Bi Fang had used a Secret Technique to forcefully condense the Seventh-Order Fire Element Power into his body using its Monster Core’s power.
That caused Ding Yi’s Dao Seal to destabilize, and the Seventh-Order Fire Element Power was constantly encroaching upon him. If he were not using the Fire Element Power actively, then he could still barely control it, but once he used it, his Dao Seal would be shaken, and his strength would be greatly reduced for about an hour.
Bi Fang’s move was like pulling a seedling up to help it grow, but for a Divine Spirit, all they cared about was getting their hands on the Innate Spirit Fruit that could free them from their cage. As for whether Ding Yi lived or died in the future, that had nothing to do with him.
This was what many Divine Spirits were like.
The short man struck at the perfect opportunity, when Ding Yi’s mind was shaken. How could Ding Yi find the power to resist if he were putting all his effort into maintaining his Dao Seal’s integrity?
A large awl materialized and spun through the air as it dove straight for the centre of Ding Yi’s brow.
“My destined end has come!” Ding Yi cried out with an unwilling look on his face.
As the large awl was about to bore right through his skull though, a strange power enveloped him, and all of a sudden, Ding Yi’s vision changed. The space around him seemed to fluctuate, and then the large awl disappeared without a trace.
When he looked around again, he found himself in a different place than before. He had inexplicably moved several dozens of metres away, and it was this bizarre movement that allowed him to escape disaster.
Following the source of the power from before, Ding Yi looked over and saw Yang Kai’s palm facing him, and space was turning and twisting behind that big hand.
Then, it made sense. Yang Kai had saved his life at the critical moment, for which he was immensely grateful.
Yang Kai looked at the short man and grinned fiercely at him, “So it was you! You bastard!”
Before those words had even emerged, he had already slammed his palm towards the short man, causing the World Energy around them to shake as it formed a large foggy green palm that enveloped Heaven and earth.
The short man’s face changed slightly. Taking in a breath, he shook the gourd vine in his hand.
*Sou sou sou sou…*
Noise broke through the air as the Seven Bottle Gourd Brothers flew into the sky and landed on the gourd vine, turning back into seven small bottle gourds.
The gourd vine’s power soared, breaking through the green palm in one light blow. Without delay, the short man formed hand seals with one hand, and his body suddenly disappeared into the void.
“Still want to run?” Yang Kai coldly snorted and manipulated Space Principles, sealing Heaven and Earth. Sensing a life aura rapidly flying away, he threw a punch to one side.
There was a muffled grunt, and the short man’s figure reappeared; however, he soon rushed into the mountain as blood sprayed out of his mouth. It was clear that the punch he took from Yang Kai earlier caused him to suffer a big loss. He turned around and glared at Yang Kai with pure hatred in his eyes, but his body disappeared once again.
Yang Kai frowned. He could no longer sense his presence with his Divine Sense, which was certainly because of this guy’s mysterious concealment method, but also due to the strange situation inside the mountain that stopped his Divine Sense from extending deeper within. Otherwise, there was no way he would let that guy escape so easily.
“You have a grudge against him?” Xu Zhen looked at Yang Kai with curiosity.
He realized this the moment he saw Yang Kai make his move.
Staring at the direction in which the short man disappeared to, Yang Kai nodded lightly.
Xu Zhen was thoughtful, “That Divine Ability earlier must be the Shattering Dao Seal Technique. Could he be from Purple Jade Cave Heaven? But why have I never met him before? If he truly does come from Purple Jade Cave Heaven, then Brother Yang should be careful.”
Yang Kai snorted, “I don’t care whether he’s from Purple Jade Cave Heaven or not! I’m killing him!”
Before this, when he was entering the Primordial Land, Yang Kai had been ambushed by someone using the Shattering Dao Seal Technique in the seven-coloured passage. If his Dao Seal had not been reinforced using Divine Dao Water, then he may have suffered a huge loss back then. Even though he searched for the attacker immediately after, he could not find a trace of him, and it was from Qu Hua Shang that he learned about the Shattering Dao Seal Technique.
Yang Kai never thought that he would see this Divine Ability again in this place.
In other words, there was a nine out of ten chance that the short man was the very one who attacked him back at the seven-coloured passage. All the techniques he displayed thus far were in line with Yang Kai’s guess.
First of all, this guy was proficient in concealing his aura and body. Yang Kai had already confirmed that he was unable to find him back at the seven-coloured passage itself, and this short man was also proficient in the same kind of Secret Technique.
Moreover, there was no such thing as an unprovoked grudge, much less an unprovoked favour. Yang Kai was not sure why he would ambush him like that, but if this grudge was passed down from Jin Wu and Zhu Jiu Yin, then it all made sense.
Jin Wu and Zhu Jiu Yin had a deep grudge against each other. As Jin Wu’s Bearer, the short man must have received Jin Wu’s orders to find a way to eliminate him before entering the Primordial Land, so as to cut off Zhu Jiu Yin’s hopes.
Xu Zhen was troubled, however, and spoke, “Brother Yang, if he truly was a disciple of Purple Jade Cave Heaven, then I’m afraid I can’t be of much help.”
Cave-Heavens and Paradises certainly competed with each other, and many of these fights tended to be large-scale, but there were also allies between them. Divine Cauldron Heaven and Purple Jade Cave Heaven shared a good relationship with each other. If their disciples were to meet each other on the outside, then even if they did not mutually support each other, they would still not give each other a hard time; otherwise, it would be hard to explain to their Masters once they return.
Yang Kai said, “I won’t trouble you, Brother Xu.”
Xu Zhen sighed and did not try to persuade him, “If you really come to a life-or-death juncture, Brother Yang must be wary of this!”
Yang Kai looked down to see Xu Zhen fiddling with his own Identity Token.
Expression turning grim, Yang Kai nodded lightly.
For disciples of Cave-Heavens and Paradises like Xu Zhen, an Identity Token was not merely a means to prove one’s status, but also a life-saving treasure that held a Divine Ability of their Master within it.
It was already benevolent of Xu Zhen to remind Yang Kai of that.
At that moment, Ding Yi came over to thank him. If Yang Kai had not moved him out of the way using Space Principles earlier, then he would have been hit by that Shattering Dao Seal Technique. In his current state, his Dao Seal would have been at risk of collapsing if he were hit by that attack.
Yang Kai’s helping hand saved his life.
“Thanks are not enough for this kindness, Brother Yang. If you ever have any need for my, Ding Yi, and Emperor Heaven’s help, then please do not hesitate to ask. We will surely not refuse!” Ding Yi spoke with great zeal, and he waved his hand, “What are you still waiting for? Get in and find that guy! I must skin him alive!”
He had a fierce look on his face and it was clear how much he hated that short man.
Of the two to three thousand cultivators from Emperor Heaven, hundreds were dead and wounded in battle, but they were still huge in numbers. With one order from Ding Yi, they rushed into the mountain in a rumble.
Yang Kai warned him, “There seems to be some danger in that mountain. Tell your men to be careful.”
Ding Yi was stunned. He began fighting the short man as soon as he arrived here, so he really did not know about this and quickly warned his subordinates. When they received the order, all of them put their guards up.
The thousands of people gathered here to watch could not hold back once they saw Emperor Heaven moving, so all of them rushed into the mountain as well.
“I will also be going, Brother Yang. We will meet again at the top of the mountain.” Xu Zhen cupped his fists and left towards the mountain.
He had no idea whether the short man was from Purple Jade Cave Heaven, so he could not go with Yang Kai; otherwise, he would not be able to help either one once Yang Kai was to clash with that man. With that thought in mind, Xu Zhen decided it would be better for him to set off alone.
Yang Kai nodded and asked him to take care.
He waited until Xu Zhen left before stepping forward; however, he frowned as soon as he stepped into the mountain because this place was indeed very strange. It was covered in a fog similar to the one produced by Little Mushroom that had the ability to suppress one’s Divine Sense so that one’s detection radius was severely limited.
Even though Yang Kai had no idea what mysteries were hidden inside of this mountain, he was certain that there was danger. The best proof of that fact was the death of all those who entered here before him.
On the other end, Xiang Ying stepped towards the mountain with his purple bamboo in hand, looking at the old tree at the summit with a face as tranquil as an ancient well.
Thousands of meters away, another young man rushed over. Someone turned their head to look at him, and when they saw the Divine Medicine, Ah Ku, squatting on his shoulder, they exclaimed in amusement, “What is that weird thing? It looks so ugly!”
Ah Ku looked up at the cultivator with a bitter and begrudging expression on his face, “You’re a handsome young man. You have a long life ahead of you!”
The man laughed and tugged at his companion, “Look, that ugly thing can actually talk!”
*Kacha…*
A thunderbolt suddenly struck down, hitting the man who spoke. The thunderbolt was immensely powerful, and it was not known where it came from, but it left no traces to seek the source. Under the violent power, the man’s body was blasted to pieces. His limbs and bits of his flesh flew into the air from the impact.
The companion next to him was stunned in place when he saw this, and a chill ran from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. If the thunder had just been slightly off earlier, then he would have been the one dead.
Ah Ku looked at him and said in a deep voice, “You’re a handsome one, too!”
With those words, another thunderbolt came down and struck the man, zapping him out of existence!
The cultivators all around them were horrified. Even though they had no idea what just happened, they instinctually backed away from Ah Ku, looking at him as if he were a monster.
Ah Ku looked up at the sky and sighed heavily, “I am so sad!”
The sound of cracking thunder was incessant. Prior to this, the crowd gathered at the foot of the mountain did not discover how dangerous the mountain was, but after stepping into it, it was as if they had activated some sort of invisible restriction and danger rushed at them one after another.
The thunderbolt breaking through the void was so powerful that no ordinary cultivator could resist it, and often, one thunderbolt was enough to take away one life.
Yang Kai was also paying close attention to his surroundings. Even though his Divine Sense was being suppressed, it was still somewhat usable. Even so, he could not sense how the lightning had formed, and by the time he did sense it, it was already too late, and the only thing he could do was to resist it.
Fortunately, he had a sturdy body, so eating a few lightning strikes was no problem for him. However, it did make his body numb, and turned his clothes into rags.
“Watch out for that fog!” Pu Bai Xiong suddenly cried out.
He and Little Mushroom, who were sitting on each of Yang Kai’s shoulders, were also paying close attention to their surroundings and would warn him as soon as they discovered anything.
Yang Kai turned around to look, only to see a grey fog floating over towards a dozen people just a short distance away.
The dozen people did not pay too much attention to it, but when the grey fog reached them, a chilling sight appeared.
A dozen white skeletons were left in place of the cultivators, scattering onto the ground.
In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen lives had been bizarrely taken away from this earth before they could even make a sound.
Only at that moment did someone exclaim, “This isn’t a fog, it’s some kind of insect smarm!”
The greyish fog actually turned out to be composed of countless tiny insects that could not be seen clearly with the naked eye.
When they saw the cloud of insects drifting towards their side, some of the cultivators in that group panicked and launched Divine Abilities at it.
The cloud of insects broke apart into several dozen smaller swarms that broke through the group in an instant, burrowing into their bodies from every orifice. All of a sudden, these people began to shake and scream as if they were being subjected to great torture.
But in just an instant, their screams ended.
Their flesh disappeared, and the living people turned into dead bones. The insect cloud grew and regrouped into one mass before swooping towards Yang Kai’s direction.
Yang Kai was stunned. It was only now that he realized how dangerous this mountain was. The lightning was nothing. It could be easily resisted with some ability and preparation, but this insect cloud looked even more powerful than the thunderbolt. It was simply difficult to guard against!
The insect fog silently came over Yang Kai and engulfed him. Hurriedly, he surged his Golden Crow’s True Fire to burn them. In an instant, crackling sounds were heard as the fog turned into a fire cloud as the insects were burned to ashes.
The road ahead was paved with danger. Besides the lightning attacks that came from the void and the insect cloud’s harassment, there were also many unimaginable crises.
All of a sudden, the ground separated and revealed a chasm, only to close again after swallowing a number of cultivators. Many lives had been lost in silence, and a lot of people were not even aware that their companions had disappeared. When they turned around and realised that they were on their own, they were horrified.
It had only been one hour since thousands of cultivators streamed onto the mountain, but twenty to thirty percent of them were already dead. The further they went up the mountain, the more dangerous it became, and the more frequent the crises befell them.
Yang Kai had been struck several times, but his solid heritage saved him from calamity.
On the other hand, the other cultivators were not so lucky. Be it the lightning strike or the insect cloud, it was difficult for them to deal with them.
When they reached the middle of the mountain, only a small number of people were left. The people who had the guts to keep moving forward were either confident of their strength or were not willing to go home empty-handed when they already entered such a treasure trove. They were willing to risk their lives and give it a try.
Xiang Ying and the young man who had obtained Ah Ku were ahead of everyone else while Xu Zhen lagged slightly behind. It wasn’t that Xu Zhen was weaker than they were, but everyone had different strengths and weaknesses. The purple bamboo in Xiang Ying’s hand was able to save him from all the calamities. By just sticking out the bamboo, he could annihilate the lightning and disperse the insect cloud.
The young man who had obtained Ah Ku was fairly powerful as well. Yang Kai suspected that he was also a Divine Spirit Bearer; however, this person was pretty secretive, so Yang Kai wasn’t certain about his background.
These were just the Bearers who had surfaced, so what about the Bearers who remained hidden?
After all, Yang Kai had seen more than fifty Divine Spirits outside. Every Divine Spirit had their own Bearer, so there were over fifty Bearers at the very least.
The short man was still nowhere to be found. Yang Kai wondered where he was. As Yang Kai moved forward, he kept darting his gaze around in an attempt to look for the short man.
All of a sudden, a light appeared in the distance. Initially, the light was extremely weak, but after just a split second, it became as bright as daylight. At the same time, a terrifying aura wafted from that direction. Following a hiss, a lightning snake swirled around the light and expanded rapidly.
Pu Bai Xiong exclaimed, “Watch out!”
Hurriedly, Yang Kai made a grabbing gesture, and as Space Principles undulated, he forcefully lifted his hand.
With a boom, the lightning snake exploded in the sky and engulfed an area of a thousand metres. Within that area, space shattered and formed a huge black hole.
Yang Kai gasped and felt fortunate that as soon as he realised that something was off, he threw the lightning snake up. If it exploded right in front of him, even his Dragon Body wouldn’t come out unscathed.
After letting out a breath, he looked up at the peak and became doubtful.
When he was still at the bottom of the mountain earlier, he already realised that a faint aura of World Force permeated this place. As he moved further up the mountain, this feeling became increasingly clearer, which puzzled him.
In the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, even the powers of the Divine Spirits had been significantly suppressed while the Small Universes in the bodies of Open Heaven Realm Masters were completely sealed. Supposedly, something like World Force shouldn’t exist here, but it could be felt in this place. Where was the World Force coming from?
Yang Kai could detect that the source of the World Force was the ancient tree at the mountain peak. What amazed him was that this World Force seemed complicated, as though it was formed by countless types of World Forces.
“Grape, are you sure that’s the Innate Fruit Tree?” Yang Kai asked as he ambled forward.
Presently, Pu Bai Xiong was seated on Yang Kai’s shoulder. His legs, which were transformed from roots, swung in the air as he replied nonchalantly, “I don’t know whether he’s innate or not. Since you’re looking for a fruit tree, I’m bringing you to where one is.”
At that, Yang Kai was rendered speechless.
The distance between the bottom of the mountain and the peak was only three kilometres. Usually, any cultivator would have reached the summit after just one breath’s time; however, it had taken them over two hours to do so on this mountain.
The first one to rush to the peak was Xiang Ying. Upon arriving at his destination, he didn’t scramble to snatch the spirit fruit though. Instead, he looked up from the bottom of the tree as he fell into a dazed state.
The next person was the young man who had obtained Ah Ku. Seeing him, Xiang Ying secretly widened the gap between them. That was because all the cultivators who had been close to this young man were now dead, which was a sign of misfortune.
The third person to arrive was Xu Zhen.
Yang Kai was the fourth person to reach the peak, followed by Ding Yi and those from Emperor Heaven. Behind them were the battered cultivators who had gone through countless ordeals and finally arrived at this place.
The short man was still nowhere to be found, but Yang Kai could feel that this guy was hiding somewhere nearby; unfortunately, his Divine Sense had been suppressed in this place, so he was unable to look for him.
Presently, all of them were staring dazedly at this fruit tree. The tree crown was so gigantic that it seemed to have covered the entire sky. Spirit fruits were hanging on its branches, each one only the size of a fist, but they were translucent and radiated a beautiful glow.
“These are…” Xu Zhen examined the fruit tree and the spirit fruits in front of him. As though recalling something, he fell into his thoughts.
“It’s not the Innate Fruit Tree!” Xiang Ying suddenly said.
Yang Kai nodded in agreement. He couldn’t detect it when he was at the bottom of the mountain, but as soon as he saw this fruit tree, he realised that something was off. This wasn’t the Innate Fruit Tree. At the very least, this wasn’t the tree that these Divine Spirits had been looking for.
That was because they had said that there was only one spirit fruit on the Innate Fruit Tree, so it could only go to one person. The same thing happened every time the Primordial Land opened up. After the spirit fruit was picked, the Innate Fruit Tree would disappear, and the spirit fruit was the key to helping them get out of this cage.
However, the fruit tree in front of them had hundreds if not thousands of spirit fruits.
The spirit fruits hanging on the branches were extremely attractive to the beholder and also exuded a faint World Force.
The source of the World Force Yang Kai felt earlier was these spirit fruits, which was an inconceivable idea.
“Hahaha. With so many spirit fruits around, all of us won’t go home empty-handed.” Ding Yi guffawed. Although about four thousand to five thousand people had streamed onto the mountain, only several hundred people managed to reach the summit. There were probably two thousand to three thousand spirit fruits on this tree, so even if they were equally divided between these several hundred people, everyone could get a few.
Even though they had no idea what these spirit fruits were for, they knew that these were beneficial by just looking at them. Nevertheless, in front of such a treasure, no one dared to make the first move lest the others attack them.
However, Ding Yi didn’t care about this one bit as he pointed at one of his subordinates and ordered, “Go over and pick one for me!”
There was a bitter expression on the person’s face, but he had no choice but to walk over and jump onto a branch.
Looking down, he realised that everyone was staring fixedly at him, but no one seemed to have the intention of attacking him. It was then he set his mind at ease.
At that instant, he knew that these people were treating him like a test subject. If no danger befell him after he picked the spirit fruit, all of them would rush over and snatch them.
Then, he secretly prayed and extended his hand towards a spirit fruit. The fruit felt slightly cold, but there didn’t seem to be anything unusual about it. Just when he was ready to pluck the fruit though, something unexpected happened. Right in front of everyone’s eyes, this person disappeared all of a sudden.
Ding Yi widened his eyes in disbelief and exclaimed, “Where did he go?”
There was a solemn expression on Yang Kai’s face. Earlier, he was staring fixedly at that person, but he couldn’t see how the latter disappeared, as though they had vanished into thin air, which was eerie.
Seeing this, many heaved a sigh of relief. There was apparently a huge risk associated with picking these spirit fruits. Fortunately, they were not in a rush to snatch these fruits just now; otherwise, the same fate would have befallen them.
Right then, a realisation seemed to have dawned upon Xu Zhen and his gaze appeared fervent as he guffawed, “That’s it! This thing really does exist! I always thought it was just a legend!”
Hearing that, all of them turned to look at him.
Xu Zhen was from Divine Cauldron Cave Heaven, so his background was extraordinary. As such, his knowledge and experience were much greater than others of his generation; after all, the inheritance and heritage of a Cave-Heaven stretched tens to hundreds of thousands of years. Many secrets that were unknown to the masses were recorded in the books kept by these top forces.
Previously, Yang Kai had obtained a lot of information regarding the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary from Xu Zhen.
Now, Xu Zhen seemed to recognise this wonderful fruit tree, so he must have seen some related records.
Worried about his subordinate’s safety, Ding Yi quickly asked, “Little fatty, what do you know? What the hell is this thing? Where’s my man?”
Xu Zhen shot him a glance, but he wasn’t mad. He had always been a mild-tempered person, so with a smile, he replied, “Chief Ding, don’t worry. Your subordinate isn’t in danger for now. It’s just that he has been swallowed by the spirit fruit.”
The expression of Ding Yi changed, “What do you mean that he’s not in danger when he’s been eaten by the fruit?”
After a chuckle, Xu Zhen explained, “He’s indeed not in a perilous situation, but it depends on his luck whether he can get out. If he can do that, it’ll be a huge opportunity for him. If he can’t…”
“What if he can’t?”
“He’ll be trapped inside the fruit forever.”
In a grim voice, Ding Yi questioned, “This thing traps people inside?”
“Chief Ding, please do not underestimate these fruits. They’re very powerful.” Xu Zhen chuckled.
Just then, Ah Ku’s owner asked, “Senior Brother, what is this fruit tree? What are these spirit fruits?”
These were the questions everyone was curious about. Faced with such a dangerous treasure trove, they had to find out about its background first. With such a precedent earlier, no one dared to make a move on the spirit fruits for now.
Without the intention to hide it from them, Xu Zhen said solemnly, “If I’m not mistaken, this is the legendary 3,000 Worlds Tree.”
“3,000 Worlds Tree?” All of them exclaimed and traded glances.
Other than Xu Zhen, no one else at the scene seemed to have heard of such a tree before.
Xu Zhen explained, “I once read from a worn-out ancient book in our Sect about it. Although the record was incomplete, I’m certain that this is the 3,000 Worlds Tree. Look, aren’t there exactly 3,000 fruits on this tree?”
Upon hearing his explanation, everyone quickly turned to look at those spirit fruits. The people at the scene were all extraordinary, so they were able to count the number of spirit fruits after just a glance. There were indeed exactly 3,000 spirit fruits.
With a solemn expression, Xu Zhen went on to say, “The 3,000 Worlds Tree bears the fruits of 3,000 Worlds. Every fruit is a World, and all of them correspond to 3,000 Grand Daos. Every World Fruit is an established system on its own, just like the Small Universe in an Open Heaven Realm Master’s body.”
All of them were astounded as they couldn’t believe what they heard. These fruits were only the size of a fist, but they all contained Small Worlds inside them, which was an inconceivable idea.
On the other hand, Yang Kai’s expression changed.
Just now, all his attention was on the spirit fruits, so he hadn’t realised the crux of the problem. Upon hearing Xu Zhen’s explanation, he couldn’t help suspecting that this 3,000 Worlds Tree might be the World Tree the Giant Spirit God Ah Da had mentioned.
The epic battle in the Star Boundary caused the World Principles to break, and the Star Boundary itself faced the risk of collapse at any moment. Although the Great Emperors had joined forces to stabilise the situation, the Star Boundary couldn’t remain intact forever.
Previously, Yang Kai asked Ah Da about any possible solutions. A puzzled Ah Da only mentioned the World Tree to him. The World Tree was supposed to be the key to rebuilding the World Principles of the Star Boundary.
It had been quite some time since Yang Kai arrived in the Outer Universe, but he hadn’t managed to find out anything about the World Tree to date. He had never expected to come across the tree in the Primordial Land.
If this 3,000 Worlds Tree was indeed what Ah Da had mentioned, it was the key to saving the Star Boundary from oblivion.
At that instant, Yang Kai’s gaze became fervent as he tried to come up with a way to uproot the 3,000 Worlds Tree.
“Every fruit is a World on its own…” someone muttered under his breath, “In that case, that guy fell into the World inside the fruit, right?”
“En,” Xu Zhen nodded, “This is his opportunity.”
It was then they understood why Xu Zhen said that that person was swallowed by the fruit. He was indeed eaten by the fruit as he had fallen into the World inside it.
“If he can comprehend the Principles of that World, he can escape, and the World Fruit will belong to him. If he can’t…”
“What if he can’t?” Ding Yi asked in a grim voice.
“He’ll be trapped inside it forever. There’s no more hope for him,” Xu Zhen replied.
His words sent a chill down everyone’s spine. No one knew what was going on inside the World of the fruit. If one was trapped inside it forever, he’d definitely end up in a miserable state.
“What are the World Fruits for?” Another person asked, “Senior Brother, since you’re able to recognise the fruits, you should know their uses, right?”
Xu Zhen replied with a grin, “The uses of World Fruits are incredible. They are the legendary treasures that are said to be able to help an Open Heaven Realm Master ascend to the next Order.”
“What?” All of them exclaimed and stared at Xu Zhen in disbelief. They were trying to find out whether Xu Zhen was pulling their leg, but his expression appeared fervent and dead serious.
“They can help an Open Heaven Realm Master ascend to the next Order? Are you serious?”
“Are there such amazing things in this world?”
“It’s extremely difficult for an Open Heaven Realm Master to achieve a breakthrough. Can these fruits really help one rise a whole Order?”
An Open Heaven Realm Master improved their order mainly through years of accumulation. Every breakthrough cost them a long time and countless resources. Moreover, there were a lot of restrictions, so the number of times they could achieve an ascension was limited.
Normally, after a cultivator became an Open Heaven Realm Master, given enough time and resources, he or she could attain two further breakthroughs at most.
This was related to the Open Heaven Pills which Humans refined. As time passed, the effects of these pills on a cultivator would diminish and eventually become useless.
Of course, if one was lucky enough to obtain Open Heaven Pills spontaneously born from the Universe itself, there wouldn’t be such worries. The Universe was filled with wonders, but innate Open Heaven Pills were extremely rare. These Open Heaven Pills didn’t have any side effects, and with their help, anyone could attempt to ascend to the next Order.
These naturally born Open Heaven Pills were extraordinarily precious. Whenever they appeared, they would be snatched up by the Cave-Heavens and Paradises. The average cultivator wouldn’t even stand a chance to see one.
Beside the 3,000 Worlds Tree, hundreds of cultivators had broken into a commotion as they were shocked by what Xu Zhen had said.
A solemn Xu Zhen said, “I didn’t believe it at first, but when I saw the World Fruits, I knew that it was the truth. An Open Heaven Realm Master ascends to the next Order mainly by expanding their Small Universe and completing its power. Look at these World Fruits. Every one of them is a Small World on its own. If one can consume and refine it, the benefits they can get will be astonishing. There’s no doubt that it can help a cultivator to reach the next Order.”
Yang Kai nodded gently as Xu Zhen was right. He could feel the World Force wafting from these World Fruits, so it was apparent that they indeed contained Small Worlds inside them. If an Open Heaven Realm Master could refine one of them, it could help them expand the Small Universe in their body and complete its power.
At that instant, all of them became enthusiastic as they drooled over the World Fruits.
These were some amazing fruits that could help a cultivator to ascend to the next Order. All of them at the scene had earned some rewards in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, and it could be said that if they left this place safely, they would definitely become Open Heaven Realm Masters in the near future. If they could obtain a World Fruit in advance, a Third-Order cultivator would ascend to the Fourth-Order; a Fourth-Order cultivator would ascend to the Fifth-Order; a Sixth-Order cultivator would ascend to the Seventh-Order. A World Fruit could save them centuries if not millennia of hard work.
Even if they decided to sell it instead of consuming it, Open Heaven Realm Masters would scramble to purchase it.
All of a sudden, Xu Zhen chuckled and said loudly, “Well, do not have unrealistic expectations about these World Fruits. They’re indeed amazing and extraordinary, but they’re not all-purpose. These fruits are divided into three ranks. A Low-Rank World Fruit can only help a Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master reach the next Order; a Mid-Rank one can help a Mid-Rank cultivator ascend to the next Order; a High-Rank one can help a High-Rank cultivator attain the next Order.”
“These fruits are divided into three ranks?” Xiang Ying arched his brow.
Xu Zhen nodded, “That’s what I saw in the records. Don’t ask me how to differentiate them because I have no idea. I only know that most of the fruits on this tree are Low-Rank. There are only a small number of Mid-Rank ones. As for the High-Rank fruits, there might not even be a single one on this tree. Even if they are on this tree, they must be extremely rare.”
While he was speaking, many used their Divine Senses on the spirit tree. Although these spirit fruits appeared petite, every one of them was an independent world. All the Divine Senses were swallowed instantly, so no one could realise anything special or differentiate the qualities. All of these fruits looked identical, as though they were made from the same mould.
Even if there were no High-Rank fruits, these fruits were deathly attractive to these cultivators.
Ding Yi guffawed, “I’m going to be filthy rich! Hahahaha!”
Many people at the scene were from his Emperor Heaven. Even if all the spirit fruits were shared equally, he could still get his hands on quite a few of them. However, the prerequisite was that he could pick these fruits.
Xu Zhen put on a smile as though he had seen through his thoughts, “Although there are many World Fruits here, each one of you only has one chance. If you pick a fruit, you’ll never be able to enter another one.”
“What nonsense is that?” Ding Yi widened his eyes.
Xu Zhen replied, “I’m not sure about it either. I’m just telling you all what I saw in my Sect’s ancient books. I don’t know much about this fruit tree.”
After giving it a thought, Ding Yi said, “Only by entering the World inside the fruit could one comprehend its Principles and stand a chance to obtain the World Fruit. Is that right?”
Xu Zhen nodded gently, “That’s what I saw.”
After a grunt, Ding Yi grinned, “We can only find out by giving it a try, then.” Upon finishing his words, he gathered his subordinates and picked out over ten people. Then, he ordered them to try to forcefully obtain the World Fruits.
These over ten people rolled up their sleeves and approached the 3,000 Worlds Tree.
Yang Kai and the others watched them in silence, but they didn’t have the intention of stopping these people. There were many things they didn’t understand about the 3,000 Worlds Tree, so these people from Emperor Heaven could serve as guinea pigs for them.
A moment later, these people activated their Secret Techniques and attempted to grab the World Fruits; however, regardless of what they did, the World Fruits remained unmoving, and all the techniques disappeared like stones sinking into the ocean. Someone became furious and cast a Divine Ability at the World Fruit, which swallowed it. The spirit fruit was fine while the Divine Ability had disappeared.
A while later, Ding Yi told these people to come back. The result was clear: it was impossible to forcefully pick the spirit fruits. Just like what Xu Zhen had said, one had to enter the World inside the fruit to pick it.
“In that case, let’s go in, then.” Someone laughed and shuffled forward. After leaping onto a branch, he extended his hand towards a spirit fruit. As soon as he came into contact with the fruit, his figure disappeared.
Seeing that, the other cultivators were unable to stay put anymore as they leapt onto the 3,000 Worlds Tree and chose different spirit fruits.
All of them disappeared like a phantom. In the blink of an eye, over one hundred people were gone.
The remaining cultivators were either observing in silence or hesitating as they were not sure if they should take on such a risk; after all, Xu Zhen had said that there were dangers associated with entering the World inside each fruit. If one succeeded, they could get the spirit fruit. If one failed, they would be trapped inside it forever. There was no second chance.
Xiang Ying and the young man who had obtained Ah Ku also respectively chose a spirit fruit and entered it.
Ding Yi pointed at the tree with his sword and yelled, “Fellow Brothers, opportunity lies in front of us, now all that matters is if you can seize it. I won’t force any of you. Those who are fine with remaining ordinary can stay, and those who want riches and glory can follow this King!”
After he finished speaking, he charged forward and found a spirit fruit at the highest point. As soon as he grabbed the fruit, his figure vanished into thin air.
Some of the people from Emperor Heaven followed him and selected their own fruits. Some of them shook their heads and sighed before going down the mountain; after all, not everyone was as resolute as Ding Yi.
On the other hand, Xu Zhen and Yang Kai remained in the same spots as they were trying to differentiate the ranks of these spirit fruits. Unfortunately, even after a long examination, they still couldn’t tell the difference.
A moment later, Xu Zhen shook his head and said, “Brother Yang, I’ll be going on ahead.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Brother Xu, take care.”
Just then, Yang Kai secretly spoke to Xu Zhen in his mind, “What will happen if two people choose the same spirit fruit?”
Besides trying to differentiate the qualities of these spirit fruits, the reason he had been staying put for so long was to see what would happen if two people selected the same spirit fruit. Unfortunately, no two people entered the World of the same fruit simultaneously. All of them had selected different targets.
A glint flashed across Xu Zhen’s eyes as he realised Yang Kai’s intention, then he replied, “Brother Yang can give it a try.”
Apparently, he had no idea what the outcome would be.
After Xu Zhen was gone, Yang Kai chose a particular World Fruit and grabbed it. The next instant, his figure disappeared.
An incense stick later, a figure appeared like a phantom. He was none other than the short man who had obtained the gourd vine. At this moment, he sported a fervent expression as he stared at the 3,000 Worlds Tree and chuckled, “World Fruits… There are such amazing things in the Primordial Land.”
He had been hiding nearby and it wasn’t until this moment that he appeared.
In a nonchalant manner, he approached the fruit tree and used his gourd vine in an attempt to coil it around a spirit fruit, but regardless of how hard he tried, he was unable to pull it down. The fruits seemed easily obtainable, but they were clearly fixed in place.
After several failed attempts, the short man sighed, “It seems that I have to enter the World inside the fruit.”
Upon finishing his words, he extended his hand towards a fruit.
Right then, something unexpected happened.
A great sense of danger engulfed him, and at the same time, a voice was heard shouting, “Solidify!”
The space around him froze in an instant, which rendered him immoble. The World Fruit was well within reach, but he was unable to move a muscle. From the corner of his eye, he saw a figure slowly appearing in mid-air. Flabbergasted, he finally realised that he had been ambushed.
He had always been a careful person; otherwise, he wouldn’t have remained hidden for such a long time before approaching. However, he hadn’t expected that after he confirmed that everyone had entered the Worlds inside the fruits, someone was still hiding in the dark, and that person had evaded his inspection earlier.
Judging from the voice, he believed that the person was Zhu Jiu Yin’s Bearer, Yang Kai, who had made a name for himself in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. Upon that realization, his expression darkened.
In fact, there were no grudges between Yang Kai and him. It was just that after receiving Jin Wu’s order, he decided to ambush Yang Kai in the seven-coloured passageway. He thought that he could kill his target with one strike, but Yang Kai only suffered some minor injuries. It was then he realised that Yang Kai was indeed famous for a reason.
Earlier, in order to deal with Ding Yi, he had no choice but to expose himself. Apparently, Yang Kai was still resentful of him, so he had hidden in order to ambush him here.
In an instant, this short man figured out everything. Although he wasn’t flustered, he still hurriedly communicated with the gourd vine that had been wrapped around him. The seven small bottle gourds on the vine faintly radiated a seven-coloured light.
Yang Kai appeared from the Void and strode towards the short man. Then, he clapped his hands and pulled them apart, after which a huge Moon Blade took shape. Staring coldly at the short man from a short distance, he bellowed, “Die!”
The Moon Blade broke through the air and cut across space before slashing at the short man.
This person was Jin Wu’s Bearer, and he had plotted against Yang Kai in the seven-coloured passageway some time ago. Since grudges had been formed between them, there was no way Yang Kai would let him off.
Certainly, Yang Kai wouldn’t show him any mercy. He had the Shadowless Veil, so he was able to conceal his figure and aura. Just now, he seemed to have entered into the World inside the fruit, but he had actually never touched the World Fruit. Prior to that, he had already activated the Shadowless Veil to hide his whereabouts.
After just a moment, this short man indeed exposed himself.
This guy also had a way to conceal himself, and he had obtained the Divine Medicine gourd vine. If he wasn’t killed now, he would become a huge problem for Yang Kai in the future.
Moreover, Yang Kai was also interested in the gourd vine and seven small bottle gourds.
Pu Bai Xiong and Little Mushroom were also Divine Medicines, and they were both invaluable. Nevertheless, there was no doubt that the gourd vine was more attractive to Yang Kai. The seven small bottle gourds on the vine corresponded to the Yin, Yang, and each of the Five Elements, and they were all in the Fifth-Order. If he could snatch the gourd vine, it would represent an inexhaustible source of Fifth-Order materials.
Yang Kai naturally didn’t really need such resources, but they would certainly be useful for the people in the Star Boundary. Without holding back, he attempted to kill the short man. The Moon Blade whooshed forward and reached the short man in just a moment.
Just when the short man was about to be decapitated, the seven small bottle gourds around him suddenly shone brightly as the seven-coloured light undulated. Yin, Yang, and Five Elements mutually reinforced one another as a sturdy layer of protection formed.
With a loud boom, the Moon Blade slashed at the seven-coloured barrier but only formed a small gap in it, which still made the short man shudder a little, but he remained unharmed.
Seizing the chance, the short man broke free of the restriction of Space Principles and turned his head before uttering resentfully, “I’ll kill you sooner or later!”
Yang Kai snorted and pushed out a fist, whereupon a black dot flashed across his knuckles.
Rupture!
The violent force of the fist tore the seven-coloured barrier apart and the short man grunted and spat blood. Flustered, he hurriedly grabbed a Word Fruit and disappeared from the spot.
Yang Kai charged forward and pushed out a palm, but all he hit was air as his opponent had snuck into the World inside the fruit.
Without hesitation, Yang Kai also extended his hand towards the same fruit.
The short man had been injured, so now was the best time to end his life. Naturally, Yang Kai wouldn’t want to miss this chance as he was determined to ruthlessly kill him.
What made Yang Kai feel at ease was that as soon as he came into contact with the fruit, he could clearly feel a pull coming from it, as if he was falling into a chasm.
It seemed that even if two people chose the same World Fruit, they could enter the World at the same time.
At that instant, Yang Kai’s curiosity was piqued as he wondered what the World inside the fruit looked like. Simultaneously, he surged his strength to protect himself and remained vigilant.
In the blink of an eye, he entered a very peculiar world. Upon scanning his surroundings, Yang Kai was stunned.
That was because he was inside a gigantic bubble at this moment. There were more bubbles around him, and they were all pressed against one another. He couldn’t see where the end was as there were countless bubbles present. It was as though the entire world was made from these bubbles.
What shocked him more was that the World Energy in this bubble was ample, and this World seemed to have its own World Principles, which were fairly complete.
Upon sensing it, Yang Kai realised that if he cultivated in this World, assuming that there was nothing wrong with his aptitude, he could definitely ascend to the Open Heaven Realm.
That realization amazed him. This was just a World inside the fruit, but it was already able to help a cultivator reach the Open Heaven Realm. These World Fruits were indeed extraordinary. It was no wonder that they could help an Open Heaven Realm Master to ascend to the next Order.
Yang Kai supposed this was a Low-Rank World Fruit because, upon inspection, he realised that the best one could achieve was Third-Order in this place. This feeling was vague, but he was certain about his inference.
Before Yang Kai could find out about anything else though, he saw an anomaly from the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he saw someone else in a bubble over there. His figure appeared somewhat contorted as he was breaking free from his current bubble and rushing into the next.
He was none other than the short man!
Both of them entered this world one after the other, so they should have fallen into the same area.
Earlier, the short man was struck by Yang Kai’s fist, and at this moment, his aura was weak, so it was apparent that he was injured. Certainly, Yang Kai wouldn’t miss this chance as he bellowed, “Where do you think you’re going!?”
As Space Principles fluctuated, he attempted to race after him.
With a crash, Yang Kai felt as though he had collided with a mountain as he was forced to stop. He began seeing stars, and the soreness on his nose almost made him tear up.
On both of his shoulders, Little Mushroom and Pu Bai Xiong were rolling over as they exclaimed.
Yang Kai shook his head and took a step back. After a glance, he was rendered speechless. That was because what blocked his way was the wall of the bubble. It was the bubble that had cut off his Instantaneous Movement and stopped him from leaving.
Raising his hands, Yang Kai grabbed Little Mushroom and Pu Bai Xiong before throwing them into a Small Sealed World. Following that, he tore the bubble with his hands and shot into the next one.
What was strange was that this bubble was able to seal off the space inside of it, making Instantaneous Movement useless, but the bubble itself could be easily torn apart.
However, after Yang Kai dashed into the next bubble, the gap healed itself.
At this moment, he didn’t have the time to ponder on it as he stared fixedly in the direction the short man was fleeing. As Yang Kai broke apart layers of bubbles, he attempted to hunt down and kill his enemy.
A while later, Yang Kai guffawed, “Even the Heavens are on my side!”
That was because he could see that after the short man barged into a certain bubble, a raging flame suddenly appeared and made him jump. At this instant, he looked pretty pitiful.
Before Yang Kai could finish his words though, a rumble was heard and following that, a bolt of lightning struck him and caused him to stagger.
His expression changed when he raised his head and saw that countless bolts of lightning had been formed in the bubble he was in. In the blink of an eye, they transformed into a thunderstorm. The lightning strikes caused him to feel numb and tremble violently.
There were many forms of danger that were hidden within these bubbles apparently. From the outside, they appeared identical, so one wouldn’t find out what was inside until they entered it.
After just ten breaths’ time, Yang Kai broke free from the bubble that was filled with lightning. At the same time, the short man escaped his fiery predicament. Apparently, he could feel someone chasing after him, so he kept dashing forward without even turning his head.
A furious Yang Kai passed through the bubbles before him as he pursued his prey.
As they charged forward, it wasn’t certain how far they had left their original spots behind. The gap between them shortened and then widened from time to time.
Yang Kai clenched his teeth so hard that they almost cracked. If it weren’t because of these strange bubbles, given his mastery over the Dao of Space, he could’ve captured this short man with ease. However, these bubbles were able to stop him from using Instantaneous Movement, which infuriated him.
A few days later, Yang Kai stopped in his tracks and panted heavily due to exhaustion.
Several dozen bubbles in front of him, the short man fell on his backside and lay down on the ground with his limbs spread.
After days of pursuit, both of them were weary, so they had no choice but to take a rest.
While Yang Kai was stuffing Spirit Pills into his mouth, he yelled, “Keep running! When this King captures you, I’ll let you have a taste of the most excruciating torture!”
With difficulty, the short man hoisted himself with his hands and stuffed some pills into his mouth. Still panting, he said, “What can I do so that you’ll let me off?”
Yang Kai sneered, “Let you off? Do you think that’s possible? Besides the fact that you ambushed this King in an attempt to kill me, both of us are Bearers, so we’ll definitely have a life-and-death battle one day. Instead of waiting, I should end your life here to save the trouble later.”