Seeing as Yang Kai was relentless, the short man barked, “Hey, surnamed Yang. Don’t you think that this Gou is afraid of you! I just don’t want to get into an unnecessary fight and let others take advantage of me!”
Yang Kai snickered, “Killing you isn’t an unnecessary fight… You want to live? Good. Leave your gourd vine to me, and I’ll stop chasing after you.”
That man surnamed Gou bellowed, “Keep chasing after me, then! Let’s see who can run faster!”
If it weren’t because he had been struck by Yang Kai’s fist earlier, he wouldn’t have appeared so battered when running away. With the gourd vine in his hand, he wasn’t afraid of anyone in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary; however, that attack had indeed injured him. If it weren’t thanks to the gourd vine’s protection, he likely would’ve been ground to dust.
While they were trying to restore their energy, they kept bickering with one another. Apparently, neither of them intended to let the other party rest peacefully.
One hour later, Yang Kai got to his feet and tore apart the bubble before charging forward.
The man surnamed Gou was flabbergasted. Before he could fully refine the medicinal efficacies of the pills in his stomach, he hurriedly fled from where he sat.
Over the next several dozen days, life was like a living Hell for the man surnamed Gou. Yang Kai’s restorative capability was obviously vastly superior to his. In the time it took him to restore a bit of his strength, Yang Kai already became fully energetic again and raced after him, which forced him to flee while he was still in a terrible state.
His injury didn’t get the treatment it needed either, and instead of healing, it had actually become worse.
He knew that this situation couldn’t go on forever. While he was weakening, Yang Kai became stronger. One day, Yang Kai would be able to capture him, and by then, he wouldn’t even have any energy left to resist.
Recently, the gap between Yang Kai and him had been shortening. Initially, they were several dozen bubbles apart, but now, there were only a few that came between them. It could be said that the distance between them was short.
While he was running away, he had also been exploring the secrets of this World in an attempt to comprehend the mysterious principles and become the owner of this World Fruit. Unfortunately, even after days of trying, he still couldn’t achieve his goal.
Naturally, Yang Kai had been doing the same thing.
The entire World was made up of countless bubbles which were pressed against one another. All the bubbles looked identical, so one couldn’t tell the difference between them.
Although Yang Kai had been pursuing the man surnamed Gou, which caused the latter to become exhausted, he was secretly anxious as well; after all, many days had passed, and no one knew what was going on in the outside world. If he missed the closing time of the Primordial Land, he would be trapped in this place forever.
If he couldn’t leave, Yue He and the others would end up in a miserable state as well.
Therefore, Yang Kai didn’t hold back any of his strength when hunting down his enemy. Only by killing this guy as soon as possible could he have the chance to comprehend the mysterious Principles of this place in peace.
After adjusting his breathing for a short while, Yang Kai ignored the fact that he hadn’t fully restored his energy and broke the next bubble apart. Then, he dashed towards the man surnamed Gou.
This time though, the other party didn’t flee; instead, he remained seated with his legs crossed while staring coldly at Yang Kai. His gaze was tinged with ruthlessness and resolve.
Yang Kai grinned, knowing that this guy was left with no choice and had decided to risk it all in a life-and-death battle with him. This was the outcome he wanted.
Just a moment later, Yang Kai broke through several bubbles and arrived at the bubble the man surnamed Gou was in. After several dozen days, it was the first time they were confronting each other at such a close distance.
“Lock!” Yang Kai performed a hand seal with one hand. As Space Principles undulated, the space inside this bubble became sealed. By doing so, he could ensure that this man surnamed Gou couldn’t flee easily, unless the latter broke his space barrier. But even if he really did that, he would only be exposing his back to Yang Kai, giving him a chance to finish him off.
“It seems that one of us has to perish on this day. That’s such a shame. This Gou didn’t intend to send you to Hell so soon, but you’ve left me with no choice,” Instead of becoming flustered, however, the man surnamed Gou seemed confident of winning the battle.
Upon finishing his words, he let out a breath and slowly got to his feet. As he hoisted himself, his aura turned from weak to imposing.
Yang Kai stared dispassionately at him and said calmly, “You shouldn’t make bold claims without the strength to back them up, lest you embarrass yourself. Let us see who the last one standing will be.”
As their eyes met, sparks seemed to fly between them.
The next instant, both of them made a move as though it had been agreed upon.
Yang Kai repeatedly flicked his fingers as Moon Blades shot at his opponent and engulfed him. Wherever the Moon Blades passed, space was cut apart.
On the other hand, the man surnamed Gou performed a hand seal with both hands as a large awl swirled into existence.
Shattering Dao Seal Technique!
This Divine Ability specifically targeted the enemy’s Dao Seal, and its power was quite horrifying. Yang Kai had suffered a small setback in the past because of this technique and Ding Yi had also almost lost his life because of this Divine Ability.
Since Yang Kai had seen this technique twice though, he immediately put his guard up by diverting some of his energy to strengthen his Dao Seal so that it wouldn’t be shaken. At the same time, a thought flashed across his mind as the Moon Blades turned around and slashed at the Shattering Dao Seal Technique.
Whooshing sounds were continuously heard and in the blink of an eye, the Shattering Dao Seal Technique was destroyed while the still intact Moon Blades came at the man surnamed Gou again.
The man surnamed Gou bellowed as a golden light radiated from his body. As the power of his Seventh-Order Power of Metal undulated, he turned into a golden figure. Following that, he balled up his fists and punched at the Moon Blades, which caused them to shatter.
The main characteristic of the Metal Element was offence, and it was extremely sharp.
Yang Kai was envious of this short man because he was lacking a Metal Element Power. He was upset at the fact that the Divine Spirit that had found him was Zhu Jiu Yin instead of Jin Wu. If it had been Jin Wu, he could’ve made use of his Monster Core to condense a Seventh-Order Metal Element Power. Once all Five Elements were complete, he would officially enter the half-step Open Heaven Realm. After condensing the Yin and Yang Elements, he could ascend to the Open Heaven Realm.
Nevertheless, this was his fate. Since Zhu Jiu Yin had found him to be her Bearer, there was no way Jin Wu would welcome him. That was the fundamental reason behind this battle.
After breaking through the storm of Moon Blades, the man surnamed Gou remained imposing. His short and sturdy figure looked like a raging bull as he charged towards Yang Kai and reached him in the blink of an eye. His fist, which was engulfed in Seventh-Order Metal Element Power, shot towards Yang Kai’s chest. Before his fist even reached Yang Kai’s chest, a sharp aura was already felt coming from it, stinging Yang Kai’s skin and causing his shirt to tear.
However, Yang Kai didn’t attempt to dodge the attack. With a dispassionate expression, he looked mockingly at the man surnamed Gou.
The next instant, the expression of the man surnamed Gou changed as he realised that regardless of how hard he tried, he was unable to land a fist on Yang Kai, and there was always a distance of a palm’s length between them.
He could clearly feel that he was charging forward, but the gap between them never shortened one bit, which was extremely strange.
In order to snatch the Tai Yi Soul Cleansing Water some time ago, Yang Kai was faced with a naturally formed barrier. Upon comprehending the Principles behind this barrier, he gained some benefits as well as new insights into the Dao of Space. With some practice, Yang Kai had become adept at using Space Principles to infinitely extend space.
The man surnamed Gou was unable to shorten the gap between Yang Kai and him, just like how he was unable to shorten the distance between the white jade trough and himself in the past. The space between them was extending, so while it might appear unmoving, it was actually moving at the speed of lightning.
Ten breaths later, the man surnamed Gou had no energy left as his aura weakened. Just then, Yang Kai stuck out a finger and said dispassionately, “Die.”
A petite Golden Crow shot out from the tip of his finger with a fierce cry. The man surnamed Gou could see the crow expanding right in front of him as though it was going to engulf him.
Golden Crow’s True Fire was horrifying, and it even surpassed the Metal Element Power of Jin Wu he had condensed. If he was struck by this fire crow, he would end up in a horrible state.
At the critical moment, the man surnamed Gou didn’t dare to hold back his power any longer. Upon extending his arm, his gourd vine shot forward as though it possessed spirituality and penetrated the Golden Crow, which caused it to break apart. Following that, it came right at Yang Kai’s glabella. The Powers of Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements swirled around the gourd vine as it was able to break through his space extension and reach him in the blink of an eye.
Yang Kai’s expression changed as he arched his back in an attempt to dodge the attack.
The man surnamed Gou was relentless, however. With the gourd vine in his hand, he used it like a whip. After he wielded it, the gourd vine spiralled towards Yang Kai and engulfed him.
After several attempts, Yang Kai realised that he was unable to shake off its pursuit, so just when he was about to be caught by the gourd vine, he yelled and extended his hand towards the void before grabbing the Azure Dragon Spear. Man and spear uniting as one, Yang Kai thrust out his weapon.
There didn’t seem to be any technique involved in this thrust, making it look like the simplest of attacks, but in fact, it was an extremely precise move as his weapon pointed right at the centre of the spiralling vine.
A violent force exploded as the man surnamed Gou grunted and was forced back. In an instant, Yang Kai had reversed the situation.
Without stopping, Yang Kai wielded his spear as freely as a Dragon would its claws, sending countless spear shadows to surround the man surnamed Gou.
At that moment, the man surnamed Gou was forced into a defensive stance. He had never expected that Yang Kai also had such attainments in the Spear Dao. Since his attack was resolved, he had no choice but to passively protect himself.
The two became locked in an intense battle, with no one seeming to have the upper hand.
As the battle dragged on though, the man surnamed Gou was astounded. The spear in Yang Kai’s hands seemed like a living creature as it was able to keep attacking his weakest points, which caused him to be drenched in a cold sweat.
It wasn’t pure luck that he was selected by Jin Wu. The Divine Spirits had their own standards when it came to choosing their Bearers. If someone’s heritage was insufficient, the Divine Spirits wouldn’t even spare them a glance.
The man surnamed Gou became a Bearer because of his strength and ability. Afterwards, he had been trained by Jin Wu for years, and he obtained the gourd vine upon entering the Primordial Land, so he thought that no one in Grand Ancient Ruins was a match for him. However, he hadn’t expected that there was someone who was able to counter him.
After several life-and-death moments, the man surnamed Gou was finally certain that using his current methods, he would never be able to defeat Yang Kai. The spear in Yang Kai’s hands was definitely an extraordinary artifact as it was able to remain intact even after clashing with his gourd vine. Moreover, it faintly exuded the aura of Divine Spirit, which slightly restrained him.
Gritting his teeth, the man surnamed Gou shouted, “I didn’t want to use this move, but you’ve forced my hand. It is your honour to get killed by this method!”
Yang Kai felt his chest tightening, knowing that this guy was certainly going to use his trump card. With that said, he too had a trump card left, so with a sneer, he said, “How dare you still boast so shamelessly!? I’ll break your teeth for that!”
“Whether it’s shameless boasting or not, you will learn soon!” The man surnamed Gou snorted, “Rise!” he bellowed.
Following that, he wielded his gourd vine as the seven small bottle gourds fell to the ground.
Yang Kai swung his spear and stepped backwards as he stayed vigilant with a cold gaze.
He had witnessed the powers of these seven small bottle gourds before, and they were all extraordinary. Earlier, he had already put his guard up against them, but his opponent didn’t seem to have the intention of using them. Was this man surnamed Gou going to make use of the Powers of these bottle gourds now?
The Seven Bottle Gourd Brothers were all extraordinary as they were able to activate Fifth-Order Powers. Most cultivators were not a match for them as only a small number of cultivators had condensed Fifth-Order Elements, making them unable to even parry the attacks from these Seven Bottle Gourd Brothers.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai wasn’t afraid of them. Even the weakest Element Power he had condensed was in the Seventh Order, so why would he be frightened by these Fifth-Order bottle gourds?
Upon leaving the gourd vine, the Seven Brothers struck different poses, trying to appear imposing, but before they could introduce themselves, the man surnamed Gou suddenly wielded his gourd vine again, whereupon it straightened, and under the shocked gaze of Yang Kai, penetrated the back of the First Brother and stuck out from his chest.
What was strange was that even though the gourd vine had pierced through the First Brother, he didn’t seem harmed one bit.
Without stopping, the gourd vine penetrated the Second Brother, followed by San Wa and Si Wa…
After just a short moment, all Seven Bottle Gourd Brothers became a string of bottle gourds.
All of a sudden, Yang Kai became apprehensive. He thought that these Seven Bottle Gourd Brothers were the trump card of this man surnamed Gou, but he hadn’t expected such a turn of events.
Without hesitation, he surged all his might. Following a Dragon roar, a Dragon Pressure permeated the bubble and the Azure Dragon Spear seemed to transform into a Great Dragon as it pounced on the man surnamed Gou.
With a dispassionate expression, the man surnamed Gou stared at Yang Kai. He appeared so aloof that it was as though he was looking down at an ant.
Following that, he wielded the gourd vine and lashed out at the Azure Dragon Spear.
With a loud boom, Yang Kai felt a horrifying force coming right at him, and he was sent flying backwards. Even the Great Dragon illusory phantom on the spear became dim upon impact.
Upon crashing into the membrane of the bubble, Yang Kai spat a mouthful of blood and widened his eyes, “Open Heaven Realm Power?”
During the short moment of contact earlier, he could feel a thick Open Heaven might coming from the gourd vine. The power showcased far exceeded this man called Gou’s own strength, which was why he suffered a setback.
At this moment, the seven small bottle gourds, which had been connected by the gourd vine, turned into lights of seven colours and streamed into the vine. Seven colours could be seen flowing around the gourd vine, which made it look extremely beautiful. The Yin, Yang, and Five Elements Powers mingled with one another as they mutually restrained and reinforced one another.
In order to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm, a cultivator had to condense Yin, Yang, and Five Elements before splitting Heaven and Earth apart in their body, forming a Small Universe within themselves. By doing so, they could generate World Force all on their own. This was the fundamental reason an Open Heaven Realm Master was far more powerful than an Emperor Realm cultivator.
Yang Kai hadn’t managed to do this yet, but he had seen someone else ascending to the Open Heaven Realm.
When Bai Qi was ascending to the Fifth Order, Yang Kai was there to observe by his side. When an accident occurred, fortunately, he managed to feed Bai Qi some World Source Liquid; otherwise, Bai Qi would’ve lost his life.
The images from that day flashed across Yang Kai’s mind as he watched the sight before his eyes. Presently, Yin, Yang, and Five Elements mingled with one another in an endless cycle.
The seven small bottle gourds on this gourd vine corresponded to the Powers of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements. Just like a cultivator who had condensed seven Element Powers, the gourd vine was able to use the might exclusive to Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Moreover, it was the might of the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm. After all, every Little Bottle Gourd possessed Fifth-Order Element Powers.
In other words, the gourd vine in the hand of this man surnamed Gou was actually a Fifth-Order Open Heaven weapon that he could use as he pleased.
At the thought of this, Yang Kai was horrified. Although he was strong, he was nowhere near a match for a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. He was fully aware of that. Yue He was also a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Given his current power and condition, the only outcome for him was death when he faced such an enemy.
Without thinking, Yang Kai turned around and tore the membrane apart before running away. The situation, which was supposed to be in his favour, turned into a crisis.
Behind him, the man surnamed Gou was heard saying in a grim voice, “Where do you think you’re going? You’ve forced me to use this move, so you can die with no regrets now!”
The sound of something breaking through the air was heard as Yang Kai felt a chill shoot up his spine. There seemed to be a viper racing after him. Turning his head, he widened his eyes in disbelief as the man surnamed Gou remained in the same spot, but the gourd vine in his hand extended infinitely and came right at him. Wherever the vine passed, all the bubbles exploded as they were unable to stop its advance.
If Yang Kai were in a different environment, he could’ve used Instantaneous Movement. However, these bubbles greatly restricted his freedom.
Although Yang Kai was madly pushing his Space Principles to extend space behind himself, it couldn’t stop the gourd vine from pursuing him. The Principles were destroyed by the Open Heaven might from the vine, rendering them useless.
After just three breaths’ time, the gourd vine was only an arm’s length away.
There was no way Yang Kai could evade. Feeling the horrifying force that was coming from the gourd vine, he gritted his teeth and whirled around. Then, he infused all his power into the Azure Dragon Spear and thrust out.
Following a loud boom, Yang Kai was sent flying back as he sprayed out a mouthful of blood while the gourd vine’s attack was hindered for a moment.
After Yang Kai crashed into another bubble membrane again, cracking sounds were heard coming from his body. At that instant, over ten of his bones had broken. Although he was going through excruciating pain, his gaze brightened and instead of becoming horrified, he appeared ecstatic.
Earlier, he was shocked by the Open Heaven aura radiating from the gourd vine and thought that this man surnamed Gou could really use the might of the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm. After the exchange just now though, he realised that it was an unfounded fear.
After the gourd vine merged all seven small bottle gourds, it indeed could display the might of the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm; however, the man surnamed Gou didn’t have sufficient strength or foundation, so he was unable to fully utilize the gourd vine’s power.
The most he could draw out was Second or Third-Order Open Heaven Realm power. If this wasn’t the case, Yang Kai wouldn’t have survived despite the fact that he had tried to parry the attack with the Azure Dragon Spear.
Another possibility was that it had something to do with the special World Principles in this place. It was a Low-Rank World Fruit, so Third-Order Open Heaven Realm was its limit. Therefore, it wouldn’t tolerate any power that exceeded its limit.
If that was the most the man surnamed Gou could bring out, Yang Kai reckoned that he could still fight it out.
Upon that realization, he stopped running and turned around before charging towards the man surnamed Gou.
The other party remained on the same spot with his gaze lowered, muttering under his breath, “So you realised it? But so what? An Emperor Realm cultivator like you isn’t able to resist the might of the Open Heaven Realm! Go to Hell!”
The gourd vine broke through the air and came at Yang Kai again. Countless spear shadows emerged from Yang Kai’s weapon. With his mind at ease, his spear seemed to have become one with him as he could fully utilize its power.
In the blink of an eye, several hundred clashes took place. The surrounding bubbles were annihilated as a violent force swept out and a dazzling light formed in a circular form.
Yang Kai was sent flying away once again, and before he could stabilise himself, the gourd vine struck at him. Its Open Heaven might flared as though it was going to ruthlessly end Yang Kai’s life.
After choking down the blood in his throat, Yang Kai clenched his teeth and wielded his spear as he was determined to battle against the gourd vine.
Repeatedly, he was sent flying away, coughing up mouthfuls of blood. He appeared completely battered and was clearly at a complete disadvantage. It seemed that he was totally unable to counter the attacks from the man surnamed Gou.
Nevertheless, he remained calm and collected. Despite the fact that his eyes had been shaded with blood, they were still filled with determination.
The man surnamed Gou on the other hand bellowed, “Why aren’t you dead yet?” After he sent Yang Kai flying away again, he began panting heavily.
After spitting out a mouthful of blood, Yang Kai grabbed his contorted left arm and twisted it to reconnect his fractured bones before snickering, “It’s extremely difficult to kill me. Given your might, you won’t be able to end my life!”
Yang Kai condensed his Wood Element from the Immortal Tree’s essence and possessed an extremely powerful Dragon Vein. When it came to resilience and recovery, almost no one in the world could surpass him. As long as it wasn’t a lethal strike, he could always heal himself regardless of how severe the injuries were.
The might of the Second or Third-Order Open Heaven Realm was indeed formidable enough to render Yang Kai powerless to resist, but it wasn’t enough to end his life.
Upon slowly getting to his feet, Yang Kai brushed the blood away from his eyes so that he could see clearer, and with a mocking gaze, he stared at the man surnamed Gou, “But, how long can you last?”
After a pause, he went on to say calmly, “You’re an Emperor Realm cultivator too, so you definitely have to pay a price to forcefully use the might of the Open Heaven Realm, and that price is certainly quite hefty. Otherwise, you would’ve used this move a long time ago instead of hiding it. Is your Dao Seal still stable? Can your physique last? It seems that you’re the one who is going to die instead, bastard!” Then, he pointed his spear at his opponent in a provocative manner.
The expression of this man surnamed Gou darkened.
Just like Yang Kai said, he indeed had to pay a heavy price for forcefully using the might of the Open Heaven Realm while still in the Emperor Realm. Every time he wielded the gourd vine, he could indeed harm Yang Kai, but at the same time, he would suffer immense backlash. His physique, Soul, and Dao Seal all shook violently with each strike, so if this dragged on, he would lose his life to those effects before he could even kill Yang Kai.
Realizing this, he clenched his teeth and roared, “I’ll definitely end your life before I go to Hell!”
Upon finishing his words, he wielded the gourd vine again and infused all his energy into it. The lights of seven colours rapidly swirled around the vine, and at the same time, his physique visibly shrunk a little. It was apparent that he was sacrificing his own vital essence to draw out more power, damaging his foundation. The arm of the hand holding the vine had its flesh broken apart and started bleeding.
Yang Kai turned solemn, knowing that the other party was now laying his life on the line. The next move would be the key to Yang Kai’s victory or defeat, and he had been waiting for that moment!
The next instant, the gourd vine broke through the air again. This attack was more horrifying than all the ones prior, which made Yang Kai feel that it had exceeded the Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm and reached the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm.
Hurriedly, he moved and yelled, “Golden Crow Casts the Sun!”
A high-pitched caw was heard as a golden Sun rose behind Yang Kai. At that instant, the light expanded and dazzled the beholder. A terrifying aura undulated around the great Sun, where a Golden Crow was seen flying and frolicking, which caused the expression of the man surnamed Gou to change.
He had already heard that Yang Kai had comprehended a Divine Manifestation, but it wasn’t until this moment that he finally witnessed it with his own eyes. Despite the fact that they were on opposing sides, he couldn’t help admiring his enemy’s talent and capabilities.
When the Head Manager of Scarlet Star saw this Golden Crow Casts the Sun Divine Manifestation, he surmised that with it, Yang Kai would be capable of fighting a Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master even though he was just an Emperor Realm Junior, which went to show just how powerful the Divine Manifestation was.
Yang Kai lifted his spear and pointed at the Great Sun before swinging it down and thrusting it forward, sending the Great Sun flying over and crashing into the gourd vine.
Yang Kai had his Golden Crow Casts the Sun Divine Manifestation while the man surnamed Gou was able to use the might of the Open Heaven Realm through the gourd vine. Both of them were able to use powers equivalent to that of a Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters, so it could be said that they were equally matched.
The great Sun dazzled the World in the fruit with its golden glow while the gourd vine penetrated Heaven and Earth and broke through the void.
The clash between them was like two stars colliding with one another.
Following a deafening boom, a horrifying shock wave swept out which caused the bubbles around them to explode and vanish into thin air. Yang Kai widened his eyes in fury as he had infused all his energy into his strike, and it was the same case for the man surnamed Gou.
*Hong hong hong…*
The world paled as countless Void Cracks appeared. Apparently, this world was unable to bear the impact of this violent explosion.
Yang Kai spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying backwards. At the same time, the great Sun died out.
The man surnamed Gou sprayed out a mouthful of blood as his face turned ashen. The sounds of bones breaking were heard coming from his body. The lights of seven colours on the gourd vine dimmed and seven bottle gourds reappeared. He was also sent flying away like a sack.
The clash resulted in both sides being heavily injured. Neither Yang Kai nor the man surnamed Gou had gained the upper hand.
Upon landing on the ground, Yang Kai circulated his power in an attempt to get up, but he was unable to do so. Just now, he had almost exerted all of his strength into that one attack, so right now, both his physique and Dao Seal had reached their limits. If he forcefully did anything else, he might suffer from irreversible damage.
At that instant, he was astounded as he hadn’t expected to end up in such a state. At the same time, he secretly reflected upon himself and thought that he should never underestimate his enemies. The man surnamed Gou wasn’t a renowned figure, but he possessed such terrifying power. He was just one of the Bearers of those Divine Spirits, so how powerful were the other Bearers?
Of course, this guy’s power was built on the gourd vine.
Fortunately, while Yang Kai was unable to get up, the man surnamed Gou had also become paralysed on the ground.
As an Emperor Realm cultivator, this guy had been forcefully using the power of the Open Heaven Realm. The damage he had suffered from must be equivalent to, if not worse than, that of Yang Kai.
*Pa pa pa pa…*
Impacted by the force of these two people, the bubbles in the world kept bursting. As though a chain reaction had been triggered, these bubbles wouldn’t stop exploding, accelerating as time passed.
In the blink of an eye, all the bubbles burst into oblivion, leaving only a palm-sized bubble hovering in mid-air.
This bubble was inconspicuous and both Yang Kai and the man surnamed Gou had never noticed it. They had run around for a long time and passed through many bubbles, but they had never seen this particular one.
After all the other bubbles burst, this one appeared unique.
Yang Kai batted his blood-soaked eyes and stared fixedly at the bubble. All of a sudden, his gaze brightened as he realised that this bubble was the key to controlling this World Fruit. If he could refine this bubble, he might be able to obtain the World Fruit.
Not willing to waste any time on taking a rest, he squirmed and crawled towards the bubble as at this moment, he didn’t even have any energy to get up and walk.
Not long after he crawled forward, he felt a grip on his ankle. Turning his head, he secretly cursed.
He was completely attracted to that unique bubble, so he had forgotten about the man surnamed Gou. The other party had used the gourd vine to coil it around his ankle and in the next instant, a force pulled Yang Kai to the back of the man surnamed Gou and caused him to roll over for a moment before he managed to stabilize himself.
Initially, he was closer to the bubble, but after the man surnamed Gou used a dirty trick, the latter became the one who was nearer the bubble.
Apparently, the man surnamed Gou also seemed to have realised the uniqueness of that bubble, so at this moment, he was squirming and crawling towards it.
Yang Kai felt fortunate that even though he was pulled back by the gourd vine, he wasn’t harmed because of that. Obviously, this man surnamed Gou didn’t have any energy left to deal with Yang Kai; otherwise, he wouldn’t have let him off easily.
A furious Yang Kai expended more energy to chase after him.
Presently, both of them were squirming forward like two worms as they slowly approached the bubble.
The injuries of the man surnamed Gou was apparently more severe, so he was surpassed by Yang Kai just a moment later. With a disdainful look, Yang Kai shot him a scornful glance, “After this King obtains this World Fruit, I’ll kill you!”
The expression of the man surnamed Gou darkened and without uttering a word, he wielded his gourd vine again.
Once again, Yang Kai was pulled backwards, his expression turning grim as he cursed and raised his Azure Dragon Spear before jabbing it at the gourd vine.
Right then, a series of exclaims were heard. All seven bottle gourds on the vine opened their eyes and looked aggrievedly at Yang Kai as they said in unison, “You’re hurting us!”
Ignoring them, Yang Kai forcefully thrust his weapon towards the gourd vine and finally peeled it off.
The man surnamed Gou shook the gourd vine, whereupon the seven small bottle gourds dropped onto the ground and transformed into the Seven Bottle Gourd Brothers. However, at this moment, their auras appeared extremely weak. It was apparent that during the clash with Yang Kai earlier, their foundation had been damaged.
Presently, the Seven Brothers were lying on the ground. The first Brother said lethargically, “I’m Da Wa.”
The Second Brother said, “I’m Er Wa.”
The Third Brother said, “I’m San Wa.”
…
One by one, these Seven Brothers introduced themselves and gathered together before shouting in unison, “We’re the Seven Bottle Gourd Brothers!”
The man surnamed Gou bellowed, “Shut up and hold him back!”
Hurriedly, the bottle gourds rushed towards Yang Kai, whereupon they grabbed his hair and clenched his arms. One of the brothers waddled towards Yang Kai’s thighs and wrapped his arms around them. He appeared determined to not let him move forward.
Yang Kai was speechless at that, and seeing as the man surnamed Gou was slowly approaching the bubble, a thought flashed across his mind as he summoned out Pu Bai Xiong and Little Mushroom.
Pu Bai Xiong exclaimed, “What happened?”
He and Little Mushroom had been kept inside the Small Sealed World by Yang Kai since they entered the World inside this fruit, so they had no idea what had happened outside, yet right after they left the Small Sealed World, they saw seven bottle gourds making things difficult for Yang Kai, so they were both puzzled and shocked.
Little Mushroom grabbed her mushroom cap with both hands and said weakly, “Big Brothers, what are you all doing?”
Certainly, the bottle gourds didn’t have the time to respond to her as they were trying to torment Yang Kai.
Yang Kai shouted, “Don’t just stand there! Help me get rid of them now!”
Standing just beside Yang Kai, Pu Bai Xiong darted his gaze around before placing his hands akimbo and guffawing, “Brat, you had it coming!”
Like a nasty person taking pleasure in someone else’s misfortune, he looked down at Yang Kai and laughed in an arrogant manner.
The expression of Yang Kai darkened. Pu Bai Xiong was truly a disloyal fellow. Now that Yang Kai was weak and in trouble, he certainly would come up with ways to humiliate him.
“When you oppressed Uncle Pu, you never expected that this would happen to you one day, right? When you picked my grape, it never occurred to you that you would need me to save you in the future, right?” Pu Bai Xiong squatted and, using his roots, he pinched Yang Kai’s nose so that the latter couldn’t breathe.
Yang Kai yelled, “What do you want? I’m warning you not to be so arrogant; otherwise, I’ll teach you a lesson after this!”
Pu Bai Xiong chuckled and got up, “You dare threaten me? If it weren’t because you’re actually a kind-hearted person, I wouldn’t care about your life or death.” He paused for a moment and meaningfully grinned, “Call me Uncle Pu, and I’ll save you.”
“Uncle Pu!” Yang Kai directly said.
Pu Bai Xiong became startled and batted his eyes, then he barked, “Do you know no shame at all?” He shook his head and stepped onto Yang Kai’s figure. Then, one by one, he kicked away the bottle gourds who had been harassing Yang Kai.
To the side, Little Mushroom was terrified as she watched the sight.
Pu Bai Xiong was a Divine Medicine who had assumed Human form, but he certainly wasn’t specialized in fighting like the Bottle Gourd Brothers. If it weren’t because these bottle gourds were exhausted, there was no way Pu Bai Xiong could have oppressed them.
After Pu Bai Xiong kicked away two of them, two other bottle gourds came over and grabbed his roots before punching him, which caused him to start wailing.
“Stop fighting! Stop fighting!” Little Mushroom cried out, but she was suddenly punched by someone, which resulted in a dark circle around her eye. Falling on her backside, she started bawling her eyes out.
With all four of his roots clenched by the bottle gourds, Pu Bai Xiong was rendered immobile, so turning to Little Mushroom, he yelled, “Stop crying and grab the vine, now!”
Upon hearing that, Little Mushroom cried harder.
Pu Bai Xiong bellowed, “Go now! Otherwise, I’ll beat your Big Brothers to death!”
An astounded Little Mushroom hurriedly stopped crying and got to her feet before dashing towards the man surnamed Gou.
Certainly, the man surnamed Gou was fully aware of what was going on. He was still wiggling towards the bubble, and he was only a thousand metres away from it now.
Seeing Little Mushroom coming at him, he snorted and ignored her.
Before this, he had seen the two Divine Medicines that belonged to Yang Kai, but they didn’t seem able to fight. Although he was weak, he wasn’t afraid of a Divine Medicine who had assumed Human form. If she dared to offend him, he wouldn’t mind gobbling her up.
Upon reaching him, Little Mushroom stared at him for a moment before bowing to him. Then, she said meekly, “Can you… give me your gourd vine?”
“Fuck off!” The man surnamed Gou rudely yelled.
Little Mushroom turned ashen and took a few steps back in horror. Then, she turned to look at the bottle gourds and Pu Bai Xiong, who were still locked in a scuffle, and clenched her teeth. All of a sudden, she puffed out a breath at the man surnamed Gou, “I have to save my Big Brothers. You sleep!”
At that instant, the man surnamed Gou felt the world around him spinning as his Soul sank and a sense of sleepiness swept across him.
“You…” Before he could finish his words, he suddenly relaxed entirely and started snoring on the ground.
“Sorry!” Little Mushroom repeatedly bowed her head to apologise. Then, she pounced on him and forcefully pulled his hand apart before taking the ground vine.
After she gently shook it, the seven small bottle gourds, who were harassing Yang Kai and Pu Bai Xiong, turned into seven beams of light and shot into the gourd vine.
The next instant, seven bottle gourds grew on the wine as they lamented in one voice, “So tired. This time, we can finally take a rest.”
After they finished speaking, they closed their eyes and remained hanging there in silence. Although they were potent Divine Medicines, they had expended a lot of energy as they were driven by the man surnamed Gou to battle against Yang Kai. Now, they had to take a long rest.
Without the bottle gourds holding him down, Pu Bai Xiong regained his freedom and lay on top of Yang Kai with his limbs stretched out. With a grin, he said, “Brat, you’ve just obtained an invaluable treasure. I’m telling you, these bottle gourds are all fresh and fleshy. If you stew them… What are you doing?”
Upon finishing his words, Pu Bai Xiong became horrified because Yang Kai was grabbing him and looking fervently at his head.
By just looking at Yang Kai’s eyes, he knew what Yang Kai was up to. Hence, he hurriedly covered his head and barked, “Brat, you can’t do this to me because I’ve just risked my life to save you!”
Yang Kai gulped and said, “Just one will do. You have so many grapes, so losing one more won’t matter.”
Without waiting for permission, Yang Kai pulled out a grape from Pu Bai Xiong’s head and stuffed it into his mouth. The pure medicinal efficacies exploded in his mouth, and in an instant, he no longer felt exhausted as his energy was restoring at an incredible speed.
He had a taste of the medicinal efficacies of the grapes before, so he knew that they were extraordinary healing tonics. That was the reason he decided to snatch another from Pu Bai Xiong.
Although the man surnamed Gou was knocked out by Little Mushroom, no one knew when he would wake up. To prevent things from getting out of hand, Yang Kai decided to quickly restore himself first.
With his head covered, Pu Bai Xiong was seated on Yang Kai’s chest and cursed, “What an ungrateful man! I’ve saved you for nothing!”
As he scolded, he lashed out his roots at Yang Kai; however, given his abilities, he was unable to harm Yang Kai one bit.
After just half an hour, Yang Kai became energised again. Although he hadn’t fully recovered, he had restored sixty percent of his strength, and the medicinal efficacies of the grape were still working. Taking his own restorative abilities into consideration, Yang Kai estimated he would be back at full strength in a couple of days at most.
Seeing as Yang Kai got to his feet, Pu Bai Xiong hurriedly shut his mouth and appeared meek. With a cautious gaze, he stole a glance at Yang Kai, and upon seeing that the latter didn’t seem to have the intention of settling scores with him, he buttered him up by saying, “Master, that gourd vine is a treasure. You mustn’t miss it.”
Yang Kai didn’t need his reminder as he had suffered a setback because of that. The reason the man surnamed Gou could even compete with him was all thanks to the gourd vine’s power. Although he was fairly strong as well, he still wasn’t a match for Yang Kai without this Divine Medicine.
After telling Little Mushroom to come back, Yang Kai took the gourd vine from her and shook it, to which the seven bottle gourds said in unison, “Stop bothering us. We’re sleeping!”
To the side, Pu Bai Xiong explained, “Master, there’s something you need to know about the gourd vine. Whoever holds the vine can control these seven little things.”
“Is there no need to refine it?” Yang Kai was stunned.
After giving it a thought, Pu Bai Xiong replied hesitantly, “Well, I think so?”
After some deliberation, Yang Kai felt that just like what Pu Bai Xiong had said, a cultivator wouldn’t have to refine the gourd vine to utilize its power; after all, just like Pu Bai Xiong and Little Mushroom, the vine was also a Divine Medicine, so how could one refine it?
That also explained why after Little Mushroom took the gourd vine, she was able to make the bottle gourds return at once.
Upon that realization, Yang Kai was ecstatic. The gourd vine was an incredible weapon. Now that it was in his possession, his power would increase significantly.
Nevertheless, it was still an external aid. To a cultivator, a powerful foundation was the most important. Although Yang Kai was elated, he didn’t let it go to his head. To him, the biggest value of the gourd vine was the Fifth-Order Elements these bottle gourds contained. With this Divine Medicine in his possession, he could draw on an inexhaustible source of Fifth-Order Elements to create countless Fifth-Order Open Heaven Masters.
It was truly invaluable!
If this treasure fell into anyone’s hands, it would be kept as a trump card and not exposed easily; otherwise, that person would draw danger to themselves.
With caution, Yang Kai put the gourd vine inside the Small Sealed World, and upon realising that the Small Sealed World could accommodate this thing, he set his mind at ease. Then, he directly planted the gourd vine in his medicine garden.
Although the Small Sealed World was also an independent world, its World Principles had their limits. It could accommodate most living creatures, but it couldn’t hold Open Heaven Realm Masters or beings of equal strength inside it. That was because an Open Heaven Realm Master had a Small Universe inside their body. If such a being was forcefully put inside the Small Sealed World, it could cause the latter to crack and even shatter it.
Upon grabbing Little Mushroom and Pu Bai Xiong, Yang Kai placed them on his shoulders and shuffled forward. After just a moment, he reached the man surnamed Gou.
The fact that he was snoring peacefully suggested that he was sound asleep, completely unaware that danger would soon befall him.
Although Little Mushroom had almost no offensive power, she was still a Profound Multi-Coloured Illusionary Mushroom that had assumed human form. The man surnamed Gou had taken in her spores, so without some kind of antidote, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him continue sleeping for six months to a year.
Yang Kai crouched down and took off his opponent’s Space Ring before rummaging through it, but he couldn’t find any Identity Token.
The man surnamed Gou had repeatedly used the Shattering Dao Seal Technique and previously, Xu Zhen even suspected that he was from Purple Jade Cave Heaven. If that were the case, he would certainly have an Identity Token. This thing wasn’t only the symbol of his disciple status from a Cave-Heaven, but also a life-saving treasure containing a sealed Divine Ability left behind by his Master.
That was why Yang Kai had to be careful.
However, the fact that this guy didn’t possess an Identity Token suggested that he wasn’t from Purple Jade Cave Heaven. The reason he was able to use Shattering Dao Seal Technique must be that it had been passed down to him by Jin Wu.
Just like how Zhu Jiu Yin taught Yang Kai a Secret Technique that allowed him to condense the Five Elements without follow the natural order, Jin Wu likely had a Bearer from Purple Jade Cave Heaven in the past, so it wasn’t surprising that he could use the Shattering Dao Seal Technique.
Upon making sure that there wouldn’t be any further danger, Yang Kai pushed out his palm as his power surged. Following a grunt, the man surnamed Gou, who was snoring, exploded into mist, leaving no corpse behind.
Yang Kai didn’t have any mercy on him because the latter had the intention to end his life as well.
After he was done dealing with the man surnamed Gou, Yang Kai looked up at the only bubble left in this World.
If he wasn’t mistaken, this bubble was the key to controlling the World in this fruit. Earlier, this world was made from countless gigantic bubbles; however, this particular bubble was only the size of a palm.
Yang Kai walked up to the bubble and examined it, but he couldn’t see anything special about it. Then, he extended his hand and easily grabbed the bubble. After he exerted more force with his hand, the bubble exploded with a pop.
Pu Bai Xiong exclaimed, “Master, you made it pop!”
There was a look of disbelief on Yang Kai’s face as well. Just now, he hadn’t really used any force. He never expected that this bubble would be so fragile.
Just when he wasn’t sure what to do, the world around him started spinning, and when he came to his senses, Yang Kai found himself standing beside a huge tree. The tree crown was so wide that the entire sky seemed to have been covered. There were also several thousand translucent fruits hanging on its branches.
It was none other than the 3,000 Worlds Tree!
[Have I come out?] Yang Kai was dumbfounded. Just when he was still trying to figure out what had happened, he realised there was something in his hand. Upon closer look, he saw that it was a World Fruit.
Yang Kai wasn’t certain why the fruit appeared in his hand all of a sudden.
Just like the bubble he saw earlier, the fruit was only the size of a palm. Yang Kai gulped as he looked at this translucent and fragrant fruit.
While Pu Bai Xiong stared fixedly at the World Fruit with a longing gaze, Little Mushroom gulped and said, “This fruit looks delicious!”
Yang Kai examined it and confirmed that it was indeed a Low-Rank World Fruit, which could help a Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master ascend to the next Order, with the limit being the Third Order. In other words, it was useless for a Third-Order cultivator to consume this fruit as it wouldn’t help them reach the Fourth-Order, which was already in the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm. Only a Mid-Rank World Fruit was useful for a Third-Order cultivator.
He recalled that after he grabbed the last bubble in the World inside the fruit, he obtained the World Fruit. Now, it seemed that the last bubble was indeed a key item.
At that instant, Yang Kai felt fortunate that he had gotten into a battle with the man surnamed Gou, which caused all other bubbles to burst; otherwise, he couldn’t have found such a small bubble. This little thing was hidden among countless bubbles, so no one would notice it.
It was a shame that this was only a Low-Rank World Fruit. Although it was valuable, it couldn’t be sold for a high price.
Then, Yang Kai glanced at the World Tree and became startled.
At this moment, there were still 2,999 fruits on the tree. In other words, he was the only one who had obtained a fruit from this tree so far.
[Has no one else come out yet?] Previously, several hundred people had entered the fruits and the battle between Yang Kai and the man surnamed Gou had lasted for days, so he thought that he would be lagging far behind the others. He hadn’t expected that he would be the first to come out.
After gazing around, he took a look down the mountain and became astounded.
Pu Bai Xiong followed his gaze and asked doubtfully, “Master, what are you looking at?”
“Those people!” Yang Kai looked down and saw many cultivators moving forward. It seemed that they were going down the mountain. These cultivators were the ones who had backed down. Xu Zhen had said that even though these World Fruits were amazing, one would never get out if they couldn’t pass its test. At that time, many people were terrified and decided to back down. While it was difficult to come up to the peak, the road leading to the bottom of the mountain was also paved with danger. From time to time, insect fog and lightning would strike them, which made them flustered.
A puzzled Pu Bai Xiong asked, “Why are you looking at them?”
Yang Kai slowly shook his head, “Don’t you find it strange? We stayed inside the World in the fruit for over a month, so why are they still here?”
Pu Bai Xiong pretended to give it a thought before nodding his head, “You’re right. It’s indeed strange.”
Right then, Yang Kai’s gaze brightened, “Perhaps the passage of time inside the fruit is different from that in the outside world.”
The scuffle between the man surnamed Gou and him had lasted a month, but perhaps only a short time had passed in the outside world.
Thus, Yang Kai lifted his hand, whereupon a cultivator was pulled towards him. This person was closest to Yang Kai, and he was evading a beam of lightning earlier. Realising that he was back on the summit, he became despondent but was unable to shed a tear, “Senior Yang, please let me go. I’m from Emperor Heaven, and our leader is your friend. Please let me go!”
Yang Kai said gently, “Calm down. I just want to ask you something.”
“Sir, please ask me straight away. I’ll tell you all I know.”
“How long has passed since your leader entered the fruit?”
Hearing that, the person became startled. Although he had no idea why Yang Kai would bring up this question, he wouldn’t dare to hide anything from him so he hurriedly replied, “It has been roughly half an incense stick.”
[I knew it!] Yang Kai’s eyes brightened. Just like what he had expected, the rate at which time passed inside the fruit was different from that of the outside world.
Previously, Yang Kai was worried that he would stay inside the fruit for too long, thus becoming trapped in the Primordial Land. Now, it seemed that his worries were unnecessary.
It was no wonder that the others hadn’t come out, and he was the first one who managed to do so. Time passed faster inside the World Fruit was different from that in the outside world. Although he had stayed inside the World Fruit for a month, it had only been half an incense in the outside world.
After releasing the cultivator from Emperor Heaven, Yang Kai patted his shoulder and said, “Be careful when going down the mountain.”
The cultivator was both shocked and doubtful, but he wouldn’t dare to remain. After thanking Yang Kai, he walked down the mountain again.
It was then Yang Kai looked up at the tree full of fruits as a light flashed across his eyes. All of a sudden, he pounced on a fruit and extended his hand.
However, this time, he didn’t fall into the World Fruit like what had happened previously. Instead, an immense repulsive force was felt coming from the fruit. Regardless of how hard Yang Kai tried, he was unable to tighten his grip, let alone touch the World Fruit. If he exerted more force, he would be driven away.
Seeing that, Pu Bai Xiong scratched his head and said, “Master, the little fatty said that every person only has one chance to obtain a World Fruit. Now that you’ve got one in your hands, how are you going to enter a different one?”
“It doesn’t cost anything to give it a try.” Yang Kai was dejected. Although he had obtained a World Fruit, which could be considered a gain, it was just a Low-Rank World Fruit that could only help a cultivator ascend to the Third Order at most. Such a fruit couldn’t be sold for a high price, which was why he was unsatisfied.
Unfortunately, after a try, he realised that just like what Xu Zhen had said, every person only had one chance. Now, he couldn’t even touch a different World Fruit.
After several attempts, Yang Kai was still unable to achieve his goal. Unresigned, he circled around the World Tree.
With so many fruits hanging on the tree, he wasn’t willing to give up as he had only gotten one. He wouldn’t dare to hope to get an extremely rare High-Rank World Fruit, but this trip would be worthwhile if he could get a Mid-Rank one.
A moment later, a thought sprang into his mind as his eyes brightened. Stopping in his tracks, he looked up at the tree with a fervent gaze.
A speechless Pu Bai Xiong asked, “Master, what do you want to do?”
Instead of responding to him, Yang Kai put Little Mushroom and him inside the Small Sealed World. Then, he communicated with Meng Hong and the others who were inside the Small Sealed World.
A few breaths later, with a single thought, two figures instantly appeared in front of him. They were none other than Meng Hong and Lang Qing Shan.
Both of them were looking up at the tree with longing gazes.
A while later, Meng Hong said, “Is this the 3,000 Worlds Tree with fruits that can help an Open Heaven Realm Master ascend to the next Order?” He was from Great Moon Province, which wasn’t an important great force to begin with, so he had never heard about a being called 3,000 Worlds Tree that could help an Open Heaven Realm Master reach the next Order. This thing was truly Heaven-defying.
Yang Kai nodded, “That’s right. This is the 3,000 Worlds Tree, and those are World Fruits; however, the World inside each fruit is dangerous. If you get trapped inside it, you’ll never get out again. Brother Meng, you have to give it careful thought.”
Meng Hong shook his hand, “With such an opportunity right in front of me, if this Meng wouldn’t dare to give it a try, what’s the point of cultivating? I should go home and pick up sewing instead.”
He seemed eager to give it a try.
It had been a smooth ride since he came to the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. First, he came across Yang Kai and followed him to Scarlet Star’s Star City. Although he suffered a setback in his love life, he obtained something more important as he managed to wipe clean his Third-Order foundation and condense a Fifth-Order Fire Element. Over the years, he had condensed Earth, Metal, and Water Elements as well. The remaining Yin, Yang and Wood Elements were also in his possession, so when he had the time to refine them in the future, he would stand a chance to become a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
Nevertheless, he knew that all this was thanks to Yang Kai. A Fifth-Order Fire Element material was given to him by Yang Kai, and the other materials were collected in Scarlet Star’s Star City. Without Yang Kai giving him his full support, he couldn’t have achieved all this.
Meng Hong would always remember this favour, but at the same time, it felt as heavy as a mountain to him. The idea of repaying Yang Kai had been on his mind for quite some time, and the 3,000 Worlds Tree full of fruits was his chance.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai wasn’t aware of what was on his mind. Seeing as Meng Hong was resolute though, he stopped dissuading him and told him to be careful.
With a smile, Meng Hong replied, “Don’t worry, Brother Yang. This Meng will definitely come back safely.” Upon finishing his words, he dashed forward and disappeared into a World Fruit.
To the side, Lang Qing Shan was dumbfounded upon seeing that. Although he had heard from Yang Kai about how amazing the World Fruits were, it was a different story when he saw it with his bare eyes.
“Sir, what should I do?” Lang Qing Shan asked.
“Get in and bring me with you.” Yang Kai grinned.
Lang Qing Shan didn’t understand him at first, but a realization soon dawned upon him.
After tossing the Sealed World Bead at him, Yang Kai said solemnly, “I’m not even sure if I can successfully get in this way. If I can’t, you should summon all the others and join forces with them to decode the mystery in the World Fruit.”
“Yes!” Lang Qing Shan took the Sealed World Bead and replied respectfully. Then, he turned to look at the fruit tree, “Sir, which one should I choose?”
“You can choose any one of them as you please. Where you end up will depend on your luck.” Then, Yang Kai snuck into the Sealed World Bead. From inside, he looked through the World Barrier and observed the outside as he secretly prayed.
After several attempts earlier, Yang Kai realised that he couldn’t even touch another World Fruit, let alone enter the World inside of one. However, there were already several dozen people in the Sealed World Bead with him when he entered the previous World Fruit.
Were those people considered to have entered the World Fruit? Prior to this, Yang Kai still wasn’t certain, but upon seeing that Meng Hong successfully entered a World Fruit, he knew that the people hiding inside the Sealed World Bead were not regarded as having entered the World Fruit.
In that case, he could also hide inside the Sealed World Bead and let someone else bring him in.
It was a clever method only Yang Kai could use.
There were quite a few people in the Small Sealed World, and every one of them had a chance to enter a World Fruit. If everything went well, Yang Kai would be able to obtain several dozen World Fruits. With so many World Fruits in possession, he was sure to obtain at least one Mid-Rank one. If he was lucky, he might even get a High-Rank one!
Nevertheless, all this was just his speculation. It could only be proven after Lang Qing Shan entered a World Fruit.
Under Yang Kai’s attention, Lang Qing Shan targeted a particular World Fruit and leapt into the air. Like a roc spreading its wings, he pounced on the fruit and disappeared.
The next instant, he was already inside the World Fruit.
Inside the Small Sealed World, Yang Kai, who had been watching him, widened his eyes in disbelief and asked, “Qing Shan, what’s going on with you?”
A puzzled Lang Qing Shan asked, “Sir, I don’t understand.”
“Look at yourself!” Yang Kai hurriedly replied.
It was then Lang Qing Shan scanned himself with Divine Sense and became rooted to the spot.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” The shaved-headed man walked up to Yang Kai and asked. Unaware of what was going on in the outside world, the others were puzzled as to why Yang Kai looked so shocked.
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai waved his hand, whereupon the view of the outside world became visible to all of them. After a glance, all of them were startled.
Following that, the shaved-headed man covered his belly and guffawed, “Sir, is that stupid-looking thing Lang Qing Shan?”
Yang Kai nodded his head, “I think so.”
The shaved-headed man convulsed with laughter as his tears almost slid down his face.
“Why did he become like this?” Someone else asked in shock.
Not knowing how to reply to him, Yang Kai leapt out of the Sealed World Bead and arrived at the World inside the fruit.
At this moment, he was fully vigilant; after all, he had entered the World inside a fruit and obtained a World Fruit already. This time, Yang Kai essentially cheated his way into a different World Fruit, so he wasn’t sure if there would be any consequences.
There were indeed some consequences as he could feel the World Principles inside this World penetrating him, which made him clearly feel that his body was going through some transformation. Nevertheless, he wasn’t kicked out.
After scanning himself with Divine Sense, Yang Kai sighed, “It’s just like what I had expected!”
“Sir?” Lang Qing Shan was heard calling out in a hesitant voice.
Yang Kai wanted to nod his head, but he was unable to do so, so he just grunted instead.
“Sir, why are you and I…” There was a tinge of fluster in Lang Qing Shan’s voice.
“It should be the influence of the World Principles in this place. After you leave this World, you’ll return to your original form, so don’t worry.” Yang Kai consoled him.
Inside the Small Sealed World, everyone fell into a dazed state as they watched the sight in the outside world. Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan were nowhere to be found as all they could see were two swords.
There were two rusty iron swords that looked like two pieces of scrap that had been put in a corner and forgotten about for years. Nevertheless, the faces of Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan were right on the blades, which made them look amusing. The bitter expression on Lang Qing Shan’s face was similar to that of Ah Ku.
“Sir, why have you also become like this?” The shaved-headed man said in amazement, “Could it be that anyone who enters this world will become a sword?”
“It’s indeed an amazing World!” In the outside world, Yang Kai exclaimed in admiration. The World Fruit he had entered previously was made up of countless bubbles, but the cultivators were not affected one bit by the environment. However, it seemed cultivators would become swords upon entering this World. Now, it seemed that all the Worlds inside the fruits were different.
Yang Kai felt fortunate that he managed to come in safely with the help of the Sealed World Bead.
As a Rusty Iron Sword, he didn’t have any limbs, and after giving it a try, Yang Kai realised that he was unable to use any of his usual powers. If he attempted to move, he had to skip forward as a sword.
[This is troublesome.] On the blade, Yang Kai’s face was seen furrowing his brow.
Lang Qing Shan stared fixedly at him, not knowing what to do.
Just then, a series of clanging sounds were heard and a shocked Lang Qing Shan said, “Sir, someone is coming.”
Turning around, Yang Kai looked at the source of the clanging and became speechless, “It’s a sword that’s coming.”
From a distance, a Rusty Iron Sword that looked just like them skipped forward and reached them after a short while.
Lang Qing Shan stepped forward and asked, “Hey…”
Before he could finish his words though, the Rusty Iron Sword leapt into the air and attempted to slash at Lang Qing Shan’s head.
A shocked Lang Qing Shan instinctively tried to dodge the attack, but his figure had already turned into a Rusty Iron Sword. No longer as agile as before, he directly collapsed to the ground.
Now that he was in this frail body, if he was struck by such an attack, he would break into halves.
Just then, Yang Kai charged forward and parried the attack with a clang. Upon impact, the other Rusty Iron Sword shook and was sent flying away.
While Lang Qing Shan was still in a dazed state, Yang Kai had already fallen into a scuffle with that Rusty Iron Sword as he yelled, “Attack!”
Without hesitation, Lang Qing Shan got up and dashed forward from the side.
Inside the Small Sealed World, the shaved-headed man and the others were dumbfounded. Three similar-looking Rusty Iron Swords were in an intense battle at the moment, which was truly bizarre.
It was the first time Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan dealt with their enemies in such an awkward state; however, with the suppression of the World Principles in this place, they were unable to use their usual abilities. Initially, they were not used to it, and they had been slashed by the Rusty Iron Sword several times, which made their blades become chipped.
Nevertheless, as time passed, they got the hang of it and cooperated with one another to suppress and defeat the Rusty Iron Sword.
After an incense stick of time, following Yang Kai’s slash, the enemy Rusty Iron Sword broke into countless pieces and scattered everywhere.
Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan stopped moving and traded glances, speechless.
Although the battle lasted only for a short time, it was a difficult one. Both Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan had turned into Rusty Iron Swords, and their blades had become chipped after the fight; therefore, they might not be able to fight again any time soon.
Right then, a weak light shot out from the broken pieces of the Rusty Iron Sword and penetrated Yang Kai’s figure.
Following that, the chips healed and the blade became as good as new. Besides that, some of the rust on the blade fell off. Moreover, Yang Kai could feel that he had gained some additional strength.
“Sir, you…” Lang Qing Shan looked at Yang Kai in puzzlement as he didn’t understand why the latter had gone through such a transformation.
Yang Kai checked on himself and his gaze brightened, “I understand now. There’s a special kind of energy in other swords that can nourish us. The one giving the sword the last blow gets the benefits.”
Just now, it was Yang Kai who shattered the Rusty Iron Sword, so the energy inside the sword streamed into Yang Kai’s figure, not Lang Qing Shan’s.
Upon that realization, Lang Qing Shan said, “I see. Sir, in that case, should we look for more swords like the one we just destroyed?”
“Of course.” Yang Kai nodded, his blade trembling slightly, “Moreover, I figure that this is the key to decoding this world’s secrets.”
Without hesitation, the two swords skipped forward and set off on their journey.
After a while, they came across three more swords that were also rusty. It seemed that these swords hadn’t bumped into anyone for years.
Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan traded glances before the latter said, “Sir, I’ll lure two swords away. After you destroy the third one, you can come over and help me.”
“Be careful,” Yang Kai said.
Lang Qing Shan nodded awkwardly before charging towards the three swords. Soon, they discovered him and hopped towards him.
Following that, Lang Qing Shan turned around and ran away. Yang Kai charged forward from the side and targeted a particular Rusty Iron Sword before making noises in order to attract its attention.
Yang Kai’s sword body had been nourished and repaired. It looked better and sharper than before, and it had also become more agile. In a one-on-one fight, the enemy Rusty Iron Sword was no match for him at all.
Just a moment later, he managed to break the Rusty Iron Sword into pieces. As expected, mysterious energy streamed out of the pieces and penetrated his figure, which made him feel that his power had increased.
Before Yang Kai could examine his newfound power though, Lang Qing Shan had lured the other two Rusty Iron Swords back. Yang Kai rushed forward and clashed with the swords while Lang Qing Shan assisted him from the side. Soon, the two swords were broken as well.
Yang Kai had given the chance to shatter the swords to Lang Qing Shan so that the latter could grow stronger as well.
In the following days, the pair looked for new targets and strengthened themselves constantly.
This was a world of swords with unique World Principles. Cultivators who entered this world would turn into swords, and they were unable to use their original powers.
The strengths of the swords varied as well, but they could be judged by looking at their appearances. Initially, Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan were both Rusty Iron Swords, which seemed to be the lowliest existence. After destroying some swords and getting some nourishment, the rust on their blades fell off and they transformed into Bronze Swords and radiated a light hue.
Days later, they transformed into Black Iron Swords, which meant that they were already much stronger than when they first arrived at this place.
Their cooperation was perfect as they dealt with their enemies. Even though there were only two of them, they were not afraid when facing a large number of enemies. Usually, they were able to ruthlessly shatter all their foes without any difficulty.
The most dangerous battle was when they encountered a Silver Sword and somehow offended it, which prompted the Silver Sword to hunt them down for an entire day. In order to help Yang Kai escape, Lang Qing Shan was almost cut in two. Fortunately, Yang Kai came to his rescue at the last moment; otherwise, the consequence would’ve been dreadful. Everyone in the Small Sealed World was on edge as they watched the battle.
After one month of exploration, the pair had a better understanding of this world.
Following an insane slaughter, over 100 Bronze and Black Iron Swords were shattered. Streams of mysterious energy penetrated Yang Kai’s figure from all directions.
The Black Iron Sword, which he had transformed into, was standing tall on the battlefield. The blade showed signs of becoming whiter and sharper. It also radiated a cold glow.
When the last beam of light left the last broken Black Iron Sword and shot into Yang Kai’s figure, a clear sword cry was heard. A glow swirled around Yang Kai as his Black Iron figure rapidly transformed into a Silver Sword.
There was a much greater power flowing within the blade and he couldn’t help but feel that he was able to slash through anything in this world.
“Congratulations, Sir!” Lang Qing Shan said.
He was still a Black Iron Sword as, although he had made a significant contribution in the previous battle, he didn’t break any swords. All the benefits had streamed into Yang Kai’s figure to allow him to become a Silver Sword as quickly as possible.
Yang Kai opened his eyes and said with a smile, “Let’s go, Qing Shan. It’s time to get our revenge!”
Previously, they were almost killed as they were hunted down by the Silver Sword. Now that Yang Kai was powerful enough to battle against it, he had to get revenge.
Half a day later, the pair reached the upper part of a valley that was surrounded by mountains. In the valley, over a thousand swords of different grades were busy as clanging sounds were continuously heard.
When they arrived at this place previously, the pair already realised that these swords seemed to be mining a kind of special ores which contained a power that could help any sword slowly grow.
The weapon that was in charge of this place was a Silver Sword. There were 50 Black Iron Swords, 200 Bronze Swords, and over 1,000 Rusty Iron Swords that worked under this Silver Sword.
This valley was like a treasure trove for Yang Kai. If he could shatter all the swords in the valley, his power would surge again, and it was guaranteed that Lang Qing Shan would also become a Silver Sword.
“Sir, what should we do now? Do you want me to lure some of them away?”
“There’s no need.” Yang Kai stared fixedly at the only Silver Sword in the valley, “If we want to destroy our enemies, we should kill their leader first. I’ll deal with the Silver Sword now. Be careful!”
After he finished speaking, he leapt into the valley.
Wind was heard howling as a cold glint flashed across Yang Kai’s blade.
The Silver Sword, which was in charge of this place, seemed to have noticed it and turned his head to look up. There was a wrinkled old face on the blade as he bellowed, “Brat, you dare show yourself here again?”
Previously, Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan had come across this Silver Sword and were forced to escape from his pursuit. Naturally, he would not have forgotten them so quickly.
The swords in this world had sentience; however, the lower their grade, the worse their sentience was. It was impossible to communicate with a Rusty Iron Sword while a Silver Sword had a more complete sentience.
Upon finishing his words, the Silver Sword turned around and was ready to clash with Yang Kai.
Yang Kai guffawed, “Old Fart, quit being arrogant. Today I shall end your life!”
Following a plunge, he slashed out at the Silver Sword.
With a loud clang, the Silver Sword flew back several tens of metres. Upon impact, Yang Kai felt dizzy as well, but he had already expected this, so he managed to quickly pull himself together and charge forward in an imposing manner.
Upon seeing that, the Silver Sword’s bodyguards, several Black Iron Swords and over ten Bronze Swords, dashed forward and besieged Yang Kai.
Yang Kai swirled around and slashed across them. Following a series of clangs, the Black Iron Swords and Bronze Swords shattered as streams of energy emerged from the pieces and shot into Yang Kai’s figure, which helped increase his power.
Seeing this, the Silver Sword bellowed, “All of you, back away!”
In this world of swords, for every new grade one ascended to, their power would increase significantly. The Black Iron Swords and Bronze Swords were no match for Yang Kai. If they forcefully went up against him, not only were they sending themselves to their deaths, but they would also help strengthen Yang Kai. Certainly, the Silver Sword didn’t want that to happen.
After making his subordinates retreat, the Silver Sword clashed with Yang Kai. The Silver Sword immediately turned into two beams of white light and caused the sand to rise.
At the same time, Lang Qing Shan managed to barge into the valley. Spotting him, other Black Iron Swords and Bronze Swords sprinted forward.
Without getting caught up by them, Lang Qing Shan hopped around the valley and hacked at those Bronze Swords and Rusty Iron Swords in order to gobble up their energy and strengthen himself.
At that instant, two battlefields had been formed in the valley. One of them was the life-and-death battle between Yang Kai and the old Silver Sword. The other was Lang Qing Shan, who was leading countless swords to circle around the valley. The place was bustling with noise.
Yang Kai had just been upgraded to a Silver Sword, so supposedly, his blade wasn’t as sturdy and sharp as that of the older Silver Sword; after all, it had been a long time since the older Silver Sword reached this grade, so he had ample time to strengthen himself. Yang Kai was supposed to be at a disadvantage in a fight against him.
However, in reality, the two Silver Swords were equally matched. Most of the time, Yang Kai was even at an advantage. That was because Yang Kai was dextrous while the older Silver Sword was inflexible.
After a while, the older Silver Sword was at a disadvantage. Yang Kai attempted to clash with him several times in order to break the blade; however, instead of achieving his goal, he suffered from some setbacks.
The old Silver Sword had remained in this grade for a longer time, after all. Be it the sturdiness or sharpness of the blade, Yang Kai was no match for him. The clashes didn’t harm the older Silver Sword one bit; instead, Yang Kai’s blade had become chipped upon impact.
Seeing as there was a good chance, the older Silver Sword decided to press the attack and managed to gain the upper hand.
Yang Kai was forced backwards until he reached a spot where the Black Iron Swords and Bronze Swords gathered together. Then, he whirled around and slashed across the swords in order to absorb their power and repair himself.
When his blade became complete again, he pounced on the older Silver Sword.
After the same thing happened several times, the old Silver Sword cried out in exasperation, but there was nothing he could do.
One hour later, the old Silver Sword had become chipped as well. Although his blade was sturdier than that of Yang Kai, he couldn’t possibly endure the clashes forever, which was why he had also been damaged.
Realising that he was in a perilous situation, the older Silver Sword retreated and charged towards his subordinates.
Seeing that, Yang Kai immediately figured out his intention. The older Silver Sword wanted to imitate him by killing the lower-grade swords in order to repair himself.
Therefore, Yang Kai hurriedly whizzed past him, and before the older Silver Sword could make a move, he destroyed all of the swords and made his plan fall through.
The older Silver Sword became incensed and thought that his opponent was too cunning and difficult to deal with.
For the next hour of intense battle, Yang Kai managed to continuously nourish himself while the old Silver Sword became seriously damaged, as though he was about to fall apart. He had made several attempts to kill his subordinates to repair himself, but Yang Kai managed to make a move before he did. For the small number of times when he succeeded, he didn’t gain many benefits.
As time passed, the older Silver Sword became increasingly battered while Yang Kai was still high-spirited.
All of a sudden, the old Silver Sword staggered and almost collapsed to the ground.
Certainly, Yang Kai wouldn’t miss this chance. His gaze brightened as he dashed forward and targeted the other party’s damaged part. If his attack was successful, he was highly confident that he could break the older Silver Sword.
Nevertheless, for some reason, Yang Kai suddenly felt horrified, as though something terrible was about to happen and instinctively dodged sideways.
At the same time, the older Silver Sword, who seemed about to collapse, suddenly stabilised himself. The wrinkled face on the blade sported an eerie smile and he turned around. A cold glint appeared on the tip of his blade and shot towards Yang Kai.
“A sword wave?” Yang Kai was flabbergasted, finally realising that he had fallen into the old fart’s trap. The older Silver Sword had been holding back his power and pretending to be at a disadvantage just to lure him in and deal a fatal blow.
This old guy was the first Silver Sword Yang Kai had come across, so he wasn’t aware that Silver Swords were capable of releasing sword waves.
Although Yang Kai had no idea how powerful the sword wave was, he was certain that if he was struck by it, he would fall into a miserable state.
Fortunately, he had already realised that something was off and stepped sideways, whereupon the sword wave skirted past him. He could clearly hear the sound of something breaking, which made his heart sink. Ignoring his injuries, Yang Kai slashed at the largest chip in the old Silver Sword’s blade.
Following a clang, metal scraps scattered everywhere. The face on the older Silver Sword’s blade was filled with terror as Yang Kai’s attack almost cut him in half!
He had been pretending to be weak and letting Yang Kai damage him in order to give him a fatal blow at the most critical moment. Nevertheless, Yang Kai had some powerful instincts and managed to sense the looming danger, which was why he escaped unscathed. On the other hand, the older Silver Sword fell into an embarrassing state.
Yang Kai fell to the ground with a huge crack in his blade. He almost fell apart as well as both of them had been severely damaged.
The next instant, the two Silver Swords got up at the same time and charged towards the places where the Black Iron Swords and Bronze Swords gathered together. Both of them were unable to keep fighting, so they had to kill some lower-grade swords to repair themselves first.
Just then, a white light appeared and blocked the older Silver Sword’s way. Lang Qing Shan’s face on the blade sported a cold expression.
While Yang Kai had been battling against the older Silver Sword, Lang Qing Shan managed to kill two or three hundred swords, which allowed him to become a Silver Sword as well. At the most critical moment, he came over and gave Yang Kai a hand.
The old Silver Sword’s expression turned livid and he became rooted to the spot.
A moment later, Yang Kai returned to the battlefield. His blade was still slightly damaged, but after he absorbed a lot of energy, there wasn’t a risk of his blade breaking anymore.
“Watch out for his sword wave!” Yang Kai warned Lang Qing Shan as he stared at the flickering glow around the older Silver Sword. His sword wave was indeed formidable and if it weren’t for Yang Kai dodging it in time, he would’ve fallen into a miserable condition.
“Sir, you have to be careful as well,” Lang Qing Shan replied and leapt into the air before bringing himself down on the old Silver Sword.
At this life-and-death moment, the older Silver Sword naturally wouldn’t wait to die, so he immediately went all out with Lang Qing Shan. From the side, Yang Kai bolted forward and joined the battle.
Presently, it was two swords fighting against one, and although the older Silver Sword was able to release sword waves, there was no way he could survive. After just an incense of time, Yang Kai found a chance and hacked at the biggest crack in his enemy’s body.
Following a clang, the older Silver Sword broke in two and a thick light exuded from the broken sword and penetrated Yang Kai’s figure.
Yang Kai examined himself and realised that his blade had been fully restored while a silver glow radiated from his body, which seemed much sturdier than before.
Killing an opponent in the same grade had benefited him greatly.
Besides that, after absorbing the older Silver Sword’s essence, Yang Kai could feel that he had gained something new. A thought flashed through his mind as a sword wave exuded from the tip of his blade.
“Haha!” He guffawed.
Seeing the older Silver Sword able to use a sword wave just now, Yang Kai felt jealous. He thought that it would take him a longer time before he could use a similar skill, but he hadn’t expected that his wish had come true so soon.
Now, it seemed that he had inherited the old Silver Sword’s powers after absorbing his energy and essence. With the sword wave as one of his skills, Yang Kai figured his power had increased by over 30 percent.
“Sir, how should we deal with these guys? Kill them all?” Lang Qing Shan stared at the front and asked.
Initially, there were over 1,000 swords of different grades in the valley; however, Lang Qing Shan had destroyed about 200 to 300 of them, and during the battle between Yang Kai and the older Silver Sword, they had shattered quite a large number of weaker swords. Presently, only half of the swords were left, most of which were Rusty Iron Swords. There were also over twenty Black Iron Swords and some Bronze Swords.
At this moment, these swords were pushing the ores towards Yang Kai, sporting obsequious expressions as they stood there in silence.
Seeing that, Lang Qing Shan was startled and commented, “It seems that they want to surrender to you.”
Certainly, Yang Kai had figured it out as well. It seemed that after he killed the old Silver Sword, these swords had lost the courage to resist, or more accurately, they were simply obeying the rules of this world.
“Since they’ve surrendered, we shouldn’t kill them,” Yang Kai swept a glance over them.
After a long battle, both of them came to the realization that in order to upgrade themselves further, it was better for them to kill opponents in the same grade. It wouldn’t help much by destroying the lower-grade swords. Although there were many such swords in the valley, they wouldn’t gain many benefits even if they killed all of them.
On the other hand, the ores they had presented attracted Yang Kai’s attention.
Earlier, he had realised that these ores seemed to contain a mysterious power that could allow a sword to strengthen itself. Just like the swords, the ores were categorised into different grades. There were miscellaneous ores, bronze ores, black iron ores, and so on. Yang Kai had even seen a fist-sized silver ore.
Turning around, he hopped towards the silver ore and jabbed his blade into it. As expected, a burst of energy flowed into his figure and helped strengthen him.
The benefits were not as great as killing a Silver Sword, but it was better than nothing.
After just a moment, the power within the silver ore was completely absorbed by Yang Kai, whereupon the ore crumbled into dust.
Then, he went on to gobble up some black iron ores and realised that the result was the same. He had to swallow the power of ten ores to gain the same benefits as killing a sword of the same grade.
Nevertheless, it was clear to Yang Kai now why the older Silver Sword kept these subordinates instead of killing them. By leaving them here to mine ores, he would have an inexhaustible source of energy to strengthen himself. However, if he killed them, the benefits were only one-off. Naturally, it was better to keep them alive to work for him.
After ordering the swords to keep mining ores, Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan went around to absorb the power within the ores to nourish themselves.
Five days later, while Yang Kai was absorbing the power of an ore, Lang Qing Shan returned to the mine with some other Black Iron Swords and said excitedly, “Sir, we’ve found a place where there are three Silver Swords!”
Yang Kai’s gaze brightened, “Where is it?”
Lang Qing Shan wanted to point out the direction, but he had no limbs. Helplessly, he replied, “It’s northwest of here, and it’ll take us about a day to reach there.”
“How many swords are there?”
With a solemn expression, Lang Qing Shan said, “There are a lot of swords. According to my estimation, there are over 5,000 in total. Besides the 3 Silver Swords, there are also over 200 Black Iron Swords.”
Yang Kai tutted, “There are indeed a lot of swords, but that doesn’t mean they’re more powerful than us. Qing Shan, bring these swords with us. We’re going to launch an attack!”
An excited Lang Qing Shan replied, “Yes, Sir!”
In the past few days, they had been absorbing the energy within the ores, but the effects had been negligible. Yang Kai came to the realization that in order to quickly increase his strength, he couldn’t rely on sucking in the power in these ores. If he wanted to stay in this world for a long time, this plan could work in the long term; however, he was eager to master the Principles of this world and obtain its World Fruit, so he had no time to waste.
The best way was still to kill opponents in the same grade. Killing the 3 Silver Swords would provide the same energy as absorbing the power in the ores for 3 months.
One day later, Yang Kai’s force arrived at a valley that was much larger than the one they had previously occupied. On the cliff existed many mine passageways where swords of different grades continuously entered and left the place to mine ores.
Three Silver Swords were standing at different spots with mountains of ore piled before them from which they absorbed streams of energy.
Yang Kai was standing on a hill while Lang Qing Shan was just beside him. Behind them were the hundreds of swords that had come with them. Although they had several hundred swords on their side, they paled in number when compared to their opponents.
There were ten times more swords on the opposing side, so if they got into a frontal fight, the swords on Yang Kai’s side would be easily destroyed.
“Sir, I believe that the Silver Sword in the middle is the strongest while the ones on his sides are weaker. Judging from the colour of his blade, the one in the middle should be able to use a sword wave as well,” Lang Qing Shan commented.
Yang Kai nodded in agreement. Lang Qing Shan was right to say that the powers of these three Silver Swords varied. Judging from the colours of their blades, the one in the middle was indeed the strongest. The radiance of his blade was even brighter than that of Yang Kai. Although the other two Silver Swords were no match for Yang Kai, they were still stronger than Lang Qing Shan.
Certainly, he was only taking the sharpness and sturdiness into consideration. If they really got into a fight, it was hard to tell which side would turn out to be stronger.
Not long after Yang Kai became a Silver Sword, he managed to kill another Silver Sword that could release a sword wave. That was because he drew on his decades of combat experience. These Silver Swords had been staying in the same place for a long time and relying on the energy inside the ores to strengthen themselves. Although they had raw power, they might not be adept at fighting.
“Sir, what should we do? Please give the order,” Lang Qing Shan said solemnly.
With narrowed eyes, Yang Kai observed them for a while before replying slowly, “Qing Shan, do you have the confidence to hold up the Silver Sword in the middle?”
Presently, the three silver swords were standing at different spots, which gave Yang Kai a chance to deal with them one by one. The one in the middle was the strongest, so if they got into a fight, it would take a long time before a winner would emerge. However, if Yang Kai could kill the other two swords first before dealing with the strongest one, things would become easier.
“Yes,” Lang Qing Shan replied without hesitation.
“Be careful, then. After I destroy the other two Silver Swords, I’ll come help you,” Yang Kai said and turned around before gazing at the hundreds of swords he had brought with him. “Fight!” he ordered.
There was nothing much these hundreds of swords could do. In that case, he decided to use them to distract his enemies. Even if they were all destroyed, Yang Kai wouldn’t feel heartbroken.
The hundreds of swords appeared hesitant while the over twenty Black Iron Swords sported horrified expressions.
They had limited sentience, so they knew what the consequences would be if they charged forward.
Seeing this, Yang Kai swirled around and shattered two Black Iron Swords nearest to him before he said coldly, “Go destroy the enemy, or I’ll kill you all myself!”
His threat was useful. Seeing as Yang Kai was unyielding, the other swords wouldn’t dare to stall for time even though they were apprehensive. With the Black Iron Swords leading the way, they hopped towards the valley.
The swords in the valley finally noticed them. The three Silver Swords stopped absorbing the energy from the ores and turned to look in that direction.
“Sir, I’m going now,” Lang Qing Shan said and charged towards the strongest Silver Sword in the middle. No one could come in his way while he was dashing forward. He was also a Silver Sword now, so the lower-grade swords were no match for him. He directly shattered the swords in front of him, leaving the broken pieces behind.
Seeing as the swords in the valley were distracted, Yang Kai started making a move. Instead of dashing towards the valley, he headed to another peak.
Clanging sounds were continuously heard in the valley as the swords on Yang Kai’s side broke apart. Beams of light shot into the enemies’ figures and strengthened their blades.
Seeing that, Yang Kai reckoned that all his swords would be destroyed within an hour. He had already expected this though, so he still steadfastly bolted towards the peak.
Looking down, he saw a Silver Sword gazing attentively at the battlefield, completely unaware that danger was right above his head.
Following that, Yang Kai leapt into the air and brought himself down on the Silver Sword. The wind howled as a sword wave exuded from the tip of his blade while murderous intent exploded.
By the time the Silver Sword realised that something was off, it was already too late. Yang Kai directly landed a fatal blow on the opponent’s hilt, sending his sword wave into the blade and breaking it to pieces.
With just one strike, Yang Kai managed to send the Silver Sword to its death.
Although it was partially thanks to the Silver Sword being distracted by the battle, and that Yang Kai had launched a sneak attack, the biggest contributor was the sword wave. The Silver Sword was already weaker than Yang Kai, so it was expected that he’d be shattered to pieces upon getting struck by the powerful sword wave.
Even Yang Kai was almost cut in half when he was attacked in a similar fashion some time ago.
After destroying the Silver Sword, Yang Kai directly dashed towards the other Silver Sword, a thick light radiating from his figure as he strengthened the power of his sword wave.
It was a mess in the valley as countless swords attempted to stop him, but Yang Kai simply whirled around and ended their lives with his sword wave.
Wherever he went, the wind was heard howling and beams of light were seen shooting out.
Seeing as Yang Kai was so ferocious, the weaker Silver Sword was horrified. Instead of staying in the same spot, he bolted towards the middle Silver Sword. Apparently, he was trying to seek his protection.
Certainly, Yang Kai wouldn’t let him achieve his goal. He pushed all his strength and released a potent sword wave.
Previously, after he killed his first Silver Sword, Yang Kai obtained the power of a sword wave, but it was only a palm length at best. Nevertheless, upon killing the second Silver Sword earlier, he realised that his sword wave had doubled in length to the size of a forearm. As he destroyed countless swords along the way, his sword wave had grown even larger.
Despite releasing a far more powerful sword wave than before, the distance between the enemy Silver Sword and him widened because there were too many enemies in his way. These swords were Black Iron Swords, Bronze Swords, and Rusty Iron Swords, and although they were no match for Yang Kai, they had successfully slowed him down. The continuous attacks also caused Yang Kai’s blade to tremble.
Although Yang Kai was much stronger, in the end, he was just one man, or one sword. After a short time, many small nicks and scratches appeared on his blade. Nevertheless, after he destroyed more enemies, these minor blemishes would heal, as if they were never there in the first place.
Inside the Small Sealed World, the shaved-headed man and the others had been spectating what was going on in the outside world, and all of them were astounded.
If Yang Kai couldn’t stop the weaker Silver Sword, Lang Qing Shan would fall into danger when the two enemy Silver Swords joined forces. Lang Qing Shan was already no match for the strongest Silver Sword, and could barely parry his opponent’s attacks at the moment. If it weren’t because he had lots of combat experience, he would’ve lost his life already.
Although they were extremely worried, there was nothing they could do. Presently, Yang Kai couldn’t even access the Small Sealed World, let alone release them.
Even if they could be released, under the influence of the strange Principles in this world, they would only become some useless Rusty Iron Swords.
30 metres, 60 metres, 90 metres… Seeing as the Silver Sword was moving further away from him, Yang Kai widened his eyes and leapt into the air. A light shone brightly on the top of his blade as he slashed at the front and bellowed, “Die!”
All of a sudden, the sword wave at the tip of the blade shot forward and turned into a sharp burst of Sword Qi. As it charged forward, over 100 swords were destroyed in an instant, and it soon slashed across the Silver Sword.
However, upon making the strike, Yang Kai collapsed to the ground and the silver glow on his blade dimmed.
He had exhausted all of his strength with that one attack!
Someone in the Small Sealed World turned pale, “It’s over!”
Nevertheless, the shaved-headed man’s gaze brightened, “What do you mean it’s over? Sir won!”
Many people were puzzled, but they soon understood what he meant. Beams of light penetrated Yang Kai from all directions and made the glow on his blade appear brighter again. Those lights were the energy from the swords that he had just killed.
Although Yang Kai had used up all his strength to launch his last attack, he managed to kill many enemies and received lots of nourishment the next instant.
With a pair of bright eyes, Yang Kai got up and realised that his speculation was indeed right. When he obtained the power of the sword wave some time ago, he thought that since there was a sword wave, there must also be Sword Qi when its power reached a certain point.
During the life-and-death moment just now, he was able to unleash a burst of Sword Qi. Unfortunately, his background was still too weak, so he had to expend all his energy to make a single strike.
The other swords looked at him in terror, but they wouldn’t dare to come any closer. They were horrified by the Sword Qi just now.
Yang Kai snorted and hopped up to the fallen Silver Sword. After getting struck by a blast of Sword Qi, the Silver Sword didn’t directly die. Nevertheless, his blade was now covered in cracks, as though it would break into pieces if it was lightly touched.
Seeing as Yang Kai was standing in front of him, the Silver Sword wanted to get up, but as soon as he moved, metal scraps started falling off his blade.
A merciless Yang Kai directly slashed at him and ended his life.
A stream of rich energy penetrated Yang Kai and made him feel energised in an instant. Moreover, it was a power that was greater than those that he had absorbed earlier. Looking up, he saw that Lang Qing Shan was in a perilous situation. He was forced to jump around in an attempt to evade the strongest Silver Sword’s attacks.
Given the huge gap between their strength, Lang Qing Shan wouldn’t dare to fight against this enemy head-on, so he could only dodge his attacks. He was already at a disadvantage and the longer the battle dragged on, the worse his situation would get.
If things continued, and if Yang Kai couldn’t lend him a hand in time, Lang Qing Shan would die within an incense stick of time.
At the most critical moment though, Yang Kai was heard shouting, “Qing Shan, retreat!”
Without hesitation, Lang Qing Shan left the battlefield while Yang Kai whizzed past him and parried the opponent’s attack.
One hour later, following a loud crack, the last Silver Sword shattered. With his blade damaged, Yang Kai stood firmly on the spot and basked in the energy that was streaming into his figure. Soon, his blade was repaired.
Initially, the Silver Sword was slightly stronger than Yang Kai. However, after Yang Kai killed the other two Silver Swords and countless of his subordinates, he grew to be just as strong.
Since they were equally matched in terms of power, there was no way the Silver Sword could survive Yang Kai’s assault. After the life-and-death battle, he eventually died along with his companions.
The noises slowly died down. After the three Silver Swords were destroyed, there were no more leaders for the thousands of swords in this valley. In an instant, they gave up any attempt to resist. Just like what happened in the first valley, the Black Iron Swords in this place pushed the ores towards Yang Kai to indicate that they had surrendered.
Perhaps this was the rule in this world. As long as one could kill the leader of the enemies, they could get his opponent’s subordinates.
Yang Kai had brought hundreds of swords with him, and after the battle, the number of his subordinates had increased by tenfold. It could be said that he had gained a handsome reward. The ores in this valley were also much richer than those in the previous one. Many of the ores that had been excavated were silver ores. If Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan could absorb the power in them, it would be greatly beneficial to them.
That was not to say there were only gains. Yang Kai suffered an immense loss as the hundreds of swords he had brought with him were almost wiped out while the thousands of swords that were originally in this valley had suffered heavy casualties and damage.
Yang Kai simply told Lang Qing Shan to kill the tattered swords to help restore his power as well as get rid of some burdens.
They went on to stay in this valley for the next few days to absorb the power in the mined ores. The ordinary ores were no longer useful for them, so they only drew in energy from the silver ores. The rest of the ores were given to the others, which helped those Black Iron Swords increase their strength.
Seven days later, Lang Qing Shan’s power had increased significantly, and he was also able to use a sword wave now.
During this period of time, Yang Kai sent out over ten teams to scout the surroundings. If he and Lang Qing Shan wanted to grow their power, they had to look for more Silver Swords to kill. However, they were not aware of where the Silver Swords were located in this world inside the fruit, so they had no choice but to take it slow.
Fortunately, the scout teams returned and brought some useful information back.
Two days later, they set off on their journey. Under the leadership of Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan, thousands of swords headed to their destination in an imposing manner.
After just three days, they reached a location that was managed by a Silver Sword. This location was similar to the first place Yang Kai managed to snatch with only one Silver Sword in charge and hundreds of swords working under him. Certainly, they were not able to resist Yang Kai’s army.
Thousands of swords charged forward and easily destroyed their enemies. Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan directly dealt with the Silver Sword, who wasn’t even able to use a sword wave yet. After just two moves, Yang Kai managed to end his life.
Since the leader was dead, the rest of the swords immediately surrendered.
Without stopping, Yang Kai led his army and headed to the next Silver Sword’s base.
These attacks continued on at a brisk pace. There were easy battles as well as difficult ones and it was not long before Yang Kai’s army had grown from thousands to several tens of thousands to now a hundred thousand, just like a rolling snowball.
Besides quantity, their collective power had increased as well. There were many new Silver Swords under Yang Kai’s leadership now. These Silver Swords were originally Black Iron Swords that as they assisted Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan in battle, killed countless enemies and absorbed their opponents’ energy, which allowed them to ascend to become Silver Swords.
Besides Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan, there were over 50 Silver Swords in this hundred-thousand-strong army with several thousand Black Iron Swords.
Yang Kai was experienced in leading an army, so he divided the hundred thousand troops into more than fifty teams. Every team was led by a Silver Sword and as they worked well with one another on the battlefield, they could always win each battle even if there were more swords on the opposing side.
Presently, they were taking a rest atop a certain mountain. Yang Kai was standing on the crest while the glow on his blade suggested that he might achieve a breakthrough soon. Lang Qing Shan was standing just behind him.
“Qing Shan, how long have we been in this place?” Yang Kai suddenly asked.
Without hesitation, Lang Qing Shan replied, “Sir, we will have been here for half a year in four days.”
“Half a year!” Yang Kai tutted.
Previously, he had been held up in the world of bubbles for a month. He thought that it was already a pretty long time, but he hadn’t expected to get stuck in this world of swords for half a year.
Although time passed faster in the world inside the fruit than in the outside world, Yang Kai felt he had stayed in this place for far too long.
In the past six months, even though Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan had gained lots of rewards and had been continuously growing stronger, they had yet to find out how to unravel the secrets of this place.
Initially, Yang Kai thought that by launching more attacks, he would begin to see a glimmer of hope. But now, he realised that he still had not the foggiest idea of what he needed to accomplish in this world.
This was a little distressing. If he had no idea how to decode the secret in this world, he would not have a goal, thus losing motivation to keep putting more effort into it.
It was no wonder that Xu Zhen said there was a danger associated with entering a World Fruit. If they couldn’t unravel its secrets, they might get stuck inside the fruit forever. Presently, he and Lang Qing Shan were trapped inside this world, so it was pointless for them to have a hundred thousand army follow them.
What made Yang Kai feel even more depressed was that he seemed to have reached a bottleneck as a Silver Sword. Even if he destroyed more swords, his power wouldn’t increase one bit, nor could he ascend to the next level.
Lang Qing Shan was in the same situation. Yang Kai had reached the peak of his power before Lang Qing Shan did, but in the past six months, they had wiped out countless bases and Lang Qing Shan had destroyed innumerable Silver Swords. After absorbing so much power, he had also reached this bottleneck.
Yang Kai even doubted whether the next level even existed.
Perhaps in this world of swords, Silver Swords were already the most powerful existences. If that was the case, how were they supposed to leave this place?
He had asked the other Silver Swords about it, but they knew nothing as well. These Silver Swords were all upgraded from Black Iron Swords, so the information they had was rather limited.
Just then, a Silver Sword leapt onto the crest with an excited expression, “Sir, we’ve found new enemies!”
Yang Kai turned to look at him and asked nonchalantly, “How many are there?”
“There are over ten thousand swords.” The Silver Sword skipped towards Yang Kai and pointed at the bottom of the mountain with his blade, “In one hour, they will pass by this place.”
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai said, “Qing Shan, you handle it.”
Although there were over ten thousand swords on the opposing side, they were too weak when compared to Yang Kai’s hundred thousand army. It wasn’t necessary for him to personally make a move and he wouldn’t get any benefits by killing more opponents, so he’d rather preserve his strength.
After receiving the order, Lang Qing Shan left to carry out his task while Yang Kai looked up at the sky with his deep gaze.
The information that had been collected was right. After just one hour, an army of swords came into Yang Kai’s sight.
In this peculiar world, most swords would stay only in one place, and they wouldn’t easily move around. They would only look for a new location when all the ores had been excavated in their original mine.
This ten thousand army was clearly looking for a new mine.
However, after just a glance, Yang Kai became startled and frowned. That was because there seemed to be too many Silver Swords in this army.
Usually, there were only 6 or 7 Silver Swords in a ten-thousand-strong army. Nevertheless, Yang Kai could see that there were almost 40 Silver Swords in this troop.
That was an astonishing ratio because there were just over 50 Silver Swords in Yang Kai’s hundred thousand army.
Despite that, Yang Kai wasn’t too worried. In the past six months, he had led his army to take part in countless battles, and they had also gone against several armies with a hundred thousand swords as well; therefore, he believed he could destroy this ten thousand army easily.
To be safe, he told a Silver Sword to send a message to Lang Qing Shan to keep his guard up.
A moment later, the battle began.
Due to the fact that they had scouted the enemy fairly early on, the hundred thousand swords had hidden in nearby places, and when the enemy army passed by, the over fifty teams, each led by a Silver Sword, charged forward from all directions and surrounded their enemies.
An intense battle immediately broke out. The Silver Swords activated their sword waves and shot out gusts of Sword Qi which easily shattered the enemy Black Iron and Bronze Swords. These weaker swords were completely powerless to resist them.
Every moment, there were swords being destroyed as very pure energy emerged from their blades and nourished the swords that had killed them.
Yang Kai watched over the battlefield for a moment before retracting his gaze.
Although the ten thousand sword army was powerful, they paled when compared to Yang Kai’s own. There was no way they were a match for his army, so it was just a matter of time before they were all slaughtered.
One hour later, the ten thousand army shrunk by 70%. Their defence circle was getting smaller as they resisted their enemies with difficulty.
Standing in the middle, Lang Qing Shan kept mobilising the swords and giving orders, looking very much like a commanding general.
One more hour later, only 10% of the enemy army remained, and their defence circle had shrunk significantly.
Certainly, Lang Qing Shan wouldn’t hold back as he ordered his swords to keep attacking in an attempt to wipe out all their enemies as quickly as possible.
Just then, a golden light radiated from the defence circle. Initially, the golden light was extremely weak, but it soon became dazzling.
The golden light immediately caught Yang Kai’s attention and looking down, he saw a layer of golden light radiating from the centre of the enemy troops and spreading around until it covered a radius of three kilometres.
Seeing that, Yang Kai turned solemn.
There was a Gold Sword rising from the opposing army, its aura undulating wildly as it released a visible golden ripple from its blade.
Following the proliferation of the ripple, all the swords that were caught in its rage stopped fighting and gazed at the Gold Sword with admiring looks on their blades as though they were staring at their King.
Yang Kai was also gaping at the Gold Sword. Although he was just a sword now, he could still feel his heart pounding against his chest.
It was a Gold Sword! He couldn’t believe that a Gold Sword existed in this world!
He had never seen a Gold Sword here before as the strongest enemies he had come across were all Silver Swords. He had reached the peak of his power as a Silver Sword, and there was seemingly no way for him to achieve a breakthrough; therefore, he had never expected that a Gold Sword existed in this world.
This Gold Sword was certainly more powerful than any Silver Sword.
All of a sudden, Yang Kai felt as though a realisation dawned upon him. In the past, he was clueless and didn’t know what direction to take, but upon seeing this Gold Sword, he immediately had a goal.
However, before he could rejoice at this revelation, a strange change broke out on the battlefield.
All the swords that had been affected by the Gold Sword’s aura, regardless of which side they were on, turned around and rushed towards Yang Kai’s army.
These swords had betrayed Yang Kai!
In this world, the swords were categorised into different grades. Although there was no such thing as loyalty in this place, Yang Kai had never come across such an event in the past six months that he had managed his army.
He couldn’t believe that his own army had turned against him!
His subordinates that had been affected by the Gold Sword’s aura turned around and ruthlessly killed their original companions.
Initially, the situation was in Yang Kai’s favour, but after the Gold Sword appeared out of thin air, everything fell apart.
Apparently, Lang Qing Shan hadn’t expected such a turn of events to happen as well, so he hurriedly mobilised the army and took control of everything. Fortunately, there were not many swords that had betrayed them; after all, the Gold Sword’s aura only covered a radius of about three kilometres. Those swords that were beyond that area were unaffected.
Despite that, thousands of swords had become traitors. What made Lang Qing Shan feel extremely distressed was that there were 8 Silver Swords among the traitors.
Before he could come up with a solution, the Gold Sword suddenly turned and shot Golden Sword Qi, which directly penetrated their army.
Wherever the Golden Sword Qi passed, it easily destroyed all swords. Upon impact, the swords directly broke into pieces, including the Silver Swords. They were completely powerless to resist the attack.
Following that, the Gold Sword repeatedly sent out waves of Golden Sword Qi and caused immense losses to Yang Kai’s army.
Moreover, Lang Qing Shan realised that he was no longer able to mobilise the army. The Gold Sword’s presence seemed to have a kind of suppressive intimidation on all the swords. His soldiers were rooted to the spot with some of them even starting to flee.
Everything had become a mess!
When Lang Qing Shan saw this, he knew that there was no way they could win the battle. Left with no choice, he ordered the rest of the soldiers to retreat.
One hour later, the noises on the battlefield died down. Metal scraps that were left behind by Yang Kai’s army were scattered everywhere while the ten thousand swords under the Gold Sword only slightly reduced in number.
Although many of his subordinates had been killed, he had also taken in a large number of Yang Kai’s subordinates. Presently, the Gold Sword still had seven or eight thousand swords that worked under him.
With a pair of bright eyes, Yang Kai gazed at the battlefield and stared fervently at the Gold Sword. He was pondering whether he stood a chance to defeat the Gold Sword if he joined the battle.
While he was lost in his thoughts, the Gold Sword suddenly leapt into the air. There was a stern-looking face on the blade that was facing Yang Kai.
Seeing that, Yang Kai felt his chest tightening and knew that he was in danger.
The next instant, the Gold Sword slashed out a Golden Sword Qi blade right at Yang Kai in a ruthless manner. Following a loud boom, the mountain peak Yang Kai was standing on was cut across. As dirt and sand rose into the air, the broken crest tilted to the side.
With a whoosh, the Gold Sword reached the mountain and hovered in mid-air as he looked for Yang Kai’s whereabouts. After a while, Yang Kai was still nowhere to be seen though, so he turned around to return to his army.
*Hong long long…*
The crest collapsed to the ground and the Gold Sword led his army to depart.
One hour later, a white light shot out from the fallen peak. Its glow was dim, and on the blade, Yang Kai sported a dark expression.
He was totally no match for the Gold Sword. Although they hadn’t actually exchanged blows with it, by just looking at the Golden Sword Qi, Yang Kai knew that there was no way he could defeat the Gold Sword. If they were in a one-on-one fight, he wouldn’t even last a cup of tea’s time.
It was useless to tell his army to charge forward and use wave tactics, either, as the Gold Sword’s presence was too intimidating to the weaker swords. Regardless of how many swords there were on Yang Kai’s side, they were unable to harm the Gold Sword one bit.
When Lang Qing Shan returned with the battered soldiers and saw what became of the peak, he was shocked, but he became flabbergasted upon seeing that the glow on Yang Kai’s blade had turned dim.
“Sir, are you alright?” Lang Qing Shan asked anxiously.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai’s eyes appeared bright as he stared at him, “Qing Shan, did you see that sword?”
There was a helpless smile on Lang Qing Shan’s face, “The Gold Sword was too powerful. I’m sorry for being incompetent. Please punish me.” They had suffered immense losses in the battle. After some calculations, Lang Qing Shan realised that only 70% of the original hundred thousand army was left. They had lost thirty thousand swords in the battle, including more than ten Silver Swords. Yang Kai’s army had shrunk by 30%, so Lang Qing Shan was gripped by a feeling of guilt.
Yang Kai said, “You cannot be blamed for the failure. The Gold Sword was simply too overwhelming. What’s more… he could fly. That’s interesting.”
Despite the fact that Yang Kai had reached the peak of his power as a Silver Sword, he was still unable to fly. The best he could do was leap into the air; however, not only was the Gold Sword able to use a horrifying Sword Qi, he could also fly freely.
As for the losses Yang Kai had suffered, he didn’t mind it one bit.
In this world of swords, there was never a lack of soldiers. He had deliberately kept his army around a hundred thousand in number. If he wanted, he could’ve amassed more than five hundred thousand soldiers in the past six months.
Therefore, he didn’t mind losing some soldiers as he could simply recruit new ones quickly. Nevertheless, the existence of the Gold Sword was like a glimmer of hope in the darkness of night for him.
Since there was a Gold Sword, it meant that he could also reach that grade. By then, he might be able to unravel the secrets of this world.
The problem was how he could achieve such a breakthrough. Was there a secret method he was unaware of?
He had tried killing many Silver Swords, but that yielded no result. Since it wasn’t the right way, was there anything else that he needed to comprehend? But, as a sword, how was he supposed to comprehend anything in the first place?
A few days later, they found a new location that was pretty expansive. There were over twenty thousand swords that were led by more than ten Silver Swords.
Just like Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan, the strongest Silver Sword had reached the peak of his power.
After a quick battle, they easily snatched this mine. Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan joined forces and defeated the leader, but they didn’t rush to kill him.
There was a face of a middle-aged man on the blade of the strongest Silver Sword and presently, he sported an apprehensive expression.
“I have something to ask you.” Yang Kai stared calmly at him, “If you can answer me, I will spare your life.”
Like a drowning person clutching at a straw, the Silver Sword hurriedly said, “Please ask!”
“How does one become a Gold Sword?” Yang Kai looked fervently at him.
The Silver Sword became startled as he hadn’t expected Yang Kai to ask such a question, but he still answered honestly, “You can become a Gold Sword as long as you obtain the golden liquid.”
“The golden liquid?” Yang Kai said doubtfully, “What is that and where can I find it?”
The Silver Sword replied, “One only finds golden liquid in gold ores.”
“Gold ores?” A startled Yang Kai swept a glance over the ores in this mine and fell into a dazed state for a moment before bursting into laughter.
At that instant, he realised that he had always ignored the key to achieving his breakthrough.
He was always curious about why these Silver Swords only stayed in the same locations and told their subordinates to mine ores. If the purpose was simply to increase their own strength, it was too inefficient.
Now, it seemed that besides trying to strengthen themselves, they were also making preparations to become Gold Swords. The gold ores must be extremely rare, which was why Yang Kai had never seen them despite the fact that he had snatched quite a large number of mines.
The Silver Sword in front of him must have stayed in this grade for a long time, which was why he was aware of this information. The Silver Swords under Yang Kai were all upgraded from Black Iron Swords, which was why they had no idea about this secret.
Now, he had finally figured out that the ores were the key to helping him become a Gold Sword!
“Qing Shan!” Yang Kai called out.
Lang Qing Shan immediately leaped into the air and slashed at the strongest Silver Sword that was already covered in cracks.
Turning around, Yang Kai gazed at the huge mine and grinned, “Tell them to start mining ores right away.”
Lang Qing Shan grunted in acknowledgement before passing down the order. After that, clanging sounds were continuously heard in the mine.
Without being idle, Yang Kai told Lang Qing Shan to take charge of this place, then he led ten thousand soldiers to occupy other mines.
Gold ores were clearly extremely rare, and he might not be able to find them in this mine, so Yang Kai had to make preparations.
They went on to snatch more mines and repair themselves by killing other swords. Like a snowball, the army was growing larger day by day. After they occupied a mine, Yang Kai would leave a Silver Sword behind to be in charge of mining operations.
In just one month, Yang Kai had taken control of six large mines. There were several tens of thousands of swords in each mine that worked tirelessly to excavate ores.
After that, Yang Kai settled in a certain spot. Lang Qing Shan would patrol around the mines they had occupied so far, and as soon as any gold ore appeared, he would immediately report it to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai didn’t trust the other Silver Swords that worked under him. If they absorbed the power of those gold ores without informing him about it, that would be a huge loss for him. Therefore, Lang Qing Shan had no choice but to work harder.
As time passed, countless ores were excavated every single day, but the gold ore Yang Kai had been looking for was still nowhere to be found. He was already aware that gold ores were extremely rare, but he had never expected that it was so difficult to find even one.
He had about 300,000 soldiers that continuously mined ores for him in six locations, but not a single gold ore had appeared.
Four months later, Lang Qing Shan came to Yang Kai with an excited expression and told him that a gold ore had been excavated in one of the mines.
An elated Yang Kai hurriedly left with him.
Upon arriving at their destination, Yang Kai indeed saw a glittering gold ore lying in an open space. It was surrounded by swords and no one else could go near it.
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Yang Kai hopped up to the gold ore and realised that it was only the size of a plate. The surface was uneven, but it radiated an alluring glow.
He stared at the gold ore and fell into a dazed state for a long time. It wasn’t until Lang Qing Shan called out to him that Yang Kai sighed and said, “It’s been one year since we came to this world. I hope this gold ore will help us work out its deepest mysteries.”
Upon finishing his words, Yang Kai leapt into the air and jabbed his blade into the gold ore.
Following that, a pure energy streamed into Yang Kai’s figure. He could clearly feel that there was something else in the gold ore, which he supposed was the golden liquid.
Knowing that he was bound to achieve a breakthrough, Yang Kai was filled with joy.
As expected, as the energy of the gold ore penetrated his body, Yang Kai could clearly feel his strength increasing rapidly, and the bottleneck that had been troubling him shattered in an instant.
The silver glow on his blade was now replaced by a golden one and a golden aura began swirling around his blade.